Section XVII. The Reign of Sultan MAHUMMUD the son of YEAS UL DIEN TUGHLICK SHAW.
AFTER the King's funeral obsequies were performed, Aligh Chan ascended the throne, by the title of Mahummud Shaw, and proceeded from Tughlick Abad, to Delhi. The streets of that city were strowed with flowers, the houses adorned, the drums beating, and every demonstration of joy exhibited. The Sultan ordered some elephants, loaded with gold and silver, before and behind him, which was scattered among the populace.
Tatar Chan, whom the Sultan's father had adopted, and appointed to the government of Zifferabad, was now honoured with the title of Byram Chan, and presented with a hundred elephants, a crore of golden rupees, two thousand horse, and the government of Bengal. To Malleck Sinjer Buduchshi, Mahummud gave seventy lacks in silver. To Malleck ul Muluck, eighty lacks; and to Molana Azid his preceptor, forty lacks, all in one day. Molana Nazir ul dien Cumi, had an annual pension of one lack, and Malleck Ghizni the poet another to the same amount.
His generosity, in short, was, like his wealth, without bounds, which no man could well account for, there being no great sum in the treasury upon his accession. It is therefore probable that he had concealed the riches of the Raja of Arkilla, from his father, and that his liberality was supplied from the wealth of the Decan, which circumstance strengthens our suspicion that he was accessary to his father's death. Some writers, notwithstanding this suspicion, make long panegyrics upon his virtues and accomplishments. He, it must be acknowledged, aimed at universal knowledge, was conversant in all the literature of the times, and a patron of learned men, giving them profusely pensions, for a magnificent subsistance.
The Sultan was, at the same time, very strict with regard to public and private worship. He ordered prayers to be read in the mosques five times every day. He discouraged all intemperate pleasures, and set the example by his own rigid life. But it is to be suspected, that he acted the mean character of a hypocrite, for he was vindictive and inhuman, delighting in the blood of his subjects, and condemning them without distinction of right or wrong, to cruel and ignominious deaths.
In the beginning of the reign of Mahummud, before the empire was properly settled, Tirim Siri Chan, chief of the tribe of Chighitta, a Mogul general of great fame, invaded Hindostan, in the year 727, with an innumerable army, with a view to make an entire conquest of it. Having subdued Limghan, Moultan, and the northern provinces, he advanced towards Delhi, with incredible expedition, and invested it. Sultan Mahummud, seeing he could not cope with the enemy in the field, and that the city must soon fall, began to sue for peace, sent an immense present in gold and jewels, to soften the Mogul chief, who at last consented, upon receiving almost the price of the empire, to return to his own country, taking Guzerat and Sind in his way, which he plundered of a world of wealth.
Sultan Mahummud turned his thoughts to war, and the regulation of his army. He subdued by different generals, many distant countries, such as Door, Summudir, Maber, Compila, Arinkil, Lucknouti, Sonnargaum, and Chittagaum, some of which provinces had revolted, and others had never been subjected by the arms of the Islamites. He soon after reduced the Carnatic to the extremities of the Decan, and from sea to sea, obliging all the Rajas to pay him tribute, by which means he again filled the treasury with money.
But during the convulsions which soon after shook the empire, all these foreign conquests were wrested from the yoke. The causes of the disturbances were chiefly these. The heavy imposts, which were, in this reign, tripled in some provinces. The passing copper money for silver, by a public decree. The raising 370,000 horse for the conquest of Chorrassan and Maverulnere; the sending 100,000 horse towards the mountains of Himmachil or Kirrigil; the cruel massacre of many Mahommedans as well as Hindoos, in different parts of Hindostan; and many other lesser reasons, which, for the sake of brevity, we shall forbear to mention.
The imposts upon the necessaries of life, which were levied with the utmost rigour, were too great for the power of industry, and consequently the country was involved in distraction and confusion. The farmers were forced to fly to the woods, and to maintain themselves by rapine. The lands being left uncultivated, famine began to desolate whole provinces, and the sufferings of the people obliterated from their minds every idea of government, and subjection to authority.
The copper money, for want of proper regulations, was productive of no less evils than that which we have already specified. The King, unfortunately for his people, adopted his ideas upon currency, from a Chinese custom of using paper upon the Emperor's credit, with the royal seal appended, for ready money. Mahummud, instead of paper, struck a copper coin, which being issued at an imaginary value, he made current by a decree throughout Hindostan. The mint was under very bad regulations. Bankers acquired immense fortunes by coinage, whilst the merchants made their payments in copper, to the poor manufacturers, at the same time that they themselves received for their exports, silver and gold. There was much villainy also practised in the mint; for a premium to those who had the management of it, the merchants had their coin struck considerably below the legal value; and these abuses were overlooked by the government.
But the great source of the misfortunes consequent upon this debasement of the coin, was the known instability of government. Public credit could not long subsist in a state so liable to revolutions as Hindostan; for how could the people in the remote provinces, receive for money the base representative of a treasury that so often changed its master?
From these evils general murmurs and confusions arose throughout the Empire. The Sultan, to ease the minds of the people, was obliged to call in his copper currency. But there had been such abuses in the mint, that after the treasury was emptied, there still remained a heavy demand. This he was forced to strike off, and thousands were ruined. The Emperor himself was so far from winning by this indigested scheme, that he lost all he had in his treasury; and the bankers accumulated immense fortunes, on the ruin of their sovereign and the people.
Mahummud, by the advice of Amir Norose, a Mogul chief, who, with thousands of his tribe, had entered into the service, raised a great army. The Mogul buoyed up the Emperor's mind with the facility of reducing both Iran and Turan; but before these mighty projects could be put in execution, he fell in arrears to his forces. They, finding they could not subsist without pay, dispersed themselves over the empire, and carried pillage, ruin, and death, to every quarter.
These misfortunes comprehended the domestic transactions of many years. The public treasury being squandered by impolitic schemes and follies of various kinds, the King entered into a project to repair his finances, equally absurd with that by which they were principally ruined.
Having heard of the great wealth of Chin [China.], Mahummud formed a resolution to subdue that kingdom; but to accomplish his design, it was first necessary to conquer the country of Himmatchil, which lies between the borders of Chin and Hindostan. He accordingly, in the year 738, ordered one hundred thousand horse, under the command of his sister's son Chusero Malleck, to subdue the mountainous country of Himmatchil, and six garrisons as far as the frontiers of Chin. When this should be done, he proposed to advance in person with his whole force, to invade that empire.
The Omrahs and counsellors of state, went so far, as plainly to tell him, that the troops of Hindostan never yet could, and never would advance a step within the limits of that mighty empire, and that the whole was a visionary project. The Sultan insisted upon making the experiment, and accordingly this army was put in motion, and having entered the mountains, began to build small forts on the road, to secure a communication; proceeding in this manner to the boundaries of Chin, where a numerous army appeared to oppose them. As their numbers were by this time greatly diminished, and much inferior to that of the enemy, the troops of Hindostan were struck with universal dismay, upon considering their distance from home, the rugged ways they had passed, and the rainy season which was now approaching; besides the scarcity of provisions, which now began to be severely felt. In this consternation they bent their march towards the foot of a mountain, where the savage inhabitants of the hills poured down upon them, and plundered their baggage, while the Chinese army lay in their front.
In this dreadful situation they remained for seven days, suffering the extremities of famine without knowing how to proceed. At length such a heavy rain fell, that the cavalry were up to their bellies in water, which obliged the Chinese to remove their camp to a greater distance. Chusero Malleck then determined to endeavour to make his retreat, but the low country was quite covered with water, and the mountains with impervious woods. Their misfortunes now came to a crisis. Having lost the road, they found themselves in such an unfortunate situation, that they could find no way out but that by which they entered, which was now possessed by the enemy. This whole army in short, in the space of fifteen days, fell a prey to famine, and a victim to false ambition; scarce a man coming back to relate the particulars, except those who were left behind in the garrisons. A few of them escaped indeed the rage of the enemy, but could not escape the more fatal tyranny of their Emperor, who ordered them to be put to death, upon their return to Delhi.
Baha ul dien, the Sultan's nephew, an Omrah of great reputation, known more generally by his original name Kirshasib, who possessed a government in the Decan, called Saghir, began to turn his thoughts upon the empire, and gained over many of the Omrahs of the Decan to his party. By their influence and the great riches which he had accumulated, his power became very formidable. He then attacked some Omrahs who continued firm in their allegiance, obliging them to take refuge in the sort of Mindu.
The Sultan having intelligence of the revolt, commanded Chaja Jehan, with many other Omrahs and the whole power of Guzerat, to chastise the rebel. When the imperial army arrived before Deogire, they found Kirshasib drawn up in order of battle to receive them: but, after a gallant contest, he was defeated. He fled towards Sajur; but not daring to remain there, he carried off his family and wealth to Campala in the Carnatic, and took protection in the dominions of the Raja of that place, with whom he had maintained a friendly intercourse.
The Sultan, in the mean time, took the field, and arrived soon after at Deogire. He sent from thence Chaja Jehan with a great force against the Raja of Campala, by whom the imperialists were twice defeated: but fresh reinforcements arriving from Deogire, Chaja Jehan engaged the Raja a third time, and carried the victory. He took the Raja prisoner, but Kirshasib fled to the court of Bellaldeo, who fearing to draw the same misfortunes upon himself, seized upon him, and sent him bound to the general, and acknowledged his subjection to the empire. Chaja Jehan immediately dispatched the prisoner to court, where the Sultan ordered him to be flead, and shewn a horrid spectacle, all around the city; while the executioner proclaimed aloud, "Thus shall all traitors to their King perish."
The Sultan was so much pleased with the situation and strength of Deogire, that, considering it more centrical than Delhi, he determined to make it his capital. But, upon proposing this affair in his council, the majority were of opinion, that Ugein was a more proper place for that purpose. The King, however, had previously formed his resolution. He therefore gave orders that the city of Delhi, which was then the envy of the world, should be rendered desolate, and that men, women, and children, with all their effects and cattle, should make a grand migration to Deogire. To add magnificence to the migration, he commanded trees to be tore up by the roots, and planted in regular rows along the road, to yield the emigrants a shade, and that all who had not money to defray their charges should be maintained at the public expence. He ordered that for the future Deogire should be called Dowlatabad; raised noble buildings, and dug a deep ditch round the walls, which he repaired and beautified. Upon the top of the hill upon which the citadel stood, he formed large reservoirs for water, and made a beautiful garden. This change however greatly affected the empire, and distracted the minds of the people. But the Sultan's orders were strictly complied with, and the ancient capital left desolate.
The Sultan having effected this business, marched his army against the fort of Gundana, near Jinner. Nack-naig, who was chief of the Colies, opposed him with great bravery, but was forced to take refuge within his walls. As the place was built upon the summit of a steep mountain, inaccessible but by one narrow pass cut in the rock, the Sultan had no hopes of reducing it but by famine. He accordingly ordered it to be blockaded, and at the same time, made some ineffectual attacks, in which he was repulsed with great loss. The garrison becoming straitened for provisions, and having no hopes of the Sultan's retreat, delivered up the place at the expiration of eight months; and the Sultan returned to Dowlatabad.
He had not been long in his capital, when he heard that Malleck Ibah, the viceroy of Moultan, had rebelled, and was then reducing the country of Punjaab with a great army. The cause of the revolt was this: The Sultan having sent an order to all his Omrahs to send their families to Dowlatabad, the messenger who was dispatched to Moultan, presuming too much upon the King's authority, upon observing some delay, proceeded to impertinent threats. He one day told Byram Shaw's son in law, that he believed his father was meditating treason against the King. High words upon this arose between them, which in the end proceeded to blows; and the messenger had his head struck off, by one of Byram Ibah's servants. Byram Ibah, knowing the vengeful disposition of the Sultan, was sensible that this disrespect to his authority, would never be forgiven, and resolved to seek refuge in arms.
The Sultan upon these advices, put his spears in motion, and hastened towards Moultan; and Byram Ibah, with an army numerous as the ants or locusts, prepared to dispute the field. Both armies at last met, and, eager for victory, engaged with great resolution; but after the dust of the field was laid with blood on both sides, misfortune darkened the standards of Byram Ibah, and his troops turning their backs upon glory, abandoned the field. The Sultan immediately gave orders for a general massacre of the inhabitants of Moultan; but Shech Rukun ul dien interceded for them, and prevented the effects of this horrible mandate. Byram Ibah was taken in the pursuit, and his head brought to the King, who returned towards Delhi.
At sight of their native country and city, all those who had been forced to Dowlatabad, began to desert the Sultan's army, and to disperse themselves in the woods. The Emperor, to prevent the consequences of this desertion, took up his residence in the city; whither he invited them, and remained there for the space of two years. But then he again revolved in his mind, the scheme of making Dowlatabad his capital. He removed his family, obliging the Omrahs to do the same, and carried off the whole city a second time, to the Decan; leaving that noble metropolis a habitation for owls, and the wild beasts of the desart.
About this time, the taxes were so heavily imposed, and exacted with such rigour and cruelty, by the officers of the revenue, that the whole extent of that fertile country, between the two rivers, Ganges and Jumna, were particularly oppressed. The farmers, weary of their lives, in one day, set fire to their own houses, and retired to the woods, with their families and cattle. The tyrant having received intelligence of this circumstance, ordered a body of troops to massacre these unhappy people if they resisted, and if they should be taken, to put out their eyes. Many populous provinces were, by this inhuman decree, laid waste, and remained so for several years. The colony of Dowlatabad was also in great distraction; the people, without houses, without employment, were reduced to the utmost distress.
The tyrannies of the execrable Mahummud exceeded, in short, any thing we have met with in history, of which the following is a horrid instance. When he remained at Delhi, he led his army out to hunt, as is customary with princes. When they arrived in the territory of Birren, he plainly told them, that he came not to hunt beasts but men; and without any obvious reason, began a general massacre of the wretched inhabitants. He had even the barbarity to bring home some thousands of their heads, and to hang them over the city walls. He, upon another occasion, made an excursion of the same nature towards Kinnoge, and massacred all the inhabitants of that city, and the adjacent country for many miles, spreading terror and desolation wherever he turned his face.
But to return to the chain of history: During this time, Malleck Fuchir ul dien, after the death of Byram Chan, rebelled in Lucknouti, having slain Kudder Chan, and possessed himself of the three provinces of Bengal [Bengal, at this time, was divided into three governments.]. The Sultan, at the same time, received advices, that Seid Hassen had rebelled in Maber. He ordered Ibrahim the son of Seid Hassen, and all his family, to prison; then marched in the year 742, from the sacking of Kinnoge, towards Maber. When he had reached Dowlatabad, he laid a heavy tax upon that city and the neighbouring provinces, which awakened the people into rebellion; but his numerous army soon reduced all the unhappy insurgents to their former slavery. From that place the Sultan sent back a part of his army and Chaja Jehan to Delhi, while he himself marched with another force towards Maber, by the way of Tilling.
When Mahummud arrived before Arinkil, there happened to be a plague in that city, by which he lost a great part of his army. He himself had a violent struggle for his own life, and was obliged to leave Amad ul Malleck to command the army, and return towards Dowlatabad. On the way he was seized with a violent tooth-ach, and lost one of his teeth, which he ordered to be buried with much ceremony at Beir, and a magnificent tomb to be reared over it, which still remains a monument of human vanity and folly. Having arrived at Patan he found himself better, and halted to take medicines for some days. In this place he gave to Shahab Sultani, the title of Naserit Chan, and the government of Bidder, with its dependencies, which yielded annually, a revenue of one crore of rupees. He, at the same time, conferred the government of Dowlatabad and Marhat upon Cuttilich Chan his preceptor.
He proceeded from Patan in his palankie to Delhi, having heard of some disturbance among the Patans. He, at this period, gave leave to such of the inhabitants of Dowlatabad as were willing to return to Delhi, to follow him. Many thousands returned, but they had almost perished on the way by a famine, which then desolated the countries of Malava and Chinderi. When they came to Delhi, they found that the famine raged with redoubled violence in that city, in so much that very few could procure the necessaries of life. Mahummud, for once, seemed affected with human miseries. He even for some time entirely changed his disposition, and took great pains to encourage husbandry, commerce, and all kinds of industry. He opened the treasury, and divided large sums to the inhabitants for these purposes. But as the people were really in great distress, they expended the money in the necessaries of life, and many of them were severely punished upon that account.
Shahoo, a chief of the Afgans, about this time, commenced hostilities to the northward, pouring down like a torrent upon Moultan which he laid waste, and killed Begad the Sultan's viceroy, in battle, and put his army to flight. The Sultan having prepared an army at Delhi, moved towards Moultan, but Shahoo, upon the king's approach, wrote him a submissive letter, and fled to the mountains of Afganistan. The Sultan perceiving that it was idle to pursue him, returned to Delhi.
The famine continued still to rage in the city so dreadfully, that men eat one another. He ordered, in this distress, another distribution of money towards the sinking of wells, and the cultivation of lands, but the people weakened by hunger, and distracted by private distresses in their families, made very little progress, while the drought continued, and rendered their labour vain. At the same time, the tribes of Mindahir, Chohan, Miana, Batti, and others who inhabited the country about Samana, unable to discharge their rents, fled into the woods. The Sultan marched forthwith against them with his army, and massacred some thousands of these poor slaves.
In the year 743, Malleck Chunder, chief of the Gickers, invaded Punjâb, and killed Malleck Tatar the viceroy of Lahore in action. Chaja Jehan, upon this, was sent against him. The Sultan, in the mean time, began to entertain a ridiculous notion, that all the misfortunes of his reign, proceeded from his not having been confirmed in the empire, by the Caliph of Mecca. He therefore dispatched presents and ambassadors to Arabia, and struck the Caliph's name in the place of his own, on all the current coin, and prohibited all public worship in the mosques, till the Caliph's confirmation should arrive. In the year 744, Hadgee Seid Sirsirri returned with the ambassador, and brought the Caliph's confirmation, and a royal dress. He was met without the city by the King in person, who advanced to receive him on foot, putting the Caliph's phirman upon his head, and opening it with great solemnity. Returning into the city, he ordered a grand festival to be celebrated, and public service to be read in all the mosques, striking out every King's name from the Chutba, who had not been confirmed from Mecca. Among the number of those degraded monarchs, was the Sultan's own father. He even carried this whim so far as to write the Caliph's name upon his houses, robes, and furniture. These, and some other ridiculous actions of the life of Mahummud, may reasonably make us suspect the soundness of his head. The Arabian ambassador, after being royally entertained, was dismissed with a letter to his master, full of respect, and with presents of immense value, and accompanied by Malleck Kabire, chief of the life guards.
This year Kinsanaig, the son of Lidderdeo, who lived near Arinkil, went privately to Bellaldeo, the Raja of the Carnatic, and told him, "That he had heard the Mahommedans, who were now very numerous in the Decan, had formed a design of extirpating all the Hindoos; that it was therefore adviseable to prevent them in time." What truth there might be in this report we know not, but Bellaldeo acted as if he was convinced of such a scheme. He called a council of his nobles, in which it was resolved, that Bellaldeo should first secure his own country, by fixing his capital in a pass among the mountains, to exclude the followers of Mahommed from all those kingdoms. Kisnanaig in the mean time promised, when matters should be ripe, to raise all the Hindoos of Arinkil and Tilling to his assistance.
The Raja accordingly built a strong city upon the frontiers of his dominions, and called it Bigen, from the name of his son, to which the word Nagur or city is now added. He then began to raise an army, and sent part of it under the command of Kisnanaig, who reduced Arinkil, and drove Malleck Amad ul Muluck, the Sultan's viceroy, to Dowlatabad. Bellaldeo, and Kisnanaig, having joined their forces with the Raja of Maber and Doorsummund, who were formerly tributaries to the government of the Carnatic, they seized upon those countries, and drove the Mahommedans before them on all sides. In short, within a few months, the Sultan had no possessions in the Decan, except Dowlatabad.
The tyrannical Mahummud, upon receiving intelligence of those misfortunes, grew vengeful, splenitic, and cruel, wreaking his rage upon his unhappy subjects, without crime, provocation, or distinction. This conduct occasioned rebellion, robbery, and confusion, in all parts of the empire. The famine became daily more and more dreadful, insomuch that the Sultan, not able to procure provisions, even for his household, was obliged to abandon the city, and to open the gates, and permit the starved inhabitants, whom he had before confined, to provide for themselves. Thousands crowded towards Bengal, which, as we have before observed, had revolted from the Empire. The Sultan encamped his army near Cumpula, on the banks of the Ganges, and drew supplies from the countries of Oud and Kurrah. He ordered his people to build houses, which at length became a city under the name of Surgdewarie.
In the year 745, Nizam Bain, a Zemindar, possessed of some lands in the province of Oud, and a fellow of an infamous character, collected a mob of the discontented farmers, and assumed the royal umbrella, with the title of Alla ul dien. But before the Sultan marched against him, Ain ul Muluck, Suba of Oud, raised his forces, and defeating him, sent his head to the King. Nuzerit Chan in the same year, who had taken the whole province of Bidder, at one crore of rupees, finding himself unable to make good that contract, rebelled; but Cuttulich Chan being ordered against him from Dowlatabad, expelled him from that government.
During this period, Ali Shaw, who was sent from Dowlatabad to collect the rents of Kilbirgah, finding that country destitute of troops, assembled his friends, raised an army with the collections, and in the year 746, erected his rebellious standards, and took possession of Kilbirgah and Bidder. The Sultan, on this occasion, sent a reinforcement to Cuttulich Chan to suppress him. Cuttulich Chan arriving on the confines of Bidder, Ali Shaw came out and gave him battle; but being defeated, he shut himself up in the city. He was however soon obliged to capitulate, and was sent prisoner to the King, who banished him and his brother to Ghizni.
Ain ul Muluck having paid great attention to the King, and entirely gained his favour, was appointed to the viceroyship of Dowlatabad and Arinkil, in the room of Cuttulich Chan. But Ain ul Muluck himself looked upon this appointment as an impolitic step in the King, considering the services Cuttulich Chan had done to his affairs in the Decan, and the power he then enjoyed. And therefore thought it a snare laid to draw him quietly from his own Subaship, and then to deprive him of both. In the mean time a number of the clerks of the revenues being convicted of abuses in their office, were ordered to be put to death. Some of those who survived found means to escape to Ain ul Muluck, and endeavoured to confirm him in his former opinion of the King's intentions.
He accordingly disobeyed the King's order, and erected the standard of rebellion, sending a detachment of horse under the command of his brother, who, before the Sultan received any intelligence of his designs, carried off all the elephants, camels, and horses, that were grazing or foraging near the royal camp. The Sultan, in great perplexity, called the troops of Kole, Birren, Amrohe, Saman, and other districts adjacent, to his assistance; while Chaja Jehan joined him, with an army from Delhi. The Sultan moved his standards, for Ain ul Muluck and his brothers had now crossed the Ganges, and were advancing towards him, in great hopes that the Sultan's army, tired and disgusted with his tyrannical behaviour, would join them.
The Sultan, enraged at their presumption, mounted his horse, and, engaging them, after a short conflict, put them to flight. Ain ul Muluck was taken prisoner, and his brother Shoralla drowned in the Ganges, as he was swimming across, having been wounded in the action, while another brother was slain in the field. The Sultan was so prejudiced in favour of Ain ul Muluck, that he pardoned him, and restored him to his former dignities, saying, that he was certain that Muluck was a loyal subject, though he had been instigated to this rebellion by the malice and falsehood of others.
The Sultan marched from thence to Barage, to pay his devotions at the tomb of Sallar Musaood, one of the family of Sultan Mamood Ghiznavi, who had been killed there by the Hindoos in the year 557. He distributed great sums among the Fakiers, who resided at Barage, and then returned to Delhi. Another ambassador arrived at that time from the Caliph, and was received with the same distinguishing marks of respect as the former, and dismissed with rich presents. Not long after, a prince of the house of Abassi, arrived at Delhi, and was met by the Sultan, at the village of Palum, and he presented him with two lacks of rupees, a large tract of territory, a palace and fine gardens. By way of respect to the Caliphat, he placed him upon his right hand, and even sometimes ridiculously condescended to sit down upon the carpet before him, and pay him obeisance.
Some of the courtiers calumniated Cuttulich Chan, governor of the Decan, accusing him of oppressions and other abuses in his government, though a man of justice and integrity. The King recalled Cuttulich Chan to Delhi, ordering his brother Molana Nizam ul dien, to whom he gave the title of Alim ul Malleck, and placed at Burudge, to take charge of what remained to the empire of the Decan, till he should send some person from court. When the King's order arrived, Cuttulich Chan was digging a great pond or reservoir, which he begged his brother to compleat, and prepared to return to Delhi, with all the revenues of the Decan, which he had previously secured in a fort called Daragire, upon a mountain close to the city.
The Sultan, after the arrival of Cuttulich Chan, appointed four governors for the Decan, having divided it into four provinces, and determined to reduce it as before, to his obedience. To accomplish his purpose, he ordered a numerous army, under the command of Amad ul Malleck, an Omrah of great reputation, to march to Dowlatabad, and entered into articles with him, that he and the other chiefs should pay into the treasury seven crores of rupees annually for their governments. To make up this sum, and to gratify their own avarice, they plundered and oppressed that unfortunate country. At the same time the Sultan conferred the government of Malava upon Aziz, a mean fellow formerly a vintner, and told him, that the Amirs of Sidda [Mogul captains, who entered into his service with Amir Norose.] were dangerous persons in that country, therefore to endeavour to extirpate them.
The Sultan then marched back to his old cantonments at Surgdewarie, and began to encourage cultivation, upon a new plan which he himself had invented. He appointed an inspector, for the regulation of all that related to husbandry, by the name of Amir Kohi, who divided the country into districts of 60 miles square, under a Shickdar, who was to be answerable for its cultivation and improvement. Above one hundred Shickdars received their appointments at once, and seventy lacks of rupees were issued out of the treasury, to enable them to carry on this work.
Aziz Chumar, when he arrived at Bedar, invited the Amirs of Sidda, to an entertainment, and assassinated eighty of them, with their attendants. He wrote to the Sultan an account of this horrible massacre, who sent him back a present of a dress and a fine horse, for his loyal services. Such were the morals of those wretched days! The tyrannical Mahummud had now taken it into his head, that he would be better served by people of low birth, than by the nobility. He accordingly promoted Litchena a singer, Pira a gardener, Munga his son, Shech Baboo a weaver, Muckbil a slave, and other low fellows, to the degree of Omrahs, and gave them the command of provinces and high offices at court. He in this, forgot the advice of the poet, who writes, that "He who exalts the head of a beggar, and hopes great things from his gratitude, inverts the nature of things, and nourishes a serpent in his bosom." This resolution of the tyrant, was occasioned by a noble refusal of the Omrahs, to put his cruel orders in execution.
In the mean time, Malleck Muckbil, entitled Chan Jehani, vizier of Guzerat, with the treasure, and the Sultan's horses, set out for Delhi. The Siddas of those parts, hearing of his intentions, waylaid him with a body of horse, and, having robbed him, retired to Narwalla. The Sultan hearing of this robbery, in a great rage prepared for Guzerat, leaving Malleck Firose his nephew, governor at Delhi, and, in the year 748, marched to Sultanpoor, about 30 miles without the city, where he waited for some reinforcements. An address came from Aziz Chumar, begging leave to go against the Siddas, being nearer, and having a sufficient force, as he imagined, for that purpose. The Sultan consented to his request, at the same time expressing much doubt of his success, knowing him to be a dastardly and unexperienced officer. Aziz Chumar advanced towards the rebels; but in the beginning of the action, he was struck powerless with terror, and fell headlong from his horse. He was taken, and suffered a cruel death; his army being defeated with some loss.
The Sultan being informed of this disaster, marched from Sultan-poor. It was on this march that Mahummud is said to have asked Zeai Birni the poet, what crimes a King ought to punish with severity? The poet replied, that seven sorts of criminals deserved severe punishments; these were, apostates from their religion, shedders of innocent blood, double adulterers, rebellious persons, officers disobeying lawful orders, thieves and perverters of the laws. When he had reached the hills of Abu, upon the confines of Guzerat, he sent one of his principal Omrahs, Chan Jehan, against the rebels, who met them in the districts of Bai, and gave them a total defeat. The Sultan having halted at Baruge, sent Malleck Muckbil after them, who coming up with them as they were crossing the Nirbuda, put the greatest part to the sword. The few who escaped, taking protection with Madeo, Raja of Buckelana, were all plundered of their wealth.
The Sultan, upon this occasion, massacred many of the Siddas of Baruge, and plundered Cambait and Guzerat of every thing valuable, putting all who opposed him to the sword. He then sent Zein Dund Mugid ul dien to Dowlatabad, that he might seize upon all the Siddas of those parts, to bring them to punishment. Alim ul Malleck, according to orders, summoned the Siddas from Raijor, Mudkil, Kilbirgah, Bidder, Bijapoor, Genjouti, Ruibaug, Kollchir, Hukeri, Berar, Ramgire, and other places. The Siddas, conformable to those orders, prepared for Dowlatabad, and when they were all collected, Alim ul Muluck dispatched them under a guard of fifteen hundred horse, to the royal presence.
When the Siddas were arrived upon the frontiers of Guzerat, fearing that the Sultan had a design upon their lives, they entered into a conspiracy for their own security. They, with one accord, fell upon their guard, slew Ahmed Latchin their chief, with many of his people, while the rest, under the command of Malleck Ali, fled to Dowlatabad. The Siddas pursued them, and, before any advices could arrive to put the place in a posture of defence, they took it by assault, being favoured by the troops within, who became seditious. Alim ul Muluck, with whose behaviour they were satisfied, was spared, but all the rest of the Emperor's officers were put to death, and the treasure divided among the conspirators.
The Siddas of Guzerat, and other parts, who were skulking about in the woods and mountains, hearing of the success of their brethren, joined them. Ismaiel Muche, one of the Amirs of their faction, was proclaimed King, by the name of Nasir ul dien. Sultan Mahummud hearing of this revolution at Dowlatabad, left Baruge, and hastened towards that city. The usurper having drawn out his army, waited to give battle to the King. The two armies accordingly met, and the Siddas, though greatly inferior in number, roused by their danger and wrongs, assaulted the imperial troops with such violence, that the right and left wings were beat back, and the whole army upon the point of flight. But many of the chieftains who fought in the van being killed, four thousand of the Siddas fled; and night coming on, left the victory undecided, so that both armies lay on the field of battle.
A council of war being in the mean time called by the Siddas, who had suffered greatly in the engagement, it was determined that Ismaeil Muche should retire into Dowlatabad, with a good garrison, and that the remainder should shift for themselves, till the Sultan should leave the Decan; when they resolved to assemble again at Dowlatabad. This wretched conduct was accordingly pursued. The Sultan ordered Amad ul Muluck, who was then at Elichpoor, to pursue the fugitives, while he himself laid siege to the city.
In the mean time advices arrived, that Malleck Tiggi, the slave of Suffder ul Muluck, heading the Siddas of Guzerat, was joined by many of the Zemindars, by which means he had taken Narwalla, and put Malleck Muziffer, the Naib of Guzerat, to death; imprisoned Shech Moaz ul dien the viceroy, and was now marching to lay waste Cambait, having in his rout blockaded Baruge.
The Sultan upon this, left Kawman ul dien to carry on the siege of Dowlatabad, and with the greater part of his army, marched with great expedition to Guzerat. He was plundered in his way of many elephants, and a great part of his baggage, by the Hindoos: he lost also a great many men in defending himself. The Sultan having arrived at Baruge, Tiggi retreated to Cambait, and was pursued by Malleck Eusiph Buckera, whom the Sultan had detached after him. Tiggi having engaged the pursuers at Cambait, turned the chace upon them, killed Eusiph Buckera and many other Omrahs, while the rest retreated to the Sultan. The rebel ordered all the prisoners taken in the action, as well as those whom he had formerly in confinement, to be put to death; among the latter was Moaz ul dien, viceroy of Guzerat.
Mahummud, hearing of this cruelty, breathed revenge. He hastened to Cambait, and Tiggi, unable to oppose him, retreated to Assawil, but was closely pursued thither by the Sultan. The rebel continued his flight to Narwalla, and in the mean time, the Sultan, on account of a prodigious rain, was obliged to halt at Assawil a whole month. Advices were brought him at Assawil, that Tiggi, having recruited his army at Narwalla, was returning to give him battle. The Sultan immediately struck his tents and met the rebel at Kurri. Tiggi, having injudiciously ordered his men to intoxicate themselves with strong liquors, they attacked the Sultan with the fury of madmen; but the elephants in front, soon repressed this borrowed valour, and repulsed and threw into confusion the rebels. An easy conquest was obtained: five hundred prisoners were taken and put to death; and an equal number fell in the field. The Sultan immediately detached the Son of Eusiph Buckera in pursuit of the runaways, by the way of Tatta, whither Tiggi had fled; while the King went in person to Narwalla, and employed himself in settling Guzerat.
News, in the mean time, arrived from the Decan, that the Siddas had assembled again under Hassen Cacu, had defeated Amad ul Malleck, who had fallen in the action, and had driven all the imperial troops towards Malava: That Ismaiel Muche had resigned his regal dignity, which Hassen Cacu had assumed, under the title of Sultan Alla ul dien. Mahummud was excessively chagrined, upon receiving this intelligence, and began to consider his own tyranny as the cause of all those disorders. He therefore resolved to govern with more mildness and humanity for the future. He called Malleck Firose, Chaja Jehan, Amir Kiah, Malleck Ghizni, and Sidder Jehan from Delhi with their troops, in order to dispatch them against Cacu.
Before those Omrahs arrived, the King was informed that the usurper's army was prodigiously encreased. He therefore determined first, to settle Guzerat and Carnal [Now Joinagur.], and then to march in person to the Decan; but this business was not so soon accomplished, as he at first imagined; for he spent a whole year in regulating Guzerat, and in recruiting his army. The next year was also spent in besieging the fort of Carnal, reducing Cutch, and the adjacent territories. Some authors affirm, that Mahummud took the fort of Carnal; but others, of better authority, say, that he desisted from that attempt, upon receiving some presents from the Raja.
Zeai Birni informs us, that the Sultan, one day, about this time, told him, that the diseases of the empire were of such a malignant nature, that he had no sooner cured them in one place, than they broke out in another. He would therefore be glad to know what remedy now remained, to put a stop to this contagion.
The poet replied, that when disaffection and disgust had once taken root in the minds of the people, they were not to be exterminated, without tearing up the vitals of the state: that the Sultan ought to be, by this time, convinced, how little was to be hoped from punishment. That it was therefore his opinion, in this case, that the King ought to invest his son with the government, and retire; which would obliterate all former injuries, and dispose the people to peace and tranquillity. The Sultan, says Birni, answered in an angry tone, "That he had no son whom he could trust, and that he was determined to scourge his subjects for their insolence, whatever might be the event."
The Sultan, soon after this conversation with Zeai Birni, fell sick at Kondal. He had previously sent Chaja Jehan and Amad ul Muluck to Delhi, on account of the death of Malleck Kabire, the viceroy, and called most of the principal men of the empire, to the royal camp. Having recovered a little from his disorder, he mustered his army, and sent to collect boats at Debalpoor, Moultan, Ouch and Sewistan, which he ordered towards Tatta. Marching then from Kondal, he arrived on the banks of the river, which he crossed in spite of Tiggi; and was on the other side joined by five thousand Mogul horse. From thence he took the rout of Tatta, to chastise the Sumrahs, for giving the rebel protection. Arriving within thirty crores of that city, he halted to pass the first days of the Mohirrim; and when that fast was over, having eat fish to excess, he was seized with a fever. He would not however be prevailed upon to stop, but, getting into a barge, he proceeded to within fourteen crores of Tatta, and upon the banks of the Sind, on the twenty first of Mohirrim, in the year 752, this tyrant was conquered by death, and shut up in the dark dungeon of the grave. He reigned twenty seven years; during which time, he seems to have laboured with no contemptible abilities, to be detested by God, and feared and abhorred by all men.