The 19th of October Mahomet Reza Beg, the Persian ambassador, made his entry into the city with a great cavalcade, partly sent out by the king to meet him.  There were at least an hundred elephants, with many musicians; but no man of quality went out on this occasion beyond the ordinary official receivers of strangers.  His own train consisted of about fifty horse in splendid dresses of cloth of gold, their bows, quivers, and targets being richly adorned.  Together with these he had about forty musqueteers, and about 200 ordinary peons and attendants on his passage.  He was conducted to a room within the outer court of the palace, to rest himself till the evening, at which time I sent my secretary to the durbar, to give me an account of the ceremonial.  On coming into the presence, and reaching the first rail, he made three tessalims and one sizeda, which is prostrating himself and knocking his head three times against the ground.  On entering within the rail he did the same, and then presented the letter of his master, Shabas, [Shah Abbas.] This the king took with a slight inclination of the body, saying only, How doth my brother? without using any title of majesty.  After some few words, the ambassador was placed in the seventh rank, close to the rail beside the door, and below many of the king’s servants, which, in my opinion, was a very mean place for the ambassador of Persia; but he richly merited this degradation for doing that mean reverence to the dishonour of his master which all his predecessors had refused, and by which he gave much offence to many of his nation.  It is reported that he had orders from Shah Abbas to give content in all things, and hence it is conjectured that he is sent to obtain some aid in money against the Turks, in which kind the court of Persia often finds liberal succour from the Mogul government.  Others pretend that his object is to mediate a peace for the princes of the Deccan, whose protection Shah Abbas is said to have much at heart, being jealous of the extension of this empire.

According to custom, the king gave him a handsome turban, a vest of cloth of gold, and a girdle, for which he again made three tessalims and a sizeda, or ground courtesy.  The present he brought consisted of three times nine Persian and Arabian horses, this being among them a ceremonious number; nine very large and handsome mules; seven camels laden with velvet; two suits of European Arras, or tapestry, which I suppose was Venetian; two chests of Persian hangings; one rich cabinet; four muskets; five clocks; a camel’s load of cloth of gold; eight silk carpets; two balasss rubies; twenty-one camel loads of wine made of grapes; fourteen camel loads of distilled sweet waters; seven of rose-water; seven daggers and five swords adorned with precious stones; seven Venetian mirrors, all so fair and rich that I was ashamed of the relation.