The History of Hindostan (1812), by Alexander Dow

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Part 5 of 15

[Section XII. The Reign of Zahir ul Dowla Sultan Ibrahim, ben Musaood Ghiznavi.]

IBRAHIM I.

When Feroch-Zaad became the inhabitant of another world, his brother. Ibrahim [Zehir ul Dowla, Sultan Ibrahim, ben Musaood Ghiznavi.] ascended the throne of empire: a King remarkable for morality and devotion, having in the flower of his youth, amidst a paradise of pleasure, conquered all the sensual appetites, and added two months more to the feast of Ramzan, which he kept with the strictest severity. He, at the same time, gave proper attention to government and the due administration of justice, and opened the hand of charity to the poor. This prince excelled in the art of fine writing, and in the libraries of Mecca and Medina there are two copies of the Koran wrote with his own hand, which were sent as presents to the Calipha. -- In the first year of his reign, he concluded a treaty of peace with the Siljoki, ceding to them all the countries they had seized, upon condition that they would not lengthen the hand of violence any further upon his do-minions. He married, at the same time, his son Musaood to the daughter of their king, Malleck Shaw, which opened the door of friendship and intercourse between the two nations.

We are told, that before this peace was concluded, Malleck had collected a great army, with an intention to invade Ghizni, which greatly intimidated Ibrahim, as he was not then in a condition to oppose him. But knowing that policy is sometimes a good substitute for strength, he wrote letters to the principal Omrahs of Malleck's army, which he dispatched by a messenger, who had received his instructions how to proceed. The purport of those letters was to importune the Omrahs, to whom they were directed, to hasten the King's march to Ghizni, lest their scheme should be prematurely discovered; and that they might depend upon his fulfilling his engagements to their satisfaction.

The messenger accordingly took an opportunity one day, when Malleck was hunting, upon the road to Ghizni, to come running towards him; but upon discovering the King, he stole slowly away, which creating suspicion, he was pursued by some horsemen, and brought before the King. He was immediately searched, and the packet was found upon him; though he had previously suffered himself to be severely bastinadoed, without confessing any thing. The King having read these letters, the power of the supposed conspirators was such, that there was great danger in accusing them; but it raised such a diffidence in his mind, that he, from that time, was desirous of peace, and gave over all thoughts of his expedition.

When the mind of Ibrahim was quieted from any apprehensions from that quarter, he sent an army towards India, and conquered many places in that country, which before had not been visited by the Mussulman arms. In the year 472, he marched in person towards that country, and extended his conquests to the fort of Ajodin, called now Palanshukurgunge. This place being taken, he turned to another fort called Rupal, which was built upon the summit of a steep hill; a river enclosed it on three sides, and a small peninsula joined it to the other hills, which were entirely covered with an impervious wood, and much infested by venomous serpents. This, however, did not discourage the King from his attempt. He ordered some thousand hatchet-men to clear the wood, which they effected in spite of all opposition; and the rock being soft, the miners forced their way in a short time under the walls, which were brought down in ruins. The place was immediately taken, and the garrison made prisoners.

He marched from thence to another town in the neighbourhood, the inhabitants of which came originally from Chorassan, and were banished thither, with their families, by Afransiab [A name common to a long race of Persian kings.], for frequent rebellions. Here they formed themselves into a small independent state, being encircled by impassable mountains; and had preserved their ancient customs and rites, without intermarrying with any other people. The King having, with infinite labour, cleared a road for his army over the mountains, advanced towards the town, which was well fortified. He was overtaken by the rainy season, and his army was greatly distressed; during three months he was obliged to remain idle before it. But when the rains began to abate, and the country to dry up, he summoned the town to surrender and acknowledge the faith.

Ibrahim's proposals being rejected, he commenced the siege, which continued some weeks, with great slaughter on both sides. The town at length was taken by assault, and the Mussulmen found much wealth in it, and one hundred thousand unfortunate persons, whom they carried bound to Ghizni. Some time after, the King accidentally saw one of those unhappy men carrying a heavy stone, with great difficulty and labour, to a palace which was then building. This awakened his pity; he commanded him to throw it down, and gave him his liberty.

This stone happened to lie upon the public road, and proved troublesome to passengers; but as the King's rigid adherence to his commands was universally known, none would attempt to remove it. A courtier one day having stumbled with his horse over this stone, took occasion to mention it to the King; insinuating, that he thought, if his Majesty pleased, that it was adviseable to have it removed. To which the King replied: “I have commanded it to be thrown there, and there it must remain; as a memorial of the misfortunes of war, and my own pity: for it is better for a King to be obstinate, even in his inadvertencies, than to break his royal word.” The stone was accordingly permitted to remain, where it is shewn as a curiosity to this day.

The want of materials must render our history of the reign of Ibrahim extremely short. After his expedition to India, and the pacification with the Siljoki Tartars, he seems to have few foreign affairs to mind. His ad ministration of domestic justice was sudden, equitable, and decisive. The lower people were happy, and his chiefs loved and obeyed him. Profound peace furnishes few materials for history; a well-regulated monarchy gives birth to no extraordinary events, except in expedition and foreign war.

Ibrahim had thirty-six sons and forty daughters by a variety of women. The latter he gave in marriage to learned and religious men. In the year 492, he left this mortal state, after having reigned in tranquillity and happiness forty-two years. In his time flourished Abul Farrhe, the famous writer, who was a native of Seistan, according to some, but as others affirm, of Ghizni. He is esteemed a master in poetry; and the famous Ansuri was one of his disciples.

When Ibrahim acceded to the throne of Ghizni, Togril Beg, the first of the dynasty of the Siljokides, sat upon that of Persia and the Western Tartary. Togril was succeeded by his nephew Alp-Arslan, in the 465th of the Higera. Malleck Shaw, the son of Alp- Arslan, possessed the empire, after the death of his father, and Barkiaroc, the son of Malleck Shaw, reigned in Persia at the death of Ibrahim. Marriages between the family of Ghizni and that of the Siljoki contributed to that tranquillity which Ibrahimn enjoyed during a very long reign; and the passiveness of the Indians permitted the empire to retain its former bounds on the side of Hindostan.

[Section XIII. The Reign of Alla ul Dowla Musaood, ben Ibrahim ben Musaood Ghiznavi.]

MUSAOOD III.

MUSAOOD [Alla ul Dowla Musaood, ben Ibrahim.], the son of Ibrahim, mounted the throne upon the demise of his father. He was endowed with a benevolent and generous disposition: nor was he less famous for his justice and sound policy. He revised the ancient laws and regulations of the state, and, abrogating such as were thought unreasonable, substituted others in their place, founded upon better principles. He took the daughter of Sinjer, King of the Siljoki, whose name was Mehid of Persia, in marriage, which cemented the peace between them.

Peace blessed the reign of Musaood, and his history must, therefore, be succinct.

Under him Tigha Tiggi was honoured with the command of a great expedition, which he formed against Hindostan. Crossing the Ganges he carried his conquests further than any Mussulman, except the Emperor Mamood; and, having plundered many rich cities and temples of their wealth, returned in triumph to Lahore, which now became, in some measure, to be reckoned the capital of the empire; especially as the Siljoki had stripped the Ghiznian family of most of their Persian and Tartar provinces.

After Musaood had reigned sixteen years, without domestic troubles or foreign wars, he entered his eternal abode, in the latter end of the year five hundred and eight. We are told, that after his death his son Shere placed his foot upon the imperial throne. He enjoyed it only one year, being assassinated by the hand of his own brother Arsilla, who assumed the diadem.

Barkiaroc, the fourth of the dynasty of the Siljokides, sat on the throne of Persia at the accession of Musaood; and Mahommed, the fifth Sultan of the race of Seljuk, died the same year with the King of Ghizni. Sinjer, governor of Chorassan, succeeded his brother Mahommed as King of Persia, and we shall find in the sequel, that he interfered in the succession of the sons of Musaood, who were his nephews. The Indian provinces, conquered by his ancestors, remained in tranquillity to Musaood.

[Section XIV. The Reign of Sultan ul Dowla Arsilla Shaw ben Musaood.]

ARSILLA.

When Arsilla [Sultan ul Dowla, Arsilla Shaw, ben Musaood.], the son of Musaood, by means of assassination, became King of Ghizni, he seized upon all his brothers, excepting one who escaped, and confined them. Byram, who was so fortunate as to get out of the King's hands, fled for protection to Sinjer, who then, on the part of his brother Mahommed, king of Persia, ruled the province of Chorassan. Sinjer, who was uncle to Arsilla, having demanded the releasement of the other brothers, which was not complied with, made the cause of Byram a pretence for invading the kingdom of Ghizni; and he accordingly advanced the standard of hostility towards that city.

Arsilla, hearing of the intended invasion, wrote letters of complaint to Sinjer's elder brother, the Emperor Mahommed, that he might command him back; and that monarch pretended to be inclinable to make peace between them. But Sinjer was found to continue his march, which convinced Arsilla that he could have no dependence upon any thing but his sword. But his mother, Mehid, princess of Persia, being offended with him for the murder of his brother Musaood, and his inhuman treatment of her other children, with well-dissembled affection, prevailed upon him to send her to negotiate a peace, with a great sum of money, sufficient to reimburse her brother Sinjer for the expence of his expedition. When she arrived in the camp, she, according to her design, excited Byram her son, and her brother Sinjer, to prosecute the war with all expedition.

Sinjer immediately marched with thirty thousand horse, and fifty thousand foot, from Bust in Chorassan, where he then lay, and, without opposition, advanced within one pharsang of Ghizni, where he beheld the army of Arsilla drawn out in order of battle to receive him. He therefore instantly ordered the line to be formed, dividing his horse into squadrons, and placing battalions of spear-men in the intervals, with elephants in the rear, to be ready to advance upon occasion. Encouraging then his troops, he advanced slowly toward the enemy, who stood firm to receive the charge. The shock was so violent upon both sides, that order and command yielded to rage and confusion. The gleam of arms that illuminated the field, was soon quenched in blood, and darkened by clouds of dust, that took away all distinction. At length, by the uncommon bravery of Abul Fazil, governor of Seistan, the troops of Ghizni were put to flight, and Arsilla, unable to renew the combat, fled with the remains of his army towards Hindostan.

Sinjer entered Ghizni in triumph, where he remained forty days, giving the kingdom to his nephew Byram, and then returning to his own country. When Arsilla had heard of the departure of Sinjer, he collected all his troops in the Ghiznian provinces of Hindostan, and returned to recover his capital. Byram, unable to oppose him, shut himself up in the fort of Bamia, till he could be succoured by his uncle, Sinjer. Sinjer again took the field, and drove Arsilla a second time back to Hindostan. But he was so closely pursued, that his army was dispersed, while a few of his Omrahs, who remained, laid hands upon him, and brought him to Byram, to procure their own pardon. Arsilla suffered a violent death in the 27th year of his age, after he had reigned three years. In this reign historians report, that, among other prodigies, there fell a storm of fire upon the city of Ghizni, which consumed a great part of its buildings.

He was a weak and wicked prince, as unworthy of empire, as his father and grandfather were deserving of a throne.

[Section XV. The Reign of Moaz ul dowla Byram Shaw, ben Musaood.]

BYRAM.

BYRAM [Moaz ul Dowla, Byram Shaw, ben Musaood.], the son of Musaood the third, was blessed with a noble and generous disposition. He had an uncommon thirst after knowledge; he was a great promoter of literature, and a liberal patron of learned men. Many men of letters resorted to his court, particularly Shech Nizami, and Seid Hassen, both poets and philosophers of great fame. Many books were, in this reign, translated from various languages into the Persian tongue; among the most famous of which was an Indian book, called the Killila Dumna, a fabulous story, pregnant with sound morality, policy, and entertainment.

This book was sent formerly before the dissolution of the Hindoo empire of India, by the King of that country, accompanied with a Chess table, to Noshirwan, surnamed The Just, King of Persia. Buzurg Chimere his vizier, surnamed The Wise, was so well versed in all the known languages, that in a few days he translated the Killila Dumna into Phelevi, or ancient Persic, to the astonishment of the ambassador, who imagined the Sanscrita language was entirely unknown in those parts. But he could form no conception of the chess-board, as that game was, at that time, unknown in Persia. He therefore had recourse to the ambassador, who was esteemed the best player in Hindostan, to have this matter explained to him, who having accordingly discovered to him the principles, Buzurg sat down with him to play. The first game he obliged the ambassador to draw; the second he chased his King solitary; and the third he gave him check-mate. The ambassador was so mad to be foiled at his own weapons, that he would play no more. Buzurg then invented the game of backgammon, returning a set of those tables by the ambassador, who having related his adventure with Buzurg, and given an account of the genius and government of Noshirwan, his master gave up all thoughts of an invasion, which he had been meditating against that King.

The present of the chess-board was intended as an experiment upon the genius of the minister, and to indicate that, in the great game of state, attention and capacity were better friends than fortune. While the book, in its whole tenor, strongly inculcated that wise maxim, that true wisdom and policy is always an over-match for strength. The backgammon-table, which was returned, signified, that attention and capacity alone cannot always insure success, but that we must play the game of life according to the casts of fortune.

But to return to our history. Byram, in the days of his prosperity, went twice into Hindostan, chastising his refractory subjects and collectors of the imperial revenue. The first time he went to reduce Balin, who had possession of the government of Lahore, on the part of his brother the Emperor Arsilla, whom he defeated and took, the 27th of Ramzan, in the year 512; but having pardoned him, upon swearing allegiance, he was again reinstated in his government, and the King returned to Ghizni. In the mean time, Balin built the fort of Nagore, in the country of Sewalic, whither he conveyed all his wealth, family, and effects; then raising an army, composed chiefly of Arabs, Persians, Afghans, and Chilligies, he committed great devastations upon the Indian independent princes, which success so puffed him up, that he aspired at length to the empire.

Byram, being apprised of the intentions of Balin, collected his army, and a second time marched towards Hindostan. Balin, with his ten sons, who had each the command of a province, advanced to meet the King, as far as Moultan, with a powerful army. A dreadful battle ensued; but the curse of ingratitude was poured, in a storm, upon the head of the perfidious rebel, who, in his flight, with his ten sons and attendants, fell headlong into a deep quagmire, where they were totally overwhelmed, and every one of them perished.

The King, after this complete victory, settled the affairs of the Indian provinces, and, appointing Hussein to the chief command of the conquered part of India, returned himself to Ghizni. He soon after publicly executed Mahommed prince of Ghor, who was son-in- law to the rebel Balin. This, in its consequences, proved the ruin of the family of Ghizni. Seif ul dien, surnamed Souri, prince of Ghor [A province of the Ghiznian empire, the princes of which had been reduced into a dependence upon the family of Subuctagi, by the Emperor Mamood.], brother to the deceased, raised a great army to revenge his death. He marched directly to Ghizni, which Byram, unable to oppose him, evacuated, and fled to a place called Kirma, upon the borders of India. This Kirma had been built by the Afghans to guard a pass in the mountains.

The prince of Ghor, without further opposition, entered the capital, where he established himself, by the consent of the people, sending Alla, his brother, to rule his native principality of Ghor. Notwithstanding all he could do to render himself popular at Ghizni, the people, from an attachment to the imperial family, began to dislike his government, and secretly wished the reestablishment of their former King. Some of the Omrahs, who were of the same principles, laying hold of this favourable disposition, informed Byram of their ripeness for an insurrection, if he could by any means favour it.

It was now winter, and most of the followers of the prince of Ghor had returned, upon leave, to their families, when Byram, unexpectedly, appeared before Ghizni, with a great army. Seif ul Dien being then in no condition to engage him with his own troops, and having little dependence upon those of Ghizni, was preparing to retreat to Ghor, when the Ghiznians intreated him to engage Byram, and that they would exert themselves to the utmost in his service. This was only a trick for an opportunity to put their design in execution. As the unfortunate prince was advancing to engage Byram, he was surrounded by the troops of Ghizni, and taken prisoner, while Byram in person put the forces of Ghor to flight.

The unhappy captive was inhumanly ordered to have his forehead made black, and then to be put astride a sorry bullock, with his face turned towards the tail. He, in that manner, was led round the whole city, insulted and hooted by the mob. He was then put to the torture, and his head sent to Sinjer, king of Persia, while his vizier, Seid Mujud, was impaled alive.

When this news was carried to the ears of his brother Alla, he burnt with rage, and, resolving upon revenge, with all his united powers, invaded Ghizni. Byram, hearing of his coming, prepared himself to receive him. He wrote him a letter, and endeavoured to intimidate him with the superiority of his troops, advising him not to plunge the whole family of Ghor into the same abyss of misfortune. Alla replied, “That his threats were as impotent as his arms: that it was no new thing for Kings to make war upon their neighbours; but that barbarity like his was unknown to the brave, and what he had never heard to have been exercised upon Princes. That he might be assured that God had forsaken Byram, and ordained Alla to be the instrument of that just vengeance which was denounced against him, for putting to death the representative of the long-independent and very ancient family of Ghor.”

All hopes of accommodation being past, Byram advanced with a numerous army, to give Ana battle. The offer was gladly accepted by his adversary, and the bloody conflict commenced with great fury on both sides. At first the troops of Ghizni, by their superior numbers, bore down those of Ghor; till Alla, seeing his affairs almost desperate, called out to two gigantic brothers, whose name was Chirmil, the greater and the lesser, whom he saw in the front, like two rocks bearing against the torrent. He forced on his elephant towards Byram, these two heroes clearing all before him. Byram, observing him, stood off: but his son Dowlat, accepting the challenge, advanced to oppose Alla. The elder of the heroic Chirmils intervening, ripped up the belly of Dowlat's elephant, and was himself killed by his fall. Alla, in the mean time, nailed the brave prince, with his spear, to the ground. The other Chirmil attacked the elephant of Byram, and, after many wounds, brought the enormous animal to the ground; but while he was rising from under the elephant's side, being much bruised by the fall, Byram escaped with his life, and instantly mounting a horse, joined the flight of his army, which was now repulsed on all sides. The troops of Ghor emulating the bravery of their leader, had made such a violent attack as to be no longer resistible.

Byram fled, with the scattered remains of his army, towards Hindostan; but he was overwhelmed with his misfortunes, and sunk under the hand of death, in the year five hundred and forty-seven, after a reign of thirty-five years.

He was, upon the whole, a good and virtuous prince; though his too precipitate severity, in the case of the prince of Ghor, cannot be reconciled to humanity or sound policy.

The long reign of Byram was peaceable, but inglorious; the empire had been long upon the decline, and though he was a virtuous prince, he had not sufficient abilities to retrieve its vigour. Sinjer, his uncle by the mother, the sixth Emperor of Persia, of the Siljokan race, was upon the throne, in full possession of the empire conquered by his ancestors, when Byram became king of Ghizni. -- Sinjer reigned over Persia more than forty years. The Indian provinces subject to Ghizni, remained entire to Byram.

[Section XVI. The Reign of Zehiri ul dowla Chusero Shaw ben Byram Shaw Ghiznavi.]

CHUSERO I.

CHUSERO [Zehiri ul Dowla, Chusero Shaw, ben Byram Shaw Ghiznavi.], the son of the Emperor Byram, upon the death of his father, continued his march to Lahore, leaving the kingdom of Ghizni to his enemies, and was there saluted King, by the unanimous voice of his people.

In the mean time, the conqueror entered Ghizni with little opposition, and that noble city was given up to flame, slaughter, rapine, and devastation. The massacre continued for the space of seven days, in which time pity seemed to have fled the earth, and the fiery spirits of demons to actuate the bodies of men. For which inhuman cruelty the barbarous Alla was justly denominated Allum Soze, or the incendiary of the world. But, insatiable of revenge, he carried a number of the most venerable priests, learned men, and citizens, in chains to Ghor, to adorn his triumph. There,—we shudder to relate it! he ordered their throats to be cut, tempering earth with their blood, with which he plaistered the walls of his city.

After the return of Alla to Ghor, Chusero, hoping to recover the lost kingdom of Ghizni, and depending upon the assistance of Sinjer, king of Persia, collected all his forces, and marched from Lahore. But when he had arrived upon the borders of Ghizni, he received intelligence that Sinjer had been defeated and taken prisoner by the Turks of Ghiza, who were then marching down with a great army to Ghizni, to appropriate that kingdom to themselves. This obliged him to retreat again to Lahore, being in no condition to oppose them. He governed the Indian provinces in peace, with the common justice of virtuous kings.

The Turks of Ghiza, in the mean time, drove out the troops of Ghor, and kept possession of Ghizni for two years. But they were expelled in their turn by the Ghorians, who did not long enjoy it for that time, being vanquished by Assumud, general to Chusero, the second of that name, who, for a short space, recovered and held that kingdom.

Chusero the first died at Lahore, in the year five hundred and fifty-five, after he had reigned seven years, with no great splendor; but he deserved and attained the character of a good and peaceable prince.

[Section XVII. The Reign of Chusero Malleck, ben Chusero Shaw.]

CHUSERO II.

WHEN Chusero the first departed from this house of grief, towards the mansions of joy and immortality, his son Chusero [Chusero Malleck, ben Chusero Shaw.], the second of that name, ascended the throne, which he adorned with benevolence and justice, extending his dominions to all the provinces formerly possessed by the Emperors Ibrahim and Byram.

But Mahommed, brother to the prince of Ghor, invaded the kingdom of Ghizni, which he reduced, and not satisfied with that, marched an army into India, overrunning the provinces of Peshawir, Afghanistan, Moultan, and the Indus. He advanced at length to Lahore, and, in the year 576, invested the Emperor Chusero in his capital, but not being able to take the place, there was a kind of treaty concluded between them. Mahommed evacuated the country, carrying Chusero, the son of the Emperor, a child of four years of age, hostage for the performance of the treaty.

But the terms not being kept properly by Chusero, Mahommed, in the year 580, returned to Lahore, and besieged it to no purpose. He however subjected the open country to fire and sword. He then built the fort of Salcot, where he left a strong garrison, and then returned to Ghizni. In his absence, the Emperor Chusero, in alliance with the Gickers, besieged the fort of Salcot, but their enterprise proving unsuccessful, they were obliged to desist.

Some time after these transactions, Mahommed collected all his forces, and the third time resolved to reduce the city of Lahore, which he effected by treachery, in the following manner. While he was preparing for the expedition, he gave out, that it was intended against the Siljokies, writing, at the same time, to Chusero, that he was desirous of accommodating all their differences, by a treaty of peace. To convince him of the sincerity of his intentions, he now returned his son Chusero, with a splendid retinue; who had orders to make short marches, while the Emperor, his father, impatient to see him, advanced a part of the way to meet him. In the mean time, Mahommed, with twenty thousand horse, with incredible expedition, marched by another way, round the mountains, and cut off Chusero from Lahore, having surrounded his small camp in the night. The Emperor, having waked in the morning from his dream of negligence, saw no hope of escape left, which obliged him to throw himself upon the mercy of his adversary. He demanded possession of the capital for the King's release, accordingly the gates of that city were thrown open to receive him; and thus the empire passed from the house of Ghizni to that of Ghor, as we shall see more fully in the history of that race.

The year in which the family of Ghizni was extinguished, proved also fatal to the elder branch of the royal family of the Siljokides in Persia. Disputes about the succession, and the weakness of the princes who reigned after Sinjer, seemed to conspire in the ruin of an empire, which fell as suddenly as it rose, The governors of the provinces, no uncommon thing in Asia, assumed independence, with great facility, when their masters had not abilities of mind to counteract the power which the crown vested in its viceroys. Some governments, in the distractions of the empire, became hereditary, and many ambitious Omrahs rendered themselves independent, in the debilitated reign of the second Togril. Tacash, viceroy of Charizm, a part of the ancient Transoxiana, not only assumed the ensigns of royalty in his government, but being invited into the western Persia, annexed that country to his new kingdom, by the defeat and death of Togril.

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Part 6 of 15

[Section XVIII. Of the Dynasty of Ghor.]

MAHOMMED GHORI.

Mor Chan, the historian, tells us, that about the time when Feredoon, an ancient king of Persia, subdued Zohac Tazi, two brothers of the royal family, Souri and Sam, were taken into favour by the conqueror; but having by some means incurred his displeasure, they fled with a party of their friends to Hawind, in the mountains between India and Persia, where they took up their abode, possessing themselves of a small territory. Souri took the government of this district, appointing his brother to the command of his small army, and gave his daughter in marriage to his son Suja.

Suja, after his father's decease, enjoyed his place. But some private enemies, having traduced him to his uncle, inspired him with jealousy and enmity to such a degree, that he wanted to take his daughter away from him. When Suja found this, he was determined to seek his fortune elsewhere. He accordingly, in the night, with ten horsemen and a few camels, laden with , his effects, set out with his wife and children, to the mountains of Ghor, where he built a house, and called it Romijandish, or the careless habitation. Here he was gradually joined by many of his friends, who built a strong fort, which he held out against the troops of Feredoon for some time, but at length he was obliged to submit and pay tribute.

Thus the race of Zohac, one after another, succeeded to this government, which began to gain strength by degrees, till the time of the prophet, when it was ruled by Shinsub, who, some say, was converted to the faith by the great Ali, the son-in-law of Mahommed, who confirmed him in his kingdom. The genealogy of the kings of Ghor, according to the most authentic historians, could be traced up, by the names, for three and twenty generations, and downwards nine generations, from Ali to Mamood, the son of Subuctagi, Emperor of Ghizni, who gave it to Ali the vanquished prince's son, to hold it of the Empire. But Ali endeavouring to throw off the yoke of Mamood, he was deposed, and the country given to Abas his nephew, in whose reign there were seven years' drought in Ghor, so that the earth was burnt up, and thousands of men and animals perished with heat and famine. Abas, desirous of rendering himself independent, commenced a war against the Emperor Ibrahim, by whom he was defeated and taken prisoner; the kingdom being conferred upon his son Mahommed, who swore allegiance to the empire of Ghizni. He was succeeded by his son Hussein, who was killed by an arrow in the eye, in attacking a certain fort, when he rebelled against Ghizni.

Upon the death of Hussein, his son Sham was obliged to fly to India, where he followed the business of a merchant; and having acquired much wealth, he returned up the Indus to his native country. But unfortunately he was wrecked, narrowly escaping with his life upon a plank, with his son Hussein, after driving with the tide for three days. When they got foot on shore, they made towards a town that appeared in sight; but, it being late before they arrived, they could find no lodgings, and were obliged to creep in under a balcony, where they might sleep out of the rain. The watch going the rounds perceived them, and without further examination, concluding they were thieves, carried them to prison. They were condemned to slavery for seven years, during which time the son died. When Sham obtained his liberty, he proceeded towards Ghizni, on the way to which he was met by a gang of robbers, that had for a long time infested the roads. When they saw him, a man of great strength and of a bold appearance, they insisted upon enrolling him in the gang, to which he was obliged to consent; but unfortunately that very night, a party of the troops of the Emperor Ibrahim surrounded them, and carried them all in chains to the royal presence, and the King immediately condemned them to death.

When the executioner was binding up the eyes of Sham, he raised a grievous complaint, protesting, and calling God to witness, that he was innocent, which softened the steely heart of the executioner to pity. He desired him to relate what he had to say in his own defence, which he did in such a circumstantial and probable manner, that the magistrate who attended, believing him innocent, petitioned the King to give him a hearing. This being accordingly granted, he acquitted himself with such modesty and eloquence, that the King commanded him to be released, and admitted him into his particular friendship and favour. Ibrahim, some time after, created Sham an Omrah, and appointed him master of requests, in which station he acquitted himself so honourably, that he rose daily in rank and honours, till the Emperor Musaood, the son of Ibrahim, put him in possession of his hereditary kingdom. He then married a princess of the house of Ghizni, by whom he had seven sons, denominated the seven stars.

After the death of Sham, his sons became divided into two factions; one headed by the governor of Taristan and Hiatilla, whose name was Musaood, the eldest son: and the other by the fourth son, Mahommed, who took possession of Ghor. The second son, Cuttub, took possession of the hills, and founded the city of Firose Ko, which he made his capital; and raising himself in a few years to great power, he meditated an attempt upon the empire of Ghizni, collecting soldiers of fortune from all parts. But Byram the Emperor, being privately acquainted of his intentions, treacherously invited him in friendship to Ghizni, where, contrary to all the laws of honour and hospitality, he ordered poison to be administered to him, which proved the fatal cause of the war between the houses of Ghor and Ghizni.

Sief ul dien the fifth son, who had accompanied his brother, escaped the snare, and fled to Firose Ko. He there placed himself at the head of his brother's army, and marched towards Ghizni to revenge his death, as we have seen in the history of that kingdom. He took Ghizni, and Byram fled to India. But Byram returning again in the winter, when the troops of Sief ul dien were mostly gone to Firose Ko and Ghor, from whence they could not easily return, on account of the roads and deep snow, Sief ul dien, as before related, was treacherously delivered up to him, and, with his vizier, put to a most ignominious death. The consequence of this impolitic cruelty was, that Sham, the sixth brother, prepared to invade Byram, with an army from Firose Ko and Ghor; but dying in the interim, the command devolved upon the seventh brother, Alla the incendiary, who took and destroyed Ghizni. He carried his ravages so far as to destroy every monument and tomb of the Ghiznian Kings, excepting those of the Emperors Mamood, Musaood, and Ibrahim, throwing fire into their very graves, and defacing their inscriptions upon all public edifices. When he returned to Ghor, he appointed his nephews, Yeas ul dien and Mahommed Sham, to the government of a province of Ghor called Sinjia. But when they found the revenues of that province could not support the figure which they endeavoured to make, by their unbounded generosity and liberality to military men, whom they began to collect from all parts; they began to extend their limits. This having reached the ears of Alla, he sent a force against them, and seizing them both, confined them in the fort of Goristan.

Alla then turned the hostile spear against the brother of the King of Persia and governor of Chorassan, Sinjer, to whom his father had paid tribute. He overrun the provinces of Balich and Herat; but coming to an engagement with Sinjer, he was defeated and taken prisoner. Notwithstanding all which, Sinjer had compassion upon him, and again confirmed him in the kingdom of Ghor, where he died in the year five hundred and fifty-one. Alla was succeeded by his son Mahommed, who upon his accession released his two cousins from their confinement at Goristan, and bestowed again the government of Sinjia upon them. In little more than a year, he commenced a war with the tribe of Turkumans called Ghiza, and in the day of battle was killed by one of his own men.

He was succeeded by his eldest cousin, Yeas ul dien, who appointed his brother, Mahommed Ghori, his general. This illustrious hero, under the name of his brother, subdued Chorassan, and a great part of India; and Yeas annexed the titles of those countries to his own. His death happened, as shall afterwards appear, in the year 599 of the Higera.

[Section XIX. The Reign of Shaw Chursied Ahtiesham Sultan Moaz ul Dien; known in Hindostan by the name of Shab Ul Dien Mahummud Ghori.]

Mahommed Ghori was left by his brother, when he acceded to the throne of Ghor, to command in Tunganabad, in the province of Chorassan. He continued from thence to make incursions upon Ghizni, as we have observed in the history of that kingdom.

In the year 567, Yeas ul dien marched in person against the Omrahs of Chusero, the last of the imperial house of Ghizni, and entirely reduced them. He gave the government of Ghizni to his brother Mahommed, who, according to the imperial orders, in the year 572, led an army towards Moultan, which he entirely subdued. He inarched from thence to Adja. The prince of that place shut himself up in a strong fort. Mahommed began to besiege the place; but finding it would be a difficult task to reduce it, he sent a private message to the Raja's wife, promising to marry her if she would make away with her husband.

The base woman returned for answer, that she was rather too old herself to think of matrimony, but that she had a beautiful young daughter, whom if he would promise to espouse, and leave her in free possession of the country and its wealth, she would in a few days remove the Raja. Mahommed basely accepted of the proposal, and the wicked woman accordingly, in a few days, found means to assassinate her husband, and to open the gates to the enemy.

Mahommed confirmed his promise, by marrying the daughter, upon acknowledging the true faith; but he made no scruple to deviate from what respected the mother; for, instead of trusting her with the country, he sent her off to Ghizni, where she soon died of grief and resentment. Nor did the daughter relish her situation better; for, in the space of two years, she also fell a victim to grief.

Mahommed having conferred the government of Moultan and Adja upon one Ali, returned to Ghizni; from whence, in the year 574, he again marched to Adja and Moultan, and from those places continued his course through the sandy desert, to Guzerat. The prince Bim Deo advanced thither with a great army, to give him battle, in which the Mussulmen were defeated, with great slaughter, and suffered many hardships in their retreat, till they arrived at Ghizni.

In the year following, Mahommed marched his recruited army towards Peshawir, which he in a short time brought under subjection. He proceeded in the course of the next year, towards Lahore, where he invested Chusero, the last of the Ghiznian race, who had been so weakened at that time, by wars with the Indian princes and the Afghans, that he could not oppose him in the field. But Mahommed, finding he could not reduce the place, intimated a desire of treating with Chusero, who, glad to get rid of him, made him some presents, and gave his son as an hostage for the performance of the rest of the agreement between them.

Mahommed upon this returned to Ghizni, but he could not rest long in peace. He, the very next year, drew his army towards Dewil, in the province near the mouth of the Indus, and subdued all the country to the sea coast, returning loaded with rich spoil.

In the year 580, he returned again to Lahore, where Chusero shut himself up as before, sustaining a long siege, which at length Mahommed was obliged to raise. He, in this expedition, built the fort of Salcot, in which he left a garrison to command the countries between the rivers Ravi and Chinab, under the government of Hussein Churmili, while he himself returned to Ghizni. This fort, as we have before related, was effectually besieged by Chusero, in the absence of Mahommed, which occasioned that prince's third expedition towards Lahore, which he took in the year 582, by the perfidious stratagem mentioned in the conclusion of the history of Ghizni. He sent Chusero and his family, prisoners to his brother at Firose Ko, who confined them in a fort in Ghirgistan, where they were some time afterwards put to death, on account of something the astrologers had predicted concerning them.

When Mahommed had settled the provinces of Lahore, he left the government of that place in the hands of Ali governor of Moultan, and retired to Ghizni. In the year 587, he marched again towards Hindostan, and proceeding to Ajmere, took the capital of Tiberhind, where he left Malleck Zea, with above a thousand chosen horse, and some foot, to garrison the place. He himself was upon his way back, when he heard that Pittu Ra, the prince of Ajmere, with his brother Candi Ra, king of Delhi, in alliance with some other Indian princes, were marching towards Tiberhind, with two hundred thousand horse, and three thousand elephants. Mahommed determined to return to the relief of the garrison. He met the enemy at the village of Sirauri, upon the banks of the Sirsutti, fourteen miles from Tannassar, and eighty from Delhi, and gave them battle.

Upon the first onset his right and left wings retired, being outflanked by the enemy, till, joining in the rear, his army was formed into a circle. Mahommed, who was in person in the centre of the line when first formed, was told that his right and left wings were defeated, and advised to provide for his own safety. Enraged at this counsel, he smote the imprudent adviser, and rushed on towards the enemy, among whom he commenced, with a few followers, a great slaughter.

The eyes of Candi Ra, king of Delhi, fell upon him. He drove the elephant, upon which he was mounted, directly against him. Mahommed rising from his horse, threw his lance with such force at the elephant, that he drove out three of his back teeth. In the mean time the King of Delhi, from above, pierced the Sultan through the right arm, and had almost thrown him to the ground, when some of his chiefs advanced to his rescue. This gave an opportunity to one of his faithful servants, to leap behind as he was sinking from his horse, and supporting him in his arms, he carried him from the field, which, by this time, was deserted almost by his whole army. The enemy pursued them near forty miles.

After this defeat, and when he had recovered of his wound at Lahore, he appointed governors to the different provinces he possessed in India, and returned in person to Ghor with his army. At Ghor he disgraced all those Omrahs who had deserted him in battle. He obliged them to walk round the city, with their horses' mouth-bags, filled with barley, hanging about their necks; at the same time forcing them to eat, or have their heads struck off; the former of which they chiefly chose to do.

We are told by Eben Asire, contrary to all other authority, that when Mahommed was wounded, he fell from his horse, and lay upon the field among the dead, till night; and that, in the dark, a party of his own horse returned to search for his body, and carried him off to his own camp.

Upon the retreat of Mahommed Ghori, the allied Rajas continued their march to Tiberhind, which they besieged for one year and one month, and at last were obliged to give favourable terms of capitulation. Mahommed remained a few months with his brother at Ghor, who still kept the imperial title, and then returning to Ghizni, spent the ensuing year in indolence and festivity. But ambition again fermenting in his mind, he recruited a noble army, consisting of one hundred thousand chosen horse, Turks, Persians, and Afghans, many of whom had their helmets ornamented with jewels, and their armour inlaid with silver and gold. With these he marched in martial splendor, from Ghizni towards India, without disclosing to his friends. any part of his intentions.

When his victorious spears had advanced as far as Peshawir, an old sage of Ghor, prostrating himself before him, said, “O King, we trust in thy conduct and wisdom; but as yet thy design has been a subject of much dispute and speculation among us.” Mahommed replied, “Know, old man, that since the time of my defeat in Hindostan, notwithstanding external appearances, I have never slumbered in ease, or waked but in sorrow and anxiety. I have therefore determined, with this army, to recover my lost honour from those idolaters, or die in the noble attempt.” The sage, kissing the ground, said, “Victory and triumph be thy attendants, and fortune be the guide of thy paths. But, O King, let the petition of thy slave find favour, and let those Omrahs you have so justly disgraced, be permitted to take this glorious opportunity of wiping away their dishonourable stains.”

The Prince listened to his request, and sent an order to Ghizni to release the disgraced Omrahs from their confinement, and that such of them as were desirous of recovering their honour, might now attend his stirrup. They accordingly obeyed the order, and were each honoured with a chelat, according to their rank. The next day the royal standard was put in motion, and the army advanced to Moultan, where Mahommed conferred titles and employments upon all who had been firm to his interest. He then proceeded to Lahore, from whence he dispatched Humza, one of his principal Omrahs, ambassador to Ajmere, with a declaration of war, should the Indians reject the true faith.

Pittu Rai, King of Ajmere, gave a disrespectful answer to the embassy, and immediately wrote for succours to all the neighbouring Princes. Nor did his allies delay their coming, and therefore he soon advanced to meet Mahommed, with an army consisting, according to the lowest and most moderate account, of three hundred thousand horse; besides above three thousand elephants, and a great body of infantry. The Hindoos again waited to see Mahommed upon the former field of battle. The two armies incamped in sight of each other, with the river Sursutti between them.

The Indian princes, of whom there were one hundred and fifty, in this enormous camp, having assembled, rubbed tica upon their foreheads, and swore by the water of the Ganges, that they would conquer their enemies, or die martyrs to their faith. They then wrote a letter to Mahommed, in these haughty terms: “To the bravery of our troops we imagined you were no stranger; and to our great superiority in number, which daily increases, your eyes will bear testimony of the truth. If you are wearied of your own existence, yet have pity upon your troops, who may still think it a happiness to live. It were better then you should repent in time, of the foolish resolution you have taken, and we shall permit you to retreat in safety. But if you have determined to force your evil destiny, we have sworn by our Gods to advance upon you with our rank-breaking elephants, war-treading horses, and blood-thirsting soldiers, early in the morning, to crush the unfortunate army which your ambition has led to ruin.”

Mahommed returned them this politic answer: -- “That he had drawn his army into India, by the command of his brother, whose general he only was, and that honour and duty bound him to exert the utmost of his capacity in his service. That therefore he could not retreat without his leave, but would be glad to obtain a truce, till he informed him of the situation of affairs, and received his answer.”

This letter produced the intended effect, for the enemy imagined that Mahommed was intimidated, and they spent the night in riot and revelry, while he was preparing for a surprise. He accordingly forded the river a little before the dawn of the morning, drew up his army on the sands, and had entered part of the Indian camp before the alarm was spread. Notwithstanding the confusion that naturally reigned on this occasion among the Hindoos, their camp was of such an amazing extent, that the greater part had sufficient time to form the line which served to cover the route, so that now they began to advance with great resolution and some order, in four lines.

Mahommed, upon seeing this, ordered his troops to halt, and his army, which had been divided into four parts, were commanded to renew the attack by turns, wheeling off to the rear after they had discharged their bows a certain number of times upon the enemy, giving ground gradually as they advanced with their elephants. In this manner he retreated and fought, till the sun was approaching the west, when thinking he had sufficiently wearied the enemy, and deluded the, with a security of victory, he put himself at the head of twelve thousand of his best horse, whose riders were covered with steel, and giving orders to his generals to second him, he made a resolute charge, and carried death and confusion among the Hindoo ranks. The disorder increased every where, till at length it became general. The Mussulman troops, as if now only serious in fight, made such a dreadful slaughter, that this prodigious army once shaken, like a great building, was lost in its own ruins. The enemy recoiled, like a troubled torrent, from the bloody plain.

Candi King of Delhi, and many other princes, were slain in the field, while Pittu Rai King of Ajmere was taken in the pursuit, and afterwards put to death. The spoil of the camp, which was immensely rich, fell into the hands of the conquerors, and the forts of Sursutti, Samana, Koram and Hassi, surrendered after the victory. Mahommed in person went to Ajmere, and took possession of it, after having barbarously put some thousands of the unfortunate inhabitants to the sword, reserving the rest for slavery. But, upon a promise of a punctual payment of a large tribute, he gave up the country to Gola the son of Pittu Rai. He then turned his standards towards Delhi, but he was prevailed upon by the new King, with great presents, to abandon that enterprise. He left his faithful slave and friend Cuttub in the town of Koram, with a considerable detachment, and marched himself, with the body of his army, towards the mountains of Sewalic, which lie to the north of India, destroying and plundering all the countries in his way to Ghizni.

After the return of Mahommed, his general Cuttub, who had been formerly a slave, raised an army, and took the fort of Merat, and the city of Delhi, from the family of Candi Rai. It was from this circumstance that foreign ntions say, that the empire of Delhi was founded by a slave. In the year 589, he also took the fort of Kole, and making Delhi the seat of his government, there established himself in security, obliging all the districts round to acknowledge the Mussulman faith.

Mahommed, in the mean time, marched from Ghizni towards Kinnoge, and engaged Rai Joy, who was prince of Kinnoge and Benaris, and who commanded a very numerous army of horse, besides four hundred elephants. This prince led his forces into the field between Chundwar and Atava, where he received a total defeat from the vanguard of the Ghiznian army, led by Cuttub, and all his baggage and elephants were taken. Mahommed then marched to the fort of Assi, where Rai Joy had laid up his treasure, which in a few days he took, and found there gold, silver, and precious stones, to a great amount. He marched from thence to Benaris, and broke down the idols in above one thousand temples, which he purified and consecrated to the true God. He also found immense plunder. He returned then to the fort of Kole, where he again confirmed Cuttub in the viceroyship of India, and from thence, laden with treasure, he took the route of Ghizni.

In the mean time, one of the relations of Pittu Rai, late king of Ajmere, whose name was Himrage, invaded Gola the son of Pittu Rai, and drove him out of Ajmere. Gola immediately had recourse for assistance to Cuttub. Cuttub accordingly marched, in the year 591, from Delhi against Himrage, who, having collected a great army, gave the Mussulmen battle, in which he lost the victory and his life. Cuttub, after this victory, appointed a governor of his own faith to superintend the Raja, then led his army to Narwalla, the capital of the province of Guzerat, and defeating Bim Deo, took ample revenge for the overthrow given to his Lord. He plundered that rich country; but he was soon recalled, by orders from Ghizni, and commanded to proceed immediately to Delhi.

In the year following, Mahommed formed again a resolution of returning to Hindostan, and proceeding to Biana. He took it, and conferred the government upon Tughril; and leaving with him the body of his army, he commanded him to besiege Gaulier, and returned himself to settle some affairs at Ghizni. In the mean time, the strong fort of Gaulier was taken, after a long siege. Tughril, ambitious of extending his conquests further, led his army against the Rajaputs of the south. But he received a terrible defeat, and was obliged to take the protection of his forts.

In the year 593, Cuttub marched again from Delhi, and reduced Narwalla of Guzerat, with all its dependencies. He, after his return, took the forts of Callinger, Calpee and Budaoon.

Mahommed was in the mean time engaged in an expedition to Toos and Sirchus towards Persia. News was then brought to him of the death of his brother Yeas ul dien, who retained nothing of the empire but the name. Mahommed, upon this, acceded to the empire. He turned by the way of Badyeish, and subdued the country of Chorassan, recovering it out of the hands of the Siljoki, and he divided it among the family of Sam, giving the government of Firose Ko and Ghor to Malleck Zea, who was son-in-law to his brother Yeas ul dien, the deceased Emperor. Bust, Ferra, and Isphorar, he gave to Mamood, his brother's son; and the government of Herat and its districts to Nasir, his nephew by a sister.

Mahommed, after these transactions, returned to Ghizni, where, according to the will of the deceased Emperor, he was crowned in form; and mounted the imperial throne. In the same year, he heard of the death of Zireck, prince of Murve, and in the beginning of the next, marched to the conquest of that country, advancing by the way of Charizm, and Tacash the King of that country, not able to oppose him in the field, shut himself up in the city. The King pitched his camp on the banks of the great canal, which the Chilligies had formerly dug to the westward of that city. He forthwith attacked the place, and in a few days lost many brave nobles in the pursuit of glory. In the meantime, news arrived, that Aibeck, the general of the King of Chitta, in Tartary, and Osman King of Samarcand, were advancing with great armies, to the relief of Charizm. Mahommed was so unwilling to abandon his hopes of taking the city, that he delayed till the allied armies advanced so near, that he was under a necessity of burning all his baggage, and to retreat with the utmost expedition towards Chorassan. But an army from the city pressed so close upon his heels, that he was obliged to give them battle. He was totally defeated, losing all his elephants and treasure.

In the mean time, the confederate Kings, who had taken a circuit, to cut off Mahommed's retreat, met him full in the face, as he was flying from the King of Charizm. Under a fatal necessity, he was obliged to rally his army, who now saw no safety in flight. Surrounded thus by the enemy, he commenced a desperate carnage. But valour was overpowered by numbers in the end, and of his late mighty army, there now remained scarce a hundred men, who still defended their King, and, in spite of innumerable foes, hewed him out a passage, and conducted him safe to the fort of Hindohood, which was at a small distance from the field. Mahommed was besieged here by the enemy, but upon paying a great ransom to Osman, King of Samarcand, and giving up the place, he was permitted to return in sorrow to his own dominions.

When the Emperor was defeated, one of his officers of state, named Birka, escaped from the field, and imagining the King was slain, with very great expedition made his way to Moultan, without mentioning the affair to any body. He waited immediately upon Hassen, governor of that province, and told him that he had a private message from the King. Hassen retired with him into his closet, where the villain, whispering in his ear, drew out a dagger, and stabbed him to the heart. He ran instantly to the court yard, where he proclaimed aloud, that he had killed the traitor, Hassen, in obedience to the King's command. Producing then a false order and commission, to take the government into his own hands, he was acknowledged by the army and the people.

The chief of the tribe of mountaineers, called Gickers, at this time, hearing that the King was certainly slain, aspired to the empire, and raising a great army, advanced towards Lahore; kindling the war between the rivers Gelum and Sodra. When Mahommed, from the fort of Hindohood, had arrived at Ghizni, his own slave Ildecuz having seized upon the supreme authority in the city, presented himself to oppose his entrance, which obliged the King to continue his route to Moultan. There Birka also rebelled against him; but Mahommed, being by this time joined by many of his friends, gave him battle, and obtaining a complete victory, took the traitor prisoner. He then, with all the troops of the borders of India, who now joined his standard, marched to Ghizni, and the citizens, presenting him with the head of the rebellious slave, obtained their pardon.

Mahommed, at this time, concluded a treaty of peace with the King of Charizm; and then, in order to chastise the Gickers, drew his army towards India. Cuttub attacked them on the other side with his army from Delhi, and the Gickers being defeated and dispersed, the King parted, at Lahore, with Cuttub, who returned to his government of Delhi.

During the residence of Mahommed at Lahore, the Gickers, who inhabited the country from that branch of the Indus which is called the Nilab, up to the fort of the mountains of Sewalic, began to exercise unheard of cruelties upon the Mussulmen; so that the communication between the provinces of Peshawir and Moultan was entirely cut off. These Gickers were a race of wild barbarians, without either religion or morality. It was a custom among them, as soon as a female child was born, to carry her to the market-place, and there proclaim aloud, holding the child in one hand, and a knife in the other, that any person who wanted a wife might now take her, otherwise she was immediately put to death. By this means, they had more men than women, which occasioned the custom of several husbands to one wife. When this wife was visited by one of her husbands, she set up a mark at the door, which being observed by any of the other, who might be coming on the same errand, he immediately withdrew, till the signal was taken away.

This barbarous people continued to make incursions upon the Mahommedans, till, in the latter end of the Emperor's reign, their chieftain was converted to the Mussulman faith, by one of his captives. He, upon this change of principles, addressed the King, who advised him to endeavour to convert his people; and at the same time honoured him with a title and dress, and confirmed him in the command of the mountains. A great part of these mountaineers, being very indifferent about religion, followed the opinions of their chief, and acknowledged the true faith. At the same time, about four hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Teraiba, who inhabited the mountains between Ghizni and the Indus, were converted, some by force and others by inclination.

Mahommed having settled the affairs of India in peace, marched, in the year 602, from Lahore to Ghizni. He conferred the government of Bamia upon his relation Baka-ul-dien, with orders, that when he himself should move towards Turkestan, to take satisfaction for his former defeat, to march at an appointed time, with all the forces of those parts, and encamp on the banks of the Amu, where he would receive further orders, and at the same time to throw a bridge over the river.

The Emperor, upon the second of Shaban, having reached the banks of the Nilab, one of the five capital branches of the Indus, at a place called Rimeik, twenty Gickers, who had lost some of their relations in their wars against Mahommed, entered into a conspiracy against his life, and sought an opportunity to put their wicked purpose in execution. The weather being close and sultry, the King ordered the Canats, or the screens, which surround, in the form of a large square, the imperial tents, to be struck, to give free admission to the air. This gave them an opportunity of seeing the King's sleeping-tent. They cut their way through the screens in the night, and hid themselves in a corner, while one of them advanced to the door; but being there stopt by one of the guards, who was going to seize him, he buried his dagger in his breast. The groans of the dying man being heard within, alarmed the rest of the guards in the outer tent, who running out to see what was the matter, the other assassins took that opportunity of cutting their way through the King's tent behind. They found him asleep, with two slaves fanning him, who stood petrified with terror, when they beheld the assassins advancing towards the Emperor. They at once plunged all their daggers in his body. He was afterwards found to have been pierced with no less than forty wounds.

Thus tragically fell that great king and conqueror Mahommed Ghori in the year 602, after a reign of thirty-two years from the commencement of his government over Ghizni, and three from his accession to the empire, the honours and titles of which he permitted his elder brother to retain during his life. One daughter only remained of his race. He was certainly one of the greatest men that ever sat upon the throne of India; and though he was, in some instances, cruel, he was not altogether an unvirtuous prince.

The Vizier, Chaja ul Muluck, took some of the assassins, and put them to a cruel death. He then called the chiefs together, and having obtained their promise of fidelity, in protecting the King's treasure, which was loaded on four thousand camels, he prevented the army and the slaves, who had proposed to plunder it, from putting their scheme in execution. He carried the body in mournful pomp towards Ghizni. But when they reached Peshawir, a great contest arose about the succession. The Omrahs of Ghor insisting upon Baha-ul-dien, the King's cousin, governor of Bamia, and one of the seven sons of Hussein; and the Vizier, and the officers of the Turkish mercenaries, on Mamood, son of the former Emperor, the brother of Mahommed Ghori.

The Vizier therefore wanted to go by the way of Kirma, where he knew that the governor Ildecuz was in the interest of Mamood, hoping, by his assistance, to secure, at least, the treasure for his own party. The Omrahs of Ghor were equally desirous of proceeding by that road which lay nearest to Bamia, that they might be the sooner supported by Baha-ul-dien. At length, being upon the eve of open hostility, the point was given up to the Vizier.

When they arrived near Kirma, after having suffered greatly by the mountaineers, Ildecuz came out to meet the Vizier and the King's hearse; upon sight of which he tore off his armour, threw dust upon his head, and expressed all the variety of sorrow. He attended the funeral to Ghizni, where the Emperor was buried in a new tomb which he had built for his daughter.

The sorrow of Ildecuz was the more extraordinary, that, in the King's misfortunes, he had shown such disrespect to him, as to be accessary to the shutting of the gates of his capital against him. It will, however, hereafter appear, that Ildecuz's grief was political.

The treasure Mahommed left behind him is almost incredible: we shall only mention, as an instance of his wealth, that he had, in diamonds of various sizes alone, five hundred maunds [The smallest maund is twenty-five pounds avoirdupoise.]; for he had made nine expeditions into Hindostan; returning every time, excepting twice, laden with wealth.

Though Tacash, King of Charizm, had, by the death of Toghril, the last of the Siljokides of Persia, rendered himself independent, and annexed the greatest part of the Persian empire to his government of Maver-ul-nere, the distractions which arose from the revolution furnished an opportunity to Mahommed Ghori to seize upon the extensive province of Chorassan, and to become so powerful in the north, as to block up the King of Charizm in his capital. The defeat, which ensued, not only weakened the power of Mahommed, but encreased that of Tacash so much, that he was enabled to extend his dominion over all Persia and the Western Tartary. His son Mahommed succeeded Tacash in his vast empire, and the family of Ghor were obliged to confine themselves to the ancient dominions of the house of Ghizni.

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Part 7 of 15

[Part III. The History of the Empire of Delhi, from the Accession of Cuttub to the Throne, to the Invasion of Timur.

Section I. The Reign of Sultan Cuttub ul Dien Abiek.]

CUTTUB.

The death of Mahommed Ghori may, in some degree, be said to have put an end to the empire of Ghizni. The unambitious character of the surviving princes of Ghor, gave an opportunity to two of the imperial slaves, to divide among them the empire, which Mahommed had been at so much pains to acquire. Ildecuz, or, as he is sometimes called, Eldoze, kept possession of Ghizni and the northern provinces, and Cuttub, the favourite friend and faithful servant of the late Emperor, was already viceroy of the empire, over the conquests in India. As it was from Cuttub the Mahommedan empire of the Patans, or Afgans, in India commenced, we shall begin with his history.

Cuttub [His titles at full length were Cuttub-ul dien, Abiek.] was of a brave and virtuous disposition, open and liberal to his friends, and courteous and affable to strangers. In the art of war and government he was inferior to none, nor was he a mean proficient in literature.

In his childhood he was brought from Turkestan to Nishapoor, and there sold by a merchant, to Casi the son of Abu, who, finding that Heaven had endued him with a great genius, sent him to school, where he made a wonderful progress in the Persian and Arabic languages, and in all the polite arts and sciences. But his patron and master dying suddenly, he was sold as part of his estate, by his relations, and bought by a rich merchant, for a great sum of money, and presented for sale to the Emperor, Mahommed Ghori. That monarch purchased him, and called him by the familiar name of Abiek, from having his little finger broke. He behaved himself in such a becoming and assiduous manner, that he soon attracted the notice of his prince, and daily gained confidence and favour. One night Mahommed kept a magnificent festival at court, and ordered a liberal distribution of presents and money to be made among his servants. Abiek partook largely of his munificence, but had no sooner retired, than he divided his share among his companions. The King having heard of this circumstance, asked him the cause, and Abiek, kissing the earth, replied: “That all his wants were amply supplied by his Majesty's bounty. He had therefore no desire of burthening himself with superfluities, his favour being a certain independence.” This answer so pleased the King, that he immediately gave him an office near his person, and, in a little time, was so satisfied with his diligence and capacity, that he appointed him master of the horse.

In one of the expeditions of Mahommed against the King of Charizm, in order to expel that prince from Chorassan, Abiek went out with a detachment to forage on the banks of the Murgaab. He was there surrounded by a numerous party of the enemy. But though he did the utmost justice to valour, he was, after the loss of most of his men, taken prisoner, and carried to the king of Charizm, who put him in chains. But that monarch being defeated, Abiek was left in this manner, sitting upon a camel in the field, and carried to his victorious master; who pitying his condition, received him with great kindness.

In the year 588, when Mahommed took revenge of his enemies, the Hindoos, for the defeat they had given him, he, upon his return, appointed Abiek, who was then dignified with the title of Cuttub-ul-dien [The Pole-star of religion.], to the chief command of the army left to protect his conquests. In discharge of this duty, Cuttub took possession of many districts around, and reduced the fort of Merat. He also drew his army towards Delhi, and invested it. But the garrison, finding that their own numbers triply exceeded the besiegers, marched out of the place, and drew up in order of battle, which was gladly accepted by Cuttub. When the slaughter became great on both sides, and the river Jumna was discoloured with blood, the Rajaputs were at length put to flight, taking protection within their walls. The garrison, after a desperate siege, were at last obliged to capitulate.

In the year 589, the Jits, who were subject to the prince of Narwalla, in Guzerat, advanced with an army to besiege Hassi. Cuttub marched with his forces to protect it, and obliging them to raise the siege, pursued them to their own frontiers. In the year following, he crossed the Jumna, and took the fort of Kole by assault. He found there a thousand fine horses, and much spoil, and being informed of Mahommed's expedition towards Kinnoge, he thought proper to proceed as far as Peshawir to meet him, presenting him with a hundred fine horses, and two great elephants, one of which carried a chain of gold and the other a chain of silver. He mustered there, before the King, fifty thousand horse, and was honoured with an honorary dress, and with the command of the van of the royal army.

With the van he defeated the prince of Benaris, who, upon seeing his army retreat, pushed forward his elephant, in despair, against his enemy; but Cuttub, who excelled in archery, sunk an arrow in the ball of his eye, which brought him down from his elephant to the ground. It is said, that the number of slain was so great, that the body of the Raja for a long time could not be found by his friends, who were permitted to search for it. But, at last, he was discovered by his artificial teeth, which were fixed in by golden wedges and wires.

The Emperor Mahommed, following with the body of the army, entered the city of Benaris, and took possession of the country, as far as the boundaries of Bengal, without opposition. He broke down all the idols, and loaded four thousand camels with the most valuable spoils.

Cuttub presented the King with above three hundred elephants, taken from the Raja of Benaris. The riders had a signal given them to make the elephants fall upon their knees to the King at once, which they all did, except one white elephant. This animal was esteemed an inestimable curiosity; but upon this occasion, though extremely tractable at other times, had almost killed his rider, when he endeavoured to force him to pay his obedience.

The King, when he was setting out for Ghizni, sent the white elephant back, in a present to Cuttub, and adopted him his son in his letter. Cuttub, ever afterwards till his death, rode the white elephant; and when he died, the affectionate animal pined away with visible sorrow, and expired the third day after. This was the only white elephant of which we have ever heard in Hindostan; but it is said, that the King of Pegu keeps always two white elephants, and that, when one of them dies, he issues out an order over all his dominions, to search the woods for another to supply his place. Cuttub, after the departure of the King, remained some days at Assi, where the Raja's treasure was found. He then returned to Delhi, and there received advice that Himrage, the cousin of the discomfited prince of Ajmere, was marching down from the mountains of Abugur, and had driven Gola, the reigning prince, towards Rintimpore, and that Himrage's general was marching, with another army, towards Delhi, before which he soon arrived, and began to destroy the country. Cuttub marched out to chastise him, and separating twenty thousand horse from the rest of his army, he set out in front, and engaging the enemy, put them to flight. The enemy, some days after, rallying their defeated army, retreated towards Ajmere, and were pursued all the way by the conqueror. Himrage being joined by his general, in confidence of his superior numbers, formed his army in order of battle. When they came to blows, he distinguished himself by his bravery, as well as by his conduct; but, being slain, his army took the way of infamy before them. Thus Ajmere was restored to the Mahommedan government, and was afterwards ruled by its laws.

In the year 590, Cuttub turned his arms towards Narwalla, of Guzerat, and Setwan, the general of Bimdeo, who was encamped under the walls, fled upon his approach. But being pursued, he drew up his army, and fought till he lost his life, and then his army resumed their flight. Bimdeo, upon intelligence of this defeat, fled from his dominions, and Cuttub ravaged the country at leisure, and found much spoil. He marched from thence to the fort of Hassi, which he repaired, then having visited Koram, returned to Delhi.

He in the mean time received advice, from the governor of the districts near Rintimpore, that the brother of Gola, prince of Ajmere, who lived in the hills, was marching down with an army to invade him. This obliged Cuttub to move immediately to his relief. The enemy, upon hearing this, fled; and Cuttub paid a visit to Gola, who entertained him magnificently, and, at his departure, presented him with some fine jewels, and two melons of gold. When he had settled the country, he again returned to Delhi, from whence he wrote to the King a particular account of his conquests, which so pleased Mahommed, that he ordered his attendance at Ghizni, for which place he set out, and was received with every demonstration of joy and respect.

Cuttub, some time after, obtained leave to return to his government, and, on his way, married the daughter of Tagi, governor of Persian Kirman [The ancient Carmania.], making a magnificent rejoicing upon the occasion, when he returned to Delhi. He soon after marched his army to the siege of the fort of Biana, and, when he was on his way, he heard that the Emperor Mahommed, his master and patron, had taken the route of Hindostan. To show his respect for the King, Cuttub returned back as far as Hassi to meet him. Both returned to Biana, besieged and took the place, which Mahommed submitted to the command of Tugril, one of his particular and trusty slaves. They then took the route of Gualier, where the prince of that country agreed to pay tribute, and bought peace with a great sum of ready money, and with jewels. The King, immediately after these transactions, returned to Ghizni, leaving Cuttub viceroy of all the conquered provinces of India.

About this time, news arrived that many Indian independent princes had entered into an alliance with the king of Narwalla, and had formed a design to recover Ajmere from the Mahommedans. The troops of Cuttub being dispersed over the provinces, he was forced to march against the Indians, with what small part of the army lay in Delhi, to prevent their junction with the forces of Narwalla; but he was defeated, received six wounds, and was often dismounted; yet he fought like a man who had made death his companion. Forced at last, by his own friends, to abandon the field, he was carried in a litter to Ajmere.

Tittura, chief of the Indians, rejoicing at this victory, joined the forces of Narwalla and Guzerat, and sat down before Ajmere. Intelligence of this unfortunate event coming to the Emperor Mahommed, he sent a great force from Ghizni, to the relief of Cuttub. Ajmere held out till the arrival of the Ghiznians, who obliged the enemy to raise the siege. Cuttub pursued them to Narwalla, in the year 593, taking, in his way, the forts of Tilli and Buzule. He there received advice that Walin and Darapariss, in alliance with the king of Narwalla, were encamped near the fort of Abugur, to guard the passes into Guzerat. Cuttub, notwithstanding the difficulties of the road, and disadvantages of ground, resolved to attack them, which he did with such bravery and conduct, that, having trodden down their ranks, above fifty thousand of the enemy, with their blood, tempered the dust of the field. Twenty thousand were taken prisoners, and an immense spoil fell into his hands.

When he had given his army some respite from slaughter and fatigue, he pursued his route into Guzerat, and ravaged that country without further opposition, taking the city of Narwalla, where an Omrah with a strong garrison was left. He then returned to Delhi, by the way of Ajmere, and sent a great quantity of jewels and gold, and also many slaves, to Mahommed, at Ghizni, and divided the remainder among his trusty partners in the glories of the field.

In the year 599, he mustered his forces, and marched to the siege of Calinger, where he was met by Gola, the tributary prince of that country, whom he defeated; and dismounting his cavalry, began to besiege him in his fort. Gola, seeing himself hard pressed, offered Cuttub the same tribute and presents which his ancestors had formerly paid to the Emperor Mamood. The proposal was accepted, but the vizier, who wanted to hold out without coming to any terms, found means to make away with the Raja, while the presents were preparing to be sent. The flag of hostility was again hoisted upon the fort, and the siege recommenced. The place, however, was in a short time reduced, on account of the drying up of a spring upon that hill whereon the fort stood, and which supplied the garrison with water. There is a tradition among the natives of the place, that the above fountain always dries up upon the discharging the artillery of the place. This story may possibly, from a natural cause, have some foundation. But we are rather tempted to believe, that the present drying up of this spring was owing to the increase of inhabitants, and the thirst occasioned by hard duty; for, besides the garrison, Cuttub found there fifty thousand male and female.

The plunder of this city was very great, in gold, jewels, and precious effects. Cuttub then marched to the city of Mhoba, the capital of the principality of Calpee. He also took that place, together with Budaso, between the rivers Jumna and Ganges. Mahommed Chilligi, who had been appointed governor of Behar by the Emperor, but had, for some time back, been refractory to the imperial commands, came at this time to pay him a visit, laying rich presents at his feet, and Cuttub having entertained him magnificently, returned to Delhi.

When Mahommed Ghori, after his defeat in Turkestan, returned to India, he was joined by Cuttub, by whose valour and fidelity he defeated the Gickers in several actions, and recovered his fallen glory. When matters were peaceably settled in this quarter, he returned to his government; and the Emperor, upon his way to Ghizni, was inhumanly assassinated by the Gickers. Mahommed's nephew, Mamood, assumed the imperial titles at Ghor, and upon his accession, sent all the ensigns of royalty, a throne, an umbrella, standards, drums, and the title of King, to Cuttub, desirous of retaining him in his interest, as he was by no means able to oppose his power.

Cuttub received those dignities with a proper respect, at Lahore, where he ascended the throne in the year 602, upon the 18th of Zicada; returning from thence in a few days to Delhi. In the mean time, Ildecuz, or Eldoze, marched an army from Ghizni, with an intention to take Lahore, which he effected by the treachery of the governor, whom he afterwards turned out. Cuttub marched to dispute the point with Eldoze, as soon as he received intelligence at Delhi of this transaction. In the year 603 the flames of war began to ascend between them, while bravery, on both sides, became apparent. Eldoze at length was beat out of the city, and obliged to fly towards Kirman. Cuttub pursued him as far as Ghizni, in which city he was again crowned, taking that kingdom into his own hands.

Cuttub, after this, unaccountably gave himself up to wine and pleasure, till the citizens of Ghizni, disgusted with his luxury and indolence, sent privately to Eldoze, acquainting him of the King's negligence, and entreating his return. Eldoze, upon this, recruiting an army with all secrecy and expedition, advanced towards Ghizni, and in a manner surprised Cuttub, who had no intelligence of his design till the day before his arrival. It was now too late to put himself in a proper state of defence, and he was obliged to abandon the kingdom, and retire to Lahore. He then became sensible of his own weakness, repented of his evil habits, and exercised himself in the practice of justice, temperance, and morality. He regulated his kingdoms according to the best laws of policy and wisdom till his death, in the year 607, which happened by a fall from his horse in a match at ball, which adverse parties endeavoured to carry off on the point of their spears.

His reign, properly speaking, was only four years, though he enjoyed all the state and dignities of a king for upwards of twenty, if we reckon from his taking of Delhi, when he may be said to have become King of India; though he assumed only the title of commander- in-chief for his patron Mahommed. He was certainly an accomplished warrior, and had nearly equalled the greatest heroes in fame, had not his loss of the kingdom of Ghizni tarnished his glory. He was famous for his great generosity all over the east, for which he got the surname of Bestower of Lacks. When a man is praised for generosity in India, they say to this day, “He is as generous as Cuttub-ul-dien."

Mahommed, the son of Tacash, reigned over Charizm and all Persia, during the short reign of Cuttub. He invaded the small provinces in possession of the Patan empire, to the north of the Indus; and, taking Ghizni, reduced all Zabulistan beneath his command.

[Section II. The Reign of Taje Ul Dien Eldoze.]

ELDOZE.

MAHOMMED GHORI, during his reign, having no children of his own excepting one daughter, had taken a particular pleasure in educating Turkish slaves, whom he afterwards adopted as his children. Four of those slaves, besides Cuttub, became great princes, of whom the present Eldoze was one. The King, having observed him to be a youth of genius, advanced him gradually, till at last he bestowed upon him the government of Kirma and Shinoran, which lay between Ghizni and India. His situation gave him an opportunity of frequently entertaining his prince, upon his expeditions to and from that country, which he always did with great magnificence and festivity, making presents to all the King's attendants.

Mahommed, in his last expedition, favoured Eldoze so much, that he bestowed upon him the black standard of the kingdom of Ghizni, by this intimating his will, that he should succeed to that throne. But, upon the death of that monarch, the Turkish Omrahs were desirous that Mamood, the son of the former Emperor, should come from Ghor and reign at Ghizni. Mamood, being a man of an indolent disposition, declined it; and said, that he was content with the throne of his ancestors. He, however, assumed the imperial title, proclaimed Eldoze king of Ghizni, and was content to maintain the appearance of that power which he would not, or rather durst not, enforce.

The first thing Eldoze did after his accession, was to cross the Indus, and invade Punjab and Lahore, as we have seen in the former reign. He was defeated by Cuttub, and in consequence lost his own kingdom; which, however, he soon after recovered. He afterwards, in conjunction with the Emperor Mamood of Ghor, sent an army to Herat, which they conquered, as also a great part of Seistan, but making peace with the prince of that country, they returned. On the way, making war upon the great Mahommed, king of Charizm, they were both defeated, and the conqueror pursuing his fortune, took Ghizni, while Eldoze retired to Kirma, his former government, on the northern borders of India.

Eldoze, finding the northern troops too hard for him, recruited an army, and marched some time after the death of Cuttub, with a view to conquer India. But, after reducing some of the northern provinces, he was defeated near Delhi, by the Emperor Altumsh, and being taken, died in confinement. The time of his reign was nine years.

As we have already given the history of two of Mahommed Ghori's adopted slaves who arrived at the imperial dignity, it may not be improper here to say something of Tughril, who raised himself from the same low situation.

Tughril was a chief of some repute in the service of Mahommed; brave, and of a. virtuous disposition. They relate, that when Mahommed took the fort of Biana, he gave the command of it to Tughril, and proceeded himself to Gualier, as we have seen before. But after he left Hindostan, Tughril continued to infest the country about Gualier; the King having told him at his departure, that if he conquered the place, he would confirm him in the government of it. When he found that this manner of war had no effect, as they always found some opportunity of supplying the place, he ordered small forts to be built all round, which he garrisoned, and by this means the fort was effectually blockaded. Yet it held out for near a whole year, when, being distressed for provisions, they sent an embassy privately to Cuttub to come and take possession of the place, for they had conceived an implacable resentment against Tughril. Cuttub accordingly sent his troops to seize upon Gualier; upon which, war had almost ensued between him and Tughril. Death however interfering, put an end to the dispute; for, at this juncture, Tughril suddenly expired. The actions of the other two princes, formerly slaves to Mahommed, will be seen in the history of Sind and Punjab, to which they more properly belong.

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Part 8 of 15

[Section III. The Reign of Sultan Aram Shaw, ben Sultan Cuttub ul dien Abiek.]

ARAM.

AFTER the death of Cuttub, his son Aram [Sultan Aram Shaw.] mounted the throne of Delhi; but was no ways equal to the government of so great an empire.

Nasir, one of the adopted slaves of Mahommed Ghori, marched with an army towards Sind, which he conquered, as also Moultan, Otch, Shinoran, and other places. Another slave, Mahommed of Chilligi, possessed himself of the kingdom of Bengal, and asserted his own independence. At the same time, several dependent princes blew up the flames of rebellion in many parts of the empire.

Upon these misfortunes, Ali Ismaiel, Daood Delhi, and all the Omrahs, became discontented, sending a person to call Altumsh, who was son-in-law and adopted son of Cuttub, and then governor of Budaoon [The country beyond the Ganges, N. E, from Delhi, now possessed by the Rohillas.], to ascend the throne. Altumsh accordingly marched with his army to Delhi, and by the assistance of the faction within, easily reduced it. Aram, afraid of trusting himself in his capital, had previously withdrawn into the country, recruited a fine army, and advanced to give Altumsh battle. A warm engagement ensued in the sight of the city. Aram lost the victory and his empire, which he had enjoyed scarce one year.

[Section IV. The Reign of Shumse Ul Dien Altumsh.]

ALTUMSH.

We are told that Altumsh [Shumse ul dien Altumsh.] was descended of a noble family in the Tartarian Chitta, and that his father's name was Elim, a great and famous general. But in his youth, being the favourite of his father, he was envied by the rest of his brothers. They therefore determined to get rid of him, and as they were out one day hunting, they stript him, and sold him to a company of travelling merchants for a slave. The merchants carried him to Bochara, and sold him to one of the relations of Jehan, prince of that country, from whom he received a liberal education.

Upon the death of his master he was again exposed to sale, and bought by a merchant, who sold him to another, who carried him to Ghizni. The Emperor Mahommed heard at Ghizni of Altumsh's beauty and talents, but could not agree with the merchant about his price. He was therefore carried back to Bochara, as none durst buy him, on account of the King's displeasure, till Cuttub, obtaining his leave, made that purchase at Delhi, whither he had invited the merchant, for fifty thousand pieces of silver. Cuttub, at the same time, bought another slave, whom he called Taga, and appointed him afterwards governor of Tibberhind, where he was slain in the battle between Cuttub and Eldoze.

Altumsh, in the mean time, was made master of the chace, and afterwards rose to such favour that he became the adopted son of his patron, Cuttub, and was advanced to the government of Gualier and Birren, and from thence to the viceroyship of Budaoon. He accompanied Cuttub in his war against the Gickers, and greatly distinguished himself in bravery and zeal for the service. He killed in one action, with the troops of Budaoon, upwards of ten thousand of the enemy. This behaviour so pleased Cuttub, that he declared him free, and made him many honorary presents.

Thus by degrees, Altumsh rose, till he was created captain-general of the empire; and married the daughter of Cuttub, and upon his death, as we have before related, he advanced against the capital, and, expelling Aram from the throne in the year 607, declared himself Emperor by the title of Shumse ul dien Altumsh.

Upon his accession he was acknowledged by many chiefs and princes; but some of his generals taking disgust, went off with the greater part of his Turkish horse, which were the flower of his army. They joined themselves with other malcontents, and advanced with à great force towards Delhi. They were met before the city by Altumsh, and defeated, their chief general Firoch being killed, and the rest so closely pursued, that in a short time they were all either killed or taken, which for that time established Altumsh in peace. But soon after, the governor of the fort of Gollore rebelled, and refused to pay the revenues of that country. This obliged the King to march and reduce him to obedience. Eldoze, King of Ghizni, at this time, sent him the ensigns of royalty, pretending to confirm Altumsh in the empire of Hindostan. But soon after, when Eldoze himself was defeated by the troops of Charizm, and re- tired to Kirma and Shenoran, he turned his views towards the conquest of Hindostan. Eldoze seized upon the country of Punjaab and the city of Tannasar in the year 612, and endeavoured, by his emissaries in the court of Delhi, to raise a faction in his own favour. Altumsh, in the mean time, drew together his forces, and advancing towards him, they fought on the confines of Tirowri, about one hundred and fifty miles from Delhi. Eldoze was defeated, as before related, and, with many of his Omrahs, taken and imprisoned in Budaoon, where he died a natural death, according to some; but, according to others, was poisoned.

In the year 614, Altumsh engaged Nasir, who was also son-in-law to Cuttub, upon the banks of the Chinaab, where Altumsh proved victorious. The governor of Chilligi, in the mountains, the year following, being defeated by Nasir, fled for protection to Altumsh, who, taking part in his quarrel, marched against Nasir, and a second time overthrew him, recovering the countries lost by the Viceroy of Chilligi, upon which he himself returned to Delhi.

In the year 618, the famous but unfortunate Jellal ul dien, King of Charizm, being defeated in the north, by the great conqueror Zingis Chan, retreated towards Lahore, where Altumsh opposed him with all his forces. This obliged the brave though unfortunate Jellal to retreat towards the Indus, where he was opposed by Nasir, who defeated him, and pursued him, by the way of Kutch and Muckeran, the maritime provinces of Persia.

In the year 622, Altumsh led his army towards Behar and Bengal, where he obliged Yeas ul dien, of Chilligi, then prince of Bengal, whose history we shall see in its proper place [The historian alludes to another work which he wrote concerning the transactions of the principalities of Hindostan.], to pay him tribute and allegiance. He struck the currency in his own name, and appointing his own son Nasir to the government of Bengal, he left Yeas ul dien in the government of Behar, and then returned to Delhi. But soon after, war broke out between Nasir, prince of Bengal, and Yeas ul dien of Behar. The latter was defeated and slain; Nasir taking possession of his principality and treasure, out of which he sent ample presents to his friends at Delhi.

In the mean time, Altumsh led out his forces against Cabaja, who possessed the provinces on the Indus, and, unable to oppose him in the field, left a strong garrison in Dutch, and returned himself to Backar. The Emperor detached Nizam Jinaidi with half the army in pursuit of Cabaja, while, with the other half, he himself laid siege to Outch, which he took in two months and twenty days. When the news of the fall of Outch reached Cabaja, he sent his son Alla to entreat the Emperor for peace. The terms were not settled when news was brought, that Nasir, already mentioned, had been obliged by Nizam to attempt to cross the river, and that he was unhappily drowned. The whole country submitted to the imperial power. Altumsh then drew his forces towards the fort of Rintimpore, which he besieged and took.

In the year 624, he marched towards the fort of Mendu, which he reduced with all the country of Sewalic. At this time, the noble Ruhani, the most learned and most famous poet and philosopher of that age, fled from Bochara, that city being taken by the great Zingis, and took protection at Delhi, where he wrote many excellent pieces. The Emperor, at the same time, had an embassy from the Arabian Princes, with the royal robes of the Caliphat, which he assumed with joy, making a great festival, and distributing rich presents.

In the same year, he received intelligence of the death of Nasir, his eldest son, prince of Bengal, which threw him into mourning and sorrow. He soon after conferred the title upon his younger son, whom he carried with him to that province in the year 627, to invest him with the government, which had run into confusion after the death of the former prince. Having entirely settled this country in peace, he left Eaz ul Muluck to superintend the kingdom, and returned with his son to Delhi.

Altumsh formed a design, in the year 629, to reduce the fort of Gualier, which had, during the reign of his predecessor Aram, fallen into the hands of the Hindoos. He accordingly besieged it for a whole year, when the garrison being reduced to great straits, the governor made his escape in the night, and the troops capitulated; but about three hundred of them, for treacherous behaviour, were punished.

After the reduction of this place, he marched his army towards Malaya, and reducing the fort of Belsay, took the city of Ugeïn, where he destroyed the magnificent and rich temple of Makal [Ma signifies Great, in the Indian language; and Kal Time, or sometimes Death.], formed upon the same plan with that of Sumnat, which had been building three hundred years, and was surrounded by a wall one hundred cubits in height. The image of Bicker-magit, who had been formerly prince of this country, and so renowned that the people of Hindostan date their time from his death, as also that of Makal, both of stone, with many other figures of brass, he ordered to be carried to Delhi, and broken at the door of the great mosque.

After his return from this expedition, he drew his army again towards Moultan, to settle the affairs of that province; but this enterprise proved unsuccessful on account of his health. He fell sick on his march, which obliged him to return to Delhi, where he died on the 20th of Shaban, in the year 633. His vizier, towards the latter end of his reign, was Assami, who had been formerly vizier of the Calipha of Bagdat for thirty years. He was renowned for wisdom and learning, but had left that court on account of some disgust, and travelled to Delhi, where he was deemed a great acquisition, and honoured with the vizarit. The most famous for letters in this reign, was Mahommed Ufi, who wrote the Jame ul Hickaiat, a valuable collection of histories, and other books. The reign of Altumsh was twenty-six years. He was an enterprising, able, and good prince.

In the 13th year of the reign of Altumsh, Zingis Chan, the great conqueror of Asia, marched against Mahommed, King of Charizm and all Persia. The state of Asia, just preceding the revolution, brought about by the arms of Zingis, was as follows: China was divided into two empires, that called the Song Kingdom in the south, and Kitay in the north. The greatest part of Tartary was subject to Zingis, after the defeat and death of Aunac, the Grand Chan; the Western Tartary and all Persia were comprehended in the empire of Charizm, under Mahommed; the three Arabias, the Arabian Iraac, Mesopotamia, and a small territory on the side of Persia, owned the authority of the Calipha, Nasser, of the noble house of Abassi: the successors of the famous Jellal ul dien, corruptedly called Saladin, possessed Syria and Egypt; and a younger branch of the Siljokides of Persia reigned in the lesser Asia, under the title of Sultans of Ikonium. All Hindostan, except the Decan, was subject to the Afgan or Patan empire, under Altumsh. From the thinteenth to the twenty-sixth year of Altumsh, which was the last of his reign, the face of affairs in Asia became totally changed. Zingis conquered that immense continent, from the sea of China to Syria, and from the Indus to the Arctic circle. That great prince being bent upon the complete conquest of China, India escaped an invasion, which, in all human probability, would have forced it to share the same fate with the rest of Asia.

[Section V. The Reign of Ruckun ul dien Ferose Shaw ben Sultan Shumse ul dien Altumsh.]

FEROSE I.

The prince Ferose [Ruckun ul dien, Ferose Shaw.] succeeded his father Altumsh in the throne of Delhi. In the year 625, his father appointed him governor of Budaoon, and, after the reduction of Gualier, conferred upon him the viceroyship of Lahore. He chanced, at the Emperor's death, to be at Delhi on a visit, and immediately ascended the throne. The Omrahs made their offerings, and swore allegiance; while the poets of the age vied with one another in his praise, for which they received liberal donations.

But, when he acquired the imperial dignity, he spread the flowery carpets of luxury, and withdrew his hand from the toils of state. He expended his father's treasure upon dancing-women, comedians, and musicians, and left the affairs of government to the management of his mother. This woman had been a Turkish slave, and now became a monster of cruelty, murdering all the women of Altumsh's haram, to gratify her inhuman hatred to them, as also the youngest of that Emperor's sons.

The minds of the people began to be filled with disgust, and Mahommed, the younger brother of the King, and governor of Oud, intercepted the revenues from Bengal, and began to assert independence. At the same time, Mahommed, Suba of Budaoon, Chani, governor of Lahore, Cabire, viceroy of Moultan, and Kugi, governor of Hassi, entering into a confederacy, exalted their standards of hostility against the Emperor. Ferose collected a vast army, and marched to Kilogurry, where he was deserted by his vizier Junedi, with part of his army. The vizier went towards Kole, where he joined some of the insurgents. They from thence proceeded to Lahore, where they were joined by the nobles of these provinces.

The Emperor, in the mean time, continued his march towards them, and when he reached Munsurpoor, seven of his principal chiefs deserted him, and retired with their troops to Delhi. There they advanced Sultana Rizia, the eldest daughter of Altumsh, to the throne, and imprisoned the Emperor's mother.

When this news reached the Emperor, he hastened back with his army towards Delhi, and having reached Kilogurry, Rizia, on the 18th of Ribbi ul Awil, in the year 634, advanced against him. He was delivered up into her hands, and died in confinement some time after; so that he reigned only six months and twenty-eight days.

[Section VI. The Reign of Malleke Doran Sultana Rizia.]

SULTANA RIZIA

SULTANA RIZIA [Malleke Doran, Sultana Rizia.] was adorned with every qualification necessary in the ablest kings; and the strictest scrutineers of her actions could find in her no fault but that she was a woman. In the time of her father, she entered deeply into the affairs of government, which disposition he encouraged, finding she had a remarkable talent in politics. In that year in which he took the fort of Gualier, he appointed her regent in his absence. When he was asked by the Omrahs, why he appointed his daughter to such an office, in preference to so many of his sons, he replied, “that he saw his sons gave themselves up to wine, women, gaming, and the worship of the wind [Flattery.]; that therefore he thought the government too weighty for their shoulders to bear; and that Rizia, though a woman, had a man's head and heart, and was better than twenty such sons."

Rizia, upon her accession, changing her apparel, assumed the imperial robes, and every day gave public audience from the throne, revising and confirming the laws of her father, which had been abrogated in the last reign, and distributing justice with an equal hand. In the mean time, the vizier Junedi, and the confederate Omrahs, who had met at Lahore, advanced with their armies to Delhi, and encamping without the city, commenced hostilities. They, at the same time, sent circular letters to all the Omrahs of the empire, to draw them from their allegiance. This news reaching the Suba of Oud, he collected his forces, and hastened to the relief of the Empress; but when he had crossed the Ganges, he was engaged by the confederates, defeated, and taken prisoner, in which condition he soon died.

The Empress found means, in her own policy, to sow dissension among the confederates; till, finding themselves in a dangerous situation, they retreated each to his own country, while some of them, being pursued by the Empress, were taken and put to death, the vizier escaping to the hills of Sirmore, where he died.

The prosperity of the Sultana daily gaining ground, she gave the vizarit to Chaja Ghiznavi, who had been deputy to the former vizier, with the title of Nizam, and the chief command of her forces to Abiek, with the title of Kilic Chan. Kabirc, having subjected himself to her authority, was confirmed in the government of Lahore, while the countries of Bengal, and the northern provinces, were also confirmed to their respective viceroys, on their promise of future obedience.

In the mean time, Kilic Chan, general of the Sultana's armies, died, and Hassen, being appointed to succeed him, was sent with a force to raise the siege of Rintimpore, which was then invested by the independent Indian princes. But, at the approach of the imperial forces, they raised the siege, and retreated. After Hassen's departure from Rintimpore, Tiggi was advanced to the dignity of lord of the privacy, and master of requests. Jammal gaining great favour with the Empress, was also appointed Master of the Horse, from which station he was presently advanced to that of Captain General of the Empire.

The nobles were greatly disgusted at this promotion, as the favourite was originally an Abassinian slave. The first who began openly to express his discontent, was the viceroy of Lahore, in the year 637, who threw off his allegiance, and began to recruit his army. The Empress, collecting also her forces, marched out against him, and the viceroy, being disappointed by some of his confederates, was obliged to make every concession to obtain pardon. This he effected with so much art, that the Empress, upon her departure, either believing him to be her friend, or desirous of binding him over to her interest by gratitude, continued him in his viceroyship, and added to it that of Moultan, which had been governed by Kirakus.

In the same year, Altunia, the imperial governor of Tiberhind, exalted the hostile standard against the Empress, on account of her imprudent partiality to the Abassinian. The Empress, upon this intelligence, marched with her army towards Tiberhind, but, about half-way, all the Turkish chiefs in her army mutinied with their forces. A tumultuous conflict ensued, in which her Abassinian general was killed, and she herself seized and sent to the fort of Tiberhind, to Altunia. The army then returned to Delhi, where the Turkish Omrahs set up her brother Byram, the son of the Emperor Altumsh.

In the mean time, Altunia, governor of Tiberhind, having married the Empress, in a short time, by her influence, raised a great army of Gickers, Jits, and other nations, near the banks of the Indus, with many Omrahs of distinction, and marched with her towards Delhi. Byram, the new Emperor, upon this, sent Balin, son-in-law to Altumsh, with his forces to oppose her. The two armies meeting near Delhi, an obstinate: engagement ensued, in which the unfortunate Empress. being defeated, fled to Tiberhind.

She some time after collected her scattered forces, and was soon in a condition to make another bold effort for the empire. She advanced with a numerous army towards Delhi, but her forces being composed of the troops of India, were no ways a match for the mercenaries of Tartary, which chiefly composed the Emperor's army. Balin, who was again sent to oppose her, gave her another defeat at Keitel, the 4th of the first Ribbi, in the same year. She and her husband being taken in the pursuit, were inhumanly put to immediate death; while others relate, with less probability, that they were both carried bound to Byram, who ordered them to be assassinated in prison. Thus died the Empress Rizia, deserving a better fate, after a reign. of three years six months and six days.

[Section VII. The Reign of Sultan Moaz ul dien Byram Shaw ben Sultan Shumse ul dien Altumsh.]

BYRAM II.

When the Empress Rizia was prisoner in the fort of Tiberhind, Byram [Moaz ul dien, Byram Shaw.], the son of the late Emperor Altumsh, upon Monday the 27th of Ramsan, in the year 637, by consent of the Omrahs, ascended the throne of Delhi, and confirmed all the laws and customs then in force. Tiggi, in conjunction with the vizier, by degrees took the whole government of the empire upon himself, taking the sister of the Emperor to wife, and mounting an elephant upon guard, at his gate, which was an honour peculiar to royalty.

This circumstance raised disgust and jealousy in the Emperor's mind. He therefore ordered two Turkish slaves to put on the appearance of drunkenness, and endeavour to assassinate Tiggi and the vizier. Accordingly, upon a certain day, these two Turks, when the King gave public audience, pressed among the crowd, and began to be very troublesome. Tiggi, who stood first in the rank of Omrahs, went to turn them out. They drew their daggers, and plunged them into his breast, then, running to the vizier, they gave him two wounds; but he escaped through the crowd. The slaves were immediately seized, and thrown into chains, but in a few days after they were pardoned.

The vizier kept his bed for some days, on account of his wounds, but, as soon as he recovered, he appeared again at court, and officiated in his employ. Sunkir Rumi, who was then Master of the requests, formed a scheme to supersede him. He, for this purpose, placed himself at the head of a powerful faction at court, and collecting the Omrahs together, and among the rest the vizier, at the house of the chief justice of the empire, he began to concert with them a plan to bring about a revolution. The chief justice was secretly averse to the measure, and fearing that what was nominally meant against the vizier, should actually turn upon his master, he sent to the Emperor, and informed him of the whole affair. The messenger brought back with him a faithful servant of the King, in the habit of a fool, to overhear the conversation with the vizier. The vizier, though he actually entered into the measures of the meeting, excused himself from attendance at that time.

The story of the chief justice being confirmed by the person whom the Emperor sent to overhear the Omrahs, a body of cavalry were immediately dispatched to seize them; but they having had previous intelligence, dispersed themselves before the horse arrived. The next day, Sunkir Rumi, who was one of the principal conspirators, was sent to be governor of Budaoon, while Casi Jellal was turned out of his office. In a few months after, Rumi and Muza were assassinated at Budaoon by the Emperor's emissaries, while Casi Jellal was trod under foot by elephants.

These proceedings raised fear and apprehension in the bosom of every body, which being improved by the faction, there was a general mutiny among the troops. In the mean time news arrived, that the Moguls of the great Zingis had invested Lahore upon the 16th of the first Jemmad, in the year 639; that Malleck, the viceroy of that place, finding his troops mutinous, had been obliged to fly in the night, and was actually on his way to Delhi; and that Lahore was plundered by the enemy, and the miserable inhabitants carried away prisoners.

The King, upon this urgent occasion, called a general council of state, in which it was determined to send the vizier, and Hassen Ghori, chief secretary of the empire, with other Omrahs, to oppose the Moguls at Lahore, with an army. When the imperial army advanced as far as the river Bea, where the town of Sultanpoor now stands, the vizier, who was privately an enemy to the Emperor, began to depreciate his government to the nobles, and to sow the seeds of sedition in their minds. But that he might completely effect his purpose, he wrote a private letter to the Emperor, accusing them of disaffection, and begging he would either take the field himself, or send other Omrahs and more forces, for that those now with the army could not be depended upon, and that therefore nothing could be done against the enemy.

The Emperor, though he had been forewarned of the treachery of his vizier in the late conspiracy, yet the artful man had so well extricated himself, and gained such confidence, that Byram, who was not blessed with much discernment, gave entire credit to this accusation, and sent him an order, importing, that they deserved death; at the same time recommending to him to keep them quiet till he should find the means of bringing them to condign punishment. This was what the crafty vizier wanted. He immediately produced the King's order, which kindled the Omrahs at once into rage, while he misled them with respect to the accuser. He even pretended to be apprehensive for himself, and began to consult with them about the means of general security; and they all promised to support him.

This news having reached the Emperor, he began to open his eyes when too late, and in great perturbation hastened to the house of Islaam, a venerable and learned Omrah, requesting him to set out for the camp, and endeavour, by proper representations, to bring over the disaffected chiefs to their duty. Islaam accordingly set out in private, but not being able to effect any thing, returned to Delhi. The vizier, in the mean time, advanced with the army to the capital, which he besieged for three months and a half. Rebellion spreading at last among the citizens, the place was taken on the eighth of Zicada, in the year 639. Byram was thrown into prison, where, in a few days, he came to a very tragical end, after a reign of two years one month and fifteen days.

The Moguls, in the mean time, plundered the provinces on the banks of the five branches of the Indus, and returned to Ghizni.

[Section VIII. The Reign of Sultan Alla Ul Dien Musaood Shaw, the son of Ruckun ul dien Firoze Shaw.]

MUSAOOD IV.

When Byram had drunk the cup of fate, Balin the elder raised a faction, and forcing his way into the palace, mounted the throne, and ordered himself to be proclaimed throughout the city. But the greater part of the princes and nobility, dissatisfied with his advancement, immediately took out Musaood [Alla-ul-dien, Musaood Shaw.] the son of Ferose, the late Emperor, from his confinement in the white castle, and deposing the usurper, placed him upon the throne the same day in which Balin had seized it. Hassin was made vakeel of the empire [This office of vakeel sultanit, or vakeel mutuluck, was the first in the empire; his business was to issue all orders from the closet to the vizier or other officers of state, who were to take measures for executing them.
]; Nizam, vizier; and the late governor of Lahore, lord of requests.

The vizier, who was a politic and ambitious man, still maintained an absolute power in the empire; but being of a haughty and oppressive disposition, he bore it with too high a hand among the nobles. They consequently began to combine against him, and in the month of the first Ribbi, in the year 640, found means to assassinate him one day when he was hunting. The vizarit was conferred upon the chief justice of the empire, and the younger Balin was made lord of the requests. Even Balin the elder was appointed viceroy of Nagore, Sind, and Ajmere. The subaship of Budaoon was given at the same time to Taggi; and other provinces fell to various chiefs, according to their rank and interest at court; and, in general, peace and content seemed to diffuse themselves over the kingdom.

The Emperor, about this time, released his two uncles Mamood and Jellal, who had been imprisoned by the Emperor Byram. He conferred upon the former the government of Barage, and to the latter he gave that of Kinnoge. Tiggi was appointed governor of Bengal.

In the year 642, an army of Mogul Tartars made an incursion into Bengal, by the way of Chitta and Tibet. Musaood sent towards Bengal, Timur, to the aid of Tiggi, governor of that province, with a great army. The Moguls received a total defeat; but jealousy arising between Timur and Tiggi, they proceeded to open hostilities; and the Emperor ordered Tiggi to resign the government to Timur, and to return to Delhi.

In the following year, intelligence arrived that another army of Moguls had crossed the Indus, and invested Outch. The King immediately ordered forces to be mustered, and putting himself at their head, directed the imperial standard towards the Tartars. When he had reached the banks of the river Bea, they raised the siege, and began to retreat; and Musaood, hearing that they had totally evacuated the country, returned to Delhi.

Musaood soon after gave himself up to wine and women, and exercised various modes of cruelty, injustice, and oppression, despising all counsel, and placing the way of ruin before him. The princes and Omrahs at length bound up their loins to hostility, having first privately sent for Mamood, the King's uncle, from Barage. Mamood advanced with all the forces he could raise towards the capital. The Emperor was thrown into prison, by the Omrahs, where he remained for life. He reigned four years one month and one day; a weak and foolish prince, a slave to his pleasures, and without firmness of mind to entertain any one commendable virtue.

Oktay, the son of Zingis, sat upon the imperial throne of Tartary, during the short reigns of Ferose, Rizia, Byram, and Musaood. Little alteration happened in the conquests of Zingis, and his posterity were employed in extending the Tartar empire in the two extremities of Asia. The dominions left by Altumsh remained entire when his son Musaood was deposed.

[Section IX. The Reign of Sultan Nasir Ul Dien Mamood ben Sultan Shumse ul dien Altumsh.]

MAMOOD II.

We have already observed, that when the eldest son of the Emperor Altumsh died in Bengal, he conferred the title and government of that principality upon his younger son Mamood [ ]. But this was a nominal honour, Mamood being at that time too young for such a charge. Upon his father's death he was confined by the cruel Empress, and remained in prison till he was released by the Emperor Musaood, who gave him the government of Barage. During the time of his government, he waged successful wars with the neighbouring independent princes, and rendered his province happy and flourishing. The fame of his justice and policy became to be noised abroad, which made the Omrahs turn their eyes towards him in the late revolution. He was then placed upon the throne of his father, which, even laying aside his birth, his bravery, wisdom, and learning, his other good qualities very much deserved to possess.

During the time of his imprisonment, he wrote for his livelihood, despising the Emperor's allowance. He often said, in the days of his misfortune, that he who could not work for his bread did not deserve it. When he ascended the throne, he was the patron of learning, the protector of the people, and the friend of the poor. The poets of that age vied with one another for the prize at his coronation, which was gained by Minage, for his poem upon that occasion. This writer is also particularly famous for his valuable history called the Tibcaat Nazari.

The office of vizier was now conferred upon Balin the younger, who formerly defeated the Sultana; and all the executive power was put into his hands. Shere, the Emperor's nephew, was appointed to the government of Lahore, Moultan, Batenize, and Tiberhind, where he was ordered to keep a great standing army, to watch the motions of the Moguls, who now had possessed themselves of the provinces beyond the Indus.

It is said, that when Mamood appointed young Balin vizier, that he told him, he trusted his own glory to his loyalty and conduct; therefore, to do nothing for which he could not answer to God, or that would stain his name with injustice towards his people, or ingratitude towards his King. The vizier faithfully promised his best, and exerting himself with such unwearied diligence in his office, regulated so well the business of the state, that nothing escaped his eye, or passed his particular inspection.

In the month of Regib, the King took the field, and turned his arms towards Moultan. He encamped for some time upon the banks of the Sodra; and making his vizier captain-general, he sent him towards the mountains of Jehud, and the territories near the Indus. Those countries were reduced, and the Emperor avenged himself upon the Gickers for their continual incursions, and for guiding the Moguls through their country into Hindostan. These offences were too great to be pardoned, and therefore he carried some thousands of every age and sex into captivity.

Some ancient Omrahs, who had estates conferred on them in the provinces near the Indus, had, for some time past, refused to supply their quotas to the army, for the maintenance of which they held these estates. By the advice of the vizier, they were arrested and carried prisoners to Delhi. The King, however, gave their estates to their sons or relations, upon the old military tenure. The country of Punjaab and Moultan were by these means effectually settled, and the King's authority firmly established. The behaviour of Mamood, upon this occasion, puts us in mind of a story of a singular kind.

Some authors inform us, that when Secunder [Alexander the Great.] was on his way to India, some of his old generals, unwilling to proceed farther, began to draw their feet out of the circle of his obedience. The hero upon this, was thrown into great perplexity, not knowing how to proceed with them. In this dilemma, he sent a messenger to Greece to advise with his old master Aristotalise [Aristotle, the Philosopher.], who, by reason of his age and infirmities, had not accompanied him. When the sage read the letter, he carried the messenger into the garden, where he gave orders to the gardener to root up all the old plants, and set young shoots in their places. Without saying more, or writing any answer, he told the messenger to return in haste to his master.

When the messenger arrived, he fell upon his face before the King, and told him he could obtain no reply. Secunder was somewhat surprised, and enquired into the particulars of the interview. Hearing the above relation, he smiled, and told the messenger he had brought him an excellent answer. He accordingly put some old mutinous officers to death, and cashiered others; supplying their places with young men, who became more obedient to command; and thus re-established his authority in the army.

In the month of Shaban 645, the Emperor Mamood returned with his troops through the country which lies between the two rivers Ganges and Jumna, and, after an obstinate siege, the fort of Tilsinda yielded to his arms. He then continued his march towards Kurrah, Balin commanding the van guard. He was met at Kurrah by the Indian princes Dilleki and Millecki, whom he defeated, plundering their country, and taking many of both their families prisoners. These two Rajas had seized upon all the country to the south of the Jumna, destroyed the King's garrisons from Malava to Kurrah, and held their chief residence at Callinger. After these exploits the Emperor returned to Delhi.

In the following year, he sent the vizier with an army towards Rintimpore and the mountains of Merwar, to chastise the rebellious inhabitants of these countries, which he effectually did, and returned to Delhi. The vizier's brother Abiek Cushli was promoted to the dignity of lord of the petitions, and Zinjani to be chief secretary to the empire.

In the same year, the Emperor's brother Jellal was called from his government of Kinnoge to Delhi. But, fearing that the King had some intentions against his life, he fled to the hills of Sitnoor, with all his adherents. The Emperor pursued him, but finding, after eight months' labour, that he could not lay hands upon him, he returned to Delhi. Mamood, in the year 647, married the daughter of his vizier, Balin, and upon the occasion made great rejoicings. He drew, in the year following, his army towards Moultan, and, upon the banks of the Bea, he was joined by his nephew Shere, governor of the northern provinces, with twenty thousand chosen horse. The King continued his march to Moultan, where he remained for some days. Having placed the elder Balin in the government of Nagore and Outch, and settled some other matters, he returned to his capital.

The elder Balin, in the year 649, threw off his allegiance, and stirred up a rebellion in those provinces. This obliged Mamood to put the imperial standard in motion towards Nagore. He put the rebel to flight; but such was the strange policy of the times, that he promised him his pardon, upon his submission; and afterwards actually continued him in his government. The Emperor, after returning from this expedition, remained only a few days at Delhi, before he proceeded to the siege of Narvar. He was met at Narvar by the Indian prince Sahir Deo, who had just built that fortress on a steep rock, with five thousand horse, and two hundred thousand foot. This immense host were defeated with great slaughter, and the place, being invested, was reduced, after a few months' siege. The Emperor from thence continued his march to Chinderi and Malava, and having settled those countries, and appointed a suba to govern them, returned to Delhi. The vizier gained, in this expedition, great reputation for his conduct and personal valour.

In the mean time, the Emperor's nephew Shere, viceroy of Lahore and Moultan, who was at that time reckoned a prodigy of wisdom, valour, and every royal virtue, had raised and disciplined a body of horse, with which he drove the Moguls out of the kingdom of Ghizni, and annexed it once more to the empire. He struck the currency in the name of Mamood, and proclaimed him through all the provinces. The King, for these services, added the government of Outch to his viceroyship, which, contrary to expectation, was quietly delivered up by the elder Balin, who returned to Delhi, and received the Jagier of Budaoon.

Mamood, in the year 650, marched by the way of Lahore, into Moultan, and was joined by the governor of Budaoon, by the way of Sevan and Cushlu, with fine armies. In the beginning of the following year, Zingani, chief secretary of the empire, who had rose to that dignity through the interest of the vizier, began to envy the fame and influence of that able minister. He took every opportunity to traduce his benefactor to the King in private. The Monarch's affections for the vizier began to cool visibly, and he was even prevailed upon at last to discharge that great man from his office, when he only conferred upon him, in lieu of it, the small government of Hassi, for his subsistence, where his enemy sought an opportunity to take his life.

Zingani now became absolute in the King's favour, and began his authority by turning out every person from their offices and governments, who had been appointed by the former vizier. He removed all Balin's friends and relations from the royal presence, constituting Mahommed, who resided at Delhi, vizier of the empire, and Cutchlew, lord of requests. When he returned to Delhi with the King, he every where disturbed the public peace, and overset the fundamental laws of the country.

The Emperor again mustered his army, and began his march towards the river Bea, for Shere had unfortunately, at this time, been defeated by the rebels of the province of Sind, and lost several forts in Moultan. This furnished the favourite with an opportunity of disgracing him with the King, who turned him out of his viceroyship, which he conferred upon Arsilla, and then returned to his capital. In the mean time, the governor of Keital and Coram was assassinated by the zemindars, which prevailed on the Sultan to march his army to revenge his death, from which expedition he very soon returned again to Delhi.

The government of the chief secretary became by this time so invidious to the whole empire, that almost all the governors of provinces entered into an association, and sent an embassy to Balin, the former vizier, informing him, that the government of the country was quite subverted, and that the oppression and arrogance of Zingani was beyond expression; that they were therefore desirous he should proceed to Delhi, and take the empire, as formerly, under his wise conduct and direction. Balin consented, and, according to appointment, all the Omrahs met, with their forces, in one day, at Koram.

Mamood and his chief secretary Zingani, upon receiving this intelligence, marched with the imperial forces to disperse the insurgents; but when the royal army advanced as far as Hassi, Balin, and the rest of the Omrahs, sent an address to the King, to the following purpose: “That they were his loyal subjects, and were satisfied to kiss the foot of his throne, so be he would banish Zingani from his presence.” The Emperor was under the necessity of either consenting to this request, or to lose his empire. He therefore dismissed the obnoxious favourite from his presence, and sent him to Budaoon. The Omrahs presented their offerings, and were honoured with royal dresses. Chani was appointed to command at Lahore, and Shere was confirmed in his former governments, and other districts adjacent. Mamood returned peaceably to Delhi, and expressed great joy at seeing his old vizier, while the flower of desire blossomed in the hearts of the subjects.

In the year 653, the Emperor conferred the government of Oud upon Cuttulich, of which, however, he wanted to deprive him in a few months for that of Barage, which was neither so lucrative nor so honourable. Cuttulich, upon this account, swerved from his allegiance, and, having brought over some other Omrahs to his party, raised a great army, which obliged Mamood to send the vizier against him. A general was dispatched at the same time against Zingani, who had begun a diversion about Budaoon. He was however soon defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death. Cuttulich was also routed by the vizier, and fled to Sitnoor. The vizier destroyed the place, but not being able to lay hold of the rebel, he returned to Delhi.

Diepal, the Indian prince of Sitnoor, in the year 655, entered into an alliance with the rebel Cuttulich, and raising a great army, advanced to meet the suba of Sind, who was in the same confederacy. All three joining their forces near Koram, became very formidable, to the empire. The King again ordered his vizier, with a great army, to take the field. When the two armies approached one another, a mutiny was stirred up in the vizier's camp, by some Omrahs, who wrote private letters to the enemy, projecting the means of their taking the city, in which they had also set a faction on foot to favour them. The vizier having received good intelligence of this treasonable correspondence, acquainted the King of the particulars, who ordered them all to be confined. In the mean time, the enemy, according to the scheme projected, marched with a body of chosen cavalry two hundred miles, in two days, advancing to the gates of Delhi, where the traitors had promised to meet them that day with their forces; but finding themselves disappointed, and the imperial troops marching out against them, they entirely dispersed, the governor of Sind retreating to his government, but Cuttulich was never heard of afterwards.

Towards the latter end of this year, a Mogul army crossed the Indus, which obliged Mamood to point his hostile spears towards that quarter; but the Moguls fled upon his approach; so that, without further trouble, he returned to his capital, giving the country of Punjaab to his nephew Shere, and sending Chani to the government of Bengal.

In the year 656, Mamood marched his army towards Kurrah and Manickpoor, to chastise Arsilla and Calliche, who had not joined their forces in obedience to his orders, when he marched the year before to Punjaab. These subas, however, found means at court to mollify the King's resentment, and Arsilla found even interest to obtain the government of Bengal, which had been so lately disposed of to Chani, while the other obtained some districts by the foot of the mountains.

Cutchlew, the vizier's brother, was, in the year 657, appointed to the government of Kole, Jellasore, Gualier, and Biana. Nothing else remarkable happened this season, but the death of the rebellious governor of Sind. The vizier, by the King's commands, led, next year, an army towards Sewalic and Rintimpore, where the Indians had begun to raise great disturbances, having collected a very numerous body of horse and foot, at the head of which they plundered and burnt the country. Upon the vizier's approach, they retired into strong posts and passes among the mountains, where, however, he routed them, and continued to ravage their country four months with fire and sword, setting a price upon their heads.

The princes of those Rajaputs, rendered at length desperate, collected all their forces, and rushed down from the mountains to be revenged of the Mahommedans. The vizier saw the storm descending, and had time to draw up his army in order of battle to receive them. The attack of the enemy was violent and terrible, being actuated by rage, revenge, and despair. It was with much difficulty that the vizier could keep the imperial troops in the field, but the enemy overheating themselves towards mid-day, they became hourly more languid and faint. The imperial general inspiring his troops with fresh courage, for, till then, they had acted upon the defensive, began to charge in his turn, and, before evening, pursued the enemy, with great slaughter, back to the hills. The vizier's loss was very considerable in this action, and many brave Omrahs drank the cup of martyrdom. Of the enemy above ten thousand were slain, and ninety of their chiefs made prisoners, besides a great number of common soldiers. The vizier having, by this action, relieved the fort of Rintimpore, which had been besieged by some other tribes, he returned victorious to Delhi. The captive chiefs were cruelly ordered to be put to death, and their unfortunate soldiers condemned to perpetual slavery.

In the month of the first Ribbi of this year, an ambassador arrived at Delhi, on the part of Hallaću, the grandson of Zingis, and king of Persia. The vizier went out to meet the ambassador with fifty thousand foreign horse, in the imperial service, two hundred thousand infantry in arms, two thousand chain-elephants of war, and three thousand carriages of fireworks. He drew up in order of battle, formed in columns of twenty deep, with the artillery and cavalry properly disposed. Having then exhibited some feats of horsemanship, in mock battles, and fully displayed his pomp to the ambassador, he conducted him into the city and royal palace. There the court was very splendid, every thing being set out in the most gorgeous and magnificent manner. All the Omrahs, officers of state, judges, priests, and great men of the city, were present, besides five princes of Persian Ayrac, Chorassan, and Maver-ul-nere, with their retinues, who had taken protection at Delhi, from the arms of Zingis, who, a little before that time, had overrun most part of Asia. Many Indian princes, subject to the empire, were there, and stood next the throne.

This ceremony being concluded with great pomp, nothing particular occurred at Delhi, till the year 663, when the Emperor fell sick, and, having lingered some months on the bed of affliction, died on the 11th of the first Jemmad, in the year 664, much lamented by his people.

Mamood was very singular in his private character, for, contrary to the custom of all princes, he kept no concubines. He had but one wife, whom he obliged to do every homely part of housewifery: and when she complained one day, that she had burnt her fingers in baking his bread, desiring he might allow her a maid to assist her, he rejected her request, with saying, that he was only a trustee for the state, and that he was determined not to burthen it with needless expences. He therefore exhorted her to persevere in her duty with patience, and God would reward her in the end.

As the Emperor of India never eats in public, his table was rather that of a hermit, than suitable to a great King. He also continued the whimsical notion of living by his pen. One day, as an Omrah was inspecting a Coran of the Emperor's writing before him, he pointed out a word, which he said was wrong. The King, looking at it, smiled, and drew a circle round it. But when the critic was gone, he began to erase the circle, and restore the word. This being observed by one of his old attendants, he begged to know his Majesty's reason for so doing; to which he replied, “That he knew the word was originally right; but he thought it better to erase from a paper, than tocuh the heart of a poor man, by bringing him to shame.” These might, indeed, be virtues in private life, but were certainly none in a sovereign; for, notwithstanding the praises conferred upon him by historians, we must look upon him rather as the representation than the real substance of a great monarch.

Kajuc, and after him, Mengo Chan, sat on the throne of Tartary, during the reign of Mamood. The conquest of the southern China goes on, and Hallacu, the grandson of Zingis, extends his victories in the west of Asia, and, having taken Bagdat, puts an end to the Caliphat, by the extirpation of the race of Abbas, who enjoyed it 523 years.

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Part 9 of 15

[Section X. The Reign of Sultan Yeas Ul Dien Balin.]

BALIN.

MAMOOD leaving no sons behind him, his vizier Balin [Yeas ul dieu Balin.], who was of the same family, mounted, by the universal desire of the nobles, the throne of Delhi. Balin was originally a Turk of Chitta, of the tribe of Alberi, a relation of the Emperor Altumsh. In his youth he was carried prisoner by the Moguls, who conquered that country, and sold to a merchant, who conveyed him to Bagdat. His father was a chief of great power, and commanded ten thousand horse in that unfortunate war in which our young hero was taken. He was bought at Bagdat in the year 630, by Jemmal of Bussorah, who was then famous for his piety and learning. His patron having learned that he was a relation of the Emperor Altumsh, proceeded with him immediately to Delhi, and presented him to that monarch, who rewarded him so handsomely, that he returned independent to Bagdat.

Altumsh employed him first in the office of chief manager of falconry, in which he was very expert. He rose from that station, both by the influence of his brother, who happened to be then a noble, and in great favour at the court of Delhi, and by his own merit. He ascended gradually, from one preferment to another, till he became an Omrah of the empire, and a man in great esteem. In the reign of Ferose, when he commanded in Punjaab, hearing his enemies at court had enraged the King against him, he refused to obey his orders to return, and kept for some time possession of that country. But having advanced to Delhi, with the confederate Omrahs who came to depose the Empress Rizia, he was taken prisoner in their flight, and remained there some time in confinement. He however made his escape, and joined the party of the Emperor Byram: against the Empress, whom he twice defeated, as we have seen in that reign. This gained him great reputation; and he had the government of Hassi and Raberi conferred upon him; in which office he distinguished himself in several actions against the rebels of Mewat.

In the reign of Musaood, he was advanced to the dignity of lord of requests, in which he gained great reputation; and in that of Mamood, he was raised to the vizarit, which high office he managed in such a manner as to leave the King but the mere title of royalty. He therefore, upon the death of his sovereign, mounted the throne, not only without opposition, but even by the general voice of the nobility and people.

In the reign of Altumsh, forty of his Turkish slaves, who were in great favour, entered into a solemn association to support one another, and, upon the King's death, to divide the empire among themselves. But jealousies and dissensions having arose afterwards among them, prevented this project from being executed. The Emperor Balin was of their number; and, as several of them had raised themselves to great power in the kingdom, the first thing he did after his: accession, was to rid himself of all who remained of that association, either by sword or poison; among whom was a nephew of his own, Shere, a man of great bravery and reputation.

His fears, after these assassinations, were entirely dispelled, and he became so famous for his justice and wise government, that his alliance was courted by all the Kings of Persia and Tartary. He took particular care that none but men of merit and family should be admitted to any office in his government; and for this purpose he endeavoured to make himself acquainted with the particular talents and connections of every person in his court. As he was very assiduous in rewarding merit, he was no less so in punishing vice; for whoever misbehaved in their station, were certain of being immediately disgraced.

He expelled all flatterers, usurers, pimps, and players, from his court; and being one day told, that an Omrah, an old servant of the crown, who had acquired a vast fortune by usury and monopoly in the Bazar, or market, would present him with some lacks of rupees, if he would honour him with one word from the throne; he rejected the proposal with great disdain, and said, “What must his subjects think of a King who should condescend to hold discourse with a wretch so infamous?"

Balin was so famous for his generosity, that all the princes of the East, who had been overthrown by the arms of Zingis, sought protection at his court. There came upwards of twenty of those unfortunate sovereigns from Turkestan, Mavir-ul-nere, Chorassan, Persian Iraac, Azurbaejan, Persia Proper, Room [The lesser Asia, so called from being long a part of the Roman empire.], and Syria. They had a princely allowance, and palaces for their residence allotted them; and they were, upon public occasions, ranked before his throne, according to their dignity; all standing to the right and left, except two princes of the race of the Caliphas, who were permitted to sit on either side of the Musnud. The palaces in which the royal fugitives resided in Delhi, took their names from their respective possessors.

In the retinue of those princes, were the most famous men for learning, war, arts, and sciences, that Asia at that time produced. The court of India was therefore, in the days of Balin, reckoned the most polite and magnificent in the world. All the philosophers, poets, and divines, formed a society every night, at the house of the prince Shehîd, the heir apparent to the empire; and the noble Chusero the poet presided at those meetings. Another society of musicians, dancers, mimics, players, buffoons, and story-tellers, was constantly convened at the house of the Emperor's second son Kera, or Bagera, who was given to pleasure and levity. The Omrahs followed the example of their superiors, so that various societies and clubs were formed in every quarter of the city. The Emperor himself, having a great passion for splendor and magnificence in his palaces, equipages, and liveries, he was imitated by the court. A new city seemed to lift up its head, and arts to arise from the bosoms of luxury and expence.

Such was the pomp and grandeur of the royal presence, that none could approach the throne without terror. The ceremonies of introduction were conducted with so much reverence and solemnity, and every thing disposed so as to strike awe and astonishment into the beholders. Nor was Balin less magnificent in his cavalcades. His state elephants were caparisoned in purple and gold. His horse-guards, consisting of a thousand noble Tartars in splendid armour, were mounted upon the finest Persian steeds, with bridles of silver, and saddles of rich embroidery. Five hundred chosen men in rich livery, with their drawn swords upon their shoulders, ran proclaiming his approach, and clearing the way before him. All the Omrahs followed according to their rank, with their various equipages and attendants. The Monarch, in short, seldom went out with less than one hundred thousand men; which he used to say, was not to gratify any vanity in himself, but to exalt him in the eyes of the people.

The festivals of Norose and Ide, as also the anniversary of his own birth, were held with wonderful pomp and splendor, But amidst all this glare of royalty, he never forgot that he was the guardian of the laws, and protector of his meanest subjects. It was before Balin's time a custom in Hindostan, in cases of murder, to satisfy the relations by a certain fine, if they consented to accept of it. He abolished this custom, which has been since revived, and ordered the Subah of Budaoon, Malleck, to be put to death, upon the complaint of a poor woman for killing her son.

When Balin was only an Omrah, he gave into the then courtly vices of wine, women, and play. But, upon his accession, he became a great enemy to all those luxuries; prohibiting wine upon the severest penalties to be drank in his dominions; laying great restrictions upon women of pleasure, and banishing all gamesters from his court.

So zealous was Balin to support his authority, that, for the disobedience of one man, he would order a force to the remotest parts of the empire to bring him to punishment. In cases of insurrection or rebellion against his government, he was not content, as had formerly been the custom, to chastise the leaders, but he extended the capital punishment of high treason to the meanest of their vassals and adherents. This severity rendered it necessary for the Subas to have the King's mandate for every expedition or hostilities they were about to commence.

That his army might be kept in constant exercise, he led them out twice every week to hunt, for forty or fifty miles round the city, and established laws for the preservation of the game. In the year 664, he was advised by his council, to undertake an expedition to reduce the kingdoms of Guzerat and Malava, which had been annexed to the empire by Cuttub, but were afterwards permitted to shake off the yoke. To this advice the Emperor would by no means consent, saying, that the Mogul Tartars were become so powerful in the north, having conquered all the Mussulmen princes, that he thought it would be much wiser to secure what he possessed against those invaders, than to weaken himself, and leave his country unguarded, by foreign wars.

Mahommed Tatar, the son of Arsilla, who had begun to assert independence in Bengal, was, this year, however, reduced, and obliged to send his usual tribute to Delhi. A great rejoicing was made upon this occasion, at which the King was present, and gave public audience.

Balin ordered, in the course of the same year, an army to extirpate a certain tribe of banditti called Mewats, who had possessed themselves of an extensive wilderness about eighty miles south-east of the city towards the hills; from whence they used, in former reigns, to make incursions, to the number of fifty thousand, even to the gates of Delhi. It is said, that, in this expedition, above one hundred thousand of these wretches were put to the sword; and the army being supplied with hatchets and other implements, cleared away the woods for above the circumference of one hundred miles. The cleared space afterwards proved excellent lands, and was well inhabited, as the people were protected by a line of forts along the foot of the mountains.

In the 665th year of the Higera, Balin sent an army down between the Ganges and Jumna, to suppress some insurrections in those parts, with orders to punish the offenders without mercy. The Emperor soon after marched in person towards Kattal, Pattiali, and Bhogepoor, whose inhabitants had begun to stop all intercourse with Bengal, by the way of Jionpoor and Benaris. He put some thousands of them to death, establishing justice and public security in those parts. He ordered forts to be built, which he garrisoned with Pattans, to crush any future disturbance, and then returned towards Delhi. Soon after his arrival, he received intelligence of an insurrection in Budaoon and Kuttur, whither he hastened with five thousand chosen horse, and ordered a general massacre among the unfortunate insurgents, and some thousands of every age and sex fell by the sword.

If such cruelties can be any where excused, it must be in a government like that of Hindostan, where rebellions were in those days so common, that, without the most vigorous measures, the peace and royal authority could not be at all established.

Balin, after these transactions, marched his army towards the mountains of Jehud, where he employed them for the space of two years, in taking forts, and reducing the wild inhabitants to obedience. This country was famous for breeding horses, many thousands of which were carried by Balin to Delhi. Wherever the King marched, there was an order for the Subas, Zemindars, Fogedars, and magistrates of the provinces, to meet him on their own frontiers, with their offerings, which was afterwards distributed among the poor. Balin, some time after, made a journey to Lahore, which city, having greatly suffered from the Moguls, he ordered to be put in a proper state of defence and repair; and, after having erected some public buildings, he returned to Delhi.

About this time, Balin was told by one of his Omrahs, that a great number of veterans, who had served in the preceding reigns, were now become invalids, and incapable of attending their duty. The Emperor, upon this, ordered a list of their names to be taken, and settling half-pay upon them for life, discharged them from further service. The old men, however, were dissatisfied with this provision, and some of the principals of them were deputed by the rest, to go to Malleck, chief magistrate of Delhi, with presents, to represent their case to the King.

This venerable magistrate, being in great favour with Balin, rejected their presents, but told them, he would use his endeavour to get them continued upon full pay. He accordingly went next day to court, and while he stood in the presence, put on the appearance of sorrow, which being observed by the King, he enquired about the cause of his grief. The old man replied, “I was just thinking, that if, in the presence of God, all the old men were rejected, what would become of me.” The King was struck with the reproof, and after some pensive silence, ordered the veterans to be continued in their usual pay.

In the fourth year of the reign of Balin, Shere, the nephew of the late Emperor, who had, from the time of Mamood, governed the provinces upon the banks of the five branches of the Indus, and other districts, died; some say, by poison from the King; but this is not now believed, though reported by some malicious people in those days. He was esteemed a man of great genius, and an intrepid warrior; having defended his country from the incursions of the Moguls, who now became the terror of the East. Balin, upon the demise of Shere, gave Sunnam and Semana to the noble Timur, and the other countries were divided among other Omrahs of his court. The Moguls, encouraged by the death of Shere, began again their depredations in those provinces. The mutual jealousies and dissensions among the Subas, prevented them from doing any thing effectual for the public good.

The Emperor, therefore, was obliged to appoint his eldest son Mahommed, at that time bearing the title of the noble Malleck, afterwards famous by the name of Shehid, viceroy of all those frontier provinces. Mahommed was immediately dispatched to his government with a fine army, and some of the wisest and best generals in the empire. The Prince himself was blest with a bright and comprehensive genius, taking great delight in learning and the company of learned men. He, with his own hand, made a choice collection of the beauties of poetry, selected from the most famous in that art. The work consisted of twenty thousand couplets, and was esteemed the criterion of taste. Among the learned men in the Prince's court, the noble Chusero and Hassen bore the first rank in genius and in his esteem. These, with many more of his philosophical society, accompanied him on this expedition to Lahore.

Mahommed was visited at Lahore by Osman Marindi, who was esteemed the greatest man of that age. But no presents or entreaty could prevail upon him to remain out of his own country; so that after a short stay he returned. We are told, that as he was one day reading one of his poems in Arabic before the Prince, all the poets who were present were transported into a fit of dancing. But the piece affected the Prince, to all appearance, in a quite contrary manner; for the tears began to flow fast down his cheeks. This might indeed be occasioned by excess of pleasure, though it was, at that time, attributed to that noble emulation which grieves for that excellence which it cannot attain.

The fame of the enlightened Sadi of Schiraz, the celebrated poet, being great at that time, Mahommed invited him twice to his court; but that renowned sage excused himself on account of his years, and, with much difficulty, was brought to accept of some presents. Sadi, in return, sent to Mahommed a copy of his works, and did honour to the abilities of the noble Chusero, the Prince's favourite, and president of his learned society.

The Prince, every year, made a journey to see his father at Delhi, to whom he always behaved with the greatest filial affection and duty. Balin gave his younger son Kera, entitled Nasir ul dien, a Jagier of Sammana and Sunnam, whither the prince set out to reside. His father, at his departure, advised hiin to recruit and discipline a good army, to watch the motions of the Moguls; and that if he ever should hear of his giving himself up to wine and his former debaucheries, he would certainly withdraw him from that Subaship, and never put confidence in him again. The Prince took the advice of his father to heart, and en- tirely reforming his manners, gave great proofs of his natural abilities, though his mind had taken a wrong bias in his youth. A place of rendezvous was appointed, in case of an invasion from the north, on the river Bea, near Lahore, where the two Princes were to join the imperial army from Delhi.

Every thing seemed now in perfect peace and security throughout the empire, when Tughril, who was intrusted with the government of Bengal, began to appear in arms. In the year 678, this bold and enterprising man led an army against the Indian princes towards Jagenagur, whom he defeated, carrying off some hundreds of elephants and much wealth, out of which he made no acknowledgment to the King. Balin happened at that time to be very sick, insomuch that the news of his death was spread abroad. This intelligence having reached the ears of Tughril, he assumed the red umbrella with all the royal dignities, and declared himself King of Bengal. Balin hearing of this, wrote him an order to return immediately to his allegiance, which having produced no effect, he commanded Tiggi, governor of Oud, to raise his forces, and declaring him Suba of Bengal, sent Timur, Malleck Jemmal, and other generals, to his assistance, with an army from Delhi, to reduce the traitor to obedience.

When Tiggi was joined by this force, he crossed the Sirju, now the Gagra or Deo, and proceeded towards Bengal, whence Tughril advanced with his forces to meet him. Tughril employed his money so well among the troops of Tiggi, that he drew many of the Turkish chiefs over to his party, and then engaging the imperial army, he gave them a total defeat. The King hearing this news, bit his own flesh with indignation. He ordered Tiggi to be hanged at the gate of Oud; and dispatched Turmutti, a Turkish general, with another army, against the rebel. Nor was the fate of Turmutti more fortunate than that of his predecessor. He was totally routed, and lost all his baggage and the public treasure.

Balin, having intelligence of this second disgrace to his arms, was in great affliction, and prepared to take the field in person. He gave orders to build a large fleet of boats, with all expedition, to carry his baggage down the river. He, in the mean time, under pretence of going upon a hunting party, went to Sunnam and Samana, the Subaship of his younger son, whom he brought with his army with him to Delhi, leaving one Malleck in the government. Having collected the imperial army, he appointed the chief magistrate of the city, regent during his own absence.

The Emperor crossing the Ganges, without waiting for the dry season, proceeded to Bengal by forced marches. But having met with great delay, on account of the roads and numerous rivers, Tughril heard of his approach, and had time to collect his army, and with all his elephants, treasure, and effects, took the route of Jagenagur [A town in Orissa, near Cattack.], with intention to remain there till the King should return to Delhi. The Sultan having arrived in Bengal, remained there only a few days. He appointed Hissam governor of the province, and proceeded himself, with his army, towards Jagenagur. At Sunnarguam, the zemindar of that place joined him with his troops, and promised to guard the river against Tughril, if he should endeavour to escape that way.

Balin continued his march with great expedition, but he could gain no intelligence of the enemy. He therefore ordered Malleck, with seven thousand chosen horse, to advance twenty miles, in front of the army, and, by all means, to endeavour to gain intelligence of the rebels; but, in spite of all enquiry, no satisfactory accounts could for several days be obtained. One day, however, Mahommed Shir, governor of Kole, being out from the advanced guard with forty horse, reconnoitring the country, beheld some bullocks with pack-saddles, and having seized the drivers, began to enquire about the enemy. They obstinately pretended ignorance; but the head of one of them being struck off, the rest fell upon their faces, and confessed that they had just left the enemy's camp, which was about four. miles in front, that they had halted for that day, and intended to advance to Jagenagur.

Mahommed sent the drivers to Malleck, who commanded the vanguard, that he might examine them, and proceeded himself, as directed, to reconnoitre the enemy's camp. He saw, from a rising ground, the whole encampment, extended over a great plain, with the elephants and cavalry picqueted, and every thing in rest and security. Having fixed his eye upon the rebels' tents, which were pitched in the centre of the army, he determined to execute one of the boldest enterprises perhaps ever attempted. He advanced on full speed, with his forty attendants, whom he fired with the glory of the undertaking, towards the camp, which he was permitted to enter, being taken for one of their own parties. He continued his course to the usurper's tents, and then ordered his men to draw; and rushing into the great tent of audience, which was crowded with men of distinction, put all they met to the sword, crying, “Victory to Sultan Balin!”

Tughril, who imagined he was surprised by the imperial army, started from his throne in confusion, and cut his way through the tent behind. He mounted a horse without a saddle, and the cry having now spread through the camp, he was confirmed in his fears, and fled towards the river, with an intention to cross it, that he might make his escape to Jagenagur. In the mean time, Malleck, the brother of the gallant Mahommed, having seen the rebel as he fled, pursued him to the river, and shot him with an arrow as he was crossing. Tughril immediately fell from his horse, and Malleck, plunging into the stream, dragged him out by the hair, and cut off his head. At that very instant, seeing some of the enemy coming that way, he hid the head in the sand, and sending the body down the stream, begun to bathe himself in the river. The party questioned him about their King, and then went off without suspicion.

Mahommed's party, in the mean time, having dispatched every body they found in the royal tents, dispersed themselves in such a manner among the enemy, who were now in the greatest confusion, that most of them escaped in the crowd. Tughril being no where to be found, and the panic having run through the whole army, the flight became general, and none thought about any thing but personal safety. Those who remained alive of the forty heroes, loitered in the rear, till the enemy were quite gone off the field. They then returned to the deserted camp, where they chanced to meet Malleck. He related the King's death to his brother, who instantly sent the head to Balin. He at the same time dispatched an express to the vanguard, which came up that night, and took possession of the camp.

The Sultan arrived the next day with the imperial army. He called to him the two gallant brothers, and commanded them to relate the particulars of this astonishing exploit. He heard it with surprise; but instead of praising them, as they expected, he told them, that the rashness of their behaviour was inconsistent with their duty and prudence, and much more to the same purpose. But he, in a few days, took them into favour, and conferred great titles and honours upon them.

Balin, finding the enemy had entirely dispersed, returned to Bengal, and put every one of the rebel's family, and principal adherents, to death. He did not even spare his innocent women and children; and he carried his cruelty so far, as to massacre a hundred Fakiers, and their chief Collinder, for having been in great favour with the rebel, who had given him a present of three maunds of gold to support the society. Balin appointed his son Kera, King of Bengal, bestowing upon him all the ensigns of royalty, and the spoils of Tughril, except the elephants and treasure, while he himself returned with his army towards Delhi.

Balin was absent upon this expedition three years. Upon his arrival, he conferred dignities upon Malleck, who had ruled Delhi with great wisdom. He then visited the learned men at their own houses, made them princely presents, and, at their instigation, published an act of grace to all insolvent debtors who were in confinement, striking off, at the same time, all old balances of revenues due to the crown. Notwithstanding this appearance of humanity, either the policy or natural cruelty of his disposition rendered him unmerciful to all rebels. He ordered spits to be erected in the market-place, for the execution of all the prisoners taken in the late expedition; and it was with the utmost difficulty, that the Casies, Mufties, and learned men, in a body petitioning their pardon, could obtain it. This venerable body at last softened Balin into mercy, and he drew the pen of forgiveness over their crimes.

His eldest son, having heard of his father's arrival, proceeded to Delhi to visit him, and was received with the greatest affection and joy. He had not remained at the capital three months, during which his father and he were inseparable, when news was brought that the Moguls had invaded Moultan Mahommed hastened his departure to oppose them; but, before he had taken his leave, his father called him into a private apartment, and addressed him in the following manner:

He told him, “That he himself had spent a long life in the administration and government of kingdoms; that, by study and experience, he had acquired some knowledge, which might be of service to Mahommed after his death, which, in the course of nature, now hastened apace. That therefore he desired he would lend him the ear of attention, and treasure up his maxims in his mind.

“When you shall ascend the throne, look upon yourself as the deputy of God. Have a just sense of the importance of your charge. Permit not any meanness of behaviour in yourself, to sully the lustre of your exalted station, nor let avaricious and low-minded men share your esteem, or bear any part in your administration.

“Let your passions be governed by reason, and beware of giving way to your rage. Anger is dangerous in all men; but in Kings it is the weapon of death.

“Let the public treasure be expended in the service of the state, with that prudent economy, yet benevolent liberality, which reason will dictate to a mind always intent on doing good.

“Let the worship of God be inculcated by your example, and never permit vice and infidelity, unpunished, to hold up their face to the day.

“Be ever attentive to the business of the state, that you may avoid the imposition of designing ministers. Make it your study to see them execute your commands without the least deviation or neglect; for it is by them you must govern your people.

“Let your judges and magistrates be men of capacity, religion, and virtue, that the light of justice may illuminate your realms. Let no light behaviour, in public or private, detract from that important majesty which exalts the idea of a King; and let every thing around you be so regulated, as to inspire that reverence and awe which will render your person sacred, and contribute to enforce your commands.

“Spare no pains to find men of genius, learning, and courage. You must cherish them by your beneficence, that they may prove the soul of your council, and the sword of your power.

"Throw not down a great man to the ground for a small crime, nor entirely overlook his offence. Raise not a low man too hastily to a high station, lest he forget himself, and be an eyesore to men of superior merit.

“Never attempt any thing, unless it is through necessity, but what you are sure to accomplish; and having once determined upon a measure, let your perseverance be never shaken by doubt, nor your eye ever deviate from the object. For it is better for a King to be obstinate than pusillanimous, as in the first case he may chance to be right, in the latter he is always sure to be wrong. Nothing more certainly indicates the weakness of a prince, than a fluctuating mind."

Balin, having ended his instructions, embraced his son tenderly, and parted with him in tears. The Prince immediately marched against the enemy, and having defeated and slain the noble Mahommed, chief of the Moguls, he recovered all the territories of which they had possessed themselves in the empire.

The throne of Persia was at this time filled by Argunu, the son of Eback and grandson of Hallaku, who had conquered that empire about the year 656. Timur of the family of Zingis, who was then a prince of mighty renown in the empire, and of the race of the conqueror of Asia, governed all the eastern provinces of Persia, from Chorassan to the Indus, and invaded Hindostan with twenty thousand chosen horse, to revenge the death of his friend Mahommed, who had been killed the former year. Having ravaged all the country about Debalpoor and Lahore, he turned towards Moultan. The Prince Mahommed, who was then in Moultan, hearing of his designs, hastened to the banks of the river of Lahore, which runs through part of Moultan, and prepared to oppose him. When Timur advanced to the river, he saw the army of Hindostan on the opposite bank. But the Prince, desirous of engaging so great a chief upon equal terms, permitted Timur to pass the river unmolested.

Both armies then drew up in order of battle, and engaged with great fury, for the space of three hours, in which both commanders eminently distinguished their valour and conduct. The Moguls were at last put to flight, and the nobles of India pursued them with imprudent disorder. Mahommed, fatigued by the pursuit, halted by a large pond of water, with five hundred attendants, to drink. He there fell prostrate upon the ground, to return God thanks for his victory.

In the mean time one of the Mogul chiefs, who had hid himself, with two thousand horse, in a neighbouring wood, rushed out upon Mahommed, and began a dreadful slaughter. The Prince had just time to mount his horse, and, collecting his small party, and encouraging them by his example, fell upon his enemies. He was at last overpowered by numbers, after having thrice obliged them to give ground, and he unfortunately received a fatal arrow in his breast, by which he fell to the ground, and in a few minutes expired. A body of the troops of India appearing at that instant, the Moguls took to flight. Very few of the unfortunate Mahommed's party escaped from this conflict. Among the fortunate few, was the noble Chusero the poet, who relates this event at large, in his book called Chizer Chani.

When the army returned from the pursuit of Timur, and beheld their prince in his blood, the shouts of victory were changed to the wailings of woe. No dry eye was to be seen, from the meanest soldier to the Omrah of high command. The fatal news reached the old King, who was now in his eightieth year. The fountains of his tears were exhausted, and life became obnoxious to his sight. However, bearing himself up against the stream of misfortune, he sent Kei Chusero his grandson, and the son of the deceased, to supply the place of his father. Kei Chusero, upon his arrival at Moultan, took the command of the army, and pouring the balm of benevolence and kindness upon the wounds of his afflicted people, began to adjust his government, and provide for the defence of the frontiers.

When the King found grief and infirmities began to conquer his vital strength, he sent for his son Kera, from Bengal, and appointed him his successor, at the same time insisting, that he should continue with him at Delhi till his death, and appoint a deputy for his government of Bengal. To this Kera consented; but finding his father's illness was not likely to come soon to a crisis, he set out for Bengal without acquainting him of his departure. This undutiful behaviour in his son, threw the old man into the deepest affliction, so that death began now to press hard upon him.

He in the mean time sent for his grandson Kei Chusero, from Moultan: the prince hastened to his presence, and a council of all the Omrahs being called, the succession was changed in his favour, all of them promising to enforce Balin's last will, in favour of this young prince. Balin in a few days expired, in the year 685, after a reign of twenty-two years.

Immediately, upon the death of the Emperor, Malleck, chief magistrate of Delhi, having assembled the Omrahs, and being always in enmity with the father of Chusero, harangued them upon the present posture of affairs. He assured them that Chusero was a young man of a very violent and untractable disposition, and therefore, in his opinion, unfit to reign; besides, that the power of the prince Kera was so great in the empire, that a civil war was to be feared if the succession should not be continued in his family. That therefore, as the father was absent, it would be most prudent for the Omrahs to elect his son Kei Kobad, who was a prince of a mild disposition, and then present in Delhi. So great was the influence of the minister, that he procured the throne for Kei Kobad; and Chusero, glad to escape with life, returned to his former government of Lahore.

In the glorious reign of Balin, flourished at Delhi, besides the great men we have already mentioned, the renowned and learned Musaood Shukurgunge, the enlightened Zeckeria, the flower of genius Arif, Budder a great philosopher, the high-learned Buchtiar Kaki, the unblemished Mola, and many more, eminent in all branches of science and literature.

[Section XI. The Reign of Sultan Moaz Ul Dien Kei Kubad, ben Bughera Chan, ben Sultan Yeas ul dien Balin.]

KEI KOBAD.

WHEN Balin was numbered with the dead, Kei Kobad [Moaz-ul-dien, Kei Kobâd.] his grandson, in his eighteenth year, ascended the throne, and assumed all the imperial titles. He was a prince remarkably handsome in his person, and of an affable and mild disposition. He had a talent for literature, and his knowledge that way was pretty extensive. His mother was a beautiful princess, daughter to the Emperor Altumsh; and if purity of blood royal is of any real worth, Kei Kobad had that to boast, for a series of generations.

As he had been bred up with great strictness under the wings of his father, when he became master of his own actions, he began to give a loose to pleasure without restraint. He delighted in love, and in the soft society of silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses, spent great part of his time. When it was publicly known that the King was a man of pleasure, it became immediately fashionable at court; and in short, in a few days, luxury and vice so prevailed, that every shade was filled with ladies of pleasure, and every street rung with music and mirth. Even the magistrates were seen drunk in public, and riot was heard in every house.

The King fitted up a palace at Kilogurry, upon the banks of the river Jumna, and retired thither to enjoy his pleasures undisturbed; admitting no company but singers, players, musicians, and buffoons. Nizam ul dien, who was nephew and son-in-law to the chief magistrate of Delhi, to whom Kei Kobad owed his elevation, was raised to the dignity of chief secretary of the empire, and got the reins of government in his hands; and Ellaka, who was the greatest man for learning in that age, was appointed his deputy.

Nizam, seeing that the King was quite swallowed up in his pleasures, began to form schemes to clear his own way to the empire. The first object of his attention was Chusero, who was now gone to Ghizni, to endeavour to bring that noble and royal Tartar, the son of the prince Mahommed, the King's cousin-german, Timur, over to his party, in order to recover the throne of Delhi; to which he claimed a title from his father's right of primogeniture, as well as from the will of the late Emperor. But in this scheme Chusero did not succeed, and he was obliged to return from Ghizni in great disgust.

In the mean time, Nizam endeavoured to make him as obnoxious as possible to the King, who was at length prevailed upon to entice Chusero to Delhi. Nizam hired assassins to murder the unfortunate prince on the way, which they accomplished at the village of Hicke. The villainies of Nizam did not stop here. He forged a correspondence between Chaja the vizier, and Chusero, and thus effected that minister's disgrace and banishment. He also privately assassinated all the old servants of Balin, insomuch that a general consternation was spread through the city, though none as yet suspected Nizam as the cause. The more he succeeded in his villainies, he became less secret in the execution; and though he began to be detested by all ranks, his. power and influence was so great with the King, that he was the terror of every man.

While things were in this situation, advices arrived of another invasion of Moguls into the districts of Lahore. Barbeck and Jehan were sent with an army against them. The Moguls were defeated near Lahore, and a number of prisoners brought to Delhi. The next step the traitor took, was to inspire the King with jealousy of his Mogul troops, who, as soldiers of fortune, had enlisted in great numbers in his service. He pretended that, in case of a Mogul invasion, they would certainly join their countrymen against him, insinuating, at the same time, that he believed there was already some treachery intended.

The weak prince listened to those villainous intimations, and, calling their chiefs one day together, he ordered them to be set upon by his guards and massacred; confiscating, at the same time, all their goods and wealth. He seized upon all the Omrahs who had any connections with the Moguls, and sent them prisoners to distant garrisons in the remotest parts of the empire. So blind was Kei Kobad to his own ruin, and so infatuated by this deceitful minister, that when any of his father's friends, or well-wishers to himself and the state, made any complaints against the traitor, he immediately called for Nizam himself, and, smiling, told him, that such a person had been doing him such and such ill offices, with an intention to alienate his affections from him. The person who preferred the complaint became, by this means, a sacrifice, while fear prevented others from falling martyrs to virtue and honesty.

When Nizam thus carried all before him in the presence, his wife was no less busy in the Haram. She had all the ladies at her devotion; and, by way of particular respect, was called the King's mother. The old chief magistrate of Delhi, Malleck, who had now reached his ninetieth year, perceived the design of the treacherous minister, and called him to his house, and, by various arguments, endeavoured to suppress his ambitious schemes, and to lay the deformity of such behaviour fully open to his view. The minister allowed the justice of his reasoning, and affirmed that he had no further intentions than to secure himself in the King's favour. That having, unfortunately, disobliged so many people, it was dangerous for him to permit his authority to decline.

In the mean time, prince Kera, the Emperor's father, who had contented himself with the kingdom of Bengal, having heard how matters went on at the court of Delhi, penetrated into the designs of the minister, and wrote a long letter to his son, forewarning him of his danger, and advising him how to proceed. But his advice, like that of others, was of no weight with that vicious, luxurious, and infatuated prince. When Kera found that his instructions were slighted, and that things would soon be brought to a disagreeable issue, he collected a great army, and directed his standards towards Delhi, about two years after the death of lalin. Kei Kobad, hearing that his father had advanced as far as Behar, drew out his forces, and marched down to meet him, encamping his army upon the banks of the Gagera. Kera lay upon the Sirve, and both armies remained some days in hourly expectation of an action. The old man, finding s army much inferior to that of his son, began to despair of reducing him by force, and accordingly began to treat of peace.

The young prince, upon this, became more haughty, and by the advice of his favourite prepared for battle. In the mean time, a letter came from his father, written in the most tender and affectionate terms, begging he might be blessed with one sight of him before matters were carried to extremities. This letter awakened nature, which had slumbered so long in Kei Kobad's breast, and he gave orders to prepare his retinue, that he might visit his father. The favourite attempted all in his power to prevent this interview, but finding the prince, for once, obstinate, he prevailed upon him to insist, as Emperor of Delhi, upon the first visit, hoping, by this means, to break off the conference. His design, however, did not succeed, for Kera, seeing what a headstrong boy he had to deal with, consented to come to the imperial camp, and ordered the astrologers to determine upon a lucky hour, and crossing the river, proceeded towards his son's camp.

The young Monarch, having prepared every thing for his father's reception in the most pompous and ceremonious manner, mounted his throne, and arrogantly gave orders, that his father, upon his approach, should three times kiss the ground. The old man accordingly, when he arrived at the first door, was ordered to dismount, and after he had come in sight of the throne, he was commanded to pay his obeisance in three different places as he advanced; the Emperor's mace-bearer crying out, according to custom, The noble Kera to the King of the world sends health.

The old man was so much shocked at this indignity, that he burst out into a flood of tears; which being observed by the son, he could no longer support his unnatural insolence, but, leaping from the throne, fell on his face at his father's feet, imploring his forgiveness for his offence. The good old man melted into compassion, and, raising him in his arms, embraced him, and hung weeping upon his neck. The scene in short was so affecting on both sides, that the whole court began to wipe the tears from their eyes.

These transports being over, the young King helped his father to mount the throne, and paying him his respects, took his place at his right hand, ordering a charger full of golden suns to be waved three times over his father's head, and afterwards to be given among the people. All the Omrahs also presented to him their presents.

Public business being then talked over, every thing was settled in peace and friendship, and Kera returned to his own camp. A friendly intercourse commenced immediately between the two armies, for the space of twenty days, in which time the father and son alternately visited one another, and the time was spent in festivity and mirth. The principal terms settled between the two Kings were, that they should respectively retain their former dominions; and then Kei Kobad prepared to return to Delhi, and his father to Bengal.

Before they had taken leave, Kera called his son, the favourite minister, and his deputy, into a private apartment, and gave them a long lecture of advice on the art of government. He then embraced Kei Kobad, and whispered in his ear, to rid himself of Nizam as soon as possible. They both parted in tears, and returned to their respective capitals. Kera was much affected upon this occasion, and told his friends, at his return to his own camp, “That he had that day parted with his son and the empire,” still apprehensive of the minister, and the wayward disposition of the young man.

When Kei Kobad arrived at Delhi, the advice of his father for a few days seemed to take root in his mind. But his reformation was not the interest of the minister. He therefore soon brought back his prince to the paths of pleasure. He, for this purpose, collected together all the most beautiful women, most graceful dancers, and sweetest singers, from all parts of the empire; and these allurements to vice were occasionally introduced to his view.

One day, as he was riding out, he was accosted by a beautiful lady, mounted upon a fine Arabian horse, with a crown of jewels upon her head, a thin white robe with golden flowers flowing loosely over her snowy shoulders, and a sparkling girdle of gems around her slender waist. This fair one advancing before the royal umbrella, with a thousand charms and smiles began to sing a love song. Then, stopping short, she begged pardon for her intrusion, and would not, without much entreaty, proceed. The King was struck with the beauty of this enchantress, and immediately dismounting, ordered his camp to be pitched, and employed the evening in the pleasures of love. This damsel was no less remarkable for her wit than for her beauty. The King, while she was dancing, having broke out in rapturous verses upon those charms which she displayed, she answered every time extempore, in the same measure, with such propriety and elegance as astonished and silenced the greatest wits of the court.

In short, the King continued in this course of pleasure, till wine, and intemperance in his other passions, had ruined his health. He fell sick, and then began to recollect the advices of his father, and to consider Nizam as the cause of all his distress. He immediately began to form schemes in his mind to rid himself of that wicked minister. He for this purpose ordered him to the government of Moultan; but Nizam, perceiving his drift, contrived many delays, that he might get a favourable opportunity to accomplish his villainous intentions. His designs, however, in the mean time, reverted upon his own head. The Omrahs dispatched him by poison, some say without the King's knowledge, while others affirm that it was by his authority.

Malleck Ferose, the son of Malleck chief of the Afghan tribe, called Chilligi, who was deputy governor of Sammana, came, by the King's orders, to court, and was honoured with the title of Shaista Chan, and made lord of requests, as also suba of Birren. Chigen was promoted to a high office at court, and Surcha was made chief secretary of the empire. These three divided the whole power of the government amongst them, while the King by this time became afflicted with a palsy, by which he lost the use of one side, and had his mouth distorted.

Every Omrah of popularity or power, began now to intrigue for the empire, which obliged the friends of the royal family to take Keiomourse, a child of three years, son to the reigning Emperor, out of the Haram, and to set him upon the throne. The army, upon this, split into two factions, who encamped on opposite sides of the city. The Tartars [They were mercenaries in the imperial army.] espoused the cause of the young King, and the Chilligies, a powerful tribe of Afghans, joined Ferose, who usurped the throne. Upon the first disturbance, those Tartars who had set up the young prince, jealous of the power of the Chilligies, assembled themselves, and proscribed all the principal Chilligian officers.

Ferose, being the first in the bloody list, immediately rebelled. Chigen had been deputed by the Tartar party, to invite Ferose to a conference with the sick King, and a plot was formed for his assassination. Ferose discovering his designs, drew upon the traitor, who came to invite him, and killed him at the door of his tent.

The sons of Ferose, who were renowned for their valour, immediately put themselves at the head of five hundred chosen horse, and making an assault upon the camp of the Tartars, cut their way to the royal tents, which were pitched in the centre of the army, and seizing the infant King, carried him, and the son of Malleck ul Omrah, off, in spite of all opposition, to their father. They killed Surcha, who pursued them, with many other men of distinction.

When this exploit began to be noised abroad in the city, the mob flew immediately to arms. They marched out in thousands, and encamping at the Budaoon gate, prepared to go against Ferose, and rescue the infant King, for they greatly dreaded the power of the Chilligies, who were a fierce and savage race. Malleck ul Omrah, the old minister, so often mentioned, considering that this step would occasion the assassination of the young King, and of his own son, who was in their hands, exerted his great influence and authority among the people, and at length prevailed with them to disperse.

Ferose, in the mean time, sent an assassin to cut off the Emperor Kei Kobad, who lay sick at Kilogurry. The villain found this unfortunate prince dying upon his bed, deserted by all his attendants. He beat out the poor remains of life with a cudgel; then rolling him up in his bedclothes, threw him over the window into the river. This assassin was a Tartar of some family, whose father had been unjustly put to death by Kei Kobad, and he now had a complete revenge.

When this horrid deed was perpetrated, Ferose ascended the throne, and assumed the title of Jellal ul dien, having put an end to the dynasty of Ghor, and commenced that of Chilligi. Chidju, nephew to the Emperor Balin, and who was now esteemed the just heir to the empire, was immediately appointed governor of Kurrah, and sent off to his government. Ferose marched into the palace, and was proclaimed with great solemnity in the city; and to complete his cruel policy he made away with the young prince, that he might reign with the greater security.

This great revolution happened in the year six hundred and eighty-seven, the reign of Kei Kobad being something more than three years; a time long and disastrous, if we look upon the villainies of Nizam, and the consequent overthrow of the family of Balin.

During the reign of Balin, and his grandson Kei Kobad, Cubla, the grandson of Zingis, sat on the Tartar throne, and completed the conquest of China. Hallacu, and after him his son Abâca, surnamed Ilkan; reigned over the empire of Persia and Syria, in subordination to Cubla. Zagatay, the son of Zingis, and his posterity, were in possession of Maver-ul-nere, or Transoxiana, and the provinces to the north-west of the Indus, which had formerly composed the empire of Ghizni.

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Part 10 of 15

[Section XII. The Reign of Sultan Jellal Ul Dien Firose of Chillige.]

FEROSE II.

NIZAM AHMUD says, in his history, that the tribe of Chilligi, of whom Ferose [Jellal ul dien Ferose, Chilligi.] was descended, derived their origin from Calidge Chan. Calidge, continues that writer, having quarrelled with his wife, who was an imperious and vindictive woman, and fearing she would draw the resentment of her brother Zingis upon him, deserted his army as he was passing the mountains of Ghor and Ghirgistan, in his return from the conquest of Persia. Three thousand of his friends followed Calidge, and took possession of those mountains, where they were afterwards joined by many of their country- men, and even by some of the family of Zingis.

Other historians, with equal improbability, affirm, that we ought to look for the origin of the Chilligies, as far back as Eaphs, the son of Noo [Japhet, the son of Noah.], who, say they, had eleven sons, one of whom was called Chilligi. But we have reason to think that neither of the accounts is authentic, the one being too modern, and the other too ancient, to merit our faith. We hear of this tribe of Chilligi in the reigns of Subuctagi, and Mamood of Ghizni, which entirely destroys the former supposition; and we have great doubts concerning the existence of Chilligi the son of Eaphs, being persuaded that this idle story took its rise from the natural vanity of nations, in tracing themselves back to remote antiquity.

This tribe, however, as we have already observed, inhabited the mountains of Ghor and Ghirgistan, in the confines of Persia, and were a brave and hardy, though barbarous race. They made a business of war, and always served as mercenaries any power that chose to employ them. The father of that Ferose, who mounted the throne of Delhi, was Malleck. He was one of those soldiers of fortune who subsist by the sword; and raised himself to some rank, in the army of the Emperor Balin. His son Ferose, being a man of genius, was appointed to the government of Sammana. He was called from thence, as before related, and usurped the empire. He reserved, for some months, the young prince Keiomourse, as a cloak to his usurpation; and having established himself upon the throne, he ordered him to be put to death. He was seventy years of age when he mounted the Musnud. He, by way of plainness, changed the royal umbrella from red to white; laid entirely aside his cruelty, after the death of the young prince; and became remarkable for his humanity and benevolence.

He had no great confidence in the loyalty of the people of Delhi, and therefore resided always at Kilogurry, which he strengthened with works, and adorned with fine gardens, and beautiful walks by the side of the river. The Omrahs, following the Emperor's example, built palaces around, so that Kilogurry became known by the name of the new city.

Egherish, the Emperor's brother, was appointed receiver-general of all petitions to the throne; and the Emperor's eldest son was dignified with the title of first of the nobles: the second son, with the title of Arkali; and the third with that of Kuder Chan. They had all governments conferred upon them, and maintained separate households. Chaja Chatire was appointed vizier, and the old chief magistrate of the city, Malleck, was continued in his office.

The citizens of Delhi, perceiving the wisdom, lenity, and justice of the King, were gradually weaned from their attachment to the old family, and became friends and supporters of the new government. Ferose himself was at much pains to cultivate popularity, and, for that purpose, he gave great encouragement to the learned of that age, who, in return, offered the incense of flattery at the altar of his fame. In the second year of Ferose, Chidju, nephew to Balin, and Nabob of Kurrah, in alliance with Halim, Nabob of Oud, assumed the ensigns of royalty, and struck the currency of the country in his own name, which he changed to that of Moghiz ul dien. He brought over to his party all the Rajas and Jagierdars of those parts, and, raising a great army, advanced towards Delhi.

Advice of this insurrection arriving in the capital, Ferose collected his forces, and marched out to meet the rebels. He sent the Chilligian cavalry, who excelled at the bow, a few miles in his front, under the command of Arkilli his own son. Arkilli, encountering the enemy about twenty-five miles from the city, after an obstinate engagement, defeated them. He took several Omrahs prisoners in the pursuit, whom he mounted upon camels, with branches hung round their necks; and in that plight sent them to his father. When Ferose saw them in this distress, he immediately ordered them to be unbound, to have a change of linen given them, and an elegant entertainment to be provided. He called them before him, and repeated a verse to this purpose, “That evil for evil was easily returned, but he only was great who could return good for evil.” He then ordered them to retire, in full assurance of his forgiveness.

Chidju, some days after, was taken by the zemindars, and sent prisoner to the King. Instead of condemning him to death, as was expected, Ferose gave him a free pardon, and sent him to Moultan, where he had a handsome appointment for life, as prisoner at large. This lenity of the King gave great umbrage to the Omrahs of Chilligi, who addressed him upon the occasion, and advised him to pursue the policy of Balin, who never pardoned a traitor. They desired, that, at least, a needle should be passed through the eyes of Chidju, to be an example to others. If that was not done, they averred, that treason would soon raise its head in every quarter of the empire; and, should the Tartars once gain the superiority, they would not leave the name of Chilligi in Hindostan. The King answered, “That what they said was certainly according to the true policy of government; but, my friends," says he, “I am now an old man, and I wish to go down to the grave without shedding blood.”

This behaviour of the Emperor, it must be acknowledged, had soon the effect which the Chilligian chiefs foresaw. Clemency is a virtue which descends from God, but the degenerate children of India did not deserve it. There was no security to be found in any place. The streets, the highways, were infested by banditti. Housebreaking, robbery, murder, and every other species of villainy, became a business all over the empire. Insurrections were heard of in every province, numerous gangs of robbers stopt all commerce and intercourse, and the Nabobs refused or neglected to send any account of their revenues or administration.

The Omrahs of Chilligi were greatly alarmed at these proceedings, and began to lengthen the tongue of reproach against their Sovereign. They even began to consult about deposing him, and to raise their kinsman Kugi, who was a man of influence, courage, and resolution, to the throne. For this purpose they met one day, at an entertainment in his house; but having intoxicated themselves with wine, they began openly to talk of assassinating the Emperor, quarrelling about which of them should have the honour of that undertaking. While they were in this situation, one of the company privately withdrew, and, running to Ferose, repeated very circumstantially every particular of what he had heard. The Emperor immediately ordered a guard to surround the house, who, having seized the. Omrahs, brought them all before him. He upbraided them with their treason, he drew his sword, and throwing it down upon the ground, challenged the boldest of them to wield it against him. But they fell upon their faces, and remained silent and confounded. One of them, however, whose name was Malleck Nuserit, was gifted with more impudence than the rest, and told the King, that "the words of drunkenness were but wind: where can we ever find so good and gracious a King, if you should be no more? or where can the King get so faithful servants, were he to condemn us for a little unguarded folly?”

The unguarded Prince was pleased with this, and, smiling, called for wine, and gave him another cup with his own hand. He then upbraided the rest for their conduct, advised them to behave better for the future, and dismissed them all with his pardon.

The execution of a Dirvesh is one of the most remarkable events in this reign. The name of the Dirvesh was Seid Molah, and the whole affair has been thus delivered down in history.

Malleck, the Cutwal, or chief magistrate of Delhi, dying about this time, alí the great men, who, by his interest, held estates, and places at court, were deprived of them, and reduced to want. Among other dependants of the venerable Cutwal, that became destitute by his death, were twelve thousand readers of the Coran [Each of these were obliged to read the Coran over once a day.], and some thousands of his Sipais and servants. All these turned their face towards Seid Molah for their maintenance.

Molah was a venerable sage, in a mendicant dress, who travelled from Girjan, in Persia, towards the east, where he visited various countries, and men famous for piety and knowledge. He then turned his face towards Hindostan, to visit Sech Ferid of Shucker-gunge, a famous poet and philosopher of that age, with whom he resided, some time, in great friendship. But, in the reign of Balin, having an inclination to see Delhi, he took leave of his friend, who advised him to cultivate no intimacy with the great men of the court, otherwise it would prove fatal to him in the end.

Molah arriving at Delhi, set up a great academy and house of entertainment for travellers, fakiers, and the poor of all denominations, turning none away from his door. Though he was very religious, and brought up in the Mahommedan faith, yet he followed some particular tenets of his own, so that he never attended public worship. He kept no women nor slaves for himself, and lived upon rice only; yet his expences in charity were so great, that, as he never accepted of any presents, men were astonished whence his finances were supplied, and actually believed that he possessed the art of transmuting other metals into gold. Upon the death of Balin he launched out more and more in bestowing great sums in charity, and expended a princely revenue in his entertainments, which were now frequented by all the great men of the city; for he made nothing of throwing three or four thousand pieces of gold into the bosom of a noble family in distress. In short, he displayed more magnificence in his feasts than any of the princes of the empire. His charity was so unbounded, that he expended daily, upon the poor, about thirty thousand pounds of flour, fifteen thousand of meat, two thousand of sugar, besides rice, oil, butter, and other necessaries in proportion. The mob, at length, crowded his gates in such numbers, that it was almost impossible to pass that way. In the mean time, the sons of the Emperor and all the princes of the court resorted to him with their retinues, and spent whole days and nights in innocent festivity and philosophical conversation.

After the death of the chief magistrate of Delhi, the Dirvesh stretched forth his hand to his numerous dependants, and supported them in plenty and ease.

In the mean time, Jellal, a man of an intriguing turbulent disposition, wrought himself into the favour and confidence of Seid Molah, and being endued with art and plausibility of tongue, began to inspire the philosopher with ambitious views. He told him, that the people looked upon him as sent from God to deliver the kingdom from the tyranny and oppression of the Chilligies, and to bless Hindostan with a wise and just government.

The philosopher, in short, suffered his imagination to be deluded by the splendid ideas of royalty, and privately began to bestow titles and offices upon his disciples, and to take other measures to execute his designs. He engaged Cutwal and Palwan, two of his particular friends, to join in the King's retinue on Friday, as he went to the public mosque, and to assassinate him; while he himself prepared about ten thousand of his adherents to support his usurpation. But one of his followers, understanding that some others of less merit than himself were appointed to be his superiors, became disgusted, went privately to the King, and disclosed to him every particular of the conspiracy.

The King ordered Seid Molah and Jellal to be immediately seized and brought before him for examination. But they persisted in their innocence, and no other witness appeared against them, which rendering the accusation doubtful, Ferose ordered a great fire to be prepared in the field of Bahapoor, that they might be put to the ordeal trial. He himself marched out of the city to see the ceremony performed, and ordered a ring to be made round the pile. The fire being kindled, Ferose commanded Seid Molah and the two assassins to be brought, that they might walk through the flames to prove their innocence. Having said their prayers, they were just going to plunge into the fire, when the Emperor stopped them short, and, turning to his ministers, said, "That the nature of fire was to consume, paying no respect to the righteous more than to the wicked. Besides," said he, “it is contrary to the Mahommedan law to practise this heathenish superstition.”

He therefore ordered Jellal to Budaoon, and Seid Molah to be thrown into chains in a vault under the palace, and the two men who were to perpetrate the assassination to be put to death. He, at the same time, banished a number of those who were suspected of the conspiracy. When they were carrying Seid Molah through the court to his prison, the King pointed him out to some Collinders who stood near him, and said, “Behold the man who was projecting such an evil against us! I therefore leave him to be judged by you, according to his deserts.”

At the word, a Collinder, whose name was Beri, started forth, and running towards the prisoner began to cut him with a razor. The unfortunate Molah told him to be more expeditious in sending him to God. He then addressed himself to the King, who was looking over the balcony, and said, “I am rejoiced that you have thought of putting a period to my life; yet to distress the pious and the innocent is an evil, and be assured that my curse will lie heavy upon you and your unfortunate posterity.” The King, hearing these words, became pensive and perplexed. His son, the prince Arkilli, who hated Seid Molah for the great intimacy between him and his elder brother, seeing the Emperor's irresolution, beckoned to an elephant-rider, who stood in the court mounted, to advance, which accordingly he did, and commanded his elephant to tread Seid Molah to death.

Birni, in his history of Ferose, informs us that he himself was at that time in Delhi, and that immediately upon the death of Seid Molah, a black whirlwind arose, which, for the space of half an hour, changed day into night, drove the people in the streets against one an- other, so that they could scarce grope their way to their own habitations. The same author relates, that no rain fell in these provinces during that year, and the consequence was a most terrible famine, by which thousands daily died in the streets and highways; while whole families drowned themselves in the river. But these were the throes of nature, and not the rage of the elements, for Seid Molah. This event happened in the year 690, and the loss of the Dirvesh was much regretted; for many believed him entirely innocent of the charge.

The prosperity of the King began visibly to decline, for every day new factions and disputes arose, which greatly disturbed his administration. Private misfortunes pressed hard upon him at the same time; among the number of which was the madness of his eldest son, heir apparent of the empire. No medicines could cure that prince, and the distemper, hourly gaining ground, soon terminated in his death.

The King, after the decease of his son, marched his army towards Rintimpore to quell an insurrection in those parts. He left his son Arkilli to manage affairs in his absence. The enemy having retired into the fort of Rintimpore, and the King having reconnoitred the place, despaired of reducing it. He marched towards a small fort called Jain, which he took; then breaking down the temples of Malava, plundered them of some wealth, and again returned to Rintimpore. He summoned the fort a second time to surrender, but finding the rebels paid no attention to his threats, he gave orders to undermine the walls. He however changed his resolution, and decamped, saying, That he found the place could not be taken without the loss of many lives, and therefore he would lay aside his designs against it. Amed Chip, who was one of the pillars of the empire, replied, That Kings, in the time of war, should make no account of those things, when compelled to it by justice and the necessity of supporting their authority, which was now plainly the case. The King, in wrath, asked him, How he came to think that these were not his sentiments; “but I have often," said he, "told you, that now being on the brink of the grave, I am unwilling to entail the curse of widows and orphans upon the reign of a few days.” He therefore continued his march to Delhi.

In the year 691, one of the kinsmen of Hallacu, grandson of the great Zingis, and King of Persia, in subordination to his cousin, the Emperor of Tartary, invaded Hindostan with ten tomans [A toman consisted of 10,000 men.] of Moguls. Ferose, having received advices of the approach of the enemy, collected his army, and moved forward to oppose them. When he reached the frontiers of Biram, he saw the Moguls in front beyond a small river. Both armies encamped for the space of five days upon either side of this stream, during which time their advanced posts skirmished frequently, and many were killed.

The armies at last, by mutual consent, pitched upon an extensive plain where they might have room to contend for the victory. Accordingly, on the sixth morning, they drew up in order of battle, and closed up the dreadful interval of war. The Moguls, after an obstinate contest, were overthrown, many of their chiefs killed, and about a thousand men taken prisoners. Among the latter were two Omrahs and several officers of rank. The Emperor, notwithstanding this victory, was afraid to pursue it, and offered them peace, upon condition of their evacuating his dominions. They accordingly gladly accepted those terms, and presents were exchanged between them. When the Moguls were retreating, Allaghu, grandson to the great Zingis, joined Ferose with three thousand men. They all became Mussulmen, and their chief was honoured with one of Ferose's daughters in marriage.

The King, about this time, appointed his son Arkilli viceroy of Lahore, Moultan, and Sind, with whom he left a strong force, and returned himself to his capital. To Allaghu, and the rest of the Moguls who had now become true believers, was allotted a certain district near the city, where they built for themselves houses, and raised a considerable town, known by the name of Mogulpurra.

In the year 692, the Emperor was under the necessity of marching his army again to quell an insurrection about Mindu, which fort he took, and put the enemy to flight. In the mean time, Alla-ul-dien, the King's nephew, and governor of Kurrah, requested to be permitted to march against the Hindoos of Belsa, who infested his province. Having obtained leave, he marched the same year to Belsa, which he took, and, having pillaged the country, returned with much spoil, part of which was sent as a present to the Emperor; among other things there was a large brazen idol, which was thrown down, by the Budaoon gate. Ferose was greatly pleased with the success and behaviour of his nephew upon this expedition, for which he rewarded him with princely presents, and annexed the subadary of Oud to his former government of Kurrah.

Alla, upon this preferment, acquainted the King, that there were some princes of great wealth towards Chinderi, whom, if the King should give him permission, he would reduce to his obedience, and send their spoils to the royal treasury. The King, through covetousness, consented to this proposal, to which Alla was moved by the violent temper of his wife Malleke Jehan, the King's daughter, who threatened his life. To avoid therefore her resentment and that of her father, he looked round for some remote country which might afford him an asylum. Accordingly, in the year 693, he took leave of the King at Delhi, and, proceeding towards Kurrah, took many chiefs of distinction into his service. He marched with eight thousand chosen horse, by the nearest road, against Ramdeo, prince of the Decan, who possessed the wealth of a long line of Kings.

Alla, arriving upon the frontiers of the Decàn, pressed forward against the capital of Ramdeo's dominions, which, not being fortified, he was in hopes of surprising. Though this attempt seemed too bold to be attended with success, yet he persisted in his resolution, and by surprising marches reached Elichpoor, where he made a short halt to refresh his small army. He marched from thence with equal expedition towards Deogire, the capital. Intelligence of Alla's progress coming to the prince, who, with his son, had been absent upon some service in a distant part of his dominions, he returned with great expedition to intercept the enemy with a numerous army. He accordingly threw himself between Alla and the city, engaged him with consummate bravery, but in the end he was defeated with great loss.

This expedition is otherwise recorded by the author of the Tibcat Nasiri. Alla, says that writer, left Kurrah on pretence of hunting, and having passed through the territories of many petty Rajas, avoided all hostilities, giving out that he had left the Emperor in disgust, and was going to offer his services to the Raja of the Tillingana, who was the most powerful King in the Decan. Accordingly, after two months' march, he arrived without any remarkable opposition at Elichpoor, from whence, at once changing his course, he decamped in the night, and in two days surprised the city of Deogire, the capital of Ramdeo. The Raja himself was in the city, but his wife and his eldest son had gone to worship at a certain temple without the walls.

Ramdeo, upon the approach of Alla, was in the greatest consternation. He however collected three or four thousand citizens and domestics, engaged Alla at one of the gates of the city, but, being defeated, retired into the citadel. This fort having no ditch, and not being stored with provisions, he had no hopes of defending it long. Alla immediately invested the place. In the mean time he gave out, that he was only the vanguard of the Emperor's army, who were in full march to the place. This struck universal terror into all the Rajas round, who, instead of joining for the general safety, began to secure themselves. Alla having pillaged the city and seized upon the merchants, brahmins, and principal inhabitants, tortured them for their wealth; while he at the same time carried on the siege of the citadel.

Ramdeo seeing he must soon be obliged to yield, and imagining that the Emperor intended to make a general conquest of the Decan, endeavoured to procure a peace before any other forces arrived. He therefore wrote after this manner to Alla:

“Your invasion of this country was certainly impolitic and rash, but fortunately for you, having found the city unguarded, you have been permitted to range at large. It is however possible that the Rajas of the Decan, who command innumerable armies, may yet surround you, and not permit one of your people to escape from our dominions alive. Supposing even that you should be able to retreat from hence undisturbed, are not the princes of Malava, Candez and Gundwarra in your way, who have each armies of forty or fifty thousand men? Do you hope they will permit you to escape unmolested, after this perfidious attack on their brethren, in religion and Gods? It is therefore advisable for you to retire in time, by accepting a small reward, and what spoil you have already got, to indemnify you for your expence and labour.”

Alla was very glad to accept of those proposals, and having received fifty maunds of gold, a large quantity of pearls and jewels, fifty elephants, and some thousand horses, which were taken in the Raja's stables, he released his prisoners, and promised to abandon the place in the morning of the fifteenth day from his first entrance.

But when Alla was preparing to retreat. Ramdeo's eldest son, who had fled with his mother, on the first appearance of the imperial troops, to collect forces, advanced with a numerous army, within a few miles of the city. Ramdeo sent a message to his son. informing him, that peace was concluded, and whatever was done, was done. He therefore ordered him not to open again the door of disturbance, for that he perceived the Tartars were a warlike race, whose peace was better than their war. The young Prince, however, understanding that his army was thrice the number of the enemy, and hourly expecting to be joined by other princes, with numerous forces, listened not to the commands of his father, but wrote to Alla. in these terms:

“If you have any love for life, and desire safety, rush out of this horrible whirlpool, into which you have plunged yourself. Whatever you have plundered and received, you must return, and take your way homeward, rejoicing in your happy escape.”

Alla, upon reading this insolent letter, kindled the fire of rage, and blackening the face of the messenger, hooted him out of the city. He left Malleck Nuserit to invest the citadel with a thousand horse, and immediately marched with the rest of his army to attack the Raja's son, and drew up in the front of his camp.

The Indian did not decline the offered battle. He drew forth his numerous squadrons, and the battle commenced with such violence, that the stout heart of Alla began to quake for the victory. His troops began to fall back on all sides. In the mean time Malleck Nuserit, having learned by his scouts the situation of affairs, left the citadel without orders, and galloping up to the field of battle, with his thousand horse, changed the fortune of the day. The dust having prevented the enemy from discovering the force of Nuserit, some person cried out, that the Tartar army, of whom they had been told, was arrived. This spread instantly a panic through the Indian ranks, and they at once turned their face to flight. Alla did not think proper to pursue them far, but immediately returned into the city, and invested the citadel.

A scene of cruelty and horror now commenced. The Tartars, enraged at the perfidy of the Hindoos, for their breach of the treaty, began to spread fire and sword through the city; from which no discipline could restrain them. Several of the Raja's kindred, who had been taken prisoners, were in chains, thrown down in sight of the enemy. Ramdeo, in the mean time, sent express upon express, to hasten the succours which he expected from the Kings of Kilbirga, Tillingana, Malava, and Candez: but was informed that there remained no provisions in the place, for that a great number of bags, in which they had reckoned upon rice, had been found, upon examination, to be salt.

Ramdeo was greatly perplexed; he commanded that this should be concealed from the troops, and began a second time to propose a treaty with Alla.

“It must be known to you," said the Prince, “O my lord, that. your well-wisher, Ramdeo, had no hand in the late quarrel. If my son, in the way of folly and the pride of youth, exalted the spear of valour and hostility, let not your resentment be kindled against me for his rashness.”

Ramdeo told the messenger privately, that there were no provisions in the place, and that if the enemy should persist a few days, they must be informed of their distress, which would inevitably bring on the ruin of the whole. For, said the Prince, supposing we should be able to hold out the place against the assaults of the enemy, yet famine cannot be withstood; and there is now scarce six days' provision left. Use then art, and take any means to persuade the army of Islam [That is, the Mahommedans.] to evacuate the country.

But Alla, from the behaviour of Ramdeo, perceived the true cause of his proposals, and therefore started every day some new difficulty to retard the treaty, till the garrison was in the utmost distress. But at length it was concluded, according to our author, upon the following almost incredible terms; that Alla should receive, upon consideration of evacuating the country, six hundred maunds of pure gold, according to the weights of the Decan [The maund of the Decan is 25 lb. avoirdupuise.], seven maunds of pearl, two maunds of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, one thousand maunds of silver, four thousand pieces of silk, and a long list of other precious commodities that surpass all belief. This ransom was not only required, but also the cession of Elichpoor, and its dependencies, where Alla might leave a small garrison, which should remain there unmolested, to collect the revenues.

Alla having settled affairs to his satisfaction, released all his prisoners, and marched in triumph out of the city with his plunder, and proceeded on his way homeward, on the twenty-fifth day after his taking the city. He conducted his retreat with such surprising address, that he opened his way through extensive and powerful kingdoms; through Malava, Conduana, Candez, and others, though he was surrounded by numerous armies, who, admiring his order and resolution, made but faint and irresolute attacks, which served only to adorn his triumph. We may here justly remark, that, in the long volumes of history, there is scarcely any thing to be compared to this exploit, whether we regard the resolution in forming the plan, the boldness of the execution of it, or the fortune which attended the attempt. We cannot help to lament, that a man formed for such great exploits, should not be actuated by better motives than rapine, violence, and the thirst of gain.

When Alla marched to Deogire, all communication with Kurrah being stopt, no news was heard of him for some months. The person, whom he left his deputy, to make the King easy, wrote, that he had accounts of his being busy in the conquest of Chinderi, and . amused him every day with false intelligence. But as the King, for the space of six months, had received no letters from under his own hand, he began to suspect treason; and in the year 695, under a pretence of hunting, ordered out his retinue, and proceeded towards Gualier, where he encamped, and built a Choultry, inscribing a verse to this purpose, over the door. -- "I who press with my foot the celestial pavement, what fame can I acquire by a heap of stones and mortar? No! I have joined these broken stones together, that perhaps, under their shade, the weary traveller, or broken-hearted, may find repose.”

In the mean time Ferose received private intelligence, that Alla had conquered Deogire, and had acquired there such wealth as had never been possessed by an Emperor of Delhi, and that he was now upon his march towards Kurrah. The King was greatly pleased with this intelligence, and reckoned upon the spoil, as if already in his own treasury. But men of more wisdom thought otherwise, and justly concluded, that it was not to fill the royal coffers that Alla, without the King's authority, had undertaken such a daring expedition. They however waited to see the event, without informing the King of their suspicions. The King having one day assembled his council, and told them, that Alla was now on his march to Kurrah with immense plunder, requested their advice, whether it was most prudent to remain where he was, and command Alla to his presence, to march towards him, or to return to Delhi.

Ahmed Chip, who was renowned for his wisdom and penetration, expressed his suspicions to the King, in a rational and plausible manner. He advised Ferose, at the same time, to advance with his army towards Chinderi, and to encamp in the way between Alla and Kurrah. “This," said he, “ will discover Alla's intentions, before he has time to augment his army." Ahmed added further, "That upon the appearance of the imperial army, it was highly probable, that the troops of Alla, being laden with spoil, and within their own country, would not care to hazard the loss of it by an action; but would rather endeavour to secure their wealth among the mountains. That, by this means, Alla would be deserted by the greatest part of his small army, which would oblige him to think of nothing but peace, and to lay all his wealth at the foot of the throne. That the King, in that case, might take all the gold,' jewels, and elephants, permitting him to retain the remainder for himself, and either leave him his government, or carry him to Delhi, according to the royal pleasure.”

Kudgi, chief magistrate of Delhi, though he was sensible of the prudence of this advice, yet turning his eyes upon the Emperor, he perceived he did not at all approve of it; and therefore began to this effect: “The news of Alla's return, the amount of his plunder, and the truth of his conquest, has not yet been confirmed but by flying reports, which we all know are often vague and extravagant. Supposing even that this account is true, is it not natural to imagine, that when he shall hear of the approach of the imperial army, that the fear of false accusation, or evil designs against him, will prevail on him to retreat among the mountains? From whence, as the rainy season is at hand, it will be impossible to dislodge him. Let us not therefore cast off our shoes, before we reach the river, but wait till Alla shall arrive at Kurrah. If then it shall appear, that he cherishes his treasonable views, one assault of the imperial army will crush his ambition.”

Ahmed, having heard this perfidious advice, was kindled into generous resentment, and replied: “The time passes. -- As soon as Alla shall have escaped us, will he not proceed by the way of Oud to Bengal, where his treasure will soon enable him to raise such an army as neither you nor I will be able to oppose? O shame! that men should know better, yet not have the honesty to give salutary advice.”

Ferose was displeased with those words, and spoke thus to the Omrahs who stood near him. “Ahmed does always ill offices to Alla. He endeavours to raise my suspicion and resentment against my nephew; but such private rancour shall have no weight with the King: I am so well assured of the loyalty of Alla, whom I have nursed in my bosom, that I should sooner believe treason in my son than in him.”

Ahmed, upon this, shut the door of argument, and, rising with some emotion, walked out, striking one hand upon the other, and repeating a verse to this purpose: “When the sun of prosperity is eclipsed, no advice can enlighten the mind." The King, bestowing great commendations on Kudgi, marched back with his army to Delhi.

Not many days after the King's arrival at the capital, the address of Alla was brought to him, setting forth, that “he was the King's slave, and that all his wealth was consecrated to him; that being wearied with tedious march, he begged for some repose at Kurrah. That he intended to kiss the footstool of the throne, but that, knowing he had some enemies at court, who might have, in his absence, defamed him, and deprived him of his majesty's favour, he, and the chiefs who had accompanied him in the expedition, in which he was sensible he had exceeded his orders, were apprehensive that some punishment might be inflicted upon them. That he therefore requested to have a letter of grace, to assure him and his followers of perfect safety, under the royal protection.” The King, having received this address, expressed great joy, and entirely laid aside all suspicions of Alla. He ordered a letter full of kindness, and the most solemn assurances of protection, to be wrote to him, and dispatched by the hands of two messengers of distinction.

In the mean time Alla was preparing to retreat to Bengal. He was now joined by all the Zemindars of the neighbouring districts, who enlisted themselves under his fortunate banners. The messengers perceived plainly his intentions, but they were detained, and watched so strictly, that they could send no advices to the King. Almass, who was also son-in-law and nephew to Ferose, in the mean time received advices from his brother Alla, “That it was now become public at Kurrah, that the King intended certainly to take his life, for proceeding to Deogire contrary to his orders: that he repented the occasion, and had taken his majesty's displeasure, which to him was worse than death, so much to heart, that he was afraid excess of sorrow would put an end to his melancholy life: he therefore requested, that his brother should inform him before the King put his design in execution, that he might either take poison, or look out for a place of security.”

Letters to the same purpose were, day after day, wrote to his brother, Almass, who, being in the plot, was constantly at court, and shewed them to the King, seemingly distracted, lest his brother should lay violent hands upon himself, or fly his country. He used a thousand delusive arts to inveigle the King to Kurrah, who no less feared the loss of the treasure than his nephew's life. The old man at last took the golden bait, and embarked, with a thousand horse and a small retinue, on the Ganges, ordering Ahmed Chip to follow with the army by land.

Alla, hearing of the departure of Ferose from Delhi, crossed the Ganges with his army, and encamped near Mannickpoor, upon the opposite bank. When, upon the seventeenth of Ramzan, the imperial umbrella appeared in sight, Alla drew out his army, on pretence of doing honour to the Emperor, and sent his brother Almass, who had come on before, to concert measures to introduce Ferose into the camp. This artful traitor represented to Ferose, that if he should take the thousand horse with him, Alla might be alarmed; for that some bad people had confirmed him so strongly in his fears, that all he could say to him was not sufficient entirely to expel his suspicions.

The weak old King, suspecting nothing of this horrid treachery from a man whom he had cherished from his infancy in his bosom, gave into this proposal. He ordered a few of his select friends into his own boat, and commanded the fleet to remain some distance behind. When they came near the camp, Almass again opened the mouth of delusion, and told the King, that his brother, seeing so many men in complete armour, might possibly be startled; that therefore, as he had taken such ridiculous notions into his head, which nobody could remove, it were better to avoid the least appearances to favour them. The King might have seen that this was overdoing the matter, but perhaps he thought it now too late to reveal his suspicions, being near the skirts of the camp, and that an open confidence might be his best security. He therefore ordered all his attendants to unbuckle their armour, and lay their weapons aside. Charram, chief secretary of the empire, opposed this step with great vehemence, for he plainly saw into the bottom of their perfidy. But the traitor had such a soft and plausible tongue, that at last he yielded, though with great reluctance.

They had now reached the landing-place, and Alla appeared upon the bank with his attendants, whom he ordered to halt. He himself advancing alone met the Emperor just after he had landed upon the beach, and fell down prostrate at his feet. The old man in a familiar manner tapped him on the cheek, and raising him up, embraced him, saying, “I who have brought you up from your infancy, and cherished you with a fatherly affection, holding you dearer in my sight, if possible, than my own offspring, and who have not yet washed the odours of your infant smiles from my garments, how could you imagine I should entertain a thought to your prejudice?” Then taking him by the hand, he was leading him back into the royal barge, when the hard-hearted villain made a signal to his assassins who stood behind. Mamood, the son of Salim, rushing immediately forward, wounded the King with his sword in the shoulder. The unfortunate Monarch ran forward to gain the barge, crying, “Ah! villain Alla, what dost thou ?" but before he had reached the boat, another of the assassins, whose name was Achtiar Hoor, coming up, seized the old man, and throwing him on the ground, barbarously cut off his head, just as the sun sunk in the west as if to avoid the horrid sight [He reigned seven years and some months.].

All his attendants were then murdered. They fixed the venerable head of their lord upon the point of a spear, and carried it through the camp and city, as a bloody spectacle to the gazing rabble. But the rabble were shocked at the sight, and were heard to cry: “Behold the reward of him who fixeth his mind upon this perfidious world: who nourisheth his relations with the blood of his liver, in the arms of kindness, and to their gratitude confideth his strength.”

Alla immediately exalted the white umbrella over his own head; but the vengeance of heaven soon after fell heavy on all who were concerned in the assassination of Ferose. They relate, that when Alla visited a reverend sage, named Shech Karrick, who is buried at Kurrah, and whose tomb is held sacred to this day, he rose from his pillow, and repeated an extempore verse, to the following purpose: “He cometh, but his head shall fall in the boat, and his body shall be thrown into the Ganges;" which, they say, was explained a few hours after, by the death of the unfortunate King, whose head was thrown into the boat upon that occasion. Mamood, the son of Salim, one of the assassins, about a year after, died of a horrid leprosy, which dissolved the flesh, piece by piece, from his bones. Achtiar Hoor, the other assassin, fared no better, for he became mad, crying out incessantly, that Ferose was cutting off his head. Thus the wretch suffered a thou- sand deaths, in imagination, before he expired. Almass, the brother of Alla, and others who planned this horrid tragedy, in hopes of great advancement, fell into such a scene of misfortunes, that, in the space of four years, there was no remembrance of them, but their villainies, upon the face of the earth.

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Part 11 of 15

[Section XIII. The Reign of Alla Ul Dien, called Secunder Sani.]

ALLA I.

INTELLIGENCE of the murder of the King having reached Ahmed Chip, who was advancing with the army, he retreated to Delhi. Malleke Jehan, the wife of Ferose, and Queen regent, imprudently, and without consulting the chiefs, raised to the diadem Ruckun, her youngest son; Arkilli, the elder son, being then at Moultan. She accompanied him from Kilogurry to Delhi, and placed him on the throne in the green palace, though as yet but a boy, and altogether unacquainted with the affairs of state. She also divided the provinces among her own party. Arkilli, who was the true heir to the empire, and possessed all the qualities of a king, was greatly afflicted at this news, but thought proper, for the present, to remain at Moultan.

Alla, upon receiving intelligence of those transactions at Delhi, laid aside his intended expedition to Bengal, and prepared to march to the capital, though it was then the rainy season. He raised a great army in his government, and conferred titles and rewards upon his friends. Almass was honoured with the title of Elich Chan, Nuserit of Jallisiri with that of Nusirit Chan, Malleck Hiziber was distinguished with the name of Ziffer Chan, and Sinjer, Alla's wife's brother, received the title of Acta. They all received estates upon their advancement to those honours. Alla, by the advice of Nuserit, distributed presents among the army, and wherever he encamped he amused himself with throwing gold from a sling among the people. This liberality, in a short time, brought a world of soldiers under his banners.

The Queen-mother was thrown into great perplexity, by the advices she daily received concerning Alla. She dispatched an express to Moultan, for her son Arkilli; but that prince returned for answer, that now the time was lost, for that, before he could arrive, the imperial troops would join the enemy; that therefore his coming would be of no real service: that the stream might have been diverted at its source, but when it became a river, no dams could oppose it.

Alla made no delay on his march. He crossed the Jumna, and encamped without the north-east gate of Delhi. Ruckun, fluttering like a solitary fowl, collected all his forces, and marching out of the city, paraded it before the enemy. But when he saw them preparing for battle, he retreated into the city. He was that night deserted by a great number of Omrahs, who went over with their forces to Alla. Ruckun saw now no safety but in flight. Taking therefore his mother, the Haram and treasure, with him, he set out for Moultan, accompanied by Rijib, Olavi, Ahmed, and Jellal.

The citizens, after the departure of the young King, crowded forth to pay their respects to Alla. He immediately ordered the current money to be struck in his own name, and making a triumphant entry into Delhi, in the latter end of the year 695, ascended the throne, and kept his court at the red palace. He exhibited shows, and made grand festivals, encouraging every species of riot and debauchery; which so pleased the unthinking rabble, that they soon lost all memory of their former King, and the horrid villainy of the reigning Emperor. He who ought to have been hooted with detestation, became the object of admiration, to those who could not see the darkness of his deeds, through the splendor of his magnificence.

Whilst he gained, by these means, popularity among the vulgar, he secured the great with titles, and bought the covetous with gold. The office of vizier was bestowed upon Chaja Chatire, a man renowned for his virtue in those degenerate times. Arif was made chief justice of the court of equity, and Omdat was raised to the office of principal secretary of the Divan, being a man of great learning and genius, and a favourite of the King. Nuserit was appointed chief magistrate of Delhi, Kudgi was raised to the dignity of chief justice in the courts of law, and Ziffer to that of chief secretary of the empire; with many others, to high offices, which are too tedious to mention.

Alla, having advanced six months' pay to his whole army, began to concert means to extirpate the descendants of Ferose. He dispatched Elich, his brother, and Ziffer, with forty thousand horse, towards Moultan, who, upon their arrival, invested that city. After a siege of two months, the citizens and troops betrayed the cause of the prince Arkilli, and gave up the place to the enemy. The two unfortunate brothers, being driven to great distress, surrendered themselves at last to Elich, upon promise of personal safety.

The object of this expedition being thus completed, Elich wrote to his brother an account of his victory, which was read in all the public pulpits after divine worship, and great rejoicings were ordered to be made upon the occasion. Elich proceeded in triumph with his army and state prisoners to Delhi. He was met on his way by Nuserit, chief magistrate of the city, who had been sent by the Emperor to put out the eyes of the prisoners. This cruel order was executed upon the two princes, upon Alaghu, the grandson of the great Zingis, upon Ahmed Chip, and others of less note, and all their effects confiscated. The two unfortunate princes were then confined in the fort of Hassi, where, soon after, they were both assassinated; and the Queen-mother, with all the ladies of the former Emperor's seraglio, and his other children, confined at Delhi.

In the second year of this reign, Chaja Chatire, not falling entirely in with Alla's policy, was dismissed from the office of vizier, which was conferred upon Nuserit, chief magistrate of Delhi. This minister redemanded all the sums which the King, upon his accession, had bestowed upon the nobility and people, which occasioned great disgust and disturbance.

During these transactions, advices came to Delhi, that Dova, king of Maver-ul-nere, had sent an army of one hundred thousand Moguls, with a design to conquer Moultan, Punjab, and the provinces near the mouth of the Indus: that they were advancing with great expedition, carrying all before them with fire and sword. Alla immediately ordered his brother Elich, with a great force, to expel them. The two armies having met in the districts of Lahore, a bloody conflict ensued, in which the Moguls were defeated, with the loss of twelve thousand men, and many of their principal officers, besides a number of prisoners of all ranks, who were put to the sword some days after, without sparing the poor women and children who had been taken in the Mogul camp.

These two victories raised the fame of the Emperor's arms to a high pitch of reputation, established his authority at home, and overawed his foreign enemies. Alla, about this time, by the advice of his brother Elich, seized upon many Omrahs, who, in the late revolution, taking advantage of the distresses of the prince Arkilli, and the Queen-mother, had extorted great sums of money for their services. He ordered the extortioners to be blinded, and their estates to be confiscated, which brought great wealth into the treasury.

In the beginning of the year 697, Elich, the King's brother, and Nuserit the vizier, were sent with a great army to reduce Guzerat. They accordingly laid waste that country with death and rapine, took the capital city Narwalla, which was deserted by its prince, who fled and took protection under Ramdeo, king of Deogire, in the Decan. By the aid of that prince he soon after returned and took possession of Buckelana, one of the districts of Guzerat, bordering upon Ramdeo's dominions. But his wives, children, elephants, baggage, and treasure, fell into the hands of the enemy when he fled.

The vizier, with a part of the army, proceeded then to Cambaat, which being a rich country, and full of merchants, yielded a prodigious treasure to those sons of cruelty and rapine. When they had sufficiently glutted their avarice, and quenched their thirst for blood, they appointed subas to the provinces, and leaving part of the army for their defence, returned with their plunder towards Delhi.

The two generals having, on the march, made a demand of the fifth of the spoil from the troops, besides what they had already extorted from them, a mutiny arose in the camp. Mahommed, general of the mercenary Moguls, with many other chiefs, at the head of their several divisions, attacked Malleck Eiz, the brother of the vizier, and having slain him and a number of his people, continued their march. Elich, the Emperor's brother, fled in the disguise of a footman, to the tent of the vizier. The mutineers rushing in, killed the King's nephew, and the son of Elich, whom he had left upon the couch asleep, supposing him to be Elich.

The vizier immediately ordered the drums of war to be beat and the trumpets to be sounded. All who had not been concerned in the mutiny imagined that the enemy was coming upon them, and quickly formed the line. The mutineers divided and dispersed themselves all over the camp, and escaping in the confusion, fled, by different routes, to a place of rendezvous. They were, however, closely pursued the next day, and forced to retreat with some loss, to the districts of the Indian prince of Rintimpore, where they took protection. Elich and the vizier continued then their march to Delhi.

Alla, upon seeing Cumlade, the captive wife of the prince of Guzerat, who, for her beauty, wit, and accomplishments, was the flower of India, took her in marriage. But this did not satisfy his abominable lusts. Chaja Cafoor, a slave who had been taken on that expedition, engaged his unnatural passion, which he publicly indulged, to the disgrace and debasement of human nature.

The vizier, by the Emperor's order; basely massacred all the families of those Moguls, or others, who had been concerned in the late mutiny. He pitied not the weeping mothers, nor the smiling infants who clung to their breasts. This was a new species of tyranny at Delhi, and occasioned some private murmuring, but those slaves possessed not the virtue or bravery to shake off the tyrant.

About this time, Jildoo, a Mogul chief, and his brother, came down with a considerable force, and took the fort of Seostan. Ziffer marched against him, and having invested the place, he took it. Jildoo, and about two thousand Moguls, were taken prisoners, and sent in chains to Delhi. But Ziffer had distinguished himself so much as a brave commander in this expedition, that his fame awaked the jealousy of Alla. He therefore designed to deprive him of his government, but was prevented from this measure, by a great invasion of Moguls, under Cuttulich, the son of Dova, king of Maver-ul-nere. The army of the invaders consisted of two hundred thousand horse, and they promised to themselves the entire conquest of Hindostan. Cuttulich, accordingly, took possession of all the countries beyond the Indus in his march, and protected them from all violence. He then crossed the river, and proceeded to Delhi, without opposition, Ziffer retreating with his army before him.

The whole country, in terror of the Moguls, crowded into the city. The crowd became so great, that the streets were rendered impassable, and all business and communication were interrupted. This however was but the beginning of their misfortunes. In the space of a few days, the consumption being great, and no supplies procured, a dreadful famine began to rage, and distraction to stare in every countenance.

Alla, upon this pressing occasion, called a council of his Omrahs, and, having regulated his plan of action, prepared for battle, notwithstanding they all endeavoured to dissuade him from it. He left the care of the city to the noble Alla, marched out at the Budaoon gate, with three hundred thousand horse, and two thousand seven hundred elephants, besides foot without number. He drew up in order of battle on the plains beyond the suburbs; where the enemy were already formed to receive him. From the time that first the spears of Islam [The Mahommedans.] were exalted in Hindostan, two such mighty armies had not joined in fight.

Alla gave the command of his right wing to Ziffer, the greatest general of that age, where all the troops of Punjaab, Moultan, and Sind, were posted. The left was entrusted to his brother Elich, and to Akit his brother-in-law. The King posted himself in the centre, with twelve thousand independent volunteers, who were mostly gentlemen of ruined families, and soldiers of fortune. With the choice of his elephants, he formed a tremendous line in his front, and he supported his rear with another chosen body of cavalry, under the vizier. Ziffer began the action with great impetuosity on the right, and breaking, with his elephants, the enemy's line, commenced a dreadful slaughter, and bore them like a torrent before him. Inclining then to the left, he pressed upon their flank, and put their whole army to flight, before the action was well begun in the centre.

Alla, seeing the victory complete, ordered his brother Elich, who commanded on the left, to advance and pursue the enemy. But the perfidious man, jealous of the glory of Ziffer, stopt at a small distance, while Ziffer continued the slaughter for upwards of thirty miles. One of the Mogul chiefs, who commanded the left, seeing Ziffer was not supported, rallied with ten thousand horse, and sending advice to his general Cuttulich, he also returned with ten thousand more, and attacked Ziffer in the rear. The brave general saw into his error, but it was now too late to retreat. He drew up his troops, which were not half the enemy's number, divided into two squadrons, and again renewed the conflict, exhibiting wonders by his own valour. At last his horse's leg being cut off by a sabre, he fell to the ground. He however rose again, seized a bow and quiver, and being a dexterous archer, sent death on the wings of his arrows.' The most part of his men were, by this time, either killed or fled; and Cuttulich, admiring his bravery, called out to him to submit, and his valour should be rewarded with such honours as he deserved. Ziffer replied sternly, “I know no greater honour than to die in discharging my duty.” Then he began to deal his arrows around. The Mogul prince, upon this, ordered a party of horse to surround him, and endeavour to take him alive; but Ziffer refused to submit, and was at last cut in pieces, with a few trusty servants who stood by him to the last.

This advantage however did not dispel the fears of the Moguls. They continued their retreat, and evacuated India with all expedition. The bravery of Ziffer became famous among the Moguls. When their horses started, or were unruly, they used wantonly to ask them, whether they saw the ghost of Ziffer? Alla, it is said, esteemed the death of this great general as a second victory, and could not help expressing his satisfaction upon the occasion; and thus displayed his own base ingratitude, for that brave life which had been thrown away in his unworthy service. Great rejoicings were made at Delhi, to celebrate the victory; and the principal officers were rewarded with titles and governments, according to their behaviour and interest at court. Some who had behaved ill were disgraced, particularly one Omrah, who was led upon an ass all round the city.

In the third year of the reign of Alla, when prosperity shone upon his arms, he began to form some extraordinary projects. One of these was the formation of a new system of religion, that, like Mahommed, he might be held in veneration by posterity. He often consulted upon this scheme his brother Élich, Nuserit his vizier, and Akit, over a bottle; from which we may suppose he had no design to prohibit the use of wine. His other design was equally romantic. He proposed to leave a viceroy in India, and, like the great Secun-der [Alexander the Great.], to undertake the conquest of the world. In consequence of this project, he assumed the title of Secun-der Sani [Alexander the Second.], which was struck upon the currency of the empire.

Notwithstanding these lofty ideas, Alla was so illiterate, that he even did not possess the common knowledge of reading and writing; yet he was so obstinate in his ridiculous opinions, that men of learning, who disdained to prostitute their judgment, avoided the court, or stood silent in his presence. There were not however wanting slaves, who, though they knew better, extolled his every word to the skies, and seemed to feed upon his crude imaginations.

Alla-ul-Muluck, the chief magistrate of the city, who was an old man, and so fat that he was not able to attend the court above once a month, being one day sent for by the King, to give his advice about the execution of his religious project, he determined, however fatal the consequences might be, to oppose every measure against the doctrine of the Mahommedan faith, and to dedicate the few years he had to live, by the course of nature, to martyrdom. With this firm resolution he waited upon the King, whom he found drinking wine with a great number of his principal Omrahs. The King beginning to confer with Alla upon the occasion, the old man told him, he had something to say to him in private, and would be glad he should order the wine and the company away. The King smiled, and desired all the company to retire except four.

The old magistrate then fell upon his face, and having kissed the ground at his feet, rose up and thus spoke: “O King! Religion is the law of God, by his spirit inspired in his prophets, nor depends it upon the opinions of mortals. We are taught by his word to believe, that the spirit of prophecy ended with Mahommed, the last and greatest messenger of God. Since this therefore is known to great and small, to all nations and degrees of people, should your intentions against their faith be once known, it is impossible to conceive what hatred should rise against you, and what blood and disturbance must ensue. It is therefore advisable, that you should erase with the chisel of reason, those conceptions, from the surface of your blessed mind, as the accomplishment of your intention exceeds all mortal power. Did not Zingis, the most powerful of monarchs, and his successors, labour for ages to subvert our faith, that they might establish their own? What rivers of blood were spilt in the contest, till at length the spirit of truth prevailed, and they became proselytes to that religion which they had laboured so long to destroy!"

The Emperor having listened with attention, replied, “What you have said is just, and founded on friendship and reason. I will for ever lay aside all thoughts of this scheme, which has so long engaged my attention. But what do you think of my project of universal conquest?”

The venerable magistrate replied, “Some Kings, in former ages, formed the same great resolution which your Majesty does at present, and your power, personal bravery, and wealth, gives you at least equal hopes of success. But the times are not so favourable, and the government of India seems not to stand upon so firm a basis, as to support itself in your absence. Perfidy and ingratitude daily appear. Brothers become traitors to one another, and children against their parents conspire. How much is this degenerate age unlike to the virtuous times of Secunder! Men were then endued with honourable principles, and the cunning and treachery of the present times were then held in utter abomination. Your Majesty has no counsellors like Aristotalice [Aristotle.], who kept, by his wisdom and policy, not only his own country in peace and security, but brought other nations, by voluntary consent, under his master's protection. If your Majesty can put equal confidence in your Omrahs, and can depend so much upon the love of your people, as Secunder, you may then carry your scheme into execution; if not, we cannot well reconcile it to reason.”

The King, after musing a while, said, “What you have told me bears the face of sincerity and truth. But what availeth all this power in armies, in wealth, and in kingdoms, if I content myself with what I already possess; nor employ it in acquiring conquest and glory?”

Alla-ul-Muluck replied, “That there were two undertakings in which his treasure might be expended to good purpose. The first was, the conquest of the southern kingdoms of Hindostan; and the second, the reduction of all the western provinces, which had been invaded by the Moguls, and lay beyond the Indus. This, said the chief magistrate, would secure the peace of Hindostan, and procure to the King immortal honour, in bestowing happiness upon his people; a thing greater in itself, than if he should consume the world in the flames of war; but even to succeed in this project, it is requisite that the King should abstain from excess of wine, and from luxurious pleasures."

The Emperor, contrary to the old man's expectations, took all this advice in good part, and, praising him for his fidelity, presented him with a royal honorary dress, ten thousand rupees, two horses caparisoned, and two villages in freehold. The other Omrahs, though they themselves wanted the virtue or resolution to speak their minds, were extremely pleased with the Cutwal, and sent him also presents to a great amount.

The King, in the year 699, according to the advice of Alla-ul-Muluck, called his brother Ælich from Semana, the vizier from Kurrah, and others from their respective subadaries, and sent them, with a great army, against the Indian prince of Rintimpore. They soon took the fort of Jain, and afterwards invested the capital. Nuserit the vizier, advancing near the wall, was crushed to death by a stone from an engine. And the Raja, at the same time, sallying with forty thousand men, drove Elich back to Jain with great loss.

Elich wrote to Delhi the particulars of this defeat. Alla flew into a violent rage, and immediately took the field. Upon his march he halted for a day at a place called Jilput, and went out a hunting. Having wandered far from his camp, in the chace, he remained with his attendants all night in the forest. In the morning, before sunrise, he placed himself upon a rising ground, where he sat down with two or three attendants, and commanded the rest to hunt in his view. Akit observing this, recollected that it was now in his power to cut off the King, in the same manner as the King himself had cut off his predecessor. He thought, that being nephew and brother-in-law to the Emperor, he might claim by that, and the influence he had by being chief secretary of the empire, the same title which Alla himself had to the throne [Alla was himself nephew and son-in-law to Ferose, whom he had murdered.].

Akit imparted his resolution to a few chosen horsemen, who accompanied him on this party. They immediately rode up to the King, saluted him with a flight of arrows, two of which entered his body, so that he lay for dead on the ground. Akit, upon this, drew his sword, and ran to cut off his head; when he was told by one of the King's attendants, that he was quite dead; that therefore to cut off his head would be an unnecessary piece of cruelty.

Akit being thus prevailed upon to desist from his intentions, set out for the camp with all expedition, mounted the throne, and proclaimed the King's death. The army was thrown into great confusion; but where loyal affection and patriotism are things unknown, mankind are satisfied to bow their necks to any new master. The great men assembled to pay their court and present their presents upon the occasion; the customary service was read from the Coran; the Chutba was proclaimed aloud, and the singers ordered to extol his praise. Akit then rose from the throne, and proceeded towards the Haram; but Dinar, the chief eunuch, with his guard, stopped him at the door, swearing, that till he showed him Alla's head, or put him to death, he should not enter.

Alla, in the mean time, recovered his senses, and, having his wounds bound up, imagined that Akit's treason and treachery was a preconcerted conspiracy of the Omrahs. He signified his intentions to fly to his brother Elich at Jain, with about sixty servants, who still attended him. Malleck Hamid, deputy porter of the presence, advised the King against this resolution. He told him, that he ought immediately to go to his own camp, and there show himself to his army; for that the usurper had not yet time to establish himself: and that, upon seeing the Emperor's umbrella, he doubted not but the whole army would immediately return to their duty. He observed, at the same time, that the least delay might render his affairs irrecoverable.

Alla saw the propriety of this resolute advice; and mounting his horse, with great difficulty, spread the white umbrella, which lay on the field, over his head, and, with his small retinue, proceeded towards the army. When he appeared in sight, being joined by some foraging parties on the way, he was now guarded by about five hundred men. He ascended an eminence, in full view of the camp, where he was at once seen by the whole army. They crowded in thousands towards him; and the court of the usurper was immediately broke up, and in a few minutes he found himself alone. In this situation he mounted his horse, and, distracted with fear, fled towards Binour.

Alla now marched down from the eminence towards the royal pavilion, and mounting the throne, gave public audience; sending, at the same time, a party of horse after the usurper. They soon came up with him, and brought back his head. The King ordered the usurper's brother Cuttulich, and the chief conspirators, to be put to death.

When Alla recovered of his wounds, he continued his march to Rintimpore, where he was joined by his brother Elich, and began to besiege the place. But the Hindoos so well defended themselves, that numbers of the imperial army daily fell. Alla however continued his attacks with redoubled obstinacy, while detachments of his army ravaged the adjacent territories of Malava and Daar. But the siege being protracted for some months without much effect, Omar and Mungu, who were both nephews to the Emperor, and held the governments of Budaoon and Oud, rebelled, and raised a great army. Alla wrote letters to the several Omrahs of those provinces whom he thought loyal, as also to the neighbouring subas and zemindars, and they levied forces, engaged, defeated, and took the rebels, and sent them both prisoners to the royal camp. The Emperor ordered their eyes to be put out, and then to torture them to death, as a barbarous example to others.

Notwithstanding this severity, one of the most extraordinary conspiracies recorded in history was under- taken by one Mola, the son of a slave of the old chief magistrate of the city, who died in the former reign. This ambitious youth, seeing Alla busied in the siege of Rintimpore, began to form the scheme of a revolution in the empire. He was perhaps moved to this scheme by the murmuring of the citizens against the chief magistrate's deputy, Tirmazi, who, in his master's absence in camp, oppressed the people, having the government entirely in his hands. The first thing, however, that Mola publicly did, was, in the heat of the day, when every body was gone to rest, to collect a mob of citizens, by a forged order from the King. With these he hastened to the house of Tirmazi, and sent in to tell him that a messenger had arrived with an order from the King. Tirmazi, out of respect to the imperial order, hastened to the door, when the young impostor, showing him the paper in one hand, cut him down with the other. He then read aloud the forged mandate for that purpose.

The mob now increasing, Mola sent parties to secure the city gates, and dispatched a person to Alla Eaz, who was chief magistrate of the new city, to come and see the King's order. This magistrate however, having heard of the disturbance, paid no regard to the message, but shut his own gates. Mola, in the mean time, with his mob, entered the red palace, and released all the state prisoners, taking out all the arms, treasure, and valuable effects, which he divided among his followers. He then, by force, placed Allavi, one of the prisoners, who was descended from the Emperor Altumsh, upon the throne, and imperiously commanded all the principal men of the city to pay him allegiance.

The Emperor, having advice of these strange transactions, was struck motionless with astonishment, but stirred not a step from the siege. He however wrote to Hamid, his foster-brother, who, raising a party in the city, seized the Budaoon gate the seventh day after the usurpation, and took the field, where he was joined by a great multitude from the new city and the country around. With these he again, by surprise, entered the city at the Ghizni gate, but he was met at the second gate, called Beder, by Mola and his associates, and a sharp conflict ensued. Hamid being dismounted, run up to Mola, who was leading on his party with great bravery, and pulling him from his horse, threw him down in the street, and slew him. He himself, in the mean time, received several wounds; but the faction of Mola, dispirited by his death, gave ground, and dispersed them- selves all over the city. Hamid then proceeded to the red palace, dragged from thence the unfortunate Allavi, and sent his head round the city upon the point of a spear, which put an end to this strange conspiracy.

Elich, the Emperor's brother, was in the mean time sent by Alla to Delhi, to punish all who were supposed to have had any hand in this rebellion. The sons of the chief magistrate, and the old Cutwal himself, were put to death merely on suspicion, as the rebel had been one of their dependants. But the most probable cause was their great wealth, which was confiscated to the King.

Rintimpore had now been closely besieged for a whole year, and Alla, after trying all other means, fell upon the following expedient to take the place. He collected together a great multitude of people, and provided each of them with a bag, which they filled with earth, and having begun at some distance from the rock, with immense labour, formed an ascent to the top of the walls, by which the troops entered the place, and put the Indian prince Amir Deo, his family, and the garrison, to the sword. This fort is esteemed the strongest in Hindostan.

Mahommed, the Mogul general, who had taken refuge in Rintimpore, after the mutiny at Jallore, having lost most of his men in the defence of the fort, was himself lying ill of his wounds when Alla entered the place. Alla, finding the unfortunate Mahommed in this condition, asked him, in an insulting manner, “What gratitude would he express for his lord, should he command his wounds to be immediately cured?"The Mogul fiercely replied, “I would put him to death for a tyrant, and endeavour to make the son of Amir Deo, to whom my gratitude is due, King.” The Emperor, enraged at this reply, threw him beneath the feet of an elephant. But considering afterwards that he was a brave man, and one of whose gallant behaviour he himself had been often witness, he ordered his body to be put in a coffin, and interred with decent solemnity. “Alla then commanded that the Raja's vizier, who had deserted over to him with a strong party during the siege, should, with all his followers, be massacred; saying, upon the occasion, that “Those who have betrayed their natural lord, can never be true to another!” Having bestowed the government of Rintimpore, with all the riches taken in it, upon his brother Elich, he returned with his army to Delhi. But Elich, about six months after, fell sick, and died on his way to the capital.

Alla being, in the course of this year, apprehensive of conspiracies and insurrections, called together the Omrahs who were most renowned for their wisdom, and commanded them to give their opinion without reserve, how he should conduct matters, so as to prevent disturbances and rebellions in the empire. He, at the same time, desired them to explain what they thought were the principal causes of the disorders. The Omrahs, after consulting among themselves, replied, that there were many causes concurring in á state from which convulsions, disagreeable in their consequences, proceeded; that, as those misfortunes could not be obviated at once, they would only mention, for that time, a few of those evils, from which danger to the empire must have arose.

"At the head of this list,” said the Omrahs, “we must place the King's inattention to advance the good, or to redress the wrongs of the people. The public use of wine is the source of many disorders; for when men form themselves into societies for the purpose of drinking, their minds are disclosed to one another, while the strength of the liquor, fermenting in their blood, precipitates them into the most desperate undertakings. The connections formed by the great men of the court, are pregnant with danger to the state. Their numerous marriages, and the places in their gift, draw the strength of the government into the hands of a few, who are always able, by associating themselves together to create revolutions in the empire. The fourth, and not the least cause of disturbance is, the unequal division of property; for the wealth of a rich empire is circulated in a few hands, and therefore the governors of provinces are rather independent princes, than subjects of the state.”

Alla approved so much of the remarks of his Omrahs, that he immediately began to carry into execution the plan which they laid before him. He first applied himself to a strict inquiry into the administration of justice; to redress grievances, and to examine narrowly into the private as well as public characters of all men of rank in the empire. He laid himself out to procure intelligence of the most secret discourses of families of note in the city, as well as of every transaction of moment in the most distant provinces. He executed justice with such rigour and severity, that robbery and theft, formerly so common, were not heard of in the land. The traveller slept secure upon the public highway, and the merchant carried his commodities in safety from the sea of Bengal to the mountains of Cabul, and from Tillingana to Cashmire.

He published an edict against the use of wine and strong liquors upon pain of death. He himself set the example to his subjects, and emptied his cellars in the street. In this he was followed by all ranks of people, so that, for some days, the common sewers flowed with wine.

He issued out orders that no marriage, among the nobility, should be ratified without a special licence from him: that no private meetings or conversation should be held among the Omrahs; which proved a severe check on the pleasures of society. This latter order was carried into such rigorous execution, that no man durst entertain his friends without a written permission from the vizier.

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Part 12 of 15

He then lengthened the hand of violence upon the rich. He seized upon the wealth, and confiscated the estates, of Mussulmen and Hindoos without distinction, and by this means he accumulated an immense treasure. Men, in short, were almost reduced to a level over all the empire.

All emoluments were cut off from the different offices, which were filled with men whose indigence and dependence rendered them implicitly obedient to the dictates of government.

He ordered a tax of half the real annual produce of the lands to be raised over all the empire, and to be regularly transmitted to the exchequer. He appointed officers to superintend the collectors, who were to take care that the zemindars should take no more from the poor farmers, than in proportion to the estimate which they had given in of their estates; and in case of disobedience or neglect, the superintendents were obliged to refund the overplus, and to pay a fine for the oppression. The farmers, at the same time, were confined to a certain proportion of land, and to an appointed number of servants and oxen to cultivate the same. No grazier was permitted to have above a certain number of cows, sheep, and goats, and a tax was paid out of them to the government.

So strictly did the Emperor look after the behaviour of the collectors and other officers of the revenue, that many of them, who formerly kept great retinues, were obliged to dismiss them, and to have all the menial offices of their families performed by their wives and children. Neither were they permitted to resign their employs, till they found others as capable as themselves to execute the duties of their office.

These regulations were good, but they were arbitrary and severe. He broke through all laws and customs, which, according to the Mahommedan law, were left to the decision of the courts of justice. Other monarchs left all but state affairs to the common course of justice. Alla descended to all the inferior departments of government. It was with him a common saying, “That religion had no connection with civil government, but was only the business, or rather amusement, of private life; and that the will of a wise prince was better than the variable opinions of bodies of men.”

As the King was known to be illiterate, it became a maxim with the learned men at court, to talk upon no subjects which they knew must be beyond the King's knowledge. He was however so sensible of the disadvantages which he laboured under by his ignorance of letters, that he applied himself privately to study, and, notwithstanding the difficulty of acquiring the knowledge of the Persian manner of writing, which generally requires ten or twelve years' study, he soon read all addresses, and made himself acquainted with the best authors in the language. After he had proceeded so far as to be able to hold part in learned discourses, he encouraged literary subjects, and showed particular favour to all the eminent men of that age, particularly to Casi Molana, Corami, and Cuzi Biana. He appointed the last of those learned men to explain the law to him; which he did according to the true spirit, in every point upon which he was consulted. He did not however do it without fear and trembling, where it differed from the King's violent maxims of government.

Alla, much about this time, sent an army, by the way of Bengal, to reduce the fort of Arinkil, which was in the possession of the Raja of Tillingana. He himself moved the royal standard towards Chitor, which had never before been reduced by the troops of the Mahommedans. After a siege of six months he took the place, in the year 703, conferred the government of it upon his eldest son Chizer, and called it the City of Chizer. He at the same time bestowed upon Chizer regal dignities and authority.

Intelligence of this expedition arriving at Maver-ul-nere, Jirghi, who distinguished himself formerly against Ziffer, thinking that Alla would be a long time absent, seized that opportunity for invading Hindostan. Alla, hearing of this dangerous inroad, abandoned all his schemes against the Decan, and made what haste he could with his army to Delhi.

Jirghi, with twelve tomans of Mogul horse, approached, in a few days, the city, and encamped upon the banks of the Jumna. The horse of the imperial army being absent on the expedition to Arinkil, the King was in no condition to face, upon equal terms, so powerful and warlike an enemy in the field. He therefore contented himself with entrenching his army in the plain beyond the suburbs, till he could draw the forces of the distant subas together. But the Moguls, having the command of the adjacent country, prevented the succours from joining the King, and proceeded so far as to plunder the suburbs, in the King's presence, without his being able to prevent them.

In this situation stood affairs for two months; and then Alla, say some authors, had recourse to supernatural aid. He applied to à saint of those days, whose name was Nizam Aulia. The saint, in one night, without any visible cause, struck the Mogul army with a panic, which occasioned their precipitate retreat to their own country. But we have no reason to ascribe the flight of the Moguls to so weak and superstitious a cause; as private orders, intelligence, or the improbability of success, brought about their sudden departure more than the power of the saint. The King, during this alarming period, was heard to confess, that his ideas of universal conquest were idle and ridiculous, for that there were many heads in the world as hard as his own.

Alla, being relieved from the perils of this invasion, built a palace upon the spot where he had entrenched himself, and ordered the citadel of Delhi to be pulled down and built anew. He then began to recruit his army, with an intention to retaliate upon the Moguls their repeated inroads. He increased his forces to such a prodigious number, that, upon calculating the expence, he found his revenues, and what treasures he had himself, could not support them above six years. He resolved therefore to reduce the pay, but it occurred to him that this could not be done with propriety, without lowering, proportionably, the price of horses, arms, and provisions. This he did by an edict, which he strictly enforced all over the empire, settling the price of every article at about half the common rate, which, in fact, was just doubling his treasures and revenues.

To establish this reduction of the price, with respect to grain, he ordered great magazines to be built upon the rivers Jumna and Ganges, and other places convenient for water carriage, under the direction of Malleck Cabuli. This collector received half of the land-tax in grain; and the royal agents supplied the markets at a stated price. To prevent any monopoly in this article, every farmer was allowed to retain only a certain quantity, according to the number of his family, and send the overplus, as soon as it was threshed out, to market, for which he was obliged to take the standing price. The importation of grain was encouraged; but to export it, or any other article of provisions, was a capital crime. The King himself had a daily report laid before him, of the quantity sold and remaining in the several royal granaries, and spies were appointed in the different markets, to inform him of abuses, which he punished with the utmost rigour.

Alla appointed also a public office, and inspectors, who fixed the price of the various kinds of cloth, according to its quality, obliging the merchants to open their shops at certain hours every day, and sell their goods at the stipulated price. He at the same time opened a loan, by which they were enabled to procure ready money to import cloth from the neighbouring countries, where the poverty of the people rendered their manufactures cheaper. But what is somewhat unaccountable, the exportation of the finer kind of manufacture was prohibited, yet not permitted to be worn at home, except by special authority from the King, which favour was only conferred upon men of rank.

As horses had rose to an immense price, by an association of the dealers, who only bought up a certain number from the Persian and northern merchants to enhance the price; the King published an edict, by which they were obliged to register the prices paid for them, and to sell them at a certain profit within such a time, if that price was offered them, otherwise the King took them upon his own account. The price of the horse was at the same time according to his quality, and care was taken, by that means, that the merchants and dealers in those animals should not have an opportunity, by secret connivance, to raise the price. Many frauds being found in this article some time after, à great number of horse-dealers were whipt out of the city, and others put to death. Oxen, sheep, goats, camels, and asses, were also taken into consideration; and in short every useful animal, and all commodities, were sold at a stated price in the markets.

The King having thus regulated the prices of things, his next care was to new-model his army. He settled the pay of every horseman, for himself and horse, from 234 rupees a year, down to 80, according to the goodness of the horse; and, upon a muster, he found his cavalry to consist of four hundred and seventy-five thousand.

In the mean time Ali, one of the grandsons of Zingis Chan, and Chaja, with forty thousand horse, made an irruption into Hindostan, but the Emperor sending Tughlick, with a force against them, they were defeated, with the loss of seven thousand. Ali, and Chaja, with nine thousand of their troops, were taken prisoners. They were sent in chains to the King, who ordered the chiefs to be thrown under the feet of an elephant, and the soldiers to be inhumanly massacred. He appointed Tughlick, for this service, viceroy of Punjab.

Alip Chan was, about this time, appointed captain general of Guzerat, and sent thither with a great force. Moultani, an Omrah of great fame, was at the same time ordered with a numerous army to the conquest of Malava. He was opposed by Kokah, the prince of Malava, with forty thousand Rajaput horse and one hundred thousand foot. An engagement ensued, in which Moultani proved victorious, and took the cities of Ugein, Mindu Daranagurri, and Chanduri. He, after these successes, dispatched a Fatte Namma [A writing of victory. Pompous accounts of his actions, according to their custom.] to the Emperor, who, upon receiving it, ordered a rejoicing of seven days throughout the city of Delhi. The Indian prince of the fort of Jallore, terrified by the conquests of Moultani, gave up that place upon terms of capitulation.

The prince of Chitor, who had been prisoner since the Emperor took that place, found in the mean time means to make his escape, in a very extraordinary manner. Alla, having heard extravagant things in praise of the beauty and accomplishments of one of the Raja's daughters, told him, that if he would send her, he should, upon her account, be released.

The Raja, who was very ill treated in his confinement, consented, and sent for his daughter, with a manifest design to prostitute her to the King. The prince's family, hearing this dishonourable proposal, concerted means of poisoning the Raja, to save their own reputation. But the daughter, being a girl of invention, proposed a stratagem to release her father, and at the same time to preserve her own honour. She accordingly wrote to her father to give out, that she was coming with all her attendants, and would be at Delhi upon a certain day, acquainting him with the part she intended to act. Her contrivance was this: She selected a number of enterprising fellows, who, in complete armour, concealed themselves in doolies or close chairs, in which the women are always carried; she provided for them a chosen retinue of horse and foot, as customary to guard ladies of rank. She herself, by this time, had, by her father's means, received the imperial passport, and the whole cavalcade proceeded to Delhi, and were admitted without interruption. It was now night, and, by the King's permission, they were permitted to see the Raja. The chairs being then carried into the prison, and the attendants having taken their stations without; the armed men started out of the chairs, and putting all to the sword within the courts, carried the Raja out, and, having prepared horses for him, he mounted, and, with his attendants, rushed out of the city before any opposition could be made, and fled to his own country.

In the year 705, Kabeik, an Omrah of Dova, prince of Maver-ul-nere, with design to revenge the death of Ali and Chaja, invaded Hindostan with a great army, and, ravaging Moultan, proceeded to Sewalic. Tughlick, in the mean time, collecting his forces, cut off the retreat of the Moguls, before any troops arrived from Delhi, and defeated them with great slaughter. Those who escaped the sword, finding it impossible to force their way home, retired into the desert, where thirst, and the hot winds which blow at that season, put an end to their miserable lives; so that out of fifty-seven thousand horse, besides their attendants, who were still more numerous, only three thousand, who were taken prisoners, survived this horrid scene. The unhappy captives were only reserved for greater misery. They were sent to Delhi with their unfortunate chief, Kabeik, where they were all trodden to death by elephants, except some women and children, who were sold in the market for slaves.

These repeated misfortunes did not however discourage the Moguls. Aekbalmund, a chief of great repu. tation, soon after invaded Hindostan with a powerful army. But Tughlick defeated him also, with great slaughter; and sent some thousand prisoners to Delhi, who were dispatched by the customary inhumanity of Alla. Fear, from this time forward, took possession of the Moguls, and they gave over all thoughts of Hindostan for many years. They were even hard pressed to defend themselves: for Tughlick made incursions into their country every year, plundering the provinces of Cabul, Ghizni, Candahar, and Garrimsere, or laying them under heavy contributions.

In the mean time Alla was employed in settling the internal policy and government of his empire; and with such fortunate perseverance in whatever he undertook, that the superstition of the times ascribed his success to supernatural power, amazed at the good effects that flowed from the strictness of his government.

Ram Deo, King of Deogire in the Decan, having neglected to send the revenues of that district, which he assigned over to the Emperor by treaty, Cafoor, the favourite of Alla, with many Omrahs of renown, and a great army, was ordered to conquer the Decan. Cafoor was one of the Emperor's catamites, and originally a slave, taken by force from a merchant of Guzerat, as we have already mentioned. The Emperor's affection for Cafoor exceeded all the bounds of decency and prudence upon the present occasion. He gave him the title of Malleck Naib Cafoor [That is, a viceroy, with all the ensigns of royalty.], commanding the Omrahs who attended him, to pay their respects to him every day, as to a sovereign. This created among them great disgust, but they durst not murmur. Chaja was appointed his lieutenant; a man much esteemed in those days for his good principles. In the beginning of the year 706, they marched from Delhi, with an army of an hundred thousand horse, and were joined in their way by Moultani, governor of Malava, and Alip, suba of Guzerat, with their forces.

One of the Emperor's wives, the fair Comlade, formerly mentioned, hearing of this expedition, addressed herself to the King, and told him, that before she was taken prisoner, she had two beautiful daughters to her former husband. That one of them, she heard, had since died; but that the other, whose name was Dewilde, was still alive. She therefore begged that the Emperor should give orders to his generals to endeavour to get her into their possession, and send her to Delhi. The King consented, and gave orders accordingly.

Cafoor, having passed through Malava, encamped upon the borders of the Decan. He sent the imperial order to the prince Kirren, to deliver up his daughter Dewilde, which was now urged as a pretext for commencing hostilities in case of a refusal. The Raja could by no means be brought to agree to this demand. Cafoor therefore marched from his camp at Nidderbar, while Alip, with his forces from Guzerat, was taking the route of the mountains of Buckelana, to enter the Decan by another pass. He was opposed by Kirren, who defeated all his attempts for two months, in which time several undecisive actions were fought.

Singeldeo, the prince of Deogire, who had been contracted to the young Dewilde, without consent of his father, sent his brother Bimedeo with presents to Kirren, persuading him, that as Dewildè was the occasion of the war, if he should deliver her over to him, the troops of the Mahommedans, in despair of obtaining their ends, would return to their own country. Kirren, who depended much upon the young prince's aid, consented to this proposal, and gave his daughter, then in her thirteenth year, in marriage to Singeldeo.

Alip, hearing this news, was greatly terrified lest the King should impute this circumstance to his slowness, and was resolved, at all events, to seize her before her departure, as he was certain his own life depended upon his success. He acquainted all the Omrahs with his intentions, who readily seconded the attempt. He then entered the mountains with his army, and engaging the Raja, gave him a total defeat; upon which, Kirren fled to Deogire, leaving all his elephants, tents, and equipage, upon the field. Alip pursued him through the hills for some days, but, at length, entirely lost his track, and all intelligence concerning him and his daughter. But, in the end, accident threw this pearl in his way.

Halting to refresh his army two days among the mountains, some of his troops without leave, to the number of three hundred, went from the camp to see a famous mountain in the neighbourhood of Deogire, from which city he was not then far distant. In their excursion they saw a great troop of horse, whom they apprehended to belong to Singeldeo, and to be in pursuit of them. As there was no safety in flight, they were determined to stand on their defence, and accordingly drew up to receive the enemy. This troop proved to be the retinue of Bimedeo, who was carrying the young bride to his brother. The two parties, in short, engaged, and the Hindoos were put to flight, while an unfortunate arrow having pierced the horse of Dewilde, the unhappy fair one was abandoned in the field. The conquerors seeing her, gathered round her horse, and commenced a bloody scuffle about the prize. This might have proved fatal to the beautiful Dewilde, had not one of her female slaves told aloud her name and quality, conjuring them to carry her to their commander with that respect which was due to her rank and sex. Upon hearing this they knew the peril of treating her with any indignity; and, while an express was dispatched with the news to Alip, they conducted her with great care and respect to the camp.

Alip, having obtained this prize, was exceedingly rejoiced, knowing how acceptable it would be to his prince, over whom the lady's mother had great influence. He therefore prosecuted his conquests no further, but returned to Guzerat, and from thence carried Dewilde to Delhi, and presented her to her mother. In a few days her beauty inflamed the heart of the Emperor's son Chizer, to whom she was given in marriage. The history of the loves of this illustrious pair, is wrote, in an elegant poem, by the noble Chusero.

Let us now return to Cafoor, whom we left entering the Decan. He first subdued the country of the Mahrattors, which he divided among his Omrahs, then proceeded to the siege of Deogire, since known by the name of Dowlat-abad. Ramdeo being in no condition to oppose this great army, prudently left his son Singeldeo in the fort, and advanced himself, with great presents, to the conqueror, to procure peace, which was accordingly settled between them. Cafoor, upon this, wrote a writing of victory to the King, and some time after brought Ramdeo, with rich presents and seventeen elephants, to pay his allegiance to him at Delhi, where he himself was received with the most extravagant marks of favour and distinction. Ramdeo had royal dignities conferred upon him, with the title of Rai Raian [Prince of Princes.], and had not only the government of his own dominions restored to him, but others were also added; for all which he did homage, and paid tribute to the Sultan. The King moreover gave him the district of Nosari, near Guzerat, by way of Jagier, and a lack of rupees to bear his expences home. Thus he dismissed Ramdeo with princely generosity; having, in some measure, looked upon the wealth, of which he had formerly robbed him, as the foundation of all his own greatness. And he perhaps thought that some grateful return was due to the Raja upon this account.

During the absence of Cafoor in his expedition to the Decan, the King employed himself in taking a strong fort to the southward of Delhi, called Sewana, which had often been attempted in vain. When the prince of this place found he could hold out no longer, he sent his own image, which had been cast in pure gold, to Alla, with a chain round its neck, in token of obedience. This present was accompanied with a hundred elephants, and other precious effects, in hopes of procuring peace. Alla received the presents, but returned him for answer, that unless he came and made his submission in person, he could hope little from his dumb representative. The Raja, finding the Emperor inexorable, threw himself upon his mercy, and delivered up the place. He plundered and again restored it. But he alienated a great part of the Raja's country to his favourite Omrahs, and bound him over to pay homage for the rest. He then proceeded to Jallire, which he took, and returned to Delhi.

The Emperor, much about this time, was informed that the expedition, by the way of Bengal, to Arinkil, in the country of Tillingana, had not succeeded, and that his army on that side had been obliged to retreat in great distress. In the year 709, he dispatched Cafoor with a great force to invade that country, by the way of Deogire; with orders, that if Lidderdeo, Prince of Arinkil, should consent to give him a handsome present, and promise an annual tribute, to return without prosecuting the war any further. When Cafoor and Chaja had reached Deogire, Ramdeo came out to meet them with offerings, and, carrying them home, entertained them with great hospitality, ordering his market to the camp, with strict orders to sell every thing according to the Emperor's established price in his own dominions.

Cafoor having marched from Deogire, appeared at Indore, upon the frontiers of Tillingana, and issued orders to lay waste the country with fire and sword; which struck the unhappy people, who had never injured their wanton enemies, with great terror and consternation. In the mean time, the neighbouring princes hastened with all their forces to support Lidderdeo, in this alarming juncture. But as the imperial army proceeded with great expedition, he was forced, before the arrival of his allies, to shut himself up in the fort of Arinkil, which was a place of great strength. The allied Rajas, upon this, also took possession of divers strong-holds round the country.

Cafoor immediately invested the place, and began his attacks, which were carried on and repelled with great slaughter on both sides. Notwithstanding the interruptions that Cafoor received from the auxiliary princes without the place, Arinkil, after some months' siege, was taken by assault, and the garrison massacred without mercy, for the citadel, to which Lidderdeo had retired, was not sufficient to contain the whole. Lidderdeo, driven to this extremity, bought his peace with three hundred elephants, seven thousand horses, and money and jewels to a very great amount; agreeing, at the same time, to pay an annual tribute. Cafoor, after this advantageous peace, returned with his army to Delhi. He dispatched before him the news of his victories, which was read from the pulpit, and a public rejoicing ordered. Upon his approach to the city, the King himself came out and met him at the Budaoon gate, and there the conqueror laid all the spoils at his feet.

In the year 710, the King sent Cafoor and Chaja, with a great army, to reduce Dhoor, Summund, and Maber, in the Decan, where he had heard there were temples very rich in gold and jewels. When they had proceeded to Deogire, they found that Ramdeo the old King was dead, and that the young prince Singeldeo was not so well affected to them as they thought. They therefore left some Omrahs in a strong post upon the banks of the Ganges, and continued their march. When they had passed the Raja's territories, they began their inhuman cruelties, and, after three months' march from Delhi, arrived in the countries which they were commanded to subdue. They engaged Bellal Deo, sovereign of the Carnatic, and, defeating him, took him prisoner, and then ravaged his whole country. They found in the temples a prodigious spoil in idols of gold, adorned with the most precious stones; and other rich effects, consecrated to their worship. Here the conqueror built a small mosque, and ordered divine service to be read according to the Mahommedan faith, and the Chutba to be pronounced in the Emperor's name. This mosque remains entire in our days, for the Caffers [The Mahommedans give the name of Caffers or Infidels to all nations who do not profess their own faith.], esteeming it a house consecrated to God, would not destroy it [This observation of our author sets the two religions in very opposite lights, and is perfectly consistent with the principle of universal charity of the Hindoos, who think that the same God is the object of all religions, however much they may differ in ceremonies and tenets.].

Cafoor, having wearied his own inhumanity and avarice, in destroying and robbing an unfortunate people, resolved to return to Delhi with the spoil. The night before his intended march, a quarrel arose among some Brahmins, who had taken protection in his camp, from the plundering-parties that scoured the country. Somebody who understood their language, found the quarrel was about the division of some hidden treasure, which was immediately communicated to the superintendent of the market, who seized them, and carried them to Cafoor to be examined. They were at first very obstinate, but their lives being threatened, and each being questioned apart, they were afraid one would inform against the other, by which means they discovered all they knew. Seven different places were pointed out near the camp, where immense treasures were concealed. These being dug up and placed upon elephants, Cafoor turned the points of his spears to Delhi, where he arrived, without any remarkable occurrence, in the year 711. He presented the Emperor with three hundred and twelve elephants, twenty thousand horses, ninety-six thousand maunds of gold, several chests of jewels and pearls, and other precious things [This treasure may appear to exceed all belief in the eyes of Europeans: but if we consider the Hindoos as a mercantile people, and not disturbed perhaps by wars for thousands of years; and add to this, that it is the invariable custom of that race, to live with the abstinence of hermits in the midst of wealth; our wonder will cease, and the credit of our author remain entire. The gold alone amounts to about one hundred millions of our money.]. Alla upon seeing this treasure, which exceeded that of Baadawird or Purvez, those wealthy and magnificent Kings of Persia, was greatly rejoiced, and opened the doors of his bounty to all. He gave to each of the principal Omrahs ten maunds, and to the inferior five. The learned men of his court received one maund, and thus in proportion he distributed wealth to all his servants, according to their rank and quality. The remainder was melted down, coined, and lodged in the treasury. It is said, that during this expedition to the Carnatic, the soldiers threw the silver they found away, as too cumbersome, where gold was found in such plenty. No person wore bracelets, chains, or rings, of any other metal than gold, while all the plate in the houses of the great, and in the temples, was of beaten gold; neither was silver money at all current in that country, should we believe the reports of those adventurers.

Soon after this accession of wealth, the tyrannical Alla exhibited a scene in the capital too dreadful to be varnished over by his great abilities. The Mogul converts in his army having incurred his displeasure, he ordered them to be all discharged. Some of them engaged themselves in the service of the Omrahs, but the greater number remained at Delhi in great distress, in hopes that the Sultan would relent by seeing their wretched poverty. He however remained obdurate, and some daring fellows among them, forced by their misfortunes, entered into a conspiracy to murder the King. This plot being discovered, Alla, instead of punishing the conspirators, extended his inhuman rigour to the whole body. He ordered them all to be instantly put to the sword; so that fifteen thousand of those unhappy wretches lay dead in the streets of Delhi in one day. All their wives and children were enslaved. The King was so inexorable and vindictive, that no one, durst attempt to conceal, however nearly connected they might be, any of the unfortunate Moguls, so that not one of them escaped.

The King, elevated by his good fortune, gave himself over to pride. He listened to no advice, as he sometimes condescended to do in the beginning of his reign, but every thing was executed by his irrevocable word. Yet the empire never flourished so much as in this reign. Order and justice travelled to the most distant provinces, and magnificence raised her head in the land. Palaces, mosques, universities, baths, spires, forts, and all kinds of public and private buildings, seemed to rise as by the power of enchantment, neither did there in any age appear such a concourse of learned men from all parts. Forty-five skilled in the sciences were professors in the universities. In poetry, Chusero and Delavi held the first rank. In philosophy and physic, Molana of Damascus. In divinity, Shatabi. In astrology, Nizam Awlia acquired much fame. Others distinguished themselves in music, morality, languages, and in all the fine arts then known in the world.

But when the King seemed to have carried every thing to the height of perfection, and to the extent of his wishes, he all at once adopted every measure that evidently tended to subvert the great fabric which he had raised. He resigned the reins of government entirely into the hands of Cafoor, whom he blindly supported in his most impolitic and tyrannical actions. This gave great disgust to the Omrahs, and spread universal discontent over the face of the people. He neglected the education of his own children, who were let out of the seraglio very young, and intrusted with independent power. Chizer was made viceroy of Chitor when as yet a boy, without any person of wisdom to advise him, or to superintend his conduct, while Shadi, Mubarick and Shab-ul-dien, his other sons, had appointments of the same important nature.

The prince of Tillingana, about this time, sent some presents and twenty elephants to the King, with a letter informing him that the tribute which he had agreed to pay in his treaty with Cafoor, was ready to be paid. Cafoor, upon this, desired leave of the King, to make another expedition into the Decan, promising that he would not only collect the revenues which had fallen due, but bring the Raja of Deogire and others, who had withheld their allegiance and tribute, under due subjection. He was principally moved to this by his jealousy of Chizer, the declared heir to the empire, whose government lay most convenient for that expedition; and whom he feared the King intended to send.

Alla consented to Cafoor's proposal, and he accordingly proceeded the fourth time to the Decan with a great army. He seized the Raja of Deogire, and inhumanly put him to death; then ravaging the countries of Mahrat, Connir, Dabul, Giwil, Raijore, and Mudkil, took up his residence at Deogire. He raised the tribute from the princes of Tillingana and the Carnatic, and, in the year 712, dispatched the whole to the Emperor.

Alla by this time, by his intemperance in the seraglio, ruined his constitution, and was taken extremely ill. His wife Mallecke Jehan, and her son Chizer, neglected him entirely, and spent their time in riot and revelry, which added new strength to the King's disorder. He therefore ordered Cafoor from the Decan, and Alip from Guzerat. He told them in private of the unpolitic, undutiful, and cruel behaviour of his wife and son. Cafoor, who had before aspired, in his mind, to the empire, now began seriously to form schemes for the extirpation of the royal line. He, for this purpose, insinuated to the King, that Chizer, the Queen, and Alip, had conspired against his life. What gave colour to this wicked accusation was, that at this time the Sultana solicited Alla to get one of Alip's daughters for her son Shadi. The traitor did not fail to improve this circumstance to his own advantage. The King at length suffered suspicion to steal into his breast, and ordered Chizer to Amrohe, and there to continue till he himself should recover. Though Chizer was mad with the follies of youth, this command of his father made a deep impression on his mind, and at his departure he made a private vow, that if God should spare the life of his father, he would return all the way on foot. When he accordingly heard that his father's health began to return, he performed his vow, and waited upon him at Delhi.

The traitor Cafoor turned this filial piety entirely against Chizer. He insinuated that his behaviour, by such a sudden change, could be imputed to nothing but hypocrisy, and urged his disobedience, by coming without his father's leave, pretending, at the same time, that he was intriguing with the Omrahs about kindling a rebellion in the empire. Alla could not give entire credit to these insinuations. He sent for Chizer into his presence, embraced him to try his affection, and, seeing him weep, seemed convinced of his sincerity, and ordered him into the seraglio, to see his mother and sisters. But unhappily for this prince, the flights of his youth made him deviate again into his former wild amusements. He neglected for several days to visit his father; during which time his subtle enemy bribed over to his own interest the Emperor's private servants, and called upon them to witness his aspersions against Chizer. He at length, by a thousand wiles and stratagems, accomplished his purpose, and prevailed upon the King to imprison his two sons Chizer and Shadi, in the fort of Gualier, and their mother in the old citadel. He at the same time procured an order to seize Alip, who was unjustly put to death, and his brother Nizam, suba of Jallore, was assassinated by Cummal, who assumed his place.

Thus far the traitor's schemes advanced in the direct road of success. But now the fire, which had long been smothered, began to flame, kindling first at Gu. zerat into a general insurrection. The King, to sup, press this rebellion, sent Cummal thither with a great army; but the forces commanded by the friends of Alip defeated him with great slaughter, and put him to a cruel death. In the mean time the governor of Chitor threw the imperial officers over the wall, and assumed independence; while Hirpal Deo, the son-in-law of Ramdeo, stirred up the Decan to arms, and took a number of the imperial garrisons.

Alla, upon receiving this intelligence, could do nothing but bite his own flesh, in resentment. His grief and rage served to strengthen his disorder, which would yield to no power of medicine.

On the evening of the sixth of Shawal, in the year 716, he gave up that life, which, like a comet, had spread terror and desolation through an astonished world; but not without suspicion of being poisoned by the villain whom he had raised from the dust to power. He reigned twenty years and some months.

If we look upon the government and policy of Alla-ul-dien, a great King arises to our view. If we behold his hands, which are red, an inexorable tyrant appears. Had he come by better means to the throne, his abilities deserved it well, but he began in cruelty, and waded through blood to the end. Ambition was the favourite passion of his soul, and from it sprung forth, like branches, injustice, violence, and rapine. Had fortune placed him at first on high, his glory would not perhaps be tarnished with meanness and deceit; but in whatever way that flame was to pass through the world, his tract, like that of a storm, must have been marked with ruin. He had some right, as a warrior, to the title of the Second Alexander; but these two Princes resembled one another in nothing but in success and bravery. The first was polished and generous, the latter was dark and rude. They were both magnificent, and each of them might conquer the world, and could command it. The servants of his household amounted to seventeen thousand, and his pomp, wealth and power, were never equalled by any Prince who sat before him on the throne of Hindostan.

Ahmed, Argun, Ganjatû, Baidû, Kazân, and Aljaptu, all of the posterity of Zingis, reigned successively in Persia, during the reigns of Ferose and Alla in India. Cubla was on the imperial throne of Tartary and China, till the sixth year of Ferose; Timur, Haysan, and Ajuli Palipata, successively held the sceptre of the Moguls, in the reign of Alla. The family of Zagatay still held their government on the confines of Tartary, Persia, and India. All Hindostan was comprehended in the Patan empire, at the death of Alla.

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Part 13 of 15

[Section XIV. The Reign of Shab Ul Dien Omar ben Sultan Alla Ul Dien Chilligie.]

OMAR.

In the history of Sidder Jehan of Guzerat, we are informed that, the day after the death of Alla, Cafoor assembled the Omrahs, and produced a spurious testament of the deceased King, in which he had appointed Omar, Alla’s youngest son, his successor, and Cafoor himself regent, during the prince's minority, setting aside the right of primogeniture in the person of Chizer, and the other princes. Omar then, in the seventh year of his age, was placed on the throne, and Cafoor began his administration. The first step which the traitor took, was to send a person to Gualier, to put out the eyes of the princes Chizer and Shadi. His orders were inhumanly executed; and the Sultana, their mother, was put into closer confinement, and all her wealth seized. Mubarick, the third son of Alla, was also taken into custody, with an intention to have his eyes put out, like his unhappy brothers.

There is ridicule in what we are to relate. Cafoor, though an eunuch, married the mother of Omar, the late Emperor's third wife. But the mother of Mụbarick, Alla's second wife, having heard that the regent intended to put out the eyes of her son, acquainted Nizam of her intelligence, and he gave her some hopes that the threatened misfortune should be prevented.

Cafoor, in the mean time, to cloak his wicked designs, placed the young King every day upon the throne, and ordered the nobles to pay their respects, as usual, to the Emperor. He sent one night some assassins to cut off the prince Mubarick; but when they entered his apartment, he conjured them to remember his father, whose servants they were; then untying a string of rich jewels from his neck, which perhaps had more influence than his entreaties, he gave it them. They immediately abandoned their purpose; but quarreling about the division of the jewels, when they had got out, it was proposed to carry them to the chief of the footguards, and acquaint him of what the Prince had said, and of their instructions from Cafoor.

The commander of the foot-guards, who owed every thing to the favour of the deceased King, was shocked at the villainy of Cafoor, and finding his people of the same sentiments, he immediately formed a conspiracy against the tyrant, and accordingly he and his lieutenant entered the regent's apartment, a few hours after, and assassinated him, with some of the principal eunuchs, who were attached to his interest. This happened thirty-five days after the Emperor Alla's death, and thus the world was rid of a monster too horrid to exist among mankind.

When, with the return of day, the transactions of the night became public, they gave general satisfaction. The Prince Mubarick was released from his confinement, and had the reins of government placed in his hands. He however did not immediately assume the throne, but acted for the space of two months, as regent or vizier for his brother, till he had brought over the nobles to his interest. He then claimed his birthright to the diadem, deposed his brother, and acceded to the imperial dignity. But, according to the barbarous custom and policy of those days, he deprived Omar of his eyes, and confined him for life in the fort of Gualier, after he had borne the title of King for three months and some days.

[Section XV. The Reign of Cuttub Ul Dien Mubarick Shaw Chillige.]

MUBARICK I.

UPON the seventh of Mohirrim, in the year seven hundred and seventeen of the Higera, Mubarick [Cuttub-ul-dien, Mubarick Shaw Chilligi.] mounted the throne. The commander of the foot-guards, who had saved his life, and raised him to the imperial dignity, as also his lieutenant, were ungratefully and inhu- manly put to death by his orders, under no better pretence than that they presumed too much upon the services they had done him. It is probable he was instigated to this base action by his fears, as, in some measure, appears by his immediately dispersing all the old soldiers, who were under their command, into different parts of the country Mubarick began to dispense his favours among the nobles, but he disgusted them all by raising some of his slaves to that dignity.

Dinar Shenapil was dignified with the title of Ziffer. Moula, the Emperor's uncle, received the name of Shere, and Malana Zea, that of Sidder Jehan. In the mean time Kerabeg was made one of the counsellors of state; and Hassen one of his slaves, the son of a seller of rags at Guzerat, received the title of Chusero, and, through the King's unnatural affection for him, became the greatest man in the empire. He was appointed to the command of the armies of Cafoor and Chaja, those joint conquerors of the Decan, and at the same time to the honour of the office of Vizier, without any one good quality to recommend him to those high employs.

The Emperor, whether to affect popularity, or in remembrance of his late situation, ordered all the prisons to be opened, by which means seventeen thousand were blessed with the light of day, and all the exiles were by proclamation recalled. He then commanded to give to the army a present of six months' pay, and conferred upon them many other private benefits. He at the same time issued orders to give free access to all petitioners. He eased the petitioners of some of their taxes; but by too much relaxing the reins of government, disorder and tumult arose, which threw down to the ground the great fabric raised by his father Alla. He gave himself up entirely to wine, revelry, and lust. These vices became fashionable at court, from whence the whole body of the people were soon infected.

Mubarick, in the first year of his reign, sent an army, under the command of the famous Moultani, into the province of Guzerat, which had revolted. Moultani was an Omrah of great abilities. He soon defeated the insurgents, cut off their chiefs, and settled the country in peace. The King conferred the government of Guzerat upon Ziffer, whose daughter he had taken in marriage. Ziffer soon after marched his army to Narwalla, the capital of Guzerat, where some disturbances had happened, reduced the rebels, confiscated their estates, and sent their moveable wealth to the King.

Mubarick, in the second year of his reign, raised a great army, and marched towards the Decan, to chastise Hirpaldeo, the son-in-law of Ramdeo, who, by the assistance of the other princes of the Decan, had recovered his country. Mubarick at his departure appointed Shahin, the son of a slave, to whom he gave the title of Offa Beg, governor of Delhi, during his absence. When he arrived near Deogire, Hirpaldeo and the other princes, who were then besieging the place, fled. But some Omrahs being ordered to pursue Hirpaldeo, he was brought back prisoner, flayed alive, and beheaded. His head was fixed above the gate of his own capital. The Emperor ordered his garrisons to be re-established as far as the sea, and built a mosque in Deogire, which still remains. He then appointed one of his father's slaves, to command in the Decan. He, in imitation of Alla, gave his catamite Chusero the ensigns of royalty, sending him towards Malabar, with part of his army, then returned himself to Delhi.

Assid, son to the Emperor's grand-uncle, seeing the King daily drunk, and negligent of all the duties of a king or commander, began to entertain thoughts of the empire, and formed a conspiracy against his life. This plot however was discovered by one of the conspirators, and Assid was condemned to death. Whether Mubarick had found proofs that his brothers were concerned in this conspiracy, we cannot learn, but at that time he sent an assassin to Gualier, and these two unfortunate blind princes were inhumanly murdered, and the fair Dewilde brought to the royal haram.

Mubarick, finding himself in quiet possession of all the kingdoms of India, abandoned those popular manners which he at first affected, and grew perverse, proud, vindictive, and tyrannical, despising all counsel, ill-treating all his friends, and executing every thing, however bloody or unjust, by his obstinate, blind, arbitrary will. Ziffer, the imperial governor of Guzerat, among others, fell a victim to his tyranny, and also Offa Beg, upon whom he had heaped such favours, without any plausible pretence against either. He was infamous, in short, in every vice that can taint the human mind, and descended so far from the royal character, as to dress himself often like a common prostitute, and go with the public women to dance at the houses of the nobility. At other times, he would lead a gang of those abominable prostitutes, stark naked, along the terraces of the royal palaces, and oblige them to make water upon the nobles as they entered the court. These and such other vices and indecencies, too shocking to mention, were the constant amusements of this monster in the form of man.

After the death of Ziffer, Hissam, uncle to the famous slave Chusero, who was also one of the Emperor's catamites, in the absence of the detestable slave obtained the regency of Guzerat, where he had not been established long, till, in confederacy with a few nobles, he rebelled; but the other Omrahs of Guzerat rising in arms, defeated him, and sent him prisoner to Delhi, where he was not only pardoned, but permitted to resume his place in the King's favour; Odgi being sent to Guzerat, in his stead. About this time news arrived, that Eclikki, governor of the Decan, had rebelled. The Emperor sent a great army to suppress that insurrection, who found means to seize the rebel and his principal adherents, and to send them to Delhi, where Eclikki had his ears cut off, and the others were put to the torture. The gallant Moultani was advanced to the viceroyship of the Decan.

Chusero, who had gone to Malabar, staid there about one year. He plundered the country of about one hundred and twenty elephants, a perfect diamond of 168 ruttys, with other jewels and gold to a great amount. His ambition was increased by his wealth, and he began to aspire to the throne. Not being able to join to his interest any of the great officers of his army, he formed the means of their destruction. For this purpose he called one Tilbiga from the government of the island of Koohe, Timur and Malleck Affghan, who were on different services, and gave out that he had orders to return to Delhi. These nobles, having intelligence of his intentions, disobeyed his commands, and wrote a remonstrance to the Emperor, accusing Chusero of a conspiracy against the state. Mubarick, on this, ordered them to seize him, and send him prisoner to Delhi, which accordingly they found means to execute. But when he came before the King, he pleaded his own innocence so artfully, and blamed his accusers with such plausibility of truth, that the Emperor, believing the whole proceeded from the disgust of their being commanded by his favourite, he recalled them; and notwithstanding they gave undoubted proofs of their assertions, he was determined to listen to nothing against this vile catamite. He dishonoured them, confiscated all their estates, turning them out to poverty and the world. The other Omrahs seeing that the enemies of Chusero, right or wrong, were devoted to destruction, the men of the best principles among them made excuses, and obtained leave to retire to distant parts of the empire; while the abandoned to all honour joined themselves to the catamite, who was now the object of universal dread, as well as the source of all benefits and promotion. This slave, in the mean time, cherished his own ambitious views, and began again to form measures for his own advancement.

To accomplish his purpose, he told the King, “That as his own fidelity and services had been by his Majesty so generously rewarded, and as he might still have occasion for them in the conduct of his military affairs, while the Omrahs, from the pride of family, were seditious and disobedient to his commands, he begged that he might be permitted to call some of his relations from Guzerat, in whom he could more certainly confide.” Mubarick agreed to this request; and Chusero sent a great sum of money, by some of his agents, to Guzerat, who collected about twenty thousand of the dregs of the people, and brought them to Delhi. Every place of profit and trust were conferred upon those vermin, which bound them fast to Chusero's interest; and also upon all the villains about the city, who were remarkable for their boldness and address.

The Emperor, in the mean time, going to hunt towards Jirsava, a plot was formed to assassinate him. But this, was laid aside, on account of some difference in opinion among the conspirators: and therefore they resolved to perform their tragedy in the palace. Mubarick returned to Delhi, and, according to custom, gave himself up to his debaucheries. Chusero was warm in his project, and took the opportunity of a favourable hour to beg leave of Mubarick to entertain his friends in the outer court of the palace. The Emperor not only consented, but issued orders to give them free access at all times; by which means the courts of the palace became crowded with those vermin.

In the mean time, the Casi Zea, who was famous for his skill in astrology, though upon this occasion, we imagine, he consulted his own judgment and not the stars, ran into the presence, and kissed the ground. “O King," said he, “Chusero is concerting means for your assassination. If this should prove false, his honesty will be the better established; if otherwise, caution is necessary, because life is a most inestimable jewel.” Mubarick smiled at the old man, who had been one of his preceptors, and told him, he would make enquiry into that affair: while instantly Chusero entered in a female dress, with all the affectations of a girl. The Emperor, upon seeing the infamous catamite, repeated a verse to this effect: “If my beloved were guilty of ten thousand crimes, one smile from him and I forget them all.” He then embraced Chusero, and actually did forget all that the Casi had said.

That night, as the Casi was suspicious of treason, he could not go to rest, but walked out about midnight to see whether the guards were watchful. In their rounds, he met Mundul, uncle to Chusero, who engaged him in conversation. In the mean time, one Jaherba came behind him, and, with one stroke of a sword, stretched him upon the ground, leaving him only strength to cry out, “Treason! treason! murder and treason are on foot!” while two servants, who attended him, run off, screaming aloud, that the Casi was assassinated. The guards started up in confusion, but they were instantly attacked by the conspirators, and massacred, before they could prepare for their own defence.

The Emperor, alarmed by the noise, asked Chusero, who lay in his apartment, the cause of it. The villain arose to enquire, and going out on the terrace, stood for some time, and returning told the King, that some of the horses belonging to the guard had broke loose from their picquets, and were fighting, while the people were endeavouring to lay hold of them. This satisfied Mubarick for the present; but, soon after, the conspirators having ascended the stairs, and got upon the terraces which led to the royal sleeping-apartment, they were stopped by Ibrahim and Ishaac, with all the porters of the private chambers, whom they immediately put to the sword. The Emperor, hearing the clash of arms and groans of dying men so near him, rose up in great terror and confusion, running towards the haram, by a private passage. Chusero, fearing he might escape, rushed close after him, and seizing him by the hair in the gallery, struggled with him for some time. Mubarick being the stronger man, threw Chusero on the ground; but as he had twisted his hand in his hair, he could by no means disengage himself, till some of the other conspirators came, and, with a stroke of a sabre, cut off his head, and threw it down into the court, proclaiming the deed aloud to those below.

The conspirators in the court below began to be hard pressed by the guards and the servants, who had crowded from all quarters, but upon hearing of the Emperor's fate, they all hastened out of the palace. The conspirators then shut the gates, and massacred all who had not the good fortune to escape; particularly the younger children of the Emperor Alla, Feredoon, Ali, and Omar; then, breaking into the haram, committed all manner of violence upon the poor women.

Thus the vengeance of God overtook and exterminated the race of Alla, for his ingratitude to his uncle Ferose, and the streams of innocent blood which flowed from his hands. Heaven also punished Mubarick, whose name and reign are too infamous to have a place in the records of literature; did not our duty, as an historian, oblige us to this disagreeable task. But notwithstanding, we have, in some places, been obliged to throw the veil of oblivion over circumstances too horrid to relate.

This massacre happened on the fifth of the first Ribbi, in the year 721. In the morning, Chusero, surrounded by his creatures, mounted the throne, and, ridiculously, assumed the title of the supporter of religion [Nasir-ul-dien.] He then ordered all the slaves and servants of Mubarick, who he thought had the least spark of honesty, to be put to death, and their wives and children to be sold for slaves. His brother was dignified with the title of Chan Chanan, or chief of the Omrahs, and married to one of the daughters of the Emperor Alla, while he took Dewilde, the widow of Mubarick, to himself. He disposed of all the other ladies of the seraglio among his beggarly friends.

The army now remained to be bribed, who loved nothing better than a revolution; for they had always, upon such an occasion, a donation of six months pay immediately divided from the treasury. This trifle bought those dissolute slaves, who were lost to all sense of gratitude or honour.

The son of Kimar, the chief of a gang of thieves, received the title of Shaista, and was made chief secretary of the empire, while Ain-ul-Malleck was appointed captain-general of the imperial armies. Jonah had the title of Chusero, and the appointment of master of the horse, with many other distinguishing favours, with an intention to gain over the allegiance of his father, Ghazi, governor of Lahore and Debalpoor, of whom the usurper was in great fear. Notwithstanding his promotion, Jonah was touched to the soul to see the empire ridden by a gang of villains. His father also, who was reckoned a man of great bravery and honour in those days, was discontented at the infamous proceedings at court, and roused himself to revenge. He acquainted his son of his purpose, and Jonah took the first opportunity to fly from Delhi, and join his father.

The usurper was in great perplexity upon the flight of Jonah, and began already to give his hopes to the wind. Ghazi immediately prepared for hostilities, and, by circular letters, invited all the Omrahs to join his standard. A great many of the subas of the provinces put their troops immediately in motion; but Mogulti, the governor of Moultan, jealous of precedence, refused to join; upon which occasion, Byram, a chief of some note in those parts, was prevailed upon to assassinate him.

Eclikki, governor of Samana, notwithstanding the usurper had been the occasion of his losing his ears, transmitted the circular letter of Ghazi to court, informing him of the rebellion, and, taking the field against the confederates, received a signal defeat, and, in his flight to Delhi, was fallen upon by the zemindars, and cut to pieces. The usurper sent his brother, and Sufi, with all on whom he could depend, against the confederates.

Ghazi, now joined by Byram with the army from Moultan, and other subas, advanced to meet the usurper's army, which he did upon the banks of the Sirusti. But as the troops of Ghazi were experienced in frequent wars with the Moguls, and those of Chusero enervated by indolence and debaucheries, and besides lost to all sense of military honour, they were broke on the first onset, and all the public treasure, elephants, and baggage, were taken. This booty was divided in the field among the conquerors. They then continued their march in triumph towards Delhi. The usurper. in great embarrassment, marched out of the city, and took possession of a strong post near the great pond of Alahi, with the citadel in his rear, and many gardens, with high walls in his front. He then opened the treasury, and gave three years' pay to his troops, leaving nothing but the jewels, of some of which he also disposed. The confederates advancing in sight, an action was expected next morning. But that night, Moultani drew off his forces from the usurper, and took the route of Mindu. This struck great terror into Chusero's army. They however drew up in order of battle; and Tilbiga and Shaista opposing the confederates with great bravery, as they advanced through the lanes, were at length overpowered and slain. But their situation gave such advantages to the usurper's army, that they maintained their post till the evening; when the infamous Chusero fled, with a few of his friends, towards Jilput. In the way he was deserted by all his attendants, and obliged to conceal himself in a tomb, from whence he was dragged the next day, and ordered to be put to death, together with his brother, who was taken in a neighbouring garden.

The day after this action, being the first of Shaban, all the Omrahs and magistrates of the city came to pay their respects to the victor, and made him a present of the keys of the capital. He mounted his horse, and entered Delhi in triumph. When he came in sight of the palace of a thousand pillars, he began to weep, crying with a loud voice: “O ye subjects of this great empire! I am no more than one of you, who unsheathed my sword to deliver you from oppression, and rid the world of a monster. My endeavours, by the blessing of God, have been crowned with success. If therefore any of the royal line remain, let them be brought, that justice may take place, and that we, his servants, may prostrate ourselves before his throne. But if none of the race of Kings have escaped the bloody hands of tyranny and usurpation, let the most worthy of the illustrious order be elected among you, and I shall swear to abide by your choice.”

The people cried out with one voice, that none of the princes were now alive; that as he had shielded them from the vengeance of the Moguls, and delivered them from the rage of a tyrant, none was so worthy to reign. Then seizing him, in a manner by violence, they placed him upon the throne, and hailed him King of the World. But he assumed the more modest title of Yeas-ul-dien Tuglick, or the reformer of religion. The reign of Chusero was five months. Nothing in history can exhibit such an example of the dissolute and infamous manners of any age or nation, as we are presented with in the accounts of this wicked and shameful usurpation, though it was scarcely more dishonourable to mankind than the reign of the abandoned Mubarick, who had some right to the empire. During the short usurpations of the two Cafoors, and the reign of Mubarick, there were very few alterations in the state of Asia. Ajuli Palipata sat on the Mogul throne of Tartary and China; and Abusaid, of the race of Zingis, on that of Persia.

[Section XVI. The Reign of Sultan Yeas Ul Dien Tuglick Shaw.]

TUGLICK I.

We have no true accounts of the pedigree of Tuglick [Sultan Yeas-ul-dien Tuglick Shaw.]. It is generally believed that his father, whose name was Tuglick, had been, in his youth, brought up as an imperial slave, by Balin. His mother was one of the tribe of the Jits. But indeed the pedigrees of the Kings of the Patan empire make such a wretched figure in history, that we could wish to omit them, were it not to show how far the depravity and corruption of a people can plunge them into the sink of slavery, and subject them to the vilest of men.

When Tuglick mounted the throne, he began to regulate the affairs of government, which had fallen into the utmost disorder, by the most salutary and advisable methods, which gained him general esteem. He repaired the palaces and fortifications, founded others, and encouraged industry and commerce. Men of genius and learning were called to court; institutes of laws and government were established and founded upon the Coran, and the ancient usages of the empire.

Jonah, the Emperor's eldest son, was declared heir apparent, with the title of Ali, and all the royal ensigns conferred upon him. His other four sons were entitled Byram, Ziffer, Mamood, and Nuserit. Byram Iba, who had so effectually assisted him with the army from Moultan, was adopted his brother, by the title of the noble Chusero, and appointed viceroy of the provinces upon the Indus. Assid, his nephew, was appointed lord of the presence; and Malleck Baha, his other nephew, chief secretary of the empire. Shadi, the Emperor's brother and son-in-law, was made vizier. Burhan had the government of Deogire conferred upon him; and Tartar, the government of another district in that country called Zifferabad.

The Emperor, in the mean time, stationed troops upon the frontiers towards Cabul, and built forts to defend the country from the incursions of the Moguls, which he did so effectually as not to be troubled by these invaders during his reign.

In the second year from his accession, Jonah, the Emperor's eldest son, with some of the old Omrahs, and the troops of Chinderi, Budaoon, and Malava, was dispatched towards Tillingana, to' chastise Lidderdeo, the Indian prince of Arinkil, who had, during the late disturbances, wrested his neck from the yoke, and refused to send his tribute, while the Raja of Deogire had also swerved from his allegiance. Jonah having advanced into those countries, began a barbarous war with fire and sword. Lidderdeo opposed him with some vigour, but was in the end obliged to retreat into the city of Arinkil, which Jonah immediately invested.

The siege was carried on with great loss on both sides, till the walls were battered down, and a practicable breach made. The Mahommedan army, in the mean time, on account of the hot winds and bad water, were seized with a malignant distemper, that swept hundreds to their graves every day. Many became desirous to return home, and spread false reports. through the camp, which threw universal consternation among the army. As there had been no advices for above a month from Delhi, Zuda Dimiski the poet, and some others who were companions of Jonah, raised a report, by way of jest, that the Emperor was dead, and that a great revolution had happened in Delhi. Not content with this, they went to the tents of Timur, Afghan, Cafoor Mordar, and Tiggi, who were the principal Omrahs in the camp, and told them such and such was the state of affairs at Delhi, and that Prince Jonah, knowing them, as old Omrahs, to have an equal right with himself to the empire, had resolved to dispatch them.

The Omrahs, giving implicit belief to this false information, fled that night, with all their dependants, from the camp. Jonah, thus deserted, was under the necessity of retreating, in great disorder, towards Deogire, whither he was pursued by the besieged, with great slaughter. In the mean time advices arrived from Delhi, that all was well, and Jonah halted at Deogire, to collect his scattered army. The four Omrahs who fled, having disagreed among themselves, had each taken a separate route, by which means they were fallen upon by the Indians, plundered of their elephants, camels, and baggage, and otherwise greatly harassed in their march. Timur and Tiggi were both slain, while Afghan and Cafoor were seized by their own troops, and brought prisoners to Deogire. An inquiry was made into their conduct, the authors of the disturbance seized, and all of them sent prisoners to Delhi. The Emperor ordered the propagators of the false intelligence to be buried alive, with this severe sarcasm: "That they had buried him alive in jest, but that he would bury them alive in good earnest."

Prince Jonah was obliged to retreat from Deogire, and brought only back three thousand horse, of all his great army, to Delhi. He in two months, however, made great preparations, and, with a more numerous army than the former, took the route of Arinkil. He took in his way the city of Bedir, on the frontiers of Tillingana, and other places, where he left garrisons. He then advanced to the capital, renewed the siege, and, in a short time, reduced it. Some thousands of the unfortunate Hindoos were massacred, and Lidderdeo, with his family, taken prisoners. Jonah sent the prisoners, their treasure, elephants, and effects, to Delhi, under charge of Kuddir and Chaja. Upon their arrival, great rejoicings were made in the new citadel, which the Emperor had built, by the name of Tughlickabad.

The Prince, having appointed trusty Omrahs to govern the country of Tillingana, proceeded in person towards Jagenagur [Now Cattack in Orissa.]. In that place he took forty elephants from the Raja, and sent them to his father. Returning then to Arinkil, he staid there a few days, and continued his march to Delhi.

In the beginning of the year 724, complaints arrived from Bengal of the great oppressions committed by the governors of that kingdom. Tuglick appointed his son Jonah to the government of Delhi, and, with a great army, marched towards Bengal. When he had reached Nahib, Nazir, the grandson of the Emperor Balin, who had remained in that government since the death of his father, arrived, in a respectful manner, from Bengal, with many valuable presents. He was confirmed in his government of the whole kingdom of Bengal, and honoured with royal dignities; and the Emperor prepared for his return.

When he was passing near the hills of Turhat, the Indian prince of those parts appearing in arms, he pursued him into the woods. Finding his army could no longer continue the pursuit, he alighted, and calling for a hatchet, cut down one of the trees with his own hand. The troops, upon seeing this, set to work with such spirit, that the forest seemed to vanish before them, till they arrived at a fort surrounded with seven ditches full of water, and a high wall. The King immediately invested it, began the siege, filled up the ditches, and broke down the wall in three weeks. He took the Raja, his family, and wealth, and conferred the government of Turhat upon the noble Ahmed, and returned with his army towards Delhi.

When the Emperor had reached Afghanpoor, he was met by Prince Jonah, with all the nobles of Delhi, to congratulate him upon his safe return. But his death was now approaching. His son had in that place raised à wooden house, in three days' time, for his father's reception. The entertainment being over, the King was preparing to mount, and every body hastened out to be ready to accompany him. The roof of the building fell instantly in, and killed the Emperor and five of his attendants, as he was rising to follow the Omrahs.

Some authors attribute this accident to the newness of the building, and the motion of the elephants that were preparing without. Others give it to design, with which they charge Jonah, as the raising this unnecessary building seems indeed to indicate. But others ascribe it to lightning; so that the matter still remains in doubt. The death of Tuglick happened in the month of the first Ribbi of the year 725, after a reign of four years and some months. The poet, the noble Chusero, who lived down to the end of this Emperor's reign, has favoured posterity with his history at large, by which it appears that he was a great and virtuous prince.

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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.