1847.] Account of the Town and Palace of Feerozabad. 983 



marched out of Feerozabad, and drove Nusseer-ood-deen with great 

 slaughter, quite out of Dehli. Another engagement soon after took 

 place in Dehli, but which part it is difficult to ascertain from the 

 context. After this engagement, Aboo Bukr, hearing of treason in 

 his household, fled to his Mewatee friend, leaving Nusseer-ood-deen, 

 to take quiet possession of " Dehli and its Palace." He shortly after 

 pursued the ex-King into Meerut, there took him prisoner, and con- 

 fined him in Meerut. It is added that he died there some years after, 

 but we may safely infer, that he obtained a conditional degree of liberty, 

 as tradition ascribes to him, the excavation which divides Meerut, at 

 the present day, into the black and white town. That he died a man 

 of some consideration is evident from his tomb still standing in a state 

 of considerable preservation west of, and close to, the jail at Meerut, 

 Nusseer-ood-deen himself seems, subsequently, to have resided chiefly 

 in the town and fort of Mahomedabad, built by his father's predeces- 

 sor (his grand uncle) Mahomed Togluk, and died there. 



The son of Nusseer-ood-deen reigned only 45 days, and the nobles 

 who had, by tbis time, become all-powerful, raised the younger son of 

 Nusseer-ood-deen to the throne. His name was Mahmood Togluk, 

 and in the accounts of his disastrous reign, we find more frequent men- 

 tion of Feerozabad than at any previous period, and we may infer that 

 it was again in his time, a place of almost as great importance as 

 Dehli itself. The head of a faction, formed at the very commencement 

 of the reign of Mahmood, named Saadut Khan, having defeated the 

 king's party headed by Mookurreeb Khan (Vakeel-oos-Sultanut, and 

 Ameer-ool-omra) outside of Dehli, would have besieged him in that 

 place, but the rains having set in, he was unable to keep the field, 

 struck his tents, and marched into Feerozabad. He called in a grand 

 son of Feeroz Togluk, named Noosrut Khan, with the view of setting 

 him up against Mahmood, but some household troops, who had hitherto 

 sided with Saadut Khan, seized this Prince, placed him on an elephant, 

 and having advanced against Saadut Khan, expelled him from the city 

 of Feerozabad. 



" The misfortunes of the state," says Ferishta,* " daily increased. The 



owners of Feerozabad, and some of the provinces, espoused the cause 



of Noosrut Shah. Those of Dehli, and other places, supported the 



title of Mahmood Togluk. The government fell into anarchy; civil 



* Brigg's Translation. 



