Part 14 of 15
[Section XVII. The Reign of Sultan Mahummud the son of Yeas Ul Dien Tughlick Shaw.]
MAHOMMED III.
AFTER the King's funeral obsequies were performed, his eldest son, Jonah, ascended the throne by the name of Mahommed, and proceeded from Tuglickabad to Delhi. The streets of that city were strowed with flowers, the houses adorned, the drums beating, and every demonstration of joy exhibited. The new Emperor ordered some elephants, loaded with gold and silver, before and behind him, which was scattered among the populace.
Tatar, whom the Emperor Tuglick had adopted, and appointed to the government of Zifferabad, was now honoured with the title of Byram, and presented with a hundred elephants, a crore of golden rupees, two thousand horse, and the government of Bengal. To Sinjer of Buduchshan, Mahommed gave seventy lacks in silver. To Malleck, eighty lacks; and to Molana, his preceptor, forty lacks, all in one day. The learned Molana Cumi had an annual pension of one lack, and Malleck of Ghizni, the poet, another to the same amount.
His generosity, in short, was like his wealth, without bounds, which no man could well account for, there being no great sum in the treasury upon his accession. It is therefore probable, that he had concealed the riches of the prince of Arinkil, from Tuglick, and that his liberality was supplied from the wealth of the Decan, which circumstance strengthens our suspicion that he was accessary to his father's death. Some writers, notwithstanding this suspicion, make long panegyrics upon his virtues and accomplishments. He, it must be acknowledged, aimed at universal knowledge, was conversant in all the literature of the times, and a patron of learned men, giving them profusely pensions for a magnificent subsistence.
Mahommed was, at the same time, very strict with regard to public and private worship. He ordered prayers to be read in the mosques five times every day. He discouraged all intemperate pleasures, and set the example by his own rigid life. But it is to be suspected, that he acted the mean character of a hypocrite, for he was vindictive and inhuman, delighting in the blood of his subjects, and condemning them, without distinction of right or wrong, to cruel and ignominious deaths.
In the beginning of the reign of Mahommed, before the empire was properly settled, Siri, chief of the tribe of Zagatay, a Mogul general of great fame, invaded Hindostan, in the year 727, with an innumerable army, with a view to make an entire conquest of it. Having subdued Limghan, Moultan, and the northern provinces, he advanced towards Delhi with incredible expedition, and invested it. Mahommed, seeing he could not cope with the enemy in the field, and that the city must soon fall, began to sue for peace; he sent an immense present, in gold and jewels, to soften the Mogul chief, who at last consented, upon receiving almost the price of the empire, to return to his own country, taking Guzerat and Sind in his way, which he plundered of a world of wealth.
Mahommed turned his thoughts to war, and the regulation of his army. He subdued, by different generals, many distant countries, such as Door, Summudir, Maber, Compila, Arinkil, some of which provinces had revolted, and others had never been subjected by the arms of the Islamites. He soon after reduced the Carnatic to the extremities of the Decan, and from sea to sea, obliging all the Rajas to pay him tribute, by which means he again filled the treasury with money.
But, during the convulsions which soon after shook the empire, all these foreign conquests were wrested from the yoke. The causes of the disturbances were chiefly these; the heavy imposts, which were, in this reign, tripled in some provinces; the passing copper money for silver, by public decree; the raising three hundred and seventy thousand horse for the conquest of Chorassan and Maver-ul-nere; the sending one hundred thousand horse towards the mountains between India and China; the cruel massacre of many Mahommedans, as well as Hindoos, in different parts of India; and many other lesser reasons, which, for the sake of brevity, we shall forbear to mention.
The imposts upon the necessaries of life, which were levied with the utmost rigour, were too great for the power of industry, and consequently the country was involved in distraction and confusion. The farmers were forced to fly to the woods, and to maintain themselves by rapine. The lands being left uncultivated, famine began to desolate whole provinces, and the sufferings of the people obliterated from their minds every idea of government, and subjection to authority.
The copper money, for want of proper regulations, was productive of no less evils than that which we have already specified. The King, unfortunately for his people, adopted his ideas upon currency, from a Chinese custom of using paper upon the Emperor's credit with the royal seal appended, for ready money. Mahommed, instead of paper, struck a copper coin, which, being issued at an imaginary value, he made current by a decree throughout Hindostan. The mint was under very bad regulations. Bankers acquired immense fortunes by coinage, whilst the merchants made their payments in copper to the poor manufacturers, at the same time that they themselves received for their exports, silver and gold. There was much villainy also practised in the mint; for a premium to those who had the management of it, the merchants had their coin struck considerably below the legal value; and these abuses were overlooked by the government.
But the great source of the misfortunes consequent upon this debasement of the coin, was the known instability of government Public credit could not long subsist in a state so liable to revolutions as Hindostan; for how could the people in the remote provinces receive for money, the base representative of a treasury that so often changed its master?
From these evils general murmurs and confusions arose throughout the empire. The Emperor, to ease the minds of the people, was obliged to call in the copper currency. But there had been such abuses in the mint, that, after the treasury was emptied, there still remained a heavy demand. This he was forced to strike off, and thousands were ruined. The Emperor himself was so far from winning by this indigested scheme, that he lost all he had in his treasury; and the bankers accumulated immense fortunes, on the ruin of their sovereign and people.
Mahommed, by the advice of Amir Norose, a Mogul chief, who, with thousands of his tribe, had entered into the service, raised a great army. The Mogul buoyed up the Emperor's mind with the facility of reducing both Persia and Tartary; but before these mighty projects could be put in execution, he fell in arrears to his forces. They, finding they could not subsist without pay, dispersed themselves over the empire, and carried pillage, ruin, and death, to every quarter.
These misfortunes comprehended the domestic transactions of many years. The public treasury being squandered by impolitic schemes and follies of various kinds, the King entered into a project to repair his finances, equally absurd with that by which they were principally ruined.
Having heard of the great wealth of China, Mahommed formed a resolution to subdue that kingdom; but, to accomplish his design, it was first necessary to conquer the country of Himmatchil, which lies between the borders of China and India. He accordingly, in the year 738, ordered one hundred thousand horse, under the command of his sister's son Chusero, to subdue the mountainous country of Himmatchil, and fix garrisons as far as the frontiers of China. When this should be done, he proposed to advance in person, with his whole force, to invade that empire.
The Omrahs and counsellors of state went so far, as plainly to tell him, that the troops of India never yet could, and never would, advance a step within the limits of that mighty empire, and that the whole was a visionary project. The Emperor insisted upon making the experiment, and accordingly this army was put in motion, and, having entered the mountains, began to build small forts on the road, to secure a communication; proceeding in this manner to the boundaries of China, where a numerous army appeared to oppose them. As their numbers were by this time greatly diminished, and much inferior to that of the enemy, the troops of Hindostan were struck with universal dismay, upon considering their distance from home, the rugged ways they had passed, and the rainy season which was now approaching; besides the scarcity of provisions, which now began to be severely felt. In this consternation, they bent their march towards the foot of a mountain, where the savage inhabitants of the hills poured down upon them, and plundered their baggage, while the Chinese army lay in their front.
In this distressful situation they remained for seven days, suffering the extremities of famine without knowing how to proceed. At length such a heavy rain fell, that the cavalry were up to their bellies in water, which obliged the Chinese to remove their camp to a greater distance. Chusero then determined to endeavour to make his retreat, but the low country was quite covered with water, and the mountains with impervious woods. Their misfortunes now came to a crisis. Having lost the road, they found themselves in such an unfortunate situation, that they could find no way out but that by which they entered, which was now possessed by the enemy. This whole army in short, in the space of fifteen days, fell a prey to famine, and a victim to false ambition; scarce a man coming back to relate the particulars, except those who were left behind in the garrisons. A few of them escaped indeed the rage of the enemy, but could not escape the more fatal tyranny of their Emperor, who ordered them to be put to death, upon their return to Delhi.
Baha, the Emperor's nephew, an Omrah of great reputation, known more generally by his original name Kirshasib, who possessed a government in the Decan called Saghir, began to turn his thoughts upon the empire, and gained over many of the nobles of the Decan to his party. By their influence, and the great riches which he had accumulated, his power became very formidable. He then attacked some Omrahs who continued firm in their allegiance, obliging them to take refuge in the fort of Mindu.
Mahommed having intelligence of the revolt, commanded Jehan, with many other Omrahs and the whole power of Guzerat, to chastise the rebel. When the imperial army arrived before Deogire, they found Kirshasib drawn up in order of battle to receive them: but, after a gallant contest, he was defeated. He fled towards his government; but not daring to remain there, he carried off his family and wealth to Campala in the Carnatic, and took protection in the dominions of the Raja of that place, with whom he had maintained a friendly intercourse.
Mahommed, in the mean time, took the field, and arrived soon after at Deogire. He sent from thence Jehan with a great force against the prince of Campala, by whom the imperialists were twice defeated; but, fresh reinforcements arriving from Deogire, Jehan engaged the Raja a third time, and carried the victory. He took the prince prisoner, but Kirshasib fled to the court of Bellaldeo, who, fearing to draw the same misfortunes upon himself, seized upon him, and sent him bound to the general, and acknowledged his subjection to the empire. Jehan immediately dispatched the prisoner to court, where the Emperor ordered him to be flayed, and shown a horrid spectacle, all around the city; while the executioner proclaimed aloud, “Thus shall all traitors to their King perish.”
The Emperor was so much pleased with the situation and strength of Deogire, that, considering it more centrical than Delhi, he determined to make it his capital. But, upon proposing this affair in his council, the majority were of opinion, that Ugein was a more proper place for that purpose. The King, however, had previously formed his resolution. He therefore gave orders that the city of Delhi, which was then the envy of the world, should be rendered desolate, and that men, women, and children, with all their effects and cattle, should make a grand migration to Deogire. To add magnificence to the migration, he commanded trees to be tore up by the roots, and planted in regular rows along the road, to yield the emigrants a shade, and that all who had not money to defray their charges, should be maintained at the public expence. He ordered that for the future Deogire should be called Dowlatabad, or the fortunate city; raised noble buildings, and dug a deep ditch round the walls, which he repaired and beautified. Upon the top of the hill upon which the citadel stood, he formed large reservoirs for water, and made a beautiful garden. This change, however, greatly affected the empire, and distracted the minds of the people. But the Emperor's orders were strictly complied with, and the ancient capital left desolate.
Mahommed having effected this business, marched his army against the fort of Gundana, near Jinner. Nack-naig, who was chief of the Colies, opposed him with great bravery, but was forced to take refuge within his walls. As the place was built upon the summit of a steep mountain, inaccessible but by one narrow pass cut in the rock, the Emperor had no hopes of reducing it but by famine. He accordingly ordered it to be blockaded, and, at the same time, made some ineffectual attacks, in which he was repulsed with great loss. The garrison becoming straitened for provisions, and having no hopes of Mahommed's retreat, delivered up the place at the expiration of eight months; and he soon after returned to Dowlatabad.
He had not been long in his capital, when he heard that his father's firm friend Ibah, the viceroy of Moultan, had rebelled, and was then reducing the country about the Indus with a great army. The cause of the revolt was this: Mahommed having sent an order to all his Omrahs to send their families to Dowlatabad, the messenger who was dispatched to Moultan, presuming too much upon the King's authority, upon observing some delay, proceeded to impertinent threats. He one day told Ibah's son-in-law, that he believed his father was meditating treason against the King. High words upon this arose between them, which soon ended in blows; and the messenger had his head struck off, by one of Ibah's servants. Ibah, knowing the vengeful disposition of Mahommed, was sensible that this disrespect to his authority would never be forgiven, and resolved to seek refuge in arms.
The Emperor, upon these advices, put his spears in motion, and hastened towards Moultan; and Ibah, with a numerous army, prepared to dispute the field. Both armies at last met, and, eager for victory, engaged with great resolution; but after a great slaughter on both sides, misfortune darkened the standards of Ibah, and his troops, turning their backs upon glory, abandoned the field. Mahommed immediately gave orders for a general massacre of the inhabitants of Moultan; but the learned Shech Rukun interceded for them, and prevented the effects of this horrible mandate. Ibah was taken in the pursuit, and his head brought to the King, who returned towards Delhi.
At sight of their native country and city, all those who had been forced to Dowlatabad began to desert the imperial army, and to disperse themselves in the . woods. The Emperor, to prevent the consequences of this desertion, took up his residence in the city; whither he invited them, and remained there for the space of two years. But then he again revolved in his mind the scheme of making Dowlatabad his capital. He removed his family, obliging the nobles to do the same, and carried off the whole city a second time, to the Decan; leaving that noble metropolis a habitation for owls, and the wild beasts of the desert.
About this time the taxes were so heavily imposed, and exacted with such rigour and cruelty, by the officers of the revenue, that the whole extent of that fertile country, between the two rivers Ganges and Jumna, were particularly oppressed. The farmers, weary of their lives, in one day set fire to their own houses, and retired to the woods, with their families and cattle. The tyrant, having received intelligence of this circumstance, ordered a body of troops to massacre these unhappy people if they resisted, and, if they should be taken, to put out their eyes. Many populous provinces were, by this inhuman decree, laid waste, and remained so for several years. The colony of Dowlatabad was also in great distraction; the people, without houses, without employment, were reduced to the utmost distress.
The tyrannies of the cruel Mahommed exceeded, in short, any thing we have met with in history, of which the following is a horrid instance. When he remained at Delhi, he led his army out to hunt, as is customary with princes. When they arrived in the territory of Birren, he plainly told them, that he came not to hunt beasts but men; and, without any obvious reason, began a general massacre of the wretched inhabitants. He had even the barbarity to bring home some thousands of their heads, and to hang them over the city walls. He, upon another occasion, made an excursion of the same nature towards Kinnoge, and massacred all the inhabitants of that city, and the adjacent country for many miles, spreading terror and desolation wherever he turned his eyes.
But to return to the chain of history: During this time, Fuchir, after the death of Byram, rebelled in Bengal, having slain Kuddir, and possessed himself of the three provinces of Bengal [Bengal, at this time, was divided into three governments.]. The Emperor, at the same time, received advices, that Seid Hassen had rebelled in Maber. He ordered Ibrahim the son of Hassen, and all his family, to prison; then marched in the year 742, from the sacking of Kinnoge, towards Maber. When he had reached Dowlatabad, he laid a heavy tax upon that city and the neighbouring provinces, which awakened the people into rebellion; but his numerous army soon reduced all the unhappy insurgents to their former slavery. From that place he sent back a part of his army, and Chaja Jehan, to Delhi, while he himself marched with another force towards Maber, by the way of Tillingana.
When Mahommed arrived before Arinkil, there happened to be a plague in that city, by which he lost a great part of his army. He himself had a violent struggle for his own life, and was obliged to leave one of his Omrahs, Ahmed, to command the army, and return towards Dowlatabad. On the way he was seized with a violent tooth-ache, and lost one of his teeth, which he ordered to be buried with much ceremony at Beir, and a magnificent tomb to be reared over it, which still remains a monument of human vanity and folly. Having arrived at Patan, he found himself better, and halted, to take medicines for some days. In this place, he gave to Sultani the title of Nuserit Chan, and the government of Bidder on the Indus, with its dependencies, which yielded annually a revenue of one crore of rupees. He, at the same time, conferred the government of Dowlatabad and of the country of the Mahrattors upon Cuttulich his preceptor.
He proceeded from Patan in his palankie to Delhi, having heard of some disturbance among the Patan soldiers, stationed in that capital. He, at this period, gave leave to such of the inhabitants of Dowlatabad as were willing to return to Delhi, to follow him. Many thousands returned, but they had almost perished on the way by a famine, which then desolated the countries of Malava and Chinderi. When they came to Delhi, they found that the famine raged with redoubled violence in that city, insomuch that very few could procure the necessaries of life. Mahommed, for once, seemed affected with human miseries. He even for some time entirely changed his disposition, and took great pains to encourage husbandry, commerce, and all kinds of industry. He opened the treasury, and divided large sums to the inhabitants for these purposes. But as the people were really in great distress, they expended the money in the necessaries of life, and many of them were severely punished upon that account.
Shahoo, a chief of the Mountain Afgans, about this time, commenced hostilities to the northward, poured down like a torrent upon Moultan, which he laid waste, and killed Begad, the imperial viceroy, in battle, and put his army to flight. Mahommed, having prepared an army at Delhi, moved towards Moultan, but Shahoo, upon the King's approach, wrote him a submissive letter, and fled to the mountains of Afganistan. The Emperor, perceiving that it was idle to pursue him, returned to Delhi.
The famine continued still to rage in the city so dreadfully, that men eat one another. He ordered, in this distress, another distribution of money towards the sinking of wells, and the cultivation of lands, but the people, weakened by hunger, and distracted by private distresses in their families, made very little progress, while the drought continued, and rendered their labour vain. At the same time, the tribes of Mindahir, and others who inhabited the country about Samana, unable to discharge their rents, fled into the woods. The Emperor marched forthwith against them with his army, and massacred some thousands of these poor slaves.
In the year 743, the chief of the Gickers invaded Punjâb, and killed Tatar the viceroy of Lahore in action. Jehan, upon this, was sent against him. Mahommed, in the mean time, began to entertain a ridiculous notion, that all the misfortunes of his reign proceeded from his not being confirmed in the empire by the Calipha of Mecca. He therefore dispatched presents and ambassadors to Arabia, and struck the Calipha's name, in the place of his own, on all the current coin, and prohibited all public worship in the mosques, till the Calipha's confirmation should arrive. In the year 744, one of the race of the prophet, named Sirsirri, returned with the ambassador, and brought the Calipha's confirmation, and a royal dress. He was met without the city by the King in person, who advanced to receive him on foot, putting the patent of the Caliphat upon his head, and opening it with great solemnity. Returning into the city, he ordered a grand festival to be celebrated, and public service to be read in all the mosques, striking out every King's name from the Chutba, who had not been confirmed from Mecca. Among the number of those degraded monarchs, was the Emperor's own father. He even carried this whim so far as to write the Calipha's name upon his houses, robes, and furniture. These, and some other ridiculous actions of the life of Mahommed, may reasonably make us suspect the soundness of his head. The Arabian ambassador, after being royally entertained, was dismissed with a letter to his master, full of respect, and with presents of immense value, and accompanied by Kabire, chief of the life-guards.
This year Kisnanaig, the son of Lidderdeo, who lived near Arinkil, went privately to Bellaldeo, the prince of the Carnatic, and told him, “That he had heard the Mahommedans, who were now very numerous in the Decan, had formed a design of extirpating all the Hindoos; that it was therefore advisable to prevent them in time.” What truth there might be in this report we know not, but Bellaldeo acted as if he was convinced of such a scheme. He called a council of his nobles, in which it was resolved, that Bellaldeo should first secure his own country, by fixing his capital in a pass among the mountains, to exclude the followers of Mahommed from all those kingdoms. Kisnanaig in the mean time promised, when matters should be ripe, to raise all the Hindoos of Arinkil and Tillingana to his assistance.
Bellaldeo accordingly built a strong city upon the frontiers of his dominions, and called it Bigen, from the name of his son, to which the word Nagur, or city, is now added. He then began to raise an army, and sent part of it under the command of Kisnanaig, who reduced Arinkil, and drove Ahmed, the imperial viceroy, to Dowlatabad. Bellaldeo and Kisnanaig having joined their forces with the princes of Maber and Doorsummund, who were formerly tributaries to the government of the Carnatic, they seized upon those countries, and drove the Mahommedans before them on all sides. In short, within a few months, Mahommed had no possessions in the Decan, except Dowlatabad.
The tyrannical Mahommed, upon receiving intelligence of those misfortunes, grew vengeful, splenetic, and cruel, wreaking his rage upon his unhappy subjects, without crime, provocation, or distinction. This conduct occasioned rebellion, robbery, and confusion, in all parts of the empire. The famine became daily more and more dreadful, insomuch that the Emperor, not able to procure provisions even for his household, was obliged to abandon the city, and to open the gates, and permit the starved inhabitants, whom he had before confined, to provide for themselves. Thousands crowded towards Bengal, which, as we have before observed, had revolted from the empire. Mahommed encamped his army near Cumpula, on the banks of the Ganges, and drew supplies from the countries of Oud and Kurrah. He ordered his people to build houses, which at length became a city under the name of Surgdewarie.
In the year 745, Nizam Bain, a zemindar, possessed of some lands in the province of Oud, and a fellow of an infamous character, collected a mob of the discontented farmers, and assumed the royal umbrella, under the name of Alla. But before Mahommed marched against him, the suba of Oud raised his forces, and, defeating him, sent his head to court. Nuzerit, in the same year, who had taken the whole province of Bidder, at one crore of rupees, payable to the treasury, finding himself unable to make good that contract, rebelled; but Cuttulich, being ordered against him from Dowlatabad, expelled him from that government.
During this period, Ali, who was sent from Dowlatabad to collect the rents of Kilbirga, finding that country destitute of troops, assembled his friends, raised an army with the collections, and, in the year 746, erected his rebellious standards, and took possession of Kilbirga and Bidder. Mahommed, on this occasion, sent a reinforcement to Cuttulich to suppress him. Cuttulich arriving on the confines of Bidder, Ali came out and gave him battle; but being defeated, he shut himself up in the city. He was however soon obliged to capitulate, and was sent prisoner to the King, who banished him and his brother to Ghizni.
The suba of Oud, having paid great attention to the King, and entirely gained his favour, was appointed to the viceroyship of Dowlatabad and Arinkil, in the room of Cuttulich. But he himself looked upon this appointment as an impolitic step in the King, considering the services Cuttulich had done to his affairs in the Decan, and the power he then enjoyed; and therefore thought it a snare laid to draw him quietly from his own subaship, and then to deprive him of both. In the mean time, a number of the clerks of the revenues, being convicted of abuses in their office, were ordered to be put to death. Some of those who survived found means to escape to the suba, and endeavoured to confirm him in his former opinion of the King's intentions.
He accordingly disobeyed the King's order, and erected the standard of rebellion, sending a detachment of horse under the command of his brother, who, before Mahommed received any intelligence of his designs, carried off all the elephants, camels, and horses, that were grazing or foraging near the royal camp. The Emperor, in great perplexity, called the troops of the adjacent districts to his assistance; while Jehan joined him, with an army from Delhi. He moved his standards against the revolted suba, who, with his brothers, had now crossed the Ganges, and were advancing towards him, in great hopes that the imperial army, tired and disgusted with their sovereign's tyrannical behaviour, would join them.
Mahommed, enraged at their presumption, mounted his horse, and engaging them, after a short conflict, put them to flight. The suba was taken prisoner, and his brother Shoralla drowned in the Ganges, as he was swimming across, having been wounded in the action, while another brother was slain in the field. The Emperor was so prejudiced in favour of the suba, that he pardoned him, and restored him to his former dignities, saying, that he was certain that Muluck was a loyal subject, though he had been instigated to this rebellion by the malice and falsehood of others.
Mahommed marched from thence to Barage, to pay his devotions at the tomb of Musaood, one of the family of the great Mamood, Emperor of Ghizni, who had been killed there by the Hindoos in the year 557. He distributed great sums among the Fakiers, who resided at Barage, and then returned to Delhi. Another ambassador arrived at that time from the Calipha, and was received with the same distinguishing marks of respect as the former, and dismissed with rich presents. Not long after, a prince of the noble house of Abassi arrived at Delhi, and was met by Mahommed, at the village of Palum, and he presented him with two lacks of rupees, a large territory, a palace, and fine gardens. By way of respect to the Caliphat, he placed him upon his right hand, and even sometimes ridiculously condescended to sit down upon the carpet before him, and pay him obeisance.
Some of the courtiers calumniated Cuttulich, governor of Dowlatabad, accusing him of oppressions and other abuses in his government, though a man of justice and integrity. The King recalled Cuttulich to Delhi, ordering his brother Molana, to whom he gave the title of Alim, to take charge of what remained to the empire of the Decan, till he should send some person from court. When the King's order arrived, Cuttulich was digging a great pond or reservoir, which he begged his brother to complete, and prepared to return to Delhi, with all the revenues of the Decan, which he had previously secured in a fort called Daragire, upon a mountain close to the city.
Mahommed, after the arrival of Cuttulich, appointed four governors for the Decan, having divided it into four provinces, and determined to reduce it, as before, to his obedience. To accomplish his purpose, he ordered a numerous army, under the command of Ahmed, late governor of Arinkil, an Omrah of great reputation, to march to Dowlatabad, and entered into articles with him, that he and the other chiefs should pay into the treasury seven crores of rupees [Near ten millions of our money.] annually for their governments. To make up this sum, and to gratify their own avarice, they plundered and oppressed that unfortunate country. At the same time, Mahommed conferred the government of Malava upon Aziz, a mean fellow, formerly a vintner, and told him, that the Amirs of Sidda [Mogul captains, who entered into his service with Amir Norose.] were dangerous persons in that country, therefore to endeavour to extirpate them.
Mahommed then marched back to his old cantonments at Surgdewara, and began to encourage cultivation, upon a new plan which he himself had invented. He appointed an inspector, for the regulation of all that related to husbandry, by the name of Amir Kohi, who divided the country into districts of sixty miles square, under a deputy who was to be answerable for its cultivation and improvement. Above one hundred deputies received their appointments at once, and seventy lacks of rupees were issued out of the treasury, to enable them to carry on this work.
Aziz, when he arrived at Bedar, invited the Mogul chiefs to an entertainment, and assassinated eighty of them, with their attendants. He wrote to the Emperor an account of this horrible massacre, who sent him back a present of a dress and a fine horse, for his loyal services. Such were the morals of those wretched days! The tyrannical Mahommed had now taken it into his head, that he would be better served by people of low birth, than by the nobility. He accordingly promoted Litchena a singer, Pira a gardener, Munga his son, Baboo a weaver, Muckbil a slave, and other low fellows, to the degree of Omrahs, and gave them the command of provinces and high offices at court. He, in this, forgot the advice of the poet, who writes, that “ He who exalts the head of a beggar, and hopes great things from his gratitude, inverts the nature of things, and nourishes a serpent in his bosom.” This resolution of the Emperor was occasioned by a noble refusal of the Omrahs to put his cruel orders into execution.
In the mean time, the slave Muckbil, with the title of Chan Jehani, governor of Guzerat, with the treasure, and the Emperor's horses, set out for Delhi. The mercenary Moguls of those parts, hearing of his intentions, waylaid him with a body of horse, and having robbed him, retired to Narwalla, the capital of Guzerat. Mahommed, hearing of this robbery, in a great rage prepared for Guzerat, leaving Ferose, his nephew, governor at Delhi, and, in the year 748, marched to Sultanpoor, about thirty miles without the city, where he waited for some reinforcements. An address came from Aziz the vintner, begging leave to go against the Mogul chiefs, being nearer, and having a sufficient force, as he imagined, for that purpose. The Emperor consented to his request, at the same time expressing much doubt of his success, knowing him to be a dastardly and unexperienced officer. Aziz advanced towards the rebels; but, in the beginning of the action, he was struck powerless with terror, and fell headlong from his horse. He was taken, and suffered a cruel death; his army being defeated with some loss.
Mahommed, being informed of this disaster, marched from Sultanpoor. It was on this march that he is said to have asked Birni the poet, what crimes a King ought to punish with severity? The poet replied, that seven sorts of criminals deserved severe punishment; these were, apostates from their religion, shedders of innocent blood, double adulterers, rebellious persons, officers disobeying lawful orders, thieves, and perverters of the laws. When he had reached the hills of Abu, upon the confines of Guzerat, he sent one of his principal Omrahs against the rebels, who met them in the districts of Bai, and gave them a total defeat. The Emperor, having halted at Barage, sent Muckbil after them, who, coming up with them as they were crossing the Nirbuda, put the greatest part to the sword. The few who escaped, taking protection with Madeo, prince of Buckelana, were all plundered of their wealth.
The Emperor, upon this occasion, massacred many of the Mogul chiefs, and plundered Cambait and Guzerat of every thing valuable, putting all who opposed him to the sword. He then sent to Dowlatabad, to seize upon all the Siddas of those parts, to bring them to punishment. Muckbil, according to orders, summoned the Siddas from Raijor, and many other places. The Siddas, conformable to those orders, prepared for Dowlatabad, and when they were all collected, Muckbil dispatched them, under a guard of fifteen hundred horse, to the royal presence.
When the Siddas, or Mogul chiefs, were arrived upon the frontiers of Guzerat, fearing that Mahommed had a design upon their lives, they entered into a conspiracy for their own security. They, with one accord, fell upon their guard, slew Ahmed their chief, with many of his people, while the rest, under the command of one Ali, fled to Dowlatabad. The Siddas pursued them, and, before any advices could arrive to put the place in a posture of defence, they took it by assault, being favoured by the troops within, who became seditious. Muckbil, with whose behaviour they were satisfied, was spared, but all the rest of the Emperor's officers were put to death, and the treasure divided among the conspirators.
The Siddas of Guzerat, and other parts, who were skulking about in the woods and mountains, hearing of the success of their brethren, joined them. Ismaiel, one of the nobles of their faction, was proclaimed King, by the name of Nasir. Mahommed, hearing of this revolution at Dowlatabad, left Barage, and hastened to- wards that city. The usurper, having drawn out his army, waited to give battle to the King. The two armies accordingly met, and the Moguls, though greatly inferior in number, roused by their danger and wrongs, assaulted the imperial troops with such violence, that the right and left wings were beat back, and the whole army upon the point of flight. But many of the chieftains who fought in the van being killed, four thousand of the Siddas fled; and night coming on, left the victory undecided, so that both armies lay on the field of battle.
A council of war being, in the mean time, called by the Siddas, who had suffered greatly in the engagement, it was determined that Ismaiel should retire into Dowlatabad, with a good garrison, and that the remainder should shift for themselves, till Mahommed should leave the Decan; when they resolved to assemble again at Dowlatabad. This wretched conduct was accordingly pursued. The Emperor ordered Ahmed, who was then at Elichpoor, to pursue the fugitives, while he himself laid siege to the city.
In the mean time, advices arrived, that one Tiggi, heading the Siddas of Guzerat, was joined by many of the zemindars, by which means he had taken Narwalla, the capital, and put Muziffer, the deputy-governor of Guzerat, to death; imprisoned Moaz the viceroy, and was now marching to lay waste Cambait, having in his route blockaded Barage.
Mahommed, upon this, left an Omrah to carry on the siege of Dowlatabad, and, with the greater part of his army, marched with great expedition to Guzerat. He was plundered in his way of many elephants, and a great part of his baggage, by the Indians: he lost also a great many men in defending himself. Having, however, arrived at Barage, Tiggi retreated to Cambait, and was pursued by Buckera, whom the Emperor had detached after him. Tiggi, having engaged the pursuers at Cambait, turned the chace upon them, killed Buckera and many other Omrahs, while the rest retreated to the Emperor. The rebel ordered all the prisoners taken in the action, as well as those whom he had formerly in confinement, to be put to death; among the latter was Moaz, viceroy of Guzerat.
Mahommed, hearing of this cruelty, breathed revenge. He hastened to Cambait, and Tiggi, unable to oppose him, retreated; but was closely pursued thither by Mahommed. The rebel continued his flight to Narwalla, and, in the mean time, the Emperor, on account of a prodigious rain, was obliged to halt at Assawil a whole month. Advices were brought him at Assawil, that Tiggi, having recruited his army at Narwalla, was returning to give him battle. He immediately struck his tents, and met the rebel at Kurri. Tiggi having injudiciously ordered his men to intoxicate themselves with strong liquors, they attacked the imperialists with the fury of madmen; but the elephants in front soon repressed this borrowed valour, and repulsed and threw into confusion the rebels. An easy conquest was obtained: five hundred prisoners were taken and put to death; and an equal number fell in the field. The Emperor immediately dispatched the son of Buckera in pursuit of the runaways, by the way of Tatta, near the mouth of the Indus, whither Tiggi had fled; while the King went in person to Narwalla, and employed himself in settling Guzerat.
News, in the mean time, arrived from the Decan, that the Mogul officers had assembled again under Hassen Caco, had defeated Ahmed, who had fallen in the action, and had driven all the imperial troops towards Malava: that Ismaiel had resigned his regal dignity, which Hassen Caco had assumed under the title of Alla. Mahommed was excessively chagrined upon receiving this intelligence, and began to consider his own tyranny as the cause of all those disorders. He therefore resolved to govern with more mildness and humanity for the future. He called his nephew Ferose, and other nobles, with their troops, in order to dispatch them against Caco.
Before those Omrahs arrived, the King was informed that the usurper's army was prodigiously increased. He therefore determined first, to settle Guzerat and Carnal [Now Joinagur.], and then to march in person to the Decan; but this business was not so soon accomplished, as he at first imagined; for he spent a whole year in regulating Guzerat, and in recruiting his army. The next year was also spent in besieging the fort of Carnal, reducing Cutch, and the adjacent territories. Some authors affirm, that Mahommed took the fort of Carnal; but others, of better authority, say, that he desisted from that attempt, upon receiving some presents from the Raja.
The poet Birni informs us, that Mahommed, one day, about this time, told him, that the diseases of the empire were of such a malignant nature, that he had no sooner cured them in one place, than they broke out in another. He would therefore be glad to know what remedy now remained, to put a stop to this contagion.
The poet replied, that when disaffection and disgust had once taken root in the minds of the people, they were not to be exterminated, without tearing up the vitals of the state: that the Emperor ought to be, by this time, convinced, how little was to be hoped from punishment. That it was therefore his opinion, in this case, that the King ought to invest his son with the government, and retire; which would obliterate all former injuries, and dispose the people to peace and tranquillity. Mahommed, says Birni, answered in an angry tone, “That he had no son whom he could trust, and that he was determined to scourge his subjects for their insolence, whatever might be the event.”
The Emperor, soon after this conversation with Birni, fell sick at Kondal. He had previously sent Jehan and Ahmed to Delhi, on account of the death of the viceroy, and called most of the principal men of the empire to the royal camp. Having recovered a little from his disorder, he mustered his army, and sent to collect boats along the Indus, which he ordered towards Tatta. Marching then from Kondal, he arrived on the banks of the Indus, which he crossed in spite of Tiggi; and was, on the other side, joined by five thousand Mogul horse. From thence he took the route of Tatta, to chastise the Sumrahs, for giving the rebel protection. Arriving within sixty miles of that city, he halted to pass the first days of the Mohirrim; and when that fast was over, having eat fish to excess, he was seized with a fever. He would not however be prevailed upon to stop, but, getting into a barge, he proceeded to within thirty miles of Tatta, and upon the banks of the Indus, on the twenty-first of Mohirrim, in the year 752, this tyrant was conquered by death, and shut up in the dark dungeon of the grave. He reigned twenty-seven years; during which time, he seems to have laboured with no contemptible abilities, to be detested by God, and feared and abhorred by all men.
Seventeen years before the death of Mahommed, the Mogul empire of Persia fell into pieces, at the death of Abusaid. A number of petty dynasties arose out of the ruins; some of the imperial family of Zingis, and others of governors who had rendered themselves independent in their provinces. The intermediate provinces, between Tartary, Persia, and India, subject to the house of Zagatay, fell into anarchy and confusion, about the time of Mahommed's death. Shotepala, Yesun-Temur, Hosila, Tu-Temur, and Tohan-Temur, successively mounted the Mogul throne of Tartary and China, during the reigns of Tuglick and Mahommed in India. The Patan empire declined greatly under the impolitic government of Mahommed. The south and eastern provinces were lost; and the territories of the Kings of Delhi were reduced to the same limits which bounded them before the successful reign of Alla.