Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/170

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

134 TJLUGH KHAN, AFTERWARDS EMPEROR BALBAN of the year 657 A. H. (Jan., 1259 A. D.), the royal forces again marched from Delhi. Ulugh Khan now very prop- erly used his influence in favour of his nephew, Sher Khan, and on Sunday, the twenty-first of Safar (Feb. 17, 1259 A. D.), all the territories of Bay ana, Kol, Jale- sar, and Gwalior were assigned to him. There was nothing to require the action of the army during the rest of the year. On Wednesday, the fourth of Jumada- 1-akhir (May 29, 1259 A. D.), treasure, wealth, and many valuables, together with two elephants, were brought to court from Lakhnauti, as presents from Izz-ad-din Balban Uzbeg, who was grantee of Lakhnauti; and by the influence of Ulugh Khan the grant was con- firmed, and honours were bestowed upon him. At the beginning of 658 A. H. (Dec., 1259 A. D.), Ulugh Khan resolved upon a campaign in the hills near Delhi. These hills were inhabited by a turbulent peo- ple, who committed depredations on the roads, plun- dered the goods of Mussulmans, drove away the culti- vators, and ravaged the villages in the districts of Har- riana, the Siwalik Hills, and Bayana. Three years before, they had carried off from Hansi a drove of camels and a number of the people of Ulugh Khan. Their chief was a Hindu named Malka, a fierce and desperate fel- low, who had carried off the camels and fomented dis- turbances among the Hindus from the hills to Rantam- bhor. He did these things, however, at a moment when the army was otherwise engaged and the soldiers and followers of Ulugh Khan had not the means to trans- port their baggage and implements. Ulugh Khan and