Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/254

 246 KHE state wlay he usurped the throne which belonged properly to the Mughal. Sher Shah in return collected various statements from nobles of India proving that Humáyún was not a true believer, Abdul Ghaffar was required to send a similar statement. He refused to do so, and to escape Sher Shah's vengeance he left Kanauj, and concealed himself in the jungles on the opposite side of the Ganges, where Piháni , now stands. In 1555. Humáyún returned, and Abdul Ghaffár from his hiding place seat a letter of congratulation. Humáyún gave him five villages rent-free in parganas Pasgawan and Pindarwa,* also 5,000 bíghas of the jungle in which he bad found shelter. This spot was therefore called Piháni - Pinhani meaning concealment,—and a town founded in the forest clearing, Ghafúr Álam was the son of Abdnl Muqtadi. He was sent to the Qázi- ul-Quzzát of Delhi as a pupil. He made great progress, and was brought before the Emperor Akbar, who niade him tutor to Jahángír, and was so pleased with the latter's success in his studies, that he entitled his pre- cepter Nawab Jahán, and made him sadr or chief mufti of the empire. It is possible, however, that this promotion was due to Sadr Jahán's conversion to the new religion of which Akbar was the high priest, and into which Sadr Jahán led bis two sons. Of him Budaoni says :- “During the Muharram of 1004 A, H., Sadr Jahan, mufti of the empire, who bad been promoted to a commandership of one thousand, joined the divine faith, as did also his two over-ambitious sons, and having taken the Shait of the new religion, he ran into the net like a fish, and got his bazári- ship He even asked his majesty what he was to do with his bread, when he was told to let it be." The Sadr was the fourth officer in the empire. He was the highest law officer. He was administrator-general and inquisitor into religious opinion. Sadr Jahán continued to serve under Jahangir—a proof, if any was needed, that the latter emperor shared the free-thinking views of his father, or he would never have allowed the official guardianship of the purity of the faith to be held by a pervert: Sadr Jahán is stated by Jaħángîr in his memoirs to have prayed beside the bedside of the dying Akbar; but this is probably a fancy sketch drawn by tilial piety; it possibly has its origin in fact, and may be given bere, introducing as it does a great Oudh noble. "On his arrival I placed Sadr Jahán on both knees by my father's side, and he commenced reciting the creed of the faithful. At this crisis my father desiring me to draw near threw his arms about my neck, and addressed me in the following terms :- My dear boy (bába), take this my last farewell, for here we never meet again. Beware that thou dost not withdraw thy protecting regards from the secluded in my harem; that thou continue the same allowance for subsistence as was allotted by myself. Although my departure must cast a heavy burden upon thy mind, let not the words that are past be at once forgotten. Many a vow and many a covenant have been exchanged Blochman's Aia-i-kbari, pages 208, 209,
 * Mastipur in Pasgawan Barkherwa and Narukbera io Pindarwa, Basara ia Alamnagar.