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ing his life, which terminated in 1405, he was prayed for in the mosques of Hindostan; and the coin was struck in his name; but this, Major Rennell remarks, might be more the effect of policy in the usurpers of Mahmood's throne, than the act of Timour himself.* Notwithstanding the hundreds of thousands whom he is represented as having sacrificed in the fury of his religious zeal, or on the cooler calculations of policy, and the still greater number led into captivity, the waste of life seems hardly to have left a void in the populous country. Things speedily reverted to their old course, and were involved, under the nominal reign of Mahmood, in the same anarchy.

The city of Delhi had remained in disorder and desolation for two months after the departure of Timour, when it was taken possession of by Nuserit. He was subsequently expelled by Ekbal, who resumed the administration of affairs in the ruined city. The inhabitants, who had escaped by flight, began to assemble again; and the place, in a short time, Ferishta states, especially the quarter called the New City, put on the appearance of populousness. Lahore, Debalpoor, and Moultan remained in the possession of Khyzir (or Khuzzer) Khan, who had been confirmed in his government by Timour; Kanouje, Oude, Kurrah, and Jionpoor, were held by Khaja Jehan, who assumed the title of royalty; Gujerat and Malwah were also in the hands of independent chieftains; and,

Rennell, p. lv. Timour's views, the learned Writer observes, "were, at this time, directed towards the Turkish empire; and this made him neglect India, which did not promise so plentiful a harvest of glory as the other." This appears hardly a sufficient explanation of his conduct. It is very probable, however, that intelligence of the insubordinate state of Georgia and Azerbijan, hastened his departure from India. See MOD. TRAV. Persia, i. 166.

in fact, all the provincial governors laid claim to the style of sovereignty. Some of these were brought into subjection by the restless Ekbal; at whose invitation, in 1401, the ex-emperor Mahmoud returned from Gujerat to Delhi, and accepted of a pension. He afterwards escaped from this ignoble bondage; but, on the death of Ekbal, who was slain in a combat with Khyzir Khan, he was recalled to occupy the throne. His death, in 1413, terminated a reign marked by singular vicissitudes and unparalleled disasters; and with him ended the Khuljean (Chilligi) or second Patan dynasty.* The omrahs, indeed, raised to the throne Dowlat Lodi, a Patan by nation; but, after a nominal reign of little more than a year, he was obliged to surrender to Khyzir Khan, who thus became lord of Lahore, Moultan, and Delhi.

Khyzir was by birth a segud, or of the race of the Prophet; and his father had been governor of Moultan, in the reign of Ferose III. "Out of gratitude to his benefactor Timour," we are told," he did not assume the title of Sultan, but continued to have the khutbah read in the name of that monarch, contenting himself with being styled Ayaut-Aala (Most High in Dignity). On the death of Timour, the khutbah was read in the name of his son Shah Rokh, concluding with a prayer for the prosperity of Khyzir Khan.”+ Khyzir had even the policy to send sometimes a tribute to Samarcand. At his death in 1421, he was succeeded, according to his expressed will, by his son Mubarik

* Including the interruptions, this inglorious reign lasted rather more than twenty years. "He was just as unfit for the age in which he lived," says Ferishta, "as he was unworthy of better times. God was angry with the people of Hindostan, and he gave them Mahmood." He might have added, he sent them Timour. † Ayeen Akbery, ii, 114,

Shah, who, after a reign of thirteen years, was assassinated by his vizier; and, in pursuance of previous arrangements, the traitor placed on the throne one of the grandsons of Khyzir, Sultan Mahommed V. This weak and dissolute prince, after a troubled reign of twelve years, was succeeded by his son Alla II., who, conscious of his incompetency, and wearied of the toils of empire, at length surrendered the reins of government to Bheloli, an Afghan of the Lodi tribe, on condition of being permitted to end his days quietly at Budayoon.* Bheloli, who was already in possession of the city, and had associated his name with that of Allah in the khutbah, immediately dropped the recognition of his sovereignty, and "spread the umbrella of empire over his own head."

Ibrahim, the grandfather of Bheloli, had raised himself by his wealth+ to the government of Moultan, in the reign of Ferose; and his uncle, Islam Khan, had been subsequently made governor of Sirhind. At his death, he was so powerful, that he retained in his service 12,000 Afghans, mostly of his own tribe. Bheloli had been appointed his heir, and his party ultimately acquiring the ascendancy, he secured the government of Sirhind, to which he afterwards added Punjaub and Debal poor, and at last the sovereignty of Delhi. He was esteemed for those days, says Ferishta, a mild and virtuous prince; was brave, though cautious, temperate and liberal, and fond of the company of learned men. He died a natural death, in the 80th year of his reign. His son and successor, Secunder I., recovered a consi

He survived his abdication twenty-eight years, and died at Budayoon.

The tribe of Lodi," forming themselves into a commercial society, carried on a trade between Persia and Hindostan." This explains the source of their wealth,

derable part of the empire, and, in 1501, made Agra the royal residence. It was during his reign that the Portuguese first accomplished the passage to India by. the Cape of Good Hope; but, as their connections · were entirely with the maritime parts of the Deccan, no notice of this event is taken by Ferishta. Under his son, Ibrahim II., the empire again fell to pieces; and after a reign of twenty years, this "proud and wicked prince" lost his kingdom and his life in the field of Paniput, A. D. 1525, to the illustrious Mahommed Baber, in whose person the sovereignty was transferred from the Lodi family to the race of Timour.

The life of this extraordinary man would deserve to be given much more in detail, than the limits of an historical outline will admit of. He has left us a singularly interesting auto-biographical memoir, which not only lets us into the knowledge of his own character, but throws great light on the manners of his countrymen; forming, in fact, a very lively and graphic illustration of oriental history.*

Zehir-ed-dîn Muhammed,† surnamed Baber (the Tiger), was born on the 14th of Feb., 1483. On his father's side, he traced up his descent in a direct line to the great Timour Beg, while, by his mother's side, he was sprung from Chenghiz Khan. In the twelfth

*These memoirs, originally written by Baber in the Jaghatâi Turki dialect, and translated into Persian in the reign of Akber, have been rendered accessible to the English reader, by the united labours of the late Dr. Leyden and William Erskine, Esq. This volume, so honourable to the learning and diligence of the Editor, forms a most important accession to our historical and geographical literature.

We find it impossible to adhere to a uniform orthography, and have, therefore, generally followed that of our authority. This will explain the variations that occur in our pages. Thus, the word din (faith), with the article prefixed, is written by different orientalists, ul dien, ud-dein, uddeen, eddin, u-deen, el-din, &c.

year of his age, on the death of his father, Sultan Omer-shiekh Mirza, he became king of Ferghana. At that period, one of his uncles was king of Samarcand and Bokhâra; another was sovereign of Hissar, Termiz, Kundez, Badakshan, and Khutlân; a third was king of Caubul and Ghizni; and his maternal uncle, a Mogul prince, held the fertile provinces of Tashkend and Shahrokheia along the Jaxartes. Sultan Hussein Mirza Baikra, a descendant of the great Timour, and the most powerful prince of his age, was sovereign of Khorasan. His contemporaries in Europe were, Henry VII. and Henry VIII. of England; Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I.; the Emperors Maximilien and Charles V.; and in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella.

Baber's father had left his dominions in considerable disorder. Immediately before his death, his relatives and neighbours, the Sultan of Samarcand and the Khan of Tashkend, having taken offence at his conduct (his inroads into their territories seem referred to), had entered into an alliance to invade his dominions from opposite points. Baber was, at that time, in Andejân; and young as he was, he promptly determined to secure the citadel. In the mean time, Sultan Ahmed Mirza, having made himself master of the districts of Uratippa, Khojend, and Marghinan, had encamped within four farsangs of the capital, when Baber sent an embassy to him with a message to this effect: "It is plain that you must place some one of your servants in charge of this country; I am at once your servant and your son: if you intrust me with this employment, your purpose will be attained in the most satisfactory and easy way." A harsh answer was returned to this politic overture; but accidental circumstances subsequently disposed the

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