Note 36 — The Eighteenth New Year’s Feast after the Auspicious Accession

In short, when that one of reversed fortune reached the foot of the fort of Āsīr, he took with him K͟hān-k͟hānān, Dārāb, and all his evil-minded offspring up to the fort, and remaining there for three or four days, and having set his mind at ease about provisions, etc., handed it over to one Gopāl Dās, a Rajput, who had formerly been an attendant of Sar-buland Rāy, and entered his service when he went to the Deccan. He left the women and his superfluous baggage, and took with him his three wives with their children and some maid-servants. At first he proposed to imprison K͟hān-k͟hānān and Dārāb in the fort, but at last changed his mind, and bringing them down with him, hastened to Burhanpur. At this time Laʿnatu-llah, after suffering disgrace and contempt, came from Surat and joined him. In great perplexity, Bī-daulat employed Sar-buland Rāy, the son of Rāy Bhoj Hārā, who is one of the brave Rajput servants, and who is fed from the royal table (?), as his mediator, and by letters and messages made proposals of peace. Mahābat K. said that until K͟hān-k͟hānān came, peace was impossible. His (Mahābat’s) sole purpose was by these means to separate from him that head of deceivers who was the ring-leader of trouble and sedition. Being helpless, Bī-daulat brought him (K͟hān-k͟hānān) out of prison, and satisfied himself by taking an oath from him on the Qoran. In order to please him and strengthen his promises and oath, he took him inside the female apartment and made a confidant36 of him, and brought his own wife and son to him, and made use of all kinds of entreaty and lamentation. The gist of his (S͟hāh Jahān’s) remarks was: “My times are hard, and my position difficult; I make myself over to you, and make you the guardian of my honour. You must act so that I no longer undergo contempt and confusion.” The K͟hān-k͟hānān, with a view to bring about peace, parted from Bī-daulat and proceeded to the royal army. It was settled that he should remain on the other side of the river, and arrange matters relating to peace in writing. According to fate, before K͟hān-k͟hānān arrived on the bank of the river, some of the brave warriors and victorious youths one night found an opportunity and crossed over at a place where the rebels were careless. On hearing this news the pillars of their courage trembled, and Bairam Beg could not keep firm the foot of error and ignorance, or engage in driving them back. Whilst he was in this agitation37 many crossed the river, and on the same night the rebels of evil fortune were separated from each other like the Banātu-n-naʿās͟h,38 and took to flight. By the unfailing good fortune (of Jahāngīr) the K͟hān-k͟hānān fell into perplexity (lit. fell into the s͟has͟h-dar39 position), and could neither go nor stay where he was. At this time again letters arrived from my prosperous son mingling threats with promises. The K͟hān-k͟hānān, finding only despair and ruin in the page of Bī-daulat’s affairs, hastened, through the mediation of Mahābat K., to wait upon my fortunate son. Bī-daulat, on hearing of the departure of K͟hān-k͟hānān and the crossing of the Narbadda by the victorious army and the flight of Bairam Beg, lost courage, and, notwithstanding a flood in the river and the violence of the rain, crossed the Taptī in a state of wretchedness, and went off towards the Deccan. In this confusion many of the royal servants and his own attendants willingly or unwillingly separated, and did not accompany him. As the native country of Jādo Rāy and Ūday Rām and Ātas͟h K. was on the route, they thought it better for themselves to keep with him for some stages, but Jādo Rāy did not come into his camp, and followed him at the distance of one stage. He took possession of such property as the men in this confusion and fear for their lives abandoned. On the day he (S͟hāh Jahān) started from the other side of the river (the Taptī) he sent a message by one of his immediate attendants of the name of Ẕū-l-faqār K. Turkmān, summoning Sar-buland K. Afghan, with the message that it seemed to him contrary to courage and the due performance of his engagements that he had as yet not crossed the river. “Fidelity was the glory of men; the faithlessness of no one has touched me (S͟hāh Jahān) so much as yours.” He (Sar-buland) was standing on horseback on the river-bank when Ẕū-l-faqār40 K. came and delivered the message. Sar-buland did not give a precise answer, and was undecided as to whether to stay or go. In his perplexity and by way of objection he told Ẕū-l-faqār to let go his bridle. Ẕū-l-faqār drew his sword, and struck at his waist. At this crisis an Afghan interposed a short spear which the people of India call a barchhā, and the blow of the sword caught the shaft, and the point of the sword did not reach Sar-buland’s waist. After swords were drawn, the Afghans attacked Ẕū-l-faqār and cut him in pieces. The son of Sult̤ān Muḥammad, the treasurer, who was Bī-daulat’s page, for friendship’s sake had come (with Ẕū-l-faqār) without Bī-daulat’s permission, and was also killed.