Towards the end of the month Zí-qa'dah* of the aforementioned year Aḥmadábád became the place of the imperial residence. The Emperor stayed in that place ten days, and having conferred the government of Aḥmadábád on A'zam Khán, and having given the other cities to the other Amírs of the Atgah-clan,* and having pre­sented Muzaffar Khán with two and a half cosses as jágír, and having given away Sárangpúr, and Ujjain, and the whole of the district of Málwah, on the day of the Festival of Qorbán he march­ed out from Aḥmadábád, and in the month Muḥarram* of the year nine hundred and eighty-one (981), moving from station to station, arrived at Ajmír. At this place he received a letter from Sha'íd Khán containing news of the capture of Mirzá Ibráhím, and of his departure from a world full of trouble and degradation. And on the 2nd of Çafar* in this year the metropolis was once more glorified and adorned by the return of His Imperial Majesty.

The following is a compendium of the adventures of Ibráhím Ḥusain Mirzá. He went first from Gujrát to Mírat'h with the in­tention of stirring up rebellion and revolt in that kingdom. He plundered a caravan which was going to Ágrah (P. 150), and came to Nágór, in which place Farrukh Khán, son of Khán-i Kalán, shut himself up. The Mirzá plundered some of the houses in the suburbs, and having stayed there one day went off to Narnoul. When he had arrived within 20 cosses of Narnoul it happened that Ráí Rám and Ráí Singh, who had been entrusted with guarding the road to Gujrát, taking about 1,000 horsemen with them set off by forced marches from Jodhpúr to Nágór. Then Farrukh Khán set off in their company in pursuit of the Mirzá, and alighted at K'hatoulí. The Mirzá fled without leaving any mark or trace, and so got off. When the Musalmáns in the camp were keeping the fast, they halted by the side of a great tank in that neighbourhood with the intention of breaking fast, then the Mirzá, having gone some distance and returned, on the second night of the blessed month of Ramzán* in the year nine hundred and eighty (980) taking them quite unawares made a night-attack on them, and attacking them suddenly on both flanks rained a shower of arrows upon them. They on their side seized their shields and did not waver, but fought manfully. And he, since he could not prevail, and his men did not amount to 700, found himself in difficulties, and retreated. In that dark night many of his soldiers becoming scattered were taken prisoners in the villages and wildernesses, and were put to death on the spot where they were taken. Of this number a 100 men fell into the hands of Farrukh Khán, and became food for the sword. And others were wounded and after a hundred troubles managed to reach the Mirzá. But through the disgracefulness of their wicked enterprise their affairs nowhere prospered. So the Mirzá with 300 men, ravaging the country as he went, crossed the rivers Ganges and Jumna, and came to the pargana of A'zampúr, which had formerly been his jágír. He thought that, since Sambhal was in its rear, a fortress like Mount Kumáún, and in front a moat like the Ganges, if he were to take refuge there and settle himself in that place, many men would return to him (P. 151). But this idea of his was not realized, and the imperial Amírs hemmed him in on every side, and the mean­ing of the [Arabic saying] “Expectancy hinders advance”* became manifest.

Ḥusain Khán* Mahdí Qásim Khání at that time, before the pub­lication of the news concerning Ibráhím Ḥusain Mirzá and his going towards Dihlí, went to Kánt-u-Golah, which was his jágír, with the intention of quelling the insurgents of Badáún and Patyálí. Meanwhile Makhdúm-ul-mulk Múláná 'Abd-ulláh Sulṭánpúrí, and Rájah Bahár Mal, who was wakíl and absolute wazír, wrote a letter to him from Fatḥpúr informing him, that Ibráhím Ḥusain Mirzá having suffered defeat on two occasions had arrived in the vicinity of Dihlí, and that, since the Emperor was absent from the Capital, his lordship would do well to hasten thither as quickly as possible. In accordance with this request he proceeded in that direction, but when he had arrived on his march at the village of Oudh, in the pargana of Jalésah,* news came in that Rájah Awésar, who had continually infested the roads since the accession of the Emperor, and had kept up rebellion in the vicinity of Ágrah, had now become a regular brigand. Moreover that he had already had many severe encounters, and obstinately fought skirmishes with some of the renowned Amírs, and had slain many excellent men, and was now hidden in the jungle of the village of Nouráhí in the pargana of Jalésah. At midday on the 15th of the blessed month of Ramzán* in the aforesaid year, when the men were off their guard and march­ing in loose order, and most of them were fasting, suddenly the rattle of musketry and arrows burst on them, and they found them­selves engaged in a hot skirmish. The Rájah with the help of the villagers* had erected crows'-nests in the trees, and from that vantage-ground many useful men became marks* for arrows and musket-balls, and some were martyred, and others were wounded. At the very beginning of the battle-moil (P. 152) a musket-ball struck Ḥusain Khán below the knee, glanced off and struck his saddle and spent itself on the head of his horse. He became faint and nearly fell from his saddle, but with great presence of mind he grasped the pommel of his saddle and kept his seat. I threw water on his face. Those who were around him and in front thought that it was perhaps weakness caused by fasting, but I seized his bridle wishing to draw him under the shelter of a tree, where he might be safe from the shower of arrows. When there he opened his eyes and contrary to his usual custom shot a glance of anger at me, and querulously made signs as much as to say, “What are you holding my reins for? You had better go down into the battle.” So they left him in that state and went down and joined in the fray. Such confusion then raged, and so many men were killed on both sides, that imagination were too weak to number them. Eventually, in accordance with [the promise] “Al-Islám shall conquer, and not be conquered,” towards evening the breeze of victory blew to the side of the small handful of religious warriors, and the infidels company by company and crowd by crowd took to flight, but not before our soldiers were so tired that they could scarcely wield a sword or shoot an arrow. In that thick forest they became so commingled, that friend could not be distinguished from foe, and yet through weakness they could not make an end of one another. Some of the servants of God showed such fortitude as to merit the excellence both of waging a holy war, and also of maintaining a strict fast. But I on the contrary was so weak, that I took a single draught of water to moisten my throat, for want of which some gave up the ghost, and several ex­cellent friends of mine became martyrs:—

“Never does Heaven regard my affair,
Nor make me happy in granting me a single wish.
It moistens not my lip with a drop of water,
Except it rain my eye-blood on my bosom.”

After this victory Ḥusain Khán returned by forced marches to Kánt-u-Golah, and strengthened those places. At the same time Ibráhim Ḥusain Mirzá, arrived in the neighbourhood of the pargạna of Lak'hnou, which is (P. 153) fifteen cosses from Sambhal.*

In spite of that wound [Ḥusain Khán] riding in a litter advanced to Báns Barélí in order to force the Mirzá into action, and from that place he reached Sambhal in one day by a forced march. When the Mirzá became assured of this bold stroke of his, he did not see the advantage of fighting, but retreated by way of Amrohah, in the neighbourhood of Lak'hnou, and put a distance of fourteen cosses between us and him. But, if he had attacked Ḥusain Khán in his wounded state, God knows what would have been the issue! It was one of the mistaken pieces of policy on the part of the Mirzá, that he did not attack Ḥusain Khán when he was in this weak state. Mu'ín-ud-dín Khán Farankhúdí, governor of Sambhal, with a con­siderable force, and various other Amírs, jágír-holders of the neigh­bourhood, who had taken refuge in the fortress, when they heard at midnight the roll of the drums of Ḥusain Khán, thought that the Mirzá was upon them, and were quite overcome with fear. But, when from the extremity of the fort the cry arose that it was Ḥusain Khán coming to their assistance, they came out joyfully to meet him. The next day they came to the abode of Shaikh Fatḥ-ulláh Tarín,* who was one of the renowned deputies of Shaikh-ul-islám Fatḥpúrí, and sat in council and considered it advisable that all of them together with Tolak Khán Qúchín* and Bég Núrín Khán and Raḥmán Qulí Khán and Kákar 'Alí Khán and the other Amírs of the jágír of the neighbourhood of Dihlí, who were come to repulse the Mirzá, should wait for us in the pargana of Áhár on the bank of the river Ganges, and that when a junction should have been effected, we should carry out whatever plans they might fix upon. Ḥusain Khán exclaimed “Good God! The Mirzá came to this neighbourhood with a small party of horse, while you with an army twice or four times as large as his (P. 154) were at the fortress of Sambhal; and you twenty or thirty Amírs, all old sol­diers too, with a large force are so dismayed that you would shut yourselves up in the fortress of Áhár, which is a regular rat-hole. This will give occasion to the Mirzá to become bold and to ravage the imperial territories. Now there are two courses open to us, one of which we must follow. Either you must cross the Ganges, and under cover of that old fortress must intercept the Mirzá, and prevent his getting over the Ganges. I will follow up in his rear, and we shall see what will happen. Or I will hasten and cross the Ganges and head the Mirzá, while you pursue him. This is our duty as loyal subjects.” But they could not agree upon any course until Ḥusain Khán, driven by necessity, went off in haste with the horsemen he had to the Amírs at Áhár, and inveighed loudly against their shutting themselves up in that fortress. He brought them out, and in turn held a council with them. “The enemy,” he said, “is enclosed in the heart of the country, and is just like a hare appearing in the midst of a camp, if you move briskly we shall be able to make a fine coup and take him alive, and the glory of the victory will be yours.” They replied: “In accordance with the written instructions of Makhdúm-ul-mulk and Rájah Bahár Mal we have driven the Mirzá out of the neighbourhood of Dihlí, and compelled him to make for Sambhal. Now Mu'ín-ud-dín Aḥmad Khán, commandant of that district, and the jágír-holders of that neighbourhood are responsible for the matter. But we are merely ordered to defend Dihlí, and not to wage a war against the Mirzá, a course in which various dangers are to be dreaded.* Meanwhile intelligence arrived that the Mirzá had plundered Amrohah, and having crossed the Ganges at the ford of Choubálah was marching rapidly on Láhór. Then Ḥusain Khán, being convinced of lack of loyalty on the part of the Amírs, (P. 155) hastily separated himself from them, and went by forced marches to Gaḍha Muktésar in order to capture the Mirzá:—