A. H. 947, Rejeb 22. A. D. 1540. Nov. 22. BOOK V. amounted to about 4,000 men. Malek Achi Chak, who then governed the kingdom in the name of Názúk, the nominal king, collected an army of 3,000 horse, and a large body of infantry to oppose him, and took possession of the Karmal pass, to obstruct his entrance into the country. But Haider Mírza, proceeding unobserved by unfrequented routes, after overcoming great difficul ties, surmounted, on the twenty-second day of November, the steep pass of Panúj, which Malek Achi had neg. lected, thinking it impracticable to cavalry; descended on Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, and without bloodshed or opposition, took possession of it, and of the country. Malek Achi's army, filled with consternation, disbanded, and he himself, seeing no hopes of regaining his ascendency by the strength of his own party, re paired to the court of Shír Shah, carrying with him a daughter of the late king, whom he gave in marriage to the Afghán prince. Aided by Shír Shah, he was enabled to re-enter Kashmir at the head of 2,000 horse. He was soon joined by his adherents, and his force rose to 5,000 cavalry. But Haider Mirza and the KashA.D. 1541. mírian chiefs in his interest, attacked, and completely August 13. routed the invaders; and the Mírza, in spite of numerous intrigues and factions, beame the ruler of the whole of Kashmír. A. H. 948, Rebi II. 20. Mírza Haider had now ruled Kashmír seven or eight years with all the authority of an absolute prince, though he administered the government at first under the name of Názúk Shah, the native king, and, after the return of Humayun to Kábul, in the name of that prince, when, anxious to form a still closer connection with the Emperor in his future plans, he deputed Mír Samander on a mission to Kabul. The envoy met HuIle invites máyun soon after his return from Talikán. The Mirza Humayun in his letters, with every profession of loyalty and atand the in-tachment, invited his majesty to Kashmir, and gave a vasion of glowing description of the charms of its climate, of its A. H. 955, to Kashmir, India. SECT. III. spring and autumn, with their flowers and fruits, and CHAP. III. of all the delights of that favoured region. But the grand recommendation which he pointed out, was that it would serve as an impregnable position from which His Majesty could pour down his troops for the conquest of Hindustán, an enterprize which he urged him to attempt without delay. Nothing could have been more in accordance with the wishes of Humayun. The invasion of that country, and the expulsion of the Afghán dynasty, had long been the favourite dream of his ambition. But to march across the Indus at that moment was to endanger his kingdom of Kábul and his own existence. Every thing had been arranged for an attack on Bálkh; and as it was of the first importance to settle his territories beyond the mountains, and to secure his other dominions from the intestine dangers to which they were so subject, before he ventured to engage in distant expeditions, he resolved to proceed with the expedition he had undertaken. He, however, returned a favourable answer to Haider Mírza's invitation, of which he assured him he was determined to avail himself as soon as his expedition against Bálkh was over, and his troops ready to take the field for a new enterprise. Such, undoubtedly, was Humayun's intention. But it was long before he could carry it into effect. He had still many His chareverses to undergo; nor was Haider Mírza doomed to aid him in its execution. That eminent man continued tion. for some time longer to rule in Kashmir. He added Great and Little Tibet, Rájuri* and Pakheli to his dominions. He was a prince of distinguished talent. Finding the country which he had conquered to be in a very wretched condition, he devoted himself assiduously to its improvement, and attempted to restore the industry of his subjects. He encouraged agriculture, invited mechanics and artizans from a distance, and employed them in the construction of public and * Rájour. racter and administra BOOK V. private works. A. H. 958, A D. 1551. Position of Humayun's expedition against Bálkh. A. H. 956, Under his care, says Abulfazl, the country became a garden, and the ornament of the world. That historian blames him for the excessive attention he paid to the fine arts, and especially to music, as having occupied so much of his time as to interfere with his attention to public affairs. He was finally slain, about two or three years after the period of which we treat, in a night attack of some native chiefs who had conspired against him, and surrounded the house in which he slept. He was a man of worth, of talent and of learning, and the Tarikh-e Reshídi, a History of his own Times, which he left behind him, is one of the most valuable works of that age. The state of affairs at Kábul was not certainly such as would have justified Humayun in undertaking new and distant adventures. The allegiance of his brother Kámrán was far from being assured, and that prince, who had so long governed Kábul, might be supposed still to have partizans in that country, who could create trouble, should the Emperor march towards Hindustán. Kámrán had already quarrelled with Chaker Khan, and they had come to open hostilities. When invited to repair to Kábul, on the promise of Humáyun to provide him with another principality, the Mírza had declined the invitation. The Emperor had resolved to make a campaign against Bálkh, which he seems to have promised to Kámrán, as his government. As soon, therefore, in the following year as the weather permitted, Humáyun summoned his troops to attend him, and left Kábul. The object of the expeA. D. 1549. dition, though probably carefully concealed, was Bálkh. That country had been wrested from the Persians by the Uzbeks, and was held by Pír Muhammed Khan, a young Uzbek prince, who had received and assisted Kámrán when driven from Kábul. Humáyun probably considered the assistance so rendered to his * Akbernáma, f. 55. brother, as a sufficient excuse for the attack which he CHAP. IIL meditated; while the possession of a rich and extensive SECT. III. territory, that would have given him the command of the whole of the left bank of the Amu down to the desert, was probably his most powerful motive. He sent to warn Kárán and the other Mírzas in the North, to be ready to co-operate with him, as had been arranged at the end of the preceding campaign. He was detained about a month at Yúret Chálák, not far from Kábul, waiting for Háji Muhammed Khan from Ghazni; and by other business of importance; and while yet at that station, he was joined by Mírza Ibráhim from Badakhshán. The army at length moved to Istálíf, were Abás Sultan, an Uzbek prince who had just married Humáyun's youngest sister*, probably suspecting that the expedition was directed against his countrymen, disappeared without taking leave. Humáyun advanced deliberately by the Penjshír route, waiting to hear that the Mírzas were in motion: and immediately on learning that they were in the field, he marched down to Anderáb, and thence by Talikán to Nárit; and crossing the high grounds between the Bángi and Ghuri rivers by the pass of Nári, halted in the Nilber valley, celebrated, beyond all the valleys of that region, for its beauty in the spring. Here he was joined by Mírza Hindal from Kunduz, and by Mírza Suleimán from Badakhshán, but Kámrán did not make his appearance. Kámrán, though he had quarelled Kámrán with Chaker Ali Beg Kulábi, the son of Sultan Weis him. Beg, the chief of the country, and the minister assigned him by Humáyun, and though he had even driven him out of Kuláb, had, however, kept up a correspondence with the Emperor, assuring him of his fidelity, and of his being prepared to co-operate with him. Trusting to these assurances, Humayun had marched on, expecting fails to join A. D. 1549. BOOK V. to be joined by his brother. When he at length found that Kámrán failed to appear, both he and the Mírzas began to feel considerable anxiety. Mírza Ibráhím was sent back, at Mírza Suleimán's request, to provide for the safety of Badakhshán, and to embody a force in that country. Siege and surrender of Eibek. Delays of Having arrived at Baghlán*, the Emperor pushed forward the Mírzas Hindal and Suleimán with a strong force to Eibek, a fertile and populous district in the territory of Bálkh, defended by a strong fort. As the detachment approached the chief town, it met Pír Muhammed Khan's Atálík or Minister, who, hearing of the Emperor's approach to the Uzbek territory, had hastened, attended by the chief officers of his govern ment and a large body of troops, to place Eibek and the frontier in a state of defence, and to check the invaders. On his arrival near that town, however, he unexpectedly encountered the Emperor's troops, and, contrary to his intention, was compelled to throw himself into the castle of Eibek, unprovided as it was. Humayun instantly sat down before the place, and pushed on his approaches with such vigour, that in a few days the besieged, who had neither water nor provisions, asked quarter, which was granted, and the city surrendered. At an entertaiment given by Humáyun on this occasion, when the cup had gone round, he is said to have asked Khwaja Bagh, the Atálík, what were the best steps to be taken to ensure the conquest of Bálkh. The Uzbek, surprised at the question, after reflecting a little, answered, that being an enemy, he was not perhaps the safest person to consult. The Emperor replied, that Uzbeks were downright honest men, and he knew him to be the frankest of the Uzbeks. The Atálík rising up said, "If you would conquer Bálkh, cut off our heads, * Or Baklán. † Akbernáma, f. 77.; Bayezid, f. 42. |