The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.384

v3.c20.384

A catalogue of the atrocities committed by Muhammad during his reign, such as that given by Ibn Batūtah, would be tedious and revolting, but it will be necessary from time to time to refer to the punishments inflicted by him. One of the early acts of his reign was the murder of his brother, Mas'ūd, whose only offence seems to have been that he was handsome and popular. Muhammad professed to suspect him of treasonable designs, and the unfortunate prince discovered, as did so many of the tyrant's victims, that it was better to court a speedy death by a false confession than to suffer day by day the barbarous tortures devised by the perverted ingenuity of Muhammad.