The Nāṣirī Generations 170.4
Tabakat-i-Nasiri 170.4
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170.4.1
In the year 601 H., he marched his forces into the Khwarazm territory; and Sultan Muhammad, Khwarazm Shah, fell back discomfited before the Ghaznin forces and retired to Khwarazm. When the Sultan-i-Ghazi appeared before the gates of Khwarazm, and carried on hostilities for some days, the people of Khwarazm commenced engaging the Ghuris on the bank of the aqueduct which had been drawn from the river Jihun towards the east of the city, and the name of which place and water is Kara-Su [the Black Water], and of the Amirs of Ghur several persons were slain and taken prisoners in that engagement.
170.4.2
As the capture of [the city of] Khwarazm was not accomplished on account of the scarcity of the appliances of the Ghaznin forces, the length of the campaign, and the lack of forage, the Sultan withdrew his troops from the gates of Khwarazm and retired along the banks of the Jihun, and towards Balkh. The forces of Khita, and the Maliks and Amirs of Turkistan had arrived on the banks of the Jihun, and had possessed themselves of the route of the army of Islam. When the Sultan-i-Ghazi reached Andkhud on a Tuesday, at the time of evening prayer the van of the infidels of Turkistan reached the Sultan’s position, and set to to fight. The commander of the van of the army of Islam was the Salar [chief, leader, &c.], Husain-i-Khar-mil, and he put the infidels to the rout. He was one of the Maliks of Juzarwan. He at once represented to the Sultan-i-Ghazi the fact of the success of the Islami forces and the repulse [!] of the infidel troops. “It is advisable,” he said, “that the sovereign of Islam should command that the army of Islam should mount at once and pursue the routed infidels, and fall upon them unexpectedly, whereby a great victory may be achieved.”
170.4.3
The Sultan-i-Ghazi replied: “For years past I have been seeking such an encounter as this. I shall not be found to hold back: to-morrow, at dawn, by the guidance of the Most High, we will do battle face to face, and see unto whom Almighty God will bestow the victory. I shall at least have acquired the merit of having fought for the faith as by creed enjoined.” Malik 'Izz-ud-Din, Husain, son of Khar-mil, perceiving that the mind of the Sultan-i-Ghazi was imbued with this intention, was convinced that the Sultan gave vent to these words by virtue of unbounded reliance in the true faith, and the ardour of piety; [for regard had to be given to the fact] on the other hand, that the host of the infidels which had come upon them was countless, and all fresh and calm, while the Musalman army was wearied by the march from Khwarazm, and the horses were emaciated, and would not be strong enough to withstand the enemy; and he withdrew from the service of the Sultan, and, with the whole of his retinue and followers, to the number of five thousand horse, set out, at night, towards Juzarwan, and almost all the troops [also] whose horses were weak and emaciated departed.
170.4.4
In the morning, notwithstanding that only a few horsemen of the centre division and his own slaves remained with him, the Sultan drew out his ranks and commenced the engagement The army of the unbelievers, having formed a circle round about the troops of Islam, came on, and, in despite of the remonstrance his slaves were using that of the army of Islam only a small number of men remained, and that it was advisable to retreat, the Sultan-i-Ghazi still continued to maintain his position, until, of cavalry and his own personal slaves, only about one hundred horsemen remained, who, with a few elephants, the Turkish slaves, and the Ghurian leaders, who were the Sultan’s grandees, in front of his charger’s head, were hurling back the infidels, devoting their lives, and obtaining martyrdom. Trustworthy persons have related on this wise, that the Sultan-i-Ghazi stood his ground so persistently that his august state canopy, from the wounds of the arrows of the infidel Mughals [and the arrows remaining sticking fast], became like unto a porcupine, and he would not turn his head round in any direction, until one of his Turkish slaves, whose name was Ayyah Juki, came up, seized the Sultan’s bridle, and dragged him away towards the fortress of Andkhud, and conducted him thither, and brought him within the walls of that fortress.
170.4.5
The following day, Sultan ’Usman of Samrkand, who vancing by way of Charizm [! ! !], and Tacash, the King of that country, not able to oppose him in the field, shut himself up in the city. The King pitched his camp on the banks of the great canal which the Chilligies had formerly dug to the westward of that city. He forthwith attacked the place, and in a few days lost many brave nobles in the pursuit of glory. In the mean-time, news arrived, that Aibech, the general of the King of Chitta in Tartary and Osman King of Samarcand were advancing with great armies, to the relief of Charizm. Mahommed was so unwilling to abandon his hopes of taking the city, that he delayed till the allied armies advanced so near, that he was under the necessity of burning all his baggage, and to retreat with the utmost expedition to Chorassan [! !]. But an army from the city pressed so close upon his heels, that he was obliged to give them battle. He was totally defeated, losing all his elephants and treasure.
170.4.6
‘‘In the meantime the confederate Kings, who had taken a circuit, to cut off Mahommed’s retreat, met him full in the face, as he was flying from the King of Charizm Murv, and in the beginning of the next year marched to complete the conquest of Khwarazm [! ! !] [This is what is styled “ his western campaign against the King of Kharizm” in THE Student’s Manual, but I think Khwarazm lies north of Ghaznin]. Mahomud Ghoory, having encamped on the banks of the great canal, which had formerly been dug to the westward of the city, forthwith attacked the place, but lost many brave officers and men in an attempt to escalade it [! ! !]. Meanwhile news arrived that Kurra Beg, the general of Ghoorkhan, King of Khutta, and Othman Khan Samarkhandy, were advancing with armies to the relief of Khwarazm Shah. Mahomed Ghoory, unwilling to abandon his hopes of taking the city, delayed his retreat till the allied armies advanced so near, that he was compelled to burn his baggage, and to retire with the utmost precipitation towards Khorassan. His army was pressed so closely by troops from that province, that he was compelled to give battle, and was wholly defeated, losing all his elephants and treasure, while the confederate Kings who had taken a circuit to cut off his retreat towards Ghuzny, intercepted him.’’
170.4.7
This may truly be called the Romance of History. Deceived, apparently, by this translation, Elphinstone [page 316] has fallen into great error. He says: ‘‘He [Shahab u din] gained a great victory over the king of that country [Kharizm], besieged him in his capital, and soon reduced him to such straits as to constrain him to sue for aid to the Khitan Tartars,’’ &c. Never was a statement more erroneous. Marshman too, possibly quoting from the same, says “Mahomed led his troops against Takash,” as he styles Sultan ’Ala-ud-Din, Muhammad, the son of Sultan Takish. The following is Firishtah’s account: — “Sultan Shihab-ud-Din was between Tus and Sarakhs when the account of the decease of his brother, Ghiyas-ud-Din, reached him, and in whose name the kingdom was [i. e. in whom the sovereignty rested. This is the passage misinterpreted by Dow — ‘‘who retained nothing of the empire but the name.’’ The original is j\ y *..,1]. From thence he set out for Badghais, performed the mourning ceremonies there, and, in this year, he divided the whole of the states of Khurasan [Firishtah here shows that he is himself no authority as to the geography of was a second Yusuf [in beauty], and the Afrasiyabi Maliks of Turkistan, who were Musalmans, interposed and brought about an accommodation, and the infidel forces drew back again, and the Sultan returned to Ghaznin, and commanded that forces should be organized for a three years’ campaign in Turkistan, and determined to march into Khita.
170.4.8
At that period, an assemblage of contumacious persons, [consisting] of Khokhars, and other rebels of the tribes of the hills of Lohor and Jud hills had broken out into revolt. and, in the cold season of that year, the Sultan came into Hindustan, and sent that refractory race to hell, and was defeated by the Turks and Khita-is, as already noticed, it became noised abroad throughout his territories that the Sultan, Shihab-ud-Din, had disappeared in that battle, and it was unknown what had happened to him— whether he had been killed, or whether he was still living, and had gone into any foreign part. Consequently, the seditious in his territory — in all parts— raised their heads, and each stretched forth his hand towards some tract of the territory. Among the seditious was one, Rae Sal by name, who was in the hilly country, between the city of Luhawar and Ghaznah ; and, in concert with a body of Kokars, in the tract, and who always used to pay revenue to the treasury of Shihab-ud-Din, having revolted from authority and obedience, he commenced plundering and harrying that district, and completely closed the route between Luhawar and Ghaznah [Ghaznin], and in such wise that not a soul could pass along it.” [He is called Re-bal and Ran-bal in Jami'-ut-Tawarikh * but both names are doubtful, and are, probably, meant for Rae-Sal, “the ruler of the Koh-i-Jud [the Salt Range], at which the frontier of Hind commences, who had turned Musalman, and subsequently relapsed ;
170.4.9
and the Khokhars, who also used to pay tribute to the Sultan, in consequence of these reports, also rose.” Taj-ul-Ma’asir, after stating that the proceedings of Lik-Tal, and the rumoured death of the Sultan, was the cause of great confusion and disturbance, says, “ the Kokar tribe, rising in rebellion, entertained the idea of becoming independent, and obtaining dominion. The sons of Kokar, Bakan and Sarkak [Firishtah has but one, whom he calls ' the chief of the Khokhars, who bore the name of Sarkah'], also entertained the desire of acquiring sovereign power.” Then there is an account of their taking Lohor, and of their defeating the feudatories of the Multan province, Baha-ud-Din and his brother, and others, and that the Sipah-Salar, Suliman, had to fly before them.] Alfi continues:— “When Shihab-ud-Din reached Ghaznah in safety, in the manner previously described, and this matter came to his knowledge, he determined to proceed into Hindustan, and thoroughly chastise the rebels of that part. Therefore he first directed Amir Muhammad, son of Abi ’Ali [this must be his kinsman, the son-in-law of Ghiyas-ud-Din, the late Sultan], who was his lieutenant over Luhawar and Multan [the Amir-i-Dad, Hasan, was probably subordinate to him], to remit with all possible celerity the revenue of the year 601 H. [and yet the Taj-ul-Ma’asir gives the year 600 H.
170.4.10
as that of his return from Khwarazm, and his expedition against the Khokhars], as it was required in the preparations making for the invasion of Khita. [Jami’-ut-Tawarikh says, after the Sultan had taken his slave Lek-Tal [or Lik-Tal], who had taken possession of Multan, and had put him to death, and disposed of that affair, he despatched Muhammad, son of Abi ’Ali, to Lahor and Multan as governor, in order that he should send the tribute of those territories, which for the last two years were in arrears, to provide him with funds for his campaign against Khita.] Amir Muhammad wrote, in reply, that the revenue of the years [sic] mentioned was ready, but that the Kokars [Khokhars], and Rae Sal, the chief of the Jibal-i-Judi [the Jud Hills] [Taj-ul-Ma’asir does not make the distinction between two different tribes, but says the sons of Kokar, 'Bakah and Sarkah— in another MS.], had so closed the lower route to Ghaznah [neither the carried on holy war as prescribed by the canons of Islam, and set a river of the blood of those people flowing. When Bolan nor the Khaibar, the two by some supposed sole routes into Afghanistān, are referred to], that not a person could proceed by it.