Twilight of the Sultanate c7.s4.8

c7.s4.8

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