1 Capture of
2 Jallalabad,
3 Advance on Peshé-
4 war
5 Passage of the
6 Khaibar,
7 Defeat and surren-
8 der of Nasir Khan,
9 governor of Peshawar,
10 1738,
11 Letter of Nidir to
12 the Moghal emperor,
13 200 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
14 took the fort and town by assault, and killed Mir Abbds, with all the Indians
15 who had sided with him. His family were sent in chains to the royal
16 camp.*
17 After subduing Baémidn, Ghoreband and other provinces of Afghanistén,
18 under the Indian empire, the victor set his army in motion, and, at the
19 head of ten thousand chosen Kazil Bdéshi+ horse, advanced towards Peshd-
20 war, The Moghal governor at Peshawar at this time was Ndsir Khan, a
21 pious man, who spent’much of his time in hunting, or in devotion and in
22 reading the Qurén. He had in vain written repeatedly to the Moghal Go-
23 vernment for a supply of troops, reminding the emperor that he was himself
24 ‘but as a rose bush, withered by the blasts of autumn, while his soldiery were
25 no more than a faded pageant.’ The intrigues at the Court of Delhi
26 prevented all hopes of succour from that quarter; yet the governor, closing
27 the Khaibar Pass against the invader, opposed him with a body of seven
28 thousand Afghans and Indians, whom he had assembled around him. Sarwar
29 Khan, a Barakzai chief, rendered Nddir important aid, which enabled him to
30 cross the Khaibar by the old route used by Tymir in invading India. The
31 Persiaus fell suddenly upon the troops collected by Ndsir Khan. After a
32 short engagement the courage and resolution of the Indians wholly forsook
33 them, their ranks were broken, and those only escaped the sword of the
34 victor, who beat a precipitate retreat. When Nasir Khan saw that‘ his
35 whole army had either been put to the sword, or fled panic-stricken,
36 and that further resistance was fruitless, he surrendered himself prisoner
37 to the king of the Persians (20th November 1788). Several Indian chiefs
38 were at this time taken prisoners and their camps pillaged. The monarch
39 soon after took Nasir Khan into favour and appointed him one of his courtiers.
40 Before crossing the Atak, Nddir Shah sent the following letter to the
41 emperor of Hindostén, which was received in the beginning of Jamddiul
42 Awwal, 1151 H. :—
43 “Be it clear to the enlightened mind of your High Majesty, that my
44 coming to Kébul and possessing myself thereof was purely out of zeal for
45 Isl4m and friendship for you. I never could have imagined that the wretches
46 of the Dekkan could have imposed tribute on the dominions of the king
47 of the Musalmans. My stay on this side of the Atak is with a view that,
48 when these infidels move towards Hindostdn, I may send an army of victori-
49 ous Kazil Bdshis to drive them to the abyss of hell. History is full of the
50 friendship that has subsisted between our Kings and your Majesty’s prede-
51 cessors. By Ali Murtaza I swear that, excepting friendship and a concern for
52 religion, I neither had, nor have, any other views; if you suspect the contrary
53 you may, but I always was, and will be a friend to your illustrious House.”
54 A Kazil Bash noble in Nitdir Shah’s camp at_Jallalébad, in a letter written by him to
55 a friend in Delhi, gave the following particulars regarding that monarch :—
56 After morning prayers, he sits on a throne, the canopy of which is in the form of a dome
57 and of gold; 1,000 young men with royal standards of red sill and lance tops, from which
58 hang tassels of silver, are disposed regularly and at proper distances ; 500 beautiful slaves, from
59 12 to 20 years old, stand, one half on his right hand and the other half on his left; all the great
60 men stand confronting him, and the arzbegi stands between, in readiness to represent whatever
61 is desirable, and everybody has his cause decided at once. Bribery is not so much as known
62 here. He has particular information given him of everything that passes ; all criminals, great
63 or small, rich and poor meet with immediate death. He sits till noon, after which he dines and
64 then reposes a little. When afternoon prayers are over, he sits till evening prayers, and when
65 these are over, he shoots five arrows into the Khak Toda (a heap of rubbish) and then retires
66 into the women’s apartments.”—Jraser,
67 + The Kazil Bashis are an order of soldiers among the Persians, as the Fenizavisare amon
68 the Turks. The word signifies, in the Turkish language, Redheads, from the red caps fhiee
69 wore when first organized by Shekh Haidar, the father of Shah Ismail, the first king of the
70 Safvi family. ; :
71 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com