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NOVEMBER, 1898.]
Varhad [Berar] to the Nawab of His Majesty the King [Akbar], that province now belongs to the servants of that court; you must therefore withdraw your hand from its possession. And as the Prince has honoured this country by a visit and in fact holds possession of the whole of the kingdom of the Dakhan- your advisable course is to consign to the servants of His Highness the province of Daulatâbâd also with its dependencies, in order that the army may withdraw from the siege. of the fortress. We shall then return all the provinces to Prince Bahadur Shah, and afford him. assistance in taking vengeance on his enemies."
THE SIEGE OF AHMADNAGAR.
298
Afzal-ul-Khawanin Chingiz Khân replied to them :-"At present there is no king in this State to whom this matter can be referred. The province of Varhad [Berår] now belongs to the Sultans of the Dakhan, and the army of this State also has confirmed them in its possession. The mention of Daulatabad is the cause of the increase of matters of sedition and mischief; because for a long time past the people of that province have withdrawn the neck of obedience from the halter of subjection, and having become travellers on the road of rebellion, have set up another king, but according to the orders of Her Highness Chând Bibi, he will not exercise dominion. Besides, the amirs of the Dakhan who are in the fortress will not agree to this, and the peace negociations will be altogether abandoned. What defeat have you inflicted on the army of the Dakhan that the provinces of Varhad [Berår] and Daulatâbâd should be given to you? Your fortune was good, in that hypocrisy having shown itself among the amirs of the State, each of them became scattered in a different, direction, and the State remained denuded of troops. You, seizing the opportunity, hastened in this direction; if there had been 10,000 cavalry in the limits of the Gâlna Ghât, you would not have been able to invade the frontier. Now, one lak of man-over-throwing cavalry of the Dakhan with the utmost preparation and grandeur are advancing towards you, and have arrived within eight farsakhs. You must first fight with them after you have answered them, you can then talk of giving and taking."
Sadik Muhammad Khan Atâlik, who was at the head of affairs in the Dakhan, being much disturbed, said to Afzal Khân:-"What nonsense this is! You keep a woman in the fort in hopes of a eunuch coming to your assistance, or that assistance will reach you from him. This is the son of His Majesty Jalal-ud-Din Muḥammad Akbar Pâdshah, in whose court so many monarchs have girded up their loins in his service. Do you imagine that the crows and kites of the Dakhan which have sat down on some spiders, can oppose the descendants of Timûr and celebrated amirs such as the KhanKhânân and Shahbaz Khân, each of whom is equal to any ten of the Dakhan? We have thrown down the walls of this fort of yours, and have undermined the remainder. In two or three days more we shall level it with the ground. Behold! up to now the conquest having happened, did you imagine that the honour of Her Highness would remain, and that men like you, who are of our own race, would not perish ?"
Afzal Khan hastened to reply:-"For the space of forty years we have eaten the salt of the kings of the Dakhan, and on the day we entered this fort, we resigned our lives, property and offspring; and now we have come to this service of yours. Since all cannot fly from death, we are prepared for death, and having made up our minds to suffer martyrdom, have waited on you. What can be better than this, that a person should be killed in the service of his benefactor, and by this means obtain an eternal good name? We used to hear that Akbar Padshah was laying claim to godhead; now we see that his amirs also lay claim to the prophetical office. Apparently it has been revealed to you in a vision that this country shall be conquered by you; but the Most High God has no admission to this laboratory that you can make so positive a statement as in three days more we shall certainly take this fort. It is possible that with the of the of this country, you may be obliged to return from the foot of this fortress without the attain people of th your object; and it is apparent to you that the people of this country live at enmity with foreigners, and will continue to do so. I am a well-wisher of His Majesty the King, and my advice is that the great amirs of the Prince be sent away from the neighbourhood of the fortress, lest there happen to them a fatal misfortune, to remedy, which may be beyond the area of possibility. There are great numbers o numbers of warriors in this fortress, who if they.
31a About 27 miles.
271914 40 wru saad 1 bis
