Riyaz al-salatin 48.3

48.3

Ilyas Shah, on approach of the Emperor to Panduah, retired to Fort Ekdalah, where he entrenched himself. The Emperor did not plunder Panduah, but left its population unmolested, crossed the river in front of the fort Ekdalah, and laid siege to it for several days. He had scruples about destroying promiscuously the garrison of the Fort, so he made a feint retreating movement back across the river, which resulted in drawing out Ilyas Shah from the Fort. A battle was fought, the Bengal army in which elephants formed a prominent feature was defeated, and the Imperialists captured forty-four Bengal elephants, &c., &c. On finding that the rainy season was approaching, the Emperor by forced marches (after appointing Collectors in Tirhut district) returned to Delhi, which was reached on 12th Shaban 755 A.H. or 1354 A.C. This first expedition is also narrated by Shams Siraj Afif, another nearly contemporary historian, who continued Barni's Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi. From this account, the following additional interesting facts are gleaned:— 1. That Firuz Shah sailed to Bengal in one thousand flotilla of war-vessels, and his route lay across the Sro, the Ganges and the Kosi rivers, that his expeditionary force consisted of 70,000 Khans and Maliks, two laks infantry, 60,000 cavalry, besides an elephant-corps. 2. That when Firuz Shah crossed the Kosi rivers Ilyas Shah, king of Bengal, retired from Panduah to Ekdalah, which is called here the "Isles of Ekdalah."