^'^ HISTORY OF INDIA. [Book I.
^•"- "•s- Kho.srow MuUik miulc lii.s way with gi(;at difficulty aoros,s tlni inountains,
buiifliug foits as he proceeded, in order to secure the road. On arriving, in 1337, at the Chinese boundary with forces fearfully reduced, he found liiin.self in front Disartn.uH of a numerous anny prepared to oppose his further progress. The sight struck tothe t'^6 Indian army with dismay, and a precipitate retreat wa« commenced. 'J'hc fron"tIer ChinesB followcd closely, while the mountaineers occupied the parses in the rear and plundered the baggage. For seven days the Indians remained in this peril- ous position, suffering all the liorrors of famine. At length the rain began to fall in torrents. The first effect was to oblige the Chinese to retire to a greater distance, and Khosrow began to conceive hopes of making good liLs retreat. He was soon undeceived. The low grounds became inundated, while the mountains continued impervious. The result is easily told. The wliole army melted awa}-, and scarcely a man returned to relate the particulars. Tiarbanms Ouo of tlic king's ncphcws, who was called Khoorshasip, and held a goveni-
of a traitor, luent in the Deccan, was tempted by the general discontent which prevailed to aspire to the throne, and in 1338 openly raised the standard of revolt. He at first gained some advantages, but was afterwards captured and carried to Delhi, where he was flayed alive, and then paraded a horrid spectacle around the city, the executioner going before and proclaiming aloud, " Thus shall aU traitors t<j their king perish." Attempted Bcfore this rebellion was suppressed, the king had taken the field in person,
thTcIpitri '^'^^ fixed his head-quarters at Dewghur. Its situation and strength so pleased him that he determined to make it his capital. His resolution once announced was inflexible, and orders were forthwith issued that Delhi should be evacuated, and all its inhabitants, men, women, and children, with aU their property, should migrate to Dewghirr, the name of which was changed to Dovjletabad. The abandonment of Delhi, which was styled, in the hyperbolical style of the East, " The Envy of the World," was productive of great misery and discontent, and Mahomed began to feel that the change of capital was an exploit w^hich even all his energy and despotism could hardly accomplish. Having been led in the course of an expedition to the proximity of the old capital, those of his army who originally belonged to it, were seized with such a longing to return, that they deserted in great numbers and took refuge in the woods, detenniued to i-emain till the rest of the army should have left. The numbers of the troops were so thinned by this desertion, that the king had no alternative but to fix his residence at Delhi, and tluis lure the deserters back. His original prnpose, however, was not abandoned ; and at the end of two years he carried ofi" the whole of the inhabitants a second time to the Deccan, " leaving the noble metro- polis of Delhi a resort for owls, and a dwelling-place for the beasts of the desert." Before he left, he was guilty of barbarities which are almost incredible. On one occasion, having set out with an immense himting party, on arriving at the district of Behram, he made the startling announcement that he had come to
to Dowle tabad.
