The battles which followed are described in their proper places. I have never met with any written account of the history of the Súmras and Sammas, so I have composed this summary. If any one is better acquainted with the subject, he should make additions to this.
The fort of Síwí, which is situated on a small hill, is built of round stones, of a kind which is found wherever the earth is dug in that neighbourhood.
In Kor-zamín and Chhatur, which are districts of Síwí, cotton plants grow as large as trees, insomuch that men pick the cotton mounted. On each cotton plant there are one or two hundred snakes, of a span long, so that men are obliged to brush them off with sticks and drive them away before they can pluck the boles. If any one is bitten by a snake, they immediately open the wound with a razor and suck out the poison, otherwise death would supervene.
The little river which runs by Síwí rises apparently from a sulphureous source, and any one who drinks the water of it falls sick. Many men have died from that cause, but it does not affect the inhabitants who are accustomed to it. Notwithstanding that the garrison was changed every year by Sultán Mahmúd, most of the soldiers died from its bad effects, and only a few escaped. In the time of Akbar, a flood came and purged the sources of the river from the sulphur, since which time the sickness has been less. This river runs fifty kos beyond Síwí, collecting at Sarwáh, where it is used in irrigation, and the water which is not expended for that purpose flows into the lake of Manchhúr, which is near Síwistán.
On that lake also there are many snakes*, very long and thin, the bites of which few survive. The men in that neighbourhood wear long drawers to protect themselves against their bites. I myself, when I was there looking at the men irrigating their fields, saw several at every step my horse took. As it was hot, I wished to dismount on the shore of the lake, but for fear of the snakes, I was compelled to do so at a distance on the plain beyond.
In the plain of Síwí there were formerly many forts and much cultivation, but all is now waste; the hot wind (simoom) blows there. Between Síwí, Dehra, and Kasmúr,* there is a tract of land called Bárgán, which breeds horses not inferior to those of 'Irák. The young colts are made to walk upon gravel for a year, by which their hoofs become as hard as a stone, and there is no occasion to shoe them, for they can go unshod even amongst the hills.
At Chhatur there is a tribe called Kaharí, so called from the tree named Kahar, on which one of their ancestors mounted, and when struck with a whip, it moved on like a horse.
Near Ganjáva, which is a district of Síwí, water springs from a hill, and covers a large extent of ground. Fishes are found in it. Amongst the hills of Ganjáva there is a lofty one from which hangs an iron cage, in which they say there is something placed, but it cannot be got at. If any one descends to it from above, by a rope, it moves away, and if they attempt to reach it from beneath, the summit rises to the stars, and the earth recedes.
The hills of Sitúr and the river Ábkashída run in a sort of semicircle from Síwí to Ganjáva.* Between these places there is a waste, through which the road to Kandahár runs. Its length from the river to Síwí is a hundred kos, and its breadth sixty. In summer the hot wind blows over this track for four months.
At the hill called Síbúda* the rock was scarped, and a lofty arched recess called Peshták was cut by order of the Emperor Bábar. Eighty stone-masons were employed nine years in its completion. It is indeed a very pleasant place, overlooking the waters of the Arghand, gardens and cultivated fields. In spring many people resort there, but it is difficult to reach on account of its steep ascent. Within this recess are inscribed the names of Bábar Bádsháh, and of his trusty adherents, Mírzá Kámrán, Mírzá 'Askarí, and Mírzá Hindál. As his majesty Humáyún had never visited the spot, his name was not included in that inscription. Of all his dominions Kandahár was the only place mentioned.* When I visited the spot it came into my head that I would inscribe his name there, as well as that of his august son (Akbar) with their thousands of tributary cities and kingdoms, like Kandahár and Kábul. I therefore sent for some stone-cutters and engravers from Bhakkar, and had the names of these kings engraved, with those of their dependent cities and provinces, from Bengal to Bandar Láharí, from Kábul and Ghazní to the Dekhin, without any omission. It took nearly four years to complete this work, which indeed excited great admiration. Below the hills there is a cavern not far off. It was from the other extremity of this, that Bábá Hasan Abdál brought out the golden brick. The distance between these two ends is seven or eight kós.
On the same hill near Kandahár, mukhlisa is found, which is an antidote against snake bites and other poisons, and it is found nowhere else in that country. On that hill also there is a fire temple of a very ancient date. It is built of unburnt bricks, each two yards long and broad, and one span thick. The temple exists to this day, and has sustained no injury.
In Kandahár there used to be plague* and sickness every year, till Sháh Tahmásp directed Sultán Husain Mírzá, governor of that province, to plant canes on the stream which flows near the town, and the water of which the people use for drinking. Since that, the sickness has abated, but even now in some seasons plague and disease break out with great intensity; blood being passed from the belly, nostrils, ears, and mouth. When I went there, in the reign of his late majesty, Akbar, to render assistance, it was at its height, and in the year 1007 H. (1598 A.D.) nearly two hundred soldiers died of this disease.
With the Hazára tribes near Kandahár, it is not the practice to wear coloured clothes such as white, red and black, * * * * nor is there any trade in clothes and shoes of this kind. Among the saints buried near Kandahár may be mentioned * * * * Bábá Hasan Abdál, a descendant of the Saiyids of Sabzawár. After a pilgrimage to the holy cities, he accompanied Mírzá Sháh Rukh, son of Sáhib-Kirán (Tímúr) to Hindústán. On his return he spent some years in Langar Kandahár, and died there. His tomb is on an elevated spot surrounded by villages, and overlooking the Arghandáb, and to it, as to a place of pilgrimage, men and women, little and big, low and high-born, resort on Fridays in great crowds, so that the city is sometimes empty. It is certainly a charming retreat, and travellers say they have seen few spots to compare with it.
Account of the country of Sind passing into the hands of the officers of the Emperor Akbar after the death of Sultán Mahmúd Khán.
I have before related how Kísú Khán came to Bhakkar on the 12th Jumáda-l awwal 982 Hijrí (August 1574) bringing with him an imperial farmán, in which he was directed to divide Bhakkar equally between Muhib 'Alí Khán and Mujáhid Khán, and then to proceed to Thatta and make Muhammad Bákí Tarkhán prisoner.
At that time Mujáhid Khán was in the country of Ganjáva, but when he heard of Kísú Khán's arrival at Bhakkar, he hastened to meet him there. But before he arrived Kísú Khán sought to clear out the fort of Sakhar.* Mujáhid Khán's men procrastinated, but Kísú Khán disapproving of this, sent off a force to Sakhar. Wakíl Khán who was the representative of Mujáhid Khán, fought upon the wall which Mujáhid Khán had built round Sakhar, and several persons on both sides were killed, and more were wounded. Three days after the fight, Mujáhid Khán arrived and took away his men to Loharí. Sakhar then reverted entirely into the power of Kísú Khán, but towards Loharí the pargana of Bhakkar was in the possession of Muhib 'Ali Khán and Mujáhid Khán.* The men who had assembled (to support them) were broken-hearted. At this juncture, some of the Arghún people deserted them and came to Bhakkar, where Kísú Khán had them put to death upon the malevolent suggestion of Sháh Bábá, son of Ján Bábá Turkhán. Kísú Khán was a severe harsh-tempered man, and one day Barjí Tawají having been guilty of some fault, he had irons placed upon his feet in the presence of his court.