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Muntakhab al-tawarikh 44.2

Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 44.2

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44.2.1

And in the year 761 H. (1359-60 A.D.) the Sultan proceeded by continuous marches by way of Panduah to Jaunpur where he spent the rains, and at the close of this year he marched with a lightly equipped force by way of Behar towards Jajnagar, and sent his elephants and baggage to Karra; by uninterrupted marches arrived at Satgarh the Rai of which place withdrew, and thence he came to Baranasi which was the abode of the Chief Rai, and crossed the river Mahanadi, and the Rai of Baranasi having taken to flight made with all haste for Tilang. The Sultan pursued him, part of the way turned back to hunt, and arrived at the country of Rai Parihan Dev who sent a present of thirty-two elephants and other costly offerings. From thence the Sultan coming to Padmavati and Baram Talao which was the haunt of elephants of enormous size, engaged in hunting them and killed two [and they took the other three alive] and Malik ‘Ain-ul-Mulk wrote a quatrain upon this. Verse. The Shah who of right assumed a lasting kingdom Seized the ends of the earth like the glorious Sun To hunt elephants he came to Jajnagar, Two he killed and thirty-three he took alive. And thence by way of Karra he returned with all possible haste.

44.2.2

248. And in the year 762 H. (1360-61 A.D.) victorious and triumphant he came to Dehli, and after a short time he gave orders for an expedition to the river Salima, which is a river issuing from a large mound of sand and falling into the river Sutlej which they also call Satlaz. The Salima is also called the Sarsuti, and this river consists of two large streams which are always flowing, and situated between these two streams there is a high mound or dyke, and if this were dug through the water of the Sarsuti would flow into this stream, and it flows through Sihrind and Mansurpur and Samana. The Sultan gave orders for fifty thousand men with spades to be collected and to occupy themselves in digging through that barrier. Out of it they obtained many bones of elephants and human beings. Every bone belonging to the arm of a man was three gaz (in length). They were partly converted into remained bone dry as they were. That stream however could not be diverted, and in the meantime he made Sirhind and fourteen parganas into one district, which he put under the control of Ziaul Mulk Shamsu-d-Din Aburija, and ordered them to build a fort thereon and called it Firuzpur which is in fact Sirhind, and the Sultan from thence, went to Nagarkot whose Raja after a siege and some fighting came in and submitted and met with royal treatment.

44.2.3

The Sultan gave to Nagarkot the name of Muhammadabad after the deceased Sultan Muhammad, and when they brought the Sultan ice on that mountain fort he said, “when Sultan Muhammad who is now dead and whom I regarded as a god, arrived in this place they brought him a sharbat mixed with ice, but he had no inclination for that beverage because I was not with him.” Accordingly they made an iced sharbat with several elephant and camel loads of cane-sugar which was carried with Sultan Firuz, and he ordered them to read the whole of the Qur’an for the soul of Sultan Muhammad and distribute the sharbat among the entire army. Under these circumstances they informed the Sultan that from the time when Sultan Sikandar Zul Qarnayn arrived at this place the people of that city have preserved an image of Nushaba and keep it in a room, where they worship it. There are one thousand three hundred books of the Brahmans of olden time in that idol temple which is commonly known as Jawalamukhi, a flame of fire rises from it towards heaven and is not to be extinguished, No, not by thousands of mashks of water. The Sultan having summoned the Brahmans, ordered some of his translators to translate some of these books into Persian. Among these translators ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Khālid Khānī, who was one of the poets and mutribs of the time of Fīrūz wrote in verse a translation of a book on the risings and settings of the seven planets, and their good and evil import, and of auguries and omens.

44.2.4

Its name is called up to the present day Dalāil-i-Fīrūzī, and the author of this Muntakhab read it in Lāhor in the year 1000 H. (1591-92 A.D.) from beginning to end. It is moderately good, neither free from beauties nor defects; and I saw some other books before that also which were translated in the name of Sultān Fīrūz, some of them on the Science of Pingal that is to say on Music, and the kinds of Akhāra which they call Pātur bāzī, and some on other subjects. I found most of them to be profitless, and their paucity of interest is for the most part due to the triviality of their subject matter, and the difficulty of explaining it, as is evident. The Sultān leaving there proceeded to Thattha, and the Jām, by which title the ruler of Thattha is called, entrenched himself so that the Sultān was induced by the vehemence of the rainy season, and the amount of water which was out, as well as by the dearness of gram, to abandon the siege and make with all haste for Gujrat, which country he placed under the control of Zafar Khan, then having deposed Nizamu-l Mulk and appointed him Na'ib Wazir of Dihli, he returned to Thatha, and on this occasion the Jam, asking for quarter had an interview with the Sultan, and with all the Zamindars accompanied him to Dihli, and from there took his leave after being kindly treated and confirmed on his former footing as ruler of Thatha. In the year 772 H.

44.2.5

(1370 A.D.) Khan-i-Jahan the Vazir, died, and his son Juna Shah obtained that title, and the book Chandaban which is a Masnavi in the Hindi language relating the loves of Lurak and Chanda, a lover and his mistress, a very graphic work, was put into verse in his honour by Maulana Da'ud. There is no need for me to praise it because of its great fame in that country, and Makhdum Shaikh Taqi-u'd-Din Wa'iz Rabbani used to read some occasional poems of his from the pulpit, and the people used to be strangely influenced by hearing them, and when certain learned men of that time asked the Shaikh saying, what is the reason for this Hindi Masnavi being selected? he answered, the whole of it is divine truth and pleasing in subject, worthy of the ecstatic contemplation of devout lovers, and conformable to the interpretation of some of the Ayats of the Qur'an, and the sweet singers of Hindustan. Moreover by its public recitation human hearts are taken captive. In the year 773 H. (1371-72 A.D.) Zafar Khan died and the control of that province was confirmed to his son.

44.2.6

Rai and Governors and Commissioners, arrived at the capital. Summoning Maliku-l-Sharq Mardān Daulat, who held the title of Nasirul Mulk, from the district of Karra and Mahoba, he appointed him to the Multan district, with a view to close the door to Mughal intrigues. He then confirmed Karra and Mahoba together with all their dependencies upon the son of Maliku-l-Sharq Sulaiman the son of Malik Mardan, whose adopted son was Sayyid Khizr Khan, the grandfather of Sultan ‘Alau-d-Din Badaoni, who eventually succeeded to the kingdom of Dihli. And in the year 782 H. (1380 A.D.) he raised the standard for an expedition with the intention of taking vengeance on the Khukhar Chief of Kaithar, who had invited and put to death by treachery both Sayyid Muhammad and Sayyid ‘Alau-d-Din his brother, who were Governors of Badaon. The rebellious Khukhar fled towards the hills of Kumaon; accordingly after laying waste and plundering the whole of his country, he left Malik Khitab the Afghan in the country of Sambhal to deal with the rebellion of Khukhar, and turned back after having handed over Badaon to Malik Qabul; Qabulpura, which at present is a quarter of Badaon lying outside the fort, is called after his name; also he used to come every year for the purpose of sport and lay utterly waste the Kaithar country.

44.2.7

And in the year 787 H. he built a fortified town in a place called Babuli, which is seven krohs from Badaon and is better while the Firuz-Amirs and the mass of the people, in the month of Rajab 789 H. (1387 A.D.) he started with a strong force to attack Khan-i-Jahan, and having wounded him plundered his house and family. Khan-i-Jahan fled with a few followers towards Mewat, and took refuge there with one Kuka a zamindar, and the Shahzada destroyed certain of the Amirs who had been well disposed to Khan-i-Jahan. Subsequently to this the Shahzada became Vazir with full uncontrolled powers, and the Sultan having given him all the apparatus of royalty, elephants and horses, servants and insignia, and conferring upon him the title of Nasiru-d-Din wa-ud-Dunya Muhammad Shah, in the month of Sha'ban of the above mentioned year raised him to the throne, and betook himself to devotion and worship of the Most High, so that in the Friday prayers the names of both kings used to be mentioned. Sultan Muhammad ordered upon a new scale the appointments and salaries of the Amirs, and confirmed the distribution of districts, and having given Malik Ya'qub the title of Sikandar Khan appointed him to attack Khan-i-Jahan in Mewat; Kuka Chauhan a Zamindar of Mewat bound Khan-i-Jahan and sent him to Sikandar Khan, who put him to death, and having sent his head as a present to the Court of Muhammad Shah set out for Gujrat.