This lady was one of Akbar's nurses, and is said to have watched over him from the cradle to the throne. She must have been a notable woman, for she acquired great influence over Akbar, and was for a time the administratrix of his kingdom. It was in great measure through her intrigues that Akbar emancipated himself from the control of Bairām Khān. There has long been a mystery about her status and about the paternity of her children. She had two sons, Bāqī Khān Kōka and Adham Khān Kōka, but their father's name is never mentioned. Abū'l - faẓl, Niẓāmu - d - dīn, Badāōnī, and other writers, always speak of them as the sons of Māham Anaga, but give no hint as to their father's identity. Hence Mr. Blochmann concluded that Adham Khān, the more celebrated of the two, was “doubtless a royal bastard.” Professor Dowson demurs to this view on account of the great respect with which Māham Anaga is always spoken of, but admits that there is a mystery about the paternity. If, however, an illuminated MS. in the possession of Colonel Hanna is to be trusted, the mystery is cleared up, for its author states that Māham Anaga was the wife of Nadīm Khwāja Kōka, the sherbet-provider (sharbat-bardār) or butler of Humāyūn. The statement occurs at p. 9b of the MS., in telling the story (also given in the Akbarnāma) of how Akbar, while still an infant, comforted his nurse Jījī Anaga.

As Mr. Beveridge has referred to my criticism (which is in reality not mine, but Professor A. Müller's, cited by Professor Houtsma in a footnote on pp. xiv–xv of his edition of al-Bundāri's History of the Seljūqs) on the now familiar story of ‘Umar's covenant with the Nidhāmu'l-Mulk and Ḥasan-i-Ṣabbāḥ, I should be glad to have an opportunity of stating that my recent reading has shown me that this tale at least reposes on more ancient and respectable authority than either the Rawḍatu-ṣ-Ṣafā or the Tārīkh-i-Alfī, namely, on that of the Jāmi'u't-Tawārīkh of Rashīdu'd-Dīn, who was put to death in a.h. 718. The passage, cited from f. 292b of the British Museum MS., Add. 7,628, runs as follows:—

Nûr-îli-šu has built for his god the temple of Lugala and Šullat. One šar (is the measure of) the temple of his god—he has dedicated it for his life. Pî-ša-Šamaš is the priest of the temple. Nûr-îli-šu shall not make a claim against the priesthood (i.e., demand the restitution of the property he has given). The curse of the Sun-god and Suma-îla (shall be upon him) who brings an action.