The Book of Akbar 331
The Akbarnama (H. Beveridge), vols. I–II 331
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- English
331.1
MARCH OF H.M. THE SHAHINSHAH'S ARMY FROM DELHI TOWARDS THE POUNJAB TO PUT DOWN THE SEDITION OF SIKANDAR, THE PURSUIT OF HIM, AND THE SIEGE OF THE FORT OF MANKOT. When it became known that Sikandar had assembled an army, and that the knot of this affair would not be unloosed until the fortune of the Shahinshah turned her reins in that direction, the expedition to the eastern provinces was postponed, and a march to the Panjab was determined on. One of the wonderful omens was that a number of the courtiers took an augury from the diwan of the tongue of mystery (Hafiz) and by chance this verse came up. Verse. No water was vouchsafed to Sikandar, It does not come by might and money. The hearts of the far-seeing loyalists received fresh support, and the minds of the superficial acquired stability. When the world-adorning God is the fortune-increaser of this eternal dominion, the far-seeing ones of the company of reality look to the beauty and glory of the Chosen One of God, and are not concerned about the ordinary course of the world. Those who have not the blessing of lofty views are, at such times of anxiety, comforted in their hearts by enquiries of this kind. A world-obeyed order was issued that the great officers and leaders should make preparations for the expedition and attend on the sublime stirrup.
331.2
When all the preparations had been completed, the discriminating mind (of Akbar) rested from all the cares of state, and though the army of cold was in full force, the march to the Panjab was commenced on 23 Azar, Divine month, corresponding to Monday 4 Safar, 7 December 1556, Mahdi Qasim Khan being left in charge of Delhi. The march was made leisurely stage by stage, and there was hunting by the way. There was both munificence and pleasure. Turks and Tajiks came in crowds, attracted by the fame of benevolence and the lights of justice; especially there was not a day when large numbers did not come from Kabul, Badakhshan, and Qandahar, and do homage. On the way the news was brought from Lahore that in the house of Bairam Khan Khan-Khanan, his wife, who was of the family of the Khans of Mewat, had borne on 6 Dai, Divine month, corresponding to Thursday 14 Safar (17 December 1556), a son to whom they had given the name of ‘Abdu-r-rahim.
331.3
The brief account of this circumstance is that when H.M. Jahanbani was at Delhi, he, in order to soothe the minds of the Zamindars, entered into matrimonial relations with them. Among these, Jamal Khan, the cousin of Hasan Khan of Mewat, who was one of the great zamindars of India, came and did homage. He had two beautiful daughters. H.M. himself married the elder sister, and gave the younger in marriage to Bairam Khan Khan-Khanan. At the time that the standards of the Shahinshah were directed towards the suppression of Hemu, the Khan-Khanan had sent his household to Lahore. The news came when the lofty genius was proceeding towards countless victories, and it was taken as a good omen. Bairam Khan prepared a grand feast. Astronomers read his greatness and excellence in his horoscope and declared that he would be exalted by the tuition of the Shahinshah and perform noble services by virtue of his loyalty, and would arrive at high dignities. The readers of the page of the forehead read the lines of devotion on his temples and rejoiced loyal hearts thereby. And in truth so it happened, in consequence of the attention of H.M. the Shahinshah who is the elixir of skill, and the alchemist of the jewel of auspiciousness. Accordingly, day by day were the lights of rectitude and the notes of loyalty read in his forehead. A brief account thereof will be given in each place as the occasion arises.
331.4
When Jalandhar became the station of the sublime camp, Iskandar, who upreared in that province the standards of strife and sedition, withdrew to the hill-country of the Siwaliks, which was his appointed asylum and permanent residence, in order that he might stay there for a while and wait upon events. The victorious army, in the hope of a final good, and of extirpating once for all his sedition, applied itself to putting him down. Without regard to the difficulties of the march and the intricacies of the country, it followed Sikandar into the hill-country of the Siwaliks, which is a world apart, and the refuge of the disaffected and headstrong spirits of India, and encamped at the town of Désihah. From there the army proceeded to the pleasant town of Dahmiri and made it a rose-garden of dominion and a springtide of fortune.