The Book of Akbar 398.4

398.4

Though it was a case for showing severity to those men he from his innate graciousness winked at their misconduct and advanced in person on the elephant Dilsankar. As there was much fire in front of the village, and it was hard for the elephant to go forward they took the mountain-form round by the back of the village. His Majesty told me the story with his own holy lips in this fashion: ‘When the elephant had been driven into the narrow places of the village I saw a yellow cuirass appearing on a roof. Dastam Khan had such a cuirass and I thought it was his. I urged on the elephant and got near the roof. Meanwhile there was a rain of sticks and stones and arrows. The Divine protection (which is the Shahinshah’s coat of mail and which ever watches over him) became more and more marked. When I got close up I saw that the mail-clad man was Muqbil Khan, and that he had gone up and was wrestling with one of the stiff-necked ones, and trying to throw him off the roof. A number of unruly spirits had run to help, and to finish Muqbil Khan.’ Just then His Majesty the Shahinshah pushed on the elephant and at the same time he called to the men to get up on the roof. Banda ‘Ali, the qūrbegi of Mun‘im Khān and elder brother of Sulṭān ‘Ali Khāldār, ran up on the roof.—The wretches fled. The opponent was quickly disposed of. At this time the elephant’s fore-foot went into a grain-pit and Jujhār Khān Faujdār who was on the elephant and behind His Majesty fell on the top of the latter.