1 Jahāngīr was born on Wednesday, 17 Rabīʿu-l-awwal 977 A.H., or August 31, 1569, and so on March 11, 1618, or 23 Rabīʿu-l-awwal, 1027, he was in the beginning of his fifty-first lunar year. By solar computation he was not yet fifty, that is, he was in his fiftieth year. The text wrongly has 1017 instead of 1027. ↑
2 Text wrongly has panchāq. In Turki dictionaries it is spelt topchāq, and means a large or long-necked horse. See P. de Courteille Dict., etc. ↑
3 Āṣaf K. III. of Blochmann; his name was Jaʿfar Beg. ↑
4 See “Iqbāl-nāma,” p. 111. etc. He is not the famous Mīr Jumla, who was Aurangzeb’s general, though possibly the latter was his son. According to the “Iqbāl-nāma, he was the nephew, and not the uncle, of Mīr Riẓā, but Jahāngīr’s statement agrees with the ʿĀlam-ārāʾī (p. 623). Mīr Jumla’s patron, Muḥammad Qulī Qut̤b-S͟hāh, died in 1612. He himself died in 1637, while Aurangzeb’s general died in 1663. ↑
5 Possibly what is meant is that S͟hāh ʿAbbās was greedy after Mīr Jumla’s (Sāmān) wealth. Kāmgār Ḥusainī distinctly says that ʿAbbās wanted to get hold of Mīr Jumla’s goods. ↑
6 The Iqbāl-nāma says that ʿAbbās only gave Mīr Jumla flattering words, and did not give him any high appointment. See also ʿĀlam-ārāʾī, 623, and Maʾās̤iru-l-umarā, III. 415. ↑
7 Tuqūz means “nine,” but perhaps it is here only used to express a gift, and the pieces of cloth were perhaps only nine, and not eighty-one. See Vullers s.v., who refers to Quatremere. ↑
8 The I.O. MSS. have Māmūʾī, and the meaning may be “the maternal uncle of the Zamindar.” ↑
9 Jariya in No. 181. It seems to be the Jareja tribe of Abū-l-Faẓl, Jarrett II. 250. Compare Blochmann’s translation, p. 285 n., of the corresponding passage in the Iqbāl-nāma. The tribe is there called Jhariyah. ↑
10 This must be Pāvāgarh, a hill fort in the Pānch ʿMaḥāl district, which is 2,800 feet above the sea. See I.G. XX. 79, and XIX. 380. ↑
11 Son-in-law of Iʿtmādu-d-daula, being married to a sister of Nūr-Jahān. See Maʾās̤iru-l-umarā I. 573. ↑
12 Jhālod in the Doḥad taʾlūqa of the Pānch Maḥāl district, Bombay. ↑
13 The text (pp. 227, 228) has drawings of the twelve Zodiacal coins. See also Tavernier’s account of their institution. ↑
14 Text wrongly has Saturday. ↑
15 Probably the Seyreh of Bayley’s map, in the Lūnāvāda State, E. of Aḥmadābād. ↑
16 Quoted by Blochmann, Calcutta Review, 1869, p. 128. ↑
17 The text has dar zīr-i-ān (“under it”) in mentioning the position of the letters, but the I.O. MS. No. 181, has dar zabar (“above” or “on it.”). The words khaṭṭ-i-muḥarraf might mean “inverted or slanting letters,” and Mr. Rogers has taken the passage to mean that two of the letters were on a line with one another, and that the third was inverted and below the other two. But muḥrif, as the word may also be read, has the meaning of “handsome,” and I think this is the meaning here. Possibly the meaning is that there was a letter or mark above—viz., the tas͟hdīd. Another meaning may be that all three letters were equal in size, and in a slanting position on the stone. ↑
18 Dihbīd, “the village of the willow,” a well-known place in Transoxiana. It is Dihband in text. ↑
19 Ukna. The word appears to be Arabic, and signifies a nest. It is commonly written wukna. ↑
20 Bāz dāmī apparently means hawks reared in captivity, or it may mean hawks brought by dealers—dāmī. Information about hawks may be found in Blochmann, 293, etc., and in Col. Phillott’s recent articles in the J.A.S.B., May, 1907, etc. ↑
21 The I.O. MS. has “rupees.” ↑
24 Blochmann, 346. Yūsuf died in November, 1601. His eldest son was M. Las͟hkarī. ↑
25 The MSS. have 24th and 25th for the following day, but 14th and 15th seem right. ↑
26 The passage is translated in Elliot, VI. 357, but the mention of Saturday and of Multan doctors there is a mistake. Text has afzūdam, “I increased my intoxication,” but this seems wrong. The MSS. have afzūd. Jahāngīr means that the stoppage of his wine increased crapulousness. See Elliot, VI. 357. ↑
27 Apparently this should be yūg͟hān, which is a Turki word meaning “thick.” ↑
30 The Iqbāl-nāma, 115, has a different reading of this line. ↑
31 It should be recorded to Jahāngīr’s credit that he has a reputation even at the present day for his love of justice. ↑
32 ʿajabī. The MSS. have ʿajsī, “lasting,” which seems better. ↑
33 Compare Elliot, VI. 359. Ruk͟h-i-gulzār also means the cheek of the rosebud (i.e., the beloved one). Apparently the conceit is that the cheek of the fair one is clouded over, so it should be reddened by pouring wine on it. ↑
34 hamwār. Perhaps it means “mediocre” here, but we have the word a little lower down, p. 240, used in a laudatory sense. ↑
35 According to the Maʾās̤ir and Blochmann, 465, it was the second son who attained the highest rank. ↑
36 dah duwāzdah, “10, 12”—i.e., it is one-fifth larger. The sāras is the Ardea Antigone of naturalists. ↑
37 Two boundaries. The name signifies that it is on the borders of Mālwa and Gujaru, I. G. XI. 366. ↑
38 pāk sāk͟ht. Lit. cleaned it, which may mean also that he disembowelled it, or even that he cooked it. Probably the gunner left the body or part of it there, and it was this that the male circumambulated. ↑
39 Apparently this should be Pāvan. It was one of those caught in the elephant hunt. It is written Bāvan in the MSS. ↑
40 For meaning of ḍara, “yard,” see text (15th year), pp. 298 and 303. For 3½ quarters (pāo) the text wrongly has 3½ feet (pā). ↑
41 MSS. has 17. Text has 7. According to Elliot, Supplement II., 177, the Ilāhī gaz was one of 41 fingers. ↑
42 This was not the son who died in the following year. See text, p. 282. That son was the eldest son, and probably was the one born in the 9th year. See Tūzuk, p. 137. ↑
43 The Zamindar of Cutch, whose residence was at Bhūj. See Jarrett, II. 250, where it is said that the Jām left his original country 60 years ago. ↑
44 Jahāngīr is referring to his visit to Gujarat in the 12th year of his reign. ↑
47 Text “of Merv,” but the MSS. have Herat. ↑
48 Manṣūr Naqqās͟h is one of the illustrators to the Bābar-nāma in the British Museum. Rieu Supplement, p. 52. There is also a Ḥusain Naqqās͟h mentioned in the MS. there described. ↑
49 Apparently there were 32 days in this Tīr. ↑
50 The Sābarmatī rises in the hills of Mewār. ↑
51 I cannot find this Kokra or Gogra. The Sābarmatī falls into the Gulf of Cambay. Possibly Kokra thereby means “mountains.” ↑
52 Apparently the Mairpūr of Bayley’s map. ↑
54 Perhaps this is the Bīrāgam of the Āʾīn A. (Jarrett, II. 230). Panjū Zamīndār may be the Bab-jīū, Zamindar of the Gond tribe, whom Abū-l-Faẓl mentions. The word Barākar is omitted in text. ↑
55 See Blochmann, 480 n., Elliot, VI. 344, and the Tūzuk, annals of 10th year. ↑
56 Probably the meaning is that the four mines occur within a space of 50 koss. Tavernier, vol. II., may be consulted. ↑
57 Puk͟hta in text, but the MSS. have not this word. Instead, they have a word which seems to be taḥsina, “beautiful.” The R.A.S. MS. also seems to have taḥsina. ↑
58 māhagī? Probably it means that they were caught when a month old, and Elliot’s translator so took it. ↑
59 This was the garden which ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm made after his victory over Muz̤affar Gujarātī. In Price’s Jahāngīr, pp. 115–16, there is an account of an entertainment given there to Jahāngīr by ʿAbdu-r-Raḥīm’s daughter. ↑
60 Or 22 Ramaẓān, 1027 = September 2, 1618. ↑
62 In MSS. written Marhāna or Sarhāna. Perhaps Harhāna in the Bet Jālandhar Dūʾāb, Jarrett, II. 317. Though the text says 22 lakhs of dams, the MSS. only say 22 lakhs, and possibly rupees are meant. ↑
63 K͟hūd bi-inʿām iltimās namūd. “As a favour to himself.” It is not likely that S͟hāh Jahān would ask for the pargana for Bikramājīt if it was already his own. I presume the meaning is that S͟hāh Jahān asked that this pargana should be given to Bikramājīt as a favour to himself. But perhaps the meaning is “which he (S͟hāh Jahān) had asked for, for himself.” ↑
64 In the MSS. the word k͟hūd follows inʿām instead of preceding it. Perhaps the meaning is, “which was his own appanage,” “and he requested,” etc. ↑
65 Text wrongly has Muʿtamid. ↑
66 The saint who is buried at Gwalior. He died September 14, 1562. ↑
68 The 8th S͟hahrīwar = August 20, 1618. The departure had been fixed for the 21st, and having mentioned this, Jahāngīr goes on to describe what occurred between the 7th and the 21st. ↑
69 So in text, but MSS. give Jahanda as the name of the brother of Balūch. ↑
71 Text wrongly has Mag͟hribī, who was a much later poet, for he died in 809 A.H. = 1416. Sult̤ān Sanjar belonged to the sixth century of the Hijra, and Muʿizzī, who is the poet meant by Jahāngīr, died in 542 A.H. (1147–48), having been accidentally killed with an arrow by Sult̤ān Sanjar. See Rieu, II. 552b. The ode quoted by Jahāngīr is to be found at p. 138b of British Museum MS. Add. 10588. ↑
72 hamwār used here in a favourable sense, though some pages farther back, 233 of Persian text, it seems to be used, when speaking of Jāmī, in disparagement. ↑
73 See Beale art. Saʿīdā-i-Gīlānī. He was styled Bī-badal. The date 1116 in Beale is manifestly wrong. He is the Mullā S͟haidā of Rieu, III., 1083e. See also Sprenger’s Catalogue, 124; there is a notice of him in the Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, I. 405. He was the artist of the Peacock-throne. ↑
74 Turunj, rendered by Vullers as “citron.” Probably the reference is to the colour of the sky, which is often spoken of by Orientals as green. The concluding lines play upon Jahāngīr’s title of Nūru-d-dīn, on his son’s title of S͟hāh-Jahān, and his name of K͟hurram. ↑
75 Bārī is a Hindu word meaning garden. ↑
76 ayyām-i-jawānī. The MSS. have qazzāqī, “raids.” The name of the Mullā there seems to be Asīrī. ↑
77 dar k͟halā wa-malā maḥram būda. ↑
78 MS. 305. “On every side there are Būlsarī-trees.” Both I.O. MSS. have Būlsarī, for which see Blochmann, 70. Apparently there was only one tree. ↑
80 This was not the ʿId, for the month was not over. It was the feasting after nightfall usual in the Ramaẓān. ↑
81 k͟hudāwandi-gār. For which word see Vullers and the Bahār-i-ʿAjam. Perhaps it means here a locum-tenens or officiating master. ↑
82 Apparently this should be thirty-two. The egg was laid on 21 Amurdād, see p. 237, and the interval between the hatching of the two chicks was three or four days. ↑
83 Text dah yāzdah, ten to eleven. But MS. 305 has dah pānzdah, ten to fifteen, which is more likely. The meaning then would be that the young of the sāras were 50 per cent., or one-half, larger than goslings. The common expression for one-tenth is dah yak. ↑
84 Ganj in No. 181. Perhaps it should be Gajna, see I.G., 17, p. 11. ↑
85 MSS. Atrak. It is the Wātrak of Bayley’s Gujarat, p. 201, and the Vātrak of I.G., XXI. 344. ↑
86 Sult̤ān Maḥmūd III., killed by Burhān in February, 1554. Bayley’s Gujarat, pp. 449 and 453. Jahāngīr calls him the last Sult̤ān of Gujarat, because Aḥmad II. and Muz̤affar III. were regarded as spurious. See Āyīn-i-Akbarī, Jarrett, II. 261. ↑
87 Probably great-grandson, for S͟hāh ʿĀlam died in 880 (1475–76), as Jahāngīr tells us supra, and he says that he questioned Sayyid Muḥammad about S͟hāh ʿĀlam’s raising the dead, and that Sayyid Muḥammad said he had the story from his father and grandfather. The Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, III. 447, says Sayyid Muḥammad was five removes from S͟hāh ʿĀlam. ↑
88 For Yāqūt, see Blochmann, 99–100. He was a famous calligrapher, and lived in the thirteenth century. It appears, however, that Yāqūtī is also the name of a particular kind of writing. ↑
89 Ba-qit̤aʿ-i-mat̤būʿa-i-muk͟htaṣar. Mat̤būʿa is used in modern times to mean “printed,” but here, I think, it means “elegant.” It is so used in the annals of the 12th year, p. 208, line 18, where it is applied to a building. Qit̤aʿ probably refers to the shape of the volume, and muk͟htaṣar to its small size, or to the minuteness of the writing. ↑
90 Sayyid Muḥammad, the Mīr referred to by Jahāngīr, lived into S͟hāh-Jahān’s reign, not dying till 1045 (1635–36). See Pāds͟hāh-nāma, I., Part II., p. 329. But we do not hear anything more of his translation. Perhaps his ill-health prevented him. It is also the fact that orthodox Muhammadans object to translations of the Qoran, regarding it as an impossible task. The Mīr’s son became chief ecclesiastical officer (Ṣadr) under S͟hāh-Jahān. See Maʾās̤iru-l-Umarā, III. 447, and Pāds͟hāh-nāma, I., Part II., p. 328. ↑
92 There were twelve mās͟has in a tola; the six cups, then, of 6 tolas and a quarter came to 37½ tolas. ↑
93 Jahāngīr visited his father’s tomb in the following year (the 14th). The passage describing the renunciation of shooting (not of hunting) is translated in Elliot, VI. 362. ↑
94 The version of the last two lines is by Sir William Jones, and is given by him in his Tenth Anniversary Discourse, delivered on February 28, 1793. As my friend Mr Whinfield has pointed out to me, the quotation comes from the story of S͟hiblī and the ant in the second chapter of the Būstān. It occurs in the sixth story of the second book and p. 161 of Graf’s edition. Sir William Jones’s remark is: “Nor shall I ever forget the couplet of Firdausi, for which Sadi, who cites it with applause, pours blessings on his departed spirit.” The quotation from Firdūsī occurs on p. 67 of Vol. I. in Macan’s edition of the S͟hāh-nāma. ↑
95 Ūrvasī is the name of a celestial nymph. It is also stated by Forbes to be the name of an ornament worn on the breast. ↑
96 Text bā naqs͟h by mistake for banafs͟ha. ↑
97 I.O. MS. 181 has “thirty surk͟h.” ↑
98 Perhaps the Moondah of Bayley’s map, east of Maḥmūdābād. ↑
99 The text has خادا k͟hāda, “an oar,” but the word is perhaps k͟hārwa, “a sailor.” I.O. MS. 181, has k͟hārwa. ↑
100 The I.O. MSS. have Albatta. ↑
101 The youth who was afterwards drowned in the Jhelam. ↑
102 I.O., No. 181, has G͟hairat K. ↑
103 gām sometimes means a step, but here it seems to mean one foot-length. The distance mentioned by Jarrett appears to be 90 feet. ↑
104 No. 181 has “in three days.” ↑
105 Compare account in Akbar-nāma, II. 150. Akbar was then twenty years old. There is a picture of the two elephants crossing the bridge with Akbar on the elephant Hawāʾī in the Clarke MS. in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. ↑
106 Presumably the other side of the tank; it was the wild male sāras that Jahāngīr put rings upon. ↑
107 The hunting of deer with decoys is described in Blochmann’s Āyīn, 291. ↑
108 Apparently a metaphorical expression, “fought with fire and water.” ↑
109 sūʾu-l-qinya, “Bad state of the body, cachexy” (Steingass). ↑
110 I do not know of any poet with the tak͟halluṣ Ustād. Possibly Jāmī is referred to. The lines are obscure, and I am not certain of the meaning. The I.O. MSS. omit the negatives in the first two lines. ↑
111 Not identified. I.O. MS. 305, seems to have Pānib. Can it be the Mānchan or Majham? Possibly we should read Banās. ↑
112 The I.O. MSS. have not the words Nau Rūz, “New Year,” and I am not sure what New Year’s day is meant. The time was October. Perhaps it was the first day of Ẕī-l-Qaʿda that was celebrated, or it may be what is described in Richardson as the New Year’s day of the Balance—viz., the entry of the Sun into the Sign of the Balance. Jahāngīr may have had special regard to that Sign as he was born under it. Perhaps all that is meant is that the feast of 1 Ābān was celebrated. Ābān was a sacred month because Akbar was born in it, and it may be that the feast was celebrated on Thursday the 2nd because the previous day, Wednesday, was regarded by Jahāngīr as unlucky, and was always spoken of as Kam-s͟hamba. But most probably Nau Rūz is simply a mistake of the text. ↑
114 The name of the stage is not given. ↑
115 Literally the mother of children, but explained as meaning a female demon (larva) who torments children. See Lane’s Dictionary, 1650, where it is described as “flatulence.” ↑
116 See above, p. 243 of text. ↑
117 Apparently the vow applied only to shooting. Jahāngīr was not at that time fifty-one years of age by solar computation. ↑
118 The natural term of life, which some Orientals regarded as being 120 years. ↑
119 The name ʿĀlī is omitted in text. ↑
120 qand-i-siyāh (? treacle). ↑
121 We are not told what was the result of this experiment. ↑
122 MSS., as before, have G͟hairat instead of ʿĪzzat. ↑
123 This son was Aurangzīb. See K͟hāfī K., I. 296. K͟hāfī K. has 11th instead of 15th Ẕī-l-Qaʿda. The 11th Ẕī-l-Qaʿda corresponds to 20th October, 1618. ↑
124 Text has Sunday, but Wednesday must be the correct day, for immediately after Friday is spoken of as the 17th (Ābān). ↑
125 Perhaps the Samarnī of Jarrett, II. 207. The I.O. MSS. have Tamarna. ↑
126 I have been assisted by the translation in Elliot, VI. 363. See also Iqbāl-nāma, 117. The author there expatiates on the calamities which followed these celestial appearances. Elliot, loc. cit., p. 364, has eight years, but the text of the Tūzuk and all the MSS. have “eight nights.” The Iqbāl-nāma has Dai instead of Ābān, but probably Dai is a mistake for Ẕī-l-(qāʿda). Perhaps the first phenomenon was the Zodiacal Light. ↑
127 The MSS. have Sambhalkhera. ↑
128 MSS. have Badhnūr. Perhaps it is the Badhnāwar of Jarrett, II. ↑
129 Pargana Nūlāʾī in MSS., and this seems right as Nolāʾī, is mentioned in Jarrett, II. 198, as having a brick fort and as being on the Chambal. ↑
130 It seems to be Gambhīr in the MSS. ↑
131 There seems to be an omission in the recital. We are not told of the first half, but evidently the meaning is that the mice (or rats) ate half the crop on the field, and half of what was brought into the threshing floor. See also Iqbāl-nāma, p. 118. ↑
133 The word maʿnī, “spiritual,” does not occur in the I.O. MSS., and does not appear to be wanted. ↑
134 Also a weight = two barley-grains. Blochmann, 36. ↑
135 The line is wanting in some MSS. In I.O. MS. 181, the conjunction wa is omitted (p. 145b). ↑
136 So in text, but Sunday was either the 10th or the 17th. Apparently Sunday is a mistake for Wednesday, as, later on, Thursday is mentioned as the 14th. ↑
137 Iqbāl-nāma, 119, “Three sons.” ↑
138 Apparently the meaning is that he carried them off as prisoners. ↑
139 Text jāda-dūstī by mistake for jān-dūstī. ↑
140 Namak, “salt.” See for a similar expression, p. 149, in the account of Chīn Qilīj. Perhaps the phrase is a reminiscence of the answer given by Muḥammad Ḥusain M. when asked who had captured him. “The king’s salt,” was his reply. ↑
141 The Sind is mentioned in Tieffenthaler, I. 184. See also I.G., new ed., XXII., p. 432. It is one of the chief rivers of Central India. ↑
142 The word is s͟hikār. Either the ducks were caught in nets and not shot, or the shooting was done by others, for Jahāngīr had vowed to give up shooting from the time of S͟hujāʿ’s illness. ↑
143 Akbar really took it in the 14th year of his reign (March, 1569). The siege lasted a month, according to Abū-l-Faẓl. Akbar-nāma, II. 339. ↑
145 For notes about the meaning of the word chaukandī, “four-cornered,” see Elliot, V. 347 and 503. ↑
146 Text Rustam, but it is Dastam in MS. 181, and it appears from Blochmann that Dastam or Dostam is the proper spelling. See pp. 398 and 620. ↑
147 Apparently Jahāngīr spent the night in this summer-house. ↑
148 K͟hilaʿāt, surely used here on account of the alliteration k͟harjī u K͟hilaʿāt. At p. 10 of Price’s “Jahangir” it is stated that he released 7,000 prisoners from Gwalior Fort! ↑
149 durnā, or turnā, a crane. It is a Turki word. ↑
150 The words dīwān-i-buyūtāt are repeated. It looks as if the word buyūtāt in the second place was a mistake, or if some word implying that Las͟hkar K. had been appointed director of buildings (dīwān-i-buyūtāt) had been omitted. Apparently ʿĀbid K. went to the Deccan as Dīwān, and not as Dīwān-i-buyūtāt. Compare Iqbāl-nāma, 122. ↑
151 No. 181 has no conjunction, and makes the meaning “porcelain from Tartary.” ↑
152 See Blochmann, 140 and 233. Abū-l-Faẓl says the mujannas horses resemble Persian horses, and are mostly Turkī or Persian geldings. ↑
153 So in text, but evidently Māndū, or at least Māndū in Malwa cannot be correct. The MSS. seem to have Hindaun, and possibly this is the place meant. Or it may be the place called Mandawar or Hindaun Road (see I.G., new ed., XIII. 135). The position of Hindaun agrees fairly well with Jahāngīr’s itinerary, for Tieffenthaler, I., 172, says that Hindaun is 12 leagues—i.e., koss—S.S.-W. from Biāna, and Jahāngīr gives the distance from Māndū or Hindaun to the neighbourhood of Bayānā as 8¼ koss. Bayānā is in the Bhartpur State, and apparently about 21 miles from Hindaun. ↑
154 The quatrain which Jahāngīr describes as that of someone (s͟hak͟hsī) is included in ʿUmar K͟hayyām’s poems, and is thus translated by Whinfield:
“My comrades all are gone, Death, deadly foe,
Hath caught them one by one, and trampled low;
They shared life’s feast, and drank its wine with me,
But lost their heads and dropped a while ago.”
(Quatrain 219, p. 148.)
FitzGerald has it as Quatrain XXII., and his version is:
“For some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.”
The quatrain is also quoted by Badayūnī, Lowe’s translation, p. 192. The phrase tang-s͟harāb in the third line means “poor drinkers.” Whinfield has ba-yak s͟harāb. But tang-s͟harāb is given in Johnson’s dictionary with the meaning of being easily made drunk, unable to carry much liquor. ↑
155 Bayānā (Biāna) is described in I.G., new ed., VII. 137. It is stated there that it used to have a fort with a very high tower. Bahlūl’s tomb still exists. It was his brother, M. G͟haus̤, who was most known for his skill in incantations, and who wrote a book on the subject. ↑
156 The story is told in the Akbar-nāma, Vol. I. Jahāngīr is not correct in saying that Humāyūn had ordered Hindāl to remain in Agra. Hindāl went there without permission, and doubtless in order to rebel. See also Gul-badan Begam’s “Memoirs,” who, naturally, tries to excuse her brother. ↑
157 This must be the Barmadh Mata mentioned by Beale (see Proceedings A.S.B. for August, 1873, p. 159). Beale says there is a place of worship of the Hindus about 1½ koss from Biana in the district of Bhartpur called Barmadh Mata. In the 7th year of Jahāngīr, 1022, 1613, Jahāngīr’s mother Maryam-zamānī made a garden and a bāʾolī (step-well) here at a cost of Rs. 20,000. The garden has disappeared, but the building which is over the bāʾolī still exists. Beale gives the inscription. William Finch (Hakluyt Society) speaks of a place called Menhapur, near Biana, where there was a garden made by the Queen-Mother. It was a great sarāy. The pargana Jūsat of the text is no doubt the Chausath of Jarrett, II. 183, and of Elliot’s Supp. Gloss., II., p. 83. Barah may be the Parath or Berath of Jarrett, II. 181. ↑
158 Apparently this is the Dāʾir or Dābar of Badayūnī, II. 171, and Akbar-nāma, III. 145. It is described by Badayūnī as being 4 koss from Fatḥpūr. Dāʾir may also be read Dābar in MSS., and it is Dābar in the map. It is in the Bhartpur State. ↑
159 So in the MSS. and the text, but must be a mistake for Aḥmadābād, which Jahāngīr left on 21 S͟hahrīwar or 22 Ramaẓān. See also Iqbāl-nāma, 117. He arrived at the environs of Fatḥpūr on 19 Dai, or about 22 Muḥarram, 1028 (end of December, 1618). Apparently he considered that he arrived at Fatḥpūr on 20 Dai. He remained on the outskirts and did not enter the town till the 28th (apparently should be 26th or 27th). The Iqbāl-nāma 122 makes Jahāngīr arrive at the outskirts of Fatḥpūr on 20 Dai, and it gives the date of his entering the town as 26 Dai or 1 Ṣafar, 1028 (January 8, 1619). See p. 123. ↑
160 Viz., the propitious hour of the 28th Dai, which had been fixed for the entry into Agra, but was now made the time for entering Fatḥpūr. ↑
161 The lake was to the north of the city, and is now dried up. It had been made by damming up a stream. ↑
162 Apparently this lady was relating what had occurred in Agra, for Jahāngīr has just told us that the plague did not come to Fatḥpūr. Her father was the Āṣaf K., known also as Jaʿfar K. The ladies seem to have come out from Agra to welcome Jahāngīr. His mother came later from Agra, see infra. ↑
163 Tiryāq-i-Fārūq. See Lane’s Dict., p. 304, col. 3. ↑
164 I.O. MSS. have az bālā radd u az pāyān it̤lāq s͟hud, “there was vomiting from above and evacuations from below.” The text misses out the words az bālā radd. ↑
166 Certainly Thursday was the 27th according to Jahāngīr. The 28th must be a copyist’s mistake here and previously. ↑
167 Jahāngīr says four g͟haṛī are nearly equal to two sidereal hours. According to Abū-l-Faẓl, a g͟haṛī is the sixteenth part of a nychthemeron, or 360 out of the 21,600 breathings which make up a nychthemeron—i.e., 24 hours. See Jarrett, III. 16 and 17, and II. 16, n. 4. According to the Bahār-i-ʿajam, 2½ g͟haṛī = one sidereal hour, so that, correctly speaking, five g͟haṛī = two sidereal hours. Each g͟haṛī is 24 minutes (Jarrett, II. 16, n. 4). Here it should be noted that there is a mistake in the translation at p. 17, line 2, of Jarrett, vol. III., due to a faulty reading in the Bib. Ind. edition of the text. Instead of yakī we should read palī, as in two MSS. in my possession. Abū-l-Faẓl’s meaning then becomes clear. What he says is, a g͟haṛī is 360 breathings, consequently (pas) every pal (already defined as the sixtieth part of a g͟haṛī) is 360 divided by 60, and equal to six breathings (nafas). Jahāngīr’s line, however, is obscure. In two I.O. MSS. we have ba-t̤ālaʿī instead of ba-sāʿatī. I think the meaning probably is that the same day which marked Jahāngīr’s arrival at Fatḥpūr also marked S͟hāh-Jahān’s birthday.
Tawallā is defined in the Bahār-i-ʿajam as meaning to have friendship with anyone. It also says that it is used in the sense of taqarrub—i.e., nearness. It may be therefore that Jahāngīr’s line means “At a moment which nearly corresponded to two (hours).” Taqwīm would then mean established or fixed, and not a calendar. Taqwīm kardan is a phrase which means “to adjust, to arrange.” ↑
168 S͟hāh-Jahān was born on January 5, 1592, so that in January, 1619, he began to be in his 28th year—i.e., he was 27 complete. ↑
169 That is, 120 according to Muhammadan idea. ↑
170 Afterwards drowned in the Jhelam. ↑
171 Text darʿa, MSS. ẕirāʿ. See text 298, account of fifteenth year, where a darʿa is defined. The Ilāhī gaz or daraʿ consisted of 40 digits (fingerbreadths), according to Jahāngīr. If the Kapūr tank be the one described in the Archæological Survey Reports, Vol. XVIII., for 1894, yards seem to be required here, for the tank is mentioned in the Report as being 95 feet 7 inches square. According to Jahāngīr, 34 krors odd of dams—i.e., I presume, fulūs, in copper money, and 16 lakhs and 80,000 rupees in silver were poured into the tank, making a total of 1 kror and 3 lakhs of rupees, or 3 lakhs 43,000 tūmāns. Apparently the tūmān, which was a gold coin, was, in Jahāngīr’s time, reckoned as worth 30 rupees, and Wollaston, in his Dictionary, says it was worth £3 in S͟hāh ʿAbbās I.’s time. Jahāngīr’s account of the tank should be compared with that given in the Akbar-nāma, III. 246 and 257, where the tank is called the Anūp-talāo, or the “Unequalled Tank.”
In the text, difficulty has, I think, been made by the introduction of the word kih in p. 260, six lines from foot, and bās͟had in the fifth line from the foot. These words make the sense to be that 34 krors odd of dams were only equal to 16 lakhs odd of rupees. But this cannot be, for the dam was the fortieth part of a rupee, and so 34 krors of dams would be not far short of one kror—i.e., 100 lakhs of rupees. The MSS. have not the kih and bās͟had in question, and have only a conjunction after the word dām. Thirty-four krors odd of copper and 16 lakhs of silver were poured into the tank, making a total, in round numbers, of 1 kror, 3 lakhs of rupees. According to Abū-l-Faẓl gold was also thrown in. ↑
172 Text Yād ʿAlī, but the MSS. have Nād. See also Blochmann, 508. ↑
173 This name is Bairām or Sirām in MSS. Chikanī may be a trade designation, and mean embroiderer, or worker in gold thread. ↑
174 Kūh-damān, “hill-subduing.” ↑
175 dībācha. Here meaning the early part of the Memoirs. ↑
176 The text has bā by mistake for yā. ↑
177 ʿaurāt-i-mustaḥaqqa. Perhaps “pensioned women.” ↑
178 These are the opening lines of Jāmī’s Yūsuf and Zulaik͟hā (note by Mr. Rogers). ↑
179 Salīm Chis͟htī died on 29 Ramaẓān 979, or February 15, 1572. Jahāngīr was born on 17 Rabīʿ 1st, 977; and so he would be about two years and seven months old at the time of Salīm’s death. See Beale and K͟hazīnatu-l-asfiyā, I. p. 435. ↑
180 The conjunction wa in text, p. 262, line 16, is a mistake. ↑
181 This is the Buland Darwāza. It was built many years after the mosque. For an account of it, see Mr. Edmund Smith’s Fatḥpūr Sīkrī. The gateway is there said to be 134 feet high from the pavement and 176 feet from the roadway. The thirty-two steps mentioned in text must be those from the roadway to the gate. There are two flights of steps, and the total number, up to the top, is 123. The quadrangle or court is stated by Keene to be 433 feet by 366. Another statement (in the Archæological Report) is 438–9 by 359–10 feet. Salīm’s tomb was erected in 1581 (988). It is 47 feet 11 inches each way. ↑
183 Text aiwān, but should be alwān, “coloured.” See Iqbāl-nāma, 124. ↑
184 Finch says: “Under the courtyard is a good tank of excellent water.” He also speaks of the lake and of its being covered with the singāra (Trapa bicornis). ↑
185 That is, Bāyazīd, a grandson of the saint. Ikrām K. is another name for Hūs͟hang. His mother was Abū-l-Faẓl’s sister. According to the Maʾās̤ir, I. 120, he was a tyrant. According to local tradition, Qut̤bu-d-dīn is buried in Bardwān near Shīr-afgan. ↑
186 So in text, but ought to be the 17th. ↑
187 Mau was a Himalayan fort. Blochmann, 345. The text has Mau u s͟hahrī, and so have the MSS. The Iqbāl-nāma has Maud u Mahrī, p. 124, and so has the Maʾās̤ir U., II. 178. Evidently from what follows there were two places, unless one was the fort and the other the city. See also Tūzuk, 304, l. 10, which has pargana Maud Mahrī. In the Āyīn, Jarrett, II. 319, we have Mau and Nabah, and the next name in the list is Mahror. Gladwin has Mowd, and possibly we should translate “Mowd, a city on which he relied.” ↑
188 The Iqbāl-nāma, 125, says Rs. 20,000 which would be 40,000 darbs. ↑
189 Jagat Singh afterwards became a rebel, joining S͟hāh-Jahān, as also did Rāja Bikramājīt, or Sundar. He rebelled also in S͟hāh-Jahān’s reign, but was pardoned, and did good service in Kabul and Badakhshan. He died in Peshawar in 1055 (1645). See Maʾās̤ir U., II. 238, and Pādis͟hāh-nāma, II. 481. ↑
190 It is ḥaṣr in text, but surely this is a mistake for ḥafr, and the meaning is that a new pit or well should be made in the middle of the garden. It appears to be ḥafr in MSS. The Nūr-manzil garden is the same as the Bāg͟h Dahra, and was near Agra. Blochmann, 499. ↑