No More Learning

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.
Pir Muhammad's excuse, that his servants had not recognised him,
aggravated his offence and a few days later he was compelled to
surrender his standards, kettledrums and other insignia of honour,
was deprived of his title of Nasir-ul-Mulk, and was imprisoned at
Bayana, whence he was sent, after a short interval, to Gujarat with
a view to his performing the pilgrimage to Mecca, which was
regarded as banishment.
Bairam Khan's treatment of Pir Muhammad was not his only
crime in the eyes of the harem party. Almost immediately after this


## p. 77 (#109) #############################################

BAIRAM KHAN DISMISSED
77
event he appointed Shaikh Gadai, a Shaikh with no special qualifica-
tions, to the important post of Sadr-us-Sudur, fourth in importance
in the empire. The Sadr was the chief law officer and ecclesiastic and
controlled all grants, endowments and allowances. The appointment
raised a storm of protest from the orthodox, among the most pro-
minent of whom was "the foster-father cohort", and contributed
more than any other measure of Bairam Khan to his downfall.
It was probably with the object of diverting Akbar's attention
from the discontent caused by these and other measures that Bairam
Khan drew his attention to Gwalior, which Qiya Khan Gung was
still besieging but could not take for lack of support. He was rein-
forced and the fortress surrendered early in 1559. Qiya Khan Gung
was then sent into the eastern districts of Akbar's dominions, where
Khan Zaman was still sulking, but made his peace and regained his
master's favour by expelling Ibrahim Sur from Jaunpur and sur-
rendering Lucknow to Qiya Khan.
Expeditions to Ranthambhor, held by Rai Surjan on behalf of
the Rana of Chitor, and to Chunar, held by Jamal Khan the Afghan,
were less successful, and in each case the imperial troops were obliged
to retreat without having effected their purpose. A third expedition,
under Bahadur Khan Shaibani, sent by Bairam Khan to annex
Malwa, was recalled early in 1560 from Sipri, owing to the strained
relations between Akbar and his guardian.
Akbar was now in his eighteenth year and the restraint to which
he was subjected by Bairam Khan galled him. The harem party did
its utmost to widen the breach and on 28 March Akbar left Agra
on a hunting expedition. When he had reached Sikandra Rao, about
45 miles north-east of the city, Maham Anaga urged him to visit
his mother, who was lying sick at Delhi and longed to see him.
Akbar rode at once to Delhi, thereby openly severing himself from
his guardian, who remained at Agra, and was ceremoniously received
by Shihab-ud-din Ahmad Khan, governor of the capital, who was
in the plot and came out to some distance from the city to receive
him. Having thus succeeded in separating him from the protector
the conspirators confessed that they had incurred the resentment of
Bairam Khan and appealed to his pride by throwing themselves on
his protection, while Shihab-ud-din Ahmad Khan began to put the
defences of the city into a state of repair. Atga Khan marched from
the Punjab to join him and Pir Muhammad Khan returned from
Gujarat. Some correspondence passed between the protector and
the emperor and when Akbar imprisoned Bairam Khan's emissaries
the breach was irreparable.
The few adherents left to Bairam Khan urged him to attempt to
recover the emperor's person by force, but he refused to turn his arms
against his master, and left Agra announcing that he proposed making
a pilgrimage to Mecca. The harem party had gained its object and


## p. 78 (#110) #############################################

78
AKBAR, 1556-1573
might well have been content with its victory, but it was certain that
Bairam Khan intended to visit the Punjab to recover the private
hoards which he had left at Lahore and Sirhind and his enemies
assured Akbar that he intended to raise the standard of rebellion
in that province. Akbar sent his tutor, Mir 'Abdul Latif, to Bairam
with a decree announcing that he had decided to take the manage-
ment of affairs into his own hands and that he desired Bairam Khan
to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca, and promising to make ample
provision for his expenses. Bairam Khan promised obedience, but
his movements were leisurely, and the harem party induced Akbar
to send Pir Muhammad Khan with a large force to hasten them.
The selection of Pir Muhammad for such a duty was deliberately
provocative and Bairam Khan, after lodging his family at Bhatinda,
turned towards Jullundur. Pir Muhammad returned to court and
reported his movements and a large force under Atga Khan which
was sent against Bairam Khan defeated him at Jullundur and drove
him towards the hills.
Akbar marched in person to Sirhind, where he was joined by
Mun'im Khan and other nobles from Kabul. The grant of the pro-
tector's title of Khan Khanan to Mun‘im Khan was a further
indication, if any were needed, that Bairam Khan's day was over.
He was pursued and was besieged at Tilwara, a hill-fortress on the
banks of the Beas, whence he sent a message to Akbar expressing
contrition for his rebellion and offering to submit. He was assured,
in return, that he would be well received and in October he appeared
before Akbar in his camp at Hajipur. His meeting with his master
and former ward was affecting, but Akbar made the situation quite
clear to him. He offered him one of the three alternatives, the districts
of Kalpi and Chanderi, the place of companion and confidential
adviser to himself, or permission to depart for Mecca. Bairam Khan
chose the last and left for Mecca by way of Gujarat, where he was
spitably received by Musa Khan Fuladi, governor of Patan, but
was assassinated by a gang of Afghans led by one Mubarak Khan,
whose father had been killed in 1555 at the battle of Machiwara,
where Bairam Khan had commanded the Mughul army. The
Afghans plundered his camp, and his family reached Ahmadabad
almost destitute. Akbar sent for them and afterwards married as his
second wife Salima Begam, Bairam's widow, and charged himself
with the education of his infant son, Mirza 'Abdur-Rahim, known
as Mirza Khan, who rose to the highest rank and in 1584 received
his father's title of Khan Khanan,
It was chiefly to Bairam Khan, ably supported by Khan Zaman,
that Akbar owed his throne. It was inevitable that a young man of
Akbar's force of character should emerge from a state of tutelage, but
he would have done well to wait, for he was not yet fit to assume
sole charge of his empire and remained for four years more under the


## p. 79 (#111) #############################################

INVASION OF MALWA
79
pernicious influence of the harem party. The means by which he
escaped from Bairam's influence was probably the best which he
could have adopted, but the insults and ungenerous treatment which
drove the protector into rebellion would be a blot upon his memory
were it not certain that they originated with Bairam's bitterest
enemies in the harem party.
There could be no better testimony to Bairam Khan's worth than
that recorded by the bigot Badauni, who could seldom see any good
in a Shiah. “In wisdom, generosity, sincerity, goodness of disposition,
submissiveness, and humility he surpassed all. . . . The second con-
quest of Hindustan and the building up of the empire were due to
his strenuous efforts, his valour, and his wide policy. . . . At last vile
hypocrites poisoned the mind of His Majesty against him, until his
affairs fell at length into the condition of which a brief description
has been given. ” 1
Malwa still retained its independence under Baz Bahadur, son of
Shuja'at Khan, and early in 1561 Akbar sent an army to annex the
province. Harem influence is traceable in the extremely injudicious
selection of the commander of the force, Adham Khan, and of the
second in command, Pir Muhammad Khan.
Baz Bahadur, a voluptuary devoted to music and to the society of
dancers and singers, above all to that of his beloved mistress Rup
Mati, famed for her beauty and her devotion to her lover, now held
his court at Sarangpur. The imperial army invaded Malwa, ad-
vancing by regular daily marches until it was within 20 miles of
Sarangpur, and it was not until it had reached this point that Baz
Bahadur awoke from his dreams of love and music and bestirred
himself to defend his kingdom. Marching from the city, he entrenched
himself at a distance of three miles from it and awaited the attack
of the imperial troops, but on 29 March he was induced, by feigned
attacks from various directions, to leave his entrenched position and
take the field. The battle was of short duration. His troops were out-
numbered and his Afghan cfficers were disaffected and left the field
early in the day. Baz Bahadur saved his life by flight, but his women,
his treasures and his elephants fell into the hands of the victors, and
the devoted Rup Mati took poison in order to escape the embraces
of Adham Khan.
Pir Muhammad Khan and Adham Khan sullied their victory by
the most revolting cruelty. The historian Badauni, who was an eye-
witness of their atrocities, describes them as follows : 3
“On the day of the victory the two commanders were in their
camp, and the prisoners were brought before them and were put to
death by troops, so that their blood flowed in rivers. "
Pir Muhammad Khan cracked brutal jests on the wretched victims,
1 Bad. I (trans. Haig), 265, 266.
2 23° 34' N. , 76° 29' E.
3 Bad. (text), I, 47.
"


## p. 80 (#112) #############################################

80
AKBAR, 1556-1573
and when Mihr 'Ali Beg Silduz, at Badauni's instance, represented
that whatever might be done with rebels taken in arms it was not
lawful to put their wives and children to death Pir Muhammad
replied, "If we keep them for the night what will happen to them? ”
“In that night the plundering marauders stowed away their
Muslim captives, the wives of holy and learned men, Sayyids, and
nobles, in boxes and saddlebags, and carried them off to Ujjain and
in other directions. Sayyids and holy men came forth, bearing copies
of the Koran, to welcome the conquerors, and Pir Muhammad Khan
slew and burnt them all. "
Adham Khan sent to court, with the despatches announcing his
victory, only a few elephants, and kept most of the spoils and all the
women for himself. Maham Anaga's influence was powerless to
restrain Akbar's resentment of such an insult to his authority, but
she wrote to her son to warn him to look to himself and Akbar left
Agra on 27 April. After receiving, on his way, tribute from Surjan
Rai of Ranthambhor and the surrender of Gagraun he reached
Sarangpur on 13 May, to the consternation of Adham Khan, whose
mother's letter had not yet reached him. The delinquent humbled
himself before his sovereign, but his prayers and excuses were un-
availing until his mother appeared to intercede for him. She arranged
a reconciliation and attempted to conceal her son's crime by causing
to be put to death two of Baz Bahadur's most beautiful concubines,
whom he had ravished. The crime was discovered but as it was
traced to Maham Anaga it went unpunished.
Adham Khan was permitted to remain in Malwa as governor,
with Pir Muhammad Khan as his principal assistant, and Akbar
returned to Agra, slaying on the way, near Narwar, with one stroke
of his sword, a tigress which had five cubs. He delighted in such
feats of daring and took special pride in his mastery over elephants.
One day he mounted, rode and controlled the vicious elephant
Hawai, probably the beast of that name which had been ridden by
Himu at Panipat. Not content with this feat he commanded the
servants of the elephant stables to bring forth another fierce brute,
Ran Bagha, “the Tiger in Battle", and continued to ride Hawai while
the two fought. Hawai overcame Ran Bagha who fled, pursued by
the victor, across the bridge spanning the Jumna. The pontoons were
submerged by the ponderous beasts, but both reached the further bank
in safety, and there Akbar succeeded in bringing Hawai to a stand.
"In later years Akbar explained more than once to Abu-'l-Fazl
that his motive in undertaking such adventures was that God might
end his life if he should knowingly have taken a step displeasing to
the Most High, or cherished an aspiration contrary to his will, for, he
said, 'We cannot support the burden of life under God's displeasure. '
Such sentiments do little credit either to his heart or to his head.
If, as is certain, he did not hold such views when he was nineteen


## p. 81 (#113) #############################################

REBELLION IN EASTERN PROVINCES
81
he was lying, and the suggestion that God required his aid for the
purpose of destroying him shows that in the maze of his religious
speculations he had not found even the clue to the truth.
Before Akbar started for Malwa a very serious rebellion had broken
out in the eastern provinces of the empire. Sher Khan, the son of
Muhammad 'Adil, had assembled at Chunar an army of nearly
20,000 horse, 50,000 foot, and 500 elephants, and had marched on
Jaunpur. Ibrahim Khan the Uzbeg, Majnun Khan Qaqshal, and
Shaham Khan Jalair had been ordered to support Khan Zaman,
who, with his brother Bahadur and their troops, stood alone in the
path of the invaders. The forces met in the neighbourhood of Jaun-
pur and the Mughuls, though outnumbered, inflicted a crushing
defeat on the Afghans and dispersed their imposing array.
Khan Zaman, by repeating Adham Khan's offence, incurred the
wrath of Akbar, who marched from Agra by way of Kalpi and Kara
towards Jaunpur. Khan Zaman and his brother Bahadur, on learning
of his departure from Agra, repented their contumacy and marched
to Kara, where they offered to him all the elephants which they had
taken from the Afghans. Their timely submission disarmed his wrath
and he permitted them to return to Jaunpur, and, having despatched
Asaf Khan to Chunar, which was still in the hands of the Afghans,
returned to Agra, arriving there on 29 August. Chunar was sur-
rendered to Asaf Khan and became an outpost of the empire.
In November Atga Khan was summoned from Kabul and ap-
pointed minister of the empire, though the formality of dismissing
Mun‘im Khan, who had acted in that capacity ever since the fall
of Bairam Khan, was not observed. The appointment was extremely
cistasteful, not only to Mun'im Khan but also to Maham Anaga,
"who regarded herself as the virtual lieutenant of the empire”, and
she was still further annoyed by the recall of her son, Adham Khan,
from Malwa, where his sensuality and tyranny had rendered him
obnoxious to all. His recall was welcome to none more than to the
still less scrupulous ruffian Pir Muhammad Khan, who desired
freedom even from supervision so lax as Adham Khan's.
On 14 January, 1562, Akbar made his first pilgrimage to the shrine
of the famous saint Mu'in-ud-din Chishti of Ajmer, of whose merits
he had heard. This pilgrimage became an annual institution and
was regularly performed by him while he remained a Muslim. On
his way to Ajmer Raja Bihari Mal of Amber, who had been the first
Rajput chief to be presented at his court, obeyed a summons to wait
on him, attended the camp with his whole family, and begged Akbar's
acceptance of his daughter in marriage. His offers were accepted
and at Sambhar, on his return march, Akbar married the princess,
who eventually became the mother cf Jahangir, and rereived into
his service Man Singh, the nephew and adopted son of Bhagwan
Das, Bihari Mal's heir.
6


## p. 82 (#114) #############################################

82
AKBAR, 1556-1573
2
This was the first fruits of Mir 'Abdul-Latif's teachings and the
earliest indication of Akbar's noble resolve to be a father to all his
people, Hindus as well as Muslims, to be emperor of India, in short,
rather than the commander of a small garrison, alien in religion, and
to a great extent in blood, to the mass of the people. Shaikh Abu-'l-
Fazl is sometimes wrongly credited with having directed Akbar into
the path of religious toleration, on which he descants much in his
own pompous and artificial style, but Akbar deliberately adopted
the policy and pursued it for years before he had even seen his famous
secretary.
Mirza Sharaf-ud-din Husain, whose assignment was in the neigh-
bourhood of Ajmer, was sent to capture the fortress of Merta, then
held by Jaimal for the Rana, Uday Singh of Chitor. The fortress
was surrendered and quarter was given on the condition that it should
be handed over intact, with its contents, to the imperial troops, but
one Deo Das violated this condition by setting fire to its stores and
by offering a determined opposition to the troops as they entered
with the result that "he exalted several of the emperor's soldiers to
the dignity of martyrdom and himself entered eternal fire, being
accompanied to hell by 200 of his famous Rajputs”,” and the fortress
was occupied by Sharaf-ud-din Husain.
Akbar arrived at Agra on 13 February, 1562, having married at
Sambhar, as already related, the princess of Amber.
Pir Muhammad Khan, who had remained in Malwa as governor
on the removal of Adham Khan, displayed great activity in clearing
the country of the adherents of Baz Bahadur. He besieged and
captured Bijagarh 3 and put the whole garrison to the sword, and
as Baz Bahadur had taken refuge in Khandesh and was causing some
trouble on the southern frontier of Malwa he invaded that country
and penetrated as far as Burhanpur, massacring the inhabitants with-
out distinction as he advanced, and sparing neither Sayyids nor
learned and holy men. Mubarak II of Khandesh and Baz Bahadur
appealed for aid to Tufal Khan, the actual ruler of Berar, and on
his joining them fell upon Pir Muhammad Khan, dispersed his troops
and forced him to flee towards Mandu. As he was crossing the
Narbada his horse was overturned in the river by a camel and he
was drowned, and thus, as a historian says, "he went to fire by way
of water, and the sighs of the orphans, of the weak, and of the
captives did their work with him”. 4
The pursuit was pressed and the imperial officers could make no
stand in Malwa but were forced to flee to Agra, and Baz Bahadur
thus regained, for a short time, possession of his kingdom, but Akbar
at once sent 'Abdullah Khan the Uzbeg of Kalpi and Ahmad Khan
Farankhudi to recover the country, and Baz Bahadur fled and took
1 26° 39' N. , 74° 2' E.
2 Bad. (text) II, 50.
821° 41' N. , 75° 20' E.
4 Bad. (text) I, 51.


## p. 83 (#115) #############################################

MURDER OF ATGA KHAN
83
refuge with Uday Singh of Chitor while 'Abdullah Khan occupied
Mandu and re-established Mughul rule throughout the country.
In the hot weather of this year Akbar, while hunting near Sakit,
now in the Etah district of the United Provinces, heard complaints
of a gang of Hindu brigands who infested that neighbourhocd. He
at once marched against them and they fled and took refugee in the
village of Paraunkh, 15 miles south-east of Sakit. At the head of his
escort of 200 horse he attacked the brigands, who are said to have
numbered 4000. He was not well supported, but pressed on, receiving
twelve arrows in his shield and narrowly escaping death by his
elephant stumbling into a grain pit. He succeeded, however, in
forcing the animal through a wall of the buildings in which the
brigands had taken refuge and they were set on fire, about a
thousand of the wretches perishing in the flames. Akbar was even
ready for such perilous enterprises and we shall see that at a much
later period of his life he displayed similar reckless courage in
Gujarat. These exploits, performed in the interests of his empire,
stand on an entirely different footing from his foolish pranks with
tigers and elephants.
A tragedy now enabled him to free himself for ever of the baleful
influence of Maham Anaga and her ruffianly son. The discontent
caused by the appointment of Atga Khan as minister has already
been described. It was shared by Shihab-ud-din Ahmad Khan as
well as by those mentioned before, and the malcontents instigated
the unscrupulous Adham Khan to remove the obstacle from their
path. Authorities differ as to the details of the murder, but on
16 May, 1562, Adham Khan, attended by his followers, swaggered
into the hall where Atga Khan was engaged either in public business
or in reading the Koran and advanced towards him in a threatening
manner, with his hand on his dagger. Whether he stabbed him him-
self is not certain, but two of his followers, at a signal from him,
cut the minister down and he staggered out and fell dead in the
courtyard. Adham Khan then attempted to force his way into the
inner apartments where Akbar, who had been sleeping, was awakened
by the tumult. His object does not appear to have been, as Dr Vincent
Smith believed, “the last extremity of treason”,1 but to make his
peace. The eunuch on duty, however, barred his way, and Akbar
armed with his sword, came out by another door. As his glance fell
on the dead body of Atga Khan he cried to Adham Khan, “You
son of a why have you killed my foster-father? " Adham Khan
seized his hands and begged him to hear him, but Akbar, maddened
by the restraint, wrenched himself free and felled him with a blow
of his fist. He then ordered his attendants to throw him down from
the terrace, and the order was obeyed, but as Adham Khan was
1 Akbar, the Great Moghul, p. 60.
2 For doubt as to his use of
an epithet see Mrs Beveridge. Humayun-nama, p. 62, n, 1 (Ed. ).
9


## p. 84 (#116) #############################################

84
AKBAR, 1556-1573
1
1
seen to be breathing he was taken up and thrown down a second
time, so that his neck was broken and his brains spattered the pave-
ment. Akbar then returned to the inner apartments and broke the
news, as quietly as he could, to the murderer's mother, who was ill.
The sick woman said simply, "Your Majesty did well", and forty
days later died of grief for her worthless son.
Mun‘im Khan and Muhammad Qasim Khan, another conspirator,
fied across the Jumna and made for Rupar and Machiwara, intending
to escape to Kabul, where they hoped that Ghani Khan, the former's
son, would be able to protect them, but they were captured near
Sarwat in the Duab and handed over to Sayyid Mahmud Barha, who
sent them back to Agra, whence an emissary had already been des-
patched to convey to them an assurance that they would not be
molested. On their arrival at Agra they were not only pardoned,
but Mun'im Khan was permitted to retain his title of Khan Khanan
and reinstated as chief minister of the empire.
It has been plausibly conjectured 1 that there was an element of
contempt in this reinstatement, for the post to which Mun‘im Khan
was restored was shorn of nearly all its former importance. Akbar
had learnt his lesson and was resolved in future to be emperor in fact
as well as in name. During Mun'im Khan's short absence he had
discovered gross abuses in the adminstration of the crown lands and
had appointed to the charge of those lands, under his own immediate
control, the eunuch Buhlul Malik, who had faithfully served Islam
Shah Sur and was now entitled I'timad Khan. The selection was a
wise one and the eunuch served his new master faithfully and well.
So it was to be in all other departments of state. The powers of
the Sadr-us-Sadur had already been greatly curtailed on the appoint-
ment of Muhammad Salih of Herat to that post earlier in the year,
and the chief minister of the empire was henceforward to register
and execute his master's decrees rather than to govern the empire.
The completion of Akbar's twentieth year was the turning point
of his life. He had freed himself from all malign influences and was
able to pursue his own high ideals. With all his faults and all his
foibles, and they were many, he was a truly great ruler and was the
first of the Muslim sovereigns of India to conceive the idea of dealing
impartially with all his subjects, whether Hindus or Muslims. It may
also be said that he was the last. Henceforward the chronicle of his
reign is the story of the man, not of the influence of this or that
minister or faction.
The province of Kabul was governed nominally by Akbar's younger
brother, prince Muhammad Hakim, but the management of its
affairs was in the hands of his guardian, who at the beginning
of the reign had been Mun'im Khan. When he came to court on
the occasion of Bairam Khan's fall he left his son, Ghani Khan, to
1 Akbar, the Great Mogul, p. 63.
!


## p. 85 (#117) #############################################

CONFUSION AT KABUL
85
act for him, but the young man was unequal to the task. He could
manage neither the turbulent populace of Kabul nor the prince's
mother, who was a power in the state, and during a temporary
absence from the town the gates were shut against him by the
princess, Mah Chuchak Begam, and by his own uncle, Fazil (or
Fazail) Beg. Ghani Khan retired to Akbar's court and Fazil Beg
took his place, but left all business in the hands of his son, Abu-'l-Fath.
Abu-'l-Fath's behaviour estranged him both from the old nobles of
Kabul and from Mah Chuchak Begam, and he was assassinated.
Fazil Beg attempted to escape but was captured and shared the fate
of his son.
Mun‘im Khan was now reappointed to Kabul and, over-estimating
his popularity, hastened thither with an inadequate force. He was
attacked and defeated near Jalalabad by Mah Chuchak Begam and
fled to the Gakkhar country, whence he wrote to Akbar begging that
he might be permitted either to make the pilgrimage to Mecca or
to hide his shame in the Punjab, but Akbar consoled him, recalled
him to court, and made him governor of Agra.
Affairs at Kabul were now thrown into greater confusion than ever
by the arrival of the stormy petrel, Shah Abu-'l-Ma'ali, who, having
escaped from his prison at Lahore, had performed the pilgrimage to
Mecca, whence he returned ready to seize any opportunity of foment-
ing strife and stirring up sedition. At Jalor he had found Saraf-ud-din
Husain, one of the conspirators who had fled from court after the
murder of Atga Khan, and at his instigation had taken possession
of Narnaul and had defeated and slain Isma'il Quli and Ahmad Beg,
who had been sent against him by Husain Quli Khan, then engaged
in an attempt to capture Sharaf-ud-din Husain. Isma'il Quli and
Ahmad Beg had, however, before their final defeat and death, driven
Abu-'l-Ma'ali from Narnaul and captured his brother, Khanzada
Muhammad, and as one imperial officer after another closed the
gate of their fortresses against him and he heard that Akbar was
marching from Agra to Delhi he resolved to take refuge at Kabul,
where he hoped to be able to obtain possession of the person of
Muhammad Hakim Mirza, whom he might set up as a pretender to
the imperial throne in opposition to Akbar.
He fled through the Punjab, fruitlessly pursued by the imperial
troops, and was kindly received_at Kabul by Mah Chuchak Begam,
who gave him her daughter, Fakhr-un-Nisa Begam, in marriage.
She soon had reason to repent her courtesy to the turbulent and
ambitious Sayyid, who formed a party of the malcontents in the state,
put to death his benefactress and her agent, Haidar Qasim Kuhbur,
and took the management of affairs into his own hands. The young
prince Muhammad Hakim now secretly appealed for aid to Mirza
Sulaiman of Badakhshan, who marched on Kabul. Shah Abu-'l-
Ma'ali, carrying with him the prince, went forth to meet him, but


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86 (#118) #############################################

86
AKBAR, 1556-1573
during the battle which ensued the prince found an opportunity of
escaping to the enemy and the Kabulis, seeing that he had taken
refuge with Mirza Sulaiman, dispersed. Shah Abu-'l-Maʻali fled, but
was pursued, taken and hanged on 13 May, 1564.
Mirza Sulaiman then married his daughter to Muhammad Hakim,
distributed the province among his own adherents, appointed Ummid
'Ali guardian of the prince and returned to Badakhshan.
The "foster-father cohort" was importunate for vengeance on
those who had been concerned in the murder of Atga Khan, but
Akbar, who had pardoned and reinstated two and could not lay his
hand on the third of the conspirators, did not meet their demand and
found it necessary to divert their attention by active employment.
A plausible pretext for interfering in the affairs of the Gakkhars
offered him an opportunity. Sultan Sarang, who had been confirmed
by Babur as chief of the Gakkhars, had been put to death by Islam
Khan Sur and his son Kamal Khan was in Akbar's service. The
leadership of the tribe had been seized by Kamal Khan's uncle,
Sultan Adam, and Kamal, who had rendered distinguished services
against the Afghans at Jaunpur, begged Akbar to restore him to at
least half of his inheritance. Akbar accordingly called upon Sultan
Adam to surrender to his nephew half of the tribal territory and, on
his refusing to comply, fitted out an expedition the command of which
he gave to Khan Kalan and Qutb-ud-din Khan, two of Atga Khan's
three brothers. The expedition was successful. Sultan Adam and his
son Lashkari were captured and Kamal Khan was placed in pos-
session of the Gakkhar country, which lay between the Indus and the
frontier of Kashmir. He put his uncle to death and threw his cousin
into prison, where he shortly afterwards died.
Akbar was hunting at Muttra when he heard of the death of Isma‘il
Quli and Ahmad Beg, near Nagaur, at the hands of Shah Abu-'l-Maʻali,
and on receiving the news marched to Delhi with a view to cutting off
the rebel, but the report of his movement so accelerated Abu-'l-Ma'ali's
flight that by the time the emperor reached Delhi arrest was impossible.
While at Muttra Akbar abolished the tax levied on Hindu pilgrims
visiting the town, another instance of his clemency to his Hindu
subjects.
At Delhi one of the most discreditable episodes of his life occurred.
He chanced to see and to fall in love with an extremely beautiful
woman, the wife of one Shaikh 'Abdul-Wasi, and sent a message
to the Shaikh reminding him of the article in the code of Chingiz
Khan to the effect that the husband of any woman whom the sovereign
may desire is bound to divorce his wife and surrender her to his lord.
The Shaikh was complaisant, divorced his wife and retired to Bidar
in the Deccan. The woman through whom Akbar had become
acquainted with the Shaikh's wife now suggested that he should in
like manner connect himself with the leading families of Delhi and
>


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87
MUZAFFAR 'ALI APPOINTED DIWAN
Agra, and pandars and eunuchs were employed to inspect secretly
the harems of the leading men of the city and report the discovery
of any woman of special beauty. This invasion of the sanctity of the
home caused much murmuring and discontent, and on 12 January,
1564, as Akbar was returning from a visit to the tomb of Shaikh
Nizam-ud-din Auliya, a slave named Fulad shot an arrow at him which
inflicted no more than a slight flesh wound. There appears to be no
doubt, though another motive has been assigned for the act, that the
attempt was connected with Akbar's designs on the honour and hap-
piness of his subjects. He, at any rate, so regarded it and caused the
assassin to be put to death on the spot, without inquiring, as his advi-
sers urged, what had been his motive and who were his instigators. He
abandoned his disgraceful search, and no more is heard throughout
his reign of his molesting the wives and daughters of his subjects.
In this year he made another appointment which indicated his
intention of bringing the whole of the administration of the empire
under his personal control. Muzaffar 'Ali of Turbat, who had been
in Bairam Khan's service and whose life had been spared in spite
of the efforts of the harem party to procure his condemnation, had
since done good service as collector of a sub-district and superintend-
ent of the imperial stores. He was now entitled Muzaffar Khan and
appointed Diwan, or revenue minister, of the empire.
From Delhi Akbar returned, on 10 February, to Agra, where he
was on 11 March, the beginning of the ninth regnal year, which was
signalised by the abolition of the jizya, or poll-tax, on Hindus and
other non-Muslims. Badauni places this event in the year 1579 and,
strange to say, does not condemn it. 1
This year was marred by another domestic tragedy. Akbar's
maternal uncle Khvaja Mu'azzam, a violent and irresponsible man,
had threatened to murder his wife, and Akbar rode to his house to
the east of the Jumna to forestall the crime, only to find that it had
already been committed. The murderer was seized, roughly handled,
and ducked in the river in the hope that he would drown, but came
out alive and was sent to Gwalior, where he presently died insane.
This event marks Akbar's final emancipation from family influence,
ur rather from that of blood relations, for there is no doubt that in
later years he was influenced, like Solomon, by his wives, who fami-
liarised him with Hindu doctrines and practices.
Asaf Khan, the governor of Kara, who had recently reduced to
obedience Ram Chand Baghel, Raja of Bhath,2 was now ordered
to subdue the Gond kingdom of Garha-Katanga, known to English
historians as Garha-Mandla, which had existed for nearly ten cen-
turies and extended from Ratanpur on the east to Raisen in Malwa
11, 276.
2 Sometimes wrongly transliterated as Panna. Now
in Rewah state. See Hirananda Shastri, “The Baghela dynasty of Rewah",
Memoir no. 21, Arch. Survey of India. (Ed. )


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88
AKBAR, 1556-1573
1
1
on the west and from the southern border of the Bhath principality
on the north to the frontier of the Deccan on the south. At this time
the Rani Durgavati, a princess of the Chandel dynasty of Mahoba,
was regent of the kingdom for her son, Bir Narayan, who, though he
had attained manhood, left the management of affairs in her hands.
She governed wisely and well, and had fought with unvarying success
against both Baz Bahadur and the Afghans. Her army consisted of
20,000 horse and 1000 elephants, and besides being an intrepid warrior
she was devoted to field sports.
Asaf Khan advanced with 10,000 horse and a large force of foot
to Damoh, where he halted and was joined by petty chiefs who
brought his strength in horse up to 50,000. Durgavati and her son,
with an army greatly inferior in numbers, advanced to meet him and
chose a defensive position at Narhi to the east of Garha. Here, with
her 5000 men, she stoutly withsood the invaders for two days, but
on the second her son was wounded and she sent him from the field.
The withdrawal of his escort so weakened her small army that it was
almost immediately overpowered. She was wounded with two arrows
and stabbed herself to avoid capture.
Asaf Khan marched from Narhi to Chauragarh, the capital of the
Gond kingdom, where Bir Narayan, wounded as he was, came out to
give him battle, but was defeated and slain, so that the fortress fell at
once into the hands of the Mughuls. The raja's servants, obeying the
orders which they had received from their master, burnt all the females
of his house except two, who miraculously escaped and were saved
and sent to Akbar. One of these was Kamlavati, sister of Durgavati.
The spoils taken by Asaf Khan were immense, and comprised
jewels and rich stuffs, gold and silver both coined and uncoined and
in the form of idols, and a thousand elephants. Asaf Khan remained
at Chauragarh to administer his conguest and retained for himself
all the jewels and stuffs and 800 of the 1000 elephants, but Akbar
paid no heed to his contumacy at the time.
This act of aggression was entirely unprovoked and there was not
the shadow of a pretext for it except Akbar's own frankly expressed
view of a king's duties, “A monarch should be ever intent on con-
quest, otherwise his neighbours rise in arms against him. " There is
nothing surprising in the discovery that an eastern monarch of the
sixteenth century was a mere annexationist requiring no excuse for
attacking his neighbours beyond a desire to acquire their possessions,
but Akbar has been so extravagantly lauded, not only by his own
secretary but also by some modern writers, that it is necessary to
remember that in this respect at least he was no better than other
eastern rulers of his age.
It was now reported at court that 'Abdullah Khan the Uzbeg,
who held the government of Malwa, was preparing to rise in rebel-
lion, and Akbar left Agra on 1 July and marched to Narwar on the
1
1
1


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MALWA REBELLION. AGRA FORT BEGUN
89
pretext of an elephant hunt. Heavy rains detained him for nearly
a fortnight on the banks of the Chambal and it was with the utmost
difficulty that the march was continued through Malwa. 'Abdullah,
although envoys were sent to reassure him, fled from Mandu as
Akbar approached, but the emperor pursued him, came up with him
at Lawani, only seven miles from Mandu, and though the rapidity of
Akbar's march had left him with no more than 300 men he attacked
and defeated 'Abdullah, capturing not only his elephants but the
women of his harem. 'Abdullah fled to Gujarat; Akbar returned
to Mandu and sent an emissary to Chingiz Khan, the regent of
Gujarat, to demand the surrender or dismissal of the fugitive.
Chingiz Khan sent a conciliatory reply begging forgiveness for
‘Abdullah and promising to dismiss him if he were not pardoned.
Akbar remained for nearly a month at Mandu, setting in order the
affairs of Malwa. He also sent a mission to Mubarak Shah II of
Khandesh, demanding of him a daughter in marriage. Mubarak com-
plied with the demand and Akbar's new bride was conducted from
Burhanpur to Mandu by I'timiad Khan the eunuch. Qara Bahadur
Khan, a cousin of Mirza Haidar the historian and conqueror of Kash-
mir, was appointed to the government of Malwa, and Akbar, after an
unsuccessful attempt to induce Baz Bahadur to leave Dungarpur and
make his submission, returned to Agra, arriving there on 9 October.
He now had some leisure which he employed in indulging his
passion for building. He had been attracted by the situation of the
village of Kakrali, seven miles to the south of Agra, and there built
himself a palace, to serve as a hunting lodge and pleasure house.
The courtiers were encouraged to build houses for themselves, gardens
were laid out, and a small town sprang up round the palace. To this
Akbar gave the name of Nagarchain, or "abode of ease", and here
he amused himself with coursing, pigeon-flying, and polo, which he
played at night with balls made of the wood of the dhak or palas
tree (Butea frondosa) which smoulders when ignited.
Nagarchain was deserted when Fathpur Sikri became, some years
later, Akbar's favourite abode, and by the end of the reign scarcely
a trace remained of it. Dr Vincent Smith says that there still exist
trifling remains of mosques and a well.
At the same time Akbar undertook the restoration of Agra, the
eld brick fort of which had become ruinous. He had already adorned
the city with two new buildings and he now gave orders for the
construction of the fort of stone, which still stands, to replace the
old fort. The new fort was fifteen years in building and cost three
million and a half rupees, equivalent to nearly £ 400,000 sterling.
According to Abu-'l-Fazl Akbar erected at Agra "more than five
hundred buildings of masonry, after the beautiful designs of Bengal
and Gujarat, which masterly sculptors and cunning artists of form
have fashioned as architectural models". The old Agra of the Lodi


## p. 90 (#122) #############################################

90
AKBAR, 1556-1573
dynasty, a comparatively mean town, lay on the left bank of the river
and was replaced by Akbar's magnificent city on the right bank, the
name of which was altered by his grandson Shah Jahan to Akbarabad
and fittingly commemorates its great builder.
While Akbar was thus employed in restoring order in Malwa and
in building, Khan Zaman brought a very doubtful campaign ir.
Bihar to a successful conclusion, snatching victory from the very jaws
of defeat. The Afghans invaded Bihar in force and occupied the
province, including some of Khan Zaman's assignments, which lay
on its frontier. Khan Zaman marched to repel them but, finding them
too strong to be attacked, entrenched himself at Andhyari Bari on
the Son. While he was there he was visited by some emissaries from
Akbar's court who had been sent to convey promises of favour and
protection to Sulaiman Kararani, king of Bengal, but had also been
ordered to obtain satisfactory guarantees from Khan Zaman, who
had long ceased to correspond with the central government and whose
loyalty was suspected. They were still awaiting his answer when the
Afghans attacked the entrenched camp. Khan Zaman drew up his
army to receive them but it was overpowered and put to flight, and
the Afghans began to plunder the camp. Khan Zaman, with a few
attendants, withdrew to one of the bastions of the fortifications and
thence fired a mortar or howitzer, killing the elephant ridden by
Hasan Khan, brother of Fath Khan, the commander of the Afghan
army. Hasan Khan's contingent at once took to flight and at the same
time a vicious elephant from the Afghan camp broke its chains, slew
another elephant in the field, and threw the whole Afghan force,
who believed that they had fallen into an ambush, into confusion,
They broke and fled and the Mughul troops, rallied by Khan Zaman,
pursued them with great slaughter, taking much booty. Khan Zaman
then returned to Jaunpur and on his way dismissed the emperor's en-
voys at Zamaniya, without vouchsafing an answer to their proposals.
Akbar's next attempt at reforming the general administration was
unfortunate. Khvaja Muhammad Salih was removed frcm the post
of Sadr-us-Sudur and Shaikh 'Abdun-Nabi was appointed in his place,
in the belief that he would be more likely than his predecessor to
collaborate with Muzaffar Khan, the revenue minister, in limiting
the expenditure on free grants of land or money to those who devoted
their lives to scholarship or religion; but the selection was unfortunate,
for 'Abdun-Nabi was a narrow-minded ecclesiastic who held that
any pretensions to piety or learning entitled the pretender to live
luxuriously at the public expense, and proved "a sair sanct for the
Crown". Grants on a scale hitherto unheard of were assigned with
a lavish hand and the Shaikh paid no heed to the revenue minister.
He succeeded, however, in retaining his appointment until 1578 and
when he ultimately fell into disfavour it was not for dishonesty or
administrative incapacity.


## p. 91 (#123) #############################################

UZBEGS IN INDIA REBEL
91
The Uzbegs in Akbar's service formed a family party, the members
cf which were employed for the most part in the eastern province
of the empire. Khan Zaman, their chief, held Jaunpur while his
brother, Bahadur Khan, was in the same neighbourhocd; Ibrahim
Khan, their uncle, was at Surhurpur, north of Jaunpur, and I kandar
Khan, entitled Khan 'Alam, another member of the family, held
Oudh. They were proud of their descent from the royal line of
Shaiban and it was to them, after Bairam Khan, that Akbar chiefly
owed his throne. They had some reason for considering that their
services had been ill rewarded. Their retention in the eastern pro-
vinces where what may be called active service conditions continually
prevailed, amounted in effect to banishment from court, where they
saw Persians and others advanced to the highest posts, and they
resented their exclusion from favour. Akbar is said to have been so
indiscreet as to attribute all his father's troubles to the Uzbegs and
his promptitude in proceeding against 'Abdullah Khan in Malwa,
on what appeared to them to be mere suspicion, was regarded as
proof positive of his hatred of all the tribe. Their isolation, while it
aroused their resentment, was favourable to the growth of a spirit
of independence, for the expenses of their military establishment
furnished them with a pretext for not contributing to the imperial
exchequer. Khan Zaman's unceremonious reception and dismissal
of the imperial envoys had been sufficient to convince Akbar of his
disaffection, and Ashraf Khan, who was usually employed on such
missions, was sent early in 1565 to Iskandar Khan, who was believed
to be more amenable, but the Uzbegs were resolved to stand or fall
together and Iskandar would give Ashraf no answer until he had
met his relatives at Jaunpur, where in a family conclave they resolved
to take up arms and decided on a plan of campaign. Iskandar and
Ibrahim were to march on Kanauj and raise the country in that
direction and Khan Zaman and Bahadur were to attack Manikpur,
held for Akbar by Majnun Khan Qaqshal.
Ibrahim and Iskandar defeated on their way to Kanauj a small
force of Akbar's troops and Khan Zaman and Bahadur besieged
Majnun Khan in Manikpur. Asaf Khan, whom he summoned to
his aid from Chauragarh, relieved the pressure of the siege but their
combined forces were not strong enough to attack the rebels.
When Akbar received reports of the situation he at once despatched
Mun'im Khan, with such troops as were ready for the field, to Kanauj
, and on 24 May left Agra, with a large force, to join him, marching
by night owing to the heat of the weather.
Ten days were spent at Kanauj in preparations for the passage
of the Ganges but Akbar, on hearing that Iskandar was preparing
to make a stand at Lucknow, crossed the river and, covering the
70 miles between Kanauj and Lucknow in two nights and a day,
surprised Iskandar and forced him to flee. The horses of the cavalry


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92
AKBAR, 1556-1573
were so spent that pursuit was impossible and Iskandar was thus able
to join Khan Zaman before Manikpur, but he, learning that Akbar
had occupied Lucknow, raised the siege, retreated with all speed
across the Ganges and took refuge in the rough and broken country
to the north-east of the Gumti.
Akbar halted at Lucknow until the remainder of his army came up
and then advanced, by easy stages, towards Jaunpur, which he reached
on 13 July, having been joined on the way by Majnun Khan and Asaf
Khan from Manikpur. The latter took this opportunity of presenting
Akbar some of the spoils of Chauragarh, and of making his peace.
The rebels now retired to the neighbourhood of Hajipur, whence
they sent envoys to seek aid of Sulaiman Kararani, the king of Ben-
gal. An emissary sent by Akbar to deter Sulaiman from assisting them
was intercepted and was detained in arrest in the rebel camp on his
refusing to act as an intermediary between Khan Zaman and Akbar,
The mission to Sulaiman having thus miscarried, Akbar sent a second,
to Mukund Deo, Raja of Orissa, requesting him to attack Sulaiman
in the event of the latter's taking any steps to support the rebels.
Mukund Deo promised to perform this service, and the envoys
eventually returned to court after Akbar's return to Nagarchain,
bringing with them several elephants and other valuable gifts.
Asaf Khan, though he had made his peace with Akbar, had not
propitiated Muzaffar Khan, the revenue minister, who accordingly
reminded him that the spoils of Chauragarh had not been accounted
for and that an investigation might be necessary. If his object was
to obtain his fee he was disappointed, for the suggestion so alarmed
Asaf Khan that he fled, on 17 September, to his governorship, evading
pursuit.
Khan Zaman was encamped at Narhan, on the Gogra, and Akbar's
field force was on the south bank of the river watching him. To create
a diversion he sent Bahadur Khan and Iskandar Khan into the country
north of the Gogra, the present Bahraich and Gonda districts, but
Akbar detached a second field force under Mir Mu'izz-ul-Mulk the
Sayyid to the Khairabad district to hold the Uzbegs in check and
marched to Allahabad to await the result of the operations.
Khan Zaman, much disappointed by perceiving that Akbar's
arrangements were in no way disturbed by the movements of
Bahadur and Iskandar, sent a message to Mun'im Khan, who was
favourably disposed towards him, opening negotiations for submission
and a pardon. Akbar had little confidence in the genuineness of the
rebel's repentance and not much more in the zeal and loyalty of
Mun'im Khan, but sent Khvaia Jahan, in whom Khan Zaman had
confidence, to arrange terms. It was agreed that Khan Zaman should
send his mother and his uncle Ibrahim to court and that they should
be followed, after he had been formally pardoned, by Baha lur and
Iskandar. Mun‘im Khan accompanied Khan Zaman's mother and


## p. 93 (#125) #############################################

UZBEGS DEFEATED AND PARDONED
93
Ibrahim Khan to court, and Khan Zaman was pardoned on con-
dition that he refrained from crossing the Gogra while the imperial
troops were in the field.
Mir Mu'izz-ul-Mulk had been joined in the Khairabad district
by Raja Todar Mal, and though both, as well as the two Uzbeg chiefs
opposed to them, were well aware of the progress of negotiations for
Knan Zaman's submission they ignored them and with the double
object of frustrating Mun'im Khan's efforts and of distinguishing
themselves in the field, deliberately provoked Bahadur and Iskandar
to hostilities. The armies met and the imperial troops suffered a
severe defeat and were forced to retreat on Kanauj, whence they
reported the disaster.
Akbar well knew where to place the blame, for the battle of Khaira-
bad was not allowed to affect the terms of the general pardon granted
to the rebels, and Mu'izz-ul-Mulk and Todar Mal were reprimanded
and for some time were not admitted to the imperial presence.
Akbar, who had returned to Jaunpur, marched in January, 1566,
to Benares, inspecting on his way the fortress of Chunar, which he
had not yet seen. His suspicions of Khan Zaman were soon justified,
for the rebel violated the terms of his pardon by crossing the Gogra
to Muhammadabad and sent detachments to Jaunpur and Goazipur.
Akbar reproached Mun'im Khan with his advocacy of a traitor so
perfidious and marched to attack him, ordering Ashraf Khan to
imprison his mother at Jaunpur. Khan Zaman fled across the Gogra
and Akbar captured his tents and baggage and sent a force in pursuit
of him, but it was ascertained that he had fled into the Himalaya
and the pursuers returned. Akbar then learnt that Bahadur Khan
had descended on Jaunpur, released his mother and imprisoned
Ashraf Khan, laid waste the district, and marched on to Benares,
which town and district also he plundered. He marched to Jaunpur
and punished the sloth and incompetence of the officers who had
permitted Bahadur to raid the town by declaring that it should be
his capital until the rebels were captured, and the threat was taken
so seriously that some began to build themselves houses. Khan
Zaman, on learning Akbar's decision, once more approached Mun'im
Khan with a view to a reconciliation, but Mun'im Khan dared not
again broach the subject to the emperor and other intermediaries
were employed. At their intercession Akbar, with an alacrity which
showed that he was weary of the campaign and was desirous of peace
at any price, pardoned the rebels and reinstated them in their posi-
tions. He reached Agra on 29 March and enjoyed some well-earned
leisure at Nagarchain.
Mahdi Qasim Khan was sent into Gondwana to seize the deserter
Asaf Khan, but the latter fled, and with his younger brother, Vazir
Khan, took refuge with Khan Zaman at Jaunpur.
Mahdi Qasim Khan, disgusted with the wild and unsettled country


## p. 94 (#126) #############################################

94
AKBAR, 1556-1573
7
which had fallen so easily into his hands, fled into the Deccan and
thence travelled to Mecca without permission and it became neces-
sary to send other officers to Gondwana to restore order in the
administration.
Asaf Khan and his brother soon had cause to repent having placed
themselves under the protection of Khan Zaman, who employed the
former on arduous duties and detained the latter in prison as a hostage
for his brother. With considerable difficulty, and not without having
recourse to arms, they succeeded in effecting their escape and fled
to Kara, where they were received by Majnun Khan. From Kara,
Vazir Khan went to court, to seek the emperor's forgiveness for his
brother. Akbar was now at Lahore, where Vazir Khan made his
submission and was graciously received. Asaf Khan was instructed
to remain with Majnun Khan at Manikpur or Kara and was informed
that he would be received when the court returned to Agra.
Akbar's leisure at Nagarchain had been interrupted and he had
been summoned northwards by the news that his brother, Muham-
mad Hakim, had invaded the Punjab and was besieging Lahore.
Muhammad Hakim's invasion of the Punjab, a poor return for
the assistance which Akbar had recently given him against Mirza
Sulaiman of Badakhshan, who had invaded his territories, was insti-
gated by some malcontents and mischief-makers at Kabul and
encouraged by messages from the Uzbeg rebels, who had been in
secret communication with him. Believing that the assignees in the
Punjab would espouse his cause, he marched on Lahore by way of
Bhera, on the Jhelum, but "the foster-father cohort”, Khan Kalan,
Qutb-ud-din Khan and Sharif Khan, had assembled their troops and
repaired the fortifications and Muhammad Hakim, encamped in the
gardens of Mahdi Qasim Khan, kept at a respectful distance by the
guns of the fortress.
Akbar set out from Agra on 16 November, 1566, reaching Delhi
ten days later, and Muhammad Hakim, on receiving this news, beat
a hasty retreat. Akbar did not hear of his flight until he reached
the Sutlej and from that river continued his march to Lahore, which
he reached at the end of January, 1567. A force sent in pursuit of
the prince returned on learning that he had crossed the Indus.
At Lahore Akbar was again disturbed, this time by news of the
rebellion of the princes known as "the Mirzas”, who were his distant
relations, being descended from 'Umar Shaikh Mirza, the second
son of Timur, while Akbar himself was descended from Jalal-ud-din
Miran Shah, the third. There were six brothers : (1) Ulugh Mirza,
(2) Shah Mirza, (3) Ibrahim Husain Mirza, (4) Muhammad Husain
Mirza, (5) Mas'ud Husain Mirza, and (6) 'Aqil Husain Mirza, of
whom the last four rebelled, together with two sons of the eldest,
Sikandar, also known as Ulugh Mirza, and Mahmud Sultan, also
known as Shah Mirza. They had been provided with assignments


## p. 95 (#127) #############################################

AKBAR'S SPORT
25
in the Sambhal and A'zampur districts and the nature of their
grievance is not recorded. They may have considered that the pro-
vision made for them was insufficient for princes of the house of
Timur but, if so, they were hardly reasonable, for the degree of their
relationship to Akbar was that of sixth cousins. They rose and occu-
pied some crown lands not included in their estates; Mun‘im Khan
marched against them and they fled into Malwa.
News yet more disquieting necessitated Akbar's return to his
capital. The Uzbegs of Jaunpur were again in open rebellion, had
proclaimed Muhammad Hakim, had caused the khutba to be recited
in his name at Jaunpur, and had invited him to make another
attempt to oust his brother.
Before leaving Lahore Akbar organised an enormous battue of big
game in the neighbourhood. Beaters, including the army, encircled
an area of over 60 by 60 miles and, contracting the circle day by
day, drove all living creatures towards the centre. About 15,000
wild animals of various kinds were counted, and the nobles, an
afterwards the people generally, were permitted to join in this
"sport”. Akbar himself was employed for five consecutive days in
slaughtering animals with sword, spear, musket and arrows. It may
be conceived that the recollection of this slaughter troubled his con-
science in later years, when he had adopted the Jain principle of the
sanctity of animal life.
On returning from the hunt to Lahore he swam his horse across
the Ravi, and of the courtiers who followed him two were drowned.
He left Lahore on 23 March and at Thanesar enjoyed a spectacle
even more exciting than his battue near Lahore, and equally repug-
nant to the opinions which he afterwards developed. Near the town
is Kurukshetra, the legendary site of the great battle between the
Pandavas and the Kauravas, and here were assembled two bands
of devotees, Sanyasis and Jogis, who, it appears, were wont to cele-
brate the anniversary of the battle by a mock combat. On this
occasion they had arranged that the combat should be fought in
earnest, for there was a quarrel due to one band having occupied
the site claimed by the other. Akbar sanctioned the proposal and
ordered or permitted some of his own infantry to reinforce the
Sanyasis, who could oppose only 300 men to the 500 mustered by
the Jogis. The miserable fanatics laid on and after a fierce contest
in which, to Akbar's delight and amusement, many lives were lost,
the Sanyasis were victorious.
When Akbar reached Agra, Khan Zaman was besieging Mirza
Yusuf Khan in Shergarh, near Kanauj, and Bahadur Khan was
besieging Majnun Khan and Asaf Khan in Manikpur. Qiya Khan
Gung was sent to the relief of Shergarh and Akbar followed him on
6 May. Khan Zaman, on learning that Akbar was marching in person
1 29° N. , 78° 10'E.


## p. 96 (#128) #############################################

96
AKBAR, 1556-1573
on Shergarh, raised the siege and marched to join Bahadur Khan
before Manikpur. Akbar accordingly detached a force to deal with
Iskandar Khan in Oudh.
He now had trouble with his own troops, who had in the previous
year carried on a tedious and laborious but fruitless campaign against
the Uzbegs, and had since marched to Lahore and back. There was
much sympathy with the rebels, and the troops disapproved of Akbar's
restless activity and preferred a more leisurely system of warfare,
but Akbar knew how to deal with discontent in his own army and
was resolved on this occasion to finish with the Uzbegs. He marched
from Rae Bareli on 7 June and, learning that the rebels had bridged
and crossed the Ganges at Singraur, sent the main body of his army
under Raja Bhagwan Das and Khvaja Jahan to cross the river at
Kara while he himself crossed it at Manikpur, when it was already
So swollen by the melting of the snows on the hills that only 1000
or 1500 men succeeded in crossing with him.
The rebels, meanwhile, were advancing towards Kara, between
which place and them lay only the troops commanded by Majnun
Khan Qaqshal and Asaf Khan. They did not know that Akbar had
reached the Ganges and did not believe that he could venture to
cross it. A scout's report that he had crossed was regarded as a trick
of Asaf Khan and Majnun Khan, and they spent the night in drinking
and debauchery while Akbar was halted on the south-western bank
of the Ganges within two miles of their camp. He marched to the
camp at sunrise on 9 June, and finding that they had already moved
towards Kara, sent his right wing under Majnun Khan to cut them
off, following him with his main body.
The imperial troops came up with the rebels at Fathpur Parsaki,
seven miles south-east of Kara, and the battle was fiercely contested
for some time, but Bahadur Khan's horse reared and threw him and
he was captured. The defeat of the rebels was completed by an attack
of the imperial elephants on Khan Zaman's contingent, and they
fied in confusion, one body of them being put to death by villagers
into whose hands it fell. Khan Zaman was trampled to death in
the elephant charge and his head was severed from his body and
laid before Akbar. Bahadur Khan was taken alive and execute!
on the spot, in spite of the intercession of many of the nobles, and
1 This identifcation is not absolutely certain, but I believe it to be correct.
Abu-'l-Fazl gives the name of the village as Sakraval while Badauni and Nizam-
ud-din Ahmad have Mangarwal. Dr Vincent Smith (Akbar, the Great Mogul,
p. 80, n. 1) identifies it with Mankuwar, “about ten miles south-south-west of
Allahabad”, but this cannot be accepted, for Akbar did not cross the Jamuna
and the battle was certainly fought in the lower Duab, not far from Kara. It
may be admitted that Parsaki does not much resemble either Sakraval or
Mangarwal, but they do not much resemble one another and all agree that the
village received the name of Fathpur. The site of Parsaki exactly fits the des-
cription of the movements of the two forces, and it is the only village in the
neighbourhood bearing the name of Fathpur.


## p. 97 (#129) #############################################

EXPEDITION AGAINST THE RANA OF CHITOR
97
Mirza Mirak Rizavi, who had attached himself to the Uzbegs, was
tortured by means of an elephant for five successive days, but his
life was spared in consideration of his being a Sayyid, and he after-
wards received the command of 900 horse and the title of Rizavi
Khan, and held lucrative appointments.
The final suppression of this rebellion relieved Akbar's mind of a
load of care. For the reasons already given the Uzbegs were com-
pletely alienated from him and irreconcilably disaffected. A party
at court sympathised with them and they apparently never abandoned
the hope of being able one day to overthrow Akbar and to establish
a rúler more in sympathy with them. It is not impossible that Khan
Zaman's descent from Shaiban of the Golden Horde, Khan of the
Kirghiz Steppes, suggested to him his own fitness for empire.
Mun'im Khan received the assignments of the Uzbegs, which he
ill deserved, and Akbar, after witnessing the execution of large
numbers of rebels, returned to Agra on 18 July.
On 31 August Akbar left Agra for Dholpur and Gwalior, having
two objects in view. The first was the suppression of the Mirzas, who
were still in Malwa, where they had occupied some important towns
and districts.