In answer to my inquiry I was informed that the castle of Jammú was near, that it was connected with the Siwálik and Kúka mountains, and that the inhabitants were not submissive and obedient to the Sultáns of Hindustán. These facts being made known to me, I on the 16th Jumáda-l ákhir 802, marched from the village of Mansár determined to carry my arms against the infidels of Jammú. After marching six kos I encamped at the village of Báíla, in the territory of Jammú. I sent Amír Shaikh Muhammad, son of Amír Aiku-tímúr, and some other officers, at the head of a body of horse against the village of Báíla. The people in that village confident in their numbers, in the density of the jungle, and in the altitude of the position, had placed themselves in ambush in many places along the borders of the jungle prepared to give battle and offer resistance. The amírs who had gone on in advance reported these facts to me, and asked for permission to attack and defeat the enemy. I returned answer that I myself was desirous of sharing in the merit of the holy fight, and, therefore, the battle must be deferred till the morrow until I should arrive. When my orders reached them they postponed operations for that day. On the next day, the 17th, I marched towards Báíla. When the eyes of the enemy fell upon my royal banners, and the cries of my warriors sounded in their ears, they wavered and fled, seeking refuge in the dense jungles and thickets. I directed the amírs in the front to advance and seize the mouths of the jungle and woods so that the troops might enter the village of Báíla and plunder it in security. No man was to enter the jungle and woods. The amírs carried out these orders and the soldiers obtained great quantities of grain, sugar, and oil. After that they set fire to the houses and destroyed the buildings.
The same day I advanced four kos and then encamped. Uljah
Tímúr Túnkatár, Fulád Bahádur, and Zainu-d dín whom I had
sent as ambassadors from Dehlí to Sháh Iskandar, king of Kash-
I was now informed that Mullá Núru-d dín, the ambassador
of Sháh Iskandar, who had been in attendance upon me, had
returned without leave to his master at the village of Jabhán, to
inform him that my ministers of finance had determined that
when he should arrive at my court there should be demanded
from him a contribution of 30,000 horses and a lac of silver tankas,
each tanka weighing two and a half miskáls. Sháh Iskandar, in
order to provide for this payment, had returned from Jabhán to
Kashmír. When I heard this I called for my financial officers
and told them that they had put too heavy a burden on the neck
of Sháh Iskandar, that the tax and tribute to be demanded of
every country ought to be in proportion to its income and cultivation,
and that they had exhibited their own ignorance in making
such a demand. I immediately reassured the ambassador of the
Sháh, gave him a robe and presents, and sent him with Mu'ata-
At the foot of a mountain in the vicinity of my camp there was a flourishing village, and I sent a force to plunder it. When they reached it, the Hindus of the place who were numerous, assembled to resist, but on the approach of my men fear fell upon their hearts, and they set fire to their houses and fled to the mountains. My victorious soldiers pursued them and slew many of them. A large booty in grain and property fell into our hands. There were two other large villages in the vicinity of this village. These also were plundered and a large amount of spoil was secured. On this day Rá-tímúr was wounded.
On the 19th I again marched, and came up opposite to the city of Jammú, and there encamped, my royal tents and canopies being set up. The five or six kos which I traversed in this day's march was entirely through a cultivated country; nowhere did I see any dry (khushk) or waste (khálí) land, and so in the place where I encamped there was no necessity for any man to go out into the fields in search of fodder for his horse or camel, for there was grain and grass enough between the tents to feed the animals. On the next day, the 20th, after resting for the night, I again moved with the intention of attacking the town of Jammú. I came into the valley where the source of the river of Jammú is situated, and there I pitched my tents; but I sent my army over the river to the foot of a mountain, on the left of the town, and to the village of Manú on the right. When my forces had secured these positions, the demon-spirited Hindus sent off their wives and children from their villages to the tops of the mountains, and they fortified themselves in their village. Their rája, with his warlike gabrs and athletic Hindus, took his post in the valley, where they howled like so many jackals. I commanded that not a soldier should go towards the mountain, or have anything to do with these gabrs, but that they should attack and plunder the town of Jammú and the village of Manú. Accordingly my forces fell to plundering, and secured an enormous booty in grain, goods of all kinds, and cattle. I returned victorious to the baggage, where I entered my tents, and passed the night in pleasure and rest.
As soon as morning broke the drums sounded. I selected certain kushúns which I placed under the command of experienced veteran amírs, and I intrusted them to go and conceal themselves in the jungle, while I marched away with drums playing. The Hindus and gabrs, who had fled to the hills in alarm at my approach, would then come down from the mountains in fancied security, and my troops in ambush might fall upon the infidels and cut them to pieces. In execution of this order the troops went and concealed themselves, and I mounting my horse crossed the river of Jammú, and marched four kos. All this distance was through arable land, and a green and fertile country. I encamped on the banks of the Chináwa* on a piece of cultivated ground, and set up my tents with all the baggage around. Some horsemen now arrived in haste from the amírs, whom I had left in ambush, to inform me that, after I had marched away, the Rája of Jammú and other devilish gabrs came down confidently from the tops of the hills. When they reached the plain the amírs rushed suddenly from their ambush upon the infidels, and killed a great number of them. A few of them, worn out and wounded, had escaped to the jungle and woods. The Rája of Jammú, who was ruler of the country, with fifty Ráos and Rájpúts had been made prisoners by Daulat Tímúr Táwachí Husain Malik Kúchín and others belonging to the túmán of Amír Shaikh Núru-d dín, and the whole force was coming up with the prisoners. I gave thanks to Almighty God that the enemies of the Muhammadan religion had been smitten down by the men of the faith, or had been made prisoners. The day before, proud of their numbers and confident in the density of the jungle and the altitude of the hills, they had raised their cries of defiance, and now, by the grace of God, they were prisoners in my hands. I immediately gave orders that the fifty prisoners should be put in bonds and chains. When my eyes fell upon the Rája of Jammú, who was wounded and a prisoner, fear took possession of his heart, and he agreed to pay certain sums of money and to become a Musulmán if I would spare his life. I instantly ordered him to be taught the creed, and he repeated it and became a Muhammadan. Among these infidels there is no greater crime and abomination than eating the flesh of a cow or killing a cow, but he ate the flesh in the company of Musulmáns. When he had thus been received into the fold of the faithful, I ordered my surgeons to attend to his wounds, and I honoured him with a robe and royal favours.