Part 2 — CHAPTER II. ÁHMEDÁBÁD KINGS. a.d. 1403–1573.
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Chapter II. Áhmedábád Kings, a.d. 1403–1573. The rule of the Áhmedábád kings extends over 170 years and includes the names of fifteen sovereigns. The period may conveniently be divided into two parts. The first, lasting for a little more than a century and a quarter, when, under strong rulers, Gujarát rose to consequence among the kingdoms of Western India; the second, from a.d. 1536 to a.d. 1573, an evil time when the sovereigns were minors and the wealth and supremacy of Gujarát were wasted by the rivalry of its nobles.
The date on which Zafar Khán openly threw off his allegiance to Dehli is doubtful. Farishtah says he had the Friday prayer or khutbah repeated in his name after his successful campaign against Jháláváḍa and Delváḍa in a.d. 1396. According to the Mirăt-i-Sikandari he maintained a nominal allegiance till a.d. 1403 when he formally invested his son Tátár Khán with the sovereignty of Gujarát, under the title of Násir-ud-dín Muhammad Sháh.
Ahmed I. 1411–1441.On his grandfather’s death, Áhmed succeeded with the title of Násir-ud-dunya Wad-dín Abúl fateh Áhmed Sháh. Shortly after Áhmed Sháh’s accession, his cousin Moid-ud-dín Fírúz Khán, governor of Baroda, allying himself with Hisám or Nizám-ul-Mulk Bhandári and other nobles, collected an army at Naḍiád in Kaira, and, laying claim to the crown, defeated the king’s followers. Jívandás, one of the insurgents, proposed to march upon Pátan, but as the others refused a dispute arose in which Jívandás was slain, and the rest sought and obtained Áhmed Sháh’s forgiveness. Moid-ud-dín Fírúz Khán went to Cambay and was there joined by Masti Khán, son of Muzaffar Sháh, who was governor of Surat: on the king’s advance they fled from Cambay to Broach, to which fort Áhmed Sháh laid siege. As soon as the king arrived, Moid-ud-dín’s army went over to the king, and Masti Khán also submitted. After a few days Áhmed Sháh sent for and forgave Moid-ud-dín, and returned to Asáwal victorious and triumphant.
During the two following years Áhmed Sháh abstained from foreign conquests, devoting himself to improving his dominions and to working out a system of paying his troops. The method he finally adopted was payment half in money and half in land. This arrangement attached the men to the country, and, while keeping them dependent on the state, enabled them to be free from debt. Further to keep his officials in check he arranged that the treasurer should be one of the king’s slaves while the actual paymaster was a native of the particular locality. He also appointed ámils that is sub-divisional revenue officers. After Ráv Púnja’s death Áhmed Sháh marched upon Ídar, and did not return until Ráv Púnja’s son agreed to pay an annual tribute of £300 (Rs. 3000). In the following year, according to Farishtah (II. 369) in spite of the young chiefs promise Chapter II. Áhmedábád Kings, a.d. 1403–1573. Ahmed I. 1411–1441. to pay tribute, Áhmed Sháh attacked Ídar, took the fort, and built an assembly mosque. Fearing that their turn would come next the chief of Jháláváḍa and Kánha apparently chief of Dungarpur fled to Nasír Khán of Asír. Nasír Khán gave Kánha a letter to Áhmed Sháh Báhmani, to whose son Alá-ud-dín Násír’s daughter was married, and having detached part of his own troops to help Kánha they plundered and laid waste some villages of Nandurbár and Sultánpur. Sultán Áhmed sent his eldest son Muhammad Khán with Mukarrabul Mulk and others to meet the Dakhanis who were repulsed with considerable loss. On this Sultán Áhmed Báhmani, under Kadr Khán Dakhani, sent his eldest son Alá-ud-dín and his second son Khán Jehán against the Gujarátis. Kadr Khán marched to Daulatábád and joining Nasír Khán and the Gujarát rebels fought a great battle near the pass of Mánek Púj, six miles south of Nándgaon in Násik. The confederates were defeated with great slaughter. The Dakhan princes fled to Daulatábád and Kánha and Nasír Khán to Kalanda near Chálisgaum in south Khándesh.
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 Mirăt-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.
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 Pávágaḍ. 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 Junágaḍh temples, were broken and distributed among the soldiers.
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.
Chapter II. Áhmedábád Kings, a.d. 1403–1573. Mahmúd I. (Begada), 1459–1513. 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 Mirăt-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 Káthiáváḍa, 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 Ālím, the founder of Ālímpura 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 Āsas 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.
Partition of the Province.
Áhmed Sháh for Private Purse Áhmedábád and the Daskrohi sub-division.
Ítimád Khán and Party Kádi, Jháláváḍa, Pitlád, Naḍiád, 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 Party Broach, Baroda, and Surat as far as the 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; Naḍiád on Malik-ush-Shark, and some of the dependencies of Jháláváḍa 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 Jháláváḍa, 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; Chapter II. Áhmedábád Kings, a.d. 1403–1573. Ahmed II. 1554–1561. 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.
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.