Twilight of the Sultanate c12.s1.14

c12.s1.14

Sarwarul Mulk deputed Kamālul Mulk, Saiyyad Khan son of Saiyyad Sālim, and Sadhāran to bring the rebels to book,¹¹ but he also sent his own son Malik Yūsuf to keep a watch on Kamālul Mulk. Why the Vazīr sent Kamālul Mulk at the head of the expedition is not difficult to guess. Firstly, it was to keep him as far away from Delhi as possible and secondly, to keep him busy fighting and give him no time to counter his (the Vazīr's) moves. But the Vazīr had miscalculated. The shrewd Kamālul Mulk was bent upon avenging the murder of the late Sultan, and distance from Delhi just suited his plans. He marched out in April, 1434 (Ramzān) and crossing the Jumna at the ford of Kichchā arrived at Baran. There he entered into secret negotiations with the rebellious Amīrs and invited Maliks Allahadād and Chaman to join him.¹² This unnerved Yūsuf and he with Sadhāran and Hoshiyār, another creature of the Vazīr sent as a spy, escaped to Delhi to report on the situation. At this Kamālul Mulk decided to force the issue with the Vazīr. With Malik Allahadād and Miyān Chaman he recrossed the Jumna at Kichchā¹³ on Wednesday, 12 May, 1434 (2 Shawwāl, 837 H) and encamped in the orchards on the Jumna.¹⁴ Sarwarul Mulk closed the gates of Sīrī¹⁵ and prepared for a siege. Hoshiyār even made a sally but failed, and Malik Kamāl, whose forces had by now greatly swelled by the arrival of Amīrs and Maliks of the surrounding country, began besieging the fort. The siege went on for three months from Shawwāl to Zilhijjā after which Kamāluddīn was invited into the fort under dramatic circumstances.