Riyaz al-salatin 104.1
The Riyazu-s-salatin (Abdus Salam) 104.1
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104.1.1
Nawab Ibrahim Khan on being invested with the Khillat of the Nizamat of the Subah of Bengal, arrived at Jahangirnagar the Mag and Portuguese pirates and the re-conquest of Chittagong. I therefore translate freely the following contemporary account from the Alamgirnamah (Pers. text, p. 943) : — As the Mags emerging from Arrakan on war-vessels (Nawarah) and taking advantage of the struggle for supremacy between Aurangzeb and Shah Shuja', harried the coasts of Bengal, Emperor Aurangzeb sent out orders to his Bengal Viceroy, Nawab Shaista Khan, to take immediate steps for chastising the Mags. With this object in view, Nawab Shaista Khan first took steps to guard and fortify his southern frontier out-posts. He appointed an Afghan named Said with 500 rocketeers and musketeers to charge of the Noakhali out-post, Muhammad Sharif, Faujdar of Hughli, with 500 rocketeers, 1,000 infantry and 20 guns to defend the out-post of Sankram-Kadah, and set Muhammad Beg Abakash and Abul Hassan with the Imperial war-vessels which lay at Siripur to patrol the river. From Siripur to 'Alamgirnagar covering a distance of twenty-one kroh, an embanked road so that it might not be flooded during the rains was also constructed under the Nawab's order, for military purposes. The Nawab then ordered Abul Hassan to bring round Dilawar, zamindar of Sandip, or to punish him, as the latter secretly sided with the Mags.
104.1.2
Abul Hassan attacked Sandip and fought with Dilawar, who being hit by an arrow fled to the jungles. Meanwhile, the Arrakanese fleet came up to Sandip to render assistance to Dilawar. Abul Hassan prepared to assault the Arrakanese fleet, which withdrew, and then Abul Hasan, not pursuing it, retired to Noakhali. Nawab Shaista Khan, on hearing of this, sent another fleet consisting of 1,500 gunners and 400 cavalry, commanded by Ibn-i-Husain, Superintendent of the Nawarah (Fleet), (Dacca) and devoted himself to administrative affairs. He unfurled to the oppressed the gates of justice and clemency, and did Jamal Khan, Serandaz Khan, Qaramal Khan and Muhammad Beg, to re-inforce Abul Hassan, to co-operate with the latter and occupy Sandip (Sondip), and to extirpate its zamindar, Dilawar. Ibn-i-Husain with this re-inforcement moved up to Noakhali, which is in front of Sandip, and halted there with Muhammad Beg, in order to blockade the passage of the Arrakanese fleet. Abul Hassan with others then attacked Sandip, wounded and captured Sharif, son of Dilawar, and captured also, after severe fighting, Dilawar with his followers, and sent them prisoners to Jahangirnagar (Dacca) in charge of Manuar, zamindar of Jahangirnagar, and subdued Sandip. Nawab Shaista Khan, on getting news of the conquest of Sandip, appointed Abdul Karim, brother of Rashid Khan, to the charge of Sandip, with 200 cavalry and 1,000 infantry.
104.1.3
The Feringis (Portuguese) were at this time siding with the Arrakanese, so Nawab Shaista Khan first took steps to detach the Feringis, and for this purpose sent out letters to some of the leading Feringis. Some of these letters falling into the hands of Karam Kibri, a Mag, who with a fleet was in the environs of Sandip, the latter communicated it to the Rajah of Arrakan, who lost confidence in the Feringis, and ordered that the Feringis should be deported from Chittagong to Arrakan. The Feringis of Chittagong getting scent of this set fire to many of the Arrakanese fleet, and fled to Noakhali in the Mughal dominions. Farhad Khan, Commandant of Bhaluah out-post, kept some Feringis with himself, and sent their leaders to Nawab Shaista Khan to Dacca (Jahangirnagar). The latter treated them generously. The Nawab then sent out an expedition to Chittagong in charge of his son, Buzurg Umed Khan, of Ikhtisas Khan Barha, Sabal Singh Sisodiah, Mianah Khan, Karan Khaji, with 2,000 cavalry. Orders were sent out to Farhad Khan, Thanadar of Bhaluah, to move up with Ibn-i-Husain and Manuar zamindar, with the fleet, and to Mir Murtaza, Superintendent of Artillery, to join Farhad Khan and to cover the latter's front. Captain Moore, Chief of the Portuguese in Chittagong, with his fleet was directed to render loyal services.
104.1.4
Kamal, son of the former Rajah of Arrakan, who had taken shelter in Dacca in the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan, was also directed to go with Mir Murtaza, and to send conciliatory messages to the Mag Commander of Chittagong. Farhad Khan and Mir Murtaza proceeded by the land route, whilst Ibn-i-Husain, Muhammad Beg, and Manuar proceeded by the river route. These reached (setting out from Noakhali) Thana Jagdiah, on 16th Rajab; on the 18th Rajab, Farhad Khan with his followers crossed Finny river (Phani), and on the 24th Rajab reached near a tank, which was one day's distance from Chittagong, and then waited for the General-in-Chief, Buzurg Umed Khan. The latter on 21st Rajab crossed Finny river, and on 25th Rajab reached a point which was 10 kroh distant from Chittagong, and 8 kroh from Farhad Khan's encampment. The Imperial fleet halted at Domariah village, which was 20 kroh from Buzurg Umed Khan's encampment. On 27th Rajab, two naval engagements were not allow an ant to be oppressed. As Emperor Aurangzeb was engrossed in fighting for twelve years in the Dakhin with Abul Hasan alias Tana Shah, the Ruler of that Province, and with Siva and Sambha Mahrattas, rebellious zamindars of Sattara, &c, disturbances broke out in several parts of the Empire owing to the Emperor's protracted absence from his capital.
104.1.5
In the Subah of Bengal, in the district of Bardwan, Subha Singh, zamindar of Chitwah and Bardah, revolted, whilst Rahim Khan the cut-nosed, who was leader of the Afghans, joined the former with a contingent of Afghans. Kishan Ram, zamindar of Bardwan, who smarted under the former's oppressions advanced with his force to encounter him, and was killed. And the latter's wives and children, together with all his effects and fought, in which the Arrakanese were defeated. The Arrakanese fleet then moved up to the Karanphuli river. Under orders of Buzurg Umed Khan, Mir Murtaza cutting down the jungles, and laying down a road, moved up by land to near the Karanphuli, to re-inforce the Imperial fleet, Buzurg Umed Khan himself similarly moving up. A severe naval engagement took place in the Karanphuli river, in which the Mags were crushingly defeated, and Buzurg Umed Khan stormed Chittagong fort, captured the Arrakanese fleet, and subdued the whole tract of Chittagong, and 132 Arrakanese war-vessels, with guns, armaments and elephants, were captured. Emperor Aurangzeb ordered Chittagong to be named Islamabad, and conferred gifts on Nawab Shaista Khan, and raised his son Buzurg Umed Khan to the rank of Hazar-o-Pansadi, and Farhad Khan to the rank of Hazar-o-Pansadi, and conferred on Mir Murtaza the title of 'Majahid Khan,' and on Ibn-i-Husain the title of Muzaffar Khan, and raised Manuar zamindar to the rank of Hazar-o-Pansadi.
104.1.6
This conquest of Chittagong took place in the 8th year of Aurangzeb's reign. See Alamgirnamah, p. 956. treasures, were captured, and his son, Jagat Rai, taking to his heels, fled to Jahangirnagar (Dacca), which was the Viceregal capital of Bengal. On hearing of this, Nuru-l-lah Khan, Faujdar of the Chaklah of Jasar (Jessore), Hugli, Bardwan, and Mednipur, who was very opulent and had commercial business, and who also held the dignity of a Sehhazari, marched out from Jasar in order to chastise and subdue the rebels. From the din of the enemy's march, considering himself unable to stand the onset, he retired to the fort of Hugli, and sought for help from the Christian Dutch of Chuchrah (Chinsurah). The enemy, on getting news of Nurullah's cowardice, promptly set to besiege the fort, and after skirmishes reduced the garrison to straits. And that coward, acting on Shaikh S'adi's couplet : " When you cannot vanquish the enemy by your might, You ought to close the gate of disturbance, with largesses," throwing away his treasures and effects, considered it lucky to save his own life. With a nose and two ears, clad in a rag, he came out of the fort ; and the fort of Hugli, together with all his effects and property fell into the enemy's hands. From the occurrence of this disaster there was a universal commotion.
104.1.7
The leading gentry and nobility of the town and suburbs, and the merchants and residents of the environs, together with their effects, took refuge in Chuchrah (Chinsurah), which was a place of security. The Dutch leaders sailed up to the foot of the fort with two ships loaded with soldiers and armaments, and by a shower of cannon-balls, they battered the buildings of the fort, and flooded the harvest of numerous lives with the torrent of destruction. Subha Singh, not arranging terms of peace, fled to Satgaon, close to Hugli, and there, too, not finding it practicable to tarry, retired to Bardwan, and under the lead of Rahim Khan marched thence with his rabble towards Nadia and Murshidabad, which was then called Makhsusabad. Amongst the women and children of the slain Kishan Ram that were captives in the oppressive grip of Subha Singh, the former's daughter was adorned with the ornaments of beauty and elegance and of chastity and modesty. That wretch of a villain (Subha Singh) plotted to stain the hem of the maiden's chastity with the filth of defilement. As fate would have it, that dog of a night wanted to pounce on that maiden, and through seduction of Satan, it stretched out its hand towards her. That lion-like maiden with the swiftness of the wink of blood-shedding eyes, by means of a sharp knife which she secreted with herself for such an occasion, cut him up from below the navel to the belly, and with the same sharp knife cut asunder the thread of her own life.
104.1.8
When this world-consuming fire was extinguished, another arose in the person of that villain's brother, by the name of Himat Singh. The latter also resolved to set the world on fire, and attempted to plunder and pillage the Imperial domains. And Rahim Khan, owing to the strength of his rabble and clan, styled himself Rahim Shah. Placing crookedly on the head of pride the cap of vanity, and collecting a large number of low and ignorant badmashes, he redoubled the flame of insurrection, so that from Bardwan to Akbarnagar (Rajmahal) on the west of the Ganges, half the Province of Bengal was harried by him. And whoever amongst the Imperial adherents refused to submit to him was punished and tortured. Amongst them, in the environs of Murshidabad, there lived an Imperial officer, named Neamat Khan, with his family and dependants. When he refused to join Rahim Shah the latter, thirsty for his blood, ordered his head to be brought. Seeing the measure of his life full to the brim, Neamat Khan prepared to drink out of the cup of martyrdom, and advanced to the field. Tauhar Khan, his nephew, who was as brave as his name implied, spurring on his charger, made a brave onset. At length the forces of the enemy hemmed him in, and from every side attacked him, so that he drank the syrup of martyrdom, and his comrades, one after another, were levelled round him on the bed of annihilation.
104.1.9
Neamat Khan, on seeing this, without cuirass and armour, tying a sword to his unlined garment, mounted a swift charger, cut through the right and left wings of the enemy's force, and, dashing up to the centre, inflicted a cut on the head of Rahim Shah. As fate would have it, Neamat's sword striking against the latter's helmet broke. From ferocity of disappointed rage, putting his grip on Rahim's face and seizing his waist with the hand, by sheer strength, Neamat dismounted Rahim from his horse and threw him on the ground. With great agility then springing from his own horse, Neamat sat on the top of Rahim's chest, and drawing a dagger from his waist struck him on the throat. Accidentally, the dagger got entwined in the link of the cuirass of Rahim and did not penetrate through to his throat. Meanwhile, the adherents of Rahim Shah coming up wounded Neamat Khan, by inflicting cuts on him with swords and spears, so that he was disabled, and dragging him down from his saddle, they threw him down on the ground. Rahim Shah, recovering life in a way a second time, remained unhurt and unscathed. And they carried Neamat Khan to a tent, with his flickering life, in a state of fainting. From excessive thirst, he opened his eyes to signal for water. When the men of Rahim Shah brought a cup of water, his feelings revolted against his drinking it out of their hands, and thus with a parched lip he quaffed the goblet of martyrdom.
104.1.10
The zamindars of the environs and the news-messengers, in succession, carried this woful news to Nawab Ibrahim Khan, to Jahangirnagar (Dacca). The Nawab, to whom the following couplet is applicable : — " Although possessed of the strength of a lion, In seeking vengeance, he was flabby like a soft sword " owing to pusillanimity, said : " War causes the spilling of blood of God's creatures ; what necessity is there that the blood of people on both sides should be shed ? " And when from messages and news-letters, the gist of this disaster reached the Emperor in the Dakhin, an Imperial order was despatched to Zabardast Khan, son of Ibrahim Khan, conferring on him the office of Faujdar of the chaklahas of Bardwan, Mednipur, etc., insisting on the chastisement of the miscreant enemy, and directing the Nazims and Faujdars of the Subahs of Oudh and Allahabad and Behar, that, wherever they might get trace of the enemy, they should capture him with his women and children. It was also proclaimed that whoever would desert the enemy should be granted security of life, and whoever would join the enemy and thereby draw the paint of infamy on the face, should have his family extirpated. And so it came to pass. Shortly after, the Subahdari of Bengal and Behar was conferred on Prince 'Azimu-sh-shan, who was ordered to proceed to Bengal with a number of the Imperial officers.
104.1.11
The noble Khan, named Zabardast Khan, on the very receipt of the Imperial order, fitting out a fleet of war-vessels armed with artillery, sailed up from Jahangirnagar (Dacca) with a numerous force, and spurred on the charger of war. Rahim Shah, on hearing news of the approach of the Imperial army of vengeance, swiftly marched to the banks of the Ganges, with a large army, consisting of infantry and cavalry. Zabardast Khan, mooring his war-vessels alongside the river-bank, quickly entrenched himself in front of the enemy's force, arrayed his troops for battle, and placed in front of the entrenchment of those Gog-like people the projecting parts of waggons, in the shape of Alexander's wall.