On the 8th Rabi'u-s sání, Tímúr hoisted his victorious flag on the walls of Dehlí. He then went to the gate of the maidán and took his seat in the 'Ídgáh. This gate is one of the gates of Jahán-panáh and opens towards the Hauz-i Kháss. There he held his court; and the saiyids, the kázís, the nobles and the great men who were in the city, hastened to pay their homage to him. Fazlu-llah Balkhí, deputy of Mallú Khán, with all the officers of the díwán, proceeded to make their submission. The saiyids, the 'ulamá, and the shaikhs sought for protection through the intervention of the princes and officers. Prince Pír Muhammad, Amír Sulaimán Sháh, Amír Jahán Sháh, and others interceded for them in due season, and gained their object. The standard of victory was raised and drums were beaten and music played to proclaim the conquest to the skies. A poet also wrote some lines containing the date of the victory,—8th Rabi'u-s sání, 801 (Dec. 17th, 1398).
The elephants and rhinoceroses were brought forth with their trappings and paraded before the emperor. The elephants all in token of submission bowed their heads to the ground and raised a cry altogether as if they were asking for quarter. There were 120 war elephants captured, and on the return home of the army some were sent to different parts of the empire for the use of the princes, and the others were sent to Samarkand. * * * Maulána Násiru-d dín was ordered to go with other learned doctors and great men into the mosque on the Sabbath, and proclaim the name of the Sáhib-kirán Amír Tímúr Gúrgán in the khutba, in the same way as the name of Fíroz Sháh and other Sultáns had been proclaimed. * * *
On the 16th of the month a number of soldiers collected at the gate of Dehlí and derided the inhabitants. When Tímúr heard of this he directed some of the amírs to put a stop to it. But it was the divine pleasure to ruin the city and to punish the inhabitants, and that was brought about in this way. The wife of Jahán Malik 'Aghá and other ladies went into the city to see the palace of the Thousand Columns (Hazár-sutún), which Malik Jauná had built in the Jahán-panáh. The officers of the Treasury had also gone there to collect the ransom money. Several thousand soldiers, with orders for grain and sugar, had proceeded to the city. An order had been issued for the officers to arrest every nobleman who had fought against Tímúr and had fled to the city, and in execution of this order they were scattered about the city. When parties and bands of soldiers were going about the city, numbers of Hindus and gabrs in the cities of Dehlí, Sírí, Jahán-panáh, and Old Dehlí, seeing the violence of the soldiers,* took up arms and assaulted them. Many of the infidels set fire to their goods and effects, and threw themselves, their wives and children, into the flames. The soldiers grew more eager for plunder and destruction. Notwithstanding the boldness and the struggles of the Hindus, the officers in charge kept the gates closed, and would not allow any more soldiers to enter the city, lest it should be sacked. But on that Friday night there were about 15,000 men in the city who were engaged from early eve till morning in plundering and burning the houses. In many places the impure infidel gabrs made resistance. In the morning the soldiers who were outside, being unable to control themselves, went to the city and raised a great disturbance. On that Sunday, the 17th of the month, the whole placed was pillaged, and several palaces in Jahán-panáh and Sírí were destroyed. On the 18th the like plundering went on. Every soldier obtained more than twenty persons as slaves, and some brought as many as fifty or a hundred men, women, and children as slaves out of the city. The other plunder and spoils were immense, gems and jewels of all sorts, rubies, diamonds, stuffs and fabrics of all kinds, vases and vessels of gold and silver, sums of money in 'ala'í tankas, and other coins beyond all computation. Most of the women who were made prisoners wore bracelets of gold or silver on their wrists and legs and valuable rings upon their toes. Medicines and perfumes and unguents, and the like, of these no one took any notice. On the 19th of the month Old Dehlí was thought of, for many infidel Hindus had fled thither and taken refuge in the great mosque, where they prepared to defend themselves. Amír Sháh Malik and 'Alí Sultán Tawáchí, with 500 trusty men, proceeded against them, and falling upon them with the sword despatched them to hell. High towers were built with the heads of the Hindus, and their bodies became the food of ravenous beasts and birds. On the same day all Old Dehlí was plundered. Such of the inhabitants as had escaped alive were made prisoners. For several days in succession the prisoners were brought out of the city, and every amír of a túmán or kushún took a party of them under his command. Several thousand craftsmen and mechanics were brought out of the city, and under the command of Tímúr some were divided among the princes, amírs, and ághás who had assisted in the conquest, and some were reserved for those who were maintaining the royal authority in other parts. Tímúr had formed the design of building a Masjid-i jami' in Samarkand, his capital, and he now gave orders that all the stonemasons should be reserved for that pious work. * * *
The three cities mentioned are thus described—Sírí is surrounded
by a round wall. Old Dehlí by a similar wall, but
larger. From the wall of Sírí on the north-east to the wall of
Old Dehlí on the south-west, a wall has been erected on both
sides, and the space between is called Jahán-panáh. It is
larger than Old Dehlí. Three gates of Sírí open towards Jahán-
Tímúr remained at Dehlí fifteen days, and then marched out to conquer other places in India, and to put down idolaters and rebels. When he was about to depart he directed that all the saiyids and kázís, and doctors and shaikhs, should assemble in the great mosque of Jahán-panáh, and he appointed one of his own officers to be their keeper and prevent their being molested by the soldiers of the army. On the 22nd Rabi'u-l ákhir, 801, in the morning, Tímúr began his march and proceeded three kos to Fírozábád. He halted there for an hour to view the beauties of the place. He then went to the mosque of Fírozábád, which is built of hewn stone, on the banks of the Jumna, and there performed his devotions, after which he mounted his horse and went outside of the town.
Saiyid Shamsu-d dín Turmuzí and 'Aláu-d dín, deputy of
Shaikh Kúkarí, whom he sent as envoys to the city of Kúpila,
now returned, and reported that the prince of that place,
Bahádur Nihár, had made his submission, and would come in
on the Friday to pay his respects. Tímúr encamped beyond
Jahán-numáí, near Wazírábád. There his envoys presented to
him two white parrots, which had been sent by Bahádur Nihár.
These two parrots survived from the time of Sultán Tughlik
Sháh, and had often exhibited their powers of speech in the
assemblies of kings. Tímúr considered this offering as very
auspicious, and graciously accepted it. The distance from Dehlí
to Wazírábád is six kos. On the 23rd he marched from Wazír-