تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 11.10.7

11.10.7

يسمى الألفي ، لأن السلطان اشتراه بألف تنكة، وهي ألفان وخمسمائة من دنانير المغرب ، فوشى إلى السلطان بما اتفقوا عليه، فقال لخواصه: إذا دخل علي سنجر فإني معطيه ثوبا، فإذا لبسه فأمسكوا بأكمامه واضربوا به الأرض وأذبحوه، فلما دخل عليه فعلوا ذلك وقتلوه! وكان خضر خان غائبا بموضع يقال له سندبت على مسيرة يوم من دهلي، توجه لزيارة شهداء مدفونين به لنذر كان عليه أن يمشي تلك المسافة راجلا ويدعو لوالده بالراحة، فلما بلغه أن أباه قتل خاله حزن عليه حزنا شديدا ومزق جيبه، وتلك عادة لأهل الهند يفعلونها إذا مات لهم من يعز عليهم، فبلغ والده ما فعله، فكره ذلك فلما دخل عليه عنفه ولامه، وأمر به فقيدت يداه ورجلاه وسلمه لملك نايب المذكور، وأمره أن يذهب به إلى حصن كاليور ، وضبطه بفتح الكاف المعقودة وكسر اللام وضم الياء آخر الحروف وآخر راء، ويقال له أيضا كيالير بزيادة ياء ثانية، وهو حصن منقطع بين كفار الهنود منيع على مسيرة عشر من دهلى، وقد سكنته أنا مدة فلما أوصله إلى هذا الحصن سلمه للكتوال وهو أمير الحصن، وللمفردين وهم الزماميون وقال لهم: لا تقولوا: هذا ابن السلطان فتكرموه، إنما هو أعدى عدو له فاحفظوه كما يحفظ العدو! ثم إن المرض اشتد بالسلطان، فقال لملك نايب ابعث من ياتي بابني خضر خان لأوليه العهد، فقال له: نعم وماطله بذلك، فمتى سأله عنه، قال هو ذا يصل إلى أن توفى السلطان، رحمه الله.

called al-Alfī because the sultan had bought him for a thousand tanka, which is two thousand five hundred dinars of the Maghrib. He informed the sultan of what they had agreed upon, and [the sultan] said to his intimates: "When Sanjar comes in to me, I shall give him a robe; when he puts it on, seize him by the sleeves, throw him to the ground and cut his throat." When he came in to him they did so and killed him! Khiḍr Khān was away at a place called Sandabat, a day's journey from Dihlī; he had gone to visit martyrs buried there, in fulfilment of a vow he had made to walk that distance on foot and pray for his father's recovery. When he heard that his father had killed his maternal uncle, he grieved for him intensely and tore the front of his garment, which is a custom of the people of Hind when someone dear to them dies. His father learned of what he had done and disliked it; when he came in to him he rebuked and reproached him, ordered that his hands and feet be fettered, handed him over to the aforementioned Malik Nāʾib, and ordered him to take him to the fortress of Kālyūr — its spelling is with the knotted kāf with a, the lām with i, the yāʾ with u, and finally a rāʾ; it is also called Kiyālīr, with an additional second yāʾ. It is an isolated fortress among the Hindu infidels, impregnable, ten days' journey from Dihlī, and I myself lived in it for a time. When he brought him to this fortress, he handed him over to the kutwāl, who is the commander of the fortress, and to the mufradūn, who are the guards, and said to them: "Do not say, 'This is the sultan's son,' and treat him with honour; he is his worst enemy, so guard him as an enemy is guarded!" Then the sultan's illness grew worse, and he said to Malik Nāʾib: "Send someone to bring my son Khiḍr Khān so that I may make him heir apparent." He said to him: "Yes," but kept putting it off, and whenever he asked him about it he would say, "He is about to arrive," until the sultan died, may God have mercy on him.