History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c10.54

c10.54

Barani's account of the rebellion is very brief. According to him after the death of Bahram Khan, governor of Sonargaon, the army became mutinous, killed Qadar Khan and destroyed his family and his goods. The treasures of Lakhnauti were seized by the rebels who took possession of that place and of Satgaon and Sonargaon.¹ The author of the *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi* who wrote after Barani gives a more detailed account of the affairs in Bengal, and he is copied by Badaoni. The story of this rebellion is as follows: "After the death of Bahram Khan at Sonargaon, Malik Fakhr-al-Din, his armour-bearer, rebelled and became king. Having heard of this revolt, Malik Bidar or Pindar Khilji Qadar Khan who was governor of Lakhnauti sent Malik Husam-al-Din Abu Raja mustaufi mamalik, 'Iz-al-Din Yahya A'zam-al-mulk, governor of Satgaon and Firuz Khan, son of Nusrat Khan, amir of Kara against Fakhr-al-Din. The latter offered resistance, but seeing the heavy odds arrayed against him, he fled from the field of battle, leaving his entire baggage to be captured by the enemy. Qadar Khan thus became master of Sonargaon, but Fakhr-al-Din was not the man to rest in silence. Having made his preparations, he marched against his rival again, and on this occasion he was helped by the discontent that prevailed in Qadar Khan's army." According to the author of the *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi* Qadar Khan had hoarded plenty of silver *tankahs* in the hope of placing a large heap of them before the august throne of Dihli, in spite of the remonstrances of Malik Husam-al-Din, who always asked him to send the treasures of the state to the capital. Qadar Khan paid no heed to the Malik's counsel, and his niggardliness led to serious developments. Discontent spread among the troops, when he deprived them of their legitimate share in the spoils of war. Fakhr-al-Din appeared at this favourable moment and seduced Qadar Khan's troops. The latter conspired against their chief and slew him and Fakhr-al-Din again became master of Sonargaon. Then he sent his slave Mukhlis against Lakhnauti, but he was opposed by Qadar Khan's 'Ariz, 'Ali Mubarak, who defeated and slew him. Ranking has mistranslated the passage in Badaoni's text which is a paraphrase of Yahya's narrative.⁴⁷ ‘Ali Mubarak informed the Sultan at Dihli of what had happened. The Sultan sent Yusuf, the *Shahnah* of the capital, who was raised to the rank of Khan, but he died shortly afterwards. The Sultan was so busy with troubles in Hindustan that he could not send a fresh army to the help of ‘Ali Mubarak. Pressed hard by the exigencies of the situation, ‘Ali Mubarak assumed the honours of royalty under the title of ‘Ala-al-Din. Ibn Batūtah is not very clear about the history of Bengal, and he concludes his account by saying that ‘Ali Shah established himself as king at Lakhnauti and wars were frequently waged between ‘Ali Shah and Fakhr-al-Din. The rivalry between ‘Ali Shah and Fakhr-al-Din lasted for sometime. Fakhr-al-Din led an attack against Lakhnauti in the rainy season, for his naval strength was superior to that of ‘Ali Shah. The latter who possessed better land forces retaliated with equal vigour, and this mutual warfare continued. During one of these campaigns a certain Sufi, Shaida by name, who had been appointed governor of Satgaon—a fact which is corroborated by Barani who says that Satgaon had also fallen into Fakhra’s hands, rebelled and killed the only son of Fakhr-al-Din. Shaida fled towards Sonargaon where he was captured by the people who made him over to the royal army. By the orders of the Sultan (Fakhr-al-Din) he was beheaded, and many of his associates were slain.