BOOK IV. town of Doura, when he was met by the Afgháns in A.D.1531-2. great force. A battle ensued, in which Sheikh Bayezíd Humayun returns to Agra, Jemádi I. was slain, and Sultan Mahmúd and his Afgháns completely dispersed, as his friends affirmed, by the treachery of Shir Khan. Mahmúd was soon after expelled from the province of Juánpúr, and fled to Patna and Bengal, whence he never returned, and where he died a natural death.* The Emperor, having defeated this invasion, settled the country, and reinstated Sultan Juneid Birlás as his lieutenant in the government, returned to Agra, where, on the anniversary of his accession, he gave a A. H. 938, grand entertainment, in the course of which, besides rich presents and other gratifications to his nobles, in A. D. 1531, elephants, jewels, &c., he is said to have distributed among the officers of his court and army no less than twelve thousand khiláts, or honorary dresses, two thousand of which were richly embroidered and ornamented with precious stones.† 9. Dec. 19. Campaign against Chunár. A. D. 1532. The most important object of policy for the Emperor of Delhi at this moment, next to that of crushing the seeds of rebellion in his own family and court, was undoubtedly to break in pieces the power still possessed by the Afgháns throughout India, and to become A. H. 938, master, if possible, of the course of the Ganges. To secure these objects, the Emperor soon afterwards again took the field, and marched towards the fort of Chunár, in the province of Behár, a place of extraordinary strength, and one of the most important positions on that river. It was now held by the celebrated Shir Khan, who, since the defeat and flight of Sultan Mahmud Lodi, had risen to the first distinction *Kholáset-ul-Towáríkh, f. 255. In the translation of Jouher, the on the river Sini," probably an error of the transcriber for Gumti. No date is given, nor are Kalinjer or Juánpúr mentioned. + Tabakát-i-Akberi, f. 144.; Ferishta, ii. 72. by the pro among the Afgháns. Formerly it had belonged to CHAP. I. Sultan Ibráhím, but soon after his defeat and death A.D.1531-2. had submitted to Báber, as we have seen, and, by a series of events to be afterwards mentioned, had very recently passed into the hands of its present master. Humáyun, desirous both to possess the fort and to humble the owner, had sent a large force in advance to invest it, and now himself followed and laid close siege to it, at the head of a formidable army. At his approach, Shír Khan, leaving his son, Jilál Khan, in the fortress with a strong garrison of trusty adherents, retired to the higher grounds, and hovered round the imperial camp, for the double purpose of harassing it and of succouring the besieged. After the blockade Interrupted had lasted three or four months, Humáyun, who, for- gress of Betunately for the Afghán chiefs, was surrounded by háder Shah, enemies, received intelligence, with some alarm, of the rapid progress made by Beháder Shah, the King of Gujrát, in Málwa and Nagór. Shír Khan, seizing the favourable moment, sent ambassadors to the Emperor to sue for peace, to express the Khan's gratitude to the Emperor and his illustrious father, by whose patronage he had attained his present rank; to make professions of submission, and such offers as, while they saved the dignity of the sovereign, left the Khan in possession of his stronghold. Humáyun, little disposed to protract a siege which might be drawn out to a very inconvenient length, and had already interfered with most important objects, concluded a capitu- Nominal lation with Shir Khan, who was perfectly willing to make ample promises, flattering himself, that when Khan. the imperial troops were withdrawn, it would cost him nothing to act as he pleased, and to pursue his own policy, unfettered by any flimsy treaty that had been forced upon him. A peace was, therefore, concluded, by the terms of which he agreed, that his son, Kutb Khan, should join the Emperor's army, with a body capitulation of Shír A.D. 1532-3. BOOK IV. of Afgháns; and the young prince, accordingly, along with Isa Khan Hijáb Sirwáni, his vizier, did wait upon Humayun, and accompany him on his march into Gujrát. While there, Shir Khan having found the time favourable for revolt, and Humayun being busy reducing that province, Kutb Khan contrived to make his escape, and rejoined his father.* Embassy from Be háder Shah, A. D. 1532 -3. On relinquishing the siege of Chunár, Humáyun returned to Agra, where he gave audience to an emA. H. 939, bassy that Beháder Shah had sent, for the purpose of quieting any apprehensions which he might entertain in consequence of the rapid progress that prince was making in Málwa, and in the Rájpút territories. This mission he received with much pleasure, as circumstances rendered it important that his declared enemies should be as few as possible. He dismissed the ambassadors with every mark of distinction, and with assurances of his own pacific intentions, and turned himself to averting the dangers which threatened him in his own court and in the heart of his dominions. Muham Mírza. The Emperor had long entertained a jealousy of med Zemán Muhammed Zemán Mírza's ambitious projects, and now resolved to take away from him all means of carrying them into execution. It has been mentioned that he was the son of Badi-ez-zemán Mírza, and grandson of the famous Sultan Husein Mírza Baihra, of Khorásán. After his father's kingdom had passed into the hands of the Uzbeks, he had resided at the court of Báber, with whom he is said to have been a particular favourite, and had married one of his daughters. He * Akbernáma, f. 42.; Ferishta, ii. pp. 110-113.; Jouher, c. 2.; Tar. Kháfi Khan; Tabakát-i-Akberi, f. 174.; Tar. Nizámi, f. 213.; Nisábnáma Afgh. f. 88.; Tar. Bed. f. 147. The Tabakát, Nisábnáma, Ferishta, Kháfi Khan, and the original text of Jouher, call this young prince Kutb Khan. Abulfazl calls him Abdal Reshíd; and is followed in the translation of Jouher. The Kholáset-ul-Towáríkh, f. 275., solves the mystery, calling him "Kutb Khan, generally known as Abdal-Reshid." A.D. 1533-4. A.D.1533-4. had been honoured with the most important commands. CHAP. L. Many of the northern Chaghatái chiefs, who formed the Emperor's great strength, had much influence in his court and filled the chief offices in the country, were attached to this prince. We have seen that, in the late reign, he held the government of Behár. The events that preceded his imprisonment are not known with much certainty. Abulfazl affirms, that he formed a party and carried on intrigues in conjunction with his cousin, Muhammed Sultan Mírza, also a grandson of Sultan Husein Mírza, but by a daughter, as well as with Muhammed's son, Ulugh Mírza, with whom at this crisis he rose in rebellion a second time, after A. н. 940, having been once pardoned; that, to check this revolt, Humáyun led an army down the Ganges, and, when opposite to Bhujpúr, sent a strong detachinent across to the right bank of the river, under the command of his cousin, Yádgár Násir Mírza, who defeated the rebels, and made Muhammed Zemán, Muhammed Sultan, and Wáli Khub Mírza, prisoners.* The narrative of other historians makes it more probable that the Emperor, acting on his belief or suspicion of their Suspected treasonable designs, had arrested the first of these princes, in his government of Behár, by means of an armed force, before any rising took place, and afterwards seized the others as his accomplices. Muhammed Zemán, on his earnest professions of fidelity, was pardoned, and sent under the custody of Yádgár Taghái Beg to be imprisoned in Biána; but he had not been escapes to long there before he wrought upon his keeper not only to allow him to escape, but to accompany him in his flight. He reached the court of Beháder Shah, where he was well received. Muhammed Sultan Mírza, with Muhamhis sons, Ulugh and Shah Mirzas, when thrown into prison, were ordered to be blinded by the fire-pencil, his sons. * Akbernáma, f. 36. and imprisoned, Guzrat. med Sultan Mirza and A. D. 1534. BOOK IV. that so an end might be put to their public life; but, from the indulgence of the operator, it was so lightly applied that the structure of their eyes remained unimpaired. They, too, effected their escape from prison, about the same time, and hastened to Kanaúj, where Muhammed Sultan soon saw himself at the head of a respectable army of six thousand men,-Chaghatáis, Afgháns, and Rájpúts.* Progress of Beháder A. H. 941, A. D. 1534. While Humayun was occupied at home in dreamy speculations of false science, and by dangers within and without his court, which he found it difficult to avert, the King of Gujrát was pursuing his victorious career. So decisive were the advantages which he gained over the Rána of Cheitúr, whom, after overrunning Malwa, he now attacked in his own dominions, that he was emboldened to advance and lay siege to Cheitúr itself, the capital of the Rájpút. The Rána, in his distress, despatched an envoy to ask succour from Humayun, who could not see with indifference the rapid progress of a rival rendered more odious to him by the protection which he ostentatiously afforded to the refugees from Delhi. Humayun, thus invited, moved forward with a considerable army, as far as Gualiár; as if to assist the Rána. There he encamped * Briggs's Ferishta, ii. p. 73.; Kháfi Khan, f. 40.; Tabakát-i-Akberi, f. 145. Abulfazl and Ferishta do not mention that Muhammed Zemán was ordered to be blinded; which the author of the Tabakát-iAkberi, and of the Tarikh-i-Bedáuni do. The former says, that they did not injure the organisation of the iris of his eye, so that he soon recovered his sight (f. 145.); and is followed by the Kholáset-ul-Towáríkh, f. 255. There were two modes at that time employed in blinding princes, who were the objects of jealousy. By the one, the eye itself was cut with a lancet: by the other, a heated plate, or sometimes a heated pencil of brass or iron was applied to it, till the sight was destroyed. The latter was often preferred in the case of princes, since, the form of the eyeball not being destroyed, the appearance of the countenance was less injured. There is some disagreement among historians as to the chronology of these events. I have followed the leading authorities in the way that seems to me best fitted to reconcile this difference. |