Ascends the throne — raises one Syud Shureef of Mecca to the office of minister.— Syud Shureef goes to war with his Prince, who is assassinated by one of the body-guard.
THIS slave proved a cruel and sanguinary monarch, putting to death great numbers of learned men and others, whose principles induced them to adhere closely to the tenets of the orthodox faith. At length, having headed his army against the infidels of Bengal, he slew many of them. He promoted Syud Shureef, an inhabitant of Mecca, to the office of minister, when the King eventually became subject to the will of that subtle statesman. Syud Shureef induced his master to disband the greater part of his standing army, and to reduce his force to so low a state, that many of the chiefs quitted
A. H. 903.
A. D. 1496.
the court. At length, in the year 903, the disbanded officers, headed by the minister, collected a force and seized Moozuffur in the fortress of Gour, in which were five thousand Hubshies, and thirty thousand Bengalies and Afghans. The siege continued, according to some writers, only four days, while others asserted it lasted as many months, during which time several sallies were made from the fort, in which both parties lost many men. All the prisoners taken by the besieged were brought before Moozuffur, and put to death with his own hand. It is asserted that he slew in this way four thousand men. At last, making a desperate attack on the besiegers, among whom was his late minister, Syud Shureef, a general action ensued, and the loss on both sides amounted to twenty thousand men. Victory declared in favour of the Bengal nobles, and Moozuffur with many of his relatives were killed in the battle. Hajy Mahomed Kandahary relates, that during the reign of Moozuffur upwards of one hundred and twenty thousand persons, both Mahomedans and Hindoos, lost their lives. He also states, that the nobles of the government first revolted from Moozuffur, when Syud Shureef, taking advantage of the moment, gained the commandant of the Paik body-guard, and
A. H. 904.
A. D. 1497.
having one night entered the apartment of Moozuffur, attended by sixteen men, he put him to death, after a short but sanguinary reign of three years.