________________
188
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ OCTOBER, 1922
and execution, or judicial murder, of Charles I. He was much too clear-headed not to appreciate the political folly of such & proceeding, but, strong as he was, he was helpless in the face of the fanaticism of his followers.
The next item in the career of Sher Sh&h well exhibits the commanding capacity of the man and his strength of character. When he left the Northern Panjab for Bengal early in 1541, he made the serious mistake of leaving two able soldiers behind to carry on the reduotion of the Gakkhar Chiefs, who held out well. The result was that they quarrelled hope lessly, and Sher Shah had to decide between Haibat Khan Niazi, the better born and inore influential, and Khawas Khan of the lesser influence but of the greater military capacity and also his own particular protége. He had to recall one or the other. He acted strictly on the principle of the best service to the country and recalled Khawas Khân, leaving Haibat Khân Niazi as Governor of the Panjab, who soon had his hands full with the question of Multân, which had become independent of Delhi after Tîmůr's invasion in 1398. Multan came subsequently under several local rulers-Langås, Mughals, Baloches-but its general condition may be described as anarchical. The particular trouble before Haibat Khan was caused by the depredations of Fath Khân Jât of Kot Kabala, a very troublesome robber chief. Haibat Khân Niazi with much skill got rid of Fath Khan Jat and took possession of Multân for Sher Shah, who dealt with the people with his usual sagacity. He caused Multân to be re populated and treated with such benevolence that it soon flourished more than it had ever done.
Sher Shâh went further, and through some lieutenant, perhaps Haibat Khân Niâzî, took possession of Sind, issuing his coins from "Shergadh or Sakkar-Bakkar," the ancient ferry over the Indus. By this performance Sher Shah secured a firm hold over the Rajputânâ desert, and as Humâyûn had by this time fled towards Kandahar vid Sibi and the Bolån Pass, he closed that route by strengthening Bakkar under its new (and temporary) name of Shergadh, should that Mughal ruler be inclined to make another effort to recover his throne with Rajput assistance. We owe the whole of this information to the researches of Professor Qanungo.
Sher Shâh now went to Delhi, in 1543, and began his buildings there, but he did not neglect his favourite occupation of revenue and administrative reforms in newly acquired territory. Multan revenue was to be collected in kind, and not partly in kind and partly in cash as elsewhere. But after all, his chief occupation was preparation for an expedition against his dangerous neighbour Mâldev of Mârwâr, now that he had separated from the Mughals and was partially surrounded by the lately conquered Imperial territories. Mâldev was quite aware of his danger and fortified the usual and most vulnerable gateways into his kingdom. But Sher Shâh was equal to the occasion. In 1544 he invaded Mârwâr by the Jodhpur route, vid Någor and Mêrta, i.e., by the desert route, with the largest army he had ever com. manded, say 80,000 men- an immense force in contemporary estimation. He proceeded in his habitual manner, marching and entrenching-trenches in cultivated land, sandbags in the desert. He was checked near Ajmer by difficulties of food supply, and sat looking behind his trenches at Mâldev in his fortress, and on the whole Maldev was master of the military situation. Surprise was not possible, so Sher Shah resorted to a stratagem (afterwards performed with great success by Aurangzeb), relying on the simplicity and highly-strung nature of the true Rajpût. He caused letters, purporting to be written by Mâldev's nobles and containing offers to betray Mâldevinto his hands, to be forged and dropped in a bundle where
