travelers and pilgrims in the least of these places, I had villages assigned to them, the revenues of which would suffice for their expenditure in perpetuity. Jahán-panáh. This foundation of the late Sultán Muhammad Sháh, my kind patron, by whose bounty I was reared and educated, I restored. All the fortifications which had been built by former sovereigns at Dehlí I repaired. For the benefit of travelers and pilgrims resorting to the tombs of illustrious kings and celebrated saints, and for providing the things necessary in these holy places, I confirmed and gave effect to the grants of villages, lands, and other endowments which had been conferred upon them in olden times. In those cases where no endowment or provision had been settled, I made an endowment, so that these establishments might for ever be secure of an income, to afford comfort to travelers and wayfarers, to holy men and learned men. May they remember those (ancient benefactors) and me in their prayers. I was enabled by God's help to build a Dáru-sh shifá, or Hospital, for the benefit of every one of high or low degree, who was suddenly attacked by illness and overcome by suffering. Physicians attend there to ascertain the disease, to look after the cure, to regulate the diet, and to administer medicine. The cost of the medicines and the food is defrayed from my endowments. All sick persons, residents and travelers, gentle and simple, bond and free, resort thither; their maladies are treated, and, under God's blessing, they are cured. Under the guidance of the Almighty I arranged that the heirs of those persons who had been executed (kushta) in the reign of my late lord and patron Sultán Muhammad Sháh, and those who had been deprived of a limb, nose, eye, hand, or foot, should be reconciled to the late Sultán and be appeased with gifts, so that they executed deeds declaring their satisfaction, duly attested by witnesses. These deeds were put into a chest, which was placed in the Dáru-l ámán at the head of the tomb of the VOL. III. 25 late Sultán, in the hope that God, in his great clemency, would show mercy to my late friend and patron, and make those persons feel reconciled to him. Another instance of Divine guidance was this. Villages, lands, and ancient patrimonies of every kind had been wrested from the hands of their owners in former reigns, and had been brought under the Exchequer. I directed that every one who had a claim to property should bring it forward in the law-court, and, upon establishing his title, the village, the land, or whatever other property it was should be restored to him. By God's grace I was impelled to this good action, and men obtained their just rights. I encouraged my infidel subjects to embrace the religion of the prophet, and I proclaimed that every one who repeated the creed and became a Musulmán should be exempt from the jizya, or poll-tax. Information of this came to the ears of the people at large, and great numbers of Hindus presented themselves, and were admitted to the honour of Islám. Thus they came forward day by day from every quarter, and, adopting the faith, were exonerated from the jizya, and were favoured with presents and honours. Through God's mercy the lands and property of his servants have been safe and secure, protected and guarded during my reign; and I have not allowed the smallest particle of any man's property to be wrested from him. Men often spoke to me officiously, saying that such and such a merchant had made so many lacs, and that such and such a revenue collector had so many lacs. By reproofs and punishments I made these informers hold their tongues, so that the people might be safe from their malignity, and through this kindness men became my friends and supporters. "Labour to earn for generous deeds a name, Nor seek for riches to extend thy fame. Better one grateful prayer than wealth untold." Under God's favour my heart was occupied with an earnest desire to succour the poor and needy (fukrá wa masákin) and to comfort their hearts. Wherever I heard of a fakir or religious recluse, I went to visit him and ministered to his necessities, so that I might attain the blessing promised to those who befriend the poor. Whenever a person had completed the natural term of life and had become full of years, after providing for his support, I advised and admonished him to direct his thoughts to making preparation for the life to come, and to repent of all things which he had done contrary to the Law and religion in his youth; to wean his affections from this world, and to fix them on the next. I desired to act upon the sentiment of these lines "The practice of the great should be To succour honest men ; And when a good man dies, to see His children find a friend." When any government servant filling an important and responsible position was carried off under the decrees of God to the happy future life, I gave his place and employment to his son, so that he might occupy the same position and rank as his father and suffer no injury. 66 'Kings should make their rule of life To love the great and wise; And when death ends this mortal strife, To dry their loved ones' eyes." The greatest and best of honours that I obtained through God's mercy was, that by my obedience and piety, and friendliness and submission to the Khalifa, the representative of the holy Prophet, my authority was confirmed; for it is by his sanction that the power of kings is assured, and no king is secure until he has submitted himself to the khalifa, and has received a confirmation from the sacred throne. A diploma was sent to me fully confirming my authority as deputy of the khilafat, and the leader of the faithful was graciously pleased to honour me with the title of "Saiyidu-s Salátin." He also bestowed upon me robes, a banner, a sword, a ring, and a foot-print as badges of honour and distinction. My object in writing this book has been to express my gratitude to the All-bountiful God for the many and various blessings He has bestowed upon me. Secondly, that men who desire to be good and prosperous may read this and learn what is the proper course. There is this concise maxim, by observing which, a man may obtain God's guidance: Men will be judged according to their works, and rewarded for the good that they have done. [This is an autobiographical memoir of the Emperor Tímúr, written in the Chaghatáí Turkí language, translated into Persian by Abú Tálib Husainí, and dedicated to the Emperor Sháh Jahan, who began to reign in A.D. 1628. 1 In the brief preface to his translation, Abú Tálib states that he found the original Turkí work in the library of Ja'far, Hákim of Yaman, and that it consisted of a history of Tímúr, from the seventh to the seventy-fourth year of his age. The reticence of Abú Tálib as to the authenticity of the original work, and the strangeness of the place for the discovery of a MS. in a Turki language, have given rise to the suspicion that there was no such work, and that Abú Tálib made the statement to give greater authority to a production of his own. Major Davy, who first brought the work to notice, argued against this supposition, grounding his opinion on the internal evidence of the work itself, and on the improbability of an author resorting to "an artifice which could tend only to diminish his fame and his profit." The probability is that Abú Tálib knew nothing more of the work than what he learned from its own pages, and that when he had turned these into Persian he had nothing to add. Tímúr's descendants seem to have had a partiality for writing 1 A person of this name was Pasha of Yaman in 1610.-Astley's Voyages referred to by Stewart in the Preface to his translation. |