In order to comprehend the true value of the money of that day, it is proper to state, that a tunka was equal to a tola in weight, whether of gold or silver, and a tunka of silver was equal to 50 jeetuls. The jeetul was a small copper coin, the weight of which is not now known. Some conceive it was a tola; while others are of opinion, that the jeetul, like the pice of the present day, weighed 3/4 of a tola. The maund of the time of Julal-ood-Deen weighed 40 seers, and each seer weighed 24 tolas. It is to be understood, whenever I speak of tolas generally, I mean silver tolas; and this may serve as a guide to all calculations hereafter in this work.*
The King having thus regulated the prices of
articles, his next care was to new-model his
army. He settled the pay of every horseman for
himself and his horse. The first class had 234
tunkas, the second class, 156, and the third class,
88 tunkas annually, according to the goodness of
the horse; and, upon a muster, he found his cavalry
to consist of 475,000.†*
A. H. 704.
A D. 1304.
In the mean time, in the year 704,
Ally Beg (one of the descendants of
Chungiz Khan) and Khwaja Tash, with
40,000 horse, made an irruption into India. They
passed to the north of Lahore, and skirting the
Sewalik mountains, penetrated without opposition
to Amroha. The King sent Toghluk Khan with a
force against them; and the Moguls were defeated,
with the loss of 7000 men killed and wounded.
Ally Beg and Khwaja Tash, with 9000 of their
troops, were made prisoners, and sent in chains
to the King, who ordered the chiefs to be thrown
under the feet of elephants, and the soldiers to be
put to death; while, as a reward for his services,
Toghluk Khan was nominated viceroy of Punjab.
Aluf Khan
*
was, about this time, appointed governor
and commander of the troops in Guzerat,
and sent thither with a great force. Ein-ool-Moolk
Mooltany, another chieftain, was also sent with
an army to effect the conquest of Malwa. He was
opposed by Koka, the Raja of Malwa, with 40,000
Rajpoot horse, and 100,000 foot. In the engagement
which ensued, Ein-ool-Moolk proved vic
torious, and reduced the cities of Oojein, Mando,
Dharanuggurry, and Chundery. After these successes,
he wrote an account of the same to the
King, who, on receiving it, commanded illuminations
to be made for seven days throughout the
city of Dehly. Nehr Dew, Raja of Jalwur, panic-
A. H. 705.
A. D. 1305.
In the year 705, Eibuk Khan, an
officer of Ameer Dawood Khan, ruler of
Mawur-ool-Nehr, in order to revenge the
death of Ally Beg and Khwaja Tash, invading Hin-
In the mean time Alla-ood-Deen was employed
in the improvement of his internal government;
and had such extraordinary success in whatever he
undertook, that the superstition of the times ascribed
it to supernatural agency, so much were
people amazed at the good effects that resulted
from his measures. Ram Dew, Raja of Dewgur,
having neglected to send the tribute for the last
three years, Mullik Kafoor (known by the name
of Huzar Deenary)
*
was invested with the title of
Mullik Naib, and placed in command of an army.
Accompanied by many officers of renown, he was
ordered to subdue the countries of the south of
India, which, according to the language of the
people, is denominated Deccan. The Emperor's
attachment to Mullik Kafoor exceeded all bounds,
and his wish now was to raise him to distinction
among the nobles. The army was put under his
especial charge, and the nobles were directed
to pay their respects to him daily, as to a sovereign.
This created great disgust, but no one
durst complain. Khwaja Hajy, a man much esteemed
in those days for his good principles, was
appointed second in command in this expedition,
which, (according to the authority of Kazy Ah-
A. H. 706.
A. D. 1306.
the beginning of the year 706, marched from Dehly, consisting of an army of 100,000 horse. This expedition was reinforced on the way by the troops of Ein-ool-Moolk Mooltany, governor of Malwa, and Aluf Khan, governor of Guzerat. Kowla Devy, one of the King's wives, and who has been before mentioned, hearing of this expedition, addressing herself to the King, told him, that before she was taken prisoner, she had borne two daughters to her former husband. That one of them (the eldest,) she heard, had since died, but that the other, whose name was Dewul Devy, and who was only four years old when she left her, was still alive. She, therefore, begged that the King would give orders to his generals to endeavour to get possession of her and send her to Dehly.
Mullik Naib Kafoor passed through Malwa, and having encamped on the borders of the Deccan, sent the King's order to Kurrun Ray, to deliver up his daughter Dewul Devy, which was now urged as a pretext for commencing hostilities in case of refusal. The Raja could by no means be brought to agree to this demand. According to the Moolhikat, Mullik Naib Kafoor encamped for some time in the district called Sooltanpoor, and he states that the district and town had this name from that time. Finding he could make no impression on the rajas in that vicinity, Mullik Naib in person, marched from thence, directing Aluf Khan, with his forces from Guzerat, to join him by the route leading through the mountains of Buglana, so as both to enter the Deccan together. Aluf Khan was opposed by Kurrun Ray, who for two months defeated him in every attempt to force his passage, in which time several actions were fought. Shunkul Dew, the Prince of Dewgur, had long sought to obtain the hand of the young Dewul Devy; but she being of the tribe of Rajpoot, and Shunkul Dew a Mahratta, her father withheld his consent to their union. At this time, however, Shunkul Dew sent his own brother, Bheem Dew, with presents to Kurrun Ray, persuading him, that as Dewul Devy was the occasion of the war, if he would deliver her over to him, the troops of the Mahomedans, in despair of obtaining their end, would return to their own country. Kurrun Ray, relying much on the young Prince's aid, consented to the proposal, and reluctantly gave his daughter, then in her thirteenth year, in marriage to Shunkul Dew.