Storia do Mogor 59.7

59.7

In the time of this king, Sher Shah, weights and scales were introduced into Hindustan, for before then everything was bought by inspection. It was then also that there were first introduced yard-measures with the royal seal; previously everything was measured by spans and cubits. The king was so generous and liberal that those who wished to go to Mecca were granted passages both ways and the necessary means of support. Finding himself undisputed master of Hindustan, and loved by his people, he made war against the Rana, a Hindu king, assuming command of the army in person. But he was repulsed in such a fashion that if the Hindu king had pursued he would have become the lord of the whole country. However, the Rana contented himself with winning the battle and delivering his kingdom. During the retreat Sher Shah admitted that it was his own fault, and said to his confidants that for a few fields of millet he had run the risk of losing his kingdom. This he said because the territories of the Rana yield great quantities of millet. Sher Shah was much interested in directing the use of cannon, often discharging them himself; and at the end of his reign, not far from the territories of Bengal, after he had governed for twelve years, he fired off a cannon the recoil of which killed him. He was buried in the middle of a great reservoir, not far from a place called Samchergao (Sasseram), where I was several times, but it is not worth while to speak of that.