Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/357

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

JAHANGIR'S JOURNEY TO KASHMIR 303 mine called " Raj," which was not only the best fighter in my possession, but was the best decoy for wild deer. Mulla Mohammad Husain of Kashmir, who excelled all persons of his profession in calligraphy, had engraved the following words on a piece of stone: " In this delightful spot an antelope was caught by the Emperor Nur-ad-din Mohammad Jahangir, which in the space of a month became entirely tame and was considered the best of all the royal antelopes." Out of regard for this animal, I ordered that no one should hunt antelopes in that forest and that their flesh should be considered as unlawful as that of a cow to the infidel Hindus or as that of swine to the Mussulmans, and I caused the stone on the antelope tomb to be carved in the shape of a deer. On Thursday, the fourteenth, we encamped in the sub-district of Chandwala, and, after one intervening stage, arrived at Hafizabad on Saturday. In two marches more I reached the banks of the Chinab, and on Thursday, the twenty-first of Zu-1-hijja, I crossed the river by a bridge of boats and pitched my tents in the sub-district of Gujarat. When the Emperor Akbar was proceeding to Kashmir, he built a fort on the other side of this river, where he settled the Gujars, who had hitherto been devoted to plunder. The place was consequently named Gujarat and formed into a separate sub-district. The Gujars live chiefly upon milk and curds, and seldom cultivate land. On Friday, we arrived at Khawaspur, five leagues from Gujarat, and after two further marches we