The History of Shēr Shāh (Tārīkh-i Shērshāhī) 4: Conclusion of the Work.
Táríkh-i Sher Sháhí of 'Abbás Khán Sarwání (extracts) 4
- Language
- English
Contents
Conclusion of the Work.
4.1.1
On certain matters regarding Sher Shah, on which he was busied day and night, and which he enjoined to his sons, chiefs, and nobles, and which he caused to be recorded. When fortune gave into the hands of Sher Shah the bridle of power, and the kingdom of Hind fell under his dominion, he made certain laws, both from his own ideas, and by extracting them from the works of the learned, for securing relief from tyranny, and for the repression of crime and villany; for maintaining the prosperity of his realms, the safety of the highways, and the comfort of merchants and troops. He acted upon these laws, and it was proved by experience that they became the means of procuring tranquillity for the classes above mentioned. Sher Shah often said, "It behoves kings to inscribe the page of their history with the characters of religion, that their servants and subjects may love religion; for kings are partakers in every act of devotion and worship which proceeds from the priests and the people. Crime and violence prevent the development of prosperity. It behoves kings to be grateful for the favour that the Lord has made his people subject to them, and therefore not to disobey the commandments of God." Sher Shah attended to every business concerning the administration of the kingdom and the revenues, whether great or small, in his own person. Nor did he permit his temporal affairs to be unmixed with devotion; day and night he was employed in both works.
4.1.2
He had his dependents in waiting to awake him when two-thirds of the night were passed; and bathing himself every night he employed himself in prayer and supplication until the fourth watch. After that he heard the accounts of the various officers, and the ministers made their reports of the work to be done in their respective departments, and the orders which Sher Shah gave they recorded for their future guidance, that there might be no necessity for inquiry in future. When the morning had well broken, he again performed his ablutions, and with a great assembly went through his obligatory devotions, and afterwards read the Musta'ab-i 'ashr, and other prayers. After that his chiefs and soldiers came to pay their respects, and the "heralds" (nakibs) called out each man by name, and said: — "Such and such a one, the son of such a one, pays his respects." One full hour after sunrise, that is to say about the first hour of the day, he performed the Namaz-i ishrak. After this, he inquired of his chiefs and soldiers if any of them had no jagir, that he might assign them one before entering on a campaign; and said that if any asked for a jagir while engaged in a campaign, he should be punished.
4.1.3
After that he asked if there were any who were oppressed or evil treated, that he might right them, for Sher Sháh was adorned with the jewel of justice, and he oftentimes remarked, "Justice is the most excellent of religious rites, and it is approved alike by the kings of infidels and of the faithful." * * * So he employed himself in personally discharging the administration of the kingdom, and divided both day and night into portions for each separate business, and suffered no sloth or idleness to find its way to him. "For," said he, "it behoves the great to be always active, and they should not consider, on account of the greatness of their own dignity and loftiness of their own rank, the affairs and business of the kingdom small or petty, and should place no undue reliance on their ministers. * * * The corruption of ministers of contemporary princes was the means of my acquiring the worldly kingdom I possess. A king should not have corrupt vakíls or wazírs: for a receiver of bribes is dependent on the giver of bribes; and one who is dependent is unfit for the office of wazír, for he is an interested personage; and to an interested person loyalty and truth in the administration of the kingdom are lost."
4.1.4
When the young shoot of Sher Sháh's prosperity came into bearing, he always ascertained the exact truth regarding the oppressed, and the suitors for justice; and he never favoured the oppressors, although they might be his near relations, his dear sons, his renowned nobles, or of his own tribe; and he never showed any delay or lenity in punishing oppressors. * * * Among the rules which Sher Sháh promulgated, and which were not before known in the world, is the branding of horses; and he said he ordered it on this account, that the rights of the chiefs and their soldiers might be distinct, and that the chiefs might not be able to defraud the soldiers of their rights; and that every one should maintain soldiers according to his rank (mansab), and should not vary his numbers. "For," said he, "in the time of Sultán Ibráhím, and afterwards, I observed that many base nobles were guilty of fraud and falsehood, who, at the time when their monthly salary was assigned to them, had a number of soldiers; but when they had got possession of their jágírs, they dismissed the greater number of their men without payment, and only kept a few men for indispensable duties, and did not even pay them in full. Nor did they regard the injury to their master's interests, or the ingratitude of their own conduct; and when their lord ordered a review or assembly of their forces, they brought strange men and horses, and mustered them, but the money they put into their own treasuries.
4.1.5
In time of war they would be defeated from paucity of numbers, but they kept the money, and when their master's affairs became critical and disordered, they, equipping themselves with this very money, took service elsewhere; so from the ruin of their master's fortunes they suffered no loss. When I had the good fortune to gain power, I was on my guard against the deceit and fraud of both chiefs and soldiers, and ordered the horses to be branded, in order to block up the road against these tricks and frauds; so that the chiefs could not entertain strangers to fill up their ranks." Sher Sháh's custom was this, that he would not pay their salary unless the horses were branded, and he carried it to such an extent that he would not give anything to the sweepers and women servants about the palace without a brand, and they wrote out descriptive rolls of the men and horses and brought them before him, and he himself compared the rolls when he fixed the monthly salaries, and then he had the horses branded in his presence.
4.1.6
After the Namáz-i ishrák, he went through various business : he paid each man separately, mustered his old troops, and spoke to the newly-enlisted men himself, and questioned the Afghans in their native tongue. If any one answered him accurately in the Afghan tongue, he said to him, "Draw a bow," and if he drew it well, he would give him a salary higher than the rest, and said, "I reckon the Afghán tongue as a friend." And in the same place he inspected the treasure which arrived from all parts of the kingdom, and gave audience to his nobles or their vakíls, or to zamíndárs, or to the envoys of the kings of other countries, who came to his victorious camp ; or he heard the reports which came from the nobles who were his 'ámils, and gave answers to them according to his own judgment, and the munshís wrote them. When two hours and a half of the day were over, he rose up and eat his breakfast with his 'ulamá and holy men, and after breakfast he returned and was engaged as before described till mid-day. At mid-day he performed the kailúla (which is a supererogatory act of devotion), and took a short repose. After his rest he performed the afternoon devotions in company with a large assembly of men, and afterwards employed himself in reading the Holy Word. After that he spent his time in the business described above ; and whether at home or abroad, there was no violation of these rules.
4.1.7
The rules for the collection of revenue from the people, and for the prosperity of the kingdom, were after this wise : There was appointed in every pargana, one amír, one God-fearing shikkdár, one treasurer, one kárkun to write Hindí, and one to write Persian ; and he ordered his governors to measure the land every harvest, to collect the revenue according to the measurement, and in proportion to the produce, giving one share to the cultivator, and half a share to the mukaddam; and fixing the assessment with regard to the kind of grain, in order that the mukaddams, and chaudharis, and 'dmils should not oppress the cultivators, who are the support of the prosperity of the kingdom. Before his time it was not the custom to measure the land, but there was a kdnungo in every pargana, from whom was ascertained the present, past, and probable future state of the pargana. In every sarkdr he appointed a chief shikkddr and a chief munsif, that they might watch the conduct both of the 'dmils and the people; that the 'dmils should not oppress or injure the people, or embezzle the king's revenue; and if any quarrel arose among the king's 'dmils regarding the boundaries of the parganas, they were to settle it, that no confusion might find its way amongst the king's affairs.
4.1.8
If the people, from any lawlessness or rebellious spirit, created a disturbance regarding the collection of the revenue, they were so to eradicate and destroy them with punishment and chastisement that their wickedness and rebellion should not spread to others.
4.2.1
Every year, or second year, he changed his 'dmils, and sent new ones, for he said, "I have examined much, and accurately ascertained that there is no such income and advantage in other employments as in the government of a district. Therefore I send my good old loyal experienced servants to take charge of districts, that the salaries, profits, and advantages, may accrue to them in preference to others; and after two years I change them, and send other servants like to them, that they also may prosper, and that under my rule all my old servants may enjoy these profits and advantages, and that the gate of comfort and ease may be opened to them." And this amount of forces fully equipped and stored came yearly to the king's presence. His whole army was beyond all limit or numbering, and it increased every day. The rule regarding the army for guarding the kingdom from the disturbances of rebels, and to keep down and to repress contumacious and rebellious zaminddrs, so that no one should think the kingdom undefended, and therefore attempt to conquer it, was as follows: Sher Shah always kept 150,000 horse and 25,000 footmen, either armed with matchlocks or bows, present with him, and on some expeditions took even more with him. Haibat Khan Niazi, to whom the title of 'Azam Humayun had been granted, had one force consisting of 30,000 horsemen in the neighbourhood of the fort of Rohtas, near to Balnath of the jogis, and held in check the country of Kashmir and of the Ghakkars.
4.2.2
Dibalpur and Multan were committed to Fath Jang Khan, and in that (latter) fort much treasure was stored; and in the fort of Milwat (which Tatar Khan Yusuf-khail built in the time of Sultan Bahlol) was stationed Hamid Khan Kakar, who held such firm possession of the Nagarkot, Jwala, Dihdawal, and Jammu hills, in fact the whole hill-country, that no man dared to breathe in opposition to him; and he collected the revenue by measurement of land from the hill people. The sarkar of Sirhind was given in jagir to Masnad 'Ali Khawas Khan, who kept in that sarkar his slave Malik Bhagwant, at the capital Dehli. Mian Ahmad Khan Sarwani was amir, and 'Adil Khan and Hatim Khan shikkdar and faujdar. And as the head-men and cultivators of the sarkar of Sambhal had fled from the oppression of Nasir Khan, Sher Shah sent there Masnad 'Ali 'Isa Khan, son of Masnad 'Ali Haibat Khan Kalkapur Sarwani, who had the title of Khan-i 'Azam, and was a counsellor and adviser of Sultans Bahlol and Sikandar; and he said to him: "I have given to you the parganas of Kant, Gola, and Tilhar for your family and your old horsemen. Enlist five thousand new cavalry, for the sarkar of Sambhal is full of disaffected and riotous people, and the cultivators of that sarkar are for the most part rebellious and contumacious, and they are always given to quarrelling with and resisting their rulers."
4.2.3
When Masnad 'Ali 'Isa Khan came to that sarkar, he being a lion in valour and gallantry, so humbled and overcame by the sword the contumacious zamindars of those parts, that they did not rebel even when he ordered them to cut down their jungles, which they had cherished like children, but cut them with their own hands, though drawing deep sighs of affliction; and they reformed and repented them of their thieving and highway robberies, and they paid in at the city their revenue according to the measurements. Sher Khan said: "By reason of these two Sarwanis, that is to say, 'Isa Khan and Mian Ahmad, I have no cause for anxiety from the sarkar of Dehli to the sarkar of Lucknow. And Bairak Niazi, who was shikkdar of Kanauj, so subjected the contumacious and highway plunderers inhabiting the pargana of Malkonsah, that no man dared to draw a breath in contravention of his orders. Bairak Niazi so established authority over the people of Kanauj, that no man kept in his house a sword, an arrow, a bow, or a gun, nay, any iron article whatever, except the implements of husbandry and cooking utensils; and if he ordered the head-men of any village to attend him, they obeyed his order, and dared not for one moment to absent themselves. The fear and dread of him was so thoroughly instilled into the turbulent people of those parts, that according to the measurement they paid their revenue to the treasurers.
4.2.4
And when the rebellion and disobedience of the zamindars who live in the parts about the banks of the rivers Jumna and Chambal became known to Sher Shah, he brought 12,000 horsemen from the Sirhind sarkar, and quartered them in the pargana of Hatkant and that neighbourhood, and they repressed the zamindars and cultivators of those parts; nor did they pass over one person who exhibited any contumacy. And in the fort of Gwalior, Sher Shah kept a force to which were attached 1000 matchlockmen. In Bayana, he left a division, besides a garrison of 500 matchlocks; in Rantambhor, another division, besides 1600 matchlockmen; in the fort of Chitor, 3000 matchlockmen; in the fort of Shadiabad, or Mandu, was stationed Shuja'at Khan, with 10,000 horse and 7000 matchlocks. He had his jágírs in Málwá and Hindia. In the fort of Raisín a force was stationed, together with 1000 artillerymen; and in the fort of Chunar another force also, with 1,000 matchlockmen; and in the fort of Rohtás, near Bihár, he kept Ikhtiyár Khán Panni, with 10,000 matchlockmen; and Sher Sháh kept treasures without number or reckoning in that fort. And he kept a force in the country of Bhadauria, and another under Khawás Khán and 'Ísá Khán in the country of Nágor, Júdhpúr and Ajmír; another in Lucknow, and one in sarkár Kálpí. The kingdom of Bengal he divided into parts, and made Kází Fazílat amír of that whole kingdom. And in every place where it served his interests, he kept garrisons.
4.2.5
After a time he used to send for the forces which had enjoyed ease and comfort on their jágírs, and to send away in their stead the chiefs who had undergone labour and hardship with his victorious army. He appointed courts of justice in every place, and always employed himself in founding charities, not only for his lifetime, but even for after his death. May glory and blessings be upon his eminent dignity! For the convenience in travelling of poor travellers, on every road, at a distance of two kos, he made a saráí; and one road with saráís he made from the fort which he built in the Panjáb to the city of Sunárgáon, which is situated in the kingdom of Bengal, on the shore of the ocean. Another road he made from the city of Agra to Burhánpur, which is on the borders of the kingdom of the Dekhin, and he made one from the city of Agra to Júdhpúr and Chitor; and one road with saráís from the city of Lahore to Multán. Altogether he built 1700 saráís on various roads; and in every saráí he built separate lodgings, both for Hindús and Musulmáns, and at the gate of every saráí he had placed pots full of water, that any one might drink; and in every saráí he settled Brahmans for the entertainment of Hindus, to provide hot and cold water, and beds and food, and grain for their horses; and it was a rule in these saráís, that whoever entered them received provision suitable to his rank, and food and litter for his cattle, from Government. Villages were established all round the saráís.
4.2.6
In the middle of every saráí was a well and a masjid of burnt brick; and he placed an imám and a mua'zzin in every masjid, together with a custodian (shahna), and several watchmen; and all these were maintained from the land near the saráí. In every saráí two horses were kept, that they might quickly carry news. I have heard that Husain Tashtdár once, on an emergency, rode 300 kos in one day. On both sides of the highway Sher Sháh planted fruit-bearing trees, such as also gave much shade, that in the hot wind travellers might go along under the trees; and if they should stop by the way, might rest and take repose. If they put up at a saráí, they bound their horses under the trees.
4.2.7
Sher Shah also built a fort, Rohtás, on the road to Khurásán, to hold in check Kashmír and the country of the Ghakkars, near the hill of Bálnáth Jogi, four kos from the river Behat, and about sixty kos from Lahore, and fortified and strengthened it exceedingly. There was never seen a place so fortified, and immense sums were expended upon the work. I, 'Abbás Khán Sarwání, author of the Tuhfa-i Akbar Sháhí, have heard from the relators of the history of Sher Sháh, that, when building this fort, stones were not procurable. The overseers wrote in their reports that stone was not procurable, or only procurable at an enormous outlay. Sher Sháh wrote back in reply, that his order should not be allowed to fail from avarice, and they should go on with the building though they paid for the stone its weight in copper. He called that fort "Little Rohtás."
4.3.1
The former capital city of Dehlí was at a distance from the Jumna, and Sher Sháh destroyed and rebuilt it by the bank of the Jumna, and ordered two forts to be built in that city, with the strength of a mountain, and loftier in height; the smaller fort for the governor's residence; the other, the wall round the entire city, to protect it; and in the governor's fort he built a Jámi' masjid of stone, in the ornamenting of which much gold, lapis lazuli, and other precious articles were expended. But the fortifications round the city were not completed when Sher Sháh died. He destroyed also the old city of Kanauj, the former capital of the Kings of India, and built a fort of burnt brick there; and on the spot where he had gained his victory he built a city, and called it Sher Súr. I can find no satisfactory reason for the destruction of the old city, and the act was very unpopular. Another fort, that of Bohnkundal, he also built, and ordered another fort to be built in these hills, and called it "Sher Koh." He said, "If my life lasts long enough, I will build a fort in every sarkár, on a suitable spot, which may in times of trouble become a refuge for the oppressed and a check to the contumacious; and I am making all the earthen-work saráis of brick, that they also may serve for the protection and safety of the highway."
4.3.2
For the protection of the roads from thieves and highway robbers, he made regulations as follows: He strictly impressed on his 'ámils and governors, that if a theft or robbery occurred within their limits, and the perpetrators were not discovered, then they should arrest the mukaddams of the surrounding villages, and compel them to make it good; but if the mukaddams produced the offenders, or pointed out their haunts, the mukaddams of the village where the offenders were sheltered were compelled to give to those of the village where the crime occurred the amount of restitution they had paid; the thieves and highway robbers themselves were punished with the penalties laid down in the holy law. And if murders should occur, and the murderers were not discovered, the 'ámils were enjoined to seize the mukaddams, as detailed above, and imprison them, and give them a period within which to declare the murderers. If they produced the murderer, or pointed out where he lived, they were to let the mukaddam go, and to put the murderer to death; but if the mukaddams of a village where the murder had occurred could not do this, they were themselves put to death; for it has been generally ascertained that theft and highway robberies can only take place by the connivance of these head-men.
4.3.3
And if in some rare case a theft or highway robbery does occur within the limits of a village without the cognizance of the mukaddam, he will shortly make inquiry that he may ascertain the circumstances of it; for mukaddams and cultivators are alike thieves, and they bear to each other the intimate relations of kinsmen: hence either the mukaddams are implicated in thefts and highway robberies, or can ascertain who perpetrated them. If a mukaddam harbours thieves and robbers unknown to the governor, it is fit he should be punished, or even be put to death, that it may be a warning to others to abstain from similar acts.
4.3.4
In the days of Sher Sháh and of Islám Sháh, the mukaddams used to protect the limits of their own villages, lest any thief or robber, or enemy of their enemies, might injure a traveller, and so be the means of their destruction and death. And he directed his governors and 'ámils to compel the people to treat merchants and travellers well in every way, and not to injure them at all; and if a merchant should die by the way, not to stretch out the hand of oppression and violence on his goods as if they were unowned; for Shaikh Nizámí (may God be merciful to him!) has said: "If a merchant die in your country, it is perfidy to lay hands on his property." Throughout his whole kingdom Sher Sháh only levied customs on merchandize in two places, viz.: when it came from Bengal, customs were levied at Gharhí (Sikri-gali); when it came from the direction of Khurásán, the customs were levied on the borders of the kingdom; and again, a second duty was levied at the place of sale. No one dared to levy other customs, either on the road or at the ferries, in town or village. Sher Sháh, moreover, forbad his officials to purchase anything in the bázárs except at the usual bázár rates and prices. One of the regulations Sher Sháh made was this: That his victorious standards should cause no injury to the cultivation of the people; and when he marched he personally examined into the state of the cultivation, and stationed horsemen round it to prevent people from trespassing on any one's field.
4.3.5
I have heard from Khán-i 'azam Muzaffar Khán, who said he often accompanied Sher Sháh, that he used to look out right and left, and (which God forbid!) if he saw any man injuring a field, he would cut off his ears with his own hand, and hanging the corn (which he had plucked off) round his neck, would have him to be paraded through the camp. And if from the narrowness of the road any cultivation was unavoidably destroyed, he would send amírs, with a surveyor, to measure the cultivation so destroyed, and give compensation in money to the cultivators. If unavoidably the tents of his soldiery were pitched near cultivation, the soldiers themselves watched it, lest any one else should injure it, and they should be blamed and be punished by Sher Sháh, who showed no favour or partiality in the dispensation of justice. If he entered an enemy's country, he did not enslave or plunder the peasantry of that country, nor destroy their cultivation. "For," said he, "the cultivators are blameless, they submit to those in power; and if I oppress them they will abandon their villages, and the country will be ruined and deserted, and it will be a long time before it again becomes prosperous." Sher Sháh very often invaded an enemy's country; but on account of his justice the people remained, and brought supplies to his army, and he became known by the fame of his generosity and benevolence; and he was all day long occupied in scattering gold like the sun, in shedding pearls like a cloud;
4.3.6
and this was the reason that the Afgháns collected round him, and that the kingdom of Hindústán fell to him. And if any want befell his victorious army, he did not suffer one soldier or any poor helpless person to be in despair or utterly unprovided for, but gave them something for their subsistence. Every day he enlisted men, to give them a subsistence. His kitchen was very extensive, for several thousand horsemen and private followers, who in the Afghán tongue are called "Fiahi," fed there; and there was a general order, that if any soldier or religious personage, or any cultivator, should be in need of food, he should feed at the king's kitchen, and should not be allowed to famish. And places for the dispensing of food to the poor and destitute, and to all necessitous persons, were established in the camp, that they might feed every one as above described. The daily cost of these meals, and of these places for the distribution of food, was 500 gold pieces (ashrafis). It became known to him that the imáms and religious persons had, since the time of Sultán Ibráhim, by bribing the 'ámils, got into their possession more land than they were entitled to hold; he therefore resumed their holdings, and investigating the cases himself, gave to each his right, and did not entirely deprive any man of his possessions. He then gave them money for their road expenses, and dismissed them.
4.3.7
Destitute people, who were unable to provide for their own subsistence, like the blind, the old, the weak in body, widows, and the sick, etc., to such he gave stipends from the treasury of the town in which they were resident, and giving them the expenses of their journey sent them away. And on account of the fraudulent practices of the religious personages (imáms), he made this arrangement: he did not give the farmáns directing the assignments to the religious personages themselves, but ordered the munshís to prepare the farmáns relating to one pargana, and to bring them to him. Sher Sháh then put them all into a letter and put his seal on it, and gave it to a trustworthy man of his own, and said to him, "Carry these farmáns to such and such a pargana." When the farmáns came to the shikkdár, he first made over to the holy personages their stipends, and then gave the farmdns into their possession. Sher Shdh often said, "It is incumbent upon kings to give grants to imams; for the prosperity and populousness of the cities of Hind are dependent on the imams and holy men; and the teachers and travellers, and the necessitous, who cannot come to the king, they will praise him, being supported by those who have grants; and the convenience of travellers and the poor is thereby secured, as well as the extension of learning, of skill, and religion;
4.3.8
for whoever wishes that God Almighty should make him great, should cherish 'Ulamd and pious persons, that he may obtain honour in this world and felicity in the next."
4.4.1
To every pious Afghdn who came into his presence from Afghanistan, Sher Shdh used to give money to an amount exceeding his expectations, and he would say, "This is your share of the kingdom of Hind, which has fallen into my hands, this is assigned to you, come every year to receive it." And to his own tribe and family of Stir, who dwelt in the land of Roh, he sent an annual stipend in money, in proportion to the numbers of his family and retainers; and during the period of his dominion no Afghdn, whether in Hind or Roh, was in want, but all became men of substance. It was the custom of the Afghans during the time of Sultdns Bahlol and Sikandar, and as long as the dominion of the Afghans lasted, that if any Afghdn received a sum of money, or a dress of honour, that sum of money or dress of honour was regularly apportioned to him, and he received it every year.
4.4.2
There were 5000 elephants in his elephant sheds, and the number of horses personally attached to him was never fixed, for his purchases and gifts of them were equally great; but 3400 horses were always kept ready in the sardis to bring intelligence every day from every quarter. 118,000 villages of Hind were included in the royal fisc. He sent a shikkddr to each of his parganas, which were all prosperous and tranquil, and there was not one place which was contumacious or desolated; the whole country was settled and happy; corn was cheap, nor during his time was there anywhere scarcity or famine. His army was beyond all reckoning, and every day increased. For the enforcement of the regulations which he had published for the protection of the people, Sher Sháh sent trusted spies with every force of his nobles, in order that, inquiring and secretly ascertaining all circumstances relating to the nobles, their soldiers, and the people, they might relate them to him; for the courtiers and ministers, for purposes of their own, do not report to the king the whole state of the kingdom, lest any disorder or deficiency which may have found its way into the courts of justice should be corrected. I have heard from a trustworthy Afghán, who was with Shujá'at Khán, that when Sher Sháh gave him the government of the kingdom of Málwa, at the time of assigning Jágírs, his ministers said to him: "It is time to assign jágírs to the soldiery if it pleases your worship;
4.4.3
keep a share for yourself from the portion assigned to the soldiery, and divide the rest among them." Shujá'at Khán, from covetousness, agreed to his ministers' proposal. When his soldiers heard of it, 2000 of them, men of repute, both horse and foot, bound themselves together by an agreement, that if Shujá'at Khán permitted himself, from covetousness, to infringe their rights, they would represent the case to Sher Sháh, who showed no favour in dispensing justice to any one on account of the amount of his followers, or on account of his kindred; that they would unanimously expose the innovations of Shujá'at Khán and his ministers, and that they would stand by and assist each other in good or evil, and would not, for any worldly covetousness, scratch the face of friendship and alliance with the nail of disunion. After this agreement, they went on a march from Shujá'at Khán's forces, and sent a man of their own to him, saying: "Your ministers do not give us the full rights which Sher Sháh has bestowed on us, and it is contrary to his regulations, that the soldiery should be defrauded; nay, the nobles ought rather to encourage the poor among their soldiery with presents, over and above their monthly pay, that in time of action they may serve them with earnestness and devotion. If you covet our rights, the door will be opened to enmity and mutiny, and your army and your forces will become disunited and dispirited, which will be the cause of disgrace to your ministers."
4.4.4
When Shuja'at Khan became aware of the request of his soldiers, he asked of his ministers what course it behoved him to pursue. They replied: — "Two thousand cavalry have turned aside from the path of obedience, and you are lord of 10,000; if you fully satisfy these impudent persons, people will think you have done so for dread of Sher Sháh, and dilatoriness and infirmity will find their way among the officers of your province and into the stability of your authority. It now becomes you to give a stern and peremptory reply, and such as shall leave no hope, so that others may not behave ill and may not disobey your commands." Covetousness sewed up the far-seeing eye of Shujá'at Khan's sagacity, and made him forgetful of the justice and watchfulness of Sher Sháh. The soldiers, on receiving this harsh answer, took counsel together; some said that they ought to go to the presence of Sher Sháh the Just; but some Afgháns, who knew Sher Sháh's disposition, and were moreover possessed of some share of prudence and sagacity, said to their friends, — "It is not proper to go ourselves to Sher Sháh, for this reason: that he has posted us with Shuja'at Khan in this country of the Dekhin, and it is not right for us to move out of these parts without his orders. Let us send a vakíl to Sher Sháh, the protector of the oppressed, to represent the real circumstances of our case to him. Whatever he orders, let us act up to it;
4.4.5
and if any business of the king's should meanwhile occur, it behoves us to exert ourselves in its settlement more than all others." At length the opinion of these Afgháns was adopted by all, and they wrote an account of their state and sent it. Their vakíl had not yet arrived when Sher Shah's spies reported the circumstances of Shuja'at Khan's quarrel with the 2000 remonstrants to Sher Shah. On hearing the news, Sher Shah was enraged, and sending for Shuja'at Khan's vakil, said to him, "Write to Shuja'at, and say: — 'You were poor, and I ennobled you, and put under you Afghans better than yourself. Are you not satisfied with the revenue of your government, that you covet the rights of the soldiery? and are you without any shame before the people or any fear of God; and have you violated my regulations which I have enacted and promulgated for this very purpose, that the chief's rights and those of his soldiery might be distinct, and that the chiefs might respect the rights of the soldiers! If you were not a protégé of my own, I would strip off your skin; but I pardon you this first fault. Do you, before their vakil reaches me, appease your soldiery, and give them a satisfactory answer; if not, and their vakil comes and complains to me, I will resume your jágírs, and arrest and punish you severely. It does not behove nobles to disobey their master's orders, for this occasions the loss to him of his honour and authority.'"
4.4.6
When the vakil's letter reached Shuja'at Khan, he was exceedingly confounded and ashamed, and disturbed with dread and apprehension; so reproaching his ministers, he said: — "Your counsel has been the cause of disgrace and distress to me. How shall I show my face to the king?" Then going himself to the encampment of the 2000 remonstrants, he made many excuses for himself, and appeasing the soldiery with promises and oaths that he would not do them any harm, and encouraging them with gifts and presents, brought them back to his own encampment. When the vakil of the soldiers turned back again from his journey, and came to Shuja'at Khan, the latter returned many thanks to heaven, and distributed much money to the poor and needy, and gave him a horse and a princely robe of honour. Sher Shah's authority, whether he was absent or present, was completely established over the race of Afghans. From the fear, either of personal punishment or of deprivation of office, there was not a creature who dared to act in opposition to his regulations; and if a son of his own, or a brother, or any of his relatives or kin, or any chief or minister, did a thing displeasing to Sher Shah, and it got to his knowledge, he would order him to be bound and put to death. All, laying aside every bond of friendship or respect, for the sake of the honour of the Afghan race, obeyed without delay his irresistible farmans.
4.4.7
I, the author of this relation, 'Abbas Kalkapur Sarwani, have heard that during the reign of Sher Shah, 'Azam Humayun Niazi was ruler of the Panjab and Multan, and had a force of 30,000 horse under him. No other of Sher Shah's nobles had so great a force. Sher Shah sent his own nephew, Mubariz Khan, to govern the district of Roh, which was in the possession of the Niazis. Mubariz Khan ordered Khwaja Khizr Sambhali, chief of the Sambhals, to give him a mud fort which he had built on the Indian (i.e. eastern) bank of the river Sind. Mubariz Khan lived in this fort, and the Sambhals were generally with him; indeed there was not a moment they were not employed in his service, and always obedient and submissive to him. The daughter of Allah-dad Sambhal had no equal in that tribe for beauty and comeliness. When Mubariz Khan heard the fame and renown of her beauty, he became, without having seen her, desperately in love with her, and the bird of rest and quiet flew out of his hand. Actuated by the pride of power, he took no account of clanship, which is much considered among the Afghans, and especially among the Rohilla men; and sending a confidential person to Allah-dad, demanded that he should give him his daughter in marriage. Allah-dad sent a civil reply, saying:—"My lord is of high power and rank, and has many sons, and many high-born wives and women servants are in his female apartments;
4.4.8
besides, my lord has been bred and brought up in Hindustan, and is possessed of delicate breeding and graceful accomplishments: my sons have the habits and manners of Roh. Alliance between myself and my lord is altogether unadvisable, as there is so wide a difference between us." When Mubariz Khan heard Allah-dad's answer, he was convulsed with exceeding anger, and set himself to injure and persecute the Sambhals, in the hope that they, being driven to extremities by his violence and oppression, might give him Allah-dad's daughter. From fear of Sher Shah, the Sambhals submitted to all the violence and oppression which Mubariz committed; but when it reached beyond all bounds of sufferance, Farid, Idris, and Nizam, three illegitimate brothers of Allah-dad, said to Mubariz Khan, — "We three brothers have several daughters, and possess more influence in our tribe than Allah-dad. We will give you a daughter of any of us brothers you may wish, and do you then abstain from persecuting the Sambhals." Mubariz Khan replied: — "I do not require your daughters; give me Allah-dad's daughter."
4.5.1
When the Sambhals perceived that Mubariz Khan desired a thing which could never come to pass, they said undisguisedly to him, — "Intermarriages have continually taken place between our families and yours, but always those of pure descent have intermarried with those of pure descent, and the illegitimate with the illegitimate. Although, with regard to your station in life, such a marriage is not an equal one, yet, as the mother of us three was, as yours was, a slave, and respecting the royal authority, we have agreed to our daughters being given in marriage to you, in order that the rust of quarrel and contention might be effaced from between us. To this you have not consented, which we much regret: do not act in opposition to the fear of God and the customs of the Afghans. Allah-dad is of pure birth, and he never will be compelled to connect himself with you by force and violence, or from fear of you; do not entertain so vain a desire." When Mubariz Khan heard these words, from presumption, arrogance, and the pride of power, his wrath overpowered him; he gave way to anger and enmity, and hastened to persecute the Sambhals; and, on account of his hatred, without any fault of theirs, laid waste their villages and their property, and made prisoners of many of the inhabitants. Among these he carried off to his own house the daughter of Kheru, who was a dependent of Allah-dad, and filled the post of shahna among the Sambhals.
4.5.2
The chiefs of the Sambhals came in a body to Mubariz Khan, and said: "The honour of our women and yours is one. Release the daughter of Kheru the shahna, and respect the honour of our women." But although the Sambhals humbly and earnestly entreated him, he would not listen to them, for his predestined time was near at hand. When the Sambhals were driven to despair, they said to Mubariz Khan: — "You were born in Hindustan, and do not understand the habits of the Afghans. The crane has never yet overpowered or domineered over the hawk. We have paid the reverence due to the king and to yourself. Leave us alone, and do not oppress and injure us beyond all bounds, and let this helpless one go free." Mubariz Khan in a passion replied: — "You talk of the honour of this dependent of yours; you will know what it is when I tear Allah-dad's daughter by force from her house, and bring her away." The chiefs of the Sambhals fell into a passion also, and said to Mubariz Khan: — "Have respect to your own life, and do not step beyond your own bounds. If you so much as look towards our women, we will slay you; though, in return for your life, they will put several of our chiefs to death." Mubariz Khan, on hearing this angry reply of the Sambhals, told his Hindustani doorkeepers to beat the chiefs of the Sambhals out of his house, for they were insulting him. When the Hindustani doorkeepers lifted up their sticks to beat the Sambhals out of the house, a tumult arose.
4.5.3
The gallant Sambhals, who had, by Mubariz Khan's violence and oppression, been driven to extremities, grew enraged, and, in the twinkling of an eye, killed Mubariz Khan and most of his followers. When Sher Shah heard the news, he wrote to 'Azam Humayun, saying: — "The Surs are a tribe the least quarrelsome of the Afghans, and if every Afghan was to kill a Sur not one would be left in the world. The Sambhals are of your own tribe. Do you bring them to order, and chastise them, that they may not set a bad example to others, and may refrain from killing their governors for the future." When this order reached 'Azam Humayun Niazi, he collected an army against the Sambhals. They hearing that 'Azam Humayun was coming in person against them, left their country, and took to the hills, where they occupied fortified positions, intending to go with their families to Kabul.
4.5.4
When 'Azam Humayun heard that it was the intention of the Sambhals to go to Kabul, he was overwhelmed with anxiety and grief, and took counsel with his people, saying:—"The Sambhals are my brethren, and a numerous tribe and race: we cannot seize them by force. If they go to Kabul, Sher Shah will think that I have been negligent in seizing them, and that they have escaped from these parts by my connivance. We must get hold of them by some stratagem or contrivance." He sent his vakil to them, and said:—"I have ascertained you are not to blame. You were much injured and oppressed by Mubariz Khan. I will send you to Sher Shah, and beg him to forgive your fault. According to the Afghan custom, the Niazis shall give several of their daughters in marriage to the Surs, or Sher Shah may put to death two or three of your chiefs. It is not fitting that the whole tribe should be exiled, and compelled to go to other countries." The Sambhals wrote in their reply:—"We are in difficulties. If the Surs come to fight with us, we will do our best against them, that it may be remembered in the world, how the Niazis combated, and how they went into exile! If you come and fight with us, on both sides Niazis will be killed; and if we are cast out, you will even then be disgraced—for it was your own tribe who were driven out, and you had no pity. But if you will bind yourself by promises and oaths, that you will not seek to injure or persecute us, we will come in and make our submission.
4.5.5
'Azam Humayun replied:—"Have I no regard for my kin, that I should injure or persecute you?" So 'Azam Humayun made the most solemn promises and oaths to the Sambhals; and the whole tribe, with their wives and families, came to him. When he saw that he had deceived the whole tribe of Sambhals, and that they had come in with their wives and families, he took measures to prevent their escape, and slew 900 persons. While he was putting them to death, the Niázis said to several of their friends among the Sambhals, "We will let you escape, fly!" But the Sambhals maintained the Afghan honour, and said:—"It is better to die with our wives and families than to live dishonoured; for it is a well-known proverb, 'The death of a whole tribe is a solemn feast.'" When 'Azam Humáyún had slain most of the Sambhals, he sent their wives and families to Sher Sháh. Sher Sháh, who wished no man evil, disapproved of 'Azam Humáyún's cruelty, and said: "Never before has such a shameful thing been done among the race of Afgháns; but 'Azam Humáyún in fear of the King has slain so many of his own tribe. It is only from his affection for the King that he would thus uselessly shed so much blood of his own tribe." He had intended to remove 'Azam Humáyún from his government of the Panjáb, but had no time before he was glorified in martyrdom. After his death, 'Azam Humayun displayed great loyalty, which shall be narrated in its proper place.
4.5.6
From the day that Sher Shah was established on the throne, no man dared to breathe in opposition to him; nor did any one raise the standard of contumacy or rebellion against him; nor was any heart-tormenting thorn produced in the garden of his kingdom; nor was there any of his nobles or soldiery, or a thief or a robber, who dared to direct the eye of dishonesty to the property of another; nor did any theft or robbery ever occur in his dominions. Travellers and wayfarers, during the time of Sher Shah's reign, were relieved from the trouble of keeping watch; nor did they fear to halt even in the midst of a desert. They encamped at night at every place, desert or inhabited, without fear; they placed their goods and property on the plain, and turned out their mules to graze, and themselves slept with minds at ease and free from care, as if in their own house; and the zamíndárs, for fear any mischief should occur to the travellers, and that they should suffer or be arrested on account of it, kept watch over them. And in the time of Sher Sháh's rule, a decrepit old woman might place a basket full of gold ornaments on her head and go on a journey, and no thief or robber would come near her, for fear of the punishments which Sher Sháh inflicted.
4.5.7
"Such a shadow spread over the world, that a decrepit person feared not a Rustam." During his time, all quarrelling, disputing, fighting, and turmoil, which is the nature of the Afgháns, was altogether quieted and put a stop to throughout the countries of Roh and of Hindústán. Sher Sháh, in wisdom and experience, was a second Haidar. In a very short period he gained the dominion of the country, and provided for the safety of the highways, the administration of the Government, and the happiness of the soldiery and people. God is a discerner of righteousness!