The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c22.66

v3.c22.66

Ibrāhīm now gave rein to those groundless and unreasonable suspicions of his nobles which prompted acts of capricious tyranny, and at length drove those who might have been the staunchest defenders of his throne into the arms of an invader. Immediately before the surrender of Gwalior he summoned A‘zam-i-Humāyūn Shirvānī and his son Fath Khān to Āgra and threw them into prison. The tyrant was gratified by the fall of Gwalior, but his elation was short-lived, for Islām Khān, another son of A‘zam-i-Humāyūn, headed a rebellion in Āgra, assumed command of his father’s troops and defended his property, and defeated Ahmad Khān, the governor, as he was preparing to assert his authority. As Ibrāhīm was assembling his army for the suppression of this rebellion A‘zam-i-Humāyūn Lodī and Sa‘īd Khān Lodī, two nobles whose importance was due no less to the strength of the forces at their command than to their influence in the clan, deserted him, marched to Lucknow, which they held as a fief, and sent to Islām Khān a message assuring him of their sympathy and support. The king sent an army against the rebels, but it fell into an ambush and was driven back with heavy loss. Ibrāhīm seriously damaged his own cause by sending to the officers of his army a message bitterly reproaching them, and warning them that if they failed to crush the rebellion they would themselves be treated as rebels. Fortunately for himself he did not confine his resentment to this tactless and provocative message, but took the field at the head of 40,000 horse. The danger in which he stood is veiled in Muslim chronicles under the statement that when the two armies were within striking distance Shaikh Rājū of Bukhārā intervened to avert strife, but is displayed in the attitude of the rebellious nobles, who demanded the release of A‘zam-i-Humāyūn Shirvānī as the price of their return to their allegiance. Ibrāhīm declined to accede to this condition and, after summoning reinforcements to his standard, attacked and defeated the rebels, slew Islām Khān, captured Sa‘īd Khān, and rewarded those who had remained faithful to him by bestowing on them the fiefs which the rebels had held.