The Institutes of Akbar 2.1.8

2.1.8

the fall of Jaunpúr was to him a sign that the latter days had come; extraordinary events which looked like miracles, marked his career; and a voice from heaven had whispered to him the words, “Anta Mahdi,” ‘thou art Mahdi.’ Some people indeed say that Mír Sayyid Muhammad did not mean to declare that he was the promised Mahdi; but there is no doubt that he insisted on his mission as the Lord of the Age. He gained many adherents, chiefly through his great oratorical powers, but pressed by enemies he went to Gujarát, where he found an adherent in Sultán Mahmúd I. From Gujarát he proceeded; at the request of the king and to the joy of numerous enemies, on a pilgrimage to Makkah. From there also he seems to have been driven away. On his return, it was revealed to him that his teaching was vexatious, and he said to the disciples that accompanied him, “God has removed from my heart the burden of Mahdi. If I safely return, I shall recant all.” But when he reached the town of Farah in Balochistán, where his arrival had created a great sensation, he died (911, A. H.; 1505, A. D.). His tomb became a place of general pilgrimage, although Sháh Isma‘íl and Sháh Tahmásp tried to destroy it. The movement, however, continued. Some of his followers adhered to their belief that he was Mahdi; and even the historian Badáoní, who was strongly attached to the cause, speaks of him as of a great saint.