[Muhammad II. 1441-1452.] Áhmed Sháh was succeeded by his generous

pleasure-loving son Muhammad Sháh, Ghiás-ud-dunya Wad-dín, also styled

Zarbaksh the Gold Giver. In A.D. 1445 Muhammad marched against Bír

Rái of Ídar, but on that chief agreeing to give him his daughter in

marriage, he confirmed him in the possession of his state. His next

expedition was against Kánha Rái of Dúngarpur, who took refuge in the

hills, but afterwards returned, and paying tribute, was given charge

of his country. Muhammad married Bíbi Mughli, daughter of Jám Júna

of Thatha in Sindh. She bore a son, Fateh Khán, who was afterwards

Sultán Mahmúd Begada. In A.D. 1450, Muhammad marched upon Chámpáner,

and took the lower fortress. Gangádás of Chámpáner had a strong ally

in Sultán Mahmúd Khilji, the ruler of Málwa, and on his approach

Muhammad Sháh retired to Godhra, [761] and Mahmúd Khilji continued

his march upon Gujarát at the head of 80,000 horse. Muhammad Sháh was

preparing to fly to Diu, when the nobles, disgusted at his cowardice,

caused him to be poisoned. Muhammad Sháh's after-death title is

Khûdáigán-i-Karím the Gracious Lord.

[Kutb-ud-dín, 1451-1459.] In A.D. 1451 the nobles placed Muhammad's

son Jalál Khán on the throne with the title of Kutb-ud-dín. Meanwhile

Sultán Mahmúd of Málwa had laid siege to Sultánpur. [762] Malik

Alá-ud-dín bin Sohráb Kutb-ud-dín's commander surrendered the fort,

and was sent with honour to [War with Málwa, 1451.] Málwa and appointed

governor of Mándu. Sultán Mahmúd, marching to Sársa-Pálri, summoned

Broach, then commanded by Sídi Marján on behalf of Gujarát. The Sídi

refused, and fearing delay, the Málwa Sultán after plundering Baroda

proceeded to Nadiád, whose Bráhmans astonished him by their bravery

in killing a mad elephant. Kutb-ud-dín Sháh now advancing met Sultán

Mahmúd at [Battle of Kapadvanj, 1454.] Kapadvanj, [763] where, after a

doubtful fight of some hours, he defeated Sultán Mahmúd, though during

the battle that prince was able to penetrate to Kutb-ud-dín's camp and

carry off his crown and jewelled girdle. The Mirat-i-Sikandari ascribes

Kutb-ud-dín's victory in great measure to the gallantry of certain

inhabitants of Dholka [764] called Darwáziyahs. Muzaffar Khán, who is

said to have incited the Málwa Sultán to invade Gujarát, was captured

and beheaded, and his head was hung up at the gate of Kapadvanj. On

his return from Kapadvanj Kutb-ud-dín built the magnificent Hauzi Kutb

or Kánkariya Tank about a mile to the south of Áhmedábád. According

to the Mirat-i-Sikandari (Persian Text, 50-57) this war between

Málwa and Gujarát was controlled by the spiritual power of certain

holy teachers. The war was brought on by the prayers of Sheikh Kamál

Málwi, whose shrine is in Áhmedábád behind Khudáwand Khán's mosque

near Sháh-i-Álam's tomb, who favoured Málwa. Kutb-ud-dín's cause was

aided by the blessing of Kutbi Álam who sent his son the famous Sháh

Álam time after time to persuade Kamál to be loyal to Gujarát. At last

Kamál produced a writing said to be from heaven giving the victory to

Málwa. The young Sháh Álam tore this charter to shreds, and, as no evil

befel him, Kamál saw that his spiritual power paled before Sháh Álam

and fell back dead. Sháh Álam against his will accompanied Kutb-ud-dín

some marches on his advance to Kapadvanj. Before leaving the army

Sháh Álam blessed a mean camp elephant and ordered him to destroy the

famous Málwa champion elephant known as the Butcher. He also, against

his wish for he knew the future, at the Sultán's request bound his

own sword round Kutb-ud-dín's waist. In the battle the commissariat

elephant ripped the Butcher and some years later Kutb-ud-dín by

accident gashed his knee with the saint's sword and died.

[War with Nágor, 1454-1459.] In the same year Sultán Mahmúd Khilji

attempted to conquer Nágor then held by Fírúz Khán, a cousin of the

Áhmedábád Sultán. Kutb-ud-dín Sháh despatched an army under the command

of Sayad Atáulláh, and, as it drew near Sámbhar, [765] the Málwa Sultán

retired and shortly after Fírúz Khán died. Kúmbha Rána of Chitor [766]

now began interfering in the Nágor succession on behalf of Shams Khán,

who had been dispossessed by his brother Mujáhid Khán, and expelled

Mujáhid. But as Shams Khán refused to dismantle the fortifications

of Nágor, the Chitor chief collected an army to capture Nágor, while

Shams Khán repaired to Kutb-ud-dín Sháh for aid and gave that sovereign

his daughter in marriage. Upon this Kutb-ud-dín sent Rái Anupchand

Mánek and Malik Gadái with an army to Nágor to repulse the Rána of

[War with Chitor, 1455-1459.] Chitor. In a battle near Nágor the

Gujarát troops were defeated, and the Rána after laying waste the

neighbourhood of that city, returned to Chitor. In A.D. 1455-56,

to avenge this raid, Kutb-ud-dín Sháh marched against Chitor. On

his way the Devra Rája of Sirohi [767] attended Kutb-ud-dín Sháh's

camp, praying him to restore the fortress of Ábu, [768] part of the

ancestral domain of Sirohi, which the Rána of Chitor had wrested

from his house. The king ordered one of his generals, Malik Shaâbán,

to take possession of Ábu and restore it to the Devra chieftain,

while he himself continued to advance against Kumbhalmer. Malik

Shaâbán was entangled in the defiles near Ábu, and defeated with

great slaughter, and shortly after Kutb-ud-dín Sháh, making a truce

with Chitor, retired to his own country. On his return the Málwa

sovereign proposed that they should unite against Chitor, conquer the

Rána's territories, and divide them equally between them. Kutb-ud-dín

agreed and in A.D. 1456-57 marched against the Rána by way of Ábu,

which fortress he captured and handed to the Devra Rája. [769] Next,

advancing upon Kumbhalmer, he plundered the country round, and then

turned towards Chitor. On his way to Chitor, he was met by the Rána,

and a battle was fought, after which the Rána fell back on his capital,

and was there besieged by the Gujarát army. The siege was not pressed,

and, on the Rána agreeing to pay tribute and not to harass Nágor,

Kutb-ud-dín withdrew to Gujarát, where he gave himself up to licentious

excess. Meanwhile, the Rána by ceding Mandisor [770] to Málwa, came

to terms with the Sultán of Mándu, and within three months attacked

Nágor. Kutb-ud-dín Sháh, though so overcome with drink as to be unable

to sit his horse, mustered his troops and started in a palanquin. As

soon as the Rána heard that the Gujarát army was in motion he retired,

and the king returned to Áhmedábád. In A.D. 1458, he again led an

army by way of Sirohi and Kumbhalmer against Chitor, and laid waste

the country. Soon after his return, according to one account by an

accidental sword wound, according to another account poisoned by

his wife, Kutb-ud-dín died in May A.D. 1459 after a reign of seven

years and seven days. He was brave with a sternness of nature, which,

under the influence of wine, amounted to fierceness. His after-death

title is Sultán-i-Gházi the Warrior King.

[Mahmúd I. (Begada), 1459-1513.] On the death of Kutb-ud-dín Sháh,

the nobles raised to the throne his uncle Dáúd, son of Áhmed Sháh. But

as Dáúd appointed low-born men to high offices and committed other

foolish acts, he was deposed, and in A.D. 1459 his half-brother Fateh

Khán the son of Muhammad Sháh, son of Áhmed Sháh by Bíbi Mughli a

daughter of Jám Júna of Thatha in Sindh, was seated on the throne at

the age of little more than thirteen with the title of Mahmúd Sháh.

The close connection of Fateh Khán with the saintly Sháh Álam

is a favourite topic with Gujarát historians. According to the

Mirat-i-Sikandari (Persian Text, 66-70) of his two daughters Jám

Júna intended Bíbi Mughli the more beautiful for the Saint and Bíbi

Mirghi the less comely for the Sultán. By bribing the Jám's envoys

the king secured the prettier sister. The enraged Saint was consoled

by his father who said: My son, to you will come both the cow and the

calf. After Muhammad II.'s death, fear of Kutb-ud-dín's designs against

the young Fateh Khán forced Bíbi Mughli to seek safety with her sister,

and on her sister's death she married the Saint. Kutb-ud-dín made

several attempts to seize Fateh Khán. But by the power of the Saint

when Kutb-ud-dín attempted to seize him, Fateh Khán in body as well

as in dress became a girl. According to one account Kutb-ud-dín met

his death in an attempt to carry off Fateh Khán. As he rode into the

Saint's quarter Death in the form of a mad camel met the king. The

king struck at the phantom, and his sword cleaving the air gashed

his knee. This was the Saint's sword, which against his will, for he

knew it would be the death of the king, Kutb-ud-dín forced Sháh Álam

to bind round him before the battle of Kapadvanj.

[Defeats a Conspiracy, 1459.] The death of his uncle, the late Sultán

Dáúd, who had become a religious devotee, relieved Fateh Khán of one

source of danger. Shortly after certain of the nobles including Seiful

Mulk, Kabír-ud-dín Sultáni surnamed Akd-ul-Mulk, Burhán-ul-Mulk and

Hisám-ul-Mulk represented to the Sultán that the minister Shaâbán

Imád-ul-Mulk contemplated treason and wished to set his son on the

throne. Having seized and imprisoned the minister in the Bhadra citadel

and set five hundred of their trusted retainers as guards over him,

the rebels retired to their homes. At nightfall Abdulláh, the chief

of the elephant stables, going to the young Sultán represented to him

that the nobles who had imprisoned Imád-ul-Mulk were the real traitors

and had determined to place Habíb Khán, an uncle of the Sultán's, on

the throne. The Sultán consulting his mother and some of his faithful

friends ordered Abdulláh at daybreak to equip all his elephants in

full armour and draw them up in the square before the Bhadra. He

then seated himself on the throne and in a voice of feigned anger

ordered one of the courtiers to bring out Shaâbán Imád-ul-Mulk,

that he might wreak his vengeance upon him. As these orders were

not obeyed the Sultán rose, and walking up the Bhadra called: "Bring

out Shaâbán!" The guards brought forth Imád-ul-Mulk, and the Sultán

ordered his fetters to be broken. Some of the nobles' retainers made

their submission to the Sultán, others fled and hid themselves. In

the morning, hearing what had happened, the refractory nobles marched

against the Sultán. Many advised the Sultán to cross the Sábarmati

by the postern gate and retire from the city, and, after collecting

an army, to march against the nobles. Giving no ear to these counsels

the young Sultán ordered Abdulláh to charge the advancing nobles with

his six hundred elephants. The charge dispersed the malcontents who

fled and either hid themselves in the city or betook themselves to

the country. Some were killed, some were trampled by the Sultán's

orders under the elephants' feet, and one was pardoned. [771] His

religious ardour, his love of justice, his bravery, and his wise

measures entitle Mahmúd to the highest place among the Gujarát

kings. One of the measures which the Mirat-i-Sikandari specially

notices is his continuance of land grants to the son of the holder,

and in cases where there was no male issue of half the grant to the

daughter. His firm policy of never ousting the landholder except for

proved oppression or exaction was productive of such prosperity that

the revenue increased two, three and in some cases tenfold. The roads

were safe from freebooters and trade was secure. A rule forbidding

soldiers to borrow money at interest is favourably noticed. [Improves

the Soldiery, 1459-1461.] A special officer was appointed to make

advances to needy soldiers with the power to recover from their pay

in fixed instalments. [772] Mahmúd also devoted much attention to the

culture of fruit trees. [773] In A.D. 1461, or A.D. 1462 according to

Farishtah, Nizám Sháh Báhmani (A.D. 1461-1463), king of the Dakhan,

whose country had been invaded by Sultán Mahmúd Khilji of Málwa,

applied for help to the Gujarát king. [Helps the King of the Dakhan,

1461.] Mahmúd Sháh at once started to Nizám Sháh's aid, and on his way

receiving another equally pressing letter from the Dakhan sovereign,

and being joined by the Báhmani general Khwájáh Jehán Gáwán, he

pushed on with all speed by way of Burhánpur. [774] When Sultán Mahmúd

Khilji heard of his approach, he retired to his own country by way of

Gondwána, [775] from thirst and from the attacks of the Gonds, losing

5000 to 6000 men. The king of Gujarát, after receiving the thanks of

the Dakhan sovereign, returned to his own dominions. In A.D. 1462

Sultán Mahmúd Khilji made another incursion into the Dakhan at the

head of 90,000 horse, plundering and laying waste the country as far

as Daulatábád. Again the Dakhan sovereign applied for help to Mahmúd

Sháh, and on hearing of Mahmúd's advance the Málwa Sultán retired a

second time to his own dominions. Mahmúd Sháh now wrote to the Málwa

Sultán to desist from harassing the Dakhan, threatening, in case of

refusal, to march at once upon Mándu. His next expedition was against

the pirate zamíndárs of the hill fort of Barûr and the bandar of Dûn

or Dáhánu, whose fort he took, and after imposing an annual tribute

allowed the chief to continue to hold his hundred villages. [776]

[Expedition against Junágadh, 1467.] Mahmúd Sháh next turned

his thoughts to the conquest of the mountain citadel of Girnár in

central Káthiáváda. [777] In A.D. 1467 he made an attack on the fort

of Junágadh, and receiving the submission of Ráv Mandlik, the local

ruler, returned to his capital. In the following year, hearing that

the Junágadh chief continued to visit his idol temple in state with

a golden umbrella and other ensigns of royalty, Mahmúd despatched

an army to Junágadh, and the chief sent the obnoxious umbrella to

the king, accompanied by fitting presents. In A.D. 1469 Mahmúd once

more sent an army to ravage Sorath, with the intention of finally

conquering both Junágadh and Girnár. While Mahmúd was on the march

the Ráv Mandlik suddenly joined him, and asking why the Sultán was

so bent on his destruction when he had committed no fault, agreed

to do whatever Mahmúd might command. The king replied there is no

fault like infidelity, and ordered the Ráv to embrace Islám. The

chief, now thoroughly alarmed, fled by night and made his way into

Girnár. [Capture of Girnár, 1472.] In A.D. 1472-73 after a siege of

nearly two years, forced by the failure of his stores, he quitted

the fort and handing the keys to the king, repeated after him the

Muhammadan profession of faith. Though the Ráv's life was spared

Sorath from this date became a crown possession, and was governed

by an officer appointed by the king and stationed at Junágadh. At

the close of the war Mahmúd Sháh repaired the fort Jehánpanáh, the

present outer or town wall of Junágadh, and, charmed with the beauty

of the neighbourhood, settled sayads and learned men at Junágadh and

other towns in Sorath. He induced the nobles to build houses, himself

raised a palace and made the new city his capital under the name of

Mustafábad and enforced his claims as overlord on all the neighbouring

chiefs. It is true that in the times of Áhmed Sháh these chieftains,

including even the Junágadh Ráv himself, had paid tribute. But Mahmúd

established Áhmedábád rule so firmly that the duty of collecting

the tribute was entrusted to an officer permanently settled in the

country. The author of the Mirat-i-Sikandari dilates on the dense

woods round Junágadh, full of mango, ráen, jámbu, gúlar, ámli, and

áonla [778] trees, and notes that this forest tract was inhabited by

a wild race of men called Khánts. [779]

[Disturbances in Chámpáner, 1472.] During Mahmúd Sháh's prolonged

absence from his capital, Malik Jamál-ud-dín was appointed governor

of Áhmedábád, with the title of Muháfiz Khán that is Care-taker. At

this time Jesingh, son of Gangádás the chief of Chámpáner, harassed

the country round Pávágad. The king appointed Bahá-ul-Mulk, who had

the title of Imád-ul-Mulk, to the command of Sankheda; Malik Sárang

Kiwám-ul-Mulk to the command of Godhra; and Táj Khán bin Sálár to the

command of Norkha and Dákhna on the Máhi. In consequence of these

precautions Jesingh abstained from rebellion. At this time the Ráv

Mandlik received the title of Khán Jahán, and lands were bestowed on

him, while the golden idols, which had been taken from the Junágadh

temples, were broken and distributed among the soldiers.

[Conquest of Kachh.] Mahmúd Sháh's next expedition was against

the turbulent inhabitants of the confines of Sindh. These were

Jádejás, though they are described as Rájputs of the Sumra and Sodha

tribes. [780] They appear to have readily submitted, and to have

voluntarily sent men to Junágadh to be instructed in Islám and to

settle in Gujarát. Shortly afterwards they again became troublesome,

and the king advancing into Kachh completely defeated them. About

this time a learned man, Mulla Mahmúd Samarkandi, on his way from

the Dakhan to Central Asia, complained to the king that he had been

robbed by the pirates of Jagat or Dwárka. [781] On hearing of this

outrage Mahmúd Sháh marched to [Jagat Destroyed.] Jagat, took the fort,

and destroyed the idol temples. The pirates, in the first instance,

retired to the island of Shankhodára or Bet, but from this, too, after

a stout resistance they were driven with great slaughter. The king

built a mosque at Jagat, entrusted the government to Farhat-ul-Mulk,

and himself returned to Junágadh. Before this Dwárka had never been

conquered. Bhím, the Rájá of Dwárka, was sent to Muháfiz Khán, the

governor of Áhmedábád, with orders that he was to be hewn in pieces

and a piece fastened to every gate of the city. After settling the

affairs of Sorath, the king turned his face towards Áhmedábád. On the

way hearing that a fleet of Malabár craft were annoying the Gujarát

ports, he marched to Gogha, equipped a fleet to oppose the pirates,

and stopping at Cambay returned to Áhmedábád.

[Conspiracy, 1480.] In A.D. 1480, when Mahmúd Sháh was at Junágadh,

Khudáwand Khán and others, who were weary of the king's constant

warfare, incited his eldest son Áhmed to assume royal power. But

Imád-ul-Mulk, by refusing to join, upset their plans, and on the king's

return the conspiracy was stamped out. In the previous year (A.D. 1479)

Mahmúd Sháh sent an army to ravage Chámpáner, which he was determined

to conquer. About this time, hearing that the neighbourhood was

infested with robbers, he founded the city of Mehmúdábád on the banks

of the Vátrak, about eighteen miles south of Áhmedábád. In A.D. 1482

there was a partial famine in Gujarát, and the Chámpáner country being

exempt from scarcity the commandant of Morámli or Rasúlábád, a post in

the Gáckwár's Sáonli district on the Chámpáner frontier, made several

forays across the border. In return the chief attacked the commandant

and defeated him, killing most of his men and capturing two elephants

and several horses. On hearing this Mahmúd Sháh set out for Baroda with

a powerful army. When Mahmúd reached Baroda the Rával of [War against

Chámpáner, 1482-1484.] Chámpáner, becoming alarmed, sent ambassadors

and sued for forgiveness. The king rejected his overtures, saying:

'Except the sword and the dagger no message shall pass between me and

you.' [782] The Rával made preparations for a determined resistance,

and sent messengers to summon Ghiás-ud-dín Khilji of Málwa to his

aid. To prevent this junction Mahmúd Sháh entrusted the siege to his

nobles and marched to Dohad, on which Sultán Ghiás-ud-dín withdrew

to Mándu. On his return from Dohad the Sultán began building a Jáma

Mosque at Chámpáner to show that he would not leave the place till he

had taken the hill-fort of Pávágad. After the siege had lasted more

than twenty months (April 1483-December 1484), the Musalmáns noticed

that for an hour or two in the morning most of the Rájputs were off

duty bathing and dressing. A morning assault was planned and the first

gate carried. Then Malik Ayáz Sultáni finding a practicable breach

passed through with some of his men and took the great gate. The

Rával and his Rájputs, throwing their women children and valuables

into a huge fire, rushed out in a fierce but unavailing charge. [783]

[Capture of Pávágad, 1484.] The Rával and his minister Dúngarshi fell

wounded into the conqueror's hands, and, on refusing to embrace Islám,

were put to death. The Rával's son, who was entrusted to Seif-ul-Mulk,

and instructed by him in the Muhammadan religion, afterwards, in

the reign of Muzaffar Sháh (A.D. 1523-1526), was ennobled by the

title of Nizám-ul-Mulk. On the capture of Pávágad in A.D. 1484,

Mahmúd Sháh built a wall round the town of Chámpáner, and made it

his capital under the name of Muhammadábád. Under Mahmúd's orders

the neighbourhood became stocked with mangoes, pomegranates, figs,

grapes, sugarcane, plantains, oranges, custard apples, khirnis or ráens

(Mimusops indica or hexandra), jackfruit, and cocoapalms, as well as

with roses, chrysanthemums, jasmins, champás, and sweet pandanus. A

sandal grove near Chámpáner is said to have had trees large enough to

help the Musalmán nobles to build their mansions. At the instance of

the Sultán a Khurásáni beautified one of the gardens with fountains

and cascades. A Gujaráti named Hálur learning the principle improved

on his master's design in a garden about four miles west of Chámpáner,

which in his honour still bears the name Hálol. [784]

In Mahmúd's reign an instance is mentioned of the form of compensation

known as valtar. Some merchants bringing horses and other goods for

sale from Irák and Khurásán were plundered in Sirohi limits. The king

caused them to give in writing the price of their horses and stuffs,

and paying them from his own treasury recovered the amount from the

Rája of Sirohi.

[The Khándesh Succession, 1508.] In A.D. 1494-95 Mahmúd went against

Bahádur Khán Gíláni, a vassal of the Bahmanis, who from Goa and Dábhol

[785] had so harassed the Gujarát harbours that, from the failure of

the supply of betelnut, coriander seed had to be eaten with betel

leaves. The Bahmani Sultán, fearing the consequences to himself,

marched against Bahádur Khán, and, capturing him alive, struck off

his head, and sent it to the Gujarát monarch, who returned to his

own country. In A.D. 1499-1500, hearing that Násir-ud-dín of Málwa

had killed his father Ghiás-ud-dín and seated himself on the throne,

the Sultán prepared to advance against him, but was appeased by

Násir-ud-dín's humble attitude. The next seven years passed without

any warlike expedition. In A.D. 1507, near Daman on his way to Cheul,

Mahmúd heard of the victory gained at Cheul over the Portuguese by the

Gujarát squadron under Malik Ayáz Sultáni, in concert with the Turkish

fleet. [786] In A.D. 1508 Mahmúd succeeded in placing his nephew Mirán

Muhammad Ádil Khán Fárúki on the throne of Ásir-Burhánpur. From 1508

Mahmúd remained at his capital till his death in December A.D. 1513

at the age of sixty-seven years and three months, after a reign of

fifty-four years and one month. Mahmúd was buried at Sarkhej, [787]

and received the after-death title of Khúdáigán-i-Halím or the Meek

Lord. Immediately before his death Sultán Mahmúd was informed that

Sháh Ismáil Safawi of Persia had sent him a friendly embassy headed by

Yádgár Beg Kazil-básh. As the Kazil-báshes were known to be Shíahs the

Sultán, who was a staunch Sunni, prayed that he might not be forced to

see a Shíah's face during his last days. His prayer was heard. He died

before the Persian embassy entered the city. [788] During the last

days of Sultán Mahmúd, Sayad Muhammad of Jaunpur, who claimed to be

the Mahdi or Messiah, came from Jaunpur and lodged in Tájkhán Sálár's

mosque near the Jamálpur gate of Áhmedábád. His sermons drew crowds,

and were so persuasive that he gained a large body of followers,

who believed his eloquence to be due to hál or inspiration. Mahmúd's

ministers persuaded him not to see the Jaunpur preacher.

Mahmúd Begada's court was adorned by several pious and high-minded

nobles. In life they vied with one another in generous acts; and

after death, according to the Persian poet Urfi, they left their

traces in the characters and carvings of stone walls and marble

piles. First among these nobles the Mirat-i-Sikandari (Persian Text,

132, 142) mentions Dáwar-ul-Mulk, whose god-fearing administration

made his estates so prosperous that they were coveted by princes of

the blood. As Thánadár of Amron in north Káthiáváda, he spread the

light of Islám from Morvi to Bhúj, and after his death his fame as a

spirit-ruling guardian drew hosts of sick and possessed to his shrine

near Morvi. The second was Malik Ayáz, governor of Diu, who built the

strong fortress afterwards reconstructed by the Portuguese. He also

built a tower on an under-water rock, and from the tower drew a massive

iron chain across the mouth of the harbour. A substantial bridge

over the creek, that runs through the island of Diu, was afterwards

destroyed by the Portuguese. The third was Khudáwand Khán Alím, the

founder of Alímpura a suburb to the south of Áhmedábád, adorned with

a mosque of sandstone and marble. He introduced the cultivation of

melons figs and sugarcane into Gujarát from Bijápur. The fourth was

Imád-ul-Mulk Asas who founded Ísanpur, a suburb between Sháh Álam's

suburb of Islámpur and Batwa, and planted along the road groves of

khirnis and mangoes. The fifth was Tájkhán Sálár, so loved of his

peers that after his death none of them would accept his title. The

sixth was Malik Sárang Kiwám-ul-Mulk, a Rájput by birth, the founder of

the suburb of Sárangpur and its mosque to the east of Áhmedábád. The

seventh and eighth were the Khurásáni brothers Aâzam and Moâzzam, who

built a cistern, a mosque, and a tomb between Áhmedábád and Sarkhej.

Besides Khalíl Khán, who succeeded him, Mahmúd had three sons: Muhammad

Kála, Ápá Khán, and Áhmed Khán. Kála, son of Ráni Rúp Manjhri died

during his father's lifetime as did his mother, who was buried in Mánek

Chauk in Áhmedábád in the building known as the Ráni's Hazíra. The

second son Ápá Khán was caught trespassing in a noble's harím, and

was ordered by the Sultán to be poisoned. The third son was the Áhmed

Khán whom Khudáwand Khán sought to raise to the throne during Sultán

Mahmúd's lifetime.

[Muzaffar II. 1513-1526.] Muhammad was succeeded by Khalíl Khán, the

son of Ráni Hírábái the daughter of a Rájput chieftain named Nága Rána

who lived on the bank of the Mahi. On ascending the throne, at the age

of twenty-seven, Khalíl adopted the title of Muzaffar Sháh. For some

time before his father's death, Prince Khalíl Khán had been living at

Baroda and shortly after his accession he visited that neighbourhood,

and founded a town which he named Daulatábád. In A.D. 1514 Ráv Bhím,

the son of Ráv Bhán of Ídar, [Expedition against Ídar, 1514.] defeated

Ain-ul-Mulk, governor of Pátan, who was coming to Áhmedábád to pay

his respects to the king. This officer had turned aside to punish the

Ráv for some disturbance he had created, but failing in his purpose,

was himself defeated. On the approach of Muzaffar Sháh, Ídar was

abandoned by the Ráv, who made his peace with difficulty and only

by agreeing to pay a heavy tribute. Meanwhile the king marched to

Godhra, and so to Málwa by way of Dohad, whose fort he caused to be

repaired, and soon after went on to Dhár. After a short stay in Málwa,

thinking it mean to take advantage of the distracted condition of

Mahmúd of Málwa, who was at war with his nobles, Muzaffar returned

to Muhammadábád (Chámpáner). At this time Ráimal, nephew of the late

Ráv Bhím of Ídar, expelled the Ráv's son Bhármal by the aid of his

father-in-law Rána Sánga of Chitor, and succeeded to the chieftainship

of Ídar. The king was displeased at the interference of the Rána, and

directed Nizám Khán, the governor of Ahmednagar, to expel Ráimal and

reinstate Bhármal. Nizám Khán took Ídar and gave it to Bhármal. Ráimal

betook himself to the hills where Nizám Khán incautiously pursuing and

engaging him lost many men. When the rains were over the Sultán visited

Ídar. Shortly after, Nizám Khán, the governor of Ahmednagar, fell sick

and was called to court. He left Ídar in charge of Zahír-ul-Mulk at

the head of a hundred horse. Ráimal made a sudden raid on Ídar and

killed Zahír-ul-Mulk and twenty-seven of his men. On hearing of this

reverse Sultán Muzaffar ordered Nizám Khán to destroy Bíjápur. [789]

[Disturbances in Málwa, 1517.] In A.D. 1517, the nobles of Málwa

besought Muzaffar's interference, alleging that the Hindu minister

Medáni Rái was planning to depose the Málwa Sultán, Mahmúd Khilji,

and usurp the throne. Muzaffar Sháh promised to come to their help,

and shortly after Sultán Mahmúd Khilji, escaping from the surveillance

of Medáni Rái, himself sought the aid of the Gujarát monarch. In

A.D. 1518 Muzaffar Sháh marched by Godhra into Málwa, and on his

arrival at Dhár, that town was evacuated by Medáni Rái. The Gujarát

king next besieged Mándu and Medáni Rái summoned the Chitor Rána to his

aid. [Capture of Mándu, 1518.] When the Rána had reached Sárangpur,

Muzaffar Sháh detaching a force caused the Rána to retire, while the

Gujarát soldiers exerted themselves so strenuously that they captured

Mándu, recovering the girdle which Kutb-ud-dín had lost at the battle

of Kapadvanj. This conquest virtually placed Málwa in Muzaffar's power,

but he honourably restored the kingdom to Sultán Mahmúd Khilji, and,

withdrawing to Gujarát, proceeded to Muhammadábád. In A.D. 1519, news

was received of the defeat and capture of Sultán Mahmúd Khilji by

the Rána of Chitor. Muzaffar Sháh sent a force to protect Mándu. But

the Rána, who distinguished himself by releasing the Sultán of Málwa

and keeping his son in his stead as a hostage, enjoyed continued good

fortune. Some time before these events a bhát or bard in the presence

of Nizám Khán, the governor of Ídar, boasted that the Rána of [War with

Chitor, 1519.] Chitor would never fail to help Rána Ráimal of Ídar. The

angry governor said 'Whose dog is Rána Sánga to help Ráimal while we

are here.' Nizám Khán called a dog Sánga, chained him in the fort, and

dared the Rána to carry him away. His successes enabled Sánga to answer

the challenge. In consequence of dissensions at head-quarters Nizám

Khán withdrew to Ahmednagar leaving a small garrison in Ídar. When Rána

Sánga appeared before Ídar the garrison resisted but were slain to a

man. The Rána advanced to Ahmednagar and severely defeated Nizám Khán

who withdrew to Áhmedábád, while the Rána plundered Vishálnagar. [790]

In A.D. 1521, Malik Ayáz Sultáni, the governor of [The Rána of Chitor

Submits, 1521.] Sorath, was sent with a large and carefully equipped

force to revenge this inroad. Dissensions between Malik Ayáz and the

Gujarát nobles prevented this expedition doing more than burn and

despoil both Dungarpur and Bánsváda. Muzaffar Sháh, greatly displeased

with the result, was preparing to march against Chitor, when he was

dissuaded by a submissive embassy from that chief, who sent his son

to Áhmedábád with valuable presents for the king. Shortly afterwards,

on the death of Malik Ayáz, Muzaffar Sháh confirmed his elder son Malik

Is-hák in his father's rank and possessions. Malik Is-hák remained in

Sorath which was confirmed as his jágir. In the following year the

Sultán went about his dominions strengthening his frontier posts,

especially the fort of Modása, which he rebuilt. About A.D. 1524

prince Báhádur Khán, ostensibly dissatisfied with the smallness of

his estates but really to remove himself from the jealousy of his

brother Sikandar who being appointed heir-apparent was seeking his

life, left Gujarát and withdrew to Hindustán. King Muzaffar, after

formally appointing his son Sikandar Khán his heir, [Dies, 1526.] died

at Áhmedábád in A.D. 1526, after a reign of fourteen years and nine

months. Muzaffar was buried in the shrine of Sheikh Áhmed Khattu

at Sarkhej near his father's grave. He was the most learned and one

of the most pious of the Áhmedábád Sultáns. So extreme an abstainer

was he that not only during his whole life did he eschew intoxicating

drugs and liquor but he never again rode a favourite horse because the

horse was cured by a draught of wine. He was an accomplished musician,

a finished horseman, a practised swordsman, and withal so modest and

humble in his dress and temper that observing once to a favourite

page how simple and yet graceful his own turban was the boy laughed:

'Ay, if the turbans of Mullahs and Bohoras are graceful, then is

your Majesty's.' The Sultán said 'I should have been proud to have my

turban likened to a Mullah's, why compare it with the headdress of a

schismatic Bohora.' Muzaffar was careful never to pain the feelings of

those around him. He suspected Kiwám-ul-Mulk who was in charge of his

drinking water but contented himself with breathing over the water one

of the verses of the Kurâán which make poison harmless. [791] During

his reign cultivation increased so much in Jháláváda that it became

necessary to reserve certain waste land for pasture. In 1526 the rains

held off so long that famine began to rage. The Sultán exclaimed,

'Oh Allah! If thou scourgest the country for the sins of its king

take his life and spare thy creatures.' The prayer was heard and the

soul of the guardian Sultán passed in a flood of gracious rain. [792]

[Sikandar, 1526.] After Sikandar Sháh had been in power a few months

he was murdered by Imád-ul-Mulk Khush Kadam, who seated a younger

brother of Sikandar's, named Násir Khán, on the throne with the title

of [Mahmúd II. 1526.] Mahmúd II. and governed on his behalf. The only

event of Sikandar's reign was the destruction of an army sent against

his brother Latíf Khán who was helped by Rána Bhím of Munga. [793]

The nobles deserted Imád-ul-Mulk's cause, and prince [Bahádur,

1527-1536.] Báhádur Khán, returning to Gujarát from Hindustán,

was joined by many supporters prominent among whom was Táj Khán,

proprietor of Dhandhuka. Bahádur marched at once on Chámpáner, captured

and executed Imád-ul-Mulk and poisoning Násir Khán ascended the throne

in A.D. 1527 with the title of Bahádur Sháh. His brother Latíf Khán,

aided by Rája Bhím of the Kohistan or hill land of Pál, [794] now

asserted his claim to the throne. He was defeated, and fell wounded

into the hands of the Gujarát army and died of his wounds and was

buried at Hálol. Rája Bhím was slain. As Bhím's successor Ráisingh

plundered Dohad, a large force was sent against him, commanded

by Táj Khán, who laid waste Ráisingh's country and dismantled his

forts. Soon after Bahádur Sháh visited Cambay, and found that Malik

Is-hák the governor of Sorath had, in the interests of the Portuguese,

attempted to seize Diu but had been repulsed by the Gujarát admiral

Mahmúd Áka. The Sultán entrusted Diu to Kiwám-ul-Mulk and Junágadh to

Mujáhid Khán Bhíkan and returned to Áhmedábád. In 1527 he enforced

tribute from Ídar and the neighbouring country. During one of his

numerous expeditions he went to hunt in Nándod and received the

homage of the Rája. [Portuguese Intrigues, 1526.] As the Portuguese

were endeavouring to establish themselves on the coast of Sorath,

and, if possible, to obtain Diu, the king was constantly at Cambay

Diu and Gogha to frustrate their attempts, and he now directed the

construction of the fortress of Broach. At this time Muhammad Khán,

ruler of Asír and Burhánpur, requested Bahádur's aid on behalf of

Imád-ul-Mulk, ruler of Berár. Bahádur Sháh started at once and at

Nandurbár was joined by Muhammad Khán Asíri, and thence proceeded

to Burhánpur, where he was met by Imád Sháh from Gávalgad. [Khándesh

Affairs, 1528.] After certain successes he made peace between Burhán

Nizám Sháh and Imád Sháh Gávali, and returned to Gujarát. Jám Fírúz

the ruler of Tatha in Sindh now sought refuge with Bahádur Sháh

from the oppression either of the Ghoris or of the Mughals and was

hospitably received. In A.D. 1528 Bahádur made an expedition into the

Dakhan which ended in a battle at Daulatábád. The issue of this battle

seems to have been unfavourable as hardly any reference to the campaign

remains. Next year (A.D. 1529) at the request of Jaâfar or Khizr Khán,

son of Imád Sháh Gávali, who was sent to Gujarát to solicit Bahádur's

help, he again marched for the Dakhan. As he passed through Muler

Biharji the Rája of Báglán gave him his daughter in marriage and in

return received the title of Bahr Khán. From Báglán Bahr Khán was

told off to ravage Cheul which by this time had fallen into the hands

of the Portuguese. Bahádur himself advanced to Ahmednagar, took the

fort and destroyed many of the buildings. Purandhar also was sacked

of its stores of gold. [795] From Ahmednagar Bahádur Sháh passed to

Burhánpur, and there his general Kaisar Khán gained a victory over

the united forces of Nizám Sháh, Malik Beríd, and Ain-ul-Mulk. After

having the public sermon read in his name both in Ahmednagar and in

Burhánpur Bahádur returned to Gujarát and for some time refrained

from interfering in the affairs of the Dakhan.

[Turks at Diu, 1526-1530.] Between A.D. 1526 and 1530 certain Turks

under one Mústafa came to Gujarát, traders according to one account

according to another part of a Turkish fleet expected to act against

the Portuguese. Diu was assigned them as a place of residence and the

command of the island was granted to Malik Túghán, son of Malik Ayáz,

the former governor. In A.D. 1530 the king marched to Nágor, and gave

an audience both to Prathiráj Rája of Dúngarpur and to the ambassadors

from Rána Ratansi of Chitor. The Rána's ambassadors complained

of encroachments on Chitor by Mahmúd of Málwa. Mahmúd promised to

appear before Bahádur to explain the alleged encroachments. Bahádur

waited. At last as Mahmúd failed to attend Bahádur said he would go

and meet Mahmúd. He invested Mándu and received with favour certain

deserters from Mahmúd's army. The fortress fell and Sultán Mahmúd and

his seven sons were captured. The success of the siege was due to

Bahádur's personal prowess. [Capture of Mándu, 1530.] He scaled an

almost inaccessible height and sweeping down from it with a handful

of men took the fort, a feat which for daring and dash is described

as unsurpassed in the history of Musalmán Gujarát. [796] After passing

the rainy season at Mándu Bahádur Sháh went to Burhánpur to visit his

nephew Mirán Muhammad Sháh. At Burhánpur Bahádur under the influence

of the great priest-statesman Sháh Táhir, was reconciled with Burhán

Nizám and gave him the royal canopy he had taken from Málwa. Bahádur

offered Sháh Táhir the post of minister. Sháh Táhir declined saying he

must make a pilgrimage to Makkah. He retired to Ahmednagar and there

converted Burhán Nizám Sháh to the Shíâh faith. [797] In the same year,

hearing that Mánsingji, Rája of Halvad, [798] had killed the commandant

of Dasáda Bahádur despatched Khán Khánán against him. Víramgám and

Mándal were reft from the Jhála chieftains, and ever after formed part

of the crown dominions. When Sultán Mahmúd Khilji and his sons were

being conveyed to the fortress of Chámpáner, Ráisingh, Rája of Pál,

endeavoured to rescue them. The attempt failed, and the prisoners were

put to death by their guards. In A.D. 1531, on Bahádur's return from

Burhánpur to Dhár, hearing that Silehdi the Rájput chief of Ráisin in

east Málwa kept in captivity certain Muhammadan women who had belonged

to the harím of Sultán Násir-ud-dín of Málwa, Bahádur marched against

him and forced him to surrender and embrace Islám. The chief secretly

sent to the Rána of Chitor for aid and delayed handing over Ráisin. On

learning this Bahádur despatched a force to keep Chitor in check and

pressed the siege. At his own request, Silehdi was sent to persuade

the garrison to surrender. But their reproaches stung him so sharply,

that, joining with them, and after burning their women and children,

they sallied forth sword in hand and were all slain. Ráisin fell into

Bahádur's hands, and this district together with those of Bhilsa and

Chanderi were entrusted to the government of Sultán Álam Lodhi. The

king now went to Gondwána to hunt elephants, and, after capturing many,

employed his army in reducing Gágraun and other minor fortresses. [799]

In A.D. 1532 he advanced against Chitor, but raised the siege on

receiving an enormous ransom. Shortly afterwards his troops took the

strong fort of Rantanbhur. [800] About this time on receipt of news

that the Portuguese were usurping authority the Sultán repaired to

Diu. Before he arrived the Portuguese had taken to flight, leaving

behind them an enormous gun which the Sultán ordered to be dragged

to Chámpáner.

[Quarrel with Humáyún, 1532.] Before A.D. 1532 was over Bahádur

Sháh quarrelled with Humáyún, emperor of Delhi. The original

ground of quarrel was that Bahádur Sháh had sheltered Sultán

Muhammad Zamán Mírza the grandson of a daughter of the emperor Bábar

(A.D. 1482-1530). Humáyún's anger was increased by an insolent answer

from the Gujarát king. Without considering that he had provoked a

powerful enemy, Bahádur Sháh again laid siege to Chitor, and though

he heard that Humáyún had arrived at Gwálior, he would not desist

from the siege. [Fall of Chitor, 1535.] In March 1535 Chitor fell

into the hands of the Gujarát king but near Mandasúr his army was

shortly afterwards routed by Humáyún. According to one account,

the failure of the Gujarát army was due to Bahádur and his nobles

being spell-bound by looking at a heap of salt and some cloth soaked

in indigo which were mysteriously left before Bahádur's tent by an

unknown elephant. The usual and probably true explanation is that

Rúmi Khán the Turk, head of the Gujarát artillery, betrayed Bahádur's

interest. [801] Still though Rúmi Khán's treachery may have had a share

in Bahádur's defeat it seems probable that in valour, discipline,

and tactics the Gujarát army was inferior to the Mughals. [Mughal

Conquest of Gujarát, 1535.] Bahádur Sháh, unaccustomed to defeat,

lost heart and fled to Mándu, which fortress was speedily taken by

Humáyún. From Mándu the king fled to Chámpáner, and finally took refuge

in Diu. Chámpáner fell to Humáyún, and the whole of Gujarát, except

Sorath, came under his rule. At this time Sher Sháh Súr revolted,

in Bihár and Jaunpur, and Humáyún returned to Agra to oppose him

leaving his brother Hindál Mírza in Áhmedábád, Kásam Beg in Broach,

and Yádgár Násir Mírza in Pátan. [Are Driven Out, 1536.] As soon as

Humáyún departed, the country rose against the Mughals, and his old

nobles requested the king to join them. Bahádur joined them, and,

defeating the Mughals at Kaníj near Mahmúdábád, expelled them from

Gujarát. During Humáyún's time of success Bahádur Sháh, being forced to

court the [The Portuguese at Diu, 1536.] Portuguese, had granted them

leave to erect a factory in Diu. Instead of a factory the Portuguese

built a fort. When he recovered his kingdom, Bahádur, repenting of

his alliance with the Portuguese, went to Sorath to persuade an

army of Portuguese, whom he had asked to come to his assistance,

to return to Goa. When the Portuguese arrived at Diu five or six

thousand strong the Sultán hoping to get rid of them by stratagem,

repaired to Diu and endeavoured to get the viceroy into his power. The

viceroy excused himself, and in return invited the king to visit his

ship. [Death of Bahádur, 1536.] Bahádur agreed, and on his way back

was attacked and slain, in the thirty-first year of his life and the

eleventh of his reign. According to the author of the Mirat-i-Sikandari

the reason of Bahádur's assassination was that a paper from him to

the kings of the Dakhan, inviting them to join him in an alliance

against the Portuguese, had fallen into the hands of the Portuguese

viceroy. Whatever may have been the provocation or the intention, the

result seems to show that while both sides had treacherous designs

neither party was able to carry out his original plan, and the end

was unpremeditated, hurried on by mutual suspicions. [802] Up to the

defeat of Sultán Bahádur by Humáyún, the power of Gujarát was at its

height. Cadets of noble Rájput houses, Prithiráj, the nephew of Rána

Sánga of Chitor, and Narsingh Deva the cousin of the Rája of Gwálior,

were proud to enrol themselves as the Sultán's vassals. The Rája of

Baglána readily gave Bahádur Sháh his daughter. Jám Fírúz of Tatha in

Sindh and the sons of Bahlúl Lodhi were suppliants at his court. Málwa

was a dependency of Gujarát and the Nizám Sháhis of Ahmednagar and

Nasírkhan of Burhánpur acknowledged him as overlord, while the Fárúkis

of Khándesh were dependent on Bahádur's constant help. [803]

[Muhammad II. (Ásíri), 1536.] On the death of king Bahádur in

A.D. 1536, the nobles of Gujarát invited his sister's son Muhammad Sháh

Ásíri to succeed him. Muhammad Sháh died shortly after his accession,

and the nobles conferred the crown on Mahmúd Khán, son of Latíf Khán,

brother of Bahádur Sháh, and he ascended the throne in A.D. 1536,

when only eleven years of age. The government of the country was

carried on by Darya Khán and Imád-ul-Mulk, who kept the king under

strict surveillance. Darya Khán resolved to overthrow Imád-ul-Mulk

and acquire supreme power. With this object he obtained an order from

the king, whom, on the pretence of a hunting expedition, he removed

from Áhmedábád, directing Imád-ul-Mulk to retire to his estates in

Jháláváda. Six months later, taking the Sultán with him, Darya Khán

led an army into Jháláváda, and defeating Imád-ul-Mulk in a battle at

Pátri, fifty two miles west of Áhmedábád, pursued him to Burhánpur,

and there defeated Imád-ul-Mulk's ally the ruler of Khándesh and

forced Imád-ul-Mulk to fly to Málwa. [804] After this success Darya

Khán became absorbed in pleasure, and resigned the management of the

kingdom to Álam Khán Lodhi. The king, dissembling his dissatisfaction

at the way he was treated, pretended to take no interest in affairs

of state. Álam Khán Lodhi, seeing the carelessness of Darya Khán,

began to entertain ambitious designs, and retiring to his estate of

Dhandhúka invited the king to join him. Mahmúd Sháh, believing him

to be in earnest, contrived to escape from surveillance and joined

Álam Khán. [Escapes from Control.] On discovering the king's flight,

Darya Khán raised to the throne a descendant of Áhmed Sháh by the

title of Muzaffar Sháh, and striking coin in his name set out with

an army towards Dhandhúka. Álam Khán and the king met him at Dhúr in

Dholka, and a battle was fought in which Mahmúd and Álam Khán were

defeated. The king fled to Ránpur, and thence to Páliád, while Álam

Khán fled to Sádra. Darya Khán occupied Dhandhuka; but his men,

dissatisfied at being placed in opposition to the king, rapidly

deserted, some joining Álam Khan and some Mahmúd Sháh. Soon after the

king joined Álam Khan and marched on Áhmedábád, whither Darya Khán

had preceded them. The citizens closed the gates against Darya Khán,

but he forced an entry by way of the Burhánpur wicket. Hearing of

the king's approach Darya Khán fled to Mubárak Sháh at Burhánpur,

leaving his family and treasure in the fortress of Chámpáner.

[Chooses Evil Favourites.] The king entered Áhmedábád, and soon

after captured Chámpáner. Álam Khán now obtained the recall of

Imád-ul-Mulk, who received a grant of Broach and the port of

Surat. Shortly afterwards Mahmúd Sháh began to show favour to men

of low degree, especially to one Charji, a birdcatcher, whom he

ennobled by the title of Muháfiz Khán. Charji counselled Mahmúd to

put to death Sultán Alá-ud-dín Lodhi and Shujáât Khán, two of the

principal nobles; and the king, without consulting his ministers,

caused these men to be executed. The nobles joining together besieged

Mahmúd Sháh in his palace, and demanded that Muháfiz Khán should be

surrendered to them, but the king refused to give him up. The nobles

then demanded an audience, and this the king granted, Muháfiz Khán,

though warned of his danger, being foolishly present. On entering the

royal presence Álam Khán signalled to his followers to slay Muháfiz,

and he was killed in spite of the king's remonstrances. Mahmúd then

attempted to kill himself, but was prevented and placed under guard,

and the chief nobles took it in turn to watch him. Strife soon

arose between Álam Khán and Mujáhid Khán and his brother, and the

two latter nobles contrived the king's escape and sacked the houses

of Álam Khán and his followers. Álam Khán escaped to Pethápur in

the Mahi Kántha. He then joined Darya Khán, whom he called from the

Dakhan, and obtained help in money from Imád-ul-Mulk of Surat and

from Álp Khán of Dholka. Imád-ul-Mulk wrote to the Sultán asking

forgiveness for the rebels. [Quarrels among the Nobles.] But before

the Sultán, who was mercifully disposed, could grant them pardon,

Álam Khán and Darya Khán again committed themselves by acts of open

revolt. The Sultán displeased with the part Imád-ul-Mulk had taken

in the rising summoned him to Chámpáner where, with the Sultán's

connivance, his camp was given over to pillage. The Sultán disclaimed

all knowledge of this attack and at Imád-ul-Mulk's request allowed

him to go on pilgrimage to Makkah. In A.D. 1545 as he was preparing

to start for Makkah Imád-ul-Mulk was killed. He was succeeded in

Surat by Khudáwand Khán Rúmi, who had held Surat under him, and

who, in spite of Portuguese opposition and intrigue, had five years

before completed the building of Surat Castle. [805] Meanwhile Álam

Khán and Darya Khán were driven from Gujarát and forced to take

shelter with the sovereign of Dehli. The king now appointed as his

own minister Afzal Khán, the minister of the late Bahádur Sháh,

and though Afzal Khán lived in retirement, his counsel was taken

on measures of importance. Other great nobles were Sayad Mubárak,

Fateh Khán Baloch, and Abdul Karím Khán, who received the title of

Ítimád Khán, and was so entirely in the Sultán's confidence that

he was admitted to the harem. Mahmúd now consulted Ásif Khán as to

the propriety of conquering Málwa. [Disturbances, 1545.] Ásif Khán

advised him rather to deprive the Rájput chiefs and proprietors of

their wántas or hereditary lands. The attempt to follow this advice

stirred to resistance the chief men of Ídar, Sirohi, Dúngarpur,

Bánsváda, Lúnáváda, Rájpípla, Dohad, and the banks of the Mahi. The

king strengthened his line of outposts, establishing one at Sirohi and

another at Ídar, besides fresh posts in other places. At the same time

he began to persecute the Hindus, allowing them to be killed on the

slightest pretence, branding Rájputs and Kolis, forcing them to wear

a red rag on the right sleeve, forbidding them to ride in Áhmedábád,

and punishing the celebration of Holi and Diwáli. [806] In A.D. 1554

Burhán, a servant of the king's, conceived the idea of killing him

and reigning in his stead. [Death of Mahmúd, 1554.] He accordingly

gave his master an intoxicating drug, and when he was overcome with

sleep stabbed him to the heart. Then summoning the principal nobles

in the king's name, he put to death Ásaf Khán the prime minister and

twelve others, and endeavoured to have himself accepted as Sultán. No

one aided him; even his accomplices deserted him. Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi,

[807] Ulugh Khán, and others joined to oppose him, and when marching

against them he was cut down by Shirwán Khán. Mahmúd's persecutions had

raised such bitter hate among the Hindus, that they regarded Burhán

as a saviour, and after Burhán's death are said to have made a stone

image of him and worshipped it. [808] Mahmúd moved his capital from

Áhmedábád to Mehmudábád, eighteen miles south of Áhmedábád where he

built a palace and enclosed a deer park. At each corner of the park he

raised a palace the stone walls and ceilings of which were ornamented

with beautiful and precious gold traceries and arabesques. [809] His

strict regard for public morals led him to forbid Muhammadan women

visiting saints' tombs as the practice gave rise to irregularities. He

died at the age of twenty-eight after a reign of eighteen years.

[Ahmed II. 1554-1561.] On the death of Burhán, the nobles elected

as sovereign a descendant of the stock of Áhmed Sháh of the name

of Áhmed Khán, and proclaimed him king by the title of Áhmed Sháh

II. At the same time they agreed that, as the king was young, [Ítimád

Khán Regent.] Ítimád Khán should carry on the government and they

further divided the country among themselves, each one undertaking

to protect the frontiers and preserve the public peace. Mubárak Sháh

of Khándesh, considering this a good opportunity, preferred a claim

to the crown and marched to the frontier. An army led by the chief

Gujarát nobles and accompanied by the young king met the invaders at

the village of Ránpur Kotriá in Broach, the Gujarát army encamping

on the north bank and the Khándesh army on the south bank of the

Narbada. Násir-ul-Mulk, one of the Gujarát nobles, taking certain

of his friends into his confidence, determined to remain neutral

till the battle was over and then to fall on the exhausted troops

and possess himself of both kingdoms. Sayad Mubárak, a descendant of

the saint Sháhi Álam, who led the van of the Gujarát army, becoming

aware of Násir-ul-Mulk's design opened communications with Mubárak

Sháh of Khándesh and induced him to withdraw. [810] Násir-ul-Mulk,

who still aspired to supreme power, gaining several nobles to his

side near Baroda, surprised and defeated the forces of Ítimád Khán

and Sayad Mubárak. The Sayad withdrew to his estate of Kapadvanj and

he was joined by Ítimád Khán, while Násir-ul-Mulk, taking Sultán

Áhmed with him to Áhmedábád, assumed the entire government of the

country. After a short time he assembled an army and marched against

Sayad Mubárak and Ítimád Khán encamping at Kamand, the village now

called Od Kámod, ten miles north-east of Áhmedábád at the head of

50,000 horse. Ítimád feared to attack so strong a force. But Sayad

Mubárak, who knew of the defection of Ulugh Khán and Imád-ul-Mulk,

surprised Násir-ul-Mulk's army at night. During the confusion Ulugh

Khán and Imád-ul-Mulk, disgusted with the assumption of Násir-ul-Mulk,

deserted him and bringing the young Sultán with them joined Sayad

Mubárak and Ítimád Khán. Násir-ul-Mulk was forced to fly, and after

a short time died in the mountains of Pál. [811] Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk,

Fateh Khán Balúch, and Hasan Khán Dakhani now set up another king, a

descendant of Áhmed, named Sháhu. A battle was fought near Mehmúdábád

in which Sháhu and his supporters were defeated and Hasan Khán Dakhani

was slain. Before the battle Fateh Khán Balúch had been induced to

forsake Sháhu, and Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk, taking Sháhu with him, fled. The

nobles now divided Gujarát into the following shares:

[Partition of the Province.]

Áhmed Sháh for Private Áhmedábád and the Daskrohi sub-division.

Purse

Ítimád Khán and Party Kádi, Jháláváda, Pitlád, Nadiád, Bhil,

Rádhanpur, Sami, Múnjpur, Godhra, and

Sorath.

Sayad Mubárak and Party Pátan and Cambay, with its Chorási or 84

villages, Dholka, Gogha, and Dhandhúka.

Chámpáner, Sarnál, Bálásinor, and

Kapadvanj.

Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi and Broach, Baroda, and Surat as far as the

Party Sultánpur-Nandurbár frontier.

Nobles under Ítimád Khán Modása and surrounding districts.

Of these shares Ítimád Khán bestowed the country of Sorath on Tátár

Khán Ghori; the districts of Rádhanpur, Sami, and Múnjpur on Fateh

Khán Balúch; Nadiád on Malik-ush-Shark, and some of the dependencies of

Jháláváda on Álaf Khán Habshi. Sayad Mubárak conferred the territory of

Pátan on Músa Khán and Sher Khán Fauládi, Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi bestowed

the district of Baroda on Álaf Khán Habshi and the port of Surat on

his wife's brother Khudáwand Khán Rúmi.

[Dissensions.] About this time (A.D. 1552) Álam Khán returned, and,

through the influence of Sayad Mubárak, was allowed to remain. The

Sayad gave him and Ázam Humáyún Chámpáner, and Ítimád Khán gave

Godhra to Álp Khán Khatri, a follower of Álam Khán. Álam Khán and

Ítimád Khán shortly after expelled Álaf Khán Habshi from Jháláváda,

and he fled to Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi at Broach, and at his intercession

Álaf Khán received the Bhil district. Álam Khán's success tempted him

to try and get rid of Ítimád Khán and govern in his stead. Ítimád

Khán, discovering his intention, made him leave the city and live

in his own house in the Asáwal suburb. Álam Khán now made overtures

to Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi and became very friendly with him. One day Álam

Khán proposed to get rid of Ítimád Khán; but seeing that Imád-ul-Mulk

Rúmi did not take to his proposal, he next endeavoured to ruin Sayad

Mubárak. But when the Gujarát army marched against him the Sayad

made peace, and Álam Khán's intrigues being apparent, he was attacked

and compelled to fly. He now went to Berár and sought aid of Mubárak

Sháh, who marched an army towards the Gujarát frontier. The Gujarát

nobles, taking Áhmed Sháh with them, advanced to oppose him, and he

retired. Álam Khán now repaired to Sher Khán Fauládi at Pátan, and

they together seized Ítimád Khán's district of Kadi, but, through the

exertions of Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk, Álam Khán was slain and Sher Khán forced

to retire to Pátan. Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi and Ítimád Khán now carried

on the government, but dissension springing up between them, Ítimád

Khán fled to Mubárak Sháh in Khándesh, and induced him to lead an army

against Gujarát. The nobles, fearing this combination, made peaceful

overtures and it was eventually settled that the lands of [Sultánpur

and Nandurbár handed to Khándesh, 1560.] Sultánpur and Nandurbár should

be given to Mubárak Sháh, and that Ítimád Khán should be restored to

his former position. Since this date the districts of Sultánpur and

Nandurbár have been permanently severed from Gujarát and have formed

a part of Khándesh, to which province they now belong. Áhmed Sháh,

finding himself more strictly guarded than ever, contrived to flee

to Sayad Mubárak at Sayadpur, who, though vexed at his coming, would

not refuse him shelter. At this time Háji Khán, a Dehli noble, on his

way from Chitor to help Humáyún, passed through Gujarát with a well

equipped force, and arrived at Pátan. The Gujarát nobles, especially

Ítimád Khán and Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi, conceiving that he came at the

Sayad's invitation, and that the flight of the king was part of the

[Defeat and Death of Sayad Mubárak.] plot, determined to crush the

Sayad ere Háji Khán could join him, and on their march to Sayadpur

meeting Sayad Mubárak near Mehmúdábád defeated him. The Sayad fell

and was buried on the field of battle. His estates were resumed,

though eventually Dholka was restored to his son Sayad Mírán.

[Death of Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi.] The army and the two protectors

returned to Áhmedábád. Dissensions again sprang up between them, and

Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi summoned to his aid his son Changíz Khán from Broach,

while Ítimád Khán sent for Tátár Khán Ghori from Sorath. Tátár Khán

arrived first and Ítimád Khán further strengthened by contingents

from the Fauládis of Pátan and Fateh Khán Balúch from Rádhanpur

ordered Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi to return to his estate; and he, seeing it

would be useless for him to contend against so overwhelming a force,

retired to his possessions at Broach. Shortly after, having marched

against Surat at the request of the inhabitants who were wearied of

the tyranny of Khudáwand Khán, he was decoyed by that chief to an

entertainment and was there assassinated. His son Changíz Khán marched

against Surat to take vengeance for his father's death, and, finding

the fortress too strong for him, summoned to his aid the Portuguese,

to whom, as the price of their assistance, he [Daman District ceded

to the Portuguese, 1550.] surrendered the districts of Daman and

Sanján. [812] The Portuguese, bringing a strong fleet up the Tápti,

cut off the supplies, and Khudáwand Khán was forced to surrender, and

was slain by Changíz Khán in revenge for his father's death. Shortly

afterwards Changíz Khán quarrelled with Jhujhár Khán Habshi of Baroda

because the Habshi had installed his nephew, son of Alif Khán Habshi,

without consulting Changíz. Jhujhár and his nephew being defeated

fled to Ítimád Khán, who allotted them a grant of land. At this time

Fateh Khán Balúch, the proprietor of Rádhanpur and Sami, was Ítimád

Khán's chief supporter, and with his assistance Ítimád Khán marched

to besiege Changíz Khán in Broach. Tátár Khán Ghori and other nobles,

fearing lest Ítimád Khán should become too powerful, endeavoured to

make peace. As their efforts failed, Tátár Khán wrote to the Fauládis

to attack Fateh Khán Balúch. They did so, and Fateh Khán, after

being defeated near Rádhanpur, took refuge in the fort of Fatehkot

or Dhúlkot, which is close to the town. Ítimád Khán raised the siege

of Broach and came to Áhmedábád, where he busied himself in checking

the intrigues of king Áhmed, who was doing all in his power to become

independent. [Assassinated, 1560.] Finally, in A.D. 1560-61, at the

instigation of Wajíh-ul-Mulk and Razí-ul-Mulk Ítimád Khán caused

Áhmed II. to be assassinated. The murder took place in the house

of Wajíh-ul-Mulk. The Sultán's body was thrown on the sands of the

Sábarmati and the story circulated that the Sultán had been killed

by robbers. Áhmed's nominal reign had lasted about eight years.

[Muzaffar III. 1561-1572.] Ítimád Khán then raised to the throne a

youth, whom he styled Muzaffar Sháh III., and who, he asserted, was

a posthumous [A Minor.] son of Mahmúd Sháh, [813] and then marched

towards Pátan to take his revenge on the Fauládis for their attack on

Fateh Khán Balúch. The nobles unwilling to crush the Fauládis, fearing

lest their turn might come next, entered into secret correspondence

with them, and withdrew when battle was joined. The nobles were now

independent in their respective jágirs, in which according to the

Tabakát-i-Akbari they allowed no interference though still owning

nominal allegiance to the throne. [814] Ítimád Khán, forced to return

unsuccessful to Áhmedábád, with a view of again attacking the Fauládis,

summoned Tátár Khán Ghori from Junágadh. The nobles remained aloof,

and even Tátár Khán Ghori made excuses, which so exasperated Ítimád

Khán that he sought to slay him. Tátár Khán escaped to Sorath,

and there openly sided with the Fauládis. Sayad Mírán also left

Áhmedábád for his estate at Dholka, and joining Tátár Khán at Ránpur

they both went over to the Fauládis at Pátan. [Ítimád Khán and the

Fauládis.] Meanwhile Ítimád Khán, again collecting an army, marched

once more towards Pátan. He was met by the Fauládis near the village

of Jhotáná, about thirty miles south of Pátan, where he was defeated

and compelled to return to Áhmedábád. Sayad Mírán now intervened and

made peace. Ítimád Khán still thirsting for revenge on the Fauládis,

invited Changíz Khán, son of Imád-ul-Mulk Rúmi, to the capital, and by

courteous treatment induced him to join in another expedition against

the Fauládis. Like the other nobles Changíz Khán was lukewarm; and

as Músa Khán Fauládi died while Ítimád Khán was marching on Pátan,

Changíz Khán assigned this as a reason for not proceeding further,

averring that it was not fit to war with people in misfortune. Ítimád

Khán perforce returned to Áhmedábád.

Though Ítimád Khán had disgusted the nobles, both by causing the

assassination of Áhmed Sháh and by his enmity with the Fauládis,

as he had charge of Muzaffar Sháh and possession of the capital, the

government of the country was in his hands. [The Mírzás, 1571.] At this

time the Mírzás, [815] who were the sons of Sultán Hussain of Khurásán,

quarrelling with Jalál-ul-dín Muhammad Akbar, entered Gujarát, and

joined Changíz Khán. Changíz Khán now proposed to Sher Khán Fauládi

that they should expel Ítimád Khán and divide Gujarát between them,

the capital and the country south of the Sábarmati falling to the share

of Changíz Khán, and that to the north to Sher Khán Fauládi. Sher Khán

agreed, and Changíz Khán joining him they marched on Áhmedábád. Sayad

Mirán induced Sher Khán to stay in Kadi. But Changíz Khán refused to

listen to him, and a [They Defeat Ítimád Khán.] battle was fought

between him, Ítimád Khán, and the Sayad on the right bank of the

Khári about eight miles south of Áhmedábád. Ítimád Khán was defeated,

and fled with the king to Modása, while Changíz Khán took possession

of the capital. Sher Khán Fauládi now advanced to the Sábarmati, and,

after dividing the province as had been agreed, Sher Khán retired to

Kadi. Ítimád Khán entreated Mírán Muhammad Sháh, king of Khándesh, to

march to his aid, and Changíz Khán invited Ítimád Khán to return. He

came to Mehmudábád, where hearing that Muhammad Sháh had sustained

a defeat and retired to his own country, he took Muzaffar Sháh with

him and returned through Modása to Dungarpur. Changíz Khán remained in

Áhmedábád, and Sher Khán withdrew to Kadi. After this success all the

chief nobles of Gujarát, including the Habshis, joined Changíz Khán,

who was now at the zenith of his power, and began to think of subduing

Sher Khán Fauládi, who on his part was anxious and fearful. At this

time Bijli Khán a Habshi eunuch who was offended with Changíz Khán,

because he had resumed the grant of Cambay, persuaded Álíf Khán and

Jhujhár Khán Habshi that Changíz Khán had determined to kill them. The

Habshi Kháns, resolving to be beforehand, invited Changíz Khán, with

whom they were intimate, to play a game of chaugán or polo. [816]

Changíz agreed and when near the Farhat-ul-Mulk mosque, between the

Bhadar and the Three Gates, Álíf Khán, after making Jhujhár Khán

a signal, attracted Changíz Khán's notice to the horse on which he

was riding saying it was the best of the last batch imported from

the Persian Gulf. [Death of Changíz Khán.] As Changíz Khán turned

to look at the horse, Jhujhár Khán cut him down. The Habshis now

plundered Changíz Khán's house, while the Mírzás, mounting, went

south and took possession of Broach, Baroda, and Chámpáner. Sher

Khán advanced from Kadi, and ordered the Habshis to hand him over

Áhmedábád. While treating with him the Habshis secretly summoned

Ítimád Khán, who, returning with Muzaffar Sháh, entered the city. It

was arranged that Ítimád Khán should take the place of Changíz Khán,

and that the division of Gujarát between Changíz Khán and Sher Khán

should be maintained. Ítimád Khán found the Habshis so domineering

that he withdrew from public affairs. Afterwards Álaf Khán and Jhujhár

Khán, quarrelling over the division of Changíz Khán's property, Álaf

Khán left Áhmedábád and joined Sher Khán, who, advancing from Kadi,

laid siege to Áhmedábád. Ítimád Khán now sought aid from the Mírzás,

and Mírza Ibráhím Husain marched from Broach and harassed Sher Khán's

army with his Mughal archers.

[Ítimád Khán and the Emperor Akbar, 1572.] At the same time Ítimád

Khán turned for help to the emperor Akbar, who, glad of any pretext

for driving the Mírzás from their place of refuge in Gujarát, was

not slow in availing himself of Ítimád Khán's proposal. Early in July

1572 he started for Áhmedábád, and with his arrival in the province,

the history of Gujarát as a separate kingdom comes to an end.

CHAPTER III.

MUGHAL VICEROYS.

A.D. 1573-1758.

[Akbar Emperor, 1573-1605.] To the nobles thus fighting among

themselves, news was brought that the emperor Akbar was at

Dísa. Ibráhím Husain Mírza returned to Broach and the army of the

Fauládis dispersed. From Dísa the imperial troops advanced to Pátan and

thence to Jhotána thirty miles south of Pátan. Sultán Muzaffar, who

had separated from the Fauládis, fell into the hands of the emperor,

who granted him his life but placed him under charge of one of his

nobles named Karam Áli. [817] When the imperial army reached Kadi,

Ítimád Khán, Ikhtiyár Khán, Álaf Khán, and Jhujhár Khán met Akbar and

Sayad Hámid also was honoured with an audience at Hájipur. [818] The

emperor imprisoned Álaf Khán and Jhujhár Khán Habshi and encouraged

the other Gujarát nobles. Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk now fled to Lunáváda, and

the emperor, fearing that others of the Gujarát nobles might follow his

example, sent Ítimád Khán to Cambay and placed him under the charge of

Shahbáz Khán Kambo. [819] From Áhmedábád Akbar advanced to Cambay. At

this time Ibráhím Mírza held Baroda, Muhammad Husain Mírza held Surat,

and Sháh Mírza held Chámpáner. On leaving Cambay to expel the Mírzas,

Akbar appointed Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh his first viceroy of Gujarát. At

Baroda Akbar heard that Ibráhím Mírza had treacherously killed Rustam

Khán Rúmi, who was Changíz Khán's governor of Broach. The emperor

recalled the detachment he had sent against Surat, and overtaking

the Mírza at Sarnál or Thásra on the right bank of the Mahi about

twenty-three miles north-east of Nadiád, after a bloody conflict routed

him. The Mírza fled by Ahmednagar to Sirohi, and Akbar rejoined his

camp at Baroda. The emperor now sent a force under Sháh Kuli Khán to

invest the fort of Surat, and following in person pitched his camp

at Gopi Tálao, a suburb of that city. After an obstinate defence of

one month and seventeen days, the garrison under Hamzabán, a slave

of Humáyún's who had joined the Mírzás, surrendered. Hamzabán was

in treaty with the Portuguese. Under his invitation a large party of

Portuguese came to Surat during the siege, but seeing the strength of

the imperial army, represented themselves as ambassadors and besought

the honour of an interview. [820] [Akbar captures Broach and Surat,

and advances to Áhmedábád, 1573.] While at Surat the emperor received

from Bihár or Vihárji the Rája of Baglána, Sharfuddín Husain Mírza

whom the Rája had captured. [821] After the capture of Surat, the

emperor ordered the great Sulaimáni cannon which had been brought

by the Turks with the view of destroying the Portuguese forts and

left by them in Surat, to be taken to Ágra. Surat was placed in the

charge of Kalíj Khán. The emperor now advanced to Áhmedábád, where

the mother of Changíz Khán came and demanded justice on Jhujhár

Khán for having wantonly slain her son. As her complaint was just,

the emperor ordered Jhujhár Khán to be thrown under the feet of an

elephant. Muhammad Khán, son of Sher Khán Fauládi, who had fled to

the Ídar hills, now returned and took the city of Pátan, besieging

the imperial governor, Sayad Áhmed Khán Bárha, in the citadel. At

this time Mírza Muhammad Husain was at Ránpur near Dhandhúka. When

Sher Khán Fauládi, who had taken refuge in Sorath, heard of Muhammad

Khán's return to Pátan, he met Mírza Muhammad Husain, and uniting

their forces they joined Muhammad Khán at Pátan. The viceroy Mírza

Âzíz Kokaltásh with other nobles marched against them, and after a

hard-fought battle, in which several of the imperial nobles were

slain, Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh was victorious. Sher Khán again took

refuge in Sorath, and his son fled for safety to the Ídar hills,

while the Mírza withdrew to the Khándesh frontier. As the conquest

of Gujarát was completed, Akbar returned to Agra.

From A.D. 1573, the date of its annexation as a province of the

empire, to A.D. 1758, the year of the final capture of Áhmedábád

by the Maráthás, Gujarát remained under the government of officers

appointed by the court of Dehli. Like the rule of the Áhmedábád kings,

this term of 184 years falls into two periods: the first of 134 years

from A.D. 1573 to the death of Aurangzíb in A.D. 1707, a time on the

whole of public order and strong government; the second from A.D. 1707

to A.D. 1758, fifty-one years of declining power and growing disorder.

SECTION I.--A.D. 1573-1707.

[Mirza Âzíz First Viceroy, 1573-1575.] Before leaving Gujarát

Akbar placed the charge of the province in the hands of Mírza Âzíz

Kokaltásh. [822] At the same time the emperor rewarded his supporters

by grants of land, assigning Áhmedábád with Pitlád and several other

districts to the viceroy Mírza Âzíz, Pátan to the Khán-i-Kalán Mír

Muhammad Khán, and Baroda to Nawáb Aurang Khán. Broach was given to

Kutb-ud-dín Muhammad, and Dholka Khánpur and Sami were confirmed to

Sayad Hámid and Sayad Mahmúd Bukhári. As soon as the emperor was gone

Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk and Muhammad Khán, son of Sher Khán, who had taken

shelter in the Ídar hills, issued forth, and the viceroy marched to

Ahmednagar to hold them in check. Mírza Muhammad Husain advancing

rapidly from the Nandurbár frontier, took the fort of Broach,

and went thence to Cambay which he found abandoned by its governor

Husain Khán Karkaráh, while he himself marched to Ahmednagar and Ídar

against Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk. The viceroy ordered Sayad Hámid Bukhári,

Nawáb Naurang Khán, and others to join Kutb-ud-dín Muhammad Khán. They

went and laid siege to Cambay, but Mírza Muhammad managed to evacuate

the town and join Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk and Muhammad Khán. After several

unsuccessful attempts to scatter the enemy the viceroy retired to

Áhmedábád, and the rebels laid siege to the city. Kutb-ud-dín Khán,

Sayad Mírán, and others of the imperial party succeeded in entering

the city and joining the garrison. [Insurrection Quelled by Akbar,

1573.] After the siege had lasted two months, Akbar, making his

famous 600 mile (400 kos) march in nine days from Agra, arrived

before Áhmedábád, and, at once engaging the enemy, totally defeated

them with the loss of two of their leaders Mírza Muhammad Husain

and Ikhtiyár-ul-Mulk.

On the day before the battle Akbar consulting a Hazára Afghán versed

in drawing omens from sheeps' shoulder-blades, was told that victory

was certain, but that it would be won at the cost of the life of one

of his nobles. Seif Khán, brother of Zein Khán Koka, coming in prayed

that he should be chosen to receive the crown of martyrdom. At the end

of the day the only leading noble that was killed was Seif Khán. [823]

After only eleven days' stay, Akbar again entrusting the government

of Gujarát to Mírza Âzíz Koka, returned to Agra. Mírza Âzíz Koka

did not long continue viceroy. In A.D. 1575, in consequence of some

dispute with the emperor, he retired into private life. [Mírza Khán

Second Viceroy, 1575-1577.] On his resignation Akbar conferred the

post of viceroy on Mírza Khán, son of Behrám Khán, who afterwards

rose to the high rank of Khán Khánán or chief of the nobles. As

this was Mírza Khán's first service, and as he was still a youth, he

was ordered to follow the advice of the deputy viceroy, Wazír Khán,

in whose hands the administration of the province remained during

the two following years. [Survey by Rája Todar Mal.] Soon after the

insurrection of 1573 was suppressed the emperor sent Rája Todar Mal

to make a survey settlement of the province. In A.D. 1575 after the

survey was completed Wajíh-ul-Mulk Gujaráti was appointed díwán or

minister. Some historians say that in A.D. 1576 Wazír Khán relieved

Mírza Âzíz Koka as viceroy, but according to the Mirat-i-Áhmedi Mirza

Khán held office with Wazír Khán as his deputy. One Prágdás, a Hindu,

succeeded Wajíh-ul-Mulk as díwán. Troops were sent to reduce the Nándod

and Ídar districts, and the fort of Sirohi was captured by Tarsu Khán,

the military governor of Pátan. Afterwards, through the intervention

of Pahár Khán Jálori, the Sirohi Rája, at an interview with Rája Todar

Mal, presented £6000 (Rs. 12,000) and other articles and was allowed

to serve the provincial governor of Gujarát with 1500 horse. [824]

During Wazír Khán's administration Muzaffar Husain Mírza, son of

Ibráhím Husain Mírza, raised an insurrection in Gujarát. This Mírza

Muzaffar was as an infant carried to the Dakhan from Surat shortly

before its investment by Akbar. He lived peacefully till under the

influence of an ambitious retainer Mihr Ali by name, he gathered an

army of adventurers and entered Nandurbár. Wazír Khán distrusting

his troops shut himself in a fortress, and wrote to Rája Todar Mal,

who was in Pátan settling revenue affairs. The Mírza defeated the

imperial forces in Nandurbár and failing to get possession of Cambay

marched straight to Áhmedábád. On the advance of Rája Todar Mal the

Mírza fell back on Dholka. The Rája and the Khán pursuing defeated

him, and he retired to Junágadh. The Rája then withdrew, but the

Mírza again advanced and besieged him in Áhmedábád. In an attempt to

escalade the city wall Mihr Ali was killed. Muzaffar Mírza withdrew

to Khándesh and the insurrection came to an end.

[Shaháb-ud-dín Third Viceroy, 1577-1583.] In the end of A.D. 1577,

as Wazír Khán's management was not successful, the post of viceroy

was conferred upon Shaháb-ud-dín Áhmed Khán, the governor of

Málwa. Shaháb-ud-dín's first step was to create new military posts

and strengthen the old ones. At this time Fateh Khán Shirwáni,

the commander of Amín Khán Ghori's army, quarrelled with his

chief, and, coming to Shaháb-ud-dín, offered to capture the fort of

Junágadh. [Sends a Force against Junágadh.] Shaháb-ud-dín entertained

his proposal, and sent his nephew Mírza Khán and 4000 horse with

him. When the troops crossed the Sorath frontier, they were met

by envoys from Amín Khán, agreeing, in his name, to pay tribute

and surrender the country, provided he were permitted to retain

the fortress of Junágadh and were allotted a sufficient grant of

land. Mírza Khán rejected these proposals and continued his march

against Junágadh. Amín Khán made a vigorous resistance and applied

for aid to the Jám of Navánagar. At this juncture Fateh Khán died,

and Mírza Khán went and besieged Mángrúl. The Jám's minister Isá

now joined Amín Khán with 4000 horse, and he, quitting Junágadh,

marched to Mángrúl. [825] On their approach Mírza Khán retired to

the town of Kodinár [826] followed by Amín Khán. Here a pitched

battle was fought, and Mírza Khán was defeated with the loss of his

baggage. Many of his men were slain, and he himself, being wounded,

escaped with difficulty to Áhmedábád. Shaháb ud-dín, who had meanwhile

been giving his attention to revenue matters, and to the more correct

measurement of the lands of the province, was rudely recalled from

these peaceful occupations by his nephew's defeat. At the same time

news was brought of the escape of the former king, Muzaffar Khán, who,

eluding the vigilance of the imperial servants, appeared in Gujarát in

A.D. 1583. Muzaffar remained for some time in the Rájpípla country,

and thence came to one Lúna or Lúmbha Káthi, at the village of Khíri

in the district of Sardhár in Sorath.

[Ítimád Khán Gujaráti Fourth Viceroy, 1583-4.] Before he could march

against Muzaffar, Shaháb-ud-dín was recalled, and in A.D. 1583 or

1584 [827] Ítimád Khán Gujaráti was appointed viceroy. At this time

a party of 700 or 800 Mughals, called Wazír Khánis, separating from

Shaháb-ud-dín, remained behind in hope of being entertained by the new

viceroy. As Ítimád Khán declared that he was unable to take them into

his service, they went off in a body and joined Muzaffar at Khíri,

and he with them and three or four thousand Káthi horse marched at

once on Áhmedábád. On hearing this Ítimád Khán, leaving his son Sher

Khán in Áhmedábád, followed Shaháb-ud-dín to Kadi, and entreated

him to return. Shaháb-ud-dín at first affected indifference telling

Ítimád that as he had given over charge he had no more interest

in the province. After two days he consented to return if Ítimád

stated in writing that the country was on the verge of being lost

and that Ítimád being unable to hold it was obliged to relinquish

charge to Shaháb-ud-dín. Ítimád Khán made the required statement and

Shaháb-ud-dín returned with him. [828] [Muzaffar captures Áhmedábád,

1583.] Meanwhile Muzaffar Sháh reached Áhmedábád, which was weakly

defended, and in A.D. 1583, after a brief struggle, took possession of

the city. While the siege of Áhmedábád was in progress Shaháb-ud-dín

and Ítimád Khán were returning, and were within a few miles of the

city, when news of its capture reached them. They continued their

advance, but had barely arrived at Áhmedábád when Muzaffar Sháh

totally defeated them taking all their baggage. Seeing the issue of

the fight, most of their army went over to Muzaffar Sháh, and the

viceroy and Shaháb-ud-dín with a few men fled to Pátan. Kutb-ud-dín

Muhammad Khán Atkah, one of the imperial commanders, who was on the

Khándesh frontier, now advanced by forced marches to Baroda. Muzaffar

marched against him with a large army, recently strengthened by the

union of the army of Sayad Daulát ruler of Cambay. Kutb-ud-dín threw

himself into Baroda, and, in spite of the treachery of his troops,

defended the city for some time. At last, on Muzaffar's assurance

that his life should be spared Kutb-ud-dín repaired to the enemies'

camp to treat for peace. On his arrival he was treated with respect,

but next day was treacherously put to death. The fort of Broach was

also at this time traitorously surrendered to Muzaffar by the slaves

of the mother of Naurang Khán, fief-holder of the district.

[Mírza Abdúr-Rahím Khán (Khán Khánán) Fifth Viceroy 1583-1587.] On

learning of the Gujarát insurrection the emperor, at the close

of A.D. 1583, conferred the government of the province on Mírza

Abdúr-Rahím Khán, son of Behrám Khán, who had formerly (A.D. 1575)

acted as viceroy. Muzaffar, who was still at Broach, hearing of

the advance of the new viceroy with a large army, returned rapidly

to Áhmedábád, and in A.D. 1584 fought a pitched battle with Mírza

Abdúr-Rahím Khán between Sirkhej and Sháh Bhíkan's tomb. [829] In this

engagement [Defeat of Muzaffar, 1584.] Muzaffar was entirely defeated,

and fled to Cambay pursued by Mírza Abdúr-Rahím Khán. Muzaffar now

hearing that Mírza Abdúr-Rahím Khán had been joined by Naurang Khán

and other nobles with the imperial army from Málwa, quitted Cambay,

and made for his old place of shelter in Rájpípla. Finding no rest

in Rájpípla, after fighting and losing another battle in the Rájpípla

hills, he fled first to Pátan and then to Ídar, and afterwards again

repaired to Lúmbha Káthi in Khiri. In reward for these two victories,

the emperor bestowed on Mírza Abdúr-Rahím Khán the title of Khán

Khánán. Broach now submitted, and Muzaffar sought shelter with Amín

Khán Ghori at Junágadh, by whom he was allotted the waste town of

Gondal as a residence. Muzaffar made one more attempt to establish his

power. He advanced to Morvi, and thence made a raid on Rádhanpur and

plundered that town, but was soon compelled to return to Káthiáváda

and seek safety in flight. Amín Khán, seeing that his cause was

hopeless, on pretence of aiding him, induced Muzaffar to give him

about £10,000. [830] When he had obtained the money, on one pretext

or another, Amín Khán withheld the promised aid. The Khán Khánán now

marched an army into Sorath against Muzaffar. The Jám of Navánagar

and Amín Khán sent their envoys to meet the viceroy, declaring that

they had not sheltered Muzaffar, and that he was leading an outlaw's

life, entirely unaided by them. The viceroy agreed not to molest them,

on condition that they withheld aid and shelter from Muzaffar, and

himself marched against him. When he reached Upleta, about fifteen

miles north-west of the fortress of Junágadh, the viceroy heard that

Muzaffar had sought shelter in the Barda hills in the south-west corner

of the peninsula. Advancing to the hills, he halted his main force

outside of the rough country and sent skirmishing parties to examine

the hills. Muzaffar had already passed through Navánagar and across

Gujarát to Dánta in the Mahi Kántha. Here he was once more defeated by

the Parántij garrison, and a third time took refuge in Rájpípla. The

viceroy now marched on Navánagar to punish the Jám. The Jám sent in

his submission, and the viceroy taking from him, by way of fine, an

elephant and some valuable horses, returned to Áhmedábád. He next

sent a detachment against Ghazni Khán of Jhálor who had favoured

Muzaffar. Ghazni Khán submitted, and no further steps were taken

against him.

[Ismáíl Kuli Khán Sixth Viceroy, 1587.] In A.D. 1587 the Khán Khánán

was recalled and his place supplied by Ismáíl Kuli Khán. Ismáíl's

government lasted only for a few months, when he was superseded

by [Mírza Âziz Kokaltásh Seventh Viceroy, 1588-1592.] Mírza Ázíz

Kokaltásh, who was a second time appointed viceroy. In A.D. 1591,

Muzaffar again returned to Sorath. [Muzaffar seeks Refuge in

Káthiáváda.] The viceroy, hearing that he had been joined by the

Jám, the Kachh chief, and Daulat Khán Ghori the son of Amín Khán,

marched with a large army towards Sorath, and, halting at Víramgám,

sent forward a detachment under Naurang Khán, Sayad Kásim, and other

officers. Advancing as far as Morvi, [831] Naurang Khán entered

into negotiations with the Jám, who, however, refused to accede to

the demands of the imperial commander. [Is attacked by the Imperial

Army.] On this the viceroy joined Naurang Khán with the bulk of his

army, and after a short delay marched on Navánagar. On his way, at the

village of Dhokar near Navánagar, Muzaffar and the Jám opposed him,

and an obstinate battle in which the imperialists were nearly worsted,

ended in Muzaffar's defeat. The son and minister of the Jám were slain,

and Muzaffar, the Jám, and Daulat Khán who was wounded, fled to the

fortress of Junágadh. The viceroy now advanced and plundered Navánagar,

and remaining there sent Naurang Khán, Sayad Kásím, and Gújar Khán

against Junágadh. The day the army arrived before the fortress Daulat

Khán died of his wounds. Still the fortress held out, and though the

viceroy joined them the siege made little progress as the imperial

troops were in great straits for grain. The viceroy returned to

Áhmedábád, and after seven or eight months again marched against

Junágadh. The Jám, who was still a fugitive, sent envoys and promised

to aid the viceroy if his country were restored to him. The viceroy

assented on condition that, during the operations against Junágadh,

the Jám should furnish his army with grain. The Jám agreed to provide

grain, and after a siege of three months the garrison surrendered.

News was next received that Muzaffar had taken refuge at Jagat. [832]

The viceroy at once sent Naurang Khán and others with an army in

pursuit. On reaching Jagat it was found that Muzaffar had already

left for a village owned by a Rájput named Sewa Wádhel. Without

halting Naurang Khán started in pursuit, nearly surprising Muzaffar,

[Muzaffar Flies to Kachh.] who escaping on horseback with a few

followers, crossed to Kachh. Sewa Wádhel covering Muzaffar's retreat

was surprised before he could put to sea and fought gallantly with the

imperial forces till he was slain. Naurang Khán then came to Arámra,

a village belonging to Singrám Wádhel, Rája of Jagat, and after

frustrating a scheme devised by that chief to entrap a body of the

troops on board ship under pretence of pursuing Muzaffar's family,

led his men back to Junágadh. The viceroy, hearing in what direction

Muzaffar had fled, marched to Morvi, where the Jám of Navánagar

came and paid his respects. At the same time the Kachh chief, who is

called Khengár by Farishtah and in the Mirat-i-Áhmedi and Bhára in the

Mirat-i-Sikandri, sent a message that if the viceroy would refrain

from invading his country and would give him his ancestral district

of Morvi and supply him with a detachment of troops, he would point

out where Muzaffar was concealed. The Khán-i-Ázam agreed to these

terms and the chief captured Muzaffar and handed him to the force

sent to secure him. The detachment, strictly guarding the prisoner,

were marching rapidly towards Morvi, when, on reaching Dhrol, about

thirty miles east of Jámnagar, under pretence of obeying a call of

nature, Muzaffar withdrew and cut his throat with a razor, so that he

died. [Commits Suicide, 1591-92.] This happened in A.D. 1591-92. The

viceroy sent Muzaffar's head to court, and though he was now recalled

by the emperor, he delayed on pretence of wishing to humble the

Portuguese. His real object was to make a pilgrimage to Makkah,

and in A.D. 1592, after obtaining the necessary permission from the

Portuguese, he started from Verával. [833] During this viceroyalty an

imperial farmán ordered that the state share of the produce should

be one-half and the other half should be left to the cultivator and

further that from each half five per cent should be deducted for the

village headmen. All other taxes were declared illegal, and it was

provided that when lands or houses were sold, half the government

demand should be realized from the seller and half from the buyer.

[Sultán Murád Baksh Eighth Viceroy, 1592-1600.] The emperor, who

was much vexed to hear of the departure of the viceroy, appointed

prince Sultán Murád Bakhsh in his stead with as his minister Muhammad

Sádikkhán one of the great nobles. In A.D. 1593-94 Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh

returned from his pilgrimage and repaired to court, and next year

on prince Murád Bakhsh going to the Dakhan, Súrajsingh was appointed

his deputy. In A.D. 1594-95 Bahádur, son of the late Muzaffar Sháh,

excited a rebellion, but was defeated by Súrajsingh. In A.D. 1600,

owing to the death of Sultán Murád, [Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh Ninth

Viceroy, 1600-1606.] Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh was a third time appointed

viceroy of Gujarát, and he sent Shams-ud-dín Husain as his deputy to

Áhmedábád. Further changes were made in A.D. 1602 when Mírza Âzíz sent

his eldest son Shádmán as deputy; his second son Khurram as governor

of Junágadh; and Sayad Báyazíd as minister. Khurram was afterwards

relieved of the charge of Sorath and Junágadh by his brother Abdulláh.

[Jehángír Emperor, 1605-1627.] In A.D. 1605 Núr-ud-dín Muhammad

Jehángír ascended the imperial throne. Shortly after his accession the

emperor published a decree remitting certain taxes, and also in cases

of robbery fixing the responsibility on the landowners of the place

where the robbery was committed. The decree also renewed Akbar's decree

forbidding soldiers billetting themselves forcibly in cultivators'

houses. Finally it directed that dispensaries and hospital wards should

be opened in all large towns. In the early days of Jehángír's reign

disturbance was caused in the neighbourhood of Áhmedábád by Bahádur

a son of Muzaffar Sháh. Jehángír despatched Patrdás Rája Vikramájit

as viceroy of Gujarát to put down the rising. The Rája's arrival at

Áhmedábád restored order. Some of the rebel officers submitting were

reinstated in their commands: the rest fled to the hills. [834] [Kalíj

Khán Tenth Viceroy, 1606.] On the Rája's return Jehángír appointed

Kalíj Khán to be viceroy of Gujarát; but Kalíj Khán never joined

his charge, allowing Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh to act in his place. In

A.D. 1606, on the transfer of Mírza Âzíz to the Láhor viceroyalty,

[Sayad Murtaza Eleventh Viceroy, 1606-1609.] Sayad Murtaza Khán

Bukhári, who had recently been ennobled in consequence of crushing the

rebellion under Jehángír's son Khusrao, was entrusted with the charge

of Gujarát, Sayad Báyazíd being continued as minister. Sayad Murtaza,

who is said to have further ingratiated himself with the emperor by

the present of a magnificent ruby, appears to have been more of a

scholar than a governor. His only notable acts were the repair of

the fort of Kadi [835] and the populating of the Bukhára quarter of

Áhmedábád. During his tenure of power disturbances broke out, and

Rái Gopináth, son of Rája Todar Mal, with Rája Sursingh of Jodhpur,

were sent to Gujarát by way of Málwa Surat and Baroda. They overcame

and imprisoned Kalián, chief of Belpár, [836] but were defeated by

the Mándwa [837] chieftain, and withdrew to Áhmedábád. Rái Gopináth,

obtaining reinforcements, returned to Mándwa and succeeded in capturing

the chief. He then marched against the rebellious Kolis of the Kánkrej,

and took prisoner their leader, whom, on promising not to stir up

future rebellions, he afterwards restored to liberty.

The first connection of the English with Gujarát dates from Sayad

Murtaza's viceroyalty. In A.D. 1608 he allowed Captain Hawkins to

sell goods in Surat.

[Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh Twelfth Viceroy, 1609-1611.] In A.D. 1609 the

Khán-i-Ázam Mírza Âzíz Kokaltásh was for the fourth time appointed

viceroy of Gujarát. He was allowed to remain at court and send his

son Jehángír Kúli Khán as his deputy with Mohandás Diván and Masûd

Beg Hamadáni. [838] This was the beginning of government by deputy,

a custom which in later times was so injurious to imperial interests.

[Sack of Surat by Malik Âmbar, 1609.] In 1609 Malik Âmbar, chief

minister of Nizám Sháh's court and governor of Daulatábád, invaded

Gujarát at the head of 50,000 horse, and after plundering both the

Surat and Baroda districts retired as quickly as he came. To prevent

such raids a body of 25,000 men was posted at Rámnagar [839] on the

Dakhan frontier, and remained there for four years. The details of

the contingents of this force are:

The Viceroy of Áhmedábád 4000 Men.

The Nobles of his Court 5000 Men.

The Chiefs of Sáler and Mulher (Báglán) 3000 Men.

The Son of the Kachh Chief 2500 Men.

The Chief of Navánagar 2500 Men.

The Chief of Ídar 2000 Men.

{ Now under the Hilly }

The Chief of Dúngarpúr { Tracts Agency, } 2000 Men.

{ Rájputána. }

The Chief of Bánsváda 2000 Men.

The Chief of Rámnagar (Dharampur) 1000 Men.

The Chief of Rájipípla 1000 Men.

The Chief of Áli (Álirájpur under the 300 Men.

Bhopáwar Agency)

The Chief of Mohan (a former capital of the 350 Men.

state of Chhota Udepur in the Rewa Kántha)

----------

Total 25,650 Men.

[Abdulláh Khán Fírúz Jang Thirteenth Viceroy, 1611-1616.] In A.D. 1611

Abdulláh Khán Bahádur Fírúz Jang was appointed thirteenth viceroy of

Gujarát, with Ghiás-ud-dín as his minister, under orders to proceed to

the Dakhan to avenge the recent inroad. [840] The viceroy marched to

the Dakhan but returned without effecting anything. In A.D. 1616, he

was again, in company with prince Sháh Jehán, directed to move against

Ahmednagar. This second expedition was successful. The country was

humbled, and, except Malik Ambar, most of the nobles submitted to the

emperor. During this viceroy's term of office an imperial decree was

issued forbidding nobles on the frontiers and in distant provinces to

affix their seals to any communications addressed to imperial servants.

[Mukarrab Khán Fourteenth Viceroy, 1616.] In A.D. 1616 on their

return to Dehli, Mukarrab Khán, a surgeon who had risen to notice

by curing the emperor Akbar and was ennobled by Jehángír, and

who, since A.D. 1608, had been in charge of Surat or of Cambay,

was appointed fourteenth viceroy of Gujarát, with Muhammad Safi as

his minister. [Elephant-hunting in the Panch Maháls, 1616.] In the

following year (A.D. 1617) the emperor Jehángír came to Gujarát to hunt

wild elephants in the Dohad forests. But owing to the density of the

forest only twelve were captured. Early in A.D. 1618 he visited Cambay

which he notes only vessels of small draught could reach and where he

ordered a gold and silver tanka twenty times heavier than the gold

mohar to be minted. From Cambay after a stay of ten days he went to

Áhmedábád and received the Rája of Ídar. As the climate of Áhmedábád

disagreed with him, Jehángír retired to the banks of the Mahi. [841]

Here the Jám of Navánagar came to pay homage, and presented fifty Kachh

horses, a hundred gold mohars, and a hundred rupees, and received

a dress of honour. The emperor now returned to Áhmedábád, where he

was visited by Rái Bhára of Kachh, who presented 100 Kachh horses,

100 ashrafis [842] and 2000 rupees. The Rái, who was ninety years

of age, had never paid his respects to any emperor. Jehángír, much

pleased with the greatest of Gujarát Zamíndárs, who, in spite of his

ninety years was hale and in full possession of all his senses, gave

him his own horse, a male and female elephant, a dagger, a sword with

diamond-mounted hilt, and four rings of different coloured precious

stones. As he still suffered from the climate, the emperor set out to

return to Ágra, and just at that time (A.D. 1618-19) he heard of the

birth of a grandson, afterwards the famous Abúl Muzaffar Muhiyy-ud-dín

Muhammad Aurangzíb who was born at Dohad in Gujarát. [843] In honour

of this event Sháh Jehán held a great festival at Ujjain.

[Prince Sháh Jehán Fifteenth Viceroy, 1618-1622.] Before the

emperor started for Ágra, he appointed prince Sháh Jehán fifteenth

viceroy of Gujarát in the place of Mukarrab Khán whose general

inefficiency and churlish treatment of the European traders he did

not approve. Muhammad Safi was continued as minister. As Sháh Jehán

preferred remaining at Ujjain he chose Rustam Khán as his deputy; but

the emperor, disapproving of this choice, selected Rája Vikramájit in

Rustam Khán's stead. Shortly after, [Sháh Jehán Rebels, 1622-1623.] in

A.D. 1622-23, Sháh Jehán rebelled, and in one of the battles which took

place Rája Vikramájit was killed. Sháh Jehán, during his viceroyalty,

[Builds the Sháhi Bágh at Áhmedábád.] built the Sháhi Bágh and the

royal baths in the Bhadar at Áhmedábád. After the death of Vikramájit,

his brother succeeded as deputy viceroy. While Sháh Jehán was still

in rebellion, the emperor [Sultán Dáwar Baksh Sixteenth Viceroy,

1622-1624.] appointed Sultán Dáwar Baksh the son of prince Khusrao,

sixteenth viceroy of Gujarát, Muhammad Safi being retained in

his post of minister. Sháh Jehán, who was then at Mándu in Málwa,

appointed on his part Abdulláh Khán Bahádur Fírúz Jang viceroy and

a khájahsara or eunuch of Abdulláh Khán his minister. Sultán Dáwar

Baksh, the emperor's nominee, was accompanied by Khán-i-Ázam Mírza

Âzíz Kokaltásh to instruct him in the management of affairs. Prince

Sháh Jehán had directed his minister to carry away all the treasure;

but Muhammad Safi, who appears to have been a man of great ability,

at once imprisoned the prince's partisans in Áhmedábád, and, among

others, captured the eunuch of Abdulláh Khán. When this news reached

the prince at Mándu, he sent Abdulláh Khán Bahádur with an army to

Gujarát by way of Baroda. Muhammad Safi Khán met and defeated him,

and forced him to fly and rejoin the prince at Mándu. For his gallant

conduct Muhammad Safi received the title of Saif Khán, with an increase

in his monthly pay from £70 to £300 (Rs. 700-3000) and the command

of 3000 horse. Meanwhile Sultán Dáwar Baksh, with the Khán-i-Ázam,

arrived and assumed the charge of the government, but the Khán-i-Ázam

died soon after in A.D. 1624, and was buried at Sarkhej. Sultán Dáwar

Baksh was re-called, and Khán Jehán was appointed deputy viceroy

with Yúsuf Khán as his minister. On his arrival at Áhmedábád, prince

Sháh Jehán employed Khán Jehán in his own service, and sent him as

his ambassador to the emperor. Saif Khán, who acted for him, may be

called the seventeenth viceroy, as indeed he had been the governing

spirit for the last eight or ten years. He held the post of viceroy

of Gujarát until the death of the emperor in A.D. 1627.

[Sháh Jehán Emperor, 1627-1658.] On the death of the emperor

Jehángir, his son Abul Muzaffar Shaháb-ud-dín Sháh Jehán ascended

the throne. Remembering Saif Khán's hostility he at once caused

him to be imprisoned, and [Sher Khán Túar Eighteenth Viceroy,

1627-1632.] appointed Sher Khán Túar eighteenth viceroy with Khwájah

Hayát as his minister. When the emperor was near Surat, he appointed

Mír Shams-ud-dín to be governor of Surat castle. In A.D. 1627, Sháh

Jehán on his way to Dehli visited Áhmedábád and encamped outside of the

city near the Kánkariya lake. Sher Khán was advanced to the command

of 5000 men, and received an increase of salary and other gifts. At

the same time Khán Jehán was appointed his minister, and Mîrza Ísa

Tarkhán was made viceroy of Thatta in Sindh. In A.D. 1628 Khwájah Abúl

Hasan was sent to conquer the country of Násik and Sangamner which

he ravaged, and returned after taking the fort of Chándod and levying

tribute from the chief of Báglán. In A.D. 1630, Jamál Khán Karáwal came

to the Gujarát-Khándesh frontier and captured 130 elephants in the

Sultánpur forests, seventy of which valued at a lákh of rupees were

sent to Dehli. [Famine, 1631-32.] In A.D. 1631-32 Gujarát was wasted

by the famine known as the Satiásio Kál or '87 famine. So severe was

the scarcity that according to the Bádsháh Náma, rank sold for a cake,

life was offered for a loaf, the flesh of a son was preferred to his

love. The emperor opened soup kitchens and alms-houses at Surat and

Áhmedábád and ordered Rs. 5000 to be distributed. [844]

[Islám Khán Nineteenth Viceroy, 1632.] Sher Khán was re-called in

A.D. 1632, but died ere he could be relieved by Islám Khán, the

nineteenth viceroy of Gujarát, along with whom Khwájah Jehán was

chosen minister. Islám Khán's monthly salary was £400 (Rs. 4000),

and his command was raised from 5000 to 6000. In A.D. 1632, Khwájah

Jehán went on pilgrimage to Makkah, and was succeeded as minister by

Ágha Afzal with the title of Afzal Khán. Afzal Khán was soon appointed

commander of Baroda, and Riáyat Khán succeeded him as minister. The

post of viceroy of Gujarát appears to have been granted to whichever

of the nobles of the court was in a position to make the most valuable

presents to the emperor. [Disorder, 1632.] Government became lax, the

Kolis of the Kánkrej committed excesses, and the Jám of Navánagar

withheld his tribute. [Bákar Khán Twentieth Viceroy, 1632.] At

this time Bákar Khán presented the emperor with golden and jewelled

ornaments to the value of Rs. 2,00,000 and was appointed viceroy,

Riáyat Khán being continued as minister. In A.D. 1633 [Sipáhdár Khán

Twenty-first Viceroy, 1633.] Sipáhdár Khán was appointed viceroy,

and presented the emperor with costly embroidered velvet tents with

golden posts worthy to hold the famous Takhti-Táús or Peacock Throne

which was just completed at a cost of one kror of rupees. Riáyat

Khán was continued as minister. [Saif Khán Twenty-second Viceroy,

1633-1635.] In A.D. 1635 Saif Khán was appointed twenty-second viceroy,

with Riáyat Khán as minister. During Saif Khán's tenure of power

Mírza Ísa Tarkhán received a grant [845] of the province of Sorath,

which had fallen waste through the laxity of its governors. Before he

had been in power for more than a year Saif Khán was recalled. As he

was preparing to start, he died at Áhmedábád and was buried in Sháhi

Álam's shrine to which he had added the dome over the tomb and the

mosque to the north of the enclosure.

[Ázam Khán Twenty-third Viceroy, 1635-1642.] At the end of A.D. 1635

Ázam Khán was appointed twenty-third viceroy, with Riáyat Khán

in the first instance, and afterwards with Mír Muhammad Sábir, as

minister. The men who had recently been allowed to act as viceroys

had shown themselves unfit to keep in order the rebellious chiefs and

predatory tribes of Gujarát. For this reason the emperor's choice

fell upon Ázam Khán, a man of ability, who perceived the danger of

the existing state of affairs, and saw that to restore the province

to order, firm, even severe, measures were required. When Ázam Khán

reached Sidhpur, the merchants complained bitterly of the outrages

of one Kánji, a Chúnvália Koli, who had been especially daring in

plundering merchandise and committing highway robberies. [Punishes

the Kolis,] Ázam Khán, anxious to start with a show of vigour,

before proceeding to Áhmedábád, marched against Kánji, who fled to

the village of Bhádar in the Kherálu district of Kadi, sixty miles

north-east of Áhmedábád. Ázam Khán pursued him so hotly that Kánji

surrendered, handed over his plunder, and gave security not only that

he would not again commit robberies, but that he would pay an annual

tribute of £1000 (Rs. 10,000). Ázam Khán then built two fortified

posts in the Koli country, naming one Ázamábád after himself, and the

other Khalílábád after his son. He next marched to Káthiáváda [846]

and [Subdues the Káthis.] subdued the Káthis, who were continually

ravaging the country near Dhandhúka, and to check them erected a

fortified post called Sháhpúr, on the opposite side of the river to

Chuda-Ránpur. Ágha Fázil known as Fázil Khán, who had at one time held

the post of minister, and had, in A.D. 1636, been appointed governor

of Baroda, was now selected to command the special cavalry composing

the bodyguard of prince Muhammad Aurangzíb. At the same time Sayad

Ilahdád was appointed governor of Surat fort, Ísa Tarkhán remaining

at Junágadh. In A.D. 1637, Mír Muhammad Sábir was chosen minister in

place of Riáyat Khán, and in A.D. 1638 Muîz-zul-Mulk was re-appointed

to the command of Surat fort. Shortly after Ázam Khán's daughter

was sent to Dehli, and espoused to the emperor's son Muhammad Shujá

Bahádur. In A.D. 1639, Ázam Khán, who for his love of building was

known as Udhai or the Whiteant, devoted his attention to establishing

fortified posts to check rebellion and robbery in the country of the

Kolis and the Káthis. So complete were his arrangements that people

could travel safely all over Jháláváda, Káthiáváda, Navánagar, and

Kachh.[Revolt of the Jám of Navánagar, 1640.] The Jám, who of late

years had been accustomed to do much as he pleased, resented these

arrangements, and in A.D. 1640 withheld his tribute, and set up a

mint to coin koris. [847] When Ázam Khán heard of this, he marched

with an army against Navánagar, and, on arriving about three miles

from the city, he sent the Jám a peremptory order to pay the arrears

of tribute and to close his mint, ordering him, if any disturbance

occurred in that part of the country, at once to send his son to the

viceroy to learn his will. He further ordered the Jám to dismiss to

their own countries all refugees from other parts of Gujarát. The Jám

being unable to cope with Ázam Khán, acceded to these terms; and Ázam

Khán, receiving the arrears of tribute, returned to Áhmedábád. As Ázam

Khán's stern and somewhat rough rule made him unpopular, Sayad Jálál

Bukhári whose estates were being deserted from fear of him brought

the matter to the emperor's notice.

[Ísa Tarkhán Twenty-fourth Viceroy, 1642-1644.] In consequence in

A.D. 1642 the emperor recalled Ázam Khán and appointed in his place

Mírza Ísa Tarkhán, then governor of Sorath, twenty-fourth viceroy of

Gujarát. And as it was feared that in anger at being re-called Ázam

Khán might oppress some of those who had complained against him, this

order was written by the emperor with his own hand. Thanks to Ázam

Khán's firm rule, the new viceroy found the province in good order,

and was able to devote his attention to financial reforms, among

them the introduction of the share, bhágvatái, system of levying land

revenue in kind. When Mírza Ísa Tarkhán was raised to be viceroy of

Gujarát, he appointed his son Ináyatulláh to be governor of Junágadh,

and Muiz-zul-Mulk to fill the post of minister. During the viceroyalty

of Mírza Ísa Sayad Jalál Bukhári a descendant of Saint Sháhi Álam was

appointed to the high post of Sadr-us-Sudúr or chief law officer for

the whole of India. This was a time of prosperity especially in Surat,

whose port dues which were settled on the Pádsháh Begam had risen from

two and a half to five lákhs. Mírza Ísa Tarkhán's term of power was

brief. In A.D. 1644 the emperor appointed prince Muhammad Aurangzíb to

the charge of Gujarát, Muiz-zul-Mulk being ordered by the emperor to

continue to act as his minister. An event of interest in the next year

(A.D. 1645) is the capture of seventy-three elephants in the forests

of Dohad and Chámpáner. [848]

[Prince Muhammad Aurangzíb Twenty-fifth Viceroy, 1644-1646.] Prince

Aurangzíb's rule in Gujarát was marked by religious disputes. In 1644

a quarrel between Hindus and Musalmáns ended in the prince ordering

a newly built (1638) temple of Chintáman near Saraspur, a suburb of

Áhmedábád, above a mile and a half east of the city, to be desecrated

by slaughtering a cow in it. He then turned the building into a mosque,

but the emperor ordered its restoration to the Hindus. In another

case both of the contending parties were Musalmáns, the orthodox

believers, aided by the military under the prince's orders, who was

enraged at Sayad Ráju one of his followers joining the heretics,

attacking and slaughtering the representatives of the Mahdawiyeh

sect in Áhmedábád. Sayad Ráju's spirit, under the name of Rájú

Shahíd or Rájú the martyr, is still worshipped as a disease-scaring

guardian by the Pinjárás and Mansúris and Dúdhwálas of Áhmedábád. [849]

[Sháistah Khán Twenty-sixth Viceroy, 1646-1648.] In consequence of the

part he had taken in promoting these disturbances, prince Aurangzíb

was relieved and Sháistah Khán appointed twenty-sixth viceroy of

Gujarát. In the following year Muiz-zul-Mulk, who had till then acted

as minister, was recalled, and his place supplied by Háfiz Muhammad

Násir. At the same time the governorship of Surat and Cambay was given

to Áli Akbar of Ispahán. This Áli Akbar was a Persian horse merchant

who brought to Agra seven horses of pure Arabian breed. For six of

these Sháh Jehán paid Rs. 25,000. The seventh a bay so pleased the

emperor that he paid Rs. 15,000 for it, named it the Priceless Ruby,

and considered it the gem of the imperial stud. In A.D. 1646 Áli Akbar

was assassinated by a Hindu and Muiz-zul-Mulk succeeded him as governor

of Surat and Cambay. [Prince Muhammad Dárá Shikoh Twenty-seventh

Viceroy, 1648-1652.] As Sháistah Khán failed to control the Gujarát

Kolis, in A.D. 1648 prince Muhammad Dárá Shikoh was chosen viceroy,

with Ghairat Khán as his deputy and Háfiz Muhammad Násir as minister,

while Sháistah Khán was sent to Málwa to relieve Sháh Nawáz Khán. While

Dárá Shikoh was viceroy an ambassador landed at Surat from the court of

the Turkish Sultán Muhammad IV. (A.D. 1648-1687). [850] In A.D. 1651,

Mír Yahyá was appointed minister in place of Háfiz Muhammad Násir,

and in A.D. 1652 prince Dárá was sent to Kandahár. On [Sháistah Khán

Twenty-eighth Viceroy, 1652-1654.] the transfer of the prince Sháistah

Khán became viceroy for the second time, with Mír Yahyá as minister

and Sultán Yár governor of Baroda with the title of Himmat Khán. Mírza

Ísa Tarkhán was summoned to court from his charge of Sorath and his son

Muhammad Sálih was appointed his successor. In A.D. 1653 an ill-advised

imperial order reducing the pay of the troopers, as well as of the

better class of horsemen who brought with them a certain number of

followers, created much discontent. During this year several changes

of governors were made. Muhammad Násir was sent to Surat, Himmat Khán

to Dholka, the governor of Dholka to Baroda, Kutb-ud-dín to Junágadh,

Sayad Sheikhan son-in-law of Sayad Diler Khán to Tharád under Pátan,

and Jagmál, the holder of Sánand, to Dholka. In the same year Sháistah

Khán made an expedition against the Chunvália Kolis, who, since Ázam

Khán's time (A.D. 1642), had been ravaging Víramgám, Dholka, and Kadi,

and raiding even as far as the villages round Áhmedábád.

[Prince Murád Bakhsh Twenty-ninth Viceroy, 1654-1657.] In spite of

Sháistah Khán's success in restoring order the emperor in A.D. 1654

appointed in his place prince Muhammad Murád Bakhsh twenty-ninth

viceroy of Gujarát. Diánat Khán, and immediately after him Rehmat

Khán, was appointed minister in place of Mír Yahyá. Mujáhid Khán

Jhálori relieved Mír Shams-ud-dín as governor of Pátan and Godhra

was entrusted to Sayad Hasan, son of Sayad Diler Khán, and its

revenues assigned to him. When prince Murád Bakhsh reached Jhábua

[851] on his way to Áhmedábád, the chief presented him with £1500

(Rs. 15,000) as tribute; and when he reached Áhmedábád, Kánji, the

notorious leader of the Chunvália Kolis; surrendered through Sayad

Sheikhan, and promised to remain quiet and pay a yearly tribute of

£1000 (Rs. 10,000). Dildost, son of Sarfaráz Khán, was appointed to

the charge of the post of Bíjápur under Pátan; while Sayad Sheikhan

was made governor of Sádra and Píplod, and Sayad Áli paymaster, with

the title of Radawi Khán. Many other changes were made at the same

time, the prince receiving a grant of the district of Junágadh. One

Pírjí, a Bohora, said to have been one of the richest merchants of

Surat, is noted as sending the emperor four Arab horses and prince

Murád as presenting the emperor with eighteen of the famous Gujarát

bullocks. During the viceroyalty of Dárá Shikoh sums of Rs. 1,00,000

to Rs. 2,00,000 used to be spent on articles in demand in Arabia. The

articles were sent under some trustworthy officer and the proceeds

applied to charitable purposes in the sacred cities.

[Murád proclaims himself Emperor, 1657.] At the end of A.D. 1657, on

the receipt of news that Sháh Jehán was dangerously ill prince Murád

Bakhsh proclaimed himself emperor by the title of Murawwaj-ud-dín and

ordered the reading of the Friday sermon and the striking of coin in

his own name. [852] His next step was to put to death the minister

Áli Naki, and direct his men to seize the fort of Surat then held by

his sister the Begam Sáhibah and to take possession of the property

of the Begam. He imprisoned Abdul-Latíf, son of Islám Khán, an old

servant of the empire. Dárá Shikoh representing Murád's conduct

to the emperor obtained an order to [Kásam Khán Thirtieth Viceroy,

1657-1659.] transfer him to the governorship of the Berárs. Murád

Bakhsh borrowing £55,000 (5 1/2 lákhs of rupees) from the sons of

Sántidás Jauhari, £4000 (Rs. 40,000) from Ravídás partner of Sántidás,

and £8800 (Rs. 88,000) from Sánmal and others, raised an army and

arranged to meet his brother prince Aurangzíb, and with him march

against the Mahárája Jasvatsingh of Jodhpur and Kásam Khán, whom Sháh

Jehán had appointed viceroys of Málwa and Gujarát, and had ordered

to meet at Ujjain and march against the princes. [Victory of Murád

and Aurangzíb.] Murád Bakhsh and Aurangzíb, uniting their forces

early in A.D. 1658, fought an obstinate battle with Jasvantsingh,

in which they were victorious, and entered Ujjain in triumph. From

Ujjain prince Murád Bakhsh wrote Muâtamid Khán his eunuch an order

allotting to Mánikchand £15,000 (Rs. 1,50,000) from the revenues of

Surat, £10,000 (Rs. 1,00,000) from Cambay, £10,000 (Rs. 1,00,00)

from Pitlád, £7500 (Rs. 75,000) from Dholka, £5000 (Rs. 50,000)

from Broach, £4500 (Rs. 45,000) from Víramgám, and £3000 (Rs. 30,000)

from the salt works, in all £55,000 (5 1/2 lákhs of rupees). Further

sums of £4000 (Rs. 40,000) are mentioned as due to Ravidás partner of

Sántidás, and £8800 (Rs. 88,000) to Sánmal and others. From Ujjain

the princes advanced on Agra. At Dholpúr they fought a still more

obstinate battle with the imperial forces commanded by prince Dárá

Shikoh and after a long and doubtful contest were victorious. Prince

Dárá Shikoh fled to Dehli, and the princes advanced and took possession

of Agra. After confining his father, Aurangzíb marched for Mathura,

[Aurangzíb confines Murád, 1658.] and having no further use of Murád,

he there seized and imprisoned him. From Mathura, Aurangzíb went to

Dehli from which Dará Shikoh had meanwhile retired to Láhor.

[Aurangzíb Emperor, 1658-1707.] In A.D. 1658, while his father was

still alive, Aurangzíb assumed the imperial titles and ascended the

throne. In A.D. 1659 he appointed Sháh Nawáz Khán Safávi thirty-first

viceroy of Gujarát, with Rahmat Khán as minister. [Sháh Nawáz Khán

Safávi Thirty-first Viceroy, 1659.] On this occasion Sántidás received

a decree directing that the provincial officials should settle his

accounts and Kutb-ud-dín Kheshgi was appointed to Sorath. Sháh Nawáz

Khán was the father-in-law of both Aurangzíb and Murád Bakhsh. Shortly

after his appointment, while Murád's wife was paying a visit to

her father, [Prince Dárá Rebels, 1659.] prince Dárá Shikoh leaving

Kachh, where he had been hospitably received by the Ráv, made a

sudden descent on Gujarát. The viceroy, won over by the entreaties

of his daughter who saw in the success of Dárá a hope of release for

her husband, joined the prince who entered Áhmedábád. After raising

funds from Surat and Áhmedábád he collected an army of 22,000 horse

and appointing Sayad Áhmed deputy viceroy, marched towards Ajmír,

once more to try his chance of empire. [Is Defeated, 1659.] He was

defeated and fled to Áhmedábád, where Sardár Khán, who had confined

Sayad Áhmed, closed the gates of the city in his face. The unhappy

prince retired to Kachh, but finding no support fled to Sindh, where

he was treacherously seized and handed to his brother by the chief

of Jún. [Jasvantsingh Thirty-second Viceroy, 1659-1662.] The emperor

Aurangzíb, forgiving Jasvantsingh his opposition at Ujjain, conferred

on him the government of Gujarát, and in the place of Rahmat Khán

appointed Makramat Khán to act as minister. Sardár Khán was thanked

for his loyal conduct and made governor of Broach. Praise was also

given to Sher and Ábid of the Bábi family. Presents were bestowed on

Kutb-ud-dín, governor of Sorath, and, shortly after, for his refusal to

help prince Dárá, Tamáchi chief of Kachh was rewarded. These measures

removed all signs of disaffection at the accession of Aurangzíb. A

decree was issued directing Rahmat Khán the minister to forbid the

cultivation of the bhang plant. Mohtasibs or censors were appointed

to prevent the drinking of wine or the use of intoxicating drugs and

preparations. On the formal installation of Aurangzíb in A.D. 1658-59

the Áhmedábád Kázi was ordered to read the sermon in his name. The

Kázi objected that Sháh Jehán was alive. Sheikh Abdul Wahháb, a Sunni

Bohora of Pattan, whom on account of his learning and intelligence

Aurangzíb had made Kázi of his camp, contended that the weakness and

age of Sháh Jehán made a successor necessary. The Bohora prevailed

and the sermon was read in Aurangzíb's name.

[Jasvantsinghji sent against Shiváji, 1662.] In A.D. 1662 Jasvantsingh

received orders to march to the Dakhan and join prince Muâzzam against

Shiváji the Marátha leader; and Kutb-ud-dín, governor of Sorath,

was directed to act for him in his absence. In this year Mahábat Khán

was appointed thirty-third viceroy of Gujarát, and Sardár Khán, the

governor of Broach, was sent to Ídar to suppress disturbances. [Mahábat

Khán Thirty-third Viceroy, 1662-1663.] About A.D. 1664 Ranmalji

or Satarsála Jám of Navánagar died, leaving by a Ráhthod mother

a child named Lákha whom the late chief's brother Ráisinghji with

the aid of the Ráv of Kachh and other Jádejás, set aside and himself

mounted the throne. Malik Ísa, a servant of the family, took Lákha to

Áhmedábád and invoked the aid of the viceroy. [Capture of Navánagar

(Islámnagar), 1664.] Kutb-ud-dín marching on Navánagar, defeated and

slew Ráisingh, took possession of Navánagar, and annexed the territory,

changing the name of the city into Islámnagar. Ráisingh's son, Tamáchi,

then an infant, escaped and was sheltered in Kachh. In the same year

(A.D. 1664) a Balúch personating Dárá Shikoh, was joined by many Kolis,

and disturbed the peace of the Chúnvál, now a portion of the Áhmedábád

collectorate north of Víramgám. With the aid of Sherkhán Bábi, Mahábat

Khán quelled these disturbances, and established two new military

posts, one at Gájna under Cambay and one at Belpár under Petlád.

In this year an imperial decree was received requiring the

discontinuance of the following abuses: The charging of blackmail by

executive subordinates; A tax on private individuals on their cutting

their own trees; Forced purchases by state servants; The levy by

local officers of a tax on persons starting certain crafts; The levy

of a tax on laden carts and on cattle for sale; The closing of Hindu

shops on the Jain Pachusan and at the monthly elevenths or Ekádasi;

Forced labour; The exclusive purchase of new grain by revenue officers;

The exclusive sale by officers of the vegetables and other produce

of their gardens; A tax on the slaughtering of cattle in addition

to that on their sale; Payments to the Ahmednagar Kolis to prevent

Musalmáns praying in the Ahmednagar mosque; The re-opening of certain

Hindu temples; The aggressive conduct and obscenity practised during

the Holi and Diváli holidays; The sale by Hindus of toy horses and

elephants during Musalmán holidays; The exclusive sale of rice by

certain rich Banias; The exclusive purchase by Imperial officers of

roses for the manufacture of rosewater; The mixed gatherings of men

and women at Musalmán shrines; The setting up of nezas or holy hands

and the sitting of harlots on roadsides or in markets; The charging

by revenue officers of scarcity rates; The special tax in Parántij,

Modasa, Vadnagar, Bisnápur, and Harsol on Musalmán owners of mango

trees; The levy of duty both at Surat and Áhmedábád from English and

Dutch merchants. [853]

[Shiváji Plunders Surat, 1664.] In the same year (A.D. 1664)

Shiváji made a rapid descent on Surat, then undefended by walls,

and, by plundering the city, created great alarm over the whole

province. The viceroy Mahábat Khán marched to Surat with the following

chiefs and officers: Jagmál, proprietor of Sánand; the governor of

Dholka; Shádimal, chief of Ídar; Sayad Hasan Khán, governor of Ídar;

Muhammad Ábid with 200 superior landholders of the district of Kadi;

the Rája of Dúngarpur; Sabalsingh Rája of Wadhwán and other chiefs

of Jhálávádh; Lál Kalián chief of Mándva in the Gáikwár's dominions

near Atarsumba; the chief of Elol under Ahmednagar in the Mahi Kántha

Agency; Prathiráj of Haldarvás; and the chief of Belpár. Before the

viceroy's army arrived at Surat Shiváji had carried off his plunder

to his head-quarters at Ráygad. [854] After remaining three months

at Surat levying tribute from the superior landholders, the viceroy

returned to Ahmedábád, and Ináyat Khán, the revenue collector of

Surat, built a wall round the town for its protection. About this

time Kutb-ud-dín Khán, governor of Sorath, was sent with an army

to aid the Mahárája Jasvantsingh in the Dakhan and Sardár Khán was

appointed in his place. In A.D. 1666 the Maráthás again attacked and

plundered Surat, and in the same year the deposed emperor Sháh Jehán

died. Aurangzíb attempted to induce the English to supply him with

European artillerymen and engineers. The request was evaded. [Copper

Coinage Introduced, 1668.] In this year the viceroy, Mahábat Khán,

in place of the old iron coins, introduced a copper coinage into

Gujarát. Sardár Khan, the governor of Junágadh, was put in charge of

Islámnagar (Navánagar) and 500 additional horsemen were placed under

him. Special checks by branding and inspection were introduced to

prevent nobles and others keeping less than their proper contingent

of horse. In the same year the cultivator who paid the rent was

acknowledged to be the owner of the land and a system of strengtheners

or takáwi after due security was introduced.

[Khán Jehán Thirty-fourth Viceroy, 1668-1671.] In A.D. 1668, Bahádur

Khán Khán Jehán, who had formerly been viceroy of Allahábád, was

appointed viceroy of Gujarát, with Háji Shafi Khán, and afterwards

Khwájah Muhammad Háshím, as his ministers. Khán Jehán joined his

government in A.D. 1669, and in A.D. 1670 Shiváji again plundered

Surat. In A.D. 1670 Shiváji made an attempt on Janjira, [855]

the residence and stronghold of the Sídi or Abyssinian admirals

of Bíjápur. [Sídi Yákút the Mughal Admiral, 1670.] Sídi Yákút the

commander of Janjira applied for aid to the governor of Surat. On

his offering to become a vassal of the emperor and place his fleet at

the emperor's disposal, Sídi Yákút received the title of Yákút Khán,

and a yearly subsidy of £15,000 (Rs. 1,50,000) payable from the port

of Surat. About the same time Sayad Diler Khán, who had accompanied

Mahárája Jasvantsingh to the Dakhan, was recalled by the viceroy

Khán Jehán and appointed governor of Sorath in place of Sardár Khán,

who was sent to Ídar. Sayad Haidar, in charge of the military post

of Haidarábád, about twenty-four miles south of Áhmedábád, reported

that he had put down the rebellion but recommended that a small fort

should be built. In A.D. 1670 the emperor summoned Diler Khán to

discuss Dakhan affairs, and sent him to the seat of war, replacing

him in the government of Sorath by Sardár Khán.

[Mahárája Jasvantsingh Thirty-fifth Viceroy, 1671-1674.] In A.D. 1671,

Bahádur Khán Khán Jehán was sent as viceroy to the Dakhan. He was

relieved by the Mahárája Jasvantsingh, who, as viceroy, received an

assignment of the districts of Dhandhúka and Pitlád. In A.D. 1673

through the intercession of the viceroy, Jám Tamáchi, the son of

Ráisingh, on condition of serving the viceroy and of keeping order

was restored to Navánagar, and twenty-five villages were granted to

certain dependent Jádeja Rájputs. So long as the emperor Aurangzíb

lived the city of Navánagar (Islámnagar) remained in the hands of a

Musalmán noble, the Jám residing at Khambhália, a town about thirty

miles south-west of the head-quarters of the state. In A.D. 1707,

on Aurangzíb's death, the Jám was allowed to return to Navánagar

where he built a strong fort. Similarly so long as Aurangzíb lived,

the Jám forbore to work the pearl fisheries in the Gulf of Kachh,

but afterwards again made use of this source of revenue. Early in

1674 an order issued forbidding the levy from Musalmáns of rahádari

or transit dues, of taxes on fish vegetables grass firewood and other

forest produce, on Muhammadan artisans, and many other miscellaneous

dues. The officer in charge of Morví, which was then an imperial

district, was ordered to strive to increase its population and revenue,

and the chief of Porbandar, also an imperial district, on condition of

service and of protecting the port was allowed a fourth share of its

revenue. Much discontent was caused by enforcing an imperial order

confiscating all wazífah land, that is all land held on religious

tenure by Hindus.

[Muhammad Amín Khán Umdat-ul-Mulk Thirty-sixth Viceroy,

1674-1683.] About the close of the year A.D. 1674, Mahárája

Jasvantsinghji was relieved and sent to Kábul, and Muhammad Amín Khán

Umdat-ul-Mulk, who had just been defeated at Kábul, was appointed

thirty-sixth viceroy of Gujarát, receiving an assignment of the

districts of Pátan and Víramgám. Among the military posts mentioned

in the Mirat-i-Áhmedi is that of Sádra or Sháhdarah the present

head-quarters of the Mahi Kántha Agency, also called Islámábád,

[856] which was under the command of Sayad Kamál, son of Sayad

Kámil. [Increased Power of the Bábi Family.] The Bábi family were

now rising into importance. Muhammad Muzaffar, son of Sher Khán Bábi,

was governor of Kadi, and Muhammad Mubáriz, another son of Sher Bábi,

was in charge of one of the posts under Kadi. Kamál Khán Jhálori,

who had been removed from the government of Pálanpur and replaced

by Muhammad Fateh, was now restored to his former post. About the

same time, at the representation of Mulla Hasan Gujaráti, twenty-one

villages were taken from Bijápur and Kadi and Pátan and formed into the

separate division of Visalnagar. In A.D. 1676, the fort of Junágadh was

put into repair, and Sheikh Nizám-ud-dín Áhmed, minister of Gujarát,

was sent to Málwa, and was succeeded by Muhammad Sharíf. The Kánkrej

Kolis were again rebellious, and Muhammad Amín Khán Umdat-ul-Mulk went

against them and remained four months in their country, subduing them

and enforcing tribute. In the end of A.D. 1678, the viceroy paid his

respects to the emperor at Ajmír. The emperor forbade the fining of

Musalmán officials as contrary to the Muhammadan law and directed

that if guilty of any fault they should be imprisoned or degraded

from office, but not fined. An order was also given to change the

name of the new Visalnagar district to Rasúlnagar.

At this time (A.D. 1679) the emperor was doing his utmost to crush

both the Rána of Udepur and the Ráthods of Márwár. While the emperor

was at Chitor, Bhímsing the Rána's youngest son raided into Gujarát

plundering Vadnagar Visalnagar and other towns and villages. [Revolt

of Ídar, 1679.] The chief of Ídar, thinking the opportunity favourable

for regaining his independence, expelled the Muhammadan garrison from

Ídar and established himself in his capital. Muhammad Amín Khán sent

Muhammad Bahlol Khán Shirwáni who with the help of the Kasbátis of

Parántij re-took Ídar, and the chief pursued by Bahlol Khán fled to

the hills, where he died in a cave from want of his usual dose of opium

to which he was much addicted. His body was found by a woodcutter who

brought the head to Bahlol Khán. The head was recognized by the chief's

widow, who from that day put on mourning. Muhammad Bahlol Khán was

much praised, and was appointed to the charge of Ídar, and at the same

time the minister Muhammad Sharíf was succeeded by Abdúl Latíf. [857]

To this time belongs an imperial decree imposing the jazyah or head

tax on all subjects not professing the Muhammadan faith, and another

regulating the levy from Musalmáns of the zakát or poor rate. [858]

In 1681 a severe famine led to riots in Áhmedábád. As the viceroy

Muhammad Amín was returning in state from the Íd prayers Abu Bakr an

Áhmedábád Sheikh instigated the people to throw stones and dust. The

viceroy's bodyguard attacked the mob, but owing to the viceroy's

forbearance no serious results followed. On hearing of the riot the

emperor ordered the city to be put under martial law. The more politic

viceroy contented himself by inviting Sheikh Abu Bakr and others to a

banquet. After dinner he gave a piece of a poisoned watermelon to Abu

Bakr, who died and the riot with him. In A.D. 1683 Muhammad Amín the

viceroy died. According to the Mirat-i-Áhmedi, Muhammad Amín was one

of the best of Gujarát governors. The emperor Aurangzíb used to say

'No viceroy of mine keeps order like Amín Khán.'

[Mukhtár Khán Thirty-seventh Viceroy, 1683-1684] Amín Khán was

succeeded by Mukhtár Khán as thirty-seventh viceroy, Abdul Latíf

continuing to hold the office of minister. Fresh orders were passed

forbidding import dues on merchandise, fruit, grass, firewood, and

similar produce entering Áhmedábád. In 1682 a decree was received

ordering pauper prisoners to be provided with rations and dress at

the cost of the state. In 1683 the Sábarmati rose so high that the

water reached as far as the Tín Darwázah or Triple Gateway in the

west of Áhmedábád city. In consequence of disturbances in Sorath the

viceroy called on the minister to advance funds for an expedition. The

minister refused to make advances without special orders from the

emperor. On a reference to court the minister was directed to make

advances in emergent cases. In A.D. 1684, at the request of the

inhabitants of that city Abdúr Rahmán Krori, the governor of Deva

Pátan, was removed and in his place Muhammad Sayad chose Sardár Khán

as governor of Sorath. In the following year on the death of Sardár

Khán at Thatha in Sindh, where he had gone as viceroy, he was, in

the first instance, succeeded in the government of Sorath by Sayad

Muhammad Khán. Not long after Sorath was assigned as a personal estate

to the emperor's second son prince Muhammad Ázam Sháh Bahádur and

during the prince's absence Sháhwardi Khán was sent to manage its

affairs. [Famine, 1684.] In A.D. 1684 a famine in Gujarát raised the

price of grain in Áhmedábád to such a degree that Sheikh Muhy-ud-dín,

the son of the Kázi and regulator of prices, was mobbed.