The Rashīdī History 73.3

73.3

Some persons seeing the Khwája's dead body, went and reported the matter to Shaikh Jamál, who sent to ask the Begum the meaning of it all. The Begum replied: "I am the wife of Sultán Yunus Khán; Shaikh Jamál gave me to some one else; this is not allowed by Muhammadan law, so I killed the man, and Shaikh Jamál Khar may kill me also if he likes." Shaikh Jamál commended her words, and, taking pity on her, sent her back with all honour to the Khán [her husband]. When the Khán had been one year in prison, Amir Abdul Kudus, the nephew of Amir Karim Bardi Dughlát, with the assistance of a body of men, fell on the Shaikh and slew him. He then brought the head of the Shaikh to the Khán, and set him at liberty. The Amirs, who had gone over to the Shaikh, now returned to their allegiance under the Khán. They explained that the reason for the hostility they had shown him was, that he had always tried to make them settle in towns and cultivated countries, but that these places were hateful to them. So the Khán repented and said : "Henceforward I will give up all idea of living in towns and cultivated countries" [shahr u viláyat]. To record this event they invented the chronogram: sar-i-khar giriftah Abdul Kudus, which is enigmatical; for "sar-i-khar" is equivalent to the letter "khá" and has to be added to [the numerical value of] Abdul Kudus in order to produce the date 877 [1472-3].