History of the reign of Shankal.* —After Shankal obtained the throne, he affected great pomp and state. He founded the city of Lakhnautí, better known under the name of Gaur. For two thousand years that city was the capital of the Kings of Bang (Bengal), but in the days of the descendants of Tímúr, the place went to ruin. Tánda became the seat of government, instead of it. Shankal got together a force of four thousand elephants, one hundred thousand horse, and four hundred thousand infantry, and was very proud and magnificent. In his time Afrásiyáb sent a messenger to demand payment of his tribute and dues; but Shankal sent him back again with great scorn and contempt. Afrásiyáb was greatly enraged at this, and sent his general Pírán Wasiya, with an army of fifty thousand fierce Turks, to Hindústán. Shankal resolved to fight, and having assembled a mighty force, marched to the encounter. The armies met in the hills of Kúch, near the frontier of Bengal, and the battle began. For two whole days the conflict raged. The Turks showed great resolution and bravery, and put fifty thousand of their opponents to the sword; but the enemy was so numerous that they made no great impression upon them. The Turks on their side had lost seventeen thousand men, and matters at length went so hard with them, that on the third day they were compelled to retreat. Their country was far away, and the enemy overwhelming; so they fled into the hills of the neighbourhood, and got possession of a stronghold. Pírán Wasiya drew up a despatch containing an account of his condition, and sent it by some brave young men to Afrásiyáb. Pírán was engaged night and day in fighting, for the Hindús swarmed around, and pressed him vigorously. They en­deavoured to force an entry with showers of arrows, and all were in perplexity as to how matters would end.

Arrival of Afrásiyáb in Hind and Relief of Pírán Wasiya.—At this time Afrásiyáb was at the city of Kankdazh (Kunduz?), between Chín (China) and Khutan (Tartary), one month's march on the other side of the city of Khánbáligh. When he was informed of the situation of Pírán Wasiya, he resolved to go to his rescue with a hundred thousand choice cavalry. Pressing on with all speed, he arrived just as Shankal had summoned his Ráís, and by means of the vast force he had collected was pressing Pírán Wasiya to ex­tremity. Afrásiyáb instantly made his attack, and the Hindús were so dismayed that he scattered them like chaff. All their equipments and baggage fell into his hands. Pírán Wasiya being released from the grasp of the enemy, waited on his master. Afrásiyáb then pursued Shankal; and as often as he came up with him, he inflicted loss upon his men. Shankal fled into Bang, and went into the city of Gaur; but the Turks pressed after him so closely that he could only stay there one day, but continued his flight into the mountains of Tirhút. The Turks so completely devastated the country of Bang that no trace of a town was left. Afrásiyáb got information about Shankal, and prepared to pursue him. But Shankal was driven to extremity; so he sent some prudent men with a mes­sage to Afrásiyáb, asking forgiveness, and offering to do homage. Afrásiyáb consented, and Shankal came to his presence, with a sword and shroud (hanging on his neck), and begged permission to be allowed to go with him to Turán. Afrásiyáb approved of his proposal, and bestowed the throne upon Shankal's son. So Afrásiyáb took Shankal with him, and Shankal served him faithfully till he was killed by the hand of Rustam in the war of Hamáwarán. Shankal reigned sixty-four years.

Rahat, son of Shankal, raised to the throne by Afrásiyáb.—Rahat was a devout and well-meaning Rájá. He divided the revenues of his kingdom, which stretched from Garhí to Málwá, into three portions. One he dispensed in charity, the second he appropriated to the support of his father Shankal and the tribute to Afrásiyáb, and the third he devoted to the maintenance of his army and cattle. Through this arrangement his army diminished, and the Rájá of Málwá, who was subject to him, and paid him revenue, threw off the yoke of obedience, and wrested the fort of Gwálior from the possession of his officers. Rájá Rahat had built the fort of Rohtás, and he had erected a large idol temple, where he was then engaged in worship. He led an army against the Rájá of Málwá, but returned unsuc­cessful. * Rahat reigned eighty-one years, when he died. As he had no son who had attained to years of discretion, a disturbance arose at Kanauj, which was the capital. A man named Mahá Ráj, of the Kachhwáha tribe, and a native of Márwár, raised a rebellion, seized upon the capital Kanauj, and became King.

History of the reign of Mahá Ráj Kachhwáha.—After a time, and when Mahá Ráj had established his power, he led a large army against Nahrwála. He wrested that country from its zamíndárs, who were ahírs or cowherds, and established ports on the sea-shore for the purposes of traffic. There he built ships and launched them, after which he returned. He died after a reign of forty years. His cotemporary was Gushtásp, to whom he sent tribute every year.

History of the reign of Kaid Ráj.—Kaid Ráj was nephew by the sister's side of Mahá Ráj, in accordance with whose will and testa­ment he ascended the throne. At this time, Rustam, son of Dastán, had been killed, and as the Panjáb had for some time had no vigorous governor, Kaid Ráj led his army thither, and easily obtained pos­session of the country. He dwelt for some time in one of its ancient cities named Behra, and then built the fort of Jammú. In it he placed one of his adherents, a man of the Gakkhar* tribe named Durg, and made him governor of it. From that time to the present, that fortress has remained in the possession of that tribe. After a while the Gakkhar tribe, and a tribe called Chobeh, who are zamíndárs of consequence in the Panjáb, allied themselves with the dwellers in the desert, and with the people who live in the hills between Kábul and Kandahár. The allies marched against Kaid Ráj, and he, being unable to resist, relinquished that country (of the Panjáb) to them. From that time this tribe spread, and took pos­session of every hill which had a chief. It would seem that this tribe is the same as the Afgháns of the present day. Kaid Ráj reigned for forty-three years.

History of the reign of Jai Chand.—Jai Chand was the commander-in-chief of Kaid Ráj, and, finding himself strong enough, placed his feet upon the throne. In his reign there was a great famine; and as he was not of royal race, he had no sympathy for the sufferings of the people. He spent his days at Bayána in debauchery and pleasure, while his soldiers and subjects were perishing. Many villages and towns went to ruin, and Hindústán was many years before it recovered from the effects of his neglect. Jai Chand reigned for sixty years. His cotemporary was Dáráb, to whom he sent tribute every year. He left a son of tender years, whom his mother placed upon the throne, she herself carrying on the govern­ment as regent. But Jai Chand's brother, named Dihlú, conspired with several chiefs, put the boy aside, and placed the crown upon his own head.

History of the rebellion of Rájá Dihlú.—Dihlú was a Rájá of con­siderable courage and daring, and he was kind and gentle to the people. His great object was to promote their happiness. He built the city of Dehlí, and named it after himself. When he had reigned forty years, a man named Fúr, who was related to the Rájá of Kamáún, and dwelt in that country, broke out in rebellion. He first got possession of the country of Kamáún, and then he marched against the fort of Kanauj. A great battle was fought between him and Rájá Dihlú, in which Dihlú was taken prisoner; and Fúr sent him to be confined in the fort of Rohtás.

Reign of Rájá Fúr.* —Fúr soon afterwards led an army to Bang, and extended his sway as far as the shores of the Indian Ocean. He became a very great Ráí, and, according to Munawwar Khán, no Ráí was ever equal to him. After he had ascended the throne, he relinquished the practice of sending tribute to the King of Írán. Iskandar led his army to India; and as Fúr would not submit, Iskandar marched with his army like a swarm of locusts or ants to encounter him. A great battle was fought near Sirhind, and Fúr was killed. Fúr reigned for seventy-three years. It must not be concealed that the Ráís of the Dakhin also had grown in power and dominion;—such as Kul Chand, who built the city of Kulbarga; Mirich Chand, who built the town of Mirich, to which he gave his own name; Bijí Chand, who built and populated the city of Bijaná-gar, and made it the seat of the government of the Dakhin. There were other Ráís besides these; but to name them all would be a tedious task. When Iskandar came to India, there was a great Rájá named Bídar, who had built the fort of Bídar. The tribe of Ráj-bídars, which still exists, and is renowned as one of the bravest of all the tribes of the Dakhin, is of his lineage, and by the decrees of Fate is established in the sovereignty of the Dakhin. When this Rájá heard of the arrival of Iskandar, and the death of Fúr, he sent his son, with valuable presents and elephants, to Iskandar, with the object of inducing him to abstain from the conquest of his kingdom, and to return to Írán. After the death of Fúr, and the return of Iskandar, a man named Sínsár Chand* seized the reins of authority in Hindústán, and in a short time became master of the whole country, which had fallen into a state of anarchy. He had seen with his own eyes the destruction of Fúr; so, through fear, he every year sent the tribute before it was demanded to Gudarz, who at that time was reigning in Írán. His reign lasted seventy years. A man named Júnah then obtained the throne by force.