Page:The Seven Cities of Delhi.djvu/287

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Delhi in Moghal Times


given him by the Chisti saint at Fatehpur Sikri,by the efficacy of whose prayers a son was born to Akbar, and Hved, while previous children had died. Delhi still remained a neglected capital, and was given as an estate to Sayyad Kamal, the son of a Bokhara noble, while Jahangir spent most of his time at Ajmere and Mandu, and other places. He, however, on several occasions visited the city, the first occasion being in 1606, while in pursuit of his son Khusru, who had rebelled and fled to the Punjab,During his short stay at Delhi, Jahangir visited the tomb of his grandfather, Humayun, and the shrine of Nizam-ud-din Aulia, distributing (so he says) a hundred thousand rupees in charity. On his return from Lahore, victorious over his son, he ordered trees to be planted along the highroad, sarais to be erected and to be provided with baths and reservoirs for fresh water; servants also were appointed to wait on travellers, as in dak bungalows. As a matter of fact, the sarais had been built by Sher Shah and Islam Shah, but no official notice could be taken of this. Bridges also were built over the streams, among others one of eleven arches near Humayun's tomb, on the Muttra Road.

In 1615 King James the First sent an embassy to Jahangir, under Sir Thomas Roe, but223