In fine, when defeat (shikastī), which was to lay the foundation of the righting (durustī) of the world, made its appearance, the officers fled without fighting to the bank of the Ganges, which was about four miles (a farsakh) distant, and as the requital of their disloyalty and ingratitude, sank in the whirlpool of disappointment, giving the vessels of their lives to the boisterous waters of annihila­tion in recompense of their unrighteousness. His Majesty Jahānbānī mounted with firm foot on an elephant and proceeded across the river. He descended from the elephant at the water's edge and was looking around for an exit. As the bank was high, no way out presented itself. One of the soldiers who had been saved out of the whirlpool came there and seizing his Majesty's sacred hand drew him up. In truth he then, by help of heaven's favouring hand, drew to himself fortune and power. His Majesty asked him his name and birthplace. He made answer “My name is Shamsu-d-dīn Muḥammad, my birthplace is Ghaznī, and I am a servant of M. Kāmrān.” His Majesty made him hopeful of princely favours. Just then Muqaddam Bēg,* one of M. Kāmrān's officers, recognised his Majesty and enrolled* himself among those who had received the gospel of good fortune. Acting upon this, he brought forward his horse, and obtained the news of distinction from royal promises. His Majesty proceeded from there towards Agra, and was joined on the way by the Mīrzās. When they came to the environs of Bhangāpūr* the villagers closed the market against the king's men, and behaved in an unruly manner, attacking every one who fell into their hands. When the august mind was informed of this, M. ‘Askarī, Yādgār Nāṣir M. and M. Hindāl were ordered to attack the villains and to chastise them. Nearly 3,000 horse and foot of the insolent knaves had gathered together. When the royal order arrived, M. ‘Askarī delayed to proceed and Yādgār Nāṣir Mīrzā gave him some strokes with his whip, saying that it was from his discord that things had come to such a pass. Still he did not take warning, and Yādgār Nāṣir Mīrzā and M. Hindāl obeyed and went against the crowd. A great fight ensued, and a large number of the ill-fated villagers (gūwārān) were killed. The Mīrzās after giving them a lesson returned, and M. ‘Askarī who had come to complain, was reprehended. His Majesty Jahānbānī hastened on to Agra. The provinces were in confusion and sedition raised its head on every side. Next morning his Majesty proceeded to the dwelling of that great exemplar, Mīr Rafī‘,* who was sprung from the Ṣafavī Sayyids, and was incom­parable for knowledge and wisdom, and was the choice favourite of princes. He took counsel with him, and the final conclusion of his Majesty was that he should go towards the Panjāb. If M. Kāmrān were helped by the sovereignty of reason and auspiciousness, and should bind on himself the girdle of good service and come actively forward to help, the rift of strife might still be closed. With this right intention he proceeded to Lāhor. M. ‘Askarī went to Sam­bal and M. Hindāl to Alwar. On 18th Muḥarram (26th May, 1540) Qāsim Ḥusain Sulān joined the king near Dihlī through the influence of Bēg Mīrak, and a large body of men collected for the king's service. On the 20th he again set out, and on the 22nd M. Hindāl and M. Ḥaidar joined him in Rohtak.* On the 23rd his Majesty halted there. The garrison shut the gate of the city in his face, thereby opening the doors of disgrace for themselves. His Majesty addressed himself to the attack and in a short space of time chastised the garrison. On 17th Ṣafar the army arrived at Sihrind and on the 20th Mīr Faqr ‘Alī closed life's litter while on the march. When the army approached Lāhor and were near Daulat Khān's sarāī, M. Kāmrān came forward to meet him and did homage. His Majesty alighted in the garden of Khwāja Dōst Munshī which is the most charming spot in Lāhor, while M. Hindāl took up his quarters in the garden of Khwāja Ghāzī, who was then M. Kāmrān's dīwān. After that M. ‘Askarī came from Sambal and settled himself in the house of Amīr Walī Bēg. At this time the fortunate Shamsu-d-dīn Muḥammad who had given his hand at the river-bank, arrived and was exalted by princely favours. On the 1st* Rabī‘u-l-awwal, 947, all the noble brothers and Amīrs and other servants collected but in spite of so many lessons and celestial warnings, these fine fellows(‘azīzān) were not taught and did not bind the girdle of sincerity on the waist of resolve. Several times they gathered together on his Majesty's service, and deliberated and made vows and promises of unity and concord, and took the great and godly as their witnesses. Khwāja Khāwand* Maḥmūd, brother of Khwāja ‘Abdu-l-ḥaqq and Mīr Abu-l-baqā frequently took part in the deliberations. At length one day all the Mīrzās, nobles and grandees having been assembled, wrote out a deed (taẕkira) of concord and unanimity, and to this auspicious minute all the officers gave their signatures.

When this record of confidence had been executed, the deliber­ations began. His Majesty gave lofty counsels and uttered excellent words. With his pearling tongue he said,* “The miserable end of those who deviate from the straight highway of concord is known to all. Especially since not long ago when Sulān Ḥusain Mīrzā beat the drum of death in Khurāsān, he left eighteen* capable and fortune-favoured sons and yet, in spite of all their array of wealth, in consequence of fraternal discord, the kingdom of Khurāsān (which for so many years had been a centre of peace), became in a short space a centre of calamities and was transferred to Shāhī Bēg. No trace remained of any of the sons except of Badī‘u-z-zamān who went* to Turkey, and all the sons of the Mīrzā had been reviled and reprobated by high and low. With what difficulty had his Majesty Gītī-sitānī-Firdaus-makānī conquered a Hindūstān—so vast a country! If through your disunion it pass from our possession into the hands of nobodies (nākasān) what will the wise say of you? Now is the time to siuk the head into the bosom of good counsel and to exsert it from jealousy's collar, so that you may attain headship among mankind, and be a means of gaining the favour of God.”

Every one of the authors of compact and of the lords of con­federacy forgot the recent agreements, and each declaimed accord­ing to his own good pleasure. M. Kāmrān said, “What occurs to me is that the king and all the Mīrzās should spend some days unencum­bered in the mountains while I take their families to Kābul. When I have put them into safety, I shall return and join you.” M. Hindāl and Yādgār Naṣir Mīrzā said, “At present we cannot fight the Afghāns The thing to do now is to go to Bhakkar and to subdue that country. By its means we shall conquer Gujrāt, and when these two kingdoms have fallen into our hands and we have brought the business to an end, the deliverance of this country (India) will be effected in an admirable manner.” M. Ḥaidar said, “It is proper that all the Mīrzās should settle down after securing the slopes from the mountains of Sihrind to those of Sārang.* I engage that with a small force I will in two months get possession of Kashmīr. When that news comes, let every man send his belongings to Kashmīr, for there is no safer place. It will take Shēr Khān four months to arrive and he will not be able to bring into the hill country the gun-carriages and cannon which are the support* of his warfare. In a short time the Afghān army will be ruined.”

As their words and their hearts were not in unison, the meeting ended without any conclusive speech. Whatever proposals were brought forward, and whatever sound advice his Majesty communi­cated in the hope that perchance the lamp of wisdom might be lighted for M. Kāmrān and that he would turn away from his dark ideas and come to the abode of candour, the Mīrzā did not alter what he had said. All his endeavour was that every one should be ruined, and he counted it a gain that he himself might go to Kābul and secure a corner for his own enjoyment. He was perpetually occupied with evil thoughts, and fortune-conferring words did not arouse him. Ostensibly he breathed unanimity and would say, “I shall come forth in some fortunate hour and shall gird on the belt of courage and fight the foe with singleness of heart.” But secretly he was strength­ening the foundations of opposition, and this to such an extent that out of wickedness and blindness, he privately sent Qāẓī ‘Abdu-l-lāh his ṣadr to Shēr Khān, that he might establish friendly relations with him, and made a contract of affection with him. He sought the fulfilment of his desires from the help of enemies, and he wrote a letter to the effect that if the Panjāb were secured to him as formerly, he would soon bring affairs to a successful issue!