The History of Hindostan (1812), by Alexander Dow

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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.

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Part 15 of 15

[Section XVIII. The Reign of Sultan Moazim Mohizzib Firose Shaw, the son of Sallar Rigib.]

FEROSE III.

When the death of Mahommed happened, his cousin Ferose [Moazim Mohizib Ferose Shaw, ben Sallar Regib.] was in the imperial camp. He was nephew to the Emperor Tughlick; and Mahommed, having conceived great friendship for him, designed to make him his successor, and, for that purpose, recommended him upon his death-bed to the Omrahs. Upon Mahommed's demise the army fell into the utmost confusion. Ferose, having gained over the majority of the Omrahs to his party, prevailed, with presents, upon the Mogul mercenaries to move to some distance from the camp to prevent disturbances, till he should reduce the rest of the army to obedience.

Amir Norose, a Mogul chief, who commanded a great body of the imperial troops, deserted that night, and, having joined Altu, the general of the Mogul mercenaries, told him, that now was the time to plunder the late Emperor's treasure, and to retreat to their native country. Altu was easily prevailed upon to adopt this lucrative scheme. They therefore returned next morning to the camp, which was still in very great confusion, and, after a very sharp skirmish, loaded some camels with treasure. Ferose, to secure himself from further depredations, led the army to Sewan, and took every possible means to defend himself against the avarice of the mercenaries.

The Omrahs, the day after this movement, waited upon Ferose, and entreated him to mount the throne. After many pretended excuses, he favoured the Omrahs with his consent, and was accordingly proclaimed Emperor.

He, the very first day of his reign, gave orders to ransom many prisoners, who, during the late confusion, had fallen into the hands of the people of Tatta; and, upon the third day, he marched against the Mogul mercenaries, took many of their chiefs prisoners, and forced the rest to fly towards their own country.

He, soon after, directed his march to the fort of Bicker, and gladdened the face of the court with princely presents, and gave very liberally to the zemindars of Bicker and Sewistan. He from thence sent Ahmed and Ali Ghori against the rebel Tiggi, with a part of his army, and marched himself towards Outch, where he did many acts of benevolence and charity.

At Outch the Emperor received advices from Delhi, that Jehan, who was a relation of the late Emperor, now about ninety years of age, had placed upon the throne a boy whom he had adopted, by the name of Mahommed, and had massacred a number of the citizens who had refused to pay him allegiance.

Ferose sent Shanapil, to expostulate with the old man, who, he thought, was now in the dotage of years, with promises of forgiveness and favour, if he would relinquish his ridiculous scheme. The Emperor himself, in the mean time, remained with the army to regulate the territory of Outch. He was soon after joined by Muckbil, the vizier of the empire, who received an honorary dress, and a confirmation of his former dignity.

Ferose having reached Hassi, on his way to Delhi, met an ambassador from Jehan, acquainting him, that now the empire was in the hands of Mahommed's family, and therefore, that it would be no more than justice in him, to acknowledge the title of the young King, and act as regent, during the minority. Ferose immediately convened the Omrahs before the ambassador, and asked them, whether they knew any of the male issue of Mahommed. They all declared, that unless Molana Cumal, an Omrah then present, knew, they were perfectly strangers to any surviving issue of Mahommed. Molana made answer, that though one should remain of the issue of the former Emperor, it was now advisable to stand by what was already done. We have reason to believe, from this circumstance, that the youth who was set up at Delhi, was actually a son of Mahommed, though it was, at that time, prudent in the Omrahs not to acknowledge him.

The Emperor, after the council, sent Zada the ambassador back to acquaint Jehan of what had passed, and to advise him to accommodate matters. in an amicable way. When Zada arrived in the city, a number of the principal men in the place hastened to the camp of Ferose, and made their submission. Much about the same time, advices were received from Guzerat, that the rebel Tiggi was defeated by Ahmed: and, that very day, a son was born to the Emperor, whom he named Fatti. These fortunate circumstances concurred to strengthen the interest of Ferose.

Jehan, perceiving that he could not support the young King, made overtures towards an accommodation to Ferose. He sent some respectable Omrahs to intercede with the Emperor for his pardon, and to solicit leave to pay his respects in person. Ferose consented, and accordingly the old man, with his head bare, and his turban hung round his neck, came, accompanied by some of the principal men of his party, to make his submission. The King, according to his promise, gave him his life, but ordered the chief magistrate of Hassi to take him under his care, which was a kind of imprisonment. Chattab, one of Jehan's associates, was banished to Karkinda, and Gustami expelled the court.

Upon the second day of Regib, in the year 752, Ferose marched into Delhi, and mounted the imperial throne. He immediately began to administer impartial justice to his people, who flocked from all quarters, with their petitions. He, in the mean time, conferred offices and titles upon his Omrahs.

Upon the fifth of Siffer, in the following year, he, in order to hunt, removed his court towards the hills of Sirmore, and reduced several zemindars to obedience. He, in the mean time, had a son born to him at Delhi, whom he named Mahommed, and ordered great rejoicings to be made upon the occasion; distributing his favours with a liberal hand.

In the year 754, the Emperor hunted at Callanore. He ordered, upon his return, a palace to be built upon the banks of the Sursuti; and, towards the end of the year, appointed one Jehan to the viceroyship of Delhi. He himself, in the mean time, marched towards Bengal, to subdue Elias, who had assumed the imperial title, and possessed himself of all Bengal and Behar, even ta Benaris. When he had arrived in the neighbourhood of Gorupoor, the zemindars of that place, having brought proper presents, were admitted to his presence.

Ferose having penetrated as far as Pundua, one of the residences of the princes of Bengal, Elias retreated to a strong post, whither the Emperor pursued him. An action ensued, but Elias secured himself in his post, which obliged the Emperor to surround him, the place being almost inaccessible. Things having continued in this situation for twenty days, Ferose, intending to change his ground, and to encamp on the banks of the Ganges, went out to reconnoitre. The enemy, imagining that he meditated a retreat, advanced out of their post, and drew up in order of battle. But, when they saw that the Emperor was preparing to attack them, they again retreated within their works, but with such precipitation and confusion, that forty-four elephants, and many standards, fell into the Emperor's hands. The rainy season coming on with great violence, a kind of peace was patched up between them, and the Emperor returned disappointed to Delhi.

In the year 755, Ferose built the city of Feroseabad, adjoining to that of Delhi; and in the following year marched to Debalpoor, where he made a canal one hundred miles in length, from the Suttuluz to the Jidger. In the year 757, between the hills of Mendouli and Sirmore, he cut a channel from the Jumna, which he divided into seven streams; one of which he brought to Hassi, and from thence to Beraisen, where he built a strong castle, calling it by his own name. He drew, soon after, a canal from the Cagar, passing by the walls of Sirsutti, and joined it to the rivulet of Kera, upon which he built a city, named after him, Feroseabad. This city he watered with another canal from the Jumna. These public works were of prodigious advantage to the adjacent countries, by supplying them with water for their lands, and with a commodious water-carriage from place to place.

An embassy about this time arrived, with presents and new conditions of peace from Bengal, which Ferose accepted, and soon after ratified the treaty. Bengal became, in a great measure, independent of the empire, paying only a small acknowledgment annually, by way of present. He exacted no other terms of the Decan; so that these two great members were now lopt off from the government of Delhi.

In the year 759, the king of Bengal sent a number of elephants, and other rich presents, to Delhi, which was amply repaid in Arabian and Persian horses, jewels, and other rich curiosities. But when the imperial embassy arrived at Behar, they received news of the death of Shumse, king of Bengal, and that his son Ascunder had acceded to the throne. They thought proper not to proceed further, and returned to Delhi. The Emperor being, in the same year, encamped at Semana, received advices that the Moguls had made an incursion as far as Debalpoor. He forthwith ordered a general, with a great army, against them; but the Moguls, before his. arrival, had laden themselves with spoil, and retreated towards their own country.

Notwithstanding the treaty of 757, Ferose, in the year 760, resolved upon another expedition into Bengal. Having arrived at Zifferabad, he cantoned there his army, during the rains. When he lay at this place, Bustami, who had been banished, returned ambassador from the Calipha of Egypt [After the taking of Bagdat by Halacu, king of Persia, the grandson of Zingis, one of the family of Abassi assumed the title of Calipha in Egypt.], with a chelat; for which he was graciously received, and dignified with the title of Azim. An embassy having been, in the mean time, dispatched to Ascunder, the new king of Bengal, returned with another on his part, and with rich presents. The King, not being satisfied with these concessions, marched, after the rains were over, towards that country, and, on his way, conferred the ensigns of royalty upon the prince Fatti his son. He gave him masters for his instruction, to whom the royal youth gave great attention.

Ferose having arrived at Pundwah, Ascunder, after the example of his father, retreated to Ackdalla, and shut himself up in that place. Being however closely invested, and reduced to great straits, he sent forty-eight elephants, and other presents, to the Emperor, with overtures of peace. In a few days the terms were agreed upon, and Ferose marched to Jionpoor, where he cantoned his army for another season, and then moved down behind the mountains, towards Jagenagur.

Ferose having crossed the river Mendri, arrived at the capital of the Indian prince of Jagenagur, which was also called Benaris. The Raja, upon the Emperor's approach, fled towards Tillingana. Having plundered the country, Ferose returned, and, upon his way, was met by the prince of Beerban, who presented him with thirty-seven elephants, and other valuable presents, upon consideration of not ravaging his country. The Emperor, having received the presents, changed his route, and, as he passed through the woods of Pudmawitti, which abounded with elephants, he caught thirty-three of them, and killed a few in the chace. He then continued his march, and arrived at Delhi, in the year 762.

Ferose, who had much at heart the improvement of his country, was informed, that near Hirdar, in the province of Sirhind, there was a mountain from which there issued a great stream of water, which fell into the Suttuluz; and that beyond that place there was a small rivulet called Selima, divided only by a rising ground from the large stream which we have just mentioned. The Emperor considered, that, by making a cut through this eminence, the great stream might be carried into the rivulet, and so form a river to water the countries of Sirhind and Munsurpoor, from whence it might be carried to Sunnam, and so render great tracts of land. fertile. He therefore marched immediately that way, and ordered fifty thousand labourers to be collected together to cut the passage. When the workmen were in this place employed in digging to great depth, they found some immense skeletons of elephants in one place, and in another, those of a gigantic human form, the arm-bones of which measured one yard. Some of the bones were in their natural state, and others petrified.

The Emperor, having finished this great work, built a fort at Sirhind, which he called Ferosepoor. He, from that place, marched towards the mountains of Nagracut, where he was overtaken by a storm of hail and snow. He, however, reduced the Raja of those parts, after sustaining some loss on his side, and confirmed him again in his dominions; changing the name of Nagracut to that of the city of Mahommed, in honour of the former Emperor. Ferose was told here, that the goddess, whom the Hindoos worshipped in the temple of Nagracut [Some authors relate, that the image now worshipped at Nagracut is not that of Noshaba, which, say they, Ferose sent to Mecca, where it was buried before the door of the great Mosque. It is not improbable, but Alexander, who penetrated to the Indies, might have left an image of the Grecian Goddesses upon the frontiers of his conquests. The Brahmins might have, with less absurdity, converted this foreign Goddess into one of their own growth, than those holy persons at Rome, who have changed the statue of Jupiter Tonans into one of St. Peter; disgracing, with a parcel of keys, that hand which formerly held the thunder.], was the image of Noshaba, the wife of the great Secunder, which that conqueror had left with them. The name of the idol is now changed to that of Jewallamucki. In the temple there was also, at that time, a fine library of the books of the Brahmins, consisting of one thousand and three hundred volumes.

Ferose ordered one of those books, which treated of philosophy, astrology, and divination, to be translated into the Persian language, and called it the Arguments of Ferose. The Emperor, after the conquest of Nagracut, moved down the Indus towards Tatta, where Jambani, who had been always a subject of Delhi, had rebelled and fortified himself. The imperial army invested the city, but as provisions and forage became excessively scarce, and the rains had set in with great violence, Ferose was obliged to raise the siege, and march to Guzerat. He there spent the season in hunting, and, after the rains, he conferred the government of Guzerat upon Ziffer, and returned again to Tatta. Jambani capitulated, and delivered himself up to Ferose, who carried him, and the principals of his faction, to Delhi; but, after some time, he took him again into favour, and sent him to resume his former government.

In the year 774, Jehan, the vizier, died, and his son was honoured with his titles. Nothing remarkable happened till two years after, when the Emperor was plunged into affliction, by the death of his favourite son Fatte, a prince of great expectations.

Ferose, in the year 778, was informed, that the revenues of Guzerat were greatly deficient of the collections. This induced him to listen to the proposals of Wamaghani, who offered to give one hundred elephants, forty lacks of rupees, four hundred Abassinian slaves, and forty Arabian horses, every year, over and above the present payment, should he be appointed to that government. The Emperor replied, that if the present viceroy, the successor of Ziffer, who was dead, would consent to give as much, he should be continued. But to this the viceroy would not agree, and therefore the imperial mandates were granted to Wamaghani, and he forthwith set out for Guzerat. Not being able the next year to perform his promise, he withheld the revenue, and rebelled, which was a just punishment upon Ferose for his folly and avarice. The rebel, however, having greatly oppressed the people of his province, a conspiracy was formed against him, and, by the assistance of the Mogul mercenaries, who were settled in that country, they seized him, and sent his head to Delhi. This was the only rebellion that happened during this Emperor's reign. The government of Guzerat was conferred upon Musirra, with the title of Firhit-ul-Muluck.

There was a petty insurrection among the zemindars of Atava, in the year 779. It was however soon crushed, and the insurgents brought to punishment, while forts were built to keep them in proper subjection. In the year 781, Ferose marched towards Samana, Amballa, and Shawabad, as far as the foot of the mountains of Saitoor, and after demanding his tribute from the princes of the hills, which they paid him, he returned to his capital.

Much about this time, information was brought to the Emperor, that the zemindar of Kitter, whose name was Kirgu, had invited Mahommed, governor of Budaoon, and a number of his family, to his house, where he basely assassinated them. The Emperor, enraged at this villainy, marched immediately that way, and took severe vengeance upon the associates and kindred of the assassin, putting them without distinction to the sword, and levelling their houses with the ground. The murderer himself made his escape to the mountains of Cumaoon, and was protected by the Indian princes of those parts. Ferose ordered a detachment of his army against them. They brought back near thirty thousand of those unhappy mountaineers, who were all condemned to slavery. The Emperor's justice, in this case, degenerated into extreme severity. Neither did the misfortunes brought upon those miserable captives satisfy his thirst for revenge. He returned, every year, under pretence of hunting, to that unhappy country; but the people, and not the beasts of the forest, were his prey. He, by degrees, cut off all the inhabitants, and converted whole provinces into a wilderness.

Age and infirmity began, in the year 787, to press hard upon Ferose. Jehan the vizier, having the sole management of affairs, became very powerful in the empire. The Emperor was so much under his direction in all things, that he had the effrontery falsely to accuse Mahommed, the King's son, of a design against his father's life, in conjunction with several Omrahs. He brought the old man firmly to credit this accusation, and obtained his authority to secure the supposed conspirators. Ziffer was accordingly recalled from his government of Mahoba, and confined.

A party was sent to seize the prince, who, having previous intelligence of the design against him, began to provide for his security, placing guards, and fortifying himself in his own palace. In this situation he remained shut up for some days; and at last, having obtained leave for his wife to visit the King's Zinnana, he put on his armour, went into the close chair, and was carried into the Seraglio. When he discovered himself in that dress, the frightened women ran screaming into the Emperor's apartment, and told him, that the prince had come in armour with a treasonable design. The prince, having followed them, presented himself to his father, and falling at his feet, told him with great emotion, “That the suspicions he had entertained of him were worse than death itself. That he came therefore to receive it from his own hands. But first he begged leave to inform him, that he was perfectly innocent of the villainous charge which the vizier had purposely contrived to pave his own way to the throne.”

Ferose, sensible of his son's sincerity, clasped him in his arms, and weeping, told him, he had been deceived; and therefore desired him to proceed, as his judgment should direct him, against the traitor. Mahommed upon this went out from the presence, and ordered twelve thousand horse to be in readiness. With this body he surrounded the vizier's house that night, who, upon hearing of the prince's approach, put Ziffer to death, and, collecting his friends, came out to engage him in the street. Upon the first onset, the traitor was wounded, and drew back to his house. He fled immediately towards Mewat, and the prince seized all his wealth, and cut off his adherents.

Ferose, immediately after these transactions, resigned the reins of government into the hands of his son, and abdicated the throne. The prince, assuming the name of Mahommed [His titles were, Nazir ul Dien ul Dunia.], ascended the throne in the month of Shaban 789; and immediately ordered the Chutba to be read in his own and his father's name, He settled the offices of state, and distributed honorary dresses among the Omrahs. Eacoob, an Omrah in great repute, was promoted to the government of Guzerat, with the title of Secunder Chan.

Secunder, having arrived at Mewat, upon his way to his government, Goga, with whom Jehan, the vizier, had taken refuge, fearing the new Emperor's resentment, seized him, and sent him bound to Secunder, who cut off his head, and sent it to Delhi.

Mahommed went with his army, in the year 790, towards the mountains of Sirmore, to hunt, according to the custom of sovereigns. When he was employed in the diversion of the chace, advices were received, that Musirra, governor of Guzerat, at the head of the Mogul mercenaries settled in that country, had risen in rebellion, defeated and slain Secunder, who had been appointed to succeed him. The Emperor hastened to Delhi; but, as if all at once infatuated, he gave himself up entirely to pleasure, and seemed to be insensible of the loss which he had sustained, and of the dangers in which his conduct had involved him. When his old Omrahs attempted to rouse him from his lethargy, he turned them from his presence, and filled their offices with pimps and court flatterers.

The emperor's nephew, Baha, resolved to rush upon him in the midst of his dream of pleasure. He, for this purpose, conspired with the disgraced Omrahs, and arming one hundred thousand slaves, erected the standard of rebellion. Mahommed immediately dispatched Malleck Lahori, to treat with the rebels. When he came to their camp, which was pitched without the city, the mob pelted him with stones, and obliged him to retire, very much bruised and wounded. Mahommed, seeing no hopes of a peaceable accommodation, began at length to bestir himself, and advanced with his army against the conspirators, and, after a bloody contest, drove them into the city. They immediately possessed themselves of the palace, and again renewed the fight. The city became now a horrid scene of slaughter and confusion. During the space of two days and two nights, there was nothing but death in every street; friends and foes, victors and vanquished, were jumbled together without any possibility of distinction.

The slaves, upon the third day, brought out the old King, in his palakie, and set him down in the street between the combatants. When Mahommed's troops saw their former master, their affection returned, and, imagining that this was a voluntary deed of his, they at once deserted the prince, and crowded with shouts of joy to Ferose. Mahommed fled instantly, with a small retinue, to the mountains of Sirmore. Both parties looking up to the aged monarch, settled themselves into peace in his presence.

Ferose, unable to govern on account of the infirmities of age, placed, by advice of the Umrahs, Tuglick, the son of his eldest son, prince Fatte, upon the throne. The slaves, in the mean time, assassinated Hassen, the Emperor's son-in-law, for having endeavoured to support Mahommed: and even the first order issued by Tuglick, when he mounted the imperial throne, was, to kill all the adherents of Mahommed, wherever they should be found.

Ferose, who had arrived at the age of ninety, died in the year 790. Though no great warrior in the field, he was, by his excellent qualities, well calculated for a reign of peace. His severity to the inhabitants of Cumaoon, for the assassination of the governor of Samana, is a great blot in his reputation. But to this he perhaps was prompted by a religious zeal and enthusiasm: for the persons murdered were seids, or descendants of the prophet.

He reigned thirty-eight years and nine months, and left many memorials of his magnificence in the land. He built fifty great sluices, forty mosques, thirty schools, twenty caravanseras, a hundred palaces, five hospitals, a hundred tombs, ten baths, ten spires, one hundred and fifty wells, one hundred bridges; and the pleasure gardens he made were without number.

The Empire of Persia continued under petty princes till Timur-Bec, commonly called Tamerlane in Europe, mounted the throne of the kingdoms of Zagatay, which comprehended all Maver-ul-nere or Transoxiana, and the provinces of Cabul, Zabulistan, and others towards the Indus. After the conquest of the northern Tartary, he turned his arms against Persia, and entered Chorassan, seven years before the death of Ferose, the Patan Emperor of Hindostan. He completed the conquest of Persia in less than five years, and when Ferose died, Timur was employed in the reduction of the provinces upon the Euphrates.

[Section XIX. The Reign of Yeas Ul Dien, Tughlick Shaw, the son of Fatte Chan, and grandson of Sultan Firose Shaw.]

TUGLICK II.

TUGLICK [His titles were, Yeas-ul-Dien.] having mounted the throne in the palace of Feroseabad, ordered, according to custom, the Chutba to be read, and the currency to be struck, in his own name. He appointed Ferose Ali his vizier, by the title of Jehan, and confirmed Musirra, the rebellious governor, in his command of Guzerat.

He soon after sent an army under the vizier, to expel his uncle Mahommed from Sirmore, and that prince, upon the approach of the imperial army, fled to the mountains. He there took possession of a strong post, and, securing the wives and children of his adherents, waited to give the imperialists battle. He was however beat from post to post till he arrived at Nagracut, and shut himself up in that place. That fortress being very, strong, his enemies did not think proper to besiege it, and therefore returned to Delhi.

Tuglick giving reins to his youthful passions, and neglecting the affairs of state, vice, luxury, and oppression, began to rise up on every side. He was not blind to those misfortunes, but he mistook the cause, and admitted jealousy and mistrust within his mind. He confined, and treated cruelly, his own brother, Sallar: and his cousin Abu Bicker, having reason to dread the Emperor's resentment, fled the court, and, to secure himself, stirred up a faction against Tuglick. The conspirators consisted of Rukun, the vizier's deputy, and several other Omrahs of high repute, with all the imperial slaves, many of whom were in the highest offices at court.

Matters being ripe for execution, the conspirators rushed into the Divan, and assassinated Mubarick, the captain-general of the forces. Tuglick, being thus surprised, fled by the Jumna gate. Rukun pursued him, and having taken him and Jehan the vizier, they were immediately put to death. This event happened on the twenty-first of Siffer, in the year 791; Tuglick, after a reign of five months and a few days, having fallen by the effects of the folly of youth.

[Section XX. The Reign of Abu Bicker Shaw, the son of Ziffer Chan, and grandson of Firose Shaw.]

ABU BICKER.

Tue conspirators having assassinated the King, raised Abu Bicker, the grandson of the Emperor Ferose, by his third son, to the empire. Rukun, being appointed vizier, took the reins of government in his own hands. But his ambition was not satisfied with that high employ. He formed schemes to cut off the new King, and to usurp the throne. Abu Bicker, having timely information of his intentions, was beforehand with him, and ordered him and many of the principal slaves concerned in the conspiracy to be put to death.

In the mean time, the Mogul chiefs of Samana assassinated the viceroy, Sultan, the fast friend of the reigning Emperor, and sent his head to the prince Mahommed, at Nagracut. They earnestly solicited him to come and assert his right to the empire. Mahom. med accordingly, having collected his friends, advanced by the way of Jallendar to Samana, and proclaiming himself King at that place, advanced with a great army towards Delhi. After some repulses, Mahommed, as we shall see in the sequel, proved victorious, and sent Abu Bicker to his grave upon the twentieth of Zihige, in the year 792, when he had reigned one year and six months.

[Section XXI. The Reign of Nasir Ul Dunia Ul Dien Mahummud Shaw, the son of Firose Shaw.]

MAHOMMED IV.

MAHOMMED [Nasir ul dunia ul dien, Mahommed Shaw.], as we have already seen, mounted the throne in his father's life-time, in the year 789. How he was deposed and expelled by Baha, and the other Omrahs, in confederacy with the Mogul mercenaries of Guzerat, and the slaves of the household, and his transactions, till he shut himself up in the fort of Nagracut, has been also related. When the chiefs of the Moguls had assassinated the governor of Samana, Mahommed, according to their invitation, marched with great expedition from Nagracut, calling all his friends from Delhi. He soon found himself at the head of twenty thousand horse, with which he advanced towards the capital.

Upon the fifth of the first Ribbi, in the year 792, he entered Delhi, and lighted at the palace of Jehan. The Emperor, Abu Bicker, in the other quarter of the city, called Feroseabad, prepared himself for battle; and, on the second of the first Jemmad, the two armies engaged in the streets of Feroseabad. In the mean time Nahir, with a strong reinforcement, arrived, and joining Abu Bicker, they marched out of Feróseabad next morning, and drove Mahommed, with great slaughter, quite out of Delhi.

Mahommed retreated with two thousand horse only, over the Jumna; and immediately dispatched Humaioon his son, and several Omrahs, to Samana to recruit his army. He himself, in the mean time, remained in the town of Tillasar upon the banks of the Ganges. Having experienced from first to last, that the slaves of Ferose were his declared enemies, he gave orders to plunder all their estates in the neighbouring country, and to slay them wherever they should be found. The zemindars fell upon some thousands, who had possessions in other parts of the empire, and massacred them; while the farmers in general, disgusted with Abu Bicker's government, which had been very oppressive, withheld their rents, and listed themselves under Mahommed.

In the mean time, the viceroy of Moultan, and many Omrahs of note, having joined Mahommed with their forces, he collected, in a few days, an army of fifty thousand horse, made the usual appointments in the empire to please his friends, and advanced a second time towards Delhi. Abu Bicker had remained inactive in that city, ever since his late victory; he, however, drew out his army at a village called Hindali, to oppose Mahommed, and was so fortunate as to come off victorious once more. He drove Mahommed towards Tillasar, but contented himself with pursuing him three crores, and with taking his baggage, and then returned to his capital.

Humaioon, the son of Mahommed, not many days after the battle of Hindali, with the troops he had raised at Samana, made another attempt upon the capital, but succeeded no better than his father, being defeated at Paniput, and obliged to retreat towards Samana. But after all these successes, Abu Bicker thought it unsafe to leave the capital, being suspicious of a faction in the city in favour of Mahomined. Having at length punished some of the most disaffected, he ventured to march about forty miles towards Tillasar, where Mahommed was again collecting an army.

The latter having, by this time, concerted measures with his faction in the city, left the body of his army, with all his baggage, at Tillasar, and advanced, with four thou- sand chosen horse, towards Abu Bicker. When Abu Bicker had drawn up his army, Mahommed made a quick motion to the left, and passing the enemy's line, pushed forward to the capital. He there engaged the troops of Abu Bicker who guarded the walls, and having set fire to the Budaoon gate, forced his way into the city. He immediately entered the imperial palace, whither the citizens flocked to pay him their respects.

But Abu Bicker, having closely pursued Mahommed, arrived the same day before the city; and having forced the guards which Mahommed had placed at the gates, advanced to the palace, and drove that prince, whose troops had dispersed themselves, quite out of the city. He was obliged to retreat again to Tillasar, where he joined his army, having lost the major part of his detachment in the action.

Some time having thus passed without any decisive action, Hagib, chief of the imperial slaves, known by the title of Islam, disgusted with Abu Bicker, wrote to Mahommed, that if he would make another attempt upon the city, he would support him with the greatest part of the slaves who were under his direction. Abu Bicker hearing that Mahommed was again in motion, and having also discovered the disaffection of the slaves and others in his army, shamefully abandoned the capital, and fled with a small retinue.

Mahommed, in the month of Ramzan, entered Delhi, and ascended the imperial throne. He gave the office of vizier to Islam, to whom he principally owed his restoration. When he found himself firmly established, he ordered all the elephants which belonged to the slaves of Ferose, to be taken from them, and converted to his own use. The slaves, enraged at this injustice, fled the city that night, and hastened to join Abu Bicker. Mahommed, upon this desertion, turned out a few who remained, and ordered them, upon pain of death, never to appear in the city, where they had acquired such dangerous influence. Notwithstanding this decree, many slaves, unwilling to leave Delhi, concealed themselves: a search was ordered to be made, and such as were found were massacred. Some of those poor wretches, upon this occasion, cried out for mercy, affirming that they were originally Tartars. They were, upon this, ordered to pronounce the word Gurragurri, by which they were immediately distinguished. All who sounded it with the accent of Hindostan were put to death.

Mahommed, after having expelled the slaves, began to recruit his army, and sent Humaioon his son, with a considerable force, against the Emperor Abu Bicker. When this army arrived at Kotluh, Abu Bicker, by advice of Nahir, surprised Humaioon in his camp. The prince, however, exerted his utmost efforts in opposing the enemy, being gallantly supported by the vizier, drove Abu Bicker, after a brave resistance, quite off the field. Mahommed marched at the same time, with great expedition, towards Mewat, where Abu Bicker, seeing no hopes left, surrendered himself, and was sent prisoner to the fort of Merat, where he died some years after.

Mahommed returning to Delhi, received advices that Musirra, governor of Guzerat, rebelled. Ziffer was immediately dispatched with an army to suppress the rebellion; but for the particulars of this expedition, we must refer the reader to the history of the province of Guzerat [Our author's second volume, in the original Persian, treats of the particular history of all the provinces in Hindostan.].

In the year 794, intelligence was brought to Delhi, that the prince Nirsingh, Sirvadon chief of the Mahrattors, and Bireban of Bessu, chiefs of the Hindoos, had rose in arms against the empire. Mahommed ordered the vizier, with a considerable force, against Narsingh, the most powerful of the insurgents. Narsingh was defeated, made peace, and attended the conqueror to Delhi. The other two chiefs were subjugated at the same time.

The zemindars of Attava, upon account of some grievance, rose in arms, and ravaged Bittaram and the adjacent districts. Mahommed marched against them in person, and chastised them. The fort of Attava was levelled with the ground, and the Emperor took the route of Kinnoge and Tillasar, in the last of which cities he built à fort, which, from his own name, he called Mahommed-abad.

Advice came to the Emperor from Delhi, that the vizier was preparing to fly to Lahore and Moultan, to kindle in those provinces the flames of rebellion. Mahommed hastened to the capital, and charged him with his treasonable intentions. The vizier absolutely denied the fact, but Jaju, a Hindoo and his own nephew, swore falsely against him. Mahommed, being either convinced of his vizier's guilt, or instigated by a jealousy of his power, condemned him to die. Jehan, who was perhaps a no small promoter of the vizier's fall, was advanced to his office. Muckurrib, who made a figure in the next reign, was, at the same time, appointed governor of Mahommed-abad.

In the year 795, Sirvadon chief of the Mahrattors, and Bireban of Bessu, appeared in arms; and Muckurrib was ordered with the troops at Mahommed-abad, against them.

The Emperor, about this time, marched to Mewat, to quell some disturbances in that place. Upon his return to Mahommed-abad, he was taken ill of a dangerous fever, which rendered him delirious for some days. When he was in this condition, news was brought, that Nahir [An adherent of Abu Bicker.] had plundered the country to the gates of Delhi. The Emperor, though far from being recovered of his illness, hastened to Mewat. Nahir, who headed the rebels, drew up his army at Kottilab, and gave Mahommed battle; but he was defeated, and fled to Jidger.

Mahommed, after this victory, returned to Mahommed-abad, and, in the month of Ribbi the second of the year 796, sent his son Humaioon to crush the Prince of the Gickers, who had rebelled, and possessed himself of Lahore. But before the Prince had left Delhi, news was brought to him of his father's decease; for the Emperor, having relapsed into his former disorder, expired on the 17th of Ribbi the second, at Mahommed-abad. He reigned about six years and seven months; and his body was deposited at Delhi, with his fathers.

Mahommed being mixed with the dead, his son Humaioon ascended the throne, by the name of Secunder, He continued or confirmed all his father's officers; but being in a few days taken with a violent disorder, he went the way of his fathers, after a reign of forty-five days.

[Section XXII. The Reign of Nasir ul Diel Mamood Shaw, the son of Mahummud Shaw.]

MAMOOD III.

WHEN Humaioon yielded to the power of his fate, violent disputes arose among the nobles about the succession. They at last fixed upon Mamood [Nasir ul dien, Mamood Shaw. ], an infant son of the Emperor Mahommed, whom they placed upon the throne, by the name of Mamood Shaw; while Jehan remained in the office of vizier, and absolute government of the state. Muckirrib, governor of Mahommed-abad, was made captain-general of the forces. Sadit was appointed lord of the audience, Saring Chan governor of Debalpoor, and Dowlat nominated to the office of chief secretary of the empire.

The apparent debility of the empire, arising from the King's minority and dissensions of the Omrahs, encouraged all the Hindoos around to kindle the flames of rebellion; particularly those of the eastern provinces. Jehan, the vizier, upon this occasion, assumed the title of King of the East, and proceeded towards Behar with a great army. He soon reduced that country to obedience, and having at the same time forced the Prince of Bengal to pay him the customary tribute, he returned, and fixed his residence at Jionpoor.

While Jehan thus established himself, in opposition to his master, in the east, Saring, governor of the provinces near the Indus, began to form an independency in the west. Having, as suba of Debalpoor, collected the troops of the province of Moultan, and the north-west division of the empire, he advanced against the Gickers, who waited for him at Adjodin, about twenty-four miles from Lahore. A battle immediately ensued, and the Gickers, being defeated, were obliged to take refuge among the mountains of Jimbo. Saring, after this victory, left his brother Adil in the government of Lahore, and returned himself to Debalpoor.

Mamood this year, having left Delhi in charge of Muckirrib the captain-general, marched towards Gualier and Biana, accompanied by Sadit and many of the chief Omrahs. When the King had arrived in the neighbourhood of Gualier, Mubarick, Eckbal the brother of Saring, and Alla, conspired against the life of Sadit. But Sadit, having timely information of the plot, slew Mubarick and Alla, while Eckbal escaped to Delhi. Though the conspiracy was thus quashed, the confusions which were the consequences of it, obliged the Emperor to return to the capital, without prosecuting the scheme of reducing those territories to obedience.

The distractions in the empire began now to multiply exceedingly. Mamood arriving in the neighbourhood of Delhi, Muckirrib, the captain-general, came out to pay his respects. But having on his way understood that Sadit had sworn vengeance against him for affording protection to Eckbal, he fled back to the city, and, shutting the gates against the Prince, prepared to make a resolute defence. The city, in short, was besieged for three months, till the King being assured that the war was commenced and continued on account of Sadit, accommodated matters with Muckirrib, and, in the month of Mohirrim 797, was admitted into Delhi.

Muckirrib, encouraged by the coming over of his Prince, marched the next day out of the city, with all his force, against Sadit; but he was beat back with great loss. The rains had now come on, and it being impossible for Sadit to keep the field, he struck his tents, and marched into Feroseabad. He immediately sent for Nuserit, the son of the Prince Fatte, the eldest son of the Emperor Ferose, from Mewat, and set him up in opposition to Mamood, by the title of Nuserit Shaw. Under the name of this Prince, Sadit began to manage the affairs of that part of the empire which adhered to Nuserit.

But a new faction breaking out in his government, disconcerted his measures. The slaves of the Emperor Ferose, disgusted with his behaviour towards them, prevailed upon the keepers of the elephants to join them. They forcibly placed Nuserit upon an elephant, advanced against Sadit, and drove him quite out of the city of Feroseabad, before he had time to prepare for his own defence. To avoid one danger, the unfortunate Sadit fell into another; for having sought protection under Muckirrib, the captain- general, he was by him put to death.

The misfortunes of the state daily increased. The Omrahs of Feroseabad, and some of the provinces, espoused the cause of Nuserit. Those of Delhi, and others, supported the title of Mamood. The whole empire fell into a state of anarcy, confusion, and distraction. A civil war was kindled in every corner; and, a thing unheard-of before, two Kings, in arms against one another, resided in one capital. Things, however, remained in this unfortunate situation for three years, with a surprising equality on both sides; for if one monarch's party had at any time a superiority over the other, it was in singularity of misfortunes. It was not a state of war, but a continued battle between the two cities: thousands were killed almost every day, and the place of the slain was constantly supplied by reinforcements from different parts of the empire. Some of the subas of the provinces took no part in this civil war. They hoped to see the empire so weakened by public calamities, that they themselves might become independent; and, to lay a foundation for their future power, they withheld the customary revenues.

In the year 798, Saring, the brother of the famous Eckbal, the governor of Debalpoor, having some differences with Chizer, governor of Moultan, made war upon him. After several engagements with various success, victory declared for Saring. He immediately seized Moultan, became very powerful, and, in the year following, advanced with a great army to Samana, which he reduced to his obedience. Nuserit dispatched Tatar, suba of Panniput, and Almass, with an army against him. They engaged Saring on the first of Mohirrim, in the year 799, gave him a signal overthrow, and obliged him to fly to Moultan.

Saring received, in that city, in ligence that the Prince Mahommed Jehangire, the grandson of Timur [Tamerlane.], had built a bridge over the Indus, and that, having crossed that river, he invested Outch. Saring immediately dispatched his deputy, with other Omrahs, and the best part of his army, to reinforce Ali, the deputy of the governor of Outch. Mahommed, hearing of this army, advanced to the Bea, fell upon them by surprise just as they had crossed that river, defeated, and drove them back into the stream; so that more were drowned than fell by the sword. A few of the discomfited army made the best of their way to Moultan.

Mahommed kept close at the heels of the runaways, and obliged Saring to shut himself up in Moultan. After a siege of six months he was obliged, for want of provisions, to surrender at discretion; and being imprisoned, with all his army, Mahommed took possession of the city. Saring, in a few days, found means to escape: but the country remained in subjection to the Moguls.

But to return to the transactions at Delhi. Eckball, being disgusted with the Emperor Mamood, deserted him. He sent a message to Nuserit, to desire leave to join him with his party. This offer was very readily accepted; they met, went to the palace of Seri, and, upon the Koran, swore mutual friendship, at the tomb of Chaja Kaki. During these transactions, Mamoodi, with Muckirrib the captain-general of his forces, remained in the old city.

The perfidious Eckbal, about three days after his desertion, quarrelled with Nuserit, and not regarding his oath, began to form a conspiracy against him. Nuserit, being informed of the piot, found himself constrained to quit the palace of Seri. The traitor fell upon him in his retreat, and took all his elephants, treasure, and baggage. The unfortunate Prince, being in no condition to keep the field, fled to his vizier at Panniput.

Eckbal took immediately possession of Feroseabad. His power daily increased, and he now employed it to expel the Emperor Mamood and Muckirrib from the old city. At length, by the mediation of some nobles, peace was concluded between the parties. But Eckbal, peculiarly perfidious, broke through all the sacred ties of the treaty; and setting upon Muckirrib in his own house by surprise, slew him. He immediately seized Mamood, and left him nothing but his life and the name of Emperor.

Eckbal, in the same year, marched from Delhi with Mamood, against Nuserit and Tatar at Panniput. Tatar, leaving his elephants and baggage in the fort, passed, by forced marches, the army of Eckbal, arrived before Delhi, and invested it. Eckbal, trusting to the strength he left in Delhi, advanced and attacked Panniput, and took it the third day, by escalade. He then hastened back to Delhi, and Tatar having failed in his attempt upon that place, fled to his father in Guzerat. Eckbal entering the city, began to regulate the government, which had fallen into the utmost confusion. In the mean time, to complete the miseries of the unhappy city and empire, news arrived, that Timur had crossed the Indus, with an intention to conquer Hindostan.

From the year 790 to the present year, Timur extended his conquest over all the western Asia, reduced the northern Tartary, and spread his ravages into Russia, as far as the Arctic Circle.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.