The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.515.4

v3.c20.515.4

The discovery of the conspiracy so alarmed Abu Bakr that he retired with his partisans to Mewāt, and Muhammad, on August 31, entered the capital and was enthroned in the palace of Fīrūzābād. He ordered the expulsion from Delhi of all the household troops of Fīrūz Shāh, whose share in the late revolutions had proved them to be a danger to the State. Most of these troops joined Abu Bakr in Mewāt and those who claimed the right, as natives of Delhi, of remaining in the city were required to pronounce the shibboleth *khārā* (‘brackish’). Those who pronounced it *khārī*, after the manner of the inhabitants of eastern Hindūstan and Bengal were adjudged to be royal slaves imported from those regions, and were put to death.