In the course of twenty days this great work was accomplished, and the army returned to the capital on the 24th Rabí'u-l awwal, 658. His Majesty, with a great retinue of chiefs and nobles, came forth to the plain of Hauz-rání to meet him, and a grand Court was held in which many honours and rewards were bestowed.1 After a stay of two days in the capital the Court went forth again to Hauz-rání on a mission of revenge. The elephants were prepared, and the Turks made ready their trenchant swords. By royal command many of the rebels were cast under the feet of elephants, and the fierce Turks cut the bodies of the Hindus in two. About a hundred met their death at the hands of the flayers, being skinned from head to foot; their skins were all stuffed with straw, and some of them were hung over every gate of the city. The plain of Hauz-rání and the gates of Dehli remembered no punishment like this, nor had any one ever heard such a tale of horror.

Ulugh Khán now represented to the Sultán that the Mughal ambassador in Khurásán should be brought to Court and be granted an interview. On Wednesday, 7th Rabí'u-l awwal, the Court proceeded to the Kushk-i sabz (green palace), and Ulugh Khán gave orders for armed men to be collected from all quarters round Dehli to the number of two hundred thousand foot and fifty thousand horse, with banners and accoutrements. Great numbers of armed men of all ranks went out of the city, and assembled in the new city of Kílu-gharí, at the royal residence, where they were drawn up shoulder to shoulder in twenty lines.

* When the ambassadors arrived, and their eyes fell on this vast multitude, they were stricken with fear, * * * and it is certain that on seeing the elephants some of them fell from their horses. On the ambassadors entering the city they were received with the greatest honour, and were conducted before the throne with the highest possible ceremony. The palace was decked out in the most splendid array, and all the princes and

[The author here becomes very diffuse in his descriptions and praises, which are not worth translation.]

nobles and officers attended in gorgeous dresses. A poem written by the author of this work was recited before the throne. I here insert it. * After the reception the ambassadors were conducted in great state to the place appointed for their abode.1

Let us return to the thread of our history. The last event which I have to record is this. When Ulugh Khán carried war into the hills, and punished the rebels in the way we have related, a number of them escaped by flight. They now again took to plundering on the highways, and murdering Musulmáns, so that the roads became dangerous. This being reported to the Khán, he sent emissaries and spies to find out the places where the rebels had taken refuge, and to make a full report of their state and condition. On Monday, 24th Rajab, 658 (July, 1260), he marched from Dehli with his own forces, the main army, and the forces of several chiefs. He hastened towards the hills, and, accomplishing more than fifty kos in one day's journey (!),2 he fell upon the insurgents unawares, and captured them all, to the number of twelve thousand-men, women, and children-whom he put to the sword. All their valleys and strongholds were overrun and cleared, and great booty captured. Thanks be to God for this victory of Islám!

1 [Here follows a long digression of no interest.]

384

IX.

TARIKH-I JAHAN-KUSHA

OF

'ALAU-D DIN JUWAINI1

[The Tarikh-i Jahán-Kushá, or Jahán-Kushái, "the History of the Conquest of the World," is the work of 'Aláu-d dín Malik, son of Baháu-d dín Muhammad Juwainí, but the author is better known to Europeans by the name of 'A tá Malik Juwainí. He was a native of Juwain, in Khurásán, near Naishápur. The date of his birth is unknown, but he was twenty-seven years of age when he began to write his history.

Baháu-d dín was one of the principal revenue officers of Persia under the Mongol governor Arghún; and his son 'Aláu-d dín, disregarding his father's advice to adopt literature as his profession, entered into public employ in his father's office before he had completed his twentieth year. When Mangú Khán was elected emperor, Arghún went to Tartary in 650, to pay his respects to the new sovereign, and Baháu-d dín with his son, our author, proceeded thither in his suite. Arghún was confirmed in his office, and he made Baháu-d dín chief superintendant of the revenues of his province. Shortly after his return in 651 (1253 A.D.), Baháu-d dín died at the age of sixty. When Hulákú Khán arrived in Persia, in 654 H., the viceroy Arghún was called to court; and on his departure he left 'Aláu-d dín at court of the Emperor as one of his representatives. While thus situated our author followed in the suite of Hulákú during his

1 [This article has been drawn from M. Quatremère's notice in the Mines de l'Orient, and Baron D'Ohsson's account of the work in the Preface to his Hist. des Mongols.]

campaign against the Ismái lians. His brother, Shamsu-d dín, became wazír of Hulákú in 662 (1263-4 a.d.), and 'Aláu-d dín was appointed governor of Baghdád.

'Aláu-d dín had made himself conspicuous by his zeal against the Ismái’lians, which incited three men of that sect to attempt his assassination. He escaped this danger, but only to endure great reverses and ignominy. Intrigues were formed against him, he was dismissed from office, fined heavily, tortured, and paraded naked all round Baghdad. He remained for some time afterwards in confinement at Hamadán, but his innocence being proved, the fine exacted from him was returned, and he was restored to his office, which he retained until his death in 681. In character he was naturally mild and just, but he was so blinded by the power and success of his masters that he could see nothing but good in them and their doings. "Placed as he was," says M. D'Ohsson, "it is manifest that he could not write freely; but he of his own accord made himself the panegyrist of those barbarians who had utterly ruined his country, and who continued to waste and oppress the dominions of the Muhammadans. He speaks with a profound veneration of Changíz Khán and his descendants, he lauds Mangú to the skies, and in his honour he exhausts his stock of the most exaggerated hyperbole. More than this, he strives to prove in his preface that the ruin of so many Musulmán countries by the Mughal armies was a necessary evil, from which arose two benefits-one spiritual, the other temporal. He does not blush to boast of the gentleness of the Mughals towards those who submitted to them, and he praises with better reason their tolerance of all religions."

His occupations he tells us left him little leisure for the acquisition of useful knowledge up to the age of twenty-seven, and he expresses his regret that he had not adopted the course of life. advised by his father; but years had matured his reason, and he was resolved to make up for lost time. He had several times travelled over Transoxiana and Turkistán, as well as the more western regions. He had been a witness of many events, and he

25

had besides obtained information from well-informed and trustworthy persons, so in the year 650, during his stay at the court of Mangú, at the request of his friends he began to write his history, the chief object of which was to perpetuate the memory of the great actions of the Emperor Mangú. The style of the work is much admired by Orientals, "but a European may be allowed to pronounce it inflated, and to wish that the author had used more truth in his colouring, and more method in his narrative." The history stops at the year 655 (1257 A.D.), although the author lived up to the year 681 (1282 A.D.).

The MS. used by M. Quatremère and Baron D'Ohsson is an incomplete one belonging to the Imperial Library at Paris. "The Jahan Kushái," says Sir H. Elliot, "though not uncommon in Europe, is very rare in India. All my research has only procured for me one copy, and that belongs to Munshí 'Abdu-r Razzák, Sarrishtadár of the Civil Court of Farrukhábád. It is very clean, and well written in Nasta'lík, but contains many errors. Its extent is 275 folios of nineteen lines in each page." There is no copy of the work in Sir H. Elliot's library.]

EXTRACTS.1

Punishment of Criminals.

It is a custom amongst the Mughals that when any one has committed a crime worthy of death, should he not be sentenced to that penalty, they send him to the wars, remarking that if he was destined to be slain, he may as well be slain in fight; or they send him on a message or embassy to rebellious chiefs, from whom they think it most probable he will never be allowed to return; or they send him to some hot place where a pestilent wind blows; and it was for such a reason they sent Baláktigín on an embassy to Egypt and Syria.

1 [All these extracts were translated by Sir H. Elliot.]

2 [The same name probably as we have elsewhere found as “Bilkátigín.]