The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c23.9

v3.c23.9

Ibrāhīm died in 1436 and was succeeded by his son Mahmūd Shāh, who in 1443 opened with Mahmūd Shāh Khaljī a friendly correspondence followed by measures which involved the two states in hostilities. Hūshang Shāh, Mahmūd Khaljī’s cousin, had left Qādir Khān at Kālpī as governor of the fortress and district and he profited by the disputes regarding the succession to the throne of Mālwa to assume independence, and even styled himself Qādir ‘Shāh.’ Qādir was now dead and had been succeeded by his son, who styled himself Nasīr Shāh, and so conducted himself as to scandalise all good Muslims. He destroyed a flourishing and populous town and handed over many Muslim girls to Hindus in order that they might be taught to posture and dance, accomplishments held in the East to be disreputable. Mahmūd of Jaunpur was among those to whom Nasīr’s behaviour gave offence, and he sent a mission to Mahmūd Khaljī to complain of his lieutenant’s misconduct. The king of Mālwa admitted that he had heard the reports which were confirmed by the letter of Mahmūd Sharqī¹, and gave him permission to punish Nasīr. He marched to Kālpī, attacked Nasīr, and expelled him from the town, and Nasīr, assuming now the character of a vassal of Mālwa, wrote to Mahmūd Khaljī and complained that the king of Jaunpur had expelled him from a fief which had been bestowed upon his father by the king of Mālwa, and intended to annex not only Kālpī, but Chanderī. Mahmūd Khaljī sent a message to Mahmūd Sharqī, suggesting that as Nasīr had expressed contrition he should be left in possession of the sub-district of Rāth in the Kālpī district, but Mahmūd Sharqī, impelled either by ambition or by a just appreciation of the offences of which Nasīr had been guilty, refused to stay his hand, and on November 14, 1444, Mahmūd Khaljī marched against him. The armies met near Īrij, and an indecisive battle was fought, but Mahmūd Sharqī occupied a strong position from which he refused to be drawn, and desultory operations continued for some months, until Mahmūd Khaljī and his protégé Nasīr withdrew to Chanderī for the rainy season. While they were in quarters at Chanderī peace was concluded, Mahmūd Sharqī agreeing to place Nasīr at once in possession of Rāth and to restore the rest of the Kālpī district within four months, provided that Mahmūd Khaljī had retired, by that time, to Māndū. After some hesitation on the part of Mahmūd Khaljī these terms were accepted, and were observed, and by the end of the year each monarch had returned to his own capital and the district of Kālpī had been restored to Nasīr, whose chastisement was deemed to have been sufficient.