From Tīmūr Beg’s Langar we sent Qāsim Beg’s servant, Muḥ. of Andijān, a Tūqbāī, to the Kābul begs, with written details of our arrival and of the following arrangements:—“When we are out of the Ghūr-bund narrows,[1227] we will fall on them suddenly; let our signal to you be the fire we will light directly we have passed Minār-hill; do you in reply light one in the citadel, on Fol. 197b.the old Kūshk (kiosk),” now the Treasury, “so that we may be sure you know of our coming. We will come up from our side; you come out from yours; neglect nothing your hands can find to do!” This having been put into writing, Muḥammad Andijānī was sent off.
Riding next dawn from the Langar, we dismounted over against Ushtur-shahr. Early next morning we passed the Ghūr-bund narrows, dismounted at Bridge-head, there watered and rested our horses, and at the Mid-day Prayer set forward again. Till we reached the tūtqāwal,[1228] there was no snow, beyond that, the further we went the deeper the snow. The cold between Ẕamma-yakhshī and Minār was such as we had rarely felt in our lives.
We sent on Aḥmad the messenger (yāsāwal) and Qarā Aḥmad yūrūnchī[1229] to say to the begs, “Here we are at the time promised; be ready! be bold! “After crossing Minār-hill[1230] and dismounting on its skirt, helpless with cold, we lit fires to warm ourselves. It was not time to light the signal-fire; we just lit these because we were helpless in that mighty cold. Near shoot of dawn we rode on from Minār-hill; between it and Kābul the snow was up to the horses’ knees and had hardened, so off the road to move was difficult. Riding single-file the whole way, we got to Kābul Fol. 198.in good time undiscovered.[1231] Before we were at Bībī Māh-rūī (Lady Moon-face), the blaze of fire on the citadel let us know that the begs were looking out.
(l. Attack made on the rebels.)
On reaching Sayyid Qāsim’s bridge, Sherīm T̤aghāī and the men of the right were sent towards Mullā Bābā’s bridge, while we of the left and centre took the Bābā Lūlī road. Where Khalīfa’s garden now is, there was then a smallish garden made by Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā for a Langar (almshouse); none of its trees or shrubs were left but its enclosing wall was there. In this garden Mīrzā Khān was seated, Muḥ. Ḥusain Mīrzā being in Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā’s great Bāgh-i-bihisht. I had gone as far along the lane of Mullā Bābā’s garden as the burial-ground when four men met us who had hurried forward into Mīrzā Khān’s quarters, been beaten, and forced to turn back. One of the four was Sayyid Qāsim Lord of the Gate, another was Qāsim Beg’s son Qaṃbar-i-‘alī, another was Sher-qulī the scout, another was Sl. Aḥmad Mughūl one of Sher-qulī’s band. These four, without a “God forbid!” (taḥāshī) had gone right into Mīrzā Khān’s quarters; thereupon he, hearing an uproar, had mounted and got away. Abū’l-ḥasan the armourer’s younger brother even, Muḥ. Ḥusain by name, had taken service with Mīrzā Khān; he had slashed at Sher-qulī,Fol. 198b. one of those four, thrown him down, and was just striking his head off, when Sher-qulī freed himself. Those four, tasters of the sword, tasters of the arrow, wounded one and all, came pelting back on us to the place mentioned.
Our horsemen, jammed in the narrow lane, were standing still, unable to move forward or back. Said I to the braves near, “Get off and force a road”. Off got Nāṣir’s Dost, Khwāja Muḥammad ‘Alī the librarian, Bābā Sher-zād (Tiger-whelp), Shāh Maḥmūd and others, pushed forward and at once cleared the way. The enemy took to flight.
We had looked for the begs to come out from the Fort but they could not come in time for the work; they only dropped in, by ones and twos, after we had made the enemy scurry off. Aḥmad-i-yūsuf had come from them before I went into the Chār-bāgh where Mīrzā Khān had been; he went in with me, but we both turned back when we saw the Mīrzā had gone off. Coming in at the garden-gate was Dost of Sar-i-pul, a foot-soldier I had promoted for his boldness to be Kotwāl and had left in Kābul; he made straight for me, sword in hand. I had my cuirass on but had not fastened the gharīcha[1232] nor had I put onFol. 199. my helm. Whether he did not recognize me because of change wrought by cold and snow, or whether because of the flurry of the fight, though I shouted “Hāī Dost! hāī Dost!” and though Aḥmad-i-yūsuf also shouted, he, without a “God forbid!” brought down his sword on my unprotected arm. Only by God’s grace can it have been that not a hairbreadth of harm was done to me.
If a sword shook the Earth from her place,
Not a vein would it cut till God wills.
It was through the virtue of a prayer I had repeated that the Great God averted this danger and turned this evil aside. That prayer was as follows:—