Twilight of the Sultanate c11.s3.17

c11.s3.17

Meanwhile news was brought that the siege of Bhatinda had at length been brought to a successful close, the fort had been captured and Paulād killed. A little later Mīrān Sadr brought the head of the rebel. Mubārak Shāh could hardly restrain his joy at such a happy event; he paid a flying visit to Bhatinda to arrange for its administration and punish the zamindar accomplices of the rebel. On his return he learnt from travellers coming into Delhi (was the intelligence service so inefficient?) that a war had broken out between Sultan Hoshang of Malwa and Sultan Ibrāhīm of Jaunpur for the possession of Kalpi. Kalpi was in the royal dominions and any attack on it from any quarter was an affront to the royal authority which Mubārak Shāh was determined to vindicate.⁶² He sent orders to his Amīrs and governors to report with their armies and began preparations to march to the relief of Kalpi. On hearing of Mubārak Shāh's determination, Ibrāhīm returned to Jaunpur, but Hoshang Shāh, undaunted, attacked and captured the city from the royal governor Abdul Qādir, better known as Qādir Shāh.⁶³ Mubārak Shāh now collected his forces at the Chautra of Shergarh for the expedition.