of the in Bandelkand, to encourage the hostile spirit already CHAP. II. existing in that quarter, and to threaten, or in case of SECT. II. success, to invade Behár and the neighbouring provinces. Operations Burhán-el-mulk Sistáni, with a body of Gujrátis, was allies. directed to march through the northern Rájpút territory of Nagór, to make a feint of attacking the Penjáb; and thus to distract attention, and, by spreading alarm, to prevent any assistance being rendered from that province. The real attack, under Tátár Khan, was to be made in the line of Agra. Meanwhile, Beháder Shah himself, under cover of these different forces, proceeded with the army of Gujrát, as if uninterested in what was going on around him, to lay siege once more to the Rájpút capital, Cheitúr, where he would be at hand to assist and take advantage of the invasion, should it succeed. Many able men in Beháder's council blamed, we are told, this disjointed plan of operations; giving it as their opinion, that it would be much better to keep the army in a concentrated state; and expressed their apprehension that the whole proceedings would be regarded as a breach of peace. But their advice was not listened to; the King having persuaded himself that, since the Lodis had undoubted pretensions to the throne of Delhi, their asserting such claims would be held to be a matter of their own, and could lead to no inferences unfavourable to himself. The different armies were soon put in motion. Tátár Khan, who had increased his troops to forty thousand horse, Afgháns and others, advanced towards Agra*; and, having by the way attacked and carried Biána, his plundering parties extended their ravages to the very suburbs of the capital. Humayun, on receiving intelligence of these trans- Their enactions, gave up, for the present, his expedition against expressly, that it was Sultan Alá-eddín, Tátár Khan's father; and the Táríkhe Bedáuni calls him the son of Sekander, f. 139. * Akbernáma, f. 37.; Tabakáte Akberi, f. 145. tire defeat. BOOK IV. Bengal and Behár, and hastened back to Agra. MeanA.D. 1534. while, however, he ordered his brothers, Hindal and Humáyun invades Malwa, Askeri, his cousin, Yádgár Násir Mírza, the son of his late uncle, Násir Mírza, and Kásim Husein Sultan, Uzbek, with eighteen thousand horse, to proceed without delay to check the invaders; rightly judging, that, if their grand army was defeated, the others could do little mischief. When the approach of the imperialists, inferior as they were in number, became known, the invading troops were seized with a sudden panic, and large bodies of them deserted every day and returned home; insomuch that, in a short time, of this great army, collected with so much parade and expence, not more than three thousand horse remained with Tátár Khan. That nobleman, indignant at the treachery of his mercenaries, stung with shame at the result of his high promises, and defeated in his long-cherished schemes of ambition, when they seemed on the very eve of being accomplished, hesitated for some time whether he should fight or retreat. Impelled, however, by indignation and despair, he came to a conflict with the enemy at Mandráel, where the brave followers who still adhered to him were routed with great slaughter, and himself and three hundred of his officers slain. Biána was soon recovered, without a blow; and the other two invading armies, on hearing of these calamitous events, retreated into the territories of Gujrát.† Eager as Humayun was to repress the disorders that were arising in his dominions on the Ganges, and in Behár, he saw clearly that he could not with safety leave behind him a victorious prince so formidable as Beháder Shah, who had shown the worst dispositions, and whose dominions now approached so near to his capital. It was evident that, should he proceed to Bengal, and should Beháder, after reducing Cheitúr, Ferishta says, ten thousand. rishta, vol. ii. pp. 73, 74. † Akbernáma, f. 37, 38.; Fe SECT. II. avail himself of his absence to occupy Agra, the com- CHAP. II. munication between the northern and southern parts of the imperial dominions would be cut off, and himself and his army exposed to the danger of being totally destroyed. He determined, therefore, at once to attack his enemy in the centre of his power; and, in the middle of November, A. D. 1534*, set out for a vigorous campaign. Marching in the direction of Malwa, he soon arrived near the strong fort of Raisen, on the Betwa. The governor sent a deputation to meet him, and, in the Asiatic style, to represent that he and the fortress were his Majesty's. Humayun did not lose time in endeavouring to reduce the place; but, accepting the proffered submission, such as it was, pushed forward, and was soon encamped at Sarangpúr, an important town on the Kali-Sind, in the very heart of Malwa. Shah at Cheitúr. This rapid advance disconcerted Beháder Shah, who Beháder was still busily, and not unsuccessfully, employed in the siege of Cheitúr. He saw the thin mask, with which he had sought to cover his hostile intentions, rudely torn away; and an offended enemy in the centre of his dominions. His most experienced councillors differed as to the course proper to be pursued. Some advised him at once to abandon the siege, which could be resumed at any time, and march to repel the invading army. On the other hand, Sadr Khan, the most eminent man of his court, and equally distinguished for his rank and for his political and military talents, was of a different opinion. He urged, that Cheitúr was reduced to the last extremity, and must soon fall; that, to quit the siege now, was not only to lose all the labour which had been bestowed on it, but to injure the reputation of their arms; that besides, the Emperor, sensible of the A. H. 941, beginning of Jemádi I. (A. D. Nov. 1534). It seems not very clear whether this is the date of his giving up his cam paign against the Purebis, or of A. D. 1535. Storm and sack of that place. A. D. 941. Ramzán 3. A. D. 1535. March 8. BOOK IV. odium which would attend such an interference, would not attempt directly to interrupt the operations of Musulmans, engaged in a holy war against infidels. This opinion prevailed; the operations of the siege were pushed on with redoubled fury; the defences were battered by the cannon of Rúmi Khan, a Turkish engineer, who was assisted by Portuguese and other European artillerymen; and finally, a mine was sprung, which left a broad and accessible breach. A storm followed, on the 8th of March, A. D. 1535, when the fort was carried by assault, in spite of every effort made by the courage and despair of the Rájpúts. The garrison, seeing that all hope was gone, proceeded to put to death their wives and women, who, on their part, voluntarily presented their bosoms to the sword, or rushed into the blazing pyre, to avoid the defilements of slavery, and to maintain untarnished the honour of their tribe.* The remaining Rájpúts, then, clothing themselves in their yellow died garments, the well-known sign of despair and death, sallied out to meet their assailants, and were cut off to a man. The victors, on entering the city, found only a heap of ruins and a lifeless solitude. The booty, which was great, was divided among the victorious troops. The armies of Hu máyun Beháder meet at Mandsúr. Beháder Shah had now nothing to detain him from fun and marching to chastise the invader of his dominions. To account for the inaction of Humáyun, at this important crisis, we are told, that, on reaching Sarangpúr, and being informed that it was the opinion of Beháder's councillors that, as a faithful believer, he would not attack a prince engaged in a holy war, he declared that they only did him justice; and immediately ceased • Akbernáma, as above; Tabakáte Akberi, ff. 145, 146.; Tod's Rajasthan, vol. i. pp. 311, 312. From native authorities, Col. Tod estimates the number of women, who perished in this johár, at thirteen thousand; the loss of the Rájpúts, in the siege and storm, at thirty-two thousand, the flower of their tribe. from all offensive operations. There was now, however, an end of this point of honour. On hearing of the fall of the Rájpút capital, Humáyun left Ujein, where he then was, and moved to the northward; while Beháder Shah, marching to meet him, the two armies soon came in sight of each other, on the banks of a large tank, near the town of Mandsúr.* CHAP. IL SECT. II. intrench themselves. The tents of the army of Gujrát were not all pitched, The latter and the army itself had not yet come to its ground, when its advanced pickets were attacked and driven in upon their centre with some slaughter, by a body of the imperial horse. This little incident had an effect on the spirits of the troops on both sides. Táj Khan and Sadr Khan, two of Beháder's most distinguished officers, strongly urged him, while his troops were still flushed with their success at Cheitúr, and before they had tried the discipline and vigour of the Túrki warriors, to lead his men at once to battle, in which they would assuredly exert themselves gallantly. Rúmi Khan, however, who commanded the artillery, and who had much influence with the king †, was of a different opinion. He had with him about three hundred Turkish artillerymen, besides eighty Portuguese and Franks commanded by a native Portuguese, named San Jago, who had received the title of Feringi Khan. Rúmi Khan was an Ottoman Turk, who had been honoured with the title of Khodáwend Khan. He had learned his art in the Turkish service, which, about this period, was distinguished for superiority in the management of heavy artillery. The Akbernáma, f. 38.; Tabak. Akberi, ff. 146. 395. Jouher, (in the original) chap. ii. says, that the imperial army halted near Tálwar (or Tilúr, or Tisúr); that Beháder, after taking Cheitúr, had directed his march for Gujrát, but was intercepted by the Emperor, near Mori, a town dependent on Burhánpúr. Jouher does not appear to give a VOL. II. E very distinct account of any cam- + Lafitau, Hist. des Découvertes |