The Akbarī Generations 35: Thirteenth year of the Reign.
Tabakát-i Akbarí of Nizámu-d dín Ahmad (extracts) 35
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Thirteenth year of the Reign.
35.1
The beginning of this year corresponded with Thursday, 14th Ramazan, 975 H. (14th March, 1568). At the beginning of this year the Emperor left Ajmir, and proceeded by way of Mewat towards Agra. On his journey, he passed a jungle which was the abode of lions (sher) and tigers (babar). A terrible tiger (sher) came out, and His Majesty's followers, who were constantly in attendance upon him, discharged their arrows and stretched him in the dust. His Majesty then gave orders, that if a like thing should occur again, they were not to shoot until he directed them. As they went on, another tiger (sher), larger and fiercer than the first, came out and made towards the Emperor. No one of the attendants dared to fire without orders. The tiger-hunting King alighted from his horse and levelled a musket at the beast. The ball grazed the animal's face, inflicting a slight wound, which caused him to rush from his place towards His Majesty. The Emperor fired a second time, and brought him down. At this juncture, 'Adil Muhammad Kandahari, boldly placed an arrow to his bow, and faced the animal, which then turned away from the Emperor and attacked him. It brought him to the ground, and was about to take his head in his mouth. That brave fellow, in this supreme moment, thrust his hand into the animal's mouth, and sought to draw his dagger to stab him in the belly. But the handle of the dagger stuck in the sheath, and the beast gnawed the flesh and skin of the hand which was in his mouth.
35.2
Notwithstanding this, 'Adil managed to draw his dagger, and inflicted some deep wounds in the animal's belly. Brave men gathered round on all sides and finished him. 'Adil Muhammad received a sword-cut besides the wounds the tiger had given him. He lay for some time on the bed of pain before he died of his wounds. After the tiger hunt the royal camp moved towards Alwar, and directions were given that it should proceed thither, while the Emperor himself went to pay a visit to Shaikh Nizam Narnauli. He then returned to the camp, and proceeded with the army to the capital. After a stay of some months at Agra, the Emperor resolved to attack the fort of Rantambhor, renowned as one of the strongest and highest fortresses of Hindustan. An order was issued for the assembling of those troops which had not been engaged in the siege of Chitor. Ashraf Khan Mir-munshi and Sadik Khan were sent on this service with a large portion of the Imperial army. When these amirs had marched several stages, intelligence reached the Emperor of disturbances created by the sons of Muhammad Sultan Mirza, who had escaped from the hands of Changiz Khan, in Gujarat, and had laid siege to the fort of Ujjain, in Malwa. The Emperor then directed that Kalij Khan, with the amirs and the army that had been sent to Rantambhor, should undertake the repression of the revolt of the Mirzas.
35.3
The two forces united according to the order. On approaching Sironj, Shahabu-d din, the ruler of that sarkar, came forth to meet them. He joined them and marched on with them. When they encamped at Sarangpur, Shah Bidagh Khan joined them with his forces. The army had now grown very large. When the Mirzas were apprised of its approach, they raised the siege of Ujjain, and went off towards Mandu. Muhammad Murad Khan and Mirza 'Azizu-lla, who had been besieged in Ujjain, being thus released, came out and joined the amirs. All marched together in pursuit of the Mirzas, who fled before them from Mandu to the banks of the Nerbadda. They crossed this river in such confusion that many of their men were drowned. Just at this time Jajhar Khan Habshi murdered Changiz Khan, the ruler of Gujarat, in the tirpauliya maidan of Ahmadabad. When the Mirzas heard of this, they seized the chance which it afforded, and fled to Gujarat. The Imperial amirs turned back from the river Nerbadda, and the jagirdars of Mandu returned to their jagirs. Kalij Khan and the other amirs proceeded to Court, and were received with royal favour. On reaching Gujarat, the Mirzas first seized upon the fort of Champanir, and then marched against Broach, to which they laid seige. After a while, they by stratagem got into their power Rustam Khan Rumi, who was besieged in the fort, and put him to death. The remainder of this transaction will be told in its proper place.
35.4
In the course of this year Mir Muhammad Khan-i kalan, Kutbu-d din Muhammad Khan, and Kamal Khan Ghakar, jagirdars of the Panjab, were summoned to Court. They hastened to obey, and in Rabi'u-l awwal, 976 H., they arrived and made their offerings. Husain Kuli Khan and his brother Isma'il Khan were summoned from Nagor, and appointed to the government of the Panjab instead of them. The jagir of Muhammad Khan-i kalan, in the sarkar of Sambal, became a tankhwah. When the Emperor marched to conquer Rantambhor, Husain Kuli Khan was his personal attendant in the campaign. But after the reduction of Rantambhor, and the return of His Majesty to Agra, Husain Kuli Khan and his brother Isma'il Kuli Khan took leave and departed to the Panjab. On the 1st Rajab, the Emperor marched from Agra against Rantambhor. Proceeding to Dehli, he stayed there some days and went out to a kamurgha hunt, in the neighbourhood of Palam, where four or five thousand animals were killed.