Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s4: The Return Journey

Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s4

Language: English

The Return Journey

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Surprisingly enough it was after this not so easy victory that Tīmūr thought of leaving Hindustan. His almost sudden decision to depart was due to many reasons. Famine and pestilence raged in the countryside devastated by him. None of his sons, officers and men, were anxious to continue the thankless task of waging wars against the infidels. On the other hand, satiated with bloodbath and plunder, they were anxious to return home to enjoy the fruits of the campaign. Tīmūr himself was sixty-three years of age and a victim of rheumatism. But the most compelling reason seems to be the trouble that was brewing in many parts of his empire. It was on the banks of the Ganga that Tīmūr had been informed by his swift messengers of the disturbance which had arisen on the confines of Georgia and Anatolia, of the revolt of the Christians, and the ambitious designs of Sultan Bāyazīd.¹⁴⁰ Revolt simmered along the Caucasus, and Bāyazīd had occupied all Mesopotamia.¹⁴¹ Tīmūr, who had no intention of founding an empire in India, could hardly stay there after receiving such alarming news from his homeland.

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¹⁴⁰ Gibbon, II, 1240.

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¹⁴¹ Harold Lamb, *Tamerlane the Earth Shaker*, 180.

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So he set out on his homeward journey. To avoid any more conflicts, he chose a safe route along the foot of the Himalayan hills. Still, wherever he went, he did not fail to inflict some more damage and loot some more wealth. Consequently, even during the return journey campaigning and killing went on on as large a scale as during his onward march, to the disgust of some of his own nobles like Amīr Sulaimān Shāh, Amīr Shāh Malik and Amīr Shaikh Nūruddīn.¹⁴² To their protest Tīmūr gave the usual reply now couched in clearer terms. "My principal object," said he, "in coming to Hindustān had been to accomplish two things. The first was to war with the infidels and to acquire some claim to reward in the life to come. The other was to give a chance to the army of Islam to gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the infidels; plunder in war is as lawful as their mother's milk to the Musalmans."¹⁴³

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¹⁴² M.T., E and D, III, 461.

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¹⁴³ *Ibid.*, 461-62; also R.S., VI, 114.

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It is here that we find an explanation for the conqueror's abnormal cruelties. If he could say his prayers amidst corpses and towers of skulls, it was not because he was a maniac who delighted in the destruction of his own species. He did it as a suppliant to God who had given him an opportunity to destroy the infidels and glorify Islam. He felt that he was a benefactor of humanity and through violence and bloodshed was purging the world of infidelity and wickedness. That is why a massacre meant to him an act of grace for which he prostrated himself in thanksgiving.

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The Amīr's remaining acts of violence and destruction may be briefly stated. He had left the banks of the Ganga and moved towards the Jumna,¹⁴⁴ where Amīr Jahān Shāh, who had been commissioned to sack that region¹⁴⁵ joined him. They now marched along the foot of the Himalayas. In a valley of the Siwālik hills there was a Rai named Bahrōz whose little principality yielded a revenue of one lac dangs,¹⁴⁶ small copper coins in circulation since the early days of Turkish rule. Tīmūr sacked it on Saturday, 17 January, 1399 (10 Jamadiul Avval, 801 H), but the chroniclers exaggerate the success into a major victory¹⁴⁷ in which immense booty in valuables, slaves and cattle was obtained. The army encamped between the villages of Bakri (modern Bhogpur) and Māyāpur, both situated to the south of Hardwar.¹⁴⁸ Four days later Tīmūr crossed the Jumna and attacked another valley situated between the Siwālik and Gāgar ranges,¹⁴⁹ ruled by Ratan Singh 'of great power and renown'.¹⁵⁰ Without accepting Sharafuddīn's ridiculously exaggerated figures, it can safely be said that in the valley of Bahrōz as well as in the estate of Ratan Singh, Tīmūr got fresh booty in slaves and cattle.¹⁵¹

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¹⁴⁴ Price, III, 277 n.

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¹⁴⁵ Z.N., II, 151.

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¹⁴⁶ Although the language in the various texts is not very clear, the sense is clear enough.

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¹⁴⁷ Z.N., II, 152-154.

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¹⁴⁸ Z.N., II, 154 has بموضع بهره که در نواحی بکری بود مشهور بولایت میاپور (In the Mauza of Bahra, which was in the vicinity of Bakri, better known as the country of Māyāpur). Bakri is most probably modern Bhogpur. Bhogpur and Baghra are mentioned as parganas in the Sarkar of Saharanpur (Āin. Tr., II, 291). The town of Bhogpur lies about 10 miles south of Hardwar. The village of Baghra which was four *kos* from Sikk-sar is not easily identified. It may be Badhera, a village situated about 5 miles south-east of Sarsawa. Shiqq-i-Sarsawa or Sirsawa lies about ten miles W.N.W. of Saharanpur on the route to Ambala, Lat. 30° 2′ N. Long. 77° 29′ E. Māyāpur is the name of an old ruined town between Hardwar and Kankhal, south of the former. Cunningham derives the name from the old temple of Māyā Dēvī which it contains (A.G.I., 352). It is mentioned in connection with the hills of Bardar (Hardwar) and Bijnor (or Pinjor) in T.M.S. in E and D, III, 353.

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¹⁴⁹ Z.N., II, 155, has Kūkā کوکاو. Kūkā may be Karkā or Garga گرگا. It is the Gāgar range of our Gazetteers which is also called Garāchal or Gargāchal. It runs along the districts of Almora and Kumaon and presents a line of higher elevation than any ranges between it and the main ridge of the central Himalays (I.G., XII, 121). The *darra* or valley between the Siwalik (the sub-Himalays) and the Kūkā or Gārga hills (the outer Himalays), was probably Dehra Dun or the Kyarda Dun in the south-east portion of the Sirmur State I.G., XXIII, 21.

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¹⁵⁰ M.T., E and D, III, 463.

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¹⁵¹ Z.N., II, 156.

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According to his chroniclers Tīmūr next marched to Nagarkot or Kāngrā (in erstwhile Chamba state). Evidently there was a feeling that every Muslim invader or ruler must visit such a centre of Hindu worship with its wondrous Jawālā Mukhī temple. Mahmūd Ghaznī, Fīrōz Tughlaq, Tīmūr, Akbar, Jahāngīr and Aurangzēb all went there. Its scenic beauty was charming and Tīmūr, in whose time probably the beauties of Kashmir were unknown or inaccessible,¹⁵² also thought of marching through it. *Mulfuzāt's* narrative of this march bears the caption of "Capture of Nagarkot", but this is misleading. Tīmūr seems to have just passed through Kāngrā, and Megha, the then Katoch Raja of Kāngrā¹⁵³ (A. D. 1390-1405), is not mentioned to have been attacked. The chroniclers are mistaken in saying that Dev Rai whom Tīmūr attacked later was defeated at Kāngrā.

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¹⁵² J.A.S.B. (letters), IV, 1938, 170.

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¹⁵³ Hodivala, II, 142.

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In the course of a month's campaigning in the Siwālik (16 Jamadiul Avval to 16 Jamadiul Ākhir), says Sharafuddīn, Tīmūr had twenty conflicts with the Hindus and had taken seven fortresses.¹⁵⁴ One such was the citadel of Shaidhū, a relation of Malik Shaikha Khokar. Shaidhū made his submission, but the inhabitants refused to pay the blackmail. To disarm them Tīmūr had resort to a strategem. He offered them high prices for their weapons, even for the rusted and damaged ones. When from greed of profit they had sold away all their arms,¹⁵⁵ Tīmūr asked them to depute forty men to serve under Hindu Shāh, the Master of the Exchequer. Though unarmed they refused to obey the order, and “it became necessary for the soldiers of the faith to exact vengeance”.¹⁵⁶ The fort was assaulted; many persons were killed and many others enslaved. Similarly the fort of Deva Rai and five other fortresses were taken with equal ease.¹⁵⁷

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¹⁵⁴ Z.N., II, 159-60.

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¹⁵⁵ Z.N., II, 161; R.S., VI, 115 last line.

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¹⁵⁶ *Ibid.*, 160-61; R.S., VI, 116; M.T., E and D, III, 468.

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¹⁵⁷ *Z.N.*, II, 161.

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After negotiating the Siwāliḳs, Tīmūr marched towards Jammu. On 22 February (16 Jamadiul Ākhir) he arrived at Bailā, situated about twenty miles from the modern Jammu town.¹⁵⁸ The inhabitants of Bailā knew what was in store for them and they escaped into a nearby jungle. Tīmūr surrounded the forest so closely that no one could come out, and then his soldiers plundered the village undisturbed. Large quantities of grain and fodder were collected, sufficient to supply the requirements of the army,¹⁵⁹ and then the village was set on fire.

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¹⁵⁸ *Ibid.*, 163. Bailā was ten *kos* from the modern Jammu town on the route from Kāngrā to old Jammu which was situated about one *kos* north-east of the modern town. Hodivala, 357-58.

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¹⁵⁹ *Z.N.*, II, 163; M.T., E and D, III, 469.

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At the next halt the Amīr received the envoys whom he had sent to Sikandar Shāh of Kashmir (A. D. 1394-1417). He seems to have been quite pleased with Sikandar who was known as *but shikan* (Iconoclast) and who, according to Cunningham, had used gunpowder in destroying temples.¹⁶⁰ He was, therefore, disappointed to learn from Maulana Nūruddīn, Sikandar's envoy who had been accredited to him, that his master had come as far as the village of Jhabān in the vicinity of Jammu¹⁶¹ but on being apprised of the exorbitant demand of the Amīr's revenue officers for supplying 30,000 horses and paying 100,000 gold *tankas*,¹⁶² had returned to Srinagar in despair. Tīmūr was incensed at the demand of his officers and sent Zainuddīn with the envoy to ask Sikandar Shāh to meet him on the Indus on 25 March,¹⁶³ and himself started for Jammu where he arrived on 25 February (19 Jamadiul Ākhir). The people of Jammu were "robust, tall and powerful"¹⁶⁴ but the Raja, to avoid an unnecessary engagement, escaped into the hills. Tīmūr's men looted the grain markets of Jammu and Bao,¹⁶⁵ lying on the opposite bank of the Tawi. Tīmūr moved away four *kos*, leaving some troops to ambuscade the Raja when he came down from the mountain ranges. The Raja was attacked and taken prisoner. His wounds were carefully tended "for the sake of getting the ransom money". Later on by "hopes, fears and threats, he was also brought to see the beauty of Islam".¹⁶⁶

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¹⁶⁰ *J.A.S.B.*, XXIII, 1854, 415. This is refuted by Mohibbul Hasan, *Kashmir Under the Sultans*, 65-66.

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¹⁶¹ *Z.N.*, II, 164 has جهان. Chibhān is the old name of Bhimbar. (Cunningham, A. G. I., 134; Aīn Tr., II, 347 n.) Chibhān or Chibhāl is the country of the Chhibs. It extends from the Manawar Tawi to the Jhelum. I.G., XV, 100.

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¹⁶² *Z.N.*, II, has صد هزار درست زر هر يك بوزن دو مثقال و نيم which means 100,000 durusts of gold, each weighing two and a half Misqāls. So have R.S., VI, 116 and Ferishta, II, 340. Taking a Misqāl at the average weight of 70 to 72 grains, the *durust* (correct weight) *tanka* of gold will be of 175 to 180 grains. Ferishta is therefore quite correct when he says that the amount demanded was 100,000 Ashrafis of 'Alāuddīn, because the *tanka* of 'Alāuddīn (clearly referred to in the *Malfuzāt*, E and D, III, 470) was of 175 grains or two and a half Misqāls. For 'Alāuddīn's *tanka* see Thomas, *Chronicles*, 158, 160-61; Nelson Wright, 72 and Lal, *History of the Khaljīs*, 270-71. In view of this the 'one hundred thousand golden dirhams' of C.H.I., III, 279, are not correct.

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¹⁶³ Z.N., II, 164-65; M.T., E and D, III, 469-70. Sikandar later had set out from Srinagar, but when he learnt at Barāmulā that Tīmūr had hurriedly left for Samarqand, he returned to his capital. Ferishta (Urdu Tr.), II, 547.

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¹⁶⁴ Z.N., II, 166.

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¹⁶⁵ Z.N., II, 166 has مانو. Mānu or Manu is a misreading of Bao or Bhao which is shown in Constable, Pl. 25 A a. Bao is said to have been founded and named after two brothers. Cunningham, A.G.I., 133.

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¹⁶⁶ Z.N., II, 168-69; M.T., E and D, III, 472; R.S., VI, 116.

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Six days later Tīmūr sent his treasurer Hindu Shāh to Samarqand to announce his return.¹⁶⁷ Hunting rhinoceroses and tigers on the way he continued his march homeward. On 5 March (27 Jamadiul Ākhir) in his camp arrived the contingent¹⁶⁸ which he had sent to Lahore to chastise Shaikhā Khokhar. We have seen that after his defeat by Sārang Khan and expulsion from Lahore Shaikhā had made his submission to Tīmūr and joined his camp. But after the death of Sārang Khan at the hands of Tīmūr, he had fled from the latter's camp and reoccupied Lahore.¹⁶⁹ He had paid no attention to Hindu Shāh when the latter had passed through Lahore on his way from Samarqand to join his master in India. Worse still he had even made an attack on Tīmūr between Meerut and Hardwar. Tīmūr had consequently sent an expedition under Pīr Muhammad who on arrival at Lahore attacked the place, collected the ransom money and took prisoner Shaikhā Khokhar and his son Jasrat Khokhar.¹⁷⁰

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¹⁶⁷ Z.N., II, 172.

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¹⁶⁸ M.T., E and D, III, 475.

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¹⁶⁹ J.A.S.B., XL, Pt. I, 1871, 80.

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¹⁷⁰ Z.N., II, 169.

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At a Durbar held on 5 March, 1399 (27 Jamadiul Ākhir 801 H)¹⁷¹ Shaikhā Khokhar was beheaded.¹⁷² This was the last court Tīmūr held in India and it was probably in this very Durbar that Khizr Khan was appointed governor of Multan, Deopalpur and Lahore¹⁷³ on the conqueror's behalf.

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¹⁷¹ *Ibid.*, 175.

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¹⁷² Ferishta, I, 159.

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¹⁷³ Z.N. II, 175-76; Ferishta, I, 159.

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Now Tīmūr released most of the prisoners he had made in Delhi, not necessarily because of the intercession of Shaikh Ahmad Khattu as is claimed by certain historians,¹⁷⁴ but probably to lighten his burden. However, all the artisans, skilled mechanics, craftsmen and builders and even consignments of some stores were ordered to be taken home for building a Jāma' Masjid in his mud-walled Samarqand, which he wanted to beautify.¹⁷⁵ Tīmūr had been highly impressed by the Jāma' Masjid of Delhi constructed of polished marble by Fīrōz Shāh, and took a model of it home.¹⁷⁶ He also admired the Qutb Mīnār and carried off workmen to construct a similar one in Samarqand, which intention, however, was never carried out.¹⁷⁷

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¹⁷⁴ T.A., De's trs., I, 280 n. Commissariat, I, 56-57. Badaonī, Ranking, I, 357-58: "Shaikh Khattu's tomb is well known at Sarkhez in Gujarat near Ahmedabād". For a brief sketch of the life of Shaikh Ahmad Khattu (Khattri), see Bayley, *History of Gujarat*, 90-91.

Cites (1)

Tārīkh-i Firishta — Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh Firishta 1606, Persian