cealed themselves in mountains and ravines, as well as all the elders and principal Musulmáns of Ghaznín, who were looking with the eye of expectation towards Dehli, assembled in the Jámi Masjid of the city, and on Friday the khutba was read in the name of Sultán 'Aláu-d dín. The noise of the acclamations of joy and congratulations rose high from all quarters. The vest of honour, which was sent by the king for the reader of the khutba, was put on his shoulders. One of the walls of the mosque, which was decayed and had fallen down, was newly raised.

On the same Friday, before the assembly of the Muhammadans, when the name of the king was pronounced in the khutba, he (Badr) offered, near the pulpit, the jewels which he had brought with him, and also one plate full of gold. He threw them down on the earth, and people fell on them and picked them up. The Mughals saw this from the top of the walls of the Masjid, and spoke something in their own tongue. In these days some of the infidels have embraced the Muhammadan faith.

66

B. KASAID OF BADR CHACH.

[The author of these Odes, whose real name was Badru-d dín, the full moon of religion," was more familiarly known as Badr-i Chách, from his native country of Chách, or Tashkand. He came to India and attracted some notice at the Court of Muhammad Tughlik, as may be gathered from the following extracts of his poems. His Kasáid, or Odes, were lithographed at Lucknow in 1845, and there is a short notice of them in Stewart's Catalogue of Tippoo's Library, and in Sprenger's Catalogue of the Oude Libraries, p. 367. Beyond this, nothing is known of him. The following extracts and notes are entirely the work of Sir H. Elliot.]

Congratulations on the Arrival of a Khila't from the 'Abbas Khalifa. Gabriel, from the firmament of Heaven, has proclaimed the glad tidings, that a robe of honour and Patent have reached the Sultán from the Khalífa, just as the verses of the Kurán honoured Muhammad by their arrival from the Court of the immortal God. • • • The Imám has given the Sháh absolute power over all the world, and this intelligence has reached all other Shahs throughout

the seven climates. The Patent of the other sovereigns of the world has been revoked, for an autograph grant has been despatched from the eternal Capital. The wells of the envious have become as dry as that of Joseph, now that the Egyptian robe has been received in Hindústán from Canaan. * A veritable 'I'd has

arrived to the Faithful, now that twice in one year a khila't has reached the Sultán from the Amiru-l Múminín. • • • Rajab arrived here on his return in the month of Muharram, 746 H.' (May, 1345 A.D.). • The king now never mentions his desire of sitting on an ivory throne, since his enemies sit on the point of elephants' tusks.* • • Be happy, oh Badr, for by the grace of God, and liberality of the king, your difficulties have ceased, and the period of benefactions has arrived.

Decorations of Dehli upon the same occasion.

3

Yesternight, at the time that the sun, the king with the golden garments, invested itself with a black mantle, and the king of the host of darkness, whose name is the moon, filled the emerald vault with sparks of gold, a robe of honour and a patent of sovereignty arrived, for the king of sea and land, from the lord Khalifa, the saint of his time, Ahmad 'Abbás, the Imám of God, the heir of the prophet of mankind. An order went forth that the embroiderers of

1 This is a very difficult passage, and variously interpreted. I have made as much sense of it as it seems capable of bearing. The literal translation is: "On the very date on which one month was in excess of the year 700 from this journey, in the month of Muharram, the before Sha'bán arrived." The chronogrammatic value of "one month" is forty-six; some copies, by the omission of the alif, make it "forty-five," and some only "nine," which latter is out of the question. Rajab is the month before Sha'bán, and that is also the name of the ambassador who had been sent by Muhammad Tughlik to the Khalifa. Firishta says one khila't arrived in 744 H., and another in 747 н. Here a contemporary says the second arrived in 746 H., or it may be 745 H., and that both khila'ts arrived within one year. The introduction of the Khalifa's name upon Muhammad Tughlik's coins begins as early as 741 H.; but this must have occurred before the arrival of an ambassador, and sufficiently accounts for the errors in the name of the reigning Khalifa, which do not occur at a period subsequent to this embassy. See E. Thomas, Coins of the Patan Sultans, New Edition, pp. 254, 259, and Fraehn, Recensio, p. 177.

2 That is, your enemies are placed before elephants, to be gored or trampled to death by elephants.

3 There is a double meaning here-the "host of darkness" being, in the original, "the army of Hind;" and the "black mantle," "the khila't of the 'Abbasís;" which image also occurs in the preceding ode.

The con

curtains should prepare a beautiful and costly pavilion in the centre of four triumphal arches, which were so lofty that the vault of heaven appeared in comparison like a green fly. Each arch was adorned with golden vestments, like a bride. The floors were spread with beautiful carpets, and there were ponds of water to excite the envy of Kansar, the rivulet of paradise. In the chambers poets recited verses; songsters, like Venus, sang in each balcony. The chamberlains were in attendance, with their embroidered sleeves; the judges, with their turbans; the princes, with their waistbands. All classes of the people assembled round the buildings to witness the scene. This gay assemblage had collected because a khila't and Patent had been sent by the lord Imám. tents of it were: "May everything on the face of the earth, in the fire and in the water, remain under the protection of the kingTurk, Rúm, Khurásán, Chín, and Shám-both that which is good, and that which is bad! If an azure canopy be granted, the heaven is at his command; if a red crown be desired, the sun will provide it. Let his titles be proclaimed from every pulpit-the Sultán of East and West, the King of Kings by sea and land, the Defender of the Faith, Muhammad Tughlik, the Just, in dignity like Saturn, in splendour like the Messiah !" The Imám has sent a khila't black as the apple of the eye, calculated to spread the light of the law through the hearts of men. For fear of the justice of thy government, the hart and the lion consort in the forest. May the eyes of thy enemies shed tears of blood. May he who raises his head against thy authority, have his face blackened, and his tongue slit, like a pen-reed; and so long as the moon is sometimes round as a shield, and sometimes bent like a bow, may arrows pierce the heart of thy ruthless enemies. May every success attend Badr through thy good fortune, and may he never be visited by any calamities of the time!

In Celebration of a Festival.

Doubtless, this festival appears as if it were held in Paradise, in which armies of angels stand on the right and left. A thousand crowned heads are bowed in reverence; a thousand throned warriors stand awaiting orders; a thousand stars (armies) are there, and

under each star are arranged a thousand banners. In each course behind the screens are a thousand songsters, melodious as nightingales. If the palace of a thousand pillars were not like Paradise, why should rewards and punishments be distributed there like as on the day of judgment? Certainly this abode of happiness, Khurramábád, is chosen as a royal residence, because there the king, by his execution of the laws, acknowledges his subservience to the Khalifa of the world, Abú-1 Rabí' Sulaimán, the celebrated Imám, to whom the Khusrú of Hind is a servant and slave in body, heart, and soul. This Khusrú is a holy warrior, Muhammad Tugblik, at whose gate the King of Chín and Khitá is in waiting, like a Hindu porter. . . . The blade of thy sword smites the necks of thy enemies, and with equal power does thy hand wield the pen, clothed in a yellow tunic, like a Hindu.

When the sun was in Cancer, the king of the time took the stone fort of Nagarkot, in the year 738 H. (1337 A.D.). It is placed between rivers, like the pupil of an eye, and the fortress has so preserved its honour, and is so impregnable, that neither Sikandar nor Dárá were able to take it. Within are the masters of the mangonels; within also are beauties resplendent as the sun. Its chiefs are all strong as buffalos, with necks like a rhinoceros. Its inhabitants are

all travelling on the high road to hell and perdition, and are ghúls, resembling dragons. The exalted king of the kings of the earth arrived at night at this fortress, with 100,000 champions. His army contained 1,000 stars, and under each star 1,000 banners were displayed. Muhammad Tughlik is obedient to the laws of Muhammad, the apostle, and the orders of his vicegerent, Abú-1 Rabi' Sulaimán Mustakfí, the essence of the religion of the prophet, the light of the family of Khalífas, the Imám of God, to whom the king is a servant and slave in body, heart, and soul.

The Author is despatched to Deogir.

On the 1st of Sha'bán, in the year 745, represented by the letters in "The power of the king," orders were issued that I should go to

the country of Deogír, and I was thus addressed: "Oh, Badr, accompanied by Jamál Malik, the poet, and Nekroz, the slave, take thy departure with a pomp worthy of Rustam. May he who accomplishes all designs aid thee; may the God of both worlds protect thee; but speak not of Deogír, for it is Daulatábád to which I allude, a fort exalted to the heavens! Although it is but a point in my kingdom, it comprises what is equal to 1,000 kingdoms of Jamshid. * 。 Go to the court of the governor of the country, Katlagh Khán, and acquire honour by this presentation, and having thy mouth in honey, say thus from me: 'Oh thou, from whose lips sugar distils, in whose fortunate1 breast the light of the flame of the knowledge of God is reflected; thou, that art the best of those possessed of gold; thou, that art the essence of those who are excellent among men; thou, whose bounteous hand is so munificent that the fathomless ocean is but a drop compared with it; come, and gratify me by your arrival, as water does the thirsty. If thou hast any desire to reach the summit of thy exaltation, proceed towards the north. Come and feast thy eyes upon the black khila't, so propitiously sent by the Imám of the time, and look with due reverence on the Patent which has issued from the Khalifa Abú-1 'Abbás Ahmad, the sun of the earth, and the shadow of God. It is through his justice that an antelope is able to seize the tail of a wolf. Use every exertion to come to the royal court, for henceforward you and I have obtained everlasting salvation.'

"When thou, oh Badr, hast delivered this address to the Khán, kiss his hands and bow down, like a pen dipping into an inkstand. Obey every order that he gives, and deem yourself honoured with every gift that he presents. ** When the equipage of Jalálat Khán proceeds in state to the throne of the Sultán, the king of earth and sea, proclaim to the world that the Khwája is coming, like the resplendent sun, with 100,000 footmen, 100,000 horsemen, 100,000 spears, and 100,000 bows, sitting in his silver ambárí, like the moon in the milky way."

1 Mubarak is the Persian translation of Katlagh.

2 The annotator says, "Proceed on a mission to the Khalifa;" but this is a very imperfect interpretation.