No More Learning

Here he summoned his nobles
and commanded them to capture the fortress while he yet lived.
About the time of the evening prayer it was reported to him that
Kalinjar had been taken by storm and its garrison put to the sword,
and on learning this he died content on 22 May, 1545.
He has received scant justice from historians. The annalists of the
Timurids have been obliged to admit, ungraciously, his merits as a
soldier and a statesman, but to them he was ever Sher Khan, the
Afghan rebel, and their works have chiefly supplied the material for
European histories of India. He was, however, the greatest of the
Muslim rulers of India and was entirely free from, and active in the
correction of, the faults usually associated with his race. In youth
1 25° 1' N. , 80° 29' E.
2 It was more probably Bir Bhan the Baghel Raja of Rewah, a friend of
Humayun, see Memoir 21, Arch. Survey of India, p. 3 (Ed. ].


## p. 56 (#88) ##############################################

50
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
and early manhood he had sedulously devoted himself to the acquisi-
tion of learning and the study of the art of government, and found
an opportunity of putting his knowledge into practice in the admini-
stration of the parganas which his father placed under his charge,
where, also in the suppression of rebellion and organised brigandage,
he gained practical experience of the art of war, and thenceforward,
for a short time in Babur's service, then in that of Sultan Muhammad
of Bihar, and then as independent ruler of that kingdom, he devoted
the whole of his time to affairs of state, allowing himself no leisure,
and by the time he attained to supreme authority he was ultimately
acquainted with all the details of civil administration, as no other
Indian ruler, before or since, has been.
The basis of Indian administration is the assessment and collection
of the land revenue, and Sher Shah's system was his own. To each
pargana he appointed an amin responsible for the general administra-
tion, a shiqqdar, his assistant, who supervised the assessment and col-
lection of the revenue, a treasurer, and two clerks, or secretaries, to
keep the records or accounts, one in Persian and the other in Hindi,
The cultivated land was measured every harvest, and the revenue
was assessed in cash on the value of the produce. To each sarkar,
or revenue district, were appointed a chief shiqqdar and a chief
munsif, whose duty it was to see that the revenue was collected in
full, but that the cultivators were not oppressed.
There was, however, one weak point in his system, which facilitated
peculation and illicit profits. It was his custom to transfer his revenue
officials every year or two, his reason for this measure being that all
his old and loyal servants might profit by the charge of a revenue
district. This pernicious practice encouraged officials to make all that
they could in the short time during which they held office.
The administration of the army was even more efficient. The
system of branding the horses of the contingents which assignees
were bound to supply, to prevent them from borrowing horses for
the muster-parades, had been invented by the Saljuqs in the twelfth
century but the only Indian ruler who had hitherto been able to
enforce it had been 'Ala-ud-din Khalji. Sher Shah enforced it
rigorously. The great Akbar after him attempted, but failed, and his
secretary Abu-'l-Fazl contemptuously observes that Sher Shah sought
the applause of posterity by reviving the regulation of 'Ala-ud-din,
of which he had read, but the remark is typical of Akbar's panegyrist,
whose bitterness may perhaps be explained by his master's failure.
Among the graver difficulties overcome by Sher Shah was that
offered by the character of his own people, proud, turbulent, dis-
obedient and vindictive, ever ready to prefer family and tribal to
national interests. Buhlul Lodi had been content with the position
of leader of a confederacy of tribal chiefs, primus inter pares, but Sher
1 See chap. XVI, p. 456.


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CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS AND BUILDINGS 57
Shah perceived that to expel the Timurids from India and prevent
their return the authority of a tribal chief would not suffice, and that
he must wield that of a sovereign. He constantly warned his nobles
that it was owing to the feuds and quarrels of the Afghans and to
their lack of a national spirit that Babur had been able to invade and
establish himself in India, and his admonitions, enforced by sterner
measures, were so effective that, perhaps for the only time in history,
he, an Afghan himself, established and ruled an Afghan kingdom in
which none was for a party and all were for the state.
The Afghan sovereign who surmounted so many difficulties and
raised himself from the condition of a petty assignee to that of ruler
of a great empire was also a builder and a road-maker. Of his four
great roads one ran from Sonargaon in Bengal through Agra, Delhi
and Lahore to the Indus, one from Agra to Mandu, one from Agra
to Jodhpur and Chitor, and one from Lahore to Multan. On either
side of all were planted fruit trees, and beside them were erected
1700 caravanserais, with separate lodgings for Muslims and Hindus
and servants to supply food to those of each religion. Grain and
fodder were supplied for horses and cattle, and each caravanserai
contained a well and a mosque of burnt brick, with a mu'azzin and
an imam in attendance. A police official kept the peace and prevented
crime and two post-horses were stabled in each building for the use
of riders conveying the royal mail. Of these caravanserais no trace
remains, for the Timurids were not careful to maintain memorials
of the Afghan rebel.
Besides building Rohtas, near Jhelum, Sher Shah built two forts
at Delhi, extended the city towards the Jumna, and built forts at
Kanauj and elsewhere. Crime was rigorously suppressed and the
headmen of villages were held responsible for the surrender of those
who committed crimes in their villages or of criminals who took
refuge in them. Even the historians of the Timurids admit that in
the Afghan's reign an old woman with a basket of gold could safely
sleep in the open plain at night without a guard, and the historian
Badauni, born in 1540, imitates the founder of his faith by thanking
God that he was born the subject of so just a king. It was India's
grave misfortune that this great king did not, as he himself once
exclaimed when observing his grey hairs in a mirror, ascend the
throne until the time of evening prayer. His body was borne to
Sasaram and there a splendid mausoleum, which still stands, was
raised above it. He was a pious and rigidly orthodox Muslim, but
was liberal and tolerant. The most flagrant act of his life was his
breach of faith with Puran Mal and the massacre of the Hindus after
the surrender of Raisen; but those Hindus had committed the gravest
of all offences against Islam, and Sher Shah was convinced that his
faith required the violation of a pledge which should never have
been given.


## p. 58 (#90) ##############################################

58
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
He left two sons, 'Adil Khan and Jalal Khan. The nobles, eager
to avoid strife by filling the throne with the least possible delay,
summoned Jalal Khan from Patna and enthroned him at Kalinjar
on 26 May, 1545, only four days after his father's death, under the
title of Islam Shah, a title corrupted by some historians, by the figure
known as imala, into Islim Shah and again into Salim Shah, but the
new king's correct title, as appears from his coins, was Islam Shah.
Islam Shah wrote to his elder brother in Ranthambhor promising
to surrender the crown, and urged him to hasten to Agra, but ‘Adi
Khan was suspicious and required the guarantee and the personal
escort of four great nobles. His request was granted and Islam Shah,
who at Kalinjar had put to death Kirat Singh and seventy of his
chief followers, marched to meet his brother. They met near Fathpur
Sikri and marched to Agra, where Islam Shah's behaviour, though he
feigned to offer the throne to his brother, was so suspicious that 'Adil
Khan declared that he required no more than a subordinate charge
and permission to depart in peace. Islam Shah was loth to let him
go free, but the four great nobles who had guaranteed his safety
insisted that faith should be kept, and 'Adil Khan went to Bayana,
the charge selected by him. Two months later 'Adil Khan fled from
Bayana in consequence of an attempt made by Islam Shah to arrest
and bring him to court. He took refuge with Khavass Khan, who
had always been a partisan of 'Adil Khan, and now openly declared
for him. They marched on Agra where they had hopes of support,
but delayed on the way. In the meantime Islam Shah had discovered
the plot and-marched against the rebels. Meeting them at a village
about ten miles to the west of the city he defeated them, and 'Adil
Khan fled, alone and unattended, towards Patna, where he dis-
appeared. Khavass Khan retired into Mewat, and defeated at
Firuzpur an army sent in pursuit of him by Islam Shah, but, being
well aware that he could not long resist all the power of the crown,
retired to his former assignment, Sirhind. Islam Shah sent an officer
in pursuit with 40,000 horse, but he and Khavass Khan understood
one another, and Khavass Khan was permitted to retire through
Katehr (Rohilkhand) to find a refuge on the lower slopes of the
Kumaun hills.
The extent of the conspiracy to raise 'Adil Khan to the throne
filled Islam Shah with suspicion of all his nobles. Some were stripped
of their possessions and imprisoned, others were confined in Gwalior
and drugged with a preparation of poppy-heads until they became
imbecile, and many were put to death. The place of the old nobles
slain or imprisoned was taken by the officers of the troops which
Islam Shah had commanded before ascending the throne, and many
of the private soldiers of that contingent were promoted to fill their
places.
1 27° 41' N. , 76° 56E.


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REBELLION OF THE NIYAZIS
59
These measures seriously alarmed those who remained, and revived
tribal jealousies, especially in the Niyazi tribe. Sa'id Khan fled to
his brother, Haibat Khan Niyazi, governor of Lahore, and persuaded
him to head a revolt against the tyrant. Qutb Khan, who had been
implicated in the attempt to raise 'Adil Khan to the throne, joined
them, and Islam Shah demanded his surrender. So little were the
tribal chiefs capable of a common course that Haibat Khan, actuated
probably by some private grudge, surrendered him, and he was
imprisoned in Gwalior with fourteen of the other old nobles.
The attitude of the rebels in the Punjab was now so menacing that
Islam Shah marched against them and was joined at Delhi by
Shuja'at Khan. The rebels, meanwhile, advanced to Ambala and
there the armies met.
The night before the battle Haibat Khan and Khavass Khan,
who had joined him from the Kumaun hills, held a council to decide
who should be raised to the throne in the event of their defeating
Islam Shah. Khavass Khan remained loyal to the Sur tribe and
maintained that the right of 'Adil Khan, whose whereabouts he seems
to have known, was indefeasible, but Haibat Khan, placing his per-
sonal ambition before the loyalty to the family of his old master,
declared that the crown was the prize of the sword. The next day,
when the forces met, Khavass Khan, refusing to aid the Niyazi chief
to gain a crown, withdrew his contingent and retired into Kumaun.
The Niyazis were defeated, but before they fled an unsuccessful
attempt was made to murder the king.
Islam Shah pursued the Niyazis as far as New Rohtas and then
returned towards Agra, leaving a force to continue the pursuit. This
force was defeated at Dungot i on the Indus and retired to Sirhind,
while the Niyazis took refuge with the Gakkhars and finally in
Kashmir.
Islam Shah now, having failed to persuade the Raja of Kumaun
to surrender Khavass Khan, entered into communication with
Khavass Khan himself and, after recording a solemn oath that he
had forgiven him all his offences, begged him to attend at court and
proceed against the Rana of Mewar who had plundered the royal
territories and carried off the wives and daughters of Muslims. At
the same time he sent orders to the governor of Sambhal to put
Khavass Khan to death so soon as he should come within reach.
Khavass Khan, disregarding the warning of his host, the Raja, obeyed
the summons and was met at Sirsi, only six miles from Sambha! ,
by the governor, who, although he owed advancement to him, caused
him to be assassinated in his tent at night, and sent his head, on a
spear, and his body, stuffed with straw, to Islam Shah. Thus perished
the noblest and the ablest of the adherents of the Sur dynasty
(1546).
171° 40' E. , 32° 58' N.
1


## p. 60 (#92) ##############################################

60
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
Islam Shah still persisted in attempts to destroy men who had
served his father well and might have served him equally well, had
they been trusted. He secretly employed an Afghan to stab Shuja'at
Khan of Malwa on his way to court. The wounded noble, though
visited by the king who professed great concern, as soon as his wound
was healed, hastily left the court at Gwalior, without permission, and
retired into Malwa (1547). The king pursued him, and Shuja‘at
Khan might have defeated him, but refused to attack his sovereign
and withdrew into the rugged tract of Banswara, and Islam Shah,
having nominally dismissed him from the government of Malwa, was
obliged to turn towards the Punjab, where the Niyazis yet defied his
authority. The rebels had again established themselves in Dungot,
but a royal force defeated them and captured the mother and
daughters of Haibat Khan, who for two years were exhibited once
a week in a state of nudity in Islam Shah's hall of public audience
and at the end of that time were put to death. The remnant of the
Niyazis again took refuge with the Gakkhars whom Islam Shah
endeavoured for two years to subdue. Their chief successfully eluded
him, but he took one of their principal leaders, flayed him alive and
imprisoned his son in Gwalior.
It was not only the old nobles of Sher Shah's court who were
harassed by persecution. In an attempt made on the king's life at
this time his assailant was overpowered and slain, but the sword
with which he was armed was found to be one which Islam Shan
had himself presented to Iqbal Khan, an infantry soldier whom he
had ennobled. Iqbal Khan's complicity was not fully proved, and
his life was spared, but he was again reduced to the condition of a
private soldier.
The wretched king now learned of a plot to remove him and raise
to the throne his cousin and brother-in-law, Mubariz Khan Sur, but,
fearful of arousing the suspicion and resentment of his wife, sister of
Mubariz Khan, he refrained from disclosing his knowledge, and
contented himself with the precaution of increasing the guard over
his tents.
The Niyazis, finding that the Gakkhars could no longer afford
them a secure refuge, retreated to Kashmir and there intervened in
the dispute between Mirza Haidar, the conqueror and ruler of
Kashmir, and the Chakk tribe. The Chakk tribe was eventually
,
victorious and afterwards attacked Haibat Khan and his force of
Niyazis. The Niyazis, though they defended themselves valiantly,
Bibi Rabi'a, Haibat Khan's wife, fighting like a man, were out-
numbered and overpowered and all were slain.
Islam Shah, in camp near the Chenab, was thus relieved of the
menace of this long-standing rebellion, and he now received at his
court Kamran Mirza, fleeing before his brother Humayun. The prince
was haughtily received, was obliged to humiliate himself before his


## p. 61 (#93) ##############################################

DEATH OF ISLAM SHAH. MESSIANIC PROPAGANDA 61
host, and became the butt of the Afghan nobles, who ridiculed him
in Hindi, which he did not understand. Thus goaded he uttered some
Persian verses reflecting on the king, and was placed in open arrest,
but succeeded in making his escape and took refuge with Sultan
Adam the Gakkhar, who surrendered him to Humayun on receiving
an assurance that his life should be spared.
After returning to Delhi Islam Shah learned that Humayun had
crossed the Indus, and, though seriously ill, tore off some leeches
which had been applied to his neck and set out for Lahore, but on
arriving there learned that his enemy had gone back to Kabul, so
he returned to Gwalior, his favourite place of residence. Here he
spent his time chiefly in sport but continued so to harass his nobles
that they conspired to assassinate him. He escaped by good fortune,
and the chief conspirators were put to death and others were im-
prisoned. He now suggested to his wife that her brother, whose
partisans increased in number, should be removed lest his pretensions
should injure the interests of their son, but she insisted that her
brother was a mere nonentity who cared for nothing but music,
pleasure and dissipation, to which he was devoting his time in order
to avert suspicion. The known partisans of Mubariz Khan meanwhile
refused to attend court together, lest they should be seized and put
to death, and the king dared not proceed against those who attended
singly lest the remainder should rise against him. His health now
failed but he concealed his malady from others and cauterized with
his own hand a growth from which he suffered, so injuring himself
that he fell mortally sick. He made a final appeal to his wife to
remove her brother, and, as she merely burst into tears, turned his
face to the wall and died on 22 November, 1554.
At this period there was much unrest among Muslims in India.
The millennium of Muhammad's flight from Mecca was approaching
and there was a belief, not universal, but widely current, that the
manifestation of the Mahdi, who was to convert the whole world to
Islam, to fill the earth with equity and justice as it had been filled
with tyranny and oppression, and to reign for seven years, was about
to take place. In 1504, in the reign of Ibrahim Lodi, one Sayyid
Muhammad of Jaunpur had given definite form to this doctrine,
and had at length claimed to be the Mahdi, but had died on his
return from the pilgrimage to Mecca. In Sher Shah's reign Shaikh
'Ala'i, son of Shaikh Hasan, one of the most highly respected religious
teachers in Bengal, made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and on his return
established himself in Bayana as his father's successor, but after a
time fell under the influence of Shaikh 'Abdullah Niyazi, an Afghan
who had been a follower of Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpur. The
two leaders confined their teaching and preaching, the distinctive
mark of which was rigid puritanism, to the poor. They kept no goods
or means of livelihood, but they and their followers always went


## p. 62 (#94) ##############################################

62
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
armed, and made it their business to enforce as well as to make the
laws. They admonished any whom they found in the city or in the
market doing an act which they judged to be unlawful or irreligious,
and, if he paid no heed to their warnings, administered chastisement,
and they permitted no interference with their actions by officials,
though they aided all magistrates who acted in accordance with their
tenets and principles. This defiance of constituted authority rendered
'Ala'i so obnoxious to the magistracy and the public that by the
advice of ‘Abdullah Niyazi he set out once more for Mecca, but, on
reaching Khavasspur, near Jodhpur, he succeeded in converting
Khavass Khan, then governor of Sher Shah's territories in Rajasthan,
to his views. His fanatical condemnation of all worldly enjoyment
soon, however, disgusted Khavass Khan, and 'Ala'i returned to
Bayana, where he was living when Islam Shah ascended the throne.
He was summoned to Agra, appeared at court with a large band of
ragged and dirty armed followers, saluted the king as an equal and
bore himself most insolently. Maulana 'Abdullah of Sultanpur,
entitled Makhdum-ul-Mulk, of whom more will be heard in Akbar's
reign, held the office of Sadr-us-Sudur, or chief jurist, and unsparingly
condemned 'Ala'i as a schismatic.
Shaikh 'Ala'i continued, however, to preach, and the learned
Shaikh Mubarak of Nagaur, who played a very prominent part in
Akbar's reign and was ever in search of something new in the way of
religion, attached himself to 'Ala'i and became a Mahdavi. Many
of the courtiers too, who had at first jeered at the uncouth preacher,
became, to the king's indignation, his disciples. Islam Shah hesitated
to follow the advice of the orthodox theologians, who decreed that
the heretic should be put to death, and banished him to the Deccan
where the Mahdavi doctrines had many adherents, but 'Ala'i travelled
no further than Handiya, the frontier-town on the Narbada, where
he converted the governor, Bihar Khan, and the greater number of
his troops. “Ala'i was then recalled.
Islam Shah, on his way to the Punjab to suppress the rebellion
of the Niyazis, halted at Bhasawar, near Bayana, and ordered the
governor of Bayana, Miyan Bahwa Lohani, to produce Shaikh 'Ab-
dullah. Bahwa, who was his disciple, was unwilling to deliver his
spiritual guide to the king. 'Abdullah, though he voluntarily appeared,
refused to salute the king, and Islam Shah angrily asked, "Is this the
master of Shaikh 'Ala'i? " Makhdum-ul-Mulk replied, "The very
man", whereupon Shaikh 'Abdullah was so severely beaten that he
fell as if dead, but he recovered from his punishment and after
wandering for some time settled at Sirhind, where he renounced
the Mahdavi creed, preached against the doctrines of the sect, and
became an orthodox teacher. He received a grant of land from Akbar,
and died in 1592 in the ninetieth year of his age.
Shaikh 'Ala'i was sent to Shaikh Budh, a learned and orthodox


## p. 63 (#95) ##############################################

CHARACTER OF ISLAM SHAH
63
physician in Bihar, who was commanded to examine him and to
issue a fatwa, or authoritative decree, regarding his doctrines and
the punishment due to one who held them, but although 'Ala'i
behaved arrogantly and insolently Shaikh Budh shrank from the
responsibility of condemning him. His sons, however, wrote a letter
in his name, recommending that the decision of Makhdum-ul-Mulk,
Sadr-us-Sudur, the most discriminating of the jurists of the day, should
be enforced, and sent it, with 'Ala'i, to the royal camp in the Punjab.
Here 'Ala'i refused to recant, and was made over to Makhdum-ul-
Mulk, who sentenced him to a flogging. His weakness, owing to bad
health and the fatigue of his journey, was so great that at the third
stripe he succumbed and died (1548). His body was trampled on
by an elephant, and was left unburied. After his death the Mahdavi
movement in northern India died down, but it flourished longer in
the Deccan.
Islam Shah had no share of the great qualities of his father, who
stood alone among the Afghans, while the son had all the faults
attributed to them. He was suspicious, cruel, vindictive and narrow-
minded, unable to "think imperially" and dominated by clan or
family feeling. His treatment of his nobles recalls the folly of another
Afghan ruler, Ibrahim Lodi, but his cruelty exceeded Ibrahim's.
During his father's life he had been closely associated with the greatest
of his nobles, Khavass Khan, whose services, eclipsing those of the
prince, aroused his jealousy, and whose experience of the prince's
character decided him to adopt the cause of his elder brother, 'Adil
Khan. Even after 'Adil Khan's disappearance Islam Shah's suspicions
of his nobles remained alive, and it was his treatment of them that
caused the Niyazis to rebel, and alienated them from his house. He
was unable, in spite of his cruelty, to control the tribal chieftains, and
the clan feuds which Sher Shah had suppressed broke out afresh and
made it clear that empire was not for the Afghans.
Islam Shah's jealousy of his father's reputation betrayed the mean-
ness of his character. Between each two of the caravanserais which
his father had built on the main roads he built another caravanserai,
wholly unnecessary, and instead of distributing alms in the imperiai
camp, as his father had done, he followed the wasteful course of
permitting them to be distributed, under inefficient supervision, at
all the caravanserais. He remodelled the army, dividing the cavalry
into troops and squadrons of 50, 200, 250 and 500. Two other
measures angered the old nobles and aroused in them that hostility
which drew upon them his suspicion. The first was the special favour
shown to his personal troops, a force of 6000 cavalry which had been
under his command during his father's life. After his accession the
private soldiers of this force were promoted to the rank of officers,
and the officers to that of amir or noble. The second was the arbitrary
substitution of cash payments for assignments and of assignments for


## p. 64 (#96) ##############################################

64
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
cash payments among officers holding high command in the army.
None of these measures, either civil or military, was necessary; some
led to wasteful expenditure of public funds, others aroused discontent,
and all were introduced merely with the object of advancing their
author's reputation as an administrator and legislator.
On the death of Islam Shah the nobles enthroned in Gwalior,
on 22 November, 1554, his son Firuz, then aged only twelve years.
The minister and regent was Taj Khan Kararani, the murderer of
Khavass Khan, and the power which he wielded excited the envy
of the other nobles, who, by arousing the suspicions of the young
king's mother against him, induced her to remove him and appoint
him to the government of Malwa.
About a month after his departure Mubariz Khan, who had
assured himself of the support of many of the disaffected nobles,
arrived at Gwalior at the head of a large force. He was the son of
Nizam Khan, the younger brother of Sher Shah, and brother of the
young king's mother, who, as already described, had twice saved his
life when her husband wished to remove him as a danger to their
son. On the pretext of offering his congratulations to the young king
he forced his way, all travel-stained as he was, into his presence, and
the boy's mother, divining his intentions, besought him, as she had
saved his life, to spare that of her son, but the monster seized his
nephew, severed his head from his body, and seven days later ascended
the throne under the title of 'Adil Shah or Muhammad 'Adil.
He appointed as his minister Shamsher Khan, a younger brother
of the murdered Khavass Khan, and as his vakil, or deputy minister,
Daulat Khan, a Hindu converted to Islam, but confided in and
chiefly depended upon Himu, a Hindu of the Dhunsar caste. This
man had originally sold salt in the streets of Rewari, and, having
been appointed weighman in the market, had come under the notice
of Islam Shah, who had received him at his court and employed him
in a confidential capacity. At the court of 'Adil Shah he gradually
acquired great influence, and, though a Hindu of a non-fighting
race, proved, like the barber of Tilak, who commanded the Indian
cavalry of Mas'ud of Ghazni, that he possessed both military and
administrative ability.
'Adil Shah, in order to conciliate those of the nobles and the army
who were likely to resent his barbarous murder of his nephew,
distributed treasure freely, and conferred titles on those who desired
them. Having thus, to some extent, allayed disaffection, he marched
to Chunar and took possession of such of the treasure of Sher Shah
as yet remained there. Salim Khan, one of the Sur clan, rose in
rebellion to avenge the murder of Firuz Shah, but his rebellion was
crushed and he fled into the hills.
‘Adil Shah made Chunar his residential capital. During Islam
Shah's reign he had simulated imbecility, probably without much


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INFLUENCE OF HIMU
65
effort, for he was certainly of defective intellect. He devoted his time
almost entirely to frivolous and sensual pleasure and was contemp-
tuously known as 'Adli, which is a contemptuous diminutive of his
title. For the conduct of the public business of his kingdom he relied
almost entirely upon Himu, thus alienating most of the Afghan
nobles, many of whom withdrew from court to their districts where
each behaved as an independent prince. Junaid Khan, governor
of Bayana, and his son, governor of Ajmer, rebelled, and defeated
and plundered Jamal Khan, governor of Gwalior, who was sent
against them. Their success alarmed 'Adil Shah, but Himu offered
to crush the rebels. The king was at first ill-disposed to trust the
command of troops to a Hindu but finally allowed him to take the
field with three or four thousand horse. Junaid Khan, not unnaturally,
despised such an enemy, and sent against him one of his officers
whom Himu defeated. This was the Dhunsar's first military success.
Junaid Khan now took the field with his whole force, which far
outnumbered Himu's, but Himu chose the perilous venture of a night
attack. He fell on Junaid Khan's camp from two sides in the third
watch of the night, throwing his troops into confusion so that many
of them were slaughtering one another; the flying rebels were pursued
and slain in great numbers, and Junaid Khan was fortunate to escape
with his life. The plunder was great, and this victory, and Himu's
modesty when he returned to his master at Gwalior, established his
reputation.
Taj Khan Kararani had returned to court after the death of Firuz
and was the leading Afghan noble there. Among the few remaining
at court was Ibrahim Khan Sur, a second cousin of the king, and
also a brother-in-law. One day, on a ceremonial occasion, Ibrahim
entered the hall of audience and all present rose to salute him,
except Taj Khan, who remained seated. A few days later an attempt
was made on Taj Khan's life, and Taj Khan, convinced that the
king and Ibrahim had instigated the attempt, assembled his followers,
and as soon as he had recovered from his wound left Gwalior. Cutting
his way through a force sent to intercept him, he succeeded in
reaching Jaunpur, where the governor failed to persuade him to
return to court. A force sent in pursuit defeated him but failed to
arrest his flight.
'Adil Shah now grew suspicious of all his Afghan nobles, and
aroused their fears by putting to death his two principal supporters.
From Himu's subsequent career it seems probable that it was he who
sowed dissension between the king and his leading nobles, but, how-
ever this may be, Ibrahim Khan Sur was selected as the next victim.
He, however, learned the design from his wife, the king's sister, and
fled with his troops from Gwalior, defeating on the way a large force
sent in pursuit. At Delhi he was joined by the governor of Sirhind
and other Afghan nobles, assumed the royal title, and caused the
5


## p. 66 (#98) ##############################################

66
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
khutba to be recited in his own name. 'Adil Shah, now at Chunar,
was much perturbed by this news, and, returning hastily to Gwalior
released two nobles whom he had imprisoned and sent them against
Ibrahim Shah. On reaching Delhi, however, they joined Ibrahim.
'Adil Shah's attention was now diverted from his rival by the
rebellion at Ujjain of a Hindu chieftain who marched on Gwalior. The
king again hastened from Chunar to Gwalior and despatched troops
against the rebel. The Hindu, after an initial success, was slain and
his army fled. The Afghans inflicted on them great slaughter and
.
'Adil Shah pursued the remnant of the Hindu force to Ujjain, where
he captured its late commander's wives and children and took much
plunder. After this success he lingered in Malwa, and Ibrahim Shah
of Delhi took full advantage of his absence from Hindustan by
annexing many districts of the Punjab. After tarrying too long 'Adil
Shah returned to Gwalior and determined to take the field in person
against his brother-in-law; but before marching on Delhi he decided
to blind or put to death Ahmad Khan, another cousin, who was
married to the king's younger sister. She, like her sister, warned her
husband of his danger, and Ahmad, who commanded 4000 horse,
left Gwalior one day when the king was drunk and rode with his
troops to Delhi. There he had an interview with Ibrahim Shah of
whom he demanded, as the price of his adherence, the government
of the Punjab. Ibrahim hesitated to confer on a possible rival such
an appointment. Ahmad broke off negotiations, withdrew, assembled
his troops and prepared to attack Ibrahim.
On 18 March, 1555,
the armies of the two princes met at Farah, eighteen miles north-
west of Agra, and though Ahmad's troops were outnumbered in the
proportion of nearly four to one, he defeated his cousin, who fled to
Sambhal, while most of his troops transferred their services to the
victor. Ahmad then occupied Delhi, where he was enthroned under
the title of Sikandar Shah, and caused the khutba to be recited and
struck coins in his own name. His power increased rapidly, and
Ibrahim, unable to face him in the field, withdrew eastwards. 'Adil
Shah attempted to recover the territory which Sikandar had gained
from Ibrahim but failed, and three kings now reigned in northern
India. The authority of 'Adil Shah extended over Agra and Malwa
and as far east as Jaunpur; that of Sikandar Shah from Delhi to
Rohtas in the Punjab; and that of Ibrahim Shah from the foot of
the Himalayas to Gujrat in the Punjab.
Humayun had been preparing, since the death of Islam Shah, to
invade India and recover his throne, and now, hearing of the con-
fusion which prevailed in the land, where three kings claimed
supremacy, and of the dissensions between the Afghan princes and
nobles, resolved to carry his project into effect. One day, while taking
the air, he took an omen from the names of the first three men whom
he met. The first was Daulat ("Empire"), the second Murad


## p. 67 (#99) ##############################################

HUMAYUN INVADES INDIA
67
(“Desired"), and the third Sa'adat ("Good Fortune"). A second
omen, taken from the poems of Hafiz, fell on the ode containing
the couplet :
دولت از مرغ همایون طلب و سایه او
زانکه با زاغ و زغن شہپر دولت نبود
Seek fortune from the auspicious phoenix, and the shadow cast by him,
For the pinion of fortune is possessed neither by crow nor by kite.
The word rendered "auspicious” was Humayun's own name, and
it is not surprising that the omen confirmed his decision. Leaving
Kabul he reached Peshawar on 25 December, 1554, and, after crossing
the Indus, was joined nine days later by Bairam Khan and many
other officers from Qandahar. Sultan Adam, the Gakkhar, who had
promised him support, failed to join him, but explained his absence
by a treaty with Sikandar Shah, who had compelled him to enter
into it and to surrender his son as a hostage.
Humayun marched to Lahore and the Afghan in that city fled
on his approach. Tatar Khan Kashi, who had held Rohtas for Sikan-
dar, had already abandoned it, and Humayun was able to despatch
from Lahore a force which occupied the districts of Jullundur,
Sirhind and Hissar without striking a blow, while another force
defeated at Dipalpur, in March, 1555, an Afghan army and captured
its camp and baggage and the wives and families of the officers.
The news of this defeat aroused Sikandar Shah, who was in Delhi,
to action, and he assembled an army of 30,000 horse and despatched
it towards Sirhind, which city Humayun's advance guard had reached.
Humayun's officers, assembled at Jullundur, decided, despite their
numerical inferiority to the Afghan army, to give battle and crossed
the Sutlej. The Afghans pressed forward to oppose their passage
of the river but did not reach the neighbourhood of the bank until
the invaders had already crossed it. The armies met at sunset,
and as the darkness fell the village before which the Afghan army
was drawn up caught fire, so that the Mughul archers clearly saw
their enemy by the blaze of the thatched roofs, and rained showers
of arrows on them until they broke and fled, leaving their camp and
baggage in the hands of the victors. Bairam Khan, who commanded
the Mughul forces, then advanced to Sirhind and occupied and forti-
fied the town, and the news of his victory was received with much
joy in Humayun's court at Lahore.
Sikandar Shah, on learning of the defeat of his troops, himself took
the field, marched with 80,000 horse, and elephants and artillery,
from Delhi to Sirhind. He entrenched himself before the city, and
the Mughul officers strengthened its fortifications and sent a message
to Humayun begging him to join his army without delay. He was
indisposed, but sent his young son, Akbar, to represent him and left
Lahore as soon as his health permitted, arriving at Sirhind on 27 May,


## p. 68 (#100) #############################################

68
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
1555. Here he spent nearly a month in perfecting its defences, while
occasional combats took place between his troops and those of
Sikandar Shah. On 22 June Khvaja Mu'azzam, Atga Khan and some
other officers attacked the Afghans with a considerable force, and
though Humayun, as usual, was not prepared for a general action,
other troops were drawn in, to support those already engaged, until
the action became general. Sikandar Shah had received reinforce-
ments, but his army, now numbering nearly 100,000 horse, was
defeated after a well-contested fight and fled, losing heavily in the
retreat. Sikandar took refuge in the skirts of the Himalayas, and the
leaders of the victorious army were received on their return with
much honour, until the generals disturbed their master's ease by
disputing one another's title to the credit of the victory. Humayun
summarily settled their dispute by naming his son Akbar, in the
despatch announcing the victory, as the commander of his army.
It was now discovered that Khvaja Mu'azzam had been in treason-
able correspondence with Sikandar Shah, and he was imprisoned,
but it seems difficult to believe that he can have had any object in
aiding Sikandar's cause, and it is not improbable that his corre-
spondence was designed to involve his dilatory master in a general
action, and that his message to Sikandar had the same object as that
of Themistocles to the Persians before Salamis.
After the battle Humayun marched to Samana, whence he sent
officers into the Punjab to check any attempt of Sikandar to emerge
from the hills, and to establish order in that province; and another
to occupy Delhi. He himself, finding the climate of Samana pleasant,
seemed to be inclined to loiter there indefinitely, until a message from
Delhi, which had been occupied without opposition, urged him to
take possession of his capital. He left Samana, halted on 20 July at
Salimgarh on the Jumna, and on 23 July once more entered Delhi.
Here he settled down to rest after his labours, appointing officers to
various commands. In consequence of the misbehaviour of the
governor of the Punjab Humayun sent the young prince Akbar in
his place as titular governor of the Punjab, the duties of the office
falling upon his tutor, Bairam Khan. Misgovernment in the Punjab
had been Sikandar Shah's opportunity. His forces increased, he
emerged from his retreat, and he was menacing the Punjab, necessi-
tating the movement of the imperial troops under Bairam Khan and
Akbar against him.
At the same time a rebellion in the eastern provinces broke out.
One Qambar Beg rose in rebellion, and so many adventurers from
the Sambhal district and the Gangetic Duab joined him that the
movement had the appearance of becoming serious. 'Ali Quli Khan
Shaibani was deputed to suppress the rebellion, and besieged Qambar
in Budaun. The siege did not last long; the city was taken and
Qambar was put to death, his head being sent to Delhi.


## p. 69 (#101) #############################################

>
DEATH OF HUMAYUN
69
This was the last of Humayun's earthly troubles, for on 24 January,
1556, he “stumbled out of life as he had stumbled through it”. He
was sitting on the roof of the palace library at Delhi at the time
of evening prayer, conversing with astrologers and others, and rose
to descend the steep stairs in order to attend the service of prayer.
On hearing the mu'azzin's cry, he knelt in reverence, but his staff
slipped and he tripped on the skirt of his robe, falling down the stairs
and fracturing the base of his skull. He was carried within the
palace and, on recovering consciousness, learned from the court
physicians that his condition was serious and despatched a message
to his son Akbar, now with Bairam Khan at Kalanaur, informing
him that he was likely to die and finally designating him as his heir.
On 26 January he breathed his last, and the true report of his death
was sent to Akbar and Bairam Khan. Owing to the condition of the
country it was concealed from the general public, a man being dressed
up to represent him on the occasions on which he had been in the
habit of appearing in public, and the Turkish admiral Sidi 'Ali Ra'is,
who was leaving the court for Lahore, being instructed to bear the
news that the emperor yet lived. The news of his death reached
Akbar on or before 14 February, and on 14 February 3 Humayun's
death was made known and Akbar was proclaimed in Delhi.
According to the official account Humayun's fatal fall was attributed
to an act of reverence, but it has also been attributed, by less courtly
chroniclers, to the effects of drugs or drink, to both of which he was
addicted.
The empire which Humayun bequeathed to his young son con-
sisted, in fact, of little more than the ground occupied by Bairam
Khan's small army. Delhi and Agra had indeed been occupied but
events were soon to show how precarious was the tenure of these
provinces. Certain districts in the Punjab and in the trans-Gangetic
province of Katehr were held, but the army's loyalty was not wholly
above suspicion, and three members of the Sur clan still claimed the
sovereignty of the whole of north-western India. One had been
defeated, but not crushed, another was ready to take his place should
he be defeated by Akbar's troops, and the third, with his capital at
Chunar, had not yet been attacked. The economic condition of the
land was even worse than the political. Its most fertile and populous
provinces were devastated by a famine caused by failure of the rains
combined with two years' destructive internecine warfare. "The
capital was devastated and nothing remained but a few houses. An
epidemic plague ensued and spread through most of the cities of
Hindustan. Multitudes died, and men were driven to feed on human
flesh, parties being formed to seize and eat solitary victims. "
132° 0' N. , 75° 10' E.
2 C. E. A. W. Oldham, Indian
Antiquary (1930), pp. 219, and (1931), pp. 5 and 26.
3 For a discussion of the dates of Humayun's fall and death, and of the
accession of Akbar, see Hodivala, Mughal Numismatics, pp. 264-6. (Ed. )


## p. 70 (#102) #############################################

CHAPTER
IV
AKBAR, 1556–1 573
THE
HE young emperor, who was only a few months more than
thirteen years of age, was confronted with a situation scarcely less
difficult than that in which his grandfather had found himself when
his nobles were clamouring to be led back to Kabul, and in considering
the difficulties which faced him it must be remembered that he was
a precocious and masterful youth whom the jealousies of his courtiers
compelled his guardian, Bairam Khan, to consult on all
of importance. His father had returned to India and had possessed
himself of Delhi and Agra, but the recovery of these cities, imme-
diately after his death, by his enemies reduced Akbar's inheritance
to the Punjab.
The first difficulty with which Akbar and his guardian were called
upon to deal was caused by the misconduct of Shah Abu-'l-Ma'ali,
a noble of his father's court and a dangerous fanatic, whose preten-
sions, based on favours shown to him by Humayun, were obnoxious
not only to the dignity of the courtiers but to the majesty of the
throne. Resenting a fancied slight he at first refused to attend the
young emperor's court and when he deigned to appear thrust himself
forward into a place to which he had no claim and behaved with
such gross disregard of propriety that it was necessary to arrest him.
Bairam Khan believed him to be actively disloyal and advocated
his immediate execution, but Akbar was loth to sully his hands, on
the threshold of his reign, with the blood of one of his father's old
servants, and the offender was sent to Lahore, where he was
imprisoned.
Three princes of the Sur clan still pretended to the throne of Delhi.
These were Muhammad 'Adil Shah, who had occupied the throne
for about a year, his cousin and brother-in-law Ibrahim, who had
dethroned 'Adil in 1553, and Ibrahim's cousin and brother-in-law
Sikandar, who expelled Ibrahim in 1554 and was defeated by
Humayun at Sirhind in 1555 and driven from Delhi and Agra. 'Adil
had established himself at Chunar and was killed in 1557 in a battle
with Bahadur Shah of Bengal, and Ibrahim had withdrawn into
Bengal. Bairam Khan, correctly estimating the character of the
two surviving princes, considered Sikandar, who was still in arms
in the Punjab, a more imminent menace than either of the others,
and remained for some time after Akbar's enthronement at Kalanaur
with the object of crushing Sikandar's resistance. He failed, how-
ever, owing to lack of information, to make sufficient provision to
meet the attack of a foe more dangerous than any of the three princes.


## p. 71 (#103) #############################################

.
HIMU TAKES DELHI
71
This was Himu, "the Corn-chandler", a Hindu of Rewari whom 'Adil
had made his minister, an able, energetic and ambitious soldier who
was preparing to expel the Mughuls from India, nominally in the
interests of 'Adil, but actually in his own. Himu secretly cherished
designs of seizing for himself the imperial throne and restoring the
dominion to the Hindus. Himu was still in the field on behalf of
'Adil and in his name could command the obedience of a large force
of Afghans.
It was believed that Iskandar Khan the Uzbeg at Agra, Tardi
Beg Khan at Delhi, and 'Ali Quli Khan Shaibani at Sambhal were
strong enough to repel any attacks from the south-east and to defend
Hindustan against both 'Adil and his minister, but Himu's energy
and determination were underrated. Bairam Khan, believing the
situation to be secure, sent a force to Kabul to escort thence to India
the ladies of Humayun's harem. Sulaiman Mirza of Badakhshan,
who was then besieging that city, was forced by it to retire to his own
dominions, and the ladies were safely conducted to India.
Himu now advanced from Gwalior on Agra, and Iskandar Khan,
instead of awaiting him, retired towards Delhi, losing between two
and three thousand men in the course of his retreat. Himu followed
him and encamped near Tughluqabad where Iskandar was joined
by Tardi Beg Khan, the governor of Delhi. The temporary success
of the Mughul right wing hardly delayed Himu's complete victory
over their centre and Tardi Beg Khan, who, without making even
an effort to hold Delhi, continued his rapid retreat towards Sirhind.
Iskandar Khan perforce accompanied him and the retreating army
was joined on its way by 'Ali Quli Khan Shaibani, who could no
longer maintain himself at Sambhal after Himu's occupation of
Delhi.
The news of the fall of Delhi reached Akbar and Bairam Khan
at Jullundur and most of the courtiers and officers counselled an
immediate retreat on Kabul, urging that it was folly to attempt to
withstand Himu, now at the head of 100,000 men, with the 20,000
which were all that Akbar could muster. Bairam Khan decided,
however, to risk all in the attempt to recover Delhi and had no
difficulty in persuading the high-spirited and precocious Akbar to
adopt his view. Khizr Khvaja Khan was left at Lahore to deal with
Sikandar Sur and on 13 October, 1556, the imperial army marched
to Sirhind. Here it was met by the fugitives from Delhi, whose voices
were added to those which clamoured for a retreat. This outburst
was speedily silenced by Bairam Khan, who, having obtained from
his youthful master "a sort of permission”, caused Tardi Beg Khan
to be put to death.
The execution was a bold measure. Tardi Beg Khan and Bairam
Khan were outwardly on friendly terms, but were known to be rivals,
and their rivalry was embittered by religious differences. Bairam
>


## p. 72 (#104) #############################################

72
AKBAR, 1556-1573
cannot but have known that his action would be severely criticised,
and his enemies, in fact, made it one of the articles in his impeach-
ment when, a few years later, he fell from favour; but the murder
was not the crime which they maintained it to be. Tardi Beg Khan's
disgraceful conduct at Delhi merited death according to the military
codes of all ages and his advocacy of an immediate retreat from
Sirhind rendered his death necessary. In fact credit is due to Bairam
Khan for taking so promptly, at considerable risk to himself and his
reputation, a step which alone could have restored and maintained
the spirit and discipline of the army.
Himu was so elated by his victories and by the capture of Delhi
as to believe that he had already reached the goal of his ambition.
He made no pretence of restoring his master, but assumed the title
of Raja Vikramaditya and is said to have struck coin bearing his
titles, though no specimen is known to exist. His Afghan officers
were temporarily reconciled, by a liberal distribution of plunder, to
the ascendancy of an infidel, and Himu sent forward his advance
guard, with the greater part of his artillery, to meet that of Akbar,
which, under the command of 'Ali Quli Khan Shaibani, had marched
on Panipat. 'Ali Quli Khan inflicted a severe defeat on Himu's
advance guard, and captured his artillery.
Meanwhile the main bodies of the two armies were in motion and
met, on 5 November, 1556, on the historic plain of Panipat. Bairam
Khan detained Akbar at a safe distance from the field and entrusted
the command of the centre to 'Ali Quli Khan. Himu's army so
greatly outnumbered that of Akbar that it was able almost to envelop
it and threw both wings into confusion. Himu then attempted to
decide the fate of the day by leading against the centre his 1500
elephants, on which he chiefly relied. 'Ali Quli Khan and his officers,
taking every advantage of the inequalities of the ground, fought with
the utmost valour but would certainly have been overpowered had
not Himu's eye been pierced by an arrow so well directed that its
point projected from the back of his head. His troops at once
dispersed.
Shah Quli Khan Mahram, a Baharlu Turk in Bairam Khan's service,
who afterwards attained to the command of 3500 horse, came up
with Himu's elephant, Hawai, as the driver was endeavouring to
carry his master beyond the reach of danger. He begged Shah Quli
not to slay him and told him who the elephant's wounded rider was.
Shah Quli at once caused Himu to be led to Akbar, who had by
now appeared on the field. When the wounded Himu was placed
before the young emperor Bairam Khan prayed him to earn the title
of Ghazi by slaying an infidel with his own sword, and the boy severed
Himu's head from his body,' or according to another version merely
touched the infidel, who was slain by those in attendance.
1 J. R. A. S. 1916, p. 527.


## p. 73 (#105) #############################################

SIKANDAR SHAH SUR SURRENDERS
73
Immediately after the victory Iskandar Khan the Uzbeg was sent
in pursuit of the flying enemy, and followed them, with great
slaughter, to the gates of the capital, which he entered and secured
for the emperor. Two days later Akbar entered Delhi and 'Ali Quli
Khan and Iskandar Khan were rewarded for their services with the
titles of Khan Zaman and Khan 'Alam respectively.
The victory was complete. All of Himu's 1500 elephants had been
captured and the broken remnant of his army was dispersed, but his
wife had escaped from Delhi into Mewat, taking with her all his
treasure, and Pir Muhammad Khan was sent in pursuit. He slew
many fugitives and took much plunder, but Himu's wife made good
her escape and much of the treasure was lost. His aged father was
captured and, on refusing to accept Islam, was put to death.
Events had progressed less favourably in the Punjab. Sikandar
Sur had attacked Khizr Khvaja Khan at Chamiari, about 35 miles
north-east of Lahore, and had driven him into that city, and Khan
'Alam was sent to his relief, followed, on 7 December, by the emperor
and Bairam Khan, who could now safely leave imperial interests in
Hindustan in the hands of the nobles.
During their absence in the Punjab Khan Zaman reoccupied
Sambhal and established his authority throughout the country
between that town and Lucknow, and Qiya Khan Gung, after
occupying Agra, drove away Raja Ram Sah, who was attempting
to recover from Bahbal Khan, an officer in the service of 'Adil, the
fortress of Gwalior, which had belonged to his ancestors, and himself
besieged the fortress.
On learning that Akbar had reached Jullundur, Sikandar Sur
retired from before Lahore and fled to Mankot, a hill fortress which
Islam Shah had built to restrain the aggression of the Gakkhars, and
here he was besieged by Akbar.
During the siege the ladies of Humayun's harem arrived at the
camp from Kabul, and Akbar, who was not yet fifteen years of age,
married his first wife, the daughter of his uncle Hindal.
Sikandar Sur had great confidence in the strength of Mankot but
relied chiefly on such diversion as could be created by his cousin
'Adil, who still held Chunar, but who was now attacked by his cousin
Khizr Khan Sur, styling himself Jalal-ud-din Bahadur Shah of
Bengal, and was slain. The news of his death so discouraged Sikandar
that he surrendered in May, 1557, after enduring a siege of some
months' duration, and by the interest of Atga Khan, the emperor's
foster-father, received Bihar as an assignment. He died two years
later.
Akbar marched in July to Lahore and in December to Delhi,
halting on the way at Jullundur, where Bairam Khan married his
cousin Salima Begam, daughter of Humayun's sister.
On reaching the Sutlej Akbar learnt that Haji Khan of Mewat,


## p. 74 (#106) #############################################

74
AKBAR, 1556-1573
who had fled to Narnaul after the defeat of Himu, was marching on
Hissar, and halted at Sirhind while Bairam Khan led the army
against the rebel. Haji Khan would not risk a conflict but fled and
took refuge in Gujarat, and three officers, one of whom was Sayyid
Mahmud Khan Barha, were sent to establish order in Ajmer and
Rajputana. Akbar reached Delhi on 14 April, 1558.
It is necessary, in order to convey a clear understanding of the
intrigues which beset Akbar in the early years of his reign, to explain
the state of parties at his court. There was, first, the protector's party
consisting primarily of the greater number of the most loyal and able
nobles.
Bairam Khan was a loyal and devoted servant but his disposition
was arbitrary, haughty and jealous and he could not easily tolerate
the presence of possible rivals near his young master. He was a
staunch Shiah and his religion rendered him unpopular at a court
composed chiefly of orthodox Sunnis. He resented the decline of his
influence as Akbar grew towards manhood, and his foibles were
distorted by his enemies into evidence of a desire to subvert the
emperor's authority.
The second great faction was the harem party, whose influence,
as is so often the case in the East, was almost wholly evil. The interests
of this party were served, beyond the walls of the harem, by Akbar's
foster-relatives. The relationship existing between a child and the
foster-mother who has suckled him is regarded by Turks, and by
Muslims generally, as one of peculiar tenderness. It endures through
life and extends to all the near relations of the foster-mother. The
names of ten of Akbar's nurses are preserved, and it is recorded that
there were others. The most influential of these was Jiji Anaga
(“foster-mother”), whose husband, Shams-ud-din Khan, had saved
Humayun from drowning and was honoured, after his wife's advance-
ment, with the title of Atga (“foster-father") Khan. Of his two sons,
the one who survived beyond the early years of Akbar's reign was
known originally as Mirza 'Aziz Kuka ("foster-brother”) but received
the title of Khan A'zam and rose to the highest rank. Akbar excused
the leniency with which he treated Khan A'zam's acts of disobedience
and contumacy by saying, “Between me and 'Aziz is a river of milk
which I cannot cross. ” The relationship extended to Atga Khan's
1“ 'Sayyid Mahmud was the first of the Barha Sayyids that held office under
the Timurides. He was with Sikandar Sur in Mankot but, seeing that the cause
of the Afghans was hopeless he left Sikandar and went over to Akbar"
(Ain-i-Akbari, 1, 389).
The Sayyids of Barha, as distinguished for personal bravery as their kins-
men of Bilgram are for their learning, derived their cognomen from twelve
(bara) villages which they held in the Muzaffarnagar District in the Upper
Duab. Like the Sayyids of Bilgram in Oudh they trace their origin to Sayyid
Abu-'l-Farah of Wasit, who visited India in A. D. 1217. They reached the acme
of their influence in the eighteenth century. See chaps. XIII and Xiy of this
volume, and W. Irvine, J. A. S. B. 1896, p. 175.


## p. 75 (#107) #############################################

THE "FOSTER-FATHER COHORT"
75
elder brother, Mir Muhammad Khan, entitled Khan Kalan ("Great",
or elder Khan), to his younger brothers, Sharif Khan and Qutb-ud-
din Khan, and to their sons. Maham Anaga had been Akbar's chief
nurse and though she never seems to have suckled him her son
Adham Khan ranked as his foster-brother. These foster-relations are
usually referred to by Muslim historians as Atga Khail, “the foster
father cohort. "
The execution of Tardi Beg Khan had excited much hostility
against Bairam Khan, and an open breach occurred between him
and “the foster-father cohort” on the march from Mankot, when he
suspected that the accidental finish of an elephant-fight near his tent
was due to the machinations of Atga Khan and protested to Maham
Anaga. The quarrel was patched up, but Pir Muhammad Khan,
formerly a servant of Bairam Khan, had gone over to the harem
party, and his influence was ever directed towards the breeding of
strife. The execution of Musahib Beg, who had presumed on his
father's services to Humayun to treat the protector with discourtesy
and a similar exercise of arbitrary authority at Kabul by Mun'im
Khan, which was approved by Bairam Khan, provided the enemies
of the latter with further material for charges against him.
During Akbar's stay at Delhi the court was scandalised by a
disgraceful affair between Khan Zaman and Shaham Beg, one of
Humayun's pages, whom he enticed from Delhi. The details of this
affair are of importance only as shedding some light on the morals
of the great at the courts of the Mughul emperors, of which the less
said the better. Khan Zaman was ordered to send Shaham Beg back
to Delhi but instead of obeying sent an emissary to allay the wrath
of "the foster-father cohort", which took the leading part in the
proceedings against him. The emissary was slain by the brutal Pir
Muhammad Khan and Khan Zaman hurriedly dismissed Shaham
Beg who, after leaving him, lodged with a man whose relations put
him to death for attempting to seduce his host's wife.
After a stay of some months at Delhi the court left for Agra, then
a city of small importance, travelling by boat down the Jumna.
At Agra Bairam Khan's chief anxiety was the education of his
ward, who was devoted to manly exercises and field sports but, in
spite of having been endowed with a vigorous intellect, could not be
brought to pay any attention to what the ablest of his biographers
calls “the usual apparatus of learning". In short, he was an idle
boy who would not learn to read and write and he never acquired
either of these arts. His father had urged him to mend his ways
but it is doubtful whether Bairam Khan received any support from
the harem party or "the foster-father cohort", whose interest lay in
retarding the boy's progress as much as possible. After reaching man's
estate Akbar atoned, as far as he could, for his boyish idleness by
listening diligently to the reading of works on history, theology and


## p. 76 (#108) #############################################

76
AKBAR, 1556-1573
philosophy, but it is unfortunate that in this respect he never rendered
himself independent of the services of others, for the memory, how-
ever it may be cultivated, and Akbar's powers of memory, naturally
immense, were developed by his illiteracy, can never supply the
power of reference, and had he been able to use his eyes he might
perhaps have been saved from the religious absurdities of his later
years, which had their origin in his delight in listening to religious
and philosophical discussions and found their expression in his con-
fused recollections of these disputes.
Abu-'l-Fazl, on whose speculations Akbar in later years firmly
relied, was, perhaps, the most subtle and the most fulsome adviser
and flatterer that ever monarch had. Adulation is the business of
the counsellor and of the historian of an eastern ruler, but Abu-'l-
Fazl surpassed other historians and encomiasts as the light of the sun
surpasses that of the moon. Most Eastern countries are content with
assuring their masters that they are the best, the wisest and the
greatest of mankind, but Abu-'l-Fazl's panegyrics contain the sug-
gestion, if not the assertion, that his master is something more than
His boyish idleness is attributed to a divinely inspired desire
to remain behind a veil, concealing his powers from all, until the
time came for him to reveal to a wondering world his divine com-
mission. Similarly the emperor's devotion, in his maturer years, to
the childish and futile diversion of pigeon-flying is represented as a
form of worship. This fulsome adulation, which disgusts even those
accustomed by long study to the flights of oriental encomiasts, had
its motive. It was not self-advancement, but it may be suspected that
it was revenge. This question will be discussed later.
The tutor whom Bairam Khan selected was Mir 'Abdul-Latif,
the Persian, who failed, like his predecessors, to induce Akbar to
learn to read, but was the first to teach him the principle of sulh-i-
kull, or universal toleration, on which Abu-'l-Fazl so frequently
descants. He came of a Sayyid family of Qazvin, persecuted in
Persia as Sunnis, but was so moderate in his religious views as to be
suspected, in India, of Shiah proclivities.
Party spirit was now inflamed by a serious quarrel between Pir
Muhammad Khan and his former master. Pir Muhammad fell sick,
and Bairam, who courteously visited him, was refused admission.