The Sun and the Lion

Down the river from Multan, the Safavid army quickly moved south into the Sindh region, and was replenished on the way - the Baloch tribesmen gathered in Sibi joined the ranks of the King of Kings, and there were enough Thousands of people.

Because of Mahmoud's warning, the defenders of the Suma Dynasty were prepared in advance, but their military strength was really not enough. No fortified stronghold could last for a day. As soon as the Safavid army arrived, all the defenders rushed towards it like a tide. Retreat south.

In just two weeks, Ibrahim traveled across the entire Sindh and arrived at the city of Thatta. The Sultan of Sindh, Jam Nizamuddin, urgently called Mahmud who was taking refuge here to discuss with him solutions to the current predicament.

"Nizamuddin, I made it very clear when I first came here. The ambitions of these conquerors are not limited to Punjab. He wants the entire land on both sides of the Indus River. Instead of asking you to accuse you of hiding the enemy, you will not lead the generals. The land is completely handed over for him to control, and you offer me, a sinner, and your wealth, and even your harem will not be spared!"

Mahmoud's words made him at a loss. The already old and frail Sultan of Sindh could not withstand such fright, so he had to sit down slowly and slowly digest the information.

Seeing that the Sultan of Sindh almost lost his breath, Mahmoud was a little frightened: "God, the most merciful and merciful God, is going to call you to leave this world at this critical moment? What should Sindh do?"

"Then what can we do now? Even the master of Delhi City cannot resist. Is it possible that the only way to surrender is to surrender?" Nizamuddin, who was relieved of his anger, looked at the exiled Sultan of Multan angrily, but now he was without a master. Also counting on the other party to help come up with ideas.

The advice given by Mahmood was simple: "Thatta is connected to the sea by water, so it is better to go directly down the river to seek shelter in Gujarat."

Nizamuddin rejected this suggestion: "If you want to leave, I can arrange a ship to let you go. I don't have a few years to live, so what's the point of escaping to Gujarat?"

It didn't matter to him whether the Sultan of Sindh himself ran away. Since he had successfully seized the opportunity to escape, there was no need to continue to entangle with him.

"This guy is very cruel. If you insist on staying here...may God bless you!" Mahmoud was about to leave immediately, waiting for the Sultan of Sindh to prepare the ship.

Perhaps due to luck, he had just left Thatta by boat. The next day, the Safavid army arrived at the city and demanded the surrender of the Sindh Sultan.

Rejected, Ibrahim immediately set up camp and besieged the city. The artillery effectively blocked the river channel and cut off all connections between Thatta and the outside world. This greatly reduced the morale of the defenders who had originally pinned their hopes on water transportation.

The ensuing shelling took several days to destroy the battlements on the city wall. The Sindhi soldiers, who had seen the power of artillery, refused to defend the wall. When the Safavid soldiers climbed up the city wall through long ladders, no one stopped them. The city fortifications were thus destroyed. Give up.

Ibrahim felt happy that Thatda changed hands so easily. He immediately ordered to pardon the death penalty of the Sultan of Sindh and just exiled his family to the desert. Such proper treatment of the defeated was a good start for the aftermath.

He immediately followed the usual practice of counting the spoils and setting up administrative institutions to establish his rule over Sind. After completing these aftermath tasks, Ibrahim would return to Kandahar via Quetta and over the Bolan Pass, ending this fruitful Eastern Expedition. Traveled.

Before that, he also went to the coast to check the seaport connected to Thatta, and ordered the expansion of the port for the naval fleet and the construction of forts and forts for coastal defense.

Perhaps we can also recruit ships and transport some of the loot by sea? However, the navy did not dispatch warships to support this military operation. Ibrahim, who was worried about safety, did not turn this idea into reality at the moment.

Within the next week, envoys from various cities that had been under the rule of the Sind Sultan arrived one after another. Ibrahim received them publicly in the courtyard of the palace and asked them to declare their allegiance.

There were also some cities that were not very active in surrendering and needed to be tortured by the King of Kings. Once the Safavid army arrived, these settlements were quickly captured and brutally looted and massacred.

After several deterrent actions, the rumors about the disaster in Delhi were finally confirmed. No one dared to hesitate under the threat of Ibrahim and completely allowed the conqueror to arrange a new order.

…………

“Thatta, which is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Indus River, is no different from a port city. The commercial activities here are very prosperous. You can find a large amount of spices, cotton cloth, gems, perfumes, medicinal materials in the market here... I dare say that it is better than Cochin. The trading post is more prosperous, and even the recent war has not affected the trade here. The only disadvantage is that it is too deep inland and the narrow river is difficult to pass. Any round ship or long ship I have seen is difficult to capture. .”

After establishing a foothold on the Malabar Coast, the scope of the Portuguese's activities continued to expand. What Ibrahim did not expect was that a Portuguese spy and traveler disguised as an Arab merchant happened to be in the city and witnessed the brief siege. and the subsequent aftermath of the occupation.

"In addition to the wealth and prosperity of Thatta, the local political changes attracted my attention and interest even more. I heard the sound of cannons and shells hitting the city walls. Find the bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com If I were not in India , I thought there was an army belonging to the Turkish Sultan outside the city. The city fell not long after that. The victors spared these citizens and restricted military discipline. This gave me the opportunity to visit and understand this strange army. and its owner.”

After entering the outer camp of the military personnel under the guise of a businessman, he carefully observed the soldiers who came out to interact with the military personnel, and found several of them trying to talk.

"I'm sure that the monarch who controls this army has a vast territory. The soldiers in his military camp are obviously from different ethnic groups. There are Turkic riders wearing red hats, and there are uniforms in blue clothes and red trousers with turbans and helmets. Saracen musketeers and mountain warriors from the region, as well as Christians, mostly Georgians and Armenians, who served the pagan monarchs like the Turkish army."

He then talked about the management of the camp for the military personnel: "The Saracen quartermaster's management of the military personnel is very strict. This place is closed like a soldier's camp, and outsiders can only enter after being inspected and getting permission. Everyone, whether they are traders, craftsmen or doctors, or even prostitutes and ordinary laundry workers, need to be registered and managed. Several subordinates of the quartermaster are responsible for different types of military personnel. They will try their best to remember or provide registration information to the registration personnel. mark……"

In short, despite the deduction points of the Baloch tribal army, the Portuguese still tried his best to praise the Safavid army of Thatta and equaled it with the Ottoman army - although his knowledge of the Ottoman army came from other people. paraphrase. It was believed that the Portuguese sailors under the Vice-King were undisciplined, poorly managed, and had only "love for Christ, loyalty to the king, and the pursuit of wealth" and were unable to fight against such an army.

In this regard, he planned to try his best to collect more information for the deputy king's reference.