CHAPTER VIII.
RETURN OF THE SHĀHINSHĀH'S CORTÉGE TO AGRA AFTER THE CONQUEST
OF GUJRAT.

When the Shāhinshāh's sublime genius had done with the conquest of this extensive country, and had punished the haughty and presumptuous, and had rewarded the loyal, and had arranged for the administration of the country he, after celebrating the festival of the Īd,* proceeded on the day of Ardibihist 3 Ardibihisht, Divine month, corresponding to Monday 10 Ẕī ul-ḥajj, 13 April 1573, by way of Pattan and Jālaur towards the capital. When the standards of fortune reached Sidhpūr* he renewed his instructions to the Khān A'aam. Especially did he exhort him to be active-minded and of wide capacity, and to overlook men's errors, and to accept the excuses of the faulty, and to proceed with great consideration in the disposal of disputes, and to treat impartially friends and foes. On the same day he graciously received and treated with favours the officers who had fiefs in that part of the country, and then allowed them to depart. Rajah 'Ali Khān too was received with princely favours and then returned to Khāndesh. Moaffar Khān received the government of the province of Mālwa and was sent there. Mān Singh 34 Shāh Qulī Khān Maḥram, Murād Khān, Muḥammad Qulī Khān, Saiyid 'Abdullah, Jagannāth, Rajah Gopāl,* Bahādur Khān, Lashkar Khān, Jalāl Khān, Bhoj* and a number of others were ordered to hasten to Dūngarpūr, by way of Īdar, and from there to come on to the capi­tal. The Rānā and other zamindars* of the neighbourhood were to be treated with princely favours and to be brought to do homage, and the disobedient were to be punished.

When the world-conquering armies had been deputed, the Shāhinshāh proceeded stage by stage. On the day that he reached Sirohī, Mādhū* Singh and a number of men were sent to fetch that nursling of fortune's garden, Shahzāda Sulān Daniel, who had been conveyed from Ajmīr to Amber, in order that he might be brought back to Ajmīr, and might come under the shadow of the Presence. In order to do honour to Rajah Bhagwān Dās, his auspicious sister,* who held high rank in the imperial harem, was sent off in order that she might be present at the mourning for Bhūpat, who had fallen in the battle of Sarnāl.

When H.M. reached Sirohī, a letter came from the Punjab officers announcing that Ibrāhīm Ḥusain M. had gone there with evil intentions, and that he had been properly punished and made a prisoner, and that mankind had thus been rescued from the flames of his sedition. The short account of this Providential help is as follows: Ibrāhīm Ḥusain M., who had rebelled against the spiritual and material lord, had been defeated and become a vagabond and had joined his brothers in Īdar. The Shāhinshāh's fortune had pro­duced dissension among them, as has already been related, and he had gone off to the metropolitan province, taking with him his younger brother Maś'aūd M. He had come by Jālaur and Jodhpūr to Nāgor. Farrukh Khān, the son of the Khān Kilān, had been appointed to the command there, and he undertook the defence of the town. The Mīrzā proceeded to invest it, and matters were almost past remedy when Rai Raisingh, Mīrak Kolābī, Muḥammad Ḥusain Shaikh, and a number of others whom H.M. had left in Jodhpūr when he went to conquer Gujrat, as well as Rai Rām, the son of Māldeo, who held Sūjat as his fief, and Naqib Khān, Mīr* Ghiāu-d-dīn 'Alī, and a number of men who had bound on the dress of service and were on their way to Gujrat, joined together and marched in pursuit of the Mīrzā. When 35 they came near, he withdrew from the siege and went on faster. On the day of Sarosh 17 Dai, Divine month, corresponding to Monday, 3 Ramẓān, 7th January, 1573, the loyalists arrived at Nāgor, and Far­rukh Khān joined them. The officers were doubtful about pursuing the Mīrza, but at length, on the urgency of Rai Rai Singh, they became all of one accord and set off next day in pursuit. At the end of the day, near a village called Kahntonī,* and which is a dependancy of Nāgor, they came up with Ibrāhīm Ḥusain M. As it was night they were obliged to draw up their forces and halt. Rai Rai Singh held the centre with his followers. Rai Rām held the right wing, and Mirak Khān Kolābī, Muḥammad Ḥusain Shaikh, Farrukh Khān, Naqīb Khān, I'tibār Khān, 'Alī Cūlāq, Muḥammad Ḥusain Jālabān, and Mīr Qubu-d-dīn held the left wing. It happened that the tanks in that neighbourhood were in the possession of the enemy. When a watch of the night had passed the men grew thirsty, and a party of the Moghuls rescued one of the tanks. The Mīrzā divided his force into three bands, and made an attack upon the imperialists. They began by engaging the advance-guard of Rai Rām, and they had gained an advantage when Rai Rām came in person and drove them off. Ibrāhīm Ḥusain M. detached a body of his own men and sent them against the Moghul officers. Gallant men advanced from the latter force and engaged in battle. The Mīrzā became aware of the defeat of his own men, attacked in person, and Mīrak Khān Kolābī distin­guished himself. But the force was nearly wavering when Rai Rai Singh came to its assistance. Ibrāhīm Ḥusain M. could not with­stand this onset and turned and fled. Most of the imperialists escaped injury, but Naqīb Khān was wounded by an arrow. He how­ever recovered. The victorious officers had regard to its being night and did not quit the field. That night a great misfortune befel the Mīrzā. His horse fell from the stroke of an arrow and he had to run some way on foot. Then one of his servants came up, and he got upon his horse, and fled with a few men. If the officers had exerted themselves next day, he would have fallen into their hands. But they were satisfied with their victory and all went off to their fiefs. The wretch went on towards Delhi. Raja Bihārī Mal, who was in the capital, sent Khangār* and a body of troops to Delhi, and all the jāgirdārs who were not in this force assembled at Delhi. The inauspicious one (Ibrāhīm) hastened off to Sambal* when he heard of 36 the arrival of those troops, and there made some preparations. Ḥusain Khān,* who was in Patialī,* got together some jāgirdārs and others. Just then the news came of the taking of Surat and of the march of H.M. the Shāhinshāh's army. Ibrāhīm was obliged to go to the Panjab. The Khān Jahān and the other Panjab officials were engaged in taking Nagarkot, and Ibrāhīm thought he would find the place empty and be successful, or else turn to Gujrat by way of Sind. For these reasons he went off from Sambal to the Panjab. Wherever he went he did not fail to exercise oppression and misconduct.

Ḥusain Qulī Khān in accordance with the sacred orders sent a letter of advice to the men who were in the fort of Nagarkot, but they did not hearken to his counsels. The officers marched and besieged the place. When Rajah Jai Cand was going to court he, out of fore­thought, committed his son Badī Cand, who was of tender age, to the charge of Rajah Gobind Jesawāl.* Meanwhile the Rajah (Jai Cand) returned to the fort and proceeded to defend it. The work of the siege was nearly ended when the news came of lbrāhīm Ḥusain M.'s attack on the Panjab. When the loyal officers heard of this they held a consultation. Muḥibb 'Ali Khān, M. Yūsuf Khān, Kharram Khān, Fattū and a number of others were of opinion that this affair should be settled by a peace, and that they should hasten from this hill-country to the centre of the province, and take precautionary measures before the rebel should arrive. The Khān Jahān and another party took a narrower* view of the situation. As they had worked hard, and the fort had been nearly reduced to extremities, they were not willing to make peace. The officers said, “The measure of the gain or loss from the taking or not taking the fort is a known quantity, but the disturbance caused by this sedition-monger is a very weighty matter.” The Khān Jahān said, “I will make peace on this condition, that a proceeding be drawn up, descriptive of the character of the consultation, and that each person put his seal to it, so that if this withdrawal does not please H.M. the officers* will escape responsibility.” The officers delivered a writing and knocked at the door of peace. The Rajah regarded this as a great deliverance and was pleased. The peace was founded on four conditions: 1st.—The Rajah should send his daughter to the sacred harem. 2nd.—He should pay a suitable tribute. 3rd.—He should send with the officers 37 responsible persons from among his sons and other relatives, so that if the king did not approve of the peace, those men should remain until the delivery of the fort. 4th.—As this province had been given to Rajah Bīrbar as his fief a large sum of money should be assured to him. The Rajah agreed to all four conditions. The Khān Jahān added a fifth condition, viz., that Rajah Gōpī Cand should come and pay his respects, and he said that in order to satisfy the Rajah, some of M. Yūsuf Khān's brothers would come into the fort until the Rajah returned. Or else M. Yūsuf Khān and Kharram Khān would come and stay in the fort. At last he sent M. Yūsuf Khān's brothers and the Rajah took them with him and came into the camp. He paid his respects to the Khān Jahān and took leave. The victorious army addressed itself to putting down the Mīrzā. No long time had elapsed when the Rajah returned and from spirit of loyalty said, “At this time when you are going against the foe, why should I go back to my house?” So with great joy he joined the army of fortune.