On this same morning after reaching that ground, Khalīfa brought a letter or two of which the purport was that the troops appointed for the East[2204] had fought without consideration, been beaten, abandoned Laknau, and gone to Qanūj. Seeing that Khalīfa was much perturbed and alarmed by these news, I said,[2205] (Persian) “There is no ground for perturbation or alarm; nothing comes to pass but what is predestined of God. As this task (Chandīrī) is ahead of us, not a breath must be drawn about what has been told us. Tomorrow we will assault the fort; that done, we shall see what comes.”
(k. Siege of Chandīrī, resumed.)
The enemy must have strengthened just the citadel, and have posted men by twos and threes in the outer-fort for prudence’ sake. That night our men went up from all round; those few in the outer-fort did not fight; they fled into the citadel.
(Jan. 29th) At dawn on Wednesday the 7th of the first Jumāda, we ordered our men to arm, go to their posts, provoke to fight, and attack each from his place when I rode out with drum and standard.
I myself, dismissing drum and standard till the fighting should grow hot, went to amuse myself by watching Ustād ‘Alī-qulī’s stone-discharge.[2206] Nothing was effected by it because his ground had no fall (yāghdā) and because the fort-walls, being entirelyFol. 334b. of stone, were extremely strong.
That the citadel of Chandīrī stands on a hill has been said already. Down one side of this hill runs a double-walled road (dū-tahī) to water.[2207] This is the one place for attack; it had been assigned as the post of the right and left hands and royal corps of the centre.[2208] Hurled though assault was from every side, the greatest force was here brought to bear. Our braves did not turn back, however much the pagans threw down stones and flung flaming fire upon them. At length Shāhīm the centurion[2209] got up where the dū-tahī wall touches the wall of the outer fort; braves swarmed up in other places; the dū-tahī was taken.
Not even as much as this did the pagans fight in the citadel; when a number of our men swarmed up, they fled in haste.[2210] In a little while they came out again, quite naked, and renewed the fight; they put many of our men to flight; they made them fly (āuchūrdīlār) over the ramparts; some they cut down and killed. Why they had gone so suddenly off the walls seems to have been that they had taken the resolve of those who give up a place as lost; they put all their ladies and beauties (ṣūratīlār) to death, then, looking themselves to die, came naked out to fight. Our men attacking, each one from his post, droveFol. 335. them from the walls whereupon 2 or 300 of them entered Medinī Rāo’s house and there almost all killed one another in this way:—one having taken stand with a sword, the rest eagerly stretched out the neck for his blow.[2211] Thus went the greater number to hell.
By God’s grace this renowned fort was captured in 2 or 3 garīs[2212] (cir. an hour), without drum and standard,[2213] with no hard fighting done. A pillar of pagan-heads was ordered set up on a hill north-west of Chandīrī. A chronogram of this victory having been found in the words Fatḥ-i-dāru’l-ḥarb[2214] (Conquest of a hostile seat), I thus composed them:—
Was for awhile the station Chandīrī