History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c6.123

c6.123

spread in the army that Sultan Tughluq Shah was dead at Dihli. Up to this time two or three despatches used to come from Dihli every week, but all of a sudden they ceased to come owing to a heavy downpour of rain, which dishevelled the posts and rendered the roads impassable. The Prince and his entourage were greatly disturbed by this news. Barani and Ibn Batutah give different accounts of this episode. Barani who is followed by later historians writes that the authors of the report were Shaikhzadah Dimishqi and ‘Ubaid, the poet and certain other boon companions of the Prince.⁵⁵ Barani does not tell us the motive of these men in spreading such a report. They went to the camp of Malik Tagin, Malik Mal Afghan, the principal officers in the army, and informed them that the Crown Prince who looked upon them as obstacles to his succession to the throne, had hatched a plot to take their lives. As these two men were the close associates of the Prince, they were believed, and the officers mentioned above deserted the colours, and fled from the field of battle. From Barani’s narrative it appears that ‘Ubaid was a mischievous man and it was simply to create mischief that he invented such a report.