Bagh O Bahar | Page 3

this tale,
will, with the blessing of God, remain in health:" since which time this
tale, composed in Persian, has been extensively read.
Now, the excellent and liberal gentleman, the judge of respectable men,
Mr. John Gilchrist, (may his good fortune ever increase as long as the
Jamuna and Ganges flow!) with kindness said to me, "Translate this
tale into the pure Hindustani tongue, which the Urdu people, both
Hindus and Musalmans, high and low, men, women and children, use
to each other." In accordance with his honour's desire, I commenced
translating it into this same dialect, just such as any one uses in
common conversation.
But first this guilty being, Mir Amman, of Dilli, begs to relate his own
story: "That my forefathers, from the time of King Humayun, served
every king, in regular descent, with zeal and fidelity; and they [21] also
(i.e. the kings), with the eye of protection, ever justly appreciated and
rewarded our services. Jagirs, titles and rewards, were plentifully
bestowed on us; and we were called hereditary [22] vassals, and old
servants; so that these epithets were enrolled in the royal archives. [23]
When such a family (owing to which all other families were prosperous)
dwindled to such a point! which is too well [24] known to require

mention, then Suraj Mal, the Jat, [25] confiscated our Jagir, and
Ahmad Shah the Durrani, [26] pillaged our home. Having sustained
such various misfortunes, I abandoned that city, which was my native
land, and the place of my birth. Such a vessel, whose pilot was such a
king, was wrecked; and I began to sink in the sea of destitution! a
drowning person catches at a straw, and I sustained life for some years
in the city of 'Azim-abad, [27] experiencing both good and bad fortune
there. At length I left it also--the times were not propitious; leaving my
family there, I embarked alone in a boat, and came in quest of a
livelihood [28] to Calcutta, the chief of cities. I remained unemployed
for some time, when it happened that Nawwab Dilawar Jang sent for
me, and appointed me tutor to his younger brother, Mir Muhammad
Kazim Khan. I stayed with him nearly two years; but saw not my
advantage [in remaining there any longer.] Then, through the assistance
of Mir Bahadur 'Ali Munshi, I was introduced to Mr. John Gilchrist
(may his dignity be lasting.) At last, by the aid of good fortune, I have
acquired the protection of so liberal a person, that I hope better days; if
not, even, this is so much gain, that I have bread to eat, and having
stretched my feet, I repose in quiet; and that ten persons in my family,
old and young, are fed; and bless that patron. May God accept [their
prayers!]
"The account of the Urdu tongue I have thus heard from my
ancestors;--that the city of Dilli, according to the opinion of the Hindus,
was founded in the earliest times, [29] and that their Rajas and subjects
lived there from the remotest antiquity, and spoke their own peculiar
Bhakha. [30] For a thousand years past, the Musalmans have been
masters there. Mahmud of Ghazni [31] came [there first]; then the
Ghori and Lodi [32] became kings; owing to this intercourse, the
languages of the Hindus and Musalmans were partially blended
together. At last Amir Taimur [33] (in whose family the name and
empire remain to this day), conquered Hindustan. From his coming and
stay, the bazar of his camp was settled in the city; for which reason the
bazar of the city was called Urdu. [34] Then King Humayun, annoyed
by the Pathans, went abroad [to Persia]; and at last, returning from
thence, he punished the surviving [Pathans], and no rebel remained to
raise strife or disturbance.

When King Akbar ascended the throne, then all tribes of people, from
all the surrounding countries, hearing of the goodness and liberality of
this unequalled family, flocked to his court, but the speech and dialect
of each was different. Yet, by being assembled together, they used to
traffic and do business, and converse with each other, whence resulted
the common Urdu language. When his majesty Shahjahan Sahib Kiran
[35] built the auspicious fort, and the great mosque, [36] and caused the
walls of the city to be built; and inlaid the peacock throne [37] with
precious stones, and erected his tent, made of gold and silver brocade;
and Nawwab' Ali Mardan Khan cut the canal [38] [to Dilli]; then the
king, being pleased, made great rejoicings, and constituted the city his
capital. Since that time it has been called Shajahan-abad, (although the
city of Dilli is distinct from it, the latter being called the old city, and
the former the new,) and to the bazar of it