The History of Hindostan (1812), by Alexander Dow

[admin]

An Inquiry Into the State of Bengal: With A Plan for Restoring that Province to Its Former Prosperity and Splendour.

State of Bengal Under the Moguls.

Preliminary Observations.

THE affairs of India, though long of great importance to this kingdom, have only very lately become objects of public attention. Facts coming from afar made little impression: their novelty could not rouse, nor their variety amuse, the mind. With a self-denial uncommon in a spirited nation, we heard, without emotion, of the great actions of some of our countrymen; and, if we listened to any detail of oppressions committed by others, it was with a phlegmatic indifference, unworthy of our boasted humanity. A general distaste for the subject prevailed; an age, marked with revolution and change, seemed ready to pass away, without being sensible of events which will render it important in the eyes of posterity.

The current of public opinion has, at length, taken another direction. Men are roused into attention, with regard to a subject which concerns the welfare of the state. They begin to decide, in their own minds, upon affairs which stand in need of the interposition of the nation; and they shew an inclination to be informed, as well as a willingness to correct mistakes and to redress grievances. This consideration has induced the author of the following observations, to submit them, with all due deference, to the public. He has been, for years, a silent spectator of the transactions of the British nation in the East; and it is from the means of information which he has possessed, that he hopes to give something new to the world. With hands guiltless of rapine and depredation, he assumes the pen without prejudice, and he will use it with all decent freedom without fear.

The empire of the Hindoos over all India, came down from the darkest and most remote antiquity, to the 170th year before the Christian era, when it was dissolved by civil discord and war. Bengal, like many other provinces, started up into an independent kingdom, and was governed by successive dynasties of Rajas, who chiefly resided at the now deserted capital of Ghor. Under these princes, it continued a powerful and opulent kingdom to the beginning of the thirteenth century, when it was first invaded by the Mahommedans, under a Prince of the race of Chillagi, who possessed the countries near the source of the Oxus. The name of this Tartar invader was Eas-ul-dien; but he was soon after reduced to subjection by Altumsh, the Patan Emperor of Delhi, who formed Bengal into a province, governed by a lieutenant, who derived his authority from the conqueror.

Bengal, during the dominion of the Patans in India, was frequently subject to revolution and change. When a Prince of abilities sat on the throne of Delhi, it held of the empire; when the Emperor was weak, it became an independent sovereignty under its governor. When the valour and conduct of Baber put an end to the government of the Patans at Delhi, some of that race remained untouched in Bengal. The misfortunes of Humaioon, in the beginning of his reign, not only prevented him from extending the conquests of his father, but deprived him even of the throne which Baber had acquired; and death followed too soon, upon his return, to permit him to reduce the wealthy kingdom of Bengal by his arms. The glory of this conquest was reserved for his son, the illustrious Akbar, who, by the expulsion of Daoôd, the last King of Bengal of the Patan race, annexed it in the year 1574 to his empire. Viceroys from Delhi governed the kingdom, from that period, till the debility of Mahommed Shaw gave scope to the usurpation of Aliverdi; and now, by a wonderful revolution of fortune, the sovereigns of that distant province are created by the deputies of the East India company.

To give an enlarged idea of the subject, it may not be improper to inquire into the mode of government, which the Moguls established in the important province of Bengal. To impose nothing merely speculative upon the public, the Writer of the Dissertation has endeavoured to derive his information from undoubted authority. He has, therefore, translated and annexed to his work, the commissions granted by the court of Delhi to its principal officers in the provinces: from which it will appear, that the despotism of the house of Timur was circumscribed by established forms and regulations, which greatly tempered the rigid severity of that form of government.

Various Tenures under the Moguls.

The Mogul Tartars, when they conquered India, carried a system of necessary policy through the countries which their arms had subdued. Instead of seizing the lands of the vanquished, they confirmed them in their possessions. The number of the conquerors bearing no proportion to the conquered, self-preservation obliged the first to adhere together, and to hold the sword in their hands. Had they attempted to settle in different provinces, they would have soon ceased to be a people; and their power would have been broken by separation. They retained, therefore, their military character; and, when they reduced a province, they made the taxes paid to former Princes the invariable rule of their imposts. The people changed their lords, but if their government suffered any change, it was in the substitution of a milder despotism, in the place of the fierce tyranny of the Patans.

Many of the Rajas, or indigenous Indian Princes, had, from the first establishment of the Mahommedans, in India, been permitted to retain a great part of their ancient possessions, which they continued to govern by their own laws, without any appeal from their jurisdiction to the courts of justice established by Imperial commissions. The only mark of homage paid by the Rajas was a certain annual tribute. The house of Timur, no less remarkable for their prudence than for their clemency and justice, never encroached upon the privileges of the tributary Princes. They found, that though the Rajas paid not to the crown above half the sum raised upon the subject, their policy, industry, and good government, were so much superior to those of the Moguls, that the countries which they possessed yielded as much, in proportion to their extent, as those which they had farmed out to Zemindars of their own nation and faith. In the two provinces which the British nation now possess, and which, for the future, we will distinguish by the general name of Bengal, many districts of greater extent than any county in Britain, are still possessed by the aboriginal Rajas. But we are more rigid than the Moguls: we have encroached on their privileges, and annihilated their power. 'During the domination of the house of Timur, one fourth of Bengal was subject to these hereditary lords.

The division of the province which was more immediately under the Mahommedan government, was parcelled out into extensive districts, called Chucklas, resembling, in some measure, our counties; and into lesser divisions, like our ancient tithings. These were let to Zemindars, or farmers of the Imperial rents, who sometimes possessed a whole district, or Chuckla; as the Zemindar of Purnea, who assumed the style and state of a Nabob, though only a farmer of the revenue, under the unfortunate Surage-ul-Dowla. The court of Delhi, under the best Princes, was venal. A sum of money, secretly and properly applied, often secured the possession of his office to the Zemindar during life; and he even was sometimes enabled to transmit it to his heirs, till, by length of time, they were, in some measure, considered as lords of their respective districts.

The farmers, however, had no lease from the crown of the lands over which they presided. Their authority for collecting the rents from the inferior tenants, was derived from a written agreement, for a certain annual sum to be paid to the treasury, exclusive of the Imperial taxes. To prevent imposition on the poorer sort, in every district there was established a register, in which the rents and imposts upon every village and farm were entered, and open to the inspection of all. The registered rents and imposts were collected by the Crorie of the district, who was established in his office by an Imperial commission. He was accountable for the whole, even to the last Dâm, as the commission expresses it, to the Fotadâr or treasurer of the district, who paid them into the hands of the Dewan, or receiver-general of the Imperial revenues in the province.

The rights or dues of the Dewanny, or the revenue paid to the crown, did not amount to above half the sum raised upon the subject by the great farmers. These were, from time to time, permitted to raise the rents upon the inferior tenants, in proportion to the general improvement of the lands. The surplus, which was known to government from the public registers of the districts, was, in part, allowed to, the general farmers, for the purpose of building houses for the husbandmen, for furnishing them with implements of agriculture, for embanking to prevent inundations, for making reservoirs of water for the dry season; and, in general, for all expences attending the improvement and cultivation of the lands; which otherwise would have rendered the accounts of government intricate and perplexed.

The great farmers, however, were not permitted to oppress the tenants with exorbitant rents; neither was it their interest to extort from the husbandmen sums which would render them incapable of cultivating their lands, and of living comfortably upon the fruits of their toil. In the Imperial officers of the revenue, the poor had friends, and the Zemindar spies upon his conduct. They were such checks upon him, that he could conceal nothing from their observation. They transmitted monthly accounts of his transactions to court. If the tenants were able, without oppression, to pay the additional rent, the demands of the crown rose at the expiration of the year upon the farmer, in proportion to the new impost; if they were found incapable of bearing the burden, the Zemindar was turned out of his office for his avarice and imprudence.

A double revenue, it appears from what has been already observed, rose to the crown from the lands; the ancient rent, established at the conquest of India by the Moguls, and the sums which proceeded from the annual contracts with the great farmers. The viceroy of the province was vested with the power of letting the lands; and he was obliged to transmit to the receiver-general a record of the sums payable by each Zemindar. The cause of this mode of raising the revenue is obvious. The detail of accounts, the making of contracts with the inferior tenants, would have rendered the business of government too minute and too expensive; and to have permitted the general farmers to manage their districts without either check or control, would have given birth to scenes of oppression, which fate had reserved for an unfortunate people to our times. The Mogul empire is now no more; and the servants of the freest nation upon earth have left the body of the people to the mercy of the Zemindars.

The general farmers of districts were not the only persons known by the name of Zemindars. Men who possessed estates for life, and sometimes in perpetuity, free from all taxation, by virtue of Imperial grants, were distinguished by the same title. These grants were generally given to learned and religious men, to favourite servants at court, to soldiers who had deserved well of their Prince; and they were respected by succeeding Emperors, and seldom revoked. One sixth part of the lands in Bengal had been conferred, in perpetuity, by different Princes, on their favourites and adherents. Many of these estates have fallen into the East India Company, from a failure of heirs; and others daily fall, as the property is not transferable by sale. A minute inquiry might greatly increase our revenue. Many grants said to be derived from the Emperor, are only from the governors of the province; many are in the possession of men who cannot trace their blood to the original proprietors. A succession of revolutions has rolled one part of Bengal upon the other; and it is not hitherto settled from confusion.

Lands were held by a tenure less permanent, of the Emperors of Hindostan. A firman or Imperial mandate, called by the name of Jagieer, was issued frequently to particular men. This species of grant was for no term of years. It was given through favour, and revocable at pleasure. When any person was raised to the rank of an Omrah, it was an established rule to confer upon him an estate, for the support of his dignity. This, however, was nothing more than an assignment on the revenues of the crown, arising from a specified tract of land in a district named in the body of the grant. The grantee had no business with the tenants, as he never resided on the estate allotted for his subsistence. He sent his agent every season to the public officers of the district; and his receipt to them, for his allowance, was received by the Dewan, as a part of the Imperial revenue. No conditions of service, none for the maintenance of troops, were annexed to the grant. These are the fables of men who carried the feudal ideas of Europe into their relation of the state of India. The armies of the empire were paid out of the public treasury. Every province had its particular establishment of troops, which the governors were empowered to augment in times of rebellion and commotion.

During the domination of the house of Timur, there was no transferable landed property in Hindostan; excepting gardens, orchards, houses, and some small portions of ground, in the environs of great cities, for which merchants and wealthy tradesmen had obtained particular grants, distinguished by the name of Pottas. This species of property was repeatedly secured by general edicts, for the encouragement of building, for the accommodation of citizens, and the improvement of towns. Grants of this kind did not always proceed from the crown. The governors of provinces were empowered to issue Pottas, under certain limitations and restrictions; the principal one of which was, that the usual rent of the ground should be paid regularly by the proprietor to the collectors of the Imperial revenue.

Tenures of other various kinds were common in Bengal, as well as in the other provinces of the empire. An assignment was frequently granted, upon a specified tract of land, for the discharge of a certain sum; and when the sum was paid, the assignment expired. Particular farms were burthened with pensions, called Altumga, to holy men and their descendants, without their having any concern in the management of the lands. The despot reserved the people entire to himself, and established his power by preventing oppression. Certain imposts were also appropriated for the maintenance of Mullas or priests, for the support of places of worship, public schools, inns, highways, and bridges. These imposts were laid by the receiver-general of the revenue, upon the different husbandmen, in proportion to the rent which they paid; and the tax was distinguished. by the name of the impositions of the Dewan.

Civil Officers and Courts of Justice.

In states subject to despotism, the legislative, the judicial, and executive power, are vested in the Prince. He is the active principle which exists in the centre of the machine, and gives life and motion to all its parts. His authority and consequence however depend, in a great measure, on the degree in which he communicates his power to his officers. If he gives them all his authority, the reverence for his person is lost in the splendour of his deputies. If he bestows only a small part of his power on his servants, that terror, which is the foundation of his government, is removed from the minds of his subjects; and a door is opened for commotion, licentiousness, and crimes. The Emperors of India, of the house of Timur, had, for two centuries, the good fortune to clothe their officers with that happy medium of authority which was sufficient to govern without the power of oppressing the body of the people.

The despotism of Hindostan, it ought to be observed, was never a government of mere caprice and whim. The Mahommedans carried into their conquests a code of laws which circumscribed the will of the Prince. The principles and precepts of the Coran, with the commentaries upon that book, form an ample body of laws, which the house of Timur always observed; and the practice of ages had rendered some ancient usages and edicts so sacred in the eyes of the people, that no prudent monarch would choose to violate either by a wanton act of power. It was, besides, the policy of the Prince to protect the people from the oppressiveness of his servants. Rebellion sprung always from the great; and it was necessary for him to secure a party against their ambition among the low.

The Imperial governor of a province, known by the corrupted name of Nabob, in the East as well as in Europe, was an officer of high dignity and authority; but his power, though great, was far from being unlimited and beyond control. He conferred titles below the rank of an Omrah; he was permitted to grant estates till they should be confirmed by the crown. He appointed and dismissed at pleasure all officers both civil and military, excepting a few, whom we shall have occasion to mention, who acted by commission under the seal of the empire; and some of these, upon misbehaviour, he could suspend till the Emperor's pleasure was known. He let the lands to the general farmers, in conjunction with the Dewan; but he bore no part in the collection of the revenue, but by aiding the Imperial officers with the military power. The Omrahs, who served under him in the army, having generally, on account of the convenience, their allowance from the Emperor on the rents of the province, he had the power, for disobedience or notorious crimes, to suspend them from their Jagieers, until he should receive an answer from court, where the dispute was examined in the cabinet. In matters of justice, there rested an 'appeal to his tribunal, from the Cazi or chief-justice, though he seldom chose to reverse the decrees of that judge. Disputes where property was not concerned, and where the established laws had made no provision, were settled by his authority; but he was instructed at his peril not to turn the subjects of the empire out of the lands, tenements, or houses, which they themselves either possessed or built, or which descended to them from their ancestors.

The Dewan was the officer next in dignity to the viceroy, in the province. He derived his commission from the Emperor, as receiver-general of the revenue. His office was altogether confined to the administration and collection of the Imperial rents and taxes. He corresponded with the minister; he audited the accounts of the governor; and as he had entire to himself the charge and disposal of the public money, he might, for good reasons, refuse to discharge any extraordinary and unprecedented expences, or to issue out pay to new troops, raised without apparent necessity. He presided in the office called Dafter Ali, or over all the Mutasiddies, or clerks of the cheque; the Canongoes or public registers; Crories, or collectors of the larger districts; Fusildars, or collectors of the lesser districts; Fotadars, or treasurers; Chowdries, or chiefs of districts; Muckuddums, or head-men of villages, and in general over all the officers of the Imperial revenue.

The Crorie of every Pergunna or larger district, derived his commission from the Emperor. His office, though in miniature, was the exact counterpart of the Dewan; being the receiver-general of the county, if the name may be used, as the former .was of the whole province. He was immediately accountable to the Dewan, in whose office he passed his accounts. He produced the receipts of the Fotadar, or treasurer of the Pergunna or district, for the sums which he had paid into that officer's hands, from the collections made by the Fusildars, who, in the subdivisions of the Pergunna, held offices each of which was a counterpart of his own. The Carcun of the larger districts was an officer commissioned by the Emperor, to settle all matters and disputes between the tenants and the officers of the revenue, and to preserve the ancient usages of the Pergunna. He was also a kind of spy upon all their private as well as public transactions; he audited their accounts publicly, transmitting copies of them monthly to court, attested by the Sheickdars, Chowdries, and Canongoes of the district. These accounts being entered with great regularity in the vizier's office at Delhi, the Emperor had an immediate view of the collections in the province, before the general accounts of the Dewanny were adjusted; and this was also a great check upon the office of the Dewan.

The view already presented of the mode of collecting the Imperial revenue, renders it unnecessary to descend through all the inferior offices in the department of the receiver- general. The revenues, it must be observed, were never transmitted entire to the Imperial treasury in the capital of the province, much less into that of the empire. The expences incurred in every district were deducted from the receipts of the Fotadar, or treasurer of the district; and the disbursements of the province in general from those of the Dewan. The surplus alone, which was more or less according to accident, found its way to the Imperial exchequer. The estimates of the Imperial revenues are, therefore, not the sums received in the exchequer at Delhi, but the gross collections in every province.

The courts of justice in Bengal, distinguished by the general name of Cutcherries, were of various kinds. They generally received their designation from the officer who presided in each, or within whose jurisdiction they were comprehended. The Author of the Inquiry is not fully informed concerning the powers of the different judges, or the mode of proceeding in their courts. There arose a chain of appeal from the lowest to the highest. An action might be removed from any of the courts below before the Cazi of the province, commonly called Daroga Adalit, or chief justice; and from him there lay an appeal to the tribunal of the viceroy.

Inferior judges were appointed by an Imperial commission, in every large district, and in every considerable city, with whom appeals rested from the courts in the country, and from the decisions of Cutwals, or mayors of towns. These Cazis, or judges, were vested with power to summon before them all persons, to examine records, public registers, grants, and witnesses. They were, at their peril, to pass judgment impartially, according to the laws of the Coran, and the canons and regulations of the empire. They were empowered to make and dissolve marriages, to execute contracts of every kind between individuals, to inflict punishments, which did not extend to either life or limb. They took cognizance of all riots, disorders, and tumults; and they were denominated the general guardians of the morals of the people. They were provided with an establishment of clerks, registers, and officers of the court. They passed judgment in a summary manner, and their legal fees were one-fourth of the matter in dispute, equally levied upon the plaintiff and defendant. This regulation was intended to prevent vexatious lawsuits, as well as to bring them to a speedy issue. During the vigour of the Mogul empire, capital punishments were hardly known in India. When a crime which merited death was committed, the Cazi, after a full proof of the fact, by witnesses, pronounced sentence against the guilty person; but, without the confirmation of the viceroy, it could not be put in execution. Though the empire sometimes abounded with treason, it was never punished but in the field.

In each subdivision of the Pergunna or district, subject. to the jurisdiction of the Cazi or judge, there was an inferior officer called a Chowdri, similar to our justice of the peace. Every village had its chief-man, who was the constable of his own department. A Fogedar was, properly speaking, the commander of the troops, in every military station. He sometimes farmed the lands in the neighbourhood; and being the immediate representative of the viceroy, he was considered as the principal officer in his district. But he did not sit in judgment, the civil. being always kept distinct from the military department, under the government of the Moguls, as long as it retained its vigour. The Zemindars, or general farmers, were sometimes intrusted with the command of the troops in their own districts; but in their courts they decided only upon trivial disputes between the inferior husbandmen.-Such was the government of Bengal, under the empire of the house of Timur.

Revenue and Commerce.

A BRIEF, but it is hoped a comprehensive, idea being given in the preceding section, of the government of Bengal under the Imperial house of Timur, the Author of the Inquiry will proceed to explain the Revenues and Commerce of that once flourishing and opulent kingdom. In the reign of the Emperor Jehangire, the revenues of the provinces of Bengal and Behâr, both which, for the sake of brevity, we comprehend under the name of the former, amounted to ......... £.2,796,719 / 13 / 2
Under his grandson Aurungzêbe they increased to . .......... 2,911,866 / 7 / 6
Mahommed Shuffia, who wrote an abridgment of the History of the Empire from the death of the illustrious Akbar to the fatal invasion of Nadir Shaw, where he mentions the provinces which revolted during the indolent reign of Mahommed Shaw, estimates the revenues of Bengal at sixty crores of Dâms, or one crore and fifty lacks of roupees, which sum is equal to ........ £.1,875,000
The revenues of Behår, according to the same writer, amounted to forty-five crores of Dâms, or .......... 1,406,250
Total: £.3,281,250

It appears, from the above calculation, that the revenues of Bengal had been gradually increasing, in the progress of the empire, through time. They continued still to increase under the revolted Nabobs, some of whom brought into their treasury four millions of our money, but not without distressing the subject, and plundering him of a part of his wealth. It may be necessary to repeat an observation already made, that not above half the sum raised upon the people came into the coffers of government. The exact sum transmitted annually to Delhi before the dissolution of the empire, is not easy to ascertain; but we can form some judgment of the amount, from the ruinous policy of the Imperial court, when its ancient vigour began to decline. The provinces of Bengal and Behår, during some years of indolence and debility, were farmed out to the viceroys, who paid into the treasury, one million two hundred and forty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pounds seventeen shillings and sixpence of our money.

This sum, it is supposed, was a medium struck upon an average of years, of the money remitted to the treasury at Delhi, when the empire retained its force. But this stipulated revenue, as might have been foreseen, was never regularly paid. The viceroys acquired an independent power, by a regulation which threw the whole management of the province into their hands, without control; and the vigour of the Imperial government, in proportion, declined. The country profited, however, by the refractoriness of its governor; if his avarice prompted him to raise more on the subject, the latter was more able than before to pay the additional impost, from the revenue being kept and ex. pended in the province. Bengal began to flourish under an additional load of oppression. It yielded more to a severe Nabob than to the milder government of the empire; and being relieved from an annual drain of specie to Delhi, it became opulent under a degree of rapine.

Though despotism is not the most favourable government for commerce, it flourished greatly in Bengal under the strict justice of the house of Timur. Sensible of the advantages which they themselves would derive from a free commercial intercourse between their subjects, they were invariably the protectors of merchants. The military ideas which they brought from Tartary, prevented the principal servants of the crown from engaging in trade; and therefore monopolies of every kind were discouraged, and almost unknown. No government in Europe was ever more severe against forestalling and regrating, than was that of the Moguls in India, with regard to all the branches of commerce. A small duty was raised by the crown; but this was amply repaid by the never-violated security given to the merchant.

Bengal, from the mildness of its climate, the fertility of its soil, and the natural industry of the Hindoos, was always remarkable for its commerce. The easy communication by water from place to place, facilitated a mercantile intercourse among the inhabitants. Every village has its canal, every Pergunna its river, and the whole kingdom the Ganges, which falling, by various mouths, into the bay of Bengal, lays open the ocean for the export of commodities and manufactures. A people from an inviolable prejudice of religion abstemious, were averse to luxury themselves; and the wants of nature were supplied almost spontaneously by the soil and climate. The balance of trade, therefore, was against all nations in favour of Bengal; and it was the sink where gold and silver disappeared without the least prospect of return.

All the European nations chiefly carried on their commerce with Bengal in bullion. The Dutch, at a medium of ten years, threw annually into the bosom of that kingdom, in bullion .............£. 475,000
The English . . . . . . . . . . . . 192,500
The French, Danés, and Portuguese . ... 250,000
The exports of Bengal to the gulfs of Persia and Arabia, were very great. She supplied Arabia, Persia, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, and the lesser Asia, with her manufactures, and brought home annually, into her coffers, of gold: ............ 375,000
Her trade in opium and piece-goods to the eastern kingdoms of Asia, to the Malayan and Philippine islands, brought yearly a balance in her favour of ......... 150,000
The inland trade of Bengal with the upper Hindostan and Assam ........ 250,000
The coasting-trade with the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar ........ 160,000
Total: £.1,852,500

The above estimate is made designedly low; for were we to argue from general principles, a greater sum must have been imported annually into Bengal. The twelve hundred and fifty thousand pounds remitted annually to Delhi, never returned into the province, and, as there were no mines wrought in the country, the surplus of the revenue must have proceeded from the balance of trade. Coin, it is well known, loses greatly by friction, where little alloy is mixed with the silver, and where the want of paper-currency makes the circulation extremely rapid. It loses also by recoinage, which happened annually under the empire in Bengal. The practice of concealing and burying treasure, which the terrors of despotism introduced, has occasioned a considerable loss, besides the quantity of silver and gold used in rich manufactures. These various losses could be repaired only by a favourable balance of trade; and the sum which we have stated above, would barely supply the waste.

[admin]

State of Bengal under the revolted Nabobs.

Though the causes which broke the empire were obvious, the decline of the power of the house of Timur was gradual and imperceptible. The seeds of decay were long sown before they were brought to an enormous growth, by the indolence of Mahommed Shaw. Had even the Persian invasion never happened, the fabric which Baber raised in India was destined to fall to ruin. The abilities of Aurungzêbe, by establishing half a century of domestic tranquillity in his dominions, broke the spirit of his subjects, whilst that of the Imperial family declined. The distant provinces obeyed the mandates of the court through habit, more than through fear of its resentment and power; and governors, though destitute of ambition, found, in their own indolence, an excuse for their inattention to commands which could not be enforced with rigour.

The intrigues of the two Seids at the court of Delhi, who raised and removed monarchs at pleasure, weakened that respect for the house of Timur which bound the allegiance of the subject, even after their mildness had degenerated into indolence. Every month brought intelligence into the distant provinces of the murder of one Prince, whilst another was placed on a throne still warm with his predecessor's blood. The veil which hid despotism from the eyes of the people, was rent in twain; monarchs became puppets, which the minister moved at pleasure, and even men who loved slavery on its own account, knew not to what quarter to turn their political devotion. The viceroys, under a pretence of an unsettled succession, retained the revenues of the provinces; and, with specious professions of loyalty for the Imperial family, they became polite rebels against its authority.

Through this debility in the Imperial line, a new species of government rose in various provinces of India. The viceroys, though they assumed the state of Princes, were still the humble slaves of some desolate monarch, who sat without either power or dignity in the midst of the ruins of Delhi. They governed the people in his name, but they listened not to his commands. He even became an instrument of oppression in their hands; and they sanctified the most unpopular of their measures by inducing the Prince to pass, in their own cabinet, regulations which originated under the seals of the empire. Instead of a revenue, they remitted to him bribes; and the necessity of his situation reduced him into a tool, to the very rebels who had ruined his power.

This mock form of an empire continued for many years; and some provinces are still governed through the medium of a monarch that only subsists in his name. But though the Nabobs affirmed that they had still an Emperor, the people found, in their oppressions, that there was none. The check which the terror of complaints to Delhi had laid formerly on the conduct of the viceroys, was now removed; and the officers of the crown who had been placed between the subject and the governor, were discontinued or deprived of their power. The inferior tenants, instead of being supported by the Imperial collectors of the revenue against the avarice of the general farmers, were submitted, without redress, to the management of the latter, and were considered by him as a kind of property.

The usurpation of Aliverdi introduced, more than thirty years ago, the above-described form of government into Bengal. The same policy was continued by his successors, They owned the Emperor of Delhi for their sovereign, but they governed the country, and collected its revenues for themselves. The interposition of the crown being removed, the independent Nabobs, who succeeded one another either by force or intrigue, adopted a more simple, but a more impolitic mode of collecting the rents and imposts than that which had been practised by the house of Timur. The lands were let from year to year to Zemindars, who were accountable for the rents to the treasury, and the former officers of the revenue, though not annihilated, possessed neither emolument nor power.

An intimate knowledge of the country, however, enabled the Nabobs to prevent their government from degenerating into absolute oppression. They had sense enough to see, that their own power depended upon the prosperity of their subjects; and their residence in the province gave them an opportunity of doing justice with more expedition and precision than it was done in the times of the empire. The complaints of the injured, from a possession of the means of information, were better understood. The Nabobs were less restricted than formerly, in inflicting necessary punishments; and, as they were accountable to no superior for the revenue, they had it in their power to remit unjust debts and taxes, which could not be borne. The miseries of Bengal, in short, were reserved for other times. Commerce, manufactures, and agriculture, were encouraged; for it was not then the maxim to take the honey, by destroying the swarm.

The folly of the Prince had no destructive effect on the prosperity of the people. The Nabobs, carrying down, through their own independent government, the idea of the mild despotism of the house of Timur, seemed to mark out to the people certain lines, which they themselves did not choose either to overleap or destroy. Many now in Britain were eye-witnesses of the truth of this assertion. We appeal to the testimony of those who marched through Bengal after the death of Surage-ul-Dowla, that, at that time, it was one of the richest, most populous, and best-cultivated kingdoms in the world. The great men and merchants were wallowing in wealth and luxury; the inferior tenants and the manufacturers were blessed with plenty, content, and ease. But the cloud which has since obscured this sunshine was near.

When the troubles, which ended by putting Bengal into the hands of the Company, first arose, Surage-ul-Dowla, a very young and inconsiderate Prince, was Nabob of the three provinces. The good fortune which had at first forsaken us, returned to our arms; and, by the assistance, or rather opportune treachery of Jaffier, one of his generals, he was deposed and murdered. We raised the traitor, as a reward for his convenient treason, to a throne still warm with the blood of his lord; and the measure seemed to be justified, by our apparent inability of retaining the conquered province in our own hands.

The fortune of Jaffier, however, did not long withhold her frowns. Though he had treachery enough to ruin his master, he was destitute of abilities to reign in his place. His weakness became an excuse for a revolution, which had been meditated on other grounds; and Cassim Ali, Jaffier's son-in-law, an intriguing politician, was invested with the dignity and power of his father. If Jaffier was weak, Cassim had too good parts to be permitted to govern Bengal. He was deposed, and his predecessor reinstated in his place. This farce in politics was adopted as a precedent. A governor, without a revolution in the state of Bengal, could not answer to himself for idling away his time.

The civil wars, to which a violent desire of creating Nabobs gave rise, were attended with tragical events. The country was depopulated by every species of public distress. In the space of six years, half the great cities of an opulent kingdom were rendered desolate; the most fertile fields in the world lay waste; and five millions of harmless and industrious people were either expelled or destroyed. Want of foresight became more fatal than innate barbarism; and men found themselves wading through blood and ruin, when their object was only spoil. But this is not the time to rend the veil which covers our political transactions in Asia.

State of Bengal Under the East-India Company.

Observations on the Treaty for the Dewanny.

An ample field lay open before us; but we have appropriated revolution and war to history. The present disquisition is of an inferior kind; an inquiry, which means not to irritate but to reform. Let it suffice to say, that Bengal suffered from disturbances and violent measures; and that fortune, though unfavourable, was less fatal, than the rapacity of avaricious men. Peculiarly unhappy, an unwarlike but industrious people, were subdued by a society whose business was commerce. A barbarous enemy may slay a prostrate foe; but a civilized conqueror can only ruin nations without the sword. Monopolies and an exclusive trade joined issue with additional taxations; the unfortunate were deprived of the means, whilst the demands upon them were, with peculiar absurdity, increased.

But to wander no farther into declamation: though the misfortunes of Bengal began with the revolutions and changes which succeeded the death of Surage-ul-Dowla, the system, which advances still with hasty strides, to the complete ruin of that once opulent province, was established several years after that event. A noble governor sent to command in Bengal, by the East India Company, arrived in that kingdom in the May of 1765. The expulsion of the Nabob Cassim Ali, and the reduction of Suja-ul-Dowla, by our arms, had enabled the servants of the Company to establish peace upon their own terms. The treaty which they concluded was absurd; and had it been less exceptionable, it would not probably have pleased a man who went not to India to be idle.

The various revolutions of fortune, which had subjected several of the richest provinces of India to the Company's servants, threw the undoubted heir of the Mogul empire into their hands. The governor availed himself of this circumstance. Other Nabobs had converted the unfortunate prince into a tool; and it was now the turn of our governor to do the same, for the benefit of his constituents. Conscious of his power over the Emperor, and having the absolute direction of a Nabob, who owed his elevation to the governor, himself, and to his own crimes, he threw aside the former treaty. A perpetual commission for the office of Dewan, or receiver-general of the revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, was obtained, from SHAW ALLUM, for the Company. The office of perpetual Nabob might have been as easily obtained; but the former balanced a thousand disadvantages, by rendering the nature of the tenure perplexed.

In consideration of the Imperial mandate, which, with the revenues, conferred the government of Bengal for ever on the Company, Shaw Allum was to receive an annual pension of three hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds. The annuity was moderate to the lineal successor of Timur. He was, at the same time, guaranteed in the possession of the province of Allahabad; and thus a kind of provision was made for a Prince, who retained nothing of what belonged to his illustrious ancestors, except the empty title of Emperor of Hindostan. This treaty, however, though it dazzled with its splendour, was neither solid nor advantageous in itself. The Emperor, instead of being placed at Allahabåd, ought to possess the province, out of which his pretended vizier, Suja-ul-Dowla, had been recently driven; or should that measure be supposed to invest him with dangerous power, the territories of Bulwant Singh, equal in revenue to Allahabad, might have been conferred upon him. The Company, being then in possession of all these provinces, might, by its servants, have adopted either of these systems.

To the first measure there are no well-founded objections, and many advantages might be derived from it. The sum of three hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds might have been annually saved, which sum is now sent to a distant province, from whence it never returns. This latter circumstance is of more real prejudice to Bengal and the affairs of the Company, than if half the revenues of the province had been given to the Emperor, upon condition of his keeping his court in that country. Had Shaw Allum been put in possession of the dominions of Suja-ul-Dowla, the natural inactivity of his disposition, and the extraordinary expence and magnificence which he is, in some measure, obliged to support, would have prevented him from being so dangerous a neighbour as even Suja-ul-Dowla. The whole empire was in a state of rebellion; and we were only from convenience his friends.

Arguments crowd in to support this position; but there are still stronger reasons for placing the Emperor in the territories of Bulwant Singh. His residence, in such a case, might have been fixed at Patna or Mongeer; and our army, instead of being cantoned at Allahabad and Cora, two hundred miles from the frontier of our provinces, might have remained in Patna, in the centre of our dominions. Bengal, had this measure been adopted, instead of losing the pension paid to the Emperor, and the enormous expence of a brigade in a foreign country, would have been enriched by the greater part of the revenues of the territories of Bulwant Singh; for which he had paid twenty-two lacks of roupees to Suja-ul-Dowla, though in reality he collected double that sum upon the subject.

The latter position will appear more obvious from the following state. Bengal, had the measure been adopted, would annually have saved,

The pension paid to the Emperor ..... £.325,000
The expence of a brigade ....... 187,500
Twenty lacks from the territories of Bulwant Singh spent at Patna ........ 250,000
Total: 762,500

This measure alone, we may venture to affirm, would have preserved Bengal in a flourishing condition, in spite of avarice and mismanagement. It would, at the same time, have been attended with many salutary effects in our political system in India. The Emperor would have been more immediately under our eye; for though he at present labours under an eclipse, he may, some time or other, shine forth like a comet, in the hands of an ambitious and able man. We are now obliged to protect and support him, under manifest disadvantages. His territories border on the Mahrattors, Jates, and Rohillas; and he is under a perpetual apprehension from these nations. Had the measure, the advantages of which we have described, been taken, Suja-ul-Dowla would have come in between him and these powers; but, at present, our army at Allahabad becomes a security to that prince; whose apprehensions would otherwise have induced him to adhere more firmly than he now, shews an inclination, to his treaty with the Company.

State of Commerce in Bengal, under the Company.

The prosperity and opulence which Bengal enjoyed during the government of the house of Timur, and even under the revolted viceroys, proceeded from her lucrative commerce, as much as from the fertility of her soil. Rich in the industry of her inhabitants, she became independent of the partial rapine of impolitic governors, who plundered only to squander away. The money, which entered by injustice at one door of the treasury, was carried out at another by luxury. The court of the Nabob was the heart, which only received the various currents of wealth, to throw it with vigour through every vein of the kingdom.

We may date the commencement of decline, from the day on which Bengal fell under the dominion of foreigners; who were more anxious to improve the present moment to their own emolument, than, by providing against waste, to secure a permanent advantage to the British nation. With a peculiar want of foresight, they began to drain the reservoir, without turning into it any stream to prevent it from being exhausted. From observation, we descend to facts.

The annual investments of the Company, for which no specie is received, amounts, at an average of ten years, to ........ £.927,500
Those of the Dutch, for which the servants of the Company take bills on Europe, for remitting fortunes acquired in Bengal ... 200,000
Those of the French, paid for to the natives, in the same way .........350,000
Those of the Portuguese and Danes . . . . 100,000
Total: £.1,577,500

Bengal, it shall hereafter appear, to replace all this waste, scarce annually receives in bullion ............. 100,000

She loses therefore, yearly, to Europe . . £.1,477,500

The above estimate of the exports of Bengal, for which she receives no specie, is formed on the prime cost of her manufactures. The balance against her comprehends the savings of the Company on the revenue, the value of British exports, the private fortunes of individuals, which centre in this kingdom. This ruinous commerce with Europe is not balanced, by a lucrative intercourse with the various states of Asia. The increase of the demand for the manufactures of Bengal for our markets here, and the revolutions which shook and greatly depopulated that kingdom, have raised the price of goods. The demand would, upon this head, sink in proportion in the East; but besides, the internal state of the various countries, which formerly exchanged bullion for the goods of Bengal, has been long unfavourable to foreign commerce.

Persia, about thirty years ago a great and a flourishing empire, has been torn to pieces, and almost depopulated by the cruelties of Nadir Shaw; and, since his assassination, by unremitting civil wars. The few inhabitants who escaped the rage of the sword, sit down in the midst of poverty. Georgia and Armenia, who shared in the troubles of Persia, share also her untoward fate. Indigence has shut up the doors of commerce; vanity has disappeared with wealth, and men content themselves with the coarse manufactures of their native countries. The Turkish empire has long declined on its southern and eastern frontiers. Egypt rebelled: Babylonia, under its Basha, revolted. The distracted state of the former has almost shut up the trade, by caravans, from Suez to Cairo; from the latter of which, the manufactures of Bengal were conveyed by sea to all the ports of the Ottoman dominions.

The rapacity of the Basha of Bagdat, which is increased by the necessity of keeping a great standing force to support his usurpation, has environed with terror the walls of Bussora, which circumstance has almost annihilated its commerce with Syria. Scarce a caravan passes from the gulf of Persia to Aleppo once in two years; and when it does, it is but poor and small, Formerly, in every season, several rich and numerous caravans crossed the desert to Syria; but the few that venture at present, being too weak to protect themselves against the wandering Arabs, are stopt by every tribe, and are obliged to purchase safety with exorbitant duties. Trade is in a manner unknown; the merchants of Bussora are ruined; and there were, last year, in the warehouses of that city, of the manufactures of Bengal, to the value of two hundred thousand pounds, which could not be sold for half the prime cost.

The number of independent kingdoms which have started up from the ruins of the Mogul empire, has almost destroyed the inland commerce of Bengal with the upper parts of Hindostan. Every Prince levies heavy duties upon all goods that pass through his dominions. The merchants, who formerly came down toward the mouths of the Ganges to purchase commodities, have discontinued a trade, not only ruined by imposts, but even unsafe from banditti. The province of Oud and Assâm are the only inland countries with which Bengal drives, at present, any trade. The former has greatly the balance in its favour against us of late years, from the money expended by seven thousand of our own troops, which till of late have been stationed in the neighbourhood of the dominions of Suja-ul-Dowla, in consequence of an impolitic treaty, and to answer private views. The commerce of salt, beetle-nut, and tobacco, with Assâm, is almost balanced by the quantity of silk, Mugadutties, and lack, which we receive from that kingdom in return.

The trade of Bengal, with the kingdoms and islands of the eastern Asia, still continues in some degree; but it has been long on the decline. The coasting trade with the maritime provinces of Hindostan has, upon various accounts, decayed. We may venture to affirm, upon the whole, that the balance in favour of Bengal, from all its Asiatic commerce, exceeds not annually one hundred thousand pounds. The council of Calcutta have calculated it at less than half that sum. They estimated, in the year 1768, the importation of bullion into Bengal, for the space of four years, at fifteen lacks of roupees; which amounts annually to forty-six thousand pounds of our money. But the cause of this decay lies more in negligence than in the present state of the maritime regions and islands beyond the eastern mouth of the Ganges.

To draw a conclusion from the observations made: though Bengal, by her industry, yields to Europe, of manufactures, to the annual amount of one million five hundred and seventy-seven thousand pounds, for which she receives nothing; yet, if the balance of her trade with Asia amounts to one hundred thousand pounds, she may still continue to flourish under a proper system of internal regulation. The paradox is hitherto supportable by argument and proof; but there still remain heavy articles to be brought into the account against Bengal. Some of the articles, from their complicated nature, must be stated from opinion: others rest on incontrovertible facts. The estimate of the first shall be made as low as possible: the latter are established beyond the power of cavil itself.

The specie carried from Bengal, by the expelled Nabob, Cassim Ali, is supposed to amount to .....£.1,250,000
Specie carried away by men of property, who have deserted the kingdom since the power of the Company prevailed ....... 2,500,000
The expences of the war, for one whole year, in the dominions of Suja-ul-Dowla, at five lacks per month; which, after deducting fifty lacks, paid by treaty by that prince, amounts to · · · · · · · · · · 125,000
Carry over 3,875,000
Brought over £.3,875,000
Specie sent from Bengal to pay a brigade, consisting of seven thousand men, stationed for five years, after the peace, at Allahabad, at the annual expence of fifteen lacks ... 937,500
Specie sent from that kingdom to China and Madras, including the expences of troops on the coast, detached from the establishment of Bengal ............. 1,500,000
Specie brought to England ....... 100,000
Exported of specie . .... 6,412,500
Deduct the imports of bullion for twelve years, at the annual sum of one hundred thousand pounds . ........... 1,200,000
Decrease in the specie of Bengal since the accession of the Company to the dominion of that kingdom ........... 5,212,500
This ruinous state of the commerce of Bengal is by no means exaggerated. To deprive every adversary of argument, the calculations are, by the Author of the Inquiry, purposely rendered extremely low. A comparative view of the former situation of that once opulent kingdom with its present condition, will throw additional light on the subject. In the days of the empire, the balance of trade for which Bengal received bullion, has been estimated at £.1,687,500
Deduct the annual revenue sent in specie to Delhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,250,000
Yearly acquisition in money ...... 437,500

The kingdom of Bengal, it appears, has not, in the midst of her misfortunes, fallen off greatly from her former exports of manufactures. She still sends to Europe, within one hundred and ten pounds a year of the quantity, for which she received the above balance of bullion, in the days of her prosperity. This, had not her specie been exported, would not have impoverished her. But let us suppose that her whole currency amounted to fifteen millions; the entire loss of a third part of that sum must have inevitably distressed her; and an annual decrease of near half a million must, if not prevented, in a few years, totally ruin the little commerce that still remains. The prospect is gloomy. The taxes must be lessened, and the ruin, which we have brought on an unfortunate country, will recoil upon ourselves.

To illustrate the argument by comparison. Were the paper-currency of Great Britain totally suppressed, and her gold and silver currency, which is estimated at seven mil- lions, left for the purposes of trade and taxation, it is evident that ruinous consequences must ensue; but none will pretend to affirm, that the nation, by such a measure, would become one farthing poorer than before. Trade, however, from the want of a sufficient quantity of the signs of wealth and property, would be cramped in all its veins. The interest of money, in spite of laws, would rise to an enormous pitch. The same want of currency would, at the same time, become such a check upon luxury, that the price of labour, and especially of provisions, would fall, unless the latter were kept up by rigorously enforcing the present taxes without abatement. The price of provisions, in that case, would rise every day, and the poor would daily become less able to purchase. The people would, in a very few years, be stript of all their property, and national beggary would be followed by national ruin.

Bengal, from the decrease of her specie, feels, in fact, the miseries which we have in speculation just described. Were not her taxes enforced by oppression, provisions would fall in proportion to the decrease of wealth; supposing the number of inhabitants and state of cultivation to continue the same. But the reverse happens, from our endeavouring to keep up the revenues to their former pitch. The farmer cannot sell his grain without a price, which bears a proportion to the rents which he is obliged to pay, whilst his cultivation decreases for want of a sufficient stock. The consumer, at the same time, must have food. If he is a manufacturer or labourer, he must raise his goods or his wages to answer the price of bread. The evils of a forced state of society increase. Famine, with all its horrors, ensues; and, by sweeping away some millions of wretched people, gives, to the unhappy survivors, the respite of a few years.

Observations on Monopolies.

The monopolies established by the servants of the Company in Bengal, furnish an ample field for animadversion. But other writers have already occupied that province. The brevity which the Author of the Inquiry has prescribed to his work, induces him to pass lightly over ground that has been trodden before. It is superfluous to insist upon the prejudice which monopoly has done to the natural rights of the natives, and to the privileges which they possessed, by prescription, from despotism itself. This part of the subject has been handled with ability by others: we shall slightly touch upon what has escaped their observation.

Salt, in almost every country, is one of the necessaries of life. In Bengal, which still contains near fifteen millions of people, the consumption of this article must be very great; for, besides what they themselves consume, they mix great quantities with the food of their cattle. Salt is produced by filtrating the earth near the mouths of the Ganges, and by then boiling the water which is impregnated with saline particles. The process is simple and cheap, where wood for fuel costs nothing. The low price at which salt could be conveyed through all the branches of the Ganges, rendered it an advantageous article of trade with the inland ports of Hindostan. Great quantities were sent to Benaris and Mirzapour, from the markets of which, the provinces of Oud and Allahabad, the territories of the Raja of Bundela, and of all the petty princes of the kingdom of Malava, were supplied. This trade, by a society of monopolists in Calcutta, was seized in the year 1765. Avarice got the better of prudence, and a rage for present gain cut off all future prospects. The article of salt was raised two hundred per cent.; and the foreign purchasers, finding that they could be supplied at a much cheaper rate with rock-salt from the dominions of the Rohillas near Delhi, this valuable commerce at once was lost.

Beetle-nut and tobacco have, by the strength of habit, become almost necessaries of life in Hindostan. The first is produced in many parts of the Decan; and the latter is cultivated over all the empire. There was, however, a considerable exportation from Bengal in these articles; and it, unfortunately for that country, attracted the notice of the monopolists. But, as if monopolies were not sufficient to destroy the inland commerce of Bengal with the rest of Hindostan, an edict was issued, in the year 1768, prohibiting all the servants of the Company, the free merchants, Armenians, Portuguese, and all foreigners whatsoever, from carrying goods beyond the limits of our province, under the pain of confiscation, and the severest punishments inflicted on their agents.

The court of directors, it is but justice to declare, have invariably opposed the above-recited destructive monopolies. But the commands of fugitive and transient masters are weak in opposition to interest. The fluctuations in Leadenhall-street, deprived the mandates which issued from it of all their authority; and the presidency abroad frequently received orders from their constituents at home, with the same inattention that the Nizâm of Golconda would pay to the Firman of the unfortunate Shaw Allum. 'The directors, in short, are only to blame in an acquiescence to a disobedience to the orders of their predecessors in office. Carrying frequently the animosity of prior contention into their measures, they forgot the attention due to their own power, in the pleasure of seeing a slur thrown on that of their opponents. They are also blameable for the suspicious veil of secrecy with which they affect to cover their affairs. The door of information is, in some measure, shut up; the inferior servants are precluded, by an ill-founded fear, from laying open to them the state of government abroad, and it was perhaps the interest of their superior servants to conceal a part of the truth. Substantial darkness has by these means settled on objects which it is even the interest of the Company, as well as of the nation, should be known to the world.

Mode of collecting the Revenues.

The Princes, whom we raised in Bengal, vanished imperceptibly from their thrones. Light and unsubstantial as the shew of power with which, as in derision, we invested them, they disappeared, like Romulus, but without a storm. The benefits derived from former revolutions, created a love of change; and the angel of death, if not our friend, was opportune in his frequent visits to the Musnud. In the course of five years, three Nabobs expired; and the unfledged sovereign, who acceded to the nominal government of Bengal on the March of 1770, has enjoyed already, considering the times, a long reign. Nabobs, to own the truth, are useless; and they are dismissed to their fathers, without either ceremony or noise.

In the year 1765, upon the demise of Jaffier, whom we had, for the first time, raised in 1757 to the government for his convenient treachery to his master, Nijim-ul-Dowla, his son by a common prostitute, was, in the eighteenth year. of his age, placed upon the throne, in the capital of Murshedabâd. Soon after the accession of this prince, a noble governor, on the part of the Company, arrived at Calcutta, and executed the treaty which has furnished materials for a preceding section. Mahommed Riza, a man of less integrity than abilities, was made prime minister; activity being a virtue more necessary to the intention of his creation than honesty. The wretched Nijim-ul-Dowla was a mere name; a figure of state more despicable, if possible, than the meanness of his family and parts. The whole executive government turned upon Mahommed Riza. A resident was sent from Calcutta to check the accounts of the nominal government; as if one man, who knew very little of the language, manners, and opinions of the people, could prevent the frauds of an artful minister, and ten thousand of his dependents, versed in the management of finance. The consequence might be foreseen with little penetration. Unable and perhaps unwilling to oppose the current, the resident fell down with the stream, and became so far a check upon Mahommed, that he appropriated to himself a part of what the minister might otherwise have thrown into his own treasure.

Mahommed Riza, as a small salary of office, received annually one hundred and twelve thousand five hundred pounds, with three hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds a year to be distributed in pensions among his friends. The minister, with his other good qualities, had no local attachment to friends. They were of various complexions and religions; fair-faced Europeans, as well as swarthy Indians; and, though professing Mahommedanism himself, he was so far from being an enemy to the uncircumcised, that it is said the most of his pensions and gratuities were bestowed on good Christians born in Great Britain and Ireland. Mahommed, however, did not take up his whole time with acts of benevolence to our nation. He applied himself to business; and he was more rigid in executing the government which the revolted Nabobs had established in Bengal, than fond of introducing innovations more favourable to the prosperity of the country.

The Nabobs of Bengal, it has been already observed, began the ruinous policy of farming out the lands annually; leaving the wretched tenants to the oppression and tyranny of temporary Zemindars. At the commencement of every year, there is a general congress of all the great farmers, at the capital of Bengal; which meeting is, in the language of the country, called Punea. The object of the congress is to settle the accounts of the former year, and to give the lands for another, to the highest bidder. The competition between the farmers is favourable to the private interest of Mahommed Riza and his friend the resident; but it is destructive to the poor, and consequently to the Company's affairs.

The charge of travelling from the more distant divisions of the province, and the expence of living in the capital, are but a very inconsiderable part of the loss of the farmers in this visit to court. Pretences are never wanting to intimidate them, on account of their past conduct; and where no competitors offer of themselves, some are created by the minister, to raise anxiety and terror. Presents are an infallible remedy for quashing all inquiries into former oppressions; and a bribe secures to them the power of exercising, for another year, their tyrannies over the unhappy tenants. It would be endless to trace the intrigues of the farmers upon this occasion: it would be difficult to expose all the artful villainy of the minister. The Zemindars, however wealthy they may be, feign such poverty, as not to be able to make up the balances of the preceding year. They have even been known to carry the farce so far, as to suffer a severe whipping before they would produce their money.

The avarice of Mahommed Riza is the cause of this un. manly behaviour in the wretched farmers. When they seem rich, the impost is raised; and the bribe must in proportion be greater. Their love of money is often more powerful than the fear of bodily pain. When they have long groaned under the lash, some banker or money-broker appears, who, for the exorbitant interest of ten per cent. per month, discharges the debt. The farmer, by such means as these, often deceives the vigilance of the minister and resident, and obtains his lands for another year, because no one else will offer a sum which the possessor finds so much difficulty to pay. A friend, in the secret, gives security for the rents; and a present, thrown into the hands of the minister, suspends, for a time, the discipline of the whip.

In the year 1767, the Author of the Inquiry, who resided, at the time, in Bengal, had the curiosity to calculate the expence of the Bundubust, or yearly settlement. He formed his estimate from the accounts of various Zemindars, and he avers, without exaggeration, that the expences amounted to twenty-seven and one-half per cent. of the rents of their lands; which may amount to a million sterling. These trivial perquisites were shared between Mahommed Riza, his friends, and the bankers of Murshedabad. The place of the Company's resident at the Durbâr, or the court of the Nabob, was HONESTLY worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds a year.

These embezzlements and fraudulent practices were not, however, so detrimental to the Company's affairs, from the actual decrease in the revenues, as from the general depravity of manners, and the oppressions which they introduced. When the sources of government are corrupted, they poison the whole stream. Every petty officer in the state, every clerk of the revenues, assumed the tyrant in his own department. Justice was totally suspended; and the fear of being plundered by a superior, was the only check that remained against the commission of the most atrocious crimes. Every instance of abstaining from the most cruel oppressions, proceeded from indolence: every act of tyranny from the love of money. The distemper of avarice, in the extreme, seemed to infect all whom the wrath of God against a devoted people had placed in power.

The consequences of this mode of letting the lands of Bengal, were such as might, with little foresight, have been expected; had not stronger impressions than those of reason been necessary to convince men of a profitable error. Nothing in the conquered provinces was premeditated but rapine. Every thing, but plunder, was left to chance and necessity, who impose their own laws. The farmers, having no certainty of holding the lands beyond the year, made no improvements. Their profit must be immediate, to satisfy the hand of avarice, which was suspended over their heads. Impressed with the uncertainty of their situation, they raised the rents, to the last farthing, on the wretched tenants; who, unwilling to forsake their ancient habitations and house. hold gods, submitted to impositions which they could not pay. They looked up to Heaven in their distress; but no redress remained for the wretched.

Year after year brought new tyrants, or confirmed the old in the practice of their former oppressions. The tenants being at length ruined, the farmers were unable to make good their contracts with government. Their cruelty to their inferiors recoiled, at length, on themselves. Many of them were bound to stakes and whipped; but their poverty ceased to be feigned. Their complaints were heard in every square of Murshedabad; and not a few of them expired in agonies under the lash. Many of the inferior tenants, reduced to despair, fled the country, hoping to derive from other despotisms, that lenity which our indolence, to speak the best of ourselves, denied. Those that remained were deprived of the small stock necessary for cultivation; and a great part of the lands lay waste. Every governor thought it incumbent upon him to keep up the revenues to their former pitch; but, in spite of the permitted cruelty of Mahommed Riza, they continued every year to decrease. It could not have happened otherwise; unless Heaven had wrought miracles as a reward for our VIRTUES.

In proportion as an unfortunate people became less able to bear the established taxation, the modes of collecting it became more oppressive. Seven entire battalions were added to our military establishment to enforce the collections. They carried terror and ruin through the country; but poverty was more prevalent than obstinacy every where. This new force became an enormous expence to the Company; and the unnatural pressure on the people raised the price of provisions. The manufacturers, to be able to purchase bread, shewed an inclination to raise the price of their goods. It was soon perceived that, should this be permitted, the manufactures of Bengal would not answer in Europe, so as even to indemnify the Company for prime cost, for duties, and other expences, exclusive of the profit which a commercial body had a right to expect. The prices must be kept down; but this could not be done without violence. Provisions became daily dearer; and the demand for goods increased.

The officers, chiefly employed in the management of the revenues, being needy adventurers from Persia and the upper India, carried avarice, as well as the arbitrary ideas of their own distracted governments, into their departments. Solicitous to obtain an immediate advantage to themselves,, they forgot the interest of their employers; and practised every species of rapine and violence on the timid inhabitants of Bengal. The wealth which, in the space of a few years, they accumulated, enabled them to return into their native countries; and thus they furnished another cause of the decline of specie in the kingdom. These foreign collectors maintained a numerous train of needy dependants, who, under the protection of their tyrannical masters, assumed the privilege of rapine and peculation. Venality ceased to be a crime; and dexterity in the art of imposition, was deemed a recommendation to the first offices of trust.

Mahommed Riza made it his invariable policy to keep the servants of the Company in ignorance of the true state of affairs; and when any deception was practised, another was formed to conceal it from view. He entered into a collusion with many of the farmers. Occasional accounts were framed; and the usual accounts were studiously involved in inextricable confusion. Men averse to trouble throw them aside, and neglect their duty in their indolence. The servants of Mahommed Riza not only escape censure, but retain their places; and thus iniquity furnishes to itself a new field for a repetition of its execrable talents.

To investigate the various demands and extortions of the Aumins, or the protectors of the people, who, instead of defending, pillage their charge, would be endless. These, by a collusion with the Zemindars, prey with them on the unfortunate tenants. The Gomàstas, or agents, Dellols, Pikes, Pikars, Burkândaz, and other vermin, employed in the collection and investment, establish a thousand modes of oppression and extortion. An ignorant and unhappy people see these officers of government through the medium of fear; and comply, in melancholy silence, with their exorbitant demands. No collector, not even his principal servant, travels over any part of his district, without imposing upon the village in which he chooses to rest, a tax of rice, fowl, kid, fruits, and every other luxury of the table, for himself and his dependants. He also levies fines, at pleasure, for frivolous offences, and under various and often false pretexts. The crime consists in the ability of the person to pay the fine; and nothing but excess of misery and poverty is safe from the griping hand of avarice.

The Zemindars, or principal farmers, copy the officers of government in tyranny. The Riôts, or wretched tenants, are forced to give their labour gratuitously to this transitory lord of a year, whenever he chooses to employ their toil in his fields, when their own farms lie waste for want of cultivation. There is not one article of consumption with which the poor tenants are not obliged to supply the general farmer, The quantity brought is frequently more than his consumpt demands; and, in these cases, they are forced, under the inspection of his servants, to carry their own property to market, and to dispose of it for the use of their lord. They even frequently raise or fall the exchange upon the roupees, against the wretched husbandmen: and, without even the strength of custom, they exact from the lower sort, fees upon births, marriages, and contracts. There is scarce an occurrence upon which they have not invented arbitrary imposts.

The Company, having never examined into the real tenures by which many possess their lands, left an ample field for sequestration, fraud, and encroachment. The Talookdârs, or the favourites and dependants of former Nabobs, hold, by grants from their patrons, extensive tracts of land. Some of these grants convey a kind of freehold; others, estates at a very low rent, possessing, besides, particular exemptions and extraordinary immunities. These alienations were never valid, in the days of the empire, without being renewed by every viceroy; and no good reason remains why they should now exist, as the illegal means of oppression, in the hands of petty tyrants. They have even added encroachment upon the adjacent lands to the injustice by which they possess their own; and they have presumed to lay tolls on ferries, and imposts upon markets, even beyond the limits of their imperfect grants. This encroachment on the rights of the Company is, however, a kind of benefit to the people. The possessor of the grant considers the lands which it describes, as his own property; and he is, from a natural selfishness, more a friend to his inferiors than the fugitive Zemindar of a year.

To render clear affairs hitherto little understood, we must descend into more particulars. The frauds and oppressions committed in Bengal in the collection of the revenue, are as various as they are without number. The interior policy subsisting in that kingdom, will throw new light on the subject. Some of the lands in Bengal go under the designation of Comâr, having no native tenants, being cultivated by vagrant husbandmen, who wander from place to place in quest of labour. A farmer takes frequently large tracts of these lands upon contract. He obliges himself to be answerable to government for the produce; but he keeps the accounts himself. The vagrant husbandmen whom he employs, having neither implements of agriculture nor stock, are, from time to time, supplied with small sums by the farmer, and when the harvest is gathered in, he appropriates to himself two-thirds of the crop; after paying himself from the remainder, for the interest of the sums advanced to the vagrants. The accounts delivered in to government contain every thing but the truth; and this mode, from our indolence, becoming most profitable to the Zemindar, he wishes to depopulate the country, in some measure, for his own gain.

The lands which are under the immediate management of government, are, in the language of the country, called Coss. They differ from the Comâr in various particulars. Stewards are appointed to superintend them, without the power of making new contracts with the tenants, or of raising upon them the rents, being accountable only for the rents of the lands as they stand upon the rolls of the district. These rolls, however, are in general false and defective. Some lands, to serve particular friends, are greatly under-rated; and others are entirely concealed by the address of the stewards. To grant certain immunities to the stewards themselves, was formerly much in practice. They were permitted to possess for their subsistence, gardens, pastures, ponds for fish, and fields for rice. These privileges have been greatly enlarged since Bengal fell under the Company; and the stewards have fixed no decent bounds to their encroachments.

The lands distinguished by the name of Riotty, are possessed and cultivated by the native inhabitants under Zemindars, or farmers, who contract for them with government for an annual sum. The rents are partly levied on a measurement, and partly on the various productions which are sent to market, and converted into money by the farmer, The ruinous effects of this mode of collecting the revenue have been already explained. There are, besides, great , quantities of waste lands, which are of two kinds; lands struck off the public books at a former period, which are now cultivated but not brought to account; and such as are really waste, which comprehend at least one fourth part of Bengal. Of the former there are many large fertile tracts, well cultivated, which have been appropriated by Zemindars and their dependants; and they find means, in their accounts with an indolent government, to avoid all scrutiny into their usurpations.

To add to the mismanagement, lands are set apart for almost every officer under the government; a mode of salary which makes no appearance upon the annual accounts, but which, notwithstanding, amounts to more than all the apparent charges of collection. Great hurt arises to the revenues from this practice, and the abuse subsists without reformation. The lands of all the officers ought instantly to be resumed, and their salaries to be paid out of the exchequer. Many of the collectors have also imposed partial duties upon the subject; and thus have added oppression and injustice to the people, to their usurpations upon government.

Justice is suffered to be greatly perverted by the officers above specified, and others, who, from their inherent art or abilities, substitute their own decisions where government have established no legal judges. The custom of imposing mulcts and fines in all cases, is an intolerable grievance to a wretched people. The rich suffer, by having money to give; the poor, by being deprived of restitution, because they have none. Every Mahommedan who can mutter over the Coran, raises himself to a judge, without either licence or appointment; and every Brahmin, at the head of a tribe, distributes justice according to his own fancy without control. The latter threatens the ignorant with the dreadful punishment of excommunication; and thus his own moderation becomes the measure of the sums which he receives · from an unfortunate race of men.

Such, in the year 1767, was the true state of Bengal: but, it is to be hoped, that the regulations of 1770 have reformed many abuses. A plan was in that year digested, and begun to be carried into execution, by men who could not be strangers to any one of the above particulars; though, from their strict adherence to the regulations of a noble governor, to which they were tied down by express orders from the Court of Directors, the abuses were permitted to exist till the country was beggared and depopulated. The effect which the plan may have, cannot yet be estimated with precision. Were we, however, to judge from the improvements in Burdwân, which has been under the management of a very able servant for some years past, and has greatly increased in revenue and population, the new regulations will be attended with very considerable advantages to the Company. But even Burdwan owed part of its prosperity to the misery and distress of the surrounding districts. The plan adopted will be far from effectuating the reformation and increase of the revenue which are now required; for the balance of the revenue could, in the year 1770, hardly discharge the four hundred thousand pounds paid annually to government. If our information is just, what mighty advantages have the Company derived from their great acquisitions in Bengal?

[admin]

Idea of the present Government of Bengal.

The total suspension of all justice, among the natives of Bengal, was another cause of national decay. Men who retained some property in spite of the violence of the times, instead of being protected by British laws, found that they had not even the justice of a despot to depend upon when they were wronged. The officers of the Nabob, AS THEY were CALLED, committed every species of violence, under the pretence of the orders of the Company. When any person complained to the governor and council, he was referred back to those very men of whom he had complained. The heavy crime of having appealed to British justice was thrown in his face, by oppressors who were at once judges and party; and ruin and corporal punishment were added to his other wrongs. The spirit which asserts the natural rights of mankind, was called insolence, till it was totally broken by oppression; and men were even cautious in venting their complaints in secret, fearing that the very walls of their most private apartments had ears.

These grievances, however, proceeded not from the inhumanity of the British governors in Bengal. The Author of the Inquiry can aver, from personal knowledge, that the successors of a certain noble lord were men of probity and honour, enemies to oppression and cruelty of every kind. But the whole weight of such a monstrous and heterogeneous chaos of government, consisting of military, political, commercial, and judicial affairs, falling upon the shoulders of men unexperienced in the regulation and management of the great machine of state, it was impossible for them to give the necessary attention to all departments. The multiplicity of affairs overwhelmed them with its weight; and the kingdom suffered more from a total want of system, than from any premeditated design.

The courts of justice, which the wisdom of the house of Timur had established in the cities and various divisions of the provinces, were either annihilated, or they lost their power under the summary despotism of the revolted Nabobs. Mahommed Riza, as the acting minister, had the whole executive power in his hands; and those who retained the name of judges, were only the executioners of his partial and violent decisions. The Company's governor could not, in the nature of things, enter into the cause of every individual in a very populous kingdom. When he consulted his own ease, he yielded to a kind of necessity; and he had to his own conscience the plausible excuse of having remanded the complaints to the judgment of a man who was perfectly acquainted with the manners, customs, and prejudices of the natives.

But even friendship itself will not permit the Writer of the Inquiry to justify the political conduct of any of those men who possessed the supreme power in Bengal. Many regulations, obvious in themselves, might have been formed; many pernicious practices been abolished, which have been continued either through negligence, or motives of another kind. Among the latter, ought to be numbered the custom of striking roupees every year, and issuing them out at five per centum above the real weight and standard. To explain the subject, a dry dissertation must be introduced. The new-coined roupees are issued from the mint at sixteen per centum more than the current roupee; a coin merely imaginary, for the convenience of reducing all money to a certain denomination. The Sicca roupee, as the coin is called, continues to circulate, at the above value, till towards the latter end of the first year. The dealers in money, as, the roupee loses three per centum of its value at the beginning of the second year, refuse to receive it in payment, without a deduction of one or two per centum as it advances to that period.

In the beginning of the second year, the roupee, by this most preposterous of all regulations, has lost three per centum of its imaginary value. In this manner it continues gradually to fall, till the third year after coinage; and, from that time forward, it remains at eleven per centum, the intrinsic value of the silver. The possessor of the roupee may then, upon the payment of the three per centum to the mint, have the same re-coined into a new Sicca of the imaginary value of sixteen per centum. This gain of two per centum is intended as an inducement to bring in the silver, that the government may have an opportunity, every year, of robbing the public of three per centum upon the greater part of their current specie. To support this most iniquitous system, the revenues are directed to be paid in the new Sicca roupees, otherwise the money-changer will make such deductions as must occasion a very considerable loss to the unfortunate people. This evil is attended by another. The course of exchange in the markets varies toward the worst, from this cruel regulation by government, from combinations among the bankers, and the demand for particular rou-pees to discharge the revenue.

This mode of levying an annual tax on the silver currency, is not of the invention of the British governors of Bengal. The regulation derived its first existence from the well-known bankers, the Jaggat Seats of Murshedabad, in the short reign of the inconsiderate Surage-ul-Dowla. The error lies in its being adopted. But we drop this part of the subject, and return to the present state of government. To do justice to the Court of Directors, their repeated orders have checked the violence and rapine of the nominal government of the Nabob. Some of the Company's servants superintend, in various divisions of the country, the collection of the revenue. The pension and emoluments of Mahommed Riza. have been lessened with his power. The kingdom, in point of civil regulation, if civil regulation can exist without regular courts of justice, is on a better footing than before. But much remains to be done! The distresses of an unfortunate people continue to increase, through causes which must be explained.

General Observations.

The idea of the present state and government of Bengal conveyed in the preceding sections, justifies the following conclusion, That the Company, in the management of that great kingdom, have hitherto mistaken their own interest. To increase the revenues was the point to which their servants invariably directed their attention; but the means employed defeated their views, and became ruinous to a people whom their arms had subdued. Though they exported the specie, though they checked commerce by monopoly, they heaped oppression upon additional taxes, as if rigour were necessary to power.

Much penetration was not necessary to discover, that it was not by the revenues of Bengal alone that either the British nation or the Company were to be enriched. A country destitute of mines, deprived of foreign commerce, must, however opulent from better times, in the end be exhausted. The transitory acquisition, upon the opinion that all the specie of Bengal had centred in Great Britain, would have no desirable effect. The fugitive wealth would glide through our hands; and we would have only our folly to regret, when the sources would happen to become dry. Bengal, without ruin to itself, could spare none of its specie; and the objects to which our aim should have been directed, are as obvious as they are salutary. We ought to have encouraged agriculture, the trade with the rest of Asia, and internal manufacture.

Agriculture constitutes the wealth of every state not merely commercial. Bengal, a kingdom six hundred miles in length, and three hundred in breadth, is composed of one vast plain of the most fertile soil in the world. Watered by many navigable rivers, inhabited by fifteen millions of industrious people, capable of producing provisions for double the number, as appears from the deserts which oppression has made; it seems marked out, by the hand of nature, as the most advantageous region of the earth for agriculture. Where taxes are moderate, where security of property is joined to a rich soil, cultivation will increase, the necessaries of life will become cheap, as well as the gross materials which manufacturers require. Manufactures, by these means, would not only fall in their price, but they would be produced in a greater quantity; larger investments might be made by the Company, the consumption would increase, and the profits rise. Bengal can, in short, be useful only in the prosperity and industry of its inhabitants. Deprive it of the last remains of its wealth, and you ruin an unfortunate people, without enriching yourselves.

In the place of those placid regulations which render mankind useful to their lords, we substituted, with preposterous policy, force, the abrupt expedient of barbarous conquerors. The pressure of taxation has, in the space of a few years, trebled the price of provisions of all kinds. The Company have, in the mean time, been endeavouring, by every possible measure, to increase their investments, without raising the price. Various oppressions have, for this purpose, been adopted. This wretched expedient is of short duration. The manufacturer may, for one year, perhaps for two, redouble his industry; but whilst the work of his hands is forced from him at a stated and arbitrary price, he sinks under an uncommon effort, subject to despair. The principal servants of the Company, to conceal the evil, have found themselves obliged, either to remit in the quality of the goods, or to raise the price to the manufacturer. Both expedients have been in part adopted; but it is a temporary remedy, without the hopes of effectuating a cure.

The reasons already mentioned have contributed to destroy the trade of Bengal with the rest of Asia. Merchants can procure only the gleanings of the Company. The quality is inferior, and the prices high. Nations formerly supplied from Bengal, found themselves under the necessity of establishing manufactures of the same kind at home, or to adapt their clothing to their poverty. Argument on this head is superfluous. The plan must be totally and radically changed. The question is, not to oblige the people to become silk-winders, spinners, and weavers, and to take the fruits of their labour, as it is practised at present, at an arbitrary price, Industry cannot be forced upon a people; let them derive advantage from toil, and indolence shall lose its hold. Ingenuity expires under the foolish despotism which defeats its own ends; and human nature, in its most wretched state, revolts against labour which produces nothing but an increase of toil.

Plan For Restoring Bengal To Its Former Prosperity.

Preliminary Observations.

GOVERNMENT, among the natives of a country, rises imperceptibly from that impenetrable obscurity with which time and barbarism have covered the origin of mankind. When states are subdued by foreign enemies who are advanced in the arts of civil life, a new constitution generally starts up from their pressure upon the old. Some laws of the conquerors must necessarily supersede some of the regulations of the conquered; but the ancient form of government re. mains in all the lesser departments of the state. When the Patans conquered India, when the Moguls extended their empire over that country, many of the indigenous laws of the northern nations of Asia were introduced; but the great system, in most of its parts, descended from the regulations which Brahma transmitted, with his followers, from remote antiquity.

The British nation have become the conquerors of Bengal, and they ought to extend some part of their own fundamental jurisprudence to secure their conquests. To call the possessions of the Company by any other name, is to leave them undefined. The sword is our tenure, and not the Firmân of an unfortunate prince, who could not give what was not his own. The thin veil of the commission for the Dewanny is removed; and we see a great kingdom at last in our power, whose revolutions we directed before. It is an absolute conquest, and it is so considered by the world. This it was necessary to premise. The Author of the Inquiry will now proceed to his plan for restoring our conquests to their former prosperity. But he proceeds with diffidence: he sees the magnitude of the subject, he feels his own want of abilities. He hopes not to escape without censure, as he confesses himself liable to errors but he shall answer his own purpose, if he can throw some rays of light upon a subject, which, though interesting to the nation, continues still involved in obscurity.

Proposal for establishing Landed Property.

Policy precedes regulation in every society; and a nation has public before it has private concerns. The great line of general arrangement is prior to the inferior detail of government, the latter being necessarily a superstructure raised on the foundation of the former. In Bengal we are to suppose, that a new treaty is to settle its great affairs; otherwise we build on the sand, and the rain comes, and washes all away. We shall only mention a subject on which we may hereafter enlarge. Give the province of Allahabad to Suja-ul-Dowla, the territories of Bulwant Singh to the emperor, recal your troops into your own dominions, make Patna or Mongeer the residence of the representative of Timur, degrade the wretched Mubarick from his nominal Nabobship, and let Mahommed Riza RESIGN. These arrangements require no address; the persons mentioned were the creatures, and they still continue the slaves, of your power. Besides, the measures will not displease the parties. The province of Allahabad will satisfy Suja-ul-Dowla for the territories of Bulwant Singh; Shaw Allum will prefer Patna to his residence at Allahabad; a small pension is more eligible for Mubârick, than the dangerous name of power which he does. not hold; and Mahommed Riza has derived from his services the means of securing an affluent retreat for his age. If it shall appear necessary to retain Bengal by an Imperial Firmân, let it be changed into that of perpetual Nabob.

This fundamental regulation being settled, another of equal boldness, but no less practicable, ought to succeed. An established idea of property is the source of all industry among individuals, and, of course, the foundation of public prosperity. When mankind are restrained from possessing any thing which they can call their own, they are but passengers in their native country, and make only those slight accommodations which suit fugitive wayfarers through the land. A carelessness for industry is the natural consequence of the transitoriness of the fruits of toil; and men sit sluggishly down, with their hands in their bosoms, when they are not for a moment certain of possessing property, much less of transmitting it to their posterity or friends.

The decline of agriculture, of commerce, and of trade, in the kingdom of Bengal, have been already represented, and the ruinous consequences of farming out the lands from year to year, have been amply explained. Though long leases might greatly contribute to remove these evils; there is no possibility of doubt, but the establishment of real property would more immediately and effectually promote a certainty of prosperity to the kingdom. Let, therefore, the Company be empowered, by act of Parliament, to dispose of all the lands in Bengal and Behar, in perpetuity, at an annual sum, not less than the present rents. This single operation would have a chain of beneficial effects. The first sale of the lands would raise a sum which cannot be estimated with any degree of precision; but we may venture to affirm, that, should the scheme be properly advertised before it was to take place, and a fourth part of the lands only to be disposed of every year, until the whole should be sold, no less than ten millions, besides a certain and perpetual revenue, might be drawn from the hidden treasures of Bengal, and especially from the other opulent kingdoms of Hindostan.

Mankind, it is easy to perceive, would, in an empire where no real property exists, crowd to a country in which they could enjoy the fruits of their labour, and transmit them to their posterity. Cultivation would be the consequence of security. The farmer would improve, to the height, lands that were his own. The revenue would be regularly paid without the heavy expence of a band of oppressors, under the name of Collectors, who suck the very vitals of the country; and nothing would be required but a few comptoirs for the purpose of receiving the rents. The whole face of the country would be changed in a few years: in the place of straggling towns, composed of miserable huts, half of which are washed away every season by the rain, great and opulent cities would arise. Inhabitants would crowd into Bengal from every corner of India, with their wealth; the deficiency in the currency would be restored, commerce would diffuse itself through every vein, and manufactures would flourish to a degree before unknown.

Men of speculation may suppose, that the security of property to the natives might infuse a spirit of freedom, dangerous to our power, into our Indian subjects. Nature herself seems to have denied liberty to the inhabitants of the torrid zone. To make the natives of the fertile soil of Bengal free, is beyond the power of political arrangement. The indolence which attends the climate, prevents men from that constant activity and exertion, which is necessary to keep the nice balance of freedom. Their religion, their institutions, their manners, the very dispositions of their minds, form them for passive obedience. To give them property would only bind them with stronger ties to our interest, and make them more our subjects; or, if the British nation prefers the name -- more our slaves.

Men who have nothing to lose, are only enslaved by disunion, and the terror of the impending sword. Drive them to the last verge of poverty, and despair will stand in the place of spirit, and make them free. Men possessed of property are enslaved by their interest, by their convenience, their luxury, and their inherent fears. We owe our freedom to the poverty of our ancestors, as much as to the rude independence of their ferocious barbarism. But it is even difficult, in the cool air of our climate, to retain, in the midst of luxury and wealth, the vigour of mind necessary to keep us free. To confer property on the inhabitants of Bengal, will never raise in their minds a spirit of independence. Their sole hopes of retaining that property, will be derived from our policy and valour. When we fall, their lands will deviate to other heirs.

The revenues of Bengal, when properly paid, amount to four millions. Should this sum appear too small for perpetuity, many ways and means of increasing the taxes, without raising the rents, will present themselves. The British nation, famous for their political freedom, are still more famous for their judgment and wisdom in imposing taxations. Let them transfer to the banks of the Ganges, a part of that science of finance, which has so much distinguished their councils at home. The wealth of the people of Bengal is a treasury which will never fail, if drawn upon with judgment. Taxes may rise, in a just proportion to the wealth which this regulation will inevitably throw into our dominions in the East.

Very extensive possessions in the hands of an individual, are productive of pernicious consequences in all countries; they ought, therefore, to be prevented in the present regulation. Let the purchasers be confined to a certain quantity of land, not exceeding, upon any account, fifty thousand roupees a year. To prevent the accumulation of landed property, let the spirit of the laws of a commonwealth be adopted, and the lands be divided equally among all the male issue of the proprietor. Let the moveable property be divided, among the Mahommedan part of our subjects, according to the laws of the Coran. Let the Hindoos, in the same manner, retain their own laws of inheritance; which are clear, simple, and defined.

Paper Currency.

The absolute establishment of landed property, would create a perfect confidence in our faith, among our subjects in the East; and this circumstance leads to another regulation, which, if adopted, would have a great and immediate effect on the prosperity of Bengal. The want of a sufficient quantity of specie for the purposes of trade and the common intercourses among mankind, is one of the greatest evils under which Bengal at present labours. Let, therefore,, a paper currency be introduced; a measure at once salutary, easy, and practicable. Let a bank be immediately established at Calcutta, for the convenience of Europeans. This would, by becoming familiar to the natives, prepare them for a more general paper currency. The mode of carrying this into execution, is left in the hands of those better acquainted with the nature of banking, than the Author of the Inquiry.

To destroy, at once, the fraudulent science of exchange, which proves so detrimental to trade in Bengal, a current coin ought to be established, to pass without variation, for its fixed and intrinsic value. This was, in some degree, attempted by a noble governor, but he failed in his first principles, by imposing an arbitrary value upon his coin, not less than twenty per cent. above its intrinsic worth. No other reason is necessary for the bad success of this coinage. Though a decimal division of money is the most rational and commodious; yet entirely to change the forms of a country, in that respect, might be attended with great inconvenience. Let the roupee, therefore, consist, as at present, of sixteen of the imaginary Anas, which are now used in accounts in Bengal. The Pice, which is the twelfth part of an Ana, may be continued as the imaginary coin; but a copper coin of one half of an Ana, would answer the subdivisions of money, and be greatly beneficial to the poor.

The immediate fall of the exorbitant interest of money which prevails in Bengal, would be one of the first effects of this regulation. Ten per centum is the present interest; not so much owing to insecurity, as to the want of currency. Men of undoubted and established credit are ready to give this great premium to the lender, as they can turn the money to a great and immediate advantage. Were every man enabled, by a paper currency, to bring his whole property to the market, monopoly, in spite of oppression, would be at an end, and trade extend itself through a thousand channels not known now in speculation. The consequence would be highly beneficial; Bengal would draw great quantities of money from all the regions of Asia; and, by enriching herself, be rendered capable of bearing such taxes upon different articles, as this nation, for the augmentation of the revenues, might think proper to impose.

Napal, Thibet, Ava, Arracan, Pegu, Siam, Cochinchina, China, and almost all the islands in the Eastern ocean, produce gold: in the west, that metal seems to be found only in the Turkish Diarbekir. Japan and China only have silver mines. Asia contains native wealth, which has enriched it in all ages, exclusive of the balance of its commerce against Europe. The Author of the Inquiry means not that specie should be drawn from the East. But it might centre in Bengal, and make it one of the richest kingdoms in the world; whilst we might import, in its manufactures, the surplus of its revenues, without damaging either its foreign commerce or internal prosperity.

These two plans, and it is to be feared only these, would restore, under a government established on impartial justice, Bengal to its former prosperity and splendour. Let the lands be disposed of in property: let a paper currency be established. Every individual would, in such a case, become industrious in improving his own estate; provisions would fall to a third part of the present price; the country would assume a new face, and the people wear the aspect of joy. Immense tracts of rich land, which now, with their woods, conceal the ruins of great cities, would again be cultivated; and new provinces arise out of those marshy islands, near the mouth of the Ganges, which are, at present, the wild haunts of the rhinoceros and tiger.

Monopolies.

THERE is no maxim in commerce better established, than the destructive tendency of monopolies. In Bengal, its re- cent evils are well-known and abhorred. A law must provide against it; otherwise every other regulation will be made in vain. The inhabitants must be permitted to enjoy a free trade; subject, however, to such imposts upon various articles, excepting those of either the growth or manufacture of Great Britain, as may be thought reasonable from time to time. Gross articles, necessary for carrying on the finer manufactures, ought, however, to be exempted from duty; and every encouragement possible given to the export trade.

Free merchants ought to be encouraged; neither must they be excluded from the inland trade; as that circumstance would place the subjects of Great Britain on a worse footing than foreigners, whom we cannot, without violence, prevent from trading wherever they please. Let, however, the residence of the free merchants be confined to Calcutta; as the influence which all the natives of Britain have acquired over the inhabitants of Bengal, is so great, that the selfish can convert it into the means of oppression. The Indian agents of British traders will not carry, among a wretched people, the same terror which clothes their masters; whom it is a kind of sacrilege not to obey, in their most unjust commands.

The servants of the Company will have many objections to this proposal. But the management of the revenues, and of the general trade, which must remain in their hands, will still give them superior advantages, sufficient to gratify all their reasonable desires. The influence of a member of the council will, without doubt, enable any man, in that high station, to engross a share of the trade, almost equal to a partial monopoly. Should even a man of that rank be so self-denied, as not to take advantage of the influence annexed to his place, his attention to commerce would encroach on the time allotted for public affairs. Let him, therefore, when he rises to the board, be debarred from trading, either directly or indirectly, by severe penalties of law; and let there an ample allowance be made for his services, from the funds of the Company.

Religion.

Men who submit to bodily servitude, have been known to revolt against the slavery imposed on their minds. We may use the Indians for our benefit in this world, but let them serve themselves as they can in the next. All religions must be tolerated in Bengal, except in the practice of some inhuman customs, which the Mahommedans have already, in a great measure, destroyed. We must not permit young widows, in their virtuous enthusiasm, to throw themselves on the funeral pile with their dead husbands; nor the sick and aged to be drowned, when their friends despair of their lives.

The Hindoo religion, in other respects, inspires the purest morals. Productive, from its principles, of the greatest degree of subordination to authority, it prepares mankind for the government of foreign lords. It supplies, by its well-followed precepts, the place of penal laws; and it renders crimes almost unknown in the land. The peaceable sentiments which it breathes, will check the more warlike doctrines promulgated by the Coran. The prudent successors of Timur saw that the Hindoo religion was favourable to their power; and they sheathed the sword, which the other princes of the Mahommedan persuasion employed in establishing their own faith, in all their conquests. Freedom of conscience was always enjoyed in India in the absence of political freedom.

Attention must be paid to the usages and very prejudices of the people, as well as a regard for their religion. Though many things of that kind may appear absurd and trivial among Europeans, they are of the utmost importance among the Indians. The least breach of them may be productive of an expulsion from the society; a more dreadful punishment Dracó himself could not devise. But the caution about religion is superfluous: these are no converting days. Among the list of crimes committed in Bengal, persecution for religion is not to be found; and he that will consent to part with his property, may carry his opinions away with freedom.

The Executive Power.

The great path of general regulation is with less difficulty traced, than the minute lines which carry the current of government from the centre to the extremities of the state. Practice resists theory more on this subject than in any other; and the wisest legislators can neither foresee nor prevent obstacles, which may rise in the progress of time. In a country where the body of the people meet annually, in their representatives, to new inconveniences new remedies may be instantly applied; and even the mandate of the despot loses half its tyranny, in the expedition with which it opposes evil.

The distance of Bengal from the eye of the British legislature, renders it extremely difficult for them to frame laws against every emergency that may arise; and it is equally difficult, with propriety, to create a legislative authority in a kingdom, which cannot, in the nature of things, have a representative of its own. The executive power being vested in the governor and council, it is dangerous to trust them with the legislative; and it is impossible to permit the court of justice, which we mean to propose, to make those laws upon which they are to decide. The least of two evils is preferred by the prudent. Let the governor and council suggest annually, in their general letter, the necessary regulations; and these, after being duly weighed by the Company, in their collective body at home, be laid before parliament, to be by them, if found just, necessary, and equitable, framed into a law. The general laws for the government of Bengal being, by the British legislature once established, the inconveniences which may arise in India, will neither be so great nor detrimental as to occasion much mischief for one, or even two years; in which time, the proposed regulations, sent home by the governor and council, will return to them with the force of laws.

The executive power, in its full extent, as at present, must be vested in a president and council, of which the chief justice and commander in chief of the troops ought to be, ex officio, members. The number should be increased to sixteen, of which any five, with the president, may form a board; and ten always to reside at Calcutta, exclusive of the chief justice and the commander in chief, should even the peaceableness of the times permit him to be absent from the army. The four remaining counsellors should be directed to reside in the capitals of the larger districts, into which, for the benefit of justice, we shall hereafter divide the provinces of Bengal and Behår. The business for forming regulations to make a foundation of a law, being of the last importance, ought never to come before less than ten members in council, of whom the chief justice ought invariably to be one.

Let a general board of revenue be established at Calcutta, at which a member of the council is to preside. Let this board, in its inferior departments, be conducted by the Company's servants; and let it receive the correspondence and check the accounts of four other boards of the same kind, but of inferior jurisdiction, to be fixed at Dacca, Murshedabâd, Mongeer, and Patna. Let the provinces of Bengal and Behâr be divided into five equal divisions, each subject, in the first instance, to one of the four boards, which are all under the control of the superior board of revenue established at Calcutta. In the lesser districts, let a Company's servant superintend the collection of the revenue; and be accountable for his transactions to the board under whose jurisdiction he acts.

The wild chaos of government, if the absence of all rule deserves the name, which subsists in Bengal, must be utterly removed. There some faint traces of the British constitution is mixed with the positive orders of a Court of Directors, the convenient and temporary expedients of a trading governor and council, the secret orders of the select committee, the influence of the president with the Nabob, and the boisterous despotism of Mahommed Riza. To separate, or even to restrain, them within proper bounds, is beyond human capacity; some branches must be lopt off to give more vigour and room to others to flourish. Mubârick must retire from the Musnud; Mahommed Riza and the secret committee vanish away; and even the council itself must be restrained from BREVI MANU despotism; such as, the sending home, by forcé, British subjects, and dismissing officers without the sentence of a court martial.

Judicial Power.

To preserve the health of the political body, the pure stream of impartial justice must rush with vigour through every vein. When it meets with obstructions, a disease is produced; and when the whole mass becomes corrupted, a langour succeeds, which frequently terminates in death, To drop the metaphor, the distributers of justice ought to be independent of every thing but the law. The executive part of government must not interfere with the decisions of the judge, otherwise that officer, who was created for the defence of the subject from injury, becomes a tool of oppression in the hands of despotism.

The first principle of wise legislation is to open an easy passage to the temple of justice. Where the seat of redress is either distant or difficult of access, an injury is forgot to avoid the trouble of complaint; and thus injustice is encouraged by the almost certain prospect of impunity, To avoid this evil, the Author of the Inquiry thinks it necessary, that the act of the legislature, which shall constitute the mode of distributing justice, should also divide Bengal and Behår into five great provinces, the capitals of which ought to be Calcutta, Murshedabad, and Dacca, in Bengal; and Patna and Mongeer in Behår. Let each of these five great divisions be subdivided into ten Chucklas, or extensive districts, almost the number of which the kingdom consists at present; and let each of these be still subdivided into an indefinite number of Pergunnas.

To bring justice, to use a certain author's words, home to the door of every man, let there, in each village, be established, as in the days of the empire, a Muckuddum, to act as a constable for the preservation of the peace. A Sheichdår, with a commission similar to that of a justice of the peace, should be fixed in the most centrical part of the Pergunna or lesser district, to whom disputes, which cannot be quashed by the authority of the Muckuddum, or constable, may be referred. Let the court of this officer, however, communicate with another of a more extensive and ample jurisdiction, established in the capital of the division or district, of which the Pergunna is a part.

Similar to the office of a Sheikdâr or justice of the peace, ought to be that of the Cutwal or mayor of great towns and considerable cities. The wisdom of the house of Timur established this officer, to animadvert upon thieves, gamblers, and other miscreants; to remove nuisances, to suppress pimps and jugglers, to prevent forestalling of grain and other provisions; to be the regulator of the market, and to decide in all trivial and vexatious disputes, that tended toward a breach of the peace. His ministerial office coincided almost with that of the mayors of our lesser towns; and his court was the counterpart of the now obsolete CURIA PEDIS PULVERIZATI, mentioned by our lawyers.

In every Chuckla, or greater division, let there be established a court similar in its nature, but different in its mode, to the courts of Cutcherri, instituted in the days of the empire. Let this court be composed of the Company's servant, residing for the collection of the revenue in the Chuckla, and of two Mahommed Cazis, and two Brahmins. The servant of the Company ought to be the nominal president of the court, but only to sit when the voices are equal, to throw his casting-vote on the side of equity. In such a case the process to begin anew. The fees of the court must be regulated, and a table of the expence of every article to be hung up to public view in the common hall. The punishment for corruption, upon conviction in the supreme court of Bengal, ought to rise to a degree of severity suitable to the danger of the crime.

This court, besides the power of hearing appeals from the decisions of the Sheichdar in the lesser districts, ought to retain its ancient authority, subject, however, to an appeal from decisions beyond a sum to be specified, to the provincial courts, which shall be hereafter described. Its jurisdiction ought to extend to the contracting and dissolving of marriages, to the settlement of dowries for women, and the succession to money and moveables among children, according to the respective institutes of the Mahommedan and Hindoo systems of religion. It ought also to be a court of record; and to be obliged to keep an exact register of all public and private contracts, births, marriages, and deaths; and, to execute that department of the business, a Canongoe and a Mutaseddy, as clerks, ought to be annexed to each court. These, with other matters to be described in the succeeding section, ought to comprehend the whole power of the court of Cutcherri.

In each of the capitals of the five provinces, a member of the council of state at Calcutta ought to reside. He, together with possessing the management of the Company's commercial affairs in his province, ought to be empowered, by a special commission, with three assessors of the elder resident servants, to form and preside in a court of justice, which we shall, for distinction, call The provincial court of appeal. To direct their judgment upon points of law, an officer, under the name of Attorney-general for the province, ought to be appointed to give his advice, together with a Mahommedan Cazi and an Indian Brahmin, to explain the principles of their respective institutions and usages, and to tender oaths to the parties. Suits may originate in this court; and it ought to have the power of removing before itself the proceedings of the court of Cutcherri.

To establish thoroughly the independence of the judicial on the executive power, a supreme court, from which an appeal ought to lie only to Great Britain, should be erected at Calcutta, by the authority of the legislature. Let it consist of a chief justice and three puisné justices, who derive their commissions from the king; and let them be in Bengal the counterpart of the court of king's bench in England. The jurisdiction of this court, which, from its transcendent power, may be called the supreme court of Bengal, ought to extend, without limitation, over the whole kingdom; and to keep the inferior courts, within the bounds of their authority; as well as to decide ultimately upon all appeals. It ought to protect the just rights of the subject, by its sudden and even summary interposition; and to take cognizance of criminal as well as of civil causes.

To carry justice, in criminal matters, with all the expedition possible, through our conquests, it is proposed, that two of the puisné justices shall, twice a year, go on circuits, to the respective capitals of the five provinces, one into the three provinces in Bengal, and one into the two, into which Behậr is to be divided. The puisné justice shall sit, upon these occasions, with the members of the provincial court; but the member of the council who is the president of the court, shall still be considered as the principal judge. In criminal matters, the culprit shall be tried by a jury of British subjects only; there being always a sufficient number of good and lawful men to form a jury, in the capital of the province. In the supreme court at Calcutta, disputes between the natives may be decided in civil cases, according to equity, without a jury, by the judges; but, in suits between British subjects, the matter ought to be tried by a jury, upon the principles of the law of England.

The sole management of the revenue of Bengal, being in the Company, many capital alterations are necessary to be made in that important branch. The great channel of public justice has been, by the above regulations, separated from the executive power; but some part of the judicial authority must still remain in the Company's hands. To manage the receipts of the revenue, it has been already mentioned, that five boards must be formed, the superior one of which to remain in Calcutta. The boards ought to consist of two divisions, or rather of two sides; the receipt of the Exchequer, and the judicial part, which must enable them to enforce the payment of the revenues.

The mode of proceeding in this branch ought to rise in the same gradations with the course of appeals in the civil line of disputes between man and man. Let the Cutcherries enforce the payment of the revenues of the Chucklas, under an appeal to the provincial board, whose decisions, beyond certain sums, ought to be subject to the revision of the general board at Calcutta. But, as the state must not suffer through delay, let the sum in dispute, upon a decision against the subject, by any of the courts of revenue before whom the suit shall originate, be forthwith paid into the exchequer; and let the person aggrieved seek for redress, by petition, to the court which is placed immediately above that court of whose decision he complains.

The board of revenue, in each of the capital cities of the five provinces, except in Calcutta, where no court of law except the supreme court exists, is to be made up of the same persons whom we have already placed as judges in the provincial court of appeal. The court of exchequer, in England, examines, by a fiction, into all sorts of civil causes. It is necessary to preclude the boards of revenue from such powers as a court of exchequer. As provincial courts of common law, their decisions are liable to an appeal to the supreme court at Calcutta, and therefore any prejudices which they may be supposed to imbibe, as members of the executive part of government, cannot be of great detriment to the people, subject as their proceedings are to a court not amenable to the jurisdiction of the Company.

Observations on the Judicial Power.

THE despotism which naturally sprung from the double government which arose on the foundation of the success of our arms in Bengal, repressed one evil, whilst it gave birth to a thousand. Those frequent disputes which grow between individuals, where the access to justice is easy, were quashed by a terror which prevented an unfortunate people from appearing before rulers who wanted but an excuse to oppress. The hand of power fell heavy upon both the plaintiff and defendant; and, therefore, men put up with injuries from one another, in hopes of concealing themselves from the rigid eyes of government. This alludes to the boisterous tyranny of the minister of a nominal Nabob; indolence was more our crime, than cruelty.

The doors opened to justice in the preceding section, will, without doubt, introduce an ample harvest for men of the law; but it is better that they should live by litigiousness, than that the people should perish by tyranny. The objection rising from this circumstance must therefore vanish in the utility of the thing; and another objection, just as obvious, may be as easily removed. It may be thought impolitic by some, that any part of the judicial authority should remain in the hands of the natives. But this is objected in vain. The officers of justice, as well as being subject to a revision of their decrees to the British, derive from them their own power; and the people, by being left in possession of some of their laws and usages, will be flattered into an inviolable submission to our government.

Though the inhabitants of Bengal are, from their natural disposition, prepared to submit to any system of government, founded upon justice, there are some laws of their own, which absolute power itself must not violate. The regulations with regard to their women and religion, must never be touched; and, upon mature consideration, the Author of the Inquiry is of opinion, that many other ancient institutions might be left entire. There are, however, particular usages established by time into a law, which our humanity must destroy. No pecuniary compensation must be permitted for murder; no theft be punished by cutting off the hand. Let the Mahommedan laws still in force against the Hindoos be abrogated; let no women burn themselves with their husbands, no dying person be exposed by his friends.

To leave the natives entirely to their own laws, would be to consign them to anarchy and confusion. The inhabitants of Bengal are divided into two religious sects, the Mahommedan and Hindoo, almost equal in point of numbers. Averse, beyond measure, to one another, both on account of religion and the memory of mutual injuries, the one party will not now submit to the laws of the other; and the dissension which subsists between individuals, would, without a pressure from another power, spread in a flame over the whole kingdom. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary for the peace and prosperity of the country, that the laws of England, in so far as they do not oppose prejudices and usages which cannot be relinquished by the natives, should prevail. The measure, besides its equity, is calculated to preserve that influence which conquerors must possess to retain their power.

The expence of the judicial establishment is but trivial, if compared to the advantages which the kingdom of Bengal must derive from such a necessary institution. The judges in every country should be placed in affluence; in Bengal they ought to derive a fortune from the labour of some years. The natives of a northern climate settle not for life in the torrid zone; they always place the prospect of returning with wealth to their friends, among their great inducements for venturing to cross the ocean. The following table presents an estimate of the annual expence of justice in Bengal.

The Supreme Court of Bengal.
One chief justice . . . . . . / £.10,000
Three puisné justices ... / 15,000
One attorney general ..... / 3,000
One register . ....... / 2,000
Two Cazis and two Brahmins, to attend the court · · · · · · / 0,400
Contingencies ....... / 1,000
Total / £.31,400

The four provincial courts of appeal, consisting of the Company's servants:

Four counsellors, as presidents .. / £.2,000
Twelve assessors .. .. . / 2,400
One provincial attorney in each .. / 2,000
One register in each ..... / 0,800
One Cazi and one Brahmin in each / 0,800
Contingencies in all ..... / 1,600
Total / £. 9,600

Fifty courts of Cutcherri:
Fifty presidents, being servants of the Company ....... / £.5,000
Two hundred assessors ... / 10,000
Fifty registers .. ./ 1,500
Fifty Clerks ... / 1,000
Total / £. 17,500
Grand Total / £.58,500

The above calculation, it is hoped, will not be thought extravagant, for dispensing justice to fifteen millions of people. The salaries of the members of the boards of revenue, and of these, as forming courts of exchequer, are not mentioned, as the Company is supposed to pay its own servants, with certain sums and lucrative privileges for the whole of their trouble. The Sheichdârs, the Cutwals, and the Muckuddums, have no salaries; the influence and distinction which they shall derive from their employments, being a sufficient reward for their toil.

General Reflections on the Plan.

PROPERTY being once established, and the forms of justice to protect it delineated, public prosperity is placed on a solid foundation. But the love of money, which generally prevails, renders the most of mankind more anxious to possess present profit, than to look forward to future advantage. The plan which we have laid down in the preceding sections, will begin to yield an apparent benefit from its commencement; at the same time that the tide will become the more rapid the longer it flows.

The immediate pecuniary advantages which will rise to Bengal, are to be derived from various sources. The removal of the Emperor, either to Patna or Mongeer, will save to the kingdom his pension of three hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds; the revenues of the territory of Bulwant Singh, three hundred and twelve thousand five hundred pounds to be spent in Bengal; and fifty thousand pounds, which is now sent abroad without hopes of return, to pay three battalions of our troops, stationed at Allahabad. This sum of six hundred and eighty-seven thousand pounds, thrown at once into the circulation, would animate the languid pulse of commerce; and at once prepare the kingdom for the commercial improvements, which the plan, in its other regulations, seems absolutely to ensure.

The future advantages arise also from various springs. The influx of specie and inhabitants, which the sale of the waste as well as of the cultivated lands, would draw from all the other provinces of Hindostan, would be productive of immediate national wealth. The advancement of agriculture would promote the advancement of manufactures. The peace of the country would be secured from abroad; and justice, by prevailing at home, would attach the natives to a government, on the stability of which the possession of their landed property depended. The establishment of a paper currency, on national faith and the Company's security, would enable mankind to bring all their property into action, lower the exorbitant interest of money, and render Bengal, in the space of a few years, the most commercial, the most flourishing, and the most wealthy kingdom, of its extent, in Asia.

The Company, in the midst of the prosperity of the subject, would amazingly thrive in their affairs. A sum not less than ten millions, independent of their revenue, would, in the space of four years, flow from the first sales of the land into their coffers. The improvement of their present revenue would join issue with its future certainty and permanency. A large annual sum would arise from a thorough examination of tenures; and from imposts already laid upon fairs, markets, entrance into great towns, shops, magazines of grain, fees upon marriages, tolls collected at ferries, licences for exercising trades, ground-rent of houses, which though at present paid by the public, have never been brought to account by Mahomined Riza and the general farmers. These articles, at the lowest average, might amount to the annual sum of four hundred thousand pounds. Five hundred thousand pounds would yearly be saved in pensions, and on the charge of collection; besides, the immense increase in the revenues, which would most certainly be derived from the growing prosperity of the kingdom.

The absolute establishment of property, without which written law seems superfluous to society, is, as has been observed, the foundation upon which national prosperity is laid. Regulations which stop short of this primary object, are only temporary expedients, which may, for a time, alleviate the pain of the distemper, but can never cure it. A tacit acquiescence in the right of possession of the natives, the prevention of some part of the present national waste, a mild despotism, which we may dignify with the name of justice, will have an immediate good effect; but the advantage is limited, partial, and transient; and the Author of the Inquiry will venture to affirm, that, unless something similar to what has been, in the preceding sections, proposed, is adopted, Bengal will, in the course of a few years, decline into a shadow, and vanish from our hands.

Miracles are not to be expected in this age; and, without them, in the absence of a bold and determined exertion, the boasted fruits of our victories in the East will wither with our laurels. A kingdom, lying under all the disadvantages of a foreign conquest, which, without return, deprives it of one million and a half of its annual industry, must sink under the weight, unless it is placed on a better footing than the surrounding countries which pay no tribute. Let our justice to our own subjects, let the advantages of our regulations, entice foreigners with their wealth to settle among us; let us, without the sword, appropriate the wealth of India by our policy; otherwise the stream which flows into Great Britain will soon become dry. The lake, which feeds it, has already disappeared from the banks. Temporary regulations may dazzle with their immediate effect; but a permanent plan, which in its wide circle comprehends futurity, will preserve the vigour and health of Bengal, to the verge of that political death, to which all empires seem to be subjected by fate.

Concluding Reflections.

ARGUMENTS deduced from general principles, however obvious they may appear, strike not the bulk of mankind so forcibly as facts. The revenues of Bengal, without including the Jagieers, amounted, in the year 1766, to near three millions and six hundred thousand pounds of our money. The charges of collection, the Nabob's government, pensions, civil, military, and marine expences, being deducted, there remained a balance of one million three hundred thousand pounds, for the Company. The expences have since been increasing yearly, and the revenues decreasing. Both were hastening to that middle point, which would balance the accounts of the British nation, with the fortune of their arms in the East.

To conceal this decrease as much as possible, men fell on a very shallow and poor expedient. The servants of the Company protracted the time of closing the accounts to make up the usual sum; and, by these means, an encroachment of five months was, by degrees, made upon the succeeding year. To understand this circumstance, it is necessary to observe, that the collections are not fixed to a particular term. They are continued without intermission, and the produce of the five months, which may amount to one million five hundred thousand pounds, must be deducted from the accounts made up, since the Dewanny was submitted to our management.

Notwithstanding this deception, it was not the only deficiency in the state of money affairs. The revenues of the year 1769 had, besides, fallen short five hundred thousand pounds; and what further reduction the famine which ensued may have made, time can on paid; and this was not above half the sum necessary to purchase the annual investments of the Company. No fair conclusion, however, can be drawn from the produce of one year; and the vigilance of the Court of Directors has since established some beneficial regulations. To flatter the sanguine, we will suppose, that the net balance will amount, on the present footing, to one million. The sum is just sufficient for the investments of the Company; without leaving a single farthing in the treasury to answer any extraordinary emergency.

The advantages of the proposed plan are obvious; and, therefore, easily explained. Let it be supposed, that the rent-roll of the year 1766 shall be taken as the rule of the quit-rent to be paid, after the sale of the lands. Let none think this sum too much. Under the management of the proprietors, the lands would in a few years produce, thrice the sum of three millions six hundred thousand pounds; but the subject must receive a bribe for his industry. The Company, at present, complain, that the Talookdars, or those who possess lands in property, run away with all the tenants. Their estates are flourishing, whilst our limited policy of letting the lands by the year, has created solitudes around. After a thorough examination of fictitious tenures, private encroachments, and public embezzlements, we may, with great propriety, venture to add, at least one million to the above sum. But to speak with a moderation which precludes reply, we shall only take it for granted, that four hundred thousand pounds are, by these means, only gained. Even this sum will fix the annual revenue at four millions; and there let it rest till the prosperity of the country shall authorise an increase, by slight imposts on trade and the articles of consumption.

The abolition of the tyrannical and impolitic government of the Nabob, will be a saving of five hundred thousand pounds on the annual expences. The fact is notorious, that the real expence of this secondary and intermediate government, in pensions and in the mode of collection, exceeds six hundred thousand pounds; but the judicial and fiscal systems established in the preceding plan will not exceed one hundred thousand pounds, with all the advantages of a salutary and equitable administration of justice and law. To this sum we may add the five hundred thousand pounds which have fallen off from the revenue, as the first-fruits of the plan; all which, supposing the expences of the civil, military, and marine departments to remain as at present, would make an annual difference of one million four hundred thousand pounds, in favour of the Company. The investments of the Company might in that case be increased, yet leave a sum for the treasury in Calcutta for emergencies.

The treasury, however, ought not to be too rich, lest circulation should deaden in the kingdom. Two millions in specie would be sufficient. To employ the surplus to advantage, together with the ten millions, which are supposed to arise from the sale of the lands, a bank ought to be established for the purpose of lending out sums of money, not exceeding three years' purchase on landed security to the proprietors, at the interest of seven per centum. The land-holders would be, by these means, enabled to raise the necessary sums, at less than half the interest which they now pay; and the Company would have good security for their advances. Let us suppose, that, in the course of a few years, ten millions were lent upon these terms, that sum would produce an annual interest of seven hundred thousand pounds; which, upon the whole plan, makes a yearly balance, in favour of the Company, of TWO MILLIONS ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS MORE THAN THEY AT PRESENT RECEIVE, exclusive of a PRODIGIOUS and GROWING TREASURE; and the moderate imposts which may be hereafter laid on articles of luxury.

The Plan, to speak the least in its favour, is practicable in its great and general line. It would produce, even partially followed, immense, sudden, and permanent advantages; but no human foresight can absolutely estimate the precise sums. Though the Author of the Inquiry has not the vanity to sup- pose that his scheme is, in all its branches, infallible, he will venture to pledge himself to his country, that, should the more material parts of his system be adopted, the advantages to be derived from it would not fall short of his calculations. His knowledge of the kingdom of Bengal, and its various resources, gives him a confidence on this subject, to which he is not entitled by his abilities.

[admin]

THE HISTORY OF HINDOSTAN.

A Dissertation concerning the ancient History of the Indians.

THE accounts of the ancients concerning India are extremely unsatisfactory; and the industry of the moderns has not supplied that defect, by an inquiry into the domestic literature of that part of the world. The Greeks and Romans scarcely ever extended their informations beyond the limits of their conquests; and the Arabians, though minute in the detail of their own transactions, are very imperfect, in the history of those nations whom they subdued.

The aversion of the Indians themselves to disclose the annals of their history, which are interspersed with their religious tenets, to strangers, has, in a manner, involved their transactions, in ancient times, in impenetrable darkness. The only light to conduct us through the obscure paths of their antiquities, we de. rive from an historical poem, founded upon real facts, translated into the Persian language in the reign of Mahommed Akbar, who died in the 1605th of the Christian æra. The author of the History of India, now translated from the Persian, has extracted some facts from the poem, which we shall arrange into order, in a more succinct, and, perhaps, in a more agreeable manner, than they were delivered down by him.

The Indians divide the age of the world into four grand periods, each of which consists of an incredible number of years. The last of these, called the Cal period, comprehends thirty thousand years, near five thousand of which have already elapsed. The Brahmins relate many fictions concerning the former three, but their authentic accounts extend not further than the commencement of the Cal period.

According to the Maha-Barit, or the Great War, the name of the poem we have already mentioned, India, some time after the commencement of the Cal æra, was formed into one empire. The founder of the first dynasty of its Kings was Krishen, who, and his posterity, reigned over the Indians for the space of four hundred years. Very little concerning this race of monarchs has come to our knowledge, except that they held their court in the city of Oud, the capital of a province of the same name, to the north-east of the kingdom of Bengal.

Maraja, who was descended, by a female of the royal house of Krishen, succeeded to the throne after the extinction of the male line. He is said to have been a good and great prince, devoting his whole time to the just administration of public affairs. Under him the governments of provinces became hereditary, for the first time in particular families; and he is said, though perhaps erroneously, to have been the first who divided the Indians into those four distinct tribes, which we have mentioned in the dissertation concerning their religion and philosophy. Learning is said to have flourished under Maraja, and little else is recorded concerning his reign. His family, who all bore the name of Maraja, enjoyed the throne of India for seven hundred years.

Towards the close of the æra of the royal dynasty of the Marajas, the first invasion of India by the Persians is placed. One of the blood-royal of India, disgusted with the reigning prince, fed into Persia, whose king was called Feredon. That monarch espousing the cause of the fugitive, sent an army into Hindostan, and carried on a war with that empire for the space of ten years. The country, during so long a series of hostilities, suffered exceedingly, and the Maraja, who sat on the throne, was obliged to cede part of his dominions to the fugitive prince, who, it seems, was his nephew. A tribute, at the same time, was sent to the king of Persia, and the empire of India seems ever after to depend, in some measuré, upon that of Persia.

During the Persian war, the imperial governors of Ceylon and the Carnatic rebelled. The eldest son of the Emperor was killed in battle, and his army defeated, by the rebels. Maraja was, at the same time, threatened with a second Persian invasion, but some presents well applied diverted the storm from India, though not without ceding to the Persians all the provinces upon the Indus. The imperial general, who opposed the invasion from the north, turning his arms against the Decan, recovered that extensive country to the empire, together with the revolted islands. That species of music, which still subsists in the eastern provinces, is said to have been introduced, during this expedition, from the Tellenganians of the Decan. We have no further particulars concerning this long line of kings.

When the family of the Marajas became extinct, one Kesro-raja' mounted the throne of India, as near as we can compute the time, about 1429 years before the Christian æra. This prince was descended, by the mother's side, from the royal house of the Marajas. He is said, at his accession, to have had fourteen brothers, whom he made governors of different provinces. It appears that the island of Ceylon' was not thoroughly reduced till the reign of Kesro-raja, who went in person to that country, and subdued the rebels. The Decan revolted in his time, and to reduce it Kesro-raja solicited the aid of his Lord Paramount, the King of Persia. An army from that country, in conjunction with the imperial forces of India, soon reduced the Decan, and the customary tribute was continued to the Persian. Kesro-raja, and his posterity after him, reigned in peace over India, in the capital of Oud, for the space of two hundred and twenty years.

In the 1209 before the commencement of the Christian æra, we find one Feros-ra on the throne of India. He is said to have been versed in the Indian sciences of the Shaster, to have taken great delight in the society of learned men, and to have entirely neglected the art of war. He expended the public revenue upon devotees and enthusiasts, and in building temples for worship in every province of his dominions. Notwithstanding this outward show of religion, Feros-ra did not hesitate to take the opportunity of a Tartar invasion of Persia, to wrest from that empire the provinces upon the Indus, which had been ceded, by his predecessors, for the assistance received from the King of Persia in the reduction of the Decan.

It is related, by some authors, that Punjâb, or the province lying upon the five branches which compose the Indus, were in possession of the empire of Hindostan till the reign of Kei Kobad, King of Persia. In his time, Rustum Dista, King of the Persian province of Seistan, who, for his great exploits, is styled the Hercules of the East, invaded the Northern provinces of India; and the prince of the family of Feros-ra, who sat on the throne, unable to oppose the progress of that hero's arms, retired to the mountains of Turhat. Rustum soon dispossessed him of that fastness, and it is said that the King of India died, a fugitive, in the mountains on the confines of Bengal and Orissa. The dynasty of Feros-ra comprehends one hundred and thirty-seven years.

The whole empire of India fell into the hands of the victor, by the death of the King. Rustum, however, was not willing to retain it as a dependent of Persia, on account of its distance, and he placed a new family on the throne. The name of the prince raised to the empire, by Rustum, was Suraja, who was a man of abilities, and restored the power of the empire. This dynasty commenced about 1072 before the Christian æra; and it lasted two hundred and eighty-six years.

It is affirmed, by the Brahmins, that it was in the time of this dynasty that the worship of emblematical figures of the divine attributes, was first established in India. The Persians, in their invasions, say they; introduced the worship of the Sun, and other heavenly bodies, together with the proper symbol of God, the element of fire; but the mental adoration of the Divinity, as one Supreme Being, was still followed by many: The great city of Kinoge, so long the capital of Hindostan, was built by one of the Surajas, on the banks of the Ganges. The circumference of its walls are said to have been near one hundred miles.

After the extinction or deposition of the royal house of Suraja, Baraja acceded to the throne of Hindostan, which he possessed thirty-six years. We know little concerning him, but that he built the city of Barage, still remaining in India. He had a genius for music, and wrote some books upon that subject, which were long in high repute. He, at last, grew disordered in his senses, became tyrannical, and was deposed by Keidar, a Brahmin, who assumed the empire.

Keidar, being a man of learning and genius, became an excellent prince. He paid the customary tribute to the King of Persia, and so secured his kingdom from foreign invasion. A domestic enemy, however, arose, that at length deprived him, in the nineteenth year of his reign, of his life and empire. This was Sinkol, a native of Kinoge, who breaking out into open rebellion, in Bengal and Behâr, defeated, in several battles, the imperial army, and mounted the throne.

Sinkol was a warlike and magnificent prince. He rebuilt the capital of Bengal, famous under the names of Lucknouti and Goura, and adorned it with many noble structures. Goura is said to have been the chief city of Bengal for two thousand years; and the ruins that still remain, prove that it has been an amazingly magnificent place. The unwholesomeness of the air prevailed upon the imperial family of Timur to order its being abandoned, and Tanda became the seat of government two hundred and fifty years ago.

Sinkol, keeping an immense army in pay, was induced to withhold the tribute from the King of Persia, and to turn the ambassador of that Monarch, with disgrace, from his court. Fifty thousand Persian horse, under their general, Peiran, invaded India, and advanced without much opposition to the confines of Bengal, where they came to battle with the imperial army, under Sinkol. Though the bravery of the Persians was much superior to that of the Hindoos, they were, at last, by the mere weight of numbers, driven from the field, and obliged to take shelter, in a strong post, in the neighbouring mountains, from whence the victors found it impossible to dislodge them. They continued to ravage the country, from their strong hold, and dispatched letters to Persia, to inform the King of their situation.

Affrasiab, for that, say the Brahmins, was the name of the monarch who reigned, in the days of Sinkol, over Persia and a great part of Tartary, was at the city of Gindis, near the borders of China, when he received intelligence of the misfortune of his army in India. He hastened to their relief with one hundred thousand horse, came to battle with the Emperor Sinkol, whom he totally defeated, and pursued to the capital of Bengal. Sinkol did not think it safe to remain long at that place, and therefore took refuge in the inaccessible mountains of Turhat. Affrasiab, in the mean time, laid waste the country with fire and sword. Sinkol thought it prudent to beg peace and forgiveness of Affrasiab, and he accordingly came, in the character of a suppliant, to the Persian camp, with a sword and a coffin carried before him, to signify that his life was in the disposal of the King. Sinkol was carried prisoner to Tartary, as an hostage for the obedience of his son Rohata, who was placed upon the throne of Hindostan.

Sinkol died in the 731 year before the Christian æra, and Rohata continued his reign over India. He was a wise, religious, and affable prince. The revenues of the empire, which extended from Kirmi to Malava, he divided into three parts; one he expended in charities, another he sent to Persia, by way of tribute, and to support his father, and a third he appropriated to the necessary expences of government. The standing army of the empire was, upon this account, small, which encouraged the prince of Malava to revolt, and to support himself in his rebellion, Rohata built the famous fort of Rhotas, and left what remained to him of the empire, in peace, to his son. The race of Sinkol held the sceptre of India 81 years after his death, and then became extinct.

After a long dispute about the succession, a' chief of the Raja-put tribe of Cutswa, assumed the dignities of the empire, under the name of Maraja. The first act of the reign of Maraja, was the reduction of Guzerat, where some disturbances had happened in the time of his predecessor. He built a port in that country, where he constructed vessels, and carried on commerce with all the states of Asia. He mounted the throne, according to the annals of India, in the 586 year before the birth of Christ, and reigned forty years. He is said to have been cotemporary with Gustasp, or Hystaspes, the father of Darius, who mounted the throne of Persia after the death of Smerdis. It is worthy of being remarked in this place, that the chronology of the Hindoos agrees, almost exactly, with that established by Sir Isaac Newton. Newton fixes the commencement of the reign of Darius in the 521 year before the Christian æra; so that, if we suppose that Hystaspes, who was governor of Turkestan, or Transoxiana, made a figure in Tartary twenty-five years before the accession of his son to the throne of Persia, which is no way improbable, the chronology of India agrees perfectly with that of Sir Isaac Newton.

Keda-raja, who was nephew, by a sister, to the former emperor, was nominated by him to the throne. Rustum Dista, the Persian governor of the ceded Indian provinces, being dead, Keda-raja turned his arms that way, reduced the countries upon the Indus, and fixed his residence in the city of Bera. The mountaineers of Cabul and Candahar, who are now called Afgans, or Patans, advanced against Keda-raja, and recovered all the provinces of which he had possessed himself upon the Indus. We know no more of the transactions of Keda-raja. He died after a reign of forty-three years.

Jei-chund, the commander in chief of Keda-raja's armies, found no great difficulty in mounting the throne after the death of his sovereign. We know little of the transactions of the reign of Jei-chund. A pestilence and famine happened in his time, and he himself was addicted to indolence and pleasure. He reigned sixty years, and his son succeeded him in the empire, but was dispossessed by Delu, the brother of Jei-chund. Bemin and Darâb, or Darius, say the Indians, were two successive Kings of Persia, in the days of Jei-chund, and he punctually paid to them the stipulated tribute.

Delu is said to have been a prince of uncommon bravery and generosity; benevolent towards men, and devoted to the service of God. The most remarkable transaction of his reign is the building of the city of Delhi, which derives its name from its founder, Delu. In the fortieth year of his reign, Phoor, a prince of his own family, who was governor of Cumaoon, rebelled against the Emperor, and marched to Kinoge, the capital. Delu was defeated, taken, and confined in the impregnable fort of Rhotas.

Phoor immediately mounted the throne of India, reduced Bengal, extended his power from sea to sea, and restored the empire to its pristine dignity. He died after a long reign, and left the kingdom to his son, who was also called Phoor, and was the same with the famous Porus, who fought against Alexander.

The second Phoor, taking advantage of the disturbances in Persia, occasioned by the Greek invasion of that empire under Alexander, neglected to remit the customary tribute, which drew upon him the arms of that conqueror. The approach of Alexander did not intimidate Phoor. He, with a numerous army, met him at Sirhind, about one hundred and sixty miles to the north-west of Delhi, and in a furious battle, say the Indian historians, lost many thousands of his subjects, the victory, and his life. The most powerful prince of the Decan, who paid an unwilling homage to Phoor, or Porus, hearing of that monarch's overthrow, submitted himself to Alexander, and sent him rich presents by his son. Soon after, upon a mutiny arising in the Macedonian army, Alexander returned by the way of Persia.

Sinsarchund, the same whom the Greeks call Sandrocottus, assumed the imperial dignity after the death of Phoor, and in a short time regulated the discomposed concerns of the empire. He neglected not, in the mean time, to remit the customary tribute to the Grecian captains, who possessed Persia under, and after the death of, Alexander. Sinsarchund, and his son after him, possessed the empire of India seventy years. When the grandson of Sinsarchund acceded to the throne, a prince named Jona, who is said to have been a grand-nephew of Phoor, though that circumstance is not well attested, aspiring to the throne, rose in arms against the reigning prince, and deposed him.

Jona was an excellent prince, endued with many and great good qualities. He took great pains in peopling and in cultivating the waste parts of Hindostan, and his indefatigable attention to the police of the country established to him a lasting reputation for justice and benevolence. Jona acceded to the throne of India little more than two hundred and sixty years before the commencement of the Christian æra; and, not many years after, Aridshere, whom the Greeks call Arsaces, possessing himself of the Eastern provinces of Persia, expelled the successors of Alexander, and founded the Parthian, or second Persian empire. Arsaces assumed the name of King about two hundred and fifty-six years before Christ, according to the writers of Greece, which perfectly agrees with the accounts of the Brahmins. Aridshere, or Arsaces, claimed and established the right of Persia to a tribute from the empire of India, and Jona, fearing his arms, made him a present of elephants and a vast quantity of gold and jewels. Jona reigned long after this transaction, in great tranquillity, at Kinoge; and he and his posterity together possessed the throne peaceably, during the space of ninety years.

Callian-chund, by what means is not certain, was in possession of the empire of Hindostan about one hundred and seventy years before the commencement of our æra. He was of an evil disposition, oppressive, tyrannical, and cruel. Many of the best families in Hindostan, to avoid his tyrannies, fled beyond the verge of the empire; so that, say the Brahmin writers, the lustre of the court, and the beauty of the country, were greatly diminished. The dependent princes at length took arms, and Callian-chund, being deserted by his troops, fled, and died in obscurity.

With him the empire of India may be said to have fallen. The princes and governors assumed independence, and though some great men, by their valour and conduct, raised themselves afterwards to the title of Emperors, there never was a regular succession of Kings. From the time of Callian-chund, the scanty records we have, give very little light in the affairs of India, to the time of Bicker-Majit, King of Malava, who made a great figure in that part of the world.

Bicker-Majit is one of the most renowned characters in Indian history. In policy, justice, and wisdom, they affirm that he had no equal. He is said to have travelled over a great part of the East, in the habit of a mendicant devotee, in order to acquire the learning, arts, and policy of foreign nations. It was not till after he was fifty years of age that he made a great figure in the field; and his uncommon success, justified, in some measure, a notion, that he was impelled to take arms by divine command. In a few months he reduced the kingdoms of Malava and Guzerat, securing with acts of justice and sound policy what his arms obtained. The poets of those days praise his justice, by affirming that the magnet, without his permission, durst not exert its power upon iron, nor amber upon the chaff of the field; and such was his temperance and contempt of grandeur, that he slept upon a mat, and reduced the furniture of his apartment to an earthen pot, filled with water from the spring. To engage the attention of the vulgar to religion, he set up the great image of Macâl, or Time, in the city of Ugein, which he built, while he himself worshipped only the infinite and invisible God.

The Hindoos retain such a respect for the memory of Bicker-Majit, that the most of them, to this day, reckon their time from his death, which happened in the 89th year of the Christian æra. Shawpoor, or the famous Sapor, king of Persia, is placed, in the Indian chronology, as cotemporary with this renowned king of Malava. He was slain in his old age, in a battle against a confederacy of the princes of the Decan.

The empire of Malava, after the demise of Bicker. Majit, who had raised it to the highest dignity, fell into anarchy and confusion. The great vassals of the crown assumed independence in their respective governments, and the name of Emperor was, in a great measure, obliterated from the minds of the people. One Raja-Boga, of the same tribe with Bicker-Majit, drew, by his valour, the reins of general government into his hands. He was a luxurious, though otherwise an excellent prince. His passion for architecture produced many magnificent fabrics, and several fine cities in Hindostan own him for their founder. He reigned in all the pomp of luxury, about fifty years, over a great part of India.

The ancient empire of Kinoge was in some measure revived by Basdeo, who, after having reduced Bengal and Behâr, assumed the imperial titles. He mounted the throne at Kinoge about 330 years after the birth of Christ, and reigned with great reputation. Byram-gore, king of Persia, came, in the time of Basdeo, to India, under the character of a merchant, to inform himself of the power, policy, manners, and government of that vast empire. This circumstance is corroborated by the joint testimonies of the Persian writers; and we must observe upon the whole, that, in every point, the accounts extracted from the Maha-barit agree with those of foreign writers, when they happen to treat upon the same subject: which is a strong proof, that the short detail it gives of the affairs of India is founded upon real facts. An accident which redounded much to the honour of Byram-gore brought about his being discovered. A wild elephant, in rutting-time, if that expression may be used, attacked him in the neighbourhood of Kinoge, and he pierced the animal's forehead with an arrow, which acquired to him such reputation, that the Emperor Basdeo ordered the merchant into his presence; where Byram-gore was known by an Indian nobleman, who had carried the tribute, some years before, to the court of Persia. Basdeo, being certainly assured of the truth, descended from his throne, and embraced the royal stranger.

Byram-gore being constrained to assume his proper character, was treated with the utmost magnificence and respect while he remained at the Indian court, where he married the daughter of Basdeo, and returned, after some time, into Persia. Basdeo and the princes, his posterity; ruled the empire in tranquillity for the space of eighty years.

Upon the accession of a prince of the race of Basdeo in his non-age, civil disputes arose, and those soon gave birth to a civil war. The empire being torn to pieces by civil dissensions, an assembly of the nobles thought it prudent to exclude the royal line from the throne, and to raise to the supreme authority Ramdeo, general of the imperial forces. Ramdeo was of the tribe of Rhator, the same with the nation, well known in India, under the name of Mahrators. He was a bold, wise, generous and good prince. He reduced into obedience the chiefs, who, during the distractions of the empire, had rendered themselves independent. He recovered the country of Marvar from the tribe of Cutswa, who had usurped the dominion of it, and planted it with his own tribe of Rhator, who remain in possession of Marvar to this day.

Ramdeo was one of the greatest princes that ever sat upon the throne of Hindostan. In the course of many successful expeditions, which took up several years, he reduced all India under his dominion, and divided the spoil of the vanquished princes among his soldiers. After a glorious reign of fifty-four years, he yielded to his fate; but the actions of his life, says our author, have rendered his name immortal. Notwithstanding his great power, he thought it prudent to continue the payment of the usual tribute to Feros-sassa, the father of the great Kei-kobâd, king of Persia.

After the death of Ramdeo, a dispute arose between his sons concerning the succession, which afterwards terminated in a civil war. Partab-chund, who was captain-general to the Emperor Ramdeo, taking advantage of the public confusions, mounted the throne, and, to secure the possession of it, extirpated the imperial family. Partab was cruel, treacherous and tyrannical. He drew by fair, but false promises, the princes of the empire from their respective governments, and, by cutting off the most formidable, rendered the rest obedient to his commands. An uninterrupted course of success made Partab too confident of his own power. He neglected, for some years, to send the usual tribute to Persia, returning, says our author, the ambassadors of the great Noshirwan, with empty hands, and dishonour, from his court. A Persian invasion, however, soon convinced Partab, that it was in vain to contend with the Lord Paramount of his empire. He was, in short, forced to pay up his arrears, to advance the tribute of the ensuing year, and to give hostages for his future obedience.

Partab mounted the imperial throne of India about the 500th year of Christ; and though he left the empire in the possession of his family, it soon declined in their hands. The dependent princes rendered themselves absolute in their respective governments; and the titular Emperor became so insignificant, with regard to power, that he gradually lost the name of Raja, or Sovereign, and had that of Rana substituted in its place. The Ranas, however, possessed the mountainous country of Combilmere, and the adjacent provinces of Chitor and Mundusir, till they were conquered by the Emperors of Hindostan of the Mogul race.

Soon after the death of Partáb-chund, Annindeo, a chief of the tribe of Bise, seized upon the extensive kingdom of Malava, and, with rapidity of conquest, brought the peninsula of Guzerat, the country of the Mahrattors, and the whole province of Berâr, into the circle of his command. Annindeo was cotemporary with Chusero Purvese, king of Persia; and he reigned over his conquests for sixteen years. At the same time that Annindeo broke the power of the empire, by his usurpation of the best of its provinces, one Maldeo, a man of an obscure original, raised himself into great power, and took the city of Delhi and its territory, from the imperial family. He soon after reduced the imperial city of Kinoge, which was so populous, that there were, within the walls, thirty thousand shops, in which arreca, a kind of nut, which the Indians use as Europeans do tobacco, was sold. There were also in Kinoge, sixty thousand bands of musicians and singers, who paid a tax to government. Maldeo, during the space of forty years, kept possession of his conquests, but he could not transmit them to his posterity. Every petty governor and hereditary chief in Hindostan rendered themselves independent, and the name of universal empire was lost, till it was established, by the Mahommedans, on the confines of India and Persia. The history of this latter empire comprehended the whole plan of Ferishta's annals; but to understand them properly, it may be necessary to throw more light, than he furnishes, upon the origin of that power which spread afterwards over all India.

[admin]

Part 1 of 15

Mahommedan Conquerors of India.

SHOULD we judge of the truth of a religion from the success of those who profess it, the pretended revelation of Mahommed might be justly thought divine. By annexing judiciously a martial spirit to the enthusiasm which he inspired by his religious tenets, he laid a solid foundation for that greatness at which his followers soon after arrived. The passive humility inculcated by Christianity, is much more fit for philosophical retirement than for those active and daring enterprizss, which animate individuals, and render a nation powerful and glorious. We accordingly find that the spirit and power, and, we may say, even the virtue of the Romans, declined with the introduction of a new religion among them; whilst the Arabians, in the space of a few years after the promulgation of the faith of Mahommed, rose to the summit of all human greatness.

The state of the neighbouring nations, it must be acknowledged, was extremely favourable to conquest, when the invasions of the Arabians 'happened. That part of the Roman empire, which survived the deluge of Barbarians that overspread the west, subsisted in the Lesser Asia, Syria, and Egypt, more from the want of foreign enemies than by the bravery or wise conduct of its Emperor Humanity never appeared in a more degrading light, than in the history of those execrable princes who ruled the Eastern empire. Mean, cruel, and cowardly, they were enthusiasts, without religion; assassins, without boldness; averse to war, though unfit for the arts of peace. The character of the people took the colour of that of their Emperors; vice and immorality increased under the cloak of enthusiasm, all manly spirit was extinguished by despotism, and excess of villainy was the only proof given of parts.

The empire of Persia was upon the decline, in its internal vigour and strength, for two ages before the Arabian invasion, after the death of Mahommed. The splendid figure it made under Noshirwan, was the effect of the extraordinary abilities of that great man, and not of any spirit remaining in the nation. The successors of Noshirwan were generally men of weak parts; the governors of provinces, during public distractions, assumed the independence, though not the name of princes, and little more than the imperial title remained to the unfortunate Yesdegert, who sat upon the throne of Persia, when the arms of the Arabs penetrated into that country.

It being the design of this Dissertation to give a succinct account of the manner in which the empire of Ghizni, which afterwards extended itself to India, was formed, it is foreign to our purpose to follow the Arabs through the progress of their conquests in Syria and Persia. It is sufficient to observe, that the extensive province of Chorassan, which comprehended the greatest part of the original dominions of the imperial family of Ghizni, was conquered in the thirty-first year of the Higerah, by Abdulla the son of Amir, one of the generals of Osman, who then was Calipha, or Emperor of the Arabians. Abdulla, being governor of Bussora, on the Gulph of Persia, by the command of Osman, marched an army through Kirman, into Chorassan, and made a complete conquest of that country, which had been scarcely visited before by the arms of the Arabs. Chorassan is bounded, on the south, by a desert, which separates it from Pharis [Pharis is the name from which Persia is derived. It is also called Pharistan, or the Country of Horses.], or Persia, properly so called; on the north by Maver-ul-nere, or the ancient Transoxiana; on the east by Seistan and India; and it terminates on the west, in a sandy desert towards the confines of Georgia. It is the most fruitful and populous, as well as the most extensive province in Persia, and comprehends the whole of the Bactria of the ancients. It forms a square of almost four hundred miles every way [The climate of Chorassan is excellent, and the most temperate of all Persia. Nothing can equal the fruitfulness of its soil. All sorts of exquisite fruits, cattle, corn, wine, and silk, thrive there to a miracle; neither are there wanting mines of silver, gold, and precious stones. The province of Chorassan, in short, abounds with every thing that can contribute to make a country rich and agreeable. It was formerly amazingly populous. The whole face of the country was almost covered with great cities, when it was invaded and ruined by Zingis Chan.].

The immense territory of Maver-ul-nere [Maver-ul-nere is little more than a translation of the Trans-oxiana of the ancients. It signifies the country beyond the river. It is now more generally known by the name of Great Bucharia. Its situation is between the 34 and 44 degrees of latitude, and the 92 and 107 degrees of longitude, reckoning from Faro. The country of the Calmacs bounds it now, on the north; Little Bucharia, or kingdom of Casgar, on the east; the dominions of India and Persia, on the south; and Charizm on the west. This extensive country is nearly 600 miles every way.], distinguished in ancient times by the name of Transoxiana, though it was invaded by Abdulla, the son of the famous Zeiâd, governor of Bussora, by the command of the Calipha, Mavia, in the fifty-third of the Higera, was not completely conquered by the Arabs, till the 88th year of that æra, when Katiba took the great cities of Bochara and Samercand. After the reduction of Bochara, the Arabian governor of Maver-ul-nere resided in that city. During the dynasty of the imperial family of Mavia, the Arabian empire remained in full vigour; and it even seemed to increase in strength, stability, and extent, under several sovereigns of the house of Abbassi, who acceded to the Caliphat, in the 132d of the Higera, or 749th of the Christian æra.

After the death of the great Haroun Al Reshîd, the temporal power of the Caliphas began gradually to decline. Most of the governments of provinces, by the neglect or weakness of the imperial family, became hereditary; and the viceroys of the empire assumed every thing but the name of Kings. The revenues were retained, under a pretence of keeping a force to defend the provinces against foreign enemies, when they were actually designed to strengthen the hereditary governors against their lawful sovereign. When Al Radi mounted the throne, little more remained to the Calipha, beside Bagdad and its dependencies, and he was considered supreme only in matters of religion. The governors, however, who gradually grew into princes, retained a nominal respect for the empire, and the Calipha's name was inserted in all public writings.

The most powerful of those princes, that became in- dependent, under the Caliphat, was Ismael Samani, governor of Maver-ul-nere and Chorassan, who assumed royal titles, in the 263d of the Higera. He was the first of the dynasty of the Samanians, who reigned in Bochara, over Maver-ul-nere, Chorassan, and a great part of the Persian empire, with great reputation for justice and humanity. Their dominions also comprehended Candahar, Zabulistan, Cabul, the mountainous countries of the Afgans or Patans, who afterwards established a great empire in India.

The Mahommedan government, which subsisted in India more than three centuries before the invasion of that country by Timur, was called the Patan or Afgan empire, on account of its being governed by princes, descended of the mountaineers of that name, who possessed the confines of India and Persia. The Afgans, from the nature of the country they possessed, became divided into distinct tribes. Mountains intersected with a few valleys did not admit either of general cultivation or communication; yet mindful of their common origin, and united by a natural, though rude, policy, they, by their bravery, became extremely formidable to their neighbours. We shall have occasion to see, in the sequel, that they not only conquered, but retained the empire of India for several centuries, and though the valour and conduct of the posterity of Timur wrested the government from them, they continued formidable, from the ferocity and hardiness peculiar to Mountaineers. As late as the beginning of the eighteenth century, they, under one of their chiefs, conquered Persia; and they now possess not only a great part of that empire by their bravery, but also bid fair to establish another dynasty of Kings in Hindostan.

The power as well as conduct of the race of Samania, who reigned in Bochara, subjected a great part of the Afgans to their empire. They were governed in chief by the viceroy of Chorassan, who generally had a substitute in the city of Ghizni [Ghizni is known in Europe by the name of Gazna. It lies in the mountains between India and Persia, and was a considerable city even before it was made the imperial residence by the family of Subuctagi.], the capital of Zabulistan, to command the regions of the hills. It however appears, that those who possessed the most inaccessible mountains towards India, remained independent, till they were reduced by Mahmood, the second prince of the imperial family of Ghizni.

The family of Samania enjoyed their extensive empire for ninety years, in tranquillity, accompanied with that renown, which naturally arises from a just and equitable administration. Abdul Malleck Noo, the fourth of that race, dying at Bochara [The city of Bochara is situated in 39° 30' of lat. and is still a very considerable place, and the residence of the great Chan of Bucharia.] in the three hundred and fiftieth year of the Higera, left a son, a very young man, called Munsur. The great men about court were divided in their opinion about the succession, some favouring the brother of the late Emperor, and others declaring themselves for Munsur. To end the dispute, it was agreed to refer the whole to Abistagi, who governed for the empire, with great reputation, the extensive province of Chorassan. Abistagi returned for answer, that, Munsur being as yet but a child, it was prudent for the friends of the family of Samania to chuse his uncle king. Before Abistagi's messengers arrived at Bochara, the contending factions had settled matters together, and jointly raised Munsur to the throne: that young monarch, offended. with Abistagi's advice, recalled him immediately to Bochara.

The great abilities of Abistagi, and the reputation he had acquired in his government, created to him many enemies at the court of Bochara, and he was unwilling to trust his person in the hands of a young prince, who, in his present rage, might be easily instigated to his ruin. He sent an excuse to Munsur, and, says our Persian author, resolved to stand behind his disobedience with thirty thousand men. He marched, next year, from Nessapoor, the capital of Chorassan, to Ghizni; settled the affairs of that country, and assumed the ensigns of royalty.

The young Emperor, Munsur, finding that Abistagi had, in a manner, left Chorassan totally destitute of troops, ordered one of his generals, named Hassen, to march an army into that province. Abistagi, apprized of Hassen's march, left Ġhizni suddenly, encountered the imperial army, and gave them two signal defeats. These victories secured to Abistagi the peaceable and independent possession of the provinces of Chorassan and Zabulistan, over which he reigned in tranquillity fifteen years. He, in the mean time, employed his army, under his general Subuċtagi, in successful expeditions to India, by which he acquired great spoil.

Abistagi dying in the 363 of the Higera, his son Abu Isaac succeeded him in the kingdoms of Chorassan and Ghizni. This young prince, by the advice of his experienced general Subuctagi, invaded the dominions of Bochara, in order to force the family of Samania to relinquish their title to Chorassan. The Emperor, Munsur, being accordingly worsted in some engagements, by the valour and conduct of Subuctagi, agreed to a peace, by which it was stipulated that Isaac, under the tuition of Subuctagi, should enjoy his dominions as a nominal tenure from the empire. Isaac did not long survive this pacification, for, being too much addicted to pleasure, he ruined his constitution, and died two years after the demise of his father Abistagi. The army, who were much attached to Subuctagi, proclaimed him their king; and he mounted the throne of Ghizni in the 365th year of the Higera, which agrees with the 977th of the Christian era.

[Section II. The Reign of Nasir ul-dien Subuctagi, the Founder of the Empire of Ghizni.]

SUBUCTAGI.

SUBUCTAGI, who, upon his accession to the throne, assumed the title of Nazir-ul-dien, was a Tartar by extraction, and was educated in the family, and brought up to arms under the command, of Abistagi, governor of Chorassan, for the house of Samania. His merit soon raised him to the first posts in the army, which he commanded in chief during the latter years of Abistagi, and under his son Isaac, who succeeded him in the government. When he became king, he married the daughter of his patron, Abistagi, and applied himself assiduously to an equal distribution of justice, which soon gained him the hearts of all his subjects. The court of Bochara perceiving, perhaps, that it was in vain to attempt to oppose Subuctagi, approved of his elevation, and he received letters of confirmation from the Emperor, Munsur Al Samania.

Soon after Subuctagi had assumed the ensigns of royalty, he was very near being taken off by one Tigga, an independent chief, on the confines of the province of Ghizni. Subuctagi had restored Tigga to his estate, from which he had been expelled by one of his neighbours, upon condition that he should hold it of the crown of Ghizni. Tigga broke his promise, and, soon after, making a circuit of his dominions, Subuctagi came to the territory of Tigga. He invited that chieftain to the chace, and when they were alone, he upbraided him for his breach of faith. Tigga, who was a daring and impetuous man, put his hand to his sword; the King drew his; a combat ensued, and Subuctagi was wounded in the hand. The royal attendants interfered; the adherents of Tigga engaged them, but were defeated. The citadel of Bust [Bust, which is at present the capital of Zabulistan, is a considerable and well-built city; the country round it is very pleasant and fertile; and by being situated in the confines of India and Persia, Bust drives a considerable trade. It lies in latitude 32.], whither Tigga fled, was taken, but he himself made his escape.

In the fort of Bust the king found the famous Abul-Fatti, who, in the art of writing and in the knowledge. of the sciences, had no equal in those days. He had been secretary to the chief, whom Subuctagi had expelled in favour of the ungrateful Tigga; and after the defeat of his patron, he had lived retired to enjoy his studies. The King called him into his presence, made him his own secretary, and dignified him with titles of honour. Abul Fatti continued in his office at Ghizni, till the accession of Mamood, when he retired in disgust to Turkestan.

Subuctagi, after taking the fortress of Bust, turned towards the neighbouring district of Cusdâr, and annexing it to his dominions, conferred the government upon one Actas. Towards the close of the first year of his reign, the King, having resolved upon a war with the idolaters of India, marched that way, and, having ravaged the provinces of Cabul and Punjâb, which last lies about the conflux of the five rivers which form the Indus, he returned with considerable spoil to Ghizni.

Jeipal, the son of Hispal, of the Brahmin race, reigned at that time over the country, extending, in length, from the mouth of the Indus to Limgan, and in breadth, from the kingdom of Cashmire to Moultan. This Prince, finding, by the reiterated invasions of the Mahommedans, that he was not likely to enjoy any tranquillity, levied a great army, with a design to invade them in their own country. Subuctagi, upon receiving intelligence of Jeipal's motions, marched towards India, and the armies came in sight of each other on the confines of Limgan. Some skirmishes ensued, and Mamood, the son of Subuctagi, though then but a boy, gave signal proofs of his valour and conduct.

Historians, whose credulity exceeded their wisdom, have told us, that, on this occasion, a certain person informed Subuctagi, that in the camp of Jeipal there was a spring, into which if a small quantity of a certain drug, called Casurat, should be thrown, the sky would immediately be overcast, and a dreadful storm of hail and wind arise. Subuctagi having accordingly ordered this to be done, the effects became visible, for immediately the sky loured, and thunder, lightning, wind, and hail began, turning the day into darkness, and spreading horror and desolation around; insomuch that a great part of the cavalry were killed, and some thousands of both armies perished: but the troops of Ghizni, being more hardy than those of Hindostan, suffered not so much upon this occasion. Jeipal in the morning found his army in such weakness and dejection, by the effects of this storm, which was rather natural than the work of magic, that fearing Subuctagi would take advantage of his condition, he sent heralds to treat of a peace: he offered to the King of Ghizni a certain tribute, and a considerable present in elephants and gold.

Subuctagi was not displeased with these terms, but his son, Mamood, who was an ambitious young man, fearing this would put an end to his expedition, prevailed with his father to reject the proposal, Jeipal, upon this, told him, that the customs of the Indian soldiers were of such a nature, that if he persisted in distressing them, it must make him, in the end, pay very dear for his victories. Upon such occasions, and when reduced to extremity, said Jeipal, they murder their wives and children, set fire to their houses, set loose their hair, and rushing in despair among the enemy, drown themselves in the crimson torrent of revenge. Subuctagi hearing of this custom, he was afraid to reduce them to despair, and consented to let them retreat upon their paying a million of Dirms, and presenting him with fifty elephants. Jeipal not being able to discharge the whole of this sum in camp, he desired that some persons of trust, on the part of Subuctagi, should accompany him to Lahore, to receive the balance; for whose safety, Subuctagi took hostages.

Jeipal having arrived at Lahore, and finding Subuctagi had returned home, imprisoned his messengers, and refused to pay the money. It was then customary among the Rajas, in affairs of moment, to assemble the double council, which consisted of an equal number of the most respectable Brahmins, who sat on the right side of the throne; and of the noblest Kittries, who sat on the left. When they saw that Jeipal proceeded to such an impolitic measure, they entreated the King, saying, that the consequence of this step would bring ruin and distress upon the country; the troops, said they, have not yet forgot the terror of their enemy's arms; and Jeipal may rest assured, that a conqueror will never brook such an indignity: it was, therefore, the opinion of the double council, to comply strictly with the terms of the peace, that the people might enjoy the blessings of tranquillity; but the King was obstinate, and would not hearken to their advice.

Intelligence of what was done, soon reached the ears of Subuctagi; like a foaming torrent he hastened towards Hindostan with a numerous army, to take revenge upon Jeipal for his treacherous behaviour: Jeipal also collected his forces, and marched forth to meet him; for the neighbouring Rajas, considering themselves interested in his success, supplied him with troops and money. The Kings of Delhi, Ajmere, Callinger, and Kinnoge, were now bound in his alliance, and Jeipal found himself at the head of an army of a hundred thousand horse, and two hundred thousand foot; with which he marched with full assurance of victory.

When the moving armies approached each other, Subuctagi ascended a hill, to view the forces of Jeipal, which he beheld like a shoreless sea, and in number like the ants or the locusts; but he looked upon himself as a wolf among a flock of goats: calling therefore together his chiefs, he encouraged them to glory, and honoured them distinctly with his commands. His troops, though few in number, he divided into squadrons of five hundred each, which he ordered, one after another, to the attack in a circle, so that a continual round of fresh troops harassed the Indian army.

The Hindoos, being worse mounted than the cavalry of Subuctagi, could effect nothing against them; so that wearied out with this manner of fighting, confusion became visible amongst them. Subuctagi, perceiving their disorder, sounded a general charge; so that they fell like corn before the hands of the reaper; and were repulsed with great slaughter to the banks of the river Nilab [The blue river: the ancient Hydaspes.], one of the branches of the Indus; where many, who had escaped the edge of the sword, perished by their fear in the waters.

Subuctagi acquired in this action much glory and wealth; for, besides the rich plunder of the Indian camp, he raised great contributions in the countries of Limgan and Peshawir, and annexed them to his own dominions, joined them to his titles, and stamped their names, as was customary, upon his coins. One of his Omrahs, with three thousand horse, was appointed to the government of Peshawir; and the Afghans, who resided among the mountains, having promised allegiance, he entertained some thousands of them in his army, and returned victorious to Ghizni.

Munsur, Emperor of Bochara, being dead, his son, Noo, the sixth of the house of Samania, sat upon the throne. Being at this time hard pressed by the rebel Faeck, he sent one Pharsi to Subuctagi, to beg his assistance. Subuctagi was moved by gratitude to the family of Bochara, and hastened with his army towards Maver-ul-nere, while Noo advanced to the country of Sirchush to meet him. Subuctagi, being not well in his health, sent a messenger to Noo, to excuse his lighting from his horse; but when he advanced and recognized the features of his royal house, in the face of the young prince, he could not suppress the emotions of his heart. He leaped from his horse and run to kiss his stirrup, which the young King perceiving, prevented him, by dismounting and receiving him in his embrace. At this happy interview the flower of joy bloomed in every face, and such a knot of friendship was bound as can hardly be paralleled in any age.

As the season was now too far advanced for action, it was agreed, that Subuctagi should return, during the winter, to Ghizni, and prepare his forces to act in conjunction with those of the Emperor in the spring. But when Sumjure, who had seized part of Chorassan, at whose court Faeck was then in treaty, heard of the alliance formed between Noo and Subuctagi, he began to fear the consequence of his engagement with Faeck. He asked his council, where he should take protection, in case fortune, which was seldom to be depended upon, should desert his standards in war. They replied, that the situation of affairs required he should endeavour to gain the alliance of Fuchier ul Dowla, prince of Jirja [A small province to the north-east of Chorassan.]. Jaffier was accordingly appointed ambassador to the court of Jirja, with presents of every thing that was valuable and curious: and in a short time a treaty of friendship and alliance was settled between the two powers.

Subuctagi in the mean time put his troops in motion, and marched towards Balich [An ancient and great city near the Oxus or Amu, situated at the end of great Bucharia, in latitude 37° 10' and 92° 20' east of Faro.], where Noo joined him with his forces from Bochara. The rebels Faeck and Sumjure hearing of this junction, with consent of Dara, the general of Fuchir ul Dowla, marched out of Herat in great pomp and magnificence. Subuctagi pitched his camp in an extensive plain, where he waited for the enemy. They soon appeared in his front, he drew out his army in order of battle, and took post in the centre, with his son Mamood and the young Emperor.

In the first charge the troops of the enemy came forward with great violence and bravery, and pressed so hard upon the flanks of Subuctagi, that both wings began to give ground, and the whole army was upon the point of being defeated. But Dara, the general of Fuchir ul Dowla, charging the centre where Subuctagi in person led on his troops with great bravery, as soon as he had got near, threw his shield upon his back, which was a signal of friendship, and riding up to the King, begged he would accept of his services. He then returned with the few who had accompanied him, and immediately brought over his troops to the side of Subuctagi, facing round on his deserted friends, who were astonished at this unexpected treachery. Subuctagi took immediate advantage of their confusion, charged them home, and soon put their whole army to flight, pursuing them with great slaughter, and taking many prisoners.

Thus the unfortunate man, who had exalted the spear of enmity against his sovereign, lost his honour, and his wealth, a tenth of which might have maintained him and his family in splendor and happiness.

Faeck and Sumjure took in their flight the way of Neshapoor [Neshapoor is still a very considerable city, well peopled, and drives a great trade in all sorts of silks, stuffs, and carpets.], the capital of Chorassan, with the scattered remains of their army. Noo and Subuctagi entered forthwith the city of Herat, where they remained a few days to refresh their troops and divide the spoil. Subuctagi after this signal victory received the title of Nasir ul Dien, or the Supporter of the Faith; and his son Mamood was dignified with that of Seif al Dowla, or the Sword of Fortune, by the Emperor, who was still acknowledged, though his power was greatly diminished.

Noo, after these transactions, directed his march to Bochara, and Subuctagi, and his son Mamood, turned their faces towards Neshapoor; the Emperor having confirmed the King of Ghizni in the government of Chorassan. Faeck and Sumjure fled into Jirja, and took protection with Fuchir ul Dowla. The country being thus cleared of the enemy, Subuctagi returned to Ghizni, while his son Mamood remained at Neshapoor with a small force. Faeck and Sumjure, seizing upon this opportunity, collected all their forces, marched towards Mamood, and before he could receive any assistance from the Emperor, or his father, he was compelled to an engagement, in which he was defeated, and lost all his baggage.

Subuctagi hearing of the situation of his son, hastened towards. Neshapoor, and in the districts of Toos, meeting with the rebels, engaged them without delay. In the heat of the action a great dust was seen to rise in the rear of Sumjure, which proved to be the Prince Mamood; and Faeck and Sumjure, finding they would soon be attacked on both sides, made a resolute charge against Subuctagi, which was so well received that they were obliged to give ground. Mamood arriving at that instant attacked them like an angry lion, and they, unable to support the contest, turned their face to flight, and took refuge in the fort of Killat.

Subuctagi, after this victory, resided at Balich, in peace and tranquillity. In less than a year after the defeat of the rebels, he fell into a languishing distemper, which would not yield to the power of medicine. He resolved to try whether a change of air would not relieve him, and he accordingly resolved upon a journey to Ghizni. He was so weak when he came to the town of Turmuz, not far from Balich, that he was obliged to stop at that place. He expired in the month of Shabãn of the year 387, and his remains were carried to Ghizni.

Subuctagi was certainly a prince of great bravery, conduct, probity, and justice; and he governed his subjects with uncommon prudence, equity, and moderation, for twenty years. He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Fourteen Kings of his race reigned at Ghizni and Lahore. His Vizier was Abul Abas Fazil, a great minister in the management of both civil and military affairs. The author of Jam ul Hickaiat relates, that Subuctagi was at first a private horseman in the service of Abistagi, and being of a vigorous and active disposition, used to hunt every day in the forest. It happened one time as he employed himself in this amusement, that he saw a deer grazing with her young fawn, upon which, spurring his horse, he seized the fawn, and binding his legs, laid him across his saddle, and turned his face towards his home. When he had rode a little way, he looked behind and beheld the mother of the fawn following him, and exhibiting every mark of extreme affliction. The soul of Subuctagi melted within him into pity, he untied the feet of the fawn, and generously restored him to his liberty. The happy mother turned her face to the wilderness, but often looked back upon Subuctagi, and the tears dropped fast from her eyes.

Subuctagi is said to have seen that night a figure or apparition in his dream, who said to him, That generosity and compassion which you have this day shown to a distressed animal, has been approved of in the presence of God: therefore, in the records of Providence, the kingdom of Ghizni is marked as a reward against thy name. But let not greatness destroy your virtue, but thus continue your benevolence to men.

It is said in the Masir ul Maluck, that Mamood his son having built a pleasure-house in an elegant garden near the city of Ghizni, he invited his father, when it was finished, to a magnificent entertainment which he had prepared for him. The son, in the joy of his heart, desired the opinion of Subuctagi concerning the house and garden, which were esteemed admirable in taste and structure. The King, to the great disappointment of Mamood, told him, that he looked upon the whole as a bauble, which any of his subjects might have raised by the means of wealth: but that it was the business of a prince to erect the more durable structure of good fame, which might stand for ever, to be imitated, but never to be equalled, by posterity. The great poet Nizami makes upon this saying the following reflection: Of all the magnificent palaces which we are told Mamood built, we now find not one stone upon another; but the edifice of his fame, as he was told by his father, still triumphs over time, and seems established on a lasting foundation.

Altay, the son of Al Moti, kept up the name of Emperor at Bagdad, without any real power, during the greatest part of the reign of Subuctagi. Altay was deposed in the 381 of the Higera, and Al Kader Billa raised to the Caliphat. The provinces of the Arabian Empire, in the Western Persia, remained in the same condition as before, under the hereditary governors, who had assumed independence. Chorassan, and Zabulistan, Cabul, the provinces upon the Indus, and in general all the countries from the Oxus or Amu to Persia proper, and from the Caspian to the Indus, were secured to the house of Subuctagi. The power of the house of Samania was even declined in the province of Maver-ul-nere; and the middle and Eastern Tartary were subject to their native princes.

[admin]

Part 2 of 15

[Section III. The Reign of Amir Ismaiel ben Nasir ul dien Subuctagi.]

ISMAIEL.

SUBUCTAGI dying suddenly, and his eldest son, Mamood, being at Neshapoor, the capital of Chorassan, which was a considerable distance from the place of the King's decease, his second son, Ismaiel, prevailed with his father, in his last moments, to appoint him to succeed till the return of his brother. The reason assigned for this demand, was to prevent other usurpations, which were then feared in the government. Ismaiel therefore, immediately upon the demise of his father, was crowned with great solemnity at Balich. To gain popularity, he opened the treasury, and distributed the greatest part of his father's wealth in presents to the nobility, and in expensive shows and entertainments to the people. He also augmented the pay of the troops, and rewarded small services with the hand of prodigality.

This policy being overacted, had not the desired effect. The nobility, perceiving that all this generosity proceeded from the fear of his brother, ungenerously increased their demands, while the troops, puffed up with pride by his indulgences, begun to be mutinous, disorderly, and debauched.

When intelligence was brought to Mamood of the death of his father, and the accession of his younger brother, he wrote to Ismaiel by the hand of Abul Hassen. In this letter he said thus, That since the death of his royal father, he held none upon earth so dear as his beloved brother, the noble Ismaiel, whom he would oblige to the full extent of his power: but that the art of government required years, experience, wisdom and knowledge, in the affairs of state, which Ismaiel could not possibly pretend to possess, though Subuctagi had appointed him to succeed to the throne in the absence of Mamood. He therefore advised Ismaiel seriously to consider the matter, to distinguish propriety from impropriety, and to give up his title to government without further dispute, which would restore him to the love and generosity of Mamood; for that it was his original intention to confer upon Ismaiel the governments of the extensive provinces of Balich and Chorassan.

Ismaiel shut his ears against all the proposals of his brother, and prepared for his own security, turning the edge of the sword of enmity against him. Mamood saw no remedy but in war, and attaching his uncle Bujerâc, and his brother Nisir, to his interest, advanced with his standards towards Ghizni, while Ismaiel hastened also from Balich to oppose him. When the two armies approached towards one another, Mamood took great pains to avoid coming to extremities, and in vain tried to reconcile matters in an amicable manner. He was therefore forced to form his troops in order of battle, while Ismaiel also extended the lines of war, which he supported by a chain of elephants. Both armies engaging with great violence, the action became extremely bloody, and the victory doubtful. Mamood at length charged the centre of the enemy with such fury, that they trembled as with an earthquake, and turned their faces to fight, taking refuge in the citadel of Ghizni. Thither the conqueror pursued them, and immediately invested the place. Such a prodigious number of the runaways had crowded into Ghizni, that for want of provisions Ismaiel was reduced to the necessity of treating about a surrender. Having therefore received promises of personal safety, he submitted himself, and delivered up the keys of the garrison and the treasury to his brother Mamood.

Mamood having appointed a new ministry, and regulated the government of the country, proceeded with his army towards Balich. It is said, that a few days after the submission of Ismaiel, he was asked by his brother, What he intended to have done with him had his better fortune prevailed? To which Ismaiel replied, That he intended to have imprisoned him for life in some castle, and to indulge him with every pleasure but his liberty. Upon which Mamood made no reflections at that time, but soon after confined Ismaiel in the fort of Georghan, in the manner that he himself had intimated, where he remained till his death, which happened not long after his being deposed.

[Section IV. The History of the Reign of Amin ul Muluc, Emin ul Dowla, Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi, from his Accession to the Year 403.]

MAMOOD I.

We are told by historians, that Mamood [His titles at length, are Amin ul Muluck, Emin ul Dowla, Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi.] was a King who conferred happiness upon the world, and reflected glory upon the faith of Mahomed; that the day of his accession illuminated the earth with the bright torch of justice, and cherished it with the beams of beneficence. Others inform us, that in his disposition, the sordid vice of avarice found place, which however could not darken the other bright qualities of his mind. A certain poet says, that his wealth was like a pearl in the shell; but as poets hunt after wit rather than truth, we must judge of Mamood by his actions, from which it appears, that he was a prince of great economy, but that he never withheld his generosity upon a just and proper occasion. We have the testimony of the Fatti Bilad, wrote by Abu Nisir Muscati, and of the famous Abul Fazil, that no King had ever more learned men at his court, kept a finer army, or displayed more magnificence, than Mamood. All these things could not be done without expence; so that the stigma of avarice must have been owing to particular circumstances of his life, which ought by no means to have stamped his general character with that sordid vice.

It may not be improper to mention one circumstance in the conduct of Mamood, which argued that too great love of money had taken possession of the soul of that mighty prince. Having a great propensity to poetry, in which he made some tolerable progress himself, he promised to the celebrated Phirdoci a golden mher [A mher is about fourteen rupees: this coin was called mher from having a sun stampt upon it. Mher signifies the sun, in the Persian.] for every verse of an heroic poem which he was desirous to patronize. Under the protection of this promise, that divine poet wrote the unparalleled poem called the Shaw Namma, which consisted of sixty thousand couplets. When it was presented, Mamood repented of his promise, telling Phirdoci, that he thought sixty thousand rupees might satisfy him for a work which he seemed to have performed with so much ease and expedition. Phirdoci, justly offended at this indignity, could never be brought to accept of any reward, though the Emperor would, after reflection, have gladly paid him the sum originally stipulated; the poet, however, took ample revenge in a satire of seven hundred couplets, which he wrote upon that occasion.

Mamood, who it is reported was defective in external appearance, said one day, observing himself in a glass, “The sight of a King should brighten the eyes of the beholders, but nature has been so capricious to me, that my aspect seems the picture of misfortune.” The Vizier replied, " It is not one of ten thousand who are blessed with a sight of your majesty's countenance, but your virtues are diffused over all.” But to proceed with our history.

We have already observed, that Mamood was the eldest son of Subuctagi. His mother was a princess of the house of Zabulistan, for which reason she is known by the name of Zabuli. He was born in the year 357 of the Higera, and, as the astrologers say, with many happy omens expressed in the horoscope of his fate. Subuctagi, being asleep at the time of his birth, dreamed, that he beheld a green tree springing forth from his chimney, which threw its shadow over the face of the earth, and screened from the storms of heaven the whole animal creation. This indeed was verified by the justice of Mamood; for, if we can believe the poet, in his reign the wolf and the sheep drank together at the same brook. In the first month of his reign, a vein of gold, resembling a tree of three cubits in circumference, was found in Seistan, which yielded pure gold till the reign of Musaood, when it was lost in consequence of an earthquake.

When Mamood had settled his dispute with his brother, he hastened to Balich, from whence he sent an ambassador to Munsur, Emperor of Bochara, to whom the family of Ghizni still pretended to owe allegiance, complaining of the indignity which he met with in the appointment of Buctusin to the government of Chorassan, a country so long in possession of his father: it was returned to him for answer, that he was already in possession of the territories of Balich, Turmuz, and Herat [Herat is situated in the southern part of the province of Chorassan, in the 34th degree of latitude. It was always a great city, and is very much increased in splendor, since the ruin of the city of Meshed by the Usbecs: it is become the capital of Chorassan. It is the chief staple of all the commerce carried on between India and Persia.], which held of the empire; and that there was a necessity to divide the favours of Bochara among her friends. Buctusin, it was also insinuated, had been a faithful and good servant; which seemed to throw a reflection upon the family of Ghizni, who had rendered themselves independent in the governments they held of the royal house of Samania.

Mamood, not discouraged by this answer, sent Hassen Jemmavi with rich presents to the court of Bochara, and a letter in the following terms: “That he hoped the pure spring of friendship, which had flowed in the time of his father, should not now be polluted with the ashes of indignity, nor Mamood be reduced to the necessity of divesting himself of that obedience, which he had hitherto paid to the imperial family of Samania.”

When Hassen delivered his embassy, his capacity and elocution appeared so great to the Emperor, that, desirous to gain him over to his interest by any means, he bribed him at last with the honours of the Vizarit [The office of Vizier.], but never returned an answer to Mamood. That prince having received information of this transaction, through necessity turned his face towards Neshapoor; and Buctusin, advised of his intention, abandoned the city, and sent the Emperor intelligence of his situation. Munsur, upon this, exalted the imperial standard, and, in the rashness of inexperienced youth, hastened towards Chorassan, and halted not till he arrived at Sirchus. Mamood, though he well knew that the Emperor was in no condition to oppose him, yet gratitude to the imperial family of Samania wrought so much upon his mind, that, ashamed of measuring spears with his Lord, he evacuated the district of Neshapoor, and marched to Murghab. Buctusin in the mean time treacherously entered into a confederacy with Faech, and forming a conspiracy in the camp of Munsur, seized upon the person of that prince, and cruelly put out his eyes. Abdul, the younger brother of Munsur, who was but a boy, was advanced by the traitors to the throne. Being however afraid of the resentment of Mamood, the conspirators hastened to Murve [Murve, or Meru, stands in a very sandy plain, in 37 degrees of latitude, and 88 degrees east from Faro. It was formerly one of the richest and most beautiful towns of Persia; but since the grand invasion of the Tartars into the Southern Asia, it has suffered so much, that, at present, it is but the shadow of its former magnificence.], whither they were pursued by the King with great expedition. Finding themselves, upon their march, hard pressed in the rear by Mamood, they halted and gave him battle. But the sin of ingratitude had darkened the face of their fortune, so that the gales of victory blew upon the standards of the King of Ghizni. Faeck carried off the young King, and fled to Bochara, and Buctusin was not heard of for some time, but at length he found his way to his fellow in iniquity, and begun to collect his scattered troops. Faeck in the mean time fell sick, and soon after vanished in the regions of death. Elich, the Usbec King, seizing upon the opportunity offered him by that event, marched with an army from Kashgar [Little Bucharia. This kingdom extends from 38° 30' of latitude to the 44° 30', and from 105° to the 120° of longitude. It is populous and fertile, but, on account of its great elevation, it is much colder than one would expect from its advantageous situation.] to Bochara, and rooted Abdul Malleck and his adherents out of the empire and the soil of life. Thus the prosperity of the house of Samania, which had continued for the space of one hundred and twenty-seven years to illuminate the firmament of empire, set for ever in the shadows of death.

The Emperor of Ghizni, at this juncture, employed himself in settling the government of the provinces of Balich and Chorassan, which he regulated in such a manner, as to exalt the voice of his fame so high, that it reached the ears of the Calipha of Bagdat, the illustrious Al Kadir Billa, of the noble house of Abbassi. The Calipha sent him a rich honorary dress, such as he had never before bestowed on any King, and dignified Mamood with the titles of The Protector of the State, and Treasurer of Fortune.

In the end of the month Zicada, in the year three hundred and ninety, Mamood hastened from the city of Balich to Herat, and from Herat to Seistan, where he defeated Chiliph, the son of Amid, the governor of that province on the part of the extinguished family of Bochara, and returned to Ghizni. He then turned his face to India, took many forts and provinces; in which having settled his own governors, he again returned to his dominions, where he spread the carpet of justice so smoothly upon the face of the earth, that the love of him, and loyalty gained place in every heart. Having at the same time set a treaty on foot with Elich the Usbec, he had the province of Maver-ul-nere [Transoxiana.] ceded to him, for which he made an ample return in presents of great value; and the strictest friendship, and greatest familiarity, for a long time, subsisted between the Kings.

Mamood, having made a vow to Heaven, that if ever he should be blessed with tranquillity in his own dominions, he would turn his arms against the idolaters of Hindostan, marched in the year three hundred and ninety-one from Ghizni, with ten thousand of his chosen horse, and came to Peshawir, where Jeipal the Indian prince of Lahore, with twelve thousand horse and thirty thousand foot supported by three hundred chain-elephants, opposed him on Saturday the eighth of Mohirrim, in the three hundred and ninety-second of the Higera. An obstinate battle ensued, in which the Emperor was victorious; Jeipal, with fifteen of his principal friends, was taken prisoner, and five thousand of his troops lay dead upon the field. Mamood in this action acquired great fame and wealth, for round the neck of Jeipal were found sixteen strings of jewels, each of which was valued at one hundred and eighty thousand rupees [About 320,000l, of our money.].

After this victory, the Emperor marched from Peshawir, and investing the fort of Bitindi, reduced it, and releasing his prisoners upon the payment of a large ransom and a stipulation of an annual tribute, returned to Ghizni. It was in those ages a custom of the Hindoos, that whatever Raja was twice worsted by the Mussulmen, should be, by that disgrace, rendered unfit for further command. Jeipal in compliance to this custom, having raised his son to the government, ordered a funeral pile to be prepared, upon which he sacrificed himself to his Gods.

In the Mohirrim of the year three hundred and ninety-three, Mamood again marched into Seistan [A maritime province of Persia, lying between Kirman, or the ancient Carmania, and the mouths of the Indus.], and brought Chiliph, who had misbehaved in his government, prisoner to Ghizni. Finding that the tribute from Hindostan had not been paid, in the year three hundred ninety-five he directed his march towards the city of Battea; and leaving the boundaries of Moultan, arrived at Tahera, which was fortified with an exceeding high wall and a deep broad ditch. Tahera was at that time governed by a prince called Bachera, who had, in the pride of power and wealth, greatly molested the Mahommedan governors, whom the Emperor had established in Hindostan. Bachera had also refused to pay his proportion of the tribute to Annindpal, the son of Jeipal, of whom he held his authority.

When Mamood entered the territories of Bachera, that prince drew out his troops to receive him, and taking possession of strong posts, continued to engage the Mahommedans for the space of three days; in which time they suffered so much, that they were on the point of abandoning the attack: but on the fourth day, Mamood spoke at the head of his troops, and encouraged them to glory. He concluded with telling them, that this day he had devoted himself to conquest or to death. Bachera, on his part, invoked the Gods at the temple, and prepared with his former resolution to repel the enemy. The Mussulmen advanced with great impetuosity, but were repulsed with slaughter; yet returning with fresh courage, and redoubled rage, the attack was continued till the evening, when Mamood turning his face to the holy Caba [The temple of Mecca.], invoked the aid of the prophet in the presence of his army. -- "Advance, advance, cried then the King, our prayers have found favour with God.”—Immediately a great shout arose among the host, and the Mussulmen pressing forward, as if they thirsted after death, obliged the enemy to give ground, and pursued them to the gates of the town.

The Emperor having next morning invested the place, gave orders to make preparations for filling up the ditch; which in a few days was nearly compleated. Bachera, finding he could not long maintain the town, determined to leave only a small garrison for its defence; and accordingly one night, marched out with the rest of his troops, and took post in a wood on the banks of the Indus. Mamood being informed of his retreat, detached part of his army to pursue him. Bachera by this time was deserted by his fortune, and consequently by the most of his friends; he found himself surrounded by the Mussulmen, and he attempted, in vain, to force through them his way: being just upon the point of being taken prisoner, he turned his sword against his breast, and the most of his adherents were slaughtered in attempting revenge. Mamood had in the mean time taken Tahera by assault. He found there one hundred and twenty elephants, many slaves, and rich plunder, and annexing the town and its dependencies to his own dominions, he returned victorious to Ghizni.

In the year three hundred and ninety-six, he formed the design of re-conquering Moultan, which had revolted from his obedience. Amid Lodi, the regent of Moultan, had formerly paid Mamood allegiance, and after him his grandson Daood, till the expedition against Bachera, when he withdrew his loyalty.

The King marched in the beginning of the spring, with a great army from Ghizni, and was met by Annindpal, the son of Jeipal prince of Lahore, in the hills of Peshawir, whom he defeated, and obliged to fly into Cashmire [The kingdom of Cashmire may be reckoned a terrestrial paradise. It is entirely enclosed with high mountains, which separate India from Tartary; insomuch that there is no entrance, on any side, but over rocks of a prodigious height. It consists, in a manner, of one valley of surprising fertility and beauty. The air is temperate and charming; it is neither visited with scorching heat, nor the vicissitude of extreme cold. A thousand little springs, which issue, on all sides, from the mountains, form there a fine river, which, after watering the plains of this delightful country, falls down rocks of an astonishing height into the great river Indus. The inhabitants are astonishingly handsome, and the women especially enchantingly beautiful. The Cashmirians, moreover, are extremely ingenious, and carry the arts of civil life to high perfection. Their beauty, in short, says a Persian author, makes them appear to be of divine race, and their charming country furnishes them with the life of Gods.]. Annindpal had entered into an alliance with Daood, and as there were two passes only by which the Mahommedans could enter Moultan, Annindpal had taken upon himself to secure that by the way of Peshawir, which Mamood chanced to take. The Sultan returning from the pursuit, entered Moultan, by the way of Betinda, which was his first intention. When Daood received intelligence of the fate of Annindpal, thinking himself too weak to keep the field, he shut himself up in his fortified places, and submissively solicited forgiveness for his faults, promised to pay a great tribute, and for the future to obey implicitly the Sultan's commands. Mamood received him again as a subject, and prepared to return to Ghizni, when news was brought to him from Arsilla, who commanded at Herat, that Elich, the King of Casgar had invaded his government with an army. The King hastened to settle the affairs of Hindostan, which he put into the hands of Shockpal, an Hindoo prince, who had resided with Abu Ali, governor of Peshawir, and had turned Mussulman by the name of Zab Sais.

The particulars of the war of Mamood with Elich are these: We have already mentioned that an uncommon friendship had subsisted between this Elich the Usbec King of Kashgar, a kingdom in Tartary, and Mamood. The Emperor himself was married to the daughter of Elich, but some factious men about the two courts, by misrepresentations of the princes to one another, changed their former friendship into enmity. When Mamood therefore marched to Hindostan, and had left the fields of Chorassan almost destitute of troops, Elich took that opportunity, and resolved to appropriate that province to himself. To accomplish his design, he ordered his chief general Sipistagi, with a great force, to enter Chorassan; and Jaffier Tighi, at the same time, was appointed to command in the territory of Balich. Arsilla, the governor of Herat, being informed of these motions, hastened to Ghizni, that he might secure the capital. In the mean time, the chiefs of Chorassan finding themselves deserted, and being in no condition to oppose the enemy, submitted themselves to Sipistagi, the general of Elich.

But Mamood having by great marches reached Ghizni, he poured onward like a torrent, with his army towards Balich. Tighi, who had by this time possessed himself of the place, fled towards Turmuz at his approach. The Emperor then detached Arsilla with a great part of his army, to drive Sipistagi out of Chorassan; and he also, upon the approach of the troops of Ghizni, abandoned Herat, and marched towards Mavir-ul-nere.

The King of Kashgar, seeing the bad state of his affairs, solicited the aid of Kudir King of Chuton, a province of Tartary, on the confines of China, and that prince marched to join him with fifty thousand horse. Strengthened by this alliance, he crossed, with the confederate armies, the river Gion [The Oxus.], which was five pharsangs from Balich, and opposed himself to the camp of Mamood. That monarch immediately drew up his army in order of battle, giving the command of the centre to his brother the noble Nisir, supported by Abu Nisir, governor of Gorgan, and by Abdulla, à chief, of reputation in arms. The right wing he committed to the care of Alta Sash, an old experienced officer, while the left was the charge of the valiant Arsilla, a chief of the Afgans. The front of his line he strengthened with five hundred chain-elephants, with intervals behind them, to facilitate their retreat, in case of a defeat.

The King of Kashgar posted himself in the centre, the noble Kudir led the right, and Tighi the left. The armies advanced to the charge. The shouts of warriors, the neighing of horses, and the clashing of arms, reached the broad arch of heaven, while dust obscured the face of day. The flame of war might be said to have been blown up to its height, and the clay of the field to be tempered with blood.

Elich advancing with some chosen squadrons, threw disorder into the centre of Mamood's army, and was busy in the affairs of death. Mamood perceived the enemy's progress, leaped from his horse, and kissing the ground, invoked the aid of the Almighty. He instantly mounted an elephant of war, encouraged his troops, and made a violent assault upon Elich. The elephant seizing the standard-bearer of the enemy, folded round him his trunk, and tossed him aloft into the sky. He then pressed forward like a mountain removed from its place by an eartlıquake, and trod the enemy like locusts under his feet.

When the troops of Ghizni saw their king forcing thus his way alone through the enemy's ranks, they rushed on with headlong impetuosity, and drove the enemy with great slaughter before them. Elich, abandoned by fortune and his army, turned his face to flight. He crossed the river with a few of his surviving friends, never afterwards appearing in the field to dispute glory with Mamood.

The King after this victory proposed to pursue the enemy, which was thought unadvisable by his generals, on account of the inclemency of the season, it being then winter, and the troops hardly capable of motion: but the King was positive in his resolution, and marched two days after the runaways. On the third night, a great storm of wind and snow overtook the Ghiznian army in the desert. The King's tents were with much difficulty pitched, while the army was obliged to lie in the snow. Mamood having ordered great fires to be kindled around his tents, they became so warm, that many of the courtiers began to turn off their upper garments; when a facetious chief, whose name was Dilk, came in shivering with cold. The King observing him, said, “Go out, Dilk, and tell the Winter that he may burst his cheeks with blustering, for here we value not his resentment.” Dilk went out accordingly, and returning in a short time, kissed the ground, and thus presented his address: “I have delivered the King's message to Winter, but the surly season replies, that if his hands cannot tear the skirts of royalty and hurt the attendants of the King, yet he will so execute his power to-night on his army, that in the morning Mamood will be obliged to saddle his own horses.”

The King smiled at this reply, but it presently rendered him thoughtful, and he determined to proceed no further. In the morning some hundreds of men and horses were found to have perished with the cold. Mamood at the same time received advice from India, that Zab Sais, the renegado Hindoo, had thrown off his allegiance, and, returning to his former religion, expelled all the officers, who had been appointed by the King, from their respective departments. The King immediately determined to punish this revolt, and with great expedition advanced towards India. He detached some part of his cavalry in front, who coming unexpectedly upon Zab Sais, defeated him, and brought him prisoner to the King. The rebel was fined in four lacks of rupees, of which Mamood made a present to his treasurer, and kept Zab Sais a prisoner for life.

Mamood, having thus settled his affairs in India, returned in autumn to Ghizni, where he remained for the winter in peace. But in the spring of the year three hundred and ninety-nine, Annindpal, sovereign of Lahore, began to raise disturbances in Moultan, so that the King was obliged to undertake another expedition into those parts, with a great army, to correct the Indians. Annindpal hearing of his intentions, sent ambassadors every where to request the assistance of the other princes of Hindostan; who considered the extirpation of the Mussulmen from India, as a meritorious and political, as well as a religious action.

Accordingly the princes of Ugeïn, Gualiar, Callinger, Kinnoge, Delhi, and Ajmere, entered into a confederacy, and collecting their forces, advanced towards the heads of the Indus, with the greatest army that had been for some hundreds of years seen upon the field in India. The two armies came in sight of one another in a great plain near the confines of the provinces of Peshawir. They remained there encamped forty days without action: but the troops of the idolaters daily increased in number. They were joined by the Gickers and other tribes with numerous armies, and surrounded the Mussulmen, who fearing a general assault were obliged to entrench themselves.

The King having thus secured himself, ordered a thousand archers to his front, to endeavour to provoke the enemy to advance to the entrenchments. The archers accordingly were attacked by the Gickers, who, notwithstanding all the King could do, pursued the runaways within the trenches, where a dreadful scene of slaughter ensued on both sides, in which five thousand Mussulmen in a few minutes were slain. The enemy at length being cut off as fast as they advanced, the attack became fainter and fainter, when on a sudden the elephant upon which the prince of Lahore, who commanded the Indians in chief, rode, .took fright at the report of a gun [According to our accounts there were no guns at this time, but many Eastern authors mention them, ascribing the invention to one Lockman.], and turned his face to flight. This circumstance struck the Hindoos with a panic, for, thinking they were deserted by their general, they immediately followed the example. Abdulla, with six thousand Arabian horse, and Arsilla, with ten thousand Turks, Afghans, and Chilligis, pursued the enemy for two days and nights; so that twenty thousand Hindoos were killed in their flight, together with the great-multitude that fell on the field of battle.

Thirty elephants with much rich plunder were brought to the King, who, to establish the faith, marched against the Hindoos of Nagracot, breaking down their idols and subverting their temples. There was at that time in the territory of Nagracot, a famous fort called Bimé, which Mamood invested, after having destroyed the country round with fire and sword. Bimé was built by a prince of the same name, on the top of a steep mountain, and here the Hindoos, on account of its strength, had deposited the wealth consecrated to their idols in all the neighbouring kingdoms; so that in this fort there was a greater quantity of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls, than had been ever collected into the royal treasury of any prince on earth. Mamood invested the place with such expedition, that the Hindoos had not time to throw troops into it for its defence, the greatest part of the garrison being before carried into the field. Those within consisted for the most part of priests, a race of men who, having little inclination to the bloody business of war, in a few days solicited to be permitted to capitulate. Their request being granted by Mamood, they opened the gates, and fell upon their faces before him; and, with a few of his officers and attendants, he immediately entered the place.

In Bimé were found seven hundred thousand golden dinars, seven hundred maunds [The least maund in India is about thirty-seven pounds avoir-dupoise. of gold and silver plate, forty maunds of pure gold in ingots, two thousand maunds of silver bullion, and twenty maunds of various jewels set, which had been collecting from the time of Bimé. With this immense treasure the King returned to Ghizni, and in the year 400 prepared a magnificent festival, where he displayed to the people his wealth in golden thrones, and in other rich ornaments, in a great plain without the city of Ghizni; and after the feast every individual received a princely present.

In the following year, Mamood led his army towards Ghor. The native prince of that country, Mahommed of the Soor Tribe of Afgans, a principality in the mountains famous for giving birth to the Ghorian Dynasty, who succeeded to the throne after the extirpation of the royal house of Ghizni, with ten thousand troops, opposed him. From morning to noon the fire of war flamed, and justice was done to valour on both sides. The King, finding that the troops of Ghor defended themselves in their intrenchments with such obstinacy, commanded his army to make a feint of retreating, to allure the enemy out of their fortified camp, which accordingly succeeded. The Ghorians being deceived, pursued the army of Ghizni to the plain, where the King, facing round with his troops, attacked them with great impetuosity and slaughter. Mahommed was taken prisoner and brought to the King; but in his despair he had taken poison, which he always kept under his ring, and died in a few hours. His country was annexed to the dominions of Ghizni.

Some historians affirm, that neither the sovereigns of Ghor, nor its inhabitants, were Mussulmen, till after this victory; whilst others of good credit assure us, that they were converted many years before, even so early as the time of the famous Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet.

Mamood, in the same year, was under the necessity of marching again to Moultan, which had revolted; but having soon reduced it, and cut off a great number of the chiefs, he brought Daood, the son of Nazir, the rebellious governor, prisoner to Ghizni, and confined him in the fort of Gorci for life.

In the year 402, the passion of war fermenting in the mind of Mamood, he resolved upon the conquest of Tannasar [A city thirty miles to the west of Delhi.], in the kingdom of Hindostan. It had reached the ears of the King, that Tannasar was held in the same veneration by idolators as Mecca was by the Mussulmen; that there they had set up a whole tribe of rich idols, the principal of whom they called Jug Soom; that this Jug Soom, they pretended to say, existed when as yet the world existed not. When the King reached the country about the five branches of the Indus, he wanted that, according to the treaty that subsisted between him and Annindpal, he should not be disturbed in his march through that country. He accordingly sent an embassy to Annindpal, advising him of his intentions, and desiring him to send guards for the protection of his towns and villages, which he would take care should not be molested by the followers of his camp.

Annindpal agreed to this proposal, and prepared an entertainment for the reception of the King, issuing out an order for all his subjects to supply the royal camp with every necessary of life. He, in the mean time, sent his brother with two thousand horse to meet the King, and deliver this embassy to those who approached the throne: “That he was the subject and slave of the King; but that he begged permission to acquaint his majesty, that Tannasar was the principal place of worship of the inhabitants of that country; that if it was a virtue required by the religion of Mamood to destroy the religion of others, he had already acquitted himself of that duty to his God, in the destruction of the temple of Nagracot: but if he should be pleased to alter his resolution against Tannasar, Annindpal would undertake that the amount of the revenues of that country should be annually paid to Mamood, to reimburse the expence of his expedition: that besides, he, on his own part, would present him with fifty elephants, and jewels to a considerable amount.”

The King replied, “That in the Mussulman religion it was an established tenet, that the more the glory of the prophet was exalted, and the more his followers exerted themselves in the subversion of idolatry, the greater would be their reward in heaven: that therefore, it was his firm resolution, with the assistance of God, to root out the abominable worship of idols from the face of the country of India. Why then should he spare Tannasar?”

When this news reached the Indian king of Delhi, he prepared to oppose the invaders, sending messengers all over Hindostan to acquaint the Rajas that Mamood, without any reason or provocation, was marching with an innumerable army to destroy Tannasar, which was under his immediate protection: that if a mound was not expeditiously raised against this roaring torrent, the country of Hindostan would be soon overwhelmed in ruin, and the tree of prosperity rooted up: that therefore it was adviseable for them to join their forces at Tannasar, to oppose with united strength the impending danger.

But Mamood reached Tannasar before they could take any measures for its defence, plundered the city, and broke down the idols, sending Jug Soom to Ghizni, where he was soon stripped of his ornaments. He then ordered his head to be struck off, and his body to be thrown on the highway. According to the account of the historian Hago Mahommed of Kandahar, there was a ruby found in one of the temples which weighed four hundred and fifty miskal [A miskal is thirty-six rutty, and a rutty seven-eighths of a carat, so that the size of this ruby is too improbable to deserve any credit.].

Mamood, after these transactions at Tannasar, proceeded to Delhi, which he also took, and wanted much to annex it to his dominions. But his nobles told him, that it was impossible to keep the Rajaship of Delhi, till he had entirely subjected Moultan under the Mussulman government, and exterminated the power and family of Annindpal prince of Lahore, who lay between Delhi and the northern dominions of Mamood. The King approved of this counsel, and he immediately determined to proceed no farther against that country, till he had accomplished the reduction of Moultan and Annindpal. But that prince behaved with so much policy and hospitality, that he changed the purpose of the King, who returned to Ghizni. He brought to Ghizni forty thousand captives and much wealth, so that that city could now be hardly distinguished in riches from India itself.

[Section V. The History of the Reign of Sultan Mamood, from the Year 403, to his Death in the Year 419.]

In the 403d year of the Higera, the next in com- mand to the famous Arsilla, governor of Herat, reduced the province of Girgistan, and brought Nisir, the prince of that province, prisoner to Ghizni. Mamood at this time wrote to the Calipha of Bagdad, Al Kadir Billa, of the noble house of Abassi, "That the greatest part of the kingdom of Chorassan was under his jurisdiction, and that he hoped he would order his governors to give up the remainder.” The Calipha, fearing his great power, which might fall upon his other dominions, consented to this demand.

The King, in the year 404, drew his army against the fort of Nindoona, which is situated upon the mountains of Belnat, and was in the possession of the Indian prince of Lahore. Annindpal by this time was dead, and his son had acceded to his government. When Pitterugepal, for that was the young prince's name, saw that he could not stand against the King in the field, he drew off his army towards Cashmire, leaving a good garrison for the defence of the place. Mamood immediately invested it, and, with mining, and other arts of attack, assiduously employed himself; so that, in a few weeks, the governor seeing his walls in ruins, was under the necessity of begging to capitulate. The King granted his request, took every thing of value out of the place, appointed a governor, and set out without delay for Cashmire, upon which Pitterugepal abandoned that province, and fled to the hills. Mamood plundered Cashmire of all its great wealth, and having forced the inhabitants to acknowledge the Prophet, returned with the spoil to his capital of Ghizni.

Mamood, in the year 406, returned with an army to Cashmire, to punish some revolted chiefs, and to be. siege some forts which he had not reduced in his former expedition. The first of those forts was Lokote, very famous for its height and strength, which entirely defeated the King's utmost efforts; for not being able to reduce it all the summer season, he was obliged, on the approach of winter, to abandon his enterprise, and return to Ghizni. On his way home, he was led astray by his guides, and fell into an extensive morass covered with water, from which he, for several days, could not extricate his army, so that many of his troops perished upon that occasion.

Abul Abas, king of Charizm, in the course of the same year, wrote to Mamood, to ask his sister in marriage. The King agreed to the match, and sent her to Charizm, according to the desire of Abas. In the year 407; a tribe: of plunderers rising against Abul Abas, and defeating him, he fell into their hands, and was put to death. Mamood having had advice of this disaster, marched to Balich, and from thence to Charizm, and when he arrived at Hisserbund, on the frontiers of that country, he ordered his general, Mahommed Taï, to advance before him with a detachment. When the Mussulmen were at prayers in their camp, Himar Tash, the general of the Charizmians, rushed upon this detachment from a neighbouring wood, and making a great slaughter, put them to flight. Mamood, having received intelligence of this affair, supported them with several squadrons of his best horse. The runaways deriving courage from this reinforcement, returned to the charge, routed the enemy, and took their chief prisoner, whom they carried before the King.

Mamood advancing to the fort of Hazar Asp, perceived that the troops of Charizm were prepared to receive him in the field before it: but they were soon defeated, their general, Abistagi, a native of Bochara, taken prisoner, and the murderer of Abul Abas met the just vengeance due to his crime. Mamood spent some time in regulating the government, which he bestowed upon the noble Hajib, with the title of King of Charizm: he annexed also to his government the province of Orgunge [The famous city of Urgens, capital of Turkestan.]. Returning to Balich, Mamood gave the government of Herat to his son the prince Musaood, appointing Abu Sul his vizier; and the government of Gurgan he conferred upon his younger son, the Noble Mahommed, under the care of Abu Bicker. After the final settlement of the affairs of Charizm, the Ghiznian army were cantoned, for the winter, at Balich.

In the beginning of the year 409, as soon as the sun began to awake the children of the spring, Mamood, with a hundred thousand chosen horse and thirty thousand foot, raised in the countries of Turkistan, Maver-ul-nere, Chorassan, and the adjacent provinces, undertook an expedition against Kinnoge, which, from the time of Gustasp [Hystaspes, the father of the first Darius, king of Persia.], the father of Darab, to this period, had not been visited by any foreign enemy. Kinnoge was distant from Ghizni three months' march, and seven great rivers [These were the principal branches of which the Indus is composed.] rushed across the way. When Mamood reached the confines of Cashmire, the prince, whom he had established in that country, sent him presents of every thing curious and valuable in his kingdom, and waited to have the honour of expressing his loyalty. When the King, with much difficulty, had conducted his army through the mountains, he entered the plains of Hindostan, drove all opposition before him, and advanced to Kinnoge [Mamood's route lay through the mountains behind Cashmire; and he must have entered Hindostan by the way of Tibet.].

He there saw a city which raised its head to the skies, and which, in strength and structure, might justly boast to have no equal. The Indian prince of this rich city, whose name was Korra, and who affected great pomp and splendor, being thus unexpectedly invaded, had not had time to put himself in a posture of defence, or to collect his troops together. Terrified by the great force and warlike appearance of the King, he, in his embarrassment, resolved to sue for peace, and accordingly went out, with his family, to the camp, where he submitted himself to the mercy of Mamood. Some authors relate, that he even turned a true believer.

The King of Ghizni tarried in Kinnoge only three nights, and then turned his face towards Merat, the prince of which place, by name Hirdit, retreated with his army, leaving only a garrison, which was obliged to capitulate in a few days. The terms were two hundred and fifty thousand rupees and fifty elephants, to be paid by the Raja, besides the plunder of the city. The Sultan marched from thence to invest the fort of Mavin, upon the banks of the river Gihon, now called the Jumna. The Prince of Mavin coming forth to make his submission, at the head of his troops, a quarrel accidentally ensued between some soldiers, and immediately the action became general. Calchunder, for that was the prince's name, and most of his troops, being driven into the river, he drew his sword against his own wife and children, and, having dispatched them, turned it in despair upon himself. The fort immediately surrendered, where the conqueror found much treasure and rich spoil, among which were seventy elephants of war.

[admin]

Part 3 of 15

When Mamood had here refreshed his troops, he was given to understand, that, at some distance, there was a rich city, called Muttra [Muttra stands upon the Jumna 36 miles above Agra, and is still a very considerable city.], consecrated to Kissen Basdeo, which in buildings and extent yielded to none in Hindostan. The King directed his march towards the place, and entering it with very little opposition from the troops of the prince of Delhi, to whom it belonged, gave it up to plunder. He broke down or burnt all the idols, and amassed an immense quantity of gold and silver, of which these figures were mostly made. He intended to destroy the temples, but he found that the labour exceeded his capacity; while some say that he was turned from his purpose, by the admirable beauty and structure of those edifices. He, it is certain, extravagantly extolled the magnificent beauty of the buildings and city, in a letter to the nobles of Ghizni, after this conquest.

It is said, that Mamood found in Muttra five great idols of pure gold, with eyes of rubies, each of which eyes were worth fifty thousands dinars. Upon another idol he found a sapphire, weighing four hundred miskal; and the image being melted down, produced ninety-eight thousand three hundred miskal of pure gold. Besides these, there were above a hundred idols of silver, which loaded a hundred camels with bullion. The King, having tarried here twenty days, in which time the city suffered greatly from fire, besides what it suffered from the hand of ravage and desolation, he marched against the other fortified places in these districts, some of which he took himself, while others fell into the hands of his chiefs.

One of those forts, called Munge, held out twenty-five days, being full of Rajaputs; but when they found the place no longer tenable, some rushed through the breaches among the enemy, and met that death which they no longer endeavoured to avoid. Some threw themselves headlong from the walls, and were dashed to pieces, while others burnt themselves in their houses, with their wives and children; so that not one of the garrison survived this fatal catastrophe.

The Sultan having secured what was valuable, invested the fort of Chundpal. But Chundpal, for that also was the prince's name, had sent off all his treasure to the mountains, and, at the approach of the King, evacuated the place. There however still remained much spoil and provisions, which Mamood divided among his troops.

Mamood immediately marched against a proud and imperious Raja, whose name was Jundroy. This prince, after some skirmishes, finding himself unable to cope with the King, sent off his treasure and other valuable effects, and fled also to the mountains. Jundroy had an elephant of a most uncommon size, such as had never before been seen in Hindostan; nor was he more remarkable for his enormous bulk, than for his docility and courage. Mamood having heard much of this elephant, sent to the Raja, offering him advantageous terms of peace, and a great sum of money, for this animal. But the obstinacy of Jundroy would never listen to any terms with the Mussulmen, so that Mamood, with regret, was obliged to desist. The elephant however happened one night to break loose from his keepers, and went into the Ghiznian camp, where he permitted himself to be mounted and brought before the King, who received him with great joy, and named him, The gift of God, because he came, by accident, into his hands.

Mamood, loaded with spoil and encumbered with captives, returned to Ghizni; where he enumerated the articles of his plunder. It consisted of twenty millions of dirms, fifty-three thousand captives, three hundred and fifty elephants, besides jewels, pearls, and precious effects, which could not be properly estimated. Nor was the private spoil of the army less than that which came into the public treasury.

The King, upon his return to Ghizni, ordered a magnificent mosque to be built of marble and granite, of such beauty and structure as struck every beholder with astonishment and pleasure. This mosque he afterwards adorned with such beautiful carpets, chandeliers, and other ornaments of silver and gold, that it became known by the name of the Celestial Bride. In the neighbourhood of this mosque, he founded an university, which he furnished with a vast collection of curious books, in various languages, and with natural and artificial curiosities. He appropriated a sufficient fund for the maintenance of the students, and learned men, who were appointed to instruct the youth in the sciences.

When the nobility of Ghizni saw that the taste of their King began to run upon architecture, they also endeavoured to outvie each other in the magnificence. of their private palaces, as well as in public buildings, which they raised for the embellishment of the city. Thus, in a short space of time, the capital was ornamented with mosques, porches, fountains, reservoirs, aqueducts, and cisterns, in a degree superior to any city at that time in the east. Some authors affirm, that, among the curiosities which the Sultan possessed, there was a bird of the size of a cuckoo, which was possessed of this particular instinct or quality, that whenever poison was brought, however secretly, into the apartment in which he hung, he was affected with the smell in such a manner, as to fly distractedly about his cage, while the tears streamed involuntarily from his eyes. This bird, with other curiosities, was sent as a present to the Calipha of Bagdat, Al Kadir Billa, of the noble house of Abassi. We, however, believe that this story rose from the policy of Mamood, and the credulity of mankind, rather than that it actually had any foundation in truth. Other authors mention a stone which he brought from Hindostan, as a great curiosity. This stone being dipped in water, and applied to a wound, proved a powerful and efficacious remedy.

The Sultan, in the year 410, ordered a writing of victories [This was an account of Mamood's wars in verse.] to be made out, which he sent to the Calipha, who ordered it to be read to the people of Bagdat, making a great festival upon the occasion, to express his joy for the propagation of the faith, which now began to be spread over the whole face of the earth.

In the year 412, Mamood was presented with a petition from his subjects, setting forth, that some tribes of the wild Arabs had, for many years, shut up the roads to Mecca, so that for fear of them, and on account of the weakness of the Calipha, who neglected to expel them, and whose power had long since declined, they had not been able to pay their devotions at the shrine of the prophet. The King immediately appointed Abu Mahommed, his chief justice, with a considerable force, to protect the caffila [The Caravan of Pilgrims.]. But lest the enemy should be too strong for him, he sent thirty thousand dirms, to procure a safe journey to the pilgrims. Accordingly many thousands of all degrees prepared to go to Mecca.

When they had reached the desert of Achmid, they beheld a great camp of Arabs pitched in their way. The banditti drew up in order to receive them. Abu Mahommed, being desirous of treating with the Arabs, sent a message to their chief, offering him five thousand dirms. The chief, instead of accepting the proposal, resented it so much, that, without delay, he advanced with intention to rob the Caffila. Mahommed, in the mean time, drew out his troops to receive the robbers, when fortunately, in the very beginning of the action, a Turkish slave, in the Caffila, who was master of the art of archery, lodged an arrow in the brain of Himad the son of Ali, the chief of the Arabs. The banditti immediately upon the fall of their chief turned their face to flight; and the Caffila, without further molestation, proceeded to Mecca; and having paid their devotions, returned the same way, and arrived safe at Ghizni.

The Sultan received, this year, advices from India, that the neighbouring princes had, in his absence, fallen upon Korra, the Raja of Kinnoge, for having entered into an alliance, and for putting himself under the protection of the King. Mamood immediately marched to the aid of his vassal; but before he could arrive, Nunda, prince of Callinger, had drawn his army upon Kinnoge, and had slain Korra, with a great many of his principal chiefs. Mamood arriving at the river Jumna, encamped on the bank opposite to the enemy.

Seven officers in his army, without orders, swam across the river, and entering the enemy's camp in the morning by surprise, struck such a panic in their troops, that they all betook themselves to flight. The King, notwithstanding their success, was greatly enraged, but passing with the remainder of his army, he immediately commenced the pursuit.

When Nunda came to the frontiers of his own dominions, he halted with his army, and prepared to receive Mamood with thirty-six thousand horse, forty-five thousand foot, and six hundred and fifty elephants. The King of Ghizni, after having reconnoitred the strength of the enemy and their situation, from a rising ground, prostrated himself before God, and prayed that the standard of Islamism might be exalted with glory and triumph. The day being far advanced, he determined to wait for the morning, which, in the event, disappointed his hopes and ambition, for Nunda decamped in the night with the utmost disorder, leaving his tents, equipage and baggage, behind him.

Mamood, having next morning reconnoitred the woods and hollow grounds around, ordered his army to march into the enemy's camp, and to lengthen their hands upon the spoil, which proved to be very considerable, besides five hundred and eighty elephants, which were found in the neighbouring wood. He then laid waste, with fire and sword, the country, and returned to Ghizni, without prosecuting the war any further.

He had not remained there many days, before he heard that the inhabitants of Kiberat and Nardien, countries upon the boundaries of Hindostan, would not acknowledge the Mussulman faith, but continued the worship of Lions [The Divinity is worshipped under the figure of a Lion by some of the Hindoos: that animal being, in their opinion, a proper emblem of almighty power and strength.]. Mamood resolved to compel them, and accordingly marched towards their country, taking with him a great number of masons, carpenters, smiths, and labourers, that he might there build a fort, to overawe them after his departure.

The Lord of the country of Kiberat, finding he could not pretend to oppose the King, submitted himself, acknowledging the faith of the Prophet. The Ghiznian general Ali was sent, with a division of the army, to reduce the dominion of Nardien, which he soon accomplished, pillaging the country, and carrying away many of the people captives.

There was a temple in Nardien which Ali destroyed, and brought from thence a stone, upon which there was a curious inscription, that bore that it was forty thousand years old.

The Sultan ordered a fort to be built in that place, and left it under the care of Ali, the son of Kudur. He himself, in the mean time, returned by the way of Lahore, and in his march invested the strong hold of Locote, in the province of Cashmire. He besieged the place for a whole month, but, finding it impregnable, he decamped, and proceeding to Lahore, entered that city without much opposition, giving it up to be sacked by his troops. Here wealth, and precious effects, be- yond the power of estimation, fell into their hands.

Patturugepal, the prince of Lahore, unable to contend with so powerful an adversary, fled to Ajmere for protection; and Mamood immediately appointed one of his Omrahs to the government of Lahore, and sent other commanders to various districts in the territories of Hindostan. Mamood himself returned in the spring to Ghizni.

The martial disposition of Mamood could not rest long in peace. He marched again by the way of Lahore, in the 414th year of the Higera, against Nunda, the prince of Callinger, with a great army. Passing by the fort of Gaulier, he ordered it to be besieged; but the prince of the province prevailed upon him to remove from before that place in a few days, by the means of rich presents and thirty-five elephants: the King immediately directed his march to Callinger, invested that city, and Nunda offered him three hundred elephants and other presents for peace.

The King agreed to the terms proposed; and the Raja, to try the bravery of the Sultan's troops, intoxicated the elephants with certain drugs, and let them loose without riders into the camp; Mamood seeing the animals advancing, perceived the trick, by the wildness of their motions, and immediately ordered a party of his best horse to seize, kill, and drive them from the camp: some of the Turks, emulous to display their bravery in the presence of their King, and of both armies, mounted the greatest part of the elephants, and drove the rest into an adjacent wood, where they were soon reduced to obedience.

The enemy, upon seeing the resolution of the Ghiznians, were much intimidated, and Nunda, taking advantage of one of the foibles of Mamood, sent to him a panegyric, in the Indian tongue. The King was much pleased with this elegant piece of flattery; for the poetry was much admired by the learned men of India, Arabia, and Persia, who were at his court. To make a return for this compliment, Mamood conferred the government of fifteen forts upon Nunda, with many curious presents; but the peace was principally ratified by means of many valuable presents in jewels and gold, given on the part of Nunda. Mamood immediately returned to Ghizni.

Mamood, in the year 415, mustered all his forces. He found them, exclusive of his garrisons and those upon duty in various parts of his dominions, to consist of fifty-five thousand chosen horse, one thousand three hundred elephants, and one hundred thousand infantry. With this force, excepting a part of the infantry which he left at Ghizni, he marched to Balich to expel Tiggi from the government of Maver-ul-nere for oppressing the people, who complained of his tyranny to the King. When the chiefs of Maver-ul-nere heard that the King had crossed the Jagetay, they came with presents to meet him; Kudir, king of Turkistan, paid him, at the same time, the compliment of a visit, and was received with joy and friendship. Mamood prepared a great feast upon the occasion; and after having concluded a treaty, the monarchs took leave of each other, making an exchange of princely presents.

Tiggi, seizing this opportunity, betook himself to fight. But the King of Ghizni sending a party of horse after him, he was, after a long search, discovered and brought to camp, and confined for life in one of the forts of India.

Mamood understood, in the same year, that there was a famous temple called Sumnat, in the province of Guzerat, near the harbour of Deo [This place is now called Dieu, and is in the possession of the Portuguese.], very rich and greatly frequented by devotees from all parts of Hindostan. These infidels believed that souls, after death, went before Sumnat, who transferred them into other bodies or animals, according to their merits in their former state. The King was also informed, that the priests of this God gave out, that the sins of the people of Delhi and Kinnoge had incensed him so much, that he abandoned them to the vengeance of the Mussulmen, otherwise that, in the twinkling of an eye, he could have blasted the whole army of Mamood.

The King, rather irritated than intimidated by this report, was determined to put the power of the God to a trial. by personally treating him ill. He therefore marched from Ghizni, with a numerous army, in the month Shaban.

The temple of Sumnat, which also gave name to a great city, was situated upon the shore of the Ocean, and is at this time to be seen in the districts of the harbour of Deo, under the dominion of the idolaters of Europe [The Portuguese.]. Some historians affirm, that Sumnat was brought from Mecca, where he stood before the time of the Prophet. But the Brahmins deny this tale, and say, that it stood near the harbour of Deo since the time of Krishen, who was concealed in that place about four thousand years ago.

The King of Ghizni, about the middle of Ramzan, reached the city of Moultan, and as there was a great desert before him, he gave orders that all his troops should provide themselves with several days' water and provisions, as also with provender for their horses; he besides loaded twenty thousand camels with necessaries for the army. When he had passed that terrible desert, he arrived at the city of Ajmere, and finding that the Raja and inhabitants had abandoned the place, and that he could not prevail with them to come and submit themselves, he ordered the city to be sacked, and the adjacent country to be laid waste with fire and sword. But as the reduction of the citadel would take up too much time, he left it, and proceeding upon his expedition, reduced some small forts in the way by assault.

Having then arrived at Narwalla, a city of Guzerat, which was evacuated at his approach, another desert presented itself to the King beyond that place. Mamood, however, taking the same precautions as before, without any remarkable occurrence, reached Sumnat, which was a lofty castle, upon a narrow peninsula, washed on three sides by the sea.

Upon the battlements of the place there appeared an innumerable multitude of people in arms. They immediately made a signal for a Herald to approach, and told him, that their great idol, Sumnat, had drawn the Mussulmen thither, that he might blast them in a moment, and avenge the destruction of the Gods of India. The Sultan only smiled at this vain threat, and commanded, that as soon as the morning should appear, his army should be ready for an assault.

In the morning, the valiant troops of the sublime Mamood, advanced to the foot of the walls, and began the attack. The battlements were in a short time cleared, by the experience and valour of the archers, and the dastardly Hindoos, astonished and dispirited, crowded into the temple, and prostrating themselves in tears before the idol, prayed for assistance.

The Mussulmen seized the opportunity which the devotion of their enemies offered them, applied their scaling-ladders, and, mounting the wall, began to exclaim Alla Akber [God is greatest.]. The Hindoos now reduced to despair, found they must fight for themselves or die; they collected their force together, and made so violent an attack upon the assailants, that, from the time that the King of day dispelled the darkness, till the Moon, fair bride of night, illuminated the court of heaven with paler rays, the flames of war were not quenched with blood [The original in this place has some poetical merit, and it is therefore translated verbatim.]. The Mussulmen, wearied out with fatigue, were at length, obliged to abandon all their advantages, and retire to rest.

Next morning, the work of death was renewed, but as fast as they mounted the wall, so fast were they pushed headlong down by the spears of the defendants, who, weeping, had taken leave of their God, and now seemed wishing for death. And thus the labours of this day proved more unsuccessful than the first.

An army of idolaters, upon the third day, presented themselves in order of battle, in sight of the Ghiznian camp. Mamood immediately advanced, with an intention to raise the siege of Sumnat, and therefore ordered a party to amuse the besieged, while he himself prepared to engage the enemy in the field. He marched in order of battle towards the idolaters, who advanced with equal resolution. The battle began with great fury, and victory for some time seemed doubtful, till two Indian princes, Byramdeo and Dabiselima, in the middle of the action, joined the enemy with their troops, and inspired them with such fresh courage, that faintness became visible in Mamood's army.

Mamood, perceiving a languor spreading over his lines, leaped from his horse, and prostrating himself before God, implored his assistance. Then mounting with a noble assurance, he took Abul Hassen Chirkani, one of his generals, by the hand, and inspired him with hope and glory. He himself advanced upon the enemy, encouraging his troops with such determined resolution, that, ashamed to abandon their king, with whom they had so often trod the path of renown, they, with one accord, gave a shout of victory, and rushed forward as for a prize. They bore the enemy before them upon the points of their spears, laying five thousand of them dead at their feet.

When the garrison of Sumnat beheld this defeat, they were struck with confusion and fear. They withdrew their hands from the fight, and issuing out at a gate towards the sea, to the number of four thousand, embarked in boats, intending to proceed to the island of Sirindiep [Ceylon.]. But they did not escape the eyes of the King. He seized upon boats which were left in a neighbouring creek, and, manning them with rowers and some of his best troops, pursued the enemy, taking and sinking some of their boats, while others escaped.

Having then placed guards round the walls and at the gates, he entered Sumnat, with his son and a few of his nobles and principal attendants. When they advanced to the temple, they saw a great and antique structure, built of stone, within a spacious court. They immediately entered it, and discovered a great square hall, having its lofty roof supported by fifty-six pillars, curiously turned and set with precious stones. In the centre of the hall stood Sumnat, an idol of stone, five yards in height, two of which were sunk in the ground.

The King was enraged when he saw this idol, and raising his mace, struck off the nose from his face. He then ordered that two pieces of the image should be broke off, to be sent to Ghizni, there to be thrown at the threshold of the public Mosque, and in the court of his palace. Two more fragments he reserved to be sent to Mecca and Medina.

When Mamood was thus employed in breaking up Sumnat, a crowd of Brahmins petitioned his attendants, and offered some crores [Ten millions.] in gold, if the King should be pleased to proceed no further. The Omrahs endeavoured to persuade Mamood to accept of the money; for they said that breaking up the idol could not remove idolatry from the walls of Sumnat, that therefore it could serve no purpose to destroy the image, but that such a sum of money given in charity, among believers, would be a very meritorious action. The King acknowledged, that what they said was, in some measure, true; but should he consent to that bargain, he might justly be called a seller of idols; and that he looked upon a breaker of them as a more honourable title. He therefore ordered them to proceed.

The next blow having broke up the belly of Sumnat, which had been made hollow, they discovered that it was full of diamonds, rubies, and pearls, of a much greater value than the amount of what the Brahmins had offered, so that a zeal for religion was not the sole cause of their application to Mamood.

It is said, by some writers, that the name of this idol is a compound word of Sum and Nat; Sum being the name of the prince who erected it, and Nat the true name of the God; which, in the language of the Brahmins, signifies Creator. In the time of eclipses we are told, that there used to be forty or fifty thousand worshippers at this temple; and that the different princes of Hindostan had bestowed, in all, two thousand villages, with their territories, for the maintenance of its priests; besides the innumerable presents received from all parts of the empire. It was a custom among those idolaters, to wash Sumnat, every morning and evening, with fresh water from the Ganges, though that river is above one thousand miles distant.

Among the spoils of this temple was a chain of gold, weighing forty maunds, which hung from the top of the building by a ring. It supported a great bell, which warned the people to the worship of the God. Besides two thousand Brahmins, who officiated as priests, there belonged to the temple five hundred dancing girls, three hundred musicians, and three hundred barbers, to shave the devotees before they were admitted to the presence of Sumnat. The dancing girls were either remarkable for their beauty or their quality, the Rajas thinking it an honour to have their daughters admitted.

The King of Ghizni found, in this temple, a greater quantity of jewels and gold, than, it is thought, any royal treasury ever contained before. In the history of Eben Assur, it is related that there was no light in the temple, but one pendant lamp, which, being reflected from the jewels, spread a strong and refulgent light over the whole place. Besides the great idol above-mentioned, there were in the temple some thousands of small images, in gold and silver, of various shapes and dimensions.

The Emperor having secured the wealth of Sumnat, prepared to chastise the Indian prince Byram Deo, from whom the harbour of Deo takes its name, for having endeavoured to distress him during the siege, and having cut off above three thousand of the Mussulmen. Byram Deo, after the taking of Sumnat, had fled from Narwalla, the capital of Guzerat, and shut himself up in the fort of Gundia, which was forty pharsangs from Sumnat. The King, without opposition, arrived before the fort, and saw that it was surrounded on all sides by the sea, which, in every place, appeared impassable. He sent however to sound the depth of the water, and received intelligence, that at one place it was fordable at low water; but if he should be caught by the tide, in his passage, the troops must inevitably perish.

Mamood having ordered public prayers, and cast his fortune in the Koran, turned his horse into the sea, at the head of his troops, and reaching in safety the opposite shore, immediately made an assault upon the place. Byram Deo, looking upon life preferable to every other consideration, left his family and wealth, and, in the habit of a slave, stealing out of the fort, ran and concealed himself in a corner. The troops who defended the place, seeing themselves thus shamefully deserted, were also struck with fear; and quitted their posts upon the walls. The Mussulmen mounted their scaling-ladders, and commenced a dreadful havock among the unfortunate slaves, reserving the women and children for captivity. The wealth of the Byram was lodged in the treasury of the King.

Mamood being thus victorious, marched to Narwalla, the capital of all the peninsula of Guzerat. He found the soil of that place so fertile, the air so salubrious and pure, and the country so well cultivated and pleasant, that he proposed to take up his residence there for some years, and to make it his capital, conferring the government of Ghizni upon his son, the illustrious Musaood. Some historians relate, that, in that age, there were gold mines in Guzerat; which occasioned Mamood to incline to fix his residence in that country. But to this we cannot well give any credit, as there are now no traces of those mines; but it is acknowledged, that the country was, at all times, one of the richest in Hindostan. In support of their assertion, they however give many instances of the disappearance of gold mines, such as that in Seistan, which was swallowed up by an earthquake. There are other writers who pretend to say, that the King, having heard of gold and ruby mines upon the island of Sirendeip, and in the country of Pegu, intended to fit out a. fleet for the conquest of those parts, but that he was diverted by his council from this scheme, and also prevailed upon not to abandon his native kingdom and capital.

Mamood yielding to this latter advice, consented to return, and at the same time begged of his nobles, to recommend a fit person to him for the government of the kingdom of Guzerat. After consulting among themselves, they told the King, that on account of the great distance of this country from his other dominions, and the number of troops it would require for its defence, they thought it adviseable that some one of the natives should receive that honour. The King then enquired among the chiefs of the natives, and was informed that the family of Dabissalima was the noblest in those parts, and that then a man of parts and distinction, of that tribe, was in his camp, in the habit of a common Brahmin: that they knew no person fitter to be exalted to royalty than him, though he had been obliged to chuse that way of life, to conceal himself from the cruelty of a younger brother, who had usurped his inheritance.

Some authors, suspecting the probability of this story, have informed us, that Dabissalima was an unsubdued prince of a neighbouring country, famous as well for his policy and wisdom, as for his great knowledge in the sciences. To him the King sent a friendly message, inviting him to his presence, to receive his allegiance for the government of Guzerat, which he in-' tended to bestow upon him. But as we have many authentic proofs of the truth of our first relation, it must be acknowledged that the King, upon having settled an annual tribute, bestowed the kingdom of Guzerat upon Dabissalima, the poor Brahmin, and not upon the Raja of the same name, who lived at that period.

We find, that when the King had bestowed the regency upon the Brahmin, the latter petitioned him to leave some forces for his protection, for that the prince Dabissalima, as soon as Mamood should evacuate the country, would undoubtedly invade him before his power was thoroughly established, the consequence of which might be easily foreseen: but that, if the King would grant him his protection, he would annually give double the revenues of Cabulistan and Zabulistan.

These considerations prevailed with Mamood to form a design to reduce the prince Dabissalima before he left the country. He accordingly sent a part of his army into the dominions of the prince, which, in a short time, defeated him, and brought him prisoner to Mamood. He immediately delivered over the unfortunate Raja into the hands of his kinsman Dabissalima, the viceroy, to take away his life.

Dabissalima addressed himself to the King after this manner: That, in his religion, the murder of a king was unlawful; but that it was customary, when one king got possession of the person of another who was his enemy, to make a dark pit under his throne, where he should remain imprisoned for life, or till the death of his conqueror: that, for his own part, he esteemed such usage a cruelty of which he could not be guilty; but that, on the other hand, if the Raja should be confined by him in another prison, his adherents would, upon the King's departure, attempt to release him. He therefore earnestly begged that the King might carry him to Ghizni.

Mamood complied with this last request, and, after two years and six months' absence, turned homewards his victorious standards. But having received intelligence, that Byram Deo, and the prince of Ajmere, with others, had collected a great army to oppose him in the desert, he turned by the way of the Indus and Moultan. He there also met with deserts in his march, wherein his army greatly suffered by want of water, and his cavalry by want of grass; but in the year 417, he with much difficulty and toil reached Ghizni. During his march through the country on the banks of the Indus, he was led astray three days and nights, by one of his Hindoo guides, in a desert of dry sand, so that madness and thirst began intolerably to rage through his perishing troops.

Mamood, suspecting his guide, commanded him to be put to the torture, when he confessed that he was one of the priests of Sumnat, who, to revenge the injuries done to his God, had thus endeavoured to bring about the ruin of the Ghiznian army. The King then commanded him to be put to death; and it being towards evening, he fell prostrate before God, imploring a speedy deliverance. A meteor was immediately seen in the east, to which he directed his march, and, before morning, found himself upon the banks of a lake.

Dabissalima the devout, having established himself upon the throne of Guzerat, as deputy to the King of Ghizni, continued to send his revenues punctually to the King, and some years after desired the imprisoned Raja might be returned to him. But that prince had, by this time, gained upon the mind of the King, which made him unwilling to part with him. He however was over-persuaded by his counsellors, who were envious of the favour which the unfortunate Raja had acquired; and he was accordingly put into the hands of the person who brought the revenue to Ghizni.

When they reached the dominions of Guzerat, Dabissalima the devout gave orders to dig a hole under his own throne, in which he intended to confine the unhappy Raja, according to the barbarous custom of the Indians. To stretch his triumph still further, he advanced to some distance from his capital, to meet the prince, that the unfortunate man might run before his horse, with a bason on his head and an ewer in his hand.

The King of Guzerat, it is said, having overheated himself upon this occasion, lay down, much disordered, in a shade, drew a red handkerchief over his face, and ordered his attendants to withdraw. A vulture, which was hovering over that place, mistaking the red handkerchief for prey, soused down upon Dabissalima, and fixing her talons about his eyes, rendered him totally blind; and therefore incapable to reign, according to the laws of the country.

When the accident which befel the King became public, the whole camp and city were filled with confusion and uproar. The imprisoned prince, arriving at that very instant, was received with universal acclamations, and immediately elected King. He put the bason upon the head of Dabissalima, and placed the ewer in his hand, and drove him before him into the dungeon which he himself had prepared, where he spent the remainder of his life.

This barbarous action, however, showed that his successor was unworthy of what Providence had, so miraculously, bestowed upon him. The story is a striking instance of the just punishment of pride, and that he who digs a pit for another, will fall into it himself.

The author of the Jam ul Hikaiat has related, that, when Mamood was at Guzerat, he saw a small black idol under a circular arch, which, to all appearance, was suspended in the air without support. The King, amazed at this phenomenon, consulted the philosophers of his court concerning it. They told him that they believed the image to be iron, and the stones of the arch magnets. The King observed, that he thought the equilibrium of weight and attraction could not be so exactly found. He, however, by way of experiment, ordered a stone to be struck out of the arch; which was no sooner done, than the idol fell to the ground, and the stone was accordingly found to be a magnet; but philosophers of latter days are of the King's opinion; and this story may be ranked among the fabulous.

The Calipha of Bagdat being informed of the expedition of the King of Ghizni, wrote him a congratulatory letter, in which he styled him, The Guardian of Fortune, and the Faith of Mahommed. To his son, the illustrious Emir Musaood, he gave the title of The Light of Posterity, and the Beauty of Nations; and to his second son, the noble Eusoph, the appellation of The Strength of the Arm of Fortune, and Establisher of the State. He at the same time assured Mamood, that whoever he should appoint to the succession, he himself would confirm and support.

Mamood marched this year an army against the Jits, who had insulted him in his way from Sumnat. This people inhabited the country on the borders of Moultan, near the banks of the river that runs by the mountains of Jude. When he arrived at Moultan, finding that the country of the Jits was defended by great rivers, he ordered fifteen hundred boats to be built, each of which he armed with six iron spikes projecting from their prows and sides, to prevent their being boarded by the enemy, who were very expert in that kind of war. When he had launched this fleet, he ordered twenty archers into each boat, and five others, with fire-balls, to burn the craft of the Jits, and naphtha to set the whole river on fire. This force he commanded to extirpate the Jits, and remained with the remainder of his army at Moultan.

The Jits having intelligence of this armament, sent their wives and children, and most valuable effects, into an island, and launching, according to some, four thousand, or, according to others, eight thousand boats, manned and armed, prepared to receive the Ghiznians. They met, and a terrible conflict ensued; but the projected pikes from the imperial boats did such execution, when they ran against the craft of the Jits, that many of them were overset. The archers, at the same time, plied their bows to such good purpose, that many of the enemy plunged overboard to avoid their galling arrows. Some of the Jitsiad boats being, in the mean time, set on fire, communicated their flames to others; some were sunk, some boarded by the Ghiznians, and others endeavoured to make their escape. In this scene of confusion and terror, very few of the Jits could shun their hard fate. All those, therefore, who escaped death, met with the more severe misfortune of captivity.

The King, after this victory, returned in triumph to Ghizni, and in the 418th year of the Higera, ordered Amir Toos, one of his generals, to the government of the Persian district of Badwird, that he might chastise the Turkumans of Siljoki [These were the Tartar tribe who soon after conquered Persia, and whose prince, Togrul Bec, founded the dynasty of the Siljokides.], who had crossed the river Amavia, and invaded that province. But Amir Toos, being defeated in a very bloody action, wrote to the King, that without his presence and fortune nothing could be done against the enemy.

Mamood immediately put his army in motion, and having come up with them, gave them a total defeat, which entirely dispersed them, and cleared the country. Hearing, at this time, that one of his generals had conquered Irac [This is the province of Persia, distinguished by the name of Irac Agemi, by the Arabians.], he marched that way, and seized all the treasure that had been amassed by the race of Boia, who had possessed that country, and lived in the city of Rai [A great city, capital of Irac, before Ispahan.]. Having there enforced some laws respecting the religion of the inhabitants, who had adopted false tenets, he settled the government of Rai and Ispahan upon his son, the prince Musaood, and returned himself to Ghizni.

Mamood was soon after afflicted with the stone, which disorder daily increased. He went in this condition to Balich to settle some state affairs, and in the beginning of the spring he turned his face again to Ghizni; where, upon Friday the 23d of the second Ribbi, in the 419th of the Higera, and the sixty-third year of his age, this great conqueror, amidst the tears of his people, gave up his body to death, and his soul to immortality.

He reigned thirty-five years, and he was buried by torch-light, with great pomp and solemnity, in the palace of triumph at Ghizni. He was certainly a great man and an excellent prince, a good friend to his own people, a dreadful enemy to foreigners. Ambitious but seldom cruel; not religious but enthusiastic, he did many bad things from a good principle. His person was of the middle size, not handsome, but without deformity or blemish.

Two days before his death, he commanded that all the sacks of gold and caskets of precious stones, which were in the treasury, should be placed before him; when he beheld them as with regret, he wept, ordering them to be carried back to the treasury, without exhibiting his generosity at that time to any body, for which he has been accused of avarice. He ordered, the following day, a review of his army, his elephants, camels, horses and chariots, with which, having feasted his eyes for some time, from his travelling throne, he again burst into tears, and retired in grief to his palace.

It is said, that Mamood, upon hearing that a citizen of Neshapoor was possessed of immense wealth, commanded him to be called into his presence. The King began to reproach him for being an idolater and an apostate from the faith. The citizen replied, “O King, I am no idolater nor apostate, but it is true that I am possessed of much wealth; take it therefore, but do me not a double injustice, by robbing me of my money and my good name.” The King, for this insolence, as he termed it, ordered him to be punished, and confiscated his whole estate.

But Mamood was, in other instances, famous for justice. A person one day, thrusting himself into the presence, called loudly for justice. The King ordered him to explain his complaint, which he thus did: "That, unfortunately having a handsome wife, the King's nephew had conceived a passion for her, and came to his house every night with armed attendants, beating him and turning him into the street, till he had gratified his adulterous passion. That he had frequently complained to those who ought to have done him justice, but that the rank of the adulterer had shut their ears against him.”

The King, upon hearing this, was so much enraged, that tears of resentment and compassion started from his eyes; he reprimanded the poor man for not making sooner his complaint to him. The man replied, “That he often attempted it, but could not gain admittance." He was then commanded by the King, to return to his house, and to give him notice the first time that his nephew was guilty of the like violence; charging those who were present, upon pain of death, to let nothing of this complaint transpire, ordering the poor man to be admitted at any hour. Accordingly the man returned to his house, and, upon the third night following, the King's nephew, as usual, came, and having whipped the husband severely, turned him into the street. The poor man hastened to the King; but the captain of the guards would not give him admittance, saying, that his Majesty was in the Haram. The man immediately began to make a violent outcry, so that the porter fearing that the court might be disturbed, and that the noise might reach the King, he was under the necessity to conduct him to the Eunuchs of the bed-chamber, who immediately acquainted Mamood of the affair.

The King immediately rose, and drawing on a garment, followed the man to his house. He found his nephew and the man's wife sleeping together in one bed, with a candle standing on the carpet near them. Mamood, extinguishing the candle, drew his dagger, and severed his nephew's head from his body: then commanding the man to bring a light, he called out for some water, and having taken a deep draught, he told him, he might now go and sleep with safety, if he could trust his own wife.

The poor man fell down at the King's feet, in gratitude to his justice and condescension, but begged him to tell why he put out the candle, and afterwards called out so vehemently for water. The King replied, “that he put out the candle that pity might not arrest his hand in the execution of justice, on a youth whom he tenderly loved; and that he had made a vow to God, when he first heard the complaint, that he would neither eat nor drink till he had brought the criminal to justice, insomuch that he was upon the point of dying of thirst."

The learned men who lived at the court of Mamood were principally these: Ozaeri Rasi, a native of Rai in Persia, whose poetical performances as a panegyrist are esteemed very good, for one of which he received a present of 4000 dirms from Mamood. -- Assidi Toosi, a native of the province of Chorassan, a poet of great fame, whom the Sultan often entreated to undertake the Shaw Namma, but he excused himself on account of his age. He was the master of Phirdoci, who afterwards undertook that work; but Phirdoci falling sick, by too much application, before it was finished, he applied himself to his old master Assidi; telling him, that he was now at the point of death, and that his only regret for leaving this vain world was, that his poem was unfinished. The old man weeping replied, that, though he had often excused himself to the King from having any hand in the performance, yet, for the affection he bore to Phirdoci, he would undertake to finish his poem. The dying poet replied, that he was well assured no other man of the age had the genius to attempt it; but at the same time he was afraid, years and infirmities had damped the native fire of Assidi.

The old man, warmed with friendship and emulation, collecting the force of his mind, made the attempt, and brought into the chains of rhyme, in a few days, that part of the poem, between the Arabian conquest of the western Persia, to the end, which consists of four thousand couplets. He immediately brought it to Phirdoci, who was so rejoiced that he recovered from his disorder. The Shaw Namma is esteemed among the first of poetical productions, and Phirdoci the author, consequently among the first of poets.

Minuchere was a noble of Balich, and famous for his poetry and wit. But Ali Unsuri is esteemed to hold the first rank, as to genius in that age; for, besides being one of the best poets, he was a great philosopher, versed in all the known sciences and all the learned languages of those times. Four hundred poets and learned men, besides all the students of the university of Ghizni, acknowledged him for their master. He was therefore appointed by the King to superintend literature, and it was ordered, that no performance should be brought before Mamood, without being previously honoured with the approbation of Ali Unsuri.

Among the works of Unsuri there is an heroic poem, upon the actions of Mamood. The King having one night, in his cups, cut off the long tresses of his beloved [His favourite mistress.], he was much afflicted in the morning for what he had done. He sat, he rose, he walked by turns, and there was a terror round him, which kept the people at distance. Ali Unsuri accosted him with some extempore lines [The beauty of the lines consisted chiefly in a happy chime of words, which cannot possibly be imitated in a translation. The sense runs thus: “On this happy day, when the tresses of your beloved are cut off, what place is there for grief? Let it be rather crowned with mirth and wine, for the taper form of the cypress is best seen from the pruning of its branches."], which so pleased the King, that he ordered his mouth to be filled three times with jewels. Calling then for wine, he sat with the poet, and washed down his grief, seasoning society with wit.

Asjuddi was one of the scholars of Unsuri: he was a native of Hirvi, a poet blessed with the light of true genius, but his works are very scarce, and the greatest part of them lost. Firochi was also a pupil of Unsuri. He was of the ancient royal race of the kings of Seistan, but reduced by fortune so low, that he was obliged to hire himself to a farmer for the yearly wages of a hundred dirms. When he married, he found this small sum would not answer his expences, so he became desirous of having his wages increased. The farmer told him, he certainly deserved a great deal more, but that his capacity could not extend the allowance further. Firochi, in this state of dependence, waited on the Sultan's nephew, Abul Muziffir, with a poem, for which he honoured him with a handsome reward, with a horse and a dress. He was introduced to the King by Muziffir, who settled a pension upon him, which enabled him to ride with a retinue of twenty well-mounted slaves.

Al Kader Billa kept up the title of Calipha, without any power, excepting in the city of Bagdâd and its territory, during the whole reign of Mamood. Elich Chan, king of Kasgar, by the extinction of the imperial family of Samania, possessed himself of the city of Bochara, and became sovereign of all Maver-ul-nere or Transoxiana. Mamood added to the empire of Ghizni, to the west and north, Seistan, the Persian Iraac; Georgia, and, in general, all Persia, to the east of the small territory of the Caliphat. He dethroned and extinguished the family of Boia, who had held out for so many years their best provinces against the Caliphas of the house of Abas. On the side of India, he conquered and possessed all the provinces to the northwest of Delhi, all Sindia and Guzerat; and, by spreading his ravages further into that vast empire, rendered almost all its Rajas dependent upon his power. Mamood, in short, possessed a greater empire than any Mahommedan prince before his time in Asia. Almost all Persia was subject to him, the Oxus bounded his empire on the north-east side, and the mountains of Ajmere and Malava seem to have been on his frontiers on the south.

[admin]

Part 4 of 15

[Section V. The History of the Reign of Jellal ul Dowla, Jemmal ul Muluck Sultan Mahummud, ben Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi.]

MAHOMMED I.

WHEN the hand of Mamood was shortened from worldly labour, his son Mahommed [His titles are, Jellal ul Dowla, Jemmal ul Muluc, Sultan Mahommed, ben Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi.] was in the province of Gourgan, and the prince Musaood in Ispahan. Ali, the son of the famous Arsilla, the father-in-law of Mamood, called the prince Mahommed to Ghiżni, and according to the will of his father placed the crown upon his head. Mahommed, upon his accession, bestowed the dignity of captain-general upon his uncle Eusoph, the son of Subuctagi, and the honour of Vizier upon Abu Seil Ahummud; then opening the treasury, he gladdened his friends and the public with liberal donations; but the hearts of the soldiery and people run chiefly in favour of his brother Musaood.

About fifty days after the death of Mamood, one of the nobles, by name Abul Nigim, having, in confederacy with Ali Dia, gained over the slaves [By the slaves mentioned in this place, and the sequel of this history, are meant the captives and young children bought by kings, and educated for the offices of state. They were often adopted by the emperors, and very frequently succeeded to the empire. A whole dynasty of them possessed afterwards the throne in Hindostan. We must not therefore consider the word slave, which often occurs in this history, in the mean sense which it carries in our language.], they broke into the royal stables, and mounting the King's best horses, rode off towards Bust. The Emperor Mahommed informed of this, immediately dispatched Subundraï, an Indian chief in trust, with a numerous body of Hindoo cavalry, in pursuit of them. He came up with the slaves in a few days; a skirmish ensued, in which Subundraſ, with the greatest part of his troops, were killed, and not a few of the slaves. The surviving part of the rebels, with their two chiefs, pursued their journey to the prince Musaood, whom they met at Neshapoor, a city of the province of Chorassan. Musaood having heard of his father's decease at Hammedam in Persia [Hammedan is situated in the province of Irac, towards the frontiers of Curdustan. It is one of the principal cities of Persia, because it is in a manner the door by which every thing goes from Bagdad to Ispahan.], settled viceroys and governors of trust in the Persian provinces of Irac Agemi, and hastened towards Chorassan. From thence he wrote to his brother, that he had no inclination to take those countries from him, which his father, notwithstanding his preferable right, had been pleased to bequeath to the prince Mahommed. He moreover added, that the regions of the Hills, Tiberistan and Erac, which he had mostly acquired with his own sword, were ample enough dominions for him. He only insisted so far on his birthright, as to have his name first read in the Chutba [The genealogy and titles of their kings read from the pulpit on all public occasions of worship, after the praise of the prophet.], over all his dominions.

The Prince Musaood is allowed to have been very moderate in this case, for though he and Mahommed were twins, he was the elder by some hours, and consequently had the undoubted right of succession.

But enmity had subsisted between the brothers from their youth, and Mahommed returned his brother, upon this occasion, a very unfriendly answer, and began to prepare for war, in spite of all that his council could do to oppose so rash a measure. He accordingly put his army in motion, and leaving Ghizni, proceeded to meet Musaood: it is said, that at the feast, upon the conclusion of the Ramzan which Mahommed held at Tunganabad, his crown fell accidentally from his head when he sat in state. This was reckoned a very unfortunate omen, of which some disaffected chiefs taking advantage, estranged the minds of the soldiery from their prince. Accordingly upon the third night after, there was a confederacy formed by the noble Ali, Eusoph, the son of Subuctagi, uncle to the King, and Hassnic Mical, who sounding the trumpets to arms, put themselves at the head of the troops, surrounded the King's tents, and seizing upon his person, sent him prisoner to the fort of Chilligie. They immediately marched with the army to Herat, to meet the prince Musaood, to whom they swore allegiance.

Musaood directed immediately his march to Balich, where he ordered Hassnic to be executed, for having deserted him before, and fled to the King of Egypt. There was also, it is said, a private pique, which hastened the death of Hassnic, for he was in public heard to say, that if ever Musaood should be King, he would suffer himself to be hanged. The noble Ali had his head struck off for his ingratitude to his prince; and Eusoph, the son of the Emperor Subuctagi, the other conspirator, and the King's uncle, was imprisoned for life. The eyes of the unfortunate Mahommed were put out, and he himself confined; so that the reign of Mahommed scarcely lasted five months. But, as we shall hereafter see, he was, after nine years' imprisonment, blessed with one more bright ray of fortune.

[Section VI. The Reign of Shahab ul dowla Jemmal ul Muluck Sultan Musaood ben Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi.]

MUSAOOD I.

Musaood [His titles were Shahab ul Dowla, Jemmal ul Muluck, Sultan Musaood, ben Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi.] was a man of a lofty spirit, and was honoured with the appellation of Rustum the second. His arrow could pierce the strongest mail, and sink into the body of an elephant, and his iron mace was so ponderous, that no man of his time could raise it with one hand. He was withal, of an obstinate and fierce disposition, contemptuous of all authority, and disdaining all obedience. This circumstance, in his youth, engaged him in many quarrels, and greatly disobliged his father; who, for that reason, fixed his affections upon his brother, the prince Mahommed, who was of a more mild and tractable disposition.

Abu Niser Muscati relates, that when the name of Mahommed was inserted before that of Musaood in the Chutba, and read in public for the first time, that he himself followed Musaood to the door of the mosque, and told him, that what he had heard gave him the utmost concern, for that his own, as well as the hearts of most of the nobles, burnt with affection for him. The prince replied with a smile, “Give yourselves no concern about it; the world is for the longest sword.”

One of the King's spies, hearing this conversation, immediately gave information of it to his father. Mamood immediately calling Abu Niser, asked him what had passed between him and the prince Musaood. Abu Niser, thinking that truth would be his best defence, related the particulars. Upon which the King said, that he had always a high opinion of the superior abilities of Musaood, who, he foresaw, would one day be King; but that the prince Mahommed had gained his heart, by filial duty and implicit obedience.

Musaood, upon his accession, released Ahummud, the son of Hassen Mumundi, who, by the orders of the Emperor Mamood, had been imprisoned in the fort of Callinger, and again made him Vizier. He called the noble Ahummud, the son of Mealtagi, the treasurer, to a strict account, and after having obliged him to refund a great sum for malpractices in his office, appointed him general of all his forces in Hindostan, and ordered him to proceed to Lahore. He, at the same time, released Willamï, who had also been imprisoned in one of the forts of Hindostan, and called him to his court.

The King, in the year 422, having left Balich, came to Ghizni, and sent an army to Kutch and Mackeran, the maritime provinces of Persia, and the coin of both provinces was struck in his name. The prince of those countries died about that time, and left two sons, Asakir and Isah. -- Isah, the younger brother, taking possession of the government, Asakir had recourse for aid, to regain his inheritance, to the Emperor Musaood, to whom the fugitive prince promised an annual tribute, and to hold his dominions, when recovered, of him. Musaood agreeing to this proposal, sent a great army with Asakir, with orders to his general, if possible, to reconcile the difference between the brothers, and to divide the country equally between them; but if this could not be done, to put the whole into the possession of Asakir.

Asakir arrived upon the frontiers, with this powerful army, but so obstinate was his brother, and so much devoted to his own ruin, that he would not be brought to listen to any accommodation; and though he was deserted by many of his friends, who joined his brother, he determined to decide the affair with his sword. He accordingly fought with great bravery, till he obtained that death he seemed so eagerly to pursue. The provinces fell into the hands of Asakir, who paid tribute and allegiance to the empire.

Musaood, in the same year, bestowed the viceroyship of Raï in Persia, of Hammedan, and of all the regions of the Hills, upon Mash, a man who, though he had raised himself from the lowest office in the camp, displayed uncommon abilities in reducing those provinces to obedience. After the departure of the King, the countries which we have just mentioned revolted in part, but Mash not only reduced them to their former dependence, but chastised Aliul Dowla, the Ghiznian governor of Chorassan, who had been tampering with the rebels.

Musaood, after having settled his affairs at Ghizni, intended to march to Ispahan [Ispahan is not only the capital of Irac, but of all Persia. It was, till the commotions after the death of Nadir Shaw in 1747, a very large town, surrounded with a brick wall, and drove a great trade in silks and other commodities. It suffered so much in the late troubles in Persia, that Kerim Chan, the present Emperor, has removed his court to Schiraz.] and Raï. But when he arrived at Herat, the people of Sirchus and Badawird complained to him of the ravages of the famous Tartar tribe of Siljoki Turkumans. The King, moved by the injuries done to his subjects, was incensed very much against the enemy, and therefore immediately ordered Abduse, the son of Adiz, a brave general, with a great force, to chastise them. This officer, however, was received by the Turkumans with so much bravery, that he could gain no advantages over them; and the King, for what reason is not known, returned to Ghizni.

In the year 423, the King dispatched Altasash, who governed Charizm, under the regal title of Viceroy, with a great army, to oppose Ali Tiggi, the Usbec Tartar, who had invaded and conquered Samarcand and Bochara. Altasash marched to Maver-ul-nere, or the country beyond the Amu [Transoxiana.], where fifteen thousand horse were ordered to join him from Ghizni. After this junction was effected, he crossed the river Amàvia, in the face of the enemy, and continued his rout to Bochara, which he reduced, and then proceeded to Samarcand. Ali Tiggi marched out of the city, and took possession of a strong post, having the river on one side and a high mountain on the other. When the battle begun, a party of Ali Tiggi's horse, having turned the mountain, attacked the army of Altasash in the rear. A great slaughter commenced, and the Ghiznian commander was wounded, in a part of the body in which he had formerly received a wound in taking one of the forts of Hindostan. He however concealed his blood from his army, and charged the enemy with such vigour, in his front and rear, that, after an obstinate and bloody conflict, they were at length put to flight.

When the battle was over, Altasash called a council of his principal officers, and showing his wound, told them his end was approaching, and that they must now manage affairs in the best manner they could, intimating at the same time, that he thought they could do nothing better than conclude a peace with the enemy. This motion being approved, a messenger was dispatched to them, that very night, with proposals, which were eagerly accepted. The conditions were, that Ali Tiggi should keep possession of Samarcand, and that Bochara should remain to Musaood. The two armies, immediately after this pacification, departed, the one for Samarcand, and the other for Chorassan. The brave Altasash died the second day after, but his death was concealed from the army, and the chiefs conducted the troops to Charizm: and when these accounts came to the King, he conferred the government upon Haro, the son of Altasash.

The Vizier, Ahmed, the son of Hassen Mumundi, dying this year, Musaood appointed Abu Niser Ahmid to succeed him in his office. In the 424th of the Higera, the King resolved upon an expedition into India. Taking the rout of Cashmire, he invested the fort of Sursutti, which commanded the passes. The garrison being intimidated, sent messengers to the King, promising valuable presents and an annual tribute, if he should desist from his enterprise. Musaood began to listen to the proposals, when his ears were stunned with a grievous complaint from the Mussulmen captives, who were then detained in the place. He immediately broke up the conference, and began to besiege the fort, ordering the ditch to be filled up with sugarcanes from the adjacent plantations. This being done, he ordered scaling-ladders to be applied to the walls, which, after a bloody contest, were mounted, and the garrison, without distinction of age or sex, barbarously put to the sword, excepting a few women and children, who were protected by the soldiers for slaves. The King commanded that what part of the spoil was saved from pillage, should be given to the Mussulmen who had been slaves in Sursutti, and who had formerly lost their effects.

This year was remarkable for a great drought and famine, in many parts of the world. The famine was succeeded by a calamitous pestilence, which swept many thousands from the face of the earth; for in less than one month forty thousand died in Ispahan alone. Nor did it rage with less violence in Hindostan, where whole countries were entirely depopulated.

The King of Ghizni, in the mean time, was obliged to march back to quell some disturbances in Tibiristan, one of the Persian provinces, now forming a part of the Ghiznian empire. The inhabitants of Amalisar opposed him in his progress, but they were dispersed by the imperial troops with little opposition, and Callingar, prince of Tibiristan, sent an ambassador, and subjected himself and his country to the King. He, at the same time, gave his son Bhamin, and his nephew Shirvi, as hostages, for his future good behaviour.

Musaood turned from thence his face towards Ghizni; and when he arrived at Neshapoor, the capital of Chorassan, the people of that place again complained of the incursions of the Tartar tribe of Siljoki, and he immediately dispatched Buctadi, and Hussein the son of Ali, with a great force to chastise them. When the Ghiznian army reached the village of Seindenfauk, a messenger came from the Turkumans with a letter, to the following purpose: “That they were the King's servants, and not at all desirous to disturb any body but his enemies, if they should be enabled, by any annual subsidy, to live at home without plunder, or led out to war, that they might exert their skill in what they reckoned their only profession.”

The answer of Buctadi was very haughty. “There is no peace,” says he, “between us, but the sword, unless you will give over your depredations, and submit yourselves implicitly to the laws and authority of the King." After the Tartars had heard this message from their ambassador, they advanced and made a violent assault upon the camp of Buctadi; but as they were conducted more by rage than conduct, they were repulsed, and obliged to turn their backs upon the honours of the field. Buctadi, pursuing them with great expedition, took all their baggage, and their wives and children.

But when Buctadi was returning from the pursuit, while yet many of his troops were dispersed and intent upon plunder, the Siljoki issued out from between two hills, and, rendered desperate by their former loss, made a dreadful slaughter among the troops, who could not be regularly brought up to the charge. The Ghiznians continued to fight and retreat for two days and nights, but Hussein, the son of Ali, could not be persuaded to quit the field, so that after the most of his men were killed, he himself fell a prisoner into the hands of the enemy. Buctadi fled, and carried advice of his own defeat to the King at Neshapoor.

Musaood was obliged for that time to restrain his resentment, upon account of some disturbances in India. He marched back to Ghizni, in the year 426; and thence sent an army under Ban, an Indian chief, against Ahmud, who had rebelled in his government. But, when the two armies met, Ban was defeated with great slaughter. Musaood, being informed of this disaster, sent Touluck, another Indian chief, who, coming to battle with Ahmud, gave him a total overthrow. He fled in great haste towards Munsura, Tatta, and the country near the mouth of the Indus. Touluck pursued him so close, that many thousands of the runaways fell into his hands, whom he treated in the most inhuman manner, cutting off their noses and ears. When Ahmud reached the banks of the Indus, he found himself, if possible, in greater distress than before; for collecting all the boats, which the pressure of the enemy would permit, he endeavoured to cross the river. But the soldiers, afraid of being abandoned, hurried into the boats with such violence, and in such numbers, that most of them were either overset or sunk. A sudden storm, and an inundation of the river, added to the confusion of the vanquished; so that very few of them escaped. The body of their chief was soon after found by the enemy, and his head sent to Ghizni.

A new palace being finished in the year 427 at Ghizni, a golden throne, studded with jewels, was erected in a magnificent hall, and a crown of gold, weighing seventy maunds [The least maund in India is that of Surat, which weighs thirty-seven pound five ounces and seven drachms avoirdupoise; by which we may conjecture, that the value of this crown was immense.], darting lustre from its precious stones, suspended by a golden chain over it, by way of canopy, under which the King sat in state, and gave public audience. He in the same year conferred the ensigns and drums of royalty upon his son the prince Modood, and sent him to the government of Balich, whilst he himself marched with an army to India to reduce the strong city of Hassi.

This city was the capital of Sewalic, a country towards the head of the Ganges, and was, by the Hindoos, reckoned impregnable; for they were taught to believe, by some of their prophets, that it should never fall into the hands of the Mussulmen. But the Indian prophets, like those of other nations, deceived their followers; for the King, in the space of six days, though with a very considerable loss on his side, scaled the place and took it. He found immense treasures in Hassi; and having put it into the hands of a trusty servant, he marched towards the fort of Sunput. Deipal, the governor of Sunput, evacuated the place, and fled into the woods; but he had no time to carry off his treasure, which fell into the conqueror's hands. Musaood ordered all the temples to be laid in ruins, and all the idols to be broke down.

Musaood proceeded from thence in pursuit of Deipal, who began to show himself in the field; but he was surprised by the King, and all his army taken prisoners, while he himself escaped in the habit of a slave. Musaood marched from thence towards Ram, another prince of those parts, who, upon receiving intelligence of the King's intentions, sent immense presents of gold and elephants, excusing himself, on account of his age, from personally attending upon Musaood. The King received his presents and excuse, and withheld his hand from giving him any farther molestation: then leaving a trusty chief at Sunput [Forty miles from Delhi, on the road to Lahore.], he took possession of all the countries in his rear, intending to return to Ghizni. When he reached Lahore, he left there his son Mugdood, on whom he conferred the government of that famous city and province, and the drums and ensigns of state, with Eur, his favourite, to be his counsellor in matters of importance.


Mahommed Ali Cawn, Nabob of the Carnatic. Published by Verner & Hood, Poultry; Feb. 16th, 1803.

In the year 428 Musaood again marched to Balich, to quell the tumults raised by the restless tribe of Siljoki Tartars, who, upon hearing of the King's approach, evacuated that country. The inhabitants of that province addressed Musaood, and acquainted him that Tiggi the Tartar, after his departure, had made divers incursions into their territories, and crossing the river, had lengthened his hands upon the lives and effects of his subjects. The King determined therefore to chastise him that winter, and, in the beginning of the spring, to bring the other Siljoki to a better understanding. The Omrahs of his court, with one accord, advised him to march first against the Siljoki, because they had, for two years, gained an ascendency over the inhabitants of Chorassan, and were daily acquiring strength. Musaood, at that time, received also a letter from one of the nobles of that province, acquainting him, that his enemies, who were once but Ants, were now become little Snakes, and, if they were not soon destroyed, they might grow in a short time to Serpents.

But the star of the King's fortune had now reached the house of adversity, and he would not by any means hearken to their advice. In hopes to conquer the country before him, he laid a bridge over the Gion [The Oxus.], and crossing his army without opposition, took possession of the whole province of Maver-ul-nere [Transoxiana.]. But, during that winter, such a quantity of snow fell, that it was with the greatest difficulty he marched back and exhibiting such acts of gigantic force and valour, as never king had before displayed. A few of his friends, roused by his words and actions, and that innate honour which inspires the brave, seconded their lord so well, that whithersoever he turned his fatal sword, the enemy were 'mowed down, or retreated before him. But now, when victory seemed to blow on his standard, misfortune was active behind it; for when he looked round he beheld almost his whole army, excepting that body he commanded in person, devouring the paths of flight. The King, seeing himself thus shamefully deserted, and that no hope from his single arm remained, turned his steed, and trampling down the enemy, opened to himself a clear passage with his own sword. When he reached the river near Murve, he met with a few of the fugitives, who now began to collect themselves from all quarters. He took from thence the way of Ghor, and proceeded to Ghizni. There he seized upon the generals who had so ingloriously deserted him. He ordered Ali Daia, Buctadi, and Sab Sinai, to be "conveyed to Hindostan, and confined in a certain fort for life.

The King, finding himself, at this period, unable to withstand the enemy, resolved to withdraw to India, till he could collect his forces, and make another effort to retrieve his affairs. He left his son Modood and his Vizier, with four thousand horse, to defend Balich, and ordered his other son, the prince Mugdood, who had come from Lahore with two thousand horse, to secure Moultan. In the mean time Erid, another of his sons, was sent with a detachment to awe the mountain Afghans, near Ghizni, who were in arms. He then collected all his wealth from the different strong holds to Ghizni, and laying it upon camels, bent his way to Lahore, sending for his brother Mahommed, who had been dethroned and blinded from his confinement.

When Musaood arrived upon the banks of the Gelum, the water of which, on account of its purity, is called the water of Paradise, the slaves, who, were very numerous in his camp, entered into a confederacy with the camel-keepers, and began to divide the treasure among them. The troops observing this, they were determined to partake of the spoil, so that in a moment nothing was to be seen but drawn swords, ravage, and confusion. Every one plundered his neighbour; some gained much wealth, while others, more weak, or unfortunate, were robbed of all upon which they had laid their hands, and stripped of their own besides. The army, for this tumult, fearing the resentment of the King, and not choosing to refund the plunder, hastened in a mob to Mahommed the blind, who had been before king, and, exalting him upon their shoulders, proclaimed him Emperor.

Musaood was, during this time, collecting what friends he could to suppress the mutiny; but no sooner was it known that his brother was proclaimed King, than he found himself entirely deserted. The mob pressing round him, he was obliged to give himself up into their hands, and he was carried before the new King. Mahommed told him, he had no design to take his life, and desired he might pitch upon some fort, whither he might retire with his family into confinement. Musaood, in this extremity, chose the fort of Kurri, but was even in distress for money to pay his few menial attendants. This obliged him to send a person to his brother to request him for some. Mahommed accordingly ordered the pitiful sum of five hundred dirms to be sent him; upon which Musaood, when it was brought him, exclaimed after the following manner: “O wonderful cast of Providence! O cruel reverse of fate! Yesterday was I not a mighty prince; three thousand camels bending under my treasure? To-day I am forced to beg, and to receive but the mere mockery of my wants." With that he borrowed a thousand dirms from his servants, and bestowed it in a present upon his brother's messenger, who had brought the five hundred dirms, which he desired he might again carry back to his master.

Mahommed, upon his accession, advanced his son Ahmed to the government, reserving for himself only the name, though Ahmed was, by many, supposed to have a tincture of madness in his disposition. The first thing he did was, without consulting his father, in conjunction with his cousin Soliman the son of Eusoph, and the son of Ali Cheshawind, to go to the castle of Kurri, and assassinate Musaood, in the year 433. But some affirm, that he buried him alive in a well. The reign of Musaood was nine years and nine months, He was a prince of uncommon strength and bravery; affable, of easy access, and generous to prodigality; particularly to learned men, of whose company he was excessively fond, which drew many from all parts to his court.

Among the first of the learned in the court of Musaaood, we must reckon Abu Keihan of Charism, a great philosopher and astrologer, who wrote one of the best treatises upon astronomy, called Canoon Musaoodi, for which he was presented with an elephant made of silver, the size of which we are not told. Abu Mahoma med Nasahi was also a man of much reputation in this age. He wrote a book called Musaoodi, in support of the doctrine of Abu Hanifa, which he presented to the King. The author of the Rosit ul Suffa tells us, that so extensive was the King's charity, that some days, in the month of Ramzan, he bestowed often a lack of dirms upon the poor. In the beginning of his reign, he built many noble mosques, and endowed many colleges and schools, which he erected in different cities of his dominions.

Musaood was far from being so fortunate as his father Mamood. Al Kader Billa reigned with the title of Calipha in Bagdad and its territory: a branch of the family of Boia were sovereigns of Persia Proper, Kerman or the ancient Caramania, Mesopotamia, and the Arabian Irac. The Siljoki Tartars, having, in a course of depredatory expeditions, ravaged and conquered the vast country of Maver-ul-nere or Transoxiana, passed the Oxus in the reign of Musaood, defeated him in many battles, and stripping him of Chorassan and all the Persian conquests of his father, founded, under their chief, Trogrilbeg, the famous dynasty of the Siljokies. The dominions of Ghizni became very much contracted to the north, consisting only of the provinces of Seistan, Zabulistan, and Cabul, to the north-west of the Hydaspes. The boundaries of the empire, on the side of India, suffered no change in this reign.

[Section VII. The Reign of Abul Fatte, Chutub ul Muluck Shahab ul Dowla Amir Modood ben Musaood ben Mamood Ghiznavi.]

MODOOD.

WHEN the news of the murder of Musaood came to Mahommed the blind, he wept bitterly, and severely reproached the assassins. He, at the same time, wrote to the prince Modood, who was then at Balich, that such and such people had killed his father; calling God to witness, that his hands were clear of the wicked deed. To this Modood [His titles are, Abul Fatte, Cuttub ul Muluc, Shahab ul Muluc, Shahab ul Dowla, Amir Modood ben Musaood, ben Mamood Ghiznavi; the son of the Victorious, the Pole-star of the Empire, the Light of Fortune, the Lord Modood son of Musaood, the son of Mamood of Ghizni.] replied, sarcastically: May God lengthen the days of so good and so merciful a King, and grant that his mad son, Ahmed, may gain glory in the practice of regicide, till his reward be obtained from our hands.

Modood was for marching immediately, to revenge the death of his father; but he was persuaded by his council, to go first to Ghizni; where the citizens, upon his approach, thronged out to meet him, and expressed their joy in acclamations and congratulations upon his accession.

In the year 433, he marched from Ghizni; while Mahommed the blind, appointing his younger son Nami, governor of Peshawir and Moultan, marched in person to the banks of the Indus to receive Modood, who was moving that way, and the two armies meeting in the forest of Diner, between the uncle and nephew, the flames of contention began to arise. The gales of victory, at length, began to fan the standards of Modood, while Mahommed, with his sons, and Ali Che-shawind, and Soliman the son of Eusoph, were taken prisoners. They were all put to death, except Abdul Rahim, the son of Mahommed, whom Modood pardoned for this reason; that during the time that his father Musaood was prisoner, Abdul Rahim went with his brother Reiman to see him. When, upon this occasion, the latter insultingly threw off Musaood's royal cap, Rahim took it up, and put it upon the King's head with much respect, chastising his brother for his mean and barbarous behaviour.

Modood having thus revenged his father's murder, built a town on the spot upon which he had obtained the victory, and called it the victorious city [Fatte-Abad.]. He carried the remains of his father and family to be interred at Ghizni; whither he returned, and appointed Ahmed his Vizier. But he soon after discharged that chief from his high office, and conferred the dignity upon Chaja Tahir. He sent, at the same time, Ahmed with a force to Moultan, against Nami, the son of his uncle Mahommed, whom he slew, reducing the country under the obedience of Modood. The King had now nothing to fear but from his own brother, who was in possession of Lahore and its dependencies. This brother, upon the murder of his father, marched from Moultan, and by the counsel of Eas, possessed himself of all the country lying between the Indus, Hassi and Tannasar.

Modood finding that his brother refused to pay him allegiance, ordered an army against him. Mugdood being apprised of this expedition, marched from Hassi, where he then resided, with his whole force, to oppose the imperial troops. He came up with them before they reached Lahore, with an army so numerous, that the forces of Modood were upon the point of flying at their appearance, several of the chiefs deserting their colours, and enlisting themselves under the banners of Mugdood. But fortune here, or treachery, befriended Modood. In the morning of the ide of sacrifice, Mugdood was found dead in his bed, without any previous complaint, or apparent cause of his decease. But what seemed to discover the hand of traitors, was, that next day, his counsellor and friend Eas was found dead in the same manner. Mugdood's army marched under the banners of Modood, so that the southern countries submitted in peace.

Nor was Modood less fortunate towards the north. The province of Maver-ul-nere, which had for some time asserted its independence, submitted. But the Siljokies, notwithstanding the King had taken one of the daughters of their chief in marriage, began to make incursions anew into his territories.

In the year 435, the prince of Delhi, in alliance with others, raising an army, took Hassi, Tannasar, and their dependencies, from the governors to whom Modood had entrusted them. The Hindoos from thence marched towards the fort of Nagracut, which they besieged for four month's, and the garrison being distressed for provisions, and no succours coming from Lahore, were under the necessity of capitulating. The Hindoos, according to the ancient form, erected new idols, and recommenced the rites of idolatry.

We are told that the prince of Delhi, observing a weakness in the empire of Ghizni, pretended to have seen a vision, in which the great idol of Nagracut told him, that having now revenged himself upon Ghizni, he would meet him at Nagracut in his former temple. This story being propagated by the Brahmins, who probably were in the secret, it gained faith among the superstitious, by which means the Raja was joined by zealots from all parts, and soon saw himself at the head of a very numerous army. With this army, as we have already mentioned, he besieged Nagracut, and when the place surrendered, he took care to have an idol, of the same shape and size with the former, which he had caused to be made at Delhi, introduced, in the night, into a garden in the centre of the place. This image being discovered in the morning, there was a prodigious rejoicing among his deluded votaries, who exclaimed, that their God was returned from Ghizni. The Raja, and the Brahmins, taking the advantage of the credulity of the populace, with great pomp and festivity, carried him into the temple, where he received the worship and congratulations of his people.

This story raised so much the fame of the idol, that thousands came daily to worship from all parts of Hindostan, as also to consult him as an oracle, upon all important occasions. The manner of consultation was this: The persons who came to inquire into futurity, slept on the floor of the temple before him, after drinking a dose of something which the Brahmins prescribed, to create dreams, from which they predicted their fortune, in the morning, according to their own fancy.

The success of the prince of Delhi gave such confidence to the Indian chiefs of Punjaab, or the province about the five branches of the Indus, and other places, that though before, like foxes, they durst hardly creep from their holes, for fear of the Mussulman arms, yet now they put on the aspect of lions, and openly set their masters at defiance. Three of those Rajas, with ten thousand horse, and an innumerable army of foot, advanced to Lahore, and invested it.

The Mussulmen, in defence of their laws, families, and effects, exerted all imaginable valour upon this occasion, during the space of seven months, defending the town, street by street; for the walls being bad, were soon laid in ruins. Finding, however, that, in the end, they must be rooted out by this defensive war, unless they had speedy succours, they bound themselves by oath, to devote their lives to victory or martyrdom, and making a sally out of the city, presented themselves, in order of battle, before the enemy's camp. The Hindoos, either struck with their unexpected appearance, or intimidated by their resolution, betook themselves instantly to flight, and were pursued with great slaughter.

In the year preceding this event, the King sent Artagi Hajib, with an army, to Tiberistan, against the ever-restless Siljoki. When he reached that place, he heard that the son of Daood had advanced to Arkin; but when the two armies drew up in order against one another, the chief of the Siljoki, who was a young man, without either experience or courage, showed such pusillanimity in arranging his troops, that the enemy had begun the charge before they were properly formed, which occasioned an immediate confusion, so that they abandoned the field, and were pursued with great slaughter. Artagi, having returned from the pursuit, marched directly to Balich, which the Siljoki had taken, and recovered that city out of their hands.

Not long after, the Siljoki advanced again with a powerful force, and invested the same place. As it was not very defensible, and Artagi was too weak to engage the enemy in the field, he wrote to Modood for succours. The succours not arriving, and the general finding his difficulties daily increasing, and his force diminishing, determined to evacuate the place, which he accordingly did, and fled to Ghizni, with a few of his attendants. But the popular outcry was so great against the unfortunate Artagi, that Modood was obliged, in some measure, to silence the clamour by the death of his servant. About this time, another tribe of the Turkumans of Ghizizi made an incursion into the Ghiznian territories, by the way of Bust, against whom Modood sent an army, which gave them a signal defeat.

In the year 436, Tahir the vizier was deposed, and Abdul Rysaac was exalted to that dignity; and, in the same year, Tughril was sent, with a force, towards Bust, from whence he proceeded to Seistan, and brought his own brother, and Ringi, who had rebelled against the King, prisoners to Ghizni. The Siljoki, in the year following, collected all their forces, and directed their march towards Ghizni, plundering the palace of Bust. Tughril was ordered against them, with the troops of Ghizni, and he defeated them with great slaughter, and pursued them out of the country. After this victory Tughril marched immediately against the Turkumans of Candahar, whom they called red-caps, and defeating them also, took many prisoners, whom he brought to Ghizni.

In the 438th year, Tughril was again ordered to Bust, with a numerous army; but when he came to Tiggiabad, he began to hatch treason against his sovereign. News of his revolt having reached Modood, he sent some persons to endeavour to reclaim him to his duty, with promises of pardon, and a removal of all the disgusts which he might have entertained. To this Tughril replied, that the reason of this step was to secure himself: that he had an information of a plot formed against his life, by those sycophants, whose only business was to stand by the throne, and to amuse the too easy ears of the King with lies and flattery: that being once forced to disobedience, he had, for a subject, gone too far to retreat. The King's emissaries however, though they had no effect upon Tughril, found that the most part of the chiefs were still loyal to the King, and brought over others, who had changed, rather out of a desire of innovation, than disaffection to their sovereign. Upon this they returned, and having told the King in what manner things were concerted with the other chiefs, he immediately ordered Ali the son of Ribbi, one of his generals, with two thousand horse, to favour the insurrection; so that Tughril, finding himself deserted by the army, upon the appearance of Ali, betook himself to flight, with a few of his adherents.

Tiggi, another Omrah, was in the same year sent to Ghor, to the assistance of Willidingi, who joining him with his force, they both marched against Abu Ali, prince of Ghor, and having driven him into a fort, he was there besieged, and taken prisoner. This place was reckoned so strong, that, for seven hundred years before, the reduction of it had not been attempted by any body. When Tiggi found himself master of the fort, he treacherously laid hands upon Willidingi, whose right he came to support, and carried him in chains, with Abu Ali, to Ghizni, where the King settled their dispute, by cutting off both their heads.

Tiggi was sent, soon after, against Byram Neal, general of the Siljoki. He met the enemy in the districts of Bust, and engaged them, gaining, at length, the long-disputed field. He was again, in the year 439, sent against Kisdar, who refused to pay his tribute, whom he subdued, and obliged to comply with the King's commands, and returned with his army to Ghizni the year following.

Modood, the following year, in one day, conferred the royal dress, drums, and colours, upon his two eldest sons, Mamood, whom he sent to Lahore, and upon Munsur, whom he sent to the province of Peshawir. At the same time Ali, chief magistrate of Ghizni, was sent to command the other imperial conquests in India. Ali first marched to Peshawir, and took the fort of Mahitila, from Ahin, who had rebelled against the King's authority, then sent a letter of invitation to Higgi Rai, a general of the Hindoos, who had done much service in the time of Mamood, but, upon account of some political matters, had fled from the court, and had taken up his abode in the mountains of Cashmire. The invitation being complied with, the King desired his attendance at Ghizni.

While Ali was settling the countries about the Indus, some malicious chiefs in his camp forwarded many complaints against him to the King. He was called to Ghizni, and imprisoned, under the care of one Mirik the son of Hassen. This man, out of former enmity, and with a design to extort money from him, put him to the torture, and soon after to death itself. Fearing, however, that the King might some day enquire for the prisoner, and order him to be produced, he himself, being then a great favourite, endeavoured to divert Modood's mind to some important .affairs, till he should be able to frame some excuse for the death of Ali. He at length prevailed upon the Sultan to form an expedition against Chorassan, by the way of Cabul. When they reached Lowgur, they besieged the fort of Sancoot, where there was a considerable treasure lodged. But there the King was seized with a disorder in his liver, which daily gaining ground, he was obliged to proceed to Ghizni in a litter; while his vizier, Abul Rysac, with the army, marched back into Seistan, to oppose the Siljokies, who had invaded that country.

When the King arrived at Ghizni, he ordered Mirik to bring his prisoner Ali before him, in order to be discharged from confinement. Mirik, by plausible excuses, delayed the time for a week, before the expiration of which, the King took leave of the world, in the year four hundred and forty-one, having reigned nine years, with ability, some clemency, and great reputation.

The state of affairs in Asia suffered very little change during the reign of Modood. Al Kayem succeeded Al Kadir in the Caliphat, and Togril Beg, king of the Siljoki Tartars, who was now in possession of all Persia and Transoxiana, paid a nominal allegiance to the Calipha, by the acceptance of the title of Captain-general of the forces. Modood kept possession of all the territories left to him by his father Musaood in the north, and there was very little alteration on the side of India.

[Section VIII. The Reign of Abu Jaffier Musaood ben Modood.]

MUSAOOD II.

WHEN Modood had taken his journey to the other world, Ali the son of Ribbi, who was then in great power, had formed a design to usurp the throne; but concealing his intentions, he raised Musaood, the son of Modood, who was then a child of four years, to the Musnud. Tiggi, the next in power to Ali, not being made a partner in his measures, was highly offended, and drew off, with half the army, who were in his interest. The troops were thus split into two factions, and came to action; in which Ali being worsted, the faction of Tiggi took Abul Hassen Ali, one of the sons of the Emperor Musaood, who had escaped the resentment of Ali the son of Ribbi, and proclaimed him King, deposing Musaood, after a nominal reign of six days.

[Section IX. The Reign of Sultan Abul Hassen Ali ben Musaood.]

ALI.

UPON Friday, the first of Shaban, in the year four hundred and forty-one, Ali [Abul Hassen Ali.] ascended the throne of Ghizni, and took the wife of his brother Modood, the former King, in marriage. In the mean time, Ali the son of Ribbi, in association with Mirik, broke open the treasury, and taking out a vast quantity of gold and jewels, fled, with a company of the royal slaves, and some of the chiefs, whom they had brought over to their interest, to Peshawir. At Peshawir they were joined by the natives, raised a great army, and reduced Moultan, and the countries near the mouth of the Indus, to their obedience, making a great slaughter of the Afghans or Patans, who had taken advantage of the public disturbances, to plunder those provinces.

In the year four hundred and forty-three, Ali called his brothers, Murda Shaw and Ezid Ear, from the fort of Naáláma, where they had been imprisoned, and treated them with affection and respect. But, at this time, Abdul Reshid, the son of the Emperor Mamood, began to form a faction in his own favour. To crush Reshid, the King opened his treasury, and entertained a great army; notwithstanding which, his power began daily visibly to decline. Reshid advanced in the mean time with his army to Ghizni, and, gaining a compleat victory, ascended the throne.

[Section X. The Reign of Zein ul Muluck, Sultan Abdul Reshid.]

RESHID.

ABDUL RESHID [His titles at length are, Zein-ul-Muluck, Sultan Abdul Reshid.], as we have already mentioned, was the son of the Emperor Mamood, and was, by the order of Modood, imprisoned in a castle near Bust. When the Vizier, Abdul Rysac, about the time of the death of Modood, marched with an army to settle the country of Seistan; he, upon hearing of the King's death, in confederacy with Abul Fazil, Resid the son of the famous Altasash, and Noshtagi Hajib, in the year 443, released Reshid from his confinement, and, asserting his cause with vigour, raised him, as we have seen, to the throne. His predecessor Ali was seized by some of the Zemindars, in the country into which he had fled, brought prisoner before Reshid, and confined in the fort of Didi.

The King, by various means, prevailed upon Ali the son of Ribbi, who had usurped the Ghiznian conquests in India, to submit to his allegiance, and return to Ghizni. He appointed Noshtagi Hajib to the command of those provinces, created him an Omrah, and sent him with a fine army to Lahore. Noshtagi, upon his way, turning to Nagracut, laid siege to that place, and, on the sixth day, scaling the walls, took it by assault.

Tughril, whom we have already mentioned, was. notwithstanding his treachery to his former master, now again intrusted with the government of Seistan, which he soon brought under proper regulations. Being stirred up by the spirit of treachery and ambition, he conceived hopes of assuming royalty; and raising a great army, marched towards Ghizni; where Reshid, being almost destitute of troops, was forced to shut himself up; but the place being very extensive, it was impossible for him to defend it long, which he however did to the last extremity. Ghizni was taken at length, and the King, with nine of the blood royal, were inhumanly put to death by the usurper, who now ascended the throne. But Tughril did not long enjoy the fruits of his villainy; having wrote to Noshtagi, endeavouring to bring him over by fair means to acknowledge him, that chief answered him with the contempt he deserved.

Noshtagi, at the same time, wrote private letters to the daughter of the Emperor Musaood, whom the tyrant had compelled to marry him, as also to all the Omrahs who he knew had retained their loyalty for the imperial family, spiriting them up to conspire against the usurper's life. They were so far excited to resentment, that a conspiracy was forthwith formed amongst them, and put in execution on new year's day, when Tughril was stepping up to the throne to give public audience. Thus the usurper, at the end of forty days, arrived at his tragical end.

After this important transaction, Noshtagi arrived at Ghizni with his army, and calling a council of state, enquired whether any yet remained of the royal race of Subuctagi. He was informed, that there were still imprisoned in a certain fort, Firoch Zaad, Ibrahim, and Suja. These he ordered to be called, and it being agreed that fortune should decide it by lot who should reign; she favoured Feroch-Zaad, who was accordingly placed upon the throne, and received the allegiance of the court: the reign of Reshid comprehended only one year.

A certain author tells us, that Tughril, being one day asked by one of his intimate friends, -- what induced him to think of aspiring to the empire, replied, that when the Emperor Reshid dispatched him to take the government of Seistan, he found that his hand trembled, from which circumstance he concluded, that he was destitute of that resolution and fortitude which are necessary accomplishments of a king.

[Section XI. The Reign of Jemmal ul Dowla Feroch Zaad, ben Sultan Musaood Ghiznavi.]

FEROCH-ZAAD.

When Feroch-Zaad [Jemmal ul Dowla Feroch-Zaad, ben Musaood Ghiznavi.], the son of the Emperor Musaood, placed the crown of fortune upon his head, he gave the reins of administration into the hands of Noshtagi, who had called him from obscurity. Daood [Brother of the famous Togril Bed, the first of the dynasty of the Siljokides of Persia.], the chief of the Siljoki Turkumans, hearing of the commotions in the empire, seized upon that favourable opportunity to invade Ghizni. He advanced with a numerous army, while Noshtagi, collecting all his forces, went forth to meet him. When the armies engaged, the battle was obstinate and bloody; for, from the rising to the setting of the sun, the victory was extremely doubtful; and, though thousands fell, the troops seemed insensible of their own mortality. Victory at length declared for Noshtagi, while his enemies betook themselves to fight, leaving all their camp-equipage and baggage on the field to the conquerors, who immediately returned victorious to Ghizni.

This victory served to establish Feroch-Zaad without fear upon the throne. He now exalted the standard of triumph, and inclined it towards Chorassan, where, on the part of the Siljoki, he was met by Callisarick, one of their principal Omrahs, with a numerous army. The action was extremely violent and bloody; at length victory declared for the King of Ghizni, and Callisarick and several other persons of note were taken prisoners.

Intelligence of this defeat coming to Daood prince of the Siljoki, he collected all his forces, which he submitted to the command of his son Arsilla, a youth of great expectations. Arsilla advanced to oppose the King, and having engaged him with great resolution, recovered the honour of the Siljoki, and took many of the Omrahs of Ghizni prisoners in the pursuit. But he did not think proper, at that time, to make further use of his fortune, and he therefore returned with his victorious army.

When Feroch-Zaad arrived at Ghizni, he called Callisarick and all the prisoners of the Siljoki into his presence, bestowed upon each of them the honour of a dress, and gave them their liberty. The Siljoki returning home, represented in so strong a light the humanity of the King, that Daood, ashamed to be outdone in a virtuous action, ordered the prisoners of Ghizni to be also released.

Feroch-Zaad, who, according to the best authorities, was the son of Musaood, though some say that the Emperor Reshid was his father, having extended his reign to six years, mostly in peace, in the year four hundred and fifty, turned his face to the regions of futurity. The year before his death, his slaves, having been instigated to a conspiracy against his life, made an attempt to assassinate him in the bath. Feroch-Zaad, having wrested a sword out of the hand of one of them, killed many, and defended himself against the rest, till his guards, hearing the noise, came in to his assistance; upon which all the slaves were put to instant death. His first vizier was Hassen the son of Mora, and, in the latter part of his reign, Abu Beker Sali.

He was a good, though not a splendid, prince. He was possessed of humanity, and not destitute of bravery.

Very little change happened in the political state of Asia, during the short reigns of Musaood the second, Ali, Reshid, and Feroch-Zaad. Al Kayam still sat upon the throne of the Caliphat, supported in his spiritualities by Togril Beg, the temporal Emperor of Persia. The brother of Togril failed in an attempt upon the empire of Ghizni, and the reigning family possessed, in all their extent, the territories left to them by Modopd.

[admin]

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.

[admin]

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.