The Mongols at Siwistan

01The recapture

Barani records that soon after Jalandhar a Mongol force under Saldi and his brother occupied Siwistan, on the Indus near the shrine town of Sehwan. Zafar Khan marched against it. Barani says he took the fort by direct assault, using arrows, swords and spears rather than siege engines, and captured Saldi, his brother and many of their men, who were sent to Delhi. The feat made Zafar Khan the most celebrated soldier of the army.

02Fame and envy

Barani adds that Zafar Khan’s success made Alauddin and his brother Ulugh Khan jealous, and that the sultan considered removing him. The question was settled the next year at Kili, where Zafar Khan charged the main Mongol army and died. Siwistan remained a frontier post of the Sultanate in Sindh, guarding the lower Indus against raids from the west. Sehwan itself is remembered today chiefly for its Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, built in the following century.