Embedded Files
-ABBAS KHAN FOREFATHER --SAVED TO TULSI BAI-
As mention in the History Book About ABBAS KHAN which is as under for reference Please with out any change.
Tales of Indian Chivalry
Indian OhiTalry
BY MICHAEL MACMILLAN Principal of Elpliinstone College, Bombay
WITH SIX PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAUL HARDY
BLACKIE AND SON LIMITI^D
LONDON GLASGOW AND DUBLIN
1901
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
Page
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES 9
THE BRIDE OF THE PADISHAH—
I. The AVooing 23
II. The Bridal 34
THE BOND OF THE BRACELET 40
A RAJPUT AMAZON 73
THE RUBY OF HAZRAT 86
THE SUITORS OF CAMLAVATI 104
THE EXILE . .' 122
A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 152
THE LOST CASKET 201
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
"Met in full career in the centre of the
Arena" Frontis. 166
"Then he charged the Enemy" 21
"punna won over her father " 49
"ZULEIKA, ON SEEING HIM, HASTILY THREW HER VeIL
OVER HER Face" 101
"The STRONG Spike in the Centre of Eam Singh's
Shield Struck the Throat of the Mogul" . . . 120
"Their Wings were thrown into disorder by
brilliant charges of Hindu Cavalry" .... 196
TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES
MORE than three hundred years ago a
gallant band of Mogul troopers, two
hundred strong, was passmg along
the borders of Rajputana on their way to
join the army of the great Akbar, who was
tlien engaged in the conquest of Gujarat.
Their burnished armour flashed, and their
gay scarves of various colours shone bravely,
in the rays of the setting sun. They were
armed with two-handed broadswords, and
shields and coats of mail. The whole force
was splendidly equipped, and one might con-
jecture from the spick-and-span appearance
of their arms and accoutrements that the
10 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
troopers had not yet marched far from home.
This was indeed the case. Abbas Khan, their
leader, was the son and heir of a Mogul
chieftain, whose castle they had left that very
afternoon on their way to what was to many
of them their first experience of war. He was
a tall and handsome young man, and his face
glowed with youthful enthusiasm as he antici-
pated the martial honours that he hoped to
win under the standard of his heroic emperor.
At a distance of a few miles another gay
cavalcade, but of a different character, was
converging upon the route of Abbas Khan's
force. This other cavalcade was a peaceful
one, composed of Hindus conducting a young
bride to the home of the father of her boy
husband, where she was to spend the rest of
her life immured in the zenana\ She was
carried in a closely-veiled litter, which not
only shielded her from the eyes of passers-by,
but also prevented her from breathing the
fresh air of heaven and enjoying the beautiful
scenery through which she was being carried
to her new home among strangers. Soon
after sunset, as they were passing along the
banks of the river Rohini at the place where
* Zenana = the part of a house in which women are secluded.
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES 11
the Hindus burnt their dead, their peaceful
progress was suddenly interrupted. A band
of robbers pounced upon them, and with little
trouble overpowered the few Eajputs who
formed the bride's escort. They then seized
the litter, and, tearing it open with rude
hands, drew the fair occupant into the open
air.
Tulsibai stared with wild alarm on the
fierce figures by which she was surrounded.
Poor girl, she was only fifteen years old, and
in her home, as the only child and idol of her
parents, had been brought up in the lap of
luxury, and carefully shielded from the
slightest cause of annoyance. It was too
terrible for her to be thus suddenly exposed
to the tender mercies of bandits, whom in
her childish ignorance she mistook for the
demons of her fairy-tales. If beauty could
charm the savage beast, she had enough of
that to move them to pity. But they were
utterly insensible to the pleading gaze of her
dark eyes, and sternly ordered her to hand
over the jewels in which she was richly
decked. From sheer terror she was unable
to obey. Her trembling fingers refused to
detach the pearls from her ears, nose, and
12 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
neck, and the gold bangles from her ankles
and wrists.
Rough hands would soon have stripped her
not only of jewels, but also of her rich em-
broidered garments, had it not been for the
sudden appearance upon the scene of Abbas
Khan and his following. The robbers, unable
to resist such a force, fled precipitately, pursued
by some twenty of the Mogul troopers. Tulsi-
bai remained seated on the ground, a picture
of misery, scarcely realizing that she had
escaped from the perils by which she had
been surrounded. Her countenance, however,
soon began to brighten when her young
deliverer approached. If the robbers were
rakshasas^, he was surely a god. Never had
she seen in human form anything so grand
and beautiful as this handsome young soldier
in all the glory of his martial panoply. Nor
had he ever seen anything so lovely as Tulsibai,
as she sat there before him with her lustrous
eyes full of tears, and with her loveliness
cunningly set off by her bridal array.
For him, at any rate, it was a case of love
at first sight. As with tender care he helped
her into her litter, wild thoughts came surging
^ Rakshasas = demons.
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES 13
through his brain. He would carry her off to
his father's castle, or to some refuge in the
jungle, where, forgotten by the world, they
could live a life of joy and love. Then flashed
through his mind his duty to the noble emperor
whom he served, his honour as a soldier, and
the baseness of taking advantage of the help-
lessness of a weak girl. After a sharp mental
struggle, honour won the day, and before Tulsi-
bai's attendants came back from their hiding-
places, he had resolved to follow the path of
duty, however sore his heart might be.
Abbas Khan escorted Tulsibai's party until
they were in sight of her father-in-law's
mansion. He rode beside her litter absorbed
in deep thought. He could not see her, but
she could, and did, take peeps at him through
the curtains, and every look roused in her
heart strange feelings of afl'ection and ad-
miration for the handsome stranger. At last
they reach the point where their paths
diverge, and must separate for ever. Abbas
Khan bids her farewell in a voice which he
vainly tries to steady. She, regardless of
convention, draws aside the curtain of the
litter and drops into the hand of her deliverer
a diamond ring. Their eyes meet for the last
14 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
time in a long gaze of love and despair, and
they drift apart on tlie waves of life, he to
war and glory, she to the new home her
parents have chosen for her. No doubt she
will be rebuked and endure heavy penance
for her indiscretion, but neither rebuke nor
penance will ever obliterate the image of her
young deliverer from her heart. She may be
married and be a good wife and mother in her
Hindu home, but the dearest memory of her
soul will be the thought of the godlike young
stranger. And he, too, will never forget.
Tulsibai is his first love, and in peace and
in war, whatever his fortunes may be, he
will often think with tender regret of the
fair Hindu girl whom he saved from the
robbers.
II
A year had passed away, and Abbas
Khan once more rode by the banks of the
Rohini. He was mounted on a splendid Arab
horse that he had chosen as his share of the
spoil after a great victory. His shield and
helmet shone as brightly as before, but they
were dinted with many a stroke of sword and
javelin, for in the year that had passed, the
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES 15
young warrior had enjoyed his fill of hard
fio'hting;. He had stood beside Akbar in the
fierce combat with the Mirzas among the
cactus hedges near Surat, and had proved his
manhood on many another hard-fought fiekl.
The war was now over, and Abbas Khan was
returning to take possession of his ancestral
domain, his father having died during his
absence. It may be imagined that his heart
was full of sadness, as he thought of the lonely
home to which he was returning, and of the
fair face he had seen for a moment and lost
for ever in this very place. What to him
were all the honour and glory he had won
if he was to live alone in the world with only
memories of those whom he loved ? No doubt,
in the course of time, youth and health would
dissipate or mitigate his sorrows, but now, as
he rode alone by the banks of the Eohini,
melancholy reigned supreme in his soul, and
even his noble steed seemed infected by his
dejection.
With listless eyes he watched a long Hindu
funeral procession that was winding its way
to the burning ghat^. A large company of
friends and relations were accompanying the
^ Burning ghat — the place where the Hindus burn their dead.
16 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
bier of a boy, who, from tlic costly scarf in
which his corpse was wrapped, and the num-
ber of the mourners, must have belonged to
a rich and powerful family. The litter con-
taining the dead body was borne by four
bareheaded bearers, clad in silk. A long
train of barelegged and barefooted men in
turbans of funereal white walked before the
bier, calling aloud on their god Rama in a
monotonous and lugubrious chant, and at in-
tervals scattering handfuls of rice and jowari^
and small pieces of copper money by the way-
side. The mourner who walked immediately
before the feet of the corpse carried in an
earthen vessel the fire from which the funeral
pyre was to be lighted. There were two
horses in the company. One bore a silent
drum, and on the other rode a horseman
with a furled flag.
Presently, when the procession reached the
burning ghat, it became clear that the per-
formance of the rite of sati^ was contem-
plated. A woman was standing near the
corpse, who was evidently the wife of the
^ Jowari, a coarse species of millet.
- Sati = burning of a living widow on the funeral pyre of her dead
husband.
(M748)
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES 17
dead boy, and was waiting to be consumed
with him on the funeral pyre. The Emperor
Akbar was strongly opposed to this cruel rite,
and did all he could to suppress it, by enact-
ing that no wife was to be so sacrificed except
of her own free-will. Abbas Khan, who with
the enthusiam of youth entered heart and soul
into all the great ideas of the great emperor,
immediately determined to see with his own
eyes that the imperial edict was not violated
in this particular case. So he cantered up to
the funeral pyre, regardless of the scowls with
which he was greeted by the Brahmins and
mourners.
How describe his feelings when he discovered
that the lady about to immolate herself was
she whom he had met and saved on the banks
of the Eohini twelve long months ago ! Tulsi-
bai's husband had been a sickly boy of ten
or eleven years. She had been kind to him,
so that he loved her as he loved none of his
sisters, and would take his medicine from no
other hands but hers. At last the fever from
which he was suffering overpowered him, and
he died.
The young widow had little to tempt her to
live. The rules of caste prevented her from
2 (M748) B
18 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
marrying again, even if she liad wished to do
so. Her beautifid hair would no longer be
Ijraided and anointed with fragrant oil and
adorned with flowers. Instead of jewels and
embroidered robes, she would be compelled
to wear nothing but plain white. Worst of
all, her husband's death would be regarded as
the consequence of some unknown sins that
she had committed, and she would be an evil
omen and an object of loathing and contempt
in the eyes of all who looked upon her. What
wonder, then, that she lent a willing ear to the
Brahmins when they told her how glorious
a thing it would be for her to refuse to survive
her husband? The quick agony of death on
the funeral pyre seemed preferable to the
protracted pain of an unhap^oy life. So she
allowed herself to be led to the sacrifice, and
was ready to face with the calm courage of
despair the terrible death by which a Hindu
wife shows the strength of her affection for
her husband. There she stood, decked out
for the last time in her jewels, the gold of
which the greedy priests were eager to rake
out from among the ashes of the dead. As
Abbas Khan looked upon her, she seemed
motionless and impassive as a marble statue.
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES 19
But when she saw him whom she had never
hoped to see again, the life blood flowed once
more tumultuously through her veins and
flushed her face. Hope began to revive in
her breast, and she felt that it was sad to die
so young and see no more the pleasant light
of the sun.
Abbas Khan was moved even more by pity
for her misfortunes than by admiration for
her loveliness, although in the year that had
elapsed since their last meeting she had
developed from a graceful and pretty girl into
a beautiful woman. He grasped the situation
in a moment, and, riding up to the chief of the
Brahmins, reminded him that the imperial
edict forbade sati, unless the victim were her-
self willing to suffer, " Ask her yourself,"
replied the Brahmin; "she has herself of her
own accord consented to die like a true and
loving wife on her husband's funeral pyre."
Abbas Khan then turned to the young widow
and said : " Know that the great emperor allows
no widow to be sacrificed asfainst her will.
Tell me, then, whether it is of your own free-
will that you thus untimely hurl yourself into
the other world." At these words the desire of
life grew strong in the heart of the unhappy
20 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
girl, and, stretching out her arms to the young
soldier, she cried out, " My lord, you saved
me once before. Ah, save me now, if you can,
from these cruel men! But no, they are
hungry for my death, and will slay you before
me, if you withstand them. Quick, quick,
away from this horrible place and leave me to
my fate!"
On hearing Tulsibai's appeal for help the
Brahmins, fearful of being baulked of their
prey, declared that she had voluntarily come
to her death, and that wild words uttered at
the point of death could not be taken into
account. At the same time they armed them-
selves with heavy sticks from the funeral pyre,
and showed plainly that if the stranger chose
to interfere they w^ould use force. Upon
this, Abbas Khan edged his horse nearer and
nearer to Tulsibai, and eagerly whispered to
her, " If I dismount, we are both lost. Place,
then, your foot in my stirrup, grasp my right
hand behind my back, and I will swing you
up behind me. Once there, you may defy
these ghouls \" The brave Rajput girl suited
her action to his words, and, helped by her
lover's strong right arm, leapt on to the
^ Ghouls = monsters that eat dead bodies.
r-^uliihW-
"TIIKN HE CHARGED THE ENEMY
SAVED FROM TUB FLAMES 21
crupper. Abbas Klian immediately turned liis
horse's head homewards, and without much
difficulty forced a way through the angry crowd.
When they had thus escaped from the burn-
ing ground, a new danger awaited them. Two
Rajput soldiers, who happened to be riding in
the neighbourhood, saw what was going on,
but were too far away to prevent Abbas Khan
from mountino- Tulsibai on his horse behind
him. They were unfortunately on the road
that led to Abbas Khan's castle, and deter-
mined to bar the progress of the fugitives.
There was no time to delay. Abbas Khan
told his fair burden to take her hand from
his sword-arm and hold firmly on to his belt
instead. Then he charged the enemy, direct-
ing his force especially upon the Rajput on his
right hand, who seemed the more powerful of
the two. As they came to close quarters, one
sword-cut fell on his shield, another on his
helmet, but failed to check his course. He
delivered a stunning I3I0W with his sword, as
he passed, on the head of the enemy on his left,
and at the same time charged straight at the
Rajput on the right, whose horse went down
before the heavier steed of the Moslem and
threw its rider in the dust. The other Rajput,
22 TALES OF INDIAN CHIVALRY
dizzy with tlie blow he had received, shrank
from continuing the combat single - handed
against such a formidable antagonist, and
preferred to dismount and assist his fallen
comrade, leaving the path open to Abbas
Khan. A short ride brought him to his
father's castle, where he was soon after married
to his Rajput bride.
Tulsibai's father was easily induced to ac-
quiesce in what he could not prevent. He
was very fond of his only daughter, and in his
heart rejoiced that she had escaped the Indian
widow's evil choice between a miserable life and
death on hor husband's funeral pyre. Abbas
Khan had already won the Emperor Akbar's
approval by his gallantry on the field of l^attle,
and certainly did not lose ground in his favour
by preventing a sati and marrying a Eajput
wife. By both these actions he followed the
lead of his emperor and identified himself with
Akbar's imperial policy, as few of the Mogul
aristocracy had been willing to do. The natural
result was that he received many substantial
marks of the emperor's favour, and became in
course of time one of his greatest generals and
most trusty councillors
1. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pakhtu/message/19930
2. http://pukhtunwomen.org/node/308
3. http://www.geocities.com/itspakinfo/valley.html
4. http://www.india-forum.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t1464-0.html
5. http://tripatlas.com/Gandhara
6. http://www.tvwiki.tv/wiki/Pashtun
7. http://indiaculture.net/talk/messages/128/9583.html?1165813312
8. http://www.afghanforums.com/showthread.php?t=6475
9. http://www.travel-culture.com/rockcity/swat.htm
10. http://www.khyber.org/pashtoplaces/swathistory.shtml
11. http://www.pakistan4ever.com/nwfp/swat_valley_kalaam.asp
12. http://gorakhpur.nic.in/chap3.htm
13. http://dilazak.blogspot.com/
14. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/text.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V20_130.gif
15. http://www.answers.com/topic/pakhtunkhwa
16. http://www.answers.com/topic/hindkowans
17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilazak
18. http://www.freewebs.com/icebeak/
19. http://www.freewebs.com/ishaat/detail.htm
20. http://ishaatkhan.googlepages.com/FAMILYTREEOFDILAZAKPATHANS.htm
21. http://ishaatkhan.googlepages.com/home
22. http://www.geocities.com/ishaatkhan/great_outdoors.html
23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bajaur_1519
24. http://homepages.uel.ac.uk/viq7761t/nwfp.htm
25. http://www.pashto.org/chaikhaana/showthread.php?p=54174
26. http://www.itagz.com/karlani/
27. http://www.startsurfing.com/encyclopedia/p/a/t/Pathan.html
28. http://www.khyber.org/pashtoplaces/swat.shtml
29. http://ishaatkhan.googlepages.com/
30. http://www.freewebs.com/ishaat/detail.htm
31. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLC987yiWjk
32. http://www.seniorfitness.com/Dilazak_link.html
33. http://www.mattfind.com/Dilazak
34. http://askjot.com/search/Dilazak
35. http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/youtube/search/Dilazak
36. http://www.ishaatkhan.bravehost.com/
37. http://ishaatkhan.wetpaint.com/thread
38. http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Karlan
39. http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/beveridge-baburnama/page_967
40. http://www.swatian.com/history/culture.html
CLICK HERE FOR DETAIL HISTORY OF DILAZAK
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse