No More Learning

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XIII ]
DEATH OF MAHMOD BEGARHA
315
Safavi, of Persia, was less favourably received. The envoy, Yādgār
Beg Qizilbāsh, was commissioned to invite Mahmūd to embrace
the Shiah faith, but Mahmud, whose health was failing, had refreshed
his orthodoxy by visits to the shrines of saints at Pātan and Sarkhej,
and sent a message to the heretics bidding them begone. He had
already designated his son Muzaffar as his heir, and feeling the
approach of death summoned him from Baroda. Muzaffar arrived
only in time to assist in bearing his father's coffin from Ahmadābād
to his tomb at Sarkhej, for Mahmud I, the greatest of the sultans
of Gujarāt, had breathed his last on November 23, 1511.
Mahmud Begarha was not only the greatest of the sultans of
Gujarāt. He holds a prominent place among the warrior princes
of India. Succeeding to the throne at an age when even Akbar
was under tutelage, he at once assumed the management of affairs,
overcame an extensive conspiracy backed by armed force, and
administered his kingdom with complete freedom, whether from
the dictation of a minister or from the more pernicious influence
of the harem. He was, in short, a prodigy of precocity. When he
grew to manhood his appearance was striking Tall and robust,
with a beard which descended to his girdle and a heavy moustache
which twisted and curled upwards, his mien struck awe into his
courtiers. His elder brother, Qutb-ud-din Ahmad Shāh, had died
by poison, and wonderful fables are related of the means by which
Mahmūd protected himself from a like fate. He is said gradually
to have absorbed poisons into his system until he was so impreg-
nated with them that a fly settling on his hand instantly died, and
he was immune from the effects of any poison which might be
administered to him. It is to him that Samuel Butler refers in
Hudibras, first published in 1664 :
The prince of Cambay's daily food
Is asp and basilisk and toadl.
Physicians will estimate the practicability and efficacy of such a
course of prophylactic treatment, but whatever foundation there
may be for these strange legends there is no reason to doubt that
Mahmūd profited from the general belief in his immunity from
poison, and Butler's description of his diet is at least incomplete,
for his voracious appetite demanded large supplies of more whole-
some food. His daily allowance was between twenty and thirty
pounds' weight, and before going to sleep he placed two pounds or
more of boiled rice on either side of his couch, so that he might
1Part II, Canto i,


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316
(CH.
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
find something to eat on whichever side he awoke. When he rose
in the morning he swallowed a cup of honey, a cup of butter, and
from 100 to 150 bananas.
His martial exploits and the expansion of his dominions which
they brought about have been recounted. He was mild and just to
his own servants, and his fierce intolerance of Hinduism is counted
to him by historians of his own religion as a merit. Of his nick-
name Begarha two explanations have been given, but there can be
no doubt that the true interpretation is be garh, or 'two forts,'
and that it had reference to his capture of the two great Hindu
strongholds of Girnār and Chāmpāner.
The naval victory over the Portuguese at Chaul in 1508, which
had so elated the Muslims, was without lasting results, for in the
following year Almeida sailed up the west coast with his whole
fleet to Diū, where he found the Egyptian fleet with its Indian
auxiliaries lying between the island and the mainland. In the
desperate battle which followed the Muslims were totally defeated
and the Egyptian fleet almost entirely destroyed. No mention of
this Portuguese victory is made by the Muslim historians, but it
is alluded to by the Arabic historian of the Zamorins of Calicut.
Full and circumstantial accounts are, however, to be found in the
Portuguese chronicles. After this failure to drive the Portuguese
from the Indian seas Mahmud Begarha ordered Malik Ayāz to
make peace, and to return the prisoners taken at Chaul. In the
following year the Portuguse first obtained possession of Goa and
transferred their headquarters from Cochin to that city. Mahmūd
offered them a site for a factory at Diū, and almost immediately
after the accession of Muzaffar II in 1511 a Portuguese mission
arrived to seek permission for the construction of a fort to protect
the factory. This request was not granted, and the mission left.
Yadgar Beg, the ambassador from Shāh Ismāʻīl Safavī whom
Mahmūd Begarha had refused to receive, was favourably received
by Muzaffar, and was lodged at Ahmadābād, and afterwards at
Chāmpāner.
Mahmūd II, who had ascended the throne of Mālwa in 1510,
was the younger son of his father, Nāsir. ud-din, whom he had
deposed, and the elder son, Sāhib Khān, entitled Muhammad Shāh,
now sought refuge with Muzaffar and begged him to help him to
expel his brother and gain his throne. He joined Muzaffar's camp
at Baroda, on the way from Ahmadābād to Chāmpāner, and Mu-
zaffar sent an agent into Mālwa to investigate the situation and
report upon it, The agent, Qaisar Khān, returned with a report


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XII ]
EVENTS IN MÁLIIA
311
favourable to Sāhib Khān's claim, and Sāhib Khān was impatient
for his host to take the field. Muzaffar bade him have patience
and promised to invade Mālwa at the end of the rainy season, but
before the time came to redeem his promise Sāhib Khān had left
Gujarāt in consequence of the gross misconduct of the Persian
ambassador, who invited him to dinner and assaulted him. The
prince's servants attacked the ambassador's suite and plundered
his lodging, but the affair was noised abroad, and Sāhib Khān was
so overcome with shame that he fled from Gujarāt and attempted
to take refuge with 'Adil Khān III of Khāndesh, but while he was
travelling to that court the governor of a frontier district of the
kingdom of Mālwa attacked and defeated him, and he fled, with a
following of 300 horse, to 'Alā-ud-din 'Imăd Shāh of Berar, who
would not offend the sultan of Mālwa by offering the fugitive armed
assistance, but assigned to him lands for his maintenance.
Nāsir-ud-din of Mālwa had employed in his army a large number
of Rājputs from eastern Hindūstān, who had become so powerful
in the kingdom that Mıhmũi II was a puppet in their hands.
Muzaffar Il marched to Godhra with a view to invading Mālwa
and restoring Mahmūd's authority by crushing the Rajputs, but
at Godhra he received disturbing news from Idar. “Ain-ul-Mulk
Fülādi, governor of Pātan, was marching with his contingent to
join him at Godhra, but on the way learned that Bhim Singh of
Idar, taking advantage of Muzaffar's preoccupation with the affairs
of Mālwa, had raided the whole country to the east of the Sābar-
mati river. He turned aside to punish him, but the raja defeated
him, slew his brother and 200 of his men, and compelled him to
flee. Muzaffar, on receiving the news, marched in person to Modāsa,
drove Bhim Singh to the hills and sacked his capital, destroying
the temples and other buildings. Bhim Singh was fain to purchase
peace, and permission to return to Idar by a payment of 800,000
rupees and the delivery of 100 horses.
Having thus settled affairs on his north-eastern frontier Muzaffar,
in 1513, marched to Godhra, sent his son Sikandar to Chāmpāner as
governor, dispatched a force under Qaisar Khān to Deolīt near the
Māhi, and followed him with his army. He had now changed his
intention of aiding Mahmūd by crushing the Rājputs, and had
formed the design of conquering and annexing Mālwa. He sent a
force to occupy Dhār, the governor of which offered no resistance on
| receiving an assurance that the city should not be sacked nor its
inhabitants massacred.
1 In 22° 57' N. and 74° 58' E.


## p. 318 (#364) ############################################

318
(
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
CĦ.
Muzaffar now learnt that Mahmud was at Chanderi, endea-
vouring to crush a rebellion of the Rājput troops under their
leader, Medeni Rāi, and he once more changed his mind. For this
second instance of vacillation two reasons are assigned. The first
more favourable to Muzaffar's character, was the reflection that
to attack a brother Muslim who was in straits owing to the mis-
conduct of infidels would be both unlawful and ungenerous, and
the second was the defeat of a detachment sent by him to Na'lcha,
which he regarded as an evil omen. The former reason may be
accepted as the true one, first because it is conformable to the whole
course of Muzaffar's behaviour towards Mahmud Khalji, and
secondly because the fact that his troops were defeated is not estab.
lished. He retired to his own dominions and relieved the anxiety
which oppressed Mahmūd, beset on all sides by difficulties.
In 1515 Raja Bhim Singh of Idar died, and should have been
succeeded by his son Bihari Mal, but his cousin german contested
the succession, and Sangrama Singh, Rānā of Mewār, the Sāngā or
Sānkā of Muslim historians, welcomed the opportunity of asserting
his ill-founded claim to supremacy over all Rājput princes and
supported the pretender, who was his brother-in-law. He invaded
Idar and enthroned Rāi Mal, expelling Bihāri Mal, who took refuge
with Muzaffar. Muzaffar would not brook this interference in a
state which had for many years owned allegiance to Gujarāt, and,
marching to Ahmadnagar, sent Nizām-ul-Mulk to Idar to expel
Rāi Mal and establish Bihari Mal as raja. The selection of Nizām.
ul-Mulk for the duty was not merely fortuitous, for he was the
son of Raja Patai of Chāmpāner, and had embraced Islam after
the fall of that stronghold. He expelled Rāi Mal from Idar and
restored Bihari Mal. He then followed Rai Mal into the Bichabhera
hills and attacked him. The battle was indecisive, many lives being
lost to no purpose, and Muzaffar rebuked Nizām-ul-Mulk for his
inconsiderate rashness; and shortly afterwards Nizām-ul-Mulk was
stricken with paralysis and was relieved at his
relieved at his own request,
Nusrat-ul-Mulk being sent to Idar in his place. Nizām-ul-Mulk
was so eager to return to Chāmpāner that he started from Idar
before Nusrat-ul-Mulk could arrive, leaving Zahir-ul-Mulk with
no more than a hundred men to hold Idar. .
Rāi Mal marched on Idar and Zahir-ul-Mulk went forth with
his small force to meet him, and was defeated with the loss of more
than a quarter of his men. Nusrat-ul-Mulk, who was at Ahmad.
nagar, pressed on, drove off Rāi Mal, and made Ahmadnagar his
a


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XIII ]
DEFEAT OF THE RĂJPUTS
319
headquarters, maintaining order in the plains by harrying the
brigands of the Vajinagar hills.
Mahmūd Il of Mālwa was so weary of the dominance of his
Rājput officers that he secretly left his capital and arrived at
Bhāgor', where he was received by the Gujarāt noble, Qaisar
Khān. As soon as Muzaffar heard of his arrival he sent him tents,
treasure, and elephants, and shortly afterwards joined him with an
army and entertained him at banquet to celebrate the occasion.
When Medeni Rāi heard of these doings he set out for Chitor, in
order to seek help from Rānā Sangrama, leaving a garrison to pro-
tect Māndū, against which Mahmūd and Muzaffar were marching.
The Rājput garrison was twice defeated before the walls, and
Muzaffar formed the siege of the fortress. Pithaura, who com-
manded the garrison, had heard from Medeni Rāi that the Rānā
was coming to his aid, and strove by feigned negotiations, as well
as by force of arms, to hold out as long as possible. Muzaffar II
was now joined by his nephew and son-in-law, "Ādil Khan III of
Khāndesh, whom he sent with Qivām-ul-Mulk to check the progress
of the Rānā and Medeni Rāi, who had already reached Ujjain.
On February 23, 1518, the day of the Hindu festival of the Holi,
Māndū was carried by escalade, the Rājput garrison performed the
rite of jauhar, and Muzaffar, on entering the city, ordered a general
massacre of the surviving Rājputs. Nineteen thousand were put
to the sword, and the streets ran with blood, which streamed from
the drains which carried rainwater into the ditch.
Muzaffar now prepared to march against the Rānā and Medeni
Rāi, but learned that they had been so terror-stricken by the news
of the massacre that they at once turned and fled, riding fifty-four
miles on the first night of their flight. Muzaffar restored Māndū
to Mahmud, who entertained him sumptuously and accompanied
him on his homeward way as far as Deoli, and Asaf Khān with
10,000 horse was left in Mālwa to aid Mahmūd against his enemies.
In connexion with the siege of Māndū we first hear of 'Imād-ul-
Mulk, Khush Qadam, who played such an important part in the
affairs of Gujarāt at this time.
Muzaffar, after returning to Chāmpāner, learned that Rāi Mal
had been ravaging the Pātna district, and marched to punish him,
remaining for some time in Idar while Rai Mal and his confederates
were pursued in hills.
In 1519, after his return to Chāmpāner Muzaffar heard of the
defeat and capture of Mahmud II by Rānā Sangrama near Gāgraun,
1 In 22° 53' N. and 74° 36' E.


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320
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
CH
and of the heavy losses suffered by his own contingent of 10,000
horse. He sent reinforcements into Mālwa, but they were not
required, for the Rānā generously restored his vanquished foe to
his throne.
Mubāriz-ul-Mulk was now sent to relieve Nusrat-ul-Mulk at
Idar, where he was so annoyed by hearing the praise of the valour
and generosity of the Rānā that he named a dog Sangrama, and
tied it up at one of the gates of the town. The Rānā, on hearing
of this insult, assembled his army and marched on Idar, where
Mubāriz-ul-Mulk's officers were so enraged with him for having by
his contemptible act endangered them and the city that they dis-
suaded the king from sending assistance to him, and retired to
Ahmadnagar, carrying him with them. The Rānā occupied Idar
and marched on to Ahmadnagar, where he defeated Mubāriz-ul.
Mulk with heavy loss and compelled him to retreat to Ahmadā.
bād. After plundering Ahmadnagar he marched to Vadnagar, the
inhabitants of which town, being Brāhmans, escaped molesta-
tion thence he marched to Visnagar, plundered the town after
defeating Malik Hātim, who gallantly came forth to meet him with
the small force at his disposal, and then returned to his own
country.
After his departure Mubāriz-ul-Mulk returned with a small
force to Ahmadnagar and buried the dead. Here he was attacked
by the Kolīs of Idar, whom he defeated.
In January, 1521, Muzaffar sent an army of 100,000 horse and
100 elephants under the command of Malik Ayāz, governor of
Sorath, to chastise the Rānā for his raid into Gujarāt. Bākor",
Gāliākot, Dungarpurs, Sagwāra", and Bānswāra“ were ravaged
and laid waste. At Bānswāra a large force of Hindus lying in
ambush was attacked and put to fight after suffering losses. Malik
Ayāz then marched to Mandasor, and besieged that town. Rānā
Sangrama marched to its relief, but would not venture within
twenty miles of the muslim camp, and sent agents to Malik Ayāz
offering to pay tribute to Muzaffar II if he would raise the siege,
but his prayers were unheeded. Mahmūd II joined Malik Ayāz,
and Mandasor might have been captured and Sangrama defeated,
but for the jealousy of Malik Ayāz, who feared lest Qivām-ul. Mulk,
his principal lieutenant, should gain the credit for the victory. He
therefore made peace with the Rānā on his promising to pay
1 In 23° 21' N. and 73° 37' E.
2 In 23° 21' N. and 74° 1' E.
3 In 23° 50' N. and 73° 43' E.
4 In 23° 40' N. and 74° 2' E.
5 In 23° 33' N. and 74° 27' E.


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XIII ]
BAHĀDUR'S FLIGHT FROM GUJARĀT
321
tribute, to place a son at Muzaffar's court as a hostage, to wait in
person on the king and to be obedient to his orders. Qivām-ul-
Mulk was strongly opposed to this treaty and persuaded Mahmúd
Shāh to join him in an attack on the Rānā, but Malik Ayāz was
informed of this design, used his authority over the army of
Gujarāt to prevent its execution and marched b ck to Ahmadā-
bād. Muzaffar was so deeply disappointed by this termination of a
promising campaign that he would not see Malik Ayaz, but sent
him straight back to Sorath, where he died in the following year
and was succeeded by his son Ishāq.
Muzaffar himself was preparing in 1522, to march against the
Rānā but before he could start from Ahmadābād Sangrama's son
arrived with gifts from his father, and the expedition was aban-
doned.
In 1524 'Ālam Khān, son of Buhlūl Lodi of Delhi, who was a
refugee at Muzaffar's court, informed him that according to infor.
mation received by him from Delhi there was much dissatisfaction
with his nephew, Sultān Ibrāhim Lodi, and the chances of his
obtaining his father's throne appeared to be good. Muzaffar accord-
ingly supplied him with a sum of money and a small force and dis-
missed him.
Late in 1524 Muzaffar's second son, Bahādur, demanded equality
of treatment with his eldest brother, Sikandar, but the king who
had designated Sikandar as his heir, feared to place more power in
the hands of the ablest and most energetic of his sons, and put him
off with fair words. Bahādur fled disgusted from his father's court
and repaired first to Udai Singh of Dūngarpur, then to Sanggrama
Singh at Chitor, and next to Mewāt, where the local Muhammadan
ruler, Hasan entertained him hospitably. He eventually proceeded
to Delhi, but it is not quite clear at what precise date. In all pro-
bability it was at the beginning of 1526, for the people of Delhi
were then expecting the approach of Bābur with his invading
army. Bahādur was well received by Ibrāhīm Lodi who was doubt-
less glad to obtain the services of this young but experienced
soldier. Ibrāhīm was encamped at Pānīpat when Bahādur joined
him, and skirmishes had already begun with the advanced guard of
the Mughul army. It was in one of these skirmishes that Bahādur
so greatly distinguished himself that the jealousy of Ibrāhīm Lodi
was roused, and Bahādur deemed it prudent to withdraw, and set
out for Jaunpur, possibly selecting this town in response to an in-
vitation received from the local nobles, who are said to have offered
him the throne. The battle of Pānīpat, in which Bābur defeated
C, H, 1, ,
21
>


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322
(CH
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
Ibrāhīm, was fought on April 18. Abū Turāb, a contemporary
writer, tells us that Bahādur was present at this battle, but took
no part in the fighting. If this refers to the decisive action Bahādur
must have left for Jaunpur as soon as the issue of the day had been
decided. On April 7 his father Muzaffar died, and it was while he
was on his way to Jaunpur that Bahādur received an invitation to
return, and immediately turned back in the direction of Gujarāt,
travelling by way of Chitor.
The nobles of Gujarāt were now divided into three factions,
supporting the claims of Sikandar, Bahādur, and Latif, the eldest,
second, and third sons of Muzaffar. Sikandar, who had been
designated heir by his father, was immediately proclaimed by
'Imād-ul-Mulk Khush Qadam and Khudāvand Khān al-Ijī, and
marched from Ahmadābād to Chāmpāner. The new king was
feeble and ill-advised. He alienated the old nobles of his father's
reign by advancing his own personal servants beyond their merits,
and by his untimely profusion. There was general dissatisfaction,
and an impression prevailed that Bahādur would soon return to
seize the throne, but the immediate danger was from Latif Khān,
who was assembling, his forces at Nandurbār. A force under
Sharza Khān was sent against him, but he retired into Baglāna
and when Sharza Khān followed him thither he was attacked,
defeated , and slain by the raja, and the Rājputs and Kolis followed
the defeated army and slew 170) of them. The superstition of the
time regarded the termination of the first enterprise of the reign
as an augury of the future fortune of the king. Another army, under
Qaisar Khān, was assembled, but the choice was an indication
either of the ignorance and folly of the king or of the treachery of
the nobles, for Qaisar Khān was Latif's principal adherent ; but
before the expedition could start 'Imād-ul-Mulk Khush Qadam had
caused Sikandar to be assassinated during the midday slumbers,
and had raised to the throne Mahmūd, an infant son of Muzaffar II,
whom on April, 12, 1526, he caused to be proclaimed as Mahmūd II.
His object in selecting an infant son, was, of course, that the
government of the kingdom might remain entirely in his hands, but
it may be doubted whether he expected to maintain his puppet
against Bahādur, or even against Latif. The adherents of the
former had been writing to urge him to return without delay to
Gujarāt, and he had eagerly responded to their solicitations. The
old nobles of the kingdom, disgusted with the rule of the freedman,
'Imād-ul-Mulk, who was as lavish of titles and robes of honour as
he was niggardly of more substantial favours, fled from Chāmpāner,


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XIII ]
ACCESSION OF BAHADUR
323
and Tāj Khān Narpāli led a force to escort Bahādur back to
Gujarāt.
'Imād-ul-Mulk in his terror sent large sums of money to Burhān
Nizām Shāh I of Ahmadnagar and Udai Singh, raja of Pālanpur,
to induce the former to invade Nandurbār and the latter to advance
on Chāmpāner in support of the infant king, and wrote also to
Bābur, requesting him to send a force to Diū with the same object,
and promising him a gift of 10,000,000 tangas and the allegiance
of Gujarāt. This last promise was reported to Khudāvand Khān
and Tāj Khān, and only served to increase the general detestation
in which 'Imād-ul-Mulk was held. Burhān Nizām Shāh accepted
the
money sent to him, but did nothing in return.
Udai Singh
did indeed march to Chāmpāner, but his aid alone was of little
consequence, and he almost immediately transferred his allegiance
to Bahādur.
Bahādur at once returned to Gujarāt by way of Modāsa and
Pātan and, as he advanced, was everywhere welcomed and joined
by the nobles and officers of his father's court. On July 11 he
ascended the throne at Ahmadābād, and immediately continued his
journey to Chāmpāner. The feeble efforts of 'Imād-ul-Mulk to
delay or hamper his advance were ineffectual ; he entered Chām-
pāner without opposition and at once went about to punish those
who had murdered his brother and prepared his own way to the
throne. 'Imād-ul-Mulk Khush Qadam, Saif-ul-Mulk, and the actual
assassins of Sikandar were immediately put to death. Latif Khān,
who was lurking in the city in the hope of events taking a turn
favourable to his pretensions, wisely accepted the advice of his
friends and fled to Pālanpur, and thence to Nandurbār, where he
was joined by a number of his partisans. His adherents at Chām-
pāner were arrested, and their houses were plundered by the mob.
Ghāzi Khān, who was upholding Bahādur's cause in the Nandurbār
district, reported that Latif Khān had raised the standard of revolt,
that he had defeated him and dispersed his followers, and that
Latif was a wounded prisoner in his hands. He was ordered to see
that his prisoner received proper treatment and to send him to
court, but the prince died on his way thither and Bahādur was left
without a competitor except his infant brother Mahmūd, who was
secretly put to death within the year. Another brother, Chānd
Khān, had taken refuge with Mahmud Khalji at Māndū, and
Mahmūd's refusal to surrender him dissolved the friendship which
had once saved his kingdom for him. The murder of the child
Mahmūd II alienated Udai Singh of Pālanpur, who sacked the town
21–2


## p. 324 (#370) ############################################

324
(CH.
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
of Dohad, but Tāj Khān Narpāli led a punitive expedition against
him and chastised him severely.
Malik Ishāq, who had succeeded his father, Malik Ayāz, in the
important government of Sorath, lost his reason in 1527, and
attacked without any justification the Hindu chief of Dwārkā, who
was an obedient vassal of Bahādur. After his return to Junāgarh
he became so violent that it was found necessary to put him in
prison, where he died shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by his
brother, Malik Tūghān, famous for his stature and great bodily
strength, who in order to watch the Portuguese made Diū his
principal place of residence. The adventurers would not abandon
their design to build at Diū a fort for the protection of their trade
and merchandise, and sought to execute it at times by means of
negotiations and at times by force, but for several years had no
success. At length, on September 21, 1534, Bahādur permitted
them by treaty to build a fort.
Towards the end of 1527 Bahādur received an appeal for help
from 'Alā-ud-din 'Imăd Shāh of Berar and Muhammad I of Khān-
desh. The kings of Ahmadnagar and Berar had quarrelled over the
possession of the town and district of Pāthri on the Godāvari, which
belonged to the latter but were coveted and had been annexed by
the former. 'Alā-ud-din had enlisted the aid of Muhammad and had
marched to recover the district, but Burhān Nizām Shāh of Ahmad-
nagar and his ally, Amir 'Ali Barid of Bidar, had attacked and
defeated them, captured their artillery and elephants, pursued
them through Berar, and expelled 'Alā-ud-din from his kingdom,
compelling him to take refuge in Khāndesh. Bahādur marched to
Nandurbār, where he was met by his cousin, Muhammad of Khān.
desh, and by the Rāhtor raja of Baglāna, who did homage to him
and entertained him in his fortress of Sālher. Bahādur gave his
sister in marriage to Muhammad, upon whom he conferred the
title of Shāh, and after the rainy season of 1528 marched on
Ahmadnagar by way of Berar, where he was joined by ‘Alā-ud-din
'Imad Shāh, sending a force with the raja of Baglāna, whom he
ordered to advance on Ahmadnagar by the more direct route of his
own principality.
Burhān's army, with a contingent of 6000 horse furnished by
Ismā'il "Ādil Shāh of Bijāpur and 3000 furnished by Amir 'Alī
Barid, was in the hilly country about Bir, and Amir 'Ali Barid in-
flicted two defeats on detachments of Bahādur's
army between
Paithan and Bir, but the army of Gujarāt continued to advance,
and occupied Ahmadnagar for forty days, while Burhān Nizām
.


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Xun)
INVASION OF THE DECCAN
325
Shāh, who had first retired from Bir to Parenda, was pursued to
Junnār. Meanwhile the army of Ahmadnagar had been engaged in
cutting off Bahādur's supplies, and the invaders had already begun
to suffer from famine when Bahādur marched to Daulatābād and
opened the siege of the fortress, while Burhān and Amir ‘Ali Barid
occupied the neighbouring hills. They attempted to relieve Daula-
tābād but were driven back into the hills, and then opened nego-
tiations with Sultān Bahādur's allies, and found no difficulty in
seducing 'Alā-ud-din 'Imād, Shāh, who was beginning to suspect
that Bahādur did not intend to leave the Deccan, and regretted
having summoned him to his aid. He sent a quantity of supplies
into the fortress and hurriedly retired into Berar, leaving his camp
standing.
Bahādur's situation gave him some cause for anxiety. He had
no prospect of capturing Daulatābād, one of his allies had deserted
him, the other, Muhammad of Khāndesh, desired peace, and the
rainy season of 1529 was approaching. He therefore permitted
Muhammad to open negotiations, and after some discussion agreed
to peace on terms sufficiently humiliating to Burhān Nizām Shāh.
Both he and 'Alā-ud-din 'Imād Shāh were to cause the khutba to
be recited in Bahādur's name in their dominions, and were to
appear before him as vassals ; all the elephants taken from 'Alā-ud-
din and Muhammad were to be restored, and Pāthri and Māhūr
were to be ceded again to Berar. Burhān fulfilled the first condition
by causing the khutba to be recited on one occasion in Bahādur's
name, but it was only with great difficulty that Muhammad of
Khāndesh recovered his elephants, and those of 'Alā-ud-din were
never restored, nor were Pāthrī and Māhūr ceded to him.
Bahādur returned to Gujarāt in the spring of 1529, and his
relative, the Jām Fīrūz of Sind, who had been expelled from his
country by Shāh Beg Arghūn, took refuge at his court.
In 1530 the Portuguese, having already assembled at Bombay
a great fleet, sailed for Damān and captured that town, and in
February, 1931, arrived before Diū, which they attacked, but
Bahādur had already visited the place in 1530, and had made all
provision for its defence, and the Portuguese, having failed to
take the town, sailed back to Goa, leaving a fleet in the Gulf of
Cambay to harass the trade and shipping of Gujarāt.
Bahādur returned from Diū to Chāmpāner, where he received
some of the nobles of the late Ibrāhīm Shāh Lodi of Delhi, who had
reached his court with 300 followers. From Chāmpāner Bahādur
marched to Modāsa and thence led an expedition into Bāker and


## p. 326 (#372) ############################################

326
(ch.
GUJARĀT AND KHÂNDESH
Bānswāra. The Rānā, Ratan Singh II, who had succeeded San-
grama after the battle of Sīkrī, interceded for the two chiefs, and
Bahādur stayed his hand.
Mahmūd II of Mālwa was now pursuing a suicidal policy. He
had sent a force to ravage the southern districts of the territories
of the Rānā, he had so alienated by his sinister and deceitful course
of conduct the nobles of Mālwa that some had taken refuge with
the Rānā and others with Bahādur, and he was harbouring at his
court a son of the late Sultān Muzaffar of Gujarāt, Chānd Khān, a
pretender to Bahādur's throne, whose claims he was understood to
favour. The old friendship between Mālwa and Gujarāt was thus
entirely dissolved. Bahādur, less bigoted than his father, and
sensible of Ratan Singh's claims of his friendship, which were based
on Sangrama's reception of him when he was a fugitive, was
inclined to deprecate wanton attacks on his territories, was bitterly
resentful of the harbourage offered to Chānd Khān, and was
inclined to regard Mahmūd, who owed his tenure of his throne to
the capture of Māndū from rebellious Rājputs by Mahmūd Begarha,
as a vassal : Mahmud, on the other hand, was perturbed by
Bahādur's harbourage of malcontents from Mālwa, and suggested
a meeting at which differences could be settled. Bahādur haughtily
replied that he had been awaiting a request for an interview at
which Mahmud could appear before him and explain matters.
This had not been Mahmūd's intention, but he found it difficult to
recede from his suggestion, and could hardly propose that Bahādur
should wait upon him. He feigned to be eager to pay his respects
to the sultan of Gujarāt but always discovered a pretext for
evading a meeting. Ratan Singh of Mewār marched as far as
Sārangpur and threatened Ujjain, to which city Mahmūd advanced.
Bahādur entered Malwa and awaited Mahmūd's arrival at his
camp, but an envoy from Mahmūd made his excuses by explaining
that his master had broken his arm whilst out hunting. In private
he informed Bahādur that Chānd Khān was the real difficulty, as
Mahmūd did not wish to surrender him, but feared to refuse.
Bahādur bade the envoy reassure his master on this point, and
marched slowly towards Māndū, accompanied by Muhammad Shāh
of Khāndesh, expecting Mahmūd at each stage ; but Mahmūd had
washed his hands of kingship, and had withdrawn into his seraglio
at Māndū, meeting the remonstrances of his courtiers with the
answer that he knew that his reign was drawing to its close, and
that he intended to enjoy life while it lasted. He had thoughts of
abdicating and installing his son Ghiyās-ud-din, but seemed to be


## p. 327 (#373) ############################################

km)
CONQUEST OF MĂLWA
327
on
unable to execute any plan.
Meanwhile Bahādur marched to
Naʻlcha and formed the siege of Mandū, being joined by many of
the nobles and officers of Mālwa. The sloth and carelessness of
Mahmud infacted his army, and on the night of March 17 the
besiegers scaled an unguarded section of the wall and entered the
city unopposed. Mahmūd formed the intention of imitating the
Rājputs and performing the rite of jauhar, but, on receiving a
message from Bahādur that his life and honour were sale, aban-
doned it and waited on Bahadur with seven of his officers. The
khutba was recited at Māndū in the name of Bahādur, Mālwa was
annexed to Gujarāt, and Mahmūd and his family were sent towards
Chāmpāner, where Bahādur proposed to imprison them, but
April 12, 1531, the camp of Āsaf Khān; in whose custody the prisoners
were, was attacked by Bhils and Kolīs, and Mahmūd's guards, fearing
a rescue, put him to death, and he was buried near Dohad. His
seven sons were sent to Chāmpāner, where they were imprisoned.
Bhādur remained a while at Mandū and marched in June to
Burhānpur, where he was entertained by Muhammad Shāh of
Khāndesh, who persuaded him, with some difficulty, to receive the
learned and pious Shāh Tahir, who had come as an envoy from
Burhān Nizām Shah I of Ahmadnagar. Burhān had not fulfilled
the conditions of the treaty of Daulatābād, and Bahādur was con.
sequently ill-disposed towards him, but Shāh Tāhir undertook that
his master should wait on him at Burhānpur and, returning to
Ahmadnagar, persuaded Burhān, to carry out this promise, which
he had made at Daulatābād. The humiliating circumstances of the
reception were somewhat alleviated by an artifice of Shāh Tāhir,
who bore a copy of the Koran for presentation to Bahādur, and
thus obliged the latter to descend from his throne to do reverence
to the holy book. Both Bahādur and Burhān remained for a short
time at Burhānpur as the guests of Muhammad Shāh, and before
they parted Bahādur gratified Burhān's vanity by recognising his
title of Shāh.
The Rājput Silāhdi, who held the districts of Rāisen, Bhilsa,
and Sārangpur, nominally as fiefs of Mālwa but actually as a small
principality, had been permitted by Bahādur to visit Räisen aſter
the fall of Māndū, but showed no disposition to fulfil his promise
to return, aud Nassan Khān, who was sent to Rāisen and brought
him to court, privately informed the king that he was disloyal, and
if permitted again to leave the court would ally himself to the
Rānā. He was therefore arrested at Dhār, his troops were plundered
and dispersed, and his elephants were confiscated.


## p. 328 (#374) ############################################

328
CH
GUJARĀT AND KHÂNDESH
Early in January, 1532, Bahādur sent 'Imād-ul-Mulk Malikjī,
son of Tawakkul, to arrest Silāhdi's son Bhopat, who had remained
at Ujjain when his father came to court and had since occupied
Sārangpur. “Imād-ul-Mulk reported that he had fled to Chitor to
seek help of the Rānā, and the king marched by Bhilsa, which he
occupied, to Räisen, still held by Silāhdi's brother, Lakhman Singh.
He was attacked as he approached the town on January 26, but
drove the Rājputs into the fortress and formed the siege.
Bahādur's artillery, under Mustafā Rūmi Khān, who had succeeded
Tūghān as governor of Diū, did much execution, and Silāhdi con-
ciliated Bahādur by perfidiously feigning to accept Islam, and thus
obtained permission to meet his brother, ostensibly with the object
of arranging for the surrender of the fortress, but when he and
Lakhman Singh met they agreed to await the relieving force
expected from Chitor, and sent 2000 men under Silāhdi's youngest
son to hasten its arrival. This force, was, however, intercepted by
the besiegers and defeated, Silāhdi's son being slain, and Bahādur,
on learning of Silāhdi's perfidy, sent him in custody to Māndū and
dispatched a force under Muhammad Shāh of Khāndesh and 'Imād-
ul-Mulk Malikji to meet the Rānā and Bhopat. This force met and
put to flight at Kamkera another force of 2000 Rājputs under
Puran Mal, another of Silāhdi's sons, and Bahādur, learning that
the Rānā was at the head of a large army left his officers to continue
the siege and marched against him. Vikramāditya, who had suc-
ceeded his father Ratan Singh would not face Bahādur in the field,
but retired to Chitor, and Bahādur returned to Rāisen. Lakhman
Singh, despairing of relief, offered to surrender on condition that
Silāhdi was pardoned, but when Silāhdi, having been recalled from
Māndū, was again permitted to enter Rāisen, he was persuaded to
perform the rite of jauhar rather than incur the disgrace of being
implicated in the surrender. Over 700 women were burnt, and the
men sallied forth, according to custom, in garments died yellow,
but exhibited little of the spirit of the Rājput, for though all were
slain the losses of the Muslims amounted to no more than four or
five.
Muhammad Shāh of Khāndesh, who was sent to establish
Bahādur's authority over the outlying districts of Mālwa, captured
Gāgraun' and Kanor, both of which had been treacherously sur-
rendered by Medeni Rāi, who had held them of the king of Mālwa,
to the Rānā of Mewar, and Bahādur, having appointed as governor
of Rāisen Sultān 'Alam, chief of Kālpi, who had fled from his prin-
1 In 24° 38' N. and 76° 12' E.
2 In 24° 26' N. and 74° 16' E.


## p. 329 (#375) ############################################

XII )
QUARREL WITH HUMÀYÓN
329
cipality before Bābur, overran part of Gondwāna, captured many
elephants, appointed Alp Khān governor of that region, and, turning
westward, captured Islāmābād and Hoshangābād, and met Muham-
mad Shāh, of Khandesh at Sārangpur, where the Rānā's governor
of Gāgraun was presented to him. Then returning to Māndū he
sent 'Iinād-ul-Mulk Malikji and Ikhtiyār Khān to take Mandasor,
formerly spared at the intercession of Sangrama Singh, whose
successor's writ no longer ran either in Mālwa or in Gujarāt. The
town and fortress were taken, the Rānā's officer fled, and Bahādur
dismissed Muhammad Shāh to Khāndesh, visited Diū, and on his
return thence spent the rainy season at Chāmpāner considering the
punishment of the Rānā. The occasion was opportune, for Vikra-
māditya was the Commodus of Rājputānā and disgusted his haughty
nobles by his preference for the society of gladiators, wrestlers, and
professional swashbucklers.
Bahādur, having been joined by Muhammad Shāh of Khāndesh,
marched from Chāmpāner on November 6, 1532, and on February
14, 1533, the two kings arrived before Chitor. Ten days later the
queen-mother, the widow of Sangrama Singh, purchased peace with
what remained of the plunder taken by her husband when he
captured Mahmud Khalji II of Mālwa, including the jewelled crown
of Hūshang and Bahādur retired, but returned again in 1534.
On this occasion he received in his camp Muhammad Zamān
Mirzā, a prince of the house of Tīmūr, whose pretensions had so
incensed his kinsman, the emperor, that he had been sentenced to
imprisonment in the fortress of Bayāna and to the loss of his eyes,
which he saved by flight. Humāyūn whose relations with Bahādur
had hitherto been perfectly friendly, took umbrage at his harbouring
the fugitive and his followers, and a correspondence ensued which
led to a permanent rupture between the two monarchs. Two of
the letters which passed between them have been preserved in
their entirety and offer a striking picture of the diplomatic methods
of that day. Humāyūn pointed out that although his ancestor
Tīmūr had desisted from attacking the Ottoman Sultan Bāyazid
while he was engaged in fighting the Franks he protested against
Bāyazīd's harbouring princes who had rebelled against himself.
He therefore demanded that the prince should be either surrendered
or expelled. To this Bahādur, who is said to have dictated his
reply when in his cups, sent a most insulting answer, in which he
ironically suggested that Humāyūn had boasted of the exploits of
‘his sire seven degrees removed' because he himself had achieved
nothing worthy of record.
a


## p. 330 (#376) ############################################

330
( ch.
GUJARĀT AND KHÂNDESH
So shocked were Bahādur and his nobles when they considered
the tone of this letter on the morrow that an effort was made to
overtake the courier, but without success, and their only solace
was the reflection that nothing more could be done, and that what
was decreed must come to pass.
Bahādur gained an easy victory over Vikramāditya at Loichal;
in the dominions of Surjan, Rão of Būndī, for the Rānā was deserted
by most of his vassals, who marched to the defence of Chitor, and
Bahādur, after his successs turned in the same direction and formed
the siege. Burhān-ul-Mulk now held Ranthambhor, which he had
captured for Bahādur when he had first appeared before Chitor
in the preceding year, and Bahādur sent Tātār Khān Lodi, a
grandson of Buhlūl Lodi of Delhi who had entered his service,
with a vast sum of money, in order that he and Burhān-ul-Mulk
might attack the Mughul empire. Tātār Khān raised an army and
captured the fortress of Bayāna, but Humāyūn's youngest brother
immediately recovered it, and slew him. Meanwhile the siege of
Chitor continued. According to Rājput legend Jawāhir Bāi, the
queen-mother, of Rāhtor race, sent Humāyūn a bracelet, in accord-
ance with the chivalrous custom of Rājasthān, adopting him as her
champion against Bahādur, but the legend is inconsistent with the
Muslim chronicles and with the conduct of Humāyān, who, despite
the gross provocation which he had received, would not attack
a brother Muslim while he was engaged in fighting the misbelievers.
Bahādur was seriously perturbed by the news of the defeat and
death of Tātār Khān Lodi and by apprehensions of being attacked
by Humāyān, and would have raised the siege but for the confident
assurance of Sadr Khān, one of his officers, that Humāyūn would
never attack him while he was besieging Chitor. After a lapse of
three months an extensive breach was made in the rampart, which
had never before been exposed to artillery fire. It was stoutly
defended but with a terrible sacrifice of life, and the valiant, Jawāhir
Bāi led a sortie from the fortress and was slain at the head of her
warriors. The garrison lost hope. The infant heir, Udai Singh, was
conveyed by Surjan prince of Būndī, to a place of safety, and the
surviving Rājputs performed the rite of jauhar. Thirteen thousand
women, so the legend says, headed by Karnavati, the mother of
the young prince, voluntarily perished in an immense conflagra-
tion fed by combustibles, and the survivors of the slaughter in the
breach, led by Bāghji, prince of Deola, rushed on the Muslim and
1 In 25° 17' N. and 75° 34' E.


## p. 331 (#377) ############################################

XIII )
FLIGHT OÈ BAHADUR
331
were exterminated. Chitor was for the moment a possession of the
king of Gujarāt, and received a Muslim governor.
Bahādur had now to think of his return to his capital, and had
reason to repent the folly which had prompted him to insult the
emperor ; for Humāyān, though he had scrupulously abstained froin
attacking him while he was engaged with the misbelievers, had
advanced to Mandasor, and was there awaiting him. Bahādur had
already taken a step which proclaimed his despair by sending to
Mecca, under the charge of a certain Asaf Khān, both the ladies
of his harem and his treasury. His army, as it approached the
emperor's position at Mandasor, was disheartened by the defeat of
its advanced guard and by the defection of Sayyid 'Ali Khān
Khurāsani, who deserted to the emperor. Bahādur was beset by
conflicting counsels. Sadr Khān urged that an immediate attack
should be delivered, while the army was still flushed with its
victory at Chitor, but Rūmi Khān, who commanded the artillery,
was of opinion that it should entrench itself and rely on its great
superiority in guns. Unfortunately the advice of the artilleryman
was followed. The light armed troops of Gujarāt dared not face
the Mughul archers in the field, and the imperial troops, beyond the
range of the guns, were able to cut off the supplies of the entrenched
camp. A reinforcement from Rāisen only increased his difficulties
by consuming his supplies, and after enduring a siege of two
months, during which losses from famine were heavy, he basely
deserted his army by night on April 25, 1535, and fled with Mu-
hammad Shāh of Khāndesh, Mallü Qadir Khān, governor of Mālwa,
and three other nobles, to Māndū. His army dispersed, only a few
of the principal officers being able to lead off their contingents.
Humāyūn pursued him and besieged him in Māndū. A division
escaladed the walls of the fortress at night, and Bahādur, who was
asleep at the time, escaped with difficulty to Chāmpāner with no
more than five or six followers. Sadr Khān and Sultān 'Alam,
governor of Rāisen, retired into the citadel, Songarh, but were
forced to surrender after the lapse of two days, when the former
entered the emperor's service and the latter, guilty of being a
member of the Lodi clan, was mutilated by the amputation of his
feet. Sadr Khān was not the only one who changed his allegiance.
Mustafā Rūmi Khān, to whom the government of Ranthambhor
had been promised during its siege, so resented his master's failure
to keep his word that he entered Humāyūn's service after the
defeat at Mandasor.
After reducing the citadel of Māndū Humāyūn pursued Bahādur,


## p. 332 (#378) ############################################

332
(CH.
GUJARAT AND KHĀNDESH
:
who fled from Champāner to Cambay. Humāyūn followed him
thither, but arrived at the port on the day on which he had taken
ship for Diū. The remnant of the fugitive's army was staunch and
made a night attack on the imperial camp, but a traitor had betray-
ed their design and the imperial troops, having vacated their tents,
allowed the enemy to plunder them and then, falling on them, put
them to the sword. They also slew, lest they should be rescued,
Sadr Khān and Firūz, formerly Jām of Sind, who had fallen into
their hands.
Bahādur induced Humāyūn to withdraw from Cambay by
sending Mahmūd Lārī, Muhtaram Khān, to interview Mustafā
Rūmi Khān. Hāji Dabir reports the interview as it was related to
him by Muhtaram Khān, who conveyed such bitter reproaches from
Bahādur that Rūmi Khān sweated with shame, and added, 'If this
attack on Diū is your suggestion, then employ some device to deter
him : if it is not your suggestion then try to shake his purpose. '
Rūmi Khān, stung by these reproaches, went to Humāyūn, who
happened to be suffering from the effects of the climate and advised
him to postpone the attack on Diū, as the sea air was bad for his
health. Humāyūn agreed, and at the same time news of disturbances
in Ahmadābād was received, and he withdrew to Chāmpāner.
Chāmpāner was still held by Ikhtiyār Khān for Bahādur, and
Humāyūn besieged the fortress. Selecting the most inaccessible
part of the wall as likely to be the most lightly guarded he led to
the spot 300 men armed with steel spikes, by means of which,
driven into the mortar between the stones, they escaladed the wall
and, on August 9, 1935, opened the gates to the rest of the army.
Ikhtiyār Khān fled to the citadel, but almost immediately sur-
rendered, and Humāyūn was master of Chāmpāner.
The treasure found at Chāmpāner relieved the imperial troops
of the duty of dispersing themselves throughout the country for
the collection of revenue, and the fief-holders sent to Bahādur in
Kāthīāwār a message expressing their unaltered loyalty and their
readiness to pay the land tax, if officers could be sent to collect it.
Bahādur selected 'Imād-ul-Mulk Malikji for this duty, and he,
assembling an army of 50,000 horse, encamped before Ahmadābād
and sent out detachments to collect the revenue. Humāyūn, who
would have been better employed in his own dominions, was in-
toxicated by his new conquest and bent on including it in his
empire. He marched towards Ahmadābād and his advanced guard
defeated Imād-ul-Mulk between Nadiād and Mahmūdābād. The
victory encouraged him to distribute the fiefs of Gujarāt among


## p. 333 (#379) ############################################

XIII ]
RETREAT OF HUMĀYUN
333
his officers, as though the conquest were complete and permanent,
and the kingdom assumed for a short time the appearance of a
settled province of the empire. Bahādur, at Diū, was trembling at
the prospect of an attack by land on that port and wrote to Nunho
da Cunha, governor of Portuguese India, imploring his aid. Da
Cunha visited Diū and on October 25 concluded a treaty by which
he undertook to assist Bahādur against his enemies by land and
sea, and received in return confirmation of the cession of the port
of Bassein to the king of Portugal and permission to build a fort
at Diū, the customs dues of the port being retained, however, by
Bahādur.
Himāyūn, fired with the lust of conquest, marched into Khān-
desh and visited Burhānpur. Muhammad Shāh wrote, begging him
to spare his small kingdom the horrors of an invasion, and at the
same time wrote to Ibrāhīm ‘Ādil Shāh I of Bījāpur, Sultān Quli
Qutb Shāh of Golconda, and Daryā 'Imād Shāh of Berar, proposing
a league for the defence of the Deccan but Humāyūn's operations
were confined to a military promenade through Khāndesh, whence
he returned to Māndū.
While he had been indulging in dreams of conquest Sher Khān
Sūr, the Afghān, had risen in rebellion in Bengal, the nobles of
Gujarāt, with the aid of the Portuguese, had recovered some posts
from the Mughuls, and ‘Askari Mirzā, at Ahmadābād, was medi-
tating his own proclamation as king of Gujarāt. Tardi Beg, the
Mughul governor of Chāmpāner, refused to admit into the fortress
the officers who, having been driven from their posts by Bahādur's
troops, desired to take refuge there, for he believed them to be
partisans of 'Askari and disaffected towards Humāyān. They
accordingly besieged him in Chāmpāner and Humāyūn hastily
returned towards Āgra, where his presence was urgently required,
and was joined on the way by 'Askari and those who had besieged
Chāmpāner who now made their peace with him. His ill-timed
expedition into Gujarāt had lasted for thirteen months and
thirteen days.
Bahādur had closely followed the retreating Mughuls, and as
he approached Chāmpāner Tardi Beg evacuated it and Bahādur
reoccupied it on May 25, 1536. He apologised to his nobles for
having at Mandasor followed the advice of Mustafā Rūmi Khān,
who had since deserted to Humāyān, to which error all the subse-
quent misfortunes of Gujarāt were to be traced. Mallu Qadir Khān
returned to Māndū as governor of Mālwa.
Bahādur, having regained his kingdom, repented of his bargain


## p. 334 (#380) ############################################

334
[ CH.
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
,
with the Portuguese, and sought to expel them from Diū. Manoel
de Sousa, who commanded the fort, was aware of this design, and
when the king visited Diū late in 1536 would not wait upon him,
lest he should be treacherously assassinated. Nundo da Cunha, in
response to an invitation from Bahādur, visited Diū towards the
end of December, but having been warned by de Sousa that it was
the king's intention to send him in a cage to the sultan of Turkey,
feigned sickness and refused to land. He persisted in his refusal
until the king lost patience and decided, on February 13, 1537,
against the advice of all his counsellors, to visit him on board his
ship. He made his visit accompanied by thirteen officers of high
rank, and after remaining a short time on board expressed a desire
to return. The Portuguese attempted to detain him, ostensibly
that he might inspect the giſts which they had brought for him
from Goa, but doubtless with a view to obtaining a pledge that he
would abandon his designs against them and to extorting further
concessions from him. He is said to have cut down a priest who
attempted to bar his way, and when he entered his barge the
Portuguese boats closed round it and swords were drawn. Manoel
de Sousa was killed, and the king and Khvāja Safar leaped into the
A Portuguese friend drew the Khvāja aboard his boat, but
the king was drowned and all his other companions were killed.
Bahādur was one of the greatest and may be reckoned the last
of the kings of Gujarāt, for his three actual successors were mere
puppets in the hands of a turbulent and factious nobility. His one
great error was committed at Mandasor, when he entrenched himself
instead of falling at once on the imperial army. His disgraceful
flight was almost a necessary consequence, for in it lay his only
chance of saving his kingdom. If we except these two actions and
his meditated treachery towards his Portuguese allies, which was
not regarded as reprehensible in his faith and in that age, we shall
be inclined to agree in the praise bestowed upon him by Hāji Dabīr,
author of the Zafar-ul-Wālih, who describes him as liberal, gener-
ous, and valiant, with a loftier spirit and wider ambitions than
any of his line, and reckons as his conquests the places in which
he caused the khutba to be recited in his name ; Gujarāt, the
Deccan, Khāndesh, Mālwa, Ajmer, the Aravalli Hills, Jālor, Nāgaur,
Junāgarh, Khānkot, Rāisen, Ranthambhor, Chitor, Kālpi, Baglāna,
Idar, Rādhanpur, Ujjain, Mewāt, Satwās, Ābu, and Mandasor.
Bahādur leſt no son, and Muhammad Zamān Mirzā, the kinsman
and brother-in-law of Humāyān, impudently claimed the throne
1 Vol. I, p. 263.
>


## p. 335 (#381) ############################################

XIII ]
DECLINE OF THE ROYAL POWER
335
on the ground that Bahādur's mother had adopted him as her son,
but 'Imād-ul-Mulk Malikji hastened from Diū to Ahmadābād and
agreed to call to the throne Muhammad Shāh of Khāndesh, whose
wife, mother, grandmother, and two more remote ancestresses had
all been princesses of Gujarāt. Descent in the female line seldom
counts for much in questions of succession in Muslim states, but
Muhammad had been for years the loyal vassal and faithful com-
panion in arms of Bahādur, whose recognition of his title of Shāh
was understood to indicate a wish that he should succeed him.
Muhammad Shāh obeyed the summons and set out from Burhānpur
to ascend the throne of Gujarāt, but died on May 24, on his way to
Chāmpāner.
There now remained only one possible successor, the last
descendant of Muhammad Karim, Mahmud Khān, son of Bahādur's
brother Latif Khān, who, during his uncle's reign, had been placed
in the custody of Muhammad of Khāndesh, and was a state prisoner
in a fortress in that state. The nobles of Gujarāt summoned him
to the throne, but Mubārak II, who had succeeded his brother in
Khāndesh, and had almost certainly hoped to receive a summons
to the throne of Gujarāt, would not surrender him until a force
led by Ikhtiyar Khān invaded Khandesh. Ikhtiyār Khān carried
Mahmūd with him to Ahmadābād, where he was enthroned on
August 8, 1587, as Sa`d-ud-din Mahmūd Shāh III.
The part which Ikhtiyār Khān Siddiqi had played in bringing
the new king from Khāndesh and placing him on the throne gained
for him the regency, for Mahmūd was but eleven years of age.
Ikhtiyār Khān was learned and accomplished and his surname
indicates descent from Abū Bakr as-Siddiq ('the truthful'), the first
successor of the prophet Muhammad, but his father had held the
comparatively humble post of gāzi of Nadiād and his advancement
was resented by many of the nobles, now divided into factions
quarrelling over the part which each had borne in attempting to
overcome the calamities which had recently fallen upon the king-
dom and over the compensation due to each for his sufferings and
his losses.
Two nobles of the second rank, Fattāji Muhāfiz Khān and
Daryā Khān Husain, urged 'Imād-ul-Mulk Malikji, son of Tawakkul,
who had long taken a prominent part in the affairs of the kingdom
and now found himself relegated to the third place, that of deputy
minister, to remove Ikhtiyār Khān by assassination, and his jealousy
and ambition succumbed to the temptation. He stepped into
Ikhtiyār Khan's place and appropriated the title of Amſr-ul-Umarā,


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336
[CH.
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
but 'Abd-ul-Latif Sadr Khān, the minister, grieved deeply for his
old friend, and taxed 'Imād-ul-Mulk with having been accessory
to his death. The new regent's denial of his complicity was not
believed, and Sadr Khān voluntarily resigned his post, and ex-
plained to the king the grounds for his action. He informed both
the king and the regent that Daryā Khan aspired to the first place
in the kingdom, and privately warned 'Imād-ul-Mulk that the life
of none would be safe if ambitious subordinates were permitted to
foment discord between the great officers of state and to persuade
them to remove rivals by assassination. Daryā Khān obtained the
post vacated by Sadr Khān, but the latter's warning was not lost
upon 'Imād-ul-Mulk who regarded his late accomplice with suspi.
cion, which was rewarded with secret intrigue and open hostility.
In 1517 the last of the Mamluk Sultans had been overthrown,
and Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire, but it was not
until 1538 that the new rulers of Egypt made any further attempt
to drive the Portuguese from the Indian Ocean. In 1537, however,
when news reached Egypt of the tragic death of Bahādur and the
consequent strengthening of the Portuguese position in India, the
Ottoman Sultan, Sulaiman I, grew apprehensive and ordered the
equipment at Suez of a powerful fleet, which eventually set sail
under Sulaimān Pāshā al-Khādim, governor of Cairo, and then an
old man of eighty-two. His objective was Diū, which was now in
the sole possession of the Portuguese. His public announcement
that he was setting out on a 'holy war against the Franks did not
prevent his behaving with the utmost treachery and cruelty to-
wards his co religionist at Aden, where he called on his way to India.
News of his disgraceful behaviour at Aden travelled quickly to
India, and was doubtless the real cause of his failure against the
Portuguese, for when he reached Muzaffarābād Khvāja Safar,
Khudāvand Khān, whom Mahmud III had placed in command of
a large force intended to co-operate with the Pāshā, and who was
at first inclined to join him, was deterred by his friends, who re-
minded him of the fate of the governor of Aden, and although he
sent many giſts to the Pāshā he persistently evaded a personal
interview. But though co-operation between the land and sea forces
was thus incomplete the Portuguese were reduced to great straits.
They were driven by Khvāja Safar from the city into the fort,
which they held with their wonted determination. Garcia de
Noronha, the newly arrived viceroy, either could not or would not
understand the situation, and failed to send relief; the defences
were almost destroyed, and of the original garrison of 600 only forty


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XIII ]
SIEGE OF DIO RAISED
337
men remained fit to bear arms. Sulaimān Pāshā, who had been
attacking by sea, was unaware, owing to the army's failure to co-
operate with him, of the desperate situation of the defence and was
so discouraged by repeated failure and by his losses that when
Khvāja Safar, disgusted by the arrogance of the Turks, which had
convinced him that Gujarāt had nothing to gain by their taking
the place of the Portuguese at Diū, sent him a fabricated letter,
announcing that the viceroy was about to arrive from Goa with
a formidable fleet, he sailed away on November 5. Some of his
officers remained behind and entered the service of Gujarāt. Among
these were Aqā Farahshād the Turk, afterwards entitled Fath Jang
Khān, Nāsir the African, afterwards entitled Habash Khān, and
Mujāhid Khān, who occupied Junāgarh. Khvāja Safar, on Sulai-
mān Pāshā's departure, set fire to the town of Diū and retired.
'Imād-ul-Mulk was now to discover the wisdom of Sadr Khān's
warning. His relations with Daryā Khān had been growing ever
more strained and the latter's influence over the feeble king ever
stronger. He accompanied the king on an excursion, ostensibly for
the purpose of hunting, but when well beyond the city walls carried
him off to Chāmpāner, and sent to 'Imād-ul-Mulk a royal letter
directing him to retire to his fiefs in Kāthiawār. 'Imād-ul-Mulk
assembled his troops and attempted to obtain possession of the
king's person in order to re-establish his influence over him, but
the proceeding so closely resembled rebellion that many of his
officers deserted him for the royal camp, and he was obliged to
return to Ahmadābād, whence he retired, with Sadr Khān, to Morvi,
his principal fief. In 1540 Daryā Khān, carrying with him the king
marched against 'Imād-ul-Mulk, defeated him at Bajāna', where
Sadr Khān was slain, and drove him into Khāndesh. Daryā Khān
followed him, and at Dāngrī, near the Tapti, met Mubārak II, who
was prepared to oppose any attempt to enter his kingdom. Daryā
Khān was again victorious, and 'Imād-ul-Mulk fled to Māndū,
where Mallu Nāsir Khān, appointed governor by Bahādur was
now independent, styling himself Nāsir Shāh. At this point Daryā
Khān and Mahmūd III abandoned the pursuit and returned to
Gujarāt.
Daryā Khān was now absolute in the kingdom, but Mahmud
had sufficient spirit to be sensible of the humiliation of his situation,
and enlisted the aid of a humble attendant, one Chirji, a fowler, to
escape from it. Chirji had horses ready one night under the city
wall, and the king, leaving his palace at midnight, mounted and
1' In 23° 7' N. and 71° 47' E.
21n 21° 9' N, and 75° 4' E.
C. II, I, III,
22


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338
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
[cir.
rode to Dhandhūka, the fief of Ālam Khān Lodi, nearly sixty miles
south-west of Ahmadābād.
“Alam Khān received him with every demonstration of loyalty,
and summoned to his aid his brother-in-law, Nāsir-ud-din Ulugh
Khān of Junāgarh, Mujāhid Khān of Pālitāna, and other fief-
holders. Daryā Khān, on discovering that the king had escaped
him and found a powerful protector, renounced the struggle to
maintain his ascendancy and sent to the king a mission with the
royal insignia, elephants, horses, and his own letter of resignation ;
but his old accomplice, Fattāji Muhāfiz Khān, coming into the city
from his fief of Viramgām, met the mission at Sarkhej, turned it
back, and persuaded Daryā Khān to strike a blow for the recovery
of his lost supremacy. It was necessary to oppose a puppet to the
actual king, and a child of obscure origin was accordingly pro-
claimed and carried by Daryā Khān with the army which he led
against Mahmūd III and his new protectors.
The armies met to the south west of Ahmadābād, in a confused
conflict which had a strange result. 'Alam Khān Lodi charged with
great impetuosity, cut his way through the centre of Daryā Khān's
army, rode to Ahmadābād with only five or six of his men, and
took possession of the city in the name of Mahmūd III. Daryā
Khān, convinced that 'Ālam Khān's small force had been cut to
pieces, continued the action with apparent success until it was confi.
dently reported that 'Ālam Khān had entered the royal palace, pro-
claimed his victory over the rebels, and let loose a mob of plunderers
into his house. He hesitated, and was lost. His army fled, and
Mahmūd marches on into the city, Muhāfiz Khan and the child
who had been proclaimed king fleeing before him. Daryā Khăn
Aed to Burhānpur and Muhāfiz Khān, with his puppet, to Chām.
pāner, whither he was followed by Mahmūd III and 'Alam Khān.
He was glad to purchase liſe by a speedy surrender and disappear-
ed from the kingdom.
Mahmud III now returned to Ahmadābād to discover that he
had but changed one master for another. He insisted, in his grati-
tude, on promoting Chirji the fowler to the rank lately held by
Fattāji and conferred on him all Fattāji's possessions, and his title
of Muhāfiz Khān, but the advancement profited the humble bird-
catcher little, for when he took his seat among the nobles of the
kingdom 'Alam Khān Lodi protested, and when Chirji, with the
king's support, persisted in asserting his right, compassed his death.
The manner in which the minister's decision was executed indicates
the estimation in which the king and his wishes were held by his


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XII ]
OVERTHROW OF "ĀLAM KHĀN
339
new master. Ashja 'Khān, 'Alam Khān's brother, entered the royal
presence with a dagger in his hand, laid hold of the wretched
Muhāfiz Khān, dragged him forth, and as soon as he had crossed
the threshold of the hall of audience stabbed him to death. “Alam
Khăn became, of course, lieutenant of the kingdom, and Nūr-ud-din
Burhān-ul-Mulk Bambāni was appointed minister. 'Imād-ul-mulk
Malikji returned from Māndū and received Broach as his fief.
The domination of 'Ālam Khān was
even less tolerable than
that of Daryā Khān. The latter had, at least, observed some
moderation in the pomp with which he surrounded himself, but
the former encroached, in this respect, on the royal prerogative.
A minister whose power was absolute might well have avoided this
indiscretion and should have understood that a king deprived of
his power will cling all the more jealously to its outward symbols.
Nor was this his greatest error. The assassination of the recently
ennobled fowler wounded the king's affections as well as his honour,
and in crushing one presumptuous minister he had learned how
to deal with another. By a private appeal to the loyalty of some,
who, though nominally 'Ālam Khān's followers were no less dis-
gusted than the king with his arrogance and presumption, he
succeeded in ridding himself of his new master. On a night when
Mujāhid Khān was on duty at the palace the king persuaded him
to assemble his troops, and at break of day rode forth with the
royal umbrella above his head and proclaimed by a crier that
‘Alam Khān's palace might be sacked. The mob broke in, and
‘Alam Khân, roused from a drunken slumber, fled in confusion and
made the best of his way to Māndū, where he joined his former
enemy, Daryā Khān.
Mujāhid Khān now became lieutenant of the kingdom, with
'Abd-us-Samad Afzal Khān as minister. Muharram bin Safar was
entitled Rūmi Khān, and others who aſterwards became prominent
in the state received titles. 'Abd-ul-Karim became I'timād Khān,
Bilāl Jhūjhār Khān, and Abu Sulaimān Mahalldār Khān.
Daryā Khān and Alam Khān now appeared at Rādhanpur
with 'Alā-ud-din Fath Khān of the royal line of Sind, whose mother
had been a princess of Gujarāt, and proclaimed him king, but
Mahmúd attacked and defeated them, and they fled again to Māndū,
while Fath Khān, who had merely been an instrument in their hands,
made his excuses to Mahmūd and was well received at his court.
Mahmūd, now freed from the domination of ambitious ministers,
turned his attention to the portuguese. Khvāja Safar, Khudāvand
1 In 23° 49' N. and 71° 39' E.
22-2


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340
[CH.
GUJARĀT AND KHĀNDESH
Khān, was governor of Cambay, and was ordered to construct a
fort at Sürat for the protection of the maritime trade, which had
been much harassed by the Portuguese ever since their establish-
ment at Diū.