The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.473

v3.c20.473

The loss of the Deccan was a bitter blow to Muhammad, and after his custom he sought counsel and consolation of Baranī, the historian. He sadly likened his kingdom to a sick man oppressed by a variety of diseases, the remedy of one of which aggravated the rest, so that as soon as he had restored order in one province another fell into disorder, and he appealed to Baranī for historical precedents for the course to be followed in such a case. Baranī could give him but little comfort. Some kings so situated, he said, had abdicated in favour of a worthy son and had spent the rest of their lives in seclusion, while others had devoted themselves to pleasure and had left all business of state in the hands of their ministers. The king replied that he had intended, had events shaped themselves according to his will, to resign the government of his kingdom to his cousin Fīrūz, Malik Kabīr, and Khvāja Jahān, and to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca, but that the disobedience of his people had so inflamed his wrath and his severity had so aggravated their contumacy that he could not escape from the vicious circle, and must continue, while he lived, to wield the sword of punishment.