240 Translations from the Tarihh i Firuzshdhi. [No. 3, 
captains and the servants of his government, he advanced in honours 
and provided with all that they needed, and shewed them much kind¬ 
ness. And though he had become a king, nevertheless he ceased not 
to sit as of old with them. With his former servants and dependants, 
also, he laid aside the majesty of his kingship, but maintained the 
former intercourse. In courage also, and in cunning and strategy 
in matters pertaining to war, among all the chiefs and captains of 
Hindustan and Khurasan was there none like unto Sultan Tughluq 
Shah; for if I were to tell of all his battles and his wars, I suppose 
that another book would not suffice. Would that he had reigned 
yet a few more years, that he might have carried the knowledge of 
Islam to the East and to the West, so that the kingdoms of the in¬ 
fidel and the parts of the heretic should have come under the rule 
of that king of Islam ! For while he ruled, he surpassed the glory 
of Kustam, and had he been spared from death, he would have 
excelled the deeds of Alexander. All that Sultan ’Alauddin did 
with so much shedding of blood, and crooked policy, and oppres¬ 
sion, and great violence, in order that he might establish his rule 
throughout the cities of his empire, Sultan Tughluq Shah in the space 
of four years accomplished without any contention or fraud, or hard¬ 
ness, or slaughter. Those therefore who consider the matter, being 
men of experience, say that the reign and the duration of the 
government of Sultan Tughluq Shah was among the chiefest of the 
blessings of God, and these men praise God thankfully, and offer to 
Him honour; while the craving of the envious and the covetous, 
which would not be satisfied with the treasures of Garun, were set 
at nought by the glory of the government of such a king: and their 
evil longings were disappointed, so that they spoke bitterly and 
ceased not to revile him, and expected anxiously that such a one, 
in whom the world found rest, should die. 
The first appointment of Sultan Muhammad, at that time 
called Ulugh Khan, to capture Arankul. 
Now it came to pass that in the year 722, Sultan Gliiasuddfn Tugh¬ 
luq Shah gave to Sultan Muhammad the emblems of royalty, and 
appointed to him a host, and bade him depart into the country of 
Arankul, and the parts of Taling. And with him there were sent 
