Among the officers of superior importance in the fort were Malik Dād Kerāni, Malik Sūrdek, and Firoz Khan Miswāni who, having been convicted of some frauds, were ordered for punishment.* When Malik Dād Kerāni was carried out, much intercession was made for him.* Backwards and forwards, the matter was not settled for four or five days, when, according to the desire of his intercessors, I pardoned him, and even conferred on him some marks of favour; I also permitted all his adherents to retain their property.*
A perganna* of the value of seven laks* was bestowed on Ibrahīm’s mother. Pergannas were also given to each of her Amīrs. She was conducted with all her effects to a palace* which was assigned for her residence, about a kos below Agra.
May 10, On Thursday, the 28th of Rajeb, about the hour of afternoon
prayers, I entered Agra, and took up my residence at
Sultan Ibrahīm’s palace. From the time when I conquered
the country of Kābul, which was in the year 910, till the
[1504]
present time, I had always been bent on subduing Hindustān.
Sometimes, however, from the misconduct*
of my
Amīrs and their dislike of the plan, sometimes from the
cabals and opposition of my brothers, I was prevented from
prosecuting any expedition into that country, and its provinces
escaped being overrun. At length these obstacles
were removed. There was now no one left, great or small,
noble or private man, who could dare to utter a word in
[1519]
opposition to the enterprise. In the year 925 I collected
an army, and having taken the fort of Bajour by storm in
two or three gharis, put all the garrison to the sword. I next
advanced into Behreh, where I prevented all marauding
and plunder, imposed a contribution on the inhabitants,*
and having levied it to the amount of four hundred thousand
shahrokhis in money and goods, divided the proceeds among
the troops who were in my service, and returned back to
[1525.]
Kābul. From that time till the year 932, I attached myself
in a peculiar degree to the affairs of Hindustān, and in the
space of these seven or eight years entered it five times at
the head of an army.*
The fifth time, the Most High God,
of his grace and mercy, cast down and defeated an enemy
so mighty as Sultan Ibrahīm, and made me the master and
Reflections
on the
conquest of
Hindustān.
conqueror of the powerful empire of Hindustān. From the
time of the blessed Prophet (on whom and on his family be
peace and salvation!) down to the present time, three
foreign kings had subdued the country, and acquired the
sovereignty of Hindustān. One of these was Sultan
Mahmūd Ghāzi,*
whose family long continued to fill the
throne of that country. The second was Sultan Shahābeddīn
Ghūri,*
and for many years his slaves and dependants
swayed the sceptre of these realms. I am the third.
But my achievement is not to be put on the same level with
theirs; for Sultan Mahmūd, at the time when he conquered
Hindustān, occupied the throne of Khorasān, and had
absolute power and dominion over the Sultans of Khwārizm
and the surrounding chiefs.*
The King of Samarkand, too,
was subject to him. If his army did not amount to two
hundred thousand, yet grant that it was only one hundred
thousand,*
and it is plain that the comparison between the
two conquests must cease.*
Moreover, his enemies were
Rajas. All Hindustān was not at that period subject to
a single Emperor: every Raja set up for a monarch on his
own account, in his own petty territories. Again, though
Sultan Shahābeddīn Ghūri did not himself enjoy the sovereignty
of Khorasān, yet his elder brother, Sultan Ghiaseddīn
Ghūri, held it. In the Tabakāt-e-Nāsiri*
it is said,
that on one occasion he marched into Hindustān with one
hundred and twenty thousand cataphract*
horse. His
enemies, too, were Rais and Rajas; a single monarch did
not govern the whole of Hindustān. When I marched into
Behreh, we might amount to one thousand five hundred, or
two thousand men at the utmost. When I invaded the
country for the fifth time, overthrew Sultan Ibrahīm, and
subdued the empire of Hindustān, I had a larger army than
I had ever before brought into it. My servants, the merchants
and their servants, and the followers of all descriptions
that were in the camp along with me, were numbered,
and amounted to twelve thousand men. The kingdoms
that depended on me were Badakhshan, Kunduz, Kābul,
and Kandahār; but these countries did not furnish me with
assistance equal to their resources; and, indeed, some of
them, from their vicinity to the enemy, were so circumstanced,
that, far from affording me assistance, I was
obliged to send them extensive supplies from my other
territories. Besides this, all Māweralnaher was occupied by
the Khans and Sultans of the Uzbeks, whose armies were
calculated to amount to about a hundred thousand men,
and who were my ancient foes. Finally, the whole empire
of Hindustān, from Behreh to Behār, was in the hands of
the Afghans.*
Their prince, Sultan Ibrahīm, from the
resources of his kingdom, could bring into the field an army
of five hundred thousand men. At that time*
some of the
Amīrs to the east were in a state of rebellion. His army on
foot was computed to be a hundred thousand strong; his
own elephants, with those of his Amīrs, were reckoned at
nearly a thousand. Yet, under such circumstances, and in
spite of this power, placing my trust in God, and leaving
behind me my old and inveterate enemy the Uzbeks, who
had an army of a hundred thousand men, I advanced to
meet so powerful a prince as Sultan Ibrahīm, the lord of
numerous armies, and emperor of extensive territories. In
consideration of my confidence in Divine aid, the Most High
God did not suffer the distress and hardships that I had
undergone to be thrown away, but defeated my formidable
enemy, and made me the conqueror of the noble*
country
of Hindustān. This success I do not ascribe to my own
strength, nor did this good fortune flow from my own
efforts, but from the fountain of the favour and mercy of
God.
The empire of Hindustān is extensive, populous, and rich.
On the east, the south, and even the west, it is bounded by
the Great Ocean.*
On the north,*
it has Kābul, Ghazni,
and Kandahār. The capital of all Hindustān is Delhi.
From the time of Sultan Shahābeddīn Ghūri to the end of
Sultan Firoz Shah’s time,*
the great part of Hindustān
was in the possession of the Emperors of Delhi. At the
Musulman
princes.
period when I conquered that country, five Musulman Kings
and two Pagans exercised royal authority. Although there
were many small and inconsiderable Rais and Rajas in
the hills and woody country, yet these were the chief and
Kingdom
of the
Afghans or
of Delhi;
the only ones of importance. One of these powers was the
Afghans, whose government included the capital, and
extended from Behreh to Behār. Jaunpūr, before it fell
into the power of the Afghans, was held by Sultan Hussain
including
the Purbi
kingdom.
Sharki. This dynasty they called the Purbi*
(or eastern).
Their forefathers had been cup-bearers to Sultan Firoz Shah
and that race of Sultans. After Sultan Firoz Shah’s death,
they gained possession of the kingdom of Jaunpūr.*
Delhi
was at that period in the hands of Sultan Alā ed dīn,*
whose
family were Syeds. When Taimūr Beg invaded Hindustān,
before leaving the country, he had bestowed the government
of Delhi on their ancestors. Sultan Bahlol Lodi*
Afghan
and his son Sultan Sikander,*
afterwards seized the throne
of Delhi, as well as that of Jaunpūr, and reduced both kingdoms
under one government.