The benefactions* which the Shāhinshāh bestows on mankind in general are beyond the region of computation, and the public are obliged to confess their inability to requite them. How then can those who are attached to the court, and are prominent sitters in the assemblage of justice, discharge the burden of their gratitude? In truth who has the courage, and where is the capacity that can ¹³² indulge in the thought of recompense? Devotion throughout long lives by single-hearted, efficient men cannot make requital for one of a hundred thousand favours! But the first stage of making up the account is, after perceiving the degrees of favour, not to forget to make a list of the register of reverence, and to attach the cincture of strenuous effort to one's service and to reckon whatever of good deeds has been done as one of a thousand acts of thanksgiving. So that one may always be abashed and ashamed, nor loose the thread of calculation, nor allow the contemplation of the imperfect service of all and of one's own good deeds to become the material of insolence. May one by this life of praise attain to the stage of limpid sincerity (ikhlāṣ), and become a fixture at the threshold of obedience! May he pass the stage of selling his service and place the seal of silence on his lips. Hail to the fortunate one in whose journey through the ups and downs of service the dust of shame has not settled on the face of his fortune. Or if, from his inauspicious star, the dust of shame may have touched him, he has washed it away by the clear water of understanding, and he has with an open brow and cheerful countenance carried out what was in his destiny. How shall I write that there can be no change (for the better) in such obedience? On the contrary, even to wearied souls there comes, from long habits of obedience and service, a ray of the Presence, and from time to time an increase of light. The case of Moaffar Khān is a clear illustration of this fact.

It has already been related how H. M. as a means of producing discretion and enlightenment in him, had, without permitting him to do homage, appointed him, at the time of returning from the conquest of Patna, to assist Farḥat Khān, and had sent him to perform the service of taking the fort of Rohtās; so that if he could not recognise the favour and the educating power of the Shāhinshāh in the manner of the truly loyal, he still might not abandon mercantile considerations and the sense of favours received, and might in return for glorious benefactions exhibit the thanks­giving of good service. For some time he was in the thornbrake of failure and was with the hand of presumption poinarding his heart and liver. As felicity was implanted in his nature he emerged from his mental disturbance at the wise words of Khwāja Shamsu-d-dīn Khāfī, and applied himself to service. He brought out some of his accumulations of wealth and prepared the equip­ment of an army. By his courage he took possession of Caund and Shahsarām (Sasseram) which on account of the multiplicity of the affairs of State had not been given in jāgir to any one, and then set himself to get things in readiness (for an expedition). He was in a position to do good service when Farḥat Khān and the other officers came to besiege the fort. In the course of a few days he showed his quality. The brief account of this is ¹³³ that one day Bahādur, the son of Haibat Khān, came out of the fort of Rohtās and made a disturbance. Moaffar Khān behaved with activity and inflicted suitable punishment on him. His ele­phants, etc., were captured. Merely in consequence of that happy thought (of Moaffar) his wandering waters were brought back into the channel. Immediately the standards of trustworthiness were upreared in that quarter. About the same time the officers arrived for the siege. Moaffar frankly took part with Farḥat Khān and assisted in carrying out the plan. In a short time a ray of the royal favour visited him, and an order was issued to the effect that if he and the other officers could fix a time within which the fort would be taken, he should exert himself in that great service. If he could not fix a time and if the capture would be a work of time, he was to suspend operations, and turn his attention to the punishment of the turbulent Afghans who were making a commotion in Bihar. If they were willing to submit they would be pardoned. Otherwise he was to inflict chastisement on them in order that it might be a lesson to others.

Moaffar Khān performed the prostration on receipt of the order and represented that he had not a siege-train with him, and that a period for the taking of the fort could not be fixed. The first business was to clear the country of the rubbish of rebels. This he proceeded to do in company with the imperial troops. Mīrzāda 'Ali Khān and many of the strenuous workers whom the Shāhinshāh had left in the country went with him. Muḥasan Khān, Afāq, 'Arab Bahādur and a number of soldiers who were engaged in looking after Mun'im Khān's jāgīr also joined him and did good service. Moaffar's ability was tested, and the dust of rebellion was laid throughout the whole province. Ādam Khān Batanī fled from Ibrāhīmpūr without fighting and so did Daryā Khān Kāshī from Carkān,* and both of them fled to Jhārkhand.

When nothing more remained to do there, the agents of Mun'im Khān grew envious of Moaffar Khān's success and in a shameless manner sent him away. As he had no fief assigned to him, he was forced to return to Caund and Sasseram, taking help from Khudādād Barlās and Khwāja Shamsu-d-dīn. On the way he learnt that the insolent garrison of Rohtās had taken possession of those two towns. As his fortune helped him, and his star was favourable, the dust of apprehension did not rest on the skirt of his courage, and he went with a stout heart to that quarter. By the glitter of the sword, and the strength of contrivance he freed those two places. By the help of far-seeing reason he ¹³⁴ suppressed his own wishes and waited for a mystic revelation. He employed a portion of his accumulations in the work, and took pleasure in attacking and plundering. Suddenly a commotion arose in Bihar. The managers of the country coolly (ba firāghat-i-tamām) asked for the assistance of his presence. Moaffar Khān disregarded their previous behaviour and hastened to do his master's work. He rendered good service. The brief account of this is that Mun'im Khān Khān-Khānān had left 'Arab Bahādur in Maher* which lies between Behar and Jhārkhand. At this time Ḥājī and Ghāzī two brothers came out of Jhārkhand with some turbulent Afghans and gained possession of the fort. Many of the garrison were slain, but 'Arab succeeded in escaping. The officers of the province gathered together and asked for assistance to put down the disturbance. The Afghans went off to the mountain-defiles and swaggered there. The officers went there and then displayed hesitation. They could neither determine to turn back nor to advance. One day about 300 Rajputs from among the servants of Rajah Bhagwant Dās, but without him, entered boldly into the defiles, but as they did not behave rationally they were defeated. Jīā Kor, Kān Kachwāha, Dīdā Cohān and about one hundred brave men gave their lives to be plundered (were killed). When this disastrous affair occurred the officers lost firm­ness. They were ashamed of their former behaviour and were compelled to send able envoys to ask help from Moaffar Khān. He quickly joined them. At this time when the vanguard of victory was rising from the orient of fortune, the officers of the army were slackening in their energy. It seems that the reason of this was a letter from the Khān-Khānān. Its purport was that Junaid was hastening to Behar from Jhārkhand, and that Tengrī Bardī had been appointed with a large force of courageous men. It was not advisable to give battle hastily before the succour arrived. The letter also referred to the catastrophes of the death of Muḥammad K. Gakhar and of Yār Muḥammad Qarāwal's having been plundered, of which events a brief account has already been given.

Muaffar Khān stood firm and replied that the rational course was to make this circumstance (the advance of Junaid) a motive for greater courage and alacrity in fighting, so that the audacious rebels might be disposed of before Junaid's arrival. It was not known if that villain would arrive for ten days yet, and there was hope that the rebels would be dispersed in the course of one day. By the daily-increasing good fortune (of Akbar) the spirit which ¹³⁵ had left the leaders returned to them and they all made promises of acting in harmony, and prepared for battle. By celestial aid a party of men who knew the country pointed out another road, and it was determined that the army should proceed straight against the enemy, but should do so with sufficient slowness to allow the other force to come behind the enemy by the path mentioned. All agreed to this course and the army was arranged as follows. Moaffar Khān commanded the centre, Fatḥ Khān Maidānī com­manded the right wing, Farḥat Khān commanded the left wing. In the vanguard were Mīrzāda 'Alī Khān, Qarāāq Khān, Ḥusain Khān, Ākhta, Āfāq, Bāqī Kūlābī, Sohrāb Turkamān, 'Arab Bahādur, Sher Muhammad Dīwāna, Kūcak Qandūzī and many other brave and strenuous men. Khwāja Shamsu-d-dīn was appointed, along with some brave and experienced men, to go by the other path and take the enemy in the rear. The enemy were full of confidence owing to the strength of their position and their numbers, when suddenly the victorious army arrived in front and at the same time the force in the rear came up. Their firmness of foot gave way, and their courage hid under a veil. There was a grand victory, and a large amount of plunder. The officers took steps to pursue the enemy. The latter drew up their forces in the hilly country of Rāmpūr which belongs to Jhārkhand, and faced their pursuers. The best of the gang were Ādam Batanī the son of Fatḥ Khān, Daryā Khān Kākar, Jalāl Khān Sūr, Ḥusain Khān, Ghāzī Khān, Yūsuf Batanī, 'Umar Khān Kākar and Maḥmūd Kāsū. Moaffar Khān made a skilful arrangement of his forces.