[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) › 78.11 # Muntakhab al-tawarikh 78.11 Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 78.11 - **Language:** English ### [78.11.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.1) ‘The air again was so hot that, even in running water, The crab through heat laid its breast on the ground, Even the moist river, from the mouth of which water ever flows, Through fever became dry-lipped, like a bilious person.’ And when the town of Sakit had became the camping-place of the imperial army, news came in that Khan Zaman had raised the siege \[of Shergarh\], and fled towards Manikpur, where was his brother Bahadur Khan. Accordingly, from the town of Bhojpur the Emperor detached a body of 6,000 veteran troopers under the command of Muhammad Quli Khan Barlas, Muzaffar Khan, Raja Todar Mal, Shah Budagh Khan, and his son ‘Abd-ul-Matlab Khan and Husain Khan (who at that time had arrived from Satwas) to march towards Oudh to oppose Sikandar. At first Husain Khan was appointed to lead the vanguard of this division of the imperial army; but, since he had arrived in a most deplorable and poverty-stricken state, on account of the protracted seige he had sustained in the fortress \[of Satwas\], he went to the parganna of Shamsabad to obtain supplies for his army, and found it so refreshing that some little delay took place in his rejoining the army: consequently Qiya Khan was appointed in his place. ### [78.11.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.2) The author was with the aforesaid Khan on this occasion. And when he passed on from Shamsabad, I remained in that town. The following is one of the marvels, which took place there, to which a number of trustworthy inhabitants of that city jewels, A few days before this it happened, that, on a more witness whereof, a boy of tender age, belonging to a washerman, fell asleep on a couch on the banks of the river Ganges. Suddenly he fell into the river, and the strong stream carried him as far as the town of Bhojpur (which is 10 cosses distant), and landed him safely on the bank. A relative of the washerman took out the child, and recognizing it, brought it back in the morning to its mother and father: — ‘He is the Absolute Omnipotent, Who ruleth as He wills, He is, in truth, the Judge, Who acteth, as it pleaseth Him.’ ### [78.11.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.3) And, when the imperial camp was pitched at the town of Rai Bareli, news arrived that Khan Zaman and Bahadur Khan had crossed the river Ganges and fled towards Kalpi. Consequently the Emperor, directing that the camp, under Khwajah Jahan, should be moved on towards Karah, set off with all speed for Manikpur. Mounted upon an elephant he crossed the stream, and at that time there were not with him more than fifteen or sixteen persons. And Majnun Khan, and Asaf Khan, who were in the vanguard, kept from time to time sending back information concerning the whereabouts of the enemy. It so happened that Khan Zaman and Bahadur Khan, over whose eyes Fate had drawn the blinding iron of negligence, in accordance with the following: — ‘When Fate lets down its wings from the sky, All the prudent become blind and deaf’ — had spent the whole night at a wine-party, and in watching an exhibition of Patar-dancing, and, their cup being full, they looked on the intelligence of the enemy’s advance, which the scouts kept bringing in, as merely an act of rashness on the part of Majnun Khan (for which they cared no more, than for a measure stuffed with straw) ; but, as for the Emperor's approach, they had no intimation of it, and indeed never dreamt of such a thing. On this day the Emperor was mounted on an elephant named Sundar, and lie placed Mirza Kokah, surnamed A’zam Khan in the houda with him. ### [78.11.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.4) He took up his station in the centre, and placed A'af Khan, and all the Atkas, on the right, and Majnun Khan, and others, on the left. Now the Khan Zaman had given orders for his army to march in the morning. But sunk, as he was, in sleep and the wine, which he had drunk, he was wakened only by the Messenger of Fate. Then, by the exhibition of standards and paraphernalia of majesty, and the glory of the cavalcade, and the pompous beating of kettle-drums, he became certain that the Emperor in person was with the army. Accordingly, he ordered his troops to fall in, and began to draw up his lines. First he dispatched a body of renowned heroes, veterans in service, to oppose the advance of the vanguard of the imperial army. But Baba Khan Qaqshal, who was leader of the van, with a well-directed shower of arrows repulsed them, and drove them back on the Khan Zaman. At this moment one of the horses of the fugitives rushed with terrific force against the horse of the Khan Zaman, so that through the concussion his turban became loosened from his head, and caught him round the neck like a lasso. At the sight of this occurrence \[his brother\] Bahadur Khan, planting firmly the foot of desperation, charged Baba Khan with such fury, that he compelled him to retreat, and sweeping him before him, bore him back on the ranks of Majnun Khan. ### [78.11.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.5) Then Majnun Khan, and Bahadur Khan, who had returned to the thick of the fray from the pursuit of fugitives, fell upon one another, and showed great courage. But an arrow struck the horse of Bahadur Khan, which reared and threw him to the ground, so that he was taken prisoner : — ‘ When the key of victory is not in the hand, One cannot open the door of victory by force.’ At this juncture the Emperor dismounted from his elephant, and got on horse-back, and ordered that the troop of mountain-formed elephants should charge the ranks of the Khan Zaman : and then the fortune of the day began to waver, and the signs of victory began to decide in the Emperor’s favour : — ‘ The sword of kings doth show such marks, The great do such deeds as beseem them, Look at a king’s sword, read not the annals of the past, For, more sooth-saying is his sword — much !’ ### [78.11.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.6) (P. 97). And an elephant, Hiranand by name, on the side of the imperial army, charged an elephant, named Oudya, on the enemy’s side, and came with such force against the head of that animal, that it felled it to the ground. And midst this hubbub and confusion, an arrow struck the horse of the Khan Zaman ; and, while he was in the act of pulling it out, another arrow struck it, and it reared up and the Khan Zaman fell to the ground. At this moment an elephant-driver, riding on an elephant named Narsingh, came up; and, although the Khan Zaman kept saying to him : ‘ I am a great leader, take me alive to the king, and you will get a great reward,’ the elephant-driver would not listen, but drove on his elephant, which crushed him with its trunk and feet, and ground his bones to powder, and made his body like a bag full of chess-pieces : — ‘ The huge-form of elephants dashed \[him\] crushed to the ground, An earthquake threw \[him\] on the surface of the earth : Through all these tusks, which were weighers-out of evil, The face of the ground became a \[strewed\] chess-board.’ ### [78.11.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.7) After that the turmoil of battle had subsided, Nazar Bahadur made Bahadur Khan ride behind him on the same horse, and brought him to the Imperial Presence. The Emperor did not wish to put him to death, but asked him : ‘ Bahadur how are you.’ He replied, ‘ Praise is due to God in all circumstances.’ And when he asked for water, the Emperor gave him some out of his own canteen. But the Amirs did not deem it advisable to spare his life, so they brought about his execution. ### [78.11.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11.8) And after a time the head of the Khan Zaman was also brought in. And for some time there was a dispute, as to whether it were the Khan Zaman’s or no. At this juncture a petty Hindu Ray, Khan Zaman’s wakil, who was of the number of the prisoners, took up the head, and, putting it upon his own, began to lament: ‘Alas! alas!’ And Khwajah Daulat a eunuch, who had once been in Khan Zaman’s service, and had afterwards given in his adhesion to the Emperor, and had attained the title of Daulat Khan, said: “The way to find out whether the head is really that of Khan Zaman is this. He used always to chew betel-leaf on the right side \[of his mouth\], consequently his teeth on the right side will be black.” And so they found them. These affairs took place in the twelfth year of the reign, on the Monday in the first week of the month Zi-hijjah of the year nine hundred and seventy-four (974), in the neighbourhood of the village of Maakarwal, one of the dependencies of Pairag now known as Alahabas. And some, who had formerly thought good to accept service under Khan Zaman, and had therefrom sucked no small advantage, found this mnemosynon for the date of his death:— --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.general.muntakhab-al-tawarikh~en-ranking-lowe-haig.78.11) · Pramāṇa