[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Storia do Mogor](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci) › [Storia do Mogor (Irvine)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine) › 355 # Storia do Mogor 355: NOTE ON DĀ,ŪD KHĀN, PANNĪ. Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 355 - **Language:** English ### [355](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.355) As we here part company with that genial ruffian, Dā,ūd Khān, some account of his origin and family, with the date of his death, may be fitly inserted. The Pannī tribe of Afghans, to which he belonged, migrated to India some centuries ago, their chief settlements being in Biānah, south-west of Agrah, in Sind, and in the Dakhin. They were the chief adherents of the Mahdawī sect, founded about 1553 by Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpur, styling himself the Mahdī. Khizr Khān, father of Dā,ūd Khān, began life as a trader, but soon entered the service of the Bījāpur kings, his patron being one Bahlol Khān ('Abd-ulkarīm, Miyānah), a high-placed Afghan officer of that state. Khizr Khān was stabbed to death in 1674. Dā,ūd Khān was apparently born in the Dakhin about 1671 (or, if Mirzā Muhammad, in the Tārīkh-i-Muhammadī, is right in saying he was nearly sixty at his death, his birth took place as early as 1656), and he was taken into the Mogul service while still a youth. When the Bījāpur and Haidarābād kingdoms fell in 1686 and 1687, Zu,lfiqār Khān, son of Aurangzeb's wazīr, became governor of the conquered provinces, and in time Dā,ūd Khān was appointed his deputy, remaining the most prominent Mogul official in the Dakhin until Zu,lfiqãr Khan's fall and death in 1713. Upon Nizam-ul-mulk's appointment as that noble's successor, Dã,ud Khãn was removed to Ahmadãbãd Gujarat. In a short time Sayyid Husain 'Alī Khãn, Bãrhah, brother of Farrukhsiyar's wazir, superseded Nizãm-ul-mulk. The emperor and his party, in the hope of destroying the Sayyid, to whom they were secretly opposed, transferred Dã,ud Khãn to Khãndesh, one of the six Dakhin provinces (May 3, 1715). His secret instructions were to oppose and, if possible, kill Husain 'Ali Khãn ; his reward, if successful, to be the government of the six provinces with the title of Sher Shãh. On reaching the Narbadã bank, Husain 'Ali Khãn heard that Dã,ud Khãn was at Burhãnpur, the capital of Khãndesh, preparing for resistance. Crossing hurriedly by a ford, the Sayyid's men managed, although the river was rising, to reach the other side in safety, but the artillery and baggage had to be ferried over in boats. Dã,ud Khãn advanced to Bahãdurpur, about six miles from Burhãnpur ; but, evading his adversary, the Sayyid, on August 15, 1715, effected his entrance into the town. At length, on September 6, 1715, Husain 'Alī Khãn advanced and surrounded Dã,ud Khan's position. Dã,ud Khãn himself sat quite collectedly on a bedstead, to which were attached his two favourite Persian greyhounds. From early morning on one day until noon on the next he never stirred ; and as he was a believer in the god Lachhman's powers, he prayed : ' O Lachhman ! send down rain, and put out the cannon fire.' Clouds appeared, rain began to fall, and the touch-holes and powder-pans were so wetted as to check the firing. The Afghan onset was now successful, and the Sayyid's ordnance artificers and gunners took to flight. Dã,ud Khãn rode in search of Husain 'Alī Khãn, killed one pretender to that name, put to flight the Sayyid's brother, and by a blow on the back from his elephant-driver's goad cleared another general out of his road. Thus Dã,ud Khãn fought on until his followers were reduced to three hundred men; at length a bullet pierced his forehead, his turban fell off, and in a minute or two he was dead. His body was exposed for two days in Burhãnpur town to convince disbelievers that he was really dead. He left only a small amount in money, a hundred elephants, seven hundred horses, some Persian greyhounds, tigers, leopards, and a number of birds. Neither tents nor equipage had he; he lived like a trooper or a mendicant. Perhaps the best summary of his character is one extracted from the Madras Records of 1709 : ' Very precarious in his temper when sober; free and generous when supplied with the liquors he asks, which we always take care to supply him with ; a great favourite with the late and present king as a soldier fit for rough work.' The last remark is borne out by a saying current in those days : Bane to bane, nahin to, Dã.ud Khãn, Panne (' Do it if you can; if not, try Dã,úd Khãn '). In Farrukhsiyar's reign (1713-19) a brother, Bahadur Khãn, became faujdãr of Qamarnagar Karnul, now the chief town of a Madras district. From that time the family became established as titular Nawãbs of Karnul, and remained prominent in the Dakhin until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1838 the then nawãb rebelled, and was deported; soon afterwards he was stabbed by a servant at Trichinopoly. A pension was granted to his son, which lapsed on his death in 1848. - [Previous: 354.11.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.354.11.6) - [Next: 356.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.356.1.1) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.355](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.355) · Pramāṇa