The Khan was to march early next morning for the fort, but his
departure was delayed purposely to allow of the troops to send out
parties to perform the ceremony of "Istikbal," or meeting; and, after
again partaking of the good Durwaysh's hospitality, the party rode on
without interruption.
The road from Boorhanpoor to Nuldroog leads up the pretty and fertile
valley of the Bóree river, which is skirted by low grassy hills for
several miles. Then leaving the river, as the hills grow bolder, it
rises gradually through passes among them, and, after several steep and
stony ascents, gains a level plateau, from whence the fort and town are
distinctly seen below.
Soon after leaving their post, the party began to meet others from the
fort, dressed in their gayest and best costumes; and these, having made
their salutes to the Khan, rode forward to the front, so that gradually
the men in advance swelled to a considerable number, and had all the
appearance of an independent body of cavalry. Out of this, wherever the
ground afforded room, and was free from ruts and stones, men dashed
at speed, wheeling and circling their horses, so that their movements
appeared like those of a real skirmish.
When they reached the level plain on the summit of the plateau above
the town, the Khan was met by the Killadar, or governor of the fort,
the principal officers of the troops, the civil authorities, and
others; some on horseback, others on gaily-caparisoned elephants with
clashing bells. Both parties dismounting, and the leaders having
embraced each other,--the officers presenting the hilts of their swords
as Nuzzurs, or offerings to the Khan,--the procession--for it had now
become one--moved on slowly in gorgeous array, amidst the firing of
matchlocks and camel swivels and welcome guns from the fort; and the
appearance of the Khan and his gallant son, as they rode together
through the main street and bazar, dressed in rich cloth-of-gold, was a
subject of general remark and approbation by all classes. The prospect
of a campaign, always pleasant to the soldiers, especially under so
renowned a leader as Afzool Khan, increased the general satisfaction of
all concerned.
As they passed its first gate, the booming of cannon from the ramparts
announced their arrival within the fort, and was answered by guns
from the encampment on the heights to the west. Passing the ditch by a
causeway, they entered the fausse-braye by a narrow passage, and thence
ascending slightly to the main entrance, with its massive flanking
bastions of black basalt, the interior was reached--at that time a busy
place, crowded with houses and shops in some parts, but in others laid
out in open gardens, and spaces where the troops could assemble.
A curious and picturesque spot in many respects is this fort. Built
upon a tongue of basalt, which is precipitous on three sides, and of
considerable height, it is joined to the level portion of the plateau
to the west, on which the town stands, by a neck considerably narrower
than the enceinte; and on this side a double wall with bastions, and
a deep dry ditch, form the defences. Round the edge of the precipices
of the hill itself, is a single wall of great strength, with large
bastions at intervals; and the river Bóree, lying deep in the valley
below, washes the base of the hill on two sides, north and east.
To the north, to secure a constant supply of water to the fort, a
stupendous dam of masonry has been thrown across the river upwards of
seventy feet high, and of proportional thickness, by which the water is
held up in the valley, so as to form a pretty lake of the same depth at
the dam, which extends above the town. On the other side of this dam is
another fort on a smaller knoll, which serves as a _tête-de-pont_ to
the dam, and completes the fortification.
To the old Khan the place was familiar. He had often taken turns of
duty there to watch the frontier, but to Fazil and his friend it
was new; and when ceremonies of reception and the introduction of
Kowas Khan to the officers of his father's levies, now his own, were
finished, the friends accepted the offer of the Killadar to examine the
marvels of the place.
The wonderful dam, through the upper sluices of which the stream was
precipitated into a deep pool at its foot, in two pretty cataracts;
the suite of apartments in the body of the dam itself, over which the
river rolled in flood, and fell in a sheet before its windows; and the
noble Cavalier at the east end, from the top of which extensive views
of the country on all sides were obtained, were duly admired. It was
evening when the friends reached the summit of the Cavalier, and they
sate there watching the glorious sunset, over town and fort and lake,
in which the piles of gold and crimson clouds broken with dark purple,
with the sombre masses of fort walls and bastions, and precipices on
which they stood, were reflected in its deep waters.
It was not so easy to prepare the troops required there as at the
capital; but the Khan was anxious that nothing should be wanting in
their equipment, and a few days was required to complete preparations
for the field. This delay enabled the chief officers of the country
to arrive and pay their respects, and, among others, Pahar Singh, no
longer disguised, but in his proper character as one of the wardens of
the frontier marches, attended and did service with a body of picked
men, both horse and foot, which rivalled, if they did not surpass, the
royal troops in completeness and splendour of appearance.
Very different were the chief and his nephew now, in comparison with
the time when we last saw them; and in the noble figure, dressed in
light chain armour and cloth-of-gold, riding a superb grey horse, and
giving commands to his men, no one could have recognized the old ragged
Fakeer and his cry of "Ulla dilâyâ to léonga," which still often rang
in the ears of those who had heard it.
The building, which went by the name of the King's Palace, and which
was kept for the use of royal officers of rank, or even for royalty
itself, should the King have occasion to visit the fort, had been
assigned to Afzool Khan and his retinue; and, after the transaction
of daily business in one of the public halls of the fort, he retired,
after evening prayer, to his apartments, finding relaxation in a game
of chess with the priest, who was a stout opponent, or hearing or
dictating his public correspondence.
It was the fourth evening after his arrival, after an unusually busy
day; the priest was occupied with a sermon in the mosque, and the Khan
had retired into one of the rooms of the house, which, being built into
part of the fort wall, possessed a projecting oriel window, commanding
a view of the whole of the east side of the fort, with its walls and
rugged cliffs. By day these precipices did not appear extraordinarily
remarkable; but when shrouded in the gloom of evening and night, with
the river brawling beneath them in its rocky bed, their height and
effect were indefinitely increased, and the murmur of the river below
became delightfully soothing.
One corner of this oriel, furnished with cushions, had become the
favourite resort of the Khan. Here he had been sitting alone and
undisturbed, and occupied with despatches and other papers the whole
of the evening; and he was about to retire to rest when an attendant
entered, somewhat abruptly.
"I said I was not to be disturbed, Allee," he cried; "what dost thou
want?"
"My lord, there is a man without, who says he has urgent business,
and he must have speech of you alone. I said it was impossible; but
he declared you would be angry with me if you knew he were denied,
and that I was to say to you, 'Ulla dilâyâ to léonga,' and you would
understand."
"Admit him, instantly," said the Khan, to his servant's astonishment.
"Ha, Pahar Singh again! what new work has he now got here for us?"
Muffled closely in a sheet, with his sword under his arm, the chief
approached the Khan, and bent lowly before him. "Send that man away,
and hear what I have to say," he said; "it is important."
Allee looked at the chief suspiciously, as though he were trusting his
master to a dangerous character; but, at a reiteration of the order, he
returned to depart.
"Take this weapon with you, friend," said the chief, laughing, "thou
art afraid of it, perhaps; not so thy lord,--nor of me. Keep it for me,
however, till I come out."
Allee took the sword. "I did not like the look of him," he said to
another without, who belonged to the fort. "Who is he?"
"Dost thou not know Pahar Singh?" returned the man; "that is his famous
sword Dévi, which has drank many a man's blood; come, let us look at
it. There will be something to do, surely, as he is with the Khan."
"I have but a few words to say, Afzool Khan," said Pahar Singh, as the
servant retired; "and I can do a good service, if it please you, my
lord, to join in it or aid it."
"If it be a service to the King's cause, why not?" said the Khan; "but
none of thy blood feuds, Pahar Singh; thou canst not use the royal
troops for thine own purposes."
"Nor do I need them, my lord," returned the chief, somewhat stiffly.
"I have enough men of my own to answer for those matters; nay, indeed,
for this also, if I have your permission; and only that my rascals are
somewhat too free of hand to be trusted in a town at night, I had done
it myself ere this."
"Thanks, friend, for thy caution," said the Khan, smiling; "we shall
know each other better by-and-by. But what is this scheme?"
"When I left you, Khan Sahib, the night of Jehándar Beg's execution,"
replied the chief, "I had knowledge that Tannajee Maloosray was in the
city, and I knew where he was. My people watched every bazar and street
during the day, and we had a strong party near the Goruk Imlee trees,
thinking he might like to come and see an old friend for the last time;
but he kept close, like a bear in his den, till night, and then stole
away. My boy and some of my people wanted to catch him in his den; but
I knew Tannajee could not be taken alive by mortal, and I wanted to
see him sit like Jehándar Beg under the trees, and die like a man; so
I took a body of my horse and rode after him towards Tooljapoor, where
he was going. We occupied the pass at Hórtee. But he escaped us there,
Khan; and hearing afterwards he had gone to Jutt, there appeared to
be no use in following him, as he had twenty-five coss start of us.
But I was a fool, my lord; and for once Tannajee outwitted me. He went
on next day to Tooljapoor; how, I know not. He was seen there in the
temple, and he left again that night, no one knows whither."
"To Tooljapoor in one day!" exclaimed the Khan, "no horse alive could
do it."
"Ah, my lord, your high-fed beasts would not, but ours can; and
Tannajee and his friend Netta Palkur have the best mares in the Dekhan.
No matter; he escaped us."
"He was--he is--the very bone and sinew of this rebellion," said the
Khan.
"True, as Sivaji Rajah is the spirit; but he left some of the bones
behind him at Tooljapoor," returned the chief, with a grim smile; "and
I can pick them up for you, my lord, if you will either help me or let
me do it alone as best I can; only remember, if the town is plundered,
you know the cause, and I am not responsible for the blame."
"That you had better avoid, friend," said the Khan, "you are badly
spoken of already. But the bones, good fellow, the bones! who or what
are they?"
"Ah! I had forgotten them," continued Pahar Singh. "Well, there is Moro
Trimmul, Maloosray's agent and shadow; as wily, and more mischievous.
He is still at Tooljapoor, pretending to give recitations,--and they
are very good, my lord, in their way,--and to serve at the temple; but
I am not sure that one of the Moorlees is not at the bottom of it, and
when a man gets into women's hands, he is easily caught. Then there
are all those who will assemble there. Have you remarked, my lord,
that hardly one of the heads of the old Mahratta families have come to
present their Nuzzurs to you?"
"I have remarked it," returned the Khan, "but supposed they were afraid
of some demand for forage, or horses, or money, and therefore kept
clear of me."
"Not at all," returned the chief, "they have all sworn to aid Sivaji,
and Maloosray took an account of their quotas of horse and foot with
him to the Rajah."
"Then they met Maloosray?"
"They did, my lord, the night he came to the temple, and here are
their names. There are other people, you see, who have ears and eyes
besides Maloosray; and only that your Näik at Tooljapoor is an owl,
he had seen this conspiracy long ago, while I was too busy to watch
it. Better, perhaps, he did not; we can do our work more securely. And
now, do you wish to seize this gang of rebels or not? I advise you to
do so, because they are strong, and, should there be any difficulties
in the West, are capable of making a serious diversion, especially
if Maloosray, or even this Brahmun,--who is more of a soldier than a
priest,--get among them. These Nimbalkurs and Ghoreparays, my lord,
quiet as they look, are heavily supported by the people; and if the
Ramoosees rise with them, the country will be in a flame."
"And how dost thou know all this, Pahar Singh?" asked the Khan. "I must
have some warranty that it is true."
"Some months ago, my lord," he replied, "this very Moro Trimmul and
others canvassed me as to joining Sivaji's band, and offered me
whatever terms I pleased to ask. I refused, for I was content as I was."
"That means," remarked the Khan dryly, "that thou wouldst have joined
them if there had been anything to be got by it."
"My lord is still incredulous," returned the chief, "and perhaps I
deserve doubt till I have given him further proof. But I feel the
King's hand on my head still, and his pardon is more to me than
promises, of Mahratta, or Moghul either."
"Good!" said the Khan; "it is well said, and I believe thee. But about
these rebels; are they still there? and how many may there be of them?"
"They are there, my lord," replied the chief. "I was in the temple last
night disguised as a Byragee, with my nephew and four others: we heard
the recitations from the Ramayun, which, to Hindus, are very much what
the Peer Sahib is saying now in the mosque yonder, and said yesterday
at the Eedgah on the plain, when the whole force shouted 'Deen, deen!'
and it sounded like thunder. Jey Rao Nimbalkur was there, and some of
the Kallays----"
"How many?" said the Khan, impatiently interrupting him; "what care I
for their teeth-breaking names?"
"Five hundred perhaps, including followers."
"And is this temple a strong place? Do we require guns?"
"Strong enough to defend if they knew you were coming," returned Pahar
Singh, "but for the most part they will be unarmed, and looking at the
show. We need only cavalry to surround the town, and no one can escape
us. No guns, my lord; they could not be taken up the mountain at night,
and ours must be a surprise, else the temple will be dark as midnight."
"Ya Alla! ya Kabiz!" (destroyer of enemies), muttered the Khan to
himself, "a rare trap for these Kaffirs--let them die! Good," he
continued; "it shall be done; but when? I should march to-morrow for
Sholapoor."
"Do so, my lord, and halt at Tandoolwaree; 'tis half way. I will join
you there with some of my people the day after to-morrow, and lead
you by a pass in the hills which I know of at night, so that we can
surround the place unobserved. Take some of your own men and Ibrahim
Khan's Abyssinians; they know no fear, and are more certain than the
braggart, plundering Dekhanies, who are afraid of the Mother who sits
in the glen, though they are Mussulmans."
"What Mother, friend?"
"Only she in the temple; we Hindus call her the 'Mother'; and she, my
lord, must not be touched."
"No, no; nor her people, I will see to that," said, the Khan.
"And the affair must be kept secret, Khan," he continued.
"It is known to thee and me, Pahar Singh, and to no one else; not even
my son shall know of it till we march."
"Now let me depart," said the chief, "and the night after next I will
come."
"God willing," replied the Khan, dismissing his strange visitor with a
courteous salutation.