The Nāṣirī Generations 268: ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE FORT OF SAIF-RUD OF GHUR.
Tabakat-i-Nasiri 268
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ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE FORT OF SAIF-RUD OF GHUR.
268.1
The fortress of Saif-rud of Ghur is the strongest of all the strongholds of the jibal [mountain tracts], and the foundation of it had been laid by the father of the Sultans Ghiyas-ud-Din, and Mu'izz-ud-Din — Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, son of 'Izz-ud-Din, Al-Husain. When Sultan Muhammad, Khwarazm Shah, retired from before Balkh towards Mazandaran, he commanded so that Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, should put the fortress in a state of repair. There was but little time [to do it in], and he was unable to construct more than a reservoir in the upper part of it; for, two months after the command was given, the Mughal army entered [that part], and the possibility of constructing anything more did not offer itself. In that reservoir he collected sufficient water for about forty days' supply for the people of the fortress. The Mughal troops carried their depredations into all parts of Ghur; and the whole of the quadrupeds of every kind, from all parts, fell into the hands of the infidels, and the people of Ghur attained martyrdom, through a diram of four dangs.
268.2
Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, with his troops, sought shelter within that fortress, and the Nu-in Mangutah, the Nu-in Karachah, and the Nu-in Utsuz, with a numerous army, advanced to the foot [of the walls] of the fort, and, when they understood that the defenders had but a small supply of water, they fixed their camp at the base of the stronghold, and commenced hostilities. For a period of fifty days they assailed it with great vigour, and, on both sides, a great number of Musalmans attained martyrdom, and Mughals beyond compute went to hell. There was an immense number of quadrupeds in the fortress; and as many as they were able to cure by drying they slaughtered, and the remainder, amounting to the number of 24,400 odd, perished for want of water. The whole were thrown from the ramparts of the fort on to the glacis on the side of the hill [on which it stood], and the whole face thereof, for a depth of some forty gaz [ells], was completely strewn with the carcases of the dead animals, so that not a yard [of space] of the whole hill could be seen for them.
268.3
Orders were given so that, for the people of the fortress, a stated allowance of water, grain, and other provision was fixed, to each man half a man [about a gallon, or rather less] of water, and a man of grain and to Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, one man of water — half for [his own] drinking, and half for the purpose of his ablutions. There was no horse in the fortress but one, the private horse of Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, for the use of which the water expended in the Malik’s ablutions used to be set aside, and was collected in an open vessel so that the animal might drink it. When a period of fifty days had expired, the party which had been stationed to guard the reservoir of water, gave intimation that not more than one day’s supply remained in it ; and a person, from the fortress, went away, and informed the Mughal troops of that circumstance. Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, when he ascertained the fact, convened the males of the people of the fortress at the time of afternoon prayer, and proposed that, the next morning, at break of day, they should put all the females and children to death with their own hands, and throw open the gateway of the fortress, and that every man, armed with a naked sword, should conceal himself in some place within the fortress, and, when the infidel Mughals should enter it, they [the Musalmans], with one accord, should fall upon them with their swords, and should continue to fight them until they should attain the felicity of martyrdom.
268.4
All pledged themselves to this, and submitted their hearts to martyrdom, and this determination became fixed in their minds, and they were taking leave of each other, until, at the time of evening prayer, Almighty God, the Most High and Holy, unclosed the door of His mercy [upon them], and, out of His boundless beneficence, sent clouds, so that, on the summits of the mountains around about, and parts adjacent, until midnight, the rain of mercy descended, and the snow of compassion fell, in such wise, that, from the army of the infidels without, and the champions of the faith within the fortification, a hundred thousand exclamations and cries arose in wonderment at the succour of the Most High God. The people of the fortress, who had withdrawn their hearts from existence, and washed the hand of hope of life, and who had endured the thirst of fifty days, and during that time had not drunk the sharbat of their fill of water, drank from the coverings of the tents and sāyah-bāns, so much snow water, in satisfying their longing, that, for a period of seven days after, smoke issued from their throats along with their saliva.
268.5
When the Mughal forces beheld that Divine assistance, and witnessed the bountifulness of the Creator, they knew that the people of the fort had saved at least a month's supply of water, or even a two months' supply, that the month of Tīr [the fourth solar month] was come to its close, and that, without doubt, in the winter season, snow would fall successively. The following day, therefore, they abandoned their position before the fortress and raised the investment, and went to hell until the following year.
268.6
When the new year, 619 H., came round, again the Mughal forces from Khurāsān, Ghaznīn, and Sīstān, entered the different parts of the mountain tracts of Ghūr. After the disaster which befel Sulṭān Jalāl-ud-Dīn, Khwārazm Shāh, a force from the Mughal armies, amply equipped and provided, and [consisting of] cavalry, and infantry, and Amirs, beyond computation, appeared at the foot of the fortress of Saif-rud, and pitched their camp; and hostilities commenced. As Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, had had opportunity, and had constructed reservoirs, and collected vast store of provision, he fought many encounters with the Mughal troops, and used strenuous efforts against them; and, the greater the efforts and endeavours the infidels put forth, the stronger became the affairs of the fortress, and the more intrepid grew the warriors of the faith. On this occasion, the fighting continued, and they kept up the investment, for a further period of two months, and, in no way, could they obtain possession of the fortress. After that [period of time], the infidels turned their faces towards treachery and deceit, and entered into the gate of peace, and propounded words of amity. As the people, for a considerable time, had suffered the disquietude and care of a fortress, out of eagerness for gold, and clothes, and cattle, at a cheap rate, they were agreeable to an accommodation.
268.7
Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, used to dissuade them greatly from entering into a truce with infidels, but the people had become wearied and exhausted, and the fate of some of them was near at hand. His expostulations were of no avail; and, in the end, a truce was agreed to, on the stipulation that, for a period of three days, the people of the fortress should come into the Mughal camp, bring the commodities they possessed and dispose of them, and take away the gold and silver the price thereof, and purchase such cattle and woollen garments as they required; and that, after the expiration of three days, the Mughal troops should march away from before the place. When the truce had been ratified, the people of the fortress conveyed all such commodities as they possessed into the camp of the accursed ones, and for a period of two days bought and sold what was necessary, and not a Mughal infidel, or any one else, annoyed any person whosoever. When the night of the third day came, the infidels concealed a great number of armed men behind rocks, [bales of] clothes, pack-saddles of animals, and in the old gullies and ravines about their camp; and, when the morning of the third day broke, the people from above descended from the mountain and mingled as before among the infidels in their camp.
268.8
All at once they [the Mughals] beat kettledrums and raised a shout, and every Mughal infidel and renegade, who was buying and selling with the Musalmans, seized, on the spot, those Musalmans and slew them, with the exception of the persons whose lives Almighty God had spared; and all who had arms with them, or displayed knives, them they first deprived of their weapons, and then slew them. At this place an incident occurs, and a piece of advice for observers and readers offers; and it is this: There was a leader among the soldiery [in the fortress], a Nīshāpūrī, a thorough man, whom they were wont to style Fakhr-ud-Dīn, Muhammad-i-Arzīz-gar [the worker in tin], one among the followers of Amīr Habashī-i-Nezah-war, who was, at this time, in the fortress of Saif-rūd, in the service of Malik Kutb-ud-Dīn, Husain. He [Fakhr-ud-Dīn] also had gone into the camp of the Mughals, and was buying and selling; and, in the leg of his boot, he had a knife in shape like a poniard. A Mughal, who was trafficking with him, desired to seize him, but he laid hand on his knife, and drew it out of the leg of his boot. The Mughal stayed his hand from him, and Fakhr-ud-Dīn again placed his foot to the mountain, and returned in safety to the fortress.
268.9
The warning [here conveyed] is, that it behoveth not a man, in any case, to be passive in the matter of his own safety, particularly when in a place he may be holding parley with a foe, or be in the company of an enemy; and he should see to his own preservation for some useful purpose, and not be without a weapon: for the rest, the protection of the Most High God is sufficient to preserve whom He wills. Trustworthy persons have related that two hundred and eighty men of note and heads of families, valiant men, fell captive into the hands of the Mughals [upon this occasion] ; and, such a disaster having befallen the people of Islam, there was not a dwelling [in the place] in which there was not mourning. On the occurrence of this misfortune the Mughal Nu-ins employed emissaries to propose that they [the people of the fort of Saif-rud] should ransom their own people; but Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, did not consent. When the Mughals understood that, on this occasion, the people of the fortress would not take the bait of treachery, they, on the following day, bound all the Musalmans who had become captive — ten and fifteen together — and killed them with sword-wounds, stones, and knives, until they made martyrs of the whole of them.
268.10
The next day, the Mughals made preparations to renew the attack ; and Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, the night before the attack, gave directions so that all the great [blocks] of stone [lying about] on the face of the hill near the khak-rez of the fortress were speedily placed in such a manner that the touch of a child would move them from their places and send them rolling down. More than a hundred great stones as big as mill-stones, and hand-mill-stones, fastened to beams of wood, at the extremity of each beam a millstone, they had drawn out ; and those beams were fastened to the battlements of the fortress by ropes. The whole of the men of the fortress were divided into two bodies : one half were concealed on the top of the ramparts, behind the battlements, and the other half outside the fortress, at the foot of the ramparts, behind the great blocks of stone. Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, enjoined that, until the sound of the kettledrums of the fortress arose, not a person should show himself.
268.11
All things having been arranged in this manner, at dawn the next morning, all at once, the Mughal forces — great and small, Amirs and common men, infidel Mughals and renegades, armed at all points — issued from their camp, and turned their faces towards the fortress. For example, there were more than 10,000 valiant men under shields, whom they brought upwards. The Musalmans had given them time, so that they ascended more than the distance of two arrow flights towards the fortress, and not a man of the Musalmans appeared in view. When between the infidels and the Musalmans about one hundred yards of the side of the hill remained, they beat the kettle-drums within the fortress, and the holy warriors and champions—leaders and common men—all raised a shout, cut away the millstones, beams, and ropes, and sent the great stones rolling down. Almighty God so willed it, that not a single individual among the infidel force should escape being killed, wounded, or disabled; and, from the summit of the hill to the base of the same, Mughals and renegades lay prostrate together, and a great number of the Mughal grandees, Nu-ins, and Bahadurs, went to hell. The remainder of the Mughal army arose and retired from before the foot of the fortress. This victory, bestowed through the grace of Almighty God, according to the promise: “It is a duty incumbent on Us to help the Believers”—took place on Thursday, in the year 620 H.
268.12
On Sunday, the 12th of the same month, they [the Mughals] sprung an ambuscade against the fortress of Tulak, and made determined attacks upon it; and, on that day, the infidels lost great numbers of men killed before that fortress; and then they retired. When the infidel Mughals had withdrawn from Khurasan, and the jibal [mountain tracts] of Ghur and Khurasan had become clear of that host, Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, resolved upon retiring into Hindustan, together with other Maliks of Ghur, such, for example, as Malik Saraj-ud-Din, 'Umr-i-Kharosh, from the territory of Jar, and Malik Saif-ud-Din, and others, all joined him, and, with their families and dependents, set out. By destiny's decree, a force from the infidel Mughals' main army was nominated [about this time] for the purpose of ravaging Khurasan, and, at the head of that army, was a Mughal of note, whose name was Kazil Manjuk; and it entered Khurasan. From the side of Hirat and Isfizar it advanced to the foot of the fortress of Tulak, and every Musalman the Mughals found within the fortress [of Saif-rud] they martyred, or made captive. There they obtained information from the captives of the departure of Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, with other Maliks of Ghur, with their families and dependents, and their followers.
268.13
They set out after the Ghuri forces, and, on the banks of the river Arghand, discovered them, engaged in constructing a bridge over that river, in order that they might pass over the troops, families and dependents, and effects. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the Mughals came upon them. Malik Saif-ud-Din, with his followers, sought the protection of the hills, and so remained safe, and again retired towards the mountains of Ghur. Malik Saraj-ud-Din, ’Umr-i-Kharosh, stood to fight, and was martyred; and Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain, by great stratagem, dashed his horse into the river, and, with a few men, emerged from it [on the opposite bank]. All the rest of the Amirs of Ghur, chieftains, and warriors, and the females, all attained martyrdom, including the sisters, daughters, and kinsfolk of Malik Kutb-ud-Din, Husain. From thence the Mughal army returned again towards Ghur and Khurasan.