Muntakhab al-tawarikh 78.8.2

78.8.2

So he established a character for crookedness of disposition, for which he became notorious, and said: “Your being made clean can only be imagined by the water of the sword”. Meanwhile Lashkar Khān, Mīr Bakhshī and Rājā Todar Mal came from the Court to hasten the decision of the Amīrs, whether for peace or war. So that, if they thought it best, they might fight; but if not, they might hold out hopes to Sikandar and Bahādur. So Bahādur Khān came again to the outposts of the imperial camp alone, and sending for Mīr Mu‘izz-ul-Mulk and some of the Amīrs, he made proposals of peace, saying: “Since the Khān Zamān is sending his mother, and Ibrāhīm Khān to the Court, or rather by this time will have sent them, we have hopes of the forgiveness of our transgressions, and indeed this is the most probable contingency. Meanwhile we are awaiting the answer, and until the affair be settled we will not put our hand to war. Do you too, until the answer arrive, wait a few days.” Mīr Mu‘izz-ul-Mulk was a very fire, and Todar Mal played the part of oil of naphtha, and made that fire burn fiercer than ever, so that nothing but words of sternness passed on their tongue. So Bahādur Khān and Iskandar Khān, becoming desperate, did what they thought best for their own interests, and drew up their army: — “In the time of necessity, when there is no escape, The hand seizes the hilt of the sharp sword”.