The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c27.63

v3.c27.63

¹ For this extraordinary exploit, which reads more like romance than history, we have three distinct authorities, (1) Firishta, who cites the *Tuhfat-us-Salātīn* and *Sirāj-ut-Tawārīkh*, (2) Nizām-ud-dīn Ahmad, and (3) Khāfī Khān, who for once is not a mere echo of Firishta but obtained his facts from an independent source, and is corroborated in many important details by Nizām-ud-dīn Ahmad's briefer summary. Khāfī Khān's account has been followed as the fullest, most authentic, and most credible of the three. The exploit will appear incredible to those who do not understand the proneness of the Oriental to panic on the loss of a leader. The Qāzī understood the failing and laid his plans accordingly.