About this time, he arrived at the fort of Sarbar, “which is considered among the provinces of Tilang.” The commander, without delay, “gave orders that the fort should be invested; from without the archers shot arrows, from within the Hindus exclaimed ‘strike! strike! (már már)’” When, in consequence of the fire-arrows shot by the Musulmáns, the houses in the fort began to burn, “Every one threw himself, with his wife and children, upon the flames, and departed to hell.” While the fire was yet blazing, an attack was made on the fort, and those that escaped the flames, became the victims of the sword. The Naíb 'Arz-i mamálik, by name Siráj-i dín, when he saw that the moment of victory had arrived, called upon Anánír, the brother of the commander of the fort, who had made his escape, to sur­render the fort with all its treasures. The defenders who still survived fled in terror.

On Saturday, the 10th of Sha'bán, the army marched from that spot, “in order that the pure tree of Islám might be planted and flourish in the soil of Tilang, and the evil tree, which had struck its roots deep, might be torn up by force.”

On the 14th of the month, they arrived at Kúnarpal, when Malik Náib Bárbak sent out a detachment of a thousand men to seize some prisoners from whom information might be obtained. As the army had arrived near Arangal, two chiefs were sent on with forty mounted archers to occupy “the hill of Án Makínda, for from that all the edifices and gardens of Arangal can be seen.” Here he himself encamped a few days afterwards.

“The wall of Arangal was made of mud, but so strong that a spear of steel could not pierce it; and if a ball from a western catapult were to strike against it, it would rebound like a nut which children play with.” “At night Khwája Nasíru-l Mulk Siráju-d Daulat distributed the troops to their several destina­tions, and sent every detachment to occupy its proper place, so that the fort might be invested in every direction, and that his soldiers might find shelter from the naphtha and fire of those within.

“When the blessed canopy had been fixed about a mile from the gate of Arangal, the tents around the fort were pitched to­gether so closely that the head of a needle could not get between them.” “To every tamín (tribe or division) was allotted one thousand and two hundred yards of land, and the entire circuit of the wall was twelve thousand and five hundred and forty and six yards.” “Orders were issued that every man should erect behind his own tent a kath-gar, that is a wooden defence. The trees were cut with axes and felled, notwithstanding their groans; and the Hindús, who worship trees, could not at that time come to the rescue of their idols, so that every cursed tree which was in that capital of idolatry was cut down to the roots; and clever carpenters applied the sharp iron to shape the blocks, so that a wooden fortress was drawn around the army, of such stability, that if fire had rained from heaven their camp would have been unscathed.”

A night attack was made on the camp by three thousand Hindú horse, under the command of Bának Deo, the chief (mukaddam) of that country. It was unsuccessful, and “the heads of the Ráwats rolled on the plain like crocodiles' eggs,” the whole party being slain, or taken prisoners. From the latter it was learnt that “in the town of Damdhúm, six parasangs from Tilang, three powerful elephants were kept.” A thousand men, under Karrah Beg, were detached to seize them, and they were brought into camp and reserved for the royal stables.

The Náib Amír gave daily orders to attack the chiefs of Laddar Deo, and he also ordered the “western stone-balls” to be thrown at the wall from every direction “to demolish it, and reduce it to powder.” The manjaníks from without had more effect than the arradas from within; “the stones of the Musulmáns all flew high, owing to the power of the strong cable, but the balls of the Hindús were shot feebly, as from a Brahman's thread.”

“When the stories and redoubts (sábát o gargaj) were com­pleted, and had attained such a height that the garrison of the fort were placed suddenly on a lower elevation,* the ditch of the wall which was in front of the army of Islám,” and which was of very great depth, had to be crossed. This was filled to the mouth with earth. “One face of the fort, which was one hundred cubits in length, was so battered down by heavy stones that it no longer covered the Hindús and afforded them protection. On another face also, the balls of the western engines which were in the outwork had, by the breaches they had made, opened several gates. All those breaches were so many gates of victory, which heaven had opened for the royal army.

“As the earth which was battered down from the wall filled up the ditch from the very bottom to the middle of the wall, and the walls of the earthen fortress were pounded into dust by the stones discharged at them, the commander was about to make a sloping ascent to the breach, so wide and open that a hundred men could go on it abreast. But as it would have taken several days to make this slope, and victory was herself urgent that she should be secured by rapid action, the wise minister summoned his prudent Maliks to a council, and it was unanimously deter­mined that, before making an ascent to the breach, an assault should be attempted.”

On the night of the 11th of Ramazán, “the minister of ex­alted rank issued orders that in every division high ladders, with other apparatus, should be kept ready in the middle of the night, and whenever the drum should beat to action every one should advance from his entrenchment and carry the ladders towards the fort—

“That the work of victory might be exalted step by step.”

During the attack, the catapults were busily plied on both sides. “If one ball from an engine without the walls was dis­charged, it fell as two balls within, but from the engines within, although two balls might be discharged at a time, no misfortune befell the proclaimers of unity. Praise be to God for his exalta­tion of the religion of Muhammad! It is not to be doubted that stones are worshipped by the Gabrs, but as stones did no service to them, they only bore to heaven the futility of that worship, and at the same time prostrated their devotees upon earth.” Three bastions of the outer wall were taken and occu­pied by the Musulmáns.

On Sunday, the 13th, “a day dedicated to the sun,” the attack was renewed, and cries of * “huzza huzz, and khuzza khuzz,” the acclamation of the triumph of holy warriors arose. “They took fire with them, and threw it into the places of retreat of the Gabrs, who worshipped fire.” By Wednesday, the whole of the outer wall was in possession of the Musulmáns. They then saw the inner fortress, which was built of stone. “You might have said it was the fort of Náí, in which the air is as much lost as in a reed.” When the army reached the inner ditch, they swam across it, and commenced a vigorous attack on one of the stone bastions, which so alarmed Ráí Laddar Deo that he offered terms of capitulation. He despatched confidential messengers to offer an annual payment of tribute, and sent a golden image of him­self, with a golden chain round its neck, in acknowledgment of his submission. “When the messengers* of the Ráí came before the red canopy, which is the honoured harbinger of victory and triumph, they rubbed their yellow faces on the earth till the ground itself acquired their colour, and they drew out their tongues in eloquent Hindúí, more cutting than a Hindí sword, and they delivered the message of the Ráí.”