Volume 2

The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī, or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr ... / translated by Alexander Rogers .. ; edited by Henry Beveridge.

  • Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan, 1569-1627.
Date:
1909-1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī, or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr ... / translated by Alexander Rogers .. ; edited by Henry Beveridge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    joy. I ordered them to light lamps in the same manner on the eve of Friday, and a strange thing was that at the close of the day of Thursday, the 17th, it continually rained (muttasil hdndagi), but at the time of lighting the lamps the rain ceased, and the show was well seen. On this day I^timadu-d-daula presented an offering of a quthl (?) sapphire exceedingly deli- cate, and an elephant without tusks with silver housings. As it was handsome-looking and of good shape, it was put among my private elephants. On the bank of the Kankriya tank a sanydsi, one of the most austere sects of Hindus, had made a hut after the dervish manner, and lived as a hermit. As I was always inclined to associate with dervishes, I hastened without ceremony to interview him, and for a while enjoyed his society. He was not wanting in information and reason- ableness, and was well informed according to the rules of his own faith in the doctrines of Sufism. He had conformed to the ways of people of religious poverty and mortification, and given up all desires and ambitions. One might say that a better than he of his class was never seen. On Monday, the 21st (Amurdad), the sdras, the pairing of which has been related in the preceding pages, collected together some straw and rubbish in the little garden, and laid first of all one egg. On the third day (afterwards) it laid a second egg. This pair of sdras were caught when they were a month old,* and had been in my establishment for five years. After five and a half years they paired, and continued doing so for a month ; on the 21st of the month of Amurdad, which the Hindus call Sawan (Sravan) the hen laid the eggs. The female used to sit on the eggs the whole night alone, and the male stood near her on guard. It was so alert that it was impossible for any living thing to pass near her. Once a large weasel made its appearance, and he ran at it with the greatest impetuosity, and did not stop until the weasel got into a hole. When the sun illuminated the world with his rays, the male went to the female and pecked her back with his beak. The female then rose, and the male sate in her place. * mdhagi ? Probably it means that they were caught when a month old, and Elliot’s translator so took it.