These circumstances sorely afflicted the Afgháns, who felt that they were exposed to every kind of insult, but it was not in the power of any individual to lay their grievances before Salím Sháh; until one day, when Sháh Muhammad Farmulí, a noble noted for his hilarity and jocular speeches, who was a special companion of the King, took heart and exclaimed, “O my liege! two nights I dreamt that three bags descended from heaven; one containing ashes; another, gold; and the third, papers; the ashes fell upon the heads of the troops; the gold upon the houses of Hindús; and the papers fell to the lot of the royal treasury.” Salím Sháh did not take the allusion ill, and it had the effect of inducing him to promise that he would, on his return to Gwálior, order his accountants to disburse two years' pay to the troops, but his death, which occurred soon afterwards, prevented the fulfil­ment of this promise.

[Text, vol. i. p. 413.] His real name was Mubáriz Khán; but when he ascended the throne, with the accord of the ministers and nobles, he assumed the title of Muhammad 'Ádil. The people, however, used to call him 'Adalí, and went so far as to alter the letters of this name and convert it into Andhalí, which means “blind.”

Ibráhím Khán, after an unsuccessful action at Khánwa, fled to Bayána, which is a strong fort in a commanding position. Hímún immediately invested it, and skirmishes were of daily occurrence between the contending parties. The fort was well supplied with guns and ammunition, and Ghází Khán, Ibráhím's father, who was in Hindún, used to throw supplies into it by way of the hills to the west of Bayána. Hímún invested the fort for three months, and devastated the whole of the country in the neigh­bourhood, and my father's library in Basáwar was almost entirely destroyed.

At this time a dreadful famine raged in the eastern provinces, especially in Ágra, Bayána and Dehlí, so that one sír of the grain called juwári rose to two and a half tankas, and even at that price could not be obtained. Many of the faithful closed their doors, and died by tens and twenties, and even in greater numbers, and found neither coffin nor grave. Hindús perished in the same numbers. The common people fed upon the seeds of the thorny acacia, upon dry herbage of the forest, and on the hides of the cattle which the wealthy slaughtered and sold. After a few days, swellings rose on their hands and feet, so that they died, and the date is represented by the words khashm-i izad, “Wrath of God.” The author with his own eyes witnessed the fact that men ate their own kind, and the appearance of the famished sufferers was so hideous that one could scarcely look upon them. What with the scarcity of rain, the famine and the desolation, and what with uninterrupted warfare for two years, the whole country was a desert, and no husbandmen remained to till the ground. Insurgents also plundered the cities of the Musulmáns.

Amongst the remarkable incidents of the year 962, during the war between Sikandar and Ibráhím, was the explosion in the fort of Ágra, of which the following is a brief account. When the army of 'Adali Khán had left Ágra, Ghází Khán Súr sent his own officers with a garrison to protect the property, to keep the fort in a state of preparation, and to lay in provisions, for which purpose they had to examine the several storerooms and work­shops. By chance, early one morning, as they were going their rounds with a lamp, a spark fell into a room filled with gun­powder. In the twinkling of an eye it ignited, and rising up to heaven, the earth quaked, so that the inhabitants of the city thought that the Day of Judgment had come, and prayed devoutly when they were roused thus suddenly from their slum­bers. Planks, enormous stones and columns were sent flying several kos to the other side of the Jumna, many people were destroyed, and the limbs of men and of animals were blown away, full ten or twelve miles. As the name of the citadel of Ágra was originally called Bádalgarh, the date, 962, was found in the words Átash-i Bádalgadh—“The fire of Bádal.”

While Hímún was encamped before Bayána, the people died with the word “bread” upon their lips, and while he valued the lives of a hundred thousand men at no more than a barley-corn, he fed his five hundred elephants upon rice, sugar, and butter. The whole world was astounded and disgusted. Hímún, once every day, eat with his own followers in public, and calling the Afgháns to his own table, he would invite them to eat, telling them to take up large handfuls, and he would shamefully abuse any one whom he saw eating slowly, and say, “How can you with such a slender appetite expect to fight with any rascally Mu-ghal?” As the Afgháns had now nearly lost their power, they could not muster spirit enough to reply to the unclean infidel; and laying aside the bluntness and hastiness for which they are so celebrated, they consented, whether from fear of con­sequences or hope of reward, to swallow his foul language like so many sweetmeats, adopting the following verses as their maxim:

“Place not your hands submissively on my feet;
Give me only bread, and lay your slipper on my head.”

[Text, vol. ii. p. 24. Year 964.] [Khán-zamán in these few years, with a small force, fought bravely against the numerous forces of the Afgháns, and obtained the victory over them. The history of his campaigns is a bright page in the annals of the time. At the battle of Lucknow Hasan Khán Bachgotí came up against him with 20,000 men, and Khán-zamán had not altogether more than 3000 or 4000. When the enemy passed the river Karwí and attacked Bahádur Khán, he himself was engaged taking a meal. When he was told that the enemy was at hand, he called for the chess-board and played at his ease. Afterwards being told that a foreign army was driving back his forces, he called for his arms. His tents were being plundered, and his whole army was in confusion. He ordered Bahádur Khán to retire; then he, with a few men, beat his drums and fell upon the enemy. He overpowered them, and drove them for seven or eight kos. Many of them were slain, and heaps were formed of the corpses.

So also at Jaunpúr he fought with the Gaurian who called himself Sultán Bahádur, and had issued coin and caused the khutba to be read in his name in Bengal. This man advanced against Jaunpúr with about 30,000 horse, and the men of Khán-zamán were completely routed. When Khán-zamán arose from his repast, he found the enemy engaged upon their meal or occupied in plundering. The Khán fell upon them with a small party of men, completely routed the Afgháns, killing many and making many prisoners. He obtained such booty that his army wanted for nothing. The victories which he and his brother achieved could have been accomplished but by few. These two brothers had many noble qualities; but the mark of rebellion was upon them, so that in the end all their exploits came to the dust.]

Gwálior and Rantambhor.

[Text, vol. ii. p. 31.* ] [In the year 966 the fort of Gwálior was taken. A slave of 'Adalí's named Buhail Khán (Suhail), being besieged in the fort, made terms and surrendered the keys. The date was found in the words, Fath báb kil'ah Gwálíár. In this same year another slave of 'Adalí's, named Sangrám Khán, sold the fort of Rantambhor into the hands of Surjan Ráí Hádá. The facts of the matter are, that shortly before this, when His Majesty took up his abode at Ágra, he sent a party of amírs, such as Hindú Beg Mughal, to reduce this fort. These amírs drove Sangrám Khán before them, and ravaged the country round the fortress; but they were unable to accomplish their object.]

Affairs of the Author.

[Text, vol. ii. p. 32.] In A.H. 966, I left my home at Basáwar, and went to Ágra, for the purpose of completing my education. I became acquainted with Mihr 'Alí Beg, and lived in his house. The Beg pressed most earnestly upon Shaikh Mubárak Nágorí, my tutor (the peace of God be upon him!), and Mulúk Sháh, my father (God sanctify his tomb!), his desire that I should accom­pany him on his projected expedition, and threatened that he would not depart, unless this request was conceded. These two dear guardians, moved by their friendly feelings, being persuaded that it was to my advantage to go, consented to the arrangement, and to please them, though an inexperienced traveller, and though compelled for the time to relinquish my usual studies, I started, in the height of the rains, on this perilous journey. Passing through Kanauj, Lucknow, Jaunpúr, and Benares, and seeing all that was to be seen, and holding interviews with several holy and learned personages, I crossed the river Ganges, and arrived at Chunár in the month of Zí-l ka'da, A.H. 966.