A professional soldier of fortune, a smooth talker, a womaniser and a devout alcoholic, William Hawkins was indeed a colourful character by all accounts. From the day he presented himself at Jahangir’s court bearing a gift of a bolt of common broadcloth, he immediately caught the fancy of the dissolute Mughal Emperor. Jahangir plied this exotic guest with a hundred questions and soon Hawkins was invited to remain at the Mughal court as a resident ambassador. He started wearing the clothes of a Mughal aristocrat and was addressed as Khan Hawkins.
Jahangir gifted him an Armenian concubine and access to the royal table where, as the emperor’s number one drinking companion, Hawkins narrated bawdy stories that made jahangir shriek with laughter. For a year, the emperor and the sailor were inseparable. But while Hawkins entertained the emperor, he quietly recorded his impressions of the emperor whom he viewed with few illusions. The result is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a bygone era.
Wrote Hawkins: “The king is said to be the greatest emperor of the east for his wealth, land and force of men. However, Jahangir is ill loved by most of his subjects who are in constant fear of him.”
Hawkins watched as the monarch executed his own secretary on the mere suspicion of disloyalty. A soldier who asked for a higher salary was ordered to wrestle a caged lioness and was followed to his death by 10 unlucky bystanders who were ordered into the cage by a drunken Jahangir. Another man was beaten by 20 guards for breaking a porcelain cup and then sent to China to replace it. In a rage over a minor disobedience, Jahangir stabbed his son Shahriyar in the neck with a bodkin. He appeared in court surrounded by an entourage of hooded henchmen bearing axes and whips ready to do the king’s bidding.
In his harem were 5,000 women, and in the interior rooms, separated from the 300 royal wives by thick partitions, 1,000 young men awaited Jahangir’s alternate pleasures. Then there were the emperor’s animals, a veritable zoological garden. There were 12,000 elephants, 10,000 oxen, 2,000 camels, 3,000 deer, 4,000 dogs, 100 tame lions, 500 buffaloes and 10,000 carrier pigeons.
For two years, Hawkins was in jahangir’s favour, but his influence waned due to the jealousy of other noblemen and Jahangir’s inconstant attentions which were based on who amused him and who served him. When the wily mariner realised that the last vestiges of his prestige and influence had slipped away, he too slipped away. Unfortunately, death overtook him before he could reach England.
In sharp contrast to Hawkins, Sir Thomas Roe was a refined English gentlemen and an aloof chronicler of human nature. Never inclined to join the charmed inner circle of Jahangir’s court, he preferred to remain outside, observing with penetrating eyes and marking his observations in letters to his superiors in England. He noted Jahangir’s weakness for fine arts and won him over at the bargaining table by promising him English treasures in return for a simple request, the establishment of trade between England and India. Jahangir did not foresee any danger in dealing with the British whom he judged to be simple minded and he accepted.
Continuing to play on the Mughal’s weakness for paintings, Roe showed the emperor a collection of miniatures which Jahangir found astounding. Jahangir then astounded Roe by having his painters copy the pictures so expertly that Roe was unable to distinguish between the copies and the originals. Jahangir became fascinated with European art and his infatuation is reflected in the Mughal art of the time. Satisfied with success on many levels though he had failed in his primary objective of negotiating a formal treaty with Jahangir, Thomas Roe returned to England in 1618.