⁷⁸⁰ There is no other instance of a fortress which had such abun­dance of stores, such numbers of guns, so many defenders, and other materials of defence. The extraordinary thing is that although H.M. had no equipment for a siege, yet he addressed himself to the capture. After the fortress had been invested for some time sick­ness broke out in it. Every day there were many deaths. When such mortality occurred among the commonalty, it did not awaken the great men of the garrison from their lethargy. From time to time they devised new stratagems. By the taking of Mālīgarh exit and entrance were stopped, and they were aroused somewhat, At last, at the instance of some servants of the Shāhinshāh, an agree­ment to this effect was made:* First, Bahādur should appear at court. Second, H.M. should restore to him the fortress and county, “other­wise, said Bahādur, the garrison will not submit to my proposals.” When the idea became fact, and a petition was made in accordance with what he (Bahādur) had learnt, the writer obtained leave to attack the fortress. This suppliant at the court of God proceeded to do this, and made supplication to God his forefront. Though exertions were made to push on the batteries from near Korhīaīh, and leave was obtained for the bringing of great guns, yet secretly all men engaged in enticing the garrison. By soothing words they drew their hearts towards them. The latter represented that some writing* of Bahā­dur should be obtained, addressed to such and such an one, so that no stain of a bad name might fall upon them for delivering up the fort. They also asked for a firmān from H.M., securing them their lives, their property and their honour. This was granted. Bahādur K. for some time hesitated to write, and made untrue remarks. When pressure was put upon him, he was compelled to write, and to put his seal on the writing. H. M.'s order was sent into the fort along with this writing, and the terrified ones had repose. I myself sate at the gate, and in four days 34,000 persons came out with their families and goods, and conveyed themselves to a place of comfort. On 5th Bahman Ikhtiyār K., Ulugh K. Ḥabshī, Marjān Zangī and others, who were the centre of the garrison, came down and were kindly treated. On the 7th I sent my son, 'Abdu-r-raḅmān, with some able men up to the fort, and the men inside surrendered the keys. A glorious victory adorned the face of fortune. Fifty-three persons,—learned men, brothers and sons of Bahādur,—some old, and some young, and some of the tender age,—came down. All who were considered fit were sent to court. There were seven sons of Mubārik K. who was formerly ruler of Khāndesh, viz. Dāūd K., Ḥāmid ⁷⁸¹ K., Qaiṣar K., Bahrām K., Sher K., Ghazni K., Daryā K. The first had two sons, Fatḥ K. and Muḥammad K.; the second had one son, Bahādur K.; the third had three sons, Lāṭīf K., Dilāwar K., Murtaẓa K. The last of them had two sons, Ḥabīb K. and Ibrāhīm K. The fourth had three sons, Ā'im K., Mūsā K., Jalāl K. The fifth had two sons, Ism'aīl K. and Aḥmad K. The sixth had one son, Aḥmad K. The seventh had three sons, Muḥammad K., Maḥmūd K., Moaffar K. The eighth son, Ṣāhīb K., who had died, had two sons, āhir K. and Ṣadaq Ullah. Sikandar K. and Ibrāhīm were the sons of āhir. Altogether the descendants of Mubārīk were twenty-eight persons. The descendants of Muḥammad K., who was the ruler before Rajah 'Ali K., were Ḥasan K., with his two sons, Qāsim K. and Ibrāhīm K. There were six sons of Rajah 'Alī, viz. Bahādur K.—who already had the blessing of presenting himself— with his five sons, Kabīr K., Muḥammad K., Sikandar K., Moaffar K., Mubārik K. 2ndly Aḥmad K. with three sons, Moaffar K., 'Alī K., Muḥammad K. 3rdly Maḥmūd K. with two sons, Walī K., Ibrāhīm K. 4thly āhir K. 5thly Mas'aūd K. 6thly Muḥammad K. There were also Dilāwar K., the daughter's son of Mubārik K. and his son Tāj K., the grandson of Farīd K. There were also Walī K., Nasīr K., Saiyid Ism'aīl, the three sons-in-law of Rajah 'Alī K., Muḥammad K., the son-in-law of Cānd K., 'Alī K., the son-in-law of Ḥasan K. H. M. presented them all with robes of honour and choice horses, and made over each of them to the hospitality of one of his servants. He issued an order that they should always perform the kornish. His idea was that he would test them and appoint them to offices. The treasure, the jewels and other properties were securely guarded. By the divine favour the work which had been undertaken was brought to a beautiful termination. The near and the remote had joy. Though there were many batter­ies, yet the most choice were those of the Khān Ā'im M. Koka, Āṣaf K., and S. Farīd Bakhshī Begī. High and low worked properly and got their reward. The treasurers (ḥawālāladārān) and the accountants of Bahādur K. were left in the fort, and able men were appointed to every place. When my mind was at ease I prostrated myself at the holy threshold and received princely favours.

This unwise hill-man had conveyed more than 100,000 souls to the top of the fortress. On account of the crowd of creatures the atmosphere was affected, and a great sickness ensued. 25,000¹* per­sons died. Owing to daily-increasing fortune there was some delay in the rains, and corn was collected from all sides. This was a comfort to the victorious troops. The batteries were advanced, and owing to the marvels of fortune no injury was done to any person of note by the firing of cannon night and day. Only 'Ullugh Beg Badakhshī and Saiyid Abu Isaḥaq Ṣafavī were killed by musket shots. Looking to the rain of bullets it would not have been wonderful if more than a hundred persons had been killed daily. But the Divine protection guarded them, and was a source of wonder to the experi­enced. A wonderful thing was that near the time when victory declared itself, the lofty wall of the fort fell* down. The sound was louder than that of cannon. H.M. when he first came to Burhānpūr engaged in special acts of devotion, and took to repeating the Great Name.* He gave an order to the writer to send him at the end of every session varied sweetmeats, and to keep an eye on the arrange­ments of fate. This was excellently observed. At the end of the first session (khatam) was the capture of Moaffar Ḥusain M. Similarly, every time news of victory was brought to his hearing. There was the victory of Aḥmadnagar, the death of the ringleader of the Tārī­kis, the taking of Mālīgarh, the conquest of Āsīr.* Whoever con­siders the disinterestedness and piety of the world's lord will not be surprised at these marvels, and will know a little out of many.

At this time, ambassadors were sent to Bījāpūr, Golkanda, and Bīdar. 'Ādil K., the ruler of Bījāpūr, first sent a valuable ruby and used supplications. So also did Qubu-l-mulk and Malik Barīd take to humble language. All their desire was that some persons might be appointed from the court to soothe their minds. Though during the disturbance caused by the death of the Prince, the battle at Bīr, and the investment of Aḥmadnagar, the Niāmu-l-mulkī people asked them for help, they did not cast away the thread of loyalty and paid no attention to their request, though many of the imperial servants sought a cause for the returning of the august standards. Their (the Deccan powers) petitions were accepted and on the 12th Sharīf Sarmadī was sent to 'Ādil K.; Mas'aūd Beg to Qubu-l-mulk, and Mūmin to Malik Barīd. Excellent counsels were sent by the tongue of the pen and by the ambassadors.

One of the occurrences was the death of M. Jānī Beg, the ruler of Tatta. He had some external knowledge, and was versed in Persian prose and poetry and in music. From the time that he came to court, loyalty shone from the forehead of his words and acts. His manners showed discretion and calmness. But from childhood he had been addicted to wine. It was extraordinary that it did not lead him into any impropriety, and that both in his acts and speech ⁷⁸³ he kept control over himself. In the privacy of his house the drain­ing of cups was carried to excess, and as there was no one to advise him he did not refrain.

Why do you take a thing by imbibing which
A reed shows like a cypress, a cypress like a reed?
If you're merciful, they say it is the wine and not he.
If you're violent, they say it is he and not the wine.

That pure thing (wine) stained the limpid waters of life. That material of joy caused loss of life. Excess in wine made him ill, and he became paralytic and delirious. On the 13th (Bahman, 1009, 23rd January 1601) he packed up his goods from this caravan. Strangers and acquaintances regretted him.* The appreciative sovereign privately restored his territory to the son M. Ghāzī, and sent him a diploma and a valuable robe of honour.

One of the occurrences was the departure to the other world of Ḥakīm* Miṣrī. He had an unique knowledge of external and spiri­tual matters. He had such a knowledge of medicine that if medical books had disappeared he could have written them out from memory. He had gathered the pleasing language of ufism. Openness and cheerfulness adorned his brow. Friends and strangers benefited by his kindness. He did not withdraw himself from any sick person but maintained an open brow and endeavoured to cure them.