Of the victory gained by the King at Sirhind,* and the flight of the Afghan Emperor, Sekunder Sur. A. H. 962.—A. D. 1555.
The contending armies having continued for nearly a month encamped opposite each other, his Majesty said, “we must employ the same means against the Afghan Emperor that I did against Sultan Behader of Gujerat, that is, to cut off his supplies of grain and other provisions.” In consequence of this determination, Terdy Beg Khan was ordered with his division to effect this measure. He accordingly marched, and having fallen in with a brother of the Emperor Sekunder Sur, slew him, took all his insignia of nobility, and sent them to his Majesty.
After this event the two armies drew up opposite each other; his Majesty retained the command of one division, the second division was led by the Khan Khanan (Lord of Lords), the third by Shah Abu al Mualy, and the fourth by Sekunder Khan, the Uzbeg. The Afghan Emperor considering that the strongest part of our line was that commanded by the Khan Khanan, made a furious attack upon it; but the Khan having thrown up an entrenchment in his front, merely stood on the defensive. During this time his Majesty was employed in prayer, and a report having been brought that the Khan Khanan was killed, he sent off a special messenger to ascertain the truth; and when informed that the report was groundless, returned thanks to God for it. He then ordered Shah Abu al Mualy and Terdy Beg to wheel round the Afghans and make an attack on their rear, while they were engaged in front. By the favour of the Almighty, who in a moment can convert a beggar to a king, and change a king into a beggar, and his Majesty’s good fortune, this manœuvre was skilfully executed, and in a short time the Afghan army took to flight, and his Majesty obtained a decisive victory.
(Here follows a number of verses from the poet Nekhsheby.)
After this victory his Majesty proceeded towards Dehly; but it having been ascertained that the Emperor Sekunder had taken refuge in the northern hills of the Penjab, orders were given to Shah Abu al Mualy to march to Jallindher and watch the motions of the fugitive; but the aforesaid chief not content with literally obeying his orders, afterwards proceeded to Lahore, where he took upon himself the command of the province, thereby superseding the officers left in charge by his Majesty.*
As I had received positive orders from the king to procure intelligence of every thing that was going on, even as far distant as Candahar and Kabul, I therefore sent spies into the camp of the Afghan Emperor, who brought me information that Sekunder having seized upon all the treasure he could find, was recruiting his army by employing a number of archers, and every idle person he could collect, and was encamped in the vicinity of the fortress of Mankut. I, therefore, communicated this information to Shah Abu al Mualy, who having consulted with his chiefs, resolved on marching against the Afghans.
But, as I was aware of the inferiority of our numbers, I conjured the chiefs not to think of moving until provided with (Arabeh) carriages: they listened to my advice, and I immediately ordered a quantity of timber which had been brought for repairing the fort to be sawn up, and made into coarse carriages; I further said, here are a number of old chains will answer for some of the hooks and links, the remainder may be made of raw leather, which in fact is better for fastening the carriages together than iron: in short, we made a number of these carriages sufficient to surround the troops, and prevent the enemy from charging on them. Then the humble servant Jouher, in order to forward his Majesty’s service, procured 300 bows, 300 quivers full of arrows, 300 spears, 250 shields, 50 maunds of gunpowder, and 30 maunds of lead for bullets. I also presented the General Abu al Mualy with a coat of mail, and other equipments, with all of which he was much pleased, and spoke very highly of my useful exertions; he even said, “I did not suppose that you had been a person of so much ability; whenever I shall see the king, I will not fail to recommend you in the strongest manner.” He then distributed the above-mentioned articles to such of the troops as required them.
About this time nearly five hundred Moghul soldiers came from beyond the river Oxus to seek for employment; but as very few of them were armed, the General consulted me what he should do with them; I said, “give each of them a bow and a quiver of arrows, and advance them a small sum of money to support them for a month, by which time the business with the Afghans will be settled.” He took my advice, and having advanced the money to the Moghuls, they joined the army as volunteers.
After this the General advanced by easy marches towards the Emperor Sekunder, and every night surrounded his camp, with the carriages chained or tied together with leathern ropes, or with entrenchments.
It so happened, that during Abu al Mualy’s residence at Lahore, he had frequently talked in a very presumptuous and independent manner, which raised suspicions against him, of which the officers in charge of the district thought proper to acquaint the king, and advised him either to return in person, or to nominate some other General to the command. In pursuance of this information his Majesty immediately appointed the Prince Muhammed Akber* and Byram Khan to command the army against the Emperor Sekunder; in consequence of which, upon their arrival at Sirhind, a number of the chiefs quitted Abu al Mualy’s army and joined the Prince, which of course put an end to the General’s operations against Sekunder, and his own ambitious projects. Abu al Mualy therefore wrote a complaint against these chiefs to the king, in which he mentioned that he had reduced the Afghan Emperor to great straits, and should certainly have captured him, had not the chiefs before mentioned deserted him. He at the same time sent an Arzy (representation) to the Prince and Byram Khan, stating his grievances, and urging them to advance and finish the business, as the enemy were now cooped up at the foot of the hills, but that he should leave the army and return to Lahore.* Byram Khan also informed his Majesty of all these particulars, said he would immediately proceed with the army to the Penjab, but should order Abu al Mualy to return to the royal presence. Having obtained copies of the king’s answers to these petitions, I subjoin them.
To Abu al Mualy he wrote:
“The representation of that fortunate son was duly received, and what you wrote respecting the misconduct of certain chiefs was understood. Please God, when they rejoin me, I will order their conduct to be enquired into, and punish them according to their deserts; do you return to me immediately.”
To the Khan Khanan he wrote:
“Be it known to my faithful Generalissimo Byram Khan, Khan Khanan, that letters have been received from our (adopted) son Abu al Mualy,* stating that he had cleared the country of the enemy; why don’t you advance more quickly to his assistance?”
On the very day that Abu al Mualy received the king’s letter, an ambassador (Aylchy) of the Khan Khanan arrived at Lahore, and said to the General, “you have come here without any good reason, you must proceed immediately to the king;” the General replied, “I will set off instantly; call the other chiefs who came with me.” Ishmael Sultan said, “we have marched fourteen coss this morning, and are much tired; besides, it is now evening, and heavy rain is coming on; if approved, we will set off early in the morning.” This being agreed on, they consulted who was to entertain the Khan Khanan’s ambassador, and determined that Jouher was the proper person, as being one of the officers of Lahore. In consequence, I took the agent to my house, and entertained him in a most hospitable manner. The next morning, accompanied by Abu al Mualy and the other chiefs, he set off to join his Majesty.