حبیب السیر 14: Story of Dabshilim
Habíbu-s Siyar of Khondamír (extracts) 14
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Story of Dabshilim
14.1
At that time having made over the government of Somnat to Dabshilim Murtaz, he turned towards Ghaznin. It is related that when Sultan Mahmud was about to return from Somnat, he consulted with his ministers of State, and said : " It is necessary to appoint some proper person to the government and possession of the kingdom." They answered, " As none of us will again cross over into this country, it is fitting that you should appoint some person resident in the country to be the ruler." The Sultan having spoken on this subject to some of the people of Somnát, one party said: "Among the sovereigns of the country, no one is equal to the tribe of Dábshilím in character and lineage. At the present moment there is a young man of that tribe, a Brahman, who is wont to practise severe austerities: if the Sultan delivers over the kingdom to him, it will be proper." Another party did not approve of this proposal, and said: "Dabshilím Murtaz is a man of a morose disposition, and it is through indigence that he is obliged to practise austerities. There is another man of the tribe of Dabshilím, the ruler of a certain country, very wise, and a keeper of his word, whom it is fitting that the Sultán should make sovereign of Somnát."
14.2
Yamínu-d daula said: "If he will come and wait upon me and make this request, it will be listened to; but to give over a kingdom of this magnitude to a person who is already possessed of one of the kingdoms of Hind, and who has never been in attendance upon me, seems to be a thing far from the solid opinions which should actuate Sultáns." Then having called Dabshilím Murtáz, the Sultán gave him the sovereignty of Somnát. Dabshilím agreed to pay tribute, and spoke thus: "A certain Dábshilím is in a state of hostility towards me, and when he obtains information that the Sultán is gone, he will certainly lead his army hither; and as I have not the means of resistance, I shall be subdued. If the king will remove this mischief from my head, this great matter will be all right; but if not, I shall certainly be destroyed in a very short time." The Sultan answered: "Since I have come from Ghaznín with the purpose of making war upon infidels, I will also settle this business."
14.3
He then led his army towards the country of that Dábshilím, and having taken him captive, delivered him over to Dábshilím Murtáz, who thus addressed the Sultán: "In my religion the killing of kings is unlawful, but the custom is that when one king gets another into his power he makes a small and dark room underneath his own throne, and having put his enemy into it, he leaves a hole open: every day he sends a tray of victuals into that room, until one or other of the kings dies. Since it is now impossible for me to keep my enemy in this manner, I hope that the troops of the Sultán will take him away to the royal residence of Ghaznín, and that when I am at ease about him, they will send him back." Yamínu-d daula consented, and then hoisted the flag of his return to Ghaznín.
14.4
Dábshilím Murtáz obtained absolute sovereignty over the government of Somnát, and, after a few years had elapsed, sent ambassadors to the Sultán, requesting that his enemy might be given up. At first the Sultán was irresolute about sending that young man; but in the end, at the instigation of some of his nobles, he delivered over that Dábshilím to the emissary of Dábshilím Murtáz. When they had brought him to the territories of Somnát, Dábshilím Murtáz ordered the appointed prison to be got ready, and according to a custom which was well known among them, he himself went out from the city to meet him, in order that, having placed his basin and ewer upon the youth's head, he might cause him to run by his stirrup, while they conducted him to prison.
14.5
In the middle of his way he began to hunt, and galloped about in every direction, until the day became very hot: he then laid down under the shade of a tree for repose, and having spread a red handkerchief over his face, during that interval, according to the decree of the Most High God, a bird with strong talons, imagining that handkerchief to be flesh, alighted from the air, and having struck his claws into the handkerchief, they penetrated so far into the eyes of Dabshilim Murtáz that he became blind. As the grandees of Hindustán do not pay obedience to those who are in any way defective, a tumult arose among the soldiers, in the middle of which the other Dabshilim arrived, and all having agreed to invest him with authority, they placed that same basin and ewer upon the head of Dábshilim Murtáz, and made him run as far as the prison, so that thus Dabshilim Murtáz became taken in the very manner which he had planned for this young man, and the saying, "Whoever digs a well for his brother falls into it himself," became apparent, as also it became clear "that God gives and snatches away a kingdom to whom and from whom he chooses : he gives honour and dishonour to whom he pleases : Thou possessest goodness, Thou art master of all things."