Account of his Majesty’s expedition to Gujerat, and the conquest of that province. A. H. 940.—A. D. 1533.

When the royal army approached the fortress of Chêtûr on its way to Gujerãt, a letter was received from Sultãn Behãder of Gujerãt representing that he had laid siege to Chêtûr, and hoped very shortly to subdne the Infidels and exalt the fame of the Mussulman faith, and therefore hoped his Majesty would not interfere.

The King, from his attachment to the true faith and his heroical spirit, complied with the request; and having halted his troops waited till the fort was taken, after which Sultãn Behâder having returned to his own dominions, his Majesty then continued his march till he reached the village of Mury, a dependency of the district of Burhânpûr.

Here he was opposed by the army of Sultan Behader; on which his Majesty consulted with his chiefs how he should fight the enemy; each of the generals gave his opinion according to the best of his ability; at length the King issued orders that his troops should surround the army of the Sultan, and cut off all their supplies; in consequence of this determination several of the Moghul chieftains were detached, and ordered to act as Cossacs, by preventing any grain or other provisions from enter­ing the enemy’s camp: this mode of warfare continued for nearly three months, when provisions became so scarce that the enemy were obliged to live on horse-flesh, and suffered great distress; during this time skirmishes took place daily between the advanced parties.

One night a dreadful noise and tumult was heard in the enemy’s camp; soon after which Ala Kuly, the chief engineer, came to his Majesty’s tent door, and when questioned respecting the cause of the uproar, represented that, he supposed the enemy were retreating, and that Rûmy Khân, the comman­dant of their artillery, had burst his two large guns, called Lyly and Mujenûn; during this conversation a person arrived from the enemy’s camp, and informed his Majesty that Sultân Behâder with his army had taken flight, on which his Majesty returned thanks to the Almighty. The King then mounted his horse and pursued the Sultân, but on his way was joined by Rûmy Khân, who, having deserted from the enemy, came and offered his services.

Intelligence having been brought that Sultan Behader had taken refuge in the fortress of Mundû, in the province of Malwa, the victorious army pro­ceeded towards that place, and laid siege to the fort; after some time the Sultân again made his escape; and shut himself up in the strong fortress of Chun­panyr. In the mean time the royal army having taken possession of Mundû found much plunder and treasure; but his Majesty not paying any attention to such trifles eagerly pursued the Sultân, and having arrived at Chunpanyr, the capital of Gujerât, laid siege to it.* After the siege had been carried on for a considerable time, a person waited on his Majesty and in private informed him, that he could lead the troops across the summit of a mountain to a place which completely commanded the fortress: the King placing confidence in this representation, selected a small body of brave men, and accompa­nied by two drummers and a trumpeter secretly left the camp, and, having by a difficult pathway ascended the mountain, got into the fort. He then ordered the drummers to beat and the trumpeter to sound, on which the different chiefs made a simulta­neous attack on all the bastions, and, the enemy find­ing themselves thus beset, called out for quarter; in the mean time some of the garrison made their escape, and Sultan Behader fled to Cambay: thus his Majesty got possession of this celebrated city with all its stores, but could not discover the treasure and jewels.

After a few days one of the Sultân’s principal officers, named Aalum Khan, came to pay his respects to his Majesty; on which occasion several of the counsellors advised his being seized and put to the torture, in order to make him discover where the treasures were concealed; but the King replied, “as this personage has come to me of his own accord, it would be ungenerous to make use of force: if an object can be attained by gentleness, why have recourse to harsh measures? Do ye give orders that a banquet may be prepared, and ply him well with wine, and then put the question, where the treasures may be found.”

In compliance with the King’s commands a banquet was prepared; and when Aalum Khân was intoxicated they asked him respecting the treasures. Aalum Khân being highly gratified by the reception he had met with, said, that if his Majesty wished for the Sultan’s wealth, he had only to order the water to be drawn off the large bath over which they were then seated. This being reported to the King, he ordered them to collect a number of buckets and other vessels, and to empty the bath: while the people were thus employed, Aalum Khân told them that there was a more expeditious mode of doing it: he then directed them to dig under the Bath, where they discovered a drain and a plug-hole, which being opened allowed the water quickly to run off; they then found a great quantity of treasure, which was immediately divided among the army, by filling the shield of each person with materials in proportion to his rank: they afterwards discovered a well filled with gold and silver that had been melted (into ingots), which was preserved untouched by the army.

After this the King appointed Terdy Beg to the command of Chunpanyr, and prepared to set out for Cambay in pursuit of Sultan Behader.

But the counsellors cunningly represented to his Majesty, that as he had through the grace of God obtained the objects for which he had commenced this war, viz. by defeating and expelling Sultân Behâder, and obtaining immense wealth, it would now be advisable to advance one or two years pay to the army, to keep the remaining treasure in deposit for future emergencies, and then appoint Sultân Behâder his deputy to rule the province of Gujerât;* that such a liberal action would redound much to his fame, and would afford him leisure to look after his other dominions; more especially his presence being now required at Agra (the capital), from whence unfavourable rumours had reached them respecting the rebellion of Muhammed Zemân Sultan and some other chiefs. His Majesty was much dis­pleased with this advice, and said, “After having subdued this valuable province by the power of my sword, shall I give it up for nothing? No; I will keep it, and add it to the kingdom of Dehly.”

When the counsellors found that the King was displeased, and would not listen to their advice, they instigated the Prince Askery* to march off with his division of the army, and to give out that he was going to seize upon the province of Delhy: this measure was carried into effect. About the same time the Prince Yadgar Nassir went privately to the governor of Chumpanyr, and told him that he had been sent by the King to take command of the fortress, and also possession of the treasures; but Terdy Beg refused to comply, and sent off an express to his Majesty on the subject, and to request his further orders, which were immediately sent, viz. to keep possession of the place and trea­sure. But when the King found that the princes and chiefs were thus confederating against him, and that his force was much reduced by the various detachments that had been sent to different places, he ordered the latter to be recalled, and proceeded towards Ahmedabad.* On the route, having received information of various insurrections, he resolved to march to his capital, where he arrived in health and safety. Sultan Behader, finding that his Majesty had marched towards Agra, entered into a treaty with the Europeans (Portuguese) of Surat, and having through their assistance raised a force of 6,000 Abyssinians or Negroes returned to Ahmedabad.

I must now revert to the insurrection which took place during his Majesty’s expedition to Gujerat. During the period that the King was employed in subduing the province of Gujerat, Muhammed Zeman Sultan, (a descendant of Timur,* and favourite of the late Emperor) taking advantage of his Majesty’s absence, gained possession of the countries situated on the north-east side of the Ganges, and fixed his own residence at Belgram, but despatched his son Aleg Myrza, with a considerable force to seize on the provinces of Joanpûr, Kurra and Manikpûr. As soon as this intelligence reached the Prince Hindal, the King’s youngest brother and representative at Agra, he collected an army and marched to Canouge; in consequence of this event Sultan Muhammed recalled his divisions and encamped with all his force on the northern bank of the Ganges to oppose the royal troops: in this situation the contending armies remained for some time. At length the emissaries of Hindal discovered a ford about ten miles above Canouge, the Prince immediately took advantage of this cir­cumstance, and having ordered that his camp should remain standing, marched quietly in the night, and without being perceived by the rebels crossed the river with all his troops.

As soon as the day broke the two armies drew up in order of battle; but just as the engagement was about to commence a very violent storm from the north-west arose, and raised such a dust that the sky was obscured, and blew with so much force in the faces of the rebels that they could not distinguish friend from foe; in consequence of which they took to flight, and proceeded towards Joanpur. The Prince Hindal having thus gained possession of the district of Belgram followed the enemy, and again came up with them in the vicinity of Oude; but, as the force of the two armies were now nearly equal, a considerable time was lost in skirmishing, and endeavouring to gain the advantage of each other. At length Muhammed Sultan, having received information that the King was returned in health and safety to his capital, was afraid to contend any longer, and fled with all his family towards Couch Behar, which adjoins the territory of Bengal. The Prince Hindal then proceeded to Joanpûr, and took possession of that district.