4G6 M. Hammer's Memoir on the Diplomatic Relations 



" With this verse tlie sultan conchided his speech. The prince went away 

 " in disgust ; some say he turned dervish, but it is not known with cer- 

 " tainty what became of him." 



From this passage of Naima two things are evident ; one, tliat previously 

 to Baisanghar's appearance at Constantinople, envoys had been sent from 

 Kliurrum kShah to Sultan Murad ; though no particular mention is made of 

 tiieni in tiie annals of the Ottoman empire. The other, that there were five 

 sons of prince Daniel ; of whom four were killed, and tiie fifth escaped : 

 though Dow (at tlie end of the sixth chapter of the reign of Jehangir) men- 

 tions but two. Sultan Murad having alluded to two embassies as sent by 

 Khurrum Shah, that of Mir Zarif, the first of which any mention occurs in 

 Dow, must necessarily be the third. Naima, the Turkish historiographer, 

 gives the following account of it. 



" Arrival of an Indian Envoy in the year 1048 (A.D. 1638). 



" A letter of Afrasiab Aghlu had acquainted the Sidtan that Mir Zerif, 

 " the envoy of Khurrum Shah, the Padshah of Hindustan, had landed in the 

 " port of Jedda. 



" His Majesty being then at Mousul, the envoy proceeded thither, and 

 " delivered his letters and presents. Amongst these was a girdle valued at 

 " 15,000 piastres, and a shield made of an elephant's ear, covered with the 

 " hide of a rhinoceros, which could not be penetrated by sword or musket. 

 " The emperor, always slighting the greatest things, and eager to shew his 

 " athletic strength, called for a javelin ; and the shield being placed on the 

 " ground, he pierced it so powerfully that the point of the javelin appeared 

 " on the opposite side. The envoy being much perplexed by this exposure 

 " of his boasting, the sultan ordered five hundred ducats to be put into the 

 " shield and carried to him. He had brought with him great wealth, to be 

 " distributed amongst the poor of Mecca and Medina. In his credentials 

 " it was intimated, that on the report of the sultan's march to Bagdad, the 

 " Shah of India had put himself in progress towards Candahar, and hopes 

 " were expressed that both countries would be conquered at the same time; 

 " which came indeed to pass, as will be related hereafter. The envoy was 

 " detained at Mousul till the conquest of Bagdad was effected, and hand- 

 " somely provided for." 



Murad had less reason to be pleased with the letter than with the pre- 

 sents : it touched in an unpleasant way on tiie loss of Erivan, and on the 

 sultan's last return to Constantinople, as being occasioned by internal broils ; 



