Jamál Khán sent some of his dependents to meet Mihr 'Alí Beg, and they conducted him to Jamál Khán's house. The palaces of Sher Sháh and Salím Sháh, and all the ammunition and resources of the fort were shown to him, and he was apparently received with the utmost hospitality and kindness.
When the farmán was read, which was intended to conciliate Jamál Khán, by conferring upon him five parganas of Jaunpúr in in'ám tenure, in lieu of the fort of Chunár, Jamál Khán showed that he had further expectations, and placed the most unheard-of difficulties in the way, seeking to delay Mihr 'Alí until an answer should be received to the representation which he had made to Court. He insidiously wrote also, at the same time, communications both to Khán-zamán and to Fath Khán Afghán, who was in the fort of Rohtás with a considerable force, holding out to them separately promises of the fort.
When Mihr 'Alí was aware of the perfidy practised by Jamál Khán, and being not without suspicions of the fidelity of Fath Khán, he feared they would league together for his injury, and so he left the fort under pretence of taking an airing, and crossing the river in considerable alarm, proceeded direct to Ágra,* leaving me in the fort. As I thought it best to temporize with Jamál Khán by way of making my own escape, I proposed to him that I should try and bring back Mihr 'Alí, and effect a reconciliation. To this he acceded, and in the evening I got into a boat with the intention of crossing the river. It so happened that the boat fell into a raging whirlpool under the hill near the wall of the fort, and a fierce wind arose which made the vessel shiver. If the mercy of God, the ruler of earth and water, had not acted as my sail, the bark of my hope would have been dashed to atoms by the whirlpool of calamity against the hill of death.
In the jungle which lies at the foot of the Chunár hills, Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus, one of the greatest saints of India, had resided for twelve years in the practice of asceticism, consuming the leaves and fruits of the forest as his food; and so celebrated was he for the fulfilment of his blessings, that even powerful kings used to come and visit him, and pay their respects. I fell in with one of his dependents, and arrived at the hermitage. He himself was not there, for in this very year he had proceeded from Gujarát to Ágra, where he arrived in great pomp and circumstance, accompanied by several disciples, and gave considerable satisfaction to the Emperor by the principles and faith which he professed. * *
Shaikh Gadáí, with that spirit of jealousy, spite, and malice which is a peculiar failing of the saints of Hindústán, was vexed at this intrusion of a rival, and looked upon Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus as one shopkeeper does on another, who commences the same trade, in the storey directly over his head. Wise men know well the truth of the adage, “Two of a trade never agree.” Khán-i khánán, who was much attached to Shaikh Gadáí, did not receive Shaikh Muhammad with that degree of respect and favour which was his due. On the contrary, he assembled divines and learned men, in order to ridicule the treatise of the Shaikh, in which he had said that he had in his waking moments had an interview and conversation with God, who assigned him a superiority over the Prophet Muhammad. He had written other nonsense equally pernicious and blasphemous. He sent also for the Shaikh, and made him the butt of his contumely—so that the Shaikh, much chagrined, retired to Gwálior, where he engaged himself in the pursuits of his holy calling, and contented himself with the proceeds of a jágír, which yielded a kror (of tankas).
[Text, vol. ii. p. 53.] [On 27th Rajab of this year (969 A.H.) my father Mulúk Sháh (may God be merciful to him!) died in Ágra of dysentery. I carried his bier to Basáwar, and there buried him. I found the date of his death in the words Jahán-fazl.]
[Text, vol. ii. p. 63.] At the time when the compiler of this work resided at Ágra, for the purpose of finishing his education, Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus one day passed by in great state, and accompanied by acclamations which rent the air. He was clothed in the garb of a fakír. I was at first anxious to pay my respects to him; but when I learnt that he was in the habit of rising to receive the salutations of Hindús, that desire vanished, and I was deprived of the satisfaction I had anticipated. Another day, I saw him in the bázár at Ágra, with multitudes of people thronging before and behind him, and he was so constantly occupied in returning the salutations of the people on all sides of him, that he could not sit up erect during the whole time of his airing. Although he was eighty years old, his countenance was wonderfully fresh, and his whole appearance betokened anything but old age and debility. The mercy of God be upon him!*
[Text, vol. ii. p. 64.] On the 20th of the blessed month Rama-
[Text, vol. ii. p. 125.] In A.H. 977 the pargana of Lucknow was transferred from the possession of Husain Khán Kashmírí to that of Mahdí Kásim Khán, who had just returned from Mecca, and had paid his respects to the Emperor at Rantambhor. Husain Khán* was highly indignant at this, and exclaimed, “Our friendship is broken, we shall meet no more till the day of judgment.” He then abandoned in disgust (his wife) the daughter of Mahdí Kásim, notwithstanding he loved her, and took the daughter of his uncle Ghazanfar Beg. After a while, leaving his wife in distress, and the daughter of Mahdí Khán with her brothers in Khairábád, he set forth from Lucknow with the design of breaking down the idols and of demolishing the idol temples. For he had heard that their bricks were made of gold and silver, and other false reports of their unbounded treasures had come to his ears. He proceeded through Oudh, towards the Siwálik hills.* The hill-men, as is their custom, abandoned the lower hills after a slight resistance, and fled for security to higher elevations, of which the ascent was very dangerous. Husain Khán arrived at last at the place where Sultán Mahmúd, nephew of Pír Muhammad Khán, was slain. He read the fátíha for the pure spirits of the martyrs who fell there, and repaired their dilapidated tombs. He then ravaged the whole country as far as the kasbah of Wajráíl, in the country of Rájá Ranká, a powerful zamíndár, and from that town to Ajmír, which is his capital. In that place are to be found mines of gold and silver, silks, musk, and all the productions of Tibet, from which country he was only distant two days' journey; —when, on a sudden, as has been frequently observed in those mountains, the neighing of the horses, and the sound of the kettle-drums, as well as the voices of his followers, caused the clouds to collect, and so much rain fell, that neither corn nor grass was to be procured.* Famine stared the army in the face, and although Husain Khán, with the most undaunted intrepidity encouraged his men, and excited their cupidity by representing the wealth of the city and the country, in gold, jewels and treasure, they were too much disheartened to second his resolution, and he was compelled to retreat.
On their retreat the Káfirs, who were in possession of the passes, showered down stones and arrows tipped with poisoned bones upon them. They also blocked up the way, and most of the bravest of his warriors drank the cup of martyrdom. Many of the wounded, who escaped at the time, died five or six months afterwards from the effects of the poison.
Husain Khán returned to Court, and requested that Kánt and Gola* might be conferred upon him in jágír, in lieu of the one he held before. This was graciously acceded to. Several times he made incursions to the foot of the hills with various success, but he was never able to penetrate into the interior. Many fine fellows, who had escaped half-dead from his first expedition, now felt the malarious influence of the climate, and died off, but not in battle. After some years Husain Khán, contrary to the advice and remonstrances of his friends, mustered his forces for a final struggle to get possession of the hills, and perished in the attempt, as, please God, will be mentioned in its proper place.