Sulān Ibrāhīm went towards Jaunpūr, and Sulān Maḥmūd towards Dihlī, but seeing that the Amīrs of Sulān Maḥmūd's army one after the other left for their own districts as they came to them in the march, Sulān Ibrāhīm turned back and besieged Qanauj; Malik Maḥmūd Tarmati, who was holding Qanauj for Sulān Maḥmūd, kept Sulān Ibrāhīm engaged in fighting for four months, but when he saw that no reinforcements were arriving from any quarter he was forced to sue for peace, and surrendered Qanauj to Sulān Ibrāhīm.* Sulān Ibrāhīm passed the rainy season at Qanauj, and then having made over that district to Ikhtiyār Khān the grandson of Malik Daulat Yār of Kanpila, started to reduce Dihlī.
And in the year 810 H. (1407 A.D.) Nuṣrat Khān Karkandāz,*
and Tātār Khān the son of Sārang Khān, and Malik Marḥabā the
slave of Iqbāl Khān, turned against Sulān Maḥmūd and joined
Sulān Ibrāhīm, and Asad Khān Lodi fortified himself in Sam-
And in the year 811 H. (1408 A.D.) Sulān Maḥmūd proceeding to Ḥissār Fīrūz took it* from Qiwām Khān to whom Khiẓr Khān had given it, and having taken possession of it, on arriving at the village of Rata* turned back towards Dihlī: Khiẓr Khān then came by way of Rohtak with a large army from Fatḥābād to oppose Sulān Maḥmūd,* and laid siege to Dihlī, but was not able to maintain the siege by reason of the severe famine which prevailed in Dihlī, then having taken possession of the Doāb he returned to Fatḥpūr.*
And in the year 812 H. (1409 A.D.)* Bairām Khān Turkbacha,* who after the death of Bahrām Khān Turkbacha had become master of Sāmāna, and had been defeated in a battle with Daulat 277. Khān, and again revolting against Khiẓr Khān had had a second interview with Daulat Khān, now offered his services to Khiẓr Khān, and received a confirmation of the grant of the districts formerly held by him in fief. And in the year 813 H. (1410 A.D.) Khiẓr Khān besieged the fortress of Rohtak* for six months, and after reducing it proceeded to Fatḥpūr.* In this year Sulān Maḥmūd made an expedition to Kaithar and arrived at the capital Dihlī.
In the year 814 H. (1411 A.D.) Khiẓr Khān came to Narnūl* and Mīwāt* and ravaged that country, and blockading Sulān Maḥmūd in the fortress of Sīrī, which is part of Dihlī,* and Ikhtiyār Khān in Fīrozābād, and fighting several fierce battles, was prevented from maintaining the siege* by reason of the dearness of grain, and returned to Fatḥpūr by way of Pānīpath.*
And in the year 815 H. (1412 A.D.)* Sulān Maḥmūd departed from this world, and the kingdom passed from the family of Fīrūz Shāh. The duration of his reign, full as it was of turmoil and vicissitudes, was twenty years* and two months, during which Sulān Maḥmūd had had only the name of sovereignty.
Verse.Who is there in this long-enduring world
Who can say “Mine is the kingdom” save the Almighty?Verse.A head which the fates exalt to a lofty position
They later on entangle its neck in a noose.
Save the blood of kings there is nought in this bowl,
Save* the dust of lovers there is nought in this desert.
Of the poets of the reign of Sulān Maḥmūd is Qāzī ahīr Dihlavī* who has left a Dīwān (anthology) full of qaṣīdahs in eulogy (of Maḥmūd) of which this is one.
Heir to the mighty monarchy, Sulān Maḥmūd,
Who succeeded his father and grandfather in the sovereignty 278.
of the world;
He removed Dabarān* from the sky to serve as his signet,
While Taurus complained saying I have but this one eye
left.*
By the first strain of his bow string he has wakened the Lion,
And after that he has stretched him out in sleep with the
deep-piercing arrow.
The whole world boasts of full satiation at the board of thy
favour,
Save only the lute which complains that its belly is empty.*
Oh thou whose world-conquering sword flashes in the darkness of infidelity like to the lightning flashing through the
darkness of night,
Although the heaven has made thine enemies intoxicated
like the eyes of the beloved idols for some time, still at last
it has overthrown them.
It is envy of thy generous hand which throws the ocean into
tumult, for if it be not so, the ocean is never so disturbed
by the winds of heaven.
The following is also by the same author:
Thou art a monarch before whom the heavens bow in adoration,
Thou art a King in whose reign time itself exults.
Qiblah* of the nation, and mainstay of kingdoms and religion, Maḥmūd
Whom the assemblies of Sulān have chosen as their Imām.*
The Qāẓī of the heavens* comes out on foot to receive him
279. When the Governor of his unerring judgment sends the
summons.
He keeps constant watch* lest sedition should make a night
assault,
Thy vigilance stands with a drawn sword in its hand while
the people sleep (in safety).
In order that thy enemy may not enjoy the sweet breezes
of the garden of thy favour
The heavens have afflicted him with fever and headache in
addition to catarrh.*
The heavens have apportioned every arrow of thine to one
of the various families,
It were not possible to allot the arrows* in any better way
than this.
The following is also his:
My love has gone outside, do thou my life also go outside,
For if thou art not outside with my love, thou wilt be outside
the pale of love.
Specially that now, in order to uproot the infidels and rebels,*
The royal standards have gone out clothed in good fortune.
Shāh Maḥmūd, he who when he sallied forth against the
infidels,
Thou would'st say ‘Īsa has come forth to slay Dajjāl.*
Thy reign has cast sedition into the bondage of annihilation.
I said to the heavens, Beware! this is a prisoner* of the
Sulān, free him not!