ABSTRACT
Akbar died in 1605, and Selim ascended the vacant throne with the title of Jahangir, or World-Grasper. In 1606 the East India Company undertook what is known as their " third voyage," the first which had any dealings with the Mogul dominions. The "Inglis Khan was in high favour, and it was no wonder that " the Portugals were like madde dogges." William Hawkins evidently suited Jahangir. He apparently possessed a certain amount of education, and his wide experience of the world had reared a superstructure upon this basis which made him an interesting companion for Jahangir's soberer moments. Hawkins was not a scientific or philosophic observer, but his narrative possesses no mean value and interest. The most important of his pages are those in which he describes the system of life-peers, "men of Livings or Lordships," he terms them, which he found in vogue at the Mogul Court.
