The commonly received report that Sher Khán put Afgháns into dolís, and sent them into the fort as women, is altogether erroneous and false.* For I, the writer of this history, Tuhfa-i Akbar Sháhí, the son of Shaikh 'Álí, have inquired of several chiefs and nobles who were with Sher Khán in the affair. For example, I inquired of the chief of great nobles Muzaffar Khán, and nephew of Masnad 'Álí 'Ísá Khán, and of Shaikh Muhammad, son of Míán Báyazíd Sarwání, and several others who were present on the occasion; and they said, “It is needful you should hear from us the history of your ancestors, for you are connected with Sultán Bahlol, Sultán Sikandar, Sher Sháh, and Salím Sháh. Take heed to our words, for after a lapse of many days, frequent errors and mistakes arise. We will tell you what we heard and saw.” I said to Khán-'azam Muzaffar Khán, son of Jalál Khán, the son of Haibat Khán, “It is commonly said that Sher Khán took Rohtás by introducing the Afgháns in covered litters, and you contradict this story. I do not know whom to believe.” He replied: “You know I was with the followers of Masnad 'Álí 'Ísá Khán, and my family was in Rohtás, while I accompanied Sher Khán to the hills.” When Sher Khán got possession of Rohtás, he left there his women and children, with his eldest son 'Ádil Khán, and Kutb Khán; and he himself went to the hills of Bahrkunda, and wandered about from place to place.*

After the Emperor Humáyún had got possession of Chunár, he halted in Benares, and sent an envoy to Sher Khán, having it in view to get possession of the country of Bihár. Sher Khán knew he had this design, and said to the envoy, “I have captured the fort of Gaur, and have collected about me a very large force of Afgháns. If the Emperor will abandon all design upon Bengal, I will surrender Bihár to him, and make it over to whomsoever he will depute, and will agree to the same boundaries of Bengal as existed in Sultán Sikandar's time; and I will send all the ensigns of royalty—as the umbrella throne, etc.—to the Emperor, and will yearly send him ten lacs of rupees from Bengal. But let the Emperor return towards Ágra.” The envoy came back to Humáyún, and reported what Sher Khán had said. The Emperor, on hearing about Bihár, became exceedingly glad, and agreed to what Sher Khán proposed, and gave a horse, and a peculiarly splendid khil'at to the envoy for delivery to Sher Sháh; and directed him to say to Sher Sháh that his proposals were accepted, and that he should not delay to put them in execution. The vakíl came to Sher Sháh, and gave him the horse and dress, and told him what the Emperor had said. Sher Khán was much delighted, and said, “I will fulfil the terms agreed upon, and will pray day and night to Almighty God that while life lasts no hostility may befall between the Emperor and myself, for I am his dependent and servant.”

Three days after this despatch the envoy of Sultán Mahmúd, the ruler of Bengal, came into the presence of the Emperor Humáyún, and made the following communication: “The Afgháns have seized the fort of Gaur, but most of the country is yet in my possession; let not Your Majesty trust to Sher Khán's promises, but march towards these parts, and before they have established and strengthened themselves, expel them from the country, and altogether suppress this revolt. I also will join you, and they are not powerful enough to oppose you.” As soon as he heard this request of Sultán Mahmúd, the Emperor ordered his victorious standards to be set in motion towards Bengal; and afterwards he ordered the Khán-khánán Yúsuf-khail, the Birlás chiefs, and some other nobles, to go on in advance, and with their force in battle array to move towards the hills of Bahrkunda, where Sher Khán was. Mirzá Hindál also was ordered to cross the Ganges with his division, and to move on Hájípúr. The Emperor himself went towards Bengal.

When Sher Khán heard this intelligence, he entirely gave up all trust in the promises and faith of Humáyún, and said to the envoy: “I have observed all loyalty to the Emperor, and have committed no offence against him, and have not encroached upon his boundaries. When I got Bihár from the Lohánís, and the King of Bengal formed a design to seize that country, I besought him most submissively to leave me as I was, and not to attempt to deprive me of Bihár. By reason of his large army and forces he would not attend to me, and since he thus oppressed me, the Almighty gave me the victory; and as he coveted the kingdom of Bihár, God wrested away from him also the king­dom of Bengal. The Emperor has only considered the word of the ruler of Bengal, and has overlooked the service I have rendered, and all the force of Afgháns which I have assembled for his service, and has marched against Bengal. When the Emperor besieged Chunár, the Afgháns urged me to oppose him, but I restrained them from declaring war, and said, ‘The Emperor is powerful; you should not fight with him for the sake of a fort, for he is my lord and patron, and when he perceives that, in spite of my powerful forces, I pay respect to him, he will understand that I am his loyal servant, and will give me a kingdom to maintain this large army. The Emperor desired the kingdom of Bihár, and I was willing to surrender it. But it is not the right way to govern a kingdom to separate so large a force from his service, and in order to please their enemies, to ruin and slay the Afgháns.’ But since the Emperor takes no heed of all this good service, and has violated his promise, I have now no hope or means of restraining the Afgháns from opposing him. You will hear what deeds the Afgháns will do, and the march to Bengal will end in repentance and regret, for now the Afgháns are united, and have laid aside their mutual quarrels and envyings. The country which the Mughals have taken from the Afgháns, they got through the internal dissensions among the latter.” So saying, he gave him a parting present, and dismissed him. The force he had with him Sher Khán sent to Rohtás, and he him­self with a few horsemen, in order that he might not be traced, set off from that place towards Gaur secretly. From thence he proceeded, unknown to any one, to the hills, and lay hid there, and sent spies into the camp of the Emperor in order to discover his intentions. Humáyún was told, after he had made two marches, that Sher Khán had gone to the hills. He, therefore, returned; and the Khán-khánán Yúsuf-khail and Barrí Bírlas, who had been sent against Sher Khán, were halted in the pargana of Munír Shaikh Yahyá, where they heard that Sultán Mahmúd Barrí, the King of Gaur, was come. Bírlas went out to meet him. They had not yet escorted him to his encamping ground, when the Emperor himself arrived at Munír. They brought Sultán Mahmúd to the Emperor, who did not receive him kindly or pay him the respect he anticipated; so that Sultán Mahmúd repented that he had come, and shortly after­wards died from extreme grief. The Emperor issued orders for the arrangement of his army at the town of Munír.

Muyid Beg, son of Sultán Mahmúd, and Jahángír Kúlí, son of Ibráhím Báyazíd, Mír Núrká, Tardí Beg, Barrí Bírlas, Mubárak Farmulí, and other chiefs, with a force of 30,000 horse, were ordered to march seven kos in advance of the Imperial army. Sher Khán, on hearing that Humáyún had set off towards Bengal, departed himself secretly with only a few horsemen. When the Emperor reached Patna, the division which was seven kos in advance had not reached their ground, when their vedettes came to a village where what should they see but some cavalry in a garden. They asked of one of the villagers whose those horse­men were? He said, “It is Sher Khán himself.” The vedettes, when they heard the name of Sher Khán, were so alarmed, that they never examined what amount of force Sher Khán had with him, but returned and told to Muyid Beg that “Sher Khán was encamped at such and such a village.” Muyid Beg was of opinion that Sher Khán was there to oppose them, and sent to the Emperor to ask for orders; and encamped where he was, sending out a reconnoitring party to bring intelligence. When the persons sent to reconnoitre came near the place, they could not discover a single horseman there; on which the Mughals entered the village, and inquired of the head-man (mukaddam), who said, that Sher Khán had halted there with a few horsemen; but on seeing the advance of their cavalry had gone off with all speed on the road to Mungír. When the party returned from reconnoitring, it was nearly evening, and on this account they delayed the pursuit of Sher Khán.