The Nāṣirī Generations 14: XIII. — Bahram Shah

14

Mu'izzu-d daula Bahram Shah, was handsome and manly, liberal, just, and a friend of his people. In the early part of his career, when Malik Arslan succeeded his father, Sultan Mas'ud the generous, he went to Khurasan, the throne of which country was occupied in those days by the great Sultan Sa'id Sanjar. Bahram Shah remained for some time at his Court. But at length Sultan Sanjar marched against Ghazni, and defeated Malik Arslan in battle. Bahram Shah then mounted the throne, and was supported by Sultan Sanjar. Saiyid Hasan composed an ode, which he recited at Court in the presence of Sanjar. Sanjar went back to Khurasan, and Bahram took possession of the country. He made some expeditions to Hindustan, and on the twenty-seventh of Ramazan, A.H. 512, he captured Muhammad Bahalim, and kept him a prisoner; but he afterwards liberated him, and assigned the whole country of Hindustan to him. This officer again revolted and built the fort of Nagor, in the Siwalik hills, in the vicinity of Bera. He had many sons and dependants. Bahram Shah proceeded to Hindustan to subdue the fort, and Muhammad Bahalim marched towards Multan to meet him, and gave battle, but God punished him for his ingratitude, and he, with his ten sons, their horses and arms, fell on the day of battle into a quagmire, so that no trace of him was left. Bahram Shah returned to Ghazni, and had to fight against the kings of Ghor. In the war his son Daulat Shah was slain, and in one campaign he was defeated three times by Sultan 'Alau-d din. Ghazni fell into the hands of the Ghorians, who set it on fire and destroyed it. Bahram Shah went to Hindustan, but when the Ghorians had retired, he again came to Ghazni, and there expired. His reign lasted forty-one years.