Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s3.1

c7.s3.1

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.