1.-Accession of Firoz Shah.

*** On the third day after the death of Muhammad Tughlik, the army marched from (its position) fourteen kos from Thatta towards Siwistán, on its return homewards. Every division of the army marched without leader, rule, or route, in the greatest disorder. No one heeded or listened to what any one said, but continued the march like careless caravans. So when they had proceeded a kos or two, the Mughals, eager for booty, assailed them in front, and the rebels of Thatta attacked them in the rear. Cries of dismay arose upon every side. The Mughals fell to plundering, and carried off women, maids, horses, camels, troopers, baggage, and whatever else had been sent on in advance. They had very nearly captured the royal harem and the treasure with the camels which carried it. The villagers (who had been pressed into the service) of the army, and expected the attack, took to flight. They pillaged various lots of baggage on the right and left of the army, and then joined the rebels of Thatta in attacking the baggage train. The people of the army, horse and foot, women and men, stood their ground; for when they marched, if any advanced in front, they were assailed by the Mughals; if they lagged behind, they were plundered by the rebels of Thatta. Those who resisted and put their trust in God reached the next stage, but those who had gone forward with the women, maids, and baggage, were cut to pieces. The army continued its march along the river without any order or regularity, and every man was in despair for his life and goods, his wife and children. Anxiety and distress would allow no one to sleep that night, and, in their dismay, men remained with their eyes fixed upon heaven. On the second day, by stratagem and foresight, they reached their halting ground, assailed, as on the first day, by the Mughals in front and the men of Thatta in the rear. They rested on the banks of the river in the greatest possible distress, and in fear for their lives. and goods. The women and children had perished. Makhdúm Záda 'Abbásí, the Shaikhu-s Shaiyúkh of Egypt, Shaikh Nasíru-d

dín Mahmud Oudhí, and the chief men, assembled and went to Fíroz Sháh, and with one voice said, "Thou art the heir apparent and legatee of the late Sultán; he had no son, and thou art his brother's son; there is no one in the city or in the army enjoying the confidence of the people, or possessing the ability to reign. For God's sake save these wretched people, ascend the throne, and deliver us and many thousand other miserable men. Redeem the women and children of the soldiers from the hands of the Mughals, and purchase the prayers of two lacs of people." Fíroz Sháh made objections, which the leaders would not listen to. All ranks, young and old, Musulmáns and Hindus, horse and foot, women and children, assembled, and with one acclaim declared that Fíroz Sháh alone was worthy of the crown. "It he does not assume it to-day and let the Mughals hear of his doing so, not one of us will escape from the hands of the Mughals and the Thatta men." So on the 24th Muharram, 752 H. (1351 A.D.), the Sultán ascended the throne.

On the day of his accession the Sultán got some horse in order and sent them out to protect the army, for whenever the Mughal horse came down they killed and wounded many, and carried off prisoners. On the same day he named some amirs to guard the rear of the army, and these attacked the men of Thatta when they fell upon the baggage. Several of the assailants were put to the sword, and they, terrified with this lesson, gave up the pursuit and returned home. On the third day he ordered certain amirs to attack the Mughals, and they accordingly made several of the Mughal commanders of thousands and of hundreds prisoners, and brought them before the Sultán. The Mughals from that very day ceased their annoyance; they moved thirty or forty kos away, and then departed for their own country.

11.-Stoppage of the evils inflicted by the Mughals of Changiz Khản.

All men of intelligence in Hind and Sind have seen and remarked the stop which has been put to the inroads of the Mughals

of Changíz Khán in this auspicious reign. They have not been able to attack and ravage the frontier territories, nor have they been permitted to come in with professions of friendship and employ their arts to carry off the wealth of the country. They had the presumption to make two attacks. Once they crossed the Sodra and came into the neighbouring country. There they were met by the forces of Islám and were defeated. Many were killed and many were taken prisoners. These latter were placed upon camels, and were paraded in derision 'round Dehlí, with wooden collars on their necks. Those who escaped from the battle fled in the greatest precipitation and confusion, and many were drowned in the passage of the Sodra. On the other occasion they made a rapid dash into Gujarát. Some perished from thirst, some died by the hands of the soldiers, and some fell in a night attack which the natives of the country made upon them. Not one-tenth of these accursed followers of Changíz Khán reached their own country.

269

XVI.

TARIKH-I FIROZ SHAHI

OF

SHAMS-I SIRAJ 'AFIF.

[This History of Fíroz Sháh is devoted exclusively to the reign of that monarch, and therefore has a better right to the title than Barní's history, which embraces only a small portion of the reign of Fíroz, and bears the title simply because it was written or finished during his reign. Little is known of Shams-i Siráj beyond what is gleaned from his own work. He was descended from a family which dwelt at Abúhar, the country of Firoz Shah's Bhatti mother. His great grandfather, he says, was collector of the revenue of Abúhar, and was intimate with Ghiyásu-d dín Tughlik before he became Sultán. He himself was attached to the court of Fíroz, and accompanied him on his hunting expeditions.]

The work has met with scarcely any notice, whilst every historian who writes of the period quotes and refers to Zíáu-d din Barní. The reason of this may be that Shams-i Siráj enters more than usual into administrative details, and devotes some chapters to the condition of the common people-a matter of the utmost indifference to Muhammadan authors in general. His untiring strain of eulogy could not have condemned him in their eyes, as they were accustomed to little else in all the other histories they consulted; so that we must either attribute the neglect of this work to the cause assigned, or to the fact of its having at a comparatively late period been rescued from some musty record room. The work, consisting of ninety chapters, contains an ample account of this Akbar of his time; and, making due allowance for the prevalent spirit of eulogium and exaggeration, it not only raises in us a respect for the virtues.

and munificence of Fíroz, and for the benevolence of his character, as shown by his canals and structures for public accommodation, but gives us altogether a better view of the internal condition of India under a Muhammadan sovereign than is presented to us in any other work, except the A'yin-i Akbari.

[In style, this history has no pretensions to elegance, being, in general, very plain. The author is much given to reiterations and recapitulations, and he has certain pet phrases which he constantly uses. Sir H. Elliot desired to print a translation of the whole work, and he evidently held it in high estimation. A portion of the work had been translated for him by a munshi, but this has proved to be entirely useless. The work of translation has, consequently, fallen upon the editor, and he has endeavoured to carry out Sir H. Elliot's plan by making a close translation of the first three chapters, and by extracting from the rest of the work everything that seemed worthy of selection. The translation is close, without being servile; here and there exuberances of eloquence have been pruned out, and repetitions and tautologies have been passed over without notice, but other omissions have been marked by asterisks, or by brief descriptions in brackets of the passages omitted. Shams-i Siráj, with a better idea of method than has fallen to the lot of many of his brother historians, has divided his work into books and chapters with appropriate headings.

[Besides this history of Fíroz Sháh, the author often refers to his Manákib-i Sultán Tughlik, and he mentions his intention of writing similar memoirs of the reign of Sultán Muhammad, the son of Fíroz Sháh. Nothing more appears to be known of these works. Copies of the Tárikh-i Firoz Shahi are rare in India, and Colonel Lees, who has selected the work for publication in the Bibliotheca Indica, has heard only of "one copy in General Hamilton's library, and of another at Dehlí, in the possession of Nawab Zíáu-d dín Lohárú, of which General Hamilton's is perhaps a transcript." The editor has had the use of four

1 Jour. R. A. S., New Series, iii., 446.