Note 98 — PART I.—DESCRIPTION.

In a.d. 1573, with the rest of Málwa, Akbar handed Mándu to Muzaffar III. the dethroned ruler of Gujarát. It seems doubtful if Muzaffar ever visited his new territory.98 On his second defeat in a.d. 1562 Báz Bahádur retired to Gondwána, where he remained, his power gradually waning, till in a.d. 1570 he paid homage to the emperor and received the command of 2000 horse.99 His decoration of the Rewa Pool, of the palace close by, which though built by Násir-ud-dín Khilji (a.d. 1500–1512) was probably repaired by Báz Bahádur, and of Rúp Mati’s pavilion on the crest of the southern ridge make Báz Bahádur one of the chief beautifiers of Mándu. According to Farishtah (Pers. Text, II. 538–39) in 1562, when Báz Bahádur went out to meet Akbar’s general, Adham Khán Atkah, he placed Rúp Mati and his other singers in Sárangpúr under a party of his men with orders to kill the women in case of a reverse. On hearing of Báz Bahádur’s defeat the soldiers hastily sabred as many of the women as they could and fled. Among the women left for dead was Rúp Mati, who, though dangerously wounded, was not killed. When Adham Atkah entered Sárangpúr his first care was to enquire what had become of Rúp Mati. On hearing of her condition he had her wound attended to by the best surgeons, promising her, as a help to her cure, a speedy union with her beloved. On her recovery Rúp Mati claimed the general’s promise. He prevaricated and pressed his own suit. Rúp Mati temporised. One night the impatient Turk sent her a message asking her to come to him. Rúp Mati to gain time invited him to her own pavilion which she said was specially adorned to be the abode of love. Next night the Atkah went to her house in disguise. Her women directed him to Rúp Mati’s couch. Adham found her robed and garlanded, but cold in death. Rúp Mati was buried on an island in a lake at Ujjain, and there, according to the Áin-i-Akbari, Báz Bahádur when he died was laid beside her.100