Some of the large mortars were of such a size that it took one or two thousand men, more or less, to drag each one.* At this rate of speed they reached the Panjāb in the course of seven days. Humāyūn Pādshāh in person, in accordance with certain advantageous plans he had formed, advanced as far as Banbhar,* at the skirt of the mountain range to the north of the Kashmīr 413. frontier,* and then returned towards* Kabul. A short resumé of these events will be given in its proper place if the Most High God so will it.*
Islem Shāh also upon hearing this tidings* fled* with all haste from Lāhor to Gwāliār. In the course of his retreat arriving in the neighhourhood of the township of Anberī,* he was occupied in hunting, when a band of ruffians,* at the instigation of certain of the Amīrs, blocked his path, and meditated doing him harm, but a messenger arrived who informed Islem Shāh of this design, and he consequently entered the city by another road,* and after putting to death* a number of men, among whom were Bahāu-d-Dīn and Maḥmūd and Madā,* who were* the fountain heads of the rebellion attempted by the mutineers, imprisoned all persons against whom he entertained suspicion, afterwards putting them to death. Then he threw open the doors of the treasury and issued a public order directing the issue of two years pay to the soldiery,* and sent written despatches to the Amīrs of five thousand and ten thousand to this effect. Some of the troops received the pay, others did not. At this very time the army of Fate, who is the most powerful of all powerful foes, made an onslaught upon him.*
Verse.That man owned a single ass, but had no pack-saddle,
He found a pack-saddle, but in the meantime the wolf had
made off with the ass.*
* Among the forces which overthrew him was, it is said, a carbuncle which appeared in the neighbourhood of his seat, others assert that it was cancer.
He was beside himself with pain and* had himself bled, but without relief. Whilst in this state of distress and prostration, he used from time to time to say, ‘I had no idea that God was so extremely powerful,’* and while in this condition, as long as he retained consciousness he ordered Daulat Khān to sit facing him, and would not cast a glance in any other direction save on 414. his face alone.*
Verse.Maḥmūd gives not a soul to the Angel (of Death)
Until he sees him in the form of Ayāz.
Notwithstanding the fact that he had lapsed into unconsciousness, he would now and hen open his eyes, and these words would come* to his lips ‘Where is Ajyāra.’* They say also that although he found it excessively difficult to turn from one side to the other, yet he would not consent to their giving Daulat Khān the trouble of coming in front of him, but he would say, ‘Please turn my face in his direction.’
One day he saw that Daulat Khān was absent and asked ‘where can he be?’ They replied he has probably gone to the house of one of his relatives. Then he knew that to all appearance he was playing a time-serving part with others. At that moment Daulat Khān arrived and Islem Shāh quoted this verse:—
Thou knowest my value, how faithful I am*
Stay! before thou seekest the companionship of other friends.
It is reported on excellent authority also that Islem Shāh had ordered* the treasury-officer that he should give Danlat Khān every day for his personal expenses as much as a lak of tankas, as a matter of course and unasked,* but that if asked for a larger sum he should produce it for his use. At last seeing that his condition became more grave day by day, nay, hour by hour, his physicians despaired of relieving him.
Verse.In one small detail the whole of the philosophers have been
found wanting,
For what can man do against the Eternal decree.*
When the natural causes of the pulse depart from the fundamental movement,*
The foot of Aflaūn himself becomes fixed in the mire of helplessness.
When the conduct of nature turns towards disorder,
The Qānūn* of Bū ‘Alī lies useless in the hand. 415.
At last he left this world of regrets, wounded by countless sorrows, and abandoned his kingdom to the desire of his enemies. The duration of his reign was nine years. His body was taken to Sahsarām and buried by the side of his father. This event occurred in the year 961 H.,* and by a coincidence it happened that in the course of this (self-same) year* Sulān Maḥmūd of Gujrāt, who had adorned the throne with justice* and equity and the fear of God, drank the cup of martyrdom at the hands of his servant Burhān.* Niāmu-l-Mulk Baḥrī,* the king of the Dakhan, also took his way to the ocean of non-existence, and Mīr Saiyyid Na‘matu-llāh, whose poetical name was Rusūlī,* who was one of the incomparable learned men and a close companion of Islem Shāh, wrote this chronogram:—
Verse.At one time came the decline of three emperors,
Whose justice made Hindustān the abode of safety:
One was Maḥmūd the Emperor of Gujerāt,
Who, like his empire, was still in the pride of youth;
The second was Islem Shāh, that mine of beneficence,
Whose beloved son* was Sher Khān;
The third was Niāmu-l-Mulk Baḥrī
Who as Emperor was seated on the throne of the Dakhan.
If you ask of me a tārīkh for the death of these three*
Emperors?
I answer Zawāl-i-khusrūān.*
Islem Shāh notwithstanding his not having read poetry had 416. many apt quotations in his memory, and being a clever critic, used constantly to practise the art of versification with Amīr Saiyyid Na‘mat Rusūlī,* and used to compose many elegant verses and to enjoy listening to those of his fellow poet. Moreover he was highly esteemed by the learned and religious men* of his time. They say that when he reached Alwar on his way to the Panjāb, he one day caught sight of Mulla ‘Abdu-llāh of Sulānpūr* who was at some distance coming towards him; addressing his attendants he said: “Have you any idea who this is who is approaching.” They replied: “Who is it, please inform us.”* He said: “Bābar Padshāh had five sons, of whom four* left Hindustān and one remained.” They said “and who is that one?” He replied: “This Mulla who is approaching.” Sarmast Khān said: “What is the use of keeping up connection with such a vicious person?”* He replied* “What can I do, when I can find* no better than he?” And when Mulla ‘Abdu-llāh came up he ordered him to sit upon his own throne, and bestowed upon him a bead-roll of pearls, valued at twenty thousand rupees,* which had at that moment arrived as a present from some place. He never missed the public prayers, and never touched any intoxicants* not even jauz,* [and Shaikh Salīm Chishtī of Fatḥpūr and Ḥāfi Niām of Badāou were both of them his imāms].*