Indian Antiquary Vol 52

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 310

294
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ OCTOBER, 1923
court of Ibrâhîm 'Adil Shâh II, was returning from Bîjâpûr and had arrived within a short distance of Aḥmadnagar, and the king decided, in view of the service formerly rendered by him to the Nizâm Shâhî dynasty, to honour him by summoning him to the capital and entertaining him, and by the royal command the learned and distinguished Sayyid Granâ'im, who was one of the king's most intimate courtiers, was sent to invite Nûr Muḥammad Amin, whom he found in the neighbourhood of the capital, and brought to court. When he arrived at the outskirts of the garden of the 'Thâdatkhâna, a number of the nobles, such as Miyân Manjhû Jînî Begi, Sharza Khân, sar-i-naubat of the right wing, and other officers of the army, went forth by the royal command to welcome the Sayyid, and brought him to the outskirts of the garden of the watercourse where they lodged him. After that great quantities of fodder, of food, drink, and all sorts of fruits were sent for use of the Sayyid and his followers, the plain being loaded with these evidences of royal generosity.
After Nur Mu'ammad Amin had been thus royally entertained at a banquet, it was reported to the king in a petition from Nûr Muḥammad Tahir Mûsawi that when he was ambassador from Qutb Shâh to Adil Shâh it had been reported to that king that Nur Muhammad Amin had oppressively possessed himself of the property of certain merchants who were travelling in the same direction as he was. The petition. expressed a hope that the king would not pass over such tyranny but would see that those who had suffered wrong were righted. Now, although the offence had not been committed within the dominions of Ahmadnagar, the king's sense of justice, hatred of oppression, and benevolence towards all who were desolate and oppressed were such that he determined to right the wrong. In spite of what was agreeable to that Sayyid in particular, and to all other Sayyids in general, and in spite of Nur Muhammad Amin's high post in the service of so mighty a monarch as Jalâl-ud-din Muḥammad Akbar, who had for nearly 40 years sat upon the imperial throne, ruling over most of the countries of Hind, Sind, Kabul, Kashmir, Bengal, Malwa, Gujarât and Somnât, and was above all the kings of the earth by reason of the numbers and strength of his armies-in spite of all these considerationsBurhân Nizâm Shâh resolved that justice should be done. He therefore commanded that Nur Muḥammad Amîn should settle the claims of the merchants and leave the country, but that he should not venture to march until he had settled their claims.
Although Nur Muhammad Amin, after admitting the justice of the claim, excused himself, and through the mediation of the great officers of state and the king's courtiers represented that consideration was due to him on account of the services which he had formerly rendered to the state, the king's love of justice would not permit him to listen to such pleas, and he insisted on nothing short of restoration of the property to those from whom it had been taken, and the satisfaction of those who claimed justice.
In short, thanks to the king's justice, the property which Akbar Pâdshâh's ambassador had unjustly taken was restored, willingly or unwillingly, and he obtained leave to depart.201
351 Sayyid Ali's history ends here, what follows being merely a supplement or appendix. Burhân Nizam Shah II died on April 13 (Akbarnama) or April 28 (F. ii, 307) 1595, and his elder son, Ibrahim, to whom Isma'il had formerly been preferred, was raised to the throne. Ibrahim, who was a worthless sot, was killed in a faction fight on Aug. 22, 1595, and Chand Bibi supported the claim of his infant son, Bahadur, to the throne, while Miyan Manjhû and the Dakanis, with whom the Africans were, for once, not in accord, raised to the throne the pretender Aḥmad.