TIMUR BEG. 
101 
of the capital. Such was the consternation in the 
city, that Mahmood Toghluk and his minister quitted 
Delhi during the night. Timur received the homage 
of all the chief men, who crowded to his camp, and 
were graciously promised his protection upon condi- 
tion of raising a suitable tribute. On the following 
Friday, the conqueror caused himself to be proclaim- 
ed Emperor of Hindostan, and the usual titles to be 
read in his name in all the mosques.* The next 
day, some resistance having been made to those 
persons deputed to collect the tribute, Timur sent a 
body of troops into Delhi to enforce the contribution. 
These began to plunder, and at length universal con- 
fusion prevailed through the capital, which was fired in 
several places by the fanatical Hindoos, who, fearing a 
common massacre, set fire to their houses, as at Bhut- 
neer, murdered their wives and children, and fell upon 
the Moghuls with a fury dictated by despair. This 
led to a general slaughter of the inhabitants, and the 
whole city was deluged with blood. Such was the pro- 
digious carnage, that in many places the streets were 
rendered impassable by the heaps of slain. The gates 
being thrown open, the entire Moghul army entered, 
and a scene of horror ensued perhaps unparalleled in 
the annals of human warfare. The frantic courage 
of the Delhi troops was of little avail against the 
superior discipline of the Jagatays, flushed by a long 
tide of success, and led by the greatest commander 
of his age and of his country. Their fierce despair 
for a while rendered them desperate, but was at 
length slaked in their own gore, and they finally 
* See Ferishta, Brigg’s translation, vol. i. p. 492. 
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