Padshahnama-Vol.01
1.
Az sawāneḥ-i- ein ayyām ḥādis̱a-i- ‘usrat anjām-i- imsāk-i- bārān wa girāni-i- ghallah ast dar hamagi bilād-i- Daccan wa Gujrat: sāl-i- guẕashtah dar maḥāl-i- bālāghāt khoṣuṣan nawāḥi-i- Daulatabad bārān nabārideh bud wa darin sāl agarche dar aṭrāf-o- aknāf niz kami krad amma az mulk-i- Daccan wa Gujrat bilkul munqaṭe‘a gasht wa sukkān-i- ān deyār az inqeṭā‘e mawād-i- akl wa fuqdān-i- māyah-i- qut be iz̤ṭerār uftādand jāni be nāni dādand wa kas nami khareed wa sharifi be raghifi mi farokhtand wa nami arzid, dasti ke paiwastah be in‘ām darāz budi juz be gidyah-i- ṭa‘ām nakashoodi wa pāye ke hamisheh sāḥat-i- isteghnā supurdeh juz rāh-i- daryuzah napaimoodi. Muddati gosht-i- sag bajāye gosht-i- buz wa ustukhān-i- āhan kardah-i amwāt be ārd āmikhtah befarokht raft chunānche bād az ẓuhur-i- ein māna faroshindagān az pishgāh-i adālat-i- padshāh-i- haqshanās din asās be siyāsat rasidand. Anjam-i- Kār az ‘umoom-i- izṭerar shru‘a dar khurdan-i- gosht-i- yakdigar namoodand. gosht-i- farzand rā shirin tar az mehr-i- ou midānistand wa az bisyāri-i- jān supurdagān ṭoruq bar ahl-i- taraddud tang shud wa har ke pas az jān kandan-i- bisyār tā ajal-i mau‘ud muhlat yāft wa nairooye rahnawardi dar khud deed be qaryāt-o- qaṣbat-i- mamālik-i- digar intiqāl namood wa darin velāyat ke be abādi mashhoor wa ma‘aroof bood as̱ar-i- ma‘amuri namānd wa ein balāye shdeed wabāhaye guzashtah wa ghalāhaye rafteh ra ke dar tawārikh-i- sālifah be rasm-i- ta’ajjub nawishtah and dar naẓar be‘itebar gardānid wa dar moallifāt-i- lāḥeqeh chun mas̱al-i- maz̤rub wa samr-i- maktub marqoom khwahad gasht. maẓhar-i- yazdāni haz̤rat-i- khaqani ke karguzār-i- taqdeer mafātiḥ-i- konuz-i- arzāq be dast-i ganj afshān wa dil-e darya sanāsh supurdeh ast wa ghamām-i- in‘āmash chun in‘ām-i ghamām az kishtzār-i- umid-i- jahāniyān nishān-i- afsurdagi burdeh abwāb-i- bir-ro- niwāl wa asbāb-i- eḥsan-o- afz̤āl bar ruye ‘ālamiyan kushādeh wa āmādeh gardānidand wa beḥukm-i- qadr-i- tawān mutasaddiān-i mohimmāt-i- Burhanpur wa Ahmadabad wa vilāyat-i- Surat āshpaz khānahā ke be Hindustan zabān langar guyand barāye fuqarā wa niyāzmandān tarteeb dādand wa har ruz ān qadr āsh wa nān be kefāf-i- darmāndgān ta‘ām kifāyat kunad maṭbookh mi gasht wa niz be ḥukm-i-jahān maṭā‘a sharaf-i- ṣudur yāft ke ruz-i- maymanat anduz-i- dushanbeh ke be sharaf-i- julus-i- muqaddas basān-i- digar ayyām-i- mutabarrika izz-i- imteyāz dārad dar Burhanpur ke be farogh-e māhicha rayāt-i- āyāt-i- noor pazeer ast warāi khairāt-o- mabarrāt-i- har ruzah panj hezār rupiyah ke māhi bist hezār rupiyah bāshad be ahle isteḥqāq wa iḥteyāj dehand chunanche dar bist dushanbeh yak lak rupiah be fuqarā wa masākin marḥamat shud wa azin jihat ke ‘usrat-e- aqwāt wa z̤iq-i- auqāt –i- sukkān-i- Ahmadabad ziyādah bar diyār-i- digar be masame‘a-i- qudsiyah raseed ḥukm-i- muqaddas sharaf-i- ṣudur yāft ke nāẓiman-i- muhimmāt-i- ṣuba-i- maz̤koor panjāh hezār rupiyah naqd niz be ghalā didgān-i- ān shahr qismat numāyand, chun imsāk-i- bārān wa girāni ghallā bā‘is̱-i- kharābi-e- aks̱ar-i- mamālik gashteh bud mutaṣaddiyān-i- muhimmāt-i- khāliṣāt-i- mamālik-i- Hindustan darin sāl wa āyendah sāl be ḥukm-i- khāqān-i- dādgar bādshah-i- ‘adl gustar Ke hamagi himmat-i- wāla wa tamāmi niyat-i- ‘ulyā bar māmuri-i- mamlikat-o- abādi-i- vilāyat wa rifāhiyat-i- ‘ebād maṣruf dārand qareeb haftād lak rupiyah ke ziyādah az do ṣad-o- si hezār tumān-i Iraq qareeb do karor hashtād lak Khāni-i- Māwara un Nahr bāshad dar hashtād karor dām maḥall-i- khāliṣa-i- wāla ke yāzdahum hiṣṣah-i- mamālik-i- maḥrusah ast takhfeef dādand. Takhfeef-i- maḥall-i- jāgir-i- wāla qadr wa digar manṣabdārān barin qiyās bāyad namood.
2.
Among the events of these days is the calamity of scarcity of rain and dearness of the grain that resulted in miserable conditions in all of the Deccan region and in Gujrat. In the previous year, at places in Balaghat, specially in the vicinity of Daulatabad, it had not rained. This year, although rain was less in the surrounding region, but in Gujrat and Daccan, it did not rain at all and the inhabitants of that place were under great distress due to paucity of edibles and dearth of nourishment. They were ready to give up life inlieu of one bread and noone was inclined to buy; nobility was sold for one flat bread but was not considered worthwhile. The hand which was always extended to give rewards, was now stretched only to beg for food; and the feet that forever traversed the path of contentment, now walked only the road of beggary. For quite some time, dog’s meat in place of goat’s and the grounded bones of the dead mixed with wheat flour were being sold. When this matter came to light, the sellers were punished by the court of justice of the just and faithful king. In the end, due to intensity of their plight, people began to eat each other’s flesh. The flesh of a son was considered sweeter than his love. Due to the littering of the bodies of those who have lost their lives, paths became narrow for the passers by. And those, who after much distress, found some respite from the incumbent death, and had the strength in him to travel, migrated to other villages, towns and cities. No trace of population was left in this region which was known for its habitation. After this great calamity which will later be cited as the ultimate example and will be noticed as a legendary, all accounts of previous epidemics and famines of the past which have been narrated with wonder, shall become insignificant. The reflection of the Divine, his royal highness whose treasure – scattering hand and ocean-like heart have been blessed with the functions of opening the mysteries of livelihood, and the white clouds of whose rewards had removed the signs of dismay from the orchards of people’s hopes, opened the gates of benevolence on the faces of the people and provided them with food and nourishment. The officials at the towns of Burhanpur, Ahmedabad and the region of Surat, instituted cooking houses, (as many as were possible according to the capacity of their clerks), which in Indian language are called “Langar”, for the destitutes and the poor. Everyday as much bread and soup was cooked as to be sufficient for the daily need of the starving people. Also, an order by the master of the world received the honour of issue that on the auspicious day of Monday which had the honour of being the day of his exalted “Julus” (ascension to throne), and so has the same distinction as other Holy days, five thousands rupees, equal of twenty thousand rupees a month, besides other daily charaties and favoures, should be given to the needy and the poor in Burhanpur which is illumined by the luster of the gilded globes of the royal flag-spears. And in twenty Mondays, one lac of rupees were given to the poor and the needy. And when the news reached the holy ears that scarcity of food and the distressing condition of the inhabitants of Ahmedabad were worse than at other places, the sacred order received the honour of issue that the officials responsible for important state affairs of the said province should also distribute fifty thousand rupees in cash among the famine- hit people of that town. As dearth of rain and dearness of grain caused damage at many places, the functionaries of the affairs of the dominion of Hindustan, according to the command of the justice- dispensing, and compassionate emperor whose majestic temperament and exalted disposition are always fully inclined towards the prosperity of kingdom, welfare of his people and a well-inhabited land, gave a reduction, for this year and for the next, of nearly seventy lac of rupees, which is more than two hundred and thirty thousand ‘tuman’ of Iraq and approximately two coror and eighty lacs of the ‘Khani’ of “Mawaraonnahar” (transoxiana), in the amount of eighty coror ‘dam’ obtainable from that exalted land- which amounts to the eleventh portion of the (collection of the) entire land of Hindustan. Reduction in the ‘jagirs’ of the nobles and those holding offices can be accordingly surmised.