The Rashīdī History 3.4
The Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Elias, Ross) 3.4
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3.4.1
Sultan Said Khan, hoping to share in the glories of the "holy war," had followed his lieutenant into Ladak, but his constitution, undermined by excessive drinking, proved less vigorous than his religious zeal, and the attenuated air of the Ladak passes had nearly proved fatal to him on the journey across. He recovered, however, sufficiently to lead a portion of his force into Baltistan, while Mirza Haidar was engaged in Kashmir, but after passing a winter there, distracted by cold and hunger, he too had to retreat into Ladak, and very shortly afterwards, set out on his return to Kashghar with a portion of the army. This second journey across the heights, achieved for him what the first had so nearly accomplished. He died on the Suget Pass, from the malady known as "damgiri," or mountain sickness, and was at once succeeded by his eldest son, Abdur Rashid. The death of the Khan in no way checked the course of the "holy war," for his second son, Iskandar Sultan, and many other Amirs, remained with Mirza Haidar, who now (July, 1533) started on an expedition to "earn merit" by destroying the great temple at Lassa—an exploit, he tells his readers, that had never been achieved by any King of Islam. He appears to have marched for about a month's journey towards the south-east, over some of the highest table-lands in Asia, to the region which gives rise to most of the great rivers of India, and to within a few days' journey of the Tibetan border of Nipal.
3.4.2
His total force is nowhere stated in figures, and apparently it was divided into at least two, or perhaps three, columns. One of these was attacked by a force of "men armed with short swords," sent by "a Rai of Hind" to the assistance of the Tibetans—a statement that appears to point to a body of Nipali tribesmen, armed with their national weapon, the kukri. The inference is that the Moghuls were beaten in at least one fight with these people. Yet Mirza Haidar continued his march towards the capital, until he arrived at, and plundered, a place he calls Astabrak (or Astakbark), which was represented as being within eight days' journey of Lassa. No map or book of any date, now available, seems to contain this name or any variant of it, but if the estimate of eight marches from Lassa be correct, and these marches are intended for the long Tibetan post-stages, the invaders would still have been some 800 miles, or more, distant from their goal. However this may be, the mortality among his horses, want of supplies, and the general distress caused by cold and the high elevation, obliged the Mirza to abandon his enterprise at this point, and to set out in retreat towards Ladak. His experience, indeed, was almost exactly that of the Dogra general Zorawar Sing who, in 1841, made an attempt to conquer the western provinces of Tibet for his master, Rajah Gulab Sing of Kashmir.
3.4.3
Of fighting there was little in either case, except against the climate and conditions of the country, and in both instances these adversaries proved victorious. In the early months of 1534 Mirza Haidar returned defeated, and with a mere remnant of his force, to a position of safety in Ladak. Of those who were left even, many deserted him here to find their way back to their homes across the mountains. Yet, broken and almost helpless as he was, the chiefs of Upper Ladak received him and his men with hospitality, and even assisted him in getting together a force with which, the next year, he proceeded to attack and plunder the western districts of the country, known as Purik, Suru, and Zangskar. His success in all these forays was very doubtful. He seems to have been able to do little more, during the first year, than keep his men and animals from starving, while in the second year (1535) he had again, from sheer distress, to fall back on the neighbourhood of Leh and throw himself on the mercy of the strangely tolerant Ladak chiefs. His followers, under these conditions, became discontented if not mutinous, and began to desert him; while he received such evil tidings from Kashghar, that the "holy war" against the Tibetans at length came to an end.
3.4.4
Rashid Sultan (otherwise Abdur Rashid Khan) had begun his reign at Kashghar, by putting to death many of his own relations, and among them the author's uncle, Sayyid Muhammad Mirza, whom he suspected of plotting against him in favour of the late Khan's younger son, Iskandar. These events seem to have made a deep impression on Mirza Haidar's mind, for he alludes to them with bitterness, more than once in the course of his narrative. His uncle had served Sultan Said faithfully for many years, and had done much arduous work for him, while Mirza Haidar himself had been the chief agent in extending the Khan's kingdom and power. But besides this, he had been companion and instructor to two of the Khan's sons, and when the elder of these marked the commencement of his reign by acts of ingratitude and bloodshed, it is scarcely surprising that he should be deeply hurt, and should record his feelings, years afterwards, in his history.
3.4.5
Hence, fearing that he might meet with the same treatment as his uncle and others of his family, if he returned to Kashghar, he had to seek for a refuge. It was impossible to stay longer in Ladak, while all the direct roads to India and Kabul were in the hands of those whom he had lately been chastising and plundering, in the name of religion. With the daring of despair, he determined to try and reach Badakhshan with the handful of adherents that remained in his service, by turning off from the usual track between Ladak and Yarkand, at a point called Ak-Tagh, to the north of the Karakorum Pass; and after following the course of the Yarkand river for some distance, to gain Raskam, the southern Pamirs, and Wakhan. This adventure — apparently almost hopeless under the conditions in which he attempted it — he accomplished successfully, accompanied by about twenty followers, though not without much hardship and suffering. The winter of 1536-7 he spent in Badakhshan, the following summer he repaired to Kabul, and shortly after to Lahore, where he was received by Baber's son, Kamran Mirza, and found himself, as he tells us, raised from the depths of distress to honour and dignity. Kamran was at that time engaged in a struggle for territory with the Persians, and had, soon after our author's arrival, to proceed to the relief of Kandahar, which was being besieged by Sam Mirza and by Shah Tahmasp, the sons of Shah Ismail, the Safavi;
3.4.6
but before setting out he appointed his guest to the governorship of those parts of India (the whole of the Punjab) which belonged to him, and in this capacity Mirza Haidar resided for over a year at Lahore, "collecting taxes, suppressing revolt, protecting the frontiers, and establishing Islam." It was shortly after Kamran's return to the Punjab, (1538) that Humayun had sustained a severe defeat in Bengal at the hands of Shir Shah Sur, the Afghan leader, who was now advancing towards Agra by the left bank of the Ganges. A large part of Humayun's army having accompanied him to Bengal, he made an appeal to Kamran and his other brothers to send assistance to Agra, while he himself hurried northward. Kamran, after some hesitation, consented, and moved first to Delhi and then to Agra, with an army of 20,000 men, and in company with our author. Here dissensions took place among the brothers; Kamran repented of his decision to support the Emperor, and putting forward bad health as a reason, determined to return to Lahore, while Shir Shah was yet on the far side of the Ganges. He endeavoured to persuade Mirza Haidar to return with him, but the Mirza declined on patriotic grounds, and from that time forward (1539) became an adherent of Humayun, who treated him with great honour and called him "brother, after the Moghul fashion." The disastrous battle of Kanauj soon followed.
3.4.7
Humayun's force numbered some 40,000, but was less an army than a huge undisciplined mass, commanded by Amirs who had no intention of fighting the Afghans. Mirza Haidar appears to have acted as a kind of general adviser or chief of the Emperor's staff, but he mentions incidentally that he also led the centre division. The confusion and corruption that prevailed on the side of the Chaghatais he describes with much candour, and clearly shows that the battle was lost before it had been fought. Whatever his position in the army may have been, he seems to have done his best to advise and support his master, and finally joined him in his flight to Agra, and thence to Lahore. His narrative gives, in a few words, a vivid picture of the crowd of refugees that were assembled at the Punjab capital, their state of panic, and the divided and interested counsels with which the Emperor was perplexed. Mirza Haidar advised that the Chaghatai Amirs should occupy separate positions along the lower hills, from Sirhind to the Salt Range, where the army might be re-organised in safety and, on a favourable opportunity presenting itself, might be used with effect to regain possession of India. He himself would undertake the reduction of Kashmir, a task he hoped to accomplish in so short a time that the Emperor and his brothers might send their families thither, and secure, for them at least, a refuge from all enemies. But the Mirza's advice was of no avail;
3.4.8
for though Humayun seems to have been inclined to listen, he was overborne by other councillors. While acting at Lahore as Kamran's delegate, Mirza Haidar had been approached by certain chiefs of Kashmir who were at variance with the native prince then reigning in their country, and who, on being worsted by him, had found a refuge in the Punjab. They endeavoured to procure, through Mirza Haidar's influence, the assistance of a body of Kamran's troops, to invade their own country and expel the obnoxious ruler. The scheme seems to have commended itself to the Mirza's judgment, and after some delay he was able to gather a respectable force, which he placed under the command of one Baba Chuchak, one of the most experienced officers in the service of Kamran, with instructions to accompany the Kashmiri chiefs and restore them to the possession of their State. The Baba, however, found pretexts for evading the execution of these orders, and the expedition proved a failure. After the retreat of the Chaghatais from Kanauj to Lahore, these chiefs renewed their appeals for assistance, and it was during the discussions that took place there as to the general line of action to be adopted, that Mirza Haidar impressed on Humayun the advantage of seizing the opportunity to gain a footing in Kashmir.
3.4.9
He had learned from his previous incursion into that country, while in the service of the Khan of Kashghar, the value of its position and resources, and calculated that, with a reasonable force, he would require only two months to subjugate it and make it a suitable asylum for the Emperor and his family, together, if necessary, with the remains of the Chaghatai army. Shir Shah, on the other hand, with the wheeled carriages and the artillery, on which his strength mainly depended, would not, the Mirza reckoned, be able to reach the outer hills in less than four months, and his troops would be exhausted by the effort. Though these plans were not taken advantage of by Humayun (who continued his retreat to the Indus), he permitted them to be put into practice by Mirza Haidar. The Mirza was given a small body of troops, and was sent forward from Lahore to join the Kashmiri chiefs, in whose company he was to enter the hills of their country, and to be followed, at intervals, by two of Humayun's officers, called respectively Iskandar Tupchi and Khwaja Kalan. When all had assembled above Jhilam, and the force had begun to ascend the passes leading to the valley of Kashmir, dissensions arose among the commanders.
3.4.10
Khwaja Kalan, with his men, first separated himself from the expedition, and the Topchi shortly afterwards followed him, leaving Mirza Haidar to prosecute the undertaking with no more than a handful of retainers in his own pay, and a few more who had joined him on the personal authority of the Emperor. With this following he determined to advance, and on the 21st November, 1540, crossed the Punch pass and descended into the valley. His calculations proved correct: he met with no resistance from the chiefs or people, but obtained possession of the country without striking a blow.