When the brilliancy of the Rānī's rule was extinguished, and when in the very height* of her rule the hand of destruction flung the dust of annihilation on the head of that noble lady, Āṣaf Khān after two months, and when his mind was at rest about the Miyāna* country proceeded to the conquest of Caurāgarh* fort. This fortress was replete with buried treasures, and rare jewels, for the collection of which former rajahs had exerted themselves for many ages. They thought these would be a means of safety but in the end they were a cause of destruction. The soldiers girded up the loins of courage to capture this golden fort, and from the love of these treasures they washed their hands of life and eagerly followed Āṣaf Khān. The Rānī's son who had left the battle-field and was shut up in the fort, came out to fight on the approach of the army of fortune; but the fort was taken after a short contest. The Rajah died bravely. He had appointed Bhoj Kaith and Mīyān Bhīkārī Rūmī to look after the jauhar, for it is the custom of Indian rajahs under such circumstances to collect wood, cotton, grass, ghee and such like into one place, and to bring the women and burn them, willing or unwilling. This they call the jauhar. These two faithful servants, who were the guardians of honour, executed this service. Whoever out of feebleness of soul was backward (to sacrifice herself) was, in accordance with their custom, put to death by the Bhoj aforesaid. A wonderful thing was that four days after they had set fire to that circular pile, and all that harvest of roses had been reduced to ashes, those who opened the door found two women alive. A large piece of timber had screened them and protected them from the fire. One of them was Kamlavatī, the Rānī's sister, and the other the daughter of Rājah Puragaḍha, whom they had brought for the Rajah but who had not yet been united to him. These two women, who had emerged from that storm of fire, obtained honour by being sent to kiss the threshold of the Shāhinshāh.

In fine, when the fort was taken there fell into the hands of Āṣaf Khān and his men an incalculable amount of gold and silver. There were coined and uncoined gold, decorated utensils, jewels, pearls, figures, pictures, jewelled and decorated idols, figures of animals made wholly of gold, and other rarities. I have heard from reliable informants that among the goods and treasures of Caurāgarh of which Āṣaf Khān took sole possession, there were one hundred jars (deg) full of 'Alāū-d-dīn* ashrafīs. There were also other things which could not be calculated. When Āṣaf Khān, by the good fortune which came from the rays of the Shāhinshah's prestige, acquired such wealth, and became so powerful, his self-confidence became greater than it is possible to imagine. As he did not possess right reason, the senses-robbing intoxication revealed the amount of his capacity. He altogether abandoned the path of propriety and sent none of those rarities or splendid jewels, which were worthy of the appreciative acceptance of the Shāhinshāh, to Court. He did not comprehend that fortune had made those pearls and jewels a sprinkling for the head of dominion and a tiara for the auspicious, and regarding himself as the central object, he strewed the dust of ruin on the head of his own honour. That ill-fated one, the tablet of whose heart bore no impress of sincerity, or rather it had not a letter or even a dot of justice in it, sent only 200 elephants as a present, out of the 1,000 which had fallen into his hands. He concealed all the other rarities, and resting himself on the pillows of the government of Karra and Gaḍha he spent his days in negligence. H.M. the Shāhinshāh on account of his world-bestowing disposition did not give a thought to those things (the hidden rarities) and winked at his treachery. When he made the third expedition to Jaunpūr in order to chastise 'Alī Qulī Khān Zamān he summoned Āṣaf Khān to the presence. The latter obeyed the command and went to kiss the threshold.* At the time when Jaunpūr was the seat of the royal forces he had the blessing of doing obeisance. The details of that affair will be recorded in their proper place.