As the Protector and Doer desired to repair old defeats and to convert past afflictions into felicities, He arranged the preliminaries for this, and set things in order. Among such arrangements were the advancing of Sulān Ibrā hīm for the purpose of giving battle and the drawing up of the army of his Majesty Gītī-sitānī. As the Divine aid was accompanying the latter, and ever-increasing fortune was in his van, he, in spite of a plenitude of difficu lties and a paucity of favouring circumstances, had recourse with a tranquil mind and firm soul to the inalterable Arbiter and addressed himself to the marshalling of his troops.
The centre was adorned by the presence of his Majesty in person. In the right centre which the Turks call ūnk-ghūl,* Tīmūr Sulān, Sulaimān Mīrzā, Amīr Muḥammadī Kōkultāsh, Amīr Shāh Manṣūr Barlās, Amīr Yūnus ‘Alī, Amīr Darwēsh Muḥammad Sārbān, Amīr ‘Abdu-l-lāh Kitābdār were stationed. On the left centre which the Turks call sūl-ghūl, Amīr Khalīfa, Khwāja Mīr Mīrān Ṣadr, Amīr Aḥmadī Parwāncī, Amīr Tardī Bēg, brother of Kūc Bēg, Muḥibb ‘Alī Khalīfa, Mīrzā Bēg Tarkhān were stationed. The right wing was in charge of his Majesty Jahānbānī Jannat-āshīyānī; Amīr Khwāja Kalān Bēg, Sulān Muḥammad Dūldāī, Amīr Hindū Bēg, Walī Khāzin, Pīr Qulī Sīstānī were in attendance on him. On the left wing were stationed Muḥammad Sulān Mīrzā, Sayyid Mahdī Khwāja, ‘Ādil Sulān, Sulān Junaid Barlās, Khwāja Shāh, Mīr Ḥusain, Amīr Qutlaq Qadam, Amīr Jān (text, Khān) Bēg, Amīr Muḥammad Bakhshī and other heroes. In the vanguard were Khusrū Kōkultāsh and Muḥammad ‘Alī Jang-jang;* Amīr ‘Abdu-l-‘azīz had charge of the reserve. At the flank of the right wing, Walī Kazil,* Malik Qāsim, Bābā Qashqa with their Mughals, were appointed as a flanking-party (tūlghāma). At the extremity of the left wing, were stationed Qarāqūzī, Abū-l-Muḥam-mad Nīzabāz (lance-player), Shaikh ‘Alī, Shaikh Jamāl, Tengrī Qulī Mughal, as a flanking-party. Accordingly the brave swordsmen stood with firm foot on the battle-field and with life-taking arrows (sahām) and blood-drinking scimitars (ṣamṣām) displayed bravery and daring.
Verse.The brave stood with firm foot,
Trees learned from them how to stand.
At length after great contest, the heavenly aids accompanied the centre and wings of the army and by the Divine aid, there ensued victory and the defeat of the enemy. A great victory for the servants always taking refuge in God became manifest. Sulān Ibrāhīm was slain unrecognised and in a corner, and numerous Afghāns were the harvest of the royal sword, and the caravans of the city of destruction were conducted to the rest-house of annihilation by the escort of victorious soldiers and the flambeaux of world-opening swords. Near the body of Sulān Ibrāhīm, there lay on one spot five or six thousand dead. The sun had mounted spear-high when the onset of battle began and at noon there blew the breeze of victory, and the north wind of vernal conquest.
How can this great victory, which was the masterpiece of fortune, be explained? And how can language describe what is beyond the bounds of comprehension? When Sulān Maḥmūd* Ghaznavī came to Hindūstān, he was in possession of Khurāsān; the kings of Samarqand and Dāru-l-Marz* and of Khwārizm were subject to him and he had an army of over 100,000 men. Nor was Hindūstān subject to one monarch. Rāīs and Rājas were stationed here and there and were not on terms with one another. Sulān Shihābu-d-dīn* Ghōrī came to the conquest of India with 120,000 cuirassiers, mounted on mail-clad* horses. Then too, there was no ruler in all that vast territory. And though his brother Ghiyāu-d-dīn held Khurāsān, yet he was not outside his influence. His Majesty,* the Lord of Conjunction (Tīmūr), at the time of his conquest of Hindūstān, gave orders for a muster of his troops in the plain of Samānah,* and Maulānā Sharafu-d-dīn ‘Alī Yazdī states (afarnāma II, 83) that the line of the army (ūl-i-yesāl) occupied a space of six farsakhs in length, and persons experienced in military matters have calculated that a farsakh represents 12,000 horse, consequently, exclusive of the servants of servants (naukar-i-naukar)* there were 72,000 horsemen. The servants of servants occupied two kos.* His opponent, Mallū Khān, had 10,000* horse and 120 elephants. Yet with all this, many of those in the Lord of Conjunction's camp were frightened and his Majesty observed the alarm of his soldiers and heard improper remarks from them. And in order to reassure them, he commanded that a palisade should be made of branches of trees, in front of his troops, and that in front of this, a ditch should be dug and that behind that bullocks and buffaloes should be placed opposite each other, and fastened by their necks and feet with leathern thongs. Also many triangular (caltrops) iron prongs* were made and it was arranged that foot soldiers should take these and throw them in the way at the time of the onset and when the elephants came on. His Majesty Gītī-sitānī Firdūs-makānī who was the fourth world-soother (gītī-nawāz) of India, in that great victory, which was one of the glorious gifts of God, had not with him more that 12,000 men, both soldiers and others. More astonishing still, his territories consisted of Badakhshān, Qandahār and Kābul. Nor did he get assistance from these countries for his armies; on the contrary, the expenditure, in order to protect some of the borders from the enemy and for other state purposes, was such as to exceed the receipts. And the contest was with Sulān Ibrāhīm who had nearly 100,000 cavalry and 1,000 war-elephants and who ruled from Bhīra to Bihār without an opponent. It was solely by the Divine aid and the assistance of heaven that that glorious work was accomplished. Men of judgment and experience feel powerless to panegyrize properly this masterpiece of the Ages. Hail, Holy One, carrier of the world illuminating light of his Majesty, the king of kings, what marvel if such feats were wrought by Thee! In short, his Majesty Gītī-sitānī Firdūs-makānī, on the rising of the lights of victory glorified his forehead-mirror with the dust of thanksgiving prostration. He proclaimed presents to all mankind and sent his servants to all countries and regions.
But a deed fit to surpass the lofty designs of those world-opening princes who conquered Hindūstān, was the victory of his Majesty Jahānbānī Jannat-āshīyānī which by the blessing of the existence of his Majesty, the king of kings (Akbar) took place in the plain of Siḥrind.* Accordingly an account will hereafter be given of how with 3,000 men, he delivered India from Sikandar Sūr who had more than 80,000 men. Still stranger is the masterpiece of fortune of the Shadow of God (Akbar) who by the Divine aid so rescued India with a few men from the hands of many rebellious* chiefs that the tongue of the Age becomes dumb before it. An abridged account will be given in its proper place.
Verse.Should Fortune grant me hope,
Heaven, leisure and opportunity,
By the kindling society of the truthful,
I shall embroider tale upon tale.*
On this tablet of immortals,
I'll draw a picture for posterity's behoof.