The Nāṣirī Generations 149.1.6

149.1.6

When the battle was duly ordered, Sultan ’Ala-ud-Din after he had arrayed himself in all his panoply, commanded that a surcoat of crimson-coloured satin should be brought to him, and he put it on over all his armour. His kinsfolk and his intimates inquired: — “What device is this of the king’s, that he covers his armour with a crimson surcoat?” He answered: — “For this reason, that, in case my body should be wounded by arrow, lance, or sword, the redness of my blood, by means of the crimson surcoat, will not show upon my armour, so that the hearts of my followers may not become dejected.” The mercy of the Almighty be upon him ! The troops of Ghur have a method, in the practise of fighting on foot, of making a certain article of one fold of raw bullock-hide, over both sides of which they lay cotton, and over all draw figured coarse cotton cloth after the form of a screen [or breast-work], and the name of that article of defence is karwah. When the foot-soldiers of Ghur place this [screen] upon their shoulders, they are completely covered from head to foot by it; and, when they close their ranks, they appear like unto a wall, and no missile or arms can take any effect on it, on account of the quantity of cotton with which it is stuffed. When the engagement was fairly begun, Daulat Shah son of Bahram Shah, with a body of cavalry and an elephant, made a charge.