Memoirs of Jahangir 1-2

Emperor Jahangir ruled the Mughal Empire in India for 22 years, 1605 - 1627, but his poor health and sorrow made him abandon writing his memoirs in the seventeenth year of his reign, and afterwards he asked the trusted writer Malik Khan to complete the epic (Iqbal - Name), so he delivered it until the beginning of the nineteenth year, then he stopped writing the memoirs and continued recounting the events of the rule until Jahangir's death. The importance of these memoirs lies in their conveying a realistic picture of India in the early decades of the seventeenth century, and they are a valuable addition to the historical epic "Akhbar Nama". The contributions of Eastern royal writers to literature form an important part, and they are of great value, because all historical narratives about the East are distorted by flattery, and even when the writer has no reason to flatter or hide the truth, he is dazzled by the greatness of his subject and gives us a picture that does not reveal the true nature of the king. But when Eastern kings write their own historical biographies, the situation is different, as they have no reason to fear or to favor, and they reveal what others fear to address, but still, one cannot fully trust what they say about themselves.