CHAPTER XXXI.
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF M. ḤAIDAR.

The story of M. Ḥaidar is as follows:—When he had got assistance from his Majesty Jahānbānī, he proceeded towards Kashmīr, as already related. When he got to Naushahr,* the officers whose names have already been given, loyally came forward and did hom­age, and again showed him how he could enter Kashmīr and take possession of it. The Mīrzā advanced by the passes in reliance on the Divine aid and the royal fortune. Meanwhile a schism occurred in the Emperor's army. As has been already stated, Khwāja Kilān Beg either from his own inclination or at the instance of M. Kāmrān, aban­doned the enterprise and joined M. Kāmrān, while Muaffar Tūpcī* went off to the Sārang* hills. None remained with M. Ḥaidar save a few old servants and the troops whom his Majesty Jahānbānī had deputed to his assistance. But as there was much strife and dissension and confu­sion and anarchy in Kashmīr, he was warmly supported by the eager­ness of the Kashmīrīs, and on 22nd Rajab, 947 (22nd November, 1540), he entered by the pass of Pūnc* and conquered Kashmīr without a battle or a struggle. For at that time it had been long without an estab­lished ruler, and the ministers tyrannously held the country in their own possession, and while giving to one of the claimants the name of monarch, themselves exercised the authority. At that period a per­son called Nāzuk Shāh—having a name that was no name* was the reputed sovereign. Under such circumstances in whatever direction there might not be union, or plan, or counsel, or judgment, to that quarter did the affairs of the country drift. It was the winter-quadragesima* and there was heavy snow. When Kācī Cak saw* that M. Ḥaidar was disposed to make himself independent, he, using the craft and perfidy which are indispensable to Kashmīrīs, left Kash­mīr and went before Shēr Khān. For his object in bringing in M. Ḥaidar was his own aggrandisement and when that was not achieved, but when on the contrary things assumed a different shape, he withdrew his hand and entered on another scheme. Ho now tried another course and gave Shēr Khān the sister of Isma‘īl, the son of Muḥam­mad Shāh.* When he had made himself acceptable by this means he took ‘Alāwal Khān,* Ḥasan Khān Sarwānī and others to the number of 2,000 men and came to Kashmīr. Meanwhile Abdāl Mākrī, who was his backer, died of dropsy, and M. Ḥaidar having left his family in Andarkōt,* which is a very strong place, was in a protected posi­tion. The people of Kashmīr all deserted him and but few persons remained with him. He spent three months in the mountain defiles, and then on Monday, 20 Rabī‘u--ānī, 948 (16th August, 1541), a battle took place, and by God's help he gained the victory. Though the enemy, consisting partly of Afghān auxiliaries and partly of faith­less Kashmīrīs was more than 5,000 horse, yet as their action was based on faithlessness and disloyalty, it did not succeed and they were defeated. Many of the enemy were slain, and a party of them were made prisoner. Kashmīr came absolutely into the possession of the Mīrzā, and the Kashmīrī preacher (khaīb) Maulānā Jamālu-d-dīn Muḥammad Yūsuf found the chronogram fatḥ-i-mukarrar (victory repeated=948). Though the use of the word “repeated” (takrār) might be applicable to the present expedition of the Mīrzā, yet as he himself has pointed* out in his history, the reference is to the fact that he once came* to Kashmīr by the pass of Lār, as the agent of Sa‘īd Khān, the ruler of Kāshghar, and got possession of it on 4th Sha‘bān,* 939 (1st March, 1533). But towards the end of Shawwāl of that year, (May 1533), he made peace with the Kashmīr ministers, and with Muḥammad Shāh who was then the nominal ruler. The Shāh's daughter was given in marriage for Iskandar Sulān, the Mīrzā's son,* and the Mīrzā returned by the way he had entered.

When on this (last) occasion a providential victory was gained, and Kashmīr was conquered, he for ten years zealously applied himself to its administration and clothed that charming land, but of desolated* appearance, with cities* and civilization. He sent for artists and craftsmen from all quarters and laboured for its renown and prosperity. Especially was music* in brisk demand and varieties of instruments were introduced. In short, the outward condition of that country, that is, its worldly state, acquired solidity. But owing to the Mīrzā's frigid* and insipid bigotries, the result of imperfect development, the essentials for Kashmīr, viz., unanimity and fidelity, found a bad market. And to this day there is an odour of bigotry about the Kashmīrīs, for there is a powerful influence in association, and especially is a strong impression produced by the ways of princes who are vigorous. It is to be hoped that by the blessing of his Majesty, the king of king's truth and chastity (ḥaqīqat ū ḥaqqānīyat) Kashmīr, spiritual and temporal, may attain unity, and that the articles of worship and religion may become current, unadulterated by hypocrisy and bigotry.

One of the capital and most inauspicious mistakes of the Mīrzā was that in spite of such victory he read the khuba and struck the coin in the name of Nāzuk Shāh after the fashion of the Kāshmīrī ministers. He should have fulfilled his duty of loyalty towards his Majesty Jahānbānī and have impressed the darāhim and danānīr and the pulpit rostra with his Majesty Jahānbānī's sacred name. Apparently he was temporising and was not giving currency to disloyalty, for when Kābul* was taken he honoured himself by having the khuba read in his Majesty Jahānbānī's sacred name.

In 958 (apparently October, 1551) he became, in a night attack by the Kashmīrīs, a traveller to the region of non-existence. The short account of this is as follows:—

The Mīrzā transgressed the law of justice,—dominion's watchman, —and took to living for his own lusts and pleasures. He let fall from his hands prudence and the bearing of burdens, those two arms of felicity. The fraud and seditiousness of the Kashmīrīs which had been subverted by the Mīrzā's skill and sagacity, again stood up and the hypocritical and wicked faction took the road of deceit and in friendly garb did the work of enemies. Their best stroke was the separating his army from him by stratagem, and the scattering of his capable servants. Some were sent towards Tibet, some to Paktī, and some to Rajaurī. ‘Īdī Rīnā and Ḥusain Mākrī, son of Abdāl Mākrī, gained over Khwāja* Ḥājī, the Kashmīrī pedlar (baqqāl), who was the manager of the Mīrzā's affairs. They drew a great many to their side and marched against the Mīrzā. Ghāzī Khān and Malik Daulat Cak also joined them. Near Khānpūr, between Hīrapūr and Srīnagar, which last is the chief city of Kashmīr and the seat of government, they made a night-attack on the Mīrzā. He had approached the quarters of Khwāja Ḥājī to release Qarā* Bahādur, who was a prisoner. Suddenly he lost his life at the hands of Kamāl Dūbī,* though some say one of his own servants unknowingly hit him with an arrow.*