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CHAPTER IV.

END OF THE "PATHANS."

Section I: The House of Tughlak and invasion of Tamerlane.— Section 2: Line of Lodi and the New Mughals.-Section 3: The adventures of Babar; Social conditions of Hindustan; progress of Islám in the south.

SECTION 1.-The Gorians, the Slaves, and the next succeeding dynasties, have received from historians the name of The Pathán Kings of Delhi;" and the name is so far useful as indicating a common origin: though, perhaps, Turkmán would have been a more exact epithet. But this foreign stock underwent considerable decay with the fall of the Khilji line; and for the next two centuries we shall have to consider the Empire of Hindustan as ruled by Sultans who, though still professing the faith of the Arabian Prophet, were natives of India, and— whether consciously or not-favourable, to some degree, to that fusion with the people of the country, of which we have already seen premonitory symptoms.

For five months after the murder of Mubárak Sháh the capital was in the hands of the followers of Khusru, who took to themselves the ladies of the royal household, and used Korans as seats, while they attended the worship of idols in the desecrated mosques of Islám. The Governor of the Punjab, Gházi Malik, himself the son of a Hindu mother, watched these proceedings with stern disapproval; but did not venture to interfere, for his eldest son, Ulagh Khán, or Juna, was residing in Delhi, an unwilling guest and hostage. At

length Juna effected his escape, and hastened to his father's camp. Gházi immediately collected his veterans and marched on Delhi, gained an easy victory over the rioters, and put the usurping Khusru to death He then enquired for the heirs of the House of Khilji; but none had survived, and he was acclaimed Sultan, by the title of Ghaiás-ud-din Tughlak, 22nd August, 1321; his family or clan name being Tughlak, and the title, Ghaiás-ud-din, being assumed in honour of Sultan Balban who had borne that title, and in whose household he had been. It is a strange instance of longevity in such troublous times that his old master had been slave to Iltimsh, whose master was the conqueror of Rai Pithaura one hundred and thirty seven years before. Another vestige of the past was the grandson of Baghra Khán and great-grandson of Sultan Balban, who had succeeded his father in the government of the Eastern Provinces, in which post he was confirmed by the new Sultan.*

The Khilji line had only ruled for thirty years; but that brief period had been one of much change. The Muslim rule had been consolidated in Hindustan, and partially extended in the Deccan. The irruptions of the Mughals had apparently ceased; those northern barbarians having embraced the creed of Islám, and settled down in the kingdoms of Central Asia, or taken service as mercenaries in the Indian armies. Those Hindu chiefs who had succeeded in resistance to the Delhi Sultans were recognised as belligerent if hostile powers; the rest had entered the pale of the Empire and become feudatory princes. The bulk of the people, however oppressed, had become submissive subjects. A considerable population of native Muslims had also arisen, who-though im

Elphinstine erroneously states that this was Baghra himself; but Thomas has shown that he died about the end of Jalál-ud-din's reign, and was succeeded by his son Kai Kaús. The grandson's name was Baghra― hence the mistake. "Pathan Kings" p. 248

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migrants from force of character usually filled the higher stations of civil and military life. The Sultans and their Muslim lieutenants were beginning to hold the position of the barons and earls of England, in the almost parallel time of the Plantagenets. Consequent on this partial fusion a vernacular language was being created in Hindustan, to allow of communication among the associated classes. This tongue, appropriately known to us as "Hindustanı," is the Urdu of the native scholars, an application of the later Prákrit of the Duáb, using, by preference, the Persian form of the Arabic. character, and assimilating words from Hindi, Persian, Turkish, and any other vocabularies that may cross its path. In this power of growth lay its future fortunes; it soon began to be more than a mere lingua franca of oral communication, and to develop the germs of a national literature. The name "Urdu" is connected with the Turkish word from which we get our English "horde;" and is sufficiently indicative of the origin of the language, for it was in the Turkmán Sultan's camp that such a vernacular would first become requisite as a means of dealing between the soldiery and those who furnished their supplies. Thus, it affords an interesting example of the rule that the necessities of human intercourse must be stronger than any estrangement arising out of the pride of race, the bigotry of creed, or even the resentful feelings of subjugated nationality.

The old warrior, who had attained sovereign power in this unusually blameless fashion, was a remarkable instance of simple honesty who deserved his elevation. The offspring of a Turkmán slave by a Ját mother, he showed all the virtues which often mark a fortunate crossing of races; and he owed every step in his progress to his own good conduct. On becoming Sultan he maintained the same honourable standard, and did not allow his good fortune to disturb his habitual selfcontrol. He did his best to reform the civil administration,

impaired as it had been by years of anarchy: at the same time guarding his northern frontier, and sending his not very wise son Ulagh Khán—or Juna-to restore order in the south. The Rája of Orangal held out, and the Prince could effect but little against him. The Muslim forces invested the capital, but were unable to breach the earthern ramparts; and, being defeated by a sally of the garrison, they beat a hasty retreat. In 1323, however, the Muslims were better led, or met with better fortune. Attacking Orangal with increased numbers they captured the fortifications of the city, stormed the citadel, and carried the Rája, Pratápa Rudra, in triumph to Delhi. His son, Krishna, was allowed to succeed, but it was to a greatly reduced principality. In the following year the Sultan personally conducted an expedition to Sonárgaon (in eastern Benga') which resisted the authority of the line of old Baghra Khán. He restored order there, and on his way back reduced and captured a rebel Rája, in Tirhut.

At

But his heir-apparent, Juna, was wearying for the succession. In his impatience he watched the slow, but sure, march of his father towards the capital, and frequently consulted a hermit of the sinister sect of the "Assassins." At each enquiry he named a new stage at which the Sultan was reported to have arrived; but on each occasion-" Delhi is still far"—was the only answer of the oracle. Regardless of the ties of duty and gratitude, he interpreted the dark saying by the light of his desire, and resolved to take destiny into his own keeping. the last halting place Juna erected a wooden pavilion for the reception of his father and his brother, who had accompained the Sultan on his campaign. There was a parade of elephants when the Sultan had been conducted to his seat: Juna went down to give an order; at the next instant one of the huge beasts was driven against a projection beneath the gallery; the whole building gave way with a crash; the gallery fell to the ground. Workmen were hurried in to search among the ruins,

and the body of the valiant old Sultan was found under some fallen beams, the arms extending as if he had sought to protect his boy to the last. This crime was committed in February, 1323.*

Juna succeeded to the Sultanate by the title of Muhamad Tughlak; and the manner in which he exercised his power was as singular and as unscrupulous as the manner in which he had, in anticipation of the course of nature, come to its possession. He did not prove a tyrant of the common stamp, being a man of most original character; brave and accomplished, but wholly bereft of common sense or judgment. Barni, who knew him intimately, concurs with the African Moor, Ibn Batuta, who visited India during his reign, as to his extraordinary mixture of literature without religion, and culture without humanity. Neither of these writers had any personal grievance against him; in their capacity as men of letters they experienced kind treatment at his hands. But they adduce too much evidence in notorious features of his conduct to leave any doubt as to the mischief that he caused to the country whose government he had been so impatient to seize. Having produced a famine in the country about Delhi by ill-judged and meddlesome interference, he proposed to remedy it by deporting the population to Deogiri, a thousand miles off, where he contemplated the creation of a new capital under the plausible name of Daulatábád (prosperous city), which the deserted ruins, as if in mockery, still retain. Myriads died on the way for want of proper arrangements. He then attempted to re-people the Delhi territory from other regions; but if there is one thing for which the native of India is less fit than another it is migration. Nor

This story is referred to by Elphinstone as doubtful. It rests, however, on the authority of Ibn Batuta, who had it from an eye-witness, and who gives the name of the agent by whom the "Kiosk," as he calls it, was contrived.

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