The Emperor, sensible of the goodness of the advice, and that it arose from zeal for his honor, resolved to march against the rebels; and on the twenty-fourth of Moharrem, he at day-break displayed the standard of departure, and went in the suburbs to the seat of Lö8ni, as if to change his ground. After a stay of twenty days he proceeded farther, and crossed the river Henidun, from whence he encamped at Dasna. From thence he dispatched Saadat-qhan, maternal-uncle to the Empress Maleka-zemani, with a commission that gave him the Viceroyalty of the province of Delhi, as well as the command of both the capital and its citadel. The Emperor at the same time made him a present of a sabre, and invested him in that new charge, by dressing him in a suit of new clothes, which had just served his Imperial person*. The Qhan, having taken his leave, entered the city on the 23rd of Sefer, and the next day he took possession of the citadel, whilst the Emperor, who continued his march, arrived at Sumbul on the first of the Reby; and on the twentieth he encamped at Bedäon. This march struck Aaly-mahmed-qhan with dismay, who not thinking himself a match for an Imperial The Emperor marches against him. army, quitted the field, and took shelter in the fortress of Bun-gur, which was immediately besieged; and whilst the troops waited only for the order to mount the breach, this Imperial army was reinforced by a body of troops, brought by Káim-qhan, son and successor to Mahmed-qhan-Bangash, who having set out from Feroh-abad, his capital, was arrived in the Imperial camp, where he had the honor to pay his obeisance by the Vezir’s mediation. About the same time Nevol-ráy, Deputy to Abool-mansoor-qhan in Aood, set out likewise for camp by his master’s order, with a body of veterans and a train of artillery. As this body of troops was yet on its march on the other side of Bun-gur, which fortress remained betwixt them and the Imperial camp, it was feared lest the Afghan should avail himself of that opportunity to fall suddenly upon the reinforcement, and thereby give a mortal blow to Abool-mansoor-qhan, whom he considered as his personal enemy. And as on the other hand, there subsisted a misunderstanding between Rohillah on one side, and the Vezir on the other, which latter had taken umbrage at Abool-mansoor-qhan’s power, and would have been glad to see him undergo both a loss and an affront, the Viceroy to parry such a disgrace, took the Emperor’s leave; and having put himself at the head of his own troops, he marched out to meet his Deputy, who was now drawing near. The junction being effected, that General returned with a deal of honor, and having marched throughout the whole length of the Vezir’s encampment, he returned to his own former post. The next day. he presented Nevol-ráy to the Emperor, and for his own honor engaged that Monarch to make him several presents. The Vezir mean while shocked at these distinctions, and intent on lessening the influence of both Emir-qhan and of the Viceroy, was underhand encouraging Rohillah, to stand his ground, although he ought to have remembered that he was the very man from whom he had received so many affronts. This connection of interests could not long remain concealed from the two Lords, who finding the the Vezir intent on assuming the honor of an accommodation, left the negotiation entirely to him. And thus, on the third of the first Djemady, of the year 1158, the Vezir, who had undertaken to make Rohillah’s peace, bound both his hands with a handkerchief, Rohillah besieged, surrenders. and in that condition brought him to the Emperor. The Monarch on casting his eyes upon him, ordered his hands to be set at liberty, and turning to the Vezir, he said, “We recommend this man to your guard.” People were dispatched at the same time to take possession of the effects in the fortress, where they found a great quantity of grain and some small cannon, but no ready money, and nothing precious. Only a small sum, which Rohillah had deposited in the hands of Káim-qhan, was declared by the latter, and sent to the Treasury. This affair being brought to an end, the Emperor’s Pish-qhana was, on the fourth of that month, sent towards Shah-djehan-abad; and himself, The Emperor returns. after dismissing Káim-qhan and Nevol-ráy to their respective offices, returned victorious and satisfied. It was on the first of Djemady in the same year, at which time, the sun being then at the end of the sign of Leo, the Emperor made his entry in the citadal of his Capital, and took his seat in the Imperial Palace.
At the end of Moharrem Nevazish-aaly-qhan departed his life and was entombed in the monument of the Hylostep*. A month after Eshrefi-qhan, eldest son of the late Qhandöuran, Lord of Lords, departed his life likewise, and was buried in his father’s mausoleum. On the seventeenth of Sefer, the New Year’s Day was celebrated with the usual solemnities, and about the middle of the first Reby, Assed-yär-qhan, the famous Poet, who bore the title of Assed-ed-döwlah, departed this life, and his body was carried to Acbar-abad, the place of his nativity Death and some account of the famous Lord and poet, Assed-yär-qhan. and residence, as well as that of his ancestors. He was a man equally sensible and good-natured, of an equal temper, acquainted with the sciences, and inclined to utter extempore verses. He had been presented by Emir-qhan to the Emperor in one and the same day with Djaafer-aaly-qhan, (another famous Nobleman of similar temper and talents, and a great friend of my father’s) and with Issac-qhan, (since Mutemen-ed-döwlah), as well as a fourth person whose name I do not recollect at present. The two former were that same day promoted to the grade of five thousand horse, and the two latter, to that of four thousand. Djaafer-aaly-qhan, having personally attached himself to Emir-qhan, did not rise higher; but Issac-qhan’s fortune was so rapid, that he rose to the third Heaven, and no favour ever equalled that which he enjoyed, as we have already mentioned. Assed-yär-qhan rose very high likewise. He was honoured with the title of Assed-ed-döwlah, and the grade of six thousand horse, and he enjoyed the command of five thousand effective troopers in his Brigade; moreover he was decorated with the insignia of the Mahi, or fish. Emir-qhan, who had taken umbrage at his behaviour on account of his not having attached himself personally to him, as Djaafer-aaly-qhan, and many others had done, was bent on ruining his credit; and finding at his return from Ilah-abad, that he had recovered his former ascendant over the Emperor’s mind, he rendered him so many ill offices, that his Brigade of five thousand effective horse was disbanded; an action that reflected a great odium upon Emir-qhan’s person. It is reported of Assed-yär-qhan, that he kept no less than one hundred and forty chopdars, or mace-bearers, divided in two companies, under two distinct officers, that did duty alternately at his gate, for the sole purpose of keeping it free from the noise and tumult so customary at the gates of men of distinction, and of men of no distinction? which however they could not compass; and he used to say that it was with a a view to afford a livelihood to these people, and to avoid the imputation of sordidness. He was so good-natured that on being visited by people of rank, greatly inferior to his own, he used to receive and treat them as his friends and equals. May God assign him a place in the mansions of His mercy! A few days after his death, intelligence came that Zekeriah-qhan, Viceroy of Lahor and Mooltan, had departed this borrowed world, and had taken his journey towards eternity; a piece of intelligence which the Vezir, who was brother to the deceased’s consort, kept secret, until he could dispatch Yahia-qhan, the deceased’s eldest son, who was also his son-in-law, to put in order his father’s household and effects at Lahor, and also to sit in his stead. That Minister on hearing that he was arrived, published Zekeriah-qhan’s death, and took mourning for him. The customary days of that rite being over, he went to Court, and on that very day obtained a Qhylaat of departure for Gholam-mahi-eddin-qhan, whom he invested with the commission of going to Lahor, and taking possession for the Imperial Treasury of all the deceased’s effects. A few days after the Vezir himself, being installed in the charge of Viceroy of Lahor and Mooltan, appointed Zekeriah-qhan’s two sons, to act in those two offices as his Deputies: but the two brothers disagreeing together, and their disagreement ending in an open rupture Shah-nevaz-qhan, the youngest brother, seized and confined Yahïa-qhan, his elder. However, the latter, having found means by his mother’s contrivance to get himself conveyed in a Qhoan*, out of the house, quite through his guards, reached the City-gate, where mounting an excellent horse, kept ready for him, he set out on a gallop, and was soon out of sight and out of his brother’s reach. In a short time he arrived at Shah-djehan-abad, where he had the meanness to put on brick-coloured clothes, to cover his head with ashes, and, in a word, to turn Fakir. He built himself a tenement upon the canal, which he called Pim-bari; and as he was a Vezir’s son-in-law, and was worth a great deal of money, he soon found followers and disciples, who imitated his garb, and lived in the same manner with him. After his departure, the younger brother remained in full possession of those two Governments. Sometime after, that is, on the sixteenth of Shaaban, Ased-ollah-qhan, elder brother to Emir-qhan, winged his flight towards the mansions of the Divine mercy; and on the ninth of Shevval, a son was born to Ahmed Mirza, the presumptive heir of the Empire.