RĀNA SANKA, on his part, advanced at the head of countless battalions, which reached a total of two lakhs calculated in the Indian fashion, according to which a lakh is equivalent to a hundred thousand, and a hundred lakhs equal a kror. The forces of his dominions, on a general estimate, could not have been less than ten krors. Of his hundred thousand horsemen only about a third had previously given him proofs of their fidelity. The greater number, which consisted of an undisciplined rabble, had never assisted him in any war, and had not even acknowledged him as their suzerain. On this occasion, however, they had made common cause with him and obeyed his orders. The troops that were directly under his command were disposed in the following manner: Salāh ud dīn, Governor of Raisen and Sārangpūr, was in possession of a territory that could furnish 30,000 horsemen; Rāwal Udai Singh Nāgari had 12,000 horsemen; Hasan Khan Mewāti, Governor of Mewāt, 12,000; Bahādur Hemladuri, 4,000; Sattervi Kachji, 6,000; the Governor of Barmul, Parm-Deo, and Mirta, 4,000; Birsingh Deo Jehān, 4,000; Mahmūd Khan, son of Sultan Sikander, who, although he was not in possession of any fief, was so fond of playing the general that he maintained at his own expense a corps of 12,000 horsemen; in short the forces of the rebels attained a total of 200,000 men. As soon as I became aware of their approach, I put into execution the plan of action that I had devised in accordance with the arrangement I had always followed. I posted my household troops in the centre with Chīn Timūr Sultan, Mirza Suleimān, Khwāja Dost Khand, Yunis Ali, Shah Mansūr Birlās, Darwish Muhammed Sārbān, Abdullah Kitābdār, Dost Ishīk Agha, and other Amīrs on the right, and on the left, Sultan Behā ud dīn, Alā ud dīn, son of Bahlol Lodi, Sheikh Zain Khwāfi, Muhibb Ali, son of Nizām ud dīn Khalīfeh, Tardi Beg, the younger brother of Kūch Beg, and his son Sher Afgan, Arāish Khan, Khwāja Hosain, and others among my officers. I stationed myself on the right wing, keeping under my immediate command several of the Amīrs of Hindustān, such as Khani Khānān, Dilāvar Khan, Malik Dād Karrāni, and Sheikh Gūren. On the right of this wing were disposed Kāsim Hosain Sultan, Ahmed Yūsuf Oghlān, Hindu Beg Kūchīn, Khusru Kokaltāsh, Kavvām Beg Urdu Shah, Wali Khāzin Kara-Kūzi, Mir Kuli Sīstāni, Khwāja Pahlwān Badakhshi, Abdul Shakūr, the younger brother of Malik Kāsim Bāba Kachka, and other notables among the Mongols. On the left of the same wing were posted Mir Hameh, Muhammedi Kokultāsh, Khwājagi Asad, and some other officers. On the left wing—that post of good omen—the following were stationed, armed for the fight: Mahdi Khwāja, Muhammed Sultan Mirza, ’Ādil Sultan, son of Mahdi Sultan, Abdul Azīz Mir Akhor, Muhammed Jang Jang, Kūtluk Kadam Karāwul, Shah Hosain Bārgi, Jān Beg Atkeh; among the Amīrs of Hindustān were Jalāl Khan, and Kamāl Khan, sons of Sultan Alā ud dīn; Ali Khan Sheikh-zādehFermūli, Nizām Khan of Biāna, Mūmin Atkeh, Rustam Turkomān, all officers of my household, and many other chivalrous warriors. According to my instructions Nizām ud dīn Ali Khalīfah, carrying out the practice that is in vogue among the Western Turks, fastened the gun carriages together by means of chains to form an intrenchment (barrier) where the matchlock men and gunners, who were posted in the front line of the army, might take cover. I directed Sultan Muhammed Bakhshi to stay close to me, so that he might be able to communicate my orders, as circumstances might suggest, to the adjutants and aides-de-camp for conveyance to the commanders. As soon as the arrangements for the disposition of the army had been completed, the commanders and grandees, each followed by his own adherents, proceeded to take up their respective positions. Then I issued orders prohibiting anyone whomsoever from leaving his post, and warning every one, no matter how high placed a personage he might be, against engaging without formal instructions.
More than three hours of the day had already passed (9.30 a.m.) when the battle between the right and left wings (of the opposing armies) burst forth with such fury that the earth trembled and the whole world resounded (with the clang of arms). The enemy moving to our right made a desperate charge against Khusru Kokultāsh, Malik Kāsim, and Bāba Kachka. I immediately ordered Chīn Timūr Sultan to proceed to their assistance. He attacked the assailants with supreme bravery and, driving them before him, threw their ranks into confusion, and routed the centre of the Hindu army. So the reward for this victory was assigned to him without dispute. According to my orders Mustafa Rūmi had taken the yoked artillery in front of our centre, and by the fire of his musketry and culverins had thrown the army of the enemy into such disorder that the hearts of our brave troops were filled with fresh courage, while the bodies of a large number of the enemy were rolled in the dust of humiliation, and scattered to the winds of destruction. But at this juncture the main body of Rāna Sanka’s army arrived from behind in good order. On my side, having collected the pick of my men, I divided them into several corps, which I sent forward in successive detachments to the assistance of our troops. At first I sent Kāsim Hosain Sultan, and Ahmed Yūnas Kavvām Beg; next after that Hindu Beg Kūchīn; then Muhammed Kokultāsh and Khwājagi Asad; then Yūnas ´Ali, Shah Mansūr Barlās, and Abdullah Kitābdār, followed immediately after by Dost Ishik Agha and Muhammed Khalīl Akhtah Begi. The right wing of the enemy repeatedly charged our left wing, but on each occasion my brave troops, loyal in heart, nailed to the earth with shots of their arrows a large number of their assailants, and despatched to hell many others by striking them with their swords and daggers. Mūmin Atkeh, Rustam Turkomān, Mulla Muhammed, ´Ali Atkeh, Muhammed Sultan Mirza, ’Ādil Sultan, Abdul Azīz Mir Akhor, Kūtlak Kadam Karāwul, Muhammed Ali Jang Jang, Shah Hosain Bārgi, Moghal Ganji fought with vigour and firmness. Khwāja Hasan Divān with those under his orders, also came to their assistance. All our soldiers, jeopardizing their own lives and sacrificing those of the infidels, made the lightnings of their vengeance flash afar at the expense of the foe, although the fight was protracted owing to their immense number. My household troops had meanwhile remained behind the gun carriages like chained lions. I now ordered them to deliver an attack from the right and left of the centre (main body of the army) as soon as the matchlock men had been posted in the middle. These intrepid warriors, like lions which, gnawing their fetters, had in the end succeeded in severing them, were no sooner freed from restraint, and at liberty to act, than, flinging themselves on the enemy’s squadrons, they gave full play to their pent-up energy.
In front of the centre ´Ali Kuli, the wonder of his age, at the head of his men, continued to rain fire on the enemy from his matchlocks and guns. Coming to the conclusion, however, that their defeat had been unduly delayed, I gave orders that the gun carriages should be moved forward from the centre, and I personally pushed on in front. On seeing this, the whole army advanced all along the line from the right wing to the left, and charged the infidels. At this juncture the fight waxed so furious that our right and left wings swept away and drove back in confusion the enemy’s right and left wings. The enemy having resolved to sacrifice their lives dearly, made a desperate attack on our right and left wings and nearly reached the spot where I was stationed. Thanks, however, to the strength of our position, the assailants were unable to withstand us, and were constrained to take to flight. The greater part of them perished and went to hell, and the remainder, becoming a prey to confusion, were scattered about the plain like grains of sand. Hasan Khan Mewāti, who had been hit by a matchlock ball, was brought down and killed. Many persons of note among the infidels, such as Rawal Udai Singh, Mānikchand Chauhān, Rai Chanderbhān, Dilbes Rai, Gangūr, and Gūren Singh, blocked with their corpses the road of destruction, while thousands of the baser sort were trampled under our horses’ hoofs.
[N.B.—I have thought it advisable to omit the portions of the ‘Fragment’ that deal with the events which preceded and followed the actual battle, as they do not differ materially from the account given in the Memoirs.]