Muntakhab al-tawarikh 61.2
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 61.2
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61.2.1
Suddenly check to the king happened to Muhleo: It would have been checkmate had not the piece Kenya protected him as ‘Arz.’ It is said that after this victory Sher Shah on several occasions used to say, "I have sold the empire of the whole of Hindustan for a handful of millet." Returning thence and making over the fortress of Rantambhur to his son ‘Adil Khan, he gave him leave for a few days to visit the fort, and put the garrison in order, when he was to follow his father. The writer has heard from a trustworthy source, that one day while on that expedition Mir Saiyyid Rafi'u-d-Din, the renowned and unique traditionist now pardoned and absolved, who has been already mentioned, said to Sher Shah, "All my ancestors were authors of authoritative compositions and used to give instructions in the two sacred cities. I alone of all my family have become so helpless and powerless that in search of the gold and fame of Hindustan I am blindly wandering. I beseech your Majesty to grant me permission to depart, so that at the end of my days I may be able to relight the lamp of those venerable ancestors of mine. Seeing that I was not worthy to succeed those mighty intellects who have gone before me, My hands have spoiled many books, my ignorance has wasted many parchments.
61.2.2
Sher Shah answered, I should have no objections to make on this score, were it not that I have kept you with me for a special object, which is this that I intend in a short time by the help of God, He is blessed and exalted, to clear the heart-delighting plain of Hindustan of the thorns of infidelity, and shortly to reduce the few forts which remain, with very little difficulty, and passing along the seashore to fight with those Qizilbashes who oppose the progress of the company of pilgrims to the holy temple (of Makkah) and have given rise to bigoted interference with the established religion and the orthodox followers of Muhammad, may the peace and blessing of God be upon him, and to send you thence with a mission bearing letters to the Sultan of Rum, in order that, having knitted the bonds of religious brotherhood between us, you may bear to him a request on my behalf to be entrusted with the service of one of the two sacred temples, may God increase their dignity.
61.2.3
Then I coming up from one direction [and the Khwandgar from the other], may clear out the Qizilbash from between us, because as soon as the Sultan of Rum attacks him, he will move with all rapidity in this direction, and when the Sultan of Rum withdraws his forces, he will again return to the place he came from, whereas if we surround him from both directions with this army and the huge following we have in Hindustan, together with that powerful force and its artillery, his resisting power will be nil, and on carefully considering over this matter I can think of no person more fitted to carry this message than yourself, and simply in view of the attainment of this object I cannot entertain the idea of your leave.
61.2.4
It must not be forgotten that it is by no means improbable that this same good intention may be the cause of the salvation of that faithful king from the fire (of hell) although he fell into the fire, in the Day of Reckoning, for the Almighty, may He be glorified and exalted, is satisfied with little and very bountiful, and the story of 'Amr ibnu-l-Lais [who for all his vast army and equipment, which gave him the pre-eminence over all kings of 'Iraq in the four quarters of the globe, was always regretful because he had not been present at the slaughter of Imam Husain, may God Most High be pleased with him, so that he might have smitten and destroyed the followers of Yazid, and of his having a vision in which he was walking in the gardens of Paradise] is well known: say, *every man acts after his own manner*, that is after his own desire. Verse My brother thou art all desire naught else All the rest of thee is but bone and fibre If a rose is thy desire, thou art a rose garden, If a furnace is thy desire thou art its fuel. And in the year 952 H. (1545 A.D.) Shir Shah invested the fortress of Kalinjar, which is one of the strongest and most famous of the forts of Hindustan, and with great energy and skill in a short time prepared galleries, and used to make daily attacks upon the bastions; and by the time that the galleries had advanced near to the walls of the fort, and the mines were ready, attacking on all four sides he made the condition of the garrison very precarious.
61.2.5
Shir Shah from the position where he was standing, gave orders to hurl grenades filled with gunpowder into the fort. This they did, and by chance one of those grenades struck the wall of the fort, and recoiling with great force exploded. Its fragments fell among the other grenades, which exploded, burning Shir Shah severely from head to foot. And inasmuch as he was badly scorched, and Shaikh Khalil the son of his spiritual guide, and the learned Maulana Nazimu-d-Din also were fellow-sufferers with Shir Shah in this explosion, Shir Shah as he ran using his hands to cover his nakedness, took refuge in a tent which they had pitched for him in (front of) a bastion, where he lay unconscious. Whenever he recovered consciousness a little he shouted to his men encouraging them to seize the fort, and if any one came to see him he signed to him to go and fight, so that in his absence the Amirs in command in the trenches worked harder than if he had been present, and behaved with the utmost gallantry, and coming to close quarters with the garrison, brought matters to a fight with knife and dagger and did full justice to the demands of endeavour and manliness.
61.2.6
The writer heard a story from a most trustworthy source, that on that eventful day of assault, in which the deeds of every individual assailant were conspicuous, and the standards and faces could be easily distinguished one from another, "I saw," said he, "a soldier armed cap-a-pie, who had not previously been seen nor was ever after seen, clothed from head to foot in black, wearing a plume of the same colour upon his head, and urging and encouraging our men in the battle. Then he entered one of the galleries and made his way into the fort. I searched for him everywhere after the battle, but in vain; I could find no trace of him." The men in the other trenches also gave the same account saying, we saw several horsemen wearing these clothes who kept advancing in front of us till they entered the fort and vanished. Verse If thou hadst not been on the side of religious law, Heaven itself would have girt its loins. If thou hadst been on the side of the faith, the Genii would have ungirt their sword. A report became current that, in that battle, certain men from the invisible world had come to the aid of the Muslims. And Shir Shah suffering and distressed as he was from time to time enquired for tidings of victory. The air was terribly hot, and although they sprinkled him constantly with sandal and rose water, it was utterly useless to relieve the scorching heat whose intensity increased hour by hour. Verse.
61.2.7
A breast which is consumed by the fire of separation Sandal can afford it no relief. At the very moment of hearing the good tidings of victory he yielded up his life to the Lord, the Giver of life, the Receiver of life. The following stanza was written to record the date of his death; — Shir Shah, he in dread of whom The lion and the goat drank at the same source Left the world; the wise sage pronounced The date of his death. Zi atash murd (he died from the effects of fire). His corpse was taken to Sahsaram where was the burial-place of his fathers, and there buried. The period of his military command was fifteen years, and of his Sultanate five years. It is said that on one occasion when he was looking in a mirror, he exclaimed, “Alas! that I obtained my kingdom at the time of evening prayer.” Verses. My heart! like Khizr take and drink the water of life, Like Sikandar come and conquer land and sea. If thou entertainest any longing for the cup-bearer and wine, Take the cup of Kausar from the hand of the Huri and drink. The fame of thy greatness and glory and majesty Has reached the Koh-i-qaf, go thither and hear its tale. If thou art sitting, for instance, on the throne of Solomon, One day like the ant creep into the recess of a cave and hide there; Two or three days like the spider, spin in the deserted corner of the world the strands of desire and take thy place there.
61.2.8
Every beautiful-faced one, whose beauty is unapproachable With that one, to thy heart’s content, take thy delight. This world is a dream in the opinion of the wise, Do thou at last see this dream and take it. Thy life, O Qadin, is as a fairy-tale of enchantment, Thou hast heard the tale, take the spell of enchantment. When the hand of Death tears the sleeve of thy existence Raise thy hand, Shah, and the son of Mulla Ahmad Junaid, who is well known, found this verse of the sacred word: “And already we have written in the Psalms, after the admonition that ‘the earth shall my righteous servants inherit,’ ” to give the date of his accession. He wrote a despatch to his elder brother ‘Adil Khan and sent it to him in Ranthanbur, of which the following is the substance. “Although the succession was really your right, still as you were at so great a distance there was a danger, nay a certainty of the occurrence of disturbances here before you could arrive. Accordingly with a view to keep down insurrections, I will take charge of the army for a few days as your deputy, and after you arrive I shall have no alternative but to submit to and obey you.” Leaving Kalinjar he made for Agra and in the vicinity of the township of Kura Ghatampur, Khawass Khan arrived from Sihrind which was his jaegir, and yielded a forced allegiance, because he was more inclined to favour the accession of ‘Adil Khan as compared with Islam Shah; a splendid banquet was held and he was anew placed on the throne.
61.2.9
Afterwards when fresh despatches from Islam Shah reached ‘Adil Khan, he referred the question of his coming to the following four persons upon whose advice and opinion as to its expediency he made his action dependent: Qutb Khan Naib, ‘Isa Khan Niyazi, Khawass Khan, and Jalal Khan Jilwani, all of whom were great Amirs, men of eminence belonging to his family. Islam Shah sent this body of men to him bearing an agreement by which he undertook to allow ‘Adil Khan to depart to his jaegir after the first interview, and to deliver to his control any place in Hindustan which he might select. ‘Adil Khan acting upon the advice of these Amirs proceeded from the neighbourhood of Ranthanbur to Fathpur, otherwise called Sîkrî, and Islem Shâh left Agra and came to Shikârpur, where the royal palace is at present, to receive him; and when they met they first fulfilled the duties of condolence, and evinced great cordiality, and after a short time set out together for Agra. Islem Shâh had plotted treachery against ‘Adil Khân, and had consequently made a stipulation that not more than two or three persons should be left in the fort with ‘Adil Khân. This however was not carried out, and a large body of followers accompanied him; accordingly Islem Shâh was constrained, in order to avoid suspicion, to treat ‘Adil Khân with extraordinary fawning and flattery, saying "I have taken care of these unruly Afghâns so far by artful means, now I make them over to you."