Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s3: Meerut and Hardwar

Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s3

Language: English

Meerut and Hardwar

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Without hope of any further gain from the thoroughly sacked city, Tīmūr left it on 31 December, 1398 (22 Rabiul Ākhir)¹¹⁸ and proceeded towards the north. On the way at a village called Kātah, Bahādur Nāhar, who had earlier submitted to an officer of the conqueror, arrived with his eldest son Kailāsh to pay respects¹¹⁹ to Tīmūr in person. On 4 January, 1399, Tīmūr arrived at Meerut, a renowned city and fort.¹²⁰ Its governor, Malik Ilyās Afghan,¹²¹ was an adherent of Nusrat Shāh, and undaunted by the fate of Delhi he with Safī and a son of Maulāna Ahmad Thanēsrī,¹²² determined to defend their charge. Ilyās was confident of his strength, and boasted that even Tarmashīrīn Khan had not been able to take Meerut.¹²³ But Tīmūr was made of different stuff. He gave orders to lay mines under the battlements. His sappers and miners made breaches of ten to fifteen yards under each bastion and wall. Next day Malik Allahadād stormed the fort. Escalading its walls, the soldiers entered the citadel and put it to plunder. Sharafuddīn gives an exaggerated and at places an incorrect account of the fall of Meerut. According to him Safī was killed in battle while Ilyās was captured and brought before Tīmūr, together with the remaining "gabrs" and put to the sword while the fort was set on fire.¹²⁴ But facts are very different. Ilyās gave a determined fight, burnt his womenfolk in the fire of *jauhar*, and did not surrender till the end. Even if Ilyās was captured, he seems to have affected his escape, as later on he rejoined Nusrat Shāh after Tīmūr's return.

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¹¹⁸ M.T., E and D, III, 448.

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¹¹⁹ Z.N., II, 128, has قلاش. Dowson notes that the Z.N. reads "Kaltash" and "Katash". I agree with Hodivala's suggestion that it is Kailāsh. Bahādur Nāhar was a newly converted Jadon Rajput (I.G. XII, 401; Crooke, T.C., III, 233) and it is just possible that his son was known by his Hindu name. He can be identified with Iqlīm Khan, son of Bahādur Nāhar. T.M.S., 175, 179, 181; T.A., I, 260; Hodivala, 355.

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¹²⁰ Z.N., II, 129.

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¹²¹ At places he is called Malik Ilmās. Ferishta, 155, 159; Badaonī, I, 362. اوغانی is mentioned only in R.S., VI, 112.

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¹²² The son's name has not been given by any historian. Maulana Ahmad Thanēsrī was a pupil of Shaikh Nāsiruddīn Chirāgh-i-Delhi. In 'Abdul Haqq Dehlvī's *Akhbār-ul-Akhyār* he is said to have been a great literary figure. He was an Arabic poet and his *Qasida-i-Daliya* is recognized as a classic. He was in Delhi when Tīmūr besieged it and was taken prisoner but afterwards released. He died in 820 H and lies buried at Kalpi. Houtsma, *E.I.*, IV, 738.

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¹²³ Tarmashīrīn was the son of Dava Khan, ruler of Transoxiana (1272-1306), an avowed enemy of 'Alāuddīn Khaljī (see K.S. Lal, *History of the Khaljis*, 151-175). Tarmashīrīn ruled over Transoxiana from 722 to 734 H (*Tārīkh-i-Rashīdī*, Ney Elias and Ross, *Introduction*, 49). Muhammad Tughlaq's shifting of the capital and the famine at Delhi gave him a welcome opportunity to invade India (Z.W., III, 865). He marched into India in 727 H (for a discussion on this date see Dr. Ishwari Prasad, *Qaraunah Turks*, I, 96-97). He harried the entire country extending from Multan to Delhi and sacked Samana and Delhi. Whether or not peace was "purchased" by Muhammad bin Tughlaq is a matter of controversy (see *Qaraunah Turks* and Mahdī Husain, *Rise and Fall of Muhammad bin Tughlaq*). All the same the invasion proved to be nothing more than a passing storm and Meerut felt proud at not having been affected by it.

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¹²⁴ Z.N., II, 130-32.

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After the reduction of Meerut, Tīmūr ordered Amīr Jahān Shāh to march with the left wing through the upper regions of the Jumna. He himself marched with Amīr Sulaimān Shāh to ravage the upper and lower regions of the Ganga. Marching alongside the river, at a distance of about fifteen *kos* from Fīrōzpur,¹²⁵ he fell upon a group of Hindus who, travelling in forty-six boats, had broken their journey and were encamping on the bank by the riverside.¹²⁶ He attacked them, defenceless though they were, and confiscated their goods. Then making a detour he arrived at Tughlaqpur and fixed his camp there. Tīmūr halted for the night at Tughlaqpur,¹²⁷ but could not rest there. People were rising everywhere to intercept his march. Amīr Allahadād who was reconnoitring the area informed him that a strong force of 10,000 horse and foot¹²⁸ under the command of one Mubārak Khan was arrayed for a fight on the other side of the river. Tīmūr crossed the river with his usual alacrity, and fell upon Mubārak. The latter was not prepared for such a surprise and fled, but many of his men were slain.¹²⁹ Meanwhile Shaikha Khokhar had arrived from Lahore with a large force.¹³⁰ To delude the conqueror, he had sent a message that he was only coming to join him, but arriving at close quarters he opened a surprise attack killing several of Tīmūr's soldiers.¹³¹ But the assailant was defeated and put to flight.

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¹²⁵ Z.N., II, 134; M.T., E and D, III, 452. The place is clearly mentioned as Fīrōzpur in R.S., VI, 113, l. 2, which Thornton mentions to be lying in the district of Muzaffarnagar half a mile from the right bank of the Ganga, Lat. 29° 30′ N, Long. 80° 2′ E. The Ganga has left its old bed and does not flow past Fīrōzpur which is stated to have been about 20 *kos* below, i.e. south of Tughlaqpur. Elliot, *Races*, II, 28 and 130.

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¹²⁶ Z.N., II, 135. The large number of boats should cause no surprise as navigation on the Ganga was one of the chief means of transportation in those days.

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¹²⁷ This Tughlaqpur is not the one situated near Safedon. It is mentioned as a Mahāl of the Sarkar of Saharanpur in the Āīn. Trs. II, 292. In Elliot's days (circa 1840) the chief town of the pargana of Tughlaqpur was Nūr Nagar because Nūr Jahān is said to have resided there for some time. The pargana was also known as Gobardhanpur (*Races*, II, 131). Today the villages of Tughlaqpur, Nūr Nagar and Gobardhanpur lie 17, 22 and 28 miles respectively north-east of Muzaffarnagar town. Hodivala, 356.

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¹²⁸ Z.N., II, 139; M.T., E and D, III, 453-54; Price, III, 272.

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¹²⁹ Z.N., II, 139-141; M.T., E and D, III, 454; R.S., VI, 113.

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¹³⁰ The strength of Malik Shaikha's force cannot be ascertained. The figures given by writers vary beyond compromise. Z.N., II, 142 has more than a hundred horse (زياده از صد سوار). Dowson who saw a number of MSS. of the Z.N. writes, (E and D, III, 510 n), "Here one MS., and that the most sober one, magnifies the assailants into 'several thousand desperate men, sword in hand'". The *Mulfuzāt*, E and D, III, 455, has 500 horse and a large force on foot. Mīr Khwānd crosses all limits when he declares the force to be one hundred thousand horse and foot (صد هزار سوار و پياده); R.S., VI, 113. His statement is just figurative.

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¹³¹ Z.N., II, 142-144.

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Ilyās Afghān, Safi, Mubārak Khan and Shaikha Khokhar were all Muslims, but since they had taken courage to oppose the blackmailer, they are called by him "infidels (*kāfirān va gabrān*)".¹³² As Pringle Kennedy has rightly pointed out: "It is noticeable in men of Tīmūr's type that their holy war does not confine itself to infidels alone. If true Musalmans oppose him, so much the worse for them. They have ceased to be Musalmans and have become of the tribe of *Kāfirs.* They too must be exterminated. In men of his stamp . . . deep in their heart is the belief . . . that opposition to them is rebellion against the Most High."¹³³

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¹³² Z.N., II, 139, 144; R.S., VI, 113.

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¹³³ *The History of the Great Mughuls*, I, 80.

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Tīmūr arrived at Hardwar, a well known place of Hindu pilgrimage on the Ganga, on 12 January, 1399 (5 Jamadiul Avval). Sharafuddīn describes it thus: "Kupila (or Hardwār, probably named after the sage Kapil) is situated at the foot of a mountain by which the river Ganga passes. Fifteen *kos* higher up there is a stone in the form of a cow, and the water of the river flows out of the mouth of that cow."¹³⁴ This certainly is a reference to Gangotri the source of the Ganga, and the distance should be 50 rather than 15 *kos*. The chronicler continues, "The infidels of India worship this cow, and come hither from all quarters, from distances even of a year's journey, to visit it. They bring here and cast into the river the ashes of their dead. They throw gold and silver into the river and perform their oblations leg deep in the stream."¹³⁵ This was a good reason for its sack by a champion of Islam, but the most important one seems to be that "in this valley there was a large concourse of Hindus, having great riches in cattle and moveables."¹³⁶ However, since the people of Hardwar were determined not to surrender without desperate resistance, Tīmūr thought it fit to organise his troops for a regular battle. He "massed all the wings of his army together" and charged with great vigour. According to the *Zafar Nāmā* the Hindus began to flee soon after,¹³⁷ but the details given in the *Mulfūzāt* clearly show that the people gave a very tough fight.¹³⁸ Later events also show that Tīmūr's attack was not a complete success. He left Hardwar the same day crossing the Ganga before the afternoon, marching back five *kos* down the river before encamping.¹³⁹ Never before had he taken such a precipitate action.