This Rohtás is a fortress in the neighbourhood of Bihár, in length it is* 14 cosses, in breadth 3 cosses, in height 5 cosses.* Outside the fortress there is cultivated land, and such abundance of water that if one drive a nail into the ground or set a trivet at any spot water comes up. Ever since Shír Sháh seized the fortress it had been in the hands of the Afghans, till the turn came to Fatḥ Khán, who would not bow the head to Sulaimán. And afterwards it came into the possession of the Emperor, as shall be related if God, (He is exalted!) will.

And when Jounpúr became the halting-place of the imperial standards and the Emperor was very busy in the arrangement of important affairs, before he sent off Mun'im Khán as leader of the army against the Khán Zamán, this latter, being encamped at the ford of Narhan, honoured Bahadúr Khán with the com­mand, and sent him off together with Sikandar Khán towards Sardár (?),* with instructions to penetrate to the centre of the district, and create a disturbance, and with a considerable force to obtain any advantage they could in any direction they pleased. On this account (P. 79) several of the great Amírs with a great army (such as Sháh Budágh Khán, and his son 'Abd-ul-Maṭlab Khan, and Qiyá Khán, and Sa'íd Khán, and Muḥammad Ma'çum Khán Farankhúdí,* and others whom it would take too long to mention) were appointed, together with Mír Mu'azz-ul Mulk Mash-hadí * (on the stature of whose capacity the dress of commander-in-chief sat badly and unbecomingly) to undertake to oppose and drive back Iskandar and Bahádur. These armies had not yet met, while Mun'im Khán the Khán-Khánán (who had an excessively friendly regard for the Khán Zamán) for four or five months, after the manner of an old man, kept sending soldiers with messages by letter and by word of mouth to make negotiation for peace. When Khwájah Jahán and Darbár Khán arrived at the ford of Narhan from Jounpúr, in order to examine into the matter of peace or war, and to settle whether haste or delay were preferable, on the one side the Khán Zamán with three or four people, and on the other the Khán-Khánán and Khwájah Jahán, also with three or four persons, got into the same boat, and when they had had an interview, settled peace on the following terms: That the Khán Zamán should send his mother, with his uncle Ibráhím Khán Uzbek, and the famous elephants he possessed, to the Court. And that after that all his trans­gressions had been condoned, Sikandar and Bahádur should go themselves to the Court. Then Darbán Khán brought this news to the royal ear; and the next day the Khán Khánán and Khwájah Jahán brought the mother of the Khán Zamán, aad Ibráhím Khán, together with the elephants, to the Court, and assumed the position of intercessors for the forgiveness of the faults of the Khán Zamán. When, suddenly, news came from Sardár* of the flight of the general Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk. The Emperor was much enraged, and that peace was turned to rancour.

The explanation of this circumstance is briefly as follows: When the imperial army drew near to Sikandar and Bahádur, they remain­ing just where they were (P. 80) sent a message to Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk: “Become thou the means of intercession, and obtain for us from the Court forgiveness of our faults, so that we may send to the Court whatever, of elephants and other things, we have taken possession of, and then when we are cleared of our transgressions, and our faults are forgiven, we may ourselves go and do homage.” Mír Mu'izz-ul Mulk* in as much as he was continually boasting: “I, and there is none beside me”, showed a Pharaoh-like, and harsh Shaddád-like character, which is one of the inheritances of the Sayyids of Mashhad; and on that topic it has been said:—

“O men of Mashhad, with the exception of your Imám*
May the curse of God rest on each one of you!”

And another poet saith:—

“Though it is man that renders the face of the ground pleasant,
A Mashhadí* on the face of the ground is not pleasant.”

So he established a character for crookedness of disposition, for which he became notorious, and said: “Your being made clean can only be imagined by the water* of the sword”. Meanwhile Lashkar Khán, Mír Bakhshí, and Rája Todar Mal came from the Court to hasten the decision of the Amírs, whether for peace or war. So that, if they thought it best, they might fight; but if not, they might hold out hopes to Sikandar and Bahádur. So Bahádur Khán came again to the outposts of the imperial camp alone, and sending for Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk and some of the Amírs, he made proposals of peace, saying: “Since the Khán Zamán is sending his mother, and Ibráhím Khán to the Court, or rather by this time will have sent them, we have hopes of the forgiveness of our transgressions, and indeed this is the most probable contingency. Meanwhile we are awaiting the answer, and until the affair be settled we will not put our hand to war. Do you too, until the answer arrive, wait a few days.” Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk was a very fire, and Todar Mal played the part of oil of naphtha, (P. 81) and made that fire burn fiercer than ever, so that nothing but words of sternness passed on their tongue. So Bahádur Khán and Iskandar Khán, becoming desperate, did what they thought best for their own interests, and drew up their army:—

“In the time of necessity, when there is no escape,
The hand seizes the hilt of the sharp sword”.

On the one side Mu'izz-ul-Mulk, putting Muḥammad Amín Dívánah in the van, himself took up his position in the centre, and kept by his side 'Abd-ul-Maṭlab Khán, and Salím Khán, and Kákar 'Alí Khán, and Bég Núrín Khán, and other tried warriors, and appointed the other Amírs to the right and left wings. And on the other side [were] Sikandar Khán, and his relative* Muḥammad Yár Haráwal; and Bahádur Khán was in the centre.* Then the two armies joined battle, and like two mountains they clashed together. Much valour was displayed on either side, Muḥammad Yár was slain, and Iskan-dar Khán fleeing, threw himself into the River Siyáh,* which was in his rear. He himself got out again, but many of his men were drowned, and others came under the áb* of the sword. Then the imperial troops gave themselves up to plundering. And Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk, with a few men, was the only officer who kept his place. For to tell the truth the body of tried warriors, especially Ḥusain Khán the relative of Mahdí Khán and Báqí Muḥammad Khán, &c., being sick of the command of Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk and of the rule of Rája Todar Mal, in accordance with the [Arabic] saying: “There is no fidelity towards kings”, did not make that resistance they should have done. At this moment Bahádur Khán, who still held his ground, seized the opportunity, and moved forward to the attack. Directly he came up, he swept Mír Mu'izz-ul-Mulk before him. And Sháh Budágh Khán was thrown from his horse, but not before he had given substantial proof of his valour, and his son 'Abd-ul-Maṭlab, putting forth as much strength as he could, seized him by the hand (P. 82), but in vain. Eventually the son escaped and the father fell into the hands of Uzbeks:—

“When he was free from sorrow, he reckoned him a dear friend,
When he came to grief, he deserted him.”

And Rája Todar Mal, and Lashkar Khán, who at the beginning had remained inactive, began now to fight vigorously, until evening, but without success. They became separated, but the next day they rejoined one another, and came to Sher-gaḍh, and reported the state of affairs to the Court.

And now we come to the point where we left off* about the Khán Zamán. When the Khán Khánán brought to the Court the mother of the Khán Zamán, and Ibráhím Khán, together with Mír Hádí Sadr and Nizám Aghá, who were trusty friends of the Khán Zamán, and presented the war-elephants to His Majesty, then Ibráhím Khán, with head bare, and a sword and a shroud* round his neck in the place of a cloak, delivered himself up, and said in an impromptu:—