[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [General histories](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general) › [Muntakhab al-tawārīkh](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh) › [Muntakhabu-t-tawarikh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig) › 66 # Muntakhab al-tawarikh 66: QIT'A. Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 66 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [66.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1) — 7 parts - [66.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2) — 10 parts ### QIT'A. ### [66.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.1) Khan Nasiru-d-Din Humayun Shah Who without question excelled all former kings, Advanced from Kabul for the conquest of Hind; The date of his advance is sar-i fad wa shast wa yak. At the halting-place of Parshawar Bairam Khan arrived from Qandahar and presented himself before the king. By continuous marches they crossed the river Indus, and Bairam Khan and Khizr Khwaja Khan, with Tardi Beg Khan and 459. Iskandar Sultan Usbak forming the advance party, went forward and Tatar Khan Kasi, governor of the fortress of Rohtas, evacuated the fort and fled. Adam Ghakkar did not present himself on this occasion. When they arrived at Lahor, the Afghans of that place also not being able to withstand him dispersed, and the commanders of the vanguard started off towards \[Lahor and Thanesar\] Jalandhar and Sirhind. That country was taken possession of without any trouble; Shahbaz Khan and Kasir Khan Afghan however fought a battle near Dipalpur with Shah Abu-l-Ma'ali and ‘Ali Quli Shaibani, who was eventually Khan-i-zaman, and was defeated. So great was the terror inspired by the Mughuls that thousands upon thousands of Afghans would flee at the sight of ten of the huge-turbaned horsemen (even although they were Lahoris) and never looked behind them. Before Humayun’s army crossed the river Indus, Sikandar Afghan Sur gained the upper-hand of Ibrahim Sur, and having conquered him formed the intention of leaving Itawa and marching to attack ‘Adli. ### [66.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.2) Suddenly, however, tidings arrived that Humayun had crossed the Indus, and the Afghans wherever they were, set about planning how to save their wives and children, however one did not help the other, each one occupied himself with his own necessities, and they knew well that it was only Islam Shah who could successfully contend against the Mughals, no other person had the power. Notwithstanding this however, Sikandar, in the neighbourhood of Jalandhar, first appointed Tatar Khan Kasi with Habib Khan and Nasib Khan Taghachi with thirty thousand cavalry, to oppose the troops under Humayun which had been collected in that district, and he himself came on in their rear. The Chaghatai Amirs crossed the river Sutlej, and the Afghans followed them; at sundown the two lines met and a fierce battle ensued. The Mughals set their hands to their bows with such effect that every arrow which they freed from the bowstring bore the message of death to the ears of one or other of the enemy, and the Afghans, whose weapons of offence ran short, took refuge in a ruined village, and with the object of gaining a better view of the Mughal troops they set fire to the roofs. The result, however, was the very reverse of what they desired, and their stratagem had this result, that the Afghans remained in the light, while the Mughals were in the darkness and riddled the Afghans with arrows. A cry went up from among them, and shouts of "Flee! ### [66.1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.3) Flee!" rose on all sides, and the victory was gained with such ease that but few Mughals were slain, and horses, elephants, and spoil beyond all computation fell into the hands of Humāyūn's troops. The news of this victory reached Humāyūn in Lāhor; thus the whole of the Panjāb and Sirhind and Hissār Fīrūza was entirely subjugated. Thence he marched by forced marches straight for the environs of Dihlī, and Sikandar Sūr with eighty thousand cavalry, and elephants of note, and a strong force of artillery, collected round him the Afghāns from every direction, and came to Sirhind, digging a trench round his camp after the custom of Shīr Shāh. This he fortified, and took up his position; the Amīrs of Humāyūn's army holding a council of war, fortified Sirhind, and as far as they could, shewed they were prepared to defend it, and sending despatches to Lāhor begged Humāyūn to come in person, and then awaited his arrival. Humāyūn with all speed marched and came to Sirhind, and every day fierce contests took place between the more venturesome spirits on both sides. Sometime passed in this way, till the day when the command of the advance-guard of the army fell to the turn of the young Prince of the world; seizing his opportunity he drew up his line of battle. On one side was the Prince, the Asylum of the world; and on the other side Bairām Sikandar Khān, ‘Abdu-llah Khān Uzbak, Shāh Abūl-ma‘ālī, ‘Alī Qulī Khān and Bahādur Khān made manly onslaughts. ### [66.1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.4) The Afghāns also, as far as they were able, behaved with due bravery and valour, but could not contend against an adverse fate, and after a conflict beyond his strength Sikandar turned and fled. The victorious hosts pursued the enemy for a long distance, reaping a rich harvest of slaughtered Afghāns; wealth and booty beyond all bounds, together with horses and countless elephants fell into their hands: then they turned back and erected with the heads of their enemies a column to Bairām Khān the name of Sar 'Alamīl, which (name) is in existence at the present day. Time has many memorials of this kind and still more will follow. Verse. On the road on which thou seest those particles of dust, Thou seest (it may be) the dust of Sulaimān, brought thither by the wind. Another says: Verse. Every particle of dust which the whirlwind carries away May be either a Farīdūn or a Kaiqubād. The words Shamshīr-i Humāyūn were found to give the date of this victory, as they say in this qit'ah: The wise writer sought for an auspicious omen, He sought for the writing of speech from his well balanced nature, When he came to record the conquest of Hindūstān, He sought the date in the words Shamshīr-i Humāyūn. ### [66.1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.5) Sikandar then proceeded towards the Siwālik hills, while Sikandar Khān Üzbak turned towards Dihlī, and the royal camp went by way of Samāna in the direction of the capital of Hindūstān, and a party of the Afghāns who were in Dihlī, fled hot foot for their lives, and were scattered on all sides like a flock of sparrows into whose midst a stone has fallen, and every one was saying to himself, "He who escapes with his head, verily he is fortunate," and the hidden meaning of the words "the day "When man shall flee from his brother and his mother and his father and his spouse and his sons" became evident. Shah Abu-l-Ma'ali was detailed to pursue Sikandar, and in the month of Ramazan the blessed, in the year 962 H. the city of Dihli became the seat of the imperial glory and majesty, and most of the regions of Hindustan for the second time enjoyed the honour of the khutbah and sikkah of Humayun. No king before this time had ever been so fortunate as to attain to the glory of imperial power a second time, after having suffered defeat; whereas in this case the power of God whose glory is supreme was plainly shewed. And in this year Humayun apportioned the greater part of his territories among his faithful adherents, and vowed the pargana of Mustafaabad, the revenue of which reached the sum of thirty or forty laks of tankas, as a votive offering to the Spirit the author of victories, the guardian of prophecy on him and on his family be blessings without end. ### [66.1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.6) He also gave Hissar Firoza as a reward to the Prince, just as Babar Padshah also had conferred it, in the commencement of his victories, as a reward, upon Muhammad Humayun, and the whole of the Panjab he bestowed upon Shah Abu-l-Ma'ali, and nominated him to oppose Iskandar the Afghan, who, not being able to stand against him, shut himself up in the northern hills, and Shah Abu-l-Ma'ali having reached high rank was living in great pomp in Lahor; on this account the crow of conceit made its nest in his brain, and brought matters to this pass that after the affair of (the king) whose dwelling is in Paradise, the queen shewed signs of contumacy and rebellious intentions, as will shortly be described, if God He is exalted so will it. And since Abu-l-Ma‘ali had treated badly the Amirs who had been sent to support him, and had (occasionally) interfered in their Aqta‘s, and not only in these but even in the public treasury and in the government lands, the Amirs became disheartened, and Sikandar daily waxed stronger; Bairam Khan was appointed to the office of tutor (Ataliq) to the young prince, and was sent to oppose Iskandar. Shah Abu-l-Ma‘ali was appointed to Hisar Firuza, but had not yet started when Qiba Khan Gang was appointed to Agra, ‘Ali Quli Khan to Mirath and Sambal, and Qambar Diwana to Badaon, and Haidar Muhammad Khan Akhta Begi to Baiana. Haidar Muhammad Khan kept Ghazi Khan Sur, the father of Ibrahim Sur, for sometime besieged in the fortress of Baiana. ### [66.1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.1.7) And inasmuch as the good fortune of the Afghans was, like their good sense, on the decline; although before the siege and after it also, thoughtful and experienced men urged him to march on Rantanbhor and thence to Gujrat, he would not listen to them, and fell like a fish into the net. ### [66.2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.1) God carries the vessel whithersoever He will Though the ship master rends his garments on his body. The zamindars of the fortress of Baiana sued for quarter, and had an interview with Haidar Muhammad Khan, binding themselves by oaths to certain treaty conditions, and bringing Ghazi Khan with his family and relations out of the fort, bestowed him in a safe place in the camp, and the following day having made a careful examination of the wealth and treasures, put all the inhabitants to death from the full-grown man to the babe at the breast, sending the heads to the Emperor, who, however, was displeased with this; accordingly he despatched Shihabu-d-din Nishapuri Bakshi, who received the title of Shihabu’d-Din Ahmad Khan, to Dibalpur to verify the wealth of Ghazi Khan. Haidar Muhammad concealed the valuable jewels and showed only ordinary things. Qambar Diwana had collected a large following in the vicinity of Sambal and was saying ‘What has Qambar to do with Sambal while ‘Ali Quli Khan has a lien on the revenue of Sambal? It is as though the land belonged to one man and the trees to another.’ ### [66.2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.2) And before that ‘Ali Quli Khan could go to Sambal Qambar Diwana went to Badaon, and from thence passing by Kant o Gola he fought with Ruka Khan Afghan, and gained the day, occupying the country up to the vicinity of the township of Malauta but was subsequently defeated by the Afghans, and having given up a large number to death in that fort arrived at Badaon, where he exercised great cruelty and oppression; and although ‘Ali Quli Khan sent to summon him, he refused to yield to him and said, “My relations with the Padshah are more intimate than yours, this head of mine is twin brother of the imperial crown.” ‘Ali Quli Khan upon his arrival besieged Badaon, and that madman (Diwana) who knew no moderation, was at that very time preparing to tyrannise over the people even more than before, taking by force the daughter of one and the property of another, and in consequence of his want of trust in the people of the town, used himself to go the rounds by night from bastion to bastion, and see to the proper state of the defences. ### [66.2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.3) In spite of this his imagination used to run riot, and his ideas, in consequence of his infatuation, were excited to such a degree, that he used to go for half the night into an empty room and lay his ear upon the ground, and going on from there a few steps would spy about, and then return to his original post, suddenly he called the pioneers and said, "A noise has reached my ears, dig up the ground in this spot." When they excavated they discovered a mine which ‘Ali Quli Khan had laid from outside the fortress. The people who saw these mines said that from the side of the fort in whatever direction they struck into the mine they found the foundation of the wall of the fort reached the water, with iron rods, and pillars and baulks of wood arranged under its foundations, bound together for the purpose of strengthening them, with the sole exception of this place which had been excavated. ### [66.2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.4) In fact, had not Qambar been vigilant, the men under ‘Ali Quli Khan would have blown down the wall by sheer force and have effected an entrance by way of that breach. ‘Ali Quli Khan was astonished at this degree of violence, and the people of the city by common consent despatched a message to ‘Ali Quli Khan saying, “On such and such a night let the besiegers make an attack on such and such a bastion, so that we may bring them into the fort by the help of nooses and scaling-ladders.” Accordingly this they did, and having admitted the soldiery of ‘Ali Quli Khan, Shaikh Habib Badaoni, who was one of the most notable men of the place, took his place at their head, and leading them to the bastion of the Princes, who were the relations of Shaikh Salim Chishti of Fathpur, set fire to it. On the morrow when the sun rose, the sombre-fated Qambar, wearing over his head a black blanket which was an emblem of his wretched fate, came out of the city. They seized him as one would a jackal and brought him in, and although ‘Ali Quli Khan spoke gently to him, saying “Bow thy head, that I may spare thy life,” that madman, fed on dog's brains gave him an abusive answer, so that he was sent to join the dogs of hell. His tomb is well-known in Badaon. He used to spread plentiful feasts and say (to his guests) “Eat! for wealth is the wealth of God, and life is the life of God, and Qambar Diwana is the cook of God.” ### [66.2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.5) When the despatch from ‘Ali Quli Khan reached the Court together with the head of Qambar, the king, whose refuge is the mercy of God, was extremely annoyed. Just about this time, on the seventh of the month of Rabi‘u-l-Awwal, in the year 963 H., when Humayun had ascended to the roof of the library which he had built in the fortress of Dinpanah in Dihli, as he was coming down, the mu’azzin uttered the call to prayer, and he knelt out of respect for the Azan, and as he rose his staff glanced aside and his foot slipped, and he rolled down several steps to the ground. When he recovered a little, Nazar Shaikh Juli was sent to the Panjab to summon the Prince and to tell him exactly what had happened, and on the fifteenth of the same month (Humayun) bade farewell to this inconstant world and took his way to the abode of eternity: and this tārīkh was written to commemorate the event: Since by the mercy of God he passed to his rest within the garden of Rizwan, Bihisht amad maqam-i-pāk-i-u gives the date: and Maulana Qasim Kahi wrote as follows— Humayun, Padshah of the kingdom of reality, No one remembers such an Emperor as he; Suddenly he fell from the roof of his palace And from that fall his precious life was lost; Kahi made a calculation for the tārīkh of that event, Humayun az bām uftād. The following was also found to give the date: Be not ignorant of the year of his death — Humayun kuja raft wa iqbal-i-u. The following tarikh was also found: Ah! Ah! Padshah-i-ma az bam uftad. ### [66.2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.6) POEM. That capital city of the kingdom which thou sawest is laid waste, And that Nile of whose bounty thou heardest has become a mirage, The sky gave the head of Muhammad Yahya to ruin, And calamity attended Sinjar the lord of slaves. The fourth heaven became a house of mourning The spirit of sanctity came to condole with the Sun. His age was fifty-one years, and the duration of his reign was twenty-five years and a fraction. He was a man of kingly proportions, adorned with all excellencies and perfections, both of appearance and reality, unequalled in the sciences of astrology and astronomy and all abstruse sciences. He was the preceptor of the followers of excellence and perfection, the refuge of the seekers after piety and rectitude. Fond of poetry and of poets, he used himself to compose good verses; he never remained for an instant without the wuzu', nor did he ever take the name of God nor of the prophet, may the peace and blessing of God be upon him, without and if it chanced that the necessity arose for mentioning a name compounded of this word 'Abd, or one of the Asmau-l-husna, such as 'Abdu-llah or the others, in such a case he would confine himself to the word 'Abd (servant), for example he would call 'Abdu-l-Haiyy, 'Abdul simply. In this same way in writing letters in place of the word "huwa" when the necessity arose he used to write two Alifs side by side. ### [66.2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.7) thus (11), whose letters thus arranged have the same value as those of the word "Hawa." \[In all matters he observed the same reverential caution which was as it were a part of his nature\]. He always spent his evenings in company and was never niggardly in entertainment, the revenues of the whole of Hindustan would not have sufficed for his expenditure. His valets, for fear of (being thought to be greedy for) reward, would never mention the name of gold in his presence, and like his father he was not engrossed in amassing wealth; no improper word or term of abuse ever passed his lips, and if he were ever very wroth with any person he used just to say 'You stupid,' and not a word more. Whether in the house or in the mosque even by mistake he never placed his left foot down before the right, and if any one placed the left foot in his house he would say, "It is the left foot," and would make him turn back and bring him in again. From his excessive reserve he never opened his lips in a smile, nor did he ever cast an angry glance at any one. ### [66.2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.8) They say that Shaikh Hamid, the commentator of Saubal, on the occasion of the conquest of Hindustan, for the second time went to Kabul to receive him, and in spite of the extreme confidence which Humayun had in him, one day he fell into a passion and said "My king, I see the whole of your army are Rafizi (heretics)." Humayun replied, "Shaikh, why do you say such a thing, and what have you to say about it?" He answered "Everywhere the names of your soldiers are of this kind. I find they are all Yar 'Ali (Friend of 'Ali), or Kafsh 'Ali (Shoe of 'Ali), or Haidar 'Ali (Lion of 'Ali), and I have not found a single man bearing the name of any other Companion." Humayun was indignant at this, and dashing his drawing pencil upon the ground in anger, said "The name of my grandfather himself was ‘Umar Shaikh, and I know no more than this,” then he rose and went into the haram and returning, with great gentleness and kindliness informed the Shaikh of the purity of his faith. Verse Preserve a lively faith so that thy reliance thereon may not falter, Nothing of a surety delivers the servant from the wrath of God save a lively faith. ### [66.2.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.9) And in order to recount the many virtues of that monarch who has obtained pardon and remission, may his resting-place be a separate record would be necessary. Countless poets, the wonder of the age, sprung from under the skirt of his auspicious reign. Among these, in Badakhshan was Maulana Jununi Badakhshi the enigmatist, who composed a qasidah made up of thirty-eight couplets in honour of that monarch, whose refuge is the pardon of God, during the time that he was a Mirza; and certain tours de force which had escaped the net of the qasidah which Mir Saiyyid Zu’l-fiqar Shirwani composed in honour of Khwaja Rashid Vazir, and the qasidah of Salman Sawaji which he wrote in honour of Khwaja Vazir, this poet seized, for example the mu‘amma, and izhar-i muzmar, and the tarikh and other tricks of this kind, and in very truth that work of art is a veritable kār-nāma (record of deeds), a miracle in the world of speech. The following are the opening couplet and another, taken from it: rnklj.-i-tu lala o 'nasrin lab-i-tu jan llaini binam lab-i-tu ghuncha-i-rangin shuda khandan Nami guyam khatt-i-tu sabza o raihan khad-i-tu gul Shavad zahir qadd-i-tu fitna-i-dauran dam-i-jaulan. And by taking all the verses of this qasida after the manner of an acrostic, the following opening couplet is formed: — Shahanshah-i-din padishah-i-zaman Zi bakht-i-Humayun shuda kamran. ### [66.2.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66.2.10) While again, if the hasho of the two first couplets are written in red ink, the following opening couplet results, which may be read in three different metres. Rukh-i-tu lala o nasrin Khatt-i-tu sabza o raihan Lab-i-tu ghuncha-i-rangin qadd-i-tu fitna-i-daman. And if they be read in reversed order a couplet is formed which may also be referred to three several metres, and with a change of qafiyah and radif in the following manner:— Khatt-i-tu sabza o raihan, rukh-i-tu lala o nasrin Qadd-i-tu fitna-i-daman, lab-i-tu ghuncha-i-rangin And from that which remains in black letters, a distinct opening couplet remained. Other tours de force also existed in this opening couplet, which are explained in the marginal notes to the work. (ii) Ramal-i-musamman makhbun, and the scansion is (iii) Hazaj-i-musamman maqbuz and the scansion is And from the four couplets of a qasidah some of the words of which are written in red ink, the following qit'ah containing the conquest of Badakhshan may be obtained, and the qit'ah also has a hidden meaning, the explanation of which is obtained from certain verses extracted from these two qasidahs. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.66) · Pramāṇa