6.  Ali Quli Beg, from Persia entered Akbar’s service, and in the war with the Rana of Chitor, served under Prince Salim (Jahangir), who gave him the title of Sher Afgan, ‘tiger-thrower’, with reverence to his deeds of prowess.  The spelling afgan is correct.  The word is the radical of the Persian verb afgandan, ‘to throw down’.

7.  In October, 1605.

8.  Properly Kutb-ud-din Khan.  He was foster-brother of Prince Salim (Jahangir), and his appointment as viceroy alarmed Sher Afgan, and caused the latter to throw up his appointment in Bengal.  The word Kutb (Qutb) cannot stand alone as a name.  Kutb (Qutb)-ud-din means ‘pole-star of religion’.

9.  Tandan, or Tanra.  Ancient town, now a petty village, in Malda District, Bengal, the capital of Bengal after the decadence of Gaur.  Its history is obscure, and the very site of the city has not been accurately determined.  It is certain that it was in the immediate neighbourhood of Gaur, and south-west of that town beyond the Bhagirathi.  Old Tandan has been utterly swept away by the changes in the course of the Pagla.  It was occupied by the Afghan king of Bengal in A.D. 1564, and is not mentioned after 1660. (I.G., 1908.)

10.  This narrative, notwithstanding all the minute details with which it is garnished, cannot be accepted as sober history; and I do not know from what source the author obtained it.  ’This lady, whose maiden name was Muhr-un-Nisa, or “Seal of Womankind”, had attracted the admiration of Jahangir when he was crown prince, but Akbar married her to a young Turkoman and settled them in Bengal.  After Jahangir’s accession the husband was killed in a quarrel with the governor of the province, and the wife was placed under the care of one of Akbar’s widows, with whom she remained four years, and then married Jahangir (1610).  There is nothing to justify a suspicion of the Emperor’s connivance in the husband’s death; nor do Indian historians corroborate the invidious criticisms of “Normal” by European travellers; on the contrary, they portray Nur-Mahall as a pattern of all the virtues, and worthy to wield the supreme influence which she obtained over the Emperor.’ (Lane-Poole, The History of the Moghul Emperors of Hindustan illustrated by their Coins, p. xix.) The authorities on which this statement is founded are given in E. & D., vol. vi, pp. 397 and 402-5.  See also Blochmann, Ain, vol. i, pp. 496, 524.  Details of such stories in the various chronicles always differ.  Jahangir openly rejoiced in the death of Sher Afgan, and it is by no means clear that he was not responsible for the event.  He was not troubled by nice scruples.  The first element in the lady’s personal name seems to be Mihr, ‘sun’, not Muhr, ‘seal’.  The words are identical in ordinary Persian writing.