212 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Mohna was obtained, was a surdar of high rank in tbe service of 

 the Emperor. He was murdered by Adham in 970 A. H., and 

 was buried in the marble burial-ground at Nizam-uddin. Do 

 Khun Shood is the Persian phrase, from which the year of his 

 death may be derived. His murderer was executed by order of 

 the Emperor. From this Molina, a cock bird, some young ones 

 were obtained, called Ashki, Parizad, Almas, Shah-Oodi, &c. 

 These are not the names of colours, but of the young ones, and, 

 since it is not known what sort of hen was the mother of them, 

 it may be concluded that they were of the same kind with Molina, 

 viz., Sabya, and were only so called familiarly. 



Abul Fazl says that the offspring of these Pigeons became 

 known far and wide throughout the world, and the fame of their 

 strength of wing, their graceful flight, their swiftness, and their 

 being so highly tractable, soon eclipsed the high-flown accounts 

 of Umar Sheikh Mirza's and Sultan Hosen Mirza's Pigeon- 

 flying.* 



The old methods of taming and training Pigeons were no 

 longer in vogue, and the Emperor and his Kabutar-baz invented 

 new ones, which were so good that the Pigeon-keepers of Persia 

 and Turan were all astonished, and at last followed and adopted 

 the same plan. From this it appears to me that at that time this 

 diversion was little known in India, otherwise India would have 

 been mentioned along with Iran and Turan. The date of its 

 introduction, development, and perfection was perhaps that of 

 the Emperor Akbar. Abul Fazl states that in former times, both 

 in Iran and Turan, they used to pair cock and hen Pigeons of 

 the same race and colour, and their young ones were of the 

 same kind accordingly ; but the Emperor Akbar adopted a 

 new plan, and took young ones from Pigeons of different breeds 

 and colours. A new and handsome breed was thus originated, 

 and the fame of the Emperor's ingenuity soon spread through 

 the world. It is said that when a cock bird is placed with a hen 

 of a diffei-ent kind, after being kept together for five or six days, 



* I understand Umar Sheikh Mirza was the son of Sultan Abu Said 

 Mirza, grandson of Sultan Mahomed Mirza, and great-grandson of Meeran 

 Shah, the son of Ameer Taimur Gorkan. He was father of Babir Badshah, 

 and the Buler of Farghana, in Turkestan. Ameerzada Sultan Hosen, 

 a descendant of Ameer Taimur Gorkan, was the prince who attacked and 

 defeated Sultan Kbalil Mirza at Samarkund after the year 800 a.h. 



