It was an invariable practice for the Sultáns of Gujarát to call their children Khán, in addi­tion to their name; and, when these succeeded to the government of the kingdom, they were styled Sultáns. On this account, Ahmad Khán, after the death of Muzaffir Sháh, in the month

The 1st of Bamazán,
Hij. 813,
was 28th Dec.,
A.D. 1410.

of Ramazán, A. Hij. 813, A.D. 1410, took the title of Sultán* Ahmad, when obtaining possession of the throne.

At that time, Modúd,* the cousin of the Sul­tán, son of his uncle Fíroz Khán, and governor of Baroda, having gained over the chiefs of that part to his interests, excited a disturbance. After a battle with the army sent against him, he fled to the fort of Bhroch for refuge. Suc­ceeding this occurrence, he had an interview with the Sultán; who, when returning from that part of the country, having reached the neighbourhood of Yessáwal, determined to extirpate Assa Bhíl, and to found the good city of Ahmadábád, being instigated to do so by Shaikh Ahmad Khattú Ganj Bakhsh.

In the year of the Hijra 814, A.D. 1411-12, he led an army against Ídur; when the Rájá, who had fled from thence, became ashamed of his actions,* and, agreeing to pay a fixed tribute to the Sultán, was pardoned by him.

It must be known that in the time of Alá-ud-dín, the Mohammedan faith was introduced into the country, extending from Nahrwálah Patan, on the west, to Bhroch, on the east: but infidelity was still established in many places. These, however, became purified and enlightened by degrees, through the efforts of the Gujarát kings: and many of them acquired the light of the faith, through the labours of Ahmad Sháh. Wherefore, being desirous of carrying on a reli­gious war against the infidels of Girnar, which is a fort in the district of Sorath, he ordered an army to be sent against it in A. Hij. 817, A.D. 1414-15; when the Mandalik Rájá,* giving the army battle, sustained a defeat, and took refuge in the fort of Baroda. From this time, it is said the fort of Júnagarh, in the neighbourhood of the mountain of Girnar, fell into the possession of the Sultán; but the Mohammedan faith was not extended over the whole of the country at the time; although the zamíndárs of that part, becoming dependent, paid the tribute.

Subsequently to this, in the month of Jumádi-ul-awal,

Hij. 818. began
9th July,
A.D. 1415.

A. Hij. 818, A.D. 1415-16, he destroyed the Hindú temple of Sidhpúr, and, during the year 819, A.D. 1416-17, carried an army against the town of Dhar, in Málwa.

31st Oct. 1418.

On the first of Zú-l-kadah, A. Hij. 821, A.D. 1418, having attacked the country about Songarh,* he caused a mosque to be built in the

20th March, 1419.

fort there; and on the 22d of Safar, 822, A.D. 1419, having appointed a kází and a preacher to the mosque, he there established the Mohammedan faith. In that same year he rebuilt the fortified wall at the town of Mangní, a dependancy of Songarh, and stationed a party of troops there for the protection of the country; but, in consequence of a letter* received from his uncle, Shams Khán Dindání, who was the ruler of Nagore, he soon after returned from thence. They also relate, that at this time, Shams Khán's four front teeth became elongated, from which he was called Dindání.

In the year of the Hijra 823, Ahmad Sháh, hav­ing returned to settle the boundaries of his own country, dispersed the refractory, and, destroying the Hindú temples, built mosques in their place. Having also founded forts in such places, he left garrisons in them, among which may be mentioned the fort at the town of Jinúr, in the Parganah of Barrah,* and that of Seopúr. After this, he established the market-town of Dahmod, among the mountains: where he erected a for­tification. After this, the fort of Karieh, built in A. Hij. 704, A.D. 1304, by order of Alp Khán, who governed the country for Alá-ud-dín Khiljí, was now repaired, and named Sultánábád.

A. Hij. 830,
began Nov. 2,
A.D. 1426.