The Book of Akbar 376.1.6

376.1.6

The account of the event is briefly this. M.M. Sulaiman and Ibrahim had in the beginning of the reign taken the road of destruction and sown the seed of their own overthrow, though victory had several times shown her face to them in their contests with the Uzbegs, and also was a cause of increasing their arrogance. Among these successes was the falling into their hands of the son of ‘Abbas Sultan who was continually coming from Hisār and making forays on behalf of Tīmūr Khān who was the ruler of Hisār, and was his cousin. At length they brought an army against Hisār and captured the outer fort. Tīmūr Khān shut himself up in the citadel, and was spending his days in stratagems. He was waiting in expectation of assistance from the Uzbegs, who had been summoned from various quarters. As the Mīrzās knew that help was near at hand they returned from Hisār to Badakhshān. In the fifth year of the Divine Era corresponding to 967 of the lunar year, the Mīrzās collected an army of their servants and Aimāqs and marched against Balkh. The shrewd and far-seeing were not favourable to this expedition, as the march against Balkh was unreasonable. For the army of Balkh was larger than the army of Badakhshān, and their military leaders were more numerous. A lesser army may engage with a greater if it have more leaders, but in the Badakhshān army there were only two, viz., Mīrzās Sulaimān and Ibrāhīm; while in the hostile army there were Pīr Muhammad Khān, and many princes.