No More Learning

Muhammad's nominal authority did not extend beyond Pānipat to
the north ; on the south and south-east the raja of Gwalior, who
had during the previous reign periodically acknowledged the sove-
1 In English histories this name is usually written Bahlol,' as it is also pronounced
by the vulgar in India. Buhlul is the correct form. The word is Arabic, and means
one who laughs or smiles, or a prince endowed with every accomplishment.


## p. 223 (#267) ############################################

VI)
WAR AGAINST MÄLWA
223
reignty of Delhi, no longer made any pretence of fealty, and the
king of Jaunpur had invaded and annexed the districts bordering
on his kingdom. The Hindus of the Doāb, always refractory, dis-
regarded with impunity an authority which was never asserted,
and the turbulent tribesmen of Mewāt plundered the country to
within a short distance of the wall of the city. The Nobles of Delhi,
despairing of a king who was content to loiter in his palace while his
kingdom dissolved, had recourse, in 1440-41, to Mahmud Shāh
Khalji of Mālwa, an active and warlike prince who had in 1436 seized
the throne of that kingdom', and sent repeated messages to him
representing the miserable plight of the once glorious kingdom and
imploring him to march to Delhi for the purpose of restoring peace
and order. Mahmūd set out, and Muhammad Shāh, roused at
length from his disgraceful torpor, prepared to oppose him. Assem-
bling such troops as he could muster, he sent an appeal for help
to Buhlūl Lodi, whose readiness to respond had its origin not in
loyalty to Muhammad, but in the resolve to preserve the kingdom
for himself. He would not, however, lend his aid unconditionally,
and demanded as its price the death of Hisām Khān, governor of
the capital, in whom he recognised either a dangerous rival or too
staunch and powerful a champion of hereditary right. The
condition was fulfilled, and Buhlül led his forces to the support of the
king.
Meanwhile Mahmūd, marching from Mālwa by way of Hindaun,
was there joined by Yūsuf Khān Auhadi and continued his advance
to Delhi. Muhammad marched forth to meet him, and the two
armies confronted one another between Tughluqābād and the city.
Here Muhammad, who had already proved himself to be devoid
of the qualities of a leader of men, sank to the lowest depths of
contempt by showing that he lacked the mere physical courage
expected of the humblest soldier. He would not take the field
in person, but entrusted the command of his troops nominally to
his son 'Alā-ud-din, with whom he associated Sayyid Khān Daryā
Khān Lodī, Qutb Khān, and other officers. Like Muhammad, but
for a different reason, Mahmūd Khalji refrained from personally
engaging in the conflict. His courage was never impugned, and he
was, indeed, brave to rashness, but he would not deign to take the
field against Muhammad's officers, and was resolved to show that
his own subordinates were well able to cope with them. Retaining
for the protection of his person a small force of picked cavalry he
entrusted the command of the rest of his army to his two sons
1 See Chapter XIV.


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224
[CH
THE SAYYID DYNASTY
Ghiyās-ud-din and Nusrat Khān. The battle began at noon and
lasted, without any decisive advantage to either side, until nightfall,
when each army returned to its own camp. The pusillanimous
Muhammad, dreading the alternative prospects of being obliged
to take the field or falling into the hands of the enemy, hastened
to make undignified proposals for peace, which might have been
rejected with contempt, had not Mahmūd received reports which
necessitated an immediate return to his capital. A mob at Māndū
had removed the royal umbrella suspended over the tomb of
Hüshang Shāh and had raised it over the head of a pretender
whom they had proclaimed king of Mālwa as representative of the
Ghūri family'. Accordingly he welcomed the overtures for peace
and on the following day began his retreat. With flagrant disregard
of the agreement between the two kings Buhlūl Lodi followed and
attacked the retreating army, and obtained a trivial advantage
over its rearguard and some plunder. It need not be assumed that
Muhammad was privy to this act of treachery, 'for Buhlūl was
beyond his control, but he participated in its guilt by becoming,
in legal phrase; an accessory after the fact. The perfidious Afghān
was received on his return with extravagant demonstrations, his
mean and petty triumph was magnified into a victory over the army
of Mālwa, and the king distinguished him by styling him his son,
and conferred on him the title of Khān Khānān.
Buhlūl now consulted his interest by feigning loyalty to Muham-
mad and in the following year the king marched to Sāmāna and
there formally bestowed on him, in addition to the fiefs which he
already held by grant from the crown, Dipālpūr and Lahore,
which were
re no longer his to bestow. Buhlūl deigned to accept a
commission to attack Jasrat the Khokar, but, on discovering that
Jasrat was inclined to favour his designs on the throne of Delhi,
made peace with him on easy terms and withdrew to Sirhind, where
he strengthened himself by annexing the districts adjoining those
which he already held, and by enlisting large numbers of Afghāns,
especially of his own tribe>, in his army. He picked a quarrel, on
trivial grounds, with Muhammad Shāh, marched to Delhi, and
besieged it, but failed to capture it, or perhaps, for he returned
unmolested to his own dominions, where he styled himself Sultan
Buhlūl, was bought off, or retired on realising the magnitude
ISome historians attribute the retreat of Mahmūd Khalji to a report that Ahmad
I of Gujarāt had invaded or was about to invade his dominions, but the account of
the circumstances given in the text is to be preferred.
2 The Lodīs were Khaljis or Ghilzāis, Turks by origin, but so long resident in
Afghānistān that by the fifteenth century they could be correctly described as
Afghāns.


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VIII 1
RISE OF THE LODIS
225
of the task with which he would be
confronted after taking
the city.
After the siege of the capital the disorders of the kingdom
increased daily, and when Muhammad Shāh died, in 1444, no point
on his frontier was more than forty miles distant from Delhi, and
the kingdom inherited by his son 'Alā-ud-din, who assumed the
title of Ālam Shah, consisted of the city and the neighbouring
villages.
The new king was even more feeble and vacillating than his
father, and although Buhlūl humoured the nobles of Delhi by
formally acknowledging his accession he sedulously continued
his preparations for seizing the throne when the time should be
ripe.
Shortly after his accession 'Alam Shāh marched towards Sāmāna,
apparently with no other purpose than that of showing that a king
of Delhi yet dared to leave his palace, but was recalled by a rumour
that Mahmūd Shāh of Jaunpur was marching on the city. The
report, which he had not taken the trcuble to verify, proved to be
false, and an outspoken courtier incurred his displeasure by up-
braiding him for his undignified and unnecessary retreat. In 1447
he marched to Budaun, where he was received with respect, and
found the city so attractive that he resolved to reside there rather
than at Delhi. Having prepared a dwelling for himself he returned
to Delhi, where the same blunt courtier remonstrated with him on
the folly of the step which he contemplated, but gained nothing
but his own removal from office. The king appointed one of his
wife's brothers governor of the capital and in 1448 retired per- .
manently to Budaun, where he abandoned himself entirely to the
pursuit of pleasure.
It is now proper to examine the condition of the territories
over which Khizr Khân had established his authority. The pro-
vince of Multān had elected a ruler of its own, who never recog-
nised, even formally, the royal authority ; and the rest of the
Punjab, as far south as Pānīpat and Hissar, was in the possession
of Buhlūl, whose relative, Daryā Khān Lodi, held the district of
Sambhal, the western limit of which he had pushed forward as
far as the ford of Khvāja Khizr, on the Jumna near Delhi. Ad-
joining this petty state on the south, within the limits of the Doāb,
was the state of Koil, held by 'Isā Khān the Turk, and south of
this state Hasan Khān, another Aſghān, held Rāpri. The lower
central Doāb, including Bhongāon, Patiālī, and Kampil, was held
by the Rājput, Raja Partāb and to the west of the Jumna Dāūd
C. H, I, III.
15


## p. 226 (#270) ############################################

226
( ch.
THE SAYYID DYNASTY
Khān Auhadi was independent in Bayāna. All these rulers were
partisans of Buhlūl. Gwalior was an independent Hindu state, and
such tracts of Mewat as did not acknowledge the rule of Dāūd
Auhadi were held by native chieftains whose power extended
almost to the gates of Delhi.
'Alam Shāh, on his way to Budaun, took counsel with Qutb
Khān, cousin of Buhlūl, 'Isā Khān, and Raja Partāb, regarding the
possibility of rehabilitating the royal power. Hamid Khān, who
was now minister, was obnoxious to Raja Partāb, for his father,
Fath Khān, had formerly devastated Partāb's fief and carried off
his wife. The three courtiers promised to add to 'Ālam Shāh's
small kingdom forty parganas on condition that he put Hamid
Khān to death. He was imprisoned, but escaped and fled to
Delhi.
After the king's departure from the capital a quarrel broke out
between his two brothers-in-law, one of whom had been left there
as governor and the other as chief of the city police, and one of
them had been killed in a fight between their factions. The mob,
at the instigation of Hisām Khān, had risen against the survivor
and put him to death, and Hisām Khan and Hamid Khān remained
arbiters of the destinies of Delhi. The restoration of Alam Shah
was out of the question, and both desired to find a substitute who
would be content with no more than the royal title and would
permit them to govern in his name. The claims of the kings of
Jaunpur and Mālwa were considered and rejected, for the former
was connected by marriage with 'Alam Shāh and might attempt
to avenge
his
wrongs and the latter was so attached to his distant
kingdom that it was improbable that he would transfer his affec-
tions to Delhi. Their choice fell ultimately upon Buhlül, though
there was little probability of his becoming a pliable instrument
in their hands, and he was invited to Delhi. He responded with
such alacrity that he arrived with a force insufficient to establish
his authority, but he formally received from Hamid Khān, in
exchange for conciliatory promises, the keys of the city, and wrote
to "Alam Shāh a letter as masterly as it was insincere, in which he
explained that he was actuated solely by jealous zeal for the royal
authority, which he had seen set at naught.
naught. Buhlūl seated himself
on the throne on April 19, 1151, and set out at once to Dipālpūr
to collect the troops which in his haste he had left behind. His
letter to ·Alam Shāh elicited the desired reply. The mean-spirited
King, content with the ease and freedom from care which his resi-
dence in Budaun afforded, replied that he had had neither fruit


## p. 227 (#271) ############################################

VII)
USURPATION OF BUHLOL
227
nor profit of sovereignty, that his father had styled Buhlūl his son
and that he himself freely and cheerfully resigned his throne to
Buhlūl as to an elder brother. Thus Buhlūl, on his return to Delhi,
ascended the throne not merely as the creature of a successful
faction, but as the heir designate of a king who had voluntarily
abdicated. The contemptible 'Alam Shāh remained contentedly
in Budaun, where the revenue of the small territory which he
had been permitted to retain sufficed to defray the cost of his
pleasures.
15-2


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CHAPTER IX
THE LODI DYNASTY
The condition of the kingdom over which Buhlūl was called to
rule has already been described, but he differed from its late feeble
sovereign in being already, at the time of his elevation to the throne,
a powerful ruler. The greater part of the Punjab owned his sway,
and one of his kinsmen was virtual ruler of the country to the
east of Delhi, the northern Doāb, and the province now known as
Rohilkhand.
The new king was just such a ruler as the distracted state re-
quired. With sufficient political acumen to serve his purpose he
was active and warlike and had formed the resolution of restoring
the kingdom to its pre-eminence among the Muhammadan States
of Northern India. Among his Afghān kinsmen he was little more
than primus inter pares, and was well content with that position,
but he would tolerate no interference by strangers, and one of his
first acts was to overthrow the powerful Hamid Khan, by whom
he had been called to the throne and whose influence in Delhi
might at any time be sufficient to initiate a formidable movement
for the restoration of the old order of things, when everybody
was his own master. The Afghāns, acting under their leader's
instructions, behaved with grotesque boorishness at all his formal
meetings with Hamid Khān. The men-at-arms crowded into the
hall of audience on the pretext that all soldiers and fellowtribesmen
were equals, and their conduct, while it excited the surprise and
disgust of Hamid Khân, encouraged him to believe that he had
to deal with a horde of mere rustic simpletons. The Afghān troops
soon numerous enough to crush any disturbance which might
arise in the city, and their numbers at court were always sufficient
to enable Buhlūl to carry out any act of violence. At one
audience Qutb Khān Lodi, Buhlūl's cousin and brother-in-law, pro-
duced a chain and, casting it down before Hamīd Khān, informed
him that it was considered necessary for reasons of state that he
should be confined for a few days, but that in consideration of the
services which he had rendered his life would be spared. How this
promise was kept we do not know, but Hamid Khān disappears
henceforth from the scene.
were


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CH. IX ]
DEFEAT OF MAHMUD OF JAUNPUR
229
Shaikh Yūsuf, the popularly elected governor of Multan, who
had been expelled from that city by the Langāhst and had taken
refuge at Delhi, urged Buhlūl to recover the lost province, and late
in 1451 he left the capital for Multān, but as soon as his back was
turned some of the old nobles of 'Ālam Shāh, who found the ener-
getic personal rule of the new king little to their taste, invited
Mahinūd Shāh of Jaunpur to attack the city and expel the Afghāns.
Mahmūd responded to the appeal, and on his march towards Delhi
was joined by Buhlūl's relative, Daryā Khān Lodī, who remained
at heart loyal to his kinsman, and whose adherence to the invader
was a matter of necessity rather than choice. Mahmud advanced
to Delhi and besieged Buhlūl's eldest son, Khvāja Bāyazīd, who
had been left in charge of the city; and Buhlūl, who had reached
Dipālpur, immediately retraced his footsteps and was within thirty
miles of the capital before Mahmūd had succeeded in making any
impression on its defences. He was fortunate enough to capture
large numbers of Mahmūd's transport animals, which were at
pasture but immediately after this successful stroke was attacked
by Mahmūd's principal licutenant, Fath Khān of Herat, with 30,000
horse and thirty elephants. In the battle Qutb Khān Lodi, who
was an expert archer, checked the onset of Fath Khān's elephant
by wounding it with an arrow, and this mishap shook the ranks of
the Jaunpur troops. Qutb Khān was able to convey a message to
Daryā Khān Lodi, urging him to desert the enemy and join his
kinsmen, and Daryā Khān at once led his troops from the field.
The rest of the army of Jaunpur, demoralised by his defection,
broke and fled, and Fath Khān was taken alive and was beheaded
by Raja Khān, a Hindu officer of Buhlūl's who had a blood feud
with him.
Mahmūd, on the defeat of his army in the field, raised the siege
and returned to Jaunpur. His expedition convinced Buhlül that
the settlement of the trivial disorders in the Punjab, where Lodi
supremacy was assured, might, well be postponed until the turbulent
fief-holders of the Doāb and the petty princes of Mewāt, who had
long been independent, were once more brought into subjection
to the kingdom of Delhi and the power of the king of Jaunpur
which, during the reigns of Mubārak, Muhammad, and 'Alam Shāh,
had always equalled and frequently over-shadowed that of the king
of Delhi, had been broken. Buhlūl, whose reputation had been
greatly enhanced by his victory, marched to Mewāt, where he
received, without a battle, the submission of Ahmad Khān, who
1 Şee Chapters VIII and XIX,


## p. 230 (#274) ############################################

230
(CH.
THE LODI DYNASTY
1
surrendered seven parganas to him, agreed to holding the re-
mainder of his territory as a fief of Delhi, and placed his uncle,
Mubārak Khān, at Buhlūl's court, nominally as his agent, but in
fact as a hostage.
From Mewāt Buhlūl crossed the Jumna and marched to Baran,
where Daryā Khān Lodi waited on him and compounded for his
late adhesion to Mahmūd of Jaunpur by the surrender of seven
parganas of his great fief to the crown. It was Buhlūl's policy to
conciliate the great fief-holders of the Doāb, whose disobedience to
Delhi and subservience to Jaunpur had been forced upon them
by circumstances, and all were treated with leniency. “Isa Khān,
Mubārak Khān, and Raja Partāb submitted to him and were per-
mitted to retain the fiefs of Koil, Suket and Bhongaon, and even
Qutb Khān', son of Hasan Khān, who defended the fortress of
Rāpri against the royal troops, was permitted to retain his fief after
his submission.
From Rāpri Buhlūl marched to Etāwah and received the sub-
mission of the raja, but this assertion of his authority provoked
Mahmūd of Jaunpur, who claimed the allegiance of Etāwah and
invaded the district for the purpose of contesting Buhlūl's claim.
Neither king was in a position to proceed to extremities against the
other, and after one day's desultory fighting they concluded a truce,
in accordance with the terms of which the boundaries between the
two states were to be those which had been recognised in the reign
of Mubārak Shāh of Delhi, seven elephants taken from Fath Khān
were to be restored to Jaunpur, and Buhlūl was to be permitted,
after the rainy season, to wrest Shamsābād from Jaunān Khan, who
held it nominally as a fief of Jaunpur.
Mahmūd returned to Jaunpur and Buhlül . drove Jaunān Khān
from Shamsābād and placed his own vassal, Raja Karan, in posses-
sion of the fief. Mahmūd, though Buhlūl had violated none of the
conditions of the treaty, marched against him, and as the army of
Jaunpur approached Shamsābād it was attacked by night by a
force under Qutb Khān Lodi and Daryā Khān Lodī. The attack
failed and Qutb Khān was captured and sent to Jaunpur, where
he remained a prisoner for seven months. Just as the main bodies
of the two armies were about to join battle Mahmúd died, in 1457,
and his son Bhikan was raised to the throne under the title of
Muhammad Shāh, and made peace with Buhlūl, whose right to
retain Shamsābād he acknowledged. Buhlül returned towards
Delhi, but on reaching Dhankaur received a message from Qutb
1Not to be confounded with Qutb Khān Lodi, Buhlūl's cousin and brother. in-law.


## p. 231 (#275) ############################################

IX]
WAR AGAINST JAUNPUR
231
Khān's sister, reproaching him for having left her brother in cap-
tivity and urging him not to rest until he had liberated him, where-
upon he at once turned back to meet Muhammad Shāh, who
marched with equal promptness to Shamsābād, expelled Raja Karan,
and restored the fief to Jaunān Khān. His success attracted to his
standard the raja of Etāwah, who openly transferred his allegiance
from Delhi to Jaunpur, and Muhammad marched to Saraswati
while Buhlūl marched to the neighbouring town of Rāprī. After
some desultory fighting between the two armies intestine discord
deprived that of Jaunpur of the power of offensive action, and
Muhammad was deserted by one of his brother, who led away a
force of 30,000 horse and thirty elephants and halted on the banks
of the Jharna. Buhlūl, who regarded this move as a tactical man-
oeuvre against himself, followed them, and on his way captured
Jalāl Khān, a third brother of Muhammad, who was attempting to
join the deserter, and detained him as a hostage for the safety of
Qutb Khăn Lodi.
Muhammad retreated towards Kanauj, and was followed as far
as the Ganges by Buhlūl, but his brother Husain had already been
acclaimed as king at Kanauj and Muhammad was deserted by the
few courtiers who had remained with him, and was put to death.
Husain Shāh ascended the throne of Jaunpur in 1458, and at
once concluded a four years' truce with Buhlūl. Qutb Khān Lodi
was exchanged for Husain's brother, Jalāl Khān, and peace reigned
between Delhi and Jaunpur for the period for which the truce had
been concluded.
During this period Buhlūl's attention was fully occupied in the
administration of his dominions and late in 1472 he marched towards
Multān, to reduce to obedience Husain Shāh Langāh, who had
succeeded his father in that small kingdom.
In 1473 Husain Shāh of Jaunpur, instigated by his wife Jalila,
who was a daughter of ‘Ālam Shāh, marched on Delhi with a large
army, and this menace to his capital recalled Buhlūl, who however,
sent his third son, Bārbak Shāh, and Tātār Khān Lodī, governor
of Lahore, to Multān, where they suffered a crushing defeat at the
hands of Husain Langāh, and were compelled to retreat.
Buhlūl, on reaching Delhi, was dismayed by the imminence of
his peril and hastily sent a mission to Mahmud Khalji II of Mālwa,
imploring him to come to his aid and promising to cede to him the
whole country west of Bayāna, but Husain had reached the banks
of the Jumna, a short distance to the south-east of Delhi, before a
1 For the details of these disputes see Chapter X.


## p. 232 (#276) ############################################

232
[ CH.
THE LODI DYNASTY
reply could be received from Mahmūd, and Buhlūl attempted to
purchase peace by the most humiliating submission. Were he
allowed, he said, to retain Delhi and the country for thirty miles
around it he would cheerfully hold it in Husain's name. The offer
was haughtily rejected and Buhlūl marched forth at the head of
18,000 Afghān horse, to meet his powerful enemy. The armies
were encamped on opposite banks of the Jumna and for several
days neither ventured to cross the river in force to attack the other
until one day Husain who, in his contempt of his opponent neglected
all military precautions, permitted the whole of his army to disperse
for the purpose of plundering the fertile lands of the Doāb. His
was left unprotected, and Buhlūl crossed the river by a ford
and fell upon it. Even now Husain's insensate pride blinded him
to his danger and it was not until the Afghāns were actually plunder-
ing his tents that he sought safety in flight, then the only course left
open to him. The ladies of his harem, including his wife Jalila, were
captured by Buhlūl, who generously sent them unharmed to
Jaunpur.
A new treaty, in which a truce of three years was agreed upon,
was concluded and Buhlūl, besides turning his attention once more
to the improvement of his administration and the consolidation of
his power, marched into Mewāt for the purpose of dealing with
Ahmad Khān, a great fief-holder who had joined Husain Shāh in
his recent expedition. Ahmad Khān fled and joined Husain in
Jaunpur, thus furnishing him with a pretext for renewing hostilities,
to which course he was constantly urged by his wife Jalila.
Husain, after capturing Etāwah, marched on Delhi with an army
of 100,000 horse and 100 elephants, and Buhlūl again stooped to
supplication and promised, if Husain would refrain from molesting
him, to attend him in the field whenever in future he might require
assistance. Husain vouchsafed no answer to this piteous appeal
and Buhlūl was compelled to take the field. He again defeated
the army of Jaunpur, but was not strong enough to profit by his
success, and was fain to make peace. Shortly afterwards Husain
again marched against Buhlūl, who marched from Delhi and en-
countered him at Sikhera, about tewenty-five miles east of the city.
Husain was defeated but was again able to make peace on equal
terms and retired to Etāwah, where Qutb Khān Lodi and the son
of the raja of Gwalior waited on him. Qutb Khān, learning that
Husain still entertained designs on Delhi, ingratiated himself by
disparaging Buhlūl, and promised Husain that he would never rest
until he had conquered for him the country as far north as Delhi,


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IX)
HUSAIN OF JAUNPUR IS DEFEATED
233
Husain was duped, and allowed Qutb Khān to leave his camp. He
at once joined his cousin at Delhi, and warned him against Husain,
whose military strength was still great and who had not abandoned
the design of annexing Delhi to his dominions.
Husain once more assembled his army for an attack on Delhi,
and in March, 1479, arrived at the bank of the Jumna. This was
the most promising of all his campaigns and the effect of his nume-
rical superiority was everywhere apparent, but Qutb Khān Lodi,
by an appeal to the memory of Husain's mother, who had be.
friended him during his captivity in Jaunpur, so played upon the
invader's feelings that he induced him to make peace on obtaining
from Buhlūl formal recognition of his tenure of all districts east
of the Ganges, corresponding to the modern province of Rohilkhand.
After concluding this treaty Husain began a leisurely retreat and
Buhlūl perfidiously attacked him and captured a large number
of elephants and horses laden with spoil and treasure, Husain's
minister, and about forty of his principal nobles. This success,
disgracefully obtained, marks the turn of the tide in favour of
Delhi, and Buhlūl pursued the demoralised army of Jaunpur and
occupied the parganas of Kampil, Patiäli, Shamsābād, Suket, Koil,
Mārhara and Jalesar. Husain, hard pressed by Buhlūl's pursuit,
turned and faced him, but was again defeated and was now obliged
to acquiesce in Buhlūl's retention of the large tract of territory
which he had recovered and to agree that the frontier of the
kingdom of Jaunpur should be withdrawn to Chhibrāmau in the
district now known as Farrukhābād. Husain retired to Rāpri and
Buhlül to Delhi, but the former, after a brief period of repose,
again took the field to recover his lost territory and met Buhlūl at
Senhā, where he suffered the heaviest defeat he had yet expe-
rienced. The plunder which fell into the hands of Buhlūl and the
prestige which he gained with his victory established the supe-
riority of Delhi and Buhlūl encamped at Chhibrāmau and shortly
afterwards took the offensive against Husain and defeated him at
Rāpri. Husain fled towards Gwalior, and after losing some of his
wives and children in the passage of the Jumna, was attacked near
Athgāth by the Bhadauriyas, a predatory tribe, who plundered his
camp. Kirat Singh of Gwalior was still faithful to him, supplied
him with money, troops, and transport, and escorted him as far
as Kālpi on his way to Jaunpur. Buhlūl, aſter capturing Etāwah,
which surrendered to him after a siege of three days, marched to
attack Husain, who turned to meet him at Rāigāon Khāgā', where
1 In 25° 53'N, and 81° 16'E,


## p. 234 (#278) ############################################

234
( CH.
THE LODI DYNASTY
his front was protected by the Ganges, which postponed Buhlūl's
attack for some months until Raja Tilok Chand of Baksar? joined
his
army and led it across the river by a ford, when Husain re-
treated rapidly to Phāphāmau”, the raja of which place provided
him with money, horses, and elephants, and escorted him in safety
to Jaunpur. Buhlūl marched straight on Jaunpur and Husain fled
towards Kanauj by way of Bahrāich, an unnecessarily circuitous
route. Buhlūl followed him, overtook him on the banks of the
Rahab, attacked him, and defeated him, capturing one of his wives.
He then returned to Jaunpur, which he captured, and placed
Mubārak Khān Lohānī in the city as governor. He also placed
a garrison under the command of Qutb Khān Lodi in Majhauli,
beyond the Gogra and then marched to Budaun, which had been
nominally subject to Husain since the death of Ālam Shāh in
'
1478. Husain took advantage of his absence to re-assemble his
army and march to Jaunpur, compelling Mubārak Khān to with.
draw to Majhauli. Husain marched thither, and Buhlūl's officers,
who could not risk a battle, gained time by feigning to negotiate,
and while Husain was thus permitting himself to be delayed, Buhlūl
returned rapidly from Budaun, sent a force under his son Bārbak
to relieve Majhaulī, and re-occupied Jaunpur. Husain, in despair,
fled into Bihār, and Buhlul followed him as far as Haldī, on the
Ganges near Ballia, where he heard of the death of Qutb Khān
Lodi at Majhauli and, after halting to mourn for him, returned to
Jaunpur, where in 1486 he placed his eldest surviving son Bārbak
on the throne of that kingdom and permitted him to coin money
and to use the royal title. He then marched, by way of Chandwār,
to Dholpur where the raja, as earnest of his submission, presented
to him a large quantity of gold. From Dholpur he marched
eighteen miles westward to Bārī, where Iqbāl Khān, the Muslim
governor, also made his submission, and was permitted to retain
his fief. Thence he marched to 'Alampur, near Ranthambhor, plun-
dered that district, and destroyed all the standing crops. Returning
to Delhi he enjoyed some well-earned repose there and at Hissar,
and, thus refreshed, marched to Gwalior, where Kirat Singh had
for many years virtually maintained his independence by paying
tribute to Jaunpur. Buhlūl was ill-prepared for such an enterprise
as the siege of the fortress, and Kirat Singh was well content to
purchase peace and liberty by the payment of eight millions of
rupees. From Gwalior Buhlūl returned to Etāwah, where he made
1 Thirty-four miles southeast of Unao town. 2 In 25° 32'N. and 81° 56'E.
3 In 26° 17'N. and 83° 57' E. , on the Little Gandak river,


## p. 235 (#279) ############################################

IX]
SIKANDAR SHAH
235
a
some administrative changes, and, on returning towards Delhi, was
overtaken, near Suket, by his last illness, which produced a crop of
intrigues regarding the succession. Buhlūl himself, who had pro-
vided for his second and eldest surviving son, Bārbak, by placing
him on the throne of Jaunpur, seems to have intended that his third
son, Nizām Khān (Sikandar Shāh) should succeed him, but the
Afghān nobles objected to him on the ground that his mother, a
favourite wiſe or concubine, was the daughter of a goldsmith, and
prevailed upon the dying king to summon him to the camp, lest he
should usurp the throne in Delhi; but the prince's mother and a
few who favoured his cause were in the camp and secretly warned
him that if he obeyed the order he would certainly be imprisoned
by his father. Nizām Khān temporised and the nobles, who were
almost unanimous in opposing his succession, some supporting
Bārbak Shāh of Jaunpur, and others A'zam-i-Humāyān, son of
Khvāja Bāyazid, Buhlūl's eldest son, urged Buhlūl to assert his
authority, and an order was sent to Nizām Khān, warning him that
if he did not immediately obey the summons his father would march
to Delhi and punish him. Nizām Khān pitched his camp beyond
the walls and announced that he was about to set out, but needed
few days in which to prepare for the journey. Meanwhile Buhlūl
suddenly died, in the second week of July, 1489. Zibā, the gold-
smith's daughter, boldly confronted the Lodi nobles with an assertion
of her son's claim to the throne, and was abused to her face by 'Isā
Khān, Buhlūl's first cousin, who brusquely told her that the son of
a goldsmith's daughter was not the man to fill a throne. His dis-
courtesy injured his cause by exciting sympathy for the widow, and
Khān Khānān Qarmali rebuked him. Isā Khān angrily replied
that a servant had no right to interſere in the family affairs of the
Lodīs, and the Khān Khānān retorted that if he was a servant he
was the servant of Sikandar Shāh, the title by which Nizām Khān
was already known to his adherents, and of none other. The army
moved to Jalālī, where it was met by Nizām Khān, who, on July 17,
1489, was proclaimed king under the title of Sikandar Shāh.
Sikandar was undoubtedly the fittest of all Buhlūl's sons to fill
his father's throne, and his promptitude in joining the army settled
the question of the succession, but some of the courtiers with-
drew in sullen disaffection to their fiefs and Sikandar soon found
it necessary to attack his uncle', 'Ālam Khān, who was making
1 According to Nizām-ud-din Ahmad 'Alam Khān was Sikandar's brother but
he may be satisfactorily identified with the ‘Ālam Khān (Jalāl Shāh) who was a
younger brother of Buhlul,


## p. 236 (#280) ############################################

236
[CH.
THE LODI DYNASTY
pretensions to independence in Rāpri and Chandwār. Ālam Khān,
after enduring a few days' siege in Rāpri, fled and took refuge in
Patiālī with Isā Khān, who was in rebellion in consequence of the
insult which he had hurled at the king's mother. Sikandar con-
ferred the fief of Rāpri on Khăn Khānān Lohāni and retired to
Etāwah, where he spent seven months in reorganising the adminis-
tration of the provinces, which had been thrown into conſusion
by governors and fief-holders appointed during the late reign and
disaffected to his rule and in conciliating those who were prepared
to accept his succession as an accomplished fact. He succeeded in
persuading 'Alam Khān to leave the protection of 'Isā Khān and
endeavoured to secure his fidelity by bestowing on him the fief of
Etāwah, and he sent an embassy to his brother Bārbak in Jaunpur
with the object of concluding a permanent treaty between that
kingdom and Delhi, and marched in person against 'Isā Khān in
Patiāli. "Isā met him in the field, but was defeated, and so severely
wounded that he survived his reconciliation with his nephew but a
few days. Raja Ganesh, a Hindu officer who had espoused Bārbak's
cause, submitted to Sikandar and was rewarded with the fief of
Patiāli.
The mission to Jaunpur failed. Husain Sharqi, from his retreat
in Bihār, had assiduously instigated Bārbak to attack his brother,
in the hope that their quarrels would open a way for his return to
Jaunpur, and Sikandar, apprised of his brother's designs, marched
to attack him. Bārbak advanced to Kanauj to meet him and
suffered a defeat, in consequence of which he fled to Budaun.
Sikandar pursued him, besieged him in that city, and after a few
days compelled him to surrender. He was treated with great
leniency and was replaced on the throne of Jaunpur, but merely
as a king in name, for Sikandar distributed the rich fiefs of the
kingdom among his own adherents, and even placed confidential
agents in Bārbak's household.
After this success Sikandar marched to Kotala and Kālpī, dis-
possessed his nephew, A'zam-i-Humāyūn, who had been a cadidate
for the crown, of these fiefs, and bestowed them upon Muhammad
Khān Lodi. He next attacked, in Jhatra, Tātār Khān Lodi, who
had been one of his bitterest opponents, compelled him to submit
and generously restored him to his fiefs. Marching thence to Gwalior
he received the submission of Raja Kirat Singh, invested him with
a robe of honour as governor of the fortress and district, and march-
ed to Bayāna, where the governor, Sharaf, son of Ahmad Jalvāni,
appeared before him and, by a feigned submission, obtained


## p. 237 (#281) ############################################

IX )
REBELLION IN JAUNPUR
237
a promise of the fiefs of Jalesar, Chandwār, Mārhara, and Suket on
condition of his surrendering the keys of Bayāna. He was per-
mitted to return for the keys but had no sooner regained the
shelter of the fortress than he prepared to stand a siege. Sikandar
marched to Āgra, which was held by Haibat Khān, a dependant of
Sharaf, and, having entrusted the siege of that town to some of
his officers, returned to Bayāna and after a short siege compelled
Sharaf to surrender. He was permitted to retire to Gwalior, the
fief of Bayāna was granted to Khān Khānān, and the king returned
to Delhi.
He had rested for no longer than four days in the capital when
he received news of a serious rebellion in Jaunpur, where the
Hindu landholders assembled an army of 100,000 horse and foot
and put to death Sher Khān, brother of Mubārak Khān Lohāni,
governor of Kara. Mubārak himself escaped from Kara, but was
seized by his Hindu boatmen at a ford near the present city of
Allahabad and delivered to the raja of Phāphāmau, who imprisoned
him. Bārbak Shāh of Jaunpur was utterly unable to cope with this
formidable insurrection, which seems to have been due to the
intrigues of Husain Sharqi, in Bihār and withdrew to Daryābād,
between Lucknow and Gonda, whence he joined Sikandar, who
was marching on Jaunpur, at Dalmau on the Ganges.
The raja of
Phāphāmau, alarmed at Sikandar's approach, released Mubārak
Khān and sent him to the royal camp, but the king's advance on
Jaunpur was opposed by the rebel army, but he attacked it, de-
feated it with great slaughter, dispersed it, and took much plunder,
and, continuing his march to Jaunpur, reinstated his brother and
retired towards Oudh, where he proposed to enjoy the chase, but
was almost immediately recalled by the news that Bārbak was help-
less before the rebels. The facts of the case are obscure, but it
appears that Bārbak had been coquetting with the rebels and also
with Husain. Sikandar dealt promptly with him by sending some
of his principal nobles to Jaunpur to arrest him, and he was brought
before the king and delivered into the custody of Haibat Khān and
'Umar Khān Shirvānī. From the neighbourhood of Jaunpur Sikandar
marched to Chunār, where a number of Husain's nobles were as-
sembled. He defeated them but was not strong enough to attempt
the siege of the fortress, and marched to Kuntit, on the Ganges, a
dependency of Phāphāmau, where Bhil, the raja of Phāphāmau,
made his obeisance, and was confirmed in the possession of Kuntit,
as a fief. Sikandar marched on to Arāil, opposite to Allahabad,
and the raja, who accompanied him, became apprehensive for his
a


## p. 238 (#282) ############################################

238
(CH.
THE LODİ DYNASTY
personal safety and fled, leaving his camp and baggage in the king's
hands. Sikandar, to reassure him, courteously sent his property
after him. Arāil was laid waste, and the army marched to Dalmau
by way of Kara, and thence to Shamsābād, where Sikandar halted
for six months, visited Sambhal, and returned to Shamsābād, de.
stroying on the way the inhabitants of two villages who had been
guilty either of rebellion or brigandage.
In October, 1494, after spending the rainy season at Shamsābād
he marched against Bhil of Phāphāmau, who remained obdurate,
laid waste his territory, and defeated his son Narsingh in the field.
The raja fled in the direction of Sundha', but died on the way, and
Sikandar, unable, owing to scarcity of provisions, was obliged to
push on to Jaunpur, where most of the horses of his army died, from
the hardships of the campaign according, to the chroniclers, but in
fact owing to the improvident habit of destroying both crops and
stores of grain in a hostile province. The rebellious landholders, at
whose head was Lakhmi Chand, a son of Raja Bhīl, urged Husain
Sharqi to attack Sikandar, assuring him that nine-tenths of the
latter's cavalry horses had perished, and Husain marched from Bihār
with all the forces which he could assemble and 100 elephants.
Sikandar, whose losses had been exaggerated and had not proved
to be irreparable, marched southward, crossed the Ganges by the fort
at Kuntit, placed a garrison in Chunār, and advanced to Benares,
sending Khān Khānān to conciliate Sālibāhan, another son of Raja
Bhil. Thence he marched to attack Husain, who was within thirty-
six miles of the city, and on his way was joined by Sālibāhan, whose
adhesion had been secured by the promise of his father's territory.
He had repaired his losses, and he inflicted a crushing def
Husain, and pursued him towards Patna with 100,000 horse. On
learning that Husain had continued his flight from Patna he marched
with his whole army to Bīhār, and Husain, leaving Malik Kandū in
the fortress of Bihār, fled to Kahalgāon (Colgong). Sikandar, after
detaching a force which drove Kandū from Bihār, left some officers
to complete the subjugation of that province and marched into
Tirhut, where he received the allegiance of the raja and, having left
Mubārak Khān Lohānī to collect the tribute imposed upon him,
returned to Bihār.
This invasion of Bihār which, though held by the kings of
Jaunpur in the day of their strength, had always been regarded as
a province of Bengal, aroused the hostility of ‘Alā-ud-din Husain
Shāh, the active and warlike king of that country, who resented
i In 82° 38'E, and 25° 17'N.


## p. 239 (#283) ############################################

IX)
TURBULENCE OF THE NOBLES
239
both the pursuit of his protege and the violation of his frontiers.
He hesitated to march in person against the king of Delhi, and sent
his son Dāniyāl with an army to Bāch, where he was met by a force
under Mahmūd Khān Lodi and Mubārak Khān Lohānī. Neither
party had anything to gain by proceeding to extremities and the
treaty executed by both contained the usual stipulation, meaning-
less when boundaries fluctuate and are ill defined, that neither the
king of Delhi nor the sultan of Bengal was to invade the dominions
of his neighbour, but the latter's promise to abstain from harbouring
Sikandar's enemies was an admission that he had erred in espousing
Husain's cause.
Sikandar remained for some time in Bihār and his
army
suffered
from famine, perhaps the result of climatic conditions, but more
probably caused and certainly aggravated by the devastation cam-
paign in which it had been engaged. Grain became so dear that
one of the taxes levied under the Islamic law was remitted, and
Sikandar marched to Sāran, asserted his authority by removing some
of the landholders from their fiefs and appointing nobles of his own
clan in their place, and returned to Jaunpur, where he reorganised
the adıninistration of the distracted province and, having accomplish-
ed this task, demanded a daughter in marriage from Sālibāhan of
Phāphāmau. He met with a refusal and attacked Sālibāhan's strong-
hold, but failed to capture it and returned to Jaunpur, where he
demanded from Mabārak Khān Lodi, to whom the collection of the
revenue had been entrusted since the imprisonment of Bārbak, an
account of his stewardship. Mubārak Khān, who had been guilty
.
of wholesale peculation, was much alarmed and sought the inter-
cession of several influential courtiers with a view to avoiding an
inquiry, but his anxiety betrayed his guilt, and he was ordered to
pay into the treasury the large sums which he had embezzled.
During the king's stay at Jaunpur the turbulent conduct of
some of his nobles aroused his displeasure and his suspicions. One
accidentally struck another on the head with his stick while playing
polo with the king and the injured man's brother promptly attacked
Haibat Khān the unintentional offender, and a disturbance arose.
The combatants were separated, but renewed their combat on the
polo ground on the following day, and the king caused one of them
to be flogged. Being apprehensive of the effect of this punishment
on his nobles, and of the temper of men who did not hesitate to
belabour one another with sticks in his presence, he took precau-
tions to secure his personal safety. Selecting a number of nobles on
a
whom he believed he could rely, he placed them on a roster for the


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240
(CH.
THE LODİ DYNASTY
were
duty of mounting guard over his palace and person at night. These
nobles, either originally disaffected or rendered so by an irksome
duty, conspired to depose him and to raise to the throne his younger
brother Fath Khān, the seventh son of Buhlūl. The young prince
privately repeated their proposals to his mother and a holy man,
who advised him to disclose the matter to the king without delay.
This he did, and the conspirators, twenty-two in number,
,
,
banished from court.
In 1499 Sikandar left Jaunpur for Sambhal, where he remained
for four years, engaged in organising the administration of the
trans-Gangetic province, and in pleasure, sport, and polo. Shortly
after his arrival at Sambhal he received complaints of the oppressive
behaviour of Asghar, whom he had left at Delhi as governor of the
city, and ordered Khavāss Khān, who held the fief of Māchiwāra,
in the present district of Lūdhiāna, to march to Delhi, seize the
offender, and send him to court. Before Khavāss Khān could reach
the city Asghar left it and submitted himself to the king, who caused
him to be imprisoned and Khavāss Khān occupied Delhi without
opposition and assumed the vacant office of governor.
Sikandar had an opportunity while at Sambhal of displaying the
bigotry which was a prominent feature of his character. A Brāh-
man of Bengal excited some interest and, among precisians, much
indignation, by publicly maintaining that the Muhammadan and
Hindu religions were both true, and were but different paths by
which God might be approached. A'zam-i-Humāyün, governor of
Bihār, was directed to send the daring preacher and two rival doctors
of the Islamic law to court, and theologians were summoned
from various parts of the kingdom to consider whether it was per.
missible to preach peace. They decided that since the Brāhman had
ad nitted the truth of Islam he should be invited to embrace it, with
the alternative of death in the event of refusal. The decision
commended itself to Sikandar and the penalty was exacted from the
Brāhman, who refused to change his faith.
An incident which happened at this time throws some light on
the nature of the dominion of the Lodīs in the Punjab, the province
in which they had originally established themselves. They should
certainly have been able, had they commanded the resources of this
province, to crush at once the kingdom of Jaunpur, which for a long
time contended with them on equal terms, to establish themselves
as undisputed lords of the Doāb, and to recover the fortress and
province of Gwalior, which had been a Muhammadan possession for
more than a century and a half until, in the troublous times of


## p. 240 (#285) ############################################

The Cambridge History of India, Vol. ili
Map ś

88
72
76
80
84
88
02
35
35
Kabul
Packshor
K
Clenab
Rõvi @ brister
Beas
30
30
Multan
Sutlej
ULTAN
Brabmaputra
o
Indus
DELHI
Ganges
¡RAJ PUTA NA
Lumno
D E + H 1
Agra
Gumi
SIND AND
Ajmer
Ajudhry
Jaunpur
Biabmepata
25
i Luni
Gaggen
B NH A R
BUNDELKHANDS
Gaur
Chitor
Kälinjar
Tropic of
Cancer
IMĀL WAL
BE
To Ahmadabad
GONDWA NA
Narbada
wa
GU
KHĀNDESH
Tapi
BERAR
Wardba
Mobonadi
20
Pengangg
AHMADNAGAR
Ahmadnagar
Godovali
T
Bijapur
Bida' COCOND
Bbime
ORIS
lejo Colconda
lei
Krisbach
IĀ PUR
Raichur
15
16
Vijayanagar
Penner
Kaveri
NIA YSA NA GARI
10
INDIA
in 1525
The Political boundaries are shown thus:--
10 Countries and Peoples thus. . . BENGAL
Towns.
Parashûr
Rivers
Mahanadi
Scales
30 0 50 100 200
English Miles
100 0 100 200 300
Kilometres
LL
60
72
76
BO
84
ва


## p. 240 (#286) ############################################



## p. 241 (#287) ############################################

IX)
CAPTURE OF DHOLPUR
241
Tīmūr's invasion, it was annexed by the Tonwar Rājputs; but the
hold of the Lodīs on the Punjab was precarious. It was held for
them by their relations and dependants, but solidarity has never
been an Afghan characteristic, and the Lodis seem never to have
ventured to tax the loyalty of their officials in the Punjab too highly.
In the discontents of the next twenty-five years the Punjab was the
only part of their dominions to welcome a foreign invader, and
Buhlūl, Sikandar, and Ibrāhīm were content with such acknowledge-
ment of their supremacy as was indicated by occasional remittances
of tribute or revenue, and did not call upon their officers in the
Punjab to furnish large contingents for the subjugation of Hindustān.
In 1500 Sa'id Khān Shirvāni came from Lahore to Sambhal to pay
his respects to the king, but was banished on suspicions of disaffection
and, with some other discontented nobles took refuge with Mān
Singh, raja of Gwalior. The raja, with a view to deprecating
Sikandar's wrath, sent as envoy to his court a eunuch named Raihān,
with valuable presents, but the envoy was less conciliatory than his
master, and returned impudent answers to some questions put to
him by Sikandar. He was accordingly dismissed with an intimation
that the raja would do well to look to himself.
Sikandar soon found the opportunity which he sought. Khān
Jahān Qarmali, governor of Bayāna, died, and though his two sons
were for a short time permitted to manage the affairs of their father's
fief their experience was not equal to the task, and they were
summoned to Sambhal, where less important fiefs were bestowed
upon them. Khavāss Khān, governor of Delhi, was appointed to
Bayāna, and his son Ismā‘il Khān succeeded him in the capital. His
hands were strengthened in his new post by the appointment of
Safdar Khān as governor of Āgra, then a dependency of Bayāna,
and 'Alam Khān, governor of Mewāt, and Khān Khānān Lohāni,
governor of Rāpri, were ordered to co-operate with him against
Bināyik Deo, raja of Dholpur. A combined attack was made on
Dholpur, but the royal officers were repulsed with loss and Sikandar
marched, on March 15, 1502, from Sambhal towards Dholpur. On
his approach Bināyik Deo fled to Gwalior, leaving his officers to
defend Dholpur, but they followed their master's example and
Sikandar occupied the fortress and sacked the town. The conquerors
committed a senseless act of revenge by destroying the groves of trees
which extended for a distance of fourteen miles round it.
Sikandar halted for a month at Dholpur, placed Ādam Khān Lodi
there as governor, and marched towards Gwalior. He crossed the
Chambal and halted for two months on the banks of the Asan, where
C. H, I. III.
16


## p. 242 (#288) ############################################

242
[ch.
THE LODÍ DYNASTY
the army suffered so much from a pestilence, probably cholera, that
all thought of advancing to Gwalior was abandoned. The Muslim
chroniclers state that Mān Singh expelled from Gwalior Sikandar's
nobles who had taken reſuge with him, visited the camp to make
his submission, and left his son Bikramājit, or Vikramāditya, in
attendance on the king, but as Sikandar was in no position to bring
pressure to bear upon Mān Singh, and found it necessary to receive
Bināyik Deo and to reinstate him in Dholpur it is improbable that
Mān Singh visited the royal camp. If he sent his son thither it was
in the capacity of an envoy and the reinstatement of Bināyik Deo
was demanded as the price of the expulsion of the refugees, for
Sikandar was at the moment eager for peace, though the peace
which he made was illusory, for on his return to Āgra he transferred
his capital from Delhi to that city, in order to facilitate the prose-
cution of his designs against Gwalior. This is the first occasion on
which Āgra, which acquired such importance under the Mughul
emperors, comes prominently into notice, for it had hitherto been a
dependency of the more important fortress of Bayāna.
The account of Sikandar's subsequent operations illustrates the
strength of the raja of Gwalior and the extent of his territories, for
the king did not venture to attack Gwalior itself, but attempted the
systematic reduction and conquest of fortresses and districts subject
or tributary to Mān Singh. The first of these was Mandrāel', for
the siege of which he prepared by devastating the villages between
it and Gwalior. In March, 1505, he marched against Mandrāel,
which surrendered to him. He destroyed Hindu temples in the town
and erected mosques on their sites, and plundered and laid waste
the districts surrounding the fortress. This success emboldened him
to remove Bināyik Deo from Dholpur on his return to Āgra and to
appoint Malik Qamar-ud-dīn governor of that fortress and district.
On July 6 a most destructive earthquake occurred in Āgra.
The area affected by it was extraordinarily large. It was general
throughout India, it is mentioned by Bābur in his memoirs, and it
is said by Budaunī to have extended to Persia.
In October, after the rainy season, Sikandar renewed hostilities
against Gwalior. After a short halt at Dholpur he established his
headquarters on the banks of Chambal, and, leaving his camp
there, led an expedition into Gwalior country. The direction in
which he marched is uncertain, but the Hindus, who fled to the
hills and jungles, were slaughtered and enslaved in large numbers,
and the country was laid waste. The work of devastation was so
1 In 77° 18' E. and 26° 18' N.


## p. 243 (#289) ############################################

IX ]
CAMPAIGNS AGAINST GWALIOR
243
complete that the invaders suffered from scarcity of food until a
large caravan of Banjāras, carrying grain and other provisions, was
captured. Mān Singh was not inactive, and Sikandar, as he ap-
proached his camp, observed precautions not habitual to him and
threw out an advanced guard on the march and outposts when
halted, suspecting some sudden manæuvre. His precautions were
opportune for, as he was retiring towards his camp on the Chambal,
Mān
Man Singh laid an ambush for his army. I he officers whose troops
were exposed to the sudden and unexpected attack displayed great
valour, and held the enemy until succour arrived from the main
body of the army, when the Hindus were defeated with great
slaughter. As the rainy season was approaching, in which operations
were difficult, the only result of this success was to secure Sikandar's
retreat, and he retired to Āgra, but as soon as the rains abated
marched to besiege the fortress of Utgir. The siege was pressed with
such vigour that the walls were soon breached in many places and
the fortress was carried by assault, the Hindus fighting desperately
to the last. Utgir shared the fate of Mandlāer, and Makan and
Mujahid Khān, the latter of whom had remained at Dholpur, were
appointed to the command of the new acquisition, but it was dis-
covered, after the capture of the fortress, that Mujāhid had been in
correspondence with the raja of Utgir, and had undertaken, in
consideration of a bribe, to dissuade Sikandar from attacking it.
Mullā Jaman, one of his principal followers, who was with the army,
was arrested, and orders for the arrest of Mubārak Khān himself
were sent to Dholpur. After the capture of Utgir, Sikandar again
retired to Āgra, and by some extraordinary error the army was led
by a route in which it endured the torments of thirst, and when
water was found many of the sufferers drank so greedily of it as to
cause death. The usual routes from Utgir to Āgra were well sup-
plied with water, and the selection of a waterless route suggests
apprehensions of another attack by Mān Singh.
Sikandar again spent the rainy season at Āgra, and early in 1508
marched to attack Narwar, usually included in the kingdom of
Mālwa, but now, apparently, subject to Gwalior. He first sent Jalāl
Khān Lodī, governor of Kālpi, against the fortress, and followed
him from Āgra. On his arrival at Narwar Jalāl Khān drew up his
army to receive him, and he was so impressed by its strength and
warlike appearance as to become jealous of its leader's power and
apprehensive of his motives, and resolved to degrade him.
Some days' desultory fighting was followed by a general attack
on the fortress, which was repulsed with heavy loss, and Sikandar
16-2


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244
(CH.
THE LODİ DYNASTY
invested the place with the object of reducing it by famine, During
this period of comparative leisure he was occupied in compassing
the ruin of Jalal Khān. Having attracted all his best officers into
his own service he broke up his contingent, and sent him in custody
in Utgir.
Under the stress of famine and want of water the garrison of
Utgir surrendered on terms and Sikandar entered the fortress and,
after his custom, destroyed Hindu temples and on their sites raised
mosques, which he endowed with lands in the district.
At this time Shihāb-ud-din, son of Nāsir-ud-din Khalji of Mālwa,
who had been in rebellion against his father and, having been
defeated by him, was now a fugitive, arrived at Sipri, near Narwar,
and expressed his readiness to enter Sikandar's service. Sikandar
sent him a horse and a robe of honour, but negotiations proceeded
no further.
Sikandar, on leaving Narwar, encamped on the banks of the
Sindh, in its neighbourhood. Considering the importance of the
fortress, and its distance from his capital, he judged it expedient to
strengthen its defences, and encircled it with a fresh line of fortifica-
tions. He then marched to the district of Athgāth, which was dis-
turbed by Hindu rebels, against whom he carried out some successful
and destructive operations, and, after establishing military posts
throughout the district, returned, in the summer of 1509, to Āgra.
At the close of the rainy season he indulged in a tour to Dholpur,
bent only on sport and pleasure, but while he was thus employed
fortune added another province to his kingdom. 'Ali Khān and
Abu Bakr, brothers of Muhammad Khān, the independent ruler of
the small state of Nāgaur, had conspired against their brother and,
on their guilt being detected, fled to Sikandar's court and endeavour-
ed to enlist his aid by stories of Muhammad's tyranny, but he
adroitly forestalled them by sending gifts to Sikandar and acknow-
ledging him as their sovereign.
Dūngar, lately raja of Utgir, had, after the capture of his strong-
hold, accepted Islam, and was now suffering at the hands of his
former co-religionists. Sulaimān, son of Khān Khānān Qarmalī,
was directed to go to his aid, but demurred, ostensibly on the
ground that he was unwilling to serve at a distance from court.
Sikandar, incensed by his pusillanimity, dismissed him in disgrace
to the pargana of Indrī, in the Sahāranpur district, which was
assigned to him for his maintenance, and permitted the army to
plunder his camp.
1 See Chapter XIV.


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ix]
DESIGNS ON MĀLWA
245
Troubles in Mālwa now supplied Sikandar with a pretext for
interfering in the affairs of that kingdom. Sāhib Khān, the eldest
son of Nāsir-ud-din Khalji, had been proclaimed king by a faction,
and had at first maintained himself against his younger brother,
Mahmūd II, but had eventually fled before him and was now, in
1513, under the protection of Bahjat Khān, governor of Chanderī,
who had proclaimed him under the title of Muhammad Shāh' and
sought aid of Sikandar. Sikandar recognised the prince as king of
Mālwa, but Sa'id Khān and 'Imād-ul-Mulk, whom he sent to his
aid with 12,000 horse, demanded that Bahjat Khān should cause
the Khutba to be recited in the name of the king of Delhi, and,
on his hesitating to comply with the request, retired, leaving him
exposed to the wrath of Mahmūd II, who, however, accepted his
conditional surrender and recognised Sāhib Khan as governor of
the districts of Rāisen, Bhilsa, and Dhāmoni ; but Sāhib Khān mis-
trusted Bahjat Khān and, on November 8, fled from Chanderi and
took refuge with Sikandar.
Sikandar sent Sa'id Khān Lodī, Shaikh Jamal Qarmalī, Rāi
Jagar Sen Kachhwāha, Khizr Khān, and Khvāja Ahmad to
Chanderi to establish his authority there and to govern the province
nominally on behalf of Muhammad Shāh of Mālwa, but actually as
a fief of Delhi.
Husain Khān Qarmali, governor of the recently acquired dis-
trict of Sāran, now fell into disfavour for some reason not recorded,
and, having been dismissed in favour of Hāji Sārang, fled to Bengal
and took refuge with 'Alā-ud-din Husain.
Sikandar had provided for ‘Ali Khān of Nāgaur, who had fled
from the wrath of his brother, Muhammad Khān, by giving him a
fief on the borders of the district of Ranthambhor, which was then
held for Mahmūd II of Mālwa by Daulat Khān, a prince of the
Khalji family. ‘Ali Khān tampered with Daulat Khān and, having
induced him to promise that he would transfer his allegiance to
Delhi, reported his success to Sikandar, who marched in
leisurely manner towards Ranthambhor. At Bayāna he was visited
by Daulat Khān and his mother, but discovered, when the topic
of the surrender of the fortress was broached, that 'Ali Khān
was playing a double game, and had secretly urged Daulat Khān
not to surrender it. 'Alī Khān was punished by being removed
from his fief, which was conferred on his brother Abu Bakr, and
Daulat Khān suffered nothing worse than reproaches for his
duplicity.
1 See Chapter XIV.
a


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246
(CH.
THE LODI DYNASTY
From Bayāna Sikandar returned by way of Dholpur to Āgra,
where he fell sick. He suffered from a quinsy and from fever, but
struggled against his malady and insisted on attending as usual to
business of state. He was choked in attempting to swallow a morsel
of food, and died on November 21, 1517.
He was the greatest of the three kings of his house and carried
out with conspicuous success the task left unfinished by his father.
We hear little of the Punjab during his reign and he drew no
troops from it to aid him in his eastern campaigns, but there are
indications that it was more tranquil and more obedient to the
crown than it had been in his father's reign. His vigorous adminis-
tration amply justified the choice of the minority which, in the
face of strong opposition, raised him to the throne, and his selec-
tion saved the kingdom from becoming the plaything of an oligarchy
of turbulent, ignorant, and haughty Afghāns. His weakest action
was his support of his hopelessly incompetent brother Bārbak, but
this weakness was an amiable trait in a character by no means
rich in such traits. He seems to have had a sincere affection for
his brother, and to have felt that he owed him some reparation for
having supplanted him in his birthright, but when he discovered
that leniency was a mistaken policy he knew how to act.
The greatest blot on his character was his relentless bigotry.
The accounts of his conquests, doubtless exaggerated by pious his-
torians, resemble those of the raids of the protagonists of Islam in
India. The wholesale destruction of temples was not the best
method of conciliating the Hindus of a conquered district and the
murder of a Brāhman whose only offence was the desire for an
accommodation between the religions of the conquerors and the
conquered was not a politic act, but Sikandar's mind was warped
by habitual association with theologians.
After his death the choice of the Lodi nobles fell upon his eldest
son, Ibrāhīm, who was raised to the throne at Āgra on November
21, 1517, but a turbulent faction advocated, for its own selfish ends,
a partition of the kingdom, and secured the elevation of Jalal Khān,
who was either a younger brother of Ibrāhīm or his uncle, the
youngest son of Buhlūl, to the throne of Jaunpur, and carried him
off to that city. Before he was established there the influence of
Khānjahān Lohānī, governor of Rāprī, who vehemently condemned
the suicidal policy of dividing the kingdom, secured an order for
his recall, the delivery of which was entrusted to prince Haibat
Khān, 'the Wolf-slayer'. His efforts were powerless to induce
Jalāl Khān, who was loth to forgo a kingdom, and naturally suş-


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IX ]
JALĀL KHĀN'S REBELLION
247
pected Ibrāhīm, to leave Jaunpur, and the envoy was reduced to
the necessity of tampering with the fidelity of Jalāl Khān's adhe-
rents in Jaunpur. With these his efforts and the profusion of
Ibrāhīm were more successful, and they forsook the prince's cause.
Jalāl Khān, on discovering their defection, retired from Jaunpur,
where he could no longer maintain himself, to Kālpi, where he
caused the khutba to be recited in his name and pretended to
independence. Here he found himself in proximity to A'zam. i.
Humāyūn Shirvāni, who was besieging Kālinjar in Ibrāhīm's in.
terest, though he was lukewarm in his cause. Jalāl Khān's position,
which interrupted A'zam-i-Humāyūn's communications with the
capital, enabled him to deal on very favourable terms with him,
and he experienced little difficulty in securing his adherence. The
two agreed that their first step should be the recovery of Jaunpur
and with this object in view they attacked Sa'id Khān, governor
of Oudh, who, having no force sufficient to oppose them, retired
to Lucknow and reported his situation to Ibrāhim, who secured
his position at Delhi by placing his brothers in confinement in
Hānsī, and led a large army against the rebels. Before he had
reached Kanauj his anxiety was allayed by the news that A'zam. i.
Humāyūn had quarrelled with Jalal Khān and was hastening to
make his submission. He received him well, and at the same time
was enabled to welcome Malik Qāsim Khān, governor of Sambhal,
who had suppressed a rebellion headed by a Hindu landholder in
the Koil district. He also received at Kanauj most of the fief-
holders of the province of Jaunpur, and dispatched Afzam-i-
Humāyūn and other officers against Jalal Khān, who was at Kālpi.
Before the arrival of this army Jalāl Khān, leaving a garrison in
Kālpi, marched with 30,000 horse and a number of elephants on
Agra. The royal troops captured Kālpi after a few days' siege,
and sacked the city, and Jalāl Khān announced his intention of
avenging its wrongs on Āgra, but Ibrāhīm dispatched a force under
Malik Ādam to cover the approach to Āgra. This detachment was
not strong enough to try conclusions with Jalāl Khān's great army,
but its leader was a host in himself, and contrived, by opening
negotiations to delay Jalál Khăn until reinforcements arrived,
when he changed his tone and demanded that the prince should
surrender his insignia of royalty and make his submission, pro-
mising, in return for compliance with the demand, to commend
him to Ibrāhīm and to recommend his retention of the government
of Kālpi. Jalāl Khān, who suspected the fidelity of his troops,
complied, but Ibrāhīm refused to ratify the terms half promised


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248
(CH.
THE LODI DYNASTY
1
1
1
by his lieutenant, and marched to attack the prince, who fled and
took refuge with the raja of Gwalior.
The king halted in Āgra, and found sufficient occupation in the
task of restoring order in the south-eastern districts of the kingdom,
which, owing to the prince's rebellion, had been in confusion since
Sikandar's death. Here he received the submission of the rebellious
nobles ; those, that is to say, who had either overtly or covertly
supported Jalāl Khān or had refrained from opposing him. He
also secured his communications with Delhi and sent Shaikhzāda
Manjhū to Chanderi to control the policy and behaviour of the
puppet Muhammad Shāh, who had failed, since Sikandar's death,
to acknowledge in an adequate manner the sovereignty of Delhi.
He also imprisoned Miyān Bhoda, one of his father's leading nobles,
against whom the only offence alleged was that he was careless of
forms and acted as he thought best in his master's interests without
always troubling to obtain formal approval of his proceedings. This
seems to have been the earliest of those encroachments on the
liberties and privileges of the great nobles which ultimately lost
Ibrāhīm both his throne and his life. The imprisoned noble's son
was generously treated, and was installed in the position which his
father had held, but the old man died in prison and his death sapped
his son's fidelity.
Ibrāhīm now resolved to pursue his father's design of annexing
Gwalior. The occasion was favourable, for the brave and generous
Mān Singh, who had so long withstood Sikandar, had recently died,
and had been succeeded by his son, Bikramājīt Singh, who lacked
his father's military and administrative capacity but, fearing an
attack, had considerably strengthened the defences of his fortress-
capital. A'zam-i-Humāyūn Shirvāni who had been rewarded for
his defection from Jalāl Khan with the government of Kara, was
ordered to take the field with 30,000 horse and 300 elephants, and
a large army was sent from Āgra to co-operate with him. On the
approach of the imperial troops Jalāl Khān fled from Gwalior and
took refuge with Mahmud II in Mālwa.
The siege of Gwalior was opened vigorously and an important
outwork was captured. While the siege was still in progress Jalal
Khān, who had furnished the pretext for the attack on Bikramājīt
Singh, fell into Ibrāhīm's hands. He had fled from the court of
Mālwa into the Gond principality of Katangi, and the Gonds sent
him as a prisoner to Ibrāhīm, who condemned him to imprisonment
in Hānsī, where the other Lodi princes were confined, but he was
murdered on the way thither.


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IX)
REBELLION OF THE AFGHAN NOBLES
249
Ibrāhim now gave rein to those groundless and unreasonable
suspicions of his nobles which prompted acts of capricious tyranny,
and at length drove those who might have been the staunchest
defenders of his throne into the arms of an invader. Immediately
before the surrender of Gwalior he summoned A'zam-i-Humāyün
Shirvāni and his son Fath Khān to Āgra and threw them into
prison. The tyrant was gartified by the fall of Gwalior, but his
elation was short-lived, for Islām Khān, another son of Afzam-i.
Humāyūn, headed a rebellion in Āgra, assumed command of his
father's troops and defended his property, and defeated Ahmad
Khān, the governor, as he was preparing to assert his authority.
As Ibrāhīm was assembling his army for the suppression of this
rebellion A'zam-i. Humāyūn Lodi and Sa'id Khān Lodi, two nobles
whose importance was due no less to the strength of the forces at
their command then to their influence in the clan, deserted him,
marched to Lucknow, which they held as a fief, and sent to Islām
Khān a message assuring him of their sympathy and support. The
King sent an army against the rebels, but it fell into an ambush
and was driven back with heavy loss. Ibrāhīm seriously damaged
his own cause by sending to the officers of his army a message
bitterly reproaching them, and warning them that if they failed
to crush the rebellion they would themselves be treated as rebels.
Fortunately for himself he did not confine his resentment to this
tactless and provocotive message, but took the field at the head of
40,000 horse. The danger in which he stood is veiled in Muslim
chronicles under the statement that when the two armies were
within striking distance Shaikh Rājū of Bukhārā intervened to
avert strife, but is displayed in the attitude of the rebellious nobles,
who demanded the release of A'zam-i-Humāyūn Shrivāni as the
price of their return to their allegiance. Ibrāhīm declined to accede
to this condition and, after summoning reinforcements to his
standard, attacked and defeated the rebels, slew Islām Khān, cap-
tured Sa'id Khān, and rewarded those who had remained faithful
to him by bestowing on them the fiefs which the rebels had held.
His triumph over his enemies served only to direct his thoughts
towards the disloyalty of those whom he had trusted, his suspicion
increased, A'zam. i-Humāyūn Shirvāni and other nobles died at this
time in prison, in circumstances which caused a fresh outburst of
disaffection, and Daryā Khān Lohāni, governor of Bihār, Khānjahān
Lodi, Miyān Husain Qarmalſ, and others raised the standard of
rebellion. Their resentment against the tyrant was increased by his
procuring the assassination in Chanderi of Shaikh Hasan Qarmalı


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250
[ CH. IX
THE LODI DYNASTY
governor of that district and a relative of one of their number.
Daryā Khān Lohānī, the leader of the revolt, died, and his son
Bahādur Khān was proclaimed king in his father's fief of Bihār,
and assumed the usual prerogatives of eastern royalty.