History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c11.139

c11.139

The discomfiture of ‘Aziz caused profound anxiety to the Sultan. It does not appear that he realised even now the baneful effects of the congratulatory farman that had been issued under the royal seal with indecent haste and the approval of a policy of murder. Not a believer in a policy of conciliation, he grew more and more violent and severe and it appears from the conversation which Zia Barani, the historian, had with him at Sultanpur that like a disappointed man, whose faith in the inherent goodness of human nature is shaken beyond recovery, he determined to enforce his orders by means of punishments.⁶⁴ It is the misfortune of the autocrat that he always thinks himself to be in the right, and Muhammad, ever ready to accuse his subjects of contumaciousness, became terribly severe when he found that his solicitude for the public weal met with no response from his subjects. The low born advisers whose ignorance of public affairs was simply phenomenal understood nothing of his policy, nor did they exert their influence to restrain their master from pursuing a dangerous course. With great haste the Sultan proceeded towards Gujarat, and when he reached Nehrwala, he commanded Shaikh Mu‘iz-al-Din, the Viceroy of Gujarat, to stay in the town to put down all disturbances, and himself proceeded towards the frontier of Gujarat, the mountains of Ābu,⁶⁵ where the rebels had gathered with a large following. From there he deputed one of his generals to march against the rebels with a strong detachment which overpowered them near the village of Dabhoi and inflicted a heavy loss upon them. A good many of their horsemen were killed and the survivors fled from the field of battle and went away in the direction of Devagiri with their wives and children. This preliminary success infused a fresh hope into the royal army, and the Sultan proceeded towards Broach where he set his forces in order to confront the rebels whose strength was not yet exhausted. At the head of a large force, consisting of the soldiers of Dihli, the foreign amirs of Broach together with a local militia, Malik Maqbūl⁶⁶ started in pursuit of the enemy, and having overtaken them on the banks of the Narbada he fought an engagement and inflicted a defeat upon them. The enemy's losses were heavy; a large number of their men were killed and their families and baggage were captured by the imperialists. Those who escaped from their pursuers fled to Mandeo, chief of Baglana,67 who in-