I 



between tlie Cowls ofDeJili and Constantinople. 469 



" monarch. The Padshah of India liaving now on his side sent one of the 

 " Ulemas of his court, Saiyad Ahmed, they were both ushered into the 

 " imperial Divan on Tuesday the '21st of Rejeb ;* when the Indian Envoy 

 " delivered his letters and presents, amongst which were a girdle and dagger 

 " set with the purest diamonds. The puiport of the letters was, that the 

 " business of Nasir Muhammed, the Khan of the Uzbegs, had been taken 

 " care of even before the arrival of the Sultan's letters ; and that he had 

 '• been restored to the possession of his country : but that he did not enjoy 

 " it longer than tinee years and eight months ; when some rebels raised 

 " their hands against him, and he died soon afterwards." 



The account of tiie return of Muhi-ud-:din along with the learned Saiyad 

 Ahmed, and the nomination of the stupid Zulfikar as ambassador to India, 

 forms a very interesting article of Naima's history : but before it is narrated, 

 I must notice another extraordinary Indian mission, not from Shah Jehan, 

 but from the learned and unfortunate prince, his son, Dara Shekoh ; who 

 sent, on his own part, a Mola named Shaki, with a letter to the Grand Wazir 

 Mustafa, and offerings to the holy shrines of the Imam Abu Hanifa, and 

 the celebrated saint, Saiyad Abdulkadir Zilani. It is very probable that this 

 mission had, besides the ostensible object of offering the presents at the 

 holy places, the political one of securing for Dara Shekoh the Sultan's 

 friendship, and perhaps assistance in his schemes to ascend the throne of his 

 father. The prudence which guides the pens of Persian and Indian secre- 

 taries of state, keeps within general phrases ; so that the true object of a 

 mission or embassy can scarcely ever be guessed at by the mere credentials. 

 Dara Shekoh's letter and the Grand Wazlr's answer are both given in Isari 

 Abdullah's collection ; and are translated in the Appendix.! Dara Shekoh's 

 letter does not mention even the presents sent, and refers entirely to Sliaki's 

 oral commission. The Grand Wazlr's answer, full of Turkish bombast, ac- 

 knowledges the arrival of the presents destined for the holy shrines ; and 

 the wish with which it closes, tliough it may be taken for nothing else than 

 an ordinary compliment, may be also construed to bear a more important 

 meaning, if the Grand Wazlr's verbal reply to Shaki were such as to encou- 

 rage Dara Shekoh's rising hopes. This mission of Shaki must have taken 



• This is a blunder of the copyist ; the 21st Rejeb of the year A.H. 1059, nhich began on 

 the 15th January A.D. 1G49, answers to the 21st July, which was on a Saturday, 

 t Nos. V. and VI. 

 Vol. II. S P 



