Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Ziaud Din Barni/Shams-i Siraj 'Afif

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Part 1 of 3

Iskandar-i sani Sultanu-l'azam 'Alaud-d dunya wau-d din Muhammad Shah Tughlik.

Sultan 'Alau-d din ascended the throne in the year 695 H. (1296 A.D.). He gave to his brother the title Ulugh Khan, to Malik Nusrat Jalesari that of Nusrat Khan, to Malik Huzabbaru-d din t hat of Zafar Khan, and to Sanjar, his wife's brother, who was amir-i majlis, that of Alp Khan. He made his friends and principal supporters amirs, and the amirs he promoted to be maliks [a chief or leader (as in a village) in parts of the subcontinent of India.]. Every one of his old adherents he elevated to a suitable position, and to the Khans, maliks, and amirs he gave money, so that they might procure new horses and fresh servants. Enormous treasure had fallen into his hands, and he had committed a deed unworthy of his religion and position, so he deemed it politic to deceive the people, and to cover the crime by scattering honours and gifts upon all classes of people.

He set out on his journey to Dehli, but the heavy rains and the mire and dirt delayed his march. His desire was to reach the capital after the rising of Canopus, as he felt very apprehensive of the late Sultan's second son, Arkali Khan, who was a brave and able soldier. News came from Dehli that Arkali Khan had not come, and 'Alau-d din considered this absence as a great obstacle to his (rival's) success. He knew that Ruknu-d din Ibrahim could not keep his place upon the throne, for the royal treasury was empty and he had not the means of raising new forces, 'Alau-d din accordingly lost no time, and pressed on to Dehli, though the rains were at their height. In this year, through the excessive rain, the Ganges and the Jumna became seas, and every stream swelled into a Ganges or a Jumna; the roads also were obstructed with mud and mire. At such a season 'Alau-d din started from Karra with his elephants, his treasures, and his army. His khans, maliks, and amirs were commanded to exert themselves strenuously in enlisting new horsemen, and in providing of all things necessary without delay. They were also ordered to shower money freely around them, so that plenty of followers might be secured. As he was marching to Dehli a light and moveable manjanik was made. Every stage that they marched five mans of gold stars1 [[x]] were placed in this manjanik, which were discharged among the spectators from the front of the royal tent. People from all parts gathered to pick up "the stars," and in the coarse of two or three weeks the news spread throughout all the towns and villages of Hindustan that 'Alau-d din was marching to take Dehli, and that he was scattering gold upon his path and enlisting horsemen and followers without limit. People, military and unmilitary, flocked to him from every side, so that when he reached Badaun, notwithstanding the rains, his force amounted to fifty-six thousand horse and sixty thousand foot. ****

When 'Alau-d din arrived at Baran, he placed a force under Zafar Khan, with orders to march by way of Kol, and to keep pace while he himself proceeded by way of Badaun and Baran. Taju-d din Kuchi, and ** and ** other maliks and amirs who were sent from Dehli to oppose the advancing forces, came to Baran and joined 'Alau-d din, for which they received twenty, thirty, and some even fifty mans of gold. All the soldiers who were under these noblemen received each three hundred tankas, and the whole following of the late Jalala-d din was broken up. The nobles who remained in Dehli wavered, while those who had joined 'Alau-d din loudly exclaimed that the people of Dehli maligned them, charging them with disloyalty, with having deserted the son of their patron and of having joined themselves to his enemy. They complained that their accusers were unjust, for they did not see that the kingdom departed from Jalalu-d din on the day when he wilfully and knowingly, with his eyes wide open, left Dehli and went to Karra, jeopardizing his own head and that of his followers. What else could they do but join 'Alau-d din?

When the maliks and amirs thus joined 'Alau-d din the Jalali party broke up. The Malika-i Jahan, who was one of the silliest of the silly, then sent to Multan for Arkali Khan. She wrote to this effect — "I committed a fault in raising my youngest son to the throne in spite of you. None of the maliks and amirs heed him, and most of them have joined 'Alau-d din. The royal power has departed from our hands. If you can, come to us speedily, take the throne of your father and protect us. You are the elder brother of the lad who was placed upon the throne, and are more worthy and capable of ruling. He will acknowledge his inferiority. I am a woman, and women are foolish. I committed a fault, but do not be offended with your mother's error. Come and take the kingdom of your father. If you are angry and will not do so, 'Alau-d din is coming with power and state; he will take Dehli, and will spare neither me nor you." Arkali Khan did not come, but wrote a letter of excuse to his mother, saying, "Since the nobles and the army have joined the enemy, what good will my coming do?" When 'Alau-d din heard that Arkali Khan would not come, he ordered the drums of joy to be beaten.

'Alau-d din had no boats, and the great height of the Jumna delayed his passage. While he was detained on the banks of the river, Canopus rose, and the waters as usual decreased. He then transported his army across at the ferries, and entered the plain of Judh.1 [The print has "Judh." One MS. writes "Khud" t he other omits the name.] Ruknu-d din Ibrahim went out of the city in royal state with such followers as remained to oppose 'Alau-d din, but in the middle of the night all the left wing of his army deserted to the enemy with great uproar. Ruknu-d din Ibrahim turned back, and at midnight he caused the Badaun gate (of Dehli) to be opened. He took some bags of gold tankas from the treasury, and some horses from the stables. He sent his mother and females on in front, and in the dead of the night he left the city by the Ghazni gate, and took the road to Multan. Malik Kutbu-d din 'Alawi, with the sons of Malik Ahmad Chap Turk, furnished the escort, and proceeded with him and the Malika-i Jahan to Multan. Next day 'Alau-d din marched with royal state and display into the plain of Siri,2 [See Cunningham's Archaeological Report for 1862-3, page 38.] where he pitched his camp. The throne was now secure, and the revenue officers, and the elephant keepers with their elephants, and the kotwah with the keys of the forts, and the magistrates and the chief men of the city came out to 'Alau-d din, and a new order of things was established. His wealth and power were great; so whether individuals paid their allegiance or whether they did not, mattered little, for the khutba was read and coins were struck in his name.

Towards the end of the year 695 H. (1296) 'Alau-d din entered Dehli in great pomp and with a large force. He took his seat upon the throne in the daulat-khana-i julus, and proceeded to the Kushk'i l'al (red palace), where he took up his abode. The treasury of 'Alau-d din was well filled with gold, which he scattered among the people, purses and bags filled with tankas and jitals were distributed, and men gave themselves up to dissipation and enjoyment. [Public festivities followed.] 'Alau-d din, in the pride of youth, prosperity, and boundless wealth, proud also of his army and his followers, his elephants and his horses, plunged into dissipation and pleasure. The gifts and honours which he bestowed obtained the good will of the people. Out of policy he gave offices and fiefs to the maliks and amirs of the late Sultan. Khwaja Khatir, a minister of the highest reputation, was made wazir, etc., etc. *** Malik 'Alau-l Mulk, uncle of the author, was appointed to Karra and Oudh, and Muyidu-l Mulk, the author's father, received the deputyship and khwajagi of Baran. * * * People were so deluded by the gold which they received, that no one ever mentioned the horrible crime which the Sultan had committed, and the hope of gain left them no care for anything else. ****

After 'Alau-d din had ascended the throne, the removal of the late king's sons engaged his first attention. Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan, with other maliks and amirs, were sent to Multan with thirty or forty thousand horse. They besieged that place for one or two months. The kotwal and the people of Multan turned against the sons of Jalalu-d din, and some of the amirs came out of the city to Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan. The sons of the late Sultan then sent Shaikhu-l Islam Shaikh Ruknu-d din to sue for safety from Ulugh Khan, and received his assurances. The princes then went out with the Shaikh and their amirs to Ulugh Khan. He received them with great respect and quartered them near his own dwelling. News of the success was sent to Dehli. There the drums were beaten. Kabas1 [Booths erected for the distribution of food and drink on festive occasions.] were erected, and the despatch was read from the pulpit and was circulated in all quarters. The amirs of Hindustan then became submissive to 'Alau-d din, and no rival remained. Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan returned triumphant towards Dehli, carrying with them the two sons of the late Sultan, both of whom had received royal canopies. Their maliks and amirs were also taken with them. In the middle of their journey they were met by Nusrat Khan, who had been sent from Dehli, and the two princes, with Ulghu Khan, son in law of the late Sultan, and Ahmad Chap, Naib-amir-i hajib, were all blinded. Their wives were separated from them, and all their valuables and slaves and maids, in fact everything they had was seized by Nusrat Khan. The princes1 [Both the MSS. say "sons," while the print incorrectly uses the singular.] were sent to the fort of Hansi, and the sons of Arkali Khan were all slain. Malika-i Jahan, with their wives, and Ahmad Chap were brought to Dehli and confined in his house.

In the second year of the reign Nusrat Khan was made wazir. 'Alau-l Mulk, the author's uncle, was summoned from Karra, and came with the maliks and amirs and one elephant, bringing the treasure which 'Alau-d din had left there. He was become exceedingly fat and inactive, but he was selected from among the nobles to be kotwal of the city. In this year also the property of the maliks and amirs of the late Sultan was confiscated, and Nusrat Khan exerted himself greatly in collecting it. He laid his hands upon all that he could discover, and seized upon thousands, which he brought into the treasury. Diligent inquiry was made into the past and present circumstances of the victims. In this same year, 696 H. (1296), the Mughals crossed the Sind and had come into the country. Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan were sent with a large force, and with the amirs of the late and the present reign, to oppose them. The Musulman army met the accursed foe in the vicinity of Jalandhar2 [So in the print; but the MSS. have "Jadawa o Manjur" and "Jarat-mahud."] and gained a victory. Many were slain or taken prisoners, and many heads were sent to Dehli. The victory of Multan and the capture of the two princes had greatly strengthened the authority of 'Alau-d din; this victory over the Mughals made it still more secure. * * * The maliks of the late king, who deserted their benefactor and joined 'Alau-d din, and received gold by mans and obtained employments and territories, were all seized in the city and in the army, and thrown into forts as prisoners. Some were blinded and some were killed. The wealth which they had received from 'Alau-d din, and their property, goods, and effects were all seized. Their houses were confiscated to the Sultan, and their villages were brought under the public exchequer. Nothing was left to their children; their retainers and followers were taken in charge by the amirs who supported the new regime, and their establishments were overthrown. Of all the amirs of the reign of Jalalu-d din, three only were spared by 'Alau-d din. *** These three persons had never abandoned Sultan Jalalu-d din and his sons, and had never taken money from Sultan 'Alau-d din. They alone remained safe, but all the other Jalali nobles were cut up root and branch. Nusrat Khan, by his fines and confiscations, brought a kror of money into the treasury.

At the beginning of the third year of the reign, Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan, with their amirs, and generals, and a large army, marched against Gujarat. They took and plundered Nahrwala and all Gujarat. Kuran, Rai of Gujarat, fled from Nahrwala and went to Ram Deo of Deogir. The wives and daughters, the treasure and elephants of Rai Karan, fell into the hands of the Muhammadans. All Gujarat became a prey to the invaders, and the idol which, after the victory of Sultan Mahmud and his destruction of (the idol) Manat, the Brahmans had set up under the name of Somnath, for the worship of the Hindus, was removed and carried to Dehli, where it was laid down for people to tread upon. Nusrat Khan proceeded to Kambaya1 [The printed text has [x], but there can be no doubt that Cambay is the place.] (Cambay), and levied large quantities of jewels and precious articles from the merchants of that place, who were very wealthy. He also took from his master (a slave afterwards known as) Kafur Hazar-dinari, who was made Malik-naib, and whose beauty captivated 'Alau-d din. Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan returned with great booty; but on their way they provoked their soldiers to revolt by demanding from them a fifth of their spoil, and by instituting inquisitorial inquiries about it. Although the men made returns (of the amount), they would not believe them at all, but demanded more. The gold and silver, and jewels and valuables, which the men had taken, were all demanded, and various kinds of coercion were employed. These punishments and prying researches drove the men to desperation. In the army there were many amirs and many horsemen who were "new Muhammadans." They held together as one man, and two or three thousand assembled and began a disturbance. They killed Malik A'zzu-d din, brother of Nusrat Khan, and amir-i hajib of Ulugh Khan, and proceeded tumultuously to the tent of Ulugh Khan. That prince escaped, and with craft and cleverness reached the tent of Nusrat Khan; but the mutineers killed a son of the Sultan's sister, who was asleep in the tent, whom they mistook for Ulugh Khan. The disturbance spread through the whole army, and the stores narrowly escaped being plundered. But the good fortune of the Sultan prevailed, the turmoil subsided, and the horse and foot gathered round the tent of Nusrat Khan. The amirs and horsemen of "the new Musulmans" dispersed; those who had taken the leading parts in the disturbance fled, and went to join the Rais and rebels. Further inquiries about the plunder were given up, and Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan returned to Dehli with the treasure, and elephants, and slaves, and spoil, which they had taken in Gujarat.

When intelligence of this outbreak of the new Muhammadans reached Dehli, the crafty cruelty which had taken possession of 'Alau-d din induced him to order that the wives and children of all the mutineers, high and low, should be cast into prison. This was the beginning of the practice of seizing women and children for the faults of men. Up to this time no hand had ever been laid upon wives and children on account of men's misdeeds. At this time also another and more glaring act of tyranny was committed by Nusrat Khan, the author of many acts of violence at Dehli. His brother had been murdered, and in revenge he ordered the wives of the assassins to be dishonoured and exposed to most disgraceful treatment; he then handed them over to vile persons to make common strumpets of them. The children he caused to be cut to pieces on the heads of their mothers. Outrages like this are practised in no religion or creed. These and similar acts of his filled the people of Dehli with amazement and dismay, and every bosom trembled.

In the same year that Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan were sent to Gujarat, Zafar Khan was sent to Siwistan, which Saldi,1 [So in the print, and supported by one MS. The other has "Sadari."] with his brother and other Mughals, had seized upon. Zafar Khan accordingly proceeded to Siwistan with a large army, and besieged the fort of Siwistan, which he took with the axe and sword, spear and javelin, without using either Westerns (maghribe), manjaniks or balistas ('aradah), and without resorting to mines (sabat), mounds (pashib), or redoubts (gargaj). This fort had been taken by the Mughals, and they maintained such a continuous discharge of arrows that no bird could fly by. For all this Zafar Khan took it with the axe and sword. Saldi and his brother, with all the Mughals and their wives and children, were taken prisoners, and sent in chains to Dehli. This victory inspired awe of Zafar Khan in every heart, and the Sultan also looked askance at him in consequence of his fearlessness, generalship, and intrepidity, which showed that a Rustam had been born in India. Ulugh Khan, the Sultan's brother, saw that he had been surpassed in bravery and strategy, and so conceived a hatred and jealousy of Zafar Khan. In the same year he (Zafar Khan) received the fief of Samana, and as he had become famous the Sultan, who was very jealous, began to revolve in his mind what was best to be done. Two modes of dealing with him seemed open for the Sultan's choice. One was to send him, with a few thousand horse, to Lakhnauti to take that country, and leave him there to supply elephants and tribute to the Sultan; the other was to put him out of the way by poison or by blinding.  

At the end of this year Katlagh Khwaja, son of the accursed Zud,1 [Firishta (vol. i., p. 329) says "son of Amir Daud Khan, king of Mawarau-n nahr."] with twenty tumans of Mughals, resolved upon the invasion of Hindustan. He started from Mawarau-n Nahr, and passing the Indus with a large force he marched on to the vicinity of Dehli. In this campaign Dehli was the object of attack, so the Mughals did not ravage the countries bordering on their march, nor did they attack the forts. * * * Great anxiety prevailed in Dehli, and the people of the neighbouring villages took refuge within its walls. The old fortifications had not been kept in repair, and terror prevailed, such as never before had been seen or heard of. All men, great and small, were in dismay. Such a concourse had crowded into the city that the streets and markets and mosques could not contain them. Everything became very dear. The roads were stopped against caravans and merchants, and distress fell upon the people.

The Sultan marched out of Dehli with great display and pitched his tent in Siri. Maliks, amirs, and fighting men were summoned to Dehli from every quarter. At that time the anther's uncle, 'Alau-l Mulk, one of the companions and advisers of the Sultan, was kotwal of Dehli, and the Sultan placed the city, his women and treasure, under his charge. **** 'Alau-l Mulk went out to Siri to take leave of the Sultan, and in private consultation with him [advised a temporising policy.] The Sultan listened and commended his sincerity. He then called the nobles together and said * * * yon have heard what 'Alau-l Malk has urged * * * now hear what I have to say. *** If I were to follow your advice, to whom could I show my face? how could I go into my harem? of what account would the people hold me? and where would be the daring and courage which is necessary to keep my turbulent people in submission? Come what may I will to-morrow march into the plain of Kili.*** 'Alau-d din marched from Siri to Kili and there encamped. Katlagh Khwaja, with the Mughal army, advanced to encounter him. In no age or reign had two such vast armies been drawn up in array against each other, and the sight of them filled all men with amazement. Zafar Khan, who commanded the right wing, with the amirs who were under him, drew their swords and fell upon the enemy with such fury that the Mughals were broken and forced to fall back. The army of Islam pursued, and Zafar Khan, who was the Rustam of the age and the hero of the time, pressed after the retreating foe, cutting them down with the sword and mowing off their heads. He kept up the pursuit for eighteen kos, never allowing the scared Mughals to rally. Ulugh Khan commanded the left wing, which was very strong, and had under him several distinguished amirs. Through the animosity which he bore to Zafar Khan he never stirred to support him.

Targhi, the accursed, had been placed in ambush with his tuman. His Mughals mounted the trees and could not see any horse moving up to support Zafar Khan. When Targhi ascertained that Zafar Khan had gone so far in pursuit of the Mughals without any supporting force in his rear, he marched after Zafar Khan, and, spreading out his forces on all sides, he surrounded him as with a ring, and pressed him with arrows. Zafar Khan was dismounted. The brave hero then drew his arrows from the quiver and brought down a Mughal at every shaft. At this juncture, Katlagh Khwaja sent him this message, "Come with me and I will take thee to my father, who will make thee greater than the king of Dehli has made thee." Zafar Khan heeded not the offer, and the Mughals saw that he would never be taken alive, so they pressed in upon him on every side and despatched him. The amirs of his force were all slain, his elephants were wounded, and their drivers killed. The Mughals thus, on that day, obtained the advantage, but the onslaught of Zafar Khan had greatly dispirited them. Towards the end of the night they retreated, and marched to a distance of thirty kos from Dehli. They then continued their retreat by marches of twenty kos, without resting, until they reached their own confines. The bravery of Zafar Khan was long remembered among the Mughals, and if their cattle refused to drink they used to ask if they saw Zafar Khan.1 [See D'Ohsson Hist. des Mongols, iv., 560.] No such army as this has ever since been seen in hostile array near Dehli. 'Alau-d din returned from Kili, considering that he had won a great victory: the Mughals had been put to flight, and the brave and fearless Zafar Khan had been got rid of without disgrace.

In the third year of his reign 'Alaud-d din had little to do beyond attending to his pleasures, giving feasts, and holding festivals. One success followed another; despatches of victory came in from all sides; every year he had two or three sons born, affairs of State went on according to his wish and to his satisfaction, his treasury was overflowing, boxes and caskets of jewels and pearls were daily displayed before his eyes, he had numerous elephants in his stables and seventy thousand horses in the city and environs, two or three regions were subject to his sway, and he had no apprehension of enemies to his kingdom or of any rival to his throne. All this prosperity intoxicated him. Vast desires and great aims, far beyond him, or a hundred thousand like him, formed their germs in his brain, and he entertained fancies which had never occurred to any king before him. In his exaltation, ignorance, and folly, he quite lost his head,2 [Lit, "hands and feet." Here, and occasionally elsewhere, I have been obliged to prune the exuberant eloquence of the author.] forming the most impossible schemes and nourishing the most extravagant desires. He was a man of no learning and never associated with men of learning. He could not read or write a letter. He was bad tempered, obstinate, and hard-hearted, but the world smiled upon him, fortune befriended him, and his schemes were generally successful, so he only became the more reckless and arrogant.

During the time that he was thus exalted with arrogance and presumption, he used to speak in company about two projects that he had formed, and would consult with his companions and associates upon the execution of them. One of the two schemes which he used to debate about he thus explained, ''God Almighty gave the blessed Prophet four friends, through whose energy and power the Law and Religion were established, and through this establishment of law and religion the name of the Prophet will endure to the day of judgment. Every man who knows himself to be a Musulman, and calls himself by that name, conceives himself to be of his religion and creed. God has given me also four friends, Ulugh Khan, Zafar Khan, Nusrat Khan, and Alp Khan, who, through my prosperity, have attained to princely power and dignity. If I am so inclined, I can, with the help of these four friends, establish a new religion and creed; and my sword, and the swords of my friends, will bring all men to adopt it. Through this religion, my name and that of my friends will remain among men to the last day like the names of the Prophet and his friends." *** Upon this subject he used to talk in his wine parties, and also to consult privately with his nobles. * * * His second project he used to unfold as follows: "I have wealth, and elephants, and forces, beyond all calculation. My wish is to place Dehli in charge of a vicegerent, and then I will go out myself into the world, like Alexander, in pursuit of conquest, and subdue the whole habitable world." Over-elated with the success of some few projects, he caused himself to be entitled "the second Alexander" in the khutba and on his coins. In his convivial parties he would vaunt, "Every region that I subdue I will intrust to one of my trusty nobles, and then proceed in quest of another. Who is he that shall stand against me?" His companions, although they saw his * * * folly and arrogance, were afraid of his violent temper, and applauded him. * * * These wild projects became known in the city; some of the wise men smiled, and attributed them to his folly and ignorance; others trembled, and said that such riches had fallen into the hands of a Pharaoh who had no knowledge or sense. * * *

My uncle 'Alau-l Mulk, kotwal of Dehli, through his extreme corpulence, used to go (only) at the new moon to wait upon the Sultan, and to take wine with him. On one occasion the Sultan began to consult him about these two extravagant delusions. 'Alau-l Mulk had heard how the king used to talk about these projects at his feasts, and how the guests used to coincide with him, and refrain from speaking the truth through fear of his hot temper and violence. When the questions were put to him by the Sultan, he said, "If your Majesty will order the wine to be removed, and all persons to withdraw except the four nobles, Ulugh Khan, Zafar Khan, Nusrat Khan, and Alp Khan, I will then open my mind to your Majesty." The Sultan gave the order * * * and 'Alau-l Mulk, after apologizing for his boldness, said "Religion, and law, and creeds, ought never to be made subjects of discussion by your Majesty, for these are the concerns of prophets, not the business of kings. Religion and law spring from heavenly revelation; they are never established by the plans and designs of man. From the days of Adam till now they have been the mission of Prophets and Apostles, as rule and government have been the duty of kings. The prophetic office has never appertained to kings, and never will, so long as the world lasts, though some prophets have discharged the functions of royalty. My advice is that your Majesty should never talk about these matters. *** Your Majesty knows what rivers of blood Changiz Khan made to flow in Mahammadan cities, but he never was able to establish the Mughal religion or institutions among Muhammadans. Many Mughals have turned Musulmans, but no Musulman has ever become a Mughal." * * * The Sultan listened, and hung down his head in thought. His four friends heartily approved what 'Alau-l Mulk had said, and looked anxiously for the Sultan's answer. After awhile he said * * * "From henceforth no one shall ever hear me speak such words. Blessings be on thee and thy parents, for thou hast spoken the truth, and hast been loyal to thy duty. But what dost thou say about my other project?" 'Alau-l Mulk said, "The second design is that of a great monarch, for it is a rule among kings to seek to bring the whole world under their sway * * * but these are not the days of Alexander * * * and where will there be found a wazir like Aristotle?'' *** The Sultan replied, "What is the use of my wealth, and elephants and horses, if I remain content with Dehli, and undertake no new conquests? and what will be said about my reign?" 'Alau-l Mulk replied that "there were two important undertakings open to the King, which ought to receive attention before all others * * * One is the conquest and subjugation of all Hindustan, of such places as Rantambhor, Chitor, Chanderi, Malwa, Dhar, and Ujjain, to the east as far as the Saru, from the Siwalik to Jalor, from Multan to Damrila,1 [''Marila'' in the print.] from Palam to Lohor and Deopalpur; these places should all be reduced to such obedience that the name of rebel should never be heard. The second and more important duty is that of closing the road of Multan against the Mughals.'' *** Before closing his speech, 'Alau-l Mulk said "What I have recommended can never be accomplished unless your Majesty gives up drinking to excess, and keeps aloof from convivial parties and feasts. *** If you cannot do entirely without wine, do not drink till the afternoon, and then take it alone without companions." *** When he had finished the Sultan was pleased, and commending the excellence of the advice which he had given, promised to observe it. He gave him a brocaded robe of honour with a gold waistband weighing half a man, ten thousand tankas, two horses fully caparisoned, and two villages in in'am. The four Khans who were present added to these gifts three or four thousand tankas, and two or three horses with trappings. The advice which 'Alau-l Mulk had given was greatly praised by all the wazirs and wise men of the city. This happened while Zafar Khan was alive, upon his return from Siwistan, before he went to fight with Katlagh Khwaja.

'Alau-d din now first resolved upon the capture of Rantambhor, which was near Dehli. This fort had been taken, and was held by Hamir Deo, grandson of Rai Pithaura of Dehli.2 [Pithaura was killed in 1192, and here we are in 1299 A.D. Nabasa, the word used, probably here means loosely "descendant."] Ulugh Khan, who held Bayana, was ordered to Rantambhor, and Nusrat Khan, who held Karra that year, was ordered to collect all the forces of Karra, and that part of Hindustan, and to march to the assistance of Ulugh Khan. They captured Jhain,1 [Here it is evident that Jhain was close to Rantambhor, so that it cannot be Ujjain as suggested in p. 146 supra.] and invested Rantambhor. One day Nusrat Khan approached the fort to direct the construction of a mound (pashib), and a redoubt (gargaj). A stone discharged from a Maghribi in the fort struck him, and so wounded him that he died two or three days after. When this intelligence was brought to the Sultan, he departed from Dehli in great state for Rantambhor.

The Sultan proceeded from Dehli towards Rantambhor, and halted for some days at Til-pat.2 [See Elliot's Glossary, II., 122.] He went out daily to hunt and a nargah3 [A large circle or sweep made by hunters for driving the game together.] was drawn. One day be was benighted, and alighted with only ten horsemen at the village of Badih, where he remained for the night. Next day before sunrise he gave orders to close up the circle. The huntsmen and horsemen went forth to draw it together, and the Sultan remained sitting on a stool with only a few attendants, waiting until the beasts were driven up. At this time Akat Khan, the Sultan's brother's son, who held the office of Wakildar, rose up against the Sultan. Conceiving that if he killed the monarch he might, as his nephew, aspire to the throne, he plotted with sundry new Musulman horsemen, who had been long in his service. These men now approached the Sultan, shouting tiger! tiger! and began to discharge arrows at him. It was winter, and the Sultan was wearing a large over-coat. He jumped up just as he was, and seizing the stool on which he had been sitting, he made a shield of it. He warded off several arrows; two pierced his arm, but none reached his body. A slave of the Sultan, by name Manik, threw himself before his master, and made his own body a shield. He was struck by three or four arrows, The paiks (footmen) who stood behind the Sultan now covered him with their bucklers. Akat Khan galloped up with his confederates, intending to cut off the Sultan's head; but finding the paiks standing firm with their swords drawn, they dared not alight to lay hands on him. The paiks cried out that the Sultan was dead. Akat Khan was young, rash, and foolish. He had made a violent attack on his sovereign, but he lacked the decision and resolution to carry it through, and cut off the Sultan's head. In his folly and rashness he took another course. Believing what the paiks said, he went with all speed to the plain of Til-pat, and seated himself on the throne of 'Alau-d din, proclaiming to the people of the court with a loud voice that he had slain the Sultan. The people could not believe that the horsemen would have come to the royal residence, or that Akat Khan would have dared to seat himself on the throne and hold a court if the Sultan had not been killed. A tumult broke out in the army, and everything was getting into confusion. The elephants were accoutred and brought before the royal tent. The attendants of the court assembled and took up their respective positions, * * * and the chief men of the army came to pay their respects to the new sovereign. They kissed the hand of that evil doer and did homage. Akat Khan, in his egregious folly, attempted to go into the harem, but Malik Dinar armed himself and his followers, and, taking his stand at the door, told Akat Khan that he should not enter until he produced the head of 'Alau-d din.

When 'Alau-d din was wounded his Turk horsemen dispersed, raising a clamour. About sixty or seventy men, horse and foot, remained with him. After Akat Khan had left, the Sultan recovered his senses; he was found to have received two wounds in the arm, and to have lost much blood. They bathed the wounds and placed his arm in a sling. When he reflected on what had happened, he came to the conclusion that Akat Khan must have had many supporters among the maliks, amirs, and soldiers, for he would never have ventured on such a step without strong support. He therefore determined to leave his army, and to proceed with all speed to his brother, Ulugh Khan, at Jhain, in order to concert with him measures for securing his position. Malik Hamidu-d din, naib-wakil-dar, boh of Umdata-l Mulk, opposed this plan, and advised the Sultan to proceed at once to his army. *** The Malik's reasoning convinced the Sultan, and he started at once for the army. As he went along every trooper whom he fell in with joined him, so that on reaching the army he had an escort of five or six hundred men. He immediately showed himself on a rising ground, and being recognized, the assembly at the royal tent broke up, and his attendants came forth with elephants to receive him. Akat Khan rushed out of the tents and fled on horseback to Afghanpur. The Sultan then came down, entered his tents, and, seating himself upon the throne, held a public court. He sent two officers in pursuit of Akat Khan, who came up with him at Afghanpur, and beheaded him. His head was carried to the Sultan, who ordered it to be exhibited to the army on a spear, and then to be sent to Dehli for exhibition, after which it was to be sent to Ulugh Khan at Jhain, with an account of the Sultan's escape. Katlagh Khwaja, younger brother of Akat Khan, was also killed. *** The Sultan remained some days with the army, diligently seeking out all who had connived at or had been aware of Akat Khan's attempt. Those who were discovered were scourged to death with thongs of wire, their property was confiscated, and their wives and children sent prisoners to various forts. The Sultan then proceeded to Rantambhor, and after punishing the rest of those who were concerned in Akat Khan's conspiracy, he devoted himself to the business of the siege. Bags were made and distributed to the soldiers, who filled them with sand and threw them into the holes (ghar). The traverses, of the pashib were formed, the redoubts (gargaj) raised, and stones were discharged from the maghribis. The besieged1 [There is a line omitted from the print here. The following is a literal translation of Firishta's account: ("The Sultan) having assembled numerous forces from all quarters distributed bags among them. Each man filled his bag with sand, and cast it into the trench (darra), which they call raran, until they obtained command (over the walls), and struck down the defenders inside."] battered the pashib with stones from their maghribis, and scattered fire from the summit of the fort. Many men were killed on both sides. The territories of Jhain were attacked and subdued as far as Dhar.

After the conspiracy of Akat Khan was suppressed, news was brought to the army that 'Umar Khan and Mangu Khan, taking advantage of the Sultan's absence and the difficulties of the siege of Rantambhor, had broken out in revolt and had obtained a following among the people of Hindustan. The Sultan sent some officers against them, who made them prisoners before they had effected anything, and carried them to Rantambhor. The Sultan's cruel implacable temper had no compassion for his sister's children, so he had them punished in his presence. They were blinded by having their eyes cut out with knives like slices of a melon. Their families and dependants were overthrown. Of the horse and foot who had supported them, some fled, and others fell into the hands of the amirs of Hindustan and were imprisoned.

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Part 2 of 3

While the Sultan was prosecuting the siege of Rantambhor, a revolt of some importance broke out at Dehli. * * * There was a person named Haji, a maula or slave of the late Kotwal, Amiru-l umara Fakhru-d din. He was a man of violent, fearless, and malignant character * * * and he was charged with the guard of the exchequer.1 [The words are [x]. The two MSS., however, read [x]. This word is not intelligible. The context seems to imply that the Maula was stationed in the city, otherwise Khalsah-i ratol might signify "the government lands of Ratol."] A man called Turmuzi was kotwal of the city and greatly oppressed the people. * * * 'Alau-d din Ayaz, father of Ahmad Ayaz, was kotwal of the New Fort. Haji Maula, seeing the city empty, and the inhabitants distressed by the violence and tyranny of Turmuzi the kotwal * * * knowing also that not a man could be spared from the army * * * he thought the people would support him. He secured the support of the old kotwali officers, and excited a somewhat formidable revolt. It was the month of Ramazan, and the sun was in Gemini. The weather was very hot, and at midday people kept indoors taking their siesta, so there were few in the streets. At this time Haji Maula, with several armed followers, went to the house of kotwal, carrying with them as a blind a letter which he pretended to have received from the Sultan. The kotwal was taking his nap, and had none of his men with him. When he was called he roused himself, put on his slippers, and came to the door. Haji Maula instantly gave the signal, and his followers cut off the unsuspecting victim's head. He then brought out the pretended royal farman, and, showing it to the crowd, he said that he had killed the kotwal in obedience to orders received from the Sultan. The people were silent. The keepers of the gates were creatures of Haji Maula, so they closed them. After killing kotwal Turmuzi, he sent to summon 'Alau-d din Ayaz, intending to kill him also. * * * But Ayaz had been informed of the outbreak, so, instead of coming out, he gathered his followers round him, placed guards, and refused to open the gates of the New Fort. Haji Maula then proceeded with his riotous followers to the Red Palace, seated himself upon a balcony, and set fee all the prisoners, some of whom joined his followers. Bags of gold tankas were brought out of the treasury and scattered among the people. Arms also were brought from the armoury, and horses from the royal stables, and distributed among the rioters. Every one that joined them had gold tankas thrown into his lap. There was an 'Alawi (descendant of 'Ali) in Dehli who was called the grandson of Shah Najaf,1 [A very doubtful passage. The print says: [x]. One MS. writes [x]. The other MS. omits the words.] who, by his mother's side, was grandson of Sultan Shamsu-d din. The Maula set off from the Red Palace with a party of horse, and went to the house of the poor 'Alawi. They carried him off by force and seated him on the throne in the Red Palace. The principal men of the city were brought by force and made to kiss his hand. * * * These riotous proceedings went on for seven or eight days, and intelligence was several times conveyed to the Sultan, but he kept it secret, and it did not become known to the army.

On the third or fourth day of the riot, Malik Hamidu-d din, Amir of Koh, with his sons and relations, all valiant men, opened the Ghazni gate and went into the city. They proceeded towards the gate of Bhandar-kal, and arrows began to fly between them and the rioters, who became desperate and obtained gold from Haji Maula. After Hamidu-d din, the Amir of Koh, had been in the city two days, he and his loyal followers prevailed over the rebels. A party of the friends of Zafar Khan, who had come from Amroha, joined him. He then entered the gate of Bhandar kal, and a struggle ensued between him and the shoemakers, and between him and Haji Maula. The Amir of Koh alighted from his horse, dashed Haji Maula to the ground, and sat upon his breast. Swords and clubs were aimed at him all round and he was wounded, but he never quitted his fallen foe till he had despatched him. After this the victors proceeded to the Red Palace. They decapitated the miserable 'Alawi and carried his head about the city on a spear.

A despatch announcing the death of Haji Maula was sent to the Sultan at Rantambhor. Intelligence of the revolt and of the anarchy prevailing at Dehli had in several ways reached the Sultan, but he had resolved upon the reduction of the fort, and so he would not be shaken from his purpose and leave it to go to Dehli. All his forces were engaged in pressing the siege, and were severely tried and distressed. But such was the fear felt for the Sultan that no one dared to set off for Dehli or any other place. In the course of five or six days every one in the city who had supported Haji Maula, or had taken money from him, was cast into prison. The gold which had been distributed among the people was brought back again to the treasury. A few days after, Ulugh Khan arrived from Rantambhor and took up his residence in the Muizzi palace. The rioters were brought before him and he decreed their punishments, so that blood ran in streams. The sons and grandsons of the old kotwal Maliku-l umara had no guilty knowledge of the revolt, but they and every one belonging to that family were put to death. No name or trace of them was left — a sad warning to politicians.

From the revolt of the "new Musalmans" in Gujarat to that of Haji Maula, four insurrections had successively troubled Sultan 'Alau-d din. These routed him from his dreams of security and pride, and he exerted all his powers for the reduction of Rantambhor. He held privy consultations with * * * arguing with them and inquiring into the causes of the insurrections, declaring that if the real reasons could be ascertained he would remove them, so that no revolt should afterwards occur. After considering for some nights and days, these great men agreed that the causes were four. 1, The Sultan's disregard of the affairs (both) of good and bad people. 2. Wine. Parties are formed for wine-drinking, and those who attend them talk openly of what passes in these meetings. They strike up friendships and excite disturbances. 3. The intimacy, affection, alliances, and intercourse of maliks and amirs with each other. So that if anything happens to one of them, a hundred others get mixed up in it. 4. Money, which engenders evil and strife, and brings forth pride and disloyalty. If men had no money, they would attend to their own business, and would never think of riots and revolts. And if rioters and rebels had no money, they could never count upon the assistance of low and turbulent people.[/b][/size]1 [These "counsels of the wise," which so frequently appear, are, in most cases, only expositions of the author's own opinions. I have translated these replies in order that it may be seen how a subsequent writer deals with them. Firishta uses the passage. The first reason he quotes verbatim, but the other three he modifies and embellishes. The fourth reason, as he gives it, is: "Abundance of money and wealth. For whenever men of low origin acquire the material means of greatness, vain imaginations spring up in them, and they lay pretensions to royalty." This is further improved by Firishta's translator, who says, "The last, and not the least, cause they thought arose from the unequal division of property: they considered that the wealth of a rich empire, if confined to a few persons, only rendered them, as governors of provinces, more like independent princes than subjects of the state." -- Briggs, I., 345.]

Some time after this revolt, the Sultan succeeded in reducing Rantambhor, but with much bloodshed and difficulty. He slew Hamir deo, the Rai, and all the "new Musulmans" who had fled from the rebellion in Gujarat, and had taken refuge with him. The fort and all its territories and appurtenances were placed under the charge of Ulugh Khan, and the Sultan returned to Dehli. He was angry with the citizens and had exiled many of their chiefs; so he did not enter the city, but stopped in the suburbs ('umranat).

Four or five months after the Sultan left Rantambhor, Ulugh Khan collected a large force with the intention of attacking Tilang and Ma'bar, but his time was come, and the angel of destiny took him to the blessed city. His corpse was conveyed to Dehli and buried in his own house. The Sultan grieved for him and made many offerings for his soul.

The Sultan next directed his attention to the means of preventing rebellion, and first he took steps for seizing upon property. He ordered that, wherever there was a village held by proprietary right (milk), in free gift (in'am), or as a religious endowment (wakf), it should by one stroke of the pen be brought back under the exchequer. The people were pressed and amerced, money was exacted from them on every kind of pretence. Many were left without any money, till at length it came to pass that, excepting maliks and amirs, officials, Multanis, and bankers, no one possessed even a trifle in cash. So rigorous was the confiscation that, beyond a few thousand tankas, all the pensions, grants of land (in'am wa mafruz), and endowments in the country were appropriated. The people were all so absorbed in obtaining the means of living, that the name of rebellion was never mentioned. Secondly, he provided so carefully for the acquisition of intelligence, that no action of good or bad men was concealed from him. No one could stir without his knowledge, and whatever happened in the houses of nobles, great men, and officials, was communicated to the Sultan by his reporters. Nor were the reports neglected, for explanations of them were demanded. The system of reporting went to such a length, that nobles dared not speak aloud even in the largest palaces,1 ["Hazdr-sutun," a palace of 1000 columns.] and if they had anything to say they communicated by signs. In their own houses, night and day, dread of the reports of the spies made them tremble. No word or action which could provoke censure or punishment was allowed to transpire. The transactions in the bazars, the buying and selling, and the bargains made, were all reported to the Sultan by his spies, and were kept under control. Thirdly, he prohibited wine-drinking and wine-selling, as also the use of beer and intoxicating drugs. Dicing also was forbidden. Many prohibitions of wine and beer were issued. Vintners and gamblers and beer-sellers were turned out of the city, and the heavy taxes which had been levied from them were abolished. The Sultan directed that all the china and glass vessels of his banqueting room should be broken, and the fragments of them were thrown out before the gate of Badaun, where they formed a heap. Jars and casks of wine were brought out of the royal cellars, and emptied at the Badaun gate in such abundance, that mud and mire was produced as in the rainy season. The Sultan himself entirely gave up wine parties. He directed the maliks to mount elephants and to go to the gates of Dehli, through the streets and wards, bazars and sarais, proclaiming the royal command that no one should drink, sell, or have anything to do with wine. Those who had any self-respect immediately gave up drinking; but the shameless, the dissolute, and vile characters used to make and distil wine2 [Sharab, wine; but it evidently includes spirits.] in the distilleries, and to drink and sell it clandestinely at a great price. They put it into leather bottles, and conveyed it hidden in loads of hay, firewood, and such like. By hundreds of tricks and devices, and by all sorts of collusion, wine was brought into the city. Informers searched diligently, and the city gate-keepers and spies exerted themselves to seize the wine, and apprehend the contrabandists. When seized, the wine was sent to the elephant-stables and given to those animals. The sellers, the importers, and drinkers of wine, were subjected to corporal punishment, and were kept in prison for some days. But their numbers increased so much that holes for the incarceration of offenders were dug outside the Badaun gate, which is a great thoroughfare. Wine-bibbers and wine-sellers were placed in these holes, and the severity of the confinement was such that many of them died. Many others were taken out half dead, and were long before they recovered their health and strength. The terrors of these holes deterred many from drinking. Those who were unable to give up their habit went out to the fords of the Jumna, and to villages ten or twelve kos distant to procure their liquor. In Ghiyaspur, Indarpat, Kilughari, and towns four or five kos from Dehli, wine could not be sold or drunk publicly. Still some desperate men used to keep it, drink it, and even sell it privately. They thus disgraced themselves and got confined in the pits. The prevention of drinking being found to be very difficult, the Sultan gave orders that if the liquor was distilled privately, and drunk privately in people's own houses; if drinking parties were not held, and the liquor not sold, then the informers were not to interfere in any way, and were not to enter the houses or arrest the offenders. After the prohibition of wine and beer in the city, conspiracies diminished, and apprehension of rebellion disappeared. Fourthly, the Sultan gave commands that noblemen and great men should not visit each other's houses, or give feasts, or hold meetings. They were forbidden to form alliances without consent from the throne, and they were also prohibited from allowing people to resort to their houses. To such a length was this last prohibition carried that no stranger was admitted into a nobleman's house. Feasting and hospitality fell quite into disuse. Through fear of the spies, the nobles kept themselves quiet; they gave no parties and had little communication with each other. No man of a seditious, rebellious, or evil reputation was allowed to come near them. If they went to the sarais, they could not lay their heads together, or sit down cosily and tell their troubles. Their communications were brought down to a mere exchange of signs. This interdict prevented any information of conspiracy and rebellion coming to the Sultan, and no disturbance arose.

After the promulgation of these interdicts, the Sultan requested the wise men to supply some rules and regulations for grinding down the Hindus, and for depriving them of that wealth and property which fosters disaffection and rebellion. There was to be one rule for the payment of tribute applicable to all, from the khuta to the balahar,1 [[x]] and the heaviest tribute was not to fall upon the poorest. The Hindu was to be so reduced as to be left unable to keep a horse to ride on, to carry arms, to wear fine clothes, or to enjoy any of the luxuries of life. To effect these important objects of government two regulations were made. The first was that all cultivation, whether on a small or large scale, was to be carried on by measurement at a certain rate for every biswa. Half (of the produce) was to he paid without any diminution, and this rule was to apply to khutas and balahars, without the slightest distinction. The khutas were also to be deprived of all their peculiar privileges. The second related to buffaloes, goats, and other animals from which milk is obtained. A tax for pasturage, at a fixed rate, was to be levied, and was to be demanded for every inhabited house, so that no animal, however wretched, could escape the tax. Heavier burdens were not to be placed upon the poor, but the rules as to the payment of the tribute were to apply equally to rich and poor. Collectors, clerks, and other officers employed in revenue matters, who took bribes and acted dishonestly, were all dismissed. Sharaf Kai naib wazir-i mamalik, an accomplished scribe and a most honest and intelligent man, who had no rival either in capacity or integrity, exerted himself strenuously for some years in enforcing these regulations in all the villages and towns. * * * They were so strictly carried out that the chaudharis and khuts and mukaddims were not able to ride on horseback, to find weapons, to get fine clothes, or to indulge in betel. The same rules for the collection of the tribute applied to all alike, and the people were brought to such a state of obedience that one revenue officer would string twenty khuts, mukaddims, or chaudharis together by the neck, and enforce payment by blows. No Hindu could hold up his head, and in their houses no sign of gold or silver, tankas or jitals or of any superfluity was to be seen. These things, which nourish insubordination and rebellion, were no longer to be found. Driven by destitution, the wives of the khuts and mukaddims went and served for hire in the houses of the Musulmans. Sharaf Kai, naib-wazir, so rigorously enforced his demands and exactions against the collectors and other revenue officers, and such investigations were made, that every single jital against their names was ascertained from the books of the patwaris (village accountants). Blows, confinement in the stocks, imprisonment and chains, were all employed to enforce payment. There was no chance of a single tanka being taken dishonestly, or as bribery, from any Hindu or Musulman. The revenue collectors and officers were so coerced and checked that for five hundred or a thousand tankas they were imprisoned and kept in chains for years. Men looked upon revenue officers as something worse than fever. Clerkship was a great crime, and no man would give his daughter to a clerk. Death was deemed preferable to revenue employment. Ofttimes fiscal officers fell into prison, and had to endure blows and stripes.

'Alau-d din was a king who had no acquaintance with learning, and never associated with the learned. When he became king, he came to the conclusion that polity and government are one thing, and the rules and decrees of law are another. Royal commands belong to the king, legal decrees rest upon the judgment of kazis and muftis. In accordance with this opinion, whatever affair of state came before him, he only looked to the public good, without considering whether his mode of dealing with it was lawful or unlawful. He never asked for legal opinions about political matters, and very few learned men visited him. * * Kazi Maghisu-d din, of Bayanah, used to go to court and sit down in private audience with the amirs. One day, when the efforts were being made for the increase of the tribute and of the fines and imposts, the Sultan told the Kazi that he had several questions to ask him, and desired him to speak the plain truth. The Kazi replied, "The angel of my destiny seems to be close at hand, since your Majesty wishes to question me on matters of religion; if I speak the truth you will be angry and kill me." The Sultan said he would not kill him, and commanded him to answer his questions truly and candidly. The Kazi then promised to answer in accordance with what he had read in books. [i]The Sultan then asked, "How are Hindu designated in the law, as payers of tribute (kharaj-guzar) or givers of tribute (kharaj-dih)?" The Kazi replied, "They are called payers of tribute, and when the revenue officer demands silver from them, they should, without question and with all humility and respect, tender gold. If the officer throws dirt into their mouths, they must without reluctance open their mouths wide to receive it. By doing so they show their respect for the officer. The due subordination of the zimmi (tribute-payer) is exhibited in this humble payment and by this throwing of dirt into their mouths. The glorification of Islam is a duty, and contempt of the Religion is vain. God holds them in contempt, for he says, 'Keep them under in subjection.' To keep the Hindus in abasement is especially a religious duty, because they are the most inveterate enemies of the Prophet, and because the Prophet has commanded us to slay them, plunder them, and make them captive, saying, 'Convert them to Islam or kill them, enslave them and spoil their wealth and property.' No doctor but the great doctor (Hanifa), to whose school we belong, has assented to the imposition of the jizya (poll tax) on Hindus. Doctors of other schools allow no other alternative but 'Death or Islam.'"

The Sultan smiled at this answer of the Kazi's, and said, "I do not understand any of the statements thou hast made; but this I have discovered, that the khuts and mukaddims ride upon fine horses, wear fine clothes, shoot with Persian bows, make war upon each other, and go out hunting; but of the kharaj (tribute), jizya (poll tax), kari (house tax), and chari (pasture tax), they do not pay one jital. They levy separately the Khuts (landowner's) share from the villages, give parties and drink wine, and many of them pay no revenue at all, either upon demand or without demand. Neither do they show any respect for my officers. This has excited my anger, and I have said to myself, 'Thou hast an ambition to conquer other lands, but thou hast hundreds of leagues of country under thy rule where proper obedience is not paid to thy authority. How, then, wilt thou make other lands submissive?' I have, therefore, taken my measures, and have made my subjects obedient, so that at my command they are ready to creep into holes like mice. Now you tell me that it is all in accordance with law that the Hindus should be reduced to the most abject obedience." Then the Sultan said, "Oh, doctor, thou art a learned man, but thou hast had no experience; I am an unlettered man, but I have seen a great deal; be assured then that the Hindus will never become submissive and obedient till they are reduced to poverty. I have, therefore, given orders that just sufficient shall be left to them from year to year, of corn, milk, and curds, but that they shall not be allowed to accumulate hoards and property."

Secondly. — The Sultan next put the following question: "Is there any reference made in the Law to revenue officers and clerks who are guilty of dishonesty, peculation, or receiving bribes?" The Kazi answered, "There is no mention made of this, nor have I read of it in any book; but if revenue officers are insufficiently paid,1 [Kadar i kifayat na-yaband. The negative seems superfluous, and it is rejected by Nizamu-d din and by Firishta.] and they appropriate the revenue belonging to the treasury, or receive bribes, then the ruler can inflict punishment upon them, either by fine or imprisonment; but it is not allowable to cut off hands for robbing the treasury." The Sultan said, "I have given orders to recover from the various revenue officers whatever they have misappropriated or received in excess, punishing them with sticks, pincers, the rack, imprisonment, and chains. I now hear that alienations of the revenue1 [Dihhai, lit: villages.] and bribery have diminished. I have ordered such stipends to be settled on the various revenue officers as will maintain them in respectability, and if, notwithstanding, they resort to dishonesty and reduce the revenue, I deal with them as thou hast seen."

Thirdly, The Sultan put this question, "That wealth which I acquired while I was a malik, with so much bloodshed at Deogir, does it belong to me or to the public treasury!" The Kazi replied, "I am bound to speak the truth to your Majesty. The treasure obtained at Deogir was won by the prowess of the army of Islam, and whatever treasure is so acquired belongs to the public treasury. If your Majesty had gained it yourself alone in a manner allowed by the law, then it would belong to you." The Sultan was angry with the Kazi and said, "What sayest thou? Let thy head beware of what thou utterest. That wealth which I won at the risk of my own life and of the lives of my servants, from Hindus whose names had never been heard of in Delhi, and before I became king, that wealth I have retained and have not brought it into the public treasury. How can treasure won like this belong to the state?" The Kazi answered, "Your Majesty has put to me a question of law; if I were not to say what I have read in the book, and your Majesty, to test my opinion, were to ask some other learned man, and his reply, being in opposition to mine, should show that I had given a false opinion, to suit your Majesty's pleasure, what confidence would you have in me, and would you ever afterwards consult me about the law?"

Fourthly, The Sultan asked the Kazi what rights he and his children had upon the public treasury. The Kazi replied, "The time of my death is at hand," and upon the Sultan inquiring what he meant, he said, "If I answer your question honestly you will slay me, and if I give an untrue reply I shall hereafter go to hell." The Sultan said, "State whatever the law decrees, I will not kill thee." The Kazi replied, "If your Majesty will follow the example of the most enlightened Khalifas, and will act upon the highest principle, then you will take for yourself and your establishment the same sum as you have allotted to each fighting man: two hundred and thirty-four tankas. If you would rather take a middle course and should think that you would be disgraced by putting yourself on a par with the army in general, then you may take for yourself and your establishment as much as you have assigned to your chief officers, such as Malik Kirin, etc. ** If your Majesty follows the opinions of politicians,1 ['Ulama-i dunya, wise-men of the world.] then you will draw from the treasury more than any other great man receives, so that you may maintain a greater expenditure than any other and not suffer your dignity to be lowered. I have put before your Majesty three courses, and all the krors of money and valuables which you take from the treasury and bestow upon your women you will have to answer for in the day of account." The Sultan was wroth, and said, ''Fearest thou not my sword when thou tellest me that all my great expenditure upon my harem is unlawful?" The Kazi replied, "I do fear your Majesty's sword, and I look upon this my turban as my winding-sheet; but your Majesty questions me about the law, and I answer to the best of my ability. If, however, you ask my advice in a political point of view, then I say that whatever your Majesty spends upon your harem no doubt tends to raise your dignity in the eyes of men; and the exaltation of the king's dignity is a requirement of good policy."

After all these questions and answers, the Sultan said to the Kazi, "You have declared my proceedings in these matters to be unlawful. Now see how I act. When troopers do not appear at the muster, I order three years pay to be taken from them.2 [[x]. Firishta's version of this is [x], which Briggs translates, "I am in the habit of stopping one month's pay for three successive years."] I place wine-drinkers and wine-sellers in the pits of incarceration. If a man debauches another man's wife, I effectually prevent him from again committing such an offence, and the woman I cause to be killed.1 [[x].] Rebels, good and bad, old hands or novices (tar 0 khusk), I slay; their wives and children I reduce to beggary and ruin. Extortion I punish with the torture of the pincers and the stick, and I keep the extortioner in prison, in chains and fetters, until every jital is restored. Political prisoners I confine and chastise. Wilt thou say all this is unlawful?" The Kazi rose and went to the entrance of the room, placed his forehead on the ground, and cried with a loud voice, "My liege! whether you send me, your wretched servant, to prison, or whether you order me to be cut in two, all this is unlawful, and finds no support in the sayings of the Prophet, or in the expositions of the learned."

The Sultan heard all this and said nothing, but put his slippers on and went into his harem. Kazi Mughisu-d din went home. Next day he took a last farewell of all his people, made a propitiatory offering, and performed his ablutions. Thus prepared for death he proceeded to the court. The Sultan called him forward, and showed him great kindness. He gave him the robe he was wearing, and presented him with a thousand tankas, saying, "Although I have not studied the Science or the Book, I am a Musulman of a Musulman stock. To prevent rebellion, in which thousands perish, I issue such orders as I conceive to be for the good of the State, and the benefit of the people. Men are heedless, disrespectful, and disobey my commands; I am then compelled to be severe to bring them into obedience. I do not know whether this is lawful or unlawful; whatever I think to be for the good of the State, or suitable for the emergency, that I decree. ***

After the Sultan returned from Rantambhor to Dehli, he dealt very harshly with the people, and mulcted [extract money from (someone) by fine or taxation.] them. Shortly afterwards Ulugh Khan died while on his journey to the city. Malik 'Azzu-d din Burkhan became wazir in the New City (shahr'i tnu), and the tribute of the New City was assessed by measurement at a certain rate per biswa, as in the environs of the capital. The Sultan then led forth an army and laid siege to Chitor, which he took in a short time, and returned home. New troubles now arose on account of the Mughals in Mawarau-n nahr. T hey had learned that the Sultan had gone with his army to lay siege to a distant fort, and made but slow progress with the siege, while Dehli remained empty. Targhi assembled twelve tumans of cavalry, with which he marched with all speed to Dehli, and reached that neighbourhood very soon. At this time the Sultan was engaged in the siege of Chitor. Malik Fakhru-d din Juna, dadbak-i hazrat, and Malik Jhaju of Karra, nephew of Nusrat Khan, had been sent with all the officers and forces of Hindustan against Arangal. On their arrival there the rainy season began, and proved such a hindrance that the army could do nothing, and in the beginning of winter returned, greatly reduced in numbers, to Hindustan.

The Sultan now returned from the conquest of Chitor, where his army had suffered great loss in prosecuting the siege during the rainy season. They had not been in Dehli a month, no muster of the army had been held, and the losses had not been repaired, when the alarm arose of the approach of the Mughals. The accursed Targhi, with thirty or forty thousand horse,1 [[x]. Firishta says "120,000," and our author has above rated them at the same number, viz. "twelve tumans." Perhaps he here intended to say, "three times forty thousand."] came on ravaging, and encamped on the banks of the Jumna, preventing all ingress and egress of the city. Affairs were in this extraordinary position; the Sultan had just returned from Chitor, and had had no time to refit and recruit his army after his great losses in the siege; and the army of Hindustan had returned from Arangal to the districts of Hindustan dispirited and reduced in numbers. The Mughals had seized the roads, and were so encamped that no reinforcements could reach the city from the army of Hindustan. There were no forces in Multan, Samana, and Deopalpur sufficient to cope with the Mughals, and join the Sultan at Siri. The army of Hindustan was pressed to advance; but the enemy was too strong, and they remained in Kol and Baran. All the passages of the Jumna were in the hands of the enemy. The Sultan, with his small army of horse, left the capital and encamped at Siri, where the superior numbers and strength of the enemy compelled him to entrench his camp. Round the entrenchments he built block houses, and other erections, to prevent the enemy from forcing a way in, and he kept his forces constantly under arms and on the watch to guard against the dreaded attack, and to delay any great engagement. In every division of the army, and in each line of entrenchment, there were five elephants fully armed, supported by a body of infantry. The Mughals came up on every side, seeking opportunity to make a sudden onslaught and overpower the army. Such fear of the Mughals and anxiety as now prevailed in Dehli had never been known before. If Targhi had remained another month upon the Jumna, the panic would have reached to such a height that a general flight would have taken place, and Dehli would have been lost. It was difficult to procure water, fodder, and fuel from without, for the convoys of grain were prevented from reaching the city, and the utmost terror prevailed. The enemy's horse approached the suburbs, and quartered themselves in the neighbourhood, where they drank wine, and sold at a low price grain and other articles plundered from the royal stores, so that there was no great scarcity of grain.1 [[x].] Two or three times the advanced guards met and combats ensued, but without advantage to either party. By the mercy of God the Mughal was unable to find any means of forcing the camp, and overpowering the royal army. After two months the prayers of the wretched prevailed, and the accursed Targhi retreated towards his own country.

This escape of the royal army and the preservation of Dehli seemed, to wise men, one of the wonders of the age. The Mughals had sufficient forces to take it; they arrived at the most opportune time; they made themselves masters of the roads, and hemmed in the royal army and its appurtenances. The Sultan's army had not been replenished, and no reinforcements reached it. But for all this the Mughals did not prevail.1 [Barni was evidently impressed with the peril of Dehli, and is fond of recounting the odds against it. See D'Ohsson, iv. 561.]

After this very serious danger, 'Alau-d din awoke from his sleep of neglect. He gave up his ideas of campaigning and fort-taking, and built a palace at Siri. He took up his residence there, and made it his capital, so that it became a flourishing place. He ordered the fort of Dehli to be repaired, and he also ordered the restoration of the old forts which lay in the track of the Mughals. Additional forts were directed to be raised wherever they were required. To these forts he appointed veteran and prudent commandants. Orders were given for the manufacture of manjaniks and 'aradas (balistas), for the employment of skilful engineers, for a supply of arms of every kind, and for the laying in of stores of grain and fodder. Samana and Deobalpur were ordered to be garrisoned with strong selected forces, and to be kept in a state of defence; the fiefs in the track of the Mughals were placed under amirs of experience, and the whole route was secured by the appointment of tried and vigilant generals.

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Part 3 of 3

The Sultan next turned his attention to the increase of his forces, and consulted and debated with wise men by night and by day as to the best means of opposing and overcoming the Mughals. After much deliberation between the Sultan and his councillors, it was decided that a large army was necessary, and not only large, but choice, well armed, well mounted, with archers, and all ready for immediate service. This plan, and this only, seemed to recommend itself as feasible for opposing the Mughals. The Sultan then consulted his advisers as to the means of raising such a force, for it could not be maintained without heavy expenditure, and what was arranged for one year might not be continuous. On this point he said, ''If I settle a large amount of pay on the army, and desire to maintain the pay at the same rate every year, then, although the treasury is now full, five or six years will clear it out, and nothing will be left. Without money government is impossible. I am very desirous of having a large army, well horsed, well accoutred, picked men and archers, ready for service year after year. I would pay them 234 tankas regularly, and I would allow seventy-eight tankas to those who keep two horses, requiring in return the two horses, with all necessary appointments. So also as regards the men of one horse, I would require the horse and his accoutrements. Inform me, then, how this large army can be regularly maintained on the footing I desire." His sagacious advisers thought carefully over the matter, and after great deliberation made a unanimous report to the Sultan. "The ideas which have passed through your Majesty's mind as to maintaining a large and permanent army upon a low scale of pay are quite impracticable. Horses, arms, and accoutrements, and the support of the soldier and his wife and family, cannot be provided for a trifle. If the necessaries of life could be bought at a low rate, then the idea which your Majesty has entertained of maintaining a large army at a small expense might be carried out, and all apprehension of the great forces of the Mughals would be removed." The Sultan then consulted with his most experienced ministers as to the means of reducing the prices of provisions without resorting to severe and tyrannical punishments. His councillors replied that the necessaries of life would never become cheap until the price of grain was fixed by regulations and tariffs. Cheapness of grain is a universal benefit. So some regulations were issued, which kept down the price for some years.

Regulation I. — Fixing the price of grain.

Wheat, per man 7-l/2 jitals.
Barley, per man, 4 jitals.
Rice, per man, 5 jitals
Mash (a vetch), per man, 5 jitals
Nukhud (a vetch), per man, 5 jitals
Moth (a vetch), per man, 3 jitals

This scale of prices was maintained as long as 'Alau-d din lived, and grain never rose one dang, whether the rains were abundant or scanty. This unvarying price of grain in the markets was looked upon as one of the wonders of the time.

Regulation II. — To secure the cheapness of grain.1 ["To maintain the tariff." Tabakat-i Akbari.]

Malik Kabul Ulugh Khan, a wise and practical man, was appointed controller of the markets. He received a large territory and used to go round (the markets) in great state with many horse and foot. He had clever deputies, friends of his own, who were appointed by the crown. Intelligent spies also were sent into the markets.

Regulation III. — Accumulation of corn in the king's granaries.

— The Sultan gave orders that all the Khalsa villages of the Doab should pay the tribute in kind. The corn was brought into the granaries of the city (of Dehli). In the country dependent on the New City half the Sultan's portion (of the produce) was ordered to be taken in grain. In Jhain also, and in the villages of Jhain, stores were to be formed. These stores of grain were to be sent into the city in caravans. By these means so much royal grain came to Dehli that there never was a time when there were not two or three royal granaries full of grain in the city. When there was a deficiency of rain, or when for any reason the caravans did not arrive, and grain became scarce in the markets, then the royal stores were opened and the corn was sold at the tariff price, according to the wants of the people. Grain was also consigned to the caravans from New City. Through these two rules, grain never was deficient in the markets, and never rose one dang above the fixed price.  

Regulation IV. — The Caravans.

— The Sultan placed all the carriers2 [Karawaniyan, here used as the Persian equivalent of the Hindustani banjara, corn dealers and carriers.] of his kingdom under the controller of the markets. Orders were given for arresting the head carriers and for bringing them in chains before the controller of the markets, who was directed to detain them until they agreed upon one common mode of action and gave bail for each other. Nor were they to be released until they brought their wives and children, beasts of burden and cattle, and all their property, and fixed their abodes in the villages along the banks of the Jumna. An overseer was to be placed over the carriers and their families, on behalf of the controller of the markets, to whom the carriers were to submit. Until all this was done the chiefs were to be kept in chains. Under the operation of this rule, so much grain found its way into the markets that it was unnecessary to open the royal stores, and grain did not rise a dang above the standard.1 [The Tabakat-i Akbari gibes these rules bery succinctly and clearly. This fourth Regulation is thus given: — "Malik Kabul was commanded to summon all the grain-sellers of the kingdom and to settle them in the villages on the banks of the Jumna, so that they might convey grain to Dehli from all parts of the country, and prevent the price rising above the royal standard."]

Regulation V. — Regrating.

— The fifth provision for the cheapness of grain was against regrating. This rigidly enforced that no merchant, farmer, corn-chandler, or one else, could hold back secretly a man or half a man of grain and sell it at his shop for a dang or a diram above the regulated price. If regrated grain were discovered, it was forfeited to the Sultan, and the regrater was fined. Engagements were taken from the governors and other revenue officers in the Doab that no one under their authority should be allowed to regrate, and if any man was discovered to have regrated, the deputy and his officers were fined, and had to make their defence to the throne.

Regulation VI. — Engagements were taken from the provincial revenue officers and their assistants, that they would provide that the corn-carriers should be supplied with corn by the raiyats on the field at a fixed price.

The Sultan also gave orders that engagements should be taken from the chief diwan, and from the overseers and other revenue officers in the countries of the Doab, near the capital, that they should so vigorously collect the tribute that the cultivators should be unable to carry away any corn from the fields into their houses and to regrate. They were to be compelled to sell their corn in the fields to the corn-carriers at a low price, so that the dealers should have no excuse for neglecting to bring the corn into the markets. A constant supply was thus secured. To give the villagers a chance of profit, they were permitted to carry their corn into the market and sell it at the regulation price.

Regulation VII. — Reports used to be made daily to the Sultan of the market rate and of the market transactions from three distinct sources.

1st. The superintendent made a report of the market rate and of the market transactions. 2nd. The barids, or reporters, made a statement. 3rd. The manhis, or spies, made a report. If there was any variance in these reports, the superintendent received punishment. The various officials of the market were well aware that all the ins and outs of the market were reported to the Sultan through three different channels, and so there was no opportunity of their deviating from the market rules in the smallest particular.

All the wise men of the age were astonished at the evenness of the price in the markets. If the rains had fallen (regularly), and the seasons had been (always) favourable, there would have been nothing so wonderful in grain remaining at one price; but the extraordinary part of the matter was that during the reign of 'Alau-d din there were years in which the rains were deficient, but instead of the usual scarcity ensuing, there was no want of corn in Dehli, and there was no rise in the price either in the grain brought out of the royal granaries, or in that imported by the dealers. This was indeed the wonder of the age, and no other monarch was able to effect it. Once or twice when the rains were deficient a market overseer reported that the price had risen half a jital, and he received twenty blows with the stick. When the rains failed, a quantity of corn, sufficient for the daily supply of each quarter of the city, was consigned to the dealers every day from the market, and half a man used to be allowed to the ordinary purchasers in the markets. Thus the gentry and traders, who had no villages or lands, used to get grain from the markets. If in such a season any poor reduced person went to the market, and did not get assistance, the overseer received his punishment whenever the fact found its way to the king's ears.

For the purpose of securing low prices for piece goods, garments, sugar, vegetables, fruits, animal oil, and lamp oil, fiv Regulations were issued. ***

For securing a cheap rate for the purchase of horses, slaves, and cattle, four Regulations were issued. ***

Regulation IV.—* * * The price of a serving girl was fixed from 5 to 12 tankas, of a concubine at 20, 30, or 40 tankas. The price for a male slave was 100 or 200 tankas, or less. If such a slave as could not in these days be bought for 1000 or 2000 tankas came into the market, he was sold for what he would fetch, in order to escape the reports of the informers. Handsome lads fetched from 20 to 30 tankas; the price of slave- labourers was 10 to 15 tankas, and of young domestic slaves 17 or 18 tankas. ****

Great pains were taken to secure low prices for all things sold at the stalls in the markets, from caps to shoes, from combs to needles, etc., etc. Although the articles were of the most trifling value, yet the Sultan took the greatest trouble to fix the prices and settle the profit of the vendors. Four Regulations were issued. ***

The fourth Regulation for securing cheapness provided severe punishments; blows, and cutting off flesh from the haunches of those who gave short weight. *** The market people, however, could not refrain from giving short weight. They sold their goods according to the established rate, but they cheated the purchasers in the weight, especially ignorant people and children. When the Sultan turned his attention to the subject, he discovered that the market people, as usual, were acting dishonestly *** He therefore used to send for some of the poor ignorant boys, who attended to his pigeon-houses, and to give them ten or twenty dirams to go into the market and buy bread and various other articles for him. *** When the boys had purchased the articles, and brought them to the Sultan, the inspector of the market was sent for, and he had to weigh the things in the presence of the Sultan. If the weight was less than required by the Sultan's scale of prices, the inspector took the lad and went to the shop of the dealer who had given short weight, and placed the purchased article before him. The inspector then took from his shop whatever was deficient, and afterwards cut from his haunches an equal weight of flesh, which was thrown down before his eyes. The certainty of this punishment kept the traders honest, and restrained them from giving short weight, and other knavish tricks. Nay, they gave such good weight that purchasers often got somewhat in excess.1 [Here the printed text differs from, and is inferior in accuracy to, the MSS. in several particulars.]

The various Regulations * * * of 'Alau-d din came to an end at his death, for his son, Kutbu-d din, was not able to maintain a thousandth part of them.

After the prices of goods and provisions were brought down, the pay of the soldier was fixed at the rate of 234 tankas, and the man of two horses at seventy-eight tankas more. All the men were inspected by the 'ariz-i mamalik (Muster-master); those who were skilled in archery and the use of arms passed, and they received the price for their horse, and the horse was branded according to rule.

When the tariffs had been settled and the army had been increased and newly organized, the Sultan was ready for the Mughals. Whenever they made an attack upon Dehli and its vicinity, they were defeated, driven back, and put to the sword. The arms of Islam were everywhere triumphant over them. Many thousands were taken prisoners, and were brought into Dehli with ropes round their necks, where they were cast under the feet of elephants. Their heads were piled up in pyramids, or built into towers. So many thousands were slain in battle and in the city that horrid stenches arose. Such was the superiority of the men of Islam over the Mughals, that one or two horsemen would tie by the neck and bring in ten Mughal prisoners, and one Musulman horseman would drive a hundred Mughals before him.

On one occasion 'Ali Beg and Tartak1 [The MSS. have "Taryak" and "Ziyak." In the text of Firishta he is called "Taryal," but in the translation "Khwaja Tash," which is in accordance with D'Ohsson (Hist. des Mongols, iv. 571). The Tabakat-i Akbari has "Rasmak."] were the leaders of the Mughal forces, men who had acquired some repute. 'Ali Beg was said to be a descendant of Changiz Khan, the accursed. With thirty or forty thousand horse they skirted the mountains and advanced into the territory of Amroha. The Sultan sent against them Malik Nayak Akhur-beg. The opposing forces met in the territory of Amroha, and God gave the victory to the army of Islam. 'Ali Beg and Tartak were both taken alive, and many thousand Mughals were put to the sword. The force was entirely routed, and the battle-field was covered with heaps of slain like shocks of corn. Ropes were fastened round the necks of 'Ali Beg and Tartak, and they were conducted to the Sultan with many other Mughal prisoners. Twenty thousand horses belonging to the slain Mughals were taken into the royal stables. A grand court was held by the Sultan in the Chautara Subhani. From the court at this place a double row of soldiers was formed as far as Indarpat. Such numbers of men were assembled on that day that a pitcher of water fetched twenty jitals to half a tanka. 'Ali Beg, Tartak, and other Mughal prisoners, were brought forward with their accoutrements. The prisoners were cast under the feet of elephants in the presence of the court, and streams of blood flowed.

In another year a battle was fought in Khikar between the army of Islam and the Mughals, under the accursed Kank. The Mughals were defeated, and Kank was brought prisoner to 'Alau'd din, and thrown under the feet of elephants. On another occasion great numbers of Mughals were slain, partly in battle, partly afterwards in the city. A tower was built of their heads in front of the gate of Badaun, and remains to this day a memento of 'Alad-d din. At another time three or four Mughal amirs, commanders of tumans, with thirty or forty thousand horse, broke into the Siwalik, and engaged in slaughter and plunder. An army was sent against them with orders to seize upon the road by which the Mughals must return to the river, and there to encamp, so that when the thirsty Mughals attempted to approach the river they would receive their punishment. These orders were carried out. The Mughals having wasted the Siwalik, had moved some distance off. When they and their horses returned weary and thirsty to the river, the army of Islam, which had been waiting for them some days, caught them as they expected. They begged for water, and they and all their wives and children were made prisoners. Islam gained a great victory, and brought several thousand prisoners with ropes on their necks to the fort of Naraniya. The women and children were taken to Dehli, and were sold as slaves in the market. Malik Khass-hajib was sent to Naraniya, and there put every Mughal prisoner to the sword. Streams ran with their foul blood.

In another year Ikbalmanda came with a Mughal army, and the Sultan sent an army against him from Dehli. The army of Islam was again victorious, and Ikbalmanda was slain with many thousands of his followers. The Mughal commanders of thousands and hundreds, who were taken prisoners, were brought to Dehli, and thrown under the feet of elephants. On the occasion when Ikbalmanda was slain no man returned alive, and the Mughals conceived such a fear and dread of the army of Islam, that all fancy for coming to Hindustan was washed clean out of their breasts. Till the end of the reign of Kutbu-d din the name of Hindustan was never mentioned among them, nor did they venture to approach it. Fear of the army of Islam prevented them from attaining their heart's desire, even in their dreams; for in their sleep they still saw the sword of Islam hanging over them. All fear of the Mughals entirely departed from Dehli and the neighbouring provinces. Perfect security was everywhere felt, and the raiyats of those territories, which had been exposed to the inroads of the Mughals, carried on their agriculture in peace.

Ghazi Malik, who afterwards became Sultan Tughlik Shah, had obtained great renown in Hindustan and Khurasan. He held the territories of Debalpur and Lahor, and, until the end of the reign of Kutbu-d din, he proved a barrier to the inroads of the Mughals, occupying, in fact, the position formerly held by Shir Khan. Every winter he led out a chosen force from Debalpur, and marching to the frontiers of the Mughals he challenged them to come forth. The Mughals were so dispirited that they dared not even make any military display upon their frontiers. No one now cared about them, or gave them the slightest thought. ***

Wherever Sultan 'Alau-d din looked around upon his territories, peace and order prevailed. His mind was free from all anxiety. The fort of Siri was finished, and it became a populous and flourishing place. Devoting his attention to political matters, he made ready his army for the destruction of the Rais and zamindars of other lands, and for the acquisition of elephants and treasure from the princes of the South. He withdrew several divisions of his army, which had been employed in guarding against the advance of the Mughals, and formed them into an army, which he sent against Deogir, under the command of Malik Naib Kafur Hazar-dinari, accompanied by other maliks and amirs, and the red canopy. He also sent Khwaja Haji, deputy 'ariz-i mamalik, to attend to the administration of the army, the collection of supplies, and the securing of elephants and the spoil. No army had marched from Dehli to Deogir since the Sultan himself attacked it before he ascended the throne. Ramdeo had rebelled, and for several years had not sent his tribute to Dehli. Malik Naib Kafur reached Deogir and laid the country waste. He made Ramdeo and his sons prisoners, and took his treasures, as well as seventeen elephants. Great spoil fell into his hands, *** and he returned with it triumphant to Dehli, carrying with him Ramdeo. The Sultan showed great favour to the Rai, gave him a canopy, and the title of Rai-rayan (King of kings). He also gave him a lak of tankas, and sent him back in great honour, with his children, wives, and dependents to Deogir, which place he confirmed in his possession. The Rai was ever afterwards obedient, and sent his tribute regularly as long as he lived.

Next year, in the year 709 H. (1309 A.D.), the Sultan sent Malik Naib Kafur with a similar force against Arangal. The Sultan gave him instructions to do his utmost to capture the fort of Arangal, and to overthrow Rai Laddar Deo.1 [A whole line is here omitted from the printed text, and there are other minor errors. The date is given as 909 instead of 709.] If the Rai consented to surrender his treasure and jewels, elephants and horses, and also to send treasure and elephants in the following year, Malik Naib Kafur was to accept these terms and not press the Rai too hard. He was to come to an arrangement and retire, without pushing matters too far, lest Rai Laddar Deo should get the better of him. If he could not do this, he was, for the sake of his own name and fame, to bring the Rai with him to Dehli. ***

Malik Naib Kafur and Khwaja Haji took leave of the Sultan and marched to Rabari, a village in the fief of the Malik. There the army assembled, and marched towards Deogir and Arangal. The maliks and amirs of Hindustan, with their cavalry and infantry, joined at Chanderi, where a review was held. On approaching Deogir, Rai-rayan Ramdeo came forth to meet the army, with respectful offerings to the Sultan and presents to the generals. While the army was marching through the territories of Deogir, Ramdeo attended every day at head quarters. So long as it remained encamped in the suburbs of the city, he showed every mark of loyalty, and to the best of his ability supplied Naib Kafur and his officers with fodder, and the army with materiel. Every day he and his officers went out to the camp, rendering every assistance. He made the bazar people of Deogir attend the army, and gave them strict orders to supply the wants of the soldiers at cheap rates. The army remained in the suburbs of Deogir for some days, resting from its fatigues. When it marched, Ramdeo sent men forward to all the villages on the route, as far as the borders of Arangal, with orders for the collection of fodder and provisions for the army, and giving notice that if a bit of rope1 [[x] in the printed text. One MS. has for the latter word [x], and the other has [x].] was lost they would have to answer for it. He was as dutiful as any raiyat of Dehli. He sent on all stragglers to rejoin the army, and he added to it a force of Mahrattas, both horse and foot. He himself accompanied the march several stages, and then took leave and returned. All wise and experienced men noticed and applauded his devotion and attention.

When Malik Naib Kafur arrived in Tilang, he found the towns and villages in his way laid waste. The mukaddims and rais perceived the superiority of the army of Islam, and so they abandoned their forts and went and took refuge in Arangal.

The fort of Arangal was of mud, and tolerably large. All the active men of the country had assembled there. The Rai, with the mukaddims and (inferior) rais and connections,2 [[x]] went with their elephants and treasure into the stone fort. Malik Naib Kafur invested the mud fort, and there were fights every day between the besiegers and the besieged. The Maghribis (western manjaniks) were played on both sides, and on both sides many were wounded. This went on for some days, till the daring and adventurous men of the army of Islam planted their scaling ladders and fixed their ropes. Then, like birds, they escaladed the towers of the mud fort, which was stronger than the stone one, and, cutting down the defenders with their swords, spears, and axes, they made themselves masters of the fort. They next invested the stone fort most closely. Laddar Deo perceived that all hope was gone, and that the fort was tottering to its fall. He therefore sent some great brahman and distinguished basiths,3 [The printed text has "bhatan," but one of the MSS. has bhasithan, which agrees with Amir Khusru (supra p. 83). The other MS. omits the word.] with presents to Malik Kafur, to beg for quarter, promising to give up all the treasures and elephants and horses, jewels and valuables, that he had, and to send regularly every year a certain amount of treasure and a certain number of elephants to Dehli. Malik Kafur agreed to these terms, and raised the siege of the fort. He took from Laddar Deo all the treasure which he had accumulated in the course of many years, — a hundred elephants, seven thousand horse, and large quantities of jewels and valuables. He also took from him a writing, engaging to send annually treasure and elephants. In the early part of the year 710 he started to return, loaded with booty, and, passing through Deogir, Dhar and Jhain, he at length arrived in Dehli. ***

It was the practice of the Sultan, when he sent an army on an expedition, to establish posts on the road, wherever posts could be maintained, beginning from Tilpat, which is the first stage. At every post relays of horses were stationed, and at every half or quarter kos runners were posted, and in every town or place where horses were posted, officers and report writers were appointed. Every day, or every two or three days, news used to come to the Sultan reporting the progress of the army, and intelligence of the health of the sovereign was carried to the army. False news was thus prevented from being circulated in the city or in the army. The securing of accurate intelligence from the court on one side, and the army on the other, was a great public benefit. ***

Towards the end of the year 710 H. (1310 A.D.) the Sultan sent an army under Malik Naib Kafur against Dhur-samundar and Ma'bar. The Malik, with Khwaja Haji, Naib-i 'ariz, took leave of the Sultan and proceeded to Rabari, where the army collected. They then proceeded to Deogir, where they found that Ramdeo was dead, and from Deogir to the confines of Dhur-samundar. At the first onslaught Billal Rai fell into the hands of the Muhammadans, and Dhur-samundar was captured. Thirty-six elephants, and all the treasures of the place, fell into the hands of the victors. A despatch of victory was then sent to Dehli, and Malik Naib Kafur marched on to Ma'bar, which he also took. He destroyed the golden idol temple (but-khanai-i zarin) of Ma'bar, and the golden idols which for ages (karnha) had been worshipped by the Hindus of that country. The fragments of the golden temple, and of the broken idols of gold and gilt, became the rich spoil of the army. In Ma'bar there were two Rais, but all the elephants and treasure were taken from both, and the army turned homewards flushed with victory. A despatch of victory was sent to the Sultan, and in the early part of 711 H. (1311 A.D.) the army reached Dehli, bringing with it six hundred and twelve elephants, ninety-six thousand mans of gold, several boxes of jewels and pearls, and twenty thousand horses. Malik Naib Kafur presented the spoil to the Sultan in the palace at Siri on different occasions, and the Sultan made presents of four mans, or two mans, or one man, or half a man of gold to the maliks and amirs. The old inhabitants of Dehli remarked that so many elephants and so much gold had never before been brought into Dehli. No one could remember anything like it, nor was there anything like it recorded in history.

At the end of this same year twenty elephants arrived in Dehli from Laddar Deo Rai of Tilang, with a letter stating that he was ready to pay at Deogir, to any one whom the Sultan would commission to receive it, the treasure which he had engaged to pay, thus fulfilling the terms of the treaty made with Malik Kafur.

In the latter part of the reign of 'Alau-d din several important victories were gained, and the affairs of the State went on according to his heart's desire, but his fortune now became clouded and his prosperity waned. Cares assailed him on many sides. His sons left their places of instruction and fell into bad habits. He drove away his wise and experienced ministers from his presence, and sent his councillors into retirement. He was desirous that all the business of the State should be concentrated in one office, and under the officers of that office;1 [One MS. here omits about ten lines; the other differs a little from the printed text, and runs: [x]. it is evident that the Sultan sought to establish a centralizing system.] and that the control of all matters, general or special, should be in the charge of men of his own race (zat). Mistakes were now made in political matters; the Sultan had no Aristotle or Buzurjmihr to point out the pros and cons of any question, and to make the true course clear to him.

At the time when the Sultan so resolutely opposed himself to the inroads of the Mughals, several of the amirs of the "New Musulmans" who had no employ, and whose bread and grants of revenue had been resumed or curtailed by the revenue officers, grumbled, and conceived certain crude ideas. The Sultan heard that some of the chiefs of the New Musulmans were complaining of their poverty and wretchedness, and were talking about him with ill feeling, saying that he dealt harshly with his people, oppressing them with fines and exactions to fill his own treasury, that he had forbidden the use of wine, beer, and strong drinks, and that he had levied heavy tribute from the country, and reduced the people to distress. They thought, therefore, that if they raised a revolt all the New Musulmans, their countrymen, would join them, and that the prospect of escaping from the severity and oppression of 'Alau-d din would be pleasing to others as well. There had been no revolt for some time, and so none would be expected. Their plan was to seek an opportunity when the Sultan went out hawking in a light dress, and when he and his followers were eager in pursuit of the game, with their arms thrown aside. Two or three hundred New Musulmans in one compact band were then to rush upon the Sultan, and carry off him and his personal attendants. This conspiracy became known to the Sultan. He was by nature cruel and implacable, and his only care was the welfare of his kingdom. No consideration for religion, no regard for the ties of brotherhood or the filial relation, no care for the rights of others, ever troubled him. He disregarded the provisions of the law, even in the punishments which he awarded, and was unmoved by paternity or sonship. He now gave his commands that the race of "New Musulmans," who had settled in his territories, should be destroyed, and they were to be so slain that they all perished on the same day, and that not one of the stock should be left alive upon the face of the earth. Upon this command, worthy of a Pharaoh or a Nimrod, twenty or thirty thousand "New Musalmans" were killed, of whom probably only a few had any knowledge (of the intended revolt). Their houses were plundered, and their wives and children turned out. In most of the years which have been noticed disturbances (ibahatiyan) broke out in the city; but by the Sultan's command every rioter was most perseveringly pursued, and put to death with the most severe punishment. Their heads were sawn in two and their bodies divided. After these punishments breaches of the peace were never heard of in the city.

The generals and ministers of 'Alau-d din, by their courage, devotion, and ability, had secured the stability of the State during his reign, and had made themselves remarkable and brilliant in the political and administrative measures of that time, such as ***.

*** During the reign of 'Alau-d din, either through his agency or the beneficent ruling of Providence, there were several remarkable events and matters which had never been witnessed or heard of in any age or time, and probably never will again. 1. The cheapness of grain, clothes, and necessaries of life.*** 2. The constant succession of victories. *** 3. The destruction and rolling back of the Mughals. *** 4. The maintenance of a large army at a small cost. *** 5. The severe punishment and repression of rebels, and the general prevalence of loyalty. *** 6. The safety of the roads in all directions. *** 7. The honest dealings of the bazar people. *** 8. The erection and repair of mosques, minarets, and forts, and the excavation of tanks. *** 9. That during the last ten years of the reign the hearts of Musulmans in general were inclined to rectitude, truth, honesty, justice, and temperance. *** 10. That without the patronage of the Sultan many learned and great men flourished. *** [Notices of some of the most distinguished men; 26 pages.]

The prosperity of 'Alau-d din at length declined. Success no longer attended him. Fortune proved, as usual, fickle, and destiny drew her poniard to destroy him. The overthrow of his throne and family arose from certain acts of his own. First, He was jealous and violent in temper. He removed from his service the administrators of his kingdom, and filled the places of those wise and experienced men with young slaves who were ignorant and thoughtless, and with eunuchs without intelligence. He never reflected that eunuchs and worthless people cannot conduct the business of government. Having set aside his wise and able administrators, he turned his own attention to discharging t he duties of minister, a business distinct from that of royalty. His dignity and his ordinances hence fell into disrespect. Secondly, He brought his sons prematurely, before their intelligence was formed, out of their nursery.1 [Kabuk, dovecot.] To Khizr Khan he gave a canopy and a separate residence, and he caused a document to be drawn up, appointing Khizr Khan his heir apparent, and he obtained the signatures of the nobles thereto. He did not appoint any wise and experienced governors over him, so the young man gave himself up to pleasure and debauchery, and buffoons and strumpets obtained the mastery over him. In the case of this son, and of his other sons, the Sultan was precipitate, and they gave entertainments and had uproarious parties in his private apartments. Many improper proceedings thus became the practice under his rule. Thirdly, He was infatuated with Malik Naib Kafur, and made him commander of his army and wazir. He distinguished him above all his other helpers and friends, and this eunuch and minion held the chief place in his regards. A deadly enmity arose between this Malik Naib Kafur and Alp Khan,1 [Firishta gives the name as "Ulugh Khan" (Aluf Khan in the translation), but Alp Khan is right. See supra, p. 157.] the father-in-law and maternal uncle of Khizr Khan. Their feud involved the whole State, and day by day increased. Fourthly, The Regulations of the government were not enforced. His sons gave themselves up to dissipation and licentious habits. Malik Naib Kafur and Alp Khan struggled against each other; and the Sultan was seized with dropsy, that worst of diseases. Day by day his malady grew worse, and his sons plunged still deeper into dissipation. Under his mortal disorder the violence of his temper was increased tenfold. He summoned Malik Naib Kafur from Deogir, and Alp Khan from Gujarat. The traitor, Malik Naib Kafur, perceived that the feelings of the Sultan were turned against his wife and Khizr Khan. He acted craftily, and induced the Sultan to have Alp Khan killed, although he had committed no offence and had been guilty of no dishonesty. He caused Khizr Khan to be made prisoner and sent to the fort of Gwalior, and be had the mother of the prince turned out of the Red Palace. On the day that Alp Khan was slain and Khizr Khan was thrown into bonds, the house of 'Alau-d din fell. A serious revolt broke out in Gujarat, and Kamalu-d din Garg, who was sent to quell it, was slain by the rebels. Other risings occurred and were spreading, and the rule of the Sultan was tottering when death seized him. Some say that the infamous2 [The author's words are too explicit to be reproduced. The filthy practices alluded to are everywhere spoken of in plain terms, without the slightest attempt at disguise. They, or rather the perpetrators of them, are condemned, but the many familiar names for them, show that they were but too common.] Malik Naib Kafur helped his disease to a fatal termination. The reins of government fell into the hands of slaves and worthless people; no wise man remained to guide, and each one did as he listed. On the sixth Shawwal, towards morning, the corpse of 'Alau-d din was brought out of the Red Palace of Siri, and was buried in a tomb in front of the Jami' Masjid.

On the second day after the death of 'Alau-d din, Malik Naib Kafur assembled the principal nobles and officers in the palace, and produced a will of the late Sultan which he had caused to be executed in favour of Malik Shahabu-d din, removing Khizr Khan from being heir apparent. With the assent of the nobles he placed Shahabu-d din upon the throne, but as the new sovereign was a child of only five or six years old, he was a mere puppet in the hands of schemers. Malik Naib Kafur himself undertook the conduct of the government. * * * In the earliest days of his power he sent the traitor, Malik Sumbul, to put out the eyes of Khizr Khan at Gwalior, and he promoted this villain to be Bar-bak. He also sent his barber to blind Shadi Khan, full brother of Khizr Khan, in the palace of Siri, by cutting his eyes from their sockets with a razor, like slices of melon. He took possession of the palace of the heir apparent, Khizr Khan, and sent his mother, the Malika-i Jahan, into miserable retirement. Then he seized all her gold, silver, jewels and valuables, and exerted himself to put down the partisans of Khizr Khan, who were rather numerous. He ordered Mubarak Khan, afterwards Sultan Kutbu-d din, who was of the same age as Khizr Khan, to be confined to his room, and intended to have him blinded. It never occurred to this wretched man, nor did any one point out to him that his setting aside of the queen and princes would alienate all the old supporters of the throne, and that no one would put any trust in him. *** His great object was to remove all the children and wives of the late Sultan, all the nobles and slaves who had claims upon the throne, and to fill their places with creatures of his own. ***

While he was thus engaged in endeavouring to remove all the family of the late Sultan, he resolved that when the chief nobles of the throne came together from different parts of the country, he would seize them in their houses and kill them. But God be thanked that it entered into the hearts of some paiks, slaves of the late king, who had charge of the Hazar-sutun, that they ought to kill this wicked fellow. The officers had observed that every night after the company had retired, and the doors of the palace were shut, Malik Naib Kafar used to sit up all night, plotting with his creatures the destruction of the late Sultan's family; they therefore resolved that they would slay the rascal, and thus obtain an honourable name. So one night, when the people were gone, and the doors were locked, these paiks went with drawn swords to his sleeping room, and severed his wicked head from his foul body. They also killed all his confederates who were in concert with him. Thus thirty-five days after the death of 'Alau-d din, Malik Naib Kafur was decapitated, and Khizr Khan and Shadi Khan were avenged.

In the morning, when the nobles and officers attended at the palace and learned that the wretch was dead, and saw that be was mere clay, they gave thanks to God, and with a feeling of renewed life congratulated each other. The same paiks who had done the deed brought forth Mubarak Khan from the chamber in which Malik Kafur had confined him, and had intended to blind him, and placed him in the situation of director (naib) to Shahabu-d din, instead of Malik Kafur. They thought and boasted to themselves that they could remove and kill one of the two princes, and make the other one Sultan. Mubarak Khan acted as director for Shahabu-d din several months, and managed the government. He was seventeen or eighteen years old, and he made friends of many of the maliks and amirs. He then seated himself upon the throne with the title of Kutbu-d din, and sent Shahabu-d din a prisoner to Gwalior, where he had him deprived of sight. The paiks who had killed Malik Kafur now talked in vaunting tones at the door of the palace, boasting of having slain the Malik, and of having raised Kutbu-d din to the throne. They claimed to have seats below the maliks and amirs, and to receive robes before them. *** They collected at the door of the palace, and went in before all to the audience chamber. Sultan Kutbu-d din, at the very beginning of his reign, was therefore compelled to give orders that these paiks should be separated, and sent to different places, where they were killed, and an end put to their pretensions. ***

[admin]

Sultanu-s Shahid Kutbu-d Dunya Wau-d din.

Sultan Kutbu-d din, son of Sultan 'Alau-d din, ascended the throne in the year 717 1 [Note in the text. Amir Khusru, in his Masnawi Nuh sipihr, makes the year to be 716.] H. (1317 A.D.). He gave to Malik Dinar, the keeper of the elephants, the title Zafar Khan, to Muhammad Maulana, his maternal uncle, the title Sher Khan. * * * There was a young Parwari, named Hasan, who had been brought up by Malik Shadi, the Naib-hajib. The Sultan took an inordinate liking for this youth. In the very first year of his reign he raised him to distinction, and gave him the title of Khusru Khan. He was so infatuated and so heedless of consequences, that he placed the army of the late Malik Naib Kafur under this youth, and gave to him the fiefs held by that malik. His passion and temerity carried him so far that he raised the youth to the office of wazir, and he was so doting that he could never endure his absence for a moment. The trouble which had prevailed in the land, from the beginning of the sickness of 'Alau-d din to the death of Malik Naib Kafur, began to abate on the accession of Kutbu-d din. People felt secure, and were relieved from the apprehension of death, and the nobles were released from the dread of death and punishment.

When Kutbu-d din came to the throne he was much given to dissipation and pleasure. Still he was a man of some excellent qualities. When he escaped from the danger of death and blinding, and was delivered from evils of many kinds; when he was relieved from despair of the future and became ruler, on the day of his accession he gave orders that the (political) prisoners and exiles of the late reign, amounting to seventeen or eighteen thousand in number, should all be released in the city and in all parts of the country. The amnesty was circulated by couriers in every direction, and the miserable captives broke forth in praises of the new sovereign. Six months' pay was given to the army, and the allowances and grants to the nobles were increased. * * * The Sultan from his good nature relieved the people of the heavy tribute and oppressive demands; and penalties, extortion, beating, chains, fetters, and blows were set aside in revenue matters. Through his love of pleasure, and extravagance, and ease,1 ["Sahal-giri," lit. taking it easy.] all the regulations and arrangements of the late reign fell into disuse; and through his laxity in business matters all men took their ease, being saved from the harsh temper, severe treatment, and oppressive orders of the late king. Gold and gilt, silver and silver-gilt, again made their appearance indoors and out of doors in the streets. Men were no longer in doubt and fear of hearing, "Do this, but don't do that; say this, but don't say that; hide this, but don't hide that; eat this, but don't eat that; sell such as this, but don't sell things like that; act like this, but don't act like that." *** After the accession of Kutbu-d din all the old Regulations were disregarded, the world went on to the content of men of pleasure, and an entirely new order of things was established; all fear and awe of the royal authority vanished. *** The Sultan plunged into sensual indulgences openly and publicly, by night and by day, and the people followed his example. Beauties were not to be obtained. *** The price of a boy, or handsome eunuch, or beautiful damsel, varied from 500 to 1000 and 2000 tankas.

Of all the Regulations of the late Sultan, that prohibiting wine was the one maintained by the new sovereign. But such was the disregard of orders and contempt of restrictions that wine-shops were publicly opened, and vessels of wine by hundreds came into the city from the country. The necessaries of life and grain rose in price, the old regulations and tariffs were unheeded, and piece goods were sold at prices fixed by the vendors. The Multanis engaged in their own business, and in every house drums and tabors were beaten, for the bazar people rejoiced over the death of 'Alau-d din. They now sold their goods at their own price, and cheated and fleeced people as they listed. They reviled the late Sultan, and lauded the new one. The wages of labourers rose twenty-five per cent, and servants who had received ten or twelve tankas now got seventy, eighty, and a hundred tankas. The doors of bribery, extortion, and malversation were thrown open, and a good time for the revenue officers came round. Through the diminution of their tribute, the Hindus again found pleasure and happiness, and were beside themselves with joy. They who had plucked the green ears of corn because they could not get bread, who had not a decent garment, and who had been so harassed by corporal punishments that they had not even time to scratch their heads, now put on fine apparel, rode on horseback, and shot their arrows. Through all the reign of Kutbu-d din, not one of the old Rules and Regulations remained in force, no order was maintained, new practices sprung up, the doors were kept closed and spies were useless, and no regularity or authority was maintained in the revenue department. The people were delivered from their distress, and every man engaged in pleasure according to the extent of his means. ***

Through the indolence and liberality of Kutbu-d din, and through the abeyance of the old Regulations, licentiousness spread among the Musulmans, and disaffection and rebellion appeared among the Hindus. He plunged deeply into pleasure and debauchery; the world likewise sported in the same. *** During (his reign of) four years and four months, the Sultan attended to nothing but drinking, listening to music, debauchery and pleasure, scattering gifts, and gratifying his lusts. If the Mughals had come up during his reign; if a rival had made pretensions to the throne; if any serious rebellion or sedition had broken out in any quarter, no one can tell what might have happened to Dehli through the Sultan's negligence, heedlessness, and dissipation. But in his reign there was no deficiency in the crops, no alarm from the Mughals, no irreparable calamity from above visited the earth, no revolt or great disturbance arose in any quarter, not a hair of any one was injured, and the name of grief or sorrow never entered the breast, or passed from the tongue of any one. His whole life was passed in extreme dissipation and utter negligence: debauchery, drunkenness, and shamelessness proved his ruin. ***

In the first year of the reign a numerous army was sent to put down the revolt of Alp Khan, who had slain Kamalu-d din Garg, and had stirred up such a disturbance that Gujarat had shaken off its allegiance. 'Ainu-l Mulk Multani was sent with an army to Gujarat. This officer was a very intelligent, experienced, and practical man. He marched with the army of Dehli and several distinguished amirs to Gujarat, and defeated the forces of the revolters. They were entirely subdued, and the management of 'Ainu-l Mulk, and the valour of the army of Dehli, once more reduced Nahrwala and all the country of Gujarat to obedience. This army took the field again, and defeated several of the promoters and leaders of this revolt, who were compelled to flee to Hindus in distant parts.

Sultan Kutbu-d din married the daughter of Malik Dinar, to whom he had given the title of Zafar Khan. The Khan was one of the old servants (bandagan) of 'Alau-d din, an intelligent and prudent man, who had seen changes of fortune, and had drawn experience from them. He was now made governor (wali) of Gujarat, and proceeded thither with amirs, officers, and a veteran army. In four months he brought the country into such subjection, that the people forgot Alp Khan and his ascendancy. All the rais and mukaddims of the country waited upon him, much money was acquired, and a select army was maintained always ready for service.

Although the Sultan did not maintain the Rules and Regulations of the late reign, the old servants of the State continued in their various posts, and retained their great fiefs. Hence all the territories of the State were made secure in the first year of the reign, no sedition or rebellion occurred in any quarter, nor did any distress or anarchy make its appearance. The accession of the new king was universally accepted.

In the year 718 H. (1318 A.D.) the Sultan marched with his maliks and amirs at the head of an army against Deogir, which, upon the death of Malik Naib Kafur, had thrown off its subjection, and had been taken possession of by Harpal Deo and Ram Deo. In the heedlessness of youth he did not nominate a wise and experienced man to act as his vicegerent during his absence; but he selected a youthful slave, named Shahin, who had been called Barilda during the reign of 'Alau-d din, and whom he now entitled Wafa-e Mulk. In his extreme rashness and utter disregard of appearances, he placed Dehli and the treasures of Dehli under this lad, without giving a moment's thought to disturbances or other things that might happen in his absence. On arriving at Deogir, Harpal Deo and the other Hindus who had joined him were unable to withstand the army of Islam, and they and all the mukaddims dispersed, so that the Sultan recovered the fort without fighting and spilling of blood. The Sultan then sent some officers in pursuit of Harpal Deo, who was the leader of the rebels, and had excited the revolt. He was captured, and the Sultan ordered him to be flayed, and his skin to be hung over the gate of Deogir. The rains came on and the Sultan remained with the army for a time at Deogir. All the Mahrattas were once more brought into subjection. The Sultan selected as governor of Deogir, Malik Yak Lakhi, an old servant (banda) of 'Alau-d din, who for many years was naib of the barids (spies); and he appointed feudatories, rulers, and revenue-collectors over the territories of the Mahrattas.

When Canopus appeared the Sultan resolved upon returning to Dehli. He then granted a canopy to Khusru Khan, and raised him to a dignity and distinction higher than had ever been attained by Malik Naib Kafur. In fact, his infatuation for this infamous and traitorous Parwari exceeded that of 'Alau-d din for Malik Naib Kafur. He sent him at the head of an army with maliks and amirs into Ma'bar; and as 'Alau-d din gave full powers to Naib Kafur, sent him with an army into a distance, and placed in his hands the means of conquest, so, in like manner, Kutbu-d din sent the vile Malik Khusru into Ma'bar. Malik Khusru was a base, designing, treacherous, low-born fellow. * * He rose from one dignity to another, and received the title of Khusru Khan. He was also made commander-in-chief and all the affairs of the army were in his hands. *** But the vile wretch had often thought of cutting down the Sultan with his sword when they were alone together. *** When he marched from Deogir to Ma'bar, he used to hold secret councils at night with some of his fellow Hindus, and with several disaffected adherents of Malik Naib Kafur, whom he had taken as friends, about making a revolt; and thus intriguing, he arrived in Ma'bar. The Sultan himself returned towards Dehli, drinking and indulging in dissipation.

Malik Asadu-d din, son of Malik Yagharsh Khan, uncle of Sultan 'Alau-d din, was a brave and renowned warrior. He saw the king given up to debauchery, and utterly regardless of the affairs of his kingdom. Youths of new-made fortunes, without experience, and knowing nothing of the world, were chosen by the Sultan as his advisers, and men of wisdom and counsel were set aside. All alike were heedless, haughty, and unsuspicious. Malik Asad, seeing all this, conspired with some malcontents of Deogir, and formed a plot to seize the Sultan, at Ghati-sakun, when drinking in his harem, unattended by guards. Some horsemen with drawn swords were to rush in and kill him, and after that the royal canopy was to be raised over Malik Asad, as brother and heir of 'Alau-d din. It was presumed that after the death of the Sultan there would be no opposition to Malik Asad's elevation, but that all people would support him. This was the plot which the conspirators had conceived and matured. While on the march they saw that ten or twelve resolute horsemen might enter the harem and kill the Sultan, but his time was not yet come; * * * and one evening one of the conspirators came in to the Sultan and gave full information of the plot. The Sultan halted at Ghati-sakun, and there arrested Malik Asad and his brothers, with all the party of conspirators who were leagued with them. After some investigation, they were all beheaded, in front of the royal tent. Following the custom of his father, the Sultan, in his ruthlessness, ordered the arrest at Dehli of twenty-nine individuals, sons of Yagharsh Khan. These were all of tender years, and had never left their homes. They had no knowledge whatever of the conspiracy, but they were all seized and slaughtered like sheep. Their wealth, which their father, the uncle of the late Sultan, had amassed in a long course of time, was brought into the royal treasury, and the women and girls of the family were turned into the streets and left homeless.

The Sultan escaped from this plot by the decree of God; but he learned no wisdom from it, made no change in his conduct, and gave up none of his dissolute drunken habits. As he pursued his journey homewards, he arrived at Jhain, from whence he sent Shadi Kath, chief of his guards (silahdar), to the fort of Gwalior, with orders to put to death at one fell swoop Khizr Khan, Shadi Khan, and Malik Shahabu-d din, sons of the late 'Alau-d din, who had been deprived of sight, and were dependent on him for food and raiment. According to his orders Shadi Kath slew the poor blind wretches, and carried their mothers and wives to Dehli. Acts of violence and tyranny like this became the practice. *** The good qualities which the Sultan had possessed were now all perverted. He gave way to wrath and obscenity, to severity, revenge, and heartlessness. He dipped his hands in innocent blood, and he allowed his tongue to utter disgusting and abusive words to his companions and attendants. *** After he returned from Deogir, no human being, whether friend or stranger, dared to boldly advise him upon the affairs of his realm. The violent, vindictive spirit which possessed him led him to kill Zafarr Khan, the governor of Gujarat, who had committed no offence; and thus with his own hands to uproot the foundation of his own supremacy. A short time after, he caused to be decapitated Malik Shahin, one of his vile creatures, to whom he had given the title of Waf-e Mulk, and whom he had once made his vicegerent. * * He cast aside all regard for decency, and presented himself decked out in the trinkets and apparel of a female before his assembled company. He gave up attendance on public prayer, and publicly broke the fast of the month of Ramazan. Malik 'Ainu-l Mulk Multani was one of the greatest nobles of the time; but he caused him and Malik Karabg, who held no less than fourteen offices, to be assailed with such filthy and disgusting abuse, by low women, from the roof of the palace of the Hazar-sutun, aa the occupants of that palace had never heard before. In his recklessness he made a Gujarati, named Tauba, supreme in his palace, and this low-born bhand would call the nobles by the name of wife or mother, would defile and befoul their garments, and sometimes made his appearance in company stark naked, talking obscenity. ***

After the execution of Zafar Khan, he conferred the government of Gujarat upon his favourite Hisamu-d din,1 [Here he is called "baradar i madar," elsewhere "baradar," of Khusru.] maternal uncle of the traitor Khusru Khan, and sent him to Nahrwala with amirs, officers, and men of business. All the army and attendants of Zafar Khan were placed under this fellow, an ill-conditioned Parwari slave, whom the Sultan had often thrashed. This base-born upstart proceeded to Gujarat, and collecting his kindred and connections among the Parwaris, he stirred up a revolt. But the nobles of Gujarat collected their forces and adherents, made him prisoner, and sent him to Dehli. The Sultan, in his infatuation for his brother, gave him a slap on the face, but soon after set him at liberty, and made him one of his personal attendants. When the nobles of Gujarat heard of this they were confounded, and felt disgusted with the Sultan. After the removal of this brother of Khusru Khan, the government of Gujarat was given to Malik Wahidu-d din Kuraishi, who, in comparison, was a worthy and fit person; and he received the title of Sadaru-l Mulk. ***

Malik Yak Lakhi, governor of Deogir, revolted; but when the intelligence reached the Sultan, he sent a force against him, from Dehli, which made him and his confederates prisoners. When they were brought to the Sultan, he had the ears and nose of Yak Lakhi cut off, and publicly disgraced him. His confederates also received punishment. Malik 'Ainu-l Mulk, Taju-l Mulk, and Yamkhiru-l Mulk were sent as governor and assistants to Deoglr, and these being good men, their appointments excited surprise. They soon settled the district, regulated the forces, and made arrangements for the payment of the tribute. ***

When Khusru Khan marched from Deogir to Ma'bar, it was seen that he acted in the same way as Malik Naib Kafur had done. The Rais of Ma'bar fled with their treasures and valuables; but about a hundred elephants, which had been left in two cities, fell into the hands of Khusru Khan. On his arriving in Ma'bar the rains came on, and he was compelled to remain. There was in Ma'bar a merchant, named Taki Khan, a Sunni by profession, who had acquired great wealth, which he had purified by paying the alms prescribed by his religion. Relying on the fact of the invading army being Musulman, he did not flee. Khusru Khan, who had nothing in his heart but rapacity and villany, seized this Musulman, took his money from him by force, and put him to death, declaring the money to belong to the treasury. Whilst he remained in Ma'bar he did nothing but plot with his confidants as to the best means of seizing and putting to death those nobles who supported the reigning dynasty; and he consulted with them as to the course he should pursue, whom of the army he should make his friends, and whom he should get rid of. He fixed his attention upon certain of the old Maliks, such as Malik Tamar of Chanderi, Malik Afghan, and Malik Talbagha Yaghda of Karra, who had considerable forces at their command, and he made some advances to them. His treacherous designs and rebellious intentions reached the ears of the old nobles, and they perceived, from many other signs and appearances, that the flames of rebellion were about to break forth. So the loyal nobles Malik Tamar and Malik Talbagha Yaghda sent to tell him that they had heard of his doing his utmost to get up a rebellion, and that he wished to remain where he was, and not return to Dehli; but they added that they would not allow him to remain, and that, he had better make up his mind to return whilst there remained a show of amity between them, and without their having to seize him. By many devices and menaces they induced him to return, and did all they could think of and contrive to bring him and his army to Dehli. Their expectation was that the Sultan, on learning the facts, would show them great favour, and would punish Khusru Khan and his fellow-conspirators. The Sultan was so infatuated, and so strongly desired the presence of Khusru Khan, that he sent relays of bearers with a litter to bring him with all haste from Deogir in the course of seven or eight days. * * * Khusru Khan told the Sultan that some maliks, who were his enemies, had charged him with treason, and were weaving a tissue of lies against him. Then he insinuated some counter-charges into the ears of the Sultan, who was so deluded as to believe what he represented. * * * The army afterwards arrived, and Malik Tamar and Malik Talbagha made a report of the designs of the Khan. *** Fate blinded the Sultan, and he would not believe. * * * He grew angry with the accusers. He ordered Malik Tamar to be degraded, and not to be allowed to enter (the palace); and he took from him the territory of Chanderi, and gave it to the Parwari boy. Malik Talbagha Yaghda, who had spoken more plainly about the plans of the traitor, was deprived of sight, beaten on the mouth, stripped of his offices, territories, and retainers, and put in prison. Whoever spoke of their fidelity, or testified to the treachery of Khusru Khan, received condign punishment, and was imprisoned or banished. All the attendants of the court plainly perceived that to speak against him would be to court the same chastisement. The wise men of the court and city saw that the Sultan's end was approaching. ***

After Khusru Khan had crushed his accusers, he prosecuted his schemes with all his energy. The Sultan had quarrelled with Bahau-d din, his secretary, about a woman, and this man, eager for revenge, was won over by the traitor. Before proceeding further with his designs, Khusru represented to the Sultan that he had been made a great man by his Majesty's favour, and had been sent on an important command into a distant country. The maliks and amirs had their relations and friends and adherents around them, but he had none; he therefore begged that he might be allowed to send unto Bahlawal and the country of Gujarat for some of his own connections. The Sultan, in his doting and heedlessness, gave the permission. Khusru then brought some Gujaratis, called Parwaris,1 [Bardaran in the print, but Barawan and Barawan in the MSS.] and, pretending they were his kinsfolk, kept them near him, giving them horses and clothes, and entertaining them in grand state. The villain, in prosecution of his designs, used to call the chiefs of these Parwaris and some other conspirators round him every night, in the rooms of Malik Naib Kafur, to plot with him, and each of them used to propose the plan which his malignity suggested for killing the Sultan. Just at this time the Sultan went on a hunting excursion to Sarsawa, and the Parwaris proposed to execute their design in the field; but some of their leaders opposed this, arguing that if they slew the Sultan in the field, all his armed followers would collect and destroy the assassins. * * It seemed preferable to accomplish their purpose in the palace, and make that building their protection. They might then, after the deed was done, call the maliks and amirs together and make them accomplices, or kill them on their refusal. ***

After the Sultan returned from his excursion, the favourite made another request. He said that when he returned home from the palace at early dawn, the doors were locked, and those kinsfolk who had come from Gujarat to enjoy his society could not then see him. If some of his men were entrusted with the key of the postern gate (dar-i chak), he might bring his friends into the lower apartments and hold converse with them. The Sultan, in his infatuation, did not perceive the design, and the keys were given over. Every night, after the first or second watch, armed Parwaris, to the number of 300, used to enter by the postern, and assemble in the lower apartments. The guards of the palace saw the entry of armed men, and had their suspicions; and men of sense all perceived that this entry of the Parwaris boded evil. * * * But no human being dared to utter a word to the Sultan, even to save his life. * * * Kazi Ziau-d din, generally called Kazi Khan, * * venturing his life, spoke to the Sultan [acquainting him with the facts, and urging him to make an investigation]. The Sultan was incensed at the words of the Kazi, grossly abused him, and spurned his honest counsels. Just then Khusru came in, and the Sultan [told him what the Kazi had said]. The infamous wretch then began to weep and lament, saying, that the great kindness and distinction which the Sultan had bestowed upon him had made all the nobles and attendants of the Court his enemies, and they were eager to take his life. The Sultan * * * said that if all the world were turned upside down, and if all his companions were of one voice in accusing Khusru, he would sacrifice them all for one hair of his head. *** When a fourth of the night was past and the first watch had struck, * * Randhol, the maternal uncle (niya) of Khusru, and several Parwaris, entered the Hazar-sutu with their swords, which they hid under a sheet. * * * A Parwari named Jahariya, who had been appointed to kill the Sultan, approached Kazi Ziau-d din, and pierced him with a spear, which he drew from under the sheet. ** An outcry arose in the palace, and Jahariya hastened, with some other armed Parwaris, to the upper rooms. The whole palace was filled with Parwaris, and the uproar increased. The Sultan heard it, and asked Khusru what it was. * * He went and looked, and told the Sultan that his horses had broken loose, and were running about in the court-yard, where men were engaged in catching them. Just at this time Jahariya, with his followers, came to the upper story, and despatched the officers and door-keepers. The violent uproar convinced the Sultan that treason was at work, so he put on his slippers and ran towards the harem. The traitor saw that if the Sultan escaped to the women's apartments, it would be difficult to consummate the plot. Prompt in his villany, he rushed after the Sultan and seized him behind by the hair, which he twisted tightly round his hand. The Sultan threw him down and got upon his breast, but the rascal would not release his hold. They were in this position when Jahariya entered at the head of the conspirators. Khusru called out to him to be careful. The assassin stuck the Sultan in the breast with a spear, dragged him off Khusru, dashed him to the ground, and cut off his head. All persons that were in the palace or upon the roof were slain by the Parwaris, who filled all the upper story. The watchmen fled and hid themselves. The Parwaris lighted torches; they then cast the headless trunk of the Sultan into the court-yard. The people saw it, and knew what had happened. Every one retired to his home in fear. Randhol, Jahariya, and other of the assassins, proceeded to the harem. They killed the widow of 'Alau-d din, mother of Farid Khan and 'Umar Khan, and committed atrocities which had never been paralleled among infidels and heathens. *** After killing all there were to kill, the whole palace was in the hands of the Parwaris. Lamps and torches were lighted in great numbers, and a Court was held. Though it was midnight, Malik 'Ainu-d din Multani, Malik Wahidu-d din Kuraishi, Malik Fakhru-d din Juna afterwards Sultan Muhammad Tughlik, and other nobles and great men were sent for, and were brought into the palace and made accomplices in what passed. When day broke the palace was full inside and out with Parwaris and Hindus. Khusru Khan had prevailed, the face of the world assumed a new complexion, a new order of things sprung up, and the basis of the dynasty of 'Alau-d din was utterly razed. ***

As morning broke, Khusru, in the presence of those nobles whom he had brought into the palace, mounted the throne under the title of Sultan Nasiru-d din. *** He had no sooner begun to reign, than he ordered all the personal attendants of the late Sultan, many of whom were of high rank, to be slain. Some were despatched in their houses, others were brought to the palace and were beheaded in private. Their wives, women, children, and handmaids were all given to the Parwaris and Hindus. The house of Kazi Ziau-d din, with all that it contained, was given to Randhol, the maternal uncle of Khusru. The wife and children of the Kazi had fled in the early part of the night. The brother of Khusru received the title of Khan-i Khanan, Randhol was made Rai-rayan, * * * and Bahau-d din received the title of 'Azamu-l Mulk. To keep up a delusive show, and to implicate the great men of the preceding reigns, 'Aina-l Mulk Multani, who had no kind of connection with the usurper, was entitled 'Alam Khan; the office of diwan was conferred on Taju-l Mulk. * * * In the course of four or five days preparations were made for idol worship in the palace. Jahariya, the murderer of Kutbu-d din was decked out in jewels and pearls; and horrid Parwaris sported in the royal harem. Khusru married the wife of the late Sultan Kutbu-d din; and the Parwaris, having gained the upper hand, took to themselves the wives and handmaids of the nobles and great men. The flames of violence and cruelty reached to the skies. Copies of the Holy Book were used as seats, and idols were set up in the pulpits of the mosques. * * * It was Khusru's design to increase the power and importance of the Parwaris and Hindus, and that their party should grow; he therefore opened the treasury and scattered money about. *** Calling himself Sultan Nasiru-d din, the base-born slave had his title repeated in the khutba, and impressed upon coins. For the few months (that he reigned) he and his satellites thought only of overthrowing the adherents of the late Sultans, and they had no awe of any malik or amir except of Ghazi Malik, afterwards Sultan Ghiyasu-d din Tughlik Shah.

This nobleman held the territory of Deobalpur, and dwelt there in his palace. When he heard of the overthrow of the dynasty of 'Alau-d din, he writhed like a snake. To induce him to come into the city and into their toils, they tried every art with his son (Muhammad Fakhru-d din Juna, afterwards) Sultan Muhammad Tughlik. They made Juna master of the horse, and gave him in'ams and robes of honour. But he had been a friend of the late Sultan, and was deeply wounded by his death. He was also sorely annoyed by the ascendancy of the Parwaris, and by having to meet Hindus who patronized him. But he could do nothing, for Khusru had deluded the people, and had made them his own by scattering his gold. Ghiyasu-d din in Deobalpur *** deplored the fate of the sons and ladies of his patron, 'Alau-d din, and pondered night and day over the means of exacting vengeance from the Parwaris and Hindus. But he was afraid of the Hindus hurting his son Fakhru-d din Juna, and so could not move out of Deobalpur to destroy them. In those dreadful days the infidel rites of the Hindus were highly exalted, the dignity and the importance of the Parwaris were increased, and through all the territory of Islam the Hindus rejoiced greatly, boasting that Dehli had once more come under Hindu rule, and that the Musulmans had been driven away and dispersed. ***

When more than two months had passed after the overthrow of the house of 'Alau-d din, and the degradation of all its connections and dependents before the eyes of several of its great nobles, Malik Fakhru-d din began to take heart, and courageously to resolve upon exacting vengeance. One afternoon he mounted his horse, and, with a few slaves, confiding himself to God, he fled from Khusru. *** At evening his flight became known, * * * and filled Khusru and his followers with dismay. * * * A body of horse was sent after him, but Fakhru-d din, the hero of Iran and Turan, reached Sarsuti, and his pursuers, not being able to overtake him, returned dispirited to Dehli. Before he reached Sarsuti,1 ["Sarbarhindh" in one MS.; "Narainah" in the other— perhaps for Tabarhindh.] his father, Ghazi Malik (afterwards Sultan Ghiyasu-d din), sent Muhammad Sartaba with two hundred horse, and he had taken possession of the fort of Sarsuti. With these horsemen Fakhru-d din proceeded to his father, whom, to his great joy, he reached in safety at Deobalpur. Malik Ghazi's hands were now free to wreak vengeance on the Parwaris and Hindus for the murder of his patron, and he immediately prepared to march against the enemy. Khusru appointed his brother, whom he had made Khan-i Khanan, and Yusuf Sufi, now Yusuf Khan, to command his army. He gave his brother a royal canopy, and sent them with elephants and treasure towards Deobalpur. So these two foolish ignorant lads went forth, like newly-hatched chickens just beginning to fly, to fight with a veteran warrior like Malik Ghazi, whose sword had made Khurasan and the land of the Mughals to tremble. * * * They reached Sarsuti; but such was their inexperience and want of energy, that they could not drive out Malik Ghazi's horse. So they turned their backs upon the place, and in their folly, * * * marched to encounter the hero, who twenty times had routed the Mughals. Like children in their parents' laps, they went on helplessly all in confusion. * * *

On the other hand, Ghazi Malik had called in the assistance of Malik Bahram Abiya of Uch, one of the faithful, and he arrived at Deobalpur with his horse and foot, and joined Ghazi. When intelligence of the enemy's march from Sarsuti reached them, * * * Ghazi drew his forces out of Deobalpur, and passing the town of Daliya,1 ["Dalili" in the print.] he left the river behind, and came face to face with the enemy. Next day he gave battle. *** The enemy broke at the first charge, and was thrown into utter confusion. The canopy and baton of Khusru's brother, and the elephants and horses and treasure, fell into the hands of the victors. Many chiefs and officers were killed, and many were wounded and made prisoners. The two lads who called themselves Khans * * * fled, without stopping, to Khusru. This defeat so terrified Khusru and his followers that hardly any life was left in their bodies. ***

For a week after the victory Malik Ghazi remained on the field of victory, and after collecting the spoils and arranging his forces, he proceeded towards Dehli. * * * Khusru Khan and his followers, in dismay, left Siri, and marched out into the field to the Hauz-i 'Alai, where he posted himself opposite Lahrawat, with gardens in front and the citadel in his rear. He brought out all the royal treasures from Kilughari and Dehli, making a clean sweep of the whole, like one spurned by fortune or worsted in gambling. The records and accounts he caused to be burned, * * * and everything in the public treasury he distributed as pay or gifts to his forces. Furious at the thought of anything valuable falling into the hands of the chief of Islam, he did not leave a dang or diram behind. *** The soldiers, who were faithful to their creed, and had no thought of drawing a sword against Malik Ghazi and the army of Islam, took the money of the wretched fellow, heaped hundreds of curses upon him, and then went to their homes. *** Ghazi Malik, with his army and friends, arrived near Dehli, and encamped in the suburb of Indarpat. On the night preceding the expected battle, 'Ainu-l Mulk Multani deserted Khusru Khan, and went towards Ujjain and Dhar. This defection quite broke down the spirits of Khusru and his followers.

On Friday, a day of joy and victory to the Musulmans, but of woe to the Hindus and infidels, Ghazi Malik led forth his forces from Indarpat against the foe. Khusru, on the other side, sent forward his elephants, and, with his Parwaris, Hindus, and the Musulmans who stood by him, advanced to the plain of Lahrawat, where both armies drew up in order of battle. Skirmishes ensued, in which the side of Ghazi Malik had the advantage. Malik Talbagha Nagori, who had attached himself heart and soul to Khusru Khan, and drew his sword against the army of Islam, was overthrown, and his severed head was brought to Ghazi Malik. Shayista Khan, formerly known as the son of Karrat Kimar, and now 'ariz-i mamalik, seeing all was over, led away his force towards the desert, but plundered the baggage of Ghazi Malik at Indarpat as he pursued his flight. The main armies still confronted each other, but in the afternoon * * * Ghazi Malik advanced against the centre of Khusru's force. The effeminate wretch could not bear the attack of men. He fled, and, leaving his army, he took the road to Tilpat. * * * His Parwaris were separated from him, and not one remained with him when he reached that place. He fell back from thence and concealed himself for the night in a garden which formerly belonged to Malik Shadi, his patron. After the defeat and dispersion of the Parwaris and Hindus, they were cut down wherever they were found, and their arms and horses were seized. Those who, in parties of three or four, fled from the city towards Gujarat, were likewise slain and plundered. On the day after the battle Khusru was brought out of the garden of Malik Shadi and was beheaded.

That night, while Ghazi Malik was at Indarpat, most of the nobles and chief men and officers came forth from the city to pay their respects, and the keys of the palace and of the city gates were brought to him. On the second day after the battle he proceeded with a great following from Indarpat to the palace of Siri. He seated himself in the Hazar-sutun, and, in the presence of the assembled nobles, wept over the unhappy fate which had befallen Kutbu-d din and the other sons of 'Alau-d din, his patron, * * and gave thanks to God for the victory he had gained. Then he cried with a loud voice, "I am one of those who have been brought up under 'Alau-d din and Kutbu-d din, and the loyalty of my nature has roused me up against their enemies and destroyers. I have drawn my sword, and have taken revenge to the best of my power. Ye are the noblest of the State! If ye know of any son of our patron's blood, bring him forth immediately, and I will seat him on the throne, and will be the first to tender him my service and devotion. If the whole stock has been clean cut off, then do ye bring forward some worthy and proper person and raise him to the throne; I will pay my allegiance to him. I have drawn my sword to avenge my patrons, not to gain power and ascend a throne." *** The assembled nobles unanimously replied that the usurpers had left no scion of the royal stock in existence. The murder of Kutbu-d din and the supremacy of Khusru and the Parwaris had caused disturbances, and had stirred up rebels in every direction. Affairs were all in confusion. They then added, ''Thou, Ghazi Malik, hast claims upon us. For many years thou hast been a banner to the Mughals and hast prevented their coming into Hindustan. Now thou hast done a faithful work, which will be recorded in history; thou hast delivered the Musulmans from the yoke of Hindus and Parwaris; thou hast avenged our benefactors, and hast laid every one, rich and poor, under obligation. *** All we who are here present know no one besides thee who is worthy of royalty and fit to rule." All who were present agreed with one acclaim, and, taking him by the hand, they conducted him to the throne. He then took the title of Sultan Ghiyasu-d din, * * * and every one paid him due homage. ***

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Sultanu-L Ghazi Ghiyasu-D Dunya Wau-D Din Tughlik Shahu-S Sultan.

Sultan Ghiyasu-d din Tughlik Shah ascended the throne in the palace of Siri in the year 720 H. (1320 A.D.) *** In the course of one week the business of the State was brought into order, and the disorders and evils occasioned by Khusru and his unholy followers were remedied. *** The people in all parts of the country were delighted at his accession. Rebellion and disaffection ceased, peace and obedience prevailed. * * * On the day of his accession, he ordered all the surviving relatives of 'Alau-d din and Kutbu-d din to be sought out, and he treated these ladies with all due respect and honour. The daughters of 'Alau-d din he married into suitable families. He severely punished the men who unlawfully married Khusru to the widow of Kutbu-d din three days after her husband's murder. The maliks, amirs, and other officers of his predecessors, he confirmed in their possessions and appointments. When he attained the throne, his nobleness and generosity of character made him distinguish and reward all those whom he had known and been connected with, and all those who in former days had showed him kindness or rendered him a service. No act of kindness was passed over. * * * His eldest son1 [Barni follows the general practice of using the regal title by anticipation.] showed great elevation of character. To him he gave the title of Ulugh Khan, with a royal canopy, and he declared him his heir apparent. To his four other sons he gave the titles respectively of Bahram Khan, Zafar Khan, Mahmud Khan, and Nusrat Khan. Bahram Abiya he honoured with the name of brother, and the title Kishlu Khan. To him also he entrusted Multan and Sindh. Malik Bahau-d din, his brother's son, he made Naib Barbak, and Malik Bahau-d din, his sister's son, he made 'ariz-i mamalik (muster- master), with the territory of Samana. * * * The excellence of his government is said to hare inspired this verse of Amir Khusru's —

"He never did anything that was not replete with wisdom and sense.
He might be said to wear a hundred doctors' hoods under his crown."

*** In the generosity of his nature, he ordered that the land revenues of the country should be settled upon just principles with reference to the produce. *** The officers of the Exchequer were ordered not to assess more than one in ten, or one in eleven upon the ikta's, and other lands, either by guess or computation, whether upon the reports of informers or the statements of valuers. They were to be careful that cultivation increased year by year. Something was to be left over and above the tribute, so that the country might not be ruined by the weight of taxation, and the way to improvement be barred. The revenue was to be collected in such a way that the raiyats should increase their cultivation; that the lands already in cultivation might be kept so, and some little be added to them every year. So much was not to be exacted at once that the cultivation should fall off, and no increase be made in future. Countries are ruined and are kept in poverty by excessive taxation and the exorbitant demands of kings. The Hindus were to be taxed so that they might not be blinded with wealth, and so become discontented and rebellions; nor, on the other hand, be so reduced to poverty and destitution as to be unable to pursue their husbandry.1 [Many pages follow in eulogy of the character and government of Ghiyasu-d din, but these are expressed in such general terms as not to be of much interest.]  * * *

In the year 721 H. (1321 A.D.) the Sultan sent his eldest son, Ulugh2 [The printed text and one of the two MSS. here fall into the error of writing this title, "Alaf Khan," as it always appears in Briggs and Elphinstone.] Khan, with a canopy and an army against Arangal and Tilang. Several of the nobles and officers, both of the old and new dynasty, were sent with him. The prince set out with great pomp, and when he arrived in Deogir, the officers and forces of that place joined, and marched with him to Tilang. Awe of the majesty of the Sultan, and fear of Ulugh Khan, drove Laddar Deo and all the rais and mukaddims to seek shelter in the fortresses; they never dreamed of opposing the Khan (in the field). He arrived at Arangal, and invested the mud fort. He then sent some of his officers to spoil the land of Tilang, to collect plunder, and bring in forage. They brought in spoil and fodder in abundance, and the army pushed on the siege in full confidence. The mud fort and the stone fort of Arangal were both garrisoned with numerous Hindus, who had gathered in muniments from all quarters. Maghribis, 'aradas, and manjaniks were brought into use. Sharp conflicts daily occurred. Fire was discharged3 [Atashha mi-rekhtand.] from the fort, and many were killed on both sides; but the army of Islam had the advantage, the garrison was reduced to distress, and the mud fort was on the point of being taken. They resolved to surrender, and Laddar Deo the Rai, with mukaddims, sent basiths to Ulugh Khan to make terms. They offered treasure and elephants and jewels and valuables, and begged that the Khan would accept these with tribute, as Malik Naib Kafur had done in the reign of 'Alau-d din, and would then retire. The Khan would grant no terms, but resolutely determined to reduce the fort and capture the Rai. So the basiths returned disappointed and dejected.

When the besieged were thus reduced to extremities, and were suing for peace, very nearly a month had passed since any couriers had arrived from the Sultan, although the Khan had previously received two or three letters every week. This want of intelligence from the court caused some uneasiness in the minds of the Khan and his officers; they imagined that some of the posts on the road had been destroyed, and that consequently the couriers had been unable to prosecute their journeys with the news. It also caused apprehension and misgivings to spread among the troops, and stories were carried from one to another. 'Ubaid the poet, and Shaikh Zada-i Dimashki, two evil-disposed, turbulent fellows, who by some means had been introduced to the Khan, formed the strife, and spread false reports among the soldiers, to the effect that the Sultan was dead, that the government had been overthrown, that a new prince now sat upon the throne of Dehli, and that the way was quite closed against all couriers and messengers. So every man took his own course. These two malicious men trumped up another false story. They went to Malik Tamar, Malik Tigin, Malik Mall Afghan, and Malik Kafur, keeper of the seal, and told these nobles that Ulugh Khan looked upon them with envy and suspicion, as generals and nobles of the reign of Alau-d din, and as obstacles to his attaining the throne; that their names were written down in a list as men to be disposed of, and that they would be all seized at once and beheaded. These nobles were aware that these two treacherous men were constantly about Ulugh Khan, and so they credited their statements. They therefore agreed to take flight, and, joining together their followers, they left the camp. Through this defection a panic fell upon the army, trouble and tumult arose, and no man thought of another. This event was very opportune for the besieged Hindus, and saved them. They sallied forth and plundered the baggage of the army, and Ulugh Khan with his immediate followers retreated to Deogir. The soldiers were worn out, and fell in all directions. As they retreated, couriers arrived from the court, bringing news of the health and safety of the Sultan.

Differences arose among those 'Alai nobles who had fled from the army, each of them pursued his own course. Their soldiers and servants perished, and their horses and arms fell into the hands of the Hindus. Ulugh Khan reached Deogir in safety. Malik Tamar, with a few horsemen, plunged into the Hindu territories, and there perished. Malik Tigin of Oudh was killed by the Hindus, and his skin was sent to Ulugh Khan at Deogir. Malik Mall Afghan, 'Ubaid the poet, and other revolters, were made prisoners, and were also sent to Deogir. The prince sent them on alive to his father. The wives and children of the revolters had been already seized. The Sultan held a public darbar in the plain of Siri, when 'Ubaid, the poet, and Kafur, the seal-keeper, and other rebels, were impaled alive;1 [Zindah bardar kardand, — that is, crucified or impaled alive. Firishta says they were buried alive.] some of the others, with their wives and children, were thrown under the feet of elephants. Such a terrible punishment was inflicted as long inspired terror in the breasts of the beholders. All the city trembled at the vengeance taken by the Sultan.

Four months afterwards the Sultan sent strong reinforcements to the prince, and directed him to march against Arangal once more. He accordingly entered the country of Tilang, took the fort of Bidr, and made its chief prisoner. From thence he proceeded to Arangal for the second time. He invested the mud fort, and after plying it for a few days with arrows from the nawaks, and stones from the maghribis, he captured the whole place. Rai Laddar Deo, with all his rais and mukaddims, their wives and children, elephants and horses, fell into the hands of the victors. A despatch of victory was sent to Dehli, and at Tughlikabad and Siri there were great rejoicings. The prince sent Laddar Deo Rai, of Arangal, with his elephants and treasures, relations and dependents, to the Sultan, under the charge of Malik Bedar, who had been created Kadar Khan, and Khwaja Haji, naib of the 'ariz-i mamalik. The name of Arangal was changed to Sultanpur, and all the country of Tilang was conquered. Officers were appointed to manage the country, and one year's tribute was taken. The prince then marched towards Jajnagar,1 [The Jajnagar on the Mahanadi in Cuttack referred to by Briggs. Firishta, I., 260.] and there took forty elephants, with which he returned to Tilang. These he sent on to his father.

At the time when Arangal was taken, and the elephants arrived from Jajnagar, several Mughal armies attacked the frontiers, but the armies of Islam defeated them and sent their two generals as prisoners to the court. The Sultan had made Tughlikabad his capital, and the nobles and officials, with their wives and families, had taken up their abode there, and had built houses.

About this time certain noblemen came from Lakhnauti, complaining of the oppressive laws under which they were suffering, and informing the Sultan of the distress and tyranny under which they and other Musulmans laboured. So the Sultan resolved to march against Lakhnauti, and he sent couriers to summon Ulugh Khan from Arangal. He made him his vice-gerent, and placed all the affairs of the kingdom under his management during his own absence. He then marched to Lakhnauti, and so conducted his forces through the deep waters and mire and dirt, on this distant march, that not a hair of any man's head was hurt. Fear and respect for the Sultan had spread through Khurasan and Hindustan, and all the countries of Hind and Sindh, and the chiefs and generals of east and west, had trembled in fear of him for many a year (karn). When the Sultan reached Tirhut, the ruler of Lakhnauti, Sultan Nasiru-d din, came forth with great respect to pay homage to the Sultan; and without the sword being called into requisition, all the rais and ranas of the country made their submission. Tatar Khan, foster-son (pisar i khwanda) of the Sultan, held the territory of Zafarabad; and a force having been assigned to him, he brought the whole country under the imperial rule. Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Sunar-ganw made some resistance; but a cord was thrown upon his neck, and he was conducted to the Sultan. All the elephants of the country were sent to the royal stables, and the army acquired great spoil in the campaign. Sultan Nasiru-d din had shown great respect and submission, so the Sultan gave him a canopy and a baton, sent him back, and placed Lakhnauti under his rule. Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Sunar-ganw, was sent to Dehli with a rope round his neck, and the Sultan returned towards his capital triumphant. * * *

When Ulugh Khan received information of the Sultan's hastening homewards to Tughlikabad, he ordered a temporary erection to be raised at Afghanpur, about three or four kos from the city, where the Sultan might stay for the night and take rest, before marching on the following day into the city with pomp and triumph. *** Sultan Tughlik Shah arrived in the afternoon and stopped. Ulugh Khan, and all the great nobles and officers, had gone forth to meet him, and had conducted him thither with great ceremony. The Sultan's table had been spread, and he took food; the nobles came out to wash their hands. A thunderbolt from the sky descended upon the earth, and the roof under which the Sultan was seated fell down, crushing him and five or six other persons, so that they died.1 [The reticence of Barni upon this catastrophe favours the suspicion that it was the work of design; not an accident. Firishta, however, notices this suspicion, but to discredit it.]

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Part 1 of 2

Sultanu-L Mujahid Abu-L Fath Muhammad Shah Ibn Tughlik Shah

Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlik Shah, the heir apparent, succeeded his father, and ascended the throne at Tughlikabad in the year 725 H. (1325 A.D.). On the fortieth day after, he proceeded from Tughlikabad to Dehli, and there in the ancient palace took his seat upon the throne of the old Sultans. *** 2 [A long strain of eulogy follows, from which one or two passages have been selected.]

In the calligraphy of books and letters Sultan Muhammad abashed the most accomplished scribes. The excellence of his hand-writing, the ease of his composition, the sublimity of his style, and the play of his fancy, left the most accomplished teachers and professors far behind. He was an adept in the use of metaphor. If any teacher of composition had sought to rival him, he would have failed. He knew by heart a good deal of Persian poetry, and understood it well. In his epistles he showed himself skilled in metaphor, and frequently quoted Persian verse. He was well acquainted with the Sikandar nama, and also with the Bum-i salim Namah and the Tarikh-i Mahmudi. *** No learned or scientific man, or scribe, or poet, or wit, or physician, could have had the presumption to argue with him about his own special pursuit, nor would he have been able to maintain his position against the throttling arguments of the Sultan. ***

The dogmas of philosophers, which are productive of indifference and hardness of heart, had a powerful influence over him. But the declarations of the holy books, and the utterances, of the Prophets, which inculcate benevolence and humility, and hold out the prospect of future punishment, were not deemed worthy of attention. The punishment of Musulmans, and the execution of true believers, with him became a practice and a passion. Numbers of doctors, and elders, and saiyids, and sufis, and kalandars, and clerks, and soldiers, received punishment by his order. Not a day or week passed without the spilling of much Musulman blood, and the running of streams of gore before the entrance of his palace. * * *

In the course of twenty-seven years, a complete karn, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords made him to prevail over the dominions of several kings, and brought the people of many countries under his rule in Hindustan, Gujarat, Malwa, the Mahratta (country), Tilang, Kampila, Dhur-samundar, Ma'bar, Lakhnauti, Sat-ganw (Chittagong), Sunar-ganw, and Tirhut. If I were to write a full account of all the affairs of his reign, and of all that passed, with his faults and shortcomings, I should fill many volumes. In this history I have recorded all the great and important matters of his reign, and the beginning and the end of every conquest; but the rise and termination of every mutiny, and of events (of minor importance), I have passed over. ***

Sultan Muhammad planned in his own breast three or four projects by which the whole of the habitable world was to be brought under the rule of his servants, but he never talked over these projects with any of his councillors and friends. Whatever he conceived he considered to be good, but in promulgating and enforcing his schemes he lost his hold upon the territories he possessed, disgusted his people, and emptied his treasury. Embarrassment followed embarrassment, and confusion became worse confounded. The ill feeling of the people gave rise to outbreaks and revolts. The rules for enforcing the royal schemes became daily more oppressive to the people. More and more the people became disaffected, more and more the mind of the king was set against them, and the numbers of those brought to punishment increased. The tribute of most of the distant countries and districts was lost, and many of the soldiers and servants were scattered and left in distant lands. Deficiencies appeared in the treasury. The mind of the Sultan lost its equilibrium. In the extreme weakness and harshness1 [[x].] of his temper he gave himself up to severity. Gujarat and Deogir were the only (distant) possessions that remained. In the old territories, dependent on Dehli, the capital, disaffection and rebellion sprung up. By the will of fate many different projects occurred to the mind of the Sultan, which appeared to him moderate and suitable, and were enforced for several years, but the people could not endure them.2 [The two MSS. differ slightly from each other, but both contain many words not in the printed text. I have taken what appears to be the general sense of what was evidently deemed an obscure and doubtful passage.] These schemes effected the ruin of the Sultan's empire, and the decay of the people. Every one of them that was enforced wrought some wrong and mischief, and the minds of all men, high and low, were disgusted with their ruler. Territories and districts which had been securely settled were lost. When the Sultan found that his orders did not work so well as he desired, he became still more embittered against his people. He cut them down like weeds and punished them. So many wretches were ready to slaughter true and orthodox Musalmans as had never before been created from the days of Adam. * * * If the twenty prophets had been given into the hands of these minions, I verily believe that they would not have allowed them to live one night. ***

The first project which the Sultan formed, and which operated to the ruin of the country and the decay of the people, was that he thought he ought to get ten or five per cent, more tribute from the lands in the Doab. To accomplish this he invented some oppressive abwabs1 [This is the first time that this word, since so well known, as come under my observation in these histories.] (cesses), and made stoppages from the land- revenues until the backs of the raiyats were broken. The cesses were collected so rigorously that the raiyats were impoverished and reduced to beggary. Those who were rich and had property became rebels; the lands were ruined, and cultivation was entirely arrested. When the raiyat in distant countries heard of the distress and ruin of the raiyats in the Doab, through fear of the same evil befalling them, they threw off their allegiance and betook themselves to the jungles. The decline of cultivation, and the distress of the raiyats in the Doab, and the failure of convoys of corn from Hindustan, produced a fatal famine in Dehli and its environs, and throughout the Doab, Grain became dear. There was a deficiency of rain, so the famine became general. It continued for some years, and thousands upon thousands of people perished of want. Communities were reduced to distress, and families were broken up. The glory of the State, and the power of the government of Sultan Muhammad, from this time withered and decayed.

The second project of Sultan Muhammad, which was ruinous to the capital of the empire, and distressing to the chief men of the country, was that of making Deogir his capital, under the title of Daulatabad. This place held a central situation: Dehli, Gujarat, Lakhnauti, Sat-ganw, Sunar-gauw, Tilang, Ma'bar, Dhur-samundar, and Kampila were about equi-distant from thence, there being but a slight difference in the distances. Without any consultation, and without carefully looking into the advantages and disadvantages on every side, he brought ruin upon Dehli, that city which, for 170 or 180 years, had grown in prosperity, and rivaled Baghdad and Cairo. The city, with its sarais and its suburbs and villages, spread over four or five kos. All was destroyed. So complete was the ruin, that not a cat or a dog was left among the buildings of the city, in its palaces or in its suburbs. Troops of the natives, with their families and dependents, wives and children, men-servants and maid-servants, were forced to remove. The people, who for many years and for generations had been natives and inhabitants of the land, were broken-hearted. Many, from the toils of the long journey, perished on the road, and those who arrived at Deogir could not endure the pain of exile. In despondency they pined to death. All around Deogir, which is an infidel land, there sprung up graveyards of Musulmans. The Sultan was bounteous in his liberality and favours to the emigrants, both on their journey and on their arrival; but they were tender, and they could not endure the exile and suffering. They laid down their heads in that heathen land, and of all the multitudes of emigrants, few only survived to return to their home. Thus this city, the envy of the cities of the inhabited world, was reduced to ruin. The Sultan brought learned men and gentlemen, tradesmen and landholders, into the city (Dehli) from certain towns in his territory, and made them reside there. But this importation of strangers did not populate the city; many of them died there, and more returned to their native homes. These changes and alterations were the cause of great injury to the country.

The third project also did great harm to the country. It increased the daring and arrogance of the disaffected in Hindustan, and augmented the pride and prosperity of all the Hindus. This was the issue of copper money.1 [The printed text adds, "his interference with buying and selling," but this is not to be found in either of my MSS., and is certainly superfluous.] The Sultan, in his lofty ambition, had conceived it to be his work to subdue the whole habitable world and bring it under his rule. To accomplish this impossible design, an army of countless numbers was necessary, and this could not be obtained without plenty of money. The Sultan's bounty and munificence had caused a great deficiency in the treasury, so he introduced his copper money, and gave orders that it should be used in buying and selling, and should pass current, just as the gold and silver coins had passed. The promulgation of this edict turned the house of every Hindu into a mint, and the Hindus of the various provinces coined krors and lacs of copper coins. With these they paid their tribute, and with these they purchased horses, arms, and fine things of all kinds. The rais, the village headmen and landowners, grew rich and strong upon these copper coins, but the State was impoverished. No long time passed before distant countries would take the copper tanka only as copper. In those places where fear of the Sultan's edict prevailed, the gold tanka rose to be worth a hundred of (the copper) tankas. Every goldsmith struck copper coins in his workshop, and the treasury was filled with these copper coins. So low did they fall that they were not valued more than pebbles or potsherds. The old coin, from its great scarcity, rose four-fold and five-fold in value. When trade was interrupted on every side, and when the copper tankas had become more worthless than clods, and of no use, the Sultan repealed his edict, and in great wrath he proclaimed that whoever possessed copper coins should bring them to the treasury, and receive the old gold coins in exchange. Thousands of men from various quarters, who possessed thousands of these copper coins, and caring nothing for them, had flung them into corners along with their copper pots, now brought them to the treasury, and received in exchange gold tankas and silver tankas, shash-ganis and du-ganis, which they carried to their homes. So many of these copper tankas were brought to the treasury, that heaps of them rose up in Tughlikabad like mountains. Great sums went out of the treasury in exchange for the copper, and a great deficiency was caused. When the Sultan found that his project had failed, and that great loss had been entailed upon the treasury through his copper coins, he more than ever turned against his subjects.

The fourth project which diminished his treasury, and so brought distress upon the country, was his design of conquering Khurasan and 'Irak. In pursuance of this object, vast sums were lavished upon the officials and leading men of those countries. These great men came to him with insinuating proposals and deceitful representations, and as far as they knew how, or were able, they robbed the throne of its wealth. The coveted countries were not acquired, but those which he possessed were lost; and his treasure, which is the true source of political power, was expended.

The fifth project * * * was the rising of an immense army for the campaign against Khurasan. * * * In that year three hundred and seventy thousand horse were enrolled in the muster- master's office. For a whole year these were supported and paid; but as they were not employed in war and conquest and enabled to maintain themselves on plunder, when the next year came round, there was not sufficient in the treasury or in the feudal estates (ikta) to support them. The army broke up; each man took his own course and engaged in his own occupations. But lacs and krors had been expended by the treasury.

The sixth project, which inflicted a heavy loss upon the army, was the design which he formed of capturing the mountain of Kara-jal.1 [The printed text as "Farajal," and this is favoured to some extent by one MS., but the other is consistent in reading Kara-jal. See supra, Vol. I., p. 46, note 2.] His conception was that, as he had undertaken the conquest of Khurasan, he would (first) bring under the dominion of Islam this mountain, which lies between the territories of Hind and those of China, so that the passage for horses and soldiers and the march of the army might be rendered easy. To effect this object a large force, under distinguished amirs and generals, was sent to the mountain of Kara-jal, with orders to subdue the whole mountain. In obedience to orders, it marched into the mountains and encamped in various places, but the Hindus closed the passes and cut off its retreat. The whole force was thus destroyed at one stroke, and out of all this chosen body of men only ten horsemen returned to Delhi to spread the news of its discomfiture. * * *

Revolts. —

* * The first revolt was that of Bahram Abiya at Multan. This broke out while the Sultan was at Deogir. As soon as he heard of it he hastened back to his capital, and collecting an army he marched against Multan. When the opposing forces met, Bahram Abiya was defeated. His head was cut off and was brought to the Sultan, and his army was cut to pieces and dispersed. * * * The Sultan returned victorious to Dehli, where he stayed for two years. He did not proceed to Deogir, whither the citizens and their families had removed. Whilst he remained at Dehli the nobles and soldiers continued with him, but their wives and children were at Deogir. At this time the country of the Doab was brought to ruin by the heavy taxation and the numerous cesses. The Hindus burnt their corn stacks and turned their cattle out to roam at large. Under the orders of the Sultan, the collectors and magistrates laid waste the country, and they killed some landholders and village chiefs and blinded others. Such of these unhappy inhabitants as escaped formed themselves into bands and took refuge in the jungles. So the country was ruined. The Sultan then proceeded on a hunting excursion to Baran, where, under his directions, the whole of that country was plundered and laid waste, and the heads of the Hindus were brought in and hung upon the ramparts of the fort of Baran.

About this time the rebellion of Fakhra broke out in Bengal, after the death of Bahram Khan (Governor of Sunar-ganw). Fakhra and his Bengali forces killed Kadar Khan (Governor of Lakhnauti), and cut his wives and family and dependents to pieces. He then plundered the treasures of Lakhnauti, and secured possession of that place, and of Sat-ganw and Sunar- ganw. These places were thus lost to the imperial throne, and, falling into the hands of Fakhra and other rebels, were not recovered. At the same period the Sultan led forth his army to ravage Hindustan. He laid the country waste from Kanauj to Dalamu, and every person that fell into his hands he slew. Many of the inhabitants fled and took refuge in the jungles, but the Sultan had the jungles surrounded, and every individual that was captured was killed.

While he was engaged in the neighbourhood of Kanauj a third revolt broke out. Saiyid Hasan, father of Ibrahim, the pursebearer, broke out into rebellion in Ma'bar, killed the nobles, and seized upon the government. The army sent from Dehli to recover Ma'bar, remained there. When the Sultan heard of the revolt he seized Ibrahim and all his relations. He then returned to Dehli for reinforcements, and started from thence to Deogir, in order to prepare for a campaign against Ma'bar. He had only marched three or four stages from Dehli when the price of grain rose, and famine began to be felt. Highway robberies also became frequent in the neighbourhood. When the Sultan arrived at Deogir he made heavy demands upon the Musulman chiefs and collectors of the Mahratta country, and his oppressive exactions drove many persons to kill themselves. Heavy abwabs also were imposed on the country, and persons were specially appointed to levy them. After a short time he sent Ahmad Ayyaz (as lieutenant) to Dehli, and he marched to Tilang. When Ayyaz arrived in Dehli he found that a disturbance had broken out in Lahor, but he suppressed it. The Sultan arrived at Arangal, where cholera (waba) was prevalent. Several nobles and many other persons died of it. The Sultan also was attacked. He then appointed Malik Kabul, the naib-wazir, to be ruler over Tilang, and himself returned homewards with all speed. He was ill when he reached Deogir, and remained there some days under treatment. He there gave Shahab Sultani the title of Nusrat Khan, and made him governor of Bidar and the neighbourhood, with a fief of a lac of tankas. The Mahratta country was entrusted to Katlagh Khan, The Sultan, still ill, then set off for Dehli, and on his way he gave general permission for the return home of those people whom he had removed from Dehli to Deogir, Two or three caravans were formed which returned to Dehli, but those with whom the Mahratta country agreed remained at Deogir with their wives and children.

The Sultan proceeded to Dhar, and being still indisposed, he rested a few days, and then pursued his journey through Malwa. Famine prevailed there, the posts were all gone off the road, and distress and anarchy reigned in all the country and towns along the route. When the Sultan reached Dehli, not a thousandth part of the population remained. He found the country desolate, a deadly famine raging, and all cultivation abandoned. He employed himself some time in restoring cultivation and agriculture, but the rains fell short that year, and no success followed. At length no horses or cattle were left; grain rose to 16 or 17 jitals a sir, and the people starved. The Sultan advanced loans from the treasury to promote cultivation, but men had been brought to a state of helplessness and weakness. Want of rain prevented cultivation, and the people perished. The Sultan soon recovered his health at Dehli.

Whilst the Sultan was thus engaged in endeavouring to restore cultivation, the news was brought that Shahu Afghan had rebelled in Multan, and had killed Bihzad, the naib. Malik Nawa fled from Multan to Dehli. Shahu had collected a party of Afghans, and had taken possession of the city. The Sultan prepared his forces and marched towards Multan, but he had made only a few marches when Makhduma-i Jahan, his mother, died in Dehli. ** The Sultan was much grieved. ** He pursued his march, and when he was only a few marches from Multan, Shahu submitted, and sent to say that he repented of what he had done. He fled with his Afghans to Afghanistan, and the Sultan proceeded to Sannam. From thence he went to Agroha, where he rested awhile, and afterwards to Dehli, where the famine was very severe, and man was devouring man. The Sultan strove to restore cultivation, and had wells dug, but the people could do nothing. No word issued from their mouths, and they continued inactive and negligent. This brought many of them to punishment.

The Sultan again marched to Sannam and Samana, to put down the rebels, who had formed mandals (strongholds?), withheld the tribute, created disturbances, and plundered on the roads. The Sultan destroyed their mandals, dispersed their followers, and carried their chiefs prisoners to Dehli. Many of them became Musulmans, and some of them were placed in the service of noblemen, and, with their wives and children, became residents of the city.1 [The work is not divided into chapters, or other divisions, systematically, in a way useful for reference, so the occasional headings have not been given in the translation. But the heading of the section in which this passage occurs is more explicit than the narrative; it says — "Campaign of Sultan Muhammad in Sannam, Samana, Kaithal and Kuhram, and devastation of those countries which had all become rebellious. Departure of the Sultan to the hills; subjugation of the ranas of the hills; the carrying away of the village chiefs and head men, Birahas, Mandahars, Jats, Bhats, and Manhis to Dehli. Their conversion to Islam, and their being placed in the charge of the nobles in the capital."] They were torn from their old lands, the troubles they had caused were stopped, and travellers could proceed without fear of robbery.

While this was going on a revolt broke out among the Hindus at Arangal. Kanya Naik had gathered strength in the country. Malik Makbul, the naib-wazir, fled to Dehli, and the Hindus  took possession of Arangal, which was thus entirely lost. About the same time one of the relations of Kanya Naik, whom the Sultan had sent to Kambala,2 [Kampala is the name given in the print, but both MSS. read ''Kambala," making it identical with the place mentioned directly afterwards. I have not been able to discover the place. The author probably took the name to be identical with that of Kampila in the Doab.] apostatized from Islam and stirred up a revolt. The land of Kambala also was thus lost, and fell into the hands of the Hindus. Deogir and Gujarat alone remained secure. Disaffection and disturbances arose on every side, and as they gathered strength the Sultan became more exasperated and more severe with his subjects. But his severities only increased the disgust and distress of the people. He stayed for some time in Dehli, making loans and encouraging cultivation; but the rain did not fall, and the raiyats did not apply themselves to work, so prices rose yet higher, and men and beasts died of starvation. *** Through the famine no business of the State could go on to the Sultan's satisfaction.

The Sultan perceived that there was no means of providing against the scarcity of grain and fodder in the capital, and no possibility of restoring cultivation without the fall of rain. He saw also that the inhabitants were daily becoming more wretched; so he allowed the people to pass the gates of the city and to remove with their families towards Hindustan, * * * so many proceeded thither. The Sultan also left the city, and, passing by Pattiali and Kampila,1 [Towns in Farrukhabad.] he halted a little beyond the town of Khor, on the banks of the Ganges, where he remained for a while with his army. The men built thatched huts, and took up their abode near the cultivated land. The place was called Sargdwari [Heaven's gate). Grain was brought thither from Karra and Oudh, and, compared with the price at Dehli, it was cheap. While the Sultan was staying at this place 'Ainu-l Mulk held the territory of Oudh and Zafarabad. His brothers had fought against and put down the rebels, thus securing these territories, * * and the Malik and his brothers sent to Sargdwari and to Dehli money, grain and goods, to the value of from seventy to eighty lacs of tankas. This greatly increased the Sultan's confidence in 'Ainu-l Mulk, and confirmed his opinion of his ability. The Sultan had just before been apprized that the officials of Katlagh Khan at Deogir had, by their rapacity, reduced the revenues; he therefore proposed to make 'Ainu-l Mulk governor of Deogir, and to send him there with his brothers and all their wives and families, and to recall Katlagh Khan with his adherents. When 'Ainu-l Mulk and his brothers heard of this design, they were filled with apprehension, and attributed it to the treachery of the Sultan. They had held their present territories for many years, and many nobles and officials of Dehli, through fear of the Sultan's severity, had left the city, alleging the dearness of grain as the reason, and had come to Oudh and Zafarabad, with their wives and families. Some of them became connected with the Malik and his brothers, and some of them received villages. * * The Sultan was repeatedly informed of this, and it made him very angry, but he kept this feeling to himself, until one day, while at Sarg-dwari, he sent a message to 'Ainu-l Mulk, ordering that all the people of note and ability, and all those who had fled from Dehli to escape punishment, should be arrested and sent bound to Dehli. *** This message, so characteristic of the Sultan's cruelty, enhanced the fears of the Malik and his brothers, and they felt assured that the Sultan's intention was to send them to Deogir and there perfidiously destroy them. They were filled with abhorrence, and began to organize a revolt.

About this time, during the Sultan's stay at Dehli and his temporary residence at Sarg-dwari, four revolts were quickly repressed. First. That of Nizam Ma-in at Karra. *** 'Ainu-l Mulk and his brothers marched against this rebel, and having put down the revolt and made him prisoner, they flayed him and sent his skin to Dehli. Second, That of Shahab Sultani, or Nusrat Khan, at Bidar. * * * In the course of three years he had misappropriated about a kror of tankas from the revenue. * * The news of the Sultan's vengeance reached him and he rebelled, but he was besieged in the fort of Bidar, *** which was captured, and he was sent prisoner to Dehli. Third, That of 'Alisha, nephew of Zafar Khan, which broke out a few months afterwards in the same district. *** He had been sent from Deogir to Kulbarga to collect the revenues, but finding the country without soldiers and without any great men, he and his brothers rebelled, treacherously killed Bhairan, chief of Kulbarga, and plundered his treasures. He then proceeded to Bidar and killed the naib, after which he held both Bidar and Kulbarga, and pushed his revolt. The Sultan sent Katlagh Khan against him *** from Deogir, and the rebel met him and was defeated. * * * He then fled to Bidar, where he was besieged and captured. He and his brothers were sent to the Sultan, *** who ordered them to Ghazni. They returned from thence, and the two brothers received punishment. Fourth. The revolt of 'Ainu-l Mulk and his brothers at Sarg-dwari. The Malik was an old courtier and associate of the Sultan, so he feared the weakness of his character and the ferocity of his temper. Considering himself on the verge of destruction, he, by permission of the Sultan, brought his brothers and the armies of Oudh and Zafarabad with him when he went to Sargdwari, and they remained a few kos distant. One night be suddenly left Sarg-dwari and joined them. His brothers then passed over the river with three or four hundred horse, and, proceeding towards Sarg-dwari, they seized the elephants and horses which were grazing there, and carried them off. A serious revolt thus arose at Sarg-dwari. The Sultan summoned forces from Samana, Amroha, Baran, and Kol, and a force came in from Ahmadabad. He remained a while at Sarg-dwari to arrange his forces, and then marched to Kanauj and encamped in its suburbs. 'Ainu-l Mulk and his brothers knew nothing of war and fighting, and had no courage and experience. They were opposed by Sultan Muhammad, *** who had been victorious in twenty battles with the Mughals. In their extreme ignorance and folly they crossed the Ganges below Bangarmu, *** and thinking that the Sultan's severity would cause many to desert him, they drew near to offer battle. *** In the rooming one division of the Sultan's forces charged and defeated them at the first attack. 'Ainu-l Mulk was taken prisoner, and the routed forces were pursued for twelve or thirteen kos with great loss. The Malik's two brothers, who were the commanders, were killed in the fight. Many of the fugitives, in their panic, cast themselves into the river and were drowned. The pursuers obtained great booty. Those who escaped from the river fell into the hands of the Hindus in the Mawas and lost their horses and arms. The Sultan did not punish 'Ainu-l Mulk, for he thought that he was not wilfully rebellious, but had acted through mistake. *** After a while he sent for him, treated him kindly, gave him a robe, promoted him to high employment, and showed him great indulgence. His children and all his family were restored to him.

After the suppression of this revolt, the Sultan resolved on going to Hindustan, and proceeded to Bahraich, where he paid a visit, and devoutly made offerings to the shrine of the martyr Sipah-salar Mas'ud,1 [The tomb of Mas'ud had thus become a place of sanctity at this time. See Vol. II. App., pp. 513, 549.] one of the heroes of Sultan Mahmud Subuktigin. ***

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Part 2 of 2

When the Sultan returned to Dehli, it occurred to his mind that no king or prince could exercise regal power without confirmation by the Khalifa of the race of 'Abbas, and that every king who had, or should hereafter reign, without such confirmation, had been or would be overpowered. The Sultan made diligent inquiries from many travellers about the Khalifas of the line of 'Abbas, and he learned that the representatives of the line of 'Abbas were the Khalifas of Egypt. So he and his ministers and advisers came to an understanding with the Khalifa that was in Egypt, and while the Sultan was at Sarg-dwari he sent despatches to Egypt about many things. When he returned to the city he stopped2 [Dar tawakkuf ddsht, probably meaning that he substituted the name of the Khalifa of Egypt for that of the Khalifa of Baghdad.] the prayers of the Sabbath and the 'I'ds. He had his own name and style removed from his coins, and that of the Khalifa substituted; and his flatteries of the Khalifa were so fulsome that they cannot be reduced to writing. In the year 744 H. (1343 A.D.) Haji Sa'id Sarsari came to Dehli, from Egypt, bringing to the Sultan honours and a robe from the Khalifa. The Sultan, with all his nobles and saiyids and * * *, went forth to meet the Haji with great ceremony, *** and he walked before him barefoot for the distance of some long bow-shots. * * * From that date permission was given, that out of respect the Khalifats name should be repeated in the prayers for Sabbaths and holydays, * * * and it was also ordered that in mentioning the names of the kings in the khutba, they should be declared to have reigned under the authority and confirmation of the 'Abbasi Khalifaa. The names of those kings who had not received such confirmation were to be removed from the khutba, and the kings were to be declared to be superseded (mutaghallab). *** The name of the Khalifa was ordered to be inscribed on lofty buildings, and no other name besides. * * * The Sultan directed that a letter acknowledging his subordination to the Khalifa should be sent by the hands of Haji Rajab Barka'i, * * * and after two years of correspondence the Haji returned from Egypt, bringing a diploma in the name of the Sultan, as deputy of the Khalifa.1 [In the translation of Firishta it is made to appear that it was the Khalifa of Arabia who was thus recognized: the text, however, says correctly that it was he of Egypt.] **

After the Sultan returned from Sarg-dwari, he remained for three or four years at Dehli, where he devoted himself to sundry matters which he considered to be for the good of the State. Firstly. He did his best for the promotion of agriculture, and for the encouragement of building. * * * The officers entrusted with the distribution of the loans from the public treasury took care of themselves, and appropriated the money to their own wants and necessities. Much of the pasture land being unfit for cultivation remained uncultivated, and the superintendents were in dread of punishment. In the course of two years about seventy lacs of tankas had been issued from the treasury to the superintendents of the cultivation of waste lands, and not one hundredth or a thousandth part of what was disbursed was reproduced in agriculture. If the Sultan had returned from his campaign against Thatta, not one of these superintendents and managers would have remained alive. Secondly. The Sultan supported and patronized the Mughals. Every year at the approach of winter, the amirs of tumans (of men) and of thousands etc., etc., received krors and lacs, and robes, and horses, and pearls. During the whole period of two or three years, the Sultan was intent upon patronizing and favouring the Mughals. Thirdly, *** He was diligently engaged in drawing out plans and schemes for increasing his revenue and army, and for promoting agriculture. Fourthly, He applied himself excessively to the business of punishment, and this was the cause of many of the acquired territories slipping from his grasp, and of troubles and disturbances in those which remained in his power. *** The more severe the punishments that were inflicted in the city, the more disgusted were the people in the neighbourhood, insurrections spread, and the loss and injury to the State increased. Every one that was punished spoke evil of him. *** Fifthly, The exertions which he made in the latter part of these years to promote the settlement and prosperity of Deogir and the country of the Mahrattas. The Sultan and the evil counsellors who found favour in his sight came to the conclusion that vast sums of the revenues of Deogir were lost through the peculations of Katlagh Khan's officials. *** He divided the Mahratta country into four provinces [shikk). *** The officers who were sent thither received orders to exterminate all those who had revolted or were inimical to the Sultan's rule. *** Towards the end of the year Katlagh Khan, with his family and suite, were recalled to Dehli, and 'Aziz Himar, a low fellow, depraved and foolish, was sent to Dhar, and made governor of all Malwa. The recall of Katlagh Khan quite disheartened the people of Deogir, and they saw themselves upon the very brink of ruin. They had enjoyed tranquility under the just and benevolent rule of that nobleman, and they had looked to him as their defence against the cruel punishments of the Sultan. The accounts which they heard of his severity had disgusted all the people of Deogir, both Hindus and Musulmans, and many of them broke out into rebellion. * * * Maulana Nizama-d din, a simple inexperienced man, and brother of Katlagh Khan, was sent from Bahruj (Broach) to succeed him. * * * The cash raised from the revenues under Katlagh Khan had been accumulated at Deogir, for it was not possible to convey it to Dehli in consequence of the badness of the roads, the distress in Malwa, and the disaffection of the village chiefs. Orders were therefore given to secure it in Dharagir, a strong fort. ***

The Sultan having thus appointed the base-born 'Aziz Himar to Dhar and Malwa, gave him several lacs of tankas on his departure, in order that he might proceed thither with befitting state and dignity. * * * He said to him, "Thou seest how that revolts and disturbances are breaking out on every side, and I am told that whoever creates a disturbance does so with the aid of the foreign amirs.1 [The printed text, the MSS., and the text of Firishta all agree in this word [x], in the plural [x]. It is the Mughal title for a centurion or commander of a hundred. Briggs converts it into "Amir Judeeda," and translates it "foreign chiefs." He is probably not far wrong in the popular meaning he has assigned to it, but he is not justified in his alteration of the original word.] *** Revolts are possible, because these amirs are ready to join any one for the sake of disturbance and plunder. If you find at Dhar any of these amirs, who are disaffected and ready to rebel, you must get rid of them in the best way you can." 'Aziz arrived at Dhar, and in all his native ignorance applied himself to business. The vile whoreson one day got together about eighty of the foreign amirs and chiefs of the soldiery, and, upbraiding them with having been the cause of every misfortune and disturbance, he had them all beheaded in front of the palace. * * * This slaughter of the foreign amirs of Dhar, on the mere ground of their being foreigners, caused those of Deogir, and Gujarat, and every other place to unite and to break out into insurrection. *** When the Sultan was informed of this punishment, he sent 'Aziz a robe of honour and a complimentary letter. ***

I, the author of this work, have been for seventeen years and three months at the court of Sultan Muhammad, and have received many favours and gifts from him, *** and I have often heard him speak with contempt of low-born, mean men. *** Now when I see him promoting and honouring low and unworthy persons, I am lost in amazement. ***

About the time when this horrid tragedy was perpetrated by 'Aziz Himar, the naib-wazir of Gujarat, Mukbil by name, having with him the treasure and horses which had been procured in Gujarat for the royal stables, was proceeding by way of Dihui and Baroda to the presence of the Sultan. When he came near Dihui and Baroda, the foreign amirs of those places, who, alarmed by the act of 'Aziz, had been impelled into rebellion, attacked Mukbil, and carried off all the horses and treasure. They also destroyed all the goods and stuffs which the merchants of Gujarat were carrying under his convoy. Mukbil returned to Nahrwala, and his party was dispersed. The amirs having acquired so many horses and so much property grew in power and importance. Stirring up the flames of insurrection, they gathered together a force and proceeded to Kanhayat (Cambay). The news of their revolt spread throughout Gujarat, and the whole country was falling into utter confusion. At the end of the month of Ramazan, 745 H. (Feb. 1345), the intelligence of this revolt and of the defeat and plunder of Mukbil was brought to the Sultan. It caused him much anxiety, and he determined to proceed to Gujarat in person to repress the revolt.

Katlagh Khan, who had been his preceptor, sent a communication to the Sultan by Zia Barni, the author of this history, saying, "What are these amirs of Dihui and Baroda, and in what position are they that the Sultan should proceed in person against them?" ** "If permission is granted I am willing to raise an array from the resources which I have received through the Sultan's bounty, and to march to Gujarat, to repress this revolt." * * * The author of this work delivered the letter, *** but it did not meet with the Sultan's approval, and he vouchsafed no answer. He gave orders, however, for pressing on the preparations for his campaign. Before the news of the revolt arrived, he had appointed Shaikh Ma'izza-d din, son of Shaikh 'Alau-d din Ajodhani, to be naib of Gujarat. He now ordered three lacs of tankas to be given to the Shaikh for enabling him to raise in two or three days a thousand horse to accompany the royal army. He appointed Firoz, afterwards Sultan, Malik Kabir, and Ahmad Ayyaz to be vicegerents in the capital during his absence. He commenced his march and proceeded to Sultanpur, about fifteen kos from Dehli, where he remained a short time. This was just at the end of Ramazan. Here a letter reached him from Dhar from 'Aziz Himar, stating that *** as he was nearer to the rebels, and was ready with the forces of Dhar, he had marched against them. The Sultan was not very pleased with this movement, and became very anxious, for 'Aziz knew nothing of warfare, and the Sultan feared that he might be cut up by the rebels. This letter was followed immediately by the news that 'Aziz had engaged the enemy, and, having lost his head during the battle, he had fallen from his horse, and being senseless and helpless he had been taken by the rebels and put to an ignominious death.

Insurrection followed upon insurrection. During the four or five days of Ramazan that the Sultan halted at Sultanpur, late one evening he sent for the author of this work, Zia Barni. When he arrived the Sultan said, "Thou seeest how many revolts spring up. I have no pleasure in them, although men will say that they have all been caused by my excessive severity. But I am not to be turned aside from punishment by observations and by revolts. You have read many histories; hast thou found that kings inflict punishments under certain circumstances?" I replied, "I have read in royal histories that a king cannot carry on his government without punishments, for if he were not an avenger God knows what evils would arise from the insurrections of the disaffected, and how many thousand crimes would be committed by his subjects. Jamshid was asked under what circumstances punishment is approved.1 ["Siydsat." Capital punishment is evidently meant, in a limited sense of the word.] He replied, 'under seven circumstances, and whatever goes beyond or in excess of these causes, produces disturbances, trouble, and insurrection, and inflicts injury on the country: 1. Apostasy from the true religion, and persistence therein; 2. Wilful murder; 3. Adultery of a married man with another's wife; 4. Conspiracy against the king; 5. Heading a revolt, or assisting rebels; 6. Joining the enemies or rivals of the king, conveying news to them, or aiding and abetting them in any way; 7. Disobedience, productive of injury to the State. But for no other disobedience, as detriment to the realm is an essential. The servants of God are disobedient to him when they are disobedient to the king, who is his vicegerent; and the State would go to ruin, if the king were to refrain from inflicting punishment in such cases of disobedience as are injurious to the realm.'" The Sultan then asked me if the Prophet had said anything about these seven offences in respect of their punishment by kings. I replied "that the Prophet had declared his opinion upon three offences out of these seven — viz., apostasy, murder of a Musulman, and adultery with a married woman. The punishment of the other four offences is a matter rather of policy and good government. Referring to the benefits derivable from the punishments prescribed by Jamshid, it has been remarked that kings appoint wazirs, advance them to high dignity, and place the management of their kingdoms in their hands in order that these wazirs may frame regulations and keep the country in such good order that the king may be saved from having to stain himself with the blood of any mortal."The Sultan replied, ''Those punishments which Jamshid prescribed were suited to the early ages of the world, but in these days many wicked and turbulent men are to be found. I visit them with chastisement upon the suspicion or presumption of their rebellious and treacherous designs, and I punish the most trifling act of contumacy with death. This I will do until I die, or until the people act honestly, and give up rebellion and contumacy. I have no such wazir as will make rules to obviate my shedding blood. I punish the people because they have all at once become my enemies and opponents. I have dispensed great wealth among them, but they have not become friendly and loyal. Their temper is well known to me, and I see that they are disaffected and inimical to me."

The Sultan marched from Sultanpur towards Gujarat, and when he arrived at Nahrwala he sent Shaikh Ma'izzu-d din, with some officials, into the city, whilst he, leaving it on the left, proceeded into the mountains of Abhu,1 [Mount Abu. Print [x]. MS. 1. caret; 2. [x]. Firishta, Aboogur.] to which Dihui and Baroda were near. The Sultan then sent an officer with a force against the rebels, and these being unable to cope with the royal army, were defeated. Many of their horsemen were killed, the rest were dispersed, and with their wives and children fled to Deogir. The Sultan then proceeded from the mountains of Abhu to Broach, from whence he sent Malik Makbul,'2 [He is called Kabul in page 243 and Mukbil in page 253.] naib-wazir-i mamalik, with some of the soldiers from Dehli, some of the foreign amirs of Broach, and the soldiers of Broach, in pursuit of the fugitives. Malik Makbul accordingly followed the fugitives as far as the Nerbudda, where he attacked and utterly routed them. Most of them were killed, and their wives, children, and goods fell into the hands of the victors. Some of the most noted of the rebels fled upon bare-backed horses to Man Deo, chief of the mountains of Salir and Malir. Man Deo made them prisoners, and plundered them of all the valuables they possessed. Their evil influence in Gujarat was thus put an end to. Malik Makbul remained for some days on the banks of the Nerbudda, and under royal commands he seized most of the foreign amirs of Broach who had been sent to him, and put them to death. Of those who escaped the sword, some fled to Deogir, others to the chiefs (mukaddims) of Gujarat.

The Sultan remained for some time at Broach, busily engaged in collecting the dues of Broach, Kanhayat (Cambay), and Gujarat, which were several years in arrear. He appointed sharp collectors, and rigorously exacted large sums. At this period his anger was still more inflamed against the people, and revenge filled his bosom. Those persons at Broach and Cambay, who had disputed with Malik Makbul, or had in any way encouraged insurrection, were seized and consigned to punishment. Many persons of all descriptions thus met their ends.

While the Sultan was at Broach he appointed Zin-banda and the middle son of Rukn Thanesari, two men who were leaders in iniquity and the most depraved men in the world, to inquire into the matters of the disaffected at Deogir. Pisar Thanesari, the vilest of men, went to Deogir; and Zin-banda, a wicked iniquitous character, who was called Majdu-l Mulk, was on the road thither. A murmuring arose among the Musulmans at Deogir that two vile odious men had been deputed to investigate the disaffection, and to bring its movers to destruction. One of them was before their eyes, and they heard that the other had arrived at Dhar. It so happened that just about the same time the Sultan sent two well-known noblemen to Deogir with an order to the brother of Katlagh Khan, directing him to send to Broach fifteen hundred horsemen from Deogir with the most noted of the "foreign amirs." They accordingly proceeded to Deogir, and presented the order to Nizamu-d din, brother of Katlagh Khan. In accordance therewith, he commissioned fifteen hundred horse, and despatched with them the chief foreign amirs under the conduct of the two nobles who had been sent for them. They marched toward Broach, but at the end of the first stage the foreign amirs, who were attended by their own horsemen, considered that they had been summoned to Broach in order to be executed, and if they proceeded thither not one would return. So they consulted together and broke out into open resistance, and the two nobles who had been sent for them were killed in that first march. They then turned back with loud clamour and entered the royal palace, where they seized Maulana Nizamu-d din, the governor, and put him in confinement. The officials, who had been sent by the Sultan to Deogir, were taken and beheaded. They cut Pisar Thanesari to pieces, and brought down the treasure from (the fort of) Dharagir. Then they made Makh Afghan, brother of Malik Yak Afghan, one of the foreign amirs, their leader, and placed him on the throne. The money and treasure were distributed among the soldiers. The Mahratta country was apportioned among these foreign amirs, and several disaffected persons joined the Afghans. The foreign amirs of Dihui and Baroda left Man Deo and proceeded to Deogir, where the revolt had increased and had become established. The people of the country joined them.

The Sultan, on hearing of this revolt, made ready a large force and arrived at Deogir, where the rebels and traitors confronted him. He attacked them and defeated them. Most of the horsemen were slain in the action. Makh Afghan, their commander, who had received a royal canopy, and had called himself Sultan, escaped, with his confederates and his wives and children, to the fort of Dharagir, and there took refuge. Hasan Kangu, and the rebels of Bidar, and the brethren of Makh Afghan, fled before the royal forces to their own countries. The inhabitants of Deogir, Hindus and Musulmans, traders and soldiers, were plundered. 'Imidu-l Mulk, Sar-tez i Sultani, with several other amirs, was sent by the Sultan to Kulbarga, with instructions to occupy that place and to secure the neighbouring country. He was also directed to hunt up the fugitives who had fled before the royal forces, and to put a stop to their machinations. The Sultan stayed for a while at Deogir, in the royal palace, and on New Year's Day all the Musulmans in the place went to wait upon him. ***

While the Sultan was engaged at Deogir in settling the affairs of that place and in providing for the settlement of the Mahratta country, and before he had finished the business of the amirs and the army, news arrived of the revolt, excited by the traitor Taghi, in Gujarat. This man was a cobbler, and had been a slave of the general, Malik Sultani. He had won over the foreign amirs of Gujarat, and had broken out into rebellion. Many of the mukaddims of Gujarat joined him. He marched to Nahrwala, killed Malik Muzaffar, the assistant of Shaikh Ma'izzu-d din (the governor), and made the latter and his officers prisoners. Taghi then proceeded, at the head of his rebels, to Cambay, and, after plundering that place, he proceeded with a body of Hindus and Musulmans to the fort of Broach. They attacked the fort, and every day had conflicts with the defenders. The Sultan, upon receiving intelligence of this rising, left the affairs of Deogir half settled, and placing certain officers in charge, departed with all speed towards Broach to meet the rebels. All the Musulmans of that place who had remained in Deogir, high and low, marched with the royal army to Broach. Grain was very dear, and the army suffered great privations. I, Zia Barni, the author of this history, just at this time joined the Sultan, after he had made one or two marches from Ghati-sakun towards Broach. I had been sent from the capital by the present Sultan (Firoz), Malik Kabir, and Ahmad Ayyaz, with letters of congratulation on the conquest of Deogir. The Sultan received me with great favour. One day, as I was riding in his suite, the Sultan conversed with me, and the conversation turned upon rebellion. He then said, "Thou seest what troubles these traitorous foreign amirs have excited on every side. When I collect my forces and put them down in one direction, they excite disturbances in some other quarter. If I had at the first given orders for the destruction of all the foreign amirs of Deogir, Gujarat, and Broach, I should not have been so troubled by them. This rebel, Taghi, is my slave; if I had executed him or had sent him as a memorial to the King of Eden, this revolt would never have broken out." I could not help feeling a desire to tell the Sultan that the troubles and revolts which were breaking out on every side, and this general disaffection, all arose from the excessive severity of his Majesty, and that if punishments were suspended for a while, a better feeling might spring up, and mistrust be removed from the hearts of the people. But I dreaded the temper of the king, and could not say what I desired, so I said to myself, What is the good of pointing out to the Sultan the causes of the troubles and disturbances in his country, for it will have no effect upon him?

The Sultan arrived at Broach, and encamped on the banks of the Nerbadda, which flows by the town. When the rebel Taghi was apprized of the approach of the Sultan, he abandoned the town, with a party of his adherents not numbering more than three hundred horse. The Sultan then placed Malik Yusuf Baghra in command of two thousand horse, and sent him with some other amirs to Cambay. In four or five days he drew near to that place and encountered Taghi, when he and several other amirs were slain, and the army being routed, fled to Broach. Instantly upon hearing this, the Sultan crossed the river, and remained two or three days in Broach. Although he made every exertion to get to Cambay, Taghi heard of his advance and fled from that place to Asawal.1 [Ahmadabad.] Thither the Sultan pursued him, but the rebel again fled and went to Nahrwala. Before the Sultan left Broach, Taghi had executed Shaikh Mu'izzu-d din and several other officials whom he had made prisoners. * * *

The Sultan arrived at Asawal and had to stay there about a month, on account of the ill-condition of his horses and the fall of rain. While the rains were still prevailing, news came from Nahrwala that Taghi had marched from thence with a party of horse towards Asawal and had arrived at the town of Karra. The Sultan marched from Asawal in the very height of the rains, and on the third or fourth day reached Karra. Next day he drew out his forces and attacked the rebel. Taghi, on seeing the approach of the royal force, plied his men with wine and made them drunk. The foreign horsemen (sawari sadi) then made an impetuous and reckless charge with their drawn swords on the royal forces, but they were encountered by the elephants and overthrown. They then ran among the trees, dispersed and fled towards Nahrwala. Several were made prisoners, and all the baggage fell into the hands of the victors. Four or five hundred men, combatants and non-combatants1 [As tar o khusk.] were taken with the baggage, and were all put to the sword. The Sultan then placed the son of Malik Yusuf Baghra at the head of a force, and sent him in pursuit of the fugitives, but night came on, so he and his troops halted to rest. Taghi, with his remaining horsemen, reached Nahrwala; there he collected all his family and dependents, and proceeded to Kant-barahi,2 [So the print. One MS. has "Katab and Barai," the other "Kanhan and Barahi."] where he stayed some days. From thence he wrote to the Rai of Karnal, imploring assistance in his flight, and proceeded to Karnal. Then he went to Thatta and Damrila, where he found refuge.

Two or three days after, the Sultan arrived at Nahrwala, and alighted at the garden of the reservoir of Sahsilang. There he applied himself to settling the affairs of Gujarat. The mukaddims, the ranas, and the mahants of Gujarat, came in and paid their homage, and received robes and rewards. In a short time the inhabitants who had been scattered abroad returned to their homes and were delivered from the ravages of the rebels. Several of Taghi's chief supporters left him and went to the Rana of Mandal and Teri,3 [So the print. One MS. says "Mandal Tabri," the other "Mandal Pari."] but that chief slew them and sent their heads to the Sultan. He also seized upon all their wives and children. For this service he received robes and rewards, and being so favoured he came to the Court.

While the Sultan was engaged in settling the affairs of the country, and was about to enter Nahrwala, news came from Deogir that Hasan Kangu and other rebels, who had fled before the royal army in the day of battle, had since attacked 'Imadu-l Mulk, and had slain him and scattered his army. Kiwamu-d din and other nobles left Deogir and went towards Dhar. Hasan Kangu then proceeded to Deogir and assumed royal dignity. Those rebels who had fled before the Sultan's army to the summit of Dharagir, now came down, and a revolution was effected in Deogir. When intelligence of this reached the Sultan's ears, he was very disheartened, for he saw very well that the people were alienated. No place remained secure, all order and regularity were lost, and the throne was tottering to its fall.

During the months of the Sultan's stay at Nahrwala no one was sent to execution (siyasat). He summoned Ahmad Ayyaz and other nobles, with an army, from the capital, with the intention of sending them to Deogir, and they, having made every preparation, came to the Sultan. But news now arrived that Hasan Kangu had drawn together a large force at Deogir. The Sultan therefore did not deem it advisable to send them there, and gave up the idea of attacking it. He determined that he would free Gujarat, take Karnal, and put down the traitor Taghi; after which he would march to Deogir, overthrow the rebels, and remove every cause of trouble and anxiety. In pursuance of this plan he first directed his attention to the taking of Karnal and the fort of Shankar.'1 [This is a personal name, see infra. The spelling is that of one of the MSS. The print has "Kanhgar" and "Khankar."] The mukaddims of Deogir, who had come from that place to wait upon the Sultan, now saw that the business of their country was postponed; so they went off by ones and twos, and, meeting at a rendezvous, they returned to Deogir.

The success of the rebels, and the loss of Deogir, greatly troubled the king. One day, while he was thus distressed, he sent for me, the author of this work, and, addressing me, said: "My kingdom is diseased, and no treatment cures it. The physician cures the headache, and fever follows; he strives to allay the fever, and something else2 ["Sadah" in the print and in one MS., "chize digar" in the other.] supervenes. So in my kingdom disorders have broken out; if I suppress them in one place they appear in another; if I allay them in one district another becomes disturbed. What have former kings said about these disorders?" I replied, "Histories record many remedies which kings have employed in these disorders. Some kings, when they have perceived that they do not retain the confidence of their people, and have become the objects of general dislike, have abdicated their thrones and have given over the government to the most worthy of their sons. Retiring into privacy, and occupying themselves in innocent pursuits, they have passed their time in the society of sympathizing friends, without troubling themselves about matters of government. Other kings, when they have found themselves the objects of general aversion, have taken to hunting, pleasure, and wine, leaving all the business of the State to their wazirs and officers, and throwing off all concern in them. If this course seems good1 [The text has a negative here, which seems to mar the sense.] to the people, and the king is not given to revenge, the disorders of the State may be cured. Of all political ills, the greatest and most dire is a general feeling of aversion and a want of confidence among all ranks of the people." The Sultan replied, "If I can settle the affairs of my kingdom according to my wish, I will consign my realm of Dehli to three persons, Firoz Shah, Malik Kabir, and Ahmad Ayyaz, and I will then proceed on the pilgrimage to the holy temple. At present I am angry with my subjects, and they are aggrieved with me. The people are acquainted with my feelings, and I am aware of their misery and wretchedness. No treatment that I employ is of any benefit. My remedy for rebels, insurgents, opponents, and disaffected people is the sword. I employ punishment and use the sword, so that a cure may be effected by suffering. The more the people resist, the more I inflict chastisement."

When the Sultan gave up Deogir and applied himself to the settlement of Gujarat, he passed three rainy seasons in that country. The first he passed at Mandal and Teri,2 ["Mandal ba Teri." "Mandal pari" in one MS.] devoting his time to the affairs of the country and the equipment of his army. The second he passed near the fort of Karnal. When the mukaddim of that place saw the numbers and strength of the royal army, he resolved to make Taghi prisoner and deliver him up; but the rebel got notice of his intention, and fled to Thatta, where he found refuge with the Jam. After the rains were over, the Sultan took Karnal, and brought all the coast into subjection. The ranas and mukaddims came in and made submission, whereupon they received robes and rewards. A commissioner was sent to take charge of Karnal. Khankar and the Rana of Karnal, being taken prisoners, were brought to the court, and all that country was completely subdued. The third rainy season the Sultan passed at Kondal. This is a place in the direction of Thatta, Sumargan,1 [Var: "Siyumgan" and "Siyumragan."] and Damrila. At Kondal the Sultan fell sick with fever, which obliged him to remain there for some time. Before the Sultan went to Kondal he received from Dehli the intelligence of the death of Malik Kabir, which deeply grieved him. Thereupon he sent Ahmad Ayyaz and Malik Makbul from the army to take charge of the affairs of the capital. He summoned Khudawand-zada,2 [See page 276 infra.] Makhdum-zada, and many elders, learned men and others, with their wives and families, to Kondal. Every one that was summoned hastened with horse and foot to join the Sultan at Kondal, so that a large force was gathered there and was formed into an army. Boats were brought from Deobalpur, Multan, Uch, and Siwistan to the river. The Sultan recovered from his disorder, and marched with his army to the Indus. He crossed that river in ease and safety with his army and elephants. He was there joined by Altun Bahadur, with four or five thousand Mughal horse, sent by the Amir of Farghan. The Sultan showed great attention to this leader and his followers, and bestowed many gifts upon them. He then advanced along the banks of the Indus towards Thatta, with an army as numerous as a swarm of ants or locusts, with the intention of humbling the Sumras and the rebel Taghi, whom they had sheltered.

As he was thus marching with his countless army, and was thirty kos from Thatta, the ''ashura or fast of the 10th of Muharram happened. He kept the fast, and when it was over he ate some fish. The fish did not agree with him, his illness returned and fever increased. He was placed in a boat and continued his journey on the second and third days, until he came to within fourteen kos of Thatta. He then rested, and his army was fully prepared, only awaiting the royal command to take Thatta, and to crush the Sumras of Thatta and the rebel Taghi in a single day, and to utterly annihilate them. But fate ruled it otherwise. During the last two or three days that he was encamped near Thatta, the Sultan's malady had grown worse, and his army was in great trouble, for they were a thousand kos distant from Dehli and their wives and children, they were near the enemy and in a wilderness and desert, so they were sorely distressed, and looking upon the Sultan's expected death as preliminary to their own, they quite despaired of returning home. On the 21st Muharram, 752 H. (1350 A.D.), Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlik departed this life on the banks of the Indus, at fourteen kos from Thatta. ***

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Sultan Firoz Shah

I, the author of this Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, have written all that I have witnessed during six years of the personal character of the reigning sovereign, and of the events which have occurred during that time. I have included these in eleven chapters, and if I live some years longer I intend to write ninety more chapters, so that the complete history of the reign may consist of one hundred and one chapters (mukaddamas). * * *

Chapter 1. Account of the Accession of Firoz Shah.

Chapter 2. March of the Sultan from Siwistan to Dehli.

Chapter 3. Eulogy of the personal character of the Sultan.

Chapter 4. His bounty in the grant of pensions and in'ams.

Chapter 5. His buildings.

Chapter 6. Formation of Canals.  

Chapter 7. Rules of Government.

Chapter 8. Conquest of Lakhnauti.

Chapter 9. Arrival of letters and robes from the Khalifa.

Chapter 10. Hunting matters.

Chapter 11. Defeat of the attacks of the Mughals.

1. — Accession of Firoz Shah.

* * * On the third day after the death of Mahammad Tughlik, the army marched from (its position) fourteen kos from Thatta towards Siwistan, on its return homewards. Every division of the army marched without leader, rule, or route, in the greatest disorder. No one heeded or listened to what any one said, but continued the march like careless caravans. So when they had proceeded a kos or two, the Mughals, eager for booty, assailed them in front, and the rebels of Thatta attacked them in the rear. Cries of dismay arose upon every side. The Mughals fell to plundering, and carried off women, maids, horses, camels, troopers, baggage, and whatever else had been sent on in advance. They had very nearly captured the royal harem and the treasure with the camels which carried it. The villagers (who had been pressed into the service) of the army, and expected the attack, took to flight. They pillaged various lots of baggage on the right and left of the army, and then joined the rebels of Thatta in attacking the baggage train. The people of the army, horse and foot, women and men, stood their ground; for when they marched, if any advanced in front, they were assailed by the Mughals; if they lagged behind, they were plundered by the rebels of Thatta. Those who resisted and put their trust in God reached the next stage, but those who had gone forward with the women, maids, and baggage, were cut to pieces. The army continued its march along the river without any order or regularity, and every man was in despair for his life and goods, his wife and children. Anxiety and distress would allow no one to sleep that night, and, in their dismay, men remained with their eyes fixed upon heaven. On the second day, by stratagem and foresight, they reached their halting ground, assailed, as on the first day, by the Mughals in front and the men of Thatta in the rear. They rested on the banks of the river in the greatest possible distress, and in fear for their lives and goods. The women and children had perished. Makhdum Zada 'Abbasi, the Shaikhu-s Shaiyukh of Egypt, Shaikh Nasiru-d din Mahmud Oudhi, and the chief men, assembled and went to Firoz Shah, and with one voice said, "Thou art the heir apparent and legatee of the late Sultan; he had no son, and thou art his brother's son; there is no one in the city or in the army enjoying the confidence of the people, or possessing the ability to reign. For God's sake save these wretched people, ascend the throne, and deliver us and many thousand other miserable men. Redeem the women and children of the soldiers from the hands of the Mughals, and purchase the prayers of two lacs of people." Firoz Shah made objections, which the leaders would not listen to. All ranks, young and old, Musulmans and Hindus, horse and foot, women and children, assembled, and with one acclaim declared that Firoz Shah alone was worthy of the crown. "If he does not assume it to-day and let the Mughals hear of his doing so, not one of us will escape from the hands of the Mughals and the Thatta men." So on the 24th Muharram, 752 H. (1351 A.D.), the Sultan ascended the throne.

On the day of his accession the Sultan got some horse in order and sent them out to protect the army, for whenever the Mughal horse came down they killed and wounded many, and carried off prisoners. On the same day he named some amirs to guard the rear of the army, and these attacked the men of Thatta when they fell upon the baggage. Several of the assailants were put to the sword, and they, terrified with this lesson, gave up the pursuit and returned home. On the third day he ordered certain amirs to attack the Mughals, and they accordingly made several of the Mughal commanders of thousands and of hundreds prisoners, and brought them before the Sultan. The Mughals from that very day ceased their annoyance; they moved thirty or forty kos away, and then departed for their own country.

II. — Stoppage of the evils inflicted by the Mughals of Changiz Khan.

All men of intelligence in Hind and Sind have seen and remarked he stop which has been put to the inroads of the Mughals of Changiz Khan in this auspicious reign. They have not been able to attack and ravage the frontier territories, nor have they been permitted to come in with professions of friendship and employ their arts to carry off the wealth of the country. They had the presumption to make two attacks. Once they crossed the Sodra and came into the neighbouring country. There they were met by the forces of Islam and were defeated. Many were killed and many were taken prisoners. These latter were placed upon camels, and were paraded in derision 'round Dehli, with wooden collars on their necks. Those who escaped from the battle fled in the greatest precipitation and confusion, and many were drowned in the passage of the Sodra. On the other occasion they made a rapid dash into Gujarat. Some perished from thirst, some died by the hands of the soldiers, and some fell in a night attack which the natives of the country made upon them. Not one-tenth of these accursed followers of Changiz Khan reached their own country.

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XVI. Tarikh-I Firoz Shahi, of Shams-i Siraj 'Afif

It was Ahmed Khan who, with the help of Captain Nassau Lees and Maulvi Kabiruddin Ahmed, compiled the first printed edition of the Persian text of the Tarikh, using one complete manuscript and three incomplete manuscripts to finish what Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli tells us is the first Persian edited text. It was published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta) in 1862 and was one of the achievements which earned him his Fellowship of the Royal Asiatic Society.

-- Traces of the Great: A medieval history of the Delhi Sultanate, by Francis Robinson

Barani’s unexpected death was an occasion of great mourning to Firuz Shah. The sultan despaired to find another historian who could rival Barani’s skills and reputation. His despair prompted him to assume the task himself and he wrote his own account of events of his reign in the Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi....

Shams-i Siraj ‘Afif, author of the Ta'rikh-i Firuz Shahi, completed his work after the death of Firuz Shah. The work was written after the capture of the city of Delhi by Timur’s army in 1398-1399. ‘Afif's relationship to the court is not known. He was not known to be a nadim like Barani and his patron is not known. ‘Afif devotes several chapters to the architectural endeavors of the sultan, most notably the foundations at Firuzabad and Hissar. He also provides a list of monuments where Firuz Shah undertook restoration and also discusses the transport of the Asokan columns to Delhi. Since ‘Afif witnessed the destruction of Delhi by Timur, his history is a nostalgic recollection of a past era. His account is not always firsthand and he frequently relies on the testimony of other authorities, such as his father, as well as his own memory. According to the author, the Ta’rikh is only part of a larger composition which records the history of the Delhi sultanate from the time of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq through the time of Timur’s capture. However, the known manuscripts of the work include only the reign of Firuz Shah. The name Ta’rikh-i Firuz Shahi has been ascribed to the work by modern historians on the basis of the surviving portions. Even these, however, are incomplete according to the author’s table of contents. ‘Afif refers to his work as the Manaqib-i Firuz Shahi....

Firishta is believed to have depended heavily on Barani’s Ta’rikh-i Firuz Shahi, but he seems to be unaware of ‘Afif s work. See Hardy, "Firishta," Encyclopedia of Islam 2 (1966), pp. 921-922.

Neither Khwajah Nizamuddin Ahmad Bakshi [1551-1621 CE] or Firishta [1560-1620 CE] [or Ziauddin Barani (1285–1358 CE )] were aware of ‘Afif's Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi [or Mr. Anonymous’ Sirat-i Firuz Shahi]…

-- The Architecture of Firuz Shah Tughluq, Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate, School of The Ohio State University, by William Jeffrey McKibben, B.A., M.A., 1988

This History of Firoz Shah is devoted exclusively to the reign of that monarch, and therefore has a better right to the title than Barni's history, which embraces only a small portion of the reign of Firoz, and bears the title simply because it was written or finished during his reign. Little is known of Shams-i Siraj beyond what is gleaned from his own work. He was descended from a family which dwelt at Abuhar, the country of Firoz Shah's Bhatti mother. His great grandfather, he says, was collector of the revenue of Abuhar, and was intimate with Ghiyasu-d din Tughlik before he became Sultan. He himself was attached to the court of Firoz, and accompanied him on his hunting expeditions.]

The work has met with scarcely any notice, whilst every historian who writes of the period quotes and refers to Ziau-d din Barni. The reason of this may be that Shams-i Siraj enters more than usual into administrative details, and devotes some chapters to the condition of the common people — a matter of the utmost indifference to Muhammadan authors in general. His untiring strain of eulogy could not have condemned him in their eyes, as they were accustomed to little else in all the other histories they consulted; so that we must either attribute the neglect of this work to the cause assigned, or to the fact of its having at a comparatively late period been rescued from some musty record room. The work, consisting of ninety chapters, contains an ample account of this Akbar of his time; and, making due allowance for the prevalent spirit of eulogium and exaggeration, it not only raises in us a respect for the virtues and munificence of Firoz, and for the benevolence of his character, as shown by his canals and structures for public accommodation, but gives us altogether a better view of the internal condition of India under a Muhammadan sovereign than is presented to us in any other work, except the A'yin-i Akbari.

The streetlight effect, or the drunkard's search principle, is a type of observational bias that occurs when people only search for something where it is easiest to look. Both names refer to a well-known joke:

A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, "this is where the light is".

The anecdote goes back at least to the 1920s, and has been used metaphorically in the social sciences since at least 1964, when Abraham Kaplan referred to it as "the principle of the drunkard's search". The anecdote has also been attributed to Nasreddin. According to Idries Shah, this tale is used by many Sufis, commenting upon people who seek exotic sources for enlightenment.

-- Streetlight effect, by Wikipedia

[In style, this history has no pretensions to elegance, being, in general, very plain. The author is much given to reiterations and recapitulations, and he has certain pet phrases which he constantly uses. Sir H. Elliot desired to print a translation of the whole work, and he evidently held it in high estimation. A portion of the work had been translated for him by a munshi, but this has proved to be entirely useless. The work of translation has, consequently, fallen upon the editor, and he has endeavoured to carry out Sir H. Elliot's plan by making a close translation of the first three chapters, and by extracting from the rest of the work everything that seemed worthy of selection. The translation is close, without being servile; here and there exuberances of eloquence have been pruned out, and repetitions and tautologies have been passed over without notice, but other omissions have been marked by asterisks, or by brief descriptions in brackets of the passages omitted. Shams-i Siraj, with a better idea of method than has fallen to the lot of many of his brother historians, has divided his work into books and chapters with appropriate headings.

The work is not divided into chapters, or other divisions, systematically, in a way useful for reference, so the occasional headings have not been given in the translation.

-- XV. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Ziaud Din Barni, Excerpt from The History of India As Told By Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, edited from the posthumous papers of the Late Sir H.M. Elliot, K.C.B., East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, by Professor John Dowson, M.R.A.S., Staff college, Sandhurst, Vol. III, P. 93-269, 1871

[Besides this history of Firoz Shah, the author often refers to his Manakib-i Sultan Tughlik, and he mentions his intention of writing similar memoirs of the reign of Sultan Muhammad, the son of Firoz Shah. Nothing more appears to be known of these works. Copies of the Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi are rare in India, and Colonel Lees, who has selected the work for publication in the Bibliotheca Indica, has heard only of "one copy in General Hamilton's library, and of another at Dehli, in the possession of Nawab Ziau-d din Loharu, of which General Hamilton's is perhaps a transcript."1 [Journ. R.A.S., New Series, iii., 446.] The editor has had the use of four copies. One belonging to Sir H. Elliot, and another belonging to Mr. Thomas, are of quite recent production. They are evidently taken from the same original, most probably the Dehli copy above mentioned. The other two copies belong to the library of the India Office, one having been lately purchased at the sale of the Marquis of Hastings's books. These are older productions; they are well and carefully written, and although they contain many obvious errors, they will be of the greatest service in the preparation of a correct text. None of these MSS. are perfect.The two modern copies terminate in the middle of the ninth chapter of the last book. The Hastings copy wants several chapters at the end of the first and the beginning of the second book; but it extends to the eleventh chapter of the last book, and has the final leaf of the work. The other MS. ends in the middle of the fifteenth chapter of the last book, and some leaves are missing from the fourteenth. Fortunately these missing chapters seem, from the headings given in the preface, to be of no importance.

[A considerable portion of the work was translated in abstract by Lieut. Henry Lewis, Bengal Artillery, and published in the Journal of the Archaeological Society of Dehli in 1849.]

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Kism I. — [???]

First Mukaddama, — Birth of Firoz Shah.

Firoz Shah was born in the year 709 H. (1309 A.D.). It is recorded that his father was named Sipah-salar Rajab, and was brother of Sultan Ghiyasu-d din Tughlik Ghazi. [Sipah-salar Rajab was the uncle of Muhammad Shah, and Firoz Shah was the cousin of Muhammad Shah?]

Ghazi Malik, who afterwards became Sultan Tughlik Shah ...

-- XV. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Ziaud Din Barni [Ziauddin Barani], Excerpt from The History of India As Told By Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, edited from the posthumous papers of the Late Sir H.M. Elliot, K.C.B., East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, by Professor John Dowson, M.R.A.S., Staff college, Sandhurst, Vol. III, P. 93-269, 1871

When Firoz Shah was seven years old his father, Sipah-salar Rajab, died, and Tughlik Shah made great mourning for him....

Firoz Shah was fourteen years old when Sultan Tughlik Shah ascended the throne. The Sultan was engaged for four years and a half in travelling about his dominions, and during that time Firoz Shah attended him, obtaining full knowledge of all public business transacted by the Sultan. On the death of Sultan Tughlik he was succeeded on the throne of Dehli by Muhammad Shah.

-- XVI. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Shams-i Siraj 'Afif, Excerpt from The History of India As Told By Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, edited from the posthumous papers of the Late Sir H.M. Elliot, K.C.B., East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, by Professor John Dowson, M.R.A.S., Staff college, Sandhurst, Vol. III, P. 269-364, 1871

On the 21st Muharram, 752 H. (1350 A.D.), Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlik departed this life on the banks of the Indus, at fourteen kos from Thatta....

Makhdum Zada 'Abbasi, the Shaikhu-s Shaiyukh of Egypt, Shaikh Nasiru-d din Mahmud Oudhi, and the chief men, assembled and went to Firoz Shah, and with one voice said, "Thou art the heir apparent and legatee of the late Sultan; he had no son, and thou art his brother's son [Sipah-salar Rajab was the brother of Muhammad Shah, and Firoz Shah was the nephew of Muhammad Shah?]; there is no one in the city or in the army enjoying the confidence of the people, or possessing the ability to reign. For God's sake save these wretched people, ascend the throne, and deliver us and many thousand other miserable men. Redeem the women and children of the soldiers from the hands of the Mughals, and purchase the prayers of two lacs of people." Firoz Shah made objections, which the leaders would not listen to. All ranks, young and old, Musulmans and Hindus, horse and foot, women and children, assembled, and with one acclaim declared that Firoz Shah alone was worthy of the crown. "If he does not assume it to-day and let the Mughals hear of his doing so, not one of us will escape from the hands of the Mughals and the Thatta men." So on the 24th Muharram, 752 H. (1351 A.D.), the Sultan ascended the throne.

-- XV. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Ziaud Din Barni [Ziauddin Barani], Excerpt from The History of India As Told By Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, edited from the posthumous papers of the Late Sir H.M. Elliot, K.C.B., East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, by Professor John Dowson, M.R.A.S., Staff college, Sandhurst, Vol. III, P. 93-269, 1871

Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, the military governor of Dipalpur and Multan, seized power in 720/1320 and established a new ruling Muslim line.

Abu’l-Muzaffar Firuz Shah was born in 709/1309, the son of an sipahsalar (army commander), Rajab, who was the brother of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq Ghazi. His mother, Bibi Na’ila, was a Hindu from the Punjab, the daughter of the Rana of Dipalpur, a zamindar (landholder).

Little is known about Firuz Shah’s childhood. His father died when he was seven whereupon his upbringing fell into the hands of his uncle Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq. When Ghiyath al-Din ascended the throne in 720/1320, Firuz Shah’s education in the affairs of state began. When he was eighteen, Ghiyath al-Din died and his tutelage was continued under Muhammad bin Tughluq, the brother of Ghiyath al-Din. [Sipah-salar Rajab was the brother of Muhammad Shah, and Firoz Shah was the nephew of Muhammad Shah?] Muhammad bin Tughluq appointed Firuz Shah as naib-i amir-hajib (deputy of the lord chamberlain) and granted him the title na’ib bar-bak which carried a command of 12,000 horses.

-- The Architecture of Firuz Shah Tughluq, Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate, School of The Ohio State University, by William Jeffrey McKibben, B.A., M.A.

Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. He succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq following the latter's death at Thatta in Sindh, where Muhammad bin Tughlaq had gone in pursuit of Taghi the ruler of Gujarat.1 [Peter Jackson. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History: "When Muhammad left Delhi for the last time, he delegated authority in the capital to Khwaja Jahan, his cousin, Firuz and Malik Qabul 'Khalifat!' (also known as 'Malik Kabir').81 As undisputed heir-apparent throughout his father's reign, Muhammad seems to have built up a power-base of his own. Nigam's assertion that the slave system did not receive much encouragement during Muhammad's reign82 is simply at variance with the testimony of our sources. Among his most trusted amirs was Malik Qabul, his slave and probably an Indian; and we know that the sultan also recruited black slaves (Habashis), one of whom, presumably, was Badr al-Habashi, his governor at c. Alapur.83... the total figure of 20,000 for Muhammad's Turkish slaves transmitted by al-c. Umari is probably too low84...Even discounting the amirs whom Firuz Shah had inherited from his cousin, however, there were still several nobles of free stock. Zafar Khan (II), the muqta' of Gujarat, was the son and successor of Zafar Khan (I)... Firuz Shah, in turn, may well have been a more orthodox and pious figure than his late cousin; but extraneous factors also surely underlay his policies. The sultan's accession had not gone unchallenged; and he was clearly conscious, moreover, of a need to distance himself from the extravagances of Muhammad, who had clashed with the Islamic ‘religious establishment’ and executed not a few of its members.... two groups that had coalesced around Muhammad and around the descendants of his eldest brother ... we are told, he enjoyed the sympathy of not only the amirs and the people of the capital but also Firuz Shah's slaves...On Muhammad’s death in 752/1351, the army commanders and other leading figures present in Sind prevailed upon the late sultan’s cousin and arriir-hajib , Firuz b. Rajab, to accept the throne; and after expressing a reluctance that may not have been totally assumed, he did so. The accession of Firuz Shah did not go unchallenged. The claims of the the late monarch’s nephew, Dawar Malik, were advanced by his mother, Tughluq’s daughter Khudawandzada, who was dissuaded by the amirs on the grounds of her son’s inexperience.97 In the capital the wazir Khwaja Jahan Ahmad b. Ayaz had set up as sultan an alleged child of Muhammad’s as Ghiyath al-DIn Mahmud Shah.98 As Firuz Shah moved on Delhi, he was joined by a great many notables who had deserted Khwaja Jahan. Eventually the wazir himself appeared in an attitude of humble submission. Firuz Shah was disposed to be merciful, but yielded to pressure from his amirs, who were out for the old wazir’s blood. Khwaja Jahan, despatched to his new iqta c of Samana, was overtaken and executed by Shir Khan, its current muqta c . A few of his associates were likewise put to death;99 but the fate of the child sultan he had enthroned is a mystery.]

-- Firuz Shah Tughlaq, by Wikipedia

The writer of this work has given a full account of their parentage in his Memoirs of Sultan Tughlik (Manakib-i Sultan Tughlik).

Besides this history of Firoz Shah, the author often refers to his Manakib-i Sultan Tughlik, and he mentions his intention of writing similar memoirs of the reign of Sultan Muhammad, the son of Firoz Shah. Nothing more appears to be known of these works.

-- XVI. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Shams-i Siraj 'Afif, Excerpt from The History of India As Told By Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, edited from the posthumous papers of the Late Sir H.M. Elliot, K.C.B., East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, by Professor John Dowson, M.R.A.S., Staff college, Sandhurst, Vol. III, P. 269-364, 1871

The three brothers, Tughlik, Rajab, and Abu Bakr, came from Khurasan to Dehli in the reign of 'Alau-d din, and that monarch, under Divine guidance, treated them with great kindness and favour. All three were taken into the service of the Court, and the Sultan, observing their courage and energy, conferred upon Tughlik the country of Dipalpur, and employed all the brothers in public business. Tughlik was desirous that his brother Sipahsalar Rajab should obtain in marriage the daughter of one of the Rais of Dipalpur; and while he was seeking a suitable match, he was informed that the daughters of Rana Mall Bhatti were very beautiful and accomplished. In those days all the estates, from the highest to the lowest, and all the jungle belonging to the Mini and Bhatti tribes, were attached to the town of Abuhar, which was one of the dependencies of Dipalpur. The author's great-grandfather, Malik S'adu-l Mulk Shahab 'Afif was then 'amaldar of Abuhar, and Tughlik Shah, after consultation with him, sent some intelligent and acute persons to Rana Mall with a proposal of marriage.

When the messengers delivered Tughlik's message, Rana Mall, in his pride and haughtiness, uttered unseemly and improper observations. This, together with the Rana's refusal, was communicated to Tughlik Shah, who then again took counsel with the author's ancestor, and after much debate it was decided that Tughlik Shah should proceed to the villages (talwandi) belonging to Rana Mall, and demand payment of the year's revenue. Next day Tughlik proceeded thither and demanded payment in ready money of the whole amount. The mukaddims and chaudharis were subjected to coercion, and payment in full was insisted upon. The Rana's people were helpless and could do nothing, for those were the days of 'Alau-d din, and no one dared to make any outcry. In the course of two or three days they were reduced to extremities and suffered much hardship. Some trustworthy and precise persons told the author that the mother of Rana Mall, who was an old woman, when she heard of Tughlik Shah's severity to the people, proceeded at the time of evening prayer into the house of her son, weeping and tearing her hair, and spoke most feelingly upon the matter. At that time Rana Mall's daughter, the future mother of Firoz Shah, was in the court-yard. When that fortunate damsel heard the wailing and crying of the Rana's mother, she inquired what was the cause of her grief; and the dame replied, "I am weeping on your account, for it is through you that Tughlik Shah is weighing so heavily on the people of this land." The author's veracious informer said that the high-spirited, noble girl exclaimed, ''If the surrender of me will deliver the people from such misery, comply instantly with the demand, and send me to him; consider then that the Mughals have carried off one of your daughters."

Ghazi Malik, who afterwards became Sultan Tughlik Shah, had obtained great renown in Hindustan and Khurasan. He held the territories of Debalpur and Lahor, and, until the end of the reign of Kutbu-d din, he proved a barrier to the inroads of the Mughals, occupying, in fact, the position formerly held by Shir Khan. Every winter he led out a chosen force from Debalpur, and marching to the frontiers of the Mughals he challenged them to come forth. The Mughals were so dispirited that they dared not even make any military display upon their frontiers. No one now cared about them, or gave them the slightest thought. ***...

When more than two months had passed after the overthrow of the house of 'Alau-d din, and the degradation of all its connections and dependents before the eyes of several of its great nobles, Malik Fakhru-d din began to take heart, and courageously to resolve upon exacting vengeance. One afternoon he mounted his horse, and, with a few slaves, confiding himself to God, he fled from Khusru. *** At evening his flight became known, * * * and filled Khusru and his followers with dismay. * * * A body of horse was sent after him, but Fakhru-d din, the hero of Iran and Turan, reached Sarsuti, and his pursuers, not being able to overtake him, returned dispirited to Dehli. Before he reached Sarsuti, his father, Ghazi Malik (afterwards Sultan Ghiyasu-d din), sent Muhammad Sartaba with two hundred horse, and he had taken possession of the fort of Sarsuti. With these horsemen Fakhru-d din proceeded to his father, whom, to his great joy, he reached in safety at Deobalpur. Malik Ghazi's hands were now free to wreak vengeance on the Parwaris and Hindus for the murder of his patron, and he immediately prepared to march against the enemy. Khusru appointed his brother, whom he had made Khan-i Khanan, and Yusuf Sufi, now Yusuf Khan, to command his army. He gave his brother a royal canopy, and sent them with elephants and treasure towards Deobalpur. So these two foolish ignorant lads went forth, like newly-hatched chickens just beginning to fly, to fight with a veteran warrior like Malik Ghazi, whose sword had made Khurasan and the land of the Mughals to tremble. * * * They reached Sarsuti; but such was their inexperience and want of energy, that they could not drive out Malik Ghazi's horse. So they turned their backs upon the place, and in their folly, * * * marched to encounter the hero, who twenty times had routed the Mughals. Like children in their parents' laps, they went on helplessly all in confusion.... * * *

That night, while Ghazi Malik was at Indarpat, most of the nobles and chief men and officers came forth from the city to pay their respects, and the keys of the palace and of the city gates were brought to him. On the second day after the battle he proceeded with a great following from Indarpat to the palace of Siri. He seated himself in the Hazar-sutun, and, in the presence of the assembled nobles, wept over the unhappy fate which had befallen Kutbu-d din and the other sons of 'Alau-d din, his patron, * * and gave thanks to God for the victory he had gained. Then he cried with a loud voice, "I am one of those who have been brought up under 'Alau-d din and Kutbu-d din, and the loyalty of my nature has roused me up against their enemies and destroyers. I have drawn my sword, and have taken revenge to the best of my power. Ye are the noblest of the State! If ye know of any son of our patron's blood, bring him forth immediately, and I will seat him on the throne, and will be the first to tender him my service and devotion. If the whole stock has been clean cut off, then do ye bring forward some worthy and proper person and raise him to the throne; I will pay my allegiance to him. I have drawn my sword to avenge my patrons, not to gain power and ascend a throne." *** The assembled nobles unanimously replied that the usurpers had left no scion of the royal stock in existence. The murder of Kutbu-d din and the supremacy of Khusru and the Parwaris had caused disturbances, and had stirred up rebels in every direction. Affairs were all in confusion. They then added, ''Thou, Ghazi Malik, hast claims upon us. For many years thou hast been a banner to the Mughals and hast prevented their coming into Hindustan. Now thou hast done a faithful work, which will be recorded in history; thou hast delivered the Musulmans from the yoke of Hindus and Parwaris; thou hast avenged our benefactors, and hast laid every one, rich and poor, under obligation. *** All we who are here present know no one besides thee who is worthy of royalty and fit to rule." All who were present agreed with one acclaim, and, taking him by the hand, they conducted him to the throne. He then took the title of Sultan Ghiyasu-d din, * * * and every one paid him due homage. ***

-- XV. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, of Ziaud Din Barni [Ziauddin Barani], Excerpt from The History of India As Told By Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, edited from the posthumous papers of the Late Sir H.M. Elliot, K.C.B., East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, by Professor John Dowson, M.R.A.S., Staff college, Sandhurst, Vol. III, P. 93-269, 1871

The old lady went and told the Rana of his daughter's resolution, and he gave his assent. The Rana communicated the act to the author's great-grandfather, when a messenger was sent to Tughlik Shah announcing the Rana's assent to the marriage, and the damsel herself was brought to Dipalpur. Before her marriage she was called Bibi Naila, but on entering the house of Sipah-salar Rajab, she was styled Sultan Bibi Kadbanu.

After the lapse of a few years she gave birth to Firoz Shah in a most auspicious hour, and Tughlik Shah distributed his bounty on all sides in token of his joy. On the very day that Firoz Shah was born, the author's grandfather, Shams-i Shahab 'Afif, also came into the world. The females of the author's ancestors then lived at Dipalpur, and constantly visited the female apartments of Tughlik Shah, and often in talking of these matters the author's great-grandfather used to say that he had frequently given Firoz Shah a cup of milk; and Firoz Shah himself when he had reached the summit of his power and glory, used to tell the author's father that he had sucked at the breast of his grandmother.

When Firoz Shah was seven years old his father, Sipah-salar Rajab, died, and Tughlik Shah made great mourning for him.

The widowed mother was in great distress as to the education and training of her son, but Tughlik Shah consoled her, and told her that he would look upon the child as his own, and treat him with every kindness so long as he lived. The mother of Firoz Shah had no other child, either son or daughter. Those who say that Malik Kutbu-d din was brother of Firoz Shah speak the truth, but he was born of another mother. The same was the case with Malik Naib Bar-bak; he also was his brother, but by a different mother.

Firoz Shah received instruction in the duties of royalty and the functions of sovereignty from two kings, Sultan Tughlik Shah [reigned four years and a few months] and Sultan Muhammad Shah [reigned twenty years], and he became thoroughly conversant with all affairs of State. Tatar Khan Buzurg used to say upon this subject that Firoz Shah ought to be acquainted with regal and political duties, and that no one should feel any apprehension about him.