* On the day the yellow-faced Rāī sought refuge in the red canopy from fear of the green swords, the great Emperor (May his prosperity continue!) was still crimson with rage. But when he saw the vegetarian Rāī trembling with fear, like the trampled and withered grass under the Imperial tent,—though the Rāī was a rebel, yet the breeze of royal mercy did not allow any hot wind to blow upon him. All the storm of the Emperor’s wrath vented itself against the other rebels. He ordered that wherever a green Hindū was found, he was to be cut down like dry grass. Owing to this stern order, thirty thousand Hindūs were slain in one day. It seemed that the meadows of Khiẓrābād had grown men instead of grass. After the wind of Imperial wrath had uprooted all the muqaddams,* he rid the land of its two colours, and helped the raīyats, the cultivators of the land, among whom no thorn raises its head, to grow. The roots and branches of this azure edifice were assigned to the grand tree of the grand Empire, Khiẓr Khān and given the name of ‘Khiẓrābād’. The red canopy was placed over Khiẓr Khān’s head, like the red heaven over the blue sky. He wore a robe of honour ornamented with jewels, as the sky is inlaid with stars. Two banners, black and green, were raised so high above his threshold that the Saturn and the Sun were struck with melancholy and bile. Further, his court was adorned by a baton (dūrbāsh) of two colours, each of which seemed a tongue from the solar lamp. Thus by scattering rubies and diamonds and roses, the Emperor made the existence of his son prosperous and honourable. Then freed from the affairs of Khiẓr Khān and Khiẓrābād, he took hold of his successful bridle and brought his stirrups from the green meadows (of Khiẓrābād) to Sīrī. * After the 10th of Muḥarram, the banner of the successor of the Prophet (May it rise higher and higher!), having wonderfully predominated over the head of the Hindūs, was ordered to be moved to the City of Islām, Delhī. He (the Emperor) made the killing of all Hindūs, who were out of the pale of Islām, such an obligation on his infidel-smiting sword (ulfiqār) that should Muslim schismatics (rāfiẓīs) in these days even nominally demand their rights, the pure Sunnis would swear in the name this rightful Caliph of God.*

In the second conquest of Deogīr, its Rāī was captured and then set free. * Rāī Rām Deo was a wild horse that had once before come within the halters of the Imperial officers and had been trained with the horse-breaker’s whip, which disciplines a demon (deo). But then the Imperial horsemen had, with the greatest kindness, left him the desired meadows of his ancient Demon-land (Deo-lākh),* and like a well-fed horse he had forgotten the neck-breaking bridle and became headstrong and refractory. The Emperor of the celestial throne sent the Malik Nāīb Bār-bek* (May God strengthen the whip of his authority!) to capture the runaway. With him were sent thirty thousand horse-breakers, scourge in hand, to train the haughty horses of the rebel army. They easily accomplished a march of three hundred farsangs without drawing their bridles and fell on that army of horses who had turned away from their head-stalls. On Saturday, the 19th of Ramaan, 706 A.H. the (Imperial) horsemen were ordered to lead their horses to the charge and to moisten their swords, which were cold as lilies, with blood from necks of the gabrs. The rebel army fled and its scattered ranks were torn by further differences. The Rāi’s son ran away on his horse. Most of the Hindū soldiers, sewn together by shots of arrows and spears, fled to the regions of the under-world. The troops that survived were cut into two parts by the dividing sword. One half of them in excessive fear turned away their horses from the battle-field and fled with the Rāī’s son, for their souls were flying away from their bodies as an unruly horse flies off from the rider’s hands. The rest capitulated and gave up their horses to the Qandkash of the prisoners. The Muslim horsemen being victorious, the Malik-i Sahkash* ordered that such booty as was fit for the troopers should be given back to them, while things only suitable for the Sublime Court —fleet-footed horses that flew over the plain, hill-like elephants (whose feet) wore away the rocks, treasures which surpassed all imagination —were reviewed, recorded and then entrusted to the officers of (the royal) horse and elephant stables and the treasury.

* As the Emperor had ordered the ‘tongue’ of the sword to take as much care as possible of the Rāī and his relatives in the battle-field, the great Commander restricted his efforts to catching the refractory Rām Deo and most of his men alive. But as their heads had wavered from loyalty, first the yoke of Imperial authority, which is supreme over all its rivals, was placed on their criminal necks. Yes, he put (the yoke) so tightly that their jugular veins nearly snapped asunder. But the New Messiah, i.e., the rightly guided Sulān, knew in his forgiving heart that fear of his punishing sword had taken out all life from their bodies; so he blew his spirit into them and brought them to life again. When all these people had regained their life by the blowing of the Sulān’s ‘breath’ (favour) upon them, the Malik Naib brought them to the Baitul Ma‘mūr of Jesus (Delhī), that they may see the life-giving holy spirit with their own eyes. And the holy spirit gave them the good news of an eternal existence. * As none but benevolent images are formed in the mirror of the Second Alexander, therefore in spite of the signs of rebellion he had seen in Rām Deo, he took the Rāī under the ramparts of his protection and forgiveness and considered the inverted images, which appeared in the latter’s rusty iron heart, the refraction of a worthless looking-glass. And he raised the Rāī to such a high dignity, that owing to the strength of his good fortune, his face was never for a single moment away from the mirror on the knees (of the Second Alexander). The Rāī was indeed fortunate when the Hindī sword of the Emperor became a breast-plate for the protection of his honour. An order (sharf-nāma) of Alexander also made this clear. When avenging fate ceased to hate the rebellion of the Hindū, the sword of the Alexander turned into a mirror before his eyes. For full six months the fortunate Rāī remained in the rays of Imperial favour, as the crescent bends its back in the service of the Sun; day by day his honour and dignity increased, till in the course of time he attained to the orbit of his prosperity like the full moon. The Sun of the Empire honoured him with a blue canopy, and arrayed in all pomp, he moved to his own permanent constellation. May God protect the Sulān, for he sustains his subjects, like the moon, with his benevolent rays.*

Account of the conquest of Siwāna, which became Khairābād, by the Imperial sword (May it be preserved for ever!). * When the lions of the august threshold had subdued all surrounding animals with their powerful strokes, so that for five hundred farsangs from the royal garden no tiger was left, which the lions of the Imperial army need trouble their claws about, the Imperial horseman became tired of the inactivity and wished to let his swift-footed horses wander at will for a few days in the hunting-field. On Wednesday, the 11th Muḥarram, 710 A.H. the standards of the army were moved (out of Delhī) for the campaign; and they shook as the heart of a wild beast beats when there is a sheep in the forest. * It is the custom of the world-conqueror not to return from any of his flights without reducing the fort and overpowering its possessor. He raised his wings to fly from Imperial Delhī to Siwāna, a distance of one hundred farsangs, and besieged that fort which was an asylum of wild robbers. Upon the hill he saw a fort so high that the eagle could not reach its summit in ten flights. In it sat a gabr, named Satal Deo, like the Sīmurgh* on the Caucasus. Several thousand other gabrs sat on the top of the hill, like so many mountain-vultures, ready to have themselves torn. Like stone-eating birds they opened their mouths and waited till the magẖrabī-stones began to fly to them from every side. Then some of them fell down like sparrows and their gizzards were broken into atoms, while others fluttered their wings and feet and gave up the ghost. The men of the army threw up their hats to catch these household birds and cut them to pieces. How long could the game continue?* Towards the east the Sun of the Earth* (May God elevate him to the constellation of the Lion!) sat on a throne with lion’s feet and with tiger’s eyes engraved over it. He ordered the swordsmen of the right wing to attack the southern side of the fort, while the lions of the left wing attacked it from the north. The manjanīqs on the west were entrusted to Malik Kamāluddīn Gurg (the wolf); for he excelled in killing lions as much as the wolf excels in killing sheep. The magẖrabīs under the command of the ‘wolf’ made a cave in the hill with every shot. Finally, the head of the pāshīb reached the summit of the hill. By the order of the Emperor, the heroes of the army marched over the elephantine pāshīb and fell on the animals within the fort. But as the besieged were brave and haughty, they did not fly though their heads were cut into pieces. Those who attempted to fly were chased and caught. Some were sent to sleep like hares with strokes of the hunter’s spear; others were ground down to flour under the magẖrabī stones. The brave warriors of the (Imperial) army redoubled their shots at their enemies of māsh* to grind down the latter between two stones for their bread at dinner; others they minced into meat and gave a feast to animals of all kinds. On that day of battle, from the appearance of the false dawn to the last flicker of light the infidels were slain and streams of blood were made to flow. * Some Hindū birds, with many deceptions, fled away from the battle with their leader; before the Mussalmāns could catch them, they sprang up from their nests and tried to fly to Jālore. But the swift-footed servants of the Emperor got news of this and laid an ambush for them. Some they prevented from proceeding further; others they slew, till the wild, black crow of darkness assumed a white colour, i.e. the night had been succeeded by the morning. On the morning on Tuesday, the 23rd Rabīul Awwal, the dead body of Satal Deo was brought before the lions of the Imperial threshold. People were struck with wonder at the grandeur of the Gurg (wolf) and the terrific strength of his arrow-shot.

The campaign against the wild animals being over, the intrepid Emperor ordered his lion-hearted slave, Kamāluddīn Gurg, to hunt the beasts of the forest, and was confident that if the clouds rained sharp arrows instead of drops of water, the ‘wolf’ would not raise up his shield over his head, for he had known many such showers. The just protector of his subjects entrusted the cattle to the ‘wolf’, in order that he may guard the young she-goats from the thorns of the territory. In a single hunting excursion such a famous victory befell the Emperor. He moved his standard towards the ‘Platform of the Lions’ * (chautra-i shīrān) and the crescent banner was brought to the ‘Constellation of the Lion (Delhī)’.*