2. Khanjar Beg's mathnawī: content, structure and features

Mathnawī is the most useful, wide and encyclopaedic form in comparison to all forms of Persian poetry. It is the only form of Persian poetry in which each and every thing can be lucidly and vividly expressed. It is a poem in couplets without any rhyme scheme (qāfiya and radīf) and can consist of unlimited number of couplets. Commenting on the mathnawī form of Persian poetry, Shiblī Noʿmānī points out its usage and wide scope in the following words:

Khanjar Beg composed his poem in the form of mathnawī without assigning it any title.Footnote ¹⁵ He composed it in Persian language for Akbar during the early years of his reign in 1557c.Footnote ¹⁶ The exact date of the composition of the mathnawī is not known but its content and context suggest that he composed it during the second phase of the period of Akbar's regent, Bayram Khān (1556-1560) which encompasses the period from the second battle of Panipat (November 1556) to the arrival of royal ladies (Akbar's mother, Ḥamīda Bānu Begum and his foster mother, Māham Anga) from Kabul to India (April 1557). In this phase, the regent was more powerful and had complete control over state administration by creating a group of loyalists and attempted to become a de facto sovereign.Footnote ¹⁷ Khanjar Beg was discontented with the regent's growing influence in the court and dissented from his policies. By composing this masterpiece, he endeavoured to draw the emperor's attention toward this matter. However, there were many other factors that led him to compose the mathnawī. Khanjar Beg's personal life, the contemporary political scenario particularly the partisan politics among Mughal nobles and the change that occurred during Bayram Khān's regency with regard to the nature of Mughal kingship which was redefined by the emperor Humāyūn (r. 1530-40, 1555-56), Akbar's father, bear a close connection with the composition of the mathnawī.

Khanjar Beg, a Mughal noble, minstrel poet and erudite man, was associated with the court of Humāyūn and Akbar. He belonged to Chaghtai nobles of Tranoxiana (Tūrān) and came to India with Humāyūn. He was also one of the oldest nobles in Akbar's time and the son-in-law of Tardī Beg Khān, the Mughal governor of Delhi province in 1556.Footnote ¹⁸ He joined Mughal service when Humāyūn was struggling to restore Mughal rule in India around 1554-1555. During the course of time, he became Humāyūn's confidant (maḥram) and boon companion (nadīm), and was made a part of his inner circle.Footnote ¹⁹ His close relationship with Humāyūn, his association with the emperor's inner circle and his stature in the Mughal court are evident from his engagement in very confidential and personal assignments of the emperor.Footnote ²⁰

However, Humāyūn's accidental death in 1556 completely changed Khanjar Beg's life. He even lost his erstwhile position as a result of partisan politics during the period of Bayram Khān's regency. These developments, having a direct bearing on his personal life and career, leading him to resist the regent's attempts at becoming the de facto sovereign ruler, compelled him to compose the mathnawī. At the time of Humāyūn's death Khanjar Beg was with Tardī Beg at Delhi. After suffering defeat at the hands of Hemu, the Hindu military commander of Afghāns, in a battle fought at Delhi on 7 October 1556, Tardī Beg along with other nobles fled and met Akbar at Sirhind who was marching towards Delhi to attack Hemu and to recapture the province.Footnote ²¹ There was the arch-rivalry between the regent and Tardī Beg Khān. The defeat of the latter in the battle gave an opportunity to the former to eliminate one of the powerful nobles and to establish himself as the only next to Akbar. The regent managed to convince Akbar to execute Tardī Beg on the charges of treason by presenting ʿAlī Qulī Khān and Pīr Muḥammad Khān as witnesses against him.Footnote ²² It was not only Tardī Beg who became a victim of the regent's political ambition, but even his adherents and companions including Khanjar Beg fell victim to the same. The regent put some adherents of Tardī Beg to death while some of them such as Khanjar Beg, Khwāja Sulṭān ʿAlī and Mīr Asghar Munshī were imprisoned. However, later on, the three managed to free themselves.Footnote ²³ Khanjar Beg remained in touch with the imperial court as a poet, if not anything else. He composed many poems with his pen name ‘khanjar’ including the mathnawī for Akbar collected in his Dīwān.Footnote ²⁴

The partisan politics, rivalry, and jealousy prevalent in the Mughal court at that time are reflected in the mathnawī, because Khanjar Beg personally experienced and fell victim to the same. Moreover, the time from the death of Humāyūn in 1556 to the fall of Bayram Khān's power as the de facto ruler in 1560 was a period of confusion, suspicions, political crisis and development of unethical dispositions such as malevolence, malice and jealousy for power within Mughal nobility.Footnote ²⁵ Khanjar Beg in the mathnawī tried to bring attention of Akbar towards the prevalent atmosphere of jealously and partisan politics. He counsels the emperor to understand world affairs carefully and to take control over the imperial authority as the centre of power in favour of all Mughal nobility and kingdom, and reminds him that acquiring good name (nām-i nek) constitutes the emperor's main (aṣl) objective. He says:

This period also witnessed the rise of Bayram Khān's power and his complete control over state administration which are explicitly reflected in his political and administrative policies. Having eliminated the last hurdle, Tardī Beg, and taken all political and administrative power, particularly the control of central administration in his own hands, the regent attempted to strengthen his power by appointing and promoting his servants and friends to high positions and kept all of them away from the capital and the emperor's contact. With such measures, the regent bestowed different titles on his own friends. He bestowed on ʿAbdallāh Khān Uzbek the title of Shujāʿat Khān and assigned him the sarkār of Kālpī; on Sikandar Khān Uzbek the title of Khān-i ʿĀlam and appointed him to Sialkot to assist Khiḍr Khwāja Khān; on ‘Alī Qulī Khān the title of Khān-i Zamān and assigned to him the sarkār of Sambhal; and entrusted Qiyā Khān with the assignment of Āgra. He gave special status to Pīr Muḥammad Khān by bestowing on him the title of Nāṣir al-Mulk who was attached to the emperor in person on behalf of the regent. Besides, the regent also took complete control of the central administration by dismissing old servants such as Khwāja Sulṭān ʿAlī and Mīr Asghar Munshī. He also performed most of the duties of the officers of the central government through his adherents, Pīr Muḥammad Khān, Khwāja Amīn al-Dīn and Shaykh Gadāʾī.Footnote ²⁷

The powerful position of the regent and his partisan policies caused resentment among other groups of Mughal nobles which comprised of Māham Anga, her son, Adham Khān, and Shahāb al-Dīn Aḥmad Khān and all those people who belonged to the Atka Khail family. They were resentful because the regent refused to share power with them. Apart from it, they were also critical of his discriminatory politics as they were assigned poor jāgīrs mostly in distant and hostile regions. For example, Adham Khān was assigned a jāgīr in Hathnath near Āgra which was the region of rebellious Rajputs, while Akta Khān was assigned jāgīr of Bahera in Punjab.Footnote ²⁸ This kind of politics in the appointment of nobles in the Mughal administration was good neither for Akbar himself nor for the nascent kingdom. Khanjar Beg suggests the emperor to use the uzuk sealFootnote ²⁹ with caution (iḥtiyāṭ) and prudence (hushyārī) rather than as a seal of mere endorsement of appointment already done by the regent. Addressing the emperor he cautions:

Similarly, the problems of the nobles opposing the regent, to which Khanjar Beg himself belonged, are also reflected in the mathnawī. He hints at the problems faced by them and also laments Akbar's indifference towards their suffering. Drawing the emperor's attention toward nobles’ problems, he says:

The main aim of Bayram Khān for taking these political measures was to exercise his power as the de facto ruler as he could not enjoy it in the presence of other powerful nobles who could contest him for the post of wakīl.Footnote ³² In fact, Akbar was the nominal sovereign in general and a tool for the nobles who wanted to share power with the regent in particular. Akbar's position as a nominal ruler in this period is evident from the regent's interference in the personal life of the emperor. In 1556, Akbar's marital relation with the daughter of ʿAbdallāh Khān Mughal, who belonged to a distinguished family, is the conspicuous evidence of the regent's control over the emperor's personal life. When the emperor wanted to marry the daughter of ʿAbdallāh Khān, the regent did not approve of it because ʿAbdallāh Khān was related to the emperor's uncle, Mīrzā Kāmrān through the marriage of his sister. The regent even considered ʿAbdallāh Khān as a partisan of Kāmrān. In the end, the emperor had to issue an imperial order (farmān) to Pīr Muḥammad Khān, whose intervention helped in persuading the regent to give his consent for the marriage.Footnote ³³ Here, it is worthwhile to note that it is not Bayram Khān's concern for the safety of Akbar, but his efforts to remain the de facto ruler as it is evidenced by his intervention in the emperor's personal life. Protesting against the regent's strong control over the imperial authority, Khanjar Beg tries to make Akbar realise his position and encourages him to consolidate power in his own hands. In the following couplets, addressing the emperor, he says:

Through these metaphors, Khanjar Beg attempts to project Akbar as the candle (shamʿ) and the sun (khwur or khurshīd) (the real authority), who possesses light and sunbeam (nur-i khwur), the power to illuminate his house (khāna), the kingdom with candle light and the world with sunbeam (to provide tranquillity to the subjects of the kingdom and to make the world prosperous. But he is not able to illuminate them because he has given his light (power) to someone else (the regent); and he is not even aware of the significance of his authority and position. Furthermore, Khanjar Beg argues that if the candle (Akbar) is not aware of the significance of light (power), the moths (subjects) will face hardships for the livelihood of all subjects is derived from him and the kingdom does not mean anything sans the emperor.

With regard to Akbar being a tool in the hands of the opposing Tūrānī nobles, the composition of the mathnawī itself with its focus on making the emperor conscious of the value and significance of his power, on encouraging him to take all power in his own hands, and on redressing the grievances of the regent's opponents, illustrates how Khanjar Beg tried to persuade the emperor to weaken and dislodge the regent.

Apart from the above mentioned reasons for the composition of the mathnawī, Khanjar Beg's attempt to regain his lost position during Akbar's reign was also one of the motivating factors that led him to write it. His intent is reflected in several couplets which also illustrate that he was feeling insecure after being set free from imprisonment. Couplets emphasising his competent persona equipped with skills in different arts,Footnote ³⁵ and asserting his close relationship with Humāyūn by portraying himself as the emperor's confidant and boon companion illustrate his intention to affirm himself as a capable person worthy of being in the imperial service.Footnote ³⁶ Khanjar Beg, through many couplets, tries to impress Akbar that he remained at the service of Humāyūn only by virtue of his abilities and skills.Footnote ³⁷ The couplets at the end of the mathnawī try to foreground the association of Khanjar Beg's forefathers and their image of the trustworthy well-wishers at the Mughal court.Footnote ³⁸ This connection is also shrewdly employed by him to regain his lost position. Similarly, he by declaring himself to be a loyal, rightful, and honest servant, by portraying himself as an oppressed person at the hands of his enemies due to the death of emperor Humāyūn, and by giving clarification for his being a victim of the rivalry between Tardī Beg Khān and the regent manifest his intention of composing the mathnawī for securing imperial favour.Footnote ³⁹ These developments—problems pertaining to his personal life, his being the victim of the rivalry between the regent and Tardī Beg Khān, the partisan politics and his fear of losing his imperial position—created frustration in Khanjar Beg which led him to compose the mathnawī along with explicit criticism of Akbar for which he apologises in the mathnawī (see below).

The trend of composing poetry for gaining imperial patronage by complaining about irregularities in the kingdom and through asserting one's capabilities and poetic skills was a prevalent tradition during that time across kingdoms. In this context, Khanjar Beg's persona bears some resemblance with Musṭafa ʿAlī (1541-1600), the sixteenth-century historian of Ottoman Empire. Musṭafa ʿAlī, a near contemporary of Khanjar Beg, was appointed in the periphery regions of the Ottoman Empire, who always attempted to serve at the centre and to maintain a proximity to the ruler.Footnote ⁴⁰ Towards this end, he attempted to gain the goodwill of the emperor through expressing his potentials in his writings and complained against the corruption of officials and irregularities in the empire.Footnote ⁴¹

The change in the nature of kingship during the period of Bayram Khān's regency can be cited as yet another reason for Khanjar Beg to compose the mathnawī. The image of the king in the time of Bābur was just a ‘steppe clan leader’ whose position was that of ‘first-among-equals’. However, the image of king as established by Humāyūn, departing from his father's, was something more than ‘first-among-equals’ and finally it reached its zenith in the form of an all-powerful and absolute king during the time of Akbar and its clear manifestation can be seen in Abuʾl Faḍl's Akbarnāma. In fact, it was Humāyūn who changed the image of king by redefining imperial policies and rituals. For instance, he tried to change the image of king ideologically by commissioning the book, Qānun-i Humāyūni in which his greatness as a powerful king was presented.Footnote ⁴² The image of king as not being one among equals, which emerged in Humāyūn's time, was disappearing after his death due to partisan politics. Khanjar Beg observed it at the time and accordingly tried to remind Akbar through the mathnawī of what his father did for consolidating his image as a powerful ruler. He even exemplified Humāyūn and his efforts for strengthening himself and for consolidating his empire in the mathnawī.Footnote ⁴³

The mathnawī was originally composed in four hundred seventy-seven couplets,Footnote ⁴⁴ which has been traced and identified in the poetic collection (dīwān) of Khanjar Beg titled Dīwān-i Khanjar in the Oriental collection of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.Footnote ⁴⁵ However, some couplets of the mathnawī, along with incorrect information of the actual number of its couplets, are found in a sixteenth-century historical chronicle, in the tadhkiras of the later centuries and in a modern piece of writing. ʿAbd al-Qādir Badāyūnī's Muntakhab al-Tawārīkh, an unofficial historical chronicle of Mughals written in the sixteenth century is the earliest source in which Badāyūnī mentions the mathnawī and its composer while discussing the biography of several poets during the time of Akbar. Badāyūnī also extracts fifty three couplets from the mathnawī and puts them in his historical chronicle to establish the mathnawī's significance as well as to show Khanjar Beg's interest and talent in Persian poetry.Footnote ⁴⁶ However, his claim about the exact number of couplets that the poet originally composed the mathnawī in three thousands couplets (si ṣad bayt) is unsubstantiated.Footnote ⁴⁷ Relying on Badāyūnī's description, Lakshmī Nārāyan Shafīq and Bindārban Dās Khushgo, the tadhkira writers of the eighteenth century, also provide similar information about the mathnawī through quoting few couplets.Footnote ⁴⁸ Sayyid Ṣabāḥ al-Dīn, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān presents a similar picture of it and incorporates forty nine couplets in Bazm-i Tīmūriya, a twentieth century book written in Urdu on the intellectual history of Mughal India.Footnote ⁴⁹

The complete mathnawī could not be traced or identified for a long time. It even escaped the attention of modern historians of Mughal India due to many reasons. One obvious reason is that it has not been clearly identified in the catalogue. Sachau and Ethe asserts that a mathnawī of Khanjar Beg in the catalogue consisting of pieces of advice presented to Akbar through the reference of Safīna-i Khushgo as the additional information for the reader but they fail to identify it clearly in the manuscript of the Dīwān.Footnote ⁵⁰

The other reason is that the mathnawī could not get a wide reception in Mughal period. Contemporary historians except Badāyūnī do not mention this mathnawī.Footnote ⁵¹ Abuʾl Faḍl, the author of Akbarnāma and Āʾīn-i Akbarī, even do not list him while commenting on the contemporary Mughal court poets. Badāyūnī's appreciation of Khanjar Beg's mathnawī, and the ignorance of Abuʾl Faḍl about it can be explained in terms of the critical approach of Khanjar Beg to Akbar in it. Badāyūnī and Abuʾl Faḍl were two opposite figures of the sixteenth-century Mughal India. The former was critic of Akbar and his policies while the latter was the great admirer of Akbar and everything which belonged to him. The lack of its reception in Mughal India can also be seen through the number of copies of the manuscript. Khanjar Beg's Dīwān-i Khanjar in the Bodleian Library which consists of the complete mathnawī is the only copy of the manuscript. The mathnawī, even as a separate form of written treatise like numerous Persian mathnawīs of the early modern period, was not known in any catalogue of a library because not a single separate manuscript copy of the mathnawī had been traced yet. Another reason for its lack of circulation in Mughal India was that it was written for an immediate cause. Despite the fact that the Bodleian manuscript copy is unicum, the mathnawī reached Akbar orally through Khanjar Beg himself. He recited it in front of the emperorFootnote ⁵² in the imperial court at Āgra, the capital city of Mughals.Footnote ⁵³

The mathnawī is diverse in terms of its content, structure and features. It is didactic, reproachful, panegyric, apologetic, historical and autobiographical in nature which consists of a variety of themes such as autobiography, advice for Akbar on the art of governance with all features of advice literature, and of some reflections on political crisis and partisan politics prevalent at Mughal court in the early years of Akbar's reign. It begins with panegyric couplets for the emperor and his kingdom;Footnote ⁵⁴ follows a narrative description on the poet's personal, intellectual and political life along with his skill in different arts, as well as his personal experiences.Footnote ⁵⁵ Furthermore, it gives advice to Akbar addressing him directly and frankly using base language,Footnote ⁵⁶ and reproaching the emperor for not being conscious of the authority he possessed, for his inattention to fulfil his duties, and for his negligence of state affairs and contemporary political problems.Footnote ⁵⁷ The last part of the mathnawī contains patronising and apologetic couplets for his usage of frank and base language and criticism of the emperor.Footnote ⁵⁸ However, it ends with supplications to God for the emperor's longevity.Footnote ⁵⁹ Khanjar Beg's criticism of the sovereign in explicit manner is one of the remarkable features of the mathnawī.

The trend of using base language to address imperial authority and criticising him abruptly was perhaps used in medieval Persian court culture. In medieval Perso-Islamic World, the court poets were well-wishers for the ruler and his kingdom and one of their duties was to encourage him to pursue good and to avoid evils through offering advice to him.Footnote ⁶⁰ But they were obliged to counsel and even on some occasions to criticise him in a well-balanced language that is called “oblique and indirect language”.Footnote ⁶¹ It means a language which at a time could conceal and reveal the message clearly without offending ruler.Footnote ⁶² However, criticising and eulogising ruler at two different occasions served as a ritual for the transfer of allegiance between two patrons. The two odes of Abū ʿUbāda b. al-Walīd b. ʿUbayd al-Buḥturī written after the murder of his patron, the Abbasid caliph, al-Mutawakkil ʿalā llah (r. 847-861), is this type of writing.Footnote ⁶³ The indirect criticism of ruler, particularly for his failure to maintain state affairs such as social and political order in his land or to achieve the goal of becoming an ideal ruler, is also found in the advice literature. The authors of advice literature do not criticise ruler directly. Generally, they criticise the failures of ruler and sometime ruler himself indirectly. They do it as well-wishers for their ruler and kingdom just to make him aware of the contemporary social and political problems and to urge him to solve them. This feature of advice literature has been termed the ‘positive protest’ of the authors.Footnote ⁶⁴ Similarly, no work either in poetry or prose, particularly a didactic poem or advisory work is found in Mughal India which criticises a ruler unequivocally. In fact, Mughal emperors did not like such writings, though they patronised a large number of poets and authors.Footnote ⁶⁵ In the context of the culture of criticising ruler, Khanjar Beg's approach to criticism departs from Persian court poets of medieval Islamic world in terms of making explicit criticism. However, he tries to maintain a balance between criticising Akbar and not offending him by various ways in the mathnawī. For instance, Khanjar Beg warns the emperor about his unawareness and negligence towards the poor condition of the people and widening gap between the emperor and his subjects. In one of couplets, he frankly expresses his ideas and says:

There are around seventeen couplets in which he warns Akbar against his overindulgence in pleasurable activities such as hunting, riding elephants, fighting animals, living an epicurean life and strolling in the country etc. while ignoring state affairs and every day suffering, fear and anxiety etc. of his subjects.Footnote ⁶⁷ In the following couplets, he says:

Khanjar Beg's criticism of Akbar is not on the grounds of the latter's indulgence in pleasurable activities per se; rather he considers these activities as part of imperial skills and ethos. His criticism emanates from his belief that Akbar, while overindulging in these activities, failed in dealing with state affairs.Footnote ⁶⁹

In the advisory part of the mathnawī, Khanjar Beg attempts to compensate his criticism of the emperor with the constant portrayal of himself as courteous and loyal to him and tries to not portray himself as being discourteous. He does it in various ways. One of the approaches adopted by him for this purpose is to claim himself to be a well-wisher of the emperor and his kingdom. Further, he counsels the emperor to pay heed to the advice being proffered. This approach is reflected in many couplets of the advisory part. For instance:

Khanjar Beg also tries to neutralise his criticism of the emperor by employing a patronising tone towards the end of the mathnawī. In doing so, he depicts Akbar as the source of peace and stability in the kingdom.Footnote ⁷¹

Yet another approach that Khanjar Beg adopts in the act of balancing is through admonishing himself for levelling criticism against Akbar. In this he projects Akbar's rule as sanctified by God and therefore, not subject to criticism.Footnote ⁷² As a matter of fact, Khanjar Beg reminds himself that all his counsels are meaningless and looks down upon his criticism as a source of discomfort for Akbar.Footnote ⁷³ Afterwards, he while addressing Akbar makes it clear that the whole of his mathnawī is nothing but a declaration of his loyalty to his emperor.Footnote ⁷⁴ He even tries to maintain such balance by apologising to Akbar and asks for his forgiveness and requests him to pay heed if his counsel touches the matter of truth.Footnote ⁷⁵ However, the fact is that maintaining such a balance in the mathnawī was aimed at gaining personal favour from Akbar. The prime favour being sought was regaining his lost position at the imperial court as earlier discussed.

Thus, the context, content, structure, and features of Khanjar Beg's mathnawī suggest that his mathnawī is polythematic in nature covering multiple themes, intents, emotions and purposes. It is the polythematic feature of the mathnawī and its multiplicity in nature, particularly reproaching Akbar for his negligence toward state affairs in explicit terms, which makes it unique and distinguished from other didactic poetic writings composed particularly in Mughal India. Although Khanjar Beg composed many other poems in different modes of Persian poetry as contained in his Dīwān, and wrote several books,Footnote ⁷⁶ it was the mathnawī and its uniqueness which gave him a place of pride for introducing a new form of poetry composition in the sixteenth-century Mughal India.Footnote ⁷⁷ These characteristics also explain why Khanjar Beg chose the mathnawī genre rather than other forms of Persian poetry, and preferred poetic form to that of prose. In fact, it was the mathnawī genre with its flexible nature that suited Khanjar Beg to give expression to his diverse intents, assorted themes and multitude of emotions including the criticism of Akbar.

3. The mathnawī as an advice book

The advice literature or mirror for princes is a literary genre commonly written in prose. It provides ideal norms to human beings for edification in general and to a ruler for the management of state affairs in particular. It was popular during the middle ages across geographical boundariesFootnote ⁷⁸ accumulating much fame in medieval Islamicate society where it was produced in multiple traditions—pre-Islamic Iranian (Sāsānid), Islamic and Greek; and in multiple languages—ʿArabic, Persian and Turkish.Footnote ⁷⁹

The genre consists of ideal norms for how a state and government should be administered focusing on how a ruler should be and what he should do for the establishment of an ideal state and society. It portrays the image of a ruler as divinely-ordained and an ideal being having knowledge of governance and dispensation of justice in his kingdom. A discussion on justice (adālat) and just rulers is the focal point of the genre.Footnote ⁸⁰ Moreover, it does not concentrate on framing the theory of state and government as it is the norm in the writings of orthodox Islamic jurists and the Muslim political philosophers. Rather, its concerns are with improving the contemporary circumstances and providing remedies for social and political evils without giving conspicuous description of the exact problems.Footnote ⁸¹ It is also perceived to be a ‘positive protest’ against the failure of a ruler to maintain social and political order.Footnote ⁸² Besides, politics is the main subject of the genre but the authors do not separate it from moral and ethical norms. One of the noted features of the genre is that advice is tendered through anecdotes, maxims, and tales concerning the rulers of Pre-Islamic Iran, Muslim rulers, prophets and caliphates with the help of Qurʾānic verses and prophetic traditions.Footnote ⁸³

Apart from these features all advisory texts, on the grounds of their authors’ ideological orientations, are broadly divided into two traditions: akhlāq and adab. Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī's Akhlāq-i Nāṣirī and those texts which incorporate his ideas are considered as advisory texts of akhlāq. The main feature of this tradition is that the authors do not give any place to the orthodox ideas of Islamic jurists nor to any form of discrimination on religious, sectarian and racial grounds. Rather, the advice contained in akhlāq writings is founded on secular grounds. The tradition of akhlaq does not attempt to advise ruler to implement the Islamic laws (sharīʿa). Rather, it urges rulers to maintain social order and to establish peace and justice in the society. The rest of advisory texts written outside the akhlāq tradition are considered as advisory writings of adab literature. Although this tradition incorporates a number of similar features and elements of akhlāq, it sometimes gives considerable space to the promotion of Islamic laws and contains discriminatory ideas on religious, sectarian and racial grounds.Footnote ⁸⁴ However, it does not mean that the authors of akhlāq writings completely ignore the references to God and Islam, rather, they incorporate their references but for different purposes. In fact, giving reference to classical Islam or its religious history is also a part of the akhlāq but the way in which it is done is different from the adab tradition. For example, the authors of akhlāq texts give references to God and Islam but they completely ignore the discussion on the defence and implementation of sharīʿa, Islam and the protection of a particular community. On the contrary, they portray ruler as the one who sustains what exists in the world and whose main duty is to attain perfection as a social being, to maintain the social order and to help human beings using his intellect. If the reference to classical Islam or the discussion of sharīʿa is ever brought up, it is used to illustrate or to strengthen the notion of the ideal ruler. Commenting on this feature of akhlāq literature, Muzaffar Alam points out:

In contrast, the authors of adab writings consider the defence and promotion of sharīʿa and the protection of Muslim community as the primary duties of ruler.Footnote ⁸⁶

Khanjar Beg's mathnawī can be placed in the category of the akhlāq tradition rather than in that of the adab in terms of its ideological orientation. It consists of all the features of the genre of advice literature focusing on particular advice that is to make Akbar aware of the contemporary political crisis and to make him conscious of his responsibility towards state affairs. In fact, it is the central theme of his advice in the mathnawī.

The image of an ideal ruler, projected in the advice literature particularly in akhlāq tradition as the divinely-ordained and directly appointed by God to make the world prosperous and to establish justice and peace, is not different from that of the mathnawī. The ideal ruler in the mathnawī is also divinely-ordained, who is directly appointed by God as His representative and guard (nigahbānī) of His subjects on the earth in the place of His prophets to establish His injunctions. Khanjar Beg hints that God deputed Akbar in this world, like many prophets He had earlier sent, to establish His injunctions; that is to protect humankind and to bring prosperity to this world. He also uses the phrases from advice literature in which the subjects are referred to as flock (gala or rama) and the ruler as the shepherd (shabān or chobān)) who always protects his flockFootnote ⁸⁷ and compares such responsibility of the shepherd to the practice and status of prophets (rasm-i ambiyāʾ and manṣab-i ambiyāʾ). To make the emperor conscious of his value as a divinely-ordained ruler and his responsibility towards protecting and guarding his subjects, he counsels him not to neglect the shepherd's duty for his dignity belongs to God's prophets. In the following couplets, Khanjar Beg says:

The image of divinely-ordained ruler is also evident from another two couplets of the mathnawī in which the emperor is portrayed as the king of the world (shāh-i mulk-i ʿālam) appointed by GodFootnote ⁸⁹ and his rules sanctified by Him.Footnote ⁹⁰

Possessing good moral qualities is also one of the features of an ideal ruler portrayed in the writings of akhlāq and adab albeit with some ideological differences. The authors of akhlāq suggest rulers should imbibe moral values in order to become an ideal ruler. However, they completely ignore attributing a disposition to ruler's personality which demands the performance of any religious duty. For instance, Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī attributes seven qualities—good descent (abuwwat), loftiness of aspiration (ʿulluw-i himmat), firmness of opinion (matānat-i rāi), utmost determination (‘aẓīmat-i tamām), endurance (ṣabr), affluence (yasār) and upright assistants (ʿiwān-i ṣāliḥ)—to the ideal ruler and explains the method through which a ruler can acquire these qualities to attain perfection.Footnote ⁹¹ Similarly, the authors of adab writings also attribute a number of moral dispositions to the ideal ruler but in contrast to the akhlāq authors they advise the ruler to perform some religious practices as well. For instance, when Niẓām al-Mulk Ṭūsī, the author of Siyāsatnāma, advises his ruler to earn qualities like “modesty, good temper, compassion, forgiveness, humility, generosity, sincerity, forbearance, gratitude, mercy, knowledge, reason and justice’, he also requires the king to possess religious qualities like obedience to God, the performance of supererogatory prayers, respect for the learned etc.”.Footnote ⁹²

Akbar has also been portrayed as the possessor of good moral qualities on the line of akhlāq literature to present him as the ideal ruler. Moreover, Khanjar Beg equates the emperor's personality with those of prophets in their moral dispositions without suggesting him to perform religious practices rather urging him to know the worth of kingship. Moral values attributed to the emperor in mathnawī are justice (‘adl), equity (inṣāf), generosity (ḥilm), knowledge (jūd), liberality (sakha), favour (luṭf), grace (iḥasān), humanity (khulq), kindness (mihr) and faithfulness (wafā). By attributing these qualities to the emperor, he tries to portray him as a just, kind and generous ruler and urges him to understand the significance and value of the prestigious position of kingship. In the following couplets he says:

It is important to note that while projecting the image of the ideal ruler, Khanjar Beg does not make ‘justice’ the centre of discussion as it appears in the texts of akhlāq and adab. Generally, a just ruler and the demand of dispensing justice form the centre of discussion in the advice literature.Footnote ⁹⁴ In contrast to this general characteristic of the advice literature, to make Akbar realize his responsibility towards the state affairs is his central theme of the discussion in the mathnawī even though he declares justice as a trait of the emperor's personality in order to portray him as an ideal ruler. In fact, from its beginning to the end, the need of cultivating awareness in the emperor about the management of state affairs is the centre of discussion particularly in the advisory part of the mathnawī rather than justice and just ruler. It is an exceptional feature of the mathnawī. Emphasising on this feature, he also explains the disadvantages of a ruler's ignorance to draw Akbar's attention to be aware and conscious (āgāh) of his responsibilities and duties. For example, he believes that a ruler's ignorance can lead to disastrous consequences like fomenting of chaos and disturbance in the state. For him, committing a mistake (sahw) by an ordinary subject is just the loss of bread but a ruler's mistake due to his ignorance causes the ruin of his whole empire. He further explains that a ruler is distinguished from common people in the performance of one's duty and responsibility because a common man thinks only of his food and garment, but a ruler has to think about all his subjects. Counselling the emperor to be aware of himself, his subjects and God at all times and in all places, he says:

The reason for this difference between Khanjar Beg and the rest of advisory authors is two-fold—(a) purpose of composing the texts, and (b) the demand of contemporary situation. Generally, the main purpose of authors of advice literature was to provide ideal norms of governance along with a reflection on contemporary problems through indirectly addressing the contemporary ruler. While, in contrast, his main purpose for the composition of the mathnawī, as earlier discussed, was to provide particular advice by directly addressing Akbar and to make him aware of his power and to keep abreast of the dynamics of the contemporary power politics, and to clarify his own victimhood in the rivalry between Tardī Beg Khān and Bayram Khān.

As far as advising the ruler through anecdotes, maxims and stories concerning rulers of Pre-Islamic Iran, prophets, caliphates or Muslim rulers to exemplify the ideal ruler is concerned, Khanjar Beg does not incorporate any story or anecdote related to past rulers as an example for Akbar to follow. Nevertheless, he equates the emperor with prophets in duties and responsibilities. Furthermore, he also cites ancient Iranian rulers and legends, the rulers of different dynasties of medieval Perso-Islamic world along with their fate as well as his own life experience as examples for the emperor to take lessons from. For instance, when he counsels the emperor to earn good fame, and to understand the complexities of worldly affairs, he reminds him of the many just and unjust rulers of the ancient Iran—Nawshīrwān, Qubād, Hoshang and Ḍaḥḥāk etc.,—of medieval Islamic world—Maḥmūd of Ghazna, Malik Shāh Saljūq, Sulṭān Sanjar and Halaku Khān etc.,—who ruled this world but are not remembered today.Footnote ⁹⁶ Similarly, advising him to consolidate his kingdom and to manage the state affairs efficiently, he presents Timurid and early Mughal rulers—Amīr Tīmūr, Mirān Shāh, Shāhrukh, Abū Saʿīd Mīrzā, Sulṭān Ḥusain Mīrzā, ʿUmar Shaikh Mīrzā, Bābur and Humāyūn—as ideals for him to emulate.Footnote ⁹⁷ Apart from this, he presents his personal experiences in dealing with self-centred people as illustrations for advising the emperor in order to understand the self-seeking nature and real intentions of the people. For him, self-centred people are rich in skill and they always use it for their personal gains at the expense of others.Footnote ⁹⁸ Couplets in which he cites personal experiences as templates to advise the emperor regarding evil intentions of the people appear in the mathnawī just before those couplets containing actual advice. It manifests his attempt to establish his personal experiences as the foundation for his advisory couplets. Using his personal experience as examples to advise the emperor is his exceptional way of counselling.

Insofar as the ideological orientation of Khanjar Beg is concerned, his mathnawī does not show a tilt towards juristic sharīʿa and does not advocate its implementation to differentiate among subjects. However, his ideological orientation favouring non-religious, non-sectarian and non-racial ideas is certainly reflected in the mathnawī in different forms. The first form through which his non-religious ideological orientation is reflected is through his choice of words. For instance, he uses non-religious words such as ‘shāh’ for ruler, ‘khalq’, ‘khalq-i ʿālam’, and ‘mardum’ for subjects instead of using pādshāh-i muslim (the ruler of Muslims) for ruler and Hindus, Muslims, Shīʿas and Sunnīs for subjects. The usage of these words and expressions appear in many places in the mathnawī.Footnote ⁹⁹

Similarly, his preference for the imperial order (farmān-i shāh) rather than Islamic sharīʿa to govern the kingdom manifests his non-religious ideological orientation.Footnote ¹⁰⁰ Likewise, his interest in non-religious literature, his skills in various arts, as well as his references to ancient Iranian rulers and legends, and to the rulers of different dynasties of Medieval Perso-Islamic world rather than those of caliphs as examples for Akbar to take lesson from, also show his indifferent views on Islamic laws and his inclination toward non-religious ideas.Footnote ¹⁰¹ Despites it, if he brings the reference of a religious figure to compare Akbar to prophets in duties and responsibilities, he does so to project him as an ideal ruler like the authors of akhlāq literature rather than to promote Islam.

Despite the fact that Khanjar Beg projects Akbar as a powerful ruler through incorporating the notion of the emperor being divinely-ordained, a great contradiction appears between his own advice and practices. Theoretically, he considers the emperor a powerful and ideal ruler and advises him to fulfil ruler's responsibilities by taking power in his own hands, but in actual practice, Khanjar Beg goes against his own advice. This is evident from the differences between the advice of the mathnawī and his political activities after the fall of Bayram Khān. The content of the mathnawī clearly shows Akbar as a powerful ruler who is divinely-ordained but his open criticism of the emperor goes against his counselling. Similarly, he does not accept the emperor's power thereby negating his own counsel. Khanjar Beg's activities after the fall of Bayram Khān are evidence in this regard. It is a historical fact that after the fall of Bayram Khān, Akbar was very curious to take all political control in his own hands through taking some political measures. For instance, he brought together a diverse group of Mughal nobles: Persian, Turani, Indian Muslims and Rajputs to balance the power of all nobles.Footnote ¹⁰² But this political measure of the emperor was resented by Uzbek nobles,Footnote ¹⁰³ who did not like his new style of ruling and revolted against him under the leadership of Khān-i Zamān and his brother, Bahādur Khān in 1565-67. Khanjar Beg allied with these rebellious nobles.Footnote ¹⁰⁴ This contradiction appears because of its close relation with contemporary power politics and a direct connection with his personal life. He was more interested in Akbar wielding all the power because by doing so he could use the emperor as a tool in order to avenge Bayram Khān who had imprisoned him and executed his father-in-law. It was one of the reasons why he had no administrative position bestowed upon him by Akbar nor could his mathnawī get an important place in the Mughal India. However, appreciating Khanjar Beg's advice, the emperor honoured him with various favours.Footnote ¹⁰⁵

The reflection of the features of advisory genre in the mathnawī along with its own features makes it eligible to be considered as an advice book for ruler. Moreover, Khanjar Beg considers the mathnawī an advisory writing for Akbar in some of its own couplets.Footnote ¹⁰⁶ Furthermore, the advisory part of the mathnawī has also been considered as advice in the contemporary historical chronicle,Footnote ¹⁰⁷ on the basis of which it has been given a place equal to the Siyāsatnāma of Niẓām al-Mulk Ṭūsī, a perso-Islamic advice literature.Footnote ¹⁰⁸