The Nāṣirī Generations 278: IRRUPTION OF THE INFIDELS INTO ISLAM.
Tabakat-i-Nasiri 278
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IRRUPTION OF THE INFIDELS INTO ISLAM.
278.1
After the infidel Mughals, and Tatars, had taken their departure from Hirat and its territory, these sixteen persons — all men, it appears — issued from their places of concealment, and assembled before the shop of a certain halwa-i or confectioner, and began to look about them in all directions. Seeing no one, they stroked their faces and exclaimed: “Thanks be unto God, that during our existence we can once more breathe freely! After this, these sixteen, the unfortunate remnant of the inhabitants of Hirat, were joined by twenty-four others from the places adjacent to that city; and, for sixteen years, it is said, “there were no other inhabitants in Khurasan; and, for some time, from the banks of the Jihun or Amuiah to the territory of Astar-abad, if there were any people who had escaped with their lives in some out-of-the-way place, they must have existed upon such things as the dead left unconsumed.” These forty persons passed their time in the tomb of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din, Muhammad-i-Sam, Ghuri, which had not been destroyed by the infidels. A full account of the matter of these persons, and their names, is recorded in the History of Hirat. In the year 635 H. — but Alfi says in 634 H. — Uktae Ka'an gave orders that the cities of Khurasan destroyed by the Mughals should be restored, and among them was Hirat;
278.2
and those people of the weaver class, who had been removed from Hirat when that city surrendered to Tuli Khan in 618 H., and had been located in Turkistan and Mughalistan by him, were made the instruments in commencing this good work. The chief men and heads of families among these weavers were the Mukaddam [he is also styled Amir and Peshwa, but not signifying a chief, a noble, or a leader here, but Provost] of the Guild of Weavers of Hirat, 'Izz-ud-Din, Hirawi [from Hiri or Hirat]; Jalal-ud-Din, Malik; Sa'id, Badghisi; and five others. It had been mentioned to the Ka'an that one of the cities in question was Hirat, and he had been told much respecting its former populousness, wealth, and prosperity; so he was the more desirous of re-peopling it. 'Izz-ud-Din, the Provost, with his family and kinsmen, had been located at Bish-Baligh; and he had obtained access to the Ka'an's presence, and used, every year, to manufacture a thousand suits [pieces, probably] of clothes of excellent quality for his use. He was now summoned to the presence of Uktae, who said: “I am going to send thee for the purpose of re-peopling and restoring Hirat. Art thou able to do so, quickly, thinkest thou, so that people may be able to say that Hirat is something like itself again?” 'Izz-ud-Din replied that, under favour of such a great monarch, he could do so;
278.3
and that every year he would send, for the Ka'an's use, 2000 suits of clothes of various delicate colours, such as, in the atmosphere of those northern parts, it was impossible to produce, equal in colours and texture to those of Khurasan. Uktae, accordingly, despatched him; and he was allowed to take fifty of his people along with him, and was also furnished with a mandate to collect people from all parts of Khurasan, and locate them at Hirat. 'Izz-ud-Din set out; and, on the arrival of the exiles in the neighbourhood of Hirat, the Khatib, Sharaf-ud-Din, and the others, who had been living in concealment, came forth to meet them, and conducted them into Hirat; and they set about its restoration. Having made some progress, in the following year [636 H.], the Provost, 'Izz-ud-Din, set out for the camp of the Ka'an to arrange certain matters in connexion with the restoration of the city, and made a request that he might be permitted to remove to Hirat his own family, and Khurasan, the Nu-in, Anban, and the Nu-in, Niku-dar, and the troops which were in the territory of Ghur and Khurasan, marched towards Ghaznin. Previous to this they had driven from Bamin Malik Saif-ud-Din, Hasan, the Karlugh, and had entered into a stipulation with him for payment of tribute, but, notwithstanding this, they were desirous of getting Malik Saif-ud-Din, Hasan, the Karlugh, into their hands, and they had been unable to effect their object.
278.4
In the year 636 H., however, they suddenly and unexpectedly attacked Malik Saif-ud-Din, Hasan, and he fled discomfited from Karman, Ghaznin, and Banian, and came towards the Multan territory, and the country of Sind. At that period the throne of Hindustan was adorned by the Sultan Raziyyat — May she rest in peace! — the daughter of the august Sultan, Shams-ud-Din, I-yal-timish; and the eldest son of Malik Saif-ud-Din, Hasan, the Karlugh, presented himself before the Dihli Court, and, by way of beneficence, the territory [fief] of Baran was assigned to him. Some time passed, when, unexpectedly, he left it; and, without the permission of the Sultan, returned to the presence of his father. The first invasion of the Indo-Scythians must have caused a very general displacement of the ruling races The vanquished would naturally have sought refuge in the less accessible districts around, and to this period, therefore, I would refer the settlement of the Awans and Janjuhas in the Salt Range to the south, and the Gahars in the hilly tracts of Pharwala and Dangali to the south-east” [but what have they to do with the Karlugh Turks?]. “Of their subsequent history but little is recorded; we know only that they were divided into several branches, and that they all became Muhammadans.
278.5
[When, or in what year?] In the time of Baber, the ruling tribe, called the Karluk Hazaras, held the districts on both banks of the lower Suhan river, under the chiefs Sangar Khan Karluki and Mirza Malvi Karluki. At a still earlier period the chiefs of this tribe [!], Hasan Karluk and his son Muhammad, had asserted their independence [of whom? and what history says so?], by striking coins in their own names. The coins of the father are of the well known ‘Bull and Horseman’ type, with the legend in Nagari letters, ^ Sri Hasan Karluk.” The coins of the son are of three different kinds, two with Persian characters only, and the third with Persian on one side and Nagari on the other. On the last coin there is a rude figure of a horse surrounded by the chiefs name, Naser [sic] ud dunid wa ud din, in Persian letters, and on the reverse his name in three lines of Nagari letters, Sri Muhammad Karluk. On one of the Persian coins this chief calls himself Muhammad bin Hasan Karluk other he takes the title of ul-Malik ul-Muazzam bin Hasan. From the types and general appearance of these coins their date may be fixed with certainty as coeval with those of Altamish [I-yal-timish?] and his sons, or from A. D. 1210 to 1265. The accuracy of this date is strongly confirmed by Ferishtah’s account [Dow’s or Briggs’s Ferishtah?] of the first campaign of Naser-ud-din Mahmud, the youngest son of Altamish. In July, A.D. 1247, Mahmud proceeded to Multan [This is quite a mistake.
278.6
See this Translation, pages 677, 678, 679, 814, and 815. Multan is a blunder in the Calcutta Printed Text for Banian — and, moreover, the expedition was against “the infidels of Chin” — the Mughals — and “the Ranah of the Jud Hills” — “Jas-Pal, Sihra,” and the Khokhars, not the Karlugh Turks, who had been expelled from their own territory by the Mughals. Mahmud left the capital, not in July — the height of the hot season, but in Rajab, 644 H., about 15th November, 1247 A. D., and advanced to the Sudharah and the Jhilam, not the “Chenab”], from whence he sent his Vazir towards the mountains of Jud and the provinces [Whose provinces?] on the Indus According to this account, the rebellion [against whom was this rebellion, and what History says so?] lasted for about twelve years, from the death of Altamish, in A.D. 1235, until the close of Mahmud’s campaign in the end of 1247 [Did the rebellion end then?]. It is to this period that I refer the assumption of independence [of whom?] by Hasan Karluk and his son Muhammad. The age of these coins, as I have observed, corresponds exactly with the date of this rebellion, and the coins themselves before [sic] are found in greatest number in the rebellious districts of the mountains of Jud.”
278.7
The remarks on these coins and their correctness, are such as we might expect from Major-General Cunningham’s knowledge of the subject, but the On Malik Saif-ud-Din, Hasan, the Karlugh, entering the country of Sind, the territory of Ghaznin, and Karman remained in the hands of the Mughal Shahnahs [Intendants], until the year 639 H., when the Mughal forces, and the troops of Ghur, were directed to advance to Lohor. The Bahadur, Ta-ir, who was in possession of Hirat and Badghais, and other Nu-ins who were holding possession of the territories of Ghur, Ghaznin, the Garmsir, and Tukharistan, the whole of them, with their troops, arrived on the banks of the river Sind. At this time, Malik Kabir Khan-i-Ayaz was the feudatory of Multan, and Malik Ikhtiyar-ud-Din, Kara-Kush, was feudatory of Lohor, and the throne of sovereignty had devolved upon Sultan Mu’izz-ud-Din, Bahram Shah.
278.8
When the news of the arrival of the Mughal forces reached Multan, Malik Kabir Khan-i-Ayaz, for the sake of his own dignity, assumed a canopy of state, assembled troops, and made ready to do battle with the infidels. On information of the number of his followers reaching the Mughal camp, those infidels came to the determination of advancing towards Lohor, and they appeared before the gate of that city. The Hisar of Lohor was unprepared with either stores, provisions, arms, or war materials; and the people of Lohor were not united, and did not harmonize together. Most of the inhabitants of the city were merchants and traders, and had undertaken journeys, during the time of the Mughals, into the upper parts, into Khurasan and Turkistan, and, by way of precaution, every one of them had obtained a pass from the Mughal, and a safe conduct, and, knowing this, in defending and fighting for the safety of the Hisar of Lohor, they used not to act in unison with Malik Kara-Kush, and would neither render assistance nor make resistance, nor encounter the enemy. The troops of Islam did not assemble together, on this account, that the Turk and Ghuri Maliks were distrustful of Sultan Mu’izz-ud-Din, Bahram Shah; and, consequently, the army did not speedily set out from Dihli for the purpose of repelling the Mughals.
278.9
For some time fighting went on before the gate of the city of Lohor, and the Mughal army planted a great number of catapults round about the fortifications of that city, and destroyed the walls; and, to such degree as Malik Kara-Kush was able, he remained and resisted the infidels. On becoming aware of the disunion and discordant inclinations of the inhabitants, and, as the Kazi and chief personages used to show great misconduct in keeping guard on the walls of the city, Malik Kara-Kush knew that the upshot of affairs would be disastrous, and that the preservation of that city was beyond his power and capability. He therefore came out of it with the troops his followers, under the pretext of a night attack, made a dash upon the camp of the infidels, and, in one charge, broke through the ranks of the Mughal army, and set out for Dihli. In that charge some of the principal females of his haram and of his retinue got separated from him. A number of his people were slain and made martyrs of, and some, in the darkness of night, and in the tumult, threw themselves off the backs of the horses and hid themselves among the ruins and grave-yards. During that tumult likewise, the females of the Malik’s haram managed to conceal themselves somewhere.
278.10
The following day, when the inhabitants of the city and fortress of Lohor, and the Mughal forces, became aware of Malik Kara-Kush’s evacuation of the place, and of his flight, the hearts of the former entirely broke, and the Mughals became still more bold; and they captured the city. Conflicts arose in every quarter of it, and the Musalmans fought continuously with the infidels; but two bands of Musalmans, in that disaster, girded up their lives like their waists, and firmly grasped the sword, and, up to the latest moment that a single pulsation remained in their dear bodies, and they could move, they continued to wield the sword and to send Mughals to hell, until the time when both bodies, after fighting gallantly for a long period against the infidels, attained the felicity of martyrdom. One of that [band of] heroes was Ak-Sunkar, the seneschal of Lohor, who, with his dependents, in combat, and in conflict, surpassed, a thousand times, Rustam-i-Dastan ; and the other hero was Din-dar Muhammad, the Amir-i-Akhur [of Lohor], who, along with his sons and dependents — May the Almighty reward them ! — on that day, waged holy-warfare, as by the tenets of the faith enjoined, and fought against the unbelievers in such manner as if the purified soul of ’Ali-i-Murtaza — May God be gracious to him! — in concert with the whole of the prophets and apostles, were showering blessings upon him from the garden of paradise.
278.11
When the Mughal forces captured the city, they martyred all the inhabitants or made captives of them ; but such a number of Mughals went to hell as cannot be computed or numbered — about 30,000 or 40,000 Mughal horsemen, with 80,000 horses, indeed more than they. There was not a person among the infidel army that did not bear the wound of arrow, sword, or nawak. The greater number of the Mughal Nu-ins and Bahadurs also departed to hell, and among them was the Bahadur, Ta-ir. He had encountered Ak-Sunkar, lance to lance, and they had wounded each other with those weapons. Ta-ir, the Bahadur, went to hell, and Ak-Sunkar, the lion-hearted, passed into paradise — “One company to heaven, one to the flaming fire.” After the Mughal forces had destroyed Lohor, and retired, Malik Kara-Kush turned back again towards the city from the vicinity of the river Biah, for, on the night of his flight from thence, his Jamah-dars [wardrobe keepers] had abandoned property of great value, consisting of pure gold, and other valuables; and, they having marked the spot, he returned to search for and recover the property. On reaching the city of Lohor he recovered it, for it had not fallen into the hands of the Mughals. On the departure of the Mughal infidels, the Hindu Khokhars and Gabr wretches had come to Lohor, and were committing destruction. Malik Kara-Kush discovered them, despatched the whole of them to hell, and afterwards reached the Court of Dihli in safety.
278.12
May Almighty God accord victory to the lords and chiefs of the government of the Sultan of the Sultans of Islam, and overthrow the foes of his kingdom! Amin!