Jahangir, Memoirs1

Jahangir was the Mughal Emperor from 1605 to 1627, taking over from his father, Akbar. At the height of his reign, he wrote his memoirs outlining what he viewed as his greatest accomplishments. In this section, he claimed credit for the following decrees:

1. I canceled the [taxes and duties] of every province and district imposed for their own profit. 2. I ordered that when a district lay wasted by thieves and highway bandits or was destitute of inhabitants, that towns should be built, . . . and every effort made to protect the subjects from injury . . . 3. Merchants traveling through the country were not to have their bales or packs opened without their consent. 4. When a person shall die and leave children, whether he is an infidel or a Muslim, no man was to interfere a pin’s point in his property; but when he has no children or direct and unquestionable heirs his inheritance is to be spent on approved expenditures such as construction of mosques and caravansaries, repair of bridges, and the creation of watertanks and wells. 5. No person was permitted either to make or to sell wine or any other intoxicating liquor. I undertook to institute this regulation, although it is well known that I myself have the strongest inclination for wine, in which from the age of sixteen I have liberally indulged 6. No official was permitted to take up his abode in the house of any subject of my realm. On the contrary, when individuals serving in the state armies come to any town, and can rent a place to live, it would be