I have heard from a trustworthy Afghán, who was with Shujá'at Khán, that when Sher Sháh gave him the government of the kingdom of Málwá, at the time of assigning jágírs, his ministers said to him: “It is time to assign jágírs to the solidery if it pleases your worship; keep a share for yourself from the portion assigned to the soldiery, and divide the rest among them.” Shujá'at Khán, from covetousness, agreed to his ministers' proposal. When his soldiers heard of it, 2000 of them, men of repute, both horse and foot, bound themselves together by an agreement, that if Shujá'at Khán permitted himself, from covetousness, to infringe their rights, they would represent the case to Sher Sháh, who showed no favour in dipensing justice to any one on account of the amount of his followers, or on account of his kindred; that they would unanimously expose the innovations of Shujá'at Khán and his ministers, and that they would stand by and assist each other in good or evil, and would not, for any worldly covetousness, scratch the face of friendship and alliance with the nail of disunion. After this agreement, they went on a march from Shujá'at Khán's forces, and sent a man of their own to him, saying: “Your ministers do not give us the full rights which Sher Sháh has bestowed on us, and it is contrary to his regulations, that the soldiery should be defrauded; nay, the nobles ought rather to encourage the poor among their soldiery with presents, over and above their monthly pay, that in time of action they may serve them with earnestness and devotion. If you covet our rights, the door will be opened to enmity and mutiny, and your army and your forces will become disunited and dispirited, which will be the cause of disgrace to your ministers.”
When Shujá'at Khán became aware of the request of his soldiers, he asked of his ministers what course it behoved him to pursue. They replied:—“Two thousand cavalry have turned aside from the path of obedience, and you are lord of 10,000; if you fully satisfy these impudent persons, people will think you have done so for dread of Sher Sháh, and dilatoriness and infirmity will find their way among the officers of your province and into the stability of your authority. It now becomes you to give a stern and peremptory reply, and such as shall leave no hope, so that others may not behave ill and may not disobey your commands.” Covetousness sewed up the far-seeing eye of Shujá'at Khán's sagacity, and made him forgetful of the justice and watchfulness of Sher Sháh. The soldiers, on receiving his harsh answer, took counsel together; some said that they ought to go to the presence of Sher Sháh the Just; but some Afgháns, who knew Sher Sháh's disposition, and were moreover possessed of some share of prudence and sagacity, said to their friends,—“It is not proper to go ourselves to Sher Sháh, for this reason: that he has posted us with Shujá'at Khán in this country of the Dekhin, and it is not right for us to move out of these parts without his orders. Let us send a vakíl to Sher Sháh, the protector of the oppressed, to represent the real circumstances of our case to him. Whatever he orders, let us act up to it; and if any business of the king's should meanwhile occur, it behoves us to exert ourselves in its settlement more than all others.” At length the opinion of these Afgháns was adopted by all, and they wrote an account of their state and sent it. Their vakíl had not yet arrived when Sher Sháh's spies reported the circumstances of Shujá'at Khán's quarrel with the 2000 remonstrants to Sher Sháh. On hearing the news, Sher Sháh was enraged, and sending for Shujá'at Khán's vakíl, said to him, “Write to Shujá'at, and say:— ‘You were poor, and I ennobled you, and put under you Afgháns better than yourself. Are you not satisfied with the revenue of your government, that you covet the rights of the soldiery? and are you without any shame before the people or any fear of God, and have you violated my regulations which I have enacted and promulgated for this very purpose, that the chief's rights and those of his soldiery might be distinct, and that the chiefs might respect the rights of the soldiers? If you were not a protégé of my own, I would strip off your skin; but I pardon you this first fault. Do you, before their vakíl reaches me, appease your soldiery, and give them a satisfactory answer; if not, and their vakíl comes and complains to me, I will resume your jágírs, and arrest and punish you severely. It does not behove nobles to disobey their master's orders, for this occasions the loss to him of his honour and authority.’”
When the vakíl's letter reached Shujá'at Khán, he was exceedingly confounded and ashamed, and disturbed with dread and apprehension; so reproaching his ministers, he said:— “Your counsel has been the cause of disgrace and distress to me. How shall I show my face to the king?” Then going himself to the encampment of the 2000 remonstrants, he made many excuses for himself, and appeasing the soldiery with promises and oaths that he would not do them any harm, and encouraging them with gifts and presents, brought them back to his own encampment. When the vakíl of the soldiers turned back again from his journey, and came to Shujá'at Khán, the latter returned many thanks to heaven, and distributed much money to the poor and needy, and gave him a horse and a princely robe of honour. Sher Sháh's authority, whether he was absent or present, was completely established over the race of Afgháns. From the fear, either of personal punishment or of deprivation of office, there was not a creature who dared to act in opposition to his regulations; and if a son of his own, or a brother, or any of his relatives or kin, or any chief or minister, did a thing displeasing to Sher Sháh, and it got to his knowledge, he would order him to be bound and put to death. All, laying aside every bond of friendship or respect, for the sake of the honour of the Afghán race, obeyed without delay his irresistible farmáns.
I, the author of this relation, 'Abbás Kalkapúr Sarwání, have
heard that during the reign of Sher Sháh, 'Azam Humáyún
Níází was ruler of the Panjáb and Multán, and had a force
of 30,000 horse under him. No other of Sher Sháh's nobles
had so great a force. Sher Sháh sent his own nephew,
Mubáriz Khán, to govern the district of Roh, which was in
the possession of the Níázís. Mubáriz Khán ordered Khwája
Khizr Sambhali, chief of the Sambhals, to give him a mud fort
which he had built on the Indian (i.e. eastern) bank of the river
Sind. Mubáriz Khán lived in this fort, and the Sambhals were
generally with him; indeed there was not a moment they were
not employed in his service, and always obedient and submissive
to him. The daughter of Allah-dád Sambhal had no equal in that
tribe for beauty and comeliness. When Mubáriz Khán heard the
fame and renown of her beauty, he became, without having seen
her, desperately in love with her, and the bird of rest and quiet
flew out of his hand. Actuated by the pride of power, he took
no account of clanship, which is much considered among the
Afgháns, and especially among the Rohilla men; and sending a
confidential person to Allah-dád, demanded that he should give
him his daughter in marriage. Allah-dád sent a civil reply,
saying:—“My lord is of high power and rank, and has
many sons, and many high-born wives and women servants
are in his female apartments; besides, my lord has been
bred and brought up in Hindustán, and is possessed of delicate
breeding and graceful accomplishments: my sons have
the habits and manners of Roh. Alliance between myself
and my lord is altogether unadvisable, as there is so wide a difference
between us.” When Mubáriz Khán heard Allah-dád's
answer, he was convulsed with exceeding anger, and set himself to
injure and persecute the Sambhals, in the hope that they, being
driven to extremities by his violence and oppression, might give
him Allah-dád's daughter. From fear of Sher Sháh, the Sambhals
submitted to all the violence and oppression which Mubáriz
committed; but when it reached beyond all bounds of sufferance,
Faríd, Idrís,*
and Nizám, three illegitimate brothers of Allah-