Full text of "Akbar the Great Mogul, 1542-1605"

A K B A R

THE GREAT MOGUL
1542-1605

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK

TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY

HUMPHREY MILFORD

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

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;r years ago, when I Wi.
/ Recollections of Sir Yvilliam Sleeman ana
' ^ influence of that author's enthusiastic
■ Akbar iias always appeared to me
..^ sovereigns what Shakespeare was among poets ',
. recorded the opinion that ' the competent scholar who
will undertake the exhaustive treatment of the life
and reign of Akbar will be in possession of perhaps the
finest great historical subject as yet unappropriated '.
Since those words were printed in 1893 nobody has
essayed to appropriate the subject. The hope that
some day I might be able to take it up was always
present to my mind, but other more urgent tasks pre-
vented me from seriously attempting to realize my old
half-formed project until January 1915, when I resolved
to undertake a life of Akbar on a scale rather smaller
than that at first contemplated. The result of my
researches during two years is now submitted to the
judgement of the public.

The long delay in coming to close quarters with the
subject has proved to be of the greatest advantage, both
to myself and to my readers. The publication of sound,
critical versions of Abu-1 Fazl's Akbarndma, Jahangir's
authentic Memoirs, Gulbadan Begam's Memoirs^ and
certain minor works has rendered accessible in a con-
venient form all the principal Persian authorities for
the reign. The discovery in a Calcutta library of the
long-lost manuscript of the MongoUcae Legationis Com-
mentarius, by Father A. Monserrate, S. J., and the publica-
tion of a good edition of the text of that manuscript

vi AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

by the Rev. H. Hosten, S.J., have placed at the disposal
of the historian a practically new contemporary docu-
ment of the highest value. The claims of the Jesuit
writings to credit and attention having been amply set
forth in the Introduction and Bibliography need not be
further emphasized here. The free use made of those
writings is a special feature of this work.

The few authors who have touched the subject of
Akbar at all have not only neglected the Jesuit authori-
ties, but have also failed to subject the chronicles written
in Persian, and now available in good versions, to rigorous
critical study. The minor fountains of knowledge, too,
have not been tapped. The immense mass of accurate
archaeological and numismatic facts accumulated by
modern experts has not been utilized. The literature
of the reign has been treated so lightly that no historian,
except Mr. R. W. Frazer, even mentions the fact that
Tulsi Das, the greatest, perhaps, of Indian poets, lived
and wrote in the reign of Akbar. Many matters of
moment, such as the Jain influence on the policy of the
emperor, his malicious persecution of Islam, and the
great famine of 1595-8, have been altogether omitted
from the current books. The course of my investigation
has disclosed numberless cases of the omission or mis-
representation of material facts. The necessity for a
thorough sci-utiny of the authorities for Akbar' s life is
thus apparent, and the importance of his reign needs no
exposition.

This book being designed as a biography rather than
as a formal history, it has been possible to dispense with
the discussion of many details which would require
notice in an exhaustive chronicle.^ The Greek motto on

• In order to avoid overcrowding list appended : (1) ' De Laet, On

this volume with appendices many Shahjahan, «&c.' (Ind. Ant., vol.

sjiccial studies have been pub- xliii, Nov. 1914, pp. 239-44) ; (2)

lished separately, as given in the ' The date of Akbar's Birth '

PREFACE vii

the title-page, to the effect that ' the half is more than
the whole ', neatly expresses my view that a compara-
tively brief biography enjoys many advantages over
a voluminous history crowded with names and details.
Long Indian names, whether Muhammadan or Hindu,
offer such difficulty to most European readers by reason
of their unfamiliar forms, that I have done my best to
confine the number of such names to the lowest possible
limit, and to reduce the indispensable ones to their
simplest dimensions.

The spelling of names follows the principle observed in
The Early History of India, except that popular literary
forms such as ' Mogul ' and ' Parsee ' have been used
more freely. In the text long vowels are marked so as
to indicate the pronunciation, but no other diacritical
marks are used. In the notes, index, and appendices the
transliteration is more formal and substantially that of
the Indian Antiquary. Consonants are to be pronounced
as in English. Ch, in particular, is sounded as in the word
' church ' ; I decline to use the spelling unfortunately
adopted by the Asiatic Societies which would transmute
' church ' into ' cure ' and actually produces unlimited
confusion in the minds of ordinary readers. Vowels are
pronounced as in Italian, so that pul, Mir, Mul-, nau
are respectively pronounced as the English ' pull ',
' Meer ', ' Mool- ', and ' now '. Short a with stress on
it is pronounced like u in ' but ', and when without

(ibid., vol. xliv, Nov. 1915, pp. Great Mogul, &c.' {The Asiatic

233-44). This paper was dis- Review, July 1915, pp. 136-69) ;

figured by many misprints owing (6) ' Reply ' to discussion on

to the non-receipt of a proof, but above (ibid., August 1915) ; (7)

a list of Errata is bound with the " The Death of Hemu ' (J. R. A. S.,

volume ; (S) ' The Treasure of 1916, pp. 527-35) ; (8) ' The Con-

Akbar ' (J. R. A. S., Nov. 1915, fusion between two consorts of

pp. 235-43) ; (4) ' The Credit due Humayun, &c.' (ibid., 1917) ; and

to the book entitled The Voxjages (9) ' The Site and Design of the

and Travels of J. Albert de Man- Ibddat-Khdna or House of Wor-

delslo into the East Indies' (ibid., ship' (ibid.),
pp. 245-54); (5) ' Akbar the

viii AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

stress is an indistinct vowel. The name Akbar conse-
quently is pronounced ' Ukbur ' or ' Ukber '. Any
system for securing approximate uniformity in the
spelling of strange Asiatic names must cause some
worry. The plan adopted in this book gives as little as
possible. We cannot revert to seventeenth- or eight-
eenth-century practice and perpetrate the unrecog-
nizable barbarisms which disiigure old books.

The most interesting of the illustrations is the coloured
frontispiece — a perfect facsimile of the original in the
India Office Library — prepared by Messrs. Stone & Co.,
of Banbury. No other portrait of Akbar as a boy of
fifteen or thereabouts is known to exist. The picture
seems to be contemporary, not a copy, and must have
been executed about 1557 or 1558. It is not signed, but
may be the work of Abdu-s samad, who was Akbar's
drawing-master at about that date, and long afterwards
was appointed his Master of the Mint. The portrait
possesses additional interest as being the earliest known
example of Indo-Persian art, about a dozen years
anterior to the Fathpur-Sikri frescoes. Several other
illustrations are now published for the first time. The
plans of Fathpur-Sikri, in Chapter XV, are from E. W.
Smith's excellent book, but have been redrawn with
some slight correction.

Mr. Henry Beveridge, I.C.S. Retired, rendered an in-
valuable service by lending and permitting the use of
most of the proof-sheets of the unpublished third volume
of his translation of the Akbarndma. He has also
favoured me with correspondence on various points.
I am indebted for kind communications to William
Crooke, Esq., I.C.S. Retired ; Sir George Grierson,
K.C.I.E., I.C.S. Retired; and the Rev. H. Hosten, S.J.,
of Calcutta.

My special thanks are due to the Library Committee

PREFACE ix

and Dr. F. W. Thomas, Librarian of the India Office, for
the faciUties which rendered possible the production of
the coloured frontispiece. For help in providing or
suggesting other illustrations acknowledgements are
tendered to the Secretary of State for India in Council ;
the Government of the United Provinces of Agra and
Oudh ; the Council of the Asiatic Society of Bengal ;
the Curators of the Bodleian Library, Oxford ; C. A.
Oldham, Esq., LC.S., Commissioner of Patna ; Rai
Bahadur B. A. Gupte, Curator of the Victoria Memorial
Exhibition, Calcutta ; and Maulavi A. Hussan, Secretary
and Librarian of the Oriental Public (Khuda Baksh)
Library, Bankipore. The last-named gentleman furnished
me with a detailed account of the magnificent manu-
script of the Tdrlkk-i Khdnddn-i Tlmuriya^ or History

of the Tlmurid Family.

V. A S.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTION. General View of the
Authorities ....... 1

I. Akbar's Ancestry and Life before his Acces-
sion ; India in 1556 ; Akbar's Task . . 9

II. The Regency and the Fall of Bairam Khan,

1556-60 33

III. Petticoat Government ; the Emancipation of

Akbar, 1560-4 ...... 49

IV. Conquest of Gondwana ; Rebellions of Abdul-

lah Khan, Khan Zaman, Asaf Khan (I), and
THE MiRZAS ; Reduction of the Great Fort-
resses ; Building of Fathpur-Sikr! ; Con-
^^ quest of Gujarat, etc. ..... 69

V. JCONQUEST OF BiHAR AND BENGAL ; ESTABLISH-
MENT OF THE ' House of Worship ' ; Akbar's
> First Contact with Christianity ; Admini-
strative Measures ; War in Rajputana . . 123

f{vi^j}consolidation of conquests ; discussions on
Religion ; Relations with Jains and Parsees ;
Arrival of the First Jesuit Mission ; the
' Infallibility Decree ' OF 1579 . . .155

VII. Rebellion in Bengal and Bihar ; the Kabul
Campaign and its Results ; End of the
FiRST^ Jesuit Mission ; Rebellion of Muzaf-
far Shah in Gujarat, etc. . . . .184

I VIII. The JQl N Ilahi, ' Div ijiE-gAiTH \orJ Divine Mono-
^ — ^ ^^j^H^iSM ' ; Fantastic Regulations ; Founda-
tion OF Allahabad ; Beginning of Inter-
course WITH England, etc. .... 209

CONTENTS xi

CHAP. PAGE

IX. Wars on North-western Frontier ; Annexa-
tion OF Kashmir and Sind ; Second Jesuit
Mission ; Regulations ; Annexation of
Balochistan and Kandahar, etc. . . . 233

X. The Third Jesuit Mission (1595) ; Famine
(1595-8) ; Wars in the Deccan ; Fall of
Ahmad NAG AR and Asirgarh ; Last Embassy
TO GoA (1601) ; The Jesuit Fathers ; Founda-
tion OF the English and Dutch East India
Companies ....... 259

APPENDIX A. Official Account of the
Capitulation of Asirgarh .... 297

XI. Rebellion of Prince Salim ; Death of Prince
Daniyal and of Akbar's Mother ; Sub-
mission AND Arrest of Prince Salim ; Last
Illness and Death of Akbar (October 1605) ;
Desecration of HIS Tomb (1691) . . . 301

APPENDIX B. The Arrest of Prince Salim
AND Connected Events .... 328

KHAR ....... "^^L^SS^

Institutions, Military and Civil . . . ' 354

XIV. Social and Economic Condition of the People . 385 ^

XV. Literature and Art . . . . .415

APPENDIX C. Chronology of the Life and Reign

OF Akbar ........ 448

APPENDIX D. Bibliography 459

INDEX 487

xiv AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Fergusson. — History of Indian and Eastern Architecttirc, by James

Fergusson, ed. Burgess, 1910.
Firishta. — Tdrikh-i Firishta, by Muhammad Kasim Hindu Shah,

Firishta, transl. Briggs, reprint by Cambray, Calcutta, 4vols., 1908.
Fitch. — Ralph Fitch, England's Pioneer to India, ed. Riley (Unwin, 1899).

Gladwin. — The History of Hindostan, Calcutta, 1788.

Goldie. — The First Christian Mission to the Great Mogul, by Father

Francis Goldie, S.J. (Gill, Dublin, 1897).
Gulbadan. — The History of HumdyUn {IIumdyUn-Ndma), by Gulbadan

Begam, transl. A. S. Beveridge, R. A. S., 1902.

H.— Hijri.

Herbert. — Some Years Travels, &c., by Sir Thomas Herbert, 4th ed.,

1677.
//. F. A. — A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, by Vincent A.

Smith (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1911).
Horowitz. — Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica, Calcutta, 1910.

I. G. — Imperial Gazetteer of India (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907, 1908).

I. M. — Indian Museum, Calcutta.

/. M. Catal. — Catalogue of the Coins in the I. M., Calcutta, by H. N.

Wright, vol. iii, Oxford, 1908.
Ind. Ant. — Indian Antiquary, Bombay, 1872 to date.
I. O. — India Office, London.
Irvine, Army ; or Irvine. — The Army of the Indian Moghuls, by William

Irvine, 1903.

J. A. S. B. — Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta.

J. & Proc. A. S. B. — Journal and Proceedings of the same.

Jahangir, R. B. — The Tuzuk-i Jahdngirl, or Memoirs of Jahdnglr, transl.

and ed, by A. Rogers and H. Beveridge, R. A. S., 1909, 1914.
Jauhar. — Tazkiratu-l Wdkidt, or Tdrihh-i Humdyun, by Jauhar, transl.

under title of Private Memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Humdyun,

by Stewart, London, 1832. (Or. Transl. Fund.)
J. I. A. — Journal of Indian Art and Industry.
J. R. A. S. — Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London.

Latif. — Agra, Historical and Descriptive, by Syad Muhammad Latif,
Calcutta, 1896.

Maclagan. — ' The Jesuit Missions to the Emperor Akbar ' (J. A. S. B.,

part i, vol. Ixv, 1896), by E. D. Maclagan.
Mandelslo. — Voyages and Travels, by J. A. de Mandelslo, transl. Davies,

London, 1669.
Manrique. — Itinerario, by Fray Sebastian Manrique, Roma, 1649, 1653.
Manucci. — Storia do Mogor, or Mogul India, transl. and ed. by W.

Irvine, 4 vols., London, 1907, 1908.
Modi. — The Parsees at the Court of Akbar, &c., by Jivanji Jamshedji

Modi, Bombay, 1903.

ABBREVIATIONS xv

N. S. — New style.

Nuru-I Hakk. — Ziibdatu-t Tawdrikh, by Shaikh Nuru-1 Hakk, in
E. & D., vi, pp. 189-94.

O. S.— Old style.

Peruschi. — Informatione del Regno e siato del gran lU di Mogor, Roma,

1597, by Giovanni Battista Peruschi.
P. M. Catal. — Catalogue of Coins in the Panjdb Museum, Lahore, vol. ii,

Oxford, 1914, by R. B. Whitehead.
Purchas. — Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625), ed. Wheeler, Early Travels

in India, Calcutta, 1864 ; or ed. MacLehose, Glasgow, 1905-7.

R. A. S. — Royal Asiatic Society, London.

Raverty. — Notes on Afghanistan, London, 1888, by H. G. Raverty.

Relagam. — Relagam do Equebar, by Father A. Monserrate, transl.

Hosten, in J. tfc Proc. A. S. B., 1912.
Roe — The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe, d-c, ed. Foster, Hakluji; Society^

1899.

Shaikh Faizi. — Wdkidt, by Shaikh FaizI, in E. & D., vi.

Sirhindi. — Akbarndma, by Shaikh lUahdad Faizi Sirhindi, in E. & D., vi.

Smith, Akbafs Tomb. — Akbafs Tomb, Sikandarah, by E. W. Smith,

Allahabad, 1909.
Smith, Colour Decoration. — Moghul Colour Decoration of Agra, by the

same, Allahabad, 1901.
Smith, Fathpur-Slkrl. — The Moghul Architecture of Path pur- Slkrl, by

the same, quarto, in 4 parts, Allahabad, 1894-8.
Stewart. — History of Bengal, by Charles Stewart, quarto, 1813.

Tabakdt. — Tabakdt-i Akbarl, by Khwaja Nizamu-d din Ahmad, transl.

in E. & D., V.
Takmll. — Takmll-i Akbarndma, by 'Inayatu-llah, transl. by E. & D.,

vol. vi ; by von Noer ; and by Chalmers, MS. in R. A. S. Library.
Terry. — A Voyage to East India, by Rev. Edward Terry, ed. 1677.
Thomas. — The Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi, and The Revenue

Resources of the Mughal Empire, by E. Thomas, London, 1871.
Tod. — The Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, popular ed., Routledge,

1914.

U. P. — United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

von Noer. — The Emperor Akbar, by Count von Noer, transl. A. S.
Beveridge, Calcutta, 1890.

Yule and Burnell. — Glossary of Anglo-Indian Words (Hobson-Jobson) ,
1st ed., 1886, by H. Yule and A. C. Burnell.

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

Page 5, line 28. For ' Muhammadans ' read ' Muhammadans '.

Page 40, line 10. Mankot is now called Ramkot. The Raj was one
of the Dugar or Dogra States {Journ. Punjab Hist. Soc, vol. iii, pp. 119,
120, 123).

Page 45, note. The identity of Tabarhind with Bhatinda (Bathinda)
is now accepted by good authorities not available when the note on
page 45 was written, and seems to be established (Horowitz, ibid.,
vol. ii, p. 109 ; and Stow, ibid., vol. iii, p. 35). The place was one of
the important fortresses on the military road connecting Delhi with
Multan.

Page 52, line 20. A friend reminds me that ' Hawal ' also means a
' sky-rocket ', which probably was the special signification intended.

Page 110, line 11. For ' Itimad ' read ' Itimad '.

Page 207, note. For ' exer ' read ' exer- '.

Page 392. Tom Coryate's speech has been edited in Persian by
Sir C. J. Lyall and translated into English, with some misprints, by
Babu Bhan Pratap Tewari in North Indian Notes and Queries, vol. ii
(1892), para. 464.

Page 395. Two large quarto volumes (vii and viii) of the Archaeo-
logical Survey of Western Itidia, by Burgess, are devoted to the Muham-
madan buildings of Ahmadabad.

Page 401. Lions were to be found in Northern Rohilkhand (Mora-
dabad and Rampur) and ' in considerable numbers ' in the Saharanpur
and Liidiana Districts in 1824 (Heber, Journal, ed. 1844, vol. i, p. 248).
Three were killed between Allahabad and Sutna in 1866. Colonel J. B.
Hall, of the Central Indian Horse, shot a full-grown male lion on June 11,
1 872, near Goona (Guna), in the Gwalior State, the last recorded specimen
outside Ka^hiawar (Pioneer Mail, Allahabad, Oct. 19 and Nov. 2, 1900).

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL VIEW OF THE AUTHORITIES

The historian who undertakes to deal with the hfe, Paucity
character, and reign of Queen Ehzabeth of England, King p^pers^
Henry IV of France, or any other notable European sovereign
of the sixteenth century, is confronted by a gigantic mass of
State Papers and other contemporary documents of various
kinds, manuscript and printed, so voluminous that the life-
time of a diligent student hardly suffices to master the
whole. The biographer of Akbar or any other Asiatic
prince of the same period, with possible Chinese exceptions,
is in a position very different. The contents of even one
record room have not survived. Copies of a few letters
and other official papers, with occasional specimens of land-
grants or other semi-private documents, often embedded
in the text of books, have been preserved, and private indi-
viduals here and there hold original documents of interest
to their families. But no great collection of public docu-
ments exists to which reference can be made, nor is there
material for the preparation of a calendar of State Papers.
The surviving documents of Akbar's reign, whether originals
or copies, although not negligible as a source for the biography
and history of the emperor, are not sufficient in number
or importance to justify the compilation of a separate
catalogue.

Perhaps the most interesting of the contemporary docu-
ments is the ' infalhbility decree ' of 1579 preserved in textual
copies by two historians. Some, if not all, of the letters
sent by Akbar to various civil and ecclesiastical authorities
at Goa are included in the printed collection of Abu-1
Fazl's correspondence. The translations in various languages
by sundry authors agree substantially and undoubtedly

1845 „

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Records
kept by
Akbar.

reproduce correctly the substance of those communications,
which throw much welcome light on the character and
opinions of Akbar.

The collection of letters in Persian by Abu-1 Fazl, Akbar's
Secretary of State, above referred to, has been often printed
but not translated. It is believed that the documents do
not contain much matter of historical importance inaccessible
elsewhere. The opinion of a competent scholar on their
merits is given in the note.^

A volume of letters by Abu-1 Fazl's elder brother also
exists. One specimen has been translated. The collection,
as a whole, is said to be of slight value for the purposes of
the historian.^

Examples of land-grants will be found in Modi's book
on the relations of the Parsees with Akbar .^

The lack of State Papers dealing with the reign of Akbar
is not due to any failure of his to keep a record of his sayings
and doings. Each day while he was giving public audience
watchful scribes standing below him committed to paper
every word uttered by his august lips, and recorded with
painstaking minuteness the most ordinary and trivial
actions of his life. The public service was divided into many
departments, each well organized and provided with an

^ ' As a finished diplomatist,
his letters to recalcitrant generals
and rebellious viceroys are Eastern
models of astute persuasion,
veiling threats with compliments,
and insinuating rewards and
promises without committing his
master to their fulfilment.

'But these epistles which form
one of his monuments to fame,
consist of interminable sentences
involved in frequent parentheses
difficult to unravel, and paralleled
in the West only by the decadence
of taste, soaring in prose, as
Gibbon justly remarks, to the
vicious affectation of poetry, and
in poetry sinking below the flat-
ness and insipidity of prose,
which characterizes Byzantine
eloquence in the tenth century '
(Jarrett, Am, vol. ii, p. v).

I have not felt bound to under-
take the labour of examining the
text of those difficult compositions.
See also Blochmann, Am, vol. i,

p. XXX.

" E. & D., vi, 147. Dowson
says :

' The letters are of a gossiping,
familiar character, and are em-
bellished with plenty of verses ;
but they contain nothing of im-
portance, and throw little light
upon the political relations of the
time. All these letters were
translated for Sir H. M. Elliot by
Lieutenant Prichard, and it is to
be regretted that they were not
more worthy of the labour be-
stowed upon them.' I do not know
where the manuscript translation
is now. Faizi died in 1595.

^ Modi ; see Bibliography.

INTRODUCTION 3

elaborate system for the transaction and record of business.
When the emperor was travelhng a camp record office
always accompanied him. Record rooms, built for the
purpose, existed at the capital and at each head-quarters
town in the provinces. Father Manrique, while staying at
Rajmahal in or about IG^O, when that town was the capital
of Bengal, was allowed partial access to the governor's
record room, and was permitted to copy from an official
document the complete inventory of the treasure left by
Akbar in 1605.

Several European writers affirm, and no doubt with perfect
truth, that there were no secrets in the Mogul administration.
\\ A copy of any document, however confidential, could be
obtained without difficulty by means of a moderate payment
to the custodians. The works of the early European authors
contain many particulars which certainly were derived from
official records.

The scarcity of State Papers is due simply to their destruc- Records
tion, which has been almost absolutely complete. A large j^^"shed
part of the destruction of writings in India, which is always neglect
going on, must be ascribed to the peculiarities of the climate, destruc-
and the ravages of various pests, especially white ants. tion.
The action of those causes can be checked only by unre-
mitting care, sedulous vigilance, and considerable expense,
conditions never easy of attainment under Asiatic adminis-
tration, and wholly unattainable in times when documents
have been deprived of immediate value by political changes.
The rapid decay of the Mogul empire after the death of
Aurangzeb in 1707 and the consequent growth of indepen-
dent mushroom powers quickly deprived the documents
in the imperial and viceregal secretariats of their value for
practical, material purposes. In the whole country there
was not a man who cared to preserve them for the sake of
their historical interest. Mere neglect by itself is sufficient
to account for the disappearance of nearly all the State
Papers of Akbar's time. Active destruction completed the
work of passive neglect. The imperial capitals of Agra,
Delhi and Lahore, as well as every important provincial

4 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

city, suffered from repeated violence of every kind. If by
good fortune anything had escaped during the innumerable
wars of the eighteenth century and the first half of the
nineteenth, it perished utterly during the disturbances of
the mutiny period from 1857 to 1859.
Official The destruction of Akbar's well-kept official records has

in the been partially neutralized by Abu-1 Fazl's unique compilation
Ain-i entitled Ain-i Akbarl, or ' Institutes of Akbar ', the result of
seven years' hard labour by the author, with the assistance
of a numerous staff.^ That book gives summaries of many
official regulations, besides much descriptive matter and
copious statistics extracted or compiled from the records
of the government. It is, in short, a descriptive and statisti-
cal survey of the empire, combined with a detailed account
of the court and of the administrative system. Nothing
at all resembling such a work was ever compiled in Asia,
unless, perhaps, in China. Even in Europe it would be
difficult to find an authoritative compilation of a like kind
until quite recent times, when the preparation of statistical
tables and gazetteers began to be fashionable.

Abu-1 Fazl's book, happily, has been made fully accessible
to European students by the scholarly versions of Bloch-
mann and Jarrett, which are as serviceable as the original
Persian for most purposes.^ The annotations of the trans-
lators, especially those of Blochmann in volume i, add
immensely to the value of the text.

The third volume (Books IV and V), which is mostly
devoted to a careful account of Hindu religion, philosophy,
science, and customs, is not as good as its model, the great
treatise written by Alberiim more than five centuries
earlier. The same volume includes a collection of Akbar's
' Happy Sayings ', which give authoritative expression to i
his opinions on many subjects and have much importance
as biographical material.

The historian, however, is concerned chiefly with the first

' Am, vol. iii, p. 402. ties impairs the vahie of his

° Colonel Jarrett's lack of translation of volume ii.
knowledge of revenue technicali-

INTRODUCTION 5

and second volumes (Books I-III), which describe the court
and administration, and present a statistical survey of the
empire from official sources.

The other authorities for the reign of Akbar are surprisingly Six other
numerous and copious, a large number being contemporary, authori-
The subject is of so much interest from many points of view ties,
that it is astonishing that nobody in any country has yet
thought it worthy of serious critical treatment. The one
German attempt at such treatment is so defective that its
existence does not invalidate the statement that no tolerably
adequate critical biography or history of Akbar is to be found
in any language.

The authorities comprise (1) a considerable number of
histories and memoirs in Persian, mostly contemporary;
(2) a long series of writings by observant Jesuit missionaries
who resided at the court of Akbar ; (3) the notes of early
European travellers and authors, other than Jesuits, and
contemporary to some extent ; (4) later European books,
which contain various traditions and certain facts based
on earlier documents ; (5) the archaeological evidence, com-
prising the testimony of monuments, inscriptions, and coins ;
and (6) contemporary portraits, drawings, and paintings.

Details of all these six classes of authorities will be found
in the Bibliography, Appendix D.

In this place my observations will be confined to pointing
out in general terms the evidential value of each class of
authorities.

Muhammadans, as is well known, differ from Hindus in Muham-

being fond of historical composition as a branch of literature, histories

Every Muslim dynasty in India has had its chronicler or i"
, . J J general.

chroniclers, who ordinarily wrote in Persian. India never
has produced an historian justly deserving the name of great,
or at all worthy to be ranked with the famous historians
of Europe, ancient or modern. Most of the writers are mere
annalists, content to give a jejune summary of external
facts concerning kings, courts, countries, and wars, some-
times relieved by anecdotes and stories, usually of a trivial
kind. A sense of artistic proportion is rarely indicated, and

6 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

we must not look for the philosophy of history, for explana-
tions of the inner causes of events, or for notices of the
common people and economic development. Nevertheless,
the Muhammadan histories in Persian are invaluable, and
must always be the foundation of the history of India from
the time of the Muhammadan conquest to the beginning
of the British period. All other sources of information are
merely subsidiary. Chronicles written by contemporaries,
which are numerous, are, of course, the most important.
Persian Akbar's reign has received its full share of attention from
of Akbar. *^^ Muslim chroniclers. By good fortune the three principal
works have been translated in full by competent scholars,
and the more important parts of the minor works also are
accessible in English. Translations into other European
languages are few and unimportant. The leading authority
for the narrative of events in Akbar's reign is the Akharndma,
written by Abu-1 Fazl in obedience to an imperial order
and partly revised by Akbar himself.^ The chronology is
more accurate than that of other books.

The next two long histories of high value are the works
by Nizamu-d din and Badaoni, both of whom were in Akbar's
service. The former is a straightforward chronicle of the
usual type, good so far as it goes, except that the chronology
is erroneous. The latter is a peculiar composition written
from the point of view of a Musalman bigot bitterly opposed
to Akbar's heresies and innovations. The book, in spite of
defects of form, is of surpassing interest.

The numerous minor historians add considerably to our
knowledge. Full details concerning all the books will be
found in the Bibliography.
The The next source of authentic information concerning

esui s. Akbar is to be found in the writings of the Jesuit Fathers
who visited and resided at his court from 1580. The chief
merit of von Noer's book is that he made considerable use
of the works of the Jesuit authors, which had become rare
and were almost forgotten. In the seventeenth century
they were highly popular and were printed repeatedly in

* Am, vol. iii, p. 414.

INTRODUCTION 7

most of the languages of Europe. During the eighteenth
century and the greater part of the nineteenth they were
overlooked by nearly all authors writing in English, and
appear to have been wholly unknown to Elphinstone and
Malleson. Failure to read the Jesuits has resulted in the
currency of much false history. The Fathers were highly
educated men, trained for accurate observation and scholarly
writing. They made excellent use of their opportunities
at the imperial court, and any book which professes to treat
of Akbar while ignoring the indispensable Jesuit testimony
must necessarily be misleading. The long-lost and recently
recovered work by Father Monserrate, entitled Mongolicae
Legationis Commentarius (1582), is an authority of the
highest credit and importance, practically new. The his-
torian Du Jarric, who condensed the original letters of the
missionaries into narrative form, is an extremely accurate
and conscientious writer, entitled to high rank among the
historians of the world. Unfortunately, his great book is
extremely rare and little known.

The fundamental authorities for the story of Akbar's life Other

•^ early

and reign must always be the Ain-i Akbari, the works of European

the historians written in Persian, and the accounts recorded l^^^^^^'

by the Jesuit missionaries. But the sidelights to be derived

from minor luminaries are not to be despised. Two English

pioneer merchants who visited Akbar's court, Ralph Fitch

in 1585, and John Mildenhall, twenty years later, have left

a few brief notes. The Fragmentuin Historiae Indicae by

van den Broecke, published by de Laet in 1631, written

about two years earlier, and based on an Indian chronicle,

contains much matter deserving of consideration.

When we come to later times the most important European Later

^ European

book is Tod's Annals of Rajasthan, 1829-32, which preserves works.

many traditions not available elsewhere, and gives an esti-
mate of Akbar's character and deeds as seen from the Rajput
point of view. It is a book to be used with critical caution.
Modi's book on the Parsees at the court of Akbar is excellent.
Other works will be found mentioned in the Bibhography.
Little need be said about the value of expert study of the

8 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Archaeo- archaeological evidence, comprising monuments, inscriptions,

e^dence ^'^^ coins, which is essential for a right understanding of

the history of art during the reign, while incidentally helping

to clear up and illustrate sundry matters of chronology and

historical detail. The published material for the study,

although not absolutely complete, is fairly adequate. The

art and literature of the reign are discussed in the concluding

chapter of this work.

Portraits, The cognate evidence obtained from portraits, drawings,

drawings, j . . • » • i • , i •

and and pamtings is oi special interest as helping the student

pamt- j^Q visualize the leading personages of the story exactly as
ings. & 1 » J J

they lived. Only a moderate exercise of imagination is

required to call up the vision of Akbar surrounded by his

courtiers and friends at Fathpur-Sikri, where the buildings

which he used are still standing for the most part.

The It is thus apparent that the sources for the biography

numerous ®^ Akbar, the estimation of his genius, and the history of

and his reign are extraordinarily abundant and various. All

vsin oi I s

the kinds of evidence enumerated above have been utilized
freely in the composition of this work, but the attempt to
exhaust the recorded particulars has not been made. The
treatment of the material has been selective, not exhaustive.
The author has aimed at the object of drawing a just picture
of Akbar, supporting his presentation of the emperor by
■ so much historical detail as is indispensable for the correct
framing of the portrait, and by no more. The details of
campaigns and court intrigues which do not directly concern
the personality of Akbar will not be found in this volume,
but events in which he took an active part are narrated
with considerable minuteness. The attentive reader will
not fail to observe that authors, even when contemporary,
often contradict one another. It would be too much to
expect that my efforts to ascertain the exact truth can have
been successful in every case. The evidence on each doubtful
point has been weighed with care and impartiality. If any
reader feels incUned to dissent from any of the conclusions
embodied in the text, the references given should be sufficient
to enable him to form an independent opinion.

CHAPTER I

AKBAR'S ANCESTRY AND LIFE BEFORE HIS ACCESSION ;
INDIA IN 1556; AKBAR'S TASK

Akbar was a foreigner in India. He had not a drop of Akbar a
Indian blood in his veins.^ On the father's side he was jn'^india!
a direct descendant in the seventh generation from Marlowe's
Tamerlane, the great Amir Timur, a Central Asian Turk,^ In
some manner, the exact nature of which is not known, he
was descended through a female from the same stock as
Chingiz Khan, the Mongol ' scourge of Asia ' in the thirteenth
century.^ The particular branch of the Turks to which
Akbar's ancestors belonged was known by the name of
Chagatai or Jagatai, because they dwelt in the regions
beyond the Oxus which had formed part of the heritage of

* Nevertheless, Mr. Havell
boldly asserts that Akbar was
' an Indian of the Indians '
(Indian Architecture, 1913, p. 162).
. - The names in the pedigree
are Timur : (1) Miran Shah ;
(2) Muhammad Sultan ; (3) Abu
S'aid ; (4) 'Umar Shaikh ; (5)
Babur ; (6) Humayun ; (7) Akbar.
Fpr full genealogy see end of
Atn, vol. i, or Elphinstone, ed. 5.
Babur or Babur, not Babar as
usually written, is a Turki name,
having no connexion with the
Arabic babar, ' a lion ' (E. D.
Ross, J. <fc Proc. A. S. B., 1910,
extra no., p. iv). Monserrate
correctly writes ' Baburus '.

' ' Porro autem Zelaldinus
[Jalalu-d din] maternum genus
a Cinguiscano ducit, quod Rex
ipse Sacerdotibus significavit . . .
Ac Zelaldini mater nee regium
genus nee dignitatem Cinguiscani
in Zelaldinum transfudit : fuit
enim privati cujusdam tribuni
filia. Vocabatur Txoelij [Chuli]
Beygum et antequam Emaumo
[Humayiin] nuberet data fuerat
a parentibus Cayacano [? Kaim

Khan] uxor. Quare in Cingiscani
genus vel ab avia vel ab alia
Cingiscani stirpis heroide quasi
insitione adjunctus est, quam pri-
dem autem ab eo non accepimus.
Vera tamen narrare cum sibi ab
illo muliebre genus esse affirmaret
credidimus ' {Cornnientarius, pp.
652, 656). I understand the
author's suggestion to be that the
unnamed female who transmitted
the blood of Chingiz Khan was in
the ancestry of Akbar's father,
not in that of his Persian mother,
who was called Chuli ' because
of her wanderings in the desert
(chid). The statement that she
had been previously married or
betrothed to another man before
her union with Humayun is not
found elsewhere. She was dis-
tantly related to Humayun,
although not of royal descent.
The name of Chingiz is variously
spelt. The Encycl. Brit., ed. 11, re-
tains the old-fashioned 'Jenghiz'.
In quotations from Monserrate
I distinguish u and v, i and j,
as usual in modern books.

10 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Chagatai or Jagatai, the second son of Chingiz.^ The blood
of the Turki tribes in Central Asia was much blended with
that of the Mongols. Jahangir, Akbar's son, recognized the
relationship by priding himself on observing the customs
of Chingiz as well as the regulations of Timur.^ ' Mogul ',
the designation by which European writers usually indicate
the Timurid dynasty of India, is merely another form of
' Mongol '. Akbar was much more a Turk than a Mongol
or Mogul, and his mother was a Persian.

The character of Akbar, so far as it depended upon
heredity, was thus based on three distinct non-Indian
strains of blood existing in his proximate ancestors, namely,
the Turk or Turki, the Mongol or Mogul, and the Persian
or Iranian strains. The manners and customs of his court
exhibited features which were derived from all the three
sources, Turki, Mongol, and Iranian. During the early
years of his reign Indian influences counted for little, the
officers and courtiers surrounding him being divided into
two parties, the Turks — Mongol or Chagatai and Uzbeg —
on the one side,^ and the Persians on the other. But after
Akbar had attained maturity the pressure exercised by his
Indian environment rapidly increased, so that in sentiinent
he became less and less of a foreigner, until in the later
years of his life he had become more than half an Hindu-
His personal conduct was then guided mainly by Hindu
dharma,* or rules of duty, modified considerably by the
precepts of Iranian Zoroastrianism. The Turki and Mongol

* Sir Ch. Elliot in Encycl. Brit., Mahommed Shaibani or Shahi
ed. 11, s.v. 'Turks'. Beg, made himself master of

^ Jahangir, R. B., i, 68, 76. Transoxiana and founded the

* ' The Timurids [of Samar- Uzbeg power. The chief opponent
kand] were overthrown and sue- of the Uzbegs in their early days
eeeded by the Shaibani dynasty, was Baber ' (^»c</c/. Brit., ed. 11,
a branch of the house of Juji, s. v. ' Turks ', vol. 27, p. 472).
.Tenghiz Khan's eldest son, to The hostility between the Chaga-
whom his father had assigned tais and the Uzbegs continued in
dominions in the region north Akbar's time until the death of
of the kingdom of Jagatai. About Abdullah Khan Uzbeg in 1597.
1465 a number of this clan mi- In India Chagatai and Uzbeg
grated into the Jagatai Khanate. chiefs concurred in opposition to
They were given territory on the Persians.

Chu River and were known as * The term ' Hindu ' includes

Uzbegs. About 1500 their chief, Jain.

ANCESTRY AND EARLY IJFE 11

elements in his nature were kept so much in the background
that he was reputed by Hindus to be a reincarnation of
a Brahman sage. Both TurkI and Persian were spoken at
his court, but the former tongue in the course of time
dropped out of use, while the latter became the recognized
official and literary language. The highly Persianized form
of Hindi known by the name of Urdu, or the camp language,
which developed gradually as a convenient instrument of
communication between natives and foreigners, was often
almost identical in vocabulary with Persian as spoken in
India, while retaining the grammatical structure of an
Indian tongue.

Akbar's grandfather, ' Babur ', as Stanley Lane-Poole Babur,
justly remarks, ' is the link between Central Asia and India,
between predatory hordes and imperial government, between
Tamerlane and Akbar '. The wonderful story of his early
life and romantic adventures, told by himself in the inimi-
table autobiography, originally written in Turk! and in
Akbar's time translated into Persian, may be read with
pleasure and profit in the English version by Leyden and
Erskine, or more compactly in Stanley Lane-Poole's artistic
little volume.^ That fascinating tale cannot find a place
in these pages, although the study of it in detail helps to
explain the adventurous spirit so conspicuous in Akbar.
Babur's contact with India began in 1504, when, at the age
of twenty-two, he established himself as the lord of Kabul,
which was then generally regarded as a part of India, and
was at all times closely connected with that country. Babur
himself tells us that he ' had always been bent on subduing
Hindustan '. He had made several tentative efforts to
gratify his desire before he effected his successful invasion
early in 1526. On April 21 of that year he defeated and
slew Ibrahim LodI, the Afghan Sultan of Hindostan, at
Panipat, to the north of Delhi, and quickly made himself
master of Agra and other districts. Nearly a year later, on

* Bdbar, in Rulers of India, ridge is bringing out a new version

Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1899 ; from the Turki original. Part

in my judgement the best of has been published,
that valuable series. Mrs. Beve-

12 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

March 16, 1527, at Khaniia,i a few miles from Sikri, where
his grandson subsequently built his palace-city of Fathpur,
Babur scattered the huge Rajput host commanded by the
gallant Rana Sanga or Sangram Singh of Chitor, and so
crushed the springs of Hindu resistance.

One more big battle, fought near the confluence of the
Ganges with the Ghaghra (Gogra) in Bihar, confirmed the
bold adventurer's sway over north-western India as far
eastward as the frontier of Bengal. At the close of 1530,
when he was only in the forty-eighth year of his age, his
stormy life, which he had enjoyed with so much zest, came
peaceably to an end in his garden-palace at Agra. His
remains were carried thence to his beloved Kabul, where
they repose under a plain slab in a little garden below
a hill set in ' the sweetest spot in the neighbourhood ',
which he had chosen for his last resting-place. The body
of his favourite consort lies beside him, and the place is
hallowed by a graceful httle mosque of white marble, erected
in 1646 by his descendant, the Emperor Shahjahan.-
Huma- Babur left four sons. Humayun, the eldest, then twenty-

Pad'shah. t^o years of age, was allowed to ascend the throne of Delhi
without opposition, but was obliged to concede the govern-
ment of the Panjab and the Afghan country of Kabul,
Kandahar, and Ghazni to his next brother, Kamran, in
practical independence, Humayun, although not without
considerable merits, was a shiftless person, a slave to the
opium habit. A bold Afghan governor of Bihar, named
Sher Khan, resolved to fight him for the prize of India. In
1539 Humayun was badly defeated at Chausa on the Ganges
by his far abler rival, and in the following year was again
routed at Kanauj. He was driven from his kingdom, and
the victor assumed royalty as Sher Shah. He lived until
1545, and instituted many administrative reforms, especially
in the revenue department, which were subsequently copied

* Variously spelt as Kanwaha, and 77° 3' E.

Kanwa, or Khanwah. The text ^ Havelock, Narrative of the

follows the I.G. speHing. The War in Affghanistan {184-0),\ol.u,

village is in the Bharatpur p. 147, App. 24.
(Bhurtpore) State, in 27° 2' N.

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE

and extended by Akbar. Neither Babur nor Humayun did
anything to improve civil government. They were merely
the leaders of a small body of foreign adventurers. Babur
fought at Panlpat, it is said, with only 12,000 men all told,
including camp-followers.

Humayim, the discrowned king, fled westwards and
became a homeless wanderer. Failing to obtain succour
either from his brother Kamran, who had abandoned the
Panjab to Sher Shah, or from the chiefs of Jodhpur or
Marwar and Sind, he was forced to roam about aimlessly
in the waterless western deserts with an ever-dwindling body
of distressed followers. While thus roaming in Sind he had
been captivated by the charms of Hamida Bano Begam,
a young lady, daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, who had
been preceptor to Humayun's youngest brother, Hindal.^
Although she could not be considered as of royal lineage,
there seems to have been a distant relationship between
her family and that of Humayun. She had been already
betrothed to another suitor, and was unwilling to link her
fortunes with those of a king, even a king without a crown.
After some weeks' discussion the proposal of Humayun
was accepted, and he married Hamida at Pat in western
Sind, towards the close of 1541 or the beginning of 1542.
The bride was only fourteen years of age.

In August 1542 Humayun, accompanied by his young Huma-
consort, her followers, and only seven armed horsemen, refuge in
entered the small fortress town of Umarkot, situated on the Umarkot.
main route between Hindostan and Sind, at the edge of the
sandhills forming the eastern section of the Sind desert.^

* The Shaikh was also known
as Mir Baba Dost. See Mr.
Beveridge's discussion in Gul-
badan's Memoirs. There is no
substantial reason for doubting
the parentage of Hamida and her
brother Khwaja Muazzam.

^ 'Umarkot, the fort of 'Umar
or Omar, a chief of the Siimra
tribe. Theplace,situatedin25°21'
N. and 69° 46' E., is now a town
with about 5,000 inhabitants, the
head-quarters of the Thar and

Parkar District, Sind. Many Per-
sian and English authors write
the name erroneously as Amar-
kot, with various corruptions,
as if derived from the Hindi
word amar, meaning ' immortal ', a
frequent element in Hindu names.
The often-repeated assertion that
Akbar revisited Umarkot in 1591,
which has been admitted into
the /. G., is false. He never was
in Sind after his infancy (see
Raverty, Notes on Afghanistan,

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Birth of
Akbar.

Celebra-
tion of
the event

The local Hindu chief, Rana Parshad, received the starving
and thirsty fugitives with generous hospitality, providing
them with all necessaries. He arranged to supply Humayun
with 2,000 horsemen of his own tribe and 5,000 under the
command of friendly chiefs, advising that the force should
be employed on an expedition against the districts of
Thathah (Tatta) and Bhakkar (Bukkur). Humayun took
the advice and started with 2,000 or 3,000 horsemen about
November 20.^ Hamlda Bano Begam was then expecting
her confinement.

In due course the days were accomplished, and Hamida
Bano Begam, who was then only fifteen years of age, and
herself little more than a child, gave birth to a boy, destined
to become the most famous of Indian monarchs. Humayun
was encamped on the margin of a large pond, more than
twenty miles distant from the Rana's town, when TardI
Beg Khan, with some other horsemen, rode up, bringing
from Umarkot the joyful news that Providence had blessed
his Majesty with a son and heir. Humayim, who was
a pious man, prostrated himself and returned thanks to the
Almighty Disposer of all events. When the news spread, all
the chiefs came and offered their congratulations. The child
having been born on the night of the full moon (Shaban 14,
A. H. 949), equivalent to Thursday, November 23, 1542, the
happy father conferred on his son the name or title Badru-d
din, meaning ' the Full Moon of Religion ', coupled with
Muhammad, the name of the Prophet, and Akbar, signify-
ing ' very great '. The last name is used commonly as
an epithet of the Deity, and its application probably was
suggested by the fact that Hamida Bano's father bore the
name All Akbar.

The discrowned king, being in extreme poverty, was

p. 607 n.). Akbar apparently
was born in the fort, which is
said to be half a mile from the
town (Thornton's Gazetteer, s. v.
Omercote).* A modern inscription
purporting to mark Akbar's
birthplace is wrongly located and
wrongly dated.

^ A. N. (i, 376) gives the date
as October 11 (Rajab 1), to suit
the official birthday, Humayun
moved three days before the birth.

* A. N., i, 375, speaks of the
' bounty-encompassed fort ' (hisdr-
i fai?-inhisdr).

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 15

puzzled how to celebrate an occasion which in happier
circumstances would have been proclaimed with costly
ceremonial and lavish largess. The dignified composure
with which Humayun faced the embarrassing difficulty is
best related in the simple words of Jauhar, his faithful
ewer-bearer, who was present, and luckily preserved notes
of the incident. Jauhar says :

' The King then ordered the author of this memoir to
bring him the articles he had given in trust to him ; on
which I went and brought two hundred shahrukhis (silver
coin), a silver bracelet, and a pod of musk ; the two former
he ordered me to give back to the owners from whom they
had been taken, as formerly mentioned ; he then called foi
a china plate, and having broken the pod of musk, distributed
it among all the principal persons, saying : " This is all
the present I can afford to make you on the birth of my
son, whose fame will, I trust, be one day expanded all
over the world, as the perfume of the musk now fills this
apartment." '

The beating of drums and the blare of trumpets announced
the event to the camp.

After that interesting little ceremony Humayun proceeded Akbar
on his march, and arrived at Jun, a small town in Sind, ^J hjf
now ruined, and distant about seventy-five miles from father.
Umarkot. He took possession of the town, established his
personal tents in a large garden, and fortified his camp
to guard against surprise. Meantime, the fast of Ramazan
had begun. When it was deemed that Hamida Bano
Begam would be fit to travel, a messenger was dispatched
to fetch her and the child from Umarkot. She, travelling,
it may be presumed, by easy stages, arrived safely on the
20th of Ramazan, the 35th day of Akbar's age, equivalent
to December 28. Humayun then had the happiness of
embracing his boy for the first time. He stayed in his quarters
in the Jun garden until July 11, 1543, when he resumed his
quest for his lost crown. ^ I do not propose to relate his

* This date is given in A.N. i, course, inconsistent with the

389, and may be accepted. The official birthday and Abii-1 Fazl's

Ramazan date is from Jauhar, account,
and must be correct, but is, of

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Flight of

Huma-

yun ;

Akbar

left

behind.

Huma-
yun in
Persia ;

adventures in detail, except in so far as they concern the
personal story of Akbar, which includes many exciting
incidents and hairbreadth escapes.

Humayun, having been deserted by many of his followers,
perceived that nothing was to be gained by remaining in
Sind. He resolved, therefore, to march for Kandahar, so
that he might be in a position to implore help from the Shah
of Persia, or, if the worst came to the worst, to retire from
conflict by making the pilgrimage to Mecca. He secured
with difficulty the means of crossing the Indus near Sehwan,
and proceeded on his long journey northwards through
Balochistan, until he arrived at Shal-Mastan or Mastang,
south of Quetta, and on the frontier of the Kandahar
province, then held by his younger brother, Askari Mirza,
on behalf of Kamran, the ruler of Kabul. News having been
brought in that Askari was prepared to attack the camp,
Humayun, who was incapable of resistance with the small
escort at his command, was forced to run away. He was
short of horses, and when he tried to borrow one from
Tardi Beg that officer churlishly refused. Humayun was
obliged to take up Hamida Bano Begam on his own horse,
and to make his way with all possible speed to the moun-
tains. He was barely in time to escape capture by his
brother who rode up with two thousand horsemen. Little
Akbar, then about a year old, necessarily was left behind^
as it was impossible for him to bear the journey in his
mother's arms on horseback, passing through extremes of
heat and cold. Although snow lay deep on the heights,
the weather was very hot in the plain. The child was kindly
treated by his uncle, who sent him to Kandahar in charge
of the trusty Jauhar and other attendants. At Kandahar
he was well looked after by Sultan or Sultanam Begam,
wife of Askari. 1

Humayun's party, consisting of forty men and two
ladies, one of whom was Akbar's mother, crossed the moun-

1 The text follows the Tabakat
and Jauhar. According to Gul-
badan (p. 165) the child was left

behind because there was not
time to take him.

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 17

tains after much privation, and marched towards the Akbar in
Hilmand, with the intention of entering Persian territory. ^^"
All thought of going to Kandahar had to be abandoned.
When they reached Sistan notice of their arrival was sent
in due form to the Shah, who responded with many hospit-
able civilities. Jauhar, it may be mentioned, deserted from
Kandahar after leaving Akbar in safety there, and rejoined
Humayun at Herat. His narrative, therefore, of the sub-
sequent proceedings in Persia is that of a person who took
part in the adventures. Humayun was received at Kazvin,
north-west of Teheran, by the Shah, who entertained him
i royally. But the Persian monarch insisted that his guest
must profess the faith of the Shia sect. One day he even
went so far as to send a message that unle'ss Humayun
complied he and all his adherents would be burned alive
with a supply of firewood which had been sent to the camp.
Humayun held out as long as he dared, but at last was
forced to sign a paper submitted to him by the Shah's orders.
The Shah then sent him to view the ruins of Persepolis,
and, being extremely anxious to get rid of his troublesome
and only half-converted guest, gave him his dismissal at
some time late in 1544, on the understanding that Humayun
should take Kandahar with the aid of Persian troops.

Humayun then made his way back to Sistan, and on Occupa-
arrival in that province was agreeably surprised to find that ^^" ^^
the horsemen assembled for review numbered 14,000 instead dahar.
of the 12,000 promised. Kandahar was held by Askarl
Mirza, who, after a siege, surrendered and was pardoned by
his brother, early in September 1545. The fortress was
occupied by the Persians, who sent the treasure to their
master. A little later, Humayun, who had been encamped
not far off, returned suddenly, surprised the Persians, and
occupied Kandahar himself. He decided to advance against
Kamran and recover Kabul.

Kamran, having been deserted by many of his adherents Occupa-
and defeated in the field, abandoned his capital and moved ^^'J.^'f
in the direction of India. On November 15, 1545, Humayun,
without opposition, entered Kabul, where he settled himself

1845 ^

18 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

comfortably. Little Akbar, accompanied by his half-
sister, BakhshI Bano, a shghtly older child, had been sent
across country from Kandahar to Kabul, during the winter
of 1544-5, while the ground was heavily covered with snow.
The children had had the good fortune to arrive in safety,
and were well cared for by their good grand-aunt, Khanzada
Begam, a sister of Babur. She was very fond of the boy,
and was pleased to think that his wee hands and feet were
the very hands and feet of her brother, whom he resembled
altogether. When Humayun marched against Kamran he
had left Hamida Bano Begam in Kandahar. Towards the
close of 1545, when he had become established in Kabul, he
sent for his wife, and her arrival completed the reunion of
the much-tried family. Everybody was willing to believe
that the boy recognized his mother at once, without assis-
tance.
Circum- The opportunity naturally was taken to perform the
^Itu^ °/ ceremony of circumcision obligatory for all Muhammadan
change of male children. The authorities differ about the exact date,
birtirdav ^^ they do so often, but it may be fixed with tolerable
certainty as March 1546. All the chiefs and nobles brought
gifts, and festivities of every kind were brilliantly celebrated.
We have seen that the name or title originally conferred on
Akbar by his father at Umarkot was Badru-d din, the
' Full Moon of Religion ', because the child had been born
at the time of the full moon (badr) of the month Shaban.
Since that memorable night many things had happened,
and the precious boy had been exposed to dangers of various
kinds. His relatives, who believed firmly in all the super-
stitions of their time, sought to protect him against the perils
of malignant sorcery by concealing the true date of his
nativity and so frustrating the calculations of hostile astro-
logers. The circumstances of his birth in the desert ensured
the advantage that very few people in Kabul knew exactly!
on what day he had first seen the light. Consequently,
there was no difficulty in adopting a *new official birthday.
The date chosen was Sunday, Rajab 5, in substitution for
Thursday, Shaban 14. Sunday was preferable on astro-

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 19

logical grounds to Thursday, and Rajab 5 had the merit of
being the reputed day of the conception of the Prophet.
So Akbar's birthday was moved back from November 23
to October 15, and the official chroniclers accommodated
other dates to suit so far as necessary. The change of date
involved the abandonment of the name or title Badru-d din,
the ' Full Moon of Religion ', which had been chosen by
Humayun to commemorate the fact that the moon had been
full on Shaban 14 when the prince was born. Jalalu-d din,
the ' Splendour of Religion ', a title similar in form and
not too remote in meaning, was selected as the substitute.
History knows Akbar only as Jalalu-d din Muhammad Akbar.
The true story of the real date of birth and of the original
naming is preserved in the artless and transparently truthful
narrative of Humayun's personal attendant Jauhar, who
was present when the name Badru-d din was conferred for
the reason stated. He put his recollections together some
forty-five years later, probably by the direction and for the
use of Abu-1 Fazl, who deliberately rejected the truth and
gave currency to the fictitious official version, which has been
universally accepted, save by one Hindu scholar and the
author of this book. Akbar's first public appearance as
Prince was made on the occasion of his circumcision, and it
is reasonable to assume that then his name was announced
as being Jalalu-d din, and the official birthday was fixed by
the reunited family .^

' All the evidence 6n the subject ■ a reminiscence of his original
has been discussed fully in the 1 name. It would be meaningless
author's article entitled ' The ' otherwise. Abu-1 Fazl must have
Date of Akbar's Birth ', published read Jauhar's tract, which is
in Ind. Ant., November 1915, supposed to have been written
vol. xliv, pp. 233-44. ' Barbers to his order. There is no reason
[in Persia] circumcise their chil- to believe that Jauhar was suffering
dren when they think meet, when from senile decay when he faired
the Parents give them the Name, out his memoir, or ' old and silly ',
joining to that of his Father's as Mr. Beveridge puts it. Prob-
his own, as Mahomed Hosseen, ably he was not more than
i.e. Mahomet the Son of Hosseen'' sixty-three or sixty-five years of
(Fryer, A New Account, &c., age. It is quite impossible that
vol. iii, p. 80). An anecdote in his statements should be the result
the Akbarndmah of Abu-1 Fazl of forgetfulness or mistake, and
(vol. i, p. 43), which describes nobody ever suspected him of
Akbar as the ' Full Moon (badr) deliberate lying. Consequently his
of the Heaven ', seems to preserve statements must be true.

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Nurses
and
foster-
relatives.

At this point in the story it will be well to notice the subject
of Akbar's numerous nurses and their progeny who ranked
as foster-brothers or sisters of the sovereign and in several
cases rose to influential positions. In India and other
Asiatic countries it is customary to continue the suckling
of children to an age much more advanced than in Europe.
Sometimes, especially in Bengal and Gujarat, children are
kept at the breast till the age of five, and even that limit has
been exceeded. We do not know exactly when Akbar was
weaned, but it is probable that he was more or less dependent
on his wet-nurses up to the time of his circumcision in March
1546, when he was more than three years old. Abu-1 Fazl
names ten of his nurses, and states that there were many
others. His mother herself nursed him for a time. The most
influential of the women who actually suckled Akbar was
Jiji Anaga, who took charge of the infant at an early stage
in his life. Her husband was Shamsu-d din Muhammad,
the lucky soldier who had rescued Humayun from drowning
at the battle of Kanauj in 1540. After Humayun's restora-
tion in 1555, he received the title of Atgah or Atka {soil.
* foster-father ') Khan, and subsequently held high office.
He was murdered in 1562 by Adham Khan, who also ranked
as a foster-brother of Akbar, and was the son of Maham
Anaga, the head nurse. Maham, apparently, did not actually
suckle Akbar. The foster-brothers {Kokah or Kukaltdsh) of
Akbar enjoyed more influence than was good for the State
during the early years of the reign, after the dismissal of
Bairam Khan. The family of Shamsu-d din and Jljl Anaga
is often referred to in histories as the Atgah Khail, or ' foster-
father battalion '.^ Akbar took drastic steps to break the

' On prolonged lactation see
Crooke, Things Indian (Murray,
1906), p. 99, s. V. ' Children '. The
list of nurses is in A. N., i. 130.
The TurkI word anaga means
' nurse ', and specially ' wet-
nurse ' (Beveridge's note, ibid.,
p. 134). For the biographies of
the various foster-relatives see
Aln, vol. i, tr. Blochmann,
especially Nos. 15 and 19. Bloch-
mann was mistaken in supposing

Adham Khan (No. 19) to be
' a royal bastard '. His father,
the husband of Maham Anaga,
was Nadim Khan Kukaltash, a
faithful servant of Humayun,
who shared with Shamsu-d din
and Khwaja Muazzam the honour
of escorting Hamlda Bano Begam
and her infant son from Umarkot
to .Tun {A. N., i. 135 : Introd'.
to Gulbadan's Memoirs, p. 59).

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 21

inlluence of his foster-relatives, as soon as he felt strong
enough to venture on the undertaking.

Inventive courtiers loved to surround Akbar's birth and Anec-
infancy with a halo of miracle, concerning which many ir^fa^i^cy.
stories were current. Jiji Anaga, one of the principal
nurses, had the audacity to assure Abu-1 Fazl that Akbar
at the age of seven months comforted his nurse when she was
in trouble, with this speech :

' Be of good cheer, for the celestial hght of the khildfat
(sovereignty) shall abide in thy bosom and shall bestow on
the night of thy sorrow the effulgence of joy. But see that
thou reveal this our secret to no one, and that thou dost
not proclaim untimely this mystery of God's power, for
hidden designs and great previsions are infolded therein.'

Abu-1 Fazl refrains from saying expressly that he believed
that monstrous lie, but is careful to state that he had heard
the story from a person of veracity and also from JijI Anaga
herself.^

Another anecdote, not incredible, although surprising, rests
on the personal authority of Akbar, and must be accepted
as true.

' I have heard ', Abu-1 Fazl writes, ' from the sacred lips
of his Majesty, the King of Kings, as follows : — " I perfectly
remember what happened when I was one year old, and
especially the time when his Majesty Jahanbanl (Humayun)
proceeded towards 'Iraq and I was brought to Qandahar.
I was then one year and three months old,^ One day Maham
Anaga, the mother of Adham Khan (who was always in
charge of that nursling of fortune), represented to M. 'Askari,
' It is a Turki [v. I. *■' ancestral "] custom that when a child
begins to walk, the father or grandfather or whoever repre-
sents them, takes off his turban and strikes the child with
it, as he is going along, so that the nurshng of hope may
come to the ground. At present his Majesty Jahanbanl is
not here ; you are in his room, and it is fitting you should
perform this spell which is like sijjand [a herb] against the
evil eye.' The Mirza immediately took off his turban

' A. N., i, .383. of the incident is stated as being

* In reality something less, about December 16, 1543.
a year and one month. The date

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Tutors

and

truancy.

and flung it at me, and I fell down. This striking and falling,"-
his Majesty deigned to observe, " are visibly before me.
Also at the same time they took me for good luck to have
my head shaved at the shrine of Baba Hasan Abdal [prob-
ably the one near Kandahar]. That journey and the taking
off my hair are present before me as in a mirror ".' ^

The exceptionally powerful memory which Akbar is known
to have possessed in mature life evidently began to develop
at an extraordinarily early age.

In this connexion it is proper to note, slightly out of
chronological order, the fact that in November 1547, when
Akbar was about five years of age, arrangements were
made for his education and a tutor was selected. The
person appointed proved to be inefficient, being more inclined
to teach his pupil the art of pigeon-flying than the rudiments
of letters.^ His successor, a more conscientious man,
remained in office for several years and did his best. He
was followed by a third, and a fourth. But their efforts
bore little fruit. Akbar was a thoroughly idle boy from the
schoolmaster's point of view, and resisted all attempts
to give him book-learning so successfully that he never
mastered the alphabet, and to the end of his days was unable
even to read or sign his own name. In his boyhood he
showed great fondness for animals, and devoted much time
to camels, horses, dogs, and pigeons. Of course he became
by degrees an expert in all martial exercises, riding, sword-
play, and so forth. Although he would not learn to read
books for himself, he enjoyed hearing them read by others,
and willingly learned by heart the mystic verses of the
Sufi poets, Hafiz and Jalalu-d din Rumi. Those boyish

» A. N., i, 396. Abu-1 Fazl,
when explaining in his Introduc-
tion the pains taken to secure
accuracy in his narrative, makes
the interesting statement that
' I begged the correction of what
I had heard from His Majesty,
who, by virtue of his perfect
memory, recollects every occur-
rence in gross and in detail from
the time he was one year old —

when the material reason came
into action — till the present day,
when he is, by his wisdom, the
cynosure of penetrating truth-
seekers ' (ibid., i, 32).

" Akbar was fond of the sport
while very young, gave it up for
a time, and resumed it later. More
than 20,000 pigeons, divided into
ten classes, were kept at court. Full
details in Aln, vol. i, pp. 298-301.

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 23

.Vudies laid an intellectual foundation for the unorthodox
eclecticism in religious matters of Akbar's later years.

When the young prince was about ten years of age some
of the royal servants ventured to complain about the boy's
idleness to the Padshah.

Humayun, a lover of books, and a man of no small learning,
wrote to his unruly son a dignified letter of remonstrance,
quoting a couplet to the effect :

' Sit not idle, 'tis not the time for play,
'Tis the time for arts and for work.'

The letter is said to have contained much judicious and
affectionate advice. But the young truant paid no more
heed to the paternal admonitions than he had paid to the
schooling of his tutors, and went on his own way, amusing
himself with his dogs, horses, and the rest, and enjoying
keenly the pleasures of sport in various forms. Abu-1 Fazl's
grandiloquent excuses are amusing. For instance, he
explains the boy's horsey tastes by saying :

' He also applied his thoughts to the delight in an Arab
horse which is a grand subject of dominion and exaltation,
and carried off the ball of excellencies and love of science
with the polo-stick of the Divine help and of sempiternal in-
struction.'

And again :

' His holy heart and his sacred soul never turned towards
external teaching. And his possession of the most excellent
sciences together with his disinclination for the learning of
letters were a method of showing to mankind, at the time
of the manifestation of the lights of hidden abundancies,
that the lofty comprehension of this Lord of the Age was
not learnt or acquired, but was the gift of God in which
human effort had no part.' ^

After the conclusion of the circumcision ceremonies, Loss and
Humayun resolved to undertake the establishment of his of^^KYbul-
authority in Badakhshan, the mountainous province, Akbar
lying beyond the Hindu Kush range, to the north of Kafiri- ^^^^^^

» A. N., i, 589.

24 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Stan. He accordingly marched into the province and made
the administrative arrangements which seemed proper.
When moving to the place where he intended to winter
he fell ill near Kishm. The severity ot his disorder was so
great that he remained unconscious for four days. His
condition naturally gave rise to anxiety concerning the
succession, and his brother Hindal began to take measures
to secure it for himself. Askarl, the youngest brother, was
at that time confined in the citadel of Kabul, and little
Akbar had been left in that city under the care of the ladies.
Meantime, Kamran, whose wanderings had extended as far
as Sind, managed to surprise Kabul, owing to the gross
negligence of Humayun's officers, and to establish himself
there again as ruler. He disgraced himself by inflicting on
his opponents the most fiendish tortures, not sparing even
women and children. Humayun besieged Kabul, and
reduced Kamran to impotence. That prince, not content
with his other cruelties, was base enough to expose the
child Akbar on the ramparts to the fire of his father's guns,
which were, of course, put out of action as soon as the prince
was recognized.^ Even that disgraceful act did not help
the garrison. On April 27, 1547, Kamran slipped away
secretly and retired to Badakhshan.
Humayun Akbar was restored to his father. In the following year,
Kabul 1^^^' ^^ June, Humayun again marched into Badakhshan,
again supported by his brother Hindal. Akbar and his mother
Kamran • were left in Kabul. Ultimately, in August, Kamran made his
and re- submission, and the two brothers were reconciled with tears
Huma- and other effusive demonstrations of affection. The chains
yun. were taken off Mirza Askari's legs. At the beginning of

winter Humayun returned to Kabul, and began preparations

* A. N., i, 511 ; Gulbadan, the troops to preserve a strict

p, 183. The fact of the exposure blockade ' (tr. Stewart, p. 87).

of the child, which is also deposed The Tabdkdt is the sole authority

to by the author of the Tabakdt, for the statement that Maham

is well established. Jauhar, how- Anaga, the head nurse, took the

ever, says : ' Kamran having child in her arms, and held him

threatened to expose the young up in view of the garrison (E. &

Prince Akber to the fire of the D., v, 226). I see no reason to

cannon, his Majesty forbade doubt that statement,
their being used, but directed

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 25

for an expedition to Balkh. That expedition, which took
place in 1549, was a disastrous failure. Kamran seized the
opportunity to renew his unceasing intrigues, and to prove
the insincerity of his professions of brotherly love. His
people engaged in conflicts with the forces of Humayim,
who was badly wounded at a place called Kibchak. In fact,
for some three months he was believed to have been killed.
Kamran then once more (1550) regained Kabul, and with
it possession of Prince Akbar. Later in the year Humayun
defeated Kamran, seized Mirza Askari, and again recovered
Kabul with his son, about whose safety he had felt great
and reasonable anxiety.

The young prince was now granted a village for his
expenses. Askari was sent to Mecca, and died while on his
way, aged about thirty-eight.^

Kamran continued to wander about among the mountains, Akbar
plundering and ravaging. During an obscure skirmish at ^^ j^(".^
night in November 1551 Prince Hindal was killed, at the dal's fief,
age of thirty-two. His body was brought to Kabul and
interred there. He seems to have been the best of Humayun's
brothers.2 The fief of Ghazni, with its dependencies, which
had been held by Hindal, was conferred on Prince Akbar,
to whom Hindal's daughter Rukaiya Begam was given
in marriage.^ At the close of 1551 the prince was sent to
Ghazni in order to serve his apprenticeship as a provincial
governor, under the supervision of competent persons. He
remained there for six months, until he was recalled as a
precaution, Humayun having hurt himself by a fall from
his horse. The accident, however, did not result in any
serious consequences.

• Askari was the younger full Hindal was Muhammad Nasir or
brother of Kamran, to whom Abu-n Nasir Muhammad (Gul-
he always remained attached, badan, pp. 3, 92 «.). Hindal ' is
His real name does not seem to perhaps to be read as meaning
be recorded. He was born in " of the dynasty of Hind " '
1516 and died in 1558, according (ibid., p. 10).

to Mr. Beveridge (Gulbadan, * She was childless and sur-
p. 49). Beale gives the date of vived Akbar. She died in 1626
his death as 1554, which seems at the age of eighty-four (Qui-
to be nearer the truth. badan, p. 274).

* The real name of Prince

26 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Capture In the autumn (September) of 1553 (a. h. 960) Sultan
I^amran. Adam Khan, chief of the Gakhar clan in the Salt Range,
succeeded in securing the fugitive Kamran, who had been
pressed so hard that he had been obhged to disguise himself
as a woman. The Gakhar chieftain surrendered Kamran
to Humayun and was duly rewarded for the service. The
prisoner was treated at first with civility. Humayun's
councillors were unanimously in favour of inflicting the
capital penalty, but Humayun was unwilling to take his
brother's life, and decided that it would suffice to blind him
and so render him incapable of succession to the throne.
The authorities, as usual, differ concerning the minute
particulars of the manner in which the punishment was
inflicted. The best and most detailed account is that
recorded by Jauhar, who was concerned in the business.
His narrative leaves the impression that Humayun felt little
concern for his brother's sufferings, which indeed were
deserved, inasmuch as he had inflicted worse pains even
upon women. It is worth while to quote the story in full
as an illustration of the manners of the time and the character
of Akbar's father.

y" Kamran ' Early in the morning the King marched towards Hindu-
blinded. Stan, but before his departure determined that the Prince
should be blinded, and gave orders accordingly ; but the
attendants on the Prince disputed among themselves who
was to perform the cruel act. Sultan Aly, the paymaster,
ordered Aly Dust to do it ; the other replied, " You will
not pay a shdhrukhy (35. Qd.) to any person without the
King's directions ; ^ therefore, why should I commit this
deed without a personal order from his Majesty ? Perhaps
to-morrow the King may say, ' Why did you put out the
eyes of my brother ? ' What answer could I give ? Depend
upon it I will not do it by your order.'" Thus they continued
to quarrel for some time : at length I said, " I will go and
inform the King ". On which I, with two others, galloped
after his Majesty ; when we came up with him, Aly Dust
said in the Jagtay [Chagatai] Turky language, " No one will

^ Mr. Beveridge states that Shahrukh was the fourth son of

' one shdhrukhl was about ten Timur, whom he succeeded in

pence. Four shdhrukhls made 1408, after a short interval,
one misqdl ' (Gulbadan, p. 178 «.).

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 27

perform the business". The King replied in the same
language, abused him, and said, "Why don't you do it
yourself ? "

' After receiving this command, we returned to the Prince,
and Ghulam Aly represented to him in a respectful and
a condoling manner that he had received positive orders
to blind him ; the Prince replied, " I would rather you
would at once kill me " ; Ghulam Aly said, " We dare not
exceed our orders " ; he then twisted a handkerchief up
as a ball for thrusting into the mouth, and he with the
Ferash, seizing the Prince by the hands, pulled him out
of the tent, laid him down and thrust a lancet [Neshter)
into Ms eyes (such was the will of God). This they repeated
at least fifty times ; but he bore the torture in a manly
manner, and did not utter a single groan, except when one
of the men who was sitting on his knees pressed him ; he
then said, "Why do you sit on my knees ? What is the use
of adding to my pain ? " This was all he said, and acted
with great courage, till they squeezed some (lemon) juice
and salt into the sockets of his e3^es ; he then could not
forbear, and called out, " O Lord, O Lord, my God, what-
ever sins I may have committed have been amply punished
in this world, have compassion on me in the next ".

' After some time he was placed on horseback, and we
proceeded to a grove planted by the Emperor Firoz Shah,
where, it being very hot, we alighted ; and after a short
period again mounted, and arrived in the camp, when the
Prince was lodged in the tent of Myr Cassim.

' The Author of these pages, seeing the Prince in such
pain and distress, could no longer remain with him ; I there-
fore went to my own tent, and sat down in a very melancholy
mood : the King, having seen me, sent Jan Muhammed,
the librarian, to ask me " if the business I had been employed
on was finished, and why I had returned without orders ? "
the humble servant represented " that the business I had
been sent on was quite completed " : his Majesty then said,
" He need not go back, let him get the water ready for me
to bathe ".

' The next day we marched.' ^

Kamran was allowed to proceed to Mecca, where he died
about three years later. His family was not molested by

^ Jauhar,tr. Stewart, pp. 105-7. incomplete manuscript of her
Gulbadan Begam also briefly book ends with it.
describes the incident. The single

28 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Humayun, but his only son, a possible pretender to the
throne, was privately executed at Gwalior in 1565, at the
time of the Uzbeg rebellion, by order of Akbar, who thus set
an evil example, imitated on a large scale by his descendants
Shahjahan and Aurangzeb.
Invasion Humayun returned to Kabul, and made arrangements for
of India, j^-g j^j-^g projected invasion of India. At some time in a. d,
1554 (a. h. 961), Sher Shah's son, Islam or Sallm Shah Sur,
died at Gwalior, and it cannot have been long before Humayun
heard of the decease of his able rival. Muhammad Adil
or Adall Shah, who seized the throne, was a person much
less formidable. In the middle of November 1554 Humayun
started to recover his lost crown. From Jalalabad he
floated down the Kabul river on a raft to the neighbourhood
of Peshawar, where he built a fort. After crossing the river
Indus, he sought a blessing on his enterprise by giving his
son, then twelve years of age, a solemn audience. Jauhar
tells us that the prince, after having bathed, put on a new
dress, and accompanied by the narrator, ajDpeared before
the king.

' When we arrived, his Majesty was sitting, facing the
setting moon ; he ordered the Prince to sit down opposite |
him ; he then read some verses of the Koran, and at the |
end of each verse breathed on the Prince, and was so dehghted |
and happy, it might be said that he had then acquired all
the good fortune of this world and the blessings of the ^
next. His Majesty then continued his journey.' ^

About this time Munim Khan was appointed to be guardian
{atdlik) of Prince Akbar. The army was placed under the
command of Bairam Khan. In February 1555 Humayun
occupied Lahore, and on June 22 the invaders gained a
decisive victory at Sihrind over a much more numerous
force commanded by Sikandar Sur, a nephew of Sher Shah,
and one of the pretenders to the throne of Hindostan. The
official record was drawn up so as to credit young Akbar
with the victory, and thus to dispose of the rival claims of
Bairam Khan and a turbulent noble named Shah Abu-1

* Jauhar, tr. Stewart, p. 110.

ANCESTRY AND PEARLY LIFE 29

Maali, each of whom wished to be aeknowledged as the
victor.^ On this occasion Akbar Avas formally declared to
be heir apparent.^ Humayun was obliged to arrest Khwaja
Miiazzam, Akbar's maternal uncle, who had engaged in
treasonable correspondence with the enemy. The occupation
of Delhi in July restored Humayiin to the throne so gallantly
won by his father, and so weakly lost by himself. In
November Akbar w^as formally appointed as governor of
the Panjab, being then thirteen years of age, and the office
of guardian was conferred upon Bairam Khan in place of
Munim Khan.

The young prince did not trouble himself about state

! affairs, but occupied his time in shooting, an art in which

he became rapidly proficient. He also practised the hunting

of antelope with the cheetah leopard, a pastime to which he

continued addicted in later life.

Akbar having been sent with Bairam Khan to the Panjab, Death of

his father remained at Delhi engaged in the "svork of organizing ^_""^^'

& & & & yun.

a government for his newly regained territories, on which

his hold was still precarious. He intended to occupy each

,of the principal cities in northern India with an adequate

garrison, retaining only 12,000 cavalry in attendance on

his person. He amused his leisure with sundry fantastic

devices and trivial inventions of a rather puerile nature, on

which Abu-1 Fazl la\dshes misdirected praise. He is said

to have felt premonitions of the approach of death. Whether

he did or not, the angel of death quickly seized him. On

Friday, January 24, 1556, at sunset, he was engaged in

iconversation with astrologers and other people on the roof

3f the Sher ]\Iandal, a building erected by Sher Shah, and

iVecently fitted up as a library, when suddenly, as Humayun

was about to descend the steep staircase opening on the roof,

■:he call to prayers was heard. The Padshah, in order to

:how respect to the summons, tried to sit down on the top

>tep, but his staff slipped, and he tripped over the skirt of

* ^. .v., i, 633. The spellings to be correct.

>ahrind or Sihrind and Sarhind ^ Ahmad Yadgar, E. & D., v.

>r Sirhind all occur in the MSS. 58.
laverty considered the first form

30 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

his robe. He fell down the stairs, fracturing the base
of the skull, and became insensible. Probably he never
recovered consciousness, although Abu-1 Fazl affirms that
he was able to send off a dispatch. Three days later he died.
The fatal nature of the accident was concealed as long as
possible, a man being dressed up to personate Humayun
and make a public appearance. A Turkish admiral, Sidi
All Rais, who happened to be then with the court, took an
active part in the deception, and was sent off to Lahore i
bearing the false news of the patient's recovery. Time was
thus gained to secure the unopposed proclamation of Akbar j
as successor to the throne.^
Enthrone- Bairam Khan and Akbar, who were engaged in operations ,
Akbar* against Sikandar Sur, Sher Shah's nephew, and the principal
rival claimant to the crown, were at Kalanaur in the Gurdas-
pur District, when they received authentic news of Huma-
yun's death. The formal enthronement of Akbar took place
in a garden at Kalanaur. The throne, a plain brick structure,
eighteen feet long and three feet high, resting on a masonry
platform, still exists. The ornamental gardens and sub-
sidiary buildings subsequently constructed and visited more J
than once by Akbar have disappeared. The throne platform
has been recently enclosed in a plain post and chain fence,
and a suitable inscription in English and Urdu has been
affixed. The correct date of Akbar's enthronement seems
to be Friday, Rabi ii, 2, a. h. 963, equivalent to February 14,
1556.2 ^j^g proclamation of his succession was made at

1 The authorities, as usual, Delhi, 1876, pp. 193, 194), and

differ about the exact dates. Mr. by Beveridge {A. N., i, 656 n.).

Beveridge {A. N., i, 654 n.) shows For the admiral see Bibliography,

good reason for accepting Friday, post.

January 24, as the date of Huma- - Kalanaur, now a small town

yun's accident. The statement with about 5,000 inhabitants, is

of Abu-1 Fazl that ' some drops fifteen miles west from Gurdaspur

of blood issued from his right town. It was the chief place in

ear ' (ibid., p. 657) indicates that the neighbourhood from the

the fatal injury presumably was fourteenth to the sixteenth cen-

fracture of the base of the skull. tury (/. G., 1908, s. v.). The

The Sher Mandal tower, near the ancient kings of Lahore used to

Kila Kuhna, to the south of be enthroned there, and the town

modem Delhi, is fully described was then of large size. Its glory

by Carr Stephen (The Archaeology had departed when Monserrate

and Monumental Remains of was there with Akbar in 1581, but

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE 31

Delhi on February 11, three days before the enthronement
at Kalanaur.i

The Protector was obhged to take the strong step of
again arresting Shah Abu-1 Maali for contumacious refusal
to obey promptly a summons to the ' coronation darbar '
held on the third day after the enthronement ceremony .2

I The India of 1556, when young Akbar preferred his formal India in

! claim to the sovereignty of Hindostan, was a distracted and ^^^^'
ill-governed land. Its economic condition was even worse
than the political, many of its fairest provinces, including
Delhi and Agra, being then desolated by an appalling
famine caused by widespread failure of the rains combined

! with the devastation wrought by two years of warfare.
The enthronement of the boy Padshah simply registered
a claim to sovereignty. When he went through the ceremony
at Kalanaur he could not be said to possess any definite
kingdom. The small army under the command of Bairam
Khan merely had a precarious hold by force on certain
districts of the Panjab ; and that army itself was not to
be trusted implicitly. Before Akbar could become Padshah
in reality as well as in name he had to prove himself better
than the rival claimants to the throne, and at least to win
back his father's lost dominions.

|| The lordship of Hindostan or north-western India was Akbar's
then disputed by tw^o or three members of the Stir family *^^*^-

ruins and debris marking its accession (E. «& D., v, 247 « )• The
former extent were still visible stvident should note that the Ilahl
(Commenfarius, p. 593). Akbar's eraof Akbar dates from Rabiii, 27,
throne, the ' Takht-i-Akbari ', equivalent to March 11, twenty-
has been described in the Annual five days later than the actual
Progress Report {Muhammadan) accession. The era was reckoned
9/ A. S., N. Circle, for 1910-11, from the next nauroz or Persian
,p. 19 ; and in Ann. Rep. A. S., New Year's Day, and the interval
India, for 1907-8, pp. 31, 32, of twenty-five days was counted
with photograph. Another town as part of the first regnal year,
named Kalanaur exists in the The account of the era in Cunning-
Rohtak District. The name, ham's Book of Indian Eras is
being a Hindu one (probably incorrect,
from Kalyanapura), should be * A. N., i, 658.
. [spelled with the termination -aur ^ Mr. Beveridge notes that the
[from -pura), not with the Persian incident is depicted in one of
■fir. Dowson observes that the the pictures by Abdu-s vimad in
VISS. of the Tabakdt erroneously MS. Ouseley Add. ll in the
live RabI i as the month of the Bodleian Library.

32 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

as well as by Hemu, the Hindu general and minister who
set up as a sovereign on his own account. The Kabul
territory, administered in the name of Akbar's younger
brother, was practically independent. Bengal, usually
under the rule of Afghan chiefs, had been independent for
more than two centuries ; the Rajput clans of Rajasthan
had recovered from the defeat inflicted by Babur and enjoyed
unchallenged possession of their castles ; Malwa and Gujarat
had thrown off allegiance to Delhi long ago ; the wild regions
of Gondwana, the modern Central Provinces, obeyed only
their local chieftains who recognized no sovereign lord ;
and Orissa acknowledged no master. Farther south, the
Deccan States of Khandesh, Berar, Bidar, Ahmadnagar,
Golkonda, and BIjapur were governed by their own Sultans,
to whom the name of the Padshah of Delhi was a matter
of absolute indifference. The Far South, that is to say, the
peninsula from the Krishna (Kistna) and Tungabhadra rivers
to Cape Comorin, was held firmly in the grasp of the sovereigns
of Vijayanagar, then at the zenith of their power, who
ruled a realm so wide as to deserve fairly the name of an
empire. Goa and several other ports on the western coast
were strongly occupied by the Portuguese whose ships held
command of the Arabian Sea.

In the north, the border states of Kashmir, Sind, and
Balochistan, with many others, enjoyed perfect freedom
from all superior control.

The first necessity for Akbar and his guardian was to j
establish the authority of the Padshah of Delhi over the ^
capital and the surrounding districts of Hindostan. Once
that vantage-ground had been gained the road to further
conquests lay open.

In the succeeding chapters the story will be told of the
skill with which Akbar not only recovered the dominions
of his father but extended his sovereignty over the whole
of northern, western, and central India, as well as over
the immense territories now known as Afghanistan and
Balochistan, the border states of Kashmir, Sind, and Orissa,
besides the minor kingdoms of the Deccan.

CHAPTER II

THE REGENCY AND THE FALL OF BAIRAM KHAN, 1556-60

Akbar and the Protector appear to have stayed at Kala- Attempt
naur for some time after the accession ceremony, their forces gulaiman

being engaged in hunting down Sikandar Sur, the principal Mirza to

seize
rival claimant to the throne. Early in June, in consequence Kabul.

of heavy rain, Akbar and Bairam Khan moved southwards

to Jalandhar (Jullunder), where they remained for some

five months.

Meantime, a cousin of Akbar's, Sulaiman Mirza of Badakh-
shan, had attempted to seize Kabul, but was induced to
retire on receiving the empty compliment of the recitation
of his name in the khutba, or prayer for the king. Kabul
continued thenceforward to be, as arranged by Humayun,
under the nominal government of Prince Muhammad Hakim,
Akbar's younger brother, and the actual administration
of Munim Khan, the minister. The province was not regarded
officially as being independent, but was always considered
to be subordinate to the Indian Padshah.

Three members of the Sur house contested the claim of Sur
the descendants of Babur to the throne of Hindostan. In to^t^e^" ^
1554 the young son of Islam Shah had been murdered throne,
by his uncle, who occupied Delhi and assumed the title of
Muhammad Shah Adil. About a year later the usurper
was driven out by a relative named Ibrahim Khan, and
compelled to retire eastwards. He fixed his head-quarters
at Chunar, near Mirzapur, and had no further direct concern
with affairs in the north-west. At some time in 1557 he
was killed in a fight with the king of Bengal.^ Ibrahim

' The Tdrlkh-i-Ddildl (E. & D., the statement of the Tahakd/

iv, 508 ; V, 66 n.) gives the date (E. & D., v. 245) that ' 'Adali

as A. H. 968 = A. D. 1560-1, and reigned for nearly three years '.

alleges that 'Adali reigned for 'Adall was the nickname or title

^Mght years. Beale {Or. Biogr. of Muhammad Shah Adil. Ahmad

Did.) states the year as a. h. 963, Yadgar (E. & D., v, 66) gives

5r a. D. 1556, which agrees with the date as 964, adding that ' his

1845 J,

34 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Khan, the supplanter of Muhammad Shah Adil, was himself
expelled from Delhi by a nephew of Sher Shah, who took
the title of Sikandar Sur. That prince suffered defeat by
Humayiin at Sihrind in 1555, withdrew to the east, and
ultimately was killed in Orissa twelve years later. Thus it
happened that when Akbar took his seat on the throne at
Kalanaur, in January 1556, the only substantial rival
belonging to the Sur family with whom he had to deal was
Sikandar, who continued to wander in the lower hills of the
Panjab with an armed force, hoping that fortune might turn
in his favour, and enable him to regain the throne which
his uncle Sher Shah had occupied with so much distinction.
In the matter of legitimate right there was nothing to choose
between Akbar, the representative of Babur, and Sikandar,
the representative of Sher Shah. The claims of the rivals
could be decided only by the sword.
Hemu. King Adali, to give him his short name, had bestowed

his special favour on a Hindu named Hemii, a native of
Rewari in Mewat, and a member of the Dhusar section of
the baniya or mercantile castes, whom he appointed his
prime minister. Hemu, in spite of the disadvantages of
his Hindu faith, humble origin, and puny physique, justified
his sovereign's confidence by proving himself an able general
and ruler of men. He won twenty-two victories for his
master, and finally defeated the pretender Ibrahim Khan, j
who had already been worsted by Sikandar Sur. When
Humayiin returned to India to recover his lost throne,
King Adali sent Hemu northwards to oppose him, while
he himself retired to Chunar. Humayun, as we know, suc-
ceeded in re-establishing himself for a few months. When
he met with his fatal accident, in January 1556, Hemii
remained in the field on behalf of Adali to prevent Akbar
from taking effective possession of his father's kingdom.

miserable reign lasted about Mubariz Khan was the personal

three years '. Abu-1 Fazl places name of Muhammad Shah Adil.

the death in the second year of We may take 1557 as the correct

the reign of Akbar (March 1557- year a. d. The case is a good

March 1558), and states that illustration of the innumerable

' Mubariz Khan 'Adili had reigned discrepancies in the Persian

four years and odd' (^. A'^., ii, 90). histories.

THE REGENCY 35

When Bairam Khan formally proclaimed Akbar at
Kalanaur as Padshah, TardI Beg, an influential Turkoman
officer, who had been long in the service of Humayun, recog-
nized the young prince's accession, and was rewarded by
promotion to the rank of commander of 5,000 and appoint-
ment as governor of Delhi.

Hemu, advancing by way of Gwalior and Agra, encamped Fall of

near Old Delhi, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Mogul ^ j,g^ .

forces, capturing 160 elephants, 1,000 Arab horses, and execution

-.,,,, Tx 1 . , of Tardi

an immense quantity oi valuable booty. He thus gained Be^.

possession of both Delhi and Agra. The authorities differ

as to the exact amount of resistance offered by TardI Beg,

who, according to Ahmad Yadgar, ' did not leave his position

to assist either party '. It is certain that his defence, if

made at all, was disgracefully feeble, and that he abandoned

his charge without adequate reason. He fled to Sihrind,

where he met Akbar and Bairam Khan. There is a direct

conflict of evidence concerning the responsibility of Akbar

for the irregular execution of the fugitive general, which

quickly followed on his arrival. According to Badaoni,

the Protector produced Khan Zaman and other witnesses

to prove the treachery of TardI Beg, and, having by this

means convinced his young sovereign, ' obtained a sort of

permission ' to put the guilty man to death.^

The detailed account given by Abu-1 Fazl seems to be

more worthy of credit. He explains that although Bairam

Khan and Tardi Beg professed to stand in the relation of

brothers, they were really rivals. TardI Beg regarded himself

as leader of the army and was lying in wait for an opportunity

to overthrow Bairam Khan. The Protector resolved to

make use of the opening afforded by TardI Beg's failure to

hold Delhi, and to get rid of his rival. He inveigled his

victim to his own tent by friendly professions, made an excuse

to shp out, and caused his followers to slay TardI Beg.

Akbar, who in those days paid no attention to affairs of

state, was out hawking at the time. When he came in the

Protector excused himself on the ground of necessity for

* Badaoni, ii, 7,
D2

36 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

taking action without permission, which he could not have
hoped to obtain. Akbar graciously accepted his guardian's
excuses and continued to show him marks of favour and
confidence.^

Many authors denounce the informal and treacherous
execution of Tardi Beg as mere murder. The writers who
take that view do not sufficiently appreciate the usage of
the times, which sanctioned the removal of inconvenient
opponents by irregular methods, nor do they give adequate
weight to the consideration of the difficulties and dangers
which then beset the Protector and his royal ward. The
success of Tardi Beg in his rivalry with Bairam Khan
certainly would have involved the destruction of the latter,
and in all probability that of Akbar also. Firishta took
a sounder view when he wrote :

' The King felt bound to approve of this severe measure.
The author of this work has understood, from the best
informed men of the times, that had Tardy Beg Khan not
been executed by way of example, such was the condition
of the Mogul army, and the general feeling of those foreigners,
that the old scene of Sheer Shah would have been enacted
over again. But in consequence of this prompt though
severe measure, the Choghtay [Chagatai] officers, each of
whom esteemed himself at least equal to Keikobad and
Keikaoos [the legendary Persian heroes], now found it
necessary to conform to the orders of Beiram Khan, and to
submit quietly to his authority.' ^

It may be reasonably affirmed that failure to punish the

dereliction of Tardi Beg from his duty would have cost

Akbar both his throne and his life.^

Hemu Hemu, who had won Delhi and Agra in the name of his

sovereien "i^^ter Adali, now began to reflect that his sovereign was

rank. a long way off, that he himself was in possession of the

army and elephants, and that it might be better to gain

1 A. N., ii, 51-3. Abu-1 Fazl ^ pirishta, ii, 186,

(ibid., p. 46) hints that treachery ^ But it should be noted that

on the part of Pir Muhammad Bayazid attributes the action of

Shirwani may have had something Bairam Khan to private enmity

to do with the disaster. He (J. A. S. B., part i, vol, Ixvii

desired to bring discredit on Tardi (1898), p. 309).
Beg (ibid., p. 49).

THE REGENCY 37

a kingdom for his own benefit rather than for that of his
absent employer. Accordingly, he distributed the spoil,
excepting the elephants, among the Afghans who accom-
panied him, and thus won them over to his side. With their
concurrence he entered Delhi, raised the imperial canopy
over his own head, and exercised the most cherished privilege
of sovereignty by striking coin in his own name.^ He
assumed the style of Raja Bikramajit or Vikramaditya,
which had been borne by several of the most renowned
Hindu monarchs in ancient times, and so entered the field
as a competitor for the throne of Hindostan against both
Akbar and Sikandar Sur, When writing to his nominal
sovereign Adali, he concealed his usurpation, and pre-
tended to be acting in his master's name. For the moment
Sikandar Sur was of no account, and the issue had to be
fought out between Hemu, acting for himself, and Bairam
Khan, acting as Protector and guardian on behalf of Akbar.

The struggle of rival claimants for the throne unfortunately Famine,
coincided vnih one of the most awful recorded in the long
list of Indian famines. The dearth lasted for two years,
1555 and 1556 (a. h. 962-3), and was especially severe in
the Agra and Delhi territory, where armies were assembled,
and had long been engaged in the work of devastation.
The testimony of Badaoni, an eyewitness of the horrible
fact of cannibalism and the utter desolation of the country,
agrees with that of Abu-1 Fazl, who remembered clearly the
horrors of the visitation.

But Hemu cared not. When he was encamped near
Bayana, fifty miles to the south-west of Agra,

' the people died with the word " bread " upon their lips,
and while he valued the lives of a hundred thousand men
at no more than a barley-corn, he fed his five hundred
elephants upon rice, sugar, and butter. The whole world
was astounded and disgusted.' ^

* No coin struck by Hemu is The brutality of Hemu is disclosed

known. by Badaoni alone. The other

^ Badaoni, in E. & D., v, 490, historians are silent on the subject.

491 ; and, with verbal variations, Abu-1 Fazl, who could be brutal

in tr. Ranking, vol. i, pp, 549-51. himself, in spite of his philosophy,

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Action of

Bairam

Khan.

The

battle of
Panipat,
Nov. 5,
1556.

The Protector, rejecting the advice of timid counsellors,
who recommended retreat to Kabul, decided that the crown
of Hindostan was worth fighting for, and we may feel certain
that Akbar heartily agreed with him. Bairam Khan and
Akbar advanced to Thanesar, and thence to the historic
plain of Panipat, where, thirty years earlier, Akbar's grand-
father had won the throne which Humayun had failed to
keep. Hemu, whose army was far superior in numbers,
encamped to the west of the town of Panipat. Bairam
Khan made an inspiring speech to his officers, pointing out
that they must conquer or perish, and his brave words were
supported by the divination of a soothsayer who deduced
favourable omens from his inspection of the shoulder-blade
of a sheep.

Hemu's artillery, which had been sent on in advance,
was captured by the vanguard of Akbar's army in a pre-
liminary engagement. But, even after that loss, the Hindu
general still possessed an immense superiority of strength.
He relied especially on his 1,500 war-elephants, in accordance
with ancient Hindu tradition. Each army was drawn up
in three divisions. On November 5 Hemu succeeded in
throwing both the right and the left wings of his opponents
into confusion, and sought to make his victory decisive by
bringing all his ' mountain-like elephants ' to bear on the
centre of the enemy, commanded by Khan Zaman. Prob-
ably he would have won but for the accident that he was
struck in the eye by an arrow which pierced his brain and
rendered him unconscious. An Indian army never could
survive the loss of its leader, on whose life its pay depended.

descants on the merits of HemQ's
' virile spirit ' (A. N., ii, 69). For
proof of Abu-1 Fazl's brutality
see his disgusting account of the
punishment of certain rebels
against Humayun (A. N., i, 315,
chap, xxiii). He describes the
famine and connected pestilence
in his autobiography. The great
famine occurred, he says, in the
beginning of the year of his
Majesty's accession [a. h. 963
began on November 16, 1555 J.

The capital was devastated and
nothing remained but a few houses
[the reference must be to Delhi].
An epidemic plague ensued and
spread through most of the cities
of Hindostan. Multitudes died
(Aln, vol. iii, p. 426). The same
author confirms the fact that men
were driven to feed on human
flesh, and that parties were
formed to seize and eat solitary
victims {A. N., ii, 57).

THE REGENCY 39

Hemu's soldiers at once scattered in various directions and
made no further attempt at resistance, Hemu's elephant,
which had fled into the jungle, was brought back by Shah
Kuli Khan Mahram, and its unconscious rider was placed
before the Protector and Akbar, who had ridden up. During
the battle the young prince had been kept at a safe distance
in the rear, and Bairam Khan had left the conduct of the
fight to his lieutenants.

Bairam Khan desired Akbar to earn the title of Ghazi, Execu-
or Slayer of the Infidel, by fleshing his sword on the captive. ^-^-^
The boy naturally obeyed his guardian and smote Hemu
on the neck with his scimitar. The bystanders also plunged
their swords into the bleeding corpse. Hemu's head was
sent to Kabul to be exposed, and his trunk was gibbeted
at one of the gates of Delhi. Akbar, a boy of fourteen,
cannot be justly blamed for complying with the instructions
of Bairam Khan, who had a right to expect obedience ; nor
is there any good reason for supposing that at that time
the boy was more scrupulous than his officers. The official
story, that a magnanimous sentiment of unwillingness to
strike a helpless prisoner already half dead compelled him
to refuse to obey his guardian's instructions, seems to be
the late invention of courtly flatterers, and is opposed to
the clear statements of Ahmad Yadgar and the Dutch
writer, van den Broecke, as well as to the probabilities of
the case. At the time of the battle of Panlpat, Akbar was
an unregenerate lad, devoted to amusement, and must not
be credited with the feelings of his mature manhood.^

The pursuit of the defeated army being vigorously pressed, Occupa-
the victors next day, without halting, marched straight to Delhi and
j Delhi, which opened its gates to Akbar, who made his entry Agra.
in state. Agra also passed into his possession. In accor-
dance with the ghastly custom of the times, a tower was
built with the heads of the slain. Immense treasures were

^ The text follows Ahmad cervices acinace praecidit ' (de

Yadgar and van den Broecke. Laet, pp. m). For full discus-

' The Prince accordingly struck sion of the evidence see ' The

him and divided his head from Deathof Hemu ', J. K. ^. 5., 1916,

his unclean body ' (E. & D., v, p. 527.
66). ' Achabar . . . dediticio

40 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

taken with the family of Hemu, whose aged father was
executed. The Mewat territory, which had been Tardi
Beg's jdglr or lordship, was conferred on Pir Muhammad,
a confidential servant of Bairam Khan.^
The end Akbar remained about a month at Delhi, returning early
dynasty!^ in December to Sihrind, in order to complete the operations
directed against his rival Sikandar Stir. From Sihrind,
Bairam Khan and his sovereign advanced to Lahore, con-
tinuing the pursuit, until at last, in May 1557, Sikandar,
after enduring a long siege, surrendered at Mankot, a fort
in the lower hills, now included in the Jamu territory of the
Kashmir State. He was treated without animosity, and
was given the Kharid and Bihar Districts as a fief.^ He
died peacefully about two years later.

Muhammad Shah Adil, or Adali, had been killed, as
already related, in 1557, and Ibrahim Khan had withdrawn.
The stormy career of the Sur dynasty thus came to an end,
and Akbar was left free to consolidate his dominion, undis-
turbed by the claims of rivals to his sovereignty, except in
so far as his younger brother, Muhammad Hakim of Kabul,
made feeble attempts from time to time to contest the
throne of Hindostan.
Marriage In the course of the second year of the reign, 1557-8, the
Bairam ladies of the royal family arrived safely from Kabul and
Khan rejoined Akbar at Mankot. Akbar marched out a stage to
Salima meet them, and was ' much comforted by the reunion '.
Begam. ppom Mankot the army marched to Lahore, halting on the
way at Jalandhar, where Bairam Khan married Salima
Begam, an accomplished young lady, the daughter of
Humayun's sister, and consequently a grand-daughter of
Babur and cousin of Akbar. After the fall of Bairam Khan,
Akbar married her himself. She lived until 1612, and always
ranked as one of the most important ladies of the court.

* Mewat is the ill-defined tract Bharatpur. Alwar town was the

lying south of Delhi, largely capital {A. N., i, 266).

inhabited by the Meos or Mewatis, ^ A. N., ii, 91. Raverty dates

and now extending over parts the surrender of MankSt in August

of the British Districts of Mathura {Notes, p. 592 n.), but Abu-1 Fazl's

(Muttra), most of the Alwar precise chronology of these events

State, and a small portion of should be accepted.

THE REGENCY 41

In October 1558 Akbar and the court, travelling down
the Jumna by boat, migrated to Agra, at that time a town
of comparatively small importance.

The Protector did his best to arrange for the further The
education of his royal ward, and about this time appointed tiQ^^^^j
as Akbar's tutor a refugee from Persia, named Abdu-1 Latif, Akbar.
who is described by Badaoni as ' a paragon of greatness '.^
But the paragon was not more successful than his pre-
decessors had been. Akbar condescended to practise a little
drawing under the tuition of the renowned artists, Mir
Saiyid All and Khwaja Abdu-1-samad, but no tutors could
make him pay attention to books, even so far as to learn
the alphabet. While staying at Agra he devoted himself
almost exclusively to exciting sport, such as elephant fights
and the hunting of deer with the leopard {cheetah). Abu-1
Fazl never tires of repeating that his sovereign during his
early years remained ' behind a veil '. Akbar's intellectual
training did not suffer materially by reason of his inatten-
tion to the customary apparatus of learning. He constantly
employed other persons to read to him, and, being gifted
with an exceptionally powerful memory, was able to retain
the knowledge gained by hearing, so that he was as well
served by the ear as ordinary people are by the eye. Even
in modern India much work is done by listening to a reader
in preference to reading oneself. An official can get through
far more business by having long police reports and the
like written in current script, which is practically shorthand,
read aloud quickly by an expert reader, than he could do
by reading the documents himself.

Illiteracy carries no reproach in India. Reading and

writing have never been regarded as fit occupations for men

belonging to the fighting races, and many of the most

notable Indian sovereigns, as for example, Haidar Ali and

I Ran jit Singh, have been unable to read or write.

' ' He was the first that taught ii, 23) says that 'AbduIIatif was

Akbar the principle of gulh-i-kul, accused in Persia of being a Sunni

' peace with all ", the Persian and in Hindustan of being a

term which Abu-1 Fazl so often Shiah ' (^l»i, tr. Blochmann, vol. i,

ises to describe Akbar's policy of p. 448, n. 2).
deration. Abu-1 Fazl {Akbarn.,

Vi.

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Shaikh
Gadai,
Sadr-i-
Sudur.

Annexa-
tion of
Gwalior
and
Jaunpur.

In the third year of the reign (1558-9) a person named
Shaikh Gadai, son of a Delhi versifier, and a member of the
Shia sect, was appointed at the Protector's instance to
the exalted office of Sadr-i-Sudur, and thus, as Badaoni
remarks, was ' put over the heads of all the magnates of
Hindustan and Khurasan '. The dignity of that office had
always been rated very high. No Enghsh title exactly
expresses the nature of the appointment, and the translation
as Chief Justice sometimes suggested is far from being
satisfactory. The holder ranked as the fourth official in |
the empire, was the head of all the law officers, and was
vested with almost unlimited authority in the conferment
of grants of lands devoted to ecclesiastical or benevolent
purposes. He also exercised powers which may be fairly
described as equivalent to those of the Inquisition, extend-
ing even to the inffiction of the capital penalty for heresy.

The appointment of a Shia to a position so important
naturally gave extreme offence to the orthodox Sunni
courtiers, and had much to do with the subsequent fall of
Bairam Khan, who was hated as being a Shia. Badaoni
makes the elevation of Shaikh Gadai the theme of his most
bitter gibes and venomous puns. The Shaikh enjoyed his
much envied dignity until the fall of his patron, Bairam
Khan, when he shared the minister's disgrace. Akbar, in j
his later years, after his defection from Islam, reduced the |
rank of the Sadr-i-Sudur, and appointed adherents of his j
own eclectic religion to fill the office.

In the course of the third and fourth regnal years (1558-
60) the gradual consolidation of Akbar's dominion in
Hindostan was advanced by the surrender of the strong
fortress of Gwalior in Central India and the annexation of
the Jaunpur province in the east. An attempt to take the
castle of Ranthambhor in Rajputana failed, and preliminary
operations for the reduction of Malwa were interrupted by
the intrigues and troubles connected with Akbar's assertion
of his personal fitness to rule and the consequent fall of
Bairam Khan, the Protector.

The Persian histories narrate the circumstances of Bairam

THE REGENCY 43

Khan's fall at immense length and from different points of Causes of
view. A concise summary may be sufficient to satisfy the gjl ^-^^ ^^
curiosity of the modern reader. When Akbar had entered Khan,
on his eighteenth year (a. d. 1560) and began to feel himself
a man, the trammels of the tutelage in which he was held
by his guardian became galling, and he desired to be a king
in fact as well as in name. Those natural feelings were
stimulated and inflamed by the ladies of his household
and various courtiers who for one reason or another had
grievances against the Protector. His appointment of
Shaikh Gadai as Sadr-i-Sudur excited the sectarian animosity
of all the Sunnis at court, who complained, and not without
reason, that Bairam Khan showed excessive favour to the
adherents of his own Shia sect. Many influential people
had been offended by the execution of Tardi Beg, and on
several occasions Bairam Khan, presuming too much on his
position, had behaved with undue arrogance. He was
accused, too, of making indiscreet remarks. Moreover,
Akbar was annoyed by a special personal grievance, inasmuch
as he had no privy purse, and his household was poorly paid,
while the servants of the Protector grew rich. Bairam Khan,
on his side, was inclined to think that his services were in-
iispensable, and was unwilling to surrender the uncontrolled
oower which he had exercised so long. Gradually it became
ipparent that either Akbar or Bairam Khan must yield.

Hamida Bano Begam, the queen-mother, Maham Anaga,
:he chief of Akbar's nurses and ranking as a foster-mother,
ler son, Adham Khan, with her relative, Shihabu-d din,
governor of Delhi, were the princijjal persons concerned in
ngineering the plot against the Protector. They were
obliged to proceed warily, because the man whom they were
attacking was in actual control of the army and administra-
ion, and it was impossible to be certain how far his loyalty

the son of Humayun would stand the strain of dismissal,
n fact, he was suspected of favouring the candidacy for
he throne of Akbar's first cousin, the son of Humayun's
'rother Kamran. A son of Sikandar Sur was also at hand

1 s an alternative pretender, if wanted.

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Develop-
ment of
the court
plot.

Decision
of

Bairam
Khan.

Akbar's
ultima-
tum.

Early in a. d. 1560 (a. h. 967) the conspirators took
action. Bairam Khan being then at Agra, Akbar, who was
out hunting as usual, was induced to go to Delhi, in order
to visit his mother, who either was or pretended to be ill.
The friendly governor strengthened the fortifications of
Delhi, and measures were taken to secure Lahore and Kabul.
Maham Anaga and her fellow conspirators made the most |
of certain intemperate language attributed to Bairam Khan,
and took pains to make it generally known that he no longer
enjoyed his sovereign's confidence. Messengers passed
between the parties, and Maham Anaga, professing to be j
afraid of Bairam Khan's resentment, begged permission to j
proceed on the pilgrimage to Mecca. She knew well that j
Akbar would not allow her to go, for at that time he was •
completely under her influence.

The advisers of Bairam were divided in opinion. Shaikh
Gadai, the Sadr-i-Sudur, and certain other counsellors
advised their patron to seize Akbar's person and fight the
matter out. But Bairam Khan, after some hesitation,
honourably refused to stain the record of a lifetime of
loyalty by turning traitor, and intimated his intention to
submit. Meantime, the courtiers for the most part had
deserted the falling minister, and, after the manner of their
kind, had turned to worship the rising sun.

Akbar now felt himself strong enough to carry the busi-
ness to its conclusion, and sent his tutor, Mir Abdu-1 Latif,
to Bairam Khan with a written message to this effect :

' As I was fully assured of your honesty and fidelity,
I left all important affairs of State in your charge, and
thought only of my own pleasures. I have now determined
to take the reins of government into my own hands, and it
is desirable that you should now make the pilgrimage to
Mecca, upon which you have been so long intent. A suit-
able fief Ijdglr) out of the parganas (districts) of Hindustan
will be assigned for your maintenance, the revenues of
which shall be transmitted to you by your agents.'

This ultimatum probably was dictated by Maham Anaga, i
who, to use Abu-1 Fazl's words, ' in her great loyalty and I

THE REGENCY 45

wisdom took charge of affairs '. Abu-1 Fazl displays
unblushing partisanship in his account of the transactions,
and even lavishes unstinted eulogies on Pir Muhammad,
the worst of Akbar's evil counsellors at this period.

Pir Muhammad, known as the Shirwani, and originally Pir Mu-
a mere Mulla or religious teacher, had been lucky enough yhir-'"^
to attract the favour of Bairam Khan, Avho made him his wani.
confidential manager. The sudden rise in his fortunes was
too much for Pir Muhammad, who displayed overweening
arrogance towards his patron, by whom he was deservedly
dismissed and exiled. He was in Gujarat when he heard of
Bairam Khan's disgrace, and at once returned to court,
receiving from Akbar the title of Khan, In April 1560,
when Bairam Khan moved to Bayana, Pir Muhammad was
selected to follow him with an armed force, and ' to arrange
for his leaving the imperial domains ', or, as Badaoni puts
it more bluntly, ' to pack him off as quickly as possible to
|Mecca, without giving him any time for delay '.

I Bairam Khan sent back his insignia to Akbar, who was Rebellion
Imuch gratified at that act of submission, but the insult kS'^^™
offered him in assigning to his former servant the task of
i hounding him out of India induced him to change his attitude
land attempt rebellion. Bairam Khan accordingly moved to
the Panjab, after placing his family in the fortress of Tabar-
hindh.i Near Jalandhar his forces were defeated by the
.royalists. Bairam Khan then retired into the hills, and
ultimately was captured near the Biyas river, and brought
Dcfore Akbar, who generously accepted his late guardian's
;,vords of penitence.
' Munim Khan, who had been summoned from Kabul to

' The position of Tabarhindh or The indications may be taken to
Tabarhind has not been deter- point to a location in the northern
nined. It is sometimes identified part of the Bikaner State, but
ither with Sahrind (Sihrind) or inquiry has failed to confirm the
vith Bhatinda (Batliinda), both of conjecture. It is odd that the
vhich are now in the Patiala State position of a place so often men-
see /.G., 1908, s. v. Bhatinda). Mr. tioned should be uncertain. See
Jeveridge suggests that it should Raverty, the Tahakat-i-Nddrl,
lelooked for in the Sirsa District, pp. 457 n., 460 «. ;" but his
lOw included in the Hissar District observations do not settle the
i the Panjab {A. N., ii, 166 n.). question.

46 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

assume the office of prime minister, placed all his tents
and equipage at the disposal of his fallen predecessor, to
whom liberal allowances were assigned in order that he
might proceed to Mecca in a manner befitting his rank and
eminent past services. Akbar returned to Delhi, and thence a
proceeded by water to Agra, at the close of 1560 (a. h. 968). |
Death of Bairam Khan, accepting his fate, marched across Raj-
KMn!" putana towards the coast, in order to proceed to Mecca, j
and in due course arrived at Patau, otherwise called Nahrwala
or Anhilwara, tlie ancient capital of Gujarat, now included
in the Baroda State. The town was in charge of an Afghan
governor, who received his distinguished guest with hos- '
pitality, but failed to make adequate provision for the .
safety of him and his retinue. Bairam Khan, during his
stay in the town, used to amuse himself by visiting the
gardens and beautiful lakes which then adorned it. One
day (January 1561) he had just landed from a visit to an
island pavilion in the principal lake when he was attacked^
by a gang of thirty or forty Afghans, led by one Mubarak
Khan, whose father had been killed in the battle of Macchi-
wara, when Bairam Khan was in command.^ The ex-
Protector was stabbed to death, and his corpse left on the
ground. Some fakirs and poor people charitably gave it
burial. His camp was plundered, and his family was brought
with difficulty to Ahmadabad, pursued by a crowd of
Afghans.^ Bairam Khan's little son, Abdurrahim, then^
four years of age, was summoned to court, and brought up '
under the protection of Akbar. He lived to attain the rank
of Khan Khanan and to become the greatest noble in the
empire. He continued to serve Jahangir faithfully for many ,
years, but, towards the end of a long life, forgot his duty'
and joined Prince Khurram (Shahjahan), when he rebelled
against his father. Abdurrahim will be often mentioned in
the course of this history.

* The battle was fought in 1540 (Bloehmann, Am, vol. i,

1555. The town is in the Ludiana p. 315), and, consequently, must

District. have been born about 1524. He

" Bairam Khan is said to have was still a young man, thirty-six

been sixteen years of age at the or thirty-seven years of age, when

time of the battle of Kanauj, in he perished, in 1561.

THE REGENCY 47

The story of the transactions leading up to the fall and Observa-
death of Bairam Khan leaves an unpleasant taste. It seems *'*^"^-
to be clear that the intriguers who surrounded and controlled
the young Padshah were resolved to get rid of the Protector
at any cost, and that they deliberately forced him into
rebellion in order to ensure his destruction. For a long time
he steadily resisted the advice of Shaikh Gadal and others
who counselled open opposition, and if his enemies had
abstained from the outrage of deputing Pir Muhammad to
' pack him off as quickly as possible to Mecca ', he would
apparently have submitted to his sovereign's wll, as his
modern representative, Bismarck, submitted to William II,
, that is to say, reluctantly, but as a matter of both necessity
;i and duty. Bairam Khan obviously was only a half-hearted
: rebel, and was glad to be captured. Even Abu-l Fazl, who
. made the most of the Protector's faults, and could hardly
find language emphatic enough to express his sense of the
alleged merits of Maham Anaga and Pir Muhammad, was
i constrained to admit that ' Bairam Khan was in reality
a good man, and of excellent qualities '. The courtly
: chronicler ascribes his deviations from the narrow path of
rectitude to his association with evil advisers and his inor-
dinate appetite for flattery. As a matter of fact, Bairam
Khan, although misled sometimes by his partiality for
Shia co-religionists, chose his instruments far better than
Maham Anaga chose hers during her brief tenure of DOwer.
He had the nerve needed to punish the traitor Tardi Beg,
and so to save his master's cause. It is true that he made
a mistake in gi\'ing his confidence at first to Pir Muhammad,
but when he discovered the man's ingratitude and baseness
(he had no hesitation in dismissing him.

Both Humayun and Akbar owed their recovery of the
throne to Bairam Khan, and the obligations of gratitude
required that when the time came for Akbar to take the
reins into his own hands the demission of his faithful
charioteer should be effected as gently as possible. But
ithe many enemies of Bairam Khan were not in a humour
to make his exit easy. If they could have had their way

48 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

unobstructed, they would certainly have put him to death.
The generosity of his reception after the failure of his
rebellion may be fairly attributed to young Akbar himself,
who had had little to do with the previous transactions,
for which Maham Anaga was responsible, as her panegyrist
Abu-1 Fazl expressly affirms.

Akbar shook off the tutelage of Bairam Khan only to
bring himself under the ' monstrous regiment ' of unscrupu-
lous women. He had yet another effort to make before
he found himself and rose to the height of his essentially
noble nature.

The next chapter will tell the story of the rather ignoble
interval during which he was subject to petticoat government
of the worst kind.

CHAPTER III

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT ; THE EMANCIPATION OF AKBAR,

1560-4

Akbar, who was still little more than a boy, continued to Rule of

occupy himself with field sports and elephant fights, appa- ^^^^^"^

rently taking no interest in the business of government,

which he allowed Maham Anaga to control. Notwithstanding

the praise lavished on her by Abu-1 Fazl, the facts as recorded

by him and other authors prove that she was unworthy of

the trust reposed in her. One of the main objects of her

life was to push forward Adham Khan, her second son, a man

clearly unfit for high office. She also bestowed her favour

m the treacherous and brutal Pir Muhammad ShirwanI,

who had betrayed Tardi Beg at Delhi, shown the grossest

ngratitude to Bairam Khan, his patron, and was about

;o earn eternal infamy by his savage cruelty in Malwa.

[n short, there is reason to believe that the men who secured

)ower and wealth from the hands of Maham Anaga were

he worst members of the court circle.

At the time of Bairam Khan's fall Akbar was still far from Baz
)eing master of the whole of Hindostan. The condition of ^^^^^^ur
he kingdom of Malwa, the fertile plateau lying to the north Malwa.
if the Vindhya range, between the parallels 23° 30' and
4° 30' N. and the meridians 74° 30' and 78° 10' E., was
nen such as seemed to invite a war of conquest with good
rospects of success. Shujaat Khan, an officer under the
ur kings, and himself a Sur Pathan,^ who had governed
he country in practical independence in the time of Islam
hah, died in a. h. 963 (a. d. 1555-6), the year of Akbar's
ccession, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Baz Bahadur,
ho assumed the title of Sultan. The new ruler began

* Also known as Shuja or Shajawal Khan.
1845 ^

50 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

badly by murdering his younger brother and many of his own
officers. Having suffered defeat at the hands of the Gonds,
he gave himself up to pleasure, wine, women, and music.
In the arts of music and song he was an expert, and, like
Tansen, was reputed to have received instruction from Adali,
or Muhammad Shah Adil, the last of the Sur kings.^ The
government of Agra resolved to attack Baz Bahadur, who,
although personally brave enough, was not likely to offer
effectual resistance.
Attack on Accordingly, in the autumn of 1560, an expedition against
Malwa was organized, under the supreme command of
Adham Khan, assisted by Pir Muhammad Shirwani and other
officers. Pir Muhammad, although nominally second in
command, was really the guiding spirit. Baz Bahadur was
badly defeated (1561) near Sarangpur, now in the Dewas
State, Central India Agency, and much valuable spoil was
taken by the imperialists. Baz Bahadur had, in accordance
with Indian custom, placed confidential men in charge of
his wives and concubines with orders to slay them all in
case of their lord's defeat. The best beloved of these women
was Rupmati, ' renowned throughout the world for her
beauty and charm '. When the defeat occurred she was cut
down by her guardian but only half killed. Adham Khan
having sought to gain possession of her, she escaped further
dishonour by taking poison. The loves of Baz Bahadur
and Rupmati form a favourite subject for the skill of Indian ,
poets and artists. Adham Khan sent to Akbar nothing
except a few elephants, reserving for himself the women and
the choicest articles of the spoil.

Meantime, both Pir Muhammad and Adham Khan hadj
disgraced themselves and their sovereign by disgusting}
cruelties, of which Badaoni the historian was a horrified
witness.

' On the day of the victory, the two captains remained
on the spot, and had the captives brought before them, and
troop after troop of them put to death, so that their blood
flowed river upon river.' Pir Muhammad cracked brutal

' Badaoni, tr. Ranking, i, 557.

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 51

jests, and when remonstrance was offered, replied : — ' In
one single night all these captives have been taken, what
can be done with them ? '

Even Sayyids and learned Shaikhs who came out to meet
him with Korans in their hands were slain and burnt.

Akbar was much incensed at the misconduct of Adham Mis-
Khan in retaining the women and choice spoil which should ^?"^ll^*
^ ^ of Adham

have been sent to court. He resolved to surprise the delin- Khan ;
quent and abate his insolence. Leaving Munim Khan, action^
the Khan Khanan, and other officials in charge at Agra,
Akbar, without giving notice to the great officers of state,
on April 27, 1561, quitted his capital attended by only a small
escort. Although Maham Anaga sent off swift couriers to
warn her son, Akbar was too quick for her, and rode in upon
Adham Khan, who had no news of his sovereign's arrival.
He was amazed, and

' when his eye fell on the world-illuminating beauty of His
Majesty the Shahinshah he became confounded, and like
a be^vilde^ed moth dismounted and did homage. He placed
the face of servitude in the dust of supplication and was
, exalted by kissing the stirrup.'

t His attemjits to assuage Akbar's just wrath were unsuccessful

! at first, and it was not until his mother arrived and arranged

I matters that his subinission was accepted. Even then the

I villain did not cease from his lustful wickedness. He secretly

stole two special beauties who had been in Baz Bahadur's

harem. When Akbar heard of this impudent crime he delayed

his march until the women were recovered.

' Maham perceived that if these two women were intro-
duced to His Majesty the veil over her acts would be raised,

ji and her son's treachery be revealed. She therefore caused

, these two innocent ones to be put to death, for " a severed
head makes no sound ". The Khedive of the age over-
looked this gross outrage, as the veil was not yet removed

1 from his world-illuminating countenance, and [he] regarded

p the done as not done.'

The same Abu-1 Fazl who records that atrocious deed was
not ashamed to praise the ' wisdom and perspicacity ' of
the guilty woman.

E 2

52 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar hastened back to Agra, where he arrived on June 4,
1561, after an absence of only thirty-eight days. Akbar,
who resembled Alexander the Great in his disregard of
climatic conditions or physical obstacles, made his rapid
journey in the height of the hot season.

It is not pleasant to read that PIr Muhammad, who
waited on the Padshah after his return, was honoured with
gifts of robes and horses.^ Akbar's conscience had not yet
been awakened.
Personal In the course of his journey homewards Akbar met a tigress
of Akbar. with five cubs near Narwar. He encountered the beast on
foot and killed her with a single blow of his sword, a most
remarkable feat. His escort accomplished the easy task
of killing the cubs. This, we are told, was the first beast
of prey which His Majesty personally attacked.^

Some months later, at Agra, Akbar gave another exhibition
of reckless courage, pre-eminent physical strength, and
extraordinary mastery over animals. At the early age of
fourteen he had acquired the difficult art of controlling
vicious elephants. An elephant named Hawai, meaning
' Like the Wind ', and probably the beast of that name
ridden by Hemu in his last fight, was notorious for his
' choler, passionateness, fierceness, and Avickedness '. One
day on the polo ground Akbar, who had drunk two or three
cups of wine, took it into his head to mount the savage
brute, who was compelled to execute ' wonderful manoeuvres '.
Akbar then decided to have still more excitement, and set
Hawai to fight Ran Bagha, the ' Tiger in Battle ', another
vicious giant. Ran Bagha, unable to withstand Hawal's
furious onset, fled pursued by the victor, who justified his
name by his speed. Akbar, to the terror of the onlookers,
held on firmly, and the two maddened beasts, plunging down
the steep bank of the Jumna, raced across the bridge of
boats. The pontoons swayed and were submerged, the royal

1 Tabakdt, E. & D., v, 271, lioness never has more than four,

* Mr. Beveridge(^.A^., ii,222M.) and usually only three. The

is inclined to accept the reading number in the litter of a tigress

babarl, ' lioness ', of some MSS. ranges from two to six (Chambers,

But ' tigress ' must be right, EncycL, and Encycl. Brit., latest

because there were five cubs. A ed.).

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 53

servants meantime swimming alongside in case their help
should be needed. By good luck the elephants got safely
across to the other side of the river and Ran Bagha
continued his flight to save his life. Akbar, exercising the
marvellous personal power over the brute creation which
was one of his peculiar gifts, was able to restrain Hawai in
a moment.^

In later years Akbar explained more than once to Abu-1
Fazl that his motive in undertaking such adventures was
that God might end his life, if he should have knowingly
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 '. The
expression of such sentiments in mature age may be accepted
as sincere, but when he was nineteen he may be presumed
to have taken less serious views, and to have been simply
carried away by his sense of possessing exceptional power
and by the intoxication of perilous excitement.

In this connexion another wild adventure, which took An ad-
place in the following year, 1562, deserves brief notice, venture.
The story is too long to be narrated in full detail. Com-
plaints having been received of the violence practised by the
people of eight villages in the Sakit pargana now in the Etah
District, United Provinces, a tract still noted for its turbulence,
Akbar determined to chastise the evil-doers. He availed
himself as usual of the pretext of hunting, and accompanied
by a small escort of less than two hundred horsemen, sup-
ported by as many elephants, he attacked the villagers,
who were supposed to number four thousand. A hot fight
ensued. His Majesty then perceived that some of his follow-
ers were shirking in a cowardly fashion and taking cover.
' The royal wrath blazed forth,' and Akbar, without waiting
to collect the shirkers, advanced on his elephant Dilshankar
against a house in the village of Paronkh. His elephant
put his foot into a grain-pit, so that the officer riding behind

• Jahangir also tells the story pictures of the Clarke MS. at the
as recounted by his father. The V. & A. Museum, S. Kensington
incident is depicted in one of the (Jahangir, R. B., ii. 41).

54 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

fell on top of his sovereign, who cleverly extricated his mount.
Seven arrows hit and five pierced Akbar's shield, but
ultimately he succeeded in forcing his elephant through
the wall. The house was set on fire, and about a thousand
rebels were consumed.

We shall see that Akbar, even when a good deal older,
retained the impetuous spirit of his youth, and was as ready
as Alexander of Macedon had been to risk his life in personal
combat with man or beast. The peculiar system of self-edu-
cation which he had adopted had endowed him with nerves of
iron and bodily vigour which scorned fatigues enough to kill
an ordinary man. We can imagine how the reports of the
young Padshah's prowess at Paronkh must have echoed
through the kingdom and inspired a wholesome terror among
all men who thought of defying the royal authority.
A noc- In the first half of 1561 Akbar had begun to take some

adven- personal share in public business, although his final emancipa-
ture. tion from the evil influences surrounding him was not effected
until three years later. Even in his twentieth year he was
keen to learn all that he could about his people, and for
that purpose made use of information derived from various
classes of ascetics and fakirs, in whose society he took much
pleasure, being ' more restless than ever in his search for
physicians of the soul '. He followed the example of Harunu-r
Rashid in taking nocturnal rambles in disguise. One night
he so ventured out into a dense crowd on the far side of
the Jumna opposite Agra, and was unlucky enough to be
recognized by a vagabond who communicated his discovery
to others.

' When I became aware of this ', said Akbar, as he told
the story, ' I without the least delay or hesitation rolled
my eyes and squinted, and so made a wonderful change in
my appearance. In a sense that they could not imagine
I was a spectator and was observing the ways of destiny.
When those good folks looked at me they, on account of
the change in my appearance, could not recognize me, and
said to one another, " These are not the eyes and features
of the King ". I quietly came away from them and went
to my palace.'

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 55

Nobody will dispute the truth of Abu-1 Fazl's comment
that ' it was a very strange performance '.^ Although not
so indifferent to affairs of state as he had been previously,
Akbar still devoted most of his time to sport, and still,
to use his chronicler's recurrent phrase, remained for the
most part ' behind the veil '.

About this time information was received that Khan Eastern
Zaman (All Kull Khan), the governor of Jaunpur and the ^j^n^^^"
eastern provinces, was meditating rebellion. Akbar accor- Shamsu-d
dingly resolved to go in person to bring him back to obedience. Khan.
He started in the middle of July 1561, hunting on the way
in his accustomed manner. At Kara on the Ganges, now
in the Allahabad District, Khan Zaman and his brother •
Bahadur Khan thought it prudent to come in and do homage,
which was accepted. Akbar accomplished this expedition
with his usual celerity, and was back in Agra before the
end of August.

In November Shamsu-d din Muhammad Khan Atga came
from Kabul, was received with favour, and entrusted as
minister with the management of affairs political, financial,
and military. This arrangement was displeasing to Maham
Anaga, who ' regarded herself as the substantive prime
minister ', and was vexed to find that Akbar was gradually
freeing himself from her control. Munim Khan shared her
jealousy. The fortress of Chunar near Mirzapur was sur-
rendered about this time.^

Akbar now took a more decisive step towards asserting Recall of
his independence by recalling Adham Khan from Malwa, ^h^n"^
and making over the government of that imperfectly con- Pir Mu-
quered province to Pir Muhammad in name as well as in j^,
fact. But in conferring such an important trust on a man Malwa.
so unworthy Akbar committed a grievous error. Pir
Muhammad, feeling himself to be invested with absolute
power, attacked Burhanpur and Bijagarh with success,

' A. N., ii, 225, 226. the event in the ninth regnal

= A.N., ii, 231. Abu-1 FazI year, a. d. 1564-5 (E. & D., v,

dates the surrender in a. h. 969, 287). Abu-1 Fazl took much

A. D. 1561-2. The Tabakdt, pains to fix the chronology of

erroneously it would seem, dates the reign.

56 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

INDIA IN 1561

When Akbar ascended the throne in January 1556 he possessed no
definite territory. Five years later he held firmly the Panjab, with
the Multan district ; the basin of the Ganges and Jumna as far east
as Prayag (later known as Allahabad), and also Gwalior in Central
India, and Ajmer in Rajasthan. The Kabul territory (excluding
Kandahar with its dependencies, then in Persian hands, see Raverty,
Notes on Afghanistan, pp. 592, 600) was governed in practical inde-
pendence by the guardians of Akbar's younger half-brother, Mirza
Muhammad Hakim. The various Himalayan States, including Kashmir,
were completely independent. Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa were under
the government of an Afghan prince, Sulaiman Kararanl. Orissa then
meant the modern Midnapore, Purl, Katak (Cuttack), and Balasore
Districts. The numerous chiefs in Rajasthan or Rajputana, Sind,
and the extensive wild country now forming the Central Provinces,
Chutia Nagpur, and Orissa Tributary States, recognized no man as
master. Gujarat^ which had been occupied by Akbar's father, Huma-
yun, was ruled by a Muhammadan dynasty, as was Malwa. The five
kingdoms of the Deccan plateau, namely, Ahmadnagar, Birar (Berar),
Bidar, Bijapur, and Golkonda, constituted out of fragments of the
Bahmani Empire, were autonomous under Musalman dynasties, con-
stantly at war one with another or with Vijayanagar. The boundaries
frequently changed. Bijapur was the most powerful of the five States.
The small Muhammadan principality of Khandesh in the valley of
the Tapti was practically independent. The whole peninsular area to
the south of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers was under the
lordship of the Hindu kings of Vijayanagar.

The Portuguese were strongly established on the western coast in
fortified settlements taken from the Sultans of the Deccan, and situated
at Goa, with a considerable territory attached ; Chaul, Bombaim
(Bombay) with neighbouring places ; Bassein (see Malabari, Bombay in
the Making, 1910, p. 21) ; Daman, and Diu. Their fleet controlled the
mercantile and pilgrim traffic of the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf.
No other European power had gained any footing on the soil of India,
and no Englishman had even landed in the country. All delineations
of frontiers and boundaries necessarily are merely approximate. The
boundaries of the Sultanates of the Deccan are taken from Sewell's
map in A Forgotten Empire (1900).

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 57

perpetrating a general massacre at the latter fortress. As
Badaoni observes, he ' practised to the utmost the code of
Chinghiz Khan ', massacring or enslaving all the inhabitants
of Burhanpur and Asirgarh, and destroying many towns
and villages to the south of the Narbada, ' sweeping every-
thing clean and clear '. Contrary to advice he started to
pursue Baz Bahadur across the river. As he was riding
through the stream his horse collided with a string of camels
and threw him, so that he was drowned. Thus, to use
Badaoni's terse phrase, ' he went by water to fire ' ; his
cruelty, insolence, and severity were punished, and the sighs
of the orphans, the helpless, and the captives were avenged.^
It is not often that we find a Muhammadan historian pro-
nouncing an ethical judgement so distinct and just. Abu-1
Fazl slurs over the crimes of Pir Muhammad with a vague
allusion to the oppression committed by him, and laments
that ' by heaven's decree so loyal, able, and gallant a man
underwent such a fate '. The remark goes a long way
to discredit the writer's pretensions as a moralist. The
defeat of Pir Muhammad resulted in the temporary restora-
tion of Baz Bahadur.

One night, Akbar, when on a hunting excursion, was Pilgrim-
passing through a village near Agra when he happened to ^^^^^ .
hear a party of Indian minstrels singing the praises of first
Khwaja Mulnu-d din, the renowned saint buried at Ajmer, w^h"a^^
and was thus inspired to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Hindu
the holy man. Accordingly, in the middle of January 1562,
he started for Ajmer with a small retinue, hunting on his
way. At Deosa, midway between Agra and Ajmer, he
received Raja Bihar Mall,^ the chief of Amber or Jaipur
in Rajputana, who offered his eldest daughter to Akbar in
marriage. The court made only a brief stay at Ajmir and
returned by forced marches to Agra, leaving the heavy
camp equipage to follow. The marriage was celebrated at
Sambhar. Man Singh, nephew and adopted son of Raja

* Badaoni, tr. Lowe, ii, 43, 47, as Bihara, Bahar (/, G.), or Bhar.

A various reading gives ' mules ' Blochmann writes Bihari. Bihar

instead of " camels '. seems to be the correct form.

^ The name is written variously

prmcess.

58 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Bhagwan Das, the heir of Raja Bihar Mall, was taken into
the imperial service, and rose ultimately to high office.
The bride subsequently became the mother of Jahangir.
Her posthumous official title, Maryam-zamanI (or -uz
zamani), ' the Mary of the age ', has caused her to be con-
founded sometimes with Akbar's mother, whose title was
Maryam-makani, ' dwelling with Mary '. The dust of Akbar's
first Hindu consort lies in a fine mausoleum situated near
Akbar's tomb at Sikandara. The building has been restored
by judicious measures of conservation.^

Although it has been asserted that Humayun had one
Hindu consort, that lady, if she really existed, does not
appear to have exercised any influence.^ Akbar's marriages
with Hindu princesses, on the contrary, produced important
effects both on his personal rule of life and on his public
policy. His leanings towards Hinduism will be more con-
veniently discussed at a subsequent stage, and the effects
of the Rajput matrimonial alliances on public affairs also
will become more apparent as the story proceeds. But at this
point of the narrative so much may be said, that the marriage
with the Amber princess secured the powerful support of her
family throughout the reign, and offered a proof manifest
to all the world that Akbar had decided to be the Padshah
of his whole people — Hindus as well as Muhammadans.

While the court was on its way back to Agra one of the
keepers of the hunting leopards was convicted of stealing
a pair of shoes. Akbar ordered the thief's feet to be cut off.
Later in life he would hardly have inflicted such a savage
punishment for a petty theft.

• The tomb is accurately de- Portuguese or a Christian. Mu-
scribed and illustrated in Ann. hammadans venerate the Virgin
Rep. A. S. India, 1910-11, pp. Mary and are glad to associate
94-6, Plates XLVIII-L. The deceased ladies of rank with her
descriptions in other books, as name. The daughter of Raja
in Syad M. Latif, Agra (1896), Bihar Mall probably conformed
p. 194, are erroneous, and usually more or less to the Muslim religion,
repeat the false statement Certainly she received a Muham-
that Maryam-zamani was a madan title and was buried in
Portuguese Christian. There is a Muhammadan sepulchre,
not the slightest reason for be- ^ Tod, Feudal System, ch, v,
lieving that any one of Akbar's vol. i, pp. 124, 268. The state-
numerous wives was either a ment seems to be a blunder.

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 59

Many events of importance happened in the seventh Recovery
regnal year, reckoned officially as beginning on March 11, ^j^iwa •

1562. various

events
Abdullah Khan Uzbeg,^ who was sent to Malwa in super-
session of Adham Khan, quickly expelled Baz Bahadur,
and again brought the province under the dominion of his
sovereign. Baz Bahadur remained in exile at the courts of
various princes for several years. In the fifteenth year of
the reign he submitted to his fate, appeared at the imperial
court, and accepted office as a ' mansabdar of 1,000 '.
Subsequently, he was promoted to the rank ' of 2,000 ',
and so ended his days. Tradition points out a tomb at
Ujjain, built in a tank, as the place where his dust rests
beside that of his favourite Rupmati.

Shah Tahmasp of Persia sent a belated complimentary
embassy to Agra to offer condolence for the death of Huma-
yun and congratulations on the accession of Akbar,

The practice of enslaving prisoners of war was strictly
forbidden, and the strong fortress of Mirtha (Merta) in
Rajputana was taken after a stiff fight.

On May 16, 1562, an extraordinary event took place which Murder of
finally freed Akbar from the debasing influence of Maham jjj„ ^^„^
Anaga and her worthless son. The appointment of Shamsu-d by Ad-
din Muhammad Atga Khan as minister in November 1561 Khan,
was, as already mentioned, highly displeasing to Maham
Anaga, her son Adham Khan, her ally Munim Khan, and
sundry other influential members of the royal circle. The
dissatisfaction of those personages, who felt that power was
sUpping from their grasp, was the immediate cause of the
crime committed on May 16 by Adham Khan,^ who may

* Blochmann, Ain, vol. i, No. next page give 970 in one case,

14, p. 320. He must not be con- and 969 in the other. Abu-1 Fazl

founded with his namesake, the (A. N., ii, 269) states the date in

independent ruler of Transoxiana. terms of both the Ilahi and Hijri

^ The authorities, as is the case eras, as Isfandiyar 5, Khurdad =

so often, differ about the date. Saturday, Ramazan 12, 969.

The Tabakat (E. & D., v, 277) According to Cunningham's tables

gives it as Sunday, Ramazan 12, Ramazan 12, 969, was a Saturday.

A. H. 970. Badaoni (ii, 49) states Blochmann {Aln, i, 324) accepts

it as Monday, Ramazan 12, a. h. that statement, which may be

969. The clironograms on his taken as correct. The Tabakat

60 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

possibly have acted on his own impulse without the privity
of his sympathizers. It seems hardly credible that they
could have sanctioned in advance his audacious outrage.
On the day mentioned, Shamsu-d din, the minister, with
Munim Khan and other high officials, was sitting in the palace
hall engaged on public business, when Adham Khan swaggered
in attended by blustering followers. The minister and his
companions politely rose to receive the visitor, but Adham
Khan, far from responding to the courtesy, put his hand
to his dagger and advanced in a threatening attitude to the
minister. At a signal from Adham Khan two of his men
cut down Shamsu-d din, who ran out and fell dead in the
courtyard of the hall.

The tumult awoke Akbar, who was asleep in an inner room.
Adham Khan, meditating the last extremity of treason,
tried to force his way in, but was kept back by a faithful
eunuch who bolted the door. Akbar, having been told what
had happened, came out by another door, receiving as he
passed his special scimitar from the hands of a servant.
Coming across the terrace he met Adham Khan and roughly
asked what he meant by killing the Atga. Adham Khan
made impertinent excuses and had the audacity to seize
his sovereign's hands. When Akbar tried to disarm him
the villain grasped the king's sword. Akbar responded by
hitting Adham Khan in the face a blow with his fist which
was like the stroke of a mace, and knocked the traitor
senseless. Akbar ordered his attendants to bind him and
throw him headlong from the terrace. They obeyed, but in
a timid, hesitating way, so that the criminal was only half
killed. Akbar then compelled them to drag him up again,
and throw him down a second time. His neck was broken
and his brains dashed out.^

Munim Khan, his friend Shihabu-d din, and some other
notables, conscious of guilt, and fearing just retribution for
their secret treason, absconded.

date, a year later, is impossible. * The horrid scene is realisti-

Ramazan 12, 970 was a Wednes- cally reproduced in one of the

day. The event certainly hap- Akbarndma pictures exliibited at

pened in 1562, not in 1563. South Kensington.

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT

After the performance of his stern act of justice, Akbar
retired into the female apartments where Maham Anaga
was lying ill. He told her briefly what had happened,
refraining from saying explicitly that Adham Khan was dead.
The unhappy woman merely replied ' Your Majesty did well ',
and then held her peace. But her life was bound up with that
of her favourite son, and forty days later she followed him
to the grave. Both the bodies were sent to Delhi and interred
in a handsome tomb erected at Akbar's expense near the
Kutb Minar. The building still exists.^

The fugitive conspirators were pursued and arrested. Conse-
Akbar behaved to them with extraordinary generosity, of'^jJe^^
prompted, perhaps, by deep policy, inflicting no penalties, crime,
and actually restoring Munim Khan to favour and his rank
as minister and Khan Khanan. The Atka Khail, or ' foster-
brother battalion ', who thirsted for vengeance on the family
of the murderer, were judiciously pacified and kept employed
on an expedition against the Gakhars in the Salt Range.
Abu-1 Fazl tells us that from the time of Adham Khan's
catastrophe ' H.M. the Shahinshah perceived the spirit
of the age and the nature of mankind and gave his attention
to the affairs of State '. He was then in his twentieth
year. Under Maham Anaga's corrupt regime the finances
had fallen into disorder, and public revenue was constantly
embezzled by the officials.^ Akbar secured the services of
a capable eunuch, who had been in the employ of the Sur
kings, and was now honoured with the title of Itimad Khan.
This man drew up and enforced the necessary rules and
regulations so that embezzlement was checked and the
revenue system was placed on a sounder footing.

Akbar, although engaged in so much troublesome business Tansen
in various departments, was not indifferent to the pleasures music,
of life. He took special delight in music and song, and seems
to have had a considerable knowledge of the technicalities
of those arts. About this time (1562) he required Raja

' Carr Stephen, The Archaeology rupees, the treasurer professed his

of Delhi, p. 200. inabihty to produce the petty

^ On one occasion, when Akbar sum (Bayazid, in J. A. S. B.,

happened to ask for eighteen part i, vol. Ixvii (1898), p. 31]).

AKBAB THE GREAT MOGUL

Ramchand of Bhath or Riwa to send to court Tansen of
Gwalior, who was universally recognized as the premier
musician and singer of the age. Tansen, who became a
Musalman subsequently, was received with marked favour
and liberally paid. He is credited by Abu-1 Fazl with
having introduced ' great developments ' into his art.
Conservative Hindu musicians take a different view and
accuse him of having falsified the traditional rdgs, two of
which, Hinddl and Megh, have disappeared since his time.
Such critics hold that the influence of Tansen was deleterious
to the musical science of India.^ It would seem possible
that he may have violated the ancient Hindu canons and
sought to modernize his art by making changes to suit
Muslim taste. Few people have a right to express any
positive opinion on the subject, and the author of this book
is not included among those few.

1562. Akbar experienced a remarkable spiritual awakening on

h^^ . the completion of his twentieth year, in October or November

Akbar. 1562. His words, as translated by Jarrett, are :

' On the completion of my twentieth year ', he said,
' I experienced an internal bitterness, and from the lack
of spiritual provision for my last Journey my soul was seized
with exceeding sorrow.' ^

It is impossible not to connect this access of religious
melancholy with the public events which preceded it. Akbar
had learned the painful lesson that the persons, male and
female, in whom he had reposed confidence, were wholly
unworthy of his trust and were even prepared to take his
life. He had become conscious of the weight of the vast
responsibilities resting upon his shoulders, and was forced to

* A. H. Fox Strangways, The
Music of Hindostan, p. 83 (Oxford,
1914). For the theory of the
Hindu rdgs, or ' musical modes ',
see that work and //. F. A., p. 330.
The subject remains extremely
obscure. The concluding section
of Ain 30, Book II of Ain, tr.
Blochmann, vol. i, pp. 611-13,
deals with the musicians of the
imperial court. See also eh. xv,

post.

"^ ' Happy Sayings,' Ain, vol. iii,
p. 386. Beveridge {A. N., iii, 338)
notes that there is a various
reading asp, ' horse ' for blst,
' twenty ' ; and suggests that the
remark refers to Akbar's horse
having stumbled, which does not
seem to be a tenable interpreta-
tion.

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 63

the conclusion that he must rely on his own strength, with
Divine help, to bear them. He could not any longer lean
upon the broken reed of false friends. He never again
placed himself under the control of any adviser, but mapped
out his course, right or wrong, for himself.

' It was ', he observed, ' the effect of the grace of God that
I found no capable minister, otherwise people would have
considered my measures had been devised by him.' ^ That
saying was not merely the outcome of self-conceited vanity.
Young Akbar, in the days of his apprenticeship, had seen
one minister after another fail to rise to the height of his
duty. When he reinstated the traitor Munim Khan, there
was, I think, some contemptuousness in the action, which
signified that it did not much matter who conducted the
routine business while Akbar himself was there to shape
the policy. During the years in which he was apparently
devoted to sport alone, and oblivious of all serious affairs,
the young man had been thinking and shaping out a course ^
of policy. (^His abolition of the practice of enslavement of ^
prisoners of war^ his marriage with the princess of Amber,
and his reorganization of the finances were measures which
proved that his thinking had not been fruitless. No minister
would or could have carried them through.

Peruschi, one of the acute Jesuit authors, who based their
accounts on the letters sent by the missionaries at Akbar's
court in the middle and latter part of his reign, states that :
' He is willing to consult about his affairs, and often takes
advice in private from his friends near his person, but the
decision, as it ought, always rests with the Ejng.' ^ Akbar
was conscious of being a king of men, immeasurably superior f/'"'^
in breadth and comprehensiveness of view to any of the
people surrounding him, and was justified in keeping his
prime minister, whether Munim Khan or another, in a
position of definite subordination.

Although the events of 1562 freed Akbar once and for Affairs at
all from the thraldom of Maham Anaga and her gang, his ^^''"'•
complete emancipation from the control of palace influence
' Am, vol. iii, p. 387. * Peruschi, p. 23.

64 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

and intrigue should be dated later, about the end of March
1564, when he inflicted on Khwaja Muazzam, his mother's
unruly brother, the punishment which will be described
presently.

In the interval several occurrences of considerable impor-
tance took place, which will be now briefly related. Kabul
had been unfortunate in its governors. Ghani Khan, son
of Munim Khan, was one of the failures, and was shut out
of the city by Mah Chuchak Begam, mother of Muhammad
Hakim, Akbar's young brother, the nominal ruler. Akbar
was obliged to send Munim Khan with instructions to
undertake the guardianship of the prince and try to restore
order. But the Begam attacked and defeated him.^ After
some delay Munim Khan ventured to return to court in
August 1563 (end of a. h. 970). Akbar again extended to
him a gracious reception, and secured his loyalty for the
rest of his life. Matters at Kabul were complicated by the
intervention of the turbulent Shah Abu-1 Maali, who had
returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca. He came to Kabul
and persuaded the Begam to give him her daughter, a half-
sister of Akbar's, in marriage. He then attempted to seize
the government for himself, and cruelly killed the Begam
in April 1564. Mirza Sulaiman of Badakhshan came to
the rescue of the young prince, and defeated Abu-1 Maali,
who was justly executed. Kabul then remained for some
time under the government of the Mirza.
Abolition In 1563 Akbar happened to be at Mathura (Muttra)
pilgrims, engaged in tiger- hunting. He had the luck to bag five out
of seven tigers seen.^ While he was in camp there it was
brought to his notice that the government had been accus-
tomed to levy dues from the pilgrims worshipping at Mathura
and other holy places of the Hindus. Akbar expressed the
opinion that it was contrary to the will of God to tax people
assembled to worship the Creator, even though their forms
of worship might be considered erroneous. Acting on that

• As pointed out in Lowe's note, been defeated by Munim Khan

the translator of the Tahakdt (Badaoni, ii, 55, note 4).
(E. & D., V, 282) erroneously * Tigers have not been seen

represents the Begam as having near Mathura for many a year.

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 65

principle he remitted all pilgrim taxes throughout his
dominions, which, according to Abu-1 Fazl, amounted to
millions of rupees. He amused himself by walking from
beyond Mathura to Agra, a distance of about thirty-six miles,
in one day. A considerable party started with him, but only
three of his companions were in at the finish with their
athletic young sovereign.

Early in January 1564 Akbar moved to Delhi. On the Attempt

on Ale*
11th he was returning from a visit to the famous shrine of bar's life.

Shaikh Nizamu-d din Auliya, and had just passed Maham
Anaga's newly built madrasa, now no longer in existence,
when a man standing on the balcony of the madrasa dis-
charged an arrow which wounded Akbar in the shoulder.
The arrow was extracted at once, and the assailant was
instantly cut to pieces. In ten days Akbar was sufficiently
recovered to be able to return to Agra riding in a litter.
The assailant was a slave named Fulad, who had been
manumitted by Mirza Sharfu-d din Husain, an ally of Shah
Abu-1 Maali. Akbar seems to have discouraged attempts to
ascertain the identity of Fulad's accomplices. He was then
engaged in a scheme for marrying certain ladies belonging
to Delhi families, and had compelled one Shaik h to divorce
his wife in his favour. The attempted assassination put
an end to these discreditable proceedings, and probably was
prompted by resentment at the royal invasion of the honour
of famihes. Akbar, throughout his life, allowed himself
ample latitude in the matter of wives and concubines, but
we do not hear again of scandals like those which tarnished
his good name at Delhi when he was one-and-twenty.^

Early in 1564 Akbar took another important step in Abolition
pursuance of the policy which had dictated the Amber ?f t^^
marriage, the conferment of office on Man Singh, and the
abolition of the dues exacted from pilgrims. He now
made a second large sacrifice of revenue by remitting the u- -^""^
jizya, or poll-tax on non-Muslims, that is to say in

^ The historians, as usual, differ in stating that the assailant dis-
concerning the details of Fulad's charged the arrow from the
attempt. I follow Badaoni (ii, 60) balcony.

1845 p

66 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

practice, on Hindus, throughout his dominions. The tax
had been originally instituted by the Khallf Omar, who
fixed it in three grades, of 48, 24, and 12 dirhams respec-
tively .^ The rate of taxation in Akbar's time does not seem
to be recorded. In Sind (a. d. 712) Muhammad bin Kasim
had levied the tax according to Omar's canonical scale.^ i
In the fourteenth century Firoz Shah Tughlak, a zealous
bigot, assessed the three grades for Delhi at 40, 20, and
10 tankas respectively ; Brahmans, who up to then had
been exempt, were charged 10 tankas and 50 jltals.^ It is
not unlikely that the assessment of Firoz Shah continued in
force until Akbar's time, rupees being substituted for silver
tankas of slightly less value. No statistics are available
concerning the yield of the jizya collections. Abu-1 Fazl
merely states that it was immense. The tax, which concerned
adult males only, was levied in a lump sum for the whole
year, and in a country so poor as India must have been
extremely burdensome. Aurangzeb, as is well known, re-
imposed it in 1679, after the death of Raja Jaswant Singh,
and his feeble successors more than once tried to levy it
when they could.

Some writers are inclined to attribute too much influence
on Akbar's policy to Abu-1 Fazl, It is noteworthy that
Akbar, of his own motion and contrary to the advice of his
councillors, abolished the jizya ten years before he made
the acquaintance of his famous secretary. He had swept
away the pilgrim taxes at a still earlier date. The main
lines of his policy, directed to obliterating all difference
in treatment between Muslims and Hindus, were fixed as

• Aln, ii, 57, tr. Jarrett. jltal is defined as an imaginary

^ Chach-ndmah, E. «& D., i, 182. ^^th. of tfie copper dam, used by

^ E. & D., iii, 366. Tlie dirham accountants for the purposes of

' is the general name for a silver calculation. The silver tankah

coin, as the dinar is for gold. It of Firoz Shah weighed about

corresponds to the drachma, and 175 grains. The kdni or silver

when used as a weight should ^ttoZ in his time, if of pure silver,

equal 48 grains. But silver coins should have weighed nearly 2|

having the name dirham on grains. 64 kdnis or jllals went to

them vary much in weight and the tankah (E.Thomas, Chronicles

size' (Codrington, Musalman of the Pathan Kings of Delhi, 1871,

Numismatics, 1904, p. 117). In pp. 218/?., 219n., 281 n.).
the Ain (Blochmann, vol. i, p. 31)

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT 67

political principles while he was still to all outward appear-
ance an orthodox and zealous Muslim, and long before
his open breach with Islam, which may be dated in 1582,
after the defeat of his brother's attempt to Avin the throne
of India. When it is remembered that Akbar was only
twenty-one or twenty-two years of age when he abolished
the pilgrim tax and the jizya, in defiance of the sentiments
of his co-religionists and the practice of his predecessors,
we may well marvel at the strength of will displayed by i,^^^
a man so young, who a little time before seemed to care for
nothing but sport. Abu-1 Fazl's tiresome rhetoric about
the ' veil ' behind which Akbar concealed his real nature
for several years has some justification in fact.

Khwaja Muazzam, son of Ali Akbar, and half-brother of The fate
Akbar's mother, had always manifested a turbulent, unruly ?[ \i^^.
disposition from his boyhood, and when he grew up was zam.
guilty of many murders and other offences. His relationship
with the royal family secured him impunity. In March 1564
a lady who held high office in the harem, and whose daughter
was married to the Khwaja, informed Akbar that she had
reason to believe that Khwaja Muazzam intended to kill
his wife, whom he was removing to his country-seat for that
purpose. Akbar promised his protection, and in fulfilment
of his promise crossed the Jumna, as if for hunting, accom-
panied by a small retinue of about twenty persons. Messen-
gers were sent on to advise the Khwaja of his sovereign's
approach. The man horrified them by thromng out a bloody
knife with which he had that moment stabbed his wife.
When Akbar rode up there was reason to fear that he might
be attacked, and his retinue were obliged to cut down one
of the Khwaja's followers who seemed to be dangerous.
Ultimately Khwaja Muazzam was arrested, and ducked in
the river along with his servants. He did not drown as he
was expected to do, and was sent to the state prison at
Gwalior, where he died insane. Probably he had been
more or less mad all his life. The punishment inflicted on
him proved definitely that Akbar was not to be deterred
by family influence from doing justice on evil-doers after

68 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

the rough-and-ready manner of the times. The incident maj
be taken as marking the date of Akbar's final emancipatior
from the control of a palace clique. He continued to sho\^
all proper respect to his mother, but he did not allow hei
to control his policy, which was conceived on principles
distasteful to her.

CHAPTER IV

CONQUEST OF GONDWANA ; REBELLIONS OF ABDULLAH
KHAN, KHAN ZAMAN, ASAF KHAN (I), AND THE MiRZAS ;
REDUCTION OF THE GREAT FORTRESSES ; BUILDING
OF FATHPUR-SIKRI ; CONQUEST OF GUJARAT, ETC.

AsAF Khan (I), governor of Kara and the Eastern Pro- Asaf
vinces/ having subdued the Raja of Panna in Bundelkhand, ^j^^ j^^^^j
who possessed diamond mines, was directed by Akbar to Durga-
turn his arms against Gondwana, or the Gond country, now
forming the northern part of the Central Provinces. That
country was then (1564) governed by a gallant lady, Rani
Durgavati, who, fifteen years previously, had become regent
for her minor son. Although he had now attained manhood,
and was recognized as the lawful Raja, she continued to
rule the kingdom. The Rani was a princess of the famous
Chandel dynasty of Mahoba, which had been one of the
great powers of India five hundred years earlier. Her
impoverished father had been obliged to lower his pride and
give his daughter to the wealthy Gond Raja, who was far
inferior in social position. She proved herself worthy of
her noble ancestry, and governed her adopted country with
courage and capacity,

' doing great things ', as Abu-1 Fazl remarks, ' by dint of
her far-seeing abilities. She had great contests with Baz
Bahadur and the Mianas, and was always victorious. She had
20,000 good cavalry with her in her battles, and one thousand
famous elephants. The treasures of the Rajahs of that
country fell into her hands. She was a good shot with gun
and arrow, and continually went a-hunting and shot animals

* His full name was Khwaja successively received the title

Abdu-1 Majld Asaf Khan. See his Asaf Khan. The conqueror of

biography by Blochmann, No. 49 Gondwana is conveniently dis-

in Aln, vol. i, pp. 36&-9. Later tinguished as Asaf Khan I.
in the reign two other nobles

AKBAR THE GREAT lOGUL

Akbar's
aggres-
sive
policy.

of the chase with her gun. It was he custom that when
she heard that a tiger had made his ppearance, she did
not drink water till she had shot him,'

She carried out many useful public wois in different parts
of the kingdom and deservedly woi the hearts of her
people. Her name is still remembere and revered.

Akbar's attack on a princess of a chracter so noble was
mere aggression, wholly unprovoked md devoid of all
justification other than the lust for coquest and plunder.
Akbar shared the opinion of all Aside and not a few
European monarchs that it is the dut^of a king to extend
his dominions. ' A monarch ', he sal, ' should be ever
intent on conquest, otherwise his neiabours rise in arms
against him.'^ Mrs. Bcvcridge is qite right when she
declares that Akbar was

* a strong and stout annexationist b(ore whose sun the
modest star of Lord Dalhousie pales. ]j believed, probably
without any obtrusion of a doubt as t<ius course, that the
extension and consolidation of territor was a thing worth
fighting for ; he believed in supremac as [being] in itself
a desirable object, and having men an money, he went to
work and took tract after tract withou scruple.' ^

Akbar would have laughed at the rciorse felt by Asoka
for the miseries caused by the conquest c Kalinga, and would
have utterly condemned his great preccessor's decision to
abstain from all further wars of aggressio. Count von Noer's
belief that ' it was not passion for coquest which thrust
the sword into the great emperor's had ' * is opposed to
the obvious facts and to Akbar's clear inguage. The same
author (or his secretary) puts a false glis on the attempted
conquest of the Deccan, when he writ( :

'Sunni and ShI'ah animosity had log distracted those
southern kingdoms of the Indian peniiula by conquest of
which Akbar thought to crown his caier. He had set it
before him to quiet the unrest of lessc states by welding
them into a great empire, and his inrr feehngs justified

» A. N., ii, 326. » A. S. Jeveridge, in von Noer,

- ' Happy Savings,' Aln, vol. iii, vol. i, p. xxvii.
p. 399. " * von ^e^, ii, 231.

REBELIONS AND CONQUESTS 71

him in stepping fcward as a redeemer from discord and
embroilment. On/ war and conquest could lead him to
his goal.'

That is sentimenti rubbish. Akbar's annexations were the
result of ordinary'vingly ambition supported by adequate
power. The attac, devoid of moral justification, on the
excellent governmnt of Rani DurgavatI was made on the
principle which dcermined the subsequent annexations of
Kashmir, Ahmadngar, and other kingdoms. Akbar felt
no scruples about nitiating a war, and once he had begun
a quarrel he hit hfd and without mercy. His better nature
made itself felt at^r victory had been secured. Until then
his proceedings wee much the same as those of other able,
ambitious, and ruiless kings.

Rani Durgavatinade a gallant defence, but many of her Fate
soldiers, apparent/ terrified by the might of the invader, gavati-
deserted and left ler to fight the enemy with inadequate capture
forces. Her fine stand was made between Garha and ragarh.
Mandla, now in tb Jabalpur District. Mounted on a mighty
elephant, she ledher men with the utmost bravery until
disabled by two wands from arrows. Choosing death rather
than dishonour, se stabbed herself to the heart, so that
' her end was as loble and devoted as her life had been
useful '.

Two months Iter Asaf Khan, after a short struggle,
took from the Rui the fortress of Chauragarh, now in the
Narsinghpur Distct, which was the treasure city of the
kingdom.

' When the foj was taken there fell into the hands of
Asaf Khan and k men an incalculable amount of gold and
silver. There wee coined and uncoined gold, decorated
utensils, jewels, pearls, figures, pictures, jewelled and
decorated idols, gures of animals made wholly of gold,
and other rarities

The coin was sal to include a hundred large pots full of the
gold ashrafis of J.au-d din Khilji. It is surprising that the
ruler of a countr^so wild as Gondwana, or Garha-Katanga
as the Persian auiors call it, should have accumulated such

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The
jauhar
of Chau-
ragarh.

Mis-
conduct
of Asaf
Khan ;
Akbar's
policy.

a rich treasure. The historian of Indian art would be glad
if he could see a specimen of the pictures, examples of Hindu
pictorial art between the seventh century and Akbar's
introduction of Persian fashions about 1570 being almost
wholly lacking.

The young Raja, whose name was Bir Narayan, died
bravely, and protected the honour of his household by the
awful act of sacrifice so often recorded in Hindu history.
The tragic story is well told by Abu-1 Fazl :

' He had appointed Bhoj Kaith and Miyan Bhikari Rumi
to look after the jauhar, for it is the custom of Indian
rajahs under such circumstances to collect wood, cotton,
grass, ghee, and such like into one place, and to bring the
women and burn them, willing or unwilling. This they call
the jauhar. These two faithful servants, who were the
guardians of honour, executed this service.

' Whoever out of feebleness of soul was backward (to
sacrifice herself) was, in accordance with their custom, put
to death by the Bhoj aforesaid. A wonderful thing was
that four days after they had set fire to that circular pile,
and all that harvest of roses had been reduced to ashes,
those who opened the door found two women aUve. A large
piece of timber had screened them and protected them from
the fire. One of them was Kamlavati, the Rani's sister,
and the other the daughter of [the] Rajah [of] Puragadha,
whom they had brought for the Rajah, but who had not
yet been united to him. These two women, who had emerged
from that storm of fire, obtained honour by being sent to
kiss the threshold of the Shahinshah ' [scil. were placed in
Akbar's harem at Agra].^

Asaf Khan was intoxicated with pride by reason of his
victory and the acquisition of enormous wealth. The booty
included a thousand elephants, of which only two hundred

Erzdhlungen in Mahdrdshtri, p. 5,
1. 57), representing the Sanskrit
jatu-griha, the ' lac-house ' of in-
flamniable material in which their
enemies tried to burn the Panda-
vas alive {Mahdbh., i, chaps. 141-
51). The word should be written
jauhar, not johar. Forbes, using
the latter spelling, marked it as
of Persian origin.

' A.N., ii
proves that

331. The passage
Abu-1 Fazl could
write effectively in a simple style
when he chose to do so. No other
case of escape from a jauhar
seems to be on record. Sir George
Grierson permits me to announce
that he has discovered the etymo-
logy of the word jauhar. It is the
Prakrit jaMara {.Jain story of Bam-
bhadatta in Jacobi, AusgewdhUe

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 73

were sent to court, while Asaf Khan kept everything else
for himself, following Adham Khan's evil example in Malwa.
Evidently he thought of setting up as an independent
potentate, and ignoring the imperial authority. Akbar
' winked at his treaehery ', and deferred the settlement of
accounts to a more convenient season. The magnanimity
and clemency shown to various rebellious nobles in the
early years of his reign with which Akbar is credited seem
to have been really the result of his weakness in military
strength, his power at that time not being sufficiently
established to enable him to assert his sovereign position
with full effect. He was a master in the arts of dissimula-
tion and concealment of his feelings. Bartoli, the excellent
Jesuit author, summing up the testimony of his brethren
concerning Akbar as he was in middle age, tells us that

' He never gave anybody the chance to understand
rightly his inmost sentiments, or to know what faith or
religion he held by. . . . And in all business, this was the
characteristic manner of King Akbar — a man apparently
free from mystery or guile, as honest and candid as could
be imagined ; but, in reality, so close and self-contained,
with twists of words and deeds so divergent one from the
other, and most times so contradictory, that even by much
seeking one could not find the clue to his thoughts.' ^

We may feel assured that there was much policy in his
clemency.

In July 1564 Abdullah Khan Uzbeg, who had succeeded Revolt of
Pir Muhammad in Malwa, revolted, and Akbar was obliged Kiian
to organize an expedition for the chastisement of the rebel- ^r^^^ '"
He marched through the Narwar territory, where he enjoyed
a grand elephant hunt, in which seventy beasts were cap-
tured. Thence he proceeded to Mandu, defeated Abdullah,
and drove him into Gujarat, where he left him. In October
Akbar was back at Agra, having made another great catch
of elephants at Siprl while on his way. He continued o
practise his old amusement of riding ferocious animals.
One of the elephants, named Khandi Rai, was so fierce that

I' » Bartoli, ed. 1714, p. 6. The first edition appeared in 1003,

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Zaman,

&c.,

Uzbegs.

he could be mastered only by the use of two goads at once,
which Akbar applied to his skull unmercifully. Abdullah
Khan did not seriously attempt to recover the position
which he had lost. He ultimately made his way to Jaunpur,
where he joined Khan Zaman, and died a natural death
during the rebellion of that officer, which will now be related.
Rebellion The leading adventurers who had helped Humayun and
Akbar to recover the throne of Hindostan did not readily
settle down to the position of mere noblemen in an ordered
kingdom. They all cherished personal ambitions for sovereign
power, and were constantly breaking into rebellion. Khan
Zaman, who as Ali Kuli Khan had helped to defeat Hemu,
and had latterly become governor of the Jaunpur territory,
rebelled early in 1565. He was an Uzbeg, like Abdullah
Khan of Malwa. At that time Akbar was considered to
favour the Persian officers, between whom and the Uzbeg
chiefs intense jealousy existed. Khan Zaman, who was
assisted by his brother Bahadur and his uncle Ibrahim,
defeated the royal troops, which were obliged to withdraw
to Nimkhar in Oudh, now in the Sitapur District. Todar
Mall, afterwards famous as Akbar's finance minister, is men-
tioned on this occasion for the first time as taking part
in the negotiations. He was opposed to compromise with
the rebels. In May 1565 Akbar took the field in person
and crossed the Jumna.^ The rebels were driven eastwards,
and Asaf Khan came to the aid of his sovereign. Ultimately
Khan Zaman formed an entrenched camp at Hajipur,
opposite Patna. Akbar made Jaunpur his head-quarters.
A complication was introduced by the sudden defection
and flight of Asaf Khan, who was alarmed at reports that
he would be called on to account for the treasures of Rani
Durgavati.

In December 1565 Munim Khan met Khan Zaman in
a boat in the middle of the Ganges opposite Buxar, and
patched up a reconciliation, the principal stipulation being

1 About this time Akbar found
it expedient to execute Kamran's
son, Abu-1 Kasim Khan, who was
a prisoner in Gwalior and might

have been set up as a pretender
to the throne (a. h. 973, July 1565-
July 1566) (Beale).

REBELIJONS AND CONQUESTS 75

that Khan Zaman should not cross the Ganges. The rebel,
who never intended to observe the terms, promptly violated
them. However, he again professed submission, and once
more Akbar accepted his excuses, probably because the royal
force was not sufficient to secure victory. In March 1566
Akbar started to march back to Agra.

Before the story of the Uzbeg rebellion can be concluded
certain miscellaneous occurrences of this time must be
recorded.

Late in 1564 twin sons were born to Akbar. They received Various
the names of Hasan and Husain, an indication probably that
their father was then under the influence of Persian Shias.^
They lived for only a month. The name of their mother is
not recorded.

In the cold weather of 1564-5 Haji or Bega Begam, the
senior widow of Humayun, who had lost both her children,
went on pilgrimage to Mecca, and was absent from the
court for three years.^ Before starting she made arrange-
ments for building at her own cost the noble mausoleum
under which her husband's remains rest. It was finished
after her return.

Muhammad Hakim's officers, apparently in 1564, drove
out the Badakhshanis from Kabul and reinstated their
young prince, then about ten years old.

Shaikh Abdu-n NabI was appointed Sadr-i-Sudur in 1565
or 1566 (tenth regnal year), an appointment which Akbar
afterwards had reason to regret.

About this time Akbar began the extensive building Akbar's

operations in which he took delight for many years. One f^-ij-

j! of his earliest undertakings, executed rapidly at the close

!l of 1564, on his return from Mandu, was the erection of

a country palace, or hunting lodge, at a village called

Kakrall, seven miles to the south of modern Agra, to which

' The Imams Hasan and Husain, as Haji, or the ' pilgrim ' Begam,

the sons of the Khalif Ali and the Many books confound her with

Prophet's daughter, Fatima, are Hamida Bano Begam, Akbar's

venerated by the Shias. mother. See the author's essay

^ Gulbadan calls her Bega on the subject in J. R. A. S., 1917.
Begam, but she is generally known

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

he gave the name of Nagarehain, or, in Persian, Amanabad,
' the Abode of Peace '. Agreeable gardens were laid out
and^ town grew up around the palace buildings for the
accommodation of the people dependent on the court,
v^/ Akbar sometimes received ambassadors there. The strange
thing is that when Badaoni was writing late in the reign all
trace of palace, gardens, and town had vanished. Nobody
knows when, why, or how the demolition was effected.^

The old Hindu and Afghan fort at Agra, called Badalgarh,
was built of brick, and had fallen into disrepair. If the
chronograms quoted by Badaoni can be trusted, Akbar
began building within its precincts as early as 1561-3
(a. h. 969-70), when he erected the Bengali Mahall and
another palace. Portions of the Bengali or Akbari Mahall
still exist in a much mutilated condition.^ In 1565 (i.e. in
tenth regnal year = 1565-6, and a. h. 972 = 1564-5) the
command was given for building a new fort of hewn stone
at Agra to replace the ruinous brickwork of ancient date.
According to Jahangir, the work of construction continued
for fifteen or sixteen years, and cost thirty-five lakhs, or three
millions and a half of rupees, equivalent to nearly 400,000
pounds sterling.^ The peasantry had to pay for the work
by a special tax. Akbar is said to have erected in the Agra
Fort during his reign ' five hundred buildings of masonry
after the beautiful designs of Bengal and Gujarat which
masterly sculptors and cunning artists of form have fashioned

* A. N., ii, 358 ; Badaoni,
ii, 69. Fanthome describes the
site as ' A Forgotten City ' in
J. A. S. B., 1904, part i, p. 276.
It is now known as Mahal MandO,
and adjoins the village of Kakrali.
The existence of Nagarehain has
been forgotten, but there are
trifling traces of mosques and
a well.

^ Badaoni, ii, 74 ; Ann. Rep.
A. S. India for 1903-4 and
1907-8. Abu-1 Fazl notes that
on May 11, 1569, Akbar lodged
in the Bengali Mahall, then newly
constructed. The building work
evidently continued for several

years (A. N., ii, 497).

* Jahangir, R. B., vol. i, p. 3.
Abu-1 Fazl says that the work was
completed in eight years, under
the superintendence of Kasim
Khan, who was both head of the
Admiralty and 'First Commissioner
of Works ' {Mir Barr u Bahr)
(A. N., ii, 373). Badaoni's text
assigns only five years for the work,
but, as Nur Bakhsh points out
(Ann. Rep. A. S. India for 1903-4,
p. 165, note 5), the word ' five '
should be corrected to ' fifteen '.
The chronogram gives a. h. 986
(1578-9) as the year of om-
pletion.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 77

as architectural models '.^ Most of them were destroyed by
Shahjahan when he reconstructed the buildings to please
his own taste, which differed widely from that of Akbar.
The most important relic of Akbar's time still existing is
the so-called Jahangiri Mahall, which seems to have been
erected later in Akbar's reign as a residence for the heir
apparent, Prince Salim, who became the Emperor Jahangir ;
but its exact date cannot be ascertained.

The foundation for the more extensive revenue reforms Adminis-
executed later by Raja Todar Mall was laid by a revision *gfoJ,^g
of the assessment of the crown rent or land revenue carried
out by an officer named Muzaffar Khan, with the help of
the local officials called Kanungos. Particulars of the
measures taken are not recorded. So far as appears, their
object was purely fiscal in order to prevent embezzlement.
A beginning was also made in the organization of the military
force attached to the sovereign's person.^

While staying at Nagarchain Akbar amused himself
playing polo, and invented a luminous ball so that play
could be continued after dark. The courtiers were allowed
to have bets on the game, and were required to attend
regularly.^

The pleasant life at the Nagarchain lodge was interrupted Invasion

by the serious news that Muhammad Hakim, prince of hammad

Kabul, had invaded the Panjab. He was encouraged by Hakim;

the Uzbeg rebellions to claim the throne of Hindostan, and rebellion

Khan Zaman went so far as to recite the khutba, or prayer ^l}^^^

^ Mirzas.

for the king, in his name. The ' flames of the wrath ' of

Akbar blazed forth when he heard of his brother's action,

and no time was lost in preparing to repel the invasion.

Akbar placed the Khan Khanan (Munim Khan) in charge

of the capital, and set out in person for the north on

November 17, 1566. While at Delhi he visited the shrines

of the saints and the tomb of his father, whose splendid

* Ain, vol. ii, p. 180. {Butea frondosa), which smoulders

* A. N., ii, 402, 403. when ignited. It is recorded that

* Am, vol. i, p. 298. The a courtier was punished for slack-
luminous ball was made of the ness in his attendance at the
wood of the dhdk or j^alds tree game.

78 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

mausoleum was then in course of erection.^ Towards the
end of February he arrived at Lahore, but before that
date his brother had taken fright and retired across the
Indus. Akbar, while staying at Lahore, organized a grand
battue or hunt of the kind called kamargha. Fifty thousand
beaters were employed for a month to drive in all the game
within a space ten miles in circumference. When that task
had been completed, Akbar enjoyed his murderous sport
for five days, using the sword, lance, musket, arrows, and
lasso. Such a hunt, it is said, was never known before or
since.

About this time Asaf Khan made his submission, which
was accepted.

Intelligence having been received of the rebellion of the

nobles commonly called the Mirzas, who were the sons of

Muhammad Sultan Mirza and Ulugh Mirza, descendants of

Timur and distant relatives of Akbar, it was necessary to

quit the Pan jab and return to Agra, in order to arrange for

the suppression of the rebels. The Mirzas, having first

broken out at Sambhal, near Moradabad, where they had

been granted estates, had been driven into Malwa. When

starting on the return journey, Akbar characteristically

plunged his horse into the Ravi and swam the river. Two

of his attendants were drowned.

Fight An extraordinary incident which occurred in April while

of the tj^g royal camp was at Thanesar, the famous Hindu place of

Sanyasis "^ ^ , p^ i ,

at pilgrimage to the north of Delhi, throws a rather unpleasant

Thanesar. Ugj^^^ upon Akbar's character. The Sanyasis, or fakirs, who

assembled at the holy tank were divided into two parties,

which Abu-1 Fazl calls Kurs and Puris. The leader of the

latter complained to the king that the Kurs had unjustly

occupied the accustomed sitting-place of the Puris, who

were thus debarred from collecting the pilgrims' alms.

Neither party would listen to friendly counsel. Both

factions begged permission that the dispute might be

decided by mortal combat. The desired leave having been

* A. N., vol. ii, p. 411. The mausoleum was completed about three
years later.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 79

granted, the hostile crowds drew up in hne, and the fight
began with swords, one man on each side advancing in
braggart fashion and starting the fray. Swords were
discarded for bows and arrows, and these again for stones.
Akbar, seeing that the Purls were outnumbered, gave the
signal to some of his more savage followers to help the
weaker party. The reinforcement enabled the Purls to
drive the Kurs into headlong flight. The vanquished were
pursued and a number of ' the wretches sent to annihila-
tion '. The dead are said to have been about twenty. The
chronicler unctuously adds that ' the holy heart, which is
the colourist of destiny's worship, was highly delighted with
this sport '. The other historians tell us that the numbers
originally engaged were two or three hundred on one side
and five hundred on the other, so that with the reinforce-
ment the total came to about a thousand. The author of
the Tabakat agrees with Abu-1 Fazl that ' the Emperor
greatly enjoyed the sight '.^

It is disappointing to find that a man like Akbar could
encourage such sanguinary ' sport ', and even wantonly
sacrifice the lives of his own soldiers who had no interest
in the quarrel. In his youth he certainly had no qualms
of conscience about bloodshed. The story does not stand
alone as a proof that the ferocity of his Turk and Mongol
ancestors was an essential element in the character of
Akbar, kept under control as a rule, but occasionally given
: free play.

At the beginning of May 1567 Akbar left Agra in order Suppres-
to deal finally with the renewed rebelHon of Khan Zaman, ^^'^^^
who crossed the Ganges with the object of proceeding to Zaman.
Kalpi. Akbar, on arrival at the Manikpur ferry, displayed
his customary energy and contempt of personal danger by
swimmi.ig the elephant he rode across the great river,
a most perilous feat. A thousand or fifteen hundred of his
soldiers managed somehow to swim over with him. The

* A. N., ii, 423 ; Badaoni, ii, script entitled Tdrlkh-i Khdn-

94 ; Tabakat, E. & D., v, 318. dan-i Tlmuriyah, preserved in the

The affair is described and illus- Khuda Baklish or Oriental Public

:rated in the magnificent manu- Library at Bankipore.

80 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

rebel chiefs, given over to drunkenness and debauchery,
had no sentries posted, and were ill prepared to withstand
a determined foe. In the battle which followed at a village
in the Allahabad District, Khan Zaman was killed and his
brother Bahadur was taken prisoner and beheaded.^ The
rebellion was thus brought to an end. Some of the sub-
ordinate leaders were pardoned, but several were executed
by being trampled to death by elephants. ' An order was
issued that whoever brought in a Moghul rebel's head
should get a gold mohar, and whoever brought a Hindu-
stani's head should get a rupee. The crowd ran off after
heads, and brought them in and were paid.'

Akbar then marched to Prayag (Allahabad) and on to
Benares, which was plundered because the people were rash
enough to close their gates. He proceeded to Jaunpur, and
so, crossing the river, to Kara. It is evident that Akbar's
resentment was excited by the repeated and continued
rebellions of Khan Zaman, and that he was not in the mood
to show much mercy to the rebels.

One man, Muhammad Mirak of Mashhad, a special con-
fidant of Khan Zaman, was tortured for five successive days
on the execution ground. Each day he was trussed up in
a wooden frame and placed before one of the elephants.

' The elephant caught him in his trunk and squeezed him
and the stocks and shoulder-boards, and flung him from one
side to the other. As a clear sign for his execution had not
been given (by the driver) the elephant played with him
and treated him gently. ... At last, on account of his being
a Sayyid [descendant of the Prophet], and on the inter-
cession of courtiers, he was granted his life.'

Abu-1 Fazl relates this horrid barbarity without a word of
censure.

The fiefs of Khan Zaman were bestowed on Khan Khanan

* The name of the village is occupying part of the site of an

written ' Sakrawal ' in A. N., ii, ancient town about ten miles

434. Badaoni spells ' Maakarwal ' south-south-west of Allahabad (see

(ii, 100) ; and the Tabakdt (E. & Cunningham, Arch. Survey Rep.,

D., V, 321) has 'Mankarwal'. x, 5, 6). The name of Fathpur

All these forms apparently are (' town of victory ') was bestowed

intended for Mankuwar, a village on the village.

itor.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 81

(Munim Khan). On July 18, 1567, the court arrived at
Agra. Another rebel force under Sikandar or Iskandar
Khan was expelled from Oudh.

In September 1567 Akbar resolved on the most famous Akbar's
and tragically interesting of his martial enterprises, the siege on^ffT^
and capture of Chitor (Cheetore), which deserves narration
in exceptional detail. The Muhammadan historians speak
of one attack only, but the local annalists affirm that Akbar
had previously made an unsuccessful attempt, which was
repulsed by

' the masculine courage of the Rana's concubine queen, who
headed the sallies into the heart of the Mogul camp, and on
one occasion to the emperor's head-quarters. The imbecile
Rana proclaimed that he owed his deliverance to her ; when
the chiefs, indignant at this imputation on their courage,
conspired and put her to death.' ^

It does not appear when that attempt was made, and it is
difficult to find a place for it in Abu-1 Fazl's chronology,
but there is also difficulty in believing the alleged fact to
be an invention. Akbar probably found a special motive
for his hostility in the knowledge that the Rana had bestowed
hospitality on Baz Bahadur, the fugitive king of Malwa,
and on an insubordinate chief of Narwar. Abu-1 Fazl tells
a story that Sakat Singh, a son of the Rana, was in attendance
on Akbar in camp at Dholpur, when the king remarked to
him in a jesting manner that ' though most of the landholders
and great men of India had paid their respects, yet the
Rana had not done so, and that therefore he proposed
to march against him and punish him '. The proud Raj put
prince, failing to be amused by such jests in the mouth
of the master of many legions, fled to his home, and gave
the alarm to his father. Akbar resented the departure of the
prince without leave, and resolved definitely to humble the
pride of the proudest chief in Rajasthan, the acknowledged
head of the Rajput chivalry. So ' the Shahinshah's wrath
was stirred up, and jest became earnest '. His ' innate

' » Tod, Annals, i, 260.

1845 Q

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Descrip-
tion of
Chitor.

dignity ', we are told, ' demanded that he should proceed in
person to chastise the Rana ', while the task of suppressing
the rebellion of the Mirzas in Malwa was left to the imperial
oflficers.^ Although the anecdote may be accepted as true,
it is superfluous to seek for special pretexts or provocations
to explain the attack on Chitor. Akbar, being determined
to become undisputed master of all Northern India, could
not brook the independence of a chief who was ' proud of
his steep mountains and strong castles and turned away
the head of obedience from the sublime court '. No Rana
of Mewar, to use the old name of the Chitor territory, has
ever abased himself by giving a daughter of his house to
Mogul embraces, as fellow chieftains in most of the other
states were eager to do. No monarch could feel himself
secure in the sovereignty of Upper India until he had
obtained possession of Chitor and Ranthambhor, the two
principal fortresses in the domains of the free Rajput chiefs.
Mirtha (Merta) had been already won, and the ' world-
conquering genius ' of Akbar demanded that he should also
hold the two greater strongholds.

The fortified hill of Chitor is an isolated mass of rock
rising steeply from the plain, three miles and a quarter long
and some twelve hundred yards wide in the centre.^ The
circumference at the base is more than eight miles, and the
height nowhere exceeds four or five hundred feet. A smaller
hill called Chitori stands opposite the eastern face and offers
facilities to assailants which have been utilized more than
once. In Akbar's time the city with its palaces, houses,
and markets was on the summit within the fortifications, and
the buildings below formed merely an outer bazaar. At
the present day the lower town has about 7,000 or 8,000
inhabitants, and the ancient city lies almost wholly desolate.
Its more complete desolation a century ago is recorded in

1 A. IS!., ii, 442, 462. Most of
the space between those pages is
occupied by a tiresome ode, com-
posed by Abii-1 Fazl's elder
brother Faizi, wlio was introduced
at court about this time, when he

was a young man of twenty or
thereabouts.

^ The spelling Chitaur (Sanskrit
Chitrapura) is the more correct,
but ' Chitor ' is retained as repre-
senting the current pronunciation »

REBELIJONS AND CONQUESTS 83

touching language by Tod, who visited the place in February
1821 :

' With the wrecks of ages around me, I abandoned myself
to contemplation. I gazed until the sun's last beam fell
upon " the ringlet of Cheetore 'V illuminating its grey and
grief-worn aspect, like a lambent gleam lighting up the face
of sorrow. Who could look on this lonely, this majestic
column, which tells in language more easy of interpretation
than the tablets within, of

" deeds which should not pass away,
And names that must not wither,"

and withhold a sigh for its departed glories ? But in vain
I dipped my pen to record my thoughts in language ; for,
wherever the eye fell, it filled the mind with images of the
past, and ideas rushed too tumultuously to be recorded.
In this mood I continued for some time, gazing listlessly,
until the shades of evening gradually enshrouded the
temples, columns, and palaces ; and as I folded up my
paper till the morrow, the words of the prophetic bard of
Israel came forcibly to iny recollection : — " How doth the
city sit solitary that was full of people ! how is she become as
a widow ! she, that was great among the nations, and prin-
cess among the provinces, how is she become tributary ! " ' 2

The principal approach to the fortress-city was from the
south-east angle of the lower town by a road which ran for
nearly a mile to the upper gate, with a slope of about one
in fifteen. The way then formed two zigzag bends, in the
course of which stood seven gates, of which the uppermost
is called Ram Pol, a large and handsome portal arched in
the Hindu manner. The Ram P5l is on the west. Minor
gates, approached by other paths, are the Suraj Pol on the
east and the Lakhota Barl on the north. The summit of
the rock slopes inwards on all sides, so that innumerable
tanks were easily formed, and a water-supply practically
unlimited was assured. The city included many magnificent
monuments and buildings, the most notable being the two
great towers — the Jain Kirtti Stambh, or ' pillar of fame ',
dating from the twelfth or thirteenth century, and the

^ The ' tower of victory '. * Lam. i. 1.

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The
Ranas.

Jai Stambh, or ' pillar of victory ', erected between 1442
and 1449 by Rana Kumbha to commemorate his success over
the allied armies of the Sultans of Malwa and Gujarat.^

The Ranas of Mewar, whose ' abode of regality ' was the
sacred fortress of Chitor, the chief est in honour among the
cities of Hindostan, are universally recognized and for ages
have been acknowledged as the heads of the Rajput clans.
Their dynasty, the most ancient royal house of importance
in India, has ruled Mewar, with merely temporary interrup-
tions, since the early part of the eighth century to the present
day, a period of twelve hundred years. Official legend traces
the ancestry of the Rana back to the epic hero Rama and
thence to the Sun himself. Sober history accepts as a fact
the statement that the Rana's ancestor Bappa (Bapa or
Bashpa) wrested Chitor from the Mori clan in or about
A. D. 728. Guhila (Guhadatta, &c.), a more remote ancestor,
who lived about a. d. 600, gave the name Guhilot, or
' sons of Guhila ', to the ruling clan of Mewar. The name
Sisodia, applied to the royal section of that clan, is derived
from a village in the territory. Guhila was a Nagar Brahman
from Varnagar (Vadnagar, Anandapura),^ a town of Gujarat
now included in the Baroda State.

Modern research gives good reason for believing that he
was of foreign lineage and belonged to one or other of the
Central Asian tribes which entered India in the sixth century
and were closely related to the Mers of Gujarat and the
Rajas of Valabhi. Mewar traditions rightly preserve the
memory of the connexion between the Ranas and Valabhi,
but the further claim that the rulers of Mewar also have
in their veins the blood of the Persian King Aniishirwan
(Nushirwan or Khusru I), the famous rival and enemy of
Justinian, is more dubious.

' For a curious sketch of Chitor
by an EngHsh gunner in Aurang-
zeb's service see Fryer, A New
Account, &c., ed. Crooke, Hakhiyt
Soc, 1915, plate facing p. 170,
vol. iii.

^ In Western India the cerebral
letter, written and pronounced

in Northern India as r, is written
and pronounced d by educated
Hindus. The Muhainmadans and
lower class Hindus in the west, Pro-
fessor Rawlinson tells me, follow
the northern way of writing and
pronunciation. The variation in
spelling is sometimes confusing.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 85

The reader may be puzzled by the assertion that the
ancestor of the head of the Rajput clans was a Brahman.
The fact, however, seems to have been established and finds
its explanation in the occurrence of a change in occupation
made by Guhila. His descendants, when they took up the
business of kingship, were reckoned as members of the
Rajput or Kshatriya group of castes, to which all rulers
were supposed to belong.

The annals of Mewar, as recorded with sympathetic
enthusiasm by Tod, are full of romantic stories of heroic
deeds performed and extremest sufferings endured by the
men and women alike of the Guhilot and other clans. Few
members of the Sisodia royal house ever forgot for a moment
the obligations imposed upon them by their noble ancestry.
Almost without an exception, they upheld, even to death,
the honour of their race. It was the ill fate of Mewar to be
cursed with a craven prince at the critical moment when
India was ruled by the ablest, and perhaps the most ambitious,
sovereign who has ever swayed her sceptre.^

The ambitious designs of the Mogul were facilitated by Rana
the unkingly weakness of Rana Udai Singh, the unworthy gi^th
son of a noble sire. When Rana Sanga, the gallant opponent
of Babur, died in a. d. 1530, the year of Babur's decease,
the throne of Chitor was occupied in succession by three
princes, two of whom were legitimate sons of Sanga, and the
third a bastard relative. Udai Singh, the posthumous child
of Rana Sanga, was saved from destruction in his infancy
by the heroic fidelity of a nurse who sacrificed her own
offspring in his stead, and after years of concealment he was
enthroned by the nobles of the State in the seat of the bastard,
who was allowed to depart to the Deccan, and became the
progenitor of the Bhonsla Rajas of Nagpur, famous in later

" * See E. II. I., 3rd ed., pp. 407- Bhandarkar's valuable paper en-

15, 419; and Stratton, Chitor titled ' Guhilots ' (J. c& Proc.

and the Mewar Family, published A. S. B. (N. S.), vol. v, 1909,

anonymously at Allahabad in pp. 167-87). His conclusions are

1881. Detailed proof of the disputed by Pundit Mohanlal

Brahman descent of the Ranas and Vishnulal Pandia in J. <& Proc.

of the meaning of the term Brah- A. S. B., 1912, pp. 63-99.
makshatri will be found in D. R.

86 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

history. Those events happened in the Sam vat year 1597
(a. d. 1541-2) shortly before Akbar's birth. Udai Singh,
Tod tells us, ' had not one quality of a sovereign ; and
wanting martial virtue, the common heritage of his race,
he was destitute of all '. The historian of the Rajputs justly
exclaims that ' well had it been for Mewar had the poniard
fulfilled its intention, and had the annals never recorded the
name of Udai Singh in the catalogue of her princes '. Udai
Singh shamelessly abandoned the post of honour and hid
himself in distant forests. Some time before the siege he
had formed in the valley of the Girwo a lake which was
called after his name. He now built a small palace on an
adjoining hill, around which edifices gradually arose and
became the city of Udaipur, the modern capital of Mewar.
Such was the craven to whom the destinies of Chitor were
entrusted when Akbar resolved to make himself master of the
historic fortress.
The siege. On October 20, 1567, Akbar formed his camp, extending
for ten miles, to the north-east of the rock, and after careful
reconnaissance of the whole circumference, completed the
investment in the course of a month, establishing many
batteries at various points. The site of his encampment
is still marked by a fine pyramidal column, built of blocks
of compact whitish limestone, known as ' Akbar's lamp '.
The structure, perfect to this day, is

' about thirty-five feet high, each face being twelve feet at
the base, and gradually tapering to the summit, where it
is between three and four, and on which was placed a huge
lamp (chirdgh), that served as a beacon to the foragers, or
denoted the imperial head-quarters.' ^

* Annals of Mewar, ch. x, cavity or chamber is 4 ft. square

vol. i, p. 260 and note ; Personal and it has seven openings to

Narrative, ch. xv, vol. ii, p. 604. admit light. The monument

Tod was mistaken in believing stands about a mile to the NE.

that there was ' an interior stair- of Nagari, a small village repre-

case '. More accurate measure- senting a town of high antiquity

ments are : height, 36 ft. 7 in. ; about six miles or more NE. of

14 ft. 1 in. square at base ; Chitor hill. The building may

3 ft. 3 in. square at apex. The possibly be very ancient, although

tower is solid for 4 ft., then hoi- used by Akbar as alleged by local

low for 20 ft., and solid again traditions (Kavi Raj Shyamal

up to the top. The floor of the Das, ' Antiquities at Nagari ', in

AKBAR^S LAMP, NE. OF CHITOR

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 87

The principal batteries were three, namely, Akbar's
opposite the Lakhota gate on the north, where the mines
were worked, and two others, of which the position is not
stated. Raja Todar Mall was one of the officers in charge
of the second. A large mortar capable of throwing a ball
half a maund, or forty pounds, in weight, was cast on the
spot in Akbar's presence. Numerous direct assaults having
been repulsed with heavy loss, Akbar decided to proceed by
a regular sap and mine process. The miners made their
approach by a covered way (sdbdt) so spacious that ten men
could pass along it abreast, and a mounted elephant could
be ridden through. On December 17 two heavily charged

j mines were fired, but failed to explode simultaneously.

' The storming party, rushing in impetuously at the moment
when the first mine was fired, were blown to pieces when
the second exploded a little later. The casualties among
the besiegers amounted to two hundred, including about
a hundred men of note, one of whom was a Saiyid of Barha,
a designation destined to play a prominent part in the history

I of the eighteenth century. The besieged garrison lost only

! about forty men by the accident, and quickly built a new wall
to defend the breach. Akbar recognized the truth that the

i stronghold could not be taken without patience and devoted
himself to perfecting the covered way. One day he was

U standing in it firing from a loophole when a marksman in
the garrison slightly wounded an officer named Jalal Khan
who was in attendance. Although Akbar could not see
the marksman, he fired at his musket, and it was ascertained
subsequently that Ismail, the captain of the sharpshooters,
had fallen a victim to the royal shot. Another day, when at
the Chitori battery, Akbar narrowly escaped being killed
by a large cannon ball which destroyed twenty of his men.

At last the sdbdt was completed under the supervision
of Raja Todar Mall and Kasim Khan, the head of the works
and admiralty departments, who had built the Agra fort.

J. A. S. B., part i, vol. Ivi (1887), The original purpose of the build-

p. 75, Plate V). Probably a ing is uncertain. See A.S.R.,

wooden ladder gave access to vol. vi, pp. 196, 208.
the chamber and to the summit.

88 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

For two nights and one day, while the work was being
completed, Akbar stayed in quarters on the top of the
sdhdt and the workers took neither sleep nor food. ' The
strength of both sides was exhausted.'

On Tuesday, February 23, 1568, Akbar noticed at the
breach a personage wearing a chief's cuirass who was busy
directing the defence. Without knowing who the chief
might be, Akbar aimed at him with his well-tried musket
Sangram. When the man did not come back, the besiegers
concluded that he must have been killed. Less than an hour
later reports were brought in that the defences were deserted
and that fire had broken out in several places in the fort.
Raja Bhagwan Das, being familiar with the customs of his
country, knew the meaning of the fire, and explained that
it must be the jauhar, that awful rite already described as
having been performed at Chauragarh.
Fall of Early in the morning the facts were ascertained. The

fortress, chief whom Akbar's shot had killed proved to be Jaimall
Rathor of Bednor, who had taken command of the fortress
when Udai Singh, his cowardly sovereign, had deserted it.^
As usual in India the fall of the commander decided the fate
of the garrison. Shortly before Jaimall was killed a gallant
deed was performed by the ladies of the young chieftain
Patta, whose name is always linked by tradition with that
of Jaimall. The incident is best described in the glowing
words of Tod :

' When Salumbra [alias Sahidas] fell at the gate of the
sun, the command devolved on Patta of Kailwa. He was
only sixteen.2 jj^^ father had fallen in the last shock, and
his mother had survived but to rear this the sole heir of
their house. Like the Spartan mother of old, she commanded
him to put on the " saffron robe ", and to die for Chitor ;
but surpassing the Grecian dame, she illustrated her precept
by example ; and lest any soft " compunctious visitings "

* Jaimall is said to have been an active part in the defence of

previously in command at Mirtha. Mirtha. His name is spelt

^ Stratton points out that variously, sometimes assuming

Patta must have been more than the Musalman form of ' Fateh '.

sixteen years of age, as he left Bernier calls him ' Polta ', which

two sons, and had already taken may be a misprint.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 89

for one dearer than herself might dim the lustre of Kailwa,
she armed the young bride with a lance, with her descended
the rock, and the defenders of Chitor saw her fall, fighting
by the side of her Amazonian mother. When their wives
and daughters performed such deeds, the Rajputs became
reckless of life.'

Patta himself fell later. At dawn on the morning after
the jauhar Akbar rode into the fortress, mounted on an
elephant, and attended by many other elephants and
several thousand men.

' His Majesty related that he had come near the temple
of Gobind Syam when an elephant-driver trampled a man
under his elephant. The driver said that he did not know
the man's name, but that he appeared to be one of the
leaders, and that a large number of men had fought round
him with sacrifice of their lives. At last it came out that
it was Pata who had been trampled to death. At the time
he was produced, there was a breath of life in him, but he
shortly afterwards died.'

The jauhar sacrifice completed before the final capture The
of the fortress was on a large scale, although far smaller massawes
than on previous occasions, if the traditional numbers can and de-
be believed. The fires were kindled in three distinct places,
belonging respectively to members of the Sisodia, Rathor,
and Chauhan clans. Nine queens, five princesses, their
daughters, as well as two infant sons, and all the chieftains'
famiUes who happened not to be away on their estates
perished either in the flames or in the assault. Abu-1
Fazl estimates that three hundred women were burnt.
During the course of the following morning, when Akbar
made his entry, eight thousand Rajputs, vowed to death,
>old their lives as dearly as possible and perished to a
man.i

I Akbar, exasperated by the obstinate resistance offered to
his arms, treated the garrison and town with merciless
severity. The eight thousand Rajput soldiers who formed
the regular garrison having been zealously helped during the

* Interesting reproductions of various scenes at the siege of
pictures from the Akbar namn at Cliitor, are given in J. I. A.,
South Kensington, representing April 1915, No. 130.

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

siege by 40,000 peasants, the emperor ordered a genera
massacre, which resulted in the death of 30,000. Many
however, were spared and made prisoners.

The operations of the defence had been greatly aided bj
the skill of a body of a thousand expert marksmen fron
Kalpi who had done much execution among the besiegers
and had imperilled the life of Akbar. He was accordingl}
eager to destroy those men and was much annoyed to fine
that they had escaped by means of a clever stratagem
They passed themselves off as royal troops, and so marched
out, taking with them their wives and children, who were
represented to be prisoners.

The wrath of the conqueror fell upon what Tod calls the
' symbols of regality ' as well as upon the persons of the
vanquished. The gates of the fortress were taken off their
hinges and removed to Agra.^ The nakkdras, or huge
kettle-drums, eight or ten feet in diameter, the reverberations
of which had been wont to proclaim ' for miles around the
entrance and exit of her princes ', as well as the massive
candelabra from the shrine of the ' Great Mother ', who
had girt Bappa Rawal with the sword by which Chitor
was won, were also taken away. There is no good evidence
that Akbar did serious structural damage to the buildings.
The statement made by Tod in one place that the emperor's
proceedings were marked by ' the most illiterate atrocity ',
inasmuch as he defaced every monument that had been
spared by the earlier conquerors, Alau-d din Khilji and
Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, apparently is untrue, and cer-
tainly is inconsistent with the allegation elsewhere made
by him that only one building had escaped the wrath of
Alau-d din.2

^ This fact is confirmed by
TieffenthaIer(ed.Bernouilli(1791),
p. 331).

* Tod's abuse of Akbar is in
ch. X of the Annals of Mewdr,
vol. i, p. 262 n. When writing
that passage the author evidently
forgot his earlier statement (ibid.,
ch. vi, p. 216) that Alau-d din
' committed every act of barbarity

and wanton dilapidation which
a bigoted zeal could suggest,
overthrowing the temples and
other monuments of art ', and
sparing only the ' palace of Bhira
and the fair Padmini '. Again
(p. 221), he observes that the
Jain tower was the only building
left entire by Alau-d din in 1303.
The same author (ch. ix, p. 249)

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 91

The fall of the fortress of Chitor, sanctified by the memory ' The sin
of eight centuries of heroic deeds and heart-rending tragedies, slaughter
wounded deeply the Rajput soul. The place became accursed, of Chitor,'
and to this day no successor of Udai Singh would dare to
set foot within the limits of the once sacred stronghold of
his ancestors. The ' sin of the slaughter of Chitor ', like the
' curse of Cromwell ' in Ireland, has become proverbial, and
the memory of it is kept alive, or was so kept a hundred years
ago, by a curious custom. It is said that Akbar estimated
the total of the Rajput dead by collecting and weighing the
' Brahmanical cords ' {janeo or zandr), which it is the
privilege and obligation of high caste men to wear.^ The
recorded amount was 74| mans of about eight pounds each.

' To eternise the memory of this disaster, the numerals
74| are tildk or accursed. Marked on the banker's letter in
Rajasthan it is the strongest of seals, for "the sin of the
slaughter of Chitor " is thereby invoked on all who violate
a letter under the safeguard of this mysterious number.'

The note shows that the traditional explanation of the
figures probably is imaginary .^

describes in detail the storm by annulos aureos, qui tantus acervus

Bahadur Shah. In his note fuit, ut metientibus dimidium

(p. 262) he accidentally confounds super tres modios explesse sint

Bahadur Shah with the later quidam auctores. Fama tenuit,

king, Baz Bahadur, alias Bayazid. quae propior vero est, haud plus

\ccordingtothe M/m/-i6'iA;a«rffm fuisse modio ' (Livv, xxiii, 12).

tr. Bayley, GMyarai(1886), p.372), ^ The Rajputana bankers' use

In 1533 Bahadur Shah had merely of 74J as protection for their

invested the fortress, 'received letters is merely a modification

he promised tribute, and removed of the ordinary use of the figures

lis camp one march from Chitor '. 74^1, meaning apparently 84, as

^ater (p. 383) the same author explained by Sir H. M. Elliot :

tates that Bahadur accomplished ' There is also a very remarkable

jhe conquest of Chitor, but no use of seventy-four in epistolary

etails are given. That occasion correspondence. It is an almost

vould seem to be the one de- universal practice in India to

cribed by Tod. write this number on the outside

' Tod (i. 263) appositely cites of letters ; it being intended to

he similar action of Hannibal. convey the meaning that nobody

When the Carthaginian gained is to read the letter but the person

ne battle of Cannae, he measured to whom it is addressed. The

is success by the bushels of practice was originally Hindu,

ings taken from the fingers of but has been adopted by the

he equestrian Romans who fell Musalmans. There is nothing

1 that memorable field.' ' Ad like an intelligible account of its

dem deinde tarn laetarum rer\im origin and object, but it is a

'Ffundi in vestibule curiae iussit curious fact that, when correctly

92 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The later The recreant Rana Udai Singh died at Gogunda in the
CliitsZ ^ -^ravalli hills four years after the storm of the fortress which
he should have defended in person. His valiant successor,
Rana Partap Singh, waged a long war with Akbar, and gradu-
ally recovered much of Mewar. But Chit5r remained desolate.
Jahangir forbade the repair of the fortifications, and when
his prohibition was disregarded in 165S (a. h. 1064) Shah-
jahan caused the demolition of the portion which had been
restored. On March 4, 1680, Aurangzeb visited the place
and posted a garrison in it. He destroyed sixty-three
temples in the town, and in various ways did the Rana all
the harm that he could do. Among other things he broke
to pieces the statues of the Ranas which were collected in
a palace.^ When Father Tieffenthalcr examined the ruins
in 1744 or 1745, the area on the summit was covered with
dense forest, full of tigers and other wild beasts, whose
society was shared by a few fearless hermits. A colony
of less adventurous holy men lived at the base of the rock.
The break-up of the Mogul empire in the second half of
the eighteenth century naturally involved the restoration
of the hill and town to their lawful sovereign, the Rana.
In recent times the lower town has developed and has now
about 7,000 or 8,000 inhabitants. It is the head-quarters
of a district in the Udaipur State. The railway station,

written, it represents an integral and ten have been originally

number of seventy-four [as if intended to convey a mystic

of rupees] and a fractional num- symbol of Chaurasi [scil. 84] ? '

ber of ten [as if of annas] ; (Elliot, Supplemental Glossary, ed.

thus ^8ll = [equivalent to Rs74, Beames (1869), vol. ii, p. 68 «.).

-■/^n ^Pi AA-^- I The number 84 (7X12) IS one of

annas 10]. These additional ^^^ ^.^^^ ^^^^^^ or favourite

strokes being now considered, ^^,^^^ ^jt,, an astrological

except by well-educated men ,i ifi^ance. Rajputs, espedally

merely ornamental, we^ find it ^jf^ Agnikula section of foreign

frequently written ||^ii||. The origin, show a special preference

= for 84 (ibid., p. 77).
Musalmans usually write the i Irvine, Storia do Mogor, vol. ii,

seventy-four with two strokes pp. 240-2. In other books the

across, or after, the number, date of Aurangzeb's visit is usually

with the addition of the words stated erroneously. Irvine settled

,.,1,Cjo, 6a rfl^«ran ["with others"] the chronology of Aurangzeb's

^-^ - ■ reign in a valuable paper entitled

which makes it assume the lorm . rpj^^ Emperor Aurangzeb Alam-

of an imprecation. May not, mr ' (//jrf. /!«/., 1911, pp. 69-85).

then, after all, this seventy-four "" ^

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS

a junction for the Udaipur-Chitor and Rajputana-Malwa
railways, is about two miles to the west of the town.

Justice to the memory of Akbar requires that before the Partial
subject of Chitor is quitted a quotation should be made from f^^^^
Tod which qualifies his stern and partially erroneous censure ' sin of
on Akbar for the severities inflicted on the fortress and its
garrison, as previously cited.

' Akbar was the real founder of the empire of the
Moguls, the first successful conqueror of Rajput indepen-
dence ; to this end his virtues were powerful auxiliaries,
as by his skill in the analysis of the mind and its readiest
stimulant to action, he was enabled to gild the chains
with which he bound them. To these they became
Familiarised by habit, especially when the throne exerted
ts power in acts gratifying to national vanity or even in
ministering to the more ignoble passions. But generations
3f the martial races were cut off by his sword, and lustres
•oiled away ere his conquests were sufficiently confirmed
:o permit him to exercise the beneficence of his nature,
md obtain by the universal acclaim of the conquered, the
)roud epithet of Jagat-Guru, or " guardian of mankind ".
He was long ranked with Shihabu-d din, Alau-d din,
md other instruments of destruction, and with every
ust claim ; and, like these, he constructed a mimbar
scil. " pulpit " or " reading desk "] for the Koran from the
iltars of Eklinga. Yet he finally succeeded in healing the
vounds his ambition had inflicted, and received from
nillions that meed of praise which no other of his race
ver obtained.' ^

, One of the ' acts gratifying to national vanity ' which The

iielped to heal the wounds of the Raiput heart was the erec- ^^"," ^
'^ •'^ elepliant

:ion of fine statues in honour of Jaimall and Patta, the statues,
efenders of Chitor. Early in the reign of Aurangzeb, the
I rench travellers, Bernier in 1663, and de Thevenot, three
ears later, saw apparently the same images still standing

' Annals of Mewdr, ch. x, vol. i,
,. 259. In this quotation from
od, as in others, the author's
,^cent^ic jjresentation of names
id oriental words has been
langed for the more correct
rms. Ekhnga, a manifestation

Siva or Mahadeva, is the patron

deity of the Ranas, who are
regarded as his dlwans, or vice-
gerents. The splendid temple of
Eklinga, built of white marble,
is situated in a defile about six
miles north of Udaipur, and is
richly endowed (ch. xix, vol. i.
p. 410).

94 AKBAR THE GRP'AT MOGUL

at the principal entrance to the fortress-palace of new Delhi
or Shahjahanabad, where they had been set up by Shahjahan
who began work on the fort in 1638. Some time after th<
passing of the travellers named, those statues were brokei
up by order of Aurangzeb, as being idolatrous. The tasl
of describing Delhi in detail was left to Bernier by his frien(
de Thevenot, who merely states that he saw ' two elephant
at the entry, which cairy two warriors '.^ Bernier's fulle:
account is as follows :

' The entrance of the fortress presents nothing remark
able except two large elephants of stone, placed at eithe:
side of one of the principal gates. On one of the elephant:
is seated the statue of Jaimall, the renowned Raja of Chitor
on the other is the statue of Patta his brother. These ar<
the brave heroes, who, with their still braver mother, immor
talised their names by the extraordinary resistance whicl
they opposed to the celebrated Akbar ; who defended th(
towns besieged by that great Emperor with unshaker
resolution ; and who, at length reduced to extremity
devoted themselves to their country, and chose rather t(
perish with their mother in sallies against the enemy thai
submit to an insolent invader. It is owing to this extra
ordinary devotion on their part, that their enemies hav(
thought them deserving of the statues here erected to theii
memory. These two large elephants, mounted by the tw(
heroes, have an air of grandeur, and inspire me with ar
awe and respect which I cannot describe.' ^

Bernier does not state by whose order the Delhi statues
were erected, but it is difficult to believe that they were
not identical with those erected earlier at Agra in honoui
of the same heroes. President van den Broecke, writing
in 1629 or 1630, states that statues of Jaimall and Patta
mounted on elephants were executed by command of Akbai
and set up" at each side of the gate, presumably the main
entrance, of the fort at Agra. That author believed the ele-
phants and their riders to have been carved simultaneously,

» English transl., 1687, part iii, Smith, 1914, p. 256. The traveller,

p. 42. who spells the names ' Jemel ' and

^ Bernier, Travels in the Mogul ' Polta ', was mistaken in siip-

Empire, ed. Constable, and V.A. posing the heroes to be brothers.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 95

but the Delhi elephants certainly were executed in black
marble and the riders in sandstone. The style, too, of the
riders' effigies is thought to be later than, and dijfferent from,
that of the animals. It is possible, therefore, that the black
elephant images may have been ancient works, which stood
at the ' elephant gate ' of some other captured fortress.
Akbar may have utilized a pair of ancient elephant statues
and caused the newly carved sandstone effigies of the heroes
to be mounted upon them. When Rana Amar Singh and
his son Karan submitted to Jahanglr, the emj^eror was so
pleased that he imitated his father's example, and ' caused
rfull-sized figures of the Rana and his son Karan to be carved
out of marble '. The statues, apparently mounted (tarkib),
were executed rapidly at Ajmer while the emperor was
staying there in 1616, and were transported to Agra, where
they were erected in the palace garden under the audience
window.^ Agra thus possessed two pairs of statues of
Chitor heroes, namely Jaimall with Patta, and Amar Singh
with Karan.2 It seems to me almost certain that Shahjahan,
when building New Delhi, removed the statues of Jaimall
and Patta from Agra. I cannot believe that those chiefs
were commemorated by distinct effigies at both Agra and
Delhi.

The gallant resistance offered and the ' inflexible magna-
nimity ' displayed by Rana Partap Singh for many years
were believed by Tod to have ultimately touched the heart
of Akbar, and to have induced him to refrain from disturbing
the repose of his brave rival for a considerable time before
the death of the Rana, which occurred eight years before the
decease of Akbar. During those eight years Rana Amar
Singh (' Umra ' of Tod) was equally free from molestation.
But that charming hypothesis is baseless. The evidence
')f both Muslim and Jesuit historians proves incontestably
-hat Akbar to the end of his life was eager to destroy the
Rana, and was held back from doing so only by the refusal

^ 1 .JahaiifTlr, R. B. (1909), i, .332. Delhi.

["he marble statues ordered by ^ No trace survives of the Amar

fahangir cannot be identified and Karan images.

k'ith the sandstone statues at

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's
vow.

of his son and great officers to undertake an effective cam-
paign in the wilds of Mewar. Akbar's action in erecting
memorials of his opponents apparently must have been taken
at some time late in his reign, when he had definitely aban-
doned Islam, and regulated his life in most respects according
to Hindu dharma, or rules of conduct.^

The fact that Mogul emperors on two distinct occasio
paid chieftains of Chitor the unprecedented compliment
erecting statues in honour of their stout resistance to
Mogul arms bears eloquent testimony to the depth of
respect excited in the minds of the victors by the glor
heroism of Jaimall and Patta and the gallant chivali
Amar Singh and Karan. It is pleasant to be able to
the tragical story of the sacred Rajput fortress witi
narration of incidents so much to the credit of both the l
tending parties.

At the commencement of the siege of Chitor Akbar
vowed that, in the event of success, he would go on foot
the shrine of Khwaja Muinu-d din Chishti at Ajmer, a distan
of about a hundred and twenty miles. He started accordingly

* The guide-books to Delhi and
Agra and the current histories
give utterly erroneous accounts
of the Delhi elephants. Their
true story, so far as ascertained
in 1911, will be found in H. F. A.,
p. 426. But at that date I was
not acquainted with the passage
from President van den Broecke,
which is : ' Ingens ea victoria
fuit, in cuius niemoriam rex duos
elephantos, et Tzimel Pathan uni,
aliumque ex ipsius ducibus alteri
insidentes, sculpi curavit, et
portae arcis Agrensis utrimque
addi.' Or in English : ' That was
a great victory, as a memorial
of which the king arranged for
the carving of two elephants, with
Tzimel Pathan seated on one, and
another of his commanders seated
on the other, which he had set
up at each side of the gate of the
fort at Agra ' (' Fragmentum
Historiae Indicae ' by P. van den
Broecke, in de Laet, De Imperio
Magni Mogolis, Elzevir, 1631,
2nd issue, p. 178). The Frag-

mentum, which comes down to
the end of 1628, must have been
written in 1629. It was ' e
genuino illius regni chronico ex-
pressum'. The author, it will
be observed, jumbles and corrupts
the names of Jaimall and Patta.
Although he believed the elephants
and riders to have been simul-
taneously carved, his informant
might have been easily mistaken
about that detail. The facts
indicate rather that the elephants
were ancient Hindu work, and
that the riders in different ma-
terial and style were added by
command of Akbar. But a
difficulty in my theory of the
identity of the Delhi elephants
seen by Bernier with Akbar's
pair set up at Agra is that
pedestals recently discovered at
Agra are said not to fit the re-
mains of the Delhi elephants.
Father H. Hosten, S. J., has
a discussion of the subject in the
press.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 97

February 28, many of the courtiers and even of the ladies
ginning the long walk in attendance on him. But the
t \vinds had commenced, and when the pilgrims reached
andal, a town about forty miles from Chitor, they met
cssengers from the holy men of Ajmer bearing the opportune
timation that His Holiness the Khwaja had appeared in

I vision and ad^'ised that His Majesty and the suite had

ter ride. Nobody was disposed to examine such a wel-

ne communication too critically, so they all mounted and

•e carried the rest of the way, save the final stage, which

^ duly walked. Akbar, an excellent pedestrian himself,

1 / a fancy for vowing to make such pilgrimages on foot,

,. A sometimes would start on a long walk merely for fun.

V' March 1568 Akbar returned to Agra. An exciting Adminis-

i ounter with two tigers on the way resulted in the death measiTres

a member of the suite. The emperor's hopes of capturing 1568.

nthambhor, the fortress in Rajputana next in importance

Chitor, had to be deferred owing to the necessity of

['''jnding against the troublesome Mirzas the army w^hich had

been assembled for the siege. The reader will remember

that in the early years of the reign Akbar's foster-relatives

had enjoyed more power than was good either for them or

for the State. Their undue influence had been curtailed by

the s%\'ift punishment of Adham Khan in May 1562, and

Akbar's subsequent assertion of his royal authority. They

>till, however, held together in the Panjab and controlled

hat province, where they occupied numerous fiefs. Their

iovereign now felt himself strong enough to put an end to

he ambitious designs of the Atka Khail, as the foster-

clatives w'cre called collectively. He summoned all of

hem to court, and required them to surrender their Panjab

iefs, receiving others in exchange. An exception was made

II favour of Mlrza Aziz Koka (often referred to by his title
f Khan-i-Azam), the son of Adham Khan's victim, Shamsu-d
In and Jiji Anaga. The Mlrza was allowed to retain
)ebalpur,i while the other members of the Atka Khail

^ Now in the Montgomery name is Deobalpur. Dipalpur is
'istrict. The oldest form of the a corrupt Persian form.
1845 „

98 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

had to move to Rohilkhand or elsewhere. The gover on
of the Pan jab was entrusted to Husain Kuli Khan bd
Khan Jahan). The arrangements made were submitt he
quietly. Akbar's growing interest in good administr M
was further shown by his appointment as finance min m
of a competent officer named Shihabu-d din Ahmad K, i
who was embarrassed in the work of reform by the :
that officials ' who did not embezzle much were fe^v ' '^,
new minister, however, was able to check mal^
although he could not suppress them completely. ju

Siege and By the end of the year Akbar was able to raise i > i

of for the siege of Ranthambhor, the stronghold of tl -..

Rantham- section of the Chauhan clan in Rajputana. The si< ftf
opened in February 1569, in due form, with sdbdts, or c ' '.
ways, and all the other appliances of the military t
of the time. It threatened to be a long business, but i
a month came to an unexpected end by the surrenc
Surjan Hara, the commandant. The methods by which tj
surrender was obtained, which do not appear clearh 'y
the Muhammadan accounts, are revealed fully L^ ^

Annals of Bundl (Boondee), the Hara capital. The story
is so remarkable, and throws so much light upon Akbar's
Rajput policy, that it is worth while to transcribe at con-
siderable length Tod's condensed version of the Annals, a*
follows :

' Ranthambhor was an early object of Akbar's attenti^
who besieged it in person. He had been some time befi
its impregnable walls without the hope of its surrenc
when Bhagwandas of Amber and his son, the more celebra
Raja Man, who had not only tendered their allegiance
Akbar, but allied themselves to him by marriage, det
mined to use their influence to make Surjan Hara faithl
to his pledge — " to hold the castle as a fief of Chitor

* Chitor is situated in 24° 53' 140 miles north-east from Chii

N. and 74° 39' E. Ranthamblior A good summary of Bu.

( = Sanskrit Ranastambhapura, history will be found in I.

'the town of the war-pillar') is (1908), s.v. For pictures fro

situated in 26° 2' N. and 76° 28' the Akbarndma at S. Kensingtoi

E., and is now in the SE. corner representing incidents during the

of the Jaipur State, a few miles siege of Ranthambhor see J.J. ^.,

from the Bundi border, and about April 1915, No. 130.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 99

That courtesy, which is never laid aside among belligerent
Rajputs, obtained Raja Man access to the castle, and the
emperor accompanied him in the guise of a mace-bearer.
While conversing, an uncle of the Rao recognized the
emperor, and with that sudden impulse which arises from
respect, took the mace from his hand and placed Akbar on
the " cushion " of the governor of the castle. Akbar's
Sresence of mind did not forsake him, and he said, " Well,
ao Surjan, what is to be done ? " which was replied to by
aja Man, "Leave the Rana [soil, of Chitor], give up
•.nthambhor, and become the servant of the King, with
rh honours and office." The proffered bribe was indeed
"fnificent — the government of fifty-two districts, whose
enues were to be appropriated without inquiry, on furnish-
: the customary contingent, and liberty to name any other
ms, which should be solemnly guaranteed by the King.
, A treaty was drawn up on the spot, and mediated by
e prince of Amber [Jaipur], which presents a good picture
Hindu feeling. [The terms were] (1) that the chiefs of
ndi should be exempted from that custom, degrading to
Rajput, of sending a dola [bride] to the royal harem ;
,j^') exemption from the jizya or poll-tax ; (3) that the chiefs
of Bundi should not be comiDclled to cross the Attock ;
(4) that the vassals of Bundi should be exempted from the
obligation of sending their A\aves or female relatives " to
hold a stall in the Mina bazaar " at the palace, on the -
festival of Nauroza [New Year's Day] ; ^ (5) that they
jhould have the privilege of entering the Diwdn-i-dinm, or
" hall of audience " completely armed ; (6) that their sacred
i'ifices should be respected ; (7) that they should never be
.rcced under the command of a Hindu leader ; (8) that
»--nir horses should not be branded with the imperial ddgh
. rlower branded on the forehead] ; (9) that they should
lallowed to beat their nakkdras, or kettle-drums, in the
; 'Cts of the capital as far as the Lai Darwaza or Red Gate ;
• -I that they should not be commanded to make the
J 'ostration " [sijdah] on entering the Presence ; ^ (10) that
■ idl should be to the Haras what Delhi was to the King,
> should guarantee them from any change of capital.'

■l.'hat detailed story seems to me to be worthy of credit. Sequel of
L does not conflict with the summary version of the transac- render.

I * For explanation of the Nau- ^ According to Abu-1 Fazl, the

•za scandal see Tod, i, 275 Rao performed the sijdah {A. N.,
[jlnna/s of Mewar, ch. xi). ii, 494, 495).

100 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

tion given by Abu-1 Fazl, who states that the surrender
was arranged by ' the intercession of the courtiers ' and
' the instrumentaUty of some high officers '.i The romantic
incident of the emperor's entry in the guise of a mace-
bearer is in accordance with the character of Akbar, who,
as a younger man, used to wander about disguised in the
midst of the Agra crowds at night. The Muhammadan
author does not trouble to relate the strange sequel of the
surrender, which is told at length by Tod. Ranthambhor
became part of the imperial territory, and in due course
was included as a Sarkar, or District, in the Suba or provmce
of Ajmer. Surjan was granted a residence m Benares,
with a much-valued privilege of sanctuary attached to it,
which was still maintained in Tod's time, in the early years
of the nineteenth century. After a short interval, Rao
Surjan was given a command in Gondwana, and, having
performed acceptable service there, was appointed governor
of the Benares province, including the fortress of Chunar,
with the rank of ' commander of 2,000 '. He

' resided at his government of Benares, and by tiiy>iety»
wisdom, and generosity, benefited the empire and the Hindus
at large, whose religion through him was respected. Owing
to the prudence of his administration and the vigilance
of his police, the most perfect security in person and property
was estabhshed throughout the province. He beautified
and ornamented the city, especially that quarter where he
resided, and eighty-four edifices, for various pubhc purposes,
and twenty baths, were constructed under his auspices.

Two of his sons gave vahant support to Akbar in the
expedition to Gujarat, which will be described presently, as
well as in the Deccan war towards the close of the reign.
.....n^ The strong fortress of Kalanjar in Bundelkhand, now in
der of ^jj^ B^nda District, which had defied Sher Shah and cost
Ivahmjar. ^.^^ ^.^ ^.^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^.^ ^.^^ .^ possession of Raja Ramchand

of Bhatha or Riwa, the chief who had surrendered Tansen,
the musician, to Akbar's demand. The fort was besieged
on the emperor's behalf by Majnun Khan Kakshal and

1 A. N., ch. Ixviii, vol. ii, p. 494. * Tod, vol. ii, p. 384.

Surrcn-

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 101

closely invested. The Raja, making a virtue of necessity,
submitted to irresistible power. Abu-1 Fazl describes the
surrender with liis accustomed turgid rhetoric :

' When the report of the captures of Chitor and Ran-

thambhor resounded in the ears of the haughty ones, every

one whose eyes had been in a measure touched by the

collyrium of understanding saw that there was no remedy

except to lay down the head of presumption on the ground

of submission. Raja Ramchand, who possessed some rays

of intelligence, heard of the arrival of the holy cortege at

the capital and asked for quarter. He made over the fort

to the imperial servants and sent the keys along with

splendid presents by confidential agents to the sublime

threshold, and offered his congratulations on the recent

victories. His wisdom and foresight were approved of, and

his agents were received with favour. The government of

the fort was made over to Majnun Khan Kakshal. By this

felicity of the Shahinshah's fortune such a fortress, upon

whose battlements the eagle of the imagination of former

rulers had never alighted, came into the possession of the

imperial servants \vithout the trouble of a battle or contest.' ^

Akbar received the welcome news in August 1569, and
gave the Raja ajdgir near Allahabad.

The surrender of Kalanjar, the last of the great fortresses
to submit, secured Akbar's military position in north-
western India, and left him free to pursue his ambitious
projects in other regions. Before we enter upon the descrip-
tion of his next important campaign, that directed to the
subjugation of Gujarat, various events of a peaceful nature
demand attention.

Akbar, although he had married early and often, was still Akbar's
childless, several children who had been born to him having ^^'^dren,

* A.N., ii, 499, the names Hamilton, Description of Hindo-

being spelt in my fashion. stan, 4to, 1820, vol. i, p. 316 ;

Mr. Beveridge erroneously calls Elliot, ed. Beames, Glossary,

Ramchand Raja of ' Panna ' map at p. 203, vol. i and vol. ii,

instead of Bhatha. It is easy to p. 164. Kalanjar, a fortress and

misread names as written in the sacred place of immemorial an-

Persian character. The same tiquity, is in 25° 1' N. and 80° 29

mistake occurs in E. & D., v. E. It was bestowed as jagir on

333 n. Lowe's translation of Akbar's favourite. Raja Birbal

RadaonI gives the name correctly {I.G., s.v. ' Kalinjar '). The

as • Bhath ' (ii, 124). See Aln, spelling Kalanjar (Kalafijara) is

vol. 1, pp. 3«7, 369 ; vol, ii, p. 166 ; the correct one.

102 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

died in infancy. He earnestly desired to be blessed with
a son, and was assiduous in his prayers at the shrines of
famous Muslim saints at Delhi, Ajmer, and elsewhere. He
made a point of performing every year a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Shaikh Muinu-d din Chishti at Ajmer, and main-
tained the practice until 1579, when he made his last visit.*
Shaikh Salim, also a Chishti, a reputed holy man who lived
at Sikri, twenty-three miles to the west of Agra, among the
rocks close to the battle-field where Babur had routed the
host of Rana Sanga, shared in the imperial devotion, and
ventured to recognize its fervour by assuring his sovereign
that his prayers would be fulfilled.^ At the beginning of
1569 the heart of Akbar was gladdened by the news that
his earliest Hindu consort, the daughter of Raja Bihar Mall
of Amber, was with child, and that he might hope for the
first of the three sons whom Shaikh Salim had promised.
Akbar, being resolved to make sure so far as possible of the
utmost benefit obtainable from the saint's orisons, sent the
expectant lady to the Shaikh's humble dwelling at Sikri,
in order that she might be confined while there. On
August 30, 1569, the boy so ardently desired saw the light
and received the name of Salim, in acknowledgement of his
father's faith in the efficacy of the holy man's prayers. In
November the royal nursery was enriched by the arrival
of a daughter, to whom the name of Khanam Sultan was
given. On June 8 in the following year, 1570, Salima
Sultan Begam, Bairam Khan's widow, whom Akbar had

* Rajab (7th month) a. h. 987 a cehbate. He died in 1571

(Badaoni, ii, 280). (a. h. 979), at the age of 95 lunar

- For biography of Shaikh years ; about 92 solar years.

Salim see Badaoni, tr. Haig, Father Monserrate gives him

vol. iii, fasc. 1 (all publ.), 1899, a bad character, describing him

No. VIII, pp. 18-27. He was as a man ' qui per sumniam

descended from the famous saint, stultitiam pro sancto colitur, cum

Shaikh Farid-i-Shakarganj, who homo fuerit omnibus Agarenorum

lived in the thirteenth century. sceleribus flagitiisque contamina-

He twice travelled from India, tus ' {Commentarius, p. 642). The

once by land and once by sea, to words ' stained with all the

the holy places, and performed wickedness and disgraceful con-

the actual pilgrimage at Mecca duct of Muhammadans ' probably

twenty-two times. He was called imply an accusation of addiction

the ' holy man of India ', and lived to unnatural vice,
with great austerity, but was not

»■>

-J

l—H

;*.:

^.s^"

'>^.

-^V^

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 103

married, bore to her lord a son who was named Murad. In

order to complete the story of Akbar's family it may be

stated here that his third son, Daniyal (' Daniel '), was born

of a concubine on September 10, 1572, at Ajmer, in the

house of Shaikh Daniyal, one of the holy personages whom

Akbar had so often visited.^ There were at least two other

daughters besides the first-born, namely, Shukru-n nisa.

Begam, who, like the elder sister, Khanam, was allowed to

marry, and Aram Bano Begam, who died unmarried in the

reign of Jahangir (Salim). The daughters apparently took

no part in affairs of state and are rarely mentioned. The

three sons attained mature age.

Akbar, in pursuance of a vow, started on January 20,

1570, for Ajmer, to return thanks for the birth of his children.

He honestly walked the sixteen stages, covering an average

distance of about fourteen miles a day.

From Ajmer he went to Delhi, where, in April 1570, he Various

events
inspected the newly-built mausoleum of his father, erected

under the pious superintendence of Hajl Begam, and at her
expense. She had arranged for the work before she started
on her pilgrimage, and it took eight or nine years to com-
plete. The architect was Mirak Mirza Ghiyas.^ Badaoni
justly praises the ' magnificent proportions ' of the building.
Its position in the history of Indo-Muhammadan art will be
considered in a later chapter.

(While on the way to Agra Akbar several times amused
limself hunting deer by moonhght. Deer-hunting by torch-
ight was a subject much favoured by the skilled painters
>f a date sUghtly later.

In September of the same year (1570) Akbar returned to
ijmer, and with the assistance of able architects, arranged

' On the night of Jumada I ' Badaoni, ii, 135. The visit

>th month), 979, the 119th day took place near the close of a. h,

f the Hijri year, which began on 977 (= June 16, 1569-June 4,

[ay 26, 1571. The corresponding 1570), and in the fifteenth regnal

!ite, consequently, is September year, which began on March 11,

I (Jahangir, R. B., i, 34). Beale 1570. The date consequently

roneously states that Daniyal falls between March 11 and

as the son of a daughter of June 4.

aja Bihar Mall Kachhwaha.

104 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

for the enlargement of the fort and the erection of many
handsome buildings for the accommodation of the sovereign
and court. The works were completed in three ysars.
Improvements were effected also at the ancient town of
Nagaur in Rajputana, where a fountain with seventeen jets,
dating from Akbar's time, may still be seen.^

The emperor continued his policy of making Hindu
alliances by marrying princesses from Bikaner and Jaisalmer,
the two leading principalities of the Rajputana desert.

He indulged his love of novel kinds of sport by hunting
wild asses for the first time, and succeeded in shooting
sixteen during a single day's arduous hunting, in which he
covered a distance of more than thirty miles.^

About the same time he had the satisfaction of receiving
the submission of Baz Bahadur, the fugitive king of Malwa,
who was content to accept office as a ' commander of 1,000 '
in the imperial service.^

Akbar then marched into the Panjab, and visited more
saints' shrines.

In August 1571 he came back to Sikri, where he took
up his quarters in the Shaikh's residence, and made himself
quite at home. During this year an embassy from Abdullah
Khan Uzbeg, the powerful ruler of Turan or Transoxiana,
was received with due honour.
Fathpur- Akbar resolved at this time to press on his scheme for
Sikri. converting the obscure village of Sikri into a great city.
His reasons, or some of them, for doing so may be stated
in the words of Abu-1 Fazl :

* Inasmuch as his exalted sons [Salim and Murad] had
taken their birth in Sikri and the God-knowing spirit of
Shaikh Salim had taken possession thereof, his holy heart
desired to give outward splendour to this spot which possessed
spiritual grandeur. Now that his standards had arrived at

' J. G. (1908), s.v. in ch. xiii. This is the earliest

^ One of the Akharndma pic- mention of a particular rank in

tures at S. Kensington represents Akbar's reign, but Humayun,

the emperor in the desert, over- about 1539, had appointed Raja

come by thirst. Bihar Mall to be a ' commander

3 The gradations of office in of 5,000 '.
Akbar's service will be explained

EEBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS

105

A wall of masonry was built round the town, but never
completed and dwellings of all elasses were eonstrueted, as ^
well as schools, baths, and other public institutions, the
.nchspensable gardens not being neglected. The emperor
after the conquest of Gujarat, gave it the name of Fathabai
( town of vctory '), which was soon exchanged in both
popular and official use for the synonymous Fathpur.^ The
language of Abu-1 Fazl in the passage quoted might be
understood to mean that Akbar did not begin his extensive
programme of building at Fathpur-Sikri until 1571. but that ^

" 71 t ^'- ^''^ '■'"8" '""' '''=» fo™^'' in'his mind
and his buildings had actually been begun in 1569. Thev

continued to be constructed for fourteen or fifteen years ^
Salim, the old saint, had settled among the rocks and wild
beasts as a hermit in a. d. 1587-8 (a. h. 944), and in the
year following had constructed a monastery and school-
house. The local workmen engaged in the extraction and
dressing of the excellent red sandstone which abounds in
the locality had built at the same time tor the use of the
holy man, and adjoining his dwelling, a small mosque, which

TK r',1'' ""'' '' ''"°™ ''^ **>'= Stone-cutters' Mosque,
ihe building, being some thirty years older than any other
structure at Fathpur-SikrI, is of considerable interest as
a landmark in the history of Indo-Muhammadan arehi-

tecture.^

Akbar's acquaintance with Shaikh Salim seems not to
have begun until a year or so before the birth of Prince
^ahm. The fulfilment of the saint's promise induced the
emperor at once to decide to leave unlucky Agra and to
establish his capital at Sikri, which he regarded as ' a place

form^^thaTtt S^'-.?^^ '^^\ '"- "^^^"^V^r. I do not know any

e^SF" "''^"- " "™ -'?-- ^"''" ""- "' '"'
2 J XT '■; s'jn 1 , . ^ Jahanglr (R. B.), i, 2.

106 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

lucky for him '. Akbar, we must remember, was quite as
superstitious as most of his contemporaries, in spite of ids
rationahsm.

The building miscalled Jodh Bai's Mahall, and designated
also, with better reason, as the Jahangiri Mahall, which is
the largest of the residential palaces, is one of the earliest
of Akbar's edifices, and probably was occupied by the mother
of Prince Sallm (Jahangir).^

The great mosque, purporting to be a ' duplicate of the
holy place ' at Mecca, has a chronogram inscription record-
ing its completion in a. h. 979 (May 1571-May 1572).2
The The immense portal, known as the Buland Darwaza, or

Darwaza. Lofty Gateway, which far exceeds in dimensions the other
gateways of the mosque, was finished a few years later, in
1575-6 (a. H. 983), and in all probabiHty was designed on
a scale of exceptional magnificence in order to serve as
a memorial of the conquest of Gujarat in 1573. It is usually
believed to have been erected in a. d. 1601-2 (a. h. 1010),
because that is the date of an interesting inscription on it
recording Akbar's triumphant return from the Deccan war.
But the gateway cannot possibly date from that year, when
Akbar was no longer a Muslim. He was then more disposed
to destroy mosques than to build them. He had ceased to
reside at Fathpur-Sikri in 1585, when he went north, where
he remained for thirteen years. In 1601 he merely paid
a flying visit to his former capital, and made use of an
existing monument as offering a convenient place for the
record of his recent triumph. His inscription-writer and
skilled stone-cutters were in attendance in his camp, and
would have executed his orders with all speed. Fathpur-
Sikri was deserted and ruinous in 1604, except so far as
a few of Akbar's buildings were concerned, and it must
have been far advanced in decay in 1601. At that date
the emperor could not have thought of erecting there
a costly building on the scale of the Buland Darwaza.^

'■ E W. Smith, Fathpur-Slkrl, tration see E. W. Smith, Fathpur-

part ii, ch. ii. Slkrl, part iv, ch. ii. The corrected

^ Ibid., part iv, pp. 1, 4. date is given in A. S. Progress

* For full description and illus- Rep., N. Circle, 1905-6, p. 34, on

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 107

It will be convenient to give in this place a summary Royal
history of Akbar's palace city, and to quote the only descrip- tkm of '
tion of it by a contemporary traveller. From 1569, the Fathpur,
year of Prince Sallm's birth, to 1585, when Akbar was
obliged to go north in order to take over the Kabul province
and guard against an Uzbeg invasion, Fathpur-Sikri was
the ordinary and principal residence of the court. Akbar
quitted it finally in the autumn of 1585, and never lived
there again. The water-supply of the place was naturally
defective. Akbar had remedied the deficiency by con- ^"""^
structing to the north of the ridge a great artificial lake,
measuring about six miles long by two broad, which supplied
an elaborate system of water-works, traces of which still
exist. The bursting of the dam of the lake in 1582, although
it injured the amenities of the town, did not render it
uninhabitable. It continued to be the residence of the
court for three years longer. We are fortunate in possessing
a description of it by an English traveller who was there
in September 1585, just before Akbar left the place for ever,
save for the flying visit in May 1601, mentioned above.
Ralph Fitch, the traveller referred to, was not a good
observer or writer. His meagre notes leave much to be
desired, and his remark that the houses and streets of
B'athpur were not so fair as those of Agra strikes the modern
reader as curious. But the observation, no doubt, was
perfectly true. Fitch compared the two towns, not the
palaces, and he may have seen very little of the Fathpur
oalace buildings which now attract the tourist, who does
lot trouble himself about the obscure ruins of the business
;treets. Fitch was barely in time. The withdrawal of the
•ourt in August, just before his departure at the end of
September, must have left the place desolate and almost
■mpty.

he authority of a chronogram of the building is impossible, and the

nknown origin, printed by Beale memorable conquest of Gujarat

1 Miftdhu-t tawdrlkh (Cawnpore, offers a suitable occasion for the

867, p. 181). That chronogram erection of such a noble trium-

1 itself is of little authority, but phal arch. Jerome Xavier's letter

may be accepted as correct, of September 1604 proves that

ecause the a. h. 1010 date for Fathpur-Sikri was then ruinous.

108 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

This is his account, such as it is :

Descrip- ' Agra is a very great citie, and populous, built with
tion by stone, having faire and large streets, with a faire river
Fitch^ running by it, which falleth into the gulfe of Bengala. It
Sept.' hath a faire castle and a strong, with a very faire ditch.
1585. Here bee many Moores and Gentiles, the king is called
Zelabdim [ Jalalu-d din] Echebar : the people for the most
part call him The great Mogor.^

' From thence wee went for Fatepore, which is the place
where the king kept his court. The towne is greater than
Agra, but the houses and streetes be not so faire. Here
dwell many people both Moores and Gentiles.^

' The king hath in Agra and Fatepore as they doe credibly
report 1000 elephants, thirtie thousand horses, 1400 tame
Deere, 800 concubines ; such store of Ounces,^ Tigers,
Buffles,* Cocks & Haukes, that is very strange to see.
' He keepeth a great court, which they call Dericcan.
' Agra and Fatepore are two very great cities, either of
them much greater than London and very populous.^
Between Agra and Fatepore are 12 miles [scil. kos — 23 miles],
and all the way is a market of victuals & other things, as
full as though a man were still in a towne, and so many
people as if a man were in a market.

' They have many fine cartes, and many of them carved
and gilded with gold, with two wheeles, which be drawen
with two litle Buls about the bignesse of our great dogs in
England, and they will runne with any horse, and carie
two or three men in one of these cartes ; they are covered
with silke or very fine cloth, and be used here as our Coches
be in England. Hither is great resort of marchants from
Persia and out of India, and very much marchandise of
silke and cloth, and of precious stones, both Rubies, Dia-
mants, and Pearles. The king is apparelled in a white
Cable, made like a shirt tied with strings on the one side,®

* The Portuguese so called him, * Buffaloes, kept for fighting,

but I doubt if his own people ^ Creighton, using the 'bills

ever did. of mortality ', calculated the

^ Muhammadans and Hindus. population of London to have

See the good article on Mogul, been 123,034 in 1580, and 152,478

Mogor, and connected terms in for the period 1593-5 (Encycl.

Yule and Burnell, Glossary. Brit., ed. s.v., London, vol. xvi,

' The ' ounce ' properly means p. 965). Those figures suggest

Felis uncia, the snow leopard, that the population of Fathpur-

a Himalayan species. But Fitch Sikri may have been about 200,000

probably meant the ' cheetah ', in 1585. ,

or hunting leopard, Felis jubata, * ' Cabie ' is more often spelt j

or Cynaelurus. ' cabaya ', and is defined as ' '

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS

109

and a little cloth on his head coloured oftentimes vnth red
or yellow. None come into his house but his eunuches
which keepe his women.

'Here in Fatepore we staled all three untill the 28. of
September 1585, and then Master John Newberie took his
joiu*nie toward the citie of Lahore, determining from thence
to goe for Persia and then for Aleppo or Constantinople,
whether hee could get soonest passage unto, and directed
me to goe for Bengala and for Pegu, and did promise me,
if it pleased God, to meete me in Bengala within two yeeres
with a shippe out of England. I left William Leades the
jeweller in service with the King Zelabdim Echebar in Fate
pore, who did entertaine him very well, and gave him an
house and five slaves, an horse, and every day sixe S. S-
[shillings] in money .^

*" I went from Agra to Satagam in Bengala,^ in the com-
panie of one hundred and fourscore boats laden with Salt,
Opium, Hinge,^ Lead, Carpets, and divers other commodities
down the river Jemena.' *

Akbar's proximate successors never resided at Fathpur, Later
but Muhammad Shah (1719-48) occupied it for a short JjJ^^he^
time.^ The town, which is now situated near the western town.
end of the old city, and has about 7,000 inhabitants, was
never wholly abandoned. Several mosques and other
buildings erected by private persons about a. d. 1700 date
from the latter part of the reign of Aurangzeb.^

The reduction of the four fortresses — ^Mirtha, Chitor, Expedi-
Ranthambhor, and Kalanjar — having secured the control of f}^"
Ithe imperial government over the provinces of Hindostan, quest of
iiAkbar was in a position to proceed in the extension of his
dominions to the sea on both sides. His first move was
towards the west, the conquest of Bengal being reserved
or a later effort.

Gujarat.

iurcoat or long tunic of muslin
Yule and Burnell, Glossary, s. v.
abaya).

' Neither Newbery nor Leedes
vas ever heard of again. Fitch
rrived safely in London on April
19, 1591. His dates are in ' old
tyle '.
- Satgaon, close to Hooghly

(Hugli), and then the chief river
port of Bengal.

^ 'Hinge', more correctly king
or hlngu, assafoetida, much es-
teemed in India as a condiment.
See Yule and Burnell, s. v. Hing.

* Fitch, pp. 97-100.

■> /. G. (1908), s.v.

» Horowitz, p. 84, Nos. 644-6.

110 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Gujarat, the extensive region lying between Malwa and
the Arabian Sea, had been occupied for a time by Humayun,
and might therefore be regarded as a lost province of the
empire which it was a duty to recover. Moreover, the
country was at that time without a settled government,
being divided into seven warring principalities, over which
the nominal king, Muzaffar Shah III, a prince of doubtful
legitimacy, exercised little authority. Such a condition of
affairs seemed almost to demand the interposition of a power
capable of enforcing order. Akbar, in fact, was actually
invited by one of the local princelings named Itimad Khan
to put an end to the prevailing anarchy.^ Even if those
special reasons for intervention had not existed, the attrac-
tions of the province itself were quite sufficient to tempt
Akbar. The possession of numerous ports and the resulting
extensive maritime commerce made Gujarat the richest
kingdom in India. Ahmadabad, the capital, was justly
reputed to be one of the finest cities in the world, while the
manufacture of salt, cloth, paper, and other commodities
flourished in many localities. A sovereign, consumed as
Akbar was by the lust of conquest and the ambition of
empire, could not possibly allow such a delectable land on
his frontier to continue in the enjoyment of unfettered
independence.

Having made up his mind, therefore, to annex Gujarat,

he marched out of Fathpur-Sikrl on July 4, 1572, hunting,

as usual, on the way. At Phalodi, between Ajmer and

Nagaur, he received the joyful news of the birth of his

third son, Prince Daniyal. In September the court halted

at Nagaur. 2

First Although the armed opposition to the invasion did not

Gujarat promise to be extremely formidable, due military pre-
campaign '■ •' •' ^

— battle cautions were taken. Special arrangements were made to

of Sarnai. prevent any risk of interference from the side of Marwar

* Bombay Gazetteer (1896), vol. i, this point (p. 544). The rest of

part i, p. 264. the volume is occupied with

" Volume ii of Mr. Beveridge's autobiographical matter about

translation of the Akbarndmah the author,
closes the historical narrative at

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS m

(Jodhpur) and a strong advance guard of 10,000 horse was
sent forward under the command of the Khan-i-Kalan
(Mir Muhammad Khan Atka).i The arrival of the invaders
at Sirohi, a town famous for the excellence of its sword-
blades and arrow-shafts, and the head-quarters of the Deorva
sept of the Chauhan clan, excited the fanatical hostility of
a band of a hundred and fifty Rajputs, who deliberately
sacrificed their lives in a futile attempt at resistance. In
November 1572, when Akbar approached Ahmadabad,
Muzaffar Shah, the fugitive king, was found hiding in a corn-
field and brought in. He duly made his submission and was
granted a small allowance. Certain camp-followers having
insolently plundered his effects, Akbar set an example of
stern justice by ordering the offenders to be trampled to
death by elephants.

The emperor then made an excursion to Cambay in order
to view the sea for the first time. He took a short sail on
the waters, but, unluckily, the impression made on him by
the sight and experience has not been recorded. While at
Cambay he received the Portuguese merchants who came
to pay their respects, and he thus made acquaintance with
their nation.

i He appointed the Khan-i-Azam (Mirza Aziz Koka), his
favourite foster-brother, to be governor of the newly-annexed
province as far as the river Mahi, and was engaged in other
administrative measures when he heard that Ibrahim
Husain Mirza had murdered a person of distinction named
Rustam Khan, and was meditating further misdeeds. The
emperor's ' wrath was kindled ' at the news, so that he
resolved to postpone all other business until he had in
,person inflicted condign punishment on the presumptuous
Mirza, who had taken advantage of Akbar's absence on the
:rip to Cambay. Surat, the wealthy port at the mouth of
he Tapti, was the chief stronghold of the Mirzas, and
consequently the objective of the campaign, but the
mmediate purpose was to meet and defeat Ibrahim Husain.

I^kbar, who was then near Baroda, insisted on pursuing his
' For his biography see Blochmann, Ain, vol. i, p. 322, No. 16.

112 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

rebellious relative w^th quite a small force, at the head of
which he rode off. When he came near the ford on the
Mahi, he learned that the enemy, much superior in number,
was holding Sarnal, a small town on the other side of the
river, five miles to the east of Thasra.^ He refused to listen
to advisers who counselled delay in order to await reinforce-
ments, and urged the advantages of a night attack. Akbar
replied that he considered an attack in the dark dishonour-
able, and expressed his resolve to fight at once, although
the men with liim did not exceed two hundred.^ Supported
by Man Singh of Amber, his adoptive father, Bhagwan Das,
and sundry brave ^Muslim nobles, Akbar forded the river
and scrambled up the steep bank to the water-gate of Sarnal.
Meantime, the ^lirza had gone out from the other side of
the town in order to find space on which to deploy his
superior force. The town, as is usual in Gujarat, was ap-
proached by narrow lanes fenced Avith prickly-pear cactus,
the most unsuitable ground possible for cavalry. Akbar's
party became entangled in the obstacles, and Bhiipat, the
brother of Bhagwan Das, was slain. Bhagwan Das himself
rode with his sovereign, and when three men from the
enemy's ranks attacked them the Raja disabled one vnth
a spear-thrust, while Akbar successfully defended himself
against the other two. The Mirza's followers fled when the
rest of the royal party came up, and Akbar remained master
of the field. Darkness prevented pursuit, and the \-ictors
had to spend the night in Sarnal. Akbar returned to his
camp on December 2-1. All his men who had fought so
valiantly were liberally rewarded, and Raja Bhagwan Das
was honom-ed by the grant of a banner and kettle-drums,
never before bestowed on a Hindu.

1 Mr. Beveridge and other veyed by the Archaeological

writers have been puzzled about Department {Revised Lists of

the position of Sarnal. It still Antiquarian Remains, Bombay,

exists, five miles to the east of 1897, p. 94). The Bombay Gazet-

Thasra (in about 22° 50' N. lat., teer (1896), vol. i, part i, p. 265,

73° 10' E. long.), a well-known erroneously identifies Sarnal with

small town in the Kaira District, Thasra.

marked on the maps and described - 156 according to Firishta ;

in I. G. (1908). An ancient 200 according to Abu-1 FazI ;

temple at Sarnal has been sur- 100 according to the Tabakat.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 113

Raja Todar Mall was sent to report on the strength of Siege of

che Surat defences. When he returned with an encouracrincr •'^^rat.

report, Akbar, on the last day of December, marched from

Baroda. On January' 11, 1573, he approached Surat, and

presently began regular siege operations. While the siege

>ras in progress, according to the court chronicler's version,

:;ertain Portuguese from Goa, who had arrived with the

ntention of assisting the defence, came to the conclusion

hat Akbar's force was irresistible, and that it would be

Qore prudent to concihate him. They accordingly assumed

he attitude of friendly envoys, offered presents, and were

raciously received. But the truth is that Akbar, having

ason to fear an attack by a Portuguese naAal squadron,

as glad to come to terms with the Viceroy, Dom Antonio

e Noronha. Akbar first sent an envoy, and the Viceroy,

a%-ing heard his proposals, sent back with him Antonio

abral, who concluded peace to the satisfaction of both

arties.^ The acquaintance with the Portuguese nation

egun at Cambay was thus extended, and Akbar was able

J gratify his insatiable curiosity by many ' inquiries about

le wonders of Portugal and the manners and customs of

urope '. Friendly relations with the foreigners had for

m the practical advantage that they enabled him to secure

safe conduct for the Mecca pilgrims, which was dependent

1 the goodwill of the Portuguese. The Mogul emperors

;ver showed any aptitude for maritime affairs or possessed

fleet worth mentioning. Their coasts and the neighbour-

g seas were thus at the mercy of the Portuguese, who felt

) scruples about the manner in which they exercised their

wer. In those days Akbar took a Hvely interest in the

3cca pilgrimage, and was ready to spend money freely in

-Iping the pilgrims.

The siege of Surat was terminated in about a month and
. lalf by capitulation (Februan.* 26, 1573 j. The commandant,

Host«t, quoting authorities, Moeroy, was in office from

i J. dr Prrjc. A. S. B., 1912, p. September 6. 1571 to Deoemljer 9,

'.' ri. See also BoniJbay Gazetteer 1573 (Fonseca. Sketch of live City

( 96), vd. 1, part i, p. 265. Dom oj Qoa, 1878, p. 90j.
tonio de NoronJia, the 11th

114

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

drunken
freak.

Akbar's
intem-
perance.

Hamzaban, formerly in the service of Humayun, was
granted his hfe, but was barbarously punished by the
excision of his tongue, which he was alleged to have used
indiscreetly.

A queer story related by Abu-1 Fazl describes an incident

which happened at or near Surat. One night, we are told,

there was a select drinking-party, and the talk turned upon

the disregard for life shown by the heroes of Hindostan.

It was said that two Rajput rivals would run from opposite

sides against the points of a double-headed spear, or two

spears, held by third parties, so that the points would

transfix both of the rivals and come out at their backs.

Akbar, who could not pretend to have a rival, announced,

to the horror of his fellow revellers, that he would fight his

sword. He fixed the hilt into the wall, and was about to

transfix himself by rushing against the point, when Raja

Man Singh ' with the foot of fidelity ' kicked down the

sword, and in doing so cut his sovereign's hand. Akbar

promptly knocked down Man Singh and squeezed him

hard. Saiyid Muzaffar, one of the merry party, was obliged

to go so far as to twist Akbar's injured finger, in order to

make him loosen his hold on the throat of Man Singh, whom

he would have choked in his rage. The opportune wrench

opened Akbar's wound, but that soon healed. Akbar must

have been shockingly drunk. He appears to have had the

good sense not to resent the rough measures by which his

friends saved him from himself, and it is wonderful that two

historians should have had the candour to record the

scandalous affair.^

Although the uncritical panegyrists of Akbar make no
mention of his drunken bouts, and his published sayings
include phrases condemnatory of excess in wine, it is certain
that for many years he kept up the family tradition and
often drank more than he could carry. Jahanglr naively
remarks at the opening of his authentic Memoirs :

' After my birth they gave me the name of Sultan Salim,
but I never heard my father, whether in his cups or in his

* A. N., vol. iii, p. 43, with reference in note to Iqbdlndma.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 115

sober moments, call me Muhammad Salim or Sultan Salim
but always Shaikhu Baba.' '

The phrase clearly implies that the writer's 'revered
father ' was not seldom ' in his cups '. The Jesuit testimony
concerning the experience of the first mission under Aquaviva
in 1582 proves, beyond the possibihty of doubt, that at that
time, some nine years after the fall of Surat, Akbar habitually
drank hard. The good father had boldly dared to reprove
the emperor sharply for his licentious relations with women.
Akbar, instead of resenting the priest's audacity, blushingly
excused himself, and even sought to subdue the flesh by
fasting for several days. The abstinence was not extended
to include liquor. ' He went to such excess in drinking
that the merit of fasting was lost in the demerit of inebria^
tion.' 1 Sometimes Akbar seemed to forget Padre Ridolfo
altogether, allowing long intervals to elapse without sum-
moning him.

'Even if he did invite the priest to say something about
God, he had hardly begun before Akbar fell asleep the
reason bemg that he made too much use, sometimes of
arrack, an extremely heady palm- wine, and sometimes of
post, a similar preparation of opium, diluted and modified
,by various admixtures of spices.' 2

(Akbar, as a rule, exercised strict control over his naturally
violent temper. The occasional outbreaks of passion recorded
by the historians may have been due in some cases to the
effects of drink. His bad example in the matter of inebriety
was followed only too faithfully by his three sons who
attained manhood. Two of them, Murad and Daniyal, died
irom the effects of their chronic intemperance, and Salim
. Jahangir) never freed himself wholly from the vice, although
N^urjahan, after her marriage with him, succeeded in keeping
him in order to some extent.

' Bartoli, p. 59. ' Ma allora tava ; e cio per lo tropno uso hor

icH?o del? , . ^«t'"f nza col de- vino di palma, hor del Posto. che

' Ibirf n "i\b"^,«hezza.' ^ una tal confettione d'Oppio,

^■^tT^'U^' r . ^ ^^ P""" ' '"■ "ntuzzato, e domo con varie cor-

itava a dirgli alcuna cosa di Dio, rettioni d'aromati.'
ppena conunciato, s'addormen-

116

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Return of
Akbar ;
fate of
Ibrahim
Husain
Mirza.

Cruel
treat-
ment of
prisoners,

Failure
to take
Nagar-
kot or
Kangra.

Akbar started on his return journey on April 13, 1573,*
and on arrival at Sirohi heard the good news of the capture
and death of Ibrahim Husain Mirza, who after his escape
from the Sarnal fight had made his way into the Panjab,
and thence to Multan, where he died, a wounded prisoner.
His brother, Masud Husain Mirza, also was taken prisoner
by Husain Kuli Khan, governor of the Pan j ab. The emperor,
as usual, paid his devotions at the shrine in Ajmer, and
arrived at Fathpur-Sikri on June 3. The notable persons
who came out to meet him included Abu-1 Fazl's father,
Shaikh Mubarak, who made a speech expressing the hope
that the emperor might become the spiritual as well as the
temporal head of his people.^ The suggestion pleased
Akbar, who bore it in mind and acted on it six years later
(1579).

On the arrival of the emperor at his capital, Husain
Kuli Khan (Khan Jahan) waited on him with his prisoners.
The eyes of Masud Husain Mirza had been sewn up, and
Akbar was credited with kindness because he directed them
to be opened. The other prisoners, nearly three hundred
in number, met with little mercy. They were brought
before Akbar with the skins of asses, hogs, and dogs drawn
over their faces. Some of them were executed with various
ingenious tortures, and some were released.^ It is disgusting
to find a man like Akbar sanctioning such barbarities. His
philosophy sometimes failed to curb the tendency to cruelty
which he inherited from his Tartar ancestors. The severities
practised did not finally extirpate the Mirza trouble, which
soon broke out again in Gujarat.

The pursuit of the Mirzas had interrupted and rendered
ineffective an expedition against the famous fortress of
Nagarkot or Kangra in the lower Himalayan hills which
Husain Kuli Khan had undertaken with good hopes of
complete success. He had occupied the outer town, but
the inner citadel still held out, when he was obliged to with-
draw his troops to pursue the rebels. A peace was patched

» A. N., iii, 48.
« A N. iii 55.

* Badaoni, ii, 163 ; Tabakdt,
inE. &D., V, 359.

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 117

up, the Raja undertaking to pay tribute and acknowledge
formally the suzerainty of Akbar. The capture of the
stronghold was deferred until 1620, when it capitulated to
the officers of Jahangir, who was much pleased at winning
a conquest which had eluded his father's grasp.^
i Akbar had come home under the impression that the Rebellion
subjugation of Gujarat was complete, and that the arrange- Gujarat,
ments made for the administration of the province would
work smoothly. But he was soon disillusioned. Reports
were received from the governor that a fresh insurrection
had broken out, under the leadership of Muhammad Husain,
one of the irrepressible Mirzas, and a chief named Ikhtiyaru-1
Mulk. The governor admitted in his dispatch that the rebels
were too strong for him, and Akbar without hesitation
resolved to proceed in person to suppress the insurrection.
He was not, however, in a position to move without prepara-
tion. His army, which was little more than a loosely organized
militia, had been exhausted by the previous campaign, and
the equipment at the disposal of the nobles responsible
for furnishing contingents was worn out. It was necessary,
therefore, to equip the fresh expedition from imperial funds.
A.kbar opened wide the doors of his treasury and provided
-he requisite cash without stint. He saw to everything with
lis own keen eyes. One of his historians observes that,
although he had full trust and hope of heavenly assistance,
\e neglected no material means of success '.^ In other words,
le acted on the Cromwellian maxim of trusting in God and
keeping his powder dry.
I ' He frequently said ', we are told, ' that although he was
xerting himself in the organization and dispatch of the army,
f 'O one would be ready sooner than himself to take his part
n the work.'

The young sovereign, then in his thirty-first year, and in Akbar's
he fullest enjoyment of his powers, bodily and mental, f^i ^j.. '
l^as as good as his word. On August 23, 1573 (24 RabI II, pedition.
H. 981), he was ready, and rode out from his capital

' Jahangir, R. & B., ii, 183-6, « Tabakat, in E. & D., v, 364.

|!3 ; A. N., iii, 52.

118 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

attended by a small suite, mounted on swift she-camels.
He travelled fifty miles through the stifling heat without
drawing rein, and proceeded each day with equal speed,
riding sometimes on a horse and sometimes in a light cart.
So travelling he rushed across Rajputana, until in the course
of nine clear days, or eleven days all told, he found himself
in the outskirts of Ahmadabad, distant nearly six hundred
miles by the road used. His route lay through Ajmer,
Jalor, Disa (Deesa), and Patau or Anhilwara, the ancient
capital of Gujarat. At the small town of Balisna, between
Patan and Ahmadabad, he made a halt and reviewed his
tiny force,^ which, including the cavalry sent on in advance
and his personal escort, did not exceed in all three thousand
horsemen. The enemy were estimated to muster 20,000. He
kept a bodyguard of about a hundred selected warriors
about his person, and divided the rest into three sections
or brigades, centre, right, and left. The command of the
centre, the post of honour, was given to Abdurrahim Khan,
a lad of sixteen, the son of Akbar's former regent and
guardian, Bairam Khan. The boy, who was with his father
at the time of his murder in January 1561, had been rescued,
brought to court, and carefully educated under the super-
vision of Akbar, who seized the earliest possible opportunity
of giving him the chance of winning distinction in the field,
of course, under the guidance of older officers. He became
in due time the greatest noble in the realm.^

» ' Ballsana ' of A. N., iii, 66, is now chiefly remembered for his

with v.l. 'MaHyana' and 'PaU- Persian version of Babur's Me-

tana '. It must be Balisna of woirs from the Turki original. The

the I. G. (1908), s. v., a small town A. N., iii, 69, gives an interesting

in the Patan tdluka, Baroda State ; list of 27 officers who rode with

and not as suggested by Beveridge, Akbar on his rapid march. It

loc. cit. The positions are : includes 15 Hindus, of whom three

Patan, 23° 51' N., 72° 10' E. ; seem to have been painters,

Balisna, 23° 49' N., 72° 15' E. ; namely No. 5, Jagannath ; No. 21,

and Ahmadabad, 23° 2' N., Sanwal Das, and No. 26, Tara

72° 35' E. See sketch map. Chand. A picture of the Sarnal

* Abdurrahim was born at fight by Sanwal Das or Sanwlah

Lahore on December 17, 1556 = is in the Clarke MS. at the S.

Safar 14, a. h. 964 (Beale and Kensington Museum. No. 27,

Blochmann). His education was Lai Kalawant, was a musician,

unusually thorough. He acquired Raja Birbar is No. 10, and Ram

proficiency in Arabic, Persian, Das Kachwhaha is No. 18.
Turki, Sanskrit, and Hindi. He

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 119

The royal troops, when within a few miles of Ahmadabad,
approached the river SabarmatI, expecting to effect a junc-
tion with the army of the Khan-i-Azam, which failed to
appear. The insurgents, hearing the blast of their sovereign's
trumpets, could not believe their ears, and said : ' Our
scouts reported that a fortnight ago the emperor was at
Fathpur-Sikri ; how can he be here now ? Where are the
elephants which always travel with him ? ' Whatever
might be the explanation, the fact of Akbar's presence
could not be denied, and the rebels were constrained to make
ready to fight for their lives.

Ikhtiyaru-1 Mulk undertook the duty of watching the Battle
gates of Ahmadabad, and preventing Khan-i-Azam, the ^^bld"^"
governor, from coming to the aid of his lord. Muhammad Sept. 2,
Husain Mirza, at the head of fifteen hundred fierce Moguls,
was prepared to receive the royalist attack. Akbar, indig-
nantly rejecting the advice of cautious counsellors who
advised him to wait for the city garrison to come out, com-
pelled his unwilling followers to fight at once, and, with his
accustomed impetuosity, spurred his horse into and across
the river, and so challenged the enemy, who replied by
checking the small advanced guard. The emperor, per-
ceiving the check, ' gave the word, and charged like a fierce
tiger '. Much hard fighting hand to hand ensued, and at
one moment Akbar was left with only two troopers by his
side. His horse was wounded, and a report spread that he
had been killed. His men, when they saw that he was safe,
rallied and quickly drove the rebels from the field. Muham-
mad Husain Mirza was wounded and taken prisoner, and
the fight was won.

An hour later Ikhtiyaru-1 Mulk appeared with 5,000 men,
hoping to reverse the defeat. But his followers were struck
with panic so disgraceful that ' the royal troops pulled the
arrows out of the quivers of the fugitives, and used them
igainst them '. Ikhtiyaru-1 Mulk was slain by a trooper
A'ho rode him down, and the wounded Mirza prisoner was
lecapitatcd by his guards, in pursuance of an order obtained
vith some difficulty from Akbar by officers who urged the

120

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Settle-
ment of
Gujarat.

necessity of the act. The Khan-i-Azam did not come up
until all the fighting was over. Thus in one short, sharp
tussle the back of the rebellion was broken (September 2,
1573). In accordance with the gruesome custom of the times,
a pyramid was built with the heads of the rebels, more than
2,000 in number, who had fallen in the battle.^ Akbar sle^w
with his own hand a prisoner named Shah Madad who was
identified as having killed Bhupat, the brother of Bhagwar
Das, in the Sarnal affair. The one remaining Mirza of im-
portance, by name Shah Mirza, became a homeless wanderer,
and is heard of no more.

Akbar's return march, although not performed at th(
lightning speed of his outward progress, was accomplishec
rapidly in about three weeks. He was back in Fathpur^
Sikri within forty-three days from the time he had ridder
out. Considering the distances traversed, Akbar's seconc
Gujarat expedition may be described safely as the quickesi
campaign on record. The victor, spear in hand, rod(
proudly into his capital, on Monday, October 5, 1573.

The revenues of Gujarat not having been paid up properb
during the period of disturbance, it was necessary to set ii
order the finances of the province. That duty was assignee
to the capable hands of Raja Todar Mall, who made a ' settle
ment ' of the land-revenue, and effected the measurement o
the greater part of the lands in the short space of six months
The province, as reorganized, yielded more than five million;
of rupees annually to the emperor's private treasury, afte
the expenses of the administration had been defrayed. Th(
work so well begun by Raja Todar Mall was continued b]
another revenue expert, Shihabu-d din Ahmad Khan, wh(
was viceroy from 1577 to 1583 or 1584. He re-arranged th
Sarkars or administrative districts, so that sixteen weri
included in the province. The conquest of 1573 was final
although disturbances continued to occur. Gujarat remainec

1 Tabakdt, in E. & D., v, 368.
Badaoni says ' nearly 1,000 heads '
(ii, 172). A. N. does not state
the number, but says that 1,200

dead were counted on the field
besides about 500 who perishec
in the neighbourhood (iii, 87).

REBELLIONS AND CONQUESTS 121

under the government of imperial viceroys until 1758, when
Ahmadabad was definitely taken by the Marathas.^

About this time (1574) Muzaffar Khan Turbati, who had Adminis-
been in Bairam Khan's service, and had become governor j-gf^J-^g ,
of Sarangpur in the Ahmadabad territory, was summoned Muzaffar
to court and entrusted with the duties of Vakil or prime
minister. Raja Todar Mall served under him in the finance
department. Akbar's system of administration may be
said to have been definitely planned in 1573 and 1574,
immediately after the conquest of Gujarat. The emperor,
in concert with Raja Todar Mall, then ' promulgated the
branding regulation, the conversion of the imperial terri-
tories into crown-lands, and the fixing the grades of the
officers of State '. ^

The ' branding regulation ' means the adoption of a regular
system of branding government horses in order to prevent
fraud. It was based on the institutions of Alau-d din
Khilji and Sher Shah,^ and excited the most lively opjDO-
sition.

The phrase, ' the conversion of the imperial territories
into crown-lands ', means that the territories were not given
as fiefs (jdglrs) to nobles to be administered by them, subject
merely to the supplying of a fixed number of troops, but that
they were to be administered directly by imperial officials,
who would themselves collect the revenues. The ' fixing
the grades of the officers of State ' means the definite
establishment of the official bureaucracy of Amirs and
Mansabdars which will be explained in a later chapter.

These administrative reforms were distasteful to Muzaffar

I Khan, who failed to carry out the imperial orders with

loyalty, and consequently was soon removed from his high

' Mirat-i-Ahmadl, in Bayley, mentioned already as having

History of Gujarat (1886), pp. 20, taken part in the intrifrues against

22. 20, 82, 00, 342 r^ams, divided Bairam Khan, and as having

by 40, equal 5,205,008 rupees paid been finance minister for a short

to the private fisc (khdlsah-i- time. Blochmann gives his bio-

sharifah). Full statistical details graphy (J'ih, vol. i, p.332,No. 26).
are given. See also Bombay ^ A. N., iii, 95.

Gazetteer (1896), vol. i, part i, » For Sher Shah see E. «fc D.,

pp. 26.5-9. Shihabu-d din Ahmad iv, 551.
Khan (Shihab Khan) has been

122 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

office.^ The revenue arrangements were further developed
by Raja Todar Mall some years later. His system will be
described in due course.

The execution of the reforms above mentioned, interrupted
by the war in Bihar, was resumed in 1575.

* Blochmann gives a full life of Muzaffar Khan Turbati {Am,
vol. i, p. 348, No. 37).

CHAPTER V

CONQUEST OF BIHAR AND BENGAL ; ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE ' HOUSE OF WORSHIP ' ; AKBAR'S FIRST CONTACT
WITH CHRISTIANITY ; ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES ;
WAR IN RAJPUTANA.

The provinces of Bengal and Bihar, which had been Bengal
overrun by small Muhammadan armies at the close of the history,
twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century, con-
tinued to be ruled by governors loosely dependent on the
Sultan of Delhi, but in practice usually independent, until
about 1340, in the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlak, when
the governor openly set himself up as independent king. In
the time of Sher Shah, Afghan chiefs held the country ;
, Sulaiman Khan, an Afghan of the Kirani or Kararani clan,
; being then governor of Bihar.^ In 1564 Sulaiman occupied
Gaur, the capital of the Bengal kings, and so founded a new
and short-lived Bengal dynasty. Finding Gaur to be un-
healthy, he moved his court to Tanda, a few miles to the south-
west.^ He besieged Rohtas, the only place of importance
in Bengal or Bihar which then held out for the emperor.'
When Akbar had sent a small force to relieve the fortress
(1566), Sulaiman thought it prudent not to brave the
imperial wrath. He therefore retired to Bengal and left
the stronghold in the hands of the imperialists.

Sulaiman found it advisable to send valuable presents
from time to time to Akbar, and to recognize his superior

* Kirdnl {^J>\;'i) in Tabakdt, &c.,

Kararani in A.N. and Badaoni.
Blochmann {Aln, vol. 1, p. 171
lote) says that the form Karzani
ilso occurs.

^ Old Tanda, or Tanra, seems
o have been cut away by the
Jbafjirathi (Ganges), and its exact
ite is not ascertainable (/. G.,
908).

2 Rohtas, or Rohtasgarh, 24°
37' N. and 83° 55' E., is now in
the Sasaram (Sahasram) sub-
division of the Shahabad District
in Bihar. The fortress occupies
a plateau with a circumference
of nearly 28 miles. Another
Rohtas was built by Sher Shah
in the Jihlam (Jiielum) District,
Panjab.

124

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

authority in a certain measure, with which the emperor was
content for the moment.

When Sulaiman died in 1572 (a. h. 980), he is said to have
been ' much regretted by his subjects, and liighly respected
by all his contemporaries.' ^

His elder son, Bayazld, who succeeded to the throne, was
killed a few months later by Afghan chiefs, who substituted
Daiid, Sulaiman's younger son. That prince, who ' waj
a dissolute scamp, and knew nothing of the business ol
' forsook the prudent measures of his father

Akbar's
prepara-
tions for
the cam-
paign.

governing

' 2

and, assuming all the insignia of royalty, ordered the Khutbt
to be proclaimed in his own name through all the town;
of Bengal and Bihar, and directed the coin to be stampec
with his own title, thus completely setting at defiance th(
authority of the emperor Akbar '. '

He found himself in possession of immense treasure
40,000 well-mounted cavalry, 140,000 infantry, 20,000 gun;
of various calibres, 3,600 elephants, and several hundrec
war-boats — a force which seemed to him sufficient justifica
tion for a contest with Akbar, whom he proceeded to provok(
by the seizure of the fort of Zamania, erected a few year;
before by Khan Zaman, as a frontier post of the empire.*

Akbar, who was in Gujarat when he received the news o
Baud's audacity, at once dispatched orders to Munim Khan
Khan Khanan, and the representative of the imperial powe:
in Jaunpur, to chastise the aggressor. Munim, on receip
of his sovereign's instructions, assembled a powerful forc(
and marched on Patna, where he was opposed by Lod
Khan, an influential Afghan chief, who had placed Daud or
the throne, and now served that prince as minister. Munirr
Khan, who was then very old, had lost his energy, and, aftei
some skirmishing, was content to cease hostilities and grani
Daud extremely lenient terms. Neither of the principa

* Stewart, History of Bengal
(1813), p. 151. The correct year
of death is 980 (1572), as in
Badaoni (ii, 166), not 981 (1573),
as in Stewart.

^ Tabakat, in E. & D., v, 373.

' Stewart, loc. cit.

* Zamania, now a small towi
of the Ghazipur District, U. P.
situated in 25° 23' N. and 83° 34
E. Khan Zaman (Ali Kuli I^an
joined in the Uzbeg rebellion, an(
was killed in June 1567.

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 125

parties was pleased. Akbar thought that the Khan Khanan
had been too easy-going, and Daud was jealous of his
minister. The emperor accordingly deputed Raja Todar
Mall, his best general, to take the command in Bihar, making
over the Raja's civil duties as Diwan temporarily to Rai
Ram Das. Daud treacherously killed his minister, LodI
Khan, and confiscated his property.

Munim Khan, stung by his master's censure, returned
rapidly to Patna and laid siege to the city. But he soon
found the task of taking it to be beyond his powers, and
begged Akbar to come in person and assume charge of the
campaign.

Akbar, who had just returned to the capital after paying
his annual visit to Ajmer, proceeded to Agra in March 1574,
and prepared a fleet of elaborately equipped boats to proceed
down the rivers.

Before we enter upon the description of his doings certain Sundry
miscellaneous occurrences may be noted. On October 22, ^^^"J"
1573, the three princes had been circumcised at Fathpur-
Sikrl, and a little later a tutor was appointed for Prince
Salim, then more than four years of age. Haji Begam, Huma-
yun's senior widow, who lived a retired life at Delhi, where
she was building her husband's mausoleum, came to court
in order to congratulate Akbar on his victories in Gujarat.
The emperor was so much attached to her that many people
were under the impression that she was his mother. Even
historians often confound her with Hamida Bano Begam.^

Early in 1574 Abu-1 Fazl, whose elder brother Faizi was
ilready in attendance, presented himself at court, but failed

attract much attention, everybody being then intent on
he preparations for the campaign in the east. The liistorian
.Jadaoni (Abdu-1 Kadir) began his life as a courtier at nearly

he same time.

' Badaoni (Lowe, p. 308), wTien and good works'. See the author's

■oticing the death of Haji Begam essay, entitled ' The Confusion be-

1 A. H. 989, A. D. 1581, deseribes tween two Consorts of Humayun,
er as ' a second mother to the namely, Haji ahas Bega Begam,
Imperor ... a very pillar of and Hamida Bano Begam, Mar-
oliness, and purity, and virtue, yam Makaiu ', in J./e..-1.6'., 1917.

126 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The river On June 15, 1574, Akbar embarked for the river voyage
voyage, rpj^^ arrangements made for the comfort and convenienc
of the emperor and his suite vi^ere astonishingly complete
Two large vessels were appropriated as the residence c
Akbar himself, and were followed by a great fleet conveyin
the high officers with equipment and baggage of every kinc
Even ' gardens, such as clever craftsmen could not make o
land ', were constructed on some of the boats,i and tw
mighty fighting elephants, each accompanied by tw
females, were carried.^

Adequate arrangements were carefully made for th
protection of the capital and the conduct of the civil ac
ministration, during the absence of the sovereign, who wa
accompanied by many of his best officers, Hindu an
Muhammadan. The names of nineteen given by Abu-1 Fa:
include Bhagwan Das, Man Singh, Birbal, Shahbaz Khar
and Kasim Khan, the admiral or ' Mir Bahr '. The rain
season being then at its height, the voyage was necessaril
adventurous, and many mishaps occurred. Several vessel
foundered off Etawah, and eleven off Allahabad. Afte
travelling for twenty-six days Akbar reached Benares
where he halted for three days. He then proceeded an
anchored near Sayyidpur, where the Gumti joins the Gauge;
On the same day the army which had marched by Ian
arrived. The whole movement evidently had been though
out and executed with consummate skill in the face c
tremendous difficulties due to the weather. The ladies an
children were sent to Jaunpur, and Akbar, in response t
urgent entreaties from Munim Khan that he would b
pleased to come in person with all speed to the front, advance
to the famous ferry at Chaunsa or Chausa, where his fathe
had suffered a severe defeat in 1539.^ The army was the:
brought across to the northern bank of the river.

At this time the receipt of a welcome dispatch announcinj

' A. N., iii, 120. village stands close to the eas

"■ Ibid., 123. bank of the Karamnasa rivei

* Chausa, in the Buxar sub- four miles to the west of Buxa

division of the Shahabad District, (Baksar).

Bihar, 23° 51' N. and 83° 54'. The

[sti

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 127

the capture of the strong fortress of Bhakkar (Bukkur) in
Sind naturally was interpreted as an omen of victory in the
east.

Akbar continued his journey by water, and on August 3, Fall of
1574, landed in the neighbourhood of Patna. After taking ^^^^
counsel with his officers, and ascertaining that the besieged Hajipur.
city relied for the greater part of its supplies on the town
of Hajipur, situated on the opposite or northern bank of
the Ganges, he decided that the capture of that place was
a necessary preliminary to the successful accomplishment
of the main design. The difficulties caused by the flooded
state of the huge river, many miles in -width at that season,
and the strenuous resistance of a strongly posted garrison
were overcome, and the fort was captured by the gallantry
of the detachment appointed by Akbar to the duty. The
heads of the Afghan leaders killed were thrown into a boat
and brought to Akbar, who forwarded them to Daud as a hint
of the fate which awaited and in due course befell him.

The same day Akbar ascended the Panj Pahari, or ' Five

Hills ', a group of extremely ancient artificial mounds,

standing about half a mile to the south of the city, and thence

I reconnoitred the position.^ Daud, although he still had

I at his disposal 20,000 horse, a large park of artillery, and

many elephants, came to the conclusion that he could not

resist the imperial power, and decided on flight. During

pi the night he slipped out quietly by a back gate and went

to Bengal. The garrison, which attempted to escape in

ithe darkness, suffered heavy losses in the process. Akbar

iwas eager to start at once, but was persuaded to wait until

jthe morning, when he entered Patna by the Delhi gate. He

then personally pursued the fugitives for about thirty kos.

* The Panj Pahari, or ' Five cupolas, either Jain or Buddhist.

Hills ', is a group of ruins, lying They seem to date from the time

'lalf a mile to the south of Patna of the Nandas, before the Mauryas.

ind the same distance to the south- The site has never been examined

iast of Kumrahar, where the properly. Some years ago Dr.

oalace of Chandragupta Maurya Fiihrer did damage by ill-con-

irobably stood. They extend sidered and futile excavations.

roni north to south about three The Tabakat (E. & D., v, 378) is

urlongs, and evidently are the the authority for the fact of the

emains of solid stupas or sacred reconnaissance.

128

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Prosecu-
tion of
cam-
paign ;
Akbar's
return.

Munim

Khan's

advance

into

Bengal.

or quite fifty miles, but failed to overtake them. An enormous
amount of booty, including 265 elephants, was taken, anc
the common people enjoyed themselves picking up purses ol
gold and articles of armour in the streams and on the banks

The capture of so great a city in the middle of the rainj
season was an almost unprecedented achievement and a pain-
ful surprise to the Bengal prince. He had reckoned on Akbai
following the good old Indian custom of waiting until th(
Dasahara festival in October to begin a campaign. Bui
Akbar resembled his prototype, Alexander of Macedon
in his complete disregard of adverse weather conditions
and so was able to win victories in defiance of the shdstrai
and the seasons.^

The question now came up for decision whether the cam
paign should be prosecuted notwithstanding the rains, oi
postponed until the cold season. Opinions were divided
but Akbar had no hesitation in deciding that delay coulc
not be permitted. Accordingly, he organized an additiona
army of more than 20,000 men, entrusting the supremt
command to old Munim Khan who was appointed governoi
of Bengal. Raja Todar Mall and other capable officers wer(
placed under his orders. Jaunpur, Benares, Chunar, anc
certain other territories were brought under the direci
administration of the Crown {Khdlsa), and officers wer<
appointed to govern them on behalf of Akbar. He resolvec
to return to his capital, leaving the Bengal campaign to b<
conducted by his generals.

Late in September, while he was encamped at Khanpui
in the Jaunpur district, he received dispatches announcing
the success of Munim Khan. The emperor arrived ai
Fathpur-Slkri on January 18, 1575, after seven months ol
strenuous travelling and campaigning.

The accounts received from the commander-in-chiel
showed that the operations ordered had been successfu
beyond all expectation. Mungir (Monghyr), Bhagalpur

^ ' Neither winter nor difficul-
ties hindered Alexander . . .
Nothing in the business of war

was impossible for Alexander, i
he undertook it ' (Arrian, Anab.
vii, 15).

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 129

Khalgaon (Colgong), and the formidable Garhi or Teliagarhi
Pass were seized in succession, after only feeble resistance.
The pass, lying between the Rajmahal Hills on the south
and the Ganges on the north, and regarded as ' the gate of
Bengal ', was turned by a detachment sent round by a path
not in ordinary use. Once the pass had been traversed the
imperialists experienced no difficulty in entering Tanda,
the capital of Bengal.^ Daud retired in the direction of
Orissa, through Satgaon, which was occupied without
opposition by Muhammad Kuli Khan Barlas.^

The prospect of pursuing Daiid over bad roads into the
wilds of Orissa was so distasteful to the troops and their
commanders that dissensions broke out, and Raja Todar
Mall found it hard to persuade his colleagues to push on,
as they were required to do by express written orders from
Akbar. Ultimately, Munim Khan (Khan Khanan), who was
)ld and sluggish, and had stayed behind, was constrained
o come to the front and press the advance under his
personal command, A road easier than that chosen at first
vas made passable for troops.

The army accordingly was able to evade the obstacles Battle of
)repared by the enemy and to enter Orissa. On March 3, ^ga^^^*^' '
575, the battle decisive of the fate of Bengal was fought with
ear the \illage of Tukaroi, now in the Balasore District,
zing between Midnapur and Jalesar or Jellasore. The
ction was forced on Munim Khan, who was compelled to
igage before he was ready. In the early stages of the conflict
le imperialist commander received several severe wounds
ad victory seemed assured to the Bengal army. But later
the day the fall of Daud's general, Gujar Khan, caused
Ttune to change sides and brought about the total defeat
" Daud, who fled from the field.
Munim Khan, following the barbarous fashion of the times,

' The pass is now in the San- village near Hooghly (Hfigli), was

II (Sonthal) Parganas District. the principal commercial river

'mda, as already mentioned, port of the province in those days.

t)od a few miles to the south-west Its ruin was brought about by

( Gaur, in the region now known the silting up of the river channel

£ the Malda District. and the consequent removal of

' Satgaon, now an insignificant the public offices in 1632. ^^

'^^■. \

130 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

massacred his prisoners, whose heads were sufficient
numerous to furnish ' eight slcy-high minarets '.^

Shortly afterwards (April 12) Munim Khan accepted tl
formal submission of Daiid and again granted him liber
terms, leaving him in possession of Orissa. Raja Todar Ma
who perceived the insincerity of the enemy, opposed tl
treaty and refused to sign it. Subsequent occurrences prov(
the soundness of his judgement.

At this point we may quit Bengal for a time and turn

the consideration of events happening elsewhere.

Famine The recently annexed province of Gujarat, which enjo

and pesti- ^^^ reputation of being less liable to the visitations of fami

Gujarat, than most parts of India, suffered severely from both fami

and pestilence in the nineteenth year of the reign, 1574-

while Akbar was engaged on the Patna campaign. T

one brief notice of the calamity records the bare facts th

the famine and epidemic lasted for nearly six months, th

prices rose to an extreme height, and that horses and co'

were reduced to feeding on the bark of trees. We are n

informed concerning the nature of the epidemic disease.^

The Akbar, on arrival at his capital in January 1575, foui

f w^^ plenty of occupation. Within a month after his retu

ship ', or home he issued orders for the erection of a ' House

khdrm Worship' {'Ibddat-khdna), a building specially designed i

the accommodation of selected persons representing vario

schools of Muslim theological and philosophical thougl

where they could discuss with freedom the most abstru

problems under the presidency of the sovereign. Akb

from early youth had been passionately interested in t

mystery of the relation between God and man, and in ;

the deep questions concerned with that relation.

' Discourses on philosophy ', he said, ' have such a chai
for me that they distract me from all else, and I forcit
restrain myself from listening to them, lest the necessa
duties of the hour should be neglected.' ^

When he came home to his capital at the beginning

1 ^. N., iii, 180. * 'Happy Sayings', in A\

* Tabakat, in E. &, D., v, 384. vol. iii, p. 386.

BENGAL; ADMINISTRA ilv'.N

1575 he was conscious of having gained a long succession
of remarkable and decisive victories which left him without
an important enemy in the world as known to him. We
are told that at this time he ' spent whole nights in praising
God. . . . His heart was full of reverence for Him, who is the
true Giver, and from a feeling of thankfulness for his past
successes he would sit many a morning alone in prayer and
meditation on a large flat stone of an old building which lay
near the palace in a lovely spot, with his head bent over his
chest, gathering the bliss of the early hours of dawn '.^
Thus he felt himself at leisure and free to indulge his passion
for unlimited discussion of all things in heaven and earth.
His resolve to erect a building devoted to such discussion
was encouraged by stories told about the practice of Baud's
father, Sulaiman Krani, the late ruler of Bengal, who had
been in the habit of sitting up all night in the company of
a hundred and fifty renowned ascetic Shaikhs and learned
Ulama, or doctors of Muslim law. Moreover, Akbar expected
a visit from a distant relative, Sulaiman Mirza, the exiled
chief of Badakhshan, driven from his kingdom by the Uzbegs,
who was deeply versed in the pantheistic mysticism of
the unorthodox Sufi thinkers, and was reputed to have
attained the position of a ' Sahib-i-hal ', that is to say, a man
capable of exiDcriencing a state of ecstasy and intimate union
with God.

Accordingly, the emperor instructed skilful architects to

design and clever builders to construct with all speed in the

gardens of the palace near the dwelling of Shaikh Salim

la building suitable for the proposed debates. The nucleus

of the new edifice was the deserted cell or hermitage of

Miyan or Shaikh Abdullah Niyazi of Sirhind, a renowned

iscetic, who had been at one time a disciple of Salim, but had

retired to Sirhind. Akbar caused the vacant hermitage to

be rebuilt, and on all four sides of it a hall to be erected

'or the accommodation of his numerous holy visitors. No

-visible trace of the building remains, nor is its exact position

mown, but, apparently, it must have stood to the north-

* Badaoni, ii, 203.
K2

132

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

west of the great mosque built for Shaikh Sallm in 1571
and in a locahty where gardens still exist.^ The structure
which gave scope for the exercise of the skill of emineni
architects, must have been of considerable dimensions anc
graced by appropriate ornament.

We are told that Akbar on Thursday evenings afte]

sunset, reckoned as part of Friday in the Muslim calendar

would ' go from the new chapel of the Shaikh-ul-Islam [scil

Salim] and hold a meeting in this building '. That statemeni

seems to mean that the emperor used to go from the precinct!

of the great mosque to the House of Worship, as he coulc

do conveniently by passing through a door which probablj

existed at the back of the mosque,^

The The persons invited to share in and listen to the debate;

assem- were confined at first to Muslims of four classes, namely

at the (1) Shaikhs, that is to say, ascetic holy men who claimec

Worship. *h^ privilege of special communion with God, like the der

vishes of Syria and Egypt ; (2) Sayyids, or eminent reputec

descendants of the Prophet ; (3) Ulama, or doctors learned ir

the law ; and (4) Amirs, selected nobles of the court inter

ested in the subjects discussed. The building consisted ol

a single spacious chamber, capable presumably of accommo

dating two or three hundred people, and built round the

remodelled cell of Shaikh Abdullah. At the early meetings

persons belonging to all the four classes named were minglec

1 See general plan prefixed to
each volume or part of E. W.
Smith's work on Fathpur-Sikri.

^ ' At the ])ack of the mosque
is an enclosure, containing a small
tomb of an infant. This, the
legend goes, is the tomb of an
infant son of Shaikh Salim, aged
six months. ... In the debris
about here will be found a door
leading to a cave which was the
original abode of the saint before
the spot attracted the attention
of royalty. The place is also
pointed out where he used to
teach his pupils, as also the place
where the holy man persuaded
the royal couple to take up their
abode in the neighbourhood of

his own hut, and where the princt
who bore his name was born '
(Latif, Agra, p. 154). Two small
openings in the rear or western
wall of the mosque are indicated
in the plan. For detailed discus-
sion of the position of the House
of Worship see my paper, ' The
Site and Design of Akbar's
^ Ibddat-khdna or " House of Wor-
ship " ' (J. R. A. S., 1917). The
authorities are : Badaoni, ii, 203
(tr. Lowe) ; iii, 73, 74 (tr. Haig,
No. XXII) ; Tabakat, in E. & D.,
v, 390 ; A. N., vol. iii, p. 157,
The Tabakat states that the
building was ' in the gardens of
the palace '.

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 133

promiscuously, but when disputes arose about seats and
the order of preeedence the emperor was obhged to assign
separate quarters to each class of guests. The Amirs occupied
the eastern side, where the main entrance probably existed ;
the Sayyids were on the west ; the Shaikhs on the north ; and
the Ulama on the south. The four quarters of the building
are sometimes spoken of as distinct ' halls ' (aiwdn), but it
is certain that they formed only a single chamber, with the
' cell ', probably a small domed structure, in the centre.
The four sections may have been partitioned off one from
the other by light railings, perforated screens, or curtains.
No difficulty existed in passing from one section to another.
Akbar was in the habit of moving about freely, and chatting
Iwith his visitors of all shades of opinion. The debates were
of portentous length. Beginning at some time after sunset
on Thursday evening, which counts as part of Friday
according to the Muhammadan calendar, they were often
prolonged until noon on that day. Akbar usually presided
in person, but sometimes, when he felt tired, would be
represented by some courtier selected for his tact and good
temper.

In those days Akbar, although much inclined to rational-

stic and unorthodox speculation, especially that of the Sufi

schools saturated with pantheistic ideas, was still a practising

md to some extent a believing Musalman. The guests in

:he House of Worship, consequently, were representative of

.he diverse sections of Muslim thought only, and originally

lid not include Hindus or other non-Muslim persons. But

jwo or three years later, certainly in 1578, Hindus, Christians,

'.nd adherents of divers rehgions were admitted. We do

i^ot know how long the building continued in use. I suspect

'hat after 1579 or 1580 it must have ceased to be the scene

if the more extended debates which then took place and were

pparently carried on in other premises, usually the private

all of audience, where men of all religions could meet.

,'he House of Worship was designed for the use of Muslims

kaly. The presumed early disuse of the structure may be

ic explanation of its total disappearance and of the loss of

134 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

any recollection of its site. It is not unlikely that it was
deliberately pulled down by the orders of Akbar himself.^
The controversies between the innumerable sects and schools
of Islam can have had little interest for Akbar when he
ceased to be a Musalman. His definite apostasy may be
dated from the beginning of 1582, after his return in Decembei
1581 from his victorious expedition to Kabul, and his release
from the intense anxiety caused by his brother's attempt
earlier in that year to seize the throne of India,^ which will
be described in the next chapter. The emperor, once he was
finally freed from the dread of deposition and death, felt
himself at liberty to proceed with his plan for establishinc
that universal rehgion which he foolishly dreamed of im-
posing on his whole empire, under the name of the Divine
Religion or Divine Monotheism. From that time he cannol
be regarded as a Musalman. The development of Akbar 's
opinions on rehgion will be discussed more fully in subsequent
pages.

Pilgrim- However unorthodox Akbar might be, the numerous

ages to . . o ^

Mecca. ladies of his family, especially his mother, Hamida Banc

Begam, and his father's sister, Gulbadan Begam, wer(

extremely devout Muslims and hostile to all innovation.

The latter lady, who had long been desirous to make th(

pilgrimage to Mecca, had been prevented from attaininj

her desire earlier by the insecurity of the roads and th(

dangers from Portuguese piracy at sea. The reduction o

Gujarat to a tolerable state of order, and the nature of th(

relations with the authorities of Goa in 1575 were considere(

to justify Gulbadan Begam in then proceeding on pilgrimage

She started early in October, accompanied by ten distin

' See my paper, ' The Site and simile facevano le tante mogli

Designof Akbar's'iftarfa/-Ma»rt, or che haveva, dubitando di esse

" House of Worship " ' (J.R.A.S., repudiate ' (Peruschi, p. 31). Or

1917). freely rendered : ' His mother

^ ' Assoluto da un gran timore ' his aunt, and certain great lord

(Bartoli, p. 75). of the court had an innate hatrec

* ' Sua Madre, & sua Zia, & for the Christian religion whicl

alcuni di quel gran Signori, che they represented as being nast;

aveva intorno . . . per I'odio, che and evil. His numerous wives

naturalmente hanno alia Religione afraid of being repudiated, adop

Christiana, & pero glie la dipin- ted the same attitude.'
gevano brutta, & cattiva, & il

BENGAL ; ADMINISTRATION 135

giiished ladies, of whom the chief was Salima Sultan Begam,
Bairam Khan's widow, who had married Akbar and borne
to him Prince Miirad. Elaborate and successful precautions
were taken for the safety of the travellers during their long
journey to the coast, but the Portuguese did not prove so
amenable to the imperial wishes as had been expected.
The ladies were detained at Surat for about a year before
they could obtain a satisfactory pass guaranteeing them
against molestation on the voyage. Ultimately, they got
away safely, performed the pilgrimage, and landed again in
India early in 1582. Gulbadan Begam, who wrote Memoirs
of considerable interest, unfortunately did not take the
trouble to describe in detail her experiences as a pilgrim.

Akbar not only made ample provision for the comfort and
safety of his female relatives, but also sent at the same time
a large party of male pilgrims under the charge of a leader
(Mir Haji), well furnished with funds. That novel and
costly arrangement was continued for five or six years,
and Akbar even professed a desire to go on pilgrimage in
person. He yielded with apparent unwillingness to the

(advice of his ministers, who pointed out that he could not
possibly quit his kingdom without incurring grave dangers.^
The emperor was so zealous, whether from conviction or
policy, during those six years (about 1575-81) that he issued
a general order to the effect that any one who wished might
?o on pilgrimage at the expense of the treasury. Many
persons took advantage of the opportunity. ' But ', adds
BadaonI, when writing late in the reign, ' the reverse is now
the case, for he cannot now bear even the name of such
I thing ; and merely to ask leave to go on a pilgrimage is
|. enough to make a man a malefactor worthy of death. " We
ilternate these days among men."'^ In or about October
,1576 Akbar, when sending off Sultan Khwaja as leader of
Ihe pilgrim caravan through Rajputana, himself donned
he pilgrim's garb {ihrdm), and made a symbolical pilgrimage

* E. & D., V, 401 ; A. N., iii, cause thenc dnys of different success

jl69-71. interchangeabiy to succeed each

- Badaoni, ii, 21-6. Sale renders other among men ' (Koran, iii,

he text more difiuscly as : ' We 134).

'x36

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's
first con-
tact with
Chris-
tianity.

Father

Julian

Pereira,

by walking after the Khwaja for a few paces.^ The sincerity
of that theatrical demonstration may be reasonably doubted
We shall see presently that at a slightly later date Akba
deliberately shammed devotion for political purposes.

In this connexion it will be convenient to notice Akbar'
earliest dealings with Christians and Christianity.

The first Europeans with whom he became acquainte(
personally were the Portuguese merchants whom he met a
Cambay towards the end of 1572. A little later, early ii
1573, when Akbar was at Surat, hostilities between him an(
the Portuguese seemed to be imminent, but peace was nego
tiated successfully by Antonio Cabral, under the directioj
of Dom Antonio de Noronha, the Viceroy, as already noted
In 1576, the year following the erection of the House c
Worship, Akbar obtained a favourable impression of th
Christian character and religion, on learning that tw
missionary priests, recently arrived in Bengal, had refuse^
absolution to their converts for committing frauds on th
revenue by withholding shipping dues and the imperial shar
of the harvest. The remonstrances of the priests havin
effected a marked improvement in the provincial revenue
Akbar was so much pleased that he remitted the arreai
found to be due. The incident convinced him that Christia
principles, which condemned dishonesty, even when practise
against an alien government, must possess exceptiont
value and influence over the hearts of men.^

At that time Father Julian Pereira was Vicar-General i
Bengal, and stationed at Satgaon. Akbar sent for hin

* The ihrdm consists of two
seamless pieces of white cloth,
one wrapped round the loins, and
the other worn on the body, the
right shoulder and the head being
left bare. A woodcut of a man
wearing it is given by Hughes
{Diet, of Islam, s.v.). Pilgrims
assume the ihrdm when starting
on the last stage of the Mecca
road.

2 Bartoli, p. 7. The two priests,
the earliest missionaries to Bengal,
arrived in ] 576. Thev were named

Anthony Vaz and Peter Dias, an
were Jesuits. The first Augus
tinian missionaries did not reac
Bengal until 1599. They lai
the foundation stone of thei
church dedicated to Our Lady (
the Rosary at Bandel (Hugli) o
August 15 of that year (Hoster
' A Week at the Bandel Conveni
Hugh,' in Bengal Past and Presen
vol. X, January-March 191'
p. 43 ; De Sousa, in CommeTi
tarius, p. 544).

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 137

and when he came to court questioned him closely about Vicar-
Christian doctrine. The worthy Father, being a man of ^^^'^*''
more piety than learning, was unable to satisfy the emperor's Pietro
insatiable curiosity.^

Akbar had already, in 1577, consulted Pietro Tavares,
a Portuguese officer in his service, who either was then,
or soon afterwards became, the captain or commandant of
the port of Hugli (Hooghly).^ Naturally, he too was ill-
qualified to answer correctly the various conundrums
proposed to him.

The Portuguese occupation of Daman, a port on the coast Antonio
of the Gulf of Cambay, which had been seized by the foreigners y^^^^ ^*
in 1558, was always disagreeable to the Mogul court after Sikri.
the conquest of Gujarat in 1573. Friction between the
imperial authorities in the province and the Portuguese
constantly took place. We have seen that armed conflict
was averted wath some difficulty at the beginning of 1573,
when Akbar was encamped near Surat. A few years later
trouble was renewed, and Akbar sent an embassy to Goa to
arrange terms of peace. In 1578 the Viceroy (Dom Diogo
de Menezes) responded by accrediting to Akbar's court
as his ambassador the same Antonio Cabral who had con-
ducted the satisfactory negotiations in 1573. He spent
some time at Fathpur-SikrI, and was able to give the emperor
a considerable amount of information concerning Christian

I * ' Huomo di maggior virtii, che - For Tavares see Manrique,

iapere ' (Bartoli, p. 9). The pp. 13, 14; and Hosten (J. cfc

Christian name of the Vicar- Proc. A. S. B., 1911, 34 ; 1912,

ieneral was GiuHano (Julian), p. 218 u.). He appears in A. N.,

is stated by Monserrate and iii, 349, as Partab-tar Firing!,

/eruschi. Goldie (p. 56), citing scil. European. Between 1578

'fuerreiro, calls him Giles Aves. and 1580 Akbar seems to have

{artoli gives the same names in made to him a grant of land,

lie form Egidio Anes, Egidio being probably coincident in whole or

, Latinized version of Giles. De in part with a plot of 777 bighas

ousa disguises him as Gileanas granted by Shah Shuja in 1633,

'ereyra {Or. Conq., vol. ii, C. I, of which the Fathers still retain

>. II, sec. 44, as cited by Hosten nearly half (Hosten, A Week, Sec,

1 Commentarius, p. 544). He was ut supra, pp. 40, 48, 106). Cabral's

ill at court when the first mis- mission in 1578 was quite distinct

on, that headed by Acpiaviva, from his negotiation in 1573. The

Vrived (ibid., p. 560). He was Bengal bigha is about one-third

it a .lesuit, and may have been of an acre.

secular priest.

138 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

manners and customs ; but, being a layman, he was not
in a position to expound with authority the deeper matters
of the faith. Akbar, accordingly, was impelled to make
arrangements for obtaining instruction from fully qualified
experts. The action taken and its results will be described
in the next chapter.
Adminis- During the interval of comparative leisure which Akbar
measures, enjoyed in 1575 and 1576, after his victorious return from
Patna, and before the beginning of fresh troubles, he did
not confine his superabundant energy to theological dis-
cussions and the encouragement of pilgrimages to Mecca,
but also paid much attention to certain administrative
reforms, which had been planned before the war in Bihar.

The regulations about branding the horses belonging to
the government, introduced by Shahbaz Khan for the pre-
vention of fraud, continued to be sullenly frustrated by local
officials whose perquisites were threatened.^ MIrza Aziz Koka,
Akbar's favourite foster-brother, was so particularly hostile
to the measure that Akbar was obliged to confine him to
his garden-house at Agra. It would seem that nothing
like complete obedience to the rules was ever attained.

The roster of the watches of the palace guard was re-
arranged, and a Mir Arzi, or Receiver of Petitions, was
appointed as a permanent member of the household.

A record office was organized, so that ' whatever proceeded
from the court should be recorded '.^ The record-room at
Fathpur-Sikri still exists. It is a fine room, 48| feet long
by 28| feet wide, with a spacious verandah, and stands to
the south of Akbar's bedroom. The space provided, although
not inconsiderable, appears to be very scanty according to
modern European notions.^ The records, or at any rate
a large part of them, used to be carried about with the
imperial camp.

The arrangements made concerning the collection and
assessment of the land revenue, or government share of the

> For a full biography of Shah- ^ ^ j^^ jij^ jg^^ 208.

baz Khan Kambu see Aln, vol. i, ^ Fathpur-Sikri, iii, pp. 41-3,

pp. 399-402, No. 80. PI. LXVIII.

I— H

o
o

BENGAL ; ADMINISTRATION

139

crops, were more important. They were based on orders
passed in previous years and were subsequently modified
by Raja Todar Mall.

In 1575-6 the new idea which came into Akbar's mind Institu-
was to divide the empire (with certain exceptions) into Karoris.
blocks, each yielding a karor (' crore ' = 10 millions) of tankas,
and placed under charge of an officer termed Karori, whose
duty it would be to encourage cultivation and so increase the
revenue. Every pargana, or ' barony ', was to be measured,
and the measurement was actually begun near the capital.
Bamboo measuring rods fitted with iron rings were substi-
[tuted for the less accurate rope previously used.

The extensive provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Gujarat
^ being excluded from the new organization, and many regions
i; subsequently annexed not having been then conquered,
182 Amils or Karoris sufficed for the empire. Abu-1 Fazl,
las usual, attributes much virtue to the reform, declaring
[that ' men's minds were quieted and also the cultiva-
tion increased, and the path of fraud and falsehood
twas closed '.^

A. N., iii, 167 ; Tnbakdf, in

[E. & D., V, 383. The value of

|i tankd or tankah is variously

stated . Abu-1 Fazl (Aln, Bk. i,

in 2; Blochmann, vol. i, p. 13)

reats it as being synonymous

vith the copper coin called dam,

!»f which 40 went to the rupee

libid., p. 31). De Laet (reprint,

». 135) reckoned .30 copper ' tackae '

o the rupee. But the same

uthor (or rather van den Broecke,

I. 206) reckons 20 ' tangas ' to

he rupee : ' xx tangas in singulas

ipias computando'. According

^ that reckoning the tanga would

e a double dam. That valuation

grees with certain coin legends, as

)r example, No. 412 of Wright's

ataloiiuc, Zarb Difili nlm tankah

kbnr Shdin (' half-tankah '),

I eight 31.'} grains, a norma!

; eight for a dam. Quarter

nkahs al.so occur, e. g., No. H'yS,

J eight, l.->8 7 grs. The dis-

• epancies in the authors cited

* )ove are partly explained by

the following observations of
Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole :

' The term tankah [or tanka]
appears to be used just as vaguely
as fiilils, both for dams of 315 to
325 grs., and double dams of
618 to 644 grs. Mr. Rodgers
states that his weights prove that
the tankah was equal to two
dams ; but I do not draw the
same inference. All [that] his
weights prove is that some
tankahs weighed about 630 grs.,
and others about 320 grs. He
publishes a coin specifically named
an eighth of a tankah, weighing
nearly 40 grs., which brings
the tankah to 320 grs., and also
sixteenths of 38-5 grs., which would
make it 616 grs.' (Stanley Lane-
Poole, B. M. Catal. Mughal Coins,
1892, p. xciii).

So far as the institution of the
Karoris is concerned, the |)oint
must be decided by the testimony
of Abu-1 Fazl, who says {Aln,
loc. cit.), ' zealous and u|uight

\ i

140 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Badaoni on the other hand, gives an account quite
di«erer and presumably nearer to the truth than Abu-1
Fazl's courtly phrases :

' One Karor was named Adampur, another Shethpur
anoSS 'I7;abpur and so »" -eordi-^g to the na.e^^of

into confusion. ..ecount by Raja

'But the Karoris were b""?''' ^.^.''f^"".!,/ severe
Todar Mall, and many good men ^led from the J«w
beatings which were -dmnustered and frorn h to^^^^^^^^
of the rack a"d p.^ers^ rf the evenue authorities, that '
rfeTaf o"n d '^^ et^lt/oner or swordsman, and

luxury, enjoying everything f^* ^^^^^^^J^^ ^hey go and

wheds of its car, or ofier up their heads to the idol.

The ordinary histories lavish so much praise on the revenue
Jo^reffected by Akbar and Todar Mall an on th
.nerits of the imperial administration ^^-^^fy^'^^^^^
starthng to read a criticism so severe. Although Badaom

^en were put in eharge of t^ '^'IJ^^^S'^^^'^

revenues, each over one karor Bihar, ^^"8 ' , ^^^ reckoned

of dams'. For that purpose, ferar Y^t^'S^^^^

therefore, the tanka of Badaom as equa^ to ei variations

(ii, 192) must apparently be at Delhi a ^^^ ^^^i^ces (Aln,.

considered as a synonym for the ex^te i 231).

dam of Abu-i Fazl, and equal m ^o ' u p. ^^ ; ^.^j^ ^^^^^^,

value to the fortieth part of a silver f f/^^^' "Vi. The artificial

rupee. Each karorl consequently t^ons as P^.^^.^^^ were^.soon

was supposed to collect 10,000,000 ^^J«^ J^ ^^^ the ordinary

dams or tankahs -j- 40 = /f '000 ^b^'^Xis ons again became the

rupees ; or two lakhs and a half, ocai aiv ^ j^j ^^^^-jon. The

not a 'very considerable sum auihor's ' good men' should be

equivalent to about from £25,000 ^utho^^^^^ meaning ' orthodox

+^ *9S o()n • the total amounting interpietcu <x:,

^''^^l^^y.lr.n J%^mo.OOO for Mushms'.

to £4,500,000 or £5,000,000 for

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 141

had his personal grievances against both Akbar and Todar
Mall, and was embittered by the most rancorous bigotry,
it is not possible, I think, to disregard his testimony in this
matter as being merely the malicious invention of a disap-
pointed courtier and exasperated fanatic. He may be fairly
described in those terms, but his statements of fact, when
they can be checked from other sources, seem to be usually
correct. I fear it is true that the new system of revenue
administration must be regarded as a grievous failure,
resulting in shocking oppression of the helpless peasantry
and cruel punishment of the local oppressors, the wrongdoing
on both sides being directed to the purpose of screwing money
out of the people, rather than to anything else. The case
must remain at that, because no details have been recorded,
and verification cither of Abu-1 Fazl's flattering phrases or
of Badaoni's savage denunciation is impossible.

In those days Akbar also systematized the grades of The

:)fficial rank and the conditions of promotion. The imperial officials"

officials were known as Mansabdars, that word meaning

imjaly ' official ', and were classed in thirty-three grades

IS ' commanders of ten horse ' and so on, up to ' commanders

)f 5,000 '. The statement that, in the fifteenth year of the

eign (1570-1) Baz Bahadur, the ex-king of Malwa, sub-

iiitted to Akbar and was content to accept the rank of

commander of 1,000 ', is the earliest reference to the

xistence of the grades of mansabdars in Akbar's reign

v'hich I have found. But the title of mansabdar had been

onferred by both Babur and Humayun in accordance mth

*ersian precedent. The new arrangements, which had been

lanncd before the war in Bihar, as already mentioned, were

^:tually put into effect in 1575. The clearest contemporary

escription of the measures then taken is that given by

adaoni as follows :

' It was settled that every Amir should commence as
ommander of twenty {Blsti), and be ready with his followers
1 mount guard, carry messages, &c., as had been ordered ;
ad when, according to the rule, he had brought the horses
( his twenty troopers to be branded, he was then to be

142

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

made a commander of 100 {Sadi), or of more. They were
likewise to keep elephants, horses, and camels in proportion
to their command {mansab), according to the same rule.
When they had brought to the muster their new contingent
complete, they were to be promoted according to their
merits and circumstances to the post of commander of 1,000
(Hazdri), or 2,000 {Duhazdrl), or even of 5,000 {Panjhazdri),
which is the highest command ; ^ but if they did not do
well at the musters, they were to be degraded.' ^

The essence of the system was that Akbar undertook to
administer the empire by about 1,600 salaried superior
officials directly amenable to himself alone, rather than, as
his predecessors had done, through jaglrdars, each in posses-
sion of a definite fief or jagir, a tract of land adminis-
tered by him. The new system immensely enhanced the
autocratic power and wealth of the monarch, and so was
agreeable to Akbar who loved both power and riches.

The titles ' coinmander of 100 ', and so on, simply indicated
grades of rank and pay. The actual number of horsemen
which a mansabdar was required to furnish depended on
elaborate rules which were varied from time to time. The
ranks above 5,000 were ordinarily confined to princes of
the imperial family.

The subject will be noticed more fully in the chapter i
devoted to the description of Akbar's administrative system.

In this place I desire to emphasize the facts that his system !
had been formulated in 1573-4 after the conquest of Gujarat,
and that it was carried into effect more or less completely (
in 1575, after the emperor's victorious return from Patna. t
But it must be clearly understood that the actual execution

1 In the earlier part of the reign
none but princes of the blood royal
held commands above 5,000.
In the 45th year, after the con-
quest of Orissa, Raja Man Singh
was raised to the rank of 7,000.
A little later Mirza Shahrukh
and Mirza Aziz Kokah were
elevated to the same dignity
(Blochmann, Aln, vol. i, p. 341).
There were nominally 66 grades,
but actually only 33 (i'bid., p. 238).
The number 33 was held specially

sacred by the Persians (J. R. A. S.,
1915, p. 448).

^ Badaoni, ii, 193. He gives
details of some of the tricks
practised, indications of which
may also be found in the Aln.
The author of that work always
pretends to believe that every
regulation produced the effect
intended, and was efficiently
adiTiinistered by officials gifted
with all the virtues.

BENGAL ; ADMINISTRATION

143

of the imperial orders was extremelj^ imperfect from first
to last, all sorts of evasions and frauds being continually
practised with considerable success. Akbar was well aware
that he must wink at a good deal of attempted deception.
The duties of the mansabdars included civil as well as military
administration.

We now return to the story of the conquest of Bengal.
Although the battle of Tukaroi on March 3, 1575, had been
decisive of the fate of the province at the moment, the ill-
considered leniency of the terms granted by Munim Khan
in April against the advice of Raja Todar Mall enabled
|Daud to retain the command of considerable forces, and
^encouraged him to await an opportunity for recovering his
independence. The opportunity was not slow in coming.

Munim Khan, Khan Khanan, whatever may have been
his merits in earlier life, was at this time a jealous, obstinate
lold man, about eighty years of age.^ Muzaffar Khan, who
fhad been in disgrace, but had regained favour at court
by harrying rebels in Bihar, and had consequently been
appointed governor of Hajipur, with orders to guard the
whole territory from Chausa to the pass of Teliya Garhi, was
jpecially disliked by the Khan Khanan. Akbar's support
naintained Muzaffar Khan in his position, but the discord
oetween the two commanders weakened the imperialists.
1 The Ghoraghat region, now in the Dinajpur District,
l)eing much disturbed, Munim Khan desired that his head-

I quarters should be near the scene of disturbance. He was
ilso attracted by the fine buildings of Gaur, which he hoped
o restore, and for those reasons decided to move his court

ttie.

alsf

*■ For his life see Aln, vol. i,
. 317, No. 11. But the great
ridge of ten arches at Jaunpur
>hich forms his enduring memorial
•as not built in a. h. 981 = a. d.
573-4, as stated by Blochmann
n the strength of a chronogram.
ix inscriptions on the bridge
-rove that it was Ijcgun in a. h.
72 and finished in 976, corre-
)onding respectively with a. d.
564 and 1568. Beale gives the

date, nearly correctly, as a. h.
975 = A.D. 1567. The architectwas
Afzal All Kabuli. The inscrip-
tions are published in full in
eh. ii of E. W. wSmith and Fiihrer,
The Shdrqi Architecture of Jaun-
pur, 1889. One of the records
is dated a. h. 975. The frontis-
piece to the work cited is a fine
view of the bridge. Munim Khan
erected many other buildings at
Jaunpur.

Death of

Munim

Khan,

Khan

Khanan,

October

1575 :

revolt of

Daud.

144 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

back from Tanda to the ancient capital. Remonstrances
from his officers, who pointed out the poisonous nature of
the Gaur cUmate, were of no avail, and Munim Khan carried
out his purpose. In that year an epidemic was prevalent in
the eastern provinces — ' a strong wind of destruction ', as
Abu-1 Fazl calls it. At Gaur the strong wind ' amounted
to a typhoon ', and in October swept away Munim Khan
with multitudes of his officers and men. ' Tilings came to such
a pass ', says Badaoni, ' that the living were unable to bury
the dead, and threw them head-foremost into the river.' ^
Pending the orders of the emperor, the army elected a stop-
gap commander, but nobody really competent was available,
and the officers thought only of getting out of odious Bengal
with their booty as quickly as possible. They quarrelled
constantly among themselves and retired into Bihar. It
seemed as if Bengal must be lost. Daud, encouraged by the
dissensions among the imperialists, did not scruple to break
the treaty and reoccupy the country, even including the
important Teliya Garhi Pass.
Arrange- When Akbar received news of these unpleasant events, he
ramoaiffn thought at first of sending Mirza Sulaiman, the Badakhshan

against exile, to Bengal. That prince having declined the offer, the
emperor, on second thoughts, made a wiser choice. He
selected as Munim Khan's successor. Khan Jahan (Husain
Kuli Khan), governor of the Panjab. That officer, who was
preparing an expedition for the reconquest of Badakhshan,
was obliged to abandon that project and hasten eastwards.
He was succeeded in the Panjab by Shah Kuli Khan Mahram,
the captor of Hemu twenty years earlier. Khan Jahan,
who was vested with full powers, intercepted at Bhagalpur
the retreating Bengal officers, and with the help of Raja
Todar Mall, who had arrived from the capital, bearing
Akbar's instructions, succeeded in bringing the mutineers

1 Munim Khan did not actually as one of ' various diseases, the

die in Gaur. He had moved back names of which it would be

to Tanda shortly before his difficult to know '. The vagueness

decease. The precise nature of of the description suggests that

the epidemic is not recorded. the trouble was due to varieties of

Badaoni describes the visitation malarial fever.

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 145

back to their duty. The strategically valuable pass of
Teliya Garhl was recovered, and Daud was completely
surprised by the energy of the new viceroy. Khan Jahan
established himself at Ak Mahal, afterwards named Rajmahal,
in a position strong by nature, and easily defensible, which
recommended itself to later governors as the most suitab
capital of Bengal.^ Military operations being hampered by
the rains, Akbar sent the necessary funds and supplies to
the governor, and directed Muzaffar Khan to reinforce him
with the army of Bihar.

The emperor, however, received reports that unless he
mdertook the conduct of the campaign in person complete
.uccess could not be expected. He made arrangements in
'onsequence to take the field, disregarding, as before, the
nconveniences of the rainy season.

On July 22, 1576, he had actually started, and had made
nly one march from Fathpur-Sikrl to a village called
{irar when Saiyid Abdullah Khan rushed into camp with
he news of a great victory and cast down Baud's head in
le courtyard of the house where Akbar was lodged.
The messenger reported that the battle had been fought
1 July 12, and that he had covered the distance between
ajmahal and Birar in eleven days. The unexpected news
lieved Akbar from the necessity of proceeding eastwards,
e accordingly retraced his steps and went back to the
< pital, where uneasiness was felt concerning the proposed
cpcdition at such an unfavourable season.
,j^,,r Daud met his fate in this manner. The army of Bihar Battle
iider Muzaffar Khan, mustering nearly 5,000 horse, effected n^.ii,^j"
, te junction with the Bengal army under Khan Jahan on Ju^y 12,
-Jly 10. The two generals, after private consultation,
riolved to give battle without delay to Daiid who was
lit far off. Khan Jahan, commanding the centre of the

Kajiujihal (21.° 3' N., 87° 50' official capital of Bengal, extend

h is now a mere village of mud for about four miles westward.

h;s in the Santal Parganas .Tahangir gave it the name of

lltrict of the Bihar and Orissa Akbarnagar, wliich appears on

l> vince. The ruins of the coins and in Persian records.

Mhainma<lan city, founded in Manrique obtained access to the

1^2 by Raja Man Singh as the official records at Rajmahal.

845

146 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

imperialists, faced Daud in person ; the Bihar army, on the
right wing, was opposed by Baud's uncle, Junaid ; and the
left wing, led by Raja Todar Mall and other officers, encoun-
tered Kala Pahar, Baud's best -known general. The battle
was fought on Thursday, July 12, near Rajmahal or Akmahal.
Raja Todar Mall, as usual, took the leading part in encour-
aging his sovereign's troops. Junaid, who had been wounded
on the previous evening by a cannon-ball, died from his
injury,^ Kala Pahar was wounded on the field, and after
a vigorous fight the imperialists won. Baud, whose horse had
been bogged, was brought in a prisoner. His end is described
by BadaonI as follows :

' Baud being overcome with thirst asked for water. They
filled his slipper with water and brought it to him. But,
when he refused to drink, Khan Jahan offered him his own
private canteen, and allowed him to drink out of it. He
did not wish to kill him, for he was a very handsome man ;
but finally the Amirs said that to spare his life would be.
to incur suspicions of their own loyalty,^ so he ordered themjl
to cut off his head. They took two chops at his neck withoutl|
success, but at last they succeeded in killing him and in
severing his head from his body. Then they stuffed it with
straw and anointed it with perfumes, and gave it in charge
to Sayyid Abdullah Khan, and sent him with it to the
Emperor. They took many elephants and much spoil.' ^

Baiid's headless trunk was gibbeted at Tanda.
End of The independent kingdom of Bengal, which had lasted

dom of ^ ^^^ about two hundred and thirty-six years (1340-1576),
Bengal, perished along with Baud, ' the dissolute scamp, who kncM
nothing of the business of governing '. Its disappearance
need not excite the slightest feeling of regret. The kings
mostly of Afghan origin, were mere military adventurers
lording it over a submissive Hindu population, the verj
existence of which is almost ignored by history.

Bourdillon, when bringing to a close his summary of th(
story of the Bengal kings, observes :

' As we look back on the scenes which have been presente(

» A. N., iii, 254, » Badaoni, ii, 245.

* Or, perhaps ,' of future re volts ' .

BP^NGAL; ADMINISTRATION 147

on the stage, what do we see ? A long procession of foreign
rulers, fierce, cruel, alien in race and faith to the people of
the country ; long periods of unrest, turmoil, and revolution
stained with murder and rapine ; shorter intervals when
the land had rest under a strong ruler, when the war cloud
rolled away to the west and when the arts of peace flourished
in a prosperous country under a cultured and luxurious
sovereign. Of the condition of the masses of the people we
get little information : they seem to have been held in
quasi-feudal control by the Afghan jagirdars, amongst
whom the country was parcelled out, especially along the
marches, and to have been the king's serfs elsewhere : in
times of peace they seem to have been fairly well off, and
many writers speak in enthusiastic terms of the beauty and
I richness of Bengal : it was described by the homesick
Moghuls as " a hell full of good things " ; but in war time
they suffered unspeakably. Nor do we hear, with very
few exceptions, of a Hindu nobility, or of the trading and
mercantile classes.' ^

So far as appears the kings of Bengal did little worth
remembering, but it is to their credit that they erected
a considerable number of mosques and other buildings
possessing some artistic merit, though not of the first class.

The government of the imperial viceroys during the time
that the empire retained its vigour may have been slightly
more systematic and, perhaps, in some respects, better than
:hat of the kings, although it may be conjectured that
he unrecorded mass of the people noticed little difference
between the two. We know hardly anything in detail
ibout the actual facts, and are not in a position to form
1 positive opinion on the subject.

While the Bengal war was in progress Akbar was obliged The
o undertake through his officers another considerable o^RSni,'^*^
idilitary operation in Rajputana, where Rana Partap Partap
iingh, the gallant son of the craven Udai Singh, continued jiewar.
() offer uncompromising resistance to the imperial arms,
'he heroic story is best told in the glowing language of

' -T. A. BnuriMWou, Bengal under a list of the principal buildings

'e Muhammailans, Calcutta, Ben- at Gaur and Pandua. The latter

\\ Secretariat Press, 1902, p. 23. ruined city lies 20 miles north-

he same author (p. m) gives east of Gaur.

148 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Colonel Tod, and is Avell worth reading in all its fascinating
detail.^ Here some extracts from his immortal pages are all
that can be given. They will suffice, it is hoped, to exhibit
clearly the course of Akbar's policy in Rajputana and to
give some notion of ' the intensity of feeling which could
arm this prince [the Rana] to oppose the resources of a small
principality against the then most powerful empire of the
world '. It is worth while to take special notice of the
concluding words in that brief quotation. Students well
versed in Euroj^ean history seldom, if ever, realize the fact
that the empire of Akbar during the last quarter of the
sixteenth century undoubtedly was the most powerful in
the world, and that its sovereign was immeasurably the
richest monarch on the face of the earth. Proof will be given
later that when he died, in 1605, he left behind him in hard
cash not less than forty millions of pounds sterling, equivalent
in purchasing power to at least two hundred millions at the
present time, and probably to much more. Even in 1576
the amount of his hoarded riches must have been stupendous,
and none but the bravest of the brave could have dared
to match the chivalry of poverty-stricken Mewar against
the glittering hosts of rich Hindostan.

The ' Partap ', we are told, ' succeeded [in 1572] to the titles

Rana. g^j^^ renown of an illustrious house, but without a capital,
without resources, his kindred and clans dispirited by
reverses : yet possessed of the noble spirit of his race, he
meditated the recovery of Chitor, the vindication of the
honour of his house, and the restoration of its powers.

1 Ch. xi of the Annals of Mewar. Another form of the word

Mewdr ; pp. 264-78, vol. i, of is Kukd. It was customary with

the Popular Edition, Routledge, the princes of the Maharanas of

1914. In the quotations the Mewar to be called Kikd before

spelling of the names is regular- ascending the throne. According-

ized. Tod writes ' Amar ' as ly Partap Singh was called Klkd

' Umra ', and so on. The reader while his father Maharana Udai

would be confused if his spelling Singh was alive. Akbar most

were preserved. In the Tohnkdt probably used to call him Klkd,

Partap is called Rana Kika. That and thus the Muhammadan his-

term is explained by Kaviraj torians called him Rana Kika,

Shyilmal Das as follows : ' The even after he became Maharana '

word Klkd is the ordinary name (von Noer, The Emperor Akbar.

by which children are called in i, 245, note by translator).

BENGAL ; ADMINISTRATION

149

Elevated with this design, he hurried into conflict with his
powerful antagonist, nor stooped to calculate the means
which were opposed to him. Accustomed to read in his
country's annals the splendid deeds of his forefathers, and
that Chitor had more than once been the prison of their
foes, he trusted that the revolutions of fortune might co-
operate with his own efforts to overthrow the unstable
throne of Delhi. The reasoning was as just as it was noble ;
but whilst he gave loose [rein] to those lofty aspirations
which meditated liberty to Mewar, his crafty opponent was
counteracting his views by a scheme of policy which, when
disclosed, filled his heart with anguish. The wily Mogul
arrayed against Partap his kindred in faith as well as blood.
The princes of Marwar, Amber, Bikaner, and even Bundi,
late his firm ally, took part with Akbar and upheld
despotism. Nay, even his own brother, Sagarjl, deserted
him, and received as the price of his treachery the ancient
capital of his race and the title which that possession
conferred.^

' But the magnitude of the peril confirmed the fortitude
of Partap, who vowed, in the words of the bard, " to make
liis mother's milk resplendent " ; and he amply redeemed
his pledge. Single-handed, for a quarter of a century
[1572-97] did he withstand the combined efforts of the
empire ; ^ at one time carrying destruction into the plains,
at another flying from rock to rock, feeding his family from
the fruits of his native hills, and rearing the nursling hero

* ' Sagarji held the fortress and
lands of Kandhar. His descen-
dants formed an extensive clan
called Sagardwats, who continued
to hold Kandhar till the time of
Siwai Jaisingh of Amber, whose
situation as one of the great
satraps of the Mogul court enabled
him to wrest it from Sagarji's
issue, upon their refusal to inter-
marry with the house of Amber.
iThe great Mahabat Khan, the
most intrepid of Jahangir's gene-
rals, was an apostate Sagarawat.
iThey established many chieftain-
ships in Central India, as Umri
Hhadaura, Ganeshganj, Digdolli —
places better known to Sindhia's
jllicers than to the British.'

The Rajput tradition about
Vhihabat Khan must be erroneous,
jecause .Tahangir says :

' I raised Zaniana Beg, son of

Ghayur Beg of Kabul, who has
served me personally from his
childhood, and who, when I was
prince, rose from the grade of
an ahadl to that of 500, giving
him the title of Mahabat Khan
and the rank of 1,500. He was
confirmed as bakhshl of my pri-
vate establishment {shdgird-pishaY
(Jahangir, R. & B., i, 24).

Jahangir cannot have l)een
mistaken about a man whom he
had known from childhood and
who played such an important
part in his life.

^ This clause is inaccurate
rhetoric. The author (p. 276)
comments later on ' the repose
he [Partap] enjoyed during the
latter years of his life ', and
ascribes that repose partly to
a change in Akbar's sentiments,
which did not really take place.

150 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Amar, amidst savage beasts and scarce less savage men,
a fit heir to his p.-owess and revenge. The bare idea that
" the son of Bappa Rawal should bow the head to mortal
man " was insupportable ; and he spurned every overture
which had submission for its basis, or the degradation of
uniting his family with the Tatar, though lord of countless
multitudes. . . .

' Partap was nobly supported, and though wealth and
fortune tempted the fidelity of his chiefs, not one was found
base enough to abandon him. . . .

' With the aid of some chiefs of judgment and experience,
Partap remodelled his government, adapting it to the
exigencies of the times and to his slender resources. New
grants were issued, with regulations defining the service
required. Kumbhalmer, now the seat of government, was
strengthened, as well as Gogunda and other mountain
fortresses ; ^ and being unable to keep the field in the
plains of Mewar, he followed the system of his ancestors,
and commanded his subjects, on pain of death, to retire
into the mountains. During the protracted contest, the
fertile tracts watered by the Banas and the Beris, from the
Aravalli chain to the eastern tableland, were be chirdgh,
" without a lamp ". . . .

' The range to which Partap was restricted was the
mountainous region around, though chiefly to the west of
the new capital [Udaipur] ; from north to south — Kum-
bhalmer to " Ricumnath " — about eighty miles in length ;
and in breadth, from Mirpur west to Satolla cast, about the
same.'

The bards relate that Raja Man Singh of Jaipur (Amber)
invited himself to an interview with Rana Partap Singh,
and was mortally offended because the Rana refused to
receive him in person, or eat with him.

' Every act was reported to the emperor, who was
exasperated at the insult thus offered to himself, and
who justly dreaded the revival of those prejudices he had
hoped were vanquished ; and it hastened the first of those
sanguinary battles, which have immortalized the name of
Partap.'

* ' Komulmer ' of Tod ; Kum- of Mewar, about 40 miles to the .
bhalgarh of I. G., situated on a north of Udaipur city. J

mountain near the western border

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 151

It is not necessary to adduce any particular incident as
supplying a motive for the attack on the Rana, who is
represented by Abu-1 Fazl as deserving of chastisement by
reason of his alleged arrogance, presumption, disobedience,
deceit, and dissimulation. His patriotism was his offence.
Akbar had won over most of the Rajput chieftains by his
astute policy and could not endure the independent attitude
assumed by the Rana, who must be broken if he would not
bend like his fellows. The campaign of 1576 was intended
to destroy the Rana utterly and to crush finally his preten-
sions to stand outside of the empire. The failure of the effort
caused deep disappointment to Akbar, who was not troubled
f I by any sentimental tenderness for his stiff-necked adversary.
The emperor desired the death of the Rana and the absorp-
tion of his territory in the imperial dominions. The Rana,
while fully prepared to sacrifice his life if necessary, was
resolved that his blood should never be contaminated by
intermixture with that of the foreigner, and that his country
should remain a land of freemen. After much tribulation
he succeeded, and Akbar failed.

But the first considerable fight was disastrous to the Battle of
cause of liberty. The imperialist army, under the supreme j^'^^ '^^
command of Raja Man Singh of Amber (Jaipur), assembled Ciogunda,
at the fortified town of Mandalgarh in the east of Mewar, 157(5,
between Bundi and Chitor. Their march was directed to
the fortress of Gogunda, situated in the southern part of the
Aravallis, and distant about a hundred miles in a direct line
from the place of assembly. Rajput tradition, as reported
by Tod, represents Prince Salim as being in command of
the Mogul army, which is absurd, the prince being then
n his seventh year. Raja Man Singh had the assistance
of Asaf Khan (II),i and other officers of distinction. The
Rana gathered his three thousand horsemen at the pass
Df Haldighat, on the way to Gogunda, distant from the

1 Asaf Khan No. II, whose battle, and must not be con-

iersonal name was Khwajah founded with Asaf Khan No. I

jhias-ud-din of Kazwin. He had (Abdul Majid), the conqueror

•eceived the title in a. h. 981, of Rani Durgavati (Blochniann,

ibout three years before the Aln, vol. i, p. 433, No. 12G).

152 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

defile some twelve or fourteen miles. ^ The contracted plain
in which the clans mustered is situated

' at the base of a neck of mountain which shut up the valley
and rendered it almost inaccessible. Above and below the
Rajputs were posted, and on the cliffs and pinnacles over-
looking the field of battle, the faithful aborigines, the
Bha[s], with their ["his " in text] natural weapon, the bow
and arrow, and huge stones ready to roll upon the combatant
enemy.

' At this pass Partap was posted with the flower of Mewar,
and glorious was the struggle for its maintenance. Clan
after clan followed with desperate intrepidity, emulating
the daring of their prince, who led the crimson banner
into the hottest part of the field. . . . But this desperate
valour was unavailing against such a force, with a numerous
field artillery and a dromedary corps mounting swivels;
and of twenty-two thousand Rajputs assembled that day |
for the defence of Haldighat, only eight thousand quitted
the field alive.' ^

The fight took place in June 1576 close to the village of
Khamnaur at the entrance to the pass.^

Badaoni, the historian, who was then one of Akbar's
court chaplains or Imams, had begged leave of absence to
join in the holy war, in which he took part as a follower of
Asaf Khan. His description of the battle is the most detailed
and accurate extant. He enjoyed himself, in spite of the
scorching heat and air like a furnace which made men's
brains boil in their skulls. At one stage in the fierce struggle
Badaoni asked Asaf Khan how he could distinguish between
the friendly and the enemy Rajputs, and was assured in
reply that he could not do wrong if he shot, as sportsmen
say, ' into the brown ', because, as the commander cynically
observed, ' On whichever side they may be killed, it will be
a gain to Islam '. .

Badaoni gladly took the advice, and was soothed by an
inward conviction that he had ' attained the reward due to

* Gogunda, variously misspelt city. It is marked on the I. G.

as Kokandah, &c., is situated in map.

24° 46' N., 73° 32' E., about - Tod, Annals, i, 270.

16 miles north-west of Udaipur * A. N., iii, 245.

BENGAL; ADMINISTRATION 153

one who fights against infidels '. He also had the pleasure
of observing that the son of Jaimall, the hero of Chitor,
' went to hell ', and that there was much other ' good
riddance of bad rubbish '.^

The battle — a ferocious hand-to-hand struggle, diversified
by episodes of combats between mighty elephants — raged
from early morning to midday, with the result already
stated. The enemy lost about five hundred killed. On the
I side of the imperialists, who narrowly escaped suffering
a total defeat, a hundred and fifty Muslims were slain,
besides some of their Hindu allies.^

The Rana, having been wounded, fled to the hills, mounted
on his beloved steed Chaitak, and the victors were too ex-
hausted to pursue liim. Supplies fell short and the men had
to subsist on either meat or mangoes.

Badaoni had the honour of carrying the disjjatch sent by
Raja Man Singh to court, and at the same time of offering
:o the emperor a noble elephant which formed part of the
ipoil, for which service he was handsomely rewarded. Akbar
expressed displeasure at the failure to press the pursuit of the
oe, but after a time renewed his favour to Raja Man Singh.

Partap was obliged to retire to a remote fastness called The
>haond, and his strong places one by one fell into the (j^avs'of
nemy's hands. But later he recovered all Mewar, excepting the Rana.
Chitor, Ajmer, and Mandalgarh. During the latter years
if his life he was left in peace, owing to the inability of Akbar
o continue an active campaign in Rajputana, wliile necessity
ompelled him to reside for thirteen years in the Pan jab.
n 1597 Partap died, worn out in body and mind. His
;hiefs pledged themselves to see that his son Amar Singh
iiould not forget his duty.

• Badaoni, ii, 237. Mr. Beve- Gogandah, as in von Noer.

dge gives an independent transla- * The details of the casualties

on, with some small variations vary slightly in the different

interpretation, in von Noer, authorities. Badaoni states that

he Emperor Akbar, i, 247-56. half of the Rana's force was under

aldighat is the correct name of the conmiand of Hakim Sur, a

^e pass, but Badaoni's and Muhammadan Afghan — a curious

izamu-d din's texts give the fact not mentioned by the other

ime in corrupt forms. The name historians.

the town is Gogunda, not

154 AKBx\R THE GREAT MOGUL

' Thus closed the life of a Rajput whose memory ', says
Tod, ' is even now idolized by every Sisodia.' ' Had Me war ',
he continues, ' possessed her Thucydides or her Xenophon,
neither the wars of the Peloponnesus nor the retreat of the
" ten thousand " would have yielded more diversified inci-
dents for the historic muse than the deeds of this brilhant reign
amid the many vicissitudes of Mewar. Undaunted heroism,
inflexible fortitude, that which " keeps honour bright ",
perseverance — with fidelity such as no nation can boast,
were the materials opposed to a soaring ambition, com-
manding talents, unlimited means, and the fervour of
religious zeal ; all, however, insufficient to contend with
one unconquerable mind.'

The historians of Akbar, dazzled by the commanding
talents and unhmited means which enabled him to gratify
his soaring ambition, seldom have a word of sympathy
to spare for the gallant foes whose misery made his triumph
possible. Yet they too, men and women, are worthy of
remembrance. The vanquished, it may be, were greater
than the victor.

157

ntimate
' the

CHAPTER VI

CONSOLIDATION OF CONQUESTS ; DISCUSSIONS ON RE-
LIGION ; RELATIONS WITH JAINS AND PAHSEES ;
ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST JESUIT MISSION ; THE ' IN-
FALLIBILITY DECREE ' OF 1579

I Some of the matters which occupied Akbar's attention Consoli
Rafter his return to the capital in July 1576 were dealt ofcSli^
. , with in the last chapter. Certain other manifestations of his quests ;
untiring energy, directed to the extension and consolidation eventJ,
of his conquests, will now be briefly described. In September 1576-7.
he paid his annual visit to Ajmer, being still persuaded of
the efficacy of prayers offered at the shrine of the saint.
Good news came of successful military operations in Bihar.
Rohtas, which had fallen into the hands of the Afghans,
was regained, and the fortress of Shergarh in the same
region capitulated to Shahbaz Khan.^ In Rajputana,
Sirohi and other places were occupied.

Akbar himself marched from Ajmer towards Gogimda
in October, and made many administrative arrangements.
His ardent desire to cajature or kill the Rana was not gratified.
The emperor then advanced farther south into Malwa.
Mount Abii and the principality of Idar were seized, and
I'onsiderable progress was made in asserting effectively the
mperial authority over the southern parts of Rajputana.
\n army was sent towards Khandesh. Raja Todar Mall,
vho had come from Bengal with good news and 304 elephants,
vas ordered to undertake the government of Gujarat, where
tVazIr Khan had been a failure.

About this time (October 1576) Khwaja Shah Mansur
)f Shiraz, an expert accountant, was appointed temporarily
o the high office of Vizier. Beginning official life as a humble

> The Sherparli fortress, now of Sahasram (Sasseram). It was
uined, stands in 24° .'W N., built by Sher Shah.
4° 48' E., 20 miles south-west

154 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

' Thive rose by means of sheer ability to one of the highest
Tod-e's in spite of the hostility of Raja Todar Mall, who
xiisliked him, and was never content until the Khwaja came
to a tragic end, as he did in 1581.

The troops destined for the conquest of Khandesh were
diverted to Gujarat in order to suppress disturbances caused
by Mirza Muzaffar Husain, the youthful son of Ibrahim
Husain.

Late in 1577 Raja Todar Mall arrived from Gujarat ^vith
a party of alleged rebel prisoners, who were executed.

The Raja then resumed his duties as Vizier, and undertook
the preparation of various administrative measures.

In November a remarkable comet with a long tail appeared
and remained visible for a long time. Its appearance gave
rise to the usual popular apprehensions, and was associated
in men's minds with the death of Shah Tahmasp of Persia,
which had occurred in 1576 and was now reported. The
assassination of his son and successor, Ismail, was believed
to be directly due to the influence of the strange visitor to
the sky.

In September 1577 Akbar had moved his camp in the
direction of the Panjab.
Reor- In December, when encamped in the neighbourhood of

ticm of' Narnaul,^ Akbar held a special council, at which he settled
the Mint, many matters of business in consultation with Raja Todar
Mall and Khwaja Shah Mansur. One important department
then dealt with was that of the mint. Up to that time the
various mints had been under the charge of minor officials
known by the Hindu title of chaudharl (' headman ' or
' foreman '). Apparently those officers did not possess
sufficient rank and personal weight to secure satisfactory
administration. A responsible Master of the Mint at the
capital was now appointed to exercise general control over
the department ; the person selected being the eminent
painter and calligrapher, Khwaja Abdul Samad (Abdu-s
samad) of Shiraz, who bore the honorary designation of

* A considerable town, now in 76° 10' E., and the reputed birth-
the Patiala State, 28° 3' N., place of Sher Shah.

DEBATES ON RELIGION 157

Shirln-kalam, or ' Sweet-pen ', and had been an intimate

friend of Humayun. Akbar when a boy had studied the

elements of draA\ing under his tuition. In 1577-8 the artist

must have been well advanced in years. The five principal

provincial mints were each placed under the management

of one of the highest imperial officials. Raja Todar Mall

himself was made responsible for the Bengal mint, situated

at cither Gaur or Tanda ; while Muzaffar Khan, Khwaja

Shah Mansur, Khwaja Imadu-d din Husain,^ and Asaf

Khan (II) were entrusted respectively with the mints at

Lahore, Jaunpur, Gujarat or Ahmadabad, and Patna. On

:he same day orders were given for the striking of square

jaldli] rupees.

Silver and copper money was coined at many towns, of

Ivhich Abu-1 Fazl gives a list, far from complete.^ In sub-

lequent years modifications in the mint regulations were

nt reduced. Akbar deserves high credit for the excellence

)f his extremely varied coinage, as regards purity of metal,

lullness of weight, and artistic execution. The Mogul

oinage, when compared with that of Queen Elizabeth or

'•ther contemporary sovereigns in Europe, must be pro-

lounced far superior on the whole. Akbar and his successors

leem never to have yielded to the temptation of debasing

ihe coinage in either weight or purity. The gold in many

f Akbar's coins is believed to be practically pure.^

' I cannot find any other the high dignity of Amir-ul-umara,

lention of this oflficial. The or Premier Noble, under Jahanglr.

jference is to A. N., iii, 320. The best poets, calligraphists, and

I ' In the early years of the reign engravers were employed for the

pld coins were struck at many execution of the legends and

<aces. Later, the gold coinage designs of the more important

•.as confined to four mints, denominations of coins. Speci-

imely, those at the capital, mens of many denominations,

engal (? Tanda or Rajmahal), especially of the large gold pieces

hmadabad (Gujarat), and Kabul. struck for the purpose of hoarding,

robably in 1578 gold may have are not now extant. The cxten-

•cn coined only at the six mints sivc subject of Akbar's coinage

.imed in the text, but Abu-1 may be studied in Ains, Nos. 4— 14

•izl does not say so explicitly. of Book I of Ain ; in Stanley

' For biograjihy of Abdul Lane-Poole, British Museum Caia-

imad, or Abdu-s samad, sec logue of Mughal Coins, 1892 ;

' lochmann, Aln, vol. i, p. 495, H. N. Wright, Catalogue of the

->. 20G ; and //. i^. ^4., pp. 452, Indiau Museum Coins, vol. iii,

0. He was a ' commander of 1908 ; Whitehead, Catalogue of

<) ', and his son Sharif attained Coi?is of the Mughal Emperors in

158

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's
fit of
religious
ecstasy.

Early in May 1578, when Akbar was encamped at Bhera
(Bihrah, Bahirah) on the Jhehim in the Panjab,^ an extra-
ordinary event in his personal history took place, which has
been so imperfectly described that it is impossible to make
out exactly what happened. Late in April he had arranged
for a huge battue, or Kamargha hunt, in the course of which
the game within a circumference of abovit forty or fifty
miles (25 kos) were to be ringed in by a multitude of beaters
and driven to the slaughter. The comphcated arrangements
necessary had been in operation for some ten days when
they were suddenly countermanded and the hunt was stopped.
' Active men ', Abu-1 Fazl tells us, ' made every endeavour
that no one should touch the feather of a finch and that
they should allow all the animals to depart according to
their habits.' The same writer, who obscures the facts with
a cloud of rhetoric, hints that Akbar was on the point of
abdication. We are informed that ' he was nearly abandoning
this state of struggle, and entirely gathering up the skirt
of his genius from earthly pomp '. He was supposed to
have attained a state of ecstasy and to have communed with
God face to face. ' A sublime joy took possession of his
bodily frame. The attraction (jazaba) of cognition of God
cast its ray.' Those phrases fail to present a clear picture.
The author of the Tabakdt states that the vision came upon
Akbar while he was under a tree, the position of which he ,
ordered to be commemorated by the erection of a house and
garden on the spot.

Badaoni is slightly more explicit. He says :

' And when it had almost come about that the two sides
of the Kamargha were come together, suddenly all at once
a strange state and strong frenzy came upon the Emperor,
and an extraordinary change was manifested in his manner,
to such an extent as cannot be accounted for. And every
one attributed it to some cause or other : but God alone

the Punjab Museum, Lahore, 1914 ;
and a host of minor publications.
See Bibliography, post. There is
still room for a special treatise
or monograph on the subject,
which would make a book of

considerable bulk and be of great
interest to numismatists.

1 Bhera, situated in 32° 28' N.,
72° 56 'E. It was the head -quarters
of a mahdl (I. G.).

DEBATES ON RELIGION 159

knoweth secrets. And at that time he ordered the hunting
to be abandoned :

" Take care ! for the grace of God comes suddenly,
It comes suddenly, it comes to the mind of the wise."

And at the foot of a tree which was then in fruit he dis-
tributed much gold to the fakirs and poor, and laid the
foundation of a lofty building and an extensive garden in
that place. And he cut off the hair of his head, and most
of his courtiers followed his example. And when news of
this spread abroad in the Eastern part of India, strange
rumours and wonderful lies became current in the mouths
of the common people, and some insurrections took place
among the ryots [peasantry], but these were quickly
quelled.

' While he was at Bihrah (Bhera), the imperial Begam
[Akbar's mother] arrived from the capital.'

Her purpose, presumably, was to watch over her son's
health. Abu-1 Fazl adds that

' about this time the primacy of the spiritual world took
possession of his holy form, and gave a new aspect to his
world-adorning beauty. . . . What the chiefs of purity and
'deliverance [meaning apparently " Siifi seers "] had searched
for in vain was revealed to him. The spectators who were
in his holy neighbourhood carried away the fragments of
the Divine bounty.'

Akbar soon returned to the earth.

' In a short space of time he by God-given strength turned
his face to the outer world and attended to indispensable
matters.'

He gave vent to his religious emotion by the fantastic
"reak of filling the Anuptalao tank in the palace at
?athpur-Sikri with a vast mass of coin, exceeding, it is
liaid, ten millions of rupees in value, which he subsequently
listributed.i

That is all we know about the mysterious occurrence.

The information is tantalizing in its meagreness, but prob-

bly Akbar never gave any fully intelHgiblc account of the

piritual storm which swept through him as he sat or lay

inder the tree. Perhaps he slept and had a dream, or, as

' The identity of the tank has not been estal)lished.

160 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

seems to be more likely, he may have had an epileptic fit.^
No man can tell exactly what happened. The incident was
not altogether singular. Somewhat similar tempests of
feeling had broken over Akbar's soul before. Abii-1 Fazl
narrates at immense length a strange story of his behaviour
one day in 1557, when he was in his fifteenth year. The
boy, we are told, ' felt constrained by the presence of short-
sighted men, and began to chafe '. He mounted a specially
vicious Iraki horse named Hairan, and rode off, leaving
orders that nobody, not even a groom, should follow him.
He dismounted, and was supposed to have ' assumed the
posture of communing with his God '. Whatever posture
he may have assumed the horse galloped away, but luckily
it came back of its own accord and allowed its master to
mount. There may not be much in that anecdote, but
Akbar's own account, already quoted, of the ' exceeding
sorrow ' with which his soul was seized at the completion of
his twentieth year, seems to have been a foretaste of the
experience which he underwent in his thirty-sixth year
(1578), when, like Dante, he was ' nel mezzo del cammin
di nostra vita ', ' in the middle of life's path ', and, like
the poet, saw a vision, beholding things that ' cannot be
uttered '.

Akbar was by nature a mystic, who sought earnestly,
like his Sufi friends, to attain the ineffable bliss of direct
contact with the Divine Reality, and now and again believed
or fancied that he had succeeded. His temperament was
profoundly melancholic, and there seems to be some reason
to suspect that at times he was not far from the danger of
falling into a state of religious mania. His ambition and

* "■ Natina erat melancholicus, posed by various writers to have

et epileptico subjectiis morbo ' suffered from epilepsy, but there is

(Du .larric, vol. ii, p. 498 ; Bk. ii, little evidence of the alleged fact

eh. 8). There is abundant evi- in most of the cases. Peter the

dence concerning Akbar's innate Great, however, certainly suffered

melancholy, but I have not met from convidsive fits of some kind,

elsewhere the statement that he See Lombroso, The Man of

was epileptic. Du .Jarric must Genius, London ed., 1891. The

have got it from one or other of presence of the disease ' is quite ,

the Jesuit missionaries. Muham- consistent with a high degree

mad, Julius Caesar, and many of bodily vigour ' {Encyel. Brit.,

other eminent men have been sup- ed. 11).

DEBATES ON RELIGION 161

ntense interest in all the manifold affairs of this world saved
lim from that fate, and brought him back from dreams to ,,
;he actualities of human life.^ He was not an ordinary /
nan, and his complex nature, hkethat of St. Paul, Muhammad, '
Dante, and other great men with a tendency to mysticism,
^resents perplexing problems.

About this time (1578 or 1580 ?) Akbar was much gratified European

jy the return of Haji Habibullah, who had been sent to tie""^'"

Toa with instructions to bring back European curiosities

.nd information about the arts and crafts of Europe. The

gent had been supplied with ample funds and was attended

ty a number of skilled craftsmen, who were instructed to

ppy anything worthy of imitation. The Haji performed

is mission to the emperor's satisfaction and brought back

lany objects of interest. Special admiration was bestowed

n an organ, ' Uke a great box the size of a man, played by

European sitting inside '. The wind was supphed by bellows

r fans of peacock's feathers. A company of persons dressed

I European clothes, and seemingly including some actual

uropeans, arrived along with Habibullah, whose craftsmen

splayed their skill in newly acquired arts. Unluckily,

ic only two extant accounts of the occurrence fail to give

ay further details. ^

The discussions in the House of Worship were continued Acrimo-
igorously during 1578-9 with increasing acerbity, degenerat- je*l" t^g
ig at times into open quarrelling. Two parties among the on
I;UsUm doctors formed themselves, one headed by Makh- '"^'Sio^'
c^mu-1 Mulk and the other by Shaikh Abdu-n Nabi, the

: The references for the incident * A.N., iii, 322; BadaonI, ii,

c^cussed are A. N., vol. iii, pp. 299. The latter author says that

3i-8, 85.3 ; Badaoni, ii, 261 ; and the Haji brought the organ ' from

%bakdt text, at beginning of Europe '. He, however, did not

; 2j;h year as reckoned in that go beyond the port of Goa.

I vrk. The passage in the history BadaonI seems to date the Haji's

; lt,t named was not translated by return in a. h. 988 = a. d. 1580-1;

'. Mot and Dowson, and I am but Abu-1 Fazl api)arently places

i iiicbted for the text reference to the incident earlier, in 1577 or

AV Bcveridge's note on A.N., 1578. His account of the .3.3rd

ii .34(i. The story of the ride on Ilahi vear, running from March 11,

lliran is told, ibid., ii, 92, and 1578,' begins on p. 337, fifteen

I roininisccnceof thocomi)lction pages after the notice of the

jitlie 2()th year is in 'Happy Haji's return.

Si ings ', Am, vol. iii, p. 386.

''845 ^

162

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

ZoToas-

trian

influence

ii{)on

Akbar,

Sadr-i sudur. Akbar found it hard to keep the peace, and
on at least one occasion lost his temper. Gradually, he was
becoming wholly estranged from the faith of his youth, and
was directing his energies to the evolution of a new religion,
which would, he hoped, prove to be a synthesis of all the
warring creeds and capable of uniting the discordant elements
of his vast empire in one harmonious whole. The differences
between the two parties of the Ulama, one of whom denounced
as heretical notions declared by the other to be the truth,
confirmed Akbar in the opinion that both parties were in
error, and that the truth must be sought outside the range
of their bickerings. He now consulted the adherents of
other rehgions, Hindus, Jains, Parsees, and Christians, and
no longer confined himself to the vain attempt at arbitrat-
ing between the various Muslim schools of thought. As
Abu-1 Fazl expresses it : ' The Shahinshah's court became
the home of the inquirers of the " seven climes ", and the
assemblage of the wise of every religion and sect.' ^

His relations at this period with Parsees, Jains, and
Christians will now be described in some detail.

Akbar probably found more personal satisfaction ir
Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Parsees, than in anj
other of the numerous religions examined by him so criticallj
in his odd, detached manner. The close connexion witl
Persia always maintained by his family, and his manifes
preference for Iranian rather than Mogul (Uzbeg am
Chagatai) officers predisposed him to look with a favourab)
eye on the creed and religious philosophy of Iran.

1 A. N., iii, 366. The author
classifies the members of the
assemblage as ' Sufis, philosophers,
orators, jurists, Sunnis, Shias,
Brahmans, Jatis, Siuras [scil.
two kinds of Jains], Charbaks
[scil. Charvaka, or Hindu materi-
alistic atheists], Nazarenes [Chris-
tians], Jews, Sabians [Christians
of St. John], Zoroastrians, and
others'. The Siuras or Sewras
were Svetambara Jains. Yatis
are considered to be unorthodox
(Stevenson, The Heart of Jainism.
1915, p. 233). Akbar does not

seem to have known any Buddhis
scholars, Abu-1 Fazl met a fe'
Buddhists at the time of his lai
visit to Kashmir, but ' saw noi
among the learned ' . He observi
that ' for a long time past scan
any trace of them has existed i
Hindustan ' (Aln, vol. iii, p. 212
The statements in E. & D., vi, .'
and von Noer, i, 326 n., th.
Buddhists took part in the debat
are erroneous. The passages cit<
really refer to Jains. Abu-1 Fa
briefly describes the Charvaka
Nastika doctrine (op. cit., p. 21'

DEBATES ON RELIGION 163

The fit of religious frenzy which assailed Akbar at the
beginning of May 1578 was a symptom of the intense
interest in the claims of rival religions which he manifested
in 1578-9 prior to the signing of the ' infallibiUty ' decree
in September of the latter year. Discussion in his ' parlia-
ment of religions ' was fast and furious. About that time,
probably in the latter part of 1578, the Zoroastrians found
sheir opportunity for giving the emperor further instruction
n the mysteries of their faith, with so much effect that he
livas regarded by many as having become a convert.^ He
s said to have worn the sacred shirt and girdle which every
Parsee must wear under his clothes, just as, at a little later
late, he appeared in public with Hindu sectarian marks on
lis forehead and also adopted the use of Christian emblems.
Akbar's principal teacher in Zoroastrian lore was Dastur
leherjee Rana,^ a leading niobed or theologian from Nausari
n Gujarat, then the principal centre of the Parsee priest-
lood in India, whose acquaintance he had made at the
lime of the siege of Surat in 1573, w^hen the imperial army
vas encamped at Kankra Khari. Even at that early date
ikbar was so eager to learn the mysteries of Zoroastrianism
hat he extracted all the information he could from the
)astur, and persuaded him to come to court in order to
ontinue the discussion. It is not clear whether the Dastur
ccompanied Akbar on his return to the capital in 1573
ir followed him later, but the Parsee scholar certainly
|3ok part in the debates of 1578, and went home early in
579.
His eminent services rendered at court to the religion of
is fathers justly won the gratitude of his colleagues at
lOme, who formally recognized him as their head, an honour-
)lc position which he held until liis death in 1591. His
)u who succeeded him also visited Akbar. Old Parsee
•;iyer-books of the eighteenth century are extant which

' 'The sun, the sun! they rail at rites' {J. A. S.B., part i, vol.

I-, the Zoroastrian' (Tennyson, xxxvii, N. S. (18G8). p. 14).

|V.kbar's Dream '). IJIochmann ^ The correct spelling is Mah-

• tys that ' Akbar, though a Sufi yar-ji.
' i his heart, was a Parsee by his

164 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

include the name of Dastur Meherjee Rana among the mosj
honoured benefactors of the Zoroastrian faith.^

Akbar rewarded him by a heritable grant of 200 bighas\
of land as subsistence allowance (madad-i-madsh), whicl
after his death was increased by one half in favour of hij
son. The deeds of grant are in existence. The Dastuj
taught Akbar the peculiar terms, ordinances, rites, an*
ceremonies of his creed, laying stress above all things o^
the duty of reverencing the sun and fire. A sacred fire
prepared according to Parsee rules, was started accordingly
in the palace and made over to the charge of Abu-1 Fazl'
who was held responsible that it should never be extin-
guished.

From the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of the reigrj
(March 1580) Akbar began to prostrate himself in publi<
both before the sun and before fire, and when the lamps'^'
and candles were lighted in the evening the whole court
was required to rise respectfully. The reverence for artificial
lights thus inculcated finds expression in his recorded say-
ings, one of which is : 'To light a candle is to commemorate
the (rising of the) sun. To whomsoever the sun sets, what
other remedy hath he but this ? ' ^

Akbar's devotion to the fire cult partly explains, though
it does not justify, the passionate ferocity which he dis-
played on one occasion in or about a. d. 1603. He was
accustomed to retire to his rooms in the afternoon to rest.
One evening he happened to emerge earUer than was expected,
and at first could not find any of the servants.

* When he came near the throne and couch, he saw a
luckless lamplighter, coiled up like a snake, in a careless,
death-like sleep, close to the royal couch. Enraged at the
sight, he ordered him to be thrown from the tower, and he,,
was dashed into a thousand pieces.' !

* ' Naiisarinum capiit, et sedes * The bigha of Akbar was a little
est, quorundam hominum qui se more than half an acre, but its
Persas, et Jezenos vocant, ex exact area is not known.

.Jeze Persiae civitate, genere * ' Happy Sayings,' .<€fn, vol. iii,

Gaberaei, quos Lusitani Cuarinos p. 393.
vocant ' {Commentarius, p. 548).

DEBATES ON RELIGION

165

The imperial wrath fell also upon the responsible officers,

though in a fashion less terrible.^ The story is not a pleasant

me, but its horror is somewhat lessened if we remember

hat in Akbar's eyes the offence of the ' luckless lamp-

ighter ' was a profanation as well as neglect of duty.

The Parsee propaganda was supported by the zeal of the

lindu Raja Birbal, an ardent sun worshipper from another

)oint of view, and it also fitted in well with the practices

if the Hindu ladies in the zenana who had their burnt

iffcrings {horn), after the Brahmanical fashion. A few

cars later (1589) Akbar carried further his comi^liance

>ith Parsee ritual by adopting the Persian names for the

iniiths and days, and celebrating the fourteen Persian festi-

;ils. But he stopped without ever reaching the point of

( fuiitely becoming a Zoroastrian. He acted in the same

ay with regard to Hinduism, Jainism, and Christianity.

le went so far in relation to each religion that different

cople had reasonable ground for affirming him to be

Zoroastrian, a Hindu, a Jain, or a Christian.^

. Nevertheless, he could not bring himself to accept frankly

ly one of the four creeds, however much he might admire

■rtain doctrines of each, or even practise some parts of

le ritual of all four. He always cherished his dream

' imposing on the empire a new and improved religion of

s own which should include the best parts of all those

\nied besides others ; and, when at last he felt his throne

;cure in 1582, the only rehgion to which he could be said

1 adhere was that of his personal invention, the Taulnd

dhi, or Divine Monotheism, with himself as Pope-Kng.^

' Asad Berr, in E. & D., vi,
: I-.

- Badaoni, with reference to
le time about 1581, goes so far
; to say that ' His Majesty
itnly beheved in the truth of
te Christian religion' (ii, 267).
'i<- statement may be true for
l;it time, when the influence of

|iiaviva was strongly felt.

' The leading authority for
. bar's relations with the Parsees
i tlie excellent and convincing

treatise by J. J. Modi, entitled
The Parsees at the Court of Ahbur,
and Dasttir Mehrjee liana ; Bom-
bay, 1903. The author, who
presents many previously unpub-
lished documents in both text
and translation, proves conclu-
sively that Akbar's partial con-
version to Zoroastrianism was the
work of the Dastur from Nausari,
begun in 1573 and continued to
1578-9. He deals fully with the
testimony of BadaonI (Lowe,

166

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Jain

influence
on
Akbar.

The potency of the influence exercised by Jain teachers
on the ideas and policy of Akbar has not been recosjnized
by historians. No reader of the works of Elphinstone,
von Noer, or Malleson would suspect either that he listened
to the lessons of the Jain holy men so attentively that he
is reckoned by Jain writers among the converts to their j
religion, or that many of his acts from 1582 onwards were
the direct outcome of his partial acceptance of Jain doctrine.
Even Blochmann failed to perceive that three of the learned i
men of the time, as enumerated in Abu-1 Fazl's long lists,
were eminent Jain gurus, or religious teachers, namely
Hiravijaya Suri, Vijayasena Suri, and Bhanuchandra
Upadhyaya. The first named, the most distinguished of
the three, and credited by Jain authors with the honour
of having converted Akbar, is placed by Abu-1 Fazl along
with twenty others, including Shaikh Mubarak, in the first
of the five classes of the learned, among the select few wh<
' understand the mysteries of both worlds '.

In 1582 the emperor, after his return from Kabul, having
heard of the virtues and learning of Hiravijaya, ordered
the Viceroy of Gujarat to send him to court. The holy
man, in response to the viceregal summons, came to Ahmad-
abad, paid his respects to the emperor's representative,
and, in the interests of his religion, decided to accept the

p. 268), and other authors ; refuting
by an absolute demonstration the
shallow criticism of R. B . Karkaria
in ' Akbar and the Parsees '
(J. Bo. Br. R. A. S., 1896). Dates
render untenable Karkaria's view
tliat the Parsee lore of Akbar was
obtained from Ardeshir, a Persian
scholar who was summoned to
his court at Lahore. Ardeshir,
who was sent by Shah Abbas the
Great, came for the sole purpose
of helping Mir Jamalu-d din in
the compilation of a dictionary
of old Persian, which appeared
in 1608-9, after Akbar's death,
under the title Farhang-i Jahan-
glrl. His Indian labours extended
from 1593 to 1597, many years
after Akbar had absorbed all the
Zoroastrianism which he was

inclined to accept. Modi's con
elusions are supported by amplt
documentary evidence . The essaj
in the same volume entitled 'Note
of Anquetil du Perron (1755-61
on King Akbar and Dastu
Meherji Rana ' adds certaii
material and interesting details
For life of Mir Jamalu-d din sc
Aln, vol. i, p. 450, No. 164. H'
attained the rank of ' commande
of 4,000' under Jahangir. Tlv
Farhang is described by Bloch
mann in J. A. S. B., part i
vol. xxxvii, N.S. (1868), pp
12-15, 65-9. Akbar took a livel,
interest in the work, whicl
occupied the Mir for thirty yean
It is of high value because it give
the explanation of ancient Zorc
astrian words.

DEBATES ON RELIGION 167

imperial invitation. He refused all the costly gifts pressed
upon his acceptance, and, in accordance with the rules of
his order, started on his long walk to Fathpur-Sikri. The
use of a conveyance of any kind by a man of his station
would have involved excommunication.

The weary traveller was received with all the pomp of Action
imperial pageantry, and was made over to the care of Akbar. ^
Abu-1 Fazl until the sovereign found leisure to converse
with him.^ After much talk upon the problems of religion
and philosophy, first mth Abu-1 Fazl and then with Akbar,
ithe Suri paid a \'isit to Agra. At the close of the rainy
season he returned to Fathpur-Sikri, and persuaded the
emperor to release prisoners and caged birds, and to prohibit
the killing of animals on certain days. In the following
lyear (1583) those orders were extended, and disobedience
,to them was made a capital offence. Akbar renounced his
much-loved hunting and restricted the practice of fishing.
The Suri, who was granted the title of Jagad-guru, or World-
iteacher, returned in 1584 to Gujarat by way of Agra and
Allahabad. Three years later the emperor issued written
orders confirming the abolition of the jizya tax and pro-
ihibiting slaughter during periods amounting collectively to
half of the year. The Suri's colleague, Bhanuchandra,
remained at court. In 1593 Siddhichandra, who visited
A.kbar at Lahore, also received an honorary title, and was
;^anted control over the holy places of his faith. The tax
pn pilgrims to Satrunjaya was abolished at the same time.
"The temple of Adisvara on the holy hill of Satrunjaya near
PaUtana in Kathiawar, which had been consecrated by
Hlravijaya in 1590, has on its walls a Sanskrit inscription
\)i unusual length, wliich combines the praises of the Suri
jivith those of Akbar, and gives particulars of the emperor's
'generosity.

In 1592 Hlra\njaya Suri starved himself to death in the
Approved Jain fashion, and on the spot where his body

' Abu-1 Fazl made a careful satisfactory information about

itudy of the doctrines of the the Digambara or nude sect

'iewras or Svetambara Jains, l)ut {Aln, vol. iii, p. 210).
Was unable to obtain equally

168

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

was cremated, at Unanagar or Unnatpur, a stupa or memorial
cupola was erected.

Akbar's acti on in _abstaining almost wholly from eating
meat_andhTi jssuing stringent prohibitions, resembling those
of Asoka, restricting to the narrowest possible limits the
destruction of animal life, certainly was taken in obedience
to the doctrine of his Jain teachers. The infliction of the
capitalj)enalty on a human being for causing the death of
an animal, which seems so unjust and absurd in our eyes,
was in accordance with the practice of several famous
ancient Buddhist and Jain kings. The regulations must
have inflicted much hardship on many of Akbar's subjects,
and especially on the Muhammadans.^

The contribution made to the debates by Christian dis-
putants was an important factor among the forces which
led Akbar to renounce the Muslim religion. The strange
story of the first Jesuit mission to his court will now be
told in outline. The material is so copious that it is not
Akbar's possible to narrate the interesting details in fuU. The result

invitation q£ ^j^g communications with Christians described in the

sent to

Goa. last preceding chapter was that in December 1578 Akbar

1 The principal authority used
is the article by ' C ', entitled
' Hiravijaya Suri, or the Jainas
at [the] Court of Akbar ', in
Jaina-Shdsana, Benares, 1910
(Vira Sam. 2437, pp. 113-28).
The names of Akbar's Jain
visitors, as recorded by Abu-1
Fazl in slightly corrupted forms,
will be found in Aln, vol. i, pp.
538, 547. The viceroy of Gujarat
who sent the Siiri to court was
Shihab Khan (Shihabu-d din
Ahmad Khan). For the prohibi-
tion of the use by Jain ascetics
of any conveyance see Stevenson,
The Heart of Jainism, Oxford
University Press, 1915, p. 211.
Mrs. Stevenson's book is the best
readable treatise on Jainism.
The mention of the abolition of
the jizya and the pilgrim tax at
the instance of the Suri and his
disciple proves that the general
orders issued early in the reign

for the cessation of those imposts
had not been fully obeyed, at
least in Kathiawar. Such evasion
of imperial orders was common
in Mogul times. Similarly, English
kings repeatedly renewed Magna
Carta and other charters, which
they habitually violated whenever
they got the chance. The great
inscription mentioned is No. 308
of Kielhorn's ' List ' in Ep. Ind.,
V, p. 44, App. The text, with
a short abstract in English, was
printed by Biihler, as No. XII,
ibid., vol. ii, pp. 38, 50. 'C
gives the text and an old transla-
tion of the relevant portions.

The erection of a Jain stupa so
late as 1592 is worth noting. No
other modern example is recorded,,
so far as I know. See V. A. Smith,
The Jain StUpa of Mathurd,
Allahabad, 1901, a work acciden-
tally omitted from Mrs. Steven-
son's bibliography.

DEBATES ON RELIGION 169

dispatched to the authorities at Goa a letter in the follo^\dng
terms :

' In the name of God,

' Letter of Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, king placed in
the seat of God.

' [To the] Cliief priests of the Order of St. Paul :

' " Be it known to them that I am a great friend of theirs.

* " I have sent thither Abdullah my ambassador, and
Domenico Perez, in order to invite you to send back to me
with them two of your learned men, who should bring the
books of the law, and above all the Gospels, because I truly
and earnestly desire to understand their perfection ; and
with great urgency I again demand that they should come
w4th my ambassador aforesaid, and bring their books.
For from their coming I shall obtain the utmost consolation ;
they will be dear to ine, and I shall receive them with every
possible honour. As soon as I shall have become well
instructed in the law, and shall have comprehended its
perfection, they will be able, if willing, to return at their
pleasure, and I shall send them back with great honours,
and appropriate rewards. Let them not fear me in the
kast, for I receive them under my pledge of good faith
and assure them concerning myself." ' ^

Abdullah, Akbar's envoy, reached Goa in September 1579, Akbar's
and was received with the stately ceremonial ordinarily ^^ Q^a.
ircserved for the entry of a new Portuguese Viceroy. The
wholly unexpected invitation from Akbar excited the
warmest interest in the breast of every member of the
colony and aroused the most extravagant hopes. The
authorities of Goa had sought for years, and sought in vain,
to find a way to introduce the gospel into the Mogul empire,

» Translated direct from the De Sousa. The 'Order of St. Paul'

iltalian of IJartoli, p. 14. Maclagan is a synonym for Jesuits. Similar

(p. 48) gives another rendering, letters were addressed to the

^uhstantiaiiy identical. A third Viceroy and Archbishop of Goa.

version, from Du Jarric, will be Abdullah the envoy may be the

found in von Noer, i, 325. Goldie Khwaja Abdullah, who was with

(p. 54 «.) furnishes a fourth, from Akbar in the Sarnal light. See

'lie Latin of Alegambe's work, Blochmann, Aln, vol. i, p. 423,

tititled Mortes illustres eorum de No. 109. Perhaps he may be

Socielate Jesu, &c. (1657). All identified preferably with Sayyid

the versions agree so closely that Abdullah Khan, a more cons|)icu-

vve may be confident of possessing ous personage. No. 189 of Bloch-

tlie correct text in substance. mann.

The date of the letter is given by

170 AKBAR TIIE GREAT MfXilJX

which was almost uriknown to them exc'rpt bv reprt.

Now, without any action on their part, they found tie

door suddf-nly thrown open by the king himself, who ot

only invited, but begged them to enter. The pros pec of

winmng a king so great and a kingdom so extensive to ie

glory of the church and the benefit of PortTjgal was no to

be neglected,^ Although the Viceroy hesitated at firs to

accept the invitation, his scruples were overborne by he

advice of the ecclesiastical authorities, who earnestly recn-

mended that the Fathers asked for should be allowed to,'o,

' without other securities than those of Divine Provider^ '.

When the question of acceptance had been decidec in

November, anxious care was devoted to the choice of he

missioners, who should be men qualified to take full adtn-

tage of the unique opportunitv' offered.* The three Fal irs

selected were Ridolf o Aqua viva, as head of the miss n ;

Antonio Monserrate, as second in conmiand : and Franc co

Enriquez, a convert from Muhammadanism, as interp:ter

and assistant. They jov-fully welcomed the task imp^ed

upon them, and were filled vdih eager anticipations oLhe

conquest to be won for the Cross.

Before we proceed to narrate the story of the missit, it

will be well to introduce to the reader the two remarlble

men who conducted it, Aqua viva and Monserrate (Monsrat

or Montserrat). The third member. Father Enniez

(Enrichez, Henriquez), the converted Persian, was of tght

importance.

Father Ridolfo (Rudolf) Aqua viva, a vounger son of the Du3 of

Ridolfo . . \ , . ^ . : ,? . , , • 1 f

Aqua- Atn, one of the most influential nobles in the kingdd oi

Naples, was born in 1550, and, therefore, was Akbar's j lior

by eight years. His parents were pious people, devotl to

the Church and influential in its councils. Ridolfo, om

early childhood, exhibited an intense vocation fo.thc

viva.

1 '

Acquisto d' un Re, e d" un « De Sousa. Orierite Conqviado,

Regno guadagnato alia gloria vol. ii. C. 1, sec. 45, as tra - by

della Chiesa, e air utile di Porto- Hosten in Commentarius, ]i^<

gallo ' (Bartoli, p. 10). Political and Monserrate liimself, bid.,

ambition was combined with p. 547.
missionary zeal.

DEBATES ON RELIGION 171

eligious career, and may be said to have been born a saint

»f the ascetic type. He made no account of life or the

•leasures of life, and a martyr's crown was the one prize

or which his soul longed. By sheer strength of will he beat

lown his father's opposition, and forced an entry into the

f^esuit Order. In September 1578, being then twenty-eight

ears of age, he landed at Goa, as a member of a prose-

/tizing mission, full of enthusiastic zeal. A month after

is arrival he had the pleasure of baptizing a score of the

ttendants of a princess of Bijapur, who had been persuaded

) become a Christian. He was appointed Professor of

hilosophy, and devoted much time to perfecting himself

I the local vernacular called Konkani, until he was selected

) be head of the mission. He then applied himself with

^ual diligence to the study of Persian, in which he rapidly

ecame proficient.^

Father Antonio Monserrate, a Catalan Spaniard, was Father
worthy colleague of the saintly Aqua viva, although a man j^j^,^.
(' a different type. During the visitation of plague at serrate,
isbon in 1569 he had distinguished himself by exhibiting
nspicuous zeal and devotion in his ministrations. At
ibar's court his courage did not desert liim, and in his
; tacks on the religion of the Prophet of Mecca he allowed
imself to use language so strong that even the latitudinarian
• iperor was obliged to check him. In 1582 he returned
1 Goa and continued his missionary labours at or near
tat city until 1588, when he was ordered to Abyssinia,
hile on his way he was taken prisoner by the Arabs, who
I pt him in confinement for six years and a half.
When deputed to Akbar's court he had been appointed
I the Provincial of Goa as historian of the mission. He

Aquaviva's biography is to that the conversion of the lady

I read most conveniently in and her suite was due to policy

Mdie. The Bijapur princess was rather than to conviction. In

a niece of Mir Ali Khan, uncle the time of Archbishop Dom

f Ali Adil Shah, the reigning Caspar, the Sultan of Bijapur had

lug of Bijapur. The uncle was anticipated Akbar, by sending

k )t by the Portugiiese as a for priests and Christian scrip-

I ^sible pretender to the throne, tures, ' without any further good

a 1 a cheek on their enemy, the result ' (De Sousa, ut supra, in

kg. There can be little doubt Monserrate, Commentarius, p. 54:5).

172

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The

mission-
aries'
journey
to court,

carried out conscientiously the duty imposed upon him,
and wrote up liis notes each night. After his return to Goa
he arranged his materials, and while confined by the Arabs
was permitted to complete his literary labours. He was
ransomed in 1596. The third mission was then at court,
and Akbar was indignant when he heard that his old friend
had been held captive.

Monserrate's principal work, entitled Mongolicae Legationis
Commentarius, which had been long lost, and was not recovered
until 1906, is of special importance as being ' the earliest
account of Northern India by a European since the days
of Vasco da Gama ', and also as including the fullest descrip-
tion extant of Akbar's successful campaign against his
brother of Kabul in 1581. The author, who was then tutor
to Prince Murad, accompanied Akbar as far as Jalalabad
on the road to Kabul.

A smaller tract, devoted to a description of Akbar per-
sonally, also has been preserved and is now accessible in
an English translation. Monserrate's writings dealing with
the geography, natural history, manners, and customs of
India have not yet been found, but may be hidden in some
European library. The map of Northern India which he
prepared on the basis of astronomical observations is
attached to the Commentarius, and is of much interest as
the earliest European map of India since the time of Ptolemy
and Eratosthenes.^

On November 17, 1579, the missionaries left Goa by sea,
and after calling at Chaul arrived at Daman, a Portuguese
port farther north. Thence they marched through Bulsar and
Nausari to Surat, the western entrance to the Mogul empire,
where they arrived in December. After a necessary halt for
nearly a month there they began their journey inland on
January 15, 1580. They were accompanied by a caravan of
merchants bringing with them China silks and other goods for
sale in the interior. The roads were so unsafe in those days that
only large caravans could travel with any hope of reaching
their destination. A small mounted guard met the travellers
* See post, Bibliography, section B.

FaLhpuT SIKri <^

DholpurV^ >4.^

Jit . /C i^ / GwaJior ^-^

5.?

I if/
\ Ik

SiroBJ-

/SiiK

^-^Sarangpfur

> 4

Mt^

)ainaii/

"JsChlpl

& *^«'>'V^%.

'<5'fT--

\\ %k

■^

■£

bUojUin.,

>yiM>'Vi*;^>fc

^^py^rim^ij^/^

Route of the
FIRST JESUIT MISSION (l580)

from

Daman to Fathpur Sikri

100 Miles

Note-- The mission proceeded from Goa to

Daman by sea, calling at Chaul. The littJe
river Parnera to the south ofBu/sar then
marl<ed the boundary between Portuguese
aad Mogul territory.
^ The marching distance of about
650 miles from "Surat to Fathpur Slkrl
yras covered /n.i-3 daysman average of
15 mil 6s a day. ^

■16

Oyford.

174 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

on the northern bank of the Tapti. They then marched
parallel to the river through Kukarmunda to Taloda in
Khandesh, a country town still in existence. There they
turned in a north-easterly direction, and, after passing
through Sultanpur, now desolate, advanced through the
difficult and perilous country of the Satpura hills, infested
by wild Bhils and other such tribes. After crossing the
Narbada they proceeded to Mandu and Ujjain. On
February 9 they reached Sarangpur, now in the Dewas
State, where the Fathers had the consolation of saying
Mass. Six days later they arrived at Sironj, now in Tonk,
and were met presently by a strong escort sent by Akbar.
From that point their road ran nearly due north, through
Narwar, Gwalior, and Dholpur to Fathpur-SikrI, where
they arrived on February 28 (o. s.) after a journey from
Surat of a little over six weeks.^
Akbar's Akbar was so eager to meet his visitors that he had them
oTthe'^" brought direct to his presence and kept them talking until
Fathers, two o'clock in the morning. He assumed Portuguese
costume, and offered them a large sum of money, but the
priests refused to accept anything beyond bare maintenance.
The interpreter, Dominic Perez, was instructed to attendSl |
to their wants. On the following day Akbar again received
them in the private audience chamber (Diwan-i Khass), and,

* The stages of the journey of starting from Surat is as given

are detailed by Francisco de by De Sousa. Monserrate states

Sousa, S. J., Oriente Conquistado, it as January 24 ; but in his

i. d. ii, p. 159. as translated by account (p. 551 n.) there is some

Goldie, pp. 58-61. Sultanpur, confusion of old and new styles.

in the West Khandesh District, The new style was adopted by

Bombay Presidency, 21° 38' N., the Portuguese Government with

74° 35' E., was an important town effect from October 5/15, 1582

until the beginning of the nine- (Nicholas, Chronology of History

' teenth century, when it was (1835), p. 32), and a year later in

ruined by Jaswant Rao Holkar, India. "The change in England was

the Bhils, and famine. A petty made on September 3/14, 1752.

village now occupies part of the The journey to the capital occupied

site, on which the buildings still 43 days. Monserrate, it should

stand. Sarangpur (23° 34' N., be observed, calls Gujarat ' Gedro-

76° 29' E.), a small town at sia '. He describes all the princi-

present, was an important and pal places. The Hindu temples

famous place in ancient times. everywhere had been destroyed

Further details will be found in by the Muhammadans (p. 559).
Monserrate, pp. 551-9. The date

DEBATES ON RELIGION 175

on March 3, was pleased to accept the gift of a magnificently
bound copy of the Royal Polyglot Bible of Plantyn, printed
in 1569-72 for Philip II of Spain.i At a later date (1595).
he gave back that work with the other European books to
the Fathers then at his court.^ The emperor treated the
sacred text with the profoundest reverence, removing his
turban, placing each volume on his head, and kissing it
devoutly. He also commanded his artists to copy pictures
of Christ and the Virgin which the Fathers had with them,
and directed a gold reliquary to be made. Afterwards, he
vdsited, with every mark of respect, the chapel which the
Fathers were allowed to prepare in the palace, and made
over his second son. Sultan Murad, then aged ten years, to
Father Monserrate for instruction in the Portuguese language
and Christian morals. The Jesuits describe the young
prince as being very affectionate, of a good disposition, and
excellent abiUties.^ The priests were al lowej d^ull liberty
to preach and make conversions at the capital, and when
a Portugueseat jcourt died his funeral was celebrated by
a procession marching through the town with crucifixes and
lighted candles.

The attitude of the missionaries was so uncompromising Attitude
and fanatical that nothing but the strong protection of the °V"^
emperor could have preserved their lives. They made no sionarics,
pretence of sharing the sympathetic feeling for the religion
!of the Prophet of Arabia commonly expressed in these days.
JA letter dispatched on December 10, 1580, by Aquaviva to
;the Rector of Goa expresses their sentiments and declares
ithat

' our cars hear nothing but that hideous and heinous name
bf Mahomet. ... In a word, Mahomet is everything here.
Antichrist reigns. In honour of this infernal monster they
:bend the knee, prostrate, lift up their hands, give alms,

' Identified by Goldie, p. 6:3. included the Lnw.^ of Portugal,

'Maciaffan (j). 50 ».) erroneously thv Commentaries o( AUnKincrqiic,

sufjijests otiicr editions. See and sundry tlieolojrieai treatises.

('iimmcntarius, p. 5(i2. ^ ' Molto affettionato . . . di

^ Pinhciro's letter of Septemljer molto buon naturale, & di grande

'., \r>ur> ; in I'enisehi, j)p. 00-71, ingegno ' (Peruschi, p. 8).
ind Maclagan, j). 09. The books

176 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

and do all they do. And we cannot speak out the truth
lest, if we go too far, we endanger the life of the King.' ^

- Although they could not utter everything that was in
their minds, they said much, and, as already mentioned,
Monserrate's freedom gave offence even to Akbar.

As a matter of fact, their presence at court, the marked
favour shown to them by the sovereign, and the hcence of
their language, helped to inflame the discontent which
found expression in two formidable rebellions, undoubtedly
dangerous to both the throne and life of Akbar. During
the course of the early disputations held in Akbar's apart-
ments, certain Muhammadans proposed that the rival
claims of Islam and Christianity should be determined by
the ordeal of fire. They suggested that a champion of
Islam holding a Koran, and one of the priests holding the
Gospels, should enter a fire, and that whichever came out
unhurt should be regarded as the teacher of truth. Akbar
liked the notion, and intimated to the Fathers that he would
arrange for their safety, while one of the Mullas, whom he
much disliked, would be burnt. But Aquaviva denounced
the proposal as being impious and would not accept it.^
At Easter time Akbar suggested privately that he might
arrange to be baptized by traveUing to Goa on pretence of
preparing for pilgrimage to Mecca. We must now part
from the Fathers for a time, and deal with other matters,
including some of earlier date.
Akbar as At the end of June 1579 Akbar had introduced a startUng
preacher, innovation by displacing the regular preacher at the chief
mosque in Fathpur-SikrI and himself taking his place in
the pulpit on the first Friday in the fifth month of the
Muhammadan year. The address {khutbah) usually given
on a Friday is composed somewhat on the lines of the
' bidding prayer ' used in English universities, and always
includes a prayer for the reigning sovereign. Akbar, in

I Goldie, pp. 77, 78. 6 tre volte), as Peruschi observes

^ The story appears in various (p. 37). Monserrate gives a full

versions, and the challenge was account of the first occasion, early

offered two or three times (due, in 1580 (pp. 564r-6).

DEBATES ON RELIGION 177

order -n emphasize the position of spiritual leader of the
nation {Imdm-i-ddil) to which he laid claim, availed himself
of certain alleged ancient precedents and resolved to recite
the ^/m^6a^ himself. FaizI, brother of Abu-1 Fazl and Poet
Laureate, produced a sort of Khutbah in verse, as follows,
jwhich the emperor recited :

' In the name of Him who gave us sovereignty.
Who gave us a wise heart and a strong arm.
Who guided us in equity and justice.
Who put away from our heart aught but equity ; —
His praise is beyond the range of our thoughts,
Exalted be His Majesty—" Allahu Akbar ! " ' [Great is
God!]

To those eloquent lines he added some verses of the
Koran, expressing thanks for mercies and favours, and
laving repeated the fdtiha, or opening section of the Koran,
•ame down from the pulpit and said his prayers. According
o Badaoni, he lost his nerve and broke down, but the
i>ther historians do not support that statement. He repeated
he experiment several times.^

Even Abu-1 Fazl admits that the innovation was un-
'opular and aroused much uneasy feeling. Some people
aid that the emperor wished to pose as the Prophet of
he incomparable Deity. Others hinted that he was not
nwilling to be regarded as himself sharing in the Divine
ature. The use of the ambiguous phrase Allahu Akbar
ave colour to the most extreme criticisms, and, in spite
r Akbar's disavowals, I am convinced that at times he
lllowed himself to fancy that in his own person he had
ridged the gulf between the Finite and the Infinite. His

i* A.N., iii, 306; Badaoni, ii, the King of the day of judgment.

|'6 ; Tabakdt, in E. & D., v, 412. Thee do we worship, and of thee

jfie version quoted is that in we beg assistance. Direct us in

pwe's tr. of Badaoni. The con- the right way, in the way of

tuding words may be read as those to whom thou hast been

reaning that ' Akbar is God '. gracious ; not of tliose against

;»me coins bear legends in the whom thou art incensed, nor of

irm 'Akbar Allah', which dis- those who go astray' (Sale),

tictly suggests his claim to Examples of Khutbah composition

C|vinity. The fdtiha is this : are given in Hughes, Dictionary

'•raise be to Cod, the Lord of all of Islam.
('jatures ; the most merciful,
1845 jj

178 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

recorded sayings prove conclusively that he rat' ^. very
highly the kingly position.

' The very sight of kings ', he said, ' has been held to be
a part of divine worship. They have been styled conven-
tionally the Shadow of God ; and, indeed, to behold them
is a means of calling to mind the Creator, and suggests the
protection of the Almighty.' ^

His learned and skilful flatterers, Abu-1 Fazl, Faizi, and
the rest, were only too willing to fill his mind with such
notions, and he, after the manner of kings, swallowed
flattery with pleasure. Abu-1 Fazl vainly tries to deny the
patent fact that Akbar regarded with disfavour the Muham-
madan religion. Although the emperor did not wholly
cast aside the mask of conformity until 1582, his faith in^
Islam had been completely shaken at least three yeai
earlier. But he alwa ys held firmly to the great doctrine
of the unity of God.

Before he made up his mind definitely to renounce IslamJ
he tried to follow a middle path, and to seek peace byi
constituting himself the supreme judge of all differences
between the rival Muslim doctors. When he returned
triumphant from Gujarat at the turning-point of his career,
Shaikh Mubarak had gratified him by expressing the hope
that the emperor might become the spiritual as well as the
political head of his people. The hint given in 1573 had
never been forgotten by either its author or the sovereign.
Six years later, in 1579, the time was deemed to be ripe
for the proposed momentous innovation which should extend
the autocracy of Akbar from the temporal to the spiritual
side, and make him Pope as well as Kng.
' Infalli- Ultimately, at the beginning of September 1579, Shaikh
Decree Mubarak produced a formal document in his own hand-
of Sept. writing, drafted in such a way as to settle that the emperor
must be accepted as the supreme arbiter in all causes,
whether ecclesiastical or civil. Probably it was suggested

' ' Happy Sayings ' in Ain, proud and arrogant that he is

vol. iii, p. 398. Guerreiro {Rela- wilHng to be worshipped as God ' ;

ffl?«, Spanish tr., ch. iii, p. 16) ' es tan soberiiio y arrogate, que

describes Akbar as being ' so consiete ser adorado como dies.'

DEBATES ON RELIGIO?:

by the information then becoming available concerning
the position of the Pope in Western Europe. We need not
trouble about the technical discussions which raged round
the interpretation of the legal terms, Mujtahid and Imam- •>>.
i-Adil. It will suffice to say that Akbar was solemnly
recognized as being superior in his capacity of Imam-i-Adil
'o any other interpreter {mujtahid) of Muslim law, and
practically was invested with the attribute of infallibility.
Both the rival party leaders, Makhdumu-1 Mulk and
Shaikh Abdu-n Nabi, as well as other eminent doctors
earned in the law, were induced or compelled to set their
;eals to a pronouncement which their souls abhorred. This
s the translation of the document, as preserved in the text
jf both Nizamu-d din and Badaoni.

' Petition.

' Whereas Hindostan is now become the centre of security
ind peace, and the land of justice and beneficeaice, a large
lumber of people, especially learned men and lawyers, have
mmigrated and chosen this country for their home.

' Now we, the principal Ulama, who are not only well-
ersed in the several departments of the Law and in the
)rinciples of jurisprudence, and well acquainted with the
diets which rest on reason or testimony, but are also known
pr our piety and honest intentions, have duly considered
he deep meaning, first, of the verse of the Koran : — •

' " Obey God, and obey the Prophet, and those who have
uthority among you " ; and secondly, of the genuine
radition : —

' " Surely the man who is dearest to God on the day of
udgmcnt is the Imam-i-adil ; whosoever obeys the Amir,
beys Thee ; and whosoever rebels against him, rebels
gainst Thee " ;

' And thirdly, of several other proofs based on reasoning or
estimony : and we have agreed that the rank of Sultan-i-
'dil is higher in the eyes of God than the rank of a Mujtahid.

' Further, we declare that the King of the Islam, Amir of

,[ie Faithful, Shadow of Gk)d in the world, Abul-fath Jalal-

d-dln Muhammad Akbar, Padshah Ghazi (whose kingdom

lod perj)etuate !), is a most just, a most wise, and a most

od -fearing kintr.

' Should, therefore, in future a religious question come up,

180

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Com-
ment.

regarding which the opinions of the Mujtahids are at variance,
and His Majesty, in his penetrating understanding and clear
wisdom be incUned to adopt, for the benefit of the nation
and as a pohtical expedient, any of the conflicting opinions
which exist on that point, and should issue a decree to that
effect —

' We do hereby agree that such a decree shall be binding
on us and on the whole nation.

' Further, we declare that should His Majesty think fit to
issue a new order, we and the nation shall likewise be bound
by it ; Provided always, that such order be not only in
accordance with some verse of the Koran, but also of real
benefit to the nation ; and further, that any opposition on
the part of his subjects to such an order passed by His
Majesty shall involve damnation in the world to come and
loss of property and rehgious privileges in this.

' This document has been written with honest intentions,
for the glory of God and the propagation of the Islam, and
is signed by us, the principal Ulama and la\vyers, in the month
of Rajab in the year nine hundred and eighty-seven (987).'^

That document assured to Akbar, so far as any written
instrument could have such effect, the utmost power that
any man could claim to exercise ^vithin the limits of Islam.
The decree had no concern with any other religion. Although
\ it purported to have been devised for the projDagation of
the Muslim faith, and to recognize the authority not only
of the Koran, but of the genuine traditions of the Prophet,
yet, as Badaoni truly observes, ' the superiority of the
intellect of the Imam was established, and opposition was
rendered impossible '.^

^ Badaoni, ii, 279. Rajab is
the 7th month. The year 987
began on February 28, 1579.

2 The meaning and effect of
the decree are absurdly misre-
presented by Malleson in the
following passage : ' The signa-
ture of this document was a
turning-point in the life and reign
of Akbar. For the first time
he was free. He covild give cur-
rency and force to his ideas of
toleration and his respect for
conscience. He could now bring
the Hindu, the Parsi, the Christian
into his councils. He could

attempt to put into execution the
design he had long meditated
of making the interests of the
indigenous princes the interests
of the central authority at Agra.
The document is, in fact, the
Magna Charta of his reign.

' The reader will, I am sure,
pardon me if I have dwelt at some
length on the manner in which
it was obtained, for it is the key-
stone of the subsequent legislation
and action of the monarch, by
it placed above the narrow
restrictions of Islam ' (p. 158).

DEBATES ON RELIGION 181

It may be doubted if the House of Worship remained in
use for long after the promulgation of the decree. Wrangling
between the rival Muslim doctors became futile when the
infallible autocrat could solve any problem at issue by
a decisive word. Discussion, no doubt, still continued for
years, but it seems to have been conducted generally in the
private apartments of the palace, and not at the House of
AVorship in the gardens. The field of debate was widened,
and representatives of all religions were henceforth welcomed.

The pretence or profession of a desire to define and
propagate the teaching of Islam was soon dropped, and in
the course of a year or two Akbar had definitely ceased to
be__a-Mwslii», As early as January 1580, when Aquaviva
and his companions were travelling from Surat to Gujarat
on their way to the capital, they had met the imperial
(^ouriers, who told the escort that Akbar had forbidden
the use of the name of Muhammad in the public i^rayers.i
\fterwards he went much farther, and definitely renounced
ill faith in the Prophet, although he continued to perform
occasional acts of conformity for political reasons.

In September 1579 Akbar, although no longer a sincere Akbar's
believer in the efficacy of the prayers of Muslim saints, hypj.^
Tiade a pilgrimage, as had been his annual custom, to the crisy.
shrine at Ajmer.^ The date, however, was not that of
Muinu-d din's anniversary on which he had been accustomed
<> go. Abu-1 Fazl candidly states that he made this special
I isit as ' a means of calming the public and enhancing the
>ubmission of the recalcitrants '. He never went again,
3ut in the year following (1580) sent Prince Daniyal as his
representative.

' About this time Akbar, becoming alarmed at the wide-
spread resentment aroused by his innovations, adopted
I policy of calculated hYDOcrisy. When on his way back
I'rom Ajmer he caused a lofty tent (bdrgdh) to be furnished
IS a travelling mosque, in which he ostentatiously prayed

' T)c ^ousa,Orient€Co»quistoda, marching leisurely and hunting

(1. Lislion, 1710, i, ch. ii, p. IGO, on the way. He arrived at the

IS cited by Goldie, p. 65 n. shrine about the middle of

- He started early in September, October (A. N., iii, 405).

182 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

five times a day, as a pious Muslim should do. A little later,
apparently in 1580, he carried his hypocritical conformity
still farther. A certain Mir Abu Turab had returned from
Mecca, bringing with him a stone supposed to bear an
impression of the Prophet's foot. Akbar, knowing well
that ' the thing was not genuine ', commanded that the
pretended relic should be received with elaborate ceremonial.
He went out in person to meet it, and helped to carry the
heavy stone for some paces on his shoulder.

* All this honour was done out of abundant perceptive-
ness, respect and appreciation, and wide toleration, in order
that the reverence due to the simple-minded Saiyid might
not be spilt on the ground, and that jovial critics might
not break out into smiles. The vain thinkers and ill-con-
ditioned ones who had been agitated on account of the
inquiries into the proofs of prophecy, and the passing of
nights (in discussion), and the doubts of which books of
theology are full — were at once made infamous in the market
of ashamedness ',

and so on, according to Abu-1 Fazl. The make-believe,
however, was too obvious to impose on any intelligent
person. Indeed, BadaonI expressly states that when the
emperor took the trouble of walking five kos to the shrine
at Ajmer,

' sensible people smiled, and said : — " It was strange tha
His Majesty should have such faith in the Khwajah, while
he rejected the foundation of everything — our proph^
from whose skirt hundreds of thousands of saints of th<
highest degree, Hke the Khwajah, had sprung." ' ^

We may be certain that the farcical reception of the
sham relic must have excited still more outspoken ridicule.

The unworthy hypocrisy which Akbar condescended to
practise failed to effect its purpose, and he found himself
^ compelled to meet by force the violent opposition aroused
by his rash proceedings.

' For the mosque-tent see the date of the incident, which

A. N., in, 407 «. The story of is placed later by Badaoni (ii, 320).

the stone is told, ibid., p. 411. For the remark that ' sensible

Beveridge discusses in his note people smiled ' see ibid., p. 280.

DEBATES ON RELIGION

183

Early in 1580 he got rid of both Shaikh Abdu-n NabI, the
late Sadr, and his opponent Makhdumu-1 Mulk by sending
them into exile under the form of a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Both were allowed to return, but they did not survive long.
Makhdumu-1 Mulk died at Ahmadabad in 1582, leaving
great riches and valuable books, which were all confiscated.
His sons several times suffered torture, and were reduced
to abject poverty. 1 Two years later Abdu-n Nabi was
nmrdered,^ presumably in pursuance of secret orders from
the emperor. Akbar's hostility was terribly^ vindictive in
some cases. ^

I BadaonI, in E. & D., v, 536 ;
Lowe, p. 321. The words trans-
lated by Elliot as ' several times
underwent torture ' are taken by
Lowe in a figurative sense to
mean ' being some time on the

rack of distress '. Inasmuch as
the deceased had taken cunning
precautions to conceal his wealth,
the use of torture is probable.

2 Am, vol. i, p. 273 ; BadaonI,
ii, 32.

CHAPTER VII

REBELLION IN BENGAL AND BIHAR; THE KABUL
CAMPAIGN AND ITS RESULTS ; END OF THE FIRST
JESUIT MISSION ; REBELLION OF MUZAFFAR SHAH IN
GUJARAT, ETC.

Discon- Khan Jahan, governor of Bengal, died in December 1578,

tent in and after a short interval was replaced by Muzaffar Khan

Bihar cind

Bengal. Turbati (March 1579).^ Various officers were appointed

to assist the new governor as Diwan (revenue depart-
ment), Bakhshi (paymaster, &c.), and Sadr (ecclesiastical
and grants department). The offences which at various
times had cost Muzaffar Khan his sovereign's favour were
blotted out, and he was now entrusted with one of the most
responsible posts in the empire. Instructions from the court
required the officials in Bihar and Bengal to enforce the
unpopular regulations concerning the branding of horses for
government service, and to secure the rights of the Crown
by investigating the titles to jdgir lands and resuming
unauthorized holdings. At that time the imperial Diwan ori
Finance Minister was Khwaja Shah Mansur, an expert in
treasury business, but over-fond of gain, and unsympathetic
in temperament. The strict and apparently over-strict
enforcement of the orders of the government by the local
officials produced violent discontent among the Muhammadanj
chiefs in Bihar and Bengal. Special cases of severity to'
individuals increased the ill feeling, and it is said that the
officials added fuel to the fire by their greed for money.,
Particular exasperation was caused by an interference witW
the local allowances payable to soldiers serving in the eastern
provinces. Akbar had directed that the pay of men serving

* Muzaffar Khan had been in According to Latif {Agra, p. 197),

Bairam Khan's service. For his that building was erected by

life see Ain, vol. i, p. 348, No. 37. Mirza Muzaffar Husain, the grand-

Blochmann seems to be mistaken son of Shah Ismail of Persia,

in attributing to him the old The life of the Mirza is narrated

Jami or Kali mosque at Agra. in Aln, vol. i, p. 313, No. 8.

llOi

111

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 185

n Bengal should be raised by 100 per cent., and that of those
er\'ing in Bihar by 50 per cent. Shah Mansur took it upon
limself to order that those allowances should be cut down to
iO and 20 per cent, respectively. The orders to that effect
3d to irritating demands for the refund of excess payments.
n addition to all those material reasons for dissatisfaction,
he Musalmans of Bihar and Bengal were profoundly
larmed by Akbar's vagaries in the matter of religion and
is manifest alienation from Islam. His policy, represented
1 theory to be one of universal toleration (sulh-i-kul), was
.\sented as being in substance an attack upon the Muham-
ladan religion. Subsequent proceedings proved that the
lalcontents were fully justified in their interpretation of
le action taken by Akbar, who quickly developed a bitter
atred for everything connected with the name or religion
f the Prophet, and allowed his ' universal toleration ' to
e perverted into a toleration of all religions except the

uhammadan, on which he la\4shed insults and outrages,
t the time of the rebellion in the east he had not gone so

r as he did afterwards, but he had already manifested his
ostility to Islam, and the officers in Bihar and Bengal had
,)od reason for fearing that he would become a thorough-

)ing apostate. They therefore began to look to Muhammad

akim, his younger half-brother at Kabul, as the orthodox
jjad of Indian Muslims, and to conspire for placing him on
-kbar's throne. The transparently insincere devices adopted
V the emperor to keep up appearances as a Muhammadan
nuld not deceive any person of ordinary intelligence. Early
i 1580 Mulla Muhammad Yazdi, a theologian who had
Icn in intimate converse with Akbar, ventured to issue
cformal ruling (fahvd), in his capacity as KazI of Jaunpur,
tat rebeUion against the innovating emperor was la^vful.^

The reasons above enumerated, which might be amplified Rc-
Irgely in detail, brought about a sudden revolt of influential
ticfs of Bengal in January 1580, when Wazir Jamil, Baba

Miilla iNIiihammad Yazdi had the wall of the Fathpur-Sikri

sired with two lirahrnans and palace in order to hold confidential

hiikh Taju-d din the honour converse with Akbar (liadaoni,

©being drawn up to the top of ii, 265-7). He was a bitter Shia. ^v"* W,^

186 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Khan Kakshal, and other officers rebelled openly.^ Dissen-
sions among the imperial officials encouraged the rebels to
hope for success greater than their actual strength would
have justified them in expecting. Muzaffar Khan, the
governor, an arrogant man, was jealous of the Diwan and
other officers appointed to help him as subordinate colleagues,
some of whom were not men of high character.

In February 1580 Akbar received dispatches announcing
the rebellion. He promptly sent Raja Todar Mall and other
officers to suppress the disturbances, and attempted to
remove the causes of discontent by the issue of conciliatory
orders censuring the governor for indiscretion. They failed
to effect their purpose. The rebellion acquired added force
by the adhesion of Masum Khan of Kabul, jaglrdar of
Patna, commonly distinguished as 'the Rebel (Asi) ', a nick-
name given him by Akbar, and of his namesake known by
the cognomen of Farankhudi. Those officers were largely
influenced by the legal ruling given by Mulla Muhammad
Yazdi, the Kazi of Jaunpur, that the apostasy of Akbar
justified rebellion against him, as mentioned above. Masum
Khan of Kabul, who was in communication with Akbar's
brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim, ruler of that province,
may be considered the chief leader of the revolt. The royal
arms in the early stages of the war were not successful.
In April 1580 Muzaffar Khan, who had retired to Tanda, an
indefensible place, was captured and killed, ' with all sorts
of tortures '. ^ The equipage and treasure of the royal army
fell into the hands of the rebels. Akbar dared not proceed
in person to conduct the campaign in the eastern provinces,
because he rightly felt that the really serious danger threaten-
ing him was that on the north-west, where his brother was
preparing an invasion in communication with the Bengal
insurgents for the purpose of winning for himself the throne
of Hindostan. A successful invasion from Kabul, resulting
in the occupation of Delhi and of Agra with its enormous

1 A. N., vol. iii, pp. 417, 428 ; Aln, vol. i, p, 473, No. 200,
ch. 50, 51. For biography of * Badaoni, ii, 290.

Wazir or Wazir Beg Jamil see

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 187

store of treasure, would have meant the destruction of the
empire which Akbar had built up with so much labour and
skill. But if that invasion should fail, the rising in the east
might be safely regarded as a mere provincial trouble to be
adjusted sooner or later by the imperial officers.^ Events
proved the soundness of Akbar's judgement. The invasion
from the north-west was repelled, and the eastern insurrec-
tions were suppressed in due course.

Raja Todar Mall was besieged in Mungir (Monghyr) for Suppres-
four months, until he was relieved by the gradual melting the"re-
away of the rebel contingents. The Teliagarhi Pass, the bellioa.
' gate of Bengal '. was recovered by the imperialists, and the
back of the rebellion was broken.

Akbar appointed his foster-brother, Mirza Aziz Kokah,
to be governor of Bengal. The Mirza, a man of an insubordi-
nate disposition, had been in disgrace and excluded from
:'Ourt for a long time. He was now recalled to favour,
•aised to the rank of a commander of 5,000, given the title
)f Khan-i-Azam, and entrusted with the honourable task of
•ecovering the eastern provinces. Shahbaz Khan was recalled
"rom a campaign in Rajputana, and sent to help the governor.
t is evident that at this period Akbar was in a position of
mminent danger. He could not afford to leave a noble
o influential as Mirza Aziz Kokah sulking, nor could he
ritter away strength in minor enterprises.

In order to conciliate the rebels Shah Mansur was removed
'or a short time from the office of Diwan or Finance Minister,
iid replaced, as a temporary measure, by Wazir Khan.^
Shahbaz Khan inflicted a severe defeat on one section
f the insurgents between Ajodhya in Southern Oudh and
aunpur in January 1581.^ It is unnecessary to follow the
u'thcr operations in detail. It may suffice to say that by
584 the rebellion in both Bihar and Bengal had been

' A.N.,iu, 434. » Ibid., p. 486. The fight took

- Fop life of Wazir (Vazir) place near Sultanpur - IJilaliri,

lian see Aln, vol. i, p. .3;>;5, 25 kos from Ajo(iiiya (Awadh).

(). 41. He was brother of Asaf The neiglibourin<:j city of Fyzabad

ban I, and had been governor had not been built at that date.
Gujarat.

188

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

* Settle-
ment ' or
assess-
ment of
land
revenue.

generally suppressed. The partial subjugation of Orissa
was deferred to a later date. Akbar exhibited his usual
politic clemency in favour of several of the prominent rebel
leaders, who sometimes abused his leniency and renewed
their disloyal conduct.^

The Mullas, or religious teachers, who had instigated the
insurrection, were sternly punished in an irregular fashion,
without trial or public execution. Mulla Muhammad Yazdi,
the KazI of Jaunpur, who had dared to give the ruling that
rebellion was lawful, was sent for, along with his colleague,
the Kazi of Bengal. Their boat 'foundered' in the river, and
sundry other Mullas suspected of disaffection were ' sent to
the closet of annihilation ', by one way or another.^ Akbar
never felt any scruple about ordering the private informal
execution or assassination of opponents who could not be
condemned and sentenced publicly without inconvenient
consequences. In such matters his action resembled that
of the contemporary Italian princes.

In the early years of the reign, while Akbar's dominions
were still comparatively small, the assessment of the land
revenue, or government share of the produce, had been
made annually on the strength of a rough estimate which
was submitted to and passed by the sovereign.

In the fifteenth year of the reign (1570-1) Muzaffar
Khan Turbati, then Diwan, or Finance Minister, assisted
by Raja Todar Mall, at that time his subordinate, prepared
a revised assessment based on the returns made by the
provincial Kdnungos, and checked by ten chief Kanungos
at head-quarters.

In the 24th and 25th regnal years (1579-80), the incon-
veniences of annual ' settlements ' or assessments having
become apparent, Khwaja Shah Mansur introduced a system
of decennial or ten year's ' settlement ', the assessment being
based on the average of ten years, namely the 15th to the

* Masum Khan Farankhudi
was pardoned thrice. Soon after
the last public exercise of clemency
he was waylaid when returning
from the palace at night and

killed, probably in accordance
with secret orders from Akbar
{Aln, vol. i, p. 443, No. 157).
'^ Badaoni, ii, 285.

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 189

^4th regnal years inclusive, and fixed for a term of ten years.
,A.bu-l Fazl, who was not a revenue expert, is rather obscure
n his description, because he says that a tenth of the total
pf ten years was fixed as the annual assessment, and then
proceeds to state that, as regards the last five years of the
jDcriod above named (i. e. 20th to 24th years), ' the best
>rops were taken into account in each year, and the year
)f the most abundant harvest accepted '.

If the best year was taken as the standard, the assessment
nust have been severe ; but, if Abu-1 Fazl may be believed,
the people were thus made contented and their gratitude
vas abundantly manifested '. Unfortunately little if any
lefinite evidence exists concerning the actual facts.
, Raja Todar Mall was associated with the Khwaja in the
mperial commission, but when he was obliged to go east-
yards in order to suppress the Bengal rebellion which broke
'Ut in January 1580, the whole burden of the work fell upon
hah Mansur, a highly skilled accountant.^

I About the same time, 1580, the enlarged empire was di\ided Twelve
ito twelve provinces or \dceroyalties, generally known as formed.
Libas, and a regular estabhshment of high officials was fixed
^r each province. The original twelve Siibas were : Alla-
abad, Agra, Oudh, Ajmer, Ahmadabad (Gujarat), Bihar,
fcngal, Delhi, Kabul, Lahore (Pan jab), Multan, and Malwa.
V^hen subsequent annexations took place, Kashmir was
icluded in Lahore, Sind in Multan, and Orissa in Bengal,
i'he conquests in the Deccan towards the close of the reign
(dded three new Subas, Berar, Khandesh, and Ahmadnagar,
iringing up the total to 15.^

The superior staff of each province comprised : the
I'lwan (finance) ; BakhshI (pay department, &c.) ; Mir Adal
. doomster ', to pronounce sentence on persons condemned
s' a Kazi) ; Sadr (ecclesiastical and grants department) ;

otwal (police) ; Mir Bahr (shipping, ports, and ferries) ;

)d Wakia-navis (record department).

• Aln, Book III, Ain 15, in Fazl in Aln, Book III, Ain 15,
)I. ii, p. 88 ; ^. iV., iii, 413. vol. ii, p. 115. See also A.N.,

- The list is as given by Abu-1 iii, 413.

190 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The viceroy, who was usually known as Subadar in later
times, was called Sipahsalar or Commander-in-Chief in
Akbar's day.

The arrangements made by Shah Mansur formed the basis
of all subsequent Mogul administration, and have left some
trace even to this day.

The tragic fate of the Khwaja in the year following his
reforms will be narrated presently.
A.D, 1581, The year 1581 may be regarded as the most critical time
vear. i^ the reign of Akbar, if his early struggles to consolidate his
power be not taken into account. When the year began he
was undisputed master of all the great fortresses in northern
India, and had extended his dominion east and west from
the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, and southwards as
far as the Tapti river. But the revolt in Bihar and Bengal
which had broken out at the beginning of 1580 was still
far from being completely crushed. In the course of that
year the rebels began to aim at something more than a mere
provincial insurrection. They sought for an orthodox
Muslim sovereign and plotted to replace the impious Akbar
by his half-brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim, the ruler
of Kabul, who was practically independent, although
supposed to owe fealty to the emperor of Hindostan. They
were not troubled by the thought that the man whom they
desired to substitute for their gifted monarch was a drunken
sot, cowardly and irresolute, incapable of governing the
empire acquired and consolidated by the genius of Akbar.
It sufficed for them to know that Muhammad Hakim was *'
reputed to be sound in doctrine. Accordingly, the Masums
and other rebel leaders in the eastern provdnces conspired
with several influential personages at court to in\dte the
Kabul prince to invade India and wrest the throne from its
blasphemous occupant. They promised their nominee ample j
support and a bloodless victory.

The Bengal rebels obviously were at a great disadvantage
in being separated from the territories of Muhammad Hakim
by many hundreds of miles of country strongly held by
Akbar and under his effective control. Their hopes of success •

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 191

3sted on two things only, namely, a vigorous offensive in

dcqiiate force from Kabul threatening Delhi and Agra,

nd the seduction of high officials capable of paralysing

iie imperialist defence by reason of their position. If the

inspirators had had on their side a single man of commanding

bility they might have succeeded, because Akbar's conduct

ad excited bitter hostility in the hearts of most Muhamma-

ans of influence, while his Hindu supporters might not

ave been strong enough to maintain his authority. But

[uhammad Hakim was a contemptible creature, wholly

icapable of meeting his brother either in statecraft or in

)e field, and the rebellion in the east failed to produce any

■ader of real eminence. The court officials who felt inclined

> play the part of traitors were dominated by the craft

nd genius of their master. They were powerless unless

le claimant to the throne could justify his pretensions by

ecisive mihtary success, and that he failed to attain.

, Akbar learned at an early date the nature of the conspiracy,

id prepared to crush it by a combination of guile with

)rce.^

' The liistory of the Kabul principal matter of interest in it

impaign rests upon the testi- is the assertion that Shah Mansur

ony of three authors, all of was hanged on the strength of

horn took part in the expedition ; evidence, partially forged. Ba-

imely (1) Father Monserrate ; daoni, in the main, copies from

) Abu-1 Fazl, in the Akbarndma ; the Tabakat, adding one or two

id (3) Niz.amu-d din, in the details. The notice of the cam-

nbakdl. Particvdars of their paign in Firishta is slight and of

brks will be found in the no independent value,

ibliography (App. D). The Monserrate, Abu-1 Fazl, and

eatise by Monserrate is entitled Firishta agree in ignoring the

• be considered the primary story about the alleged forgery,

ithority, as being by far the and in treating Shah Mansur as

ilest account of the transactions, a traitor deservedly punished,

fised on notes written up each Badaoni follows the lead given

ening while his recollection by Nizamu-d-din and amplifies

the events was fresh by a his statement on the incident,

jirned, able, and conscientious which will be discussed more

an. He gives numerous material fully in subsequent notes.

*cts not mentioned by any other As usual the three contemporary

Titer. The Akbarndma account, authorities do not always agree,

next in value, is tolerably Mr. Beveridge has been good

(•

iitailcd, but the narrative is enough to send me most of the

{sfigured by the author's usual proof-sheets of volume iii of his

ults, and leaves obscure many translation of the Akbarndma, not

cidents clearly related by the yet published, which contains

suit. Nizamu-d din's abstract the account of the Kabvd expcdi-

tlie events is meagre. The tion. The Latin text of Monscr-

192

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

against
Akbar.

A.D. 1580. The leader of the conspiracy at court was Shah Manstir,
abfe^con"- *^^^ Finance Minister, whom Akbar had raised from a humble
spiracy position as a clerk, in recognition of his exceptional skill
in dealing with accounts.^ Letters from him to Muhammad
Hakim were intercepted. Akbar placed the traitor under
surveillance for a month and suspended him from office,
replacing him temporarily by Shah Kuli Mahram. Steps
were taken to scatter the conspirators and prevent them from
combining. Akbar then reinstated Shah Mansur, who,
however, renewed his communications with Kabul. His
correspondence was again seized. Shah Mansur was then
finally removed from office and imprisoned.^

In December 1580 an officer of Muhammad Hakim named
Nuru-d din made a raid into the Panjab, which was repulsed,
as also was a second inroad under the command of Shadman,
who was killed. When his baggage was examined more
documents were found incriminating Shah Mansur and
other high officials. Mirza Muhammad Hakim in person
then invaded the Panjab with 15,000 cavalry. He made
overtures to Yusuf, commandant of the northern Rohtas,'
asking him to surrender the fortress, which were rejected
with indignation. The prince then advanced to Lahore,
and camped in a garden outside the city, hoping that the
gates would be opened to him. Man Singh, the governor,
however, was faithful to his charge and refused to commit
treason. Muhammad Hakim then retired to his own terri-
tory. He had been led on by the counsels of his maternal
uncle, Faridun, who was convinced that the country would
rise in his favour. Notwithstanding the care taken by the
invaders to abstain from pillage, the expectations of Faridun
were completely falsified by the event, and not a man stirred

rate's treatise, edited by Father
H. Hosten, S.J., in 1914, is still
practically unknown to nearly
all students of Indian history.
It has been largely used in the
composition of this chapter.

^ ' Xamansurus (hoc enim erat
nomen, conjuratorum duci) '
{Commentarius, p. 576).

^ The exact dates of those

events do not seem to be recorded,
and there is some obscurity about
the occasions. Shah Kuli Mah-
ram seems to have taken the place
of the Khwaja on one occasion
and Wazir Khan on another.

3 Now in the Jhelum (.Jihlam)
District, in 32° 55' N. and 73° 48'
E. The fortress was built by
Sher Shah.

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 193

|to help the Mirza, whose force by itself was obviously
Inadequate to withstand the might of Akbar. Speedy retreat
^as imperative. Muhammad Hakim fled in such haste that
pe lost 400 men who failed to swim across the Chinab.

Akbar, who had hoped to avoid war with his brother, The

ms reluctantly compelled to decide that the time had come q]^1]^^

o defend his throne by arms. He made his preparations army.

^or an advance in overwhelming strength with the utmost

["orethought and prudence,^ assembling a force of about

pjOOO cavalry, at least 500 elephants, and an unnumbered

aost of infantry. He advanced eight months' pay from the

piperial treasury.^ His army, which was at least three

limes more numerous and ten times more powerful than

fhat of his brother,^ was mustered near the capital.

On February 8, 1581,'* Akbar marched. As a precaution

^ lie took with him Shah Mansur, who had been released from

[ustody. The emperor was accompanied by his two elder

ons, Prince Salim, then in his twelfth year, and Prince

ilurad, who was about a year younger. Father Monserrate,

jutor to Murad, was in attendance, by Akbar's express

lommand. Suitable measures were taken for the adminis-

jPation of the capital, the provinces, and chief cities of the

;mpire. A few ladies of the harem travelled with the

amp, which was arranged with well-ordered splendour.

[he huge multitude, including innumerable camp followers

nd dealers in every commodity, moved with admirable

recision along the great northern road through Mathura

\Iuttra) and Delhi. Father Monserrate was astounded at

be low prices which prevailed, notwithstanding the immense

' umbers of men and animals, more especially of elephants.*

. I ' ' Bellum Chahulicum quod his camp at Fathpur-Sikri on

! iagna cum animi coustautia et the Gth, waited there for two

liro consiho, Ilachiiuo furjato days (biduo, p. 579) until evciy-

' plaidinus [.Jalalu-d dinj confecit ' thing was in order, and actually

\ ^ommentarius, p. r>S5). marched on the 8th. That cir-

* ^ Tabakat in E. & D., v, 421. cumstance explains the statement

j' ijartoli, p. 53. in A.N., iii, 495, that Akbar

' I * The date, according to Monser- ' set off ' on Monday, Muharram 2,

^ Ite, was ' sext. Idus Feb.', which which undoubtedly was equivalent

s editor correctly interprets to February 0.

February 8. Akbar formed ^ The number of elephants

1845 «

194

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Feb. 27,
1581.
Execu-
tion of
Khwaja
Shah
Mansur.

He ascribes the extraordinary plenty to the care and fore-
sight of Akbar, who had personally seen to the collection
of suppUes. The dealers employed for the commissariat
had been relieved from the payment of all dues or customs.^

When the camp was in the neighbourhood of Sonpat,
Malik Sani, a confidential servant of Muhammad Hakim,
arrived and offered his own services to the emperor. The
fact that the visitor accepted the hospitality of Shah Mansur,
who was already so deeply compromised, was regarded as
additional evidence of the minister's treason. About the
same time letters purporting to have been sent by Muham-
mad Hakim to Shah Mansur were intercepted. This third
seizure of treasonable correspondence left Akbar in no
doubt concerning the guilt of Shah Mansur, who was again
arrested.

The army then moved on through Panipat and Thanesar
to Shahabad, midway between Thanesar and Ambala
(Umballa).^ Near Shahabad, Shah Mansur was solemnly
hanged on a tree adjoining the sarai of Kot Kachhwaha.'
The story of this memorable execution is best told in the
words of Father Monserrate, who Avas with the camp, and
wrote up his notes each evening.

' The army ', he writes, ' arrived at Shahabad, where Shah
Mansiir, by order of the King, was hanged on a tree, and so
paid the just penalty for his perfidy and treason. The thing
was done in this manner. The King commanded the officers
of the guards and of the executioners, as well as certain :
chief nobles, to halt at that place with Shah Mansiir. He I

actually with the force was 500
(Monserrate, p. 582), not 5,000 as
Bartoli puts it (p. 53). The army
comprised people of many nation-
alities. At that time the strength
of the Imperial Service troops,
as distinguished from contingents,
was 45,000 cavalry, 5,000 ele-
phants, and an unnumbered
host of men on foot. The expedi-
tionary force included part of
the Imperial Service Troops,
besides considerable contingents,
making up the total stated in the
text.

* Conimentarius, p. 581.

^ Shahabad is now in the
Karnal District (30° 10' N., 76°
52' E.). The name is disguised
as ' Baadum ' in Co7nmentarius,
p. 590. The correct name is
given in the Tabakdi (E. & D.,
V, 422).

^ ' Ex arbore suspensus ', not
'crucified ' (lo fece subito mettere
in croce, & morire), as Peruschi
(p. 23); nor 'impaled', as in
Beale. Kot Kachhwaha is named
in A. N. iii, 503. Beale gives the
date as Feb. 27 = 23 Muharram,
A. H. 989.

KABUL CA31PAIGXS ; REBELLIONS 195

lirected Abu-1 Fazl to expound in the pres-ence of those
ritnesses the benefits which the King had conferred upon
ae condemned man from his boyhood. The speaker was
irther instructed to reproach him with his ingratitude, to
enounce his treason, and to prove that Shah Mansur,
mvicted on the e\-idence of letters in his own handwriting
ad in that of Muhammad Hakim, was rightly sentenced
,) be hanged by order of the King. He was also commanded
) urge the criminal to undergo his punishment with a stout
i?art, accepting it as only his dvie. He was further instructed
) convince those present that the King had planned no
justice against Shah Mansur, and to warn them to abide
V their duty.

' Abu-1 Fazl, as representing the King, performed the

)ove duty to a nicety.^ When the culprit was dead, they

fturned to the camp, which was not far off. The King

oenlv testified bv the sadness of his countenance that he

'ieved over the man's fate.

■ ' But by his execution the whole conspiracy was extin-
jiished, and the sword-point was withdrawn from the
iroats of all who adhered to the King. Throughout the
'hole camp, the punishment of the wicked man Avas approved
\th rejoicing. No internal sedition being now to be feared,
ikbar anticipated the successful issue of the war, which he
leomplished by the favour of God. Muhammad Hakim,
Aien he heard of what had happened, repented his action
fd thought of peace.'

;The execution of Shah Mansur has been denounced by Com-
"v'iters of authority as ' a judicial murder ', or 'a foul ^^ ^.j^g
iLirder ', and attributed to the machinations of Raja Todar p^ecu-
Ml. Neither Father Monserrate nor Abu-1 Fazl gives any
spport to such charges. Both authors treat the punish-
rmt as deserved and say that it was acclaimed by general
r|Oicing.2 The belief that the execution was a judicial
rirder rests upon the following passage in the Tabakdt :

' When the Emperor was waited upon at Kabul by the

cnfidential servants of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, he made
I

'Quod Abrhilfasiliiis, qui Rewis quite so definite in his judgement

p^sonam sustineljat, ad ungueni as Father Monserrate, states as

pfecit ' (p. 591). Compare the one among the criminaFs faults

p.e of Essex and Baeon, twenty that he laeked ' a little loyaltv to

yirs later. ' the lord of the universe '.
.\bu-l ¥az\, although not

196

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

inquiry into the case of Khwaja Shah Mansur, and it appeared
that Karmu-lla, brother of Shahbaz, had colluded with
others to concoct letters, and that he had forged the last
letter on the evidence of which Khwaja Mansur was executed.
After this was discovered, the Emperor often regretted the
execution of the Khwaja.' ^

It will be observed that Nizamu-d din distinctly affirms
the forgery of only the last set of letters, those seized near
Sonpat towards the end of February 1581, which induced
Akbar to decide on the execution. Badaoni, whose work
was based on the Tabakdt, extends Nizamu-d din's statement
so as to cover all the letters, saying that Akbar

' found out that Karamu-llah, brother of Shahbaz Khan,
together with other Amirs had concocted all this forgery
and deception, and that the last letter also, which had
been the cause of his being put to death, was a forgery
of the Amirs. So the Emperor was very much grieved
about the execution of Shah Mansur,' ^

After careful study of the various versions of the incident,
I am of opinion that in 1580 genuine correspondence passed
between the Mirza and the Khwaja. Monserrate's detailed
account shows that Akbar was unwilling to take strong
action on those documents, and that it was the third dis-
covery in 1581 which induced him to harden his heart and
order the execution. The Khwaja was extremely unpopular,
and the truth seems to be that his enemies, who were deter-
mined to compass his destruction, forged the last batch of
letters in order to force Akbar's hand. The documents

I believe that

seized on earlier occasions were genuine

» E. & D., V, 426. Nizamu-d
din evidently believed in the
genuineness of the letters taken
from Shadman's baggage. He
writes : ' When Kunwar Man
Singh defeated Shadnian, he
obtained from Shadman's port-
folio three letters from Mirza
Muhammad Hakim : one to
Hakimu-1 Mulk, one to Khwaja
Shah Mansur, and one to Muham-
mad Kasim Khan Mlr-hahr ; all
in answer to letters of invitation

and encouragement. Kunwarf
Man Singh sent these letters tol
the Emperor, who ascertained
the contents, but kept the fact
concealed ' (ibid., p. 422). Ha-
kimu-1 Mulk was sent to Mecca
for life, as being a person ' not
to be trusted in matters of religion;
and faith'. He refused to come
back when sent for (Badaoni,
p. 293). He was a physician {Ain,
vol. i, p. 542).
^ Badaoni, ii, 303.

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 197

Jhah Mansur really had been guilty of sending letters of
ivitation to Muhammad Hakim in 1580, and that he actually
,as the head of the treasonable conspiracy, as stated by
lonserrate. The suggestion that Raja Todar Mall was
oncerned in the alleged forgery plot does not seem to be
upported by any evidence of value.

Abu-1 Fazl suppresses the information about the unplea-
int duty assigned to himself, which is known only from the
ages of Monserrate.

Akbar's grief appears to have been caused by annoyance
t the unnecessary loss of a skilled financier rather than by
?morse for a judicial murder. According to Abu-1 Fazl :
The appreciative monarch often uttered with his pearling
Wgue, " From that day the market of accounts was flat
nd the thread of accounting dropped from the hand." '

Probably the emperor's unwillingness to punish the
•aitor was due to his fear of losing the services of an irre-
laceable expert more than to anything else. In the course

his long reign he was often obliged to accept the services
■ men on whose loyalty he could not depend. For instance,

' continued to utilize Kasim Khan as being his best engineer,
though he, too, had sent an invitation to the Mirza. It

e\ident that several of Akbar's officers tried to keep on

rms with both parties, as English statesmen did when
.icobite plots were being arranged. Akbar relied on himself
;one, and was always confident that he could detect treason
ad defeat it one way or another.

After the execution Akbar continued his march to Ambala Akbar's
iid Sirhind. On reaching Pael (Payal), the next stage beyond "l^l^^
Iirhind,^ he heard the pleasant news that his brother had Indus,
fthdrawn from the Panjab. The cloud of anxiety disap-
ji'ared from his countenance, and he gave vent to his high
f^irits by taking a drive in a two-horsed chariot. The news,
bwever, did not induce him to change his plans. He was
<|termined to pursue his fugitive opponent, and to dictate
iTms of peace in Kabul.

He therefore marched on, crossing the Sutlaj and Bias by
' Pael, a nuilial of Sirhind {Aln, vol. ii, 295 ; iii, 09).

198 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

bridges of boats. He avoided the direct main road tiirough
Lahore, in order that he might keep close to the base of
the hills.^ He camped at Kalanaur, in the extensive and
charming gardens which he had caused to be made in
honour of the scene of his accession to the throne. The Ravi
was crossed by a bridge of boats, but when the army reached
the Chinab boats were scarce, and the transit of the whole
force in such ferry-boats as were available occupied three
days. Yusuf, who had held Rohtas against the invader,
gave his sovereign a splendid banquet when the army
reached the fortress in his charge. After quitting Rohtas
Akbar pushed on towards the Indus.

The ardour of his passion for theological discussion is
illustrated by the curious anecdote that at this time Father
Monserrate thought it proper to present the emperor with
a treatise on the Passion, which excited a lively argument.
On arrival at the bank of the Indus Akbar was delayed
for fifty days. The construction of a bridge at that season
was impracticable, and the passage of the flooded stream
could have been easily prevented by a small force of resolute
men. The Mirza's reasons for allowing his brother to make
his arranofements for the transit undisturbed and to cross
without opposition arc not recorded.
Advance The chief officers of the imperial army manifested a
' mutinous spirit while encamped on the bank of the Indus.
For one reason or another, all, or almost all, were unwilling
to cross the river, and urged their opinions at several councils
of war.2 Akbar amused his leisure with hunting. Monser-
rate, as a priest and man of peace, advised Akbar not to
press the quarrel with his brother to extremity. But the
emperor decided to go on. He sent Prince Murad, accom-
panied by experienced officers, across first with several
thousand cavalry and five hundred elephants. Two days

' Alexander the Great, when his life because his enemies

operating at the same rainy falsely accused him of supporting

season, did likewise. the malcontent officers (p. 527).

^ A. N., ch. Ixi, vol. iii, p. 522. Akbar ordered a fort to be built

Abu-1 Fazl is more detailed than at Attock (Atak Benares) (ibid.,

Monserrate in his account of p. 001).
the councils. He was near losing

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 199

jifter he had dispatched his young son on his dangerous
luty, Akbar characteristically spent many hours of the night
liscussing with Monserrate a variety of geographical and
lieological problems. The report of the conversation occu-
)ies several quarto pages. '^

About July 12 Akbar himself crossed the Indus, and was
ollowed in due course by the army which was to accompany
lim. A standing camp was left behind. ^ Some alarm was
•aused by the arrival of a messenger who reported a disaster
o Murad's force, but more accurate accounts received later
Ihowed that the young prince had been saved from defeat by
he timely arrival of a reserve under the command of Man
Singh. Prince Murad, notwithstanding his extreme youth,
ook part in the fight (August 1), and, jumping down from
liis horse, seized a lance and declared that he would not
/ield an inch of ground whatever might happen.^
I Akbar encamped near the junction of the Kabul river
jfvith the Indus and waited until all his troops had crossed
jfafely, an operation which consumed much tiine. He diverted
jiimself by labouring in the workshops, and by renewed
lebates on Christian theology. He then marched to Pesha-
;var, which had been evacuated and burnt by Muhammad
flakim. While staying there he further gratified his ruling
">assion by paying a visit to the Gor Katri Jogis, who occu-
pied the building now used as the offices of the tahsildar,
or sub-collector.*

Prince Sallm entered the Khyber Pass in advance of his
father, halting at All Masjid, and reaching Jalalabad in
[safety. Prince Murad entered the city of Kabul (August 3),

I > Commentarius, pp. 004-8. ' Commentarius, p. 610. The

\ ^ He left the nuiin eiinip with date was August 1 (.i. N., iii,

^n immense (juantity of baggage 5.36).

'\m the banks of the Indus, and * ' Eo qiiidem tempore, exustis

^ave the eommand of that spot tectis, soli cineres videbantur '

to Kasim Khan, in order that (Commetilarius, p. 612). For the

^e might subdue tlie refraetory ' Gorkhattri ' monastery sec /. G.

ipirits there and construct a (1908), xx, 12.'j ; A. N., iii, .528.

bridge ' (A. N., iii, 523). I vmder- The spelling Gor Katri is correct.

|jtand that the principal standing The site is not that of Kanishka's

inimp was on the Indian side of shlpa (Ann. Hep. A. S. India,

;he river. 1908-9, [). :J9 ti.).

200 . AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

which was abandoned by Muhammad Hakim, who fled into
the hills.i

Akbar issued a proclamation reassuring the inhabitants,
and made his entry into his grandfather's capital on Friday,
Rajab 10, corresponding with August 9, 1581, He stayed
there only seven days, being anxious to return home, and
cherishing hopes that he might be able to manage an attack
on Kashmir as an interlude. He was obliged, for the time
being, to drop the proposed enterprise against the mountain
kingdom, because his army was weary and the season too
far advanced.^
Disposal The Muhammadan historians represent Akbar as having
Akbar^"'' restored the government of the Kabul province to his
return brother dii'ectly. But the Mirza had never come in to make
lome. personal submission to Akbar, and there can be no doubt
that Father Monserrate is correct in stating that the emperor
made over Kabul to his sister, the wife of Khwaja Hasan
of Badakhshan, when she came in to see him. Akbar informed
her that he had no concern with Muhammad Hakim, whose
name he did not wish to hear ; that he made over the pro-
vince to her ; that he would take it back when he pleased ;
that he did not care whether his brother resided at Kabul
or not ; and that she should warn Muhammad Hakim,
that in the event of his misbehaving again he must not
expect a repetition of the kindness and clemency now
shown to him.^ The orders were recorded in writing.
Apparently the lady did not attempt to retain the country
in her own charge. She seems to have tacitly allowed the
Mirza to resume the government.

» Murad's entry is recorded in a month of 32 days. For design

the Tabakat, E. & D., v, 424. on Kashmir see' Commentarius,

The historian Nizamu-d din rode p. 620.

out to his camp, doing 75 kos ^ Commentarius, p. 618. The

in a day and a night. See also lady was own sister of Muham-

A. N., iii, 538. mad Hakim, and half-sister of

2 ' Septem vero diebus Chabuli Akbar. Her name is variously

. . . constitit' (Commentarius, given as Najibu-n nisa, Fakhru-n

p. 618). ' A week ' (Badaoni, nisa, and Bakhtu-n nisa. The last

p. 303). ' Twenty days ' {Tabakat, form seems to be correct. The

in E. & D., V, 425). From variants probably are due to mis-

29 Amardad to 2 Shahriyur (A.N., readings of bad writing ( Jahangir,

iii, 540, 542). That would give R. & B., i. 144 n. ; Blochmann,

only 6 days, even if Amardad was Aln, vol. i, p. .322).

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 201

Akbar celebrated his victory by distributing alms to 3,000
joor people at All Masjid, and offering up thanksgivings
iiccording to Muslim ritual at that place.

But he would not allow the white mosque tent to be pitched.
While he was on the outward march and the issue of his
niterprise was uncertain he had used it regularly. He
lever hesitated to show ovitward confonuity with the require-
nents of Musalman law when he could gain any political
idvantage by complaisance. The emperor now was able to
;ross the Indus near Attock by a bridge of boats, the work of
lis clever chief engineer, Kasim Khan, the builder of the fort
it Agra.^ The other rivers were crossed in the same manner,
vith the exception of the Ravi which proved to be fordable.

Kunwar Man Singh was placed in charge of the Indus
)rovince.^

Akbar arrived at the capital on December 1, 1581, and
iclebrated his achievements by magnificent public rejoicings,
'he whole undertaking had been completed within ten
lonths. Although the actual fighting was on a small scale,
he results won by the expedition were of the highest value.

In February Akbar's life and throne seemed to be in Results
lUminent danger. Subtle traitors surrounded his person ; ^'^/'^j-.
ibels disputed his authority in the eastern provinces ; tion :

hostile army, led by his half-brother, an apparently Dec!i58i.
,)rmidable pretender to the crown, had invaded the Panjab,
iireatening the safety of the imperial capital ; and no man
Duld tell what might be the result of the struggle between
ic brothers. The extensive range of the preparations
lade by the emperor, and the care with which he conducted
's advance, show that Akbar fully realized the magnitude
the danger threatening him. The execution of Shah
iansur effectually cowed the conspirators at court ; the
.aperial officers gradually curbed the rebellion in Bengal ;
ic personal dread inspired by Akbar's name and character

Id waverers to their duty ; the Hindu chiefs remained
;yal ; and the overwhelming numerical superiority and
^piipment of the army employed rendered effective military

' Commentarius, p. G2(>. ^ A. N., iii, 545, 540.

202 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

opposition impossible. Thus, in December, Akbar could
feel that he had put all enemies under his feet, that his life
and throne were secure, and that he could do what he pleased
in religion and all other matters of internal administration.
The success of the Kabul expedition gave him an absolutely
free hand for the rest of his life, and may be regarded as the
climax of his career. His power was now established so
firmly that he was able to take extraordinary liberties with
his people and to defy criticism with absolute impunity.
Father Father Aquaviva, who had been left at Fathpur-Sikri

viva ; while the Kabul expedition was in progress, had spent his
outrage ^ i[^^q in the practice of rigid austerities and unsparing
guese. mortification of the body. When Akbar had won the cam-
paign he sent for Aquaviva, who fell dangerously ill at
Sirhind. But he survived, and had a happy meeting with
the emperor and Father Monserrate at Lahore. When he
told Akbar that hostilities between his officers and the Portu-
guese of Daman were going on, the emperor professed to
be shocked at the news. Akbar's policy with regard to the
Portuguese at this time was tortuous and perfidious.

As early as February 1580, at the very moment when the
missionaries were approaching his court in response to the
friendly invitation addressed to the viceroy and other
authorities of Goa, he had organized an army ' to capture
the European ports ', under the command of one of his most
trusted officers, his foster-brother Kutbu-d din Khan, with
whom the imperial officials of Gujarat and Malwa were
directed to co-operate.^ We learn for the first time from
Monserrate how the war thus initiated had been caused,
and how, as he puts it, the ordinary obscure quarrels between
the Muhammadans and Portuguese developed into avowed
hostilities. Quarrels never ceased, because the Portuguese
claimed to control the sea and refused to allow any imperial
ship to proceed to Mecca or elsewhere in safety unless pro-
vided with a pass. Such a position naturally was intensely
galling to the emperor and his officers, but their lack of a

1 A. N., iii, 409, 410 n. The on the authority of Abu-1 Fazl,
fact, it should be observed, rests not on that of the missionaries. (i

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 203

sea-going fleet and of all knowledge of maritime affairs
precluded them from effective remedy.^

I When Gulbadan Begam was going on pilgrimage in 1575,
she had bought the necessary pass by ceding to the Portu-
guese a village called Biitsar, situated near Daman. After
her return, when she was no longer dependent on the hated
Christians, she directed the imperial oflfieers to retake the
village. When they tried to do so they were repulsed with
loss. The Portuguese, in retaliation, detained a Mogul ship.
At that time the fleet commanded by Diogo Lopes Coutinho
was lying in the Tapti near Surat. A party of young men
who had landed in Mogul territory for sport, believing
themselves to be in friendly country, were attacked, and
'nine of them taken prisoners. They were brought to Surat
and executed because they refused to apostatize. Their
stout-hearted leader, Duarte Pereyra de Lacerda, deserves
to be commemorated by name. The governor sent the
Victims' heads to the caj^ital as being a presumabl}'' accept-
able present to his master. The affair became generally
known, but Akbar pretended not to have seen the heads,
and professed regret that hostilities had broken out.

Kutbu-d din Khan, acting on the official imperial orders Kutbu-d

of 1580, assembled an army of 15,000 horse, and cruelly !"**,

' J ' ' J attack on

ravaged the Daman territory. On April 15, 1582, when he Daman,
attacked Daman itself, he was gallantly repulsed by the j.|g2
garrison and navy under the command of Martin Alfonso
'de Mello, Fernao de Castro and other officers. The Fathers,
having been informed of those events, complained to Akbar,
who falsely swore that he had no knowledge of the war,
'alleging that Kutbu-d din Khan, as a senior official of high
"ank, had acted on his own initiative. The emperor said that
he could not well censure his viceroy for acts done with the
intention of serving the public interest. Nevertheless, when
Akbar, yielding to the remonstrances of the Fathers, sent
orders recalling his troojjs from Daman, his commands

* Mr. Iladhakiimucl Mookerji Shipping, Book II, ch. ii (Long-
iTiakcs the most lie can of Akbar\s mans, 1912), l)ut the most is not
marine in Jiis History of Indidti mueli.

204 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

were obeyed instantly. About the same time a treacherous
attack on Diu was defeated by clever stratagem.

The Fathers were disgusted at the clear evidence of the
duphcity of Akbar, who pretended a desire for the friendship
of the King of Spain, to whom Portugal was then subject,
while actually ordering hostilities against the Portuguese.
Moreover, their Jesuit superiors had sent urgent letters
requiring the missionaries to return, as they did not seem
to have any prospect of success. The missionaries themselves
were eager to go, being wholly unable to accept Akbar's
denial of the facts about the war, and feeling conscious that
they were not in a position to do any good.
Projected While still at Lahore the emperor had mentioned to Aqua-
embassies y[yQ^ ^ project for sending an embassy to the King of Spain,
Europe, accompanied by one or other of the Fathers. He seems to
have been largely influenced by a desire to communicate
the news of his own conquests to the European powers.^
After his return to the capital he resumed the subject, and
proposed to invite the King of Portugal to join him in
a league against the Turks, and also intimated a desire to
send an envoy to the Pope, He exhibited much interest
in the Pontiff's position, and renewed his theological inquiries.
He avowed explicitly that he was not a Muhammadan, and
that he no longer paid any regard to the Muslim formula
of the faith {Kolima). His sons, he remarked, were at
liberty to adopt whatever rehgion they might choose.

Ultimately it was arranged that Aquaviva should stay
and take over his colleague's duty as tutor to Prince Murad.^

The last Akbar now resumed for a short time the theological

ft}
debates debates, which had been interrupted by the war. One night

on he assembled in the private audience chamber the leaders of

both Muhammadans and Hindus as well as the Fathers,

1 At Jalalabad he gladly re- names follow Father Hosten. ' Ad

ceived the congratulations of haec se non esse Agarenum [scil.

Father Monserrafe, hoping that '' descendant of Hagar "=Mus-

he would report to Spain the lim], professus est, nee Maha-

success of the campaign. " Est meddis symbolo [scil., the kalima,

enim gloriae percupidus ' {Com- as on p. 630], quicquam tribuere.

mentarius, p. 619), , , . Se similiter filiis integrum

- Commentariiis. pp. 622, 625-9, relinquere, ut quam malint legem

The spelling of the Portuguese accipiant " (p. 628),

religions.

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; RPZBELLIONS 205

land renewed the old discussions about the relative values
of the Koran and the Bible. He said that he wished the
Scontroversy to be continued on stated days in order to
Idiscover which religion was the truer and sounder. The next
evening he held another meeting at which the two elder
princes and sundry vassal chiefs were present. But after
that occasion the attendance gradually dwindled, until the
Fathers alone came. They, too, soon found that it was not
worth their while to attend, Akbar being preoccupied with
his scheme for promulgating a new religion of his own.
In practice he inclined more and more to the observance
3f Hindu rites and customs.^ Thus the debates on religions
;which had begun in 1575 came to an end in 1582. They seem
to have been usually conducted in the House of Worship
■or about four years, and afterwards in the private apart-
nents of the palace. In all probability, as has been suggested
ibove, the House of WorshijD had been pulled down before
the Kabul campaign.

Akbar arranged that his envoy to Europe should be Abortive
5ayyid Muzaffar, with Father Monserrate as his colleague, ^^"^^^^y
4nd that Abdullah Khan, the Persian Shia who had fetched Europe ;

he Fathers from the coast, should not proceed farther than of Aqua-
Jioa. After many delays the persons so selected started on "^''"^^•

heir long and arduous journey in the summer of 1582.
The roads were everywhere infested with robbers, and
vlonserrate was often in danger of death by reason of Muslim
lostility. It would take too much space to relate his adven-
'ures in detail. He arrived safely at Surat on August 5,

582, and learned the painful news that two Christian

oung men had been executed there on the previous day.

'he local authorities had rejected an offer of a thousand

old pieces made by the Jain merchants as ransom for the

ves of the victims.

Sayyid Muzaffar, who had been forced into the expedition
-gainst his will, deserted and concealed himself in the

' ' Nam cum in dies magis et dignum esse existimarunt cui

lagis, }j;entilibiis faveret, eteorum Kvangelicas margaritas, pedibiis

jostulationc bubulas earnos in obculcandas et protercndas tra-

lacello vaenire prohiberet ; in- derent ' (ibid., p. 634).

206 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Deccan. Abdullah Khan accompanied Monserrate to
Daman and Goa.

A suitable ship not being available that season, the
authorities at Goa decided that the embassy must wait
until the year following. Abdullah Khan, however, never
sailed, and ultimately returned to court.

Meantime, Aquaviva had remained at Fathpur-Slkri.
But he was thoroughly weary of the Protean changes
exhibited by Akbar,^ and had become sorrowfully convinced
that he could do no good by staying on. He obtained his
release with much difficulty, and left the court early in
1583, arriving at Goa in May. Two months later he was
murdered by a Hindu mob, incensed at the fanatical destruc-
tion of their temples by the priests. Akbar was much
grieved when he heard the news. Aquaviva and his four
companions who perished with him are venerated by mem-
bers of the Roman Church as martyrs, and were solemnly
beatified by the Pope in 1893.

Aquaviva had steadfastly refused to accept from Akbar
wealth in any form, beyond the means barely sufficient for
meagre sustenance. When leaving he begged as a final boon
that he might be allowed to take with him a family of Russian
slaves — father, mother, two sons, and certain dependants —
who had been among Muhammadans so long as to be
Christians in name only. Notwithstanding the strong
opposition of the Queen-Mother, Akbar granted his friend's
request. ' Those souls ', Bartoli observes, ' were the only
treasure which he brought back from the Mogul realm to
Goa after an absence of three years and a half.' ^

Failure Thus ended the fh-st Jesuit Mission. It was a failure.

mission Concerning which disappointment Father Monserrate wrote

to Akbar. in sadness of heart :

' It may be suspected that Jalalu-d din [Akbar] was
moved to summon the Christian priests, not by any divine

1 ' At vero Rodolfus, turn Regis tlie martyrdom is in many books,
inconstantiae pertaesiis, qui se, in but is most conveniently read in
plures figuras quam Proteus ver- Goldie. Bartoli gives a list of old
tebat ' {Commentarms, p. 637). books dealing with the subject.

2 Bartoli, p. 83. The story of

KABUL CAMPAIGNS ; REBELLIONS 207

inspiration, but by a certain curiosity, and excessive eager-
ness to hear some new thing, or a design to devise something
i novel for the destruction of souls. Because, if this work
had been of God, it could not have been hindered by any
inconveniences or obstacles. But, inasmuch as it was not
of God, it collapsed and melted away of itself, even against
the resistance of the King.' ^

Akbar, while on his return march, had been able to devote Revision
some attention to matters of internal administration. The an^^^KLi
importance of the office of Sadr-i sudur as it existed in the tlepart-
time of Akbar's predecessors and in the early years of his
reign was explained in a former chapter. As time went
an and Akbar's alienation from Islam became more and more
jaccentuated, he watched with ever increasing jealousy
the grant of heritable revenue — free lands to Muhammadans,
reputed to be specially learned or pious. Such grants were
known by either the Turkl name of sayurghdl or the Persian
"lesignation of madad-i madsh, meaning ' subsistence allow-
uice '. The bestowal of grants of that kind after due
nvestigation and on proper conditions was one of the most
mportant duties of the Sadr-Sudur. After the removal of
[shaikh Abdu-n Nab! from office in 1578 (986), the post was
[shorn of its ancient dignity. Now in November 1581, on
[;he day he crossed the Ravi, Akbar abolished it altogether,
lubstituting for the one central dignity six provincial
officers, as follow : (1) Delhi, Malwa, and Gujarat ; (2) Agra,
[^alpi, and Kalanjar ; (3) Hajipur to the Sarju or Ghaghra
jGogra) river ; (4) Bihar ; (5) Bengal ; (6) Panjab.

At the same time a head or principal KazI was appointed
or each of the larger cities, to supervise the minor judicial
i.fficers. The emperor hoped that these arrangements would
rheck delay, fraud, and bribery, and at the same time
»(>ncfit the exchequer.^

' Cnnimnifnrius, p. 6^58. lands were hcrit:il)Ic, and so

- A. N., iii, 546. The acconnt diifercd from fiefs for service

h Badaoni, p. 304, differs. On (jdHilr or tuyftl). But there was

ine ollice of Sadr sec Abu-I Fazl, nothing to hinder the soverei<,'n

tin. Book II, Ain 19, witli from resmnin^r at will a fjrant of

|loelnnann"s eoinnientary in Aln, any kind, and Akitar freely exer

ol. i, pp. ii()8-74. Sayurghdl cised his power in that respect.

208 AK1',AI{ TIIK GKKAT MOGUL

HcImI- During the process of the wars in Bengal and the expei

iNlI'/.'i'rhir ''"" *" Kribiil, the province of Gujarat was much disturb
(iiijaraii, |;y thc rcvolt (»f Muzaffaf Shah, the ex-king of that counti
He had escaped from surveillance in 1578, and taken refu
at Junagarh in Kathiawar until 1583, when he collect
discontented followers of Shihab Khan, the recalled vicerc
and started a formidable rebellion, which lasted for abo
eight years. When Itimad Khan was appointed vicer'
in 1583 he was lucky enough to be assisted by Nizamii
din Ahmad, the historian, in the capacity of bakhshl, wt
proved himself to be a most energetic and efficient offic(
In September 1583 Muzaffar took Ahmadabad, and assume
the title and state of king. In November he treacherous
killed Kutbu-d din, the distinguished imperial officer w
had surrendered to him, and he occupied Bharoch. T
alarming news from the west obliged Akbar to return frc
Allahabad to the capital in January 1585. He had meantir
appointed Mirza Khan (Abdurrahim, Bairam Khan's soi
better known by his later title of Khan Khanan, to t
government of Gujarat. The pretender was severe
defeated by much inferior imperial forces at the battle
Sarkhcj near Ahmadabad in January 1584, and again
Nadot or Nandod in Rajpipla. After many vicissitudes
was driven into Cutch (Kachh), where he received suppc
from certain local chiefs. Nizamu-d din inflicted a terrib
punishment on their territory by destroying nearly 3*
Aillagcs and ravaging two parganas. He was then recalleo
Muzaffar continued to give trouble in the wild regions
Kathiawar and Cutch until 1591-2, when he was capture
He committed suicide by cutting his throat, or any ra
was reported to have done so. Abdurrahim got his tit
of Khan Khanan for his defeats of Muzaffar.

CHAPTER VIII

TH DIN ILAHl, DIVINE FAITH , OR 'DIVINE MONO-
THEISM ' ; FANTASTIC REGULATIONS ; FOUNDATION
W ALLAHABAD ; BEGINNING OF INTERCOURSE WITH
ENGLAND, ETC.

-KBAr's long-cherished p roject of estabHsIiing througho ut Alau-d
his mpire one universal reUgion, formulated and contr olled Ki^iiij-s
Ey ams elf, was avowed publicly for the first time in 158 2. projected
Hcvvas so well acquainted with history that it is possible relitrion.
thf. he may have been influenced by the example of Sultan
Alii-d din Kldlji, who at the beginning of the fourteenth
cerury had allowed his vanity to be flattered by a similar
ma scheme. Although the Sultan contemplated the
enlrcement of conformity by the power of the sword,
whe Akbar trusted to the influence of persuasion aided by
briery,^ the parallel between the two cases is sufficiently
clo;; to warrant quotation of the historian's account of
Alii-d din's proposal.

')ne of the two schemes which he used to debate about
he hus explained :— " God Almighty gave the blessed
Prcihet four friends, through whose energy and power the
La- and Religion were established, and through this
estolishment of law and religion the name of the Prophet
wilcndure to the day of judgement. Every man who knows
hircelf to be a Musalman, and calls himself by that name,
coi;eives liimself to be of liis rehgion and creed. God has
giv 1 me also four friends — Ulugh Khan, Zafar Khan,
Nu.at Khan, and Alp Khan — who, through my prosperity,
ha^ attained to princely power and dignity. If I am so

' But His Majesty was at last his courtiers, and much more the

con meed that confidence in him vulgar, into his deviUsh nets '

as ; leader was a matter of time (Badaoni, p. 323). At a later date,

ancgood counsel, and did not as will appear presently, he did

reqire the sword. And, indeed, spend some money on the pro-

if ] s Majesty, in setting up his paganda. He disliked expense,

claiis and making his innova- except on certain personal whims,

tioi, had spent a little money, if it could be avoided,
he .)uld easily have got most of

210

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Bold
protest
of the
Sultan's
Kotwal.

inclined, I can, with the help of these four friends, establi
a new religion and creed ; and my sword, and the swoii
of my friends, will bring all men to adopt it. Through t' s
religion, my name and that of my friends will remain amor
men to the last day like the names of the Prophet and 's
friends." . . . Upon this subject he used to talk in his wi;
parties, and also to consult privately ^ith his nobles.'

Alau-d din was more fortunate than Akbar in findiT
among his councillors one man who had the courage ai
sense to offer reasoned opposition to a proposition born f
overweening vanity. Alau-1 Mulk, Kotwal of Delhi, ai
uncle of the historian who tells the story, promised to op
his mind freely if His Majesty would be pleased to or(r
the removal of the wine and the withdrawal of all listen s
save the chosen four. The Sultan, tyrant though he wi,
had sufficient sense to accept the conditions and to allv
his faithful friend to say what he thought, as follows :

' " Religion, and law, and creeds ought never to be mje
subjects of discussion by Your Majesty, for these are e
concerns of prophets, not the business of kings. Rcliga
and law spring from heavenly revelation ; they are ne r
established by the plans and designs of man. From e
days of Adam till now they have been the mission of Proph s
and Apostles, as rule and government have been the diy
of kings. The prophetic office has never appertained o
kings, and never will, so long as the world lasts, thoih
some prophets have discharged the functions of royals
My advice is that Your Majesty should never talk abit
these matters. . . . Your Majesty knows what rivers )f
blood Changlz Khan made to flow in Muhammadan cits,
but he never was able to establish the Mughal religion »r
institutions among Muhammadans.^ Many Mughals h e
turned Musalmans, but no Musalman has ever beccie
a Mughal."

* In the thirteenth century the
State religion of the Mongol Khans
was Shamanism, which is defined
as ' a name applied loosely to the
religion of the Turanian races of
Siberia and north-eastern Asia,
based essentially on magic and
sorcery. . . . The Siberian Shaman
works his cures by magic, and
averts sickness and death by

incantations ' (Chambers's E y-
clop. (1906), s. V. Shamaniii).
Monserrate, following Rodei is
Gonsalvius, believed that le
Mongol religion practised )y
Timur in his youth, before is
conversion to Islam, consiste in
the adoration of the sun, m n,
stars, and fire {Cotuvientai's,
p. 669).

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 211

' The Sultan listened, and hung down his head in thought.
His four friends heartily approved what Alau-1 Mulk had
said, and looked anxiously for the Sultan's answer. After
a while he said, ..." From henceforth no one shall ever
hear me speak such words. Blessings be on thee and thy
parents, for thou hast spoken the truth and hast been loyal
to thy duty." ' ^

The incident is creditable alike to the councillor and to
the Sultan. Akbar had not one friend equally faithful,
unless the Jesuit Aquaviva be excepted, and he was not
&,llowed a voice in the matter. Nor did Akbar listen kindly
to unwelcome criticism of his claims to be the spiritual
en iguide of his people. Men who ventured to express opinions

* bontrary to his fancies in religious matters usually suffered
k' for their honesty, and sometimes even unto death.

oi ( The best account of the formal promulgation of Akbar's Council
«st 'political rehgion is that given by the Jesuit author, Bartoli, f"r pro-
jdi pn the authority of his missionary brethren. He writes : tion'of

* I ' Akbar, after his return from Kabul, feeling himself official
^ freed from the great terror due to fears concerning the religion.
f ' lidelity of his vassals and anxiety about the rebels in Gujarat,^
™ l^egan to bring openly into operation the plan which he had

bug secretly cherished in his mind. That was to make

limself the founder and head of a new religion, compounded
sin ^ut of various elements, taken partly from the Koran of
i l^uhammad, partly from the scriptures of the Brahmans,
i^ imd to a certain extent, as far as suited his purpose, from
Iki Ihc Gospel of Christ.

nil I 'In order to do that he summoned a General Council,
HI Mid invited to it all the masters of learning and the military
Iji commandants of tiic cities round about ; excluding only
1^ "'athcr Ridolfo, whom it was vain to expect to be other
■l? Ihan hostile to his sacrilegious purpose — a fact of which

■lore than enough proof had been given already.
' When he had them all assembled in front of him, he

poke in a spirit of astute and knavish [malvagio] policy,

pying :—
' " For an empire ruled by one head it was a bad thing

have the members divided among themselv^es and at

■ki

J- I ' Tdrlkh-i Flrdz Shdin, in K. & Gujarat, vvlicrc Hii' I rouble was of
^ I)., iii, 1«H, l()l). later date (ir>8:J).

' III Ik-ngai, raliier than in

I r 2

212 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

variance one with the other. That is to say, he referred to
the discord between the many kinds of [religious] laws
observed in the Mogul territory ; some being not only
different from, but hostile to others ; whence it came about
that there are as many factions as there are religions.

' " We ought, therefore, to bring them all into one, but
in such fashion that they should be both ' one ' and ' all ' ;
with the great advantage of not losing what is good in any
one religion, while gaining whatever is better in another.
In that way, honour would be rendered to God, peace
would be given to the peoples, and security to the empire.

' " Now, let those who are present express their considered
opinion ; because he would not move until they had spoken."

' Thus he spake ; and the men of note, especially the
commandants, who had no God other than the King, and
no law other than his will, all with one voice replied, " Yes ;
inasmuch as he who was nearer to heaven, both by reason
of his office and by reason of his lofty intellect, should
prescribe for the whole empire gods, ceremonies, sacrifices,
mysteries, ndes, solemnities, and whatever else was required
to constitute one perfect and universal religion."

' The business being thus closed, the King sent one of
the Shaikhs, a most distinguished old man,^ to proclaim
in all quarters, that in a short time the [religious] law to
be professed throughout the Mogul empire would be sent
from the Court ; and that they should make themselves
ready to take it for the best, and accept it with reverence,
whatever it might be.'

Protest That account asserts that the resolution of the Council

Bhafw^n ^^^ passed unanimously, but we learn from Badaoni, who

Das. probably was present, that one feeble dissentient voice was

heard, although the speaker failed to argue the matter out

in a manly w^ay, as Alau-1 Mulk had done with the fierce

Sultan nearly three centuries earlier.

' At a council held for the renovating of the religion of
the empire, Rajah Bhagwan Das said : — " I would willingly
believe that Hindus and Musalmans have each a bad religion,
but only tell us what the new sect is, and what opinion they j
hold, so that I may believe." His Majesty reflected a little,
and ceased to urge the Rajah. But the alteration of the
decisions of our glorious Faith was continued. And " the

» No doubt Abu-1 Fazl's father. Shaikh Mubarak, who lived until
1593. Bartoli, pp. 75-7.

THE DIVI^E FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 213

nnovation of heresy " {ihdds i hid'at) was found to giye
he date.' ^

The interesting fact that a formal council was held to
auction the promulgation of the proposed new religion is
mown from the testimony of Bartoli and BadaonI only,
nd has escaped the notice of modern authors. We know
othing about the missionary tour assigned to Shaikh
lubarak and presumably undertaken by him. It is certain,
owever, that the success attained by the propaganda was
cry small.

Some years later, Kunwar Man Singh, adopted son of Protest
iaja Bhagwan Das, practically repeated his father's senti- ^^ ^VJ."
lents. For the report of that incident also we are indebted Singh,
a Badaoni, who says, under date December 1, 1587, when
Ian Singh had just been appointed to the government of
tie eastern pro\nnces of Bihar, Hajipur, and Patna, that
.kbar was sharing a ' cup of friendship ' with the Khan
[hanan and Man Singh.

' His Majesty brought up the subject of " Discipleship ",
nd proceeded to test Man Singh. He said without any
eremony : —

' " If Discipleship means willingness to sacrifice one's life,

have already carried my life in my hand : what need is
aere of further proof ? If, however, the term has another
leaning and refers to Faith, I certainly am a Hindu. If
ou order me to do so, I will become a Musalman, but
I know not of the existence of any other religion than these
>vo."

' At this point the matter stopped, and the Emperor did
ot question him any further, but sent him to Bengal.' ^

That anecdote shows that even four or five years after ^^/^
,16 promulgation of the new religion so-called a good deal
f uncertainty as to its meaning still existed.

' The truth is that Akbar's pretended ' religion ' consisted Assertion

[jscntially in the assertion of his personal supremacy over spiritua^l^

lings spiritual as well as things temporal. Its ' onely supre-

macy.

' Transl, by Blochmann, Aln, decessor without material change.
)I. i, p. 198; and by Lowe, - Rada()nT,i).;{75. Lowe's version

323. Lowe followed his pre- agrees witli IJIochmann's.

214

AKBAR THE GREAT M0( UL

Akbar
totally
rejected
Islam.

begetter ' was Shaikh Mubarak, who, when Akbar came
home in 1573 after the victorious campaign in Gujarat, had
greeted his sovereign with the expression of the wish that
he should become the spiritual as well as the temporal guide
of his people. The idea germinated in Akbar's mind, but
its development was hindered by wars and other exigencies.
In September 1579 the emperor acted on Mubarak's hint,
and assumed the primacy of the MusUm faithful by means
of the ' infallibility decree '. At that time he kept pro-
fessedly within the limits of Islam, and gave at least lip-
service to the authority of the Koran and tradition. He
still went on pilgrimage, and was in many respects a con-
forming Musalman. But in his heart he had rejected
Islam, Prophet, Koran, tradition and all. As early as the
beginning of 1580, the Fathers, when on their way to the
capital, were told that the use of the name of Muhammad
an the public prayers had been prohibited ; and during the
course of that year

' the four degrees of devotion to His Majesty were defined.
The four degrees consisted in readiness to sacrifice to the
Emperor, Property, Life, Honour, and ReUgion. Whoever
had sacrificed these four things possessed the four degrees ;
and whoever had sacrificed one of these four possessed one
degree. All the courtiers now put down their names as
faithful disciples of the Throne.' ^

In a passage preceding the account of the ' infallibility
decree ' of September 1579, Badaoni states that

' in these days, when reproach began to spread upon the
doctrines of Islam, and all questions relating thereto . . .
base and low men of the higher and lower classes, having
accepted the collar of spiritual obedience upon their necks,
professed themselves his disciples. They became his disciples
through the motives of hope and fear, and the word of truth
could not proceed out of their mouths.' ^

Abu-1 Fazl and certain Muhammadan authors in modem I
times have tried to make out that Akbar always continued

» Badaoni, p, 299. The date is ^ Ibid., p. 277 ; Blochmann, in rt

fixed by the following paragraph Aln, vol. i, p. 185, with some

which refers to Muharram 989 = variation, but nearly the sa ne

February 1581. sense.

! THt DIVJNB FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 215

be a Muslim, although it is admitted that he discarded

he ceremonial of the Prophet's rehgion. They regard his \^
Divine Faith ' or ' Divine Monotheism ' {Din or Tauh'id

tldhi) as being a mere reformed sect of Islam.^ That opinion

is erroneous and opposed to a mass of evidence.

I see no reason whatever to disbelieve Badaonl's state-

nent referring to a time about a. d. 1592, when he

|;ays :

' ' Ten or twelve years later things had come to such a pass
:hat abandoned wretches, such as Mirza Jani, Governor of
Fattah, and other apostates, wrote their confession to the
'oUowing effect — this is the form : —

' " I, who am so and so, son of so and so, do voluntarily,
\ind with sincere 'predilection and inclination, utterly and
Entirely renounce and repudiate the religion of Islam which
l[ have seen and heard of my fathers, and do embrace the
, Divine Religion ' of Akbar Shah, and do accept the four
grades of entire devotion, viz., sacrifice of Property, Life,
Honour, and Religion^

'And these Unes — than which there could be no better
assport to damnation — were handed over to the Muj tabid
scil. Abu-1 Fazl] of the new religion, and became the source
')f confidence and promotion.' ^

The Jesuit letters are full of emphatic expressions showing
-^hat both at the time of the First Mission (1580-3) and
i:hat of the Third Mission (1595 to end of reign) Akbar
pvas not a Muslim. He not only rejected the revelation
k Muhammad, but hated the very name of the Prophet.
■While it would be tiresome to cite all the relevant passages,
pwo brief quotations from the Jesuit writers may be given.
Peruschi, writing on the basis of Aqua viva's or Monserrate's
letters of 1582, states roundly that ' the King is not a
kuhammadan ' ; ^ while Monserrate reports a conversa-
ion between himself and Akbar early in 1582, when the
[emperor declared not only that he was not a Musalman,

1 ' e. g. Mr. Yusuf Ali in J. of verbal, not affecting the sense.
B. /. Assoc, .lulv 1915, p. 304. The itahcs are mine.

i * Badaoni, p.";n4. The differ- '' II Rfc non £: Moro '{ Peruschi ,

fnccs between Lowe's version as Rome ed., p. 30 ; and Maelagan,

iHioted and Rlochinanu's, as in p. 52).
Aln, vol. i, p. 194, ure merely

216 AKBAR THE GREAT M(H TJI>

but that he did not pay any heed to the MusUm formula of
the faith.i Similarly Badaoni observes that '

' after the short space of five or six years [scil. from 1579],
not a trace of Muhammadan feeling was left in his heart.' ^

Blochmann correctly states that the development of
Akbar's views led him to the ' total rejection ' of Islam,
and ' the gradual estabhshment of a new Faith combining
the principal features of Hi nduism a nd the fire-worship of
the Parsis '.^ There were~other elements in it also, but for
the present purpose the points to be emphasized are that
Akbar totally rejected the fundamental doctri nes of Islam^
excepting monotheism, and invented a new religion, hostile
to and irreconcilable wdth that of Muhammad. The demand
that a disciple should renounce his religion (din) was incon-
sistent with his continuing to be a Muhammadan.
Abu-1 The official account of the Divine Faith is given by

official Abu-1 Fazl in Ain No. 77 of the Aln-i Akban, which begins
account, ^ith a preamble in a Sufic strain to the effect that all religions
have much in common, and that God and man are one
in a mystic sense. The author then, in pursuance of his
father's teaching, proceeds to expound the doctrine that
a people seeking guidance to truth

' will naturally look to their king, on account of the high
position which he occupies, and expect him to be their
spiritual leader as well ; for a king possesses, independent
of men, the ray of di^dne wisdom, which banishes from his
heart everytKmgThat is contlictmg. A king will therefore |
sometimes observe the harmony in a multitude of things,
or sometimes, reversely, a multitude of things in that which ,
is apparently one ; for he sits on the throne of distinction, «
and is thus equally removed from joy or sorrow.'

In Akbar the peoples of India had been given a king of
the ideal kind.

1 ' Ad haec se non esse Agare- pp. 628, 630). Monserrate wrote

num, professus est : nee Maham- up his notes each evening,

medis symbolo, quicquam tri- ^ Blochmann, in Am, vol, i,

buere.' The word symbolum p. 178 ; Lowe, p. 263, with verbal

means the kalima, ' there is no variation, but the same meaning.

God but Allah, and Muhammad ^ Aln, vol. i, p. 209.
is his messenger ' (Commentarius,

THE DIVINE FAITH : ENGLISH VISITORS 217

' He now is the spiritual guide of the nation, and sees in
the performance of this duty a means of pleasing God. He
has now opened the gate that leads to the right path, and
satisfies the thirst of all that wander about panting for truth.

' But, whether he checks men in their desire for becoming
|iisciples, or admits them at other times, he guides them
jn each case to the realm of bliss. Many sincere inquirers,
:rom the mere light of his wisdom, or his holy breath, obtain
1 degree of awakening which other spiritual doctors could
lot produce by repeated fasting and prayers for forty days,'

I Abu-1 Fazl then goes on to give instances of Akbar's gifts
j)f healing and other miraculous powers.

The ceremony of initiation was performed personally by Initia-
jVkbar in this manner : *'°"*

' When a novice bears on his forehead the sign of earnest-
less of purpose, and he be daily inquiring more and more,
lis IVIajesty accepts him, and admits him on a Sunday,
vhen the world-illuminating sun is in its highest splendour.
'Notwithstanding every strictness and reluctance shown by
lis Majesty in admitting novices, there are many thousands,
nen of all classes, who have cast over their shoulders the
lUantle of belief, and look upon their conversion to the
v^ew Faith as the means of obtaining every blessing.

' At the above-mentioned time of everlasting auspicious-
less, the novice with his turban in his hands, puts liis head
>n the feet of His Majesty. This is symbolical, and expresses
hat the novice, guided by good fortune and the assistance
•f his good star, has cast from his head conceit and selfish-
less, the root of so many evils, offers his heart in worship,
Ind now comes to inquire as to the means of obtaining
(verlasting life. His Majesty, the chosen one of God, then
Wretches out the hand of favour, raises up the suiDpliant,
ind replaces the turban on his head, meaning by these
ymbolical actions that he has raised up a man of pure
fitentions, who from seeming existence has now entered
nto real hfc. His Majesty then gives the no\acc the Shast,
lipon which is engraved " the Great Name ", and His
lajesty's symbohcal motto, " Alldhu Akhar ". This teaches
he novice the truth that

" the pure Shast and the i^ure sight never err". '

The exact nature of the shast taken is not recorded. At
he time of initiation members of the Divine Faith also

218 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

received a likeness of the emj^eror which they wore in their
turbans.^ The ' great name ' is one or other of the epithets
or names of God. Commentators differ concerning the
one which is to be regarded as pre-eminent. Which was
selected by Akbar does not appear. The giving of the shast
and the communication of the ' great name ' seem to be
imitated from Hindu procedure. A guru, or spiritual
preceptor, always whispers into his pupil's ear a secret
mantra or formula. The ambiguity of the phrase Alldhu
Akbar, which may mean either ' God is great ', or ' Akbar
is God ', has been already noticed. Many people believed
that Akbar dared to regard himself as divine, and, although
he warmly repudiated the imputation, it was not without
foundation. His recorded sayings prove that he fully
shared the views expressed by Abu-1 Fazl concerning the
closeness of the relation between kings, in virtue of their
office, and the Deity.
Other Abu-1 Fazl concludes his notice of the Divine Faith by

the following description of certain ordinances observed by
members of the Order, which may be transcribed verbatim.

' The members of the Divine Faith, on seeing each other,
observe the following custom. One says, " Alldhu Akbar " ;
and the other responds, " Jalla Jaldluhu ".^ The motive
of His Majesty in laying down this mode of salutation is to
remind men toJ^hink-oLth c^Qrigin of their exis tgnce, and to
keep the Deity in fresh, lively, and grateful remembrance.

' It is also ordered by His Majesty that, instead of the
dinner usually given in remembrance of a man after his
death, each member should prepare a dinner during his
lifetime, and thus gather provisions for his last journey.

' Each member is to give a party on the anniversary of
his birthday, and arrange a sumptuous feast. He is to
bestow alms, and thus prepare provisions for the long
journey.

' His Majesty has also ordered that members should

» Jahangir, R. B., i, 60 ; BadaonI, ' Jalalu-d din Akbar'. Jalla jaldlu-

in Aln, vol. i, p. 203. The can- hu means in Arabic, ' glorious

didates used to be introduced by is his glory ', or ' resplendent is

Shaikh Ahmad, the Sufi of Lahore, his splendour'; an implied re-

whom Jahangir promoted. semblance between Akbar and

= The words, of course, refer to the sun probably being hinted at. :
the emperor's names or titles.

cere-
monial

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 219

endeavour to abstain from eating flesh. They may allow
others to cat flesh, without touching it themselves ; but
luring the month of their birth they are not even to approach
neat. Nor shall members go near anything that they have
themselves slain, nor cat of it. Neither shall they make
!ise of the same vessels with butchers, fishers, and bird-
*atchers.

' Members should not cohabit with pregnant, old, and
})arren women ; nor with girls under the age of puberty.' ^

A later passage gives a special rule about funerals, as
I'oUows :

' If any of the darsaniyyah disciples died, whether man or
jvoman, they should hang soine uncooked grains and a burnt
)rick round the neck of the corpse, and throw it into the
iver, and then they should take out the corpse, and burn
t at a place where no water was.

' But this order is based upon a fundamental rule which
flis Majesty indicated, but which I cannot here mention.^

' People should be buried with their heads towards the
ast, and their feet towards the west. His Majesty even
commenced to sleep in this position.' ^

The last-quoted rule appears to have been prescribed for
eneral compUance. It had the double purpose of honouring
we rising sun and offering an insult to Muhammadans who
urn towards Mecca, which lies westwards from India.

A torrent of ne w regul ations poured forth from the New
(ecretariat after the Council of 1582, many being issued tjons!
1 1583 and 1584. Fresh batches of fantastic orders appeared
i.uring the years from 1588 to 1594, but at present only

small number of the earlier proclamations can be noticed,
lembers of the Divdne Faith, as being disciples of His
Hajesty, were expected to pay particular attention to every
'diet. The organization of the adherents of the Din Ildlii
?as that of an Order rather than of a church. The creed,

) far as there was one, inculcated monotheism with a tinge
f pantheism ; the practical deification of the emperor as
lie vicercgent of God, filled with special grace ; and the
doration of the sun, with subsidiary veneration of fire and

• Aln, vol. i, ]). I(j6. Akbar on his tlironc. I do not

- Ibid., p. 207. Darsaniijijafi undeistiuid the symboHsm.
•ff.TS to tlic darsan, or sight of * Ibid., p. 20G.

220 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

artificial lights. The partial p roliibition of animal food was
due more especially to thef'Hain influence^ already described.
It is impossible to mentioTrall the silTy regulations that
were issued, and the exact chronological order of the issues
has not been recorded fully. A few samples must suffice.
No child was to b e given the nam e^of Muhammad, and
/ if he had already received it the name must be changed.
New moscpicg_j/mr£-JtiQt-tQ be^ built, nor were old ones to
be repaired or restored. Later in the reign mosques were
levelled to the ground.
ifn The slaughter of cows was forbidden, and made a capital
i) r:' offence, as in a purely Hindu state. In 1583 (a. h. 991)
('\ I abstinence from meat on more than a hundred days in the

) \ year was commanded. This order was extended over the

whole realm, and [capital] punishment was inflicted on every
one who acted against the command. Many a family
suffered ruin and confiscation of property.^ Those measures
amounted to a grave persecution of the large flesh-eating
Muslim population.

Ideas concerning the millennium and the expected appear-
ance of a Mahdi, or Saviour, being then in the air, and the
year 1000 of the Hijra approaching, arrangements were
made for the compilation of a history of the thousand years,
and for the use on coins of a millenary {alfi) era.
Beards -were jto^e^shaved.

Garlic and onions, as well as beef, were prohibited, in
accordance with Hindu prejudices.

The sijdah, or prostration, hitherto considered lawful

only in divine worship, was declared to be the due of the

emperor.

<? Gold and silk dresses, forbidden by Muhammadan rule,

\ were declared to be obligatory at the pubhc prayers. Even

l^ihe prayers themselves, the fast of Ramazan, and the

/'pilgrimage to Mecca were prohibitecT "^

ly-'ltKe study"orA~ra5ic, of Muhammadan law, and of Koranic

1 Badaoni, p. 331 ; Blochmann, comes from the corrections on
Aln, vol. i, p. 200. The clause p. xii of Lowe's translation,
about the confiscation of property

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 221

fexegesis was discountenanced, the specially Arabic letters
jof thFalpKaBet'^ere banned — and so on.^

The whole gist of the regulations was to further tho--fC
adoption of Hindu, Jain, a nd Parsec practices, while dis- v^
couraging or positively prohibiting essential Muslim rites.
The policy of insult to and persecution of Islam, which was
parried to greater extremes subsequently, was actively pur-
sued even in the period from 1582 to 1585.

Notwithstanding the fine phras es a boiit ^ciicral tolera-
tion wliich occupy so large a space in the writings of Abu-1
JFazl and the sayings of Akbar, many acts of fierce intoler-
ance were committed.

In the year 1581-2 (a. h. 989) a large number of Shaikhs -^
l^nd Fakirs, apparently those who resisted innovations, were
Exiled, mostly to Kandahar, and exchanged for horses,
)resumably being enslaved.^

A sect of Shaikhs, who had the impudence to call

hemselves Disciples, like the followers of His Majesty, and

*vere generally known as Ilahis, were sent to Sind and

feandahar, and given to merchants in exchange for Turkish

^.olts.3

' The number of adherents of the so-called Divine Faith, Tlie
Ikbar's political sham religion, was never considerable. |,'f'|j"^^
31ochmann has collected from Abu-1 Fazl and Badaoni the " Divine
lames of eighteen prominent members. Raja Blrbal being
'he only Hindu in the list. The herd of unnamed and
mrecorded followers probably never numbered many
thousands. In order to complete the subject, it may be
loted that in September 1595, Sadr Jahan, the Mufti of the
jlimpire, with his two sons, took the shast, joined the Faith,
Ind was rewarded with a ' command of 1,000 '. At the
Same time sundry other persons conformed and received
commands' ranging from 100 to 500. Father Pinheiro,
viiting from Lahore on September 3, 1595, mentions that
p that city the royal sect had many adherents, but all for
he sake of the money paid to them.*

' See Bartoli, p. 78 ; Badaoni, ^ Badaoni, p. .309.

.p. 310-16. * ' Questo H6 fa lui da se una

' Badaoni, p. 308. setta, c si fa chiamar profeta.

Faith

^U,

222 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

No later contemporary account of the Din Ildhi has been
found.

The organization cannot well have survived the murder
of Abu-1 Fazl, its high priest, so to say, and, of course, it
ceased to exist \f\th the death of Akbar.
V-^^Oj The whole scheme was the outcome of ridiculous vanity,

y^ a monstrous growth of unrestrained autocracy. Its igno-

linious failure illustrated the wisdom of the protest ad-
dressed by the Kotwal to the Sultan of Delhi some three
centuries earlier, and the folly of kings who seek to assume
the role of prophets.

The Divine Faith was a monument of Akbar's folly, not
of his "vvisdom. His actions throughout his reign exhibited
many illustrations of both qualities.

We now leave for a time the consideration of Akbar's
religious vagaries and proceed to narrate sundry politica
events and certain minor incidents, some of which an
illustrative of the emperor's strangely compounded character
Bursting An alarming accident occurred at Fathpur-SlkrI at som(
Fathpur- time in 1582. A great lake, six miles or more in length an(
Sikri. two in breadth, had been constructed to the north of th«
ridge for the purpose of supplying the town and palace
with water, which was raised and conveyed by an elaborat'
system of waterworks. An amphitheatre used as a pol<
ground and arena for elephant fights was arranged on th
margin. In hot weather pleasure parties were glad to mak
themselves comfortable by the edge of the broad sheet o
water. Such a party, consisting of the princes and thei
friends, was assembled one day in .1582, engaged in playin
chess, cards, and other games, when suddenly the embank
ment burst and everybody on the spot was in imminen
danger of being swept away by the torrent. But, althoug
many of the houses below the ridge were destroyed alon
with their inhabitants, the members of the court with thei;

Ha di gia molta gente, che lo the Latin version ; I have use

seguita, ma tutto e per danari, the original Itahan text, pul

che gU da ' (Peruschi, p. 69 ; Hshed in 1597. For biography <

Madagan, p. 70). Machigan's less Miran Sadr (^adr) .Jahan see All

forcible English is translated from vol. i, p. 468, No. 194.

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 223

attendants were fortunate enough to escape, excepting only

pne leopard keeper. In memory of that signal deliverance

; U.kbar expended vast sums in alms, and ordained that flesh

should not be brought to his table on that date.^

^ Akbar's successful demonstration of force against his -^khar's

I brother had con\inced him of his in\ancibilitv and encouraffcd ^^^tious

' . «' fc> designs.

; '^m to develop the projects of far-extended conquests

Miich had long occupied his ambitious soul. Akbar's lust

or dominion was never satisfied. He longed with intense
I fervour to extend his rule over all the nations and kingdoms

ying within the possible range of his sword, and even
: Wlowed himself to dream the mad dream that he might be
3 fhe spiritual as well as the temporal lord of a vast empire

vith one religion, and that he might thus combine the
I parts of emperor, pope, and prophet.

The dnniken brother in Kabul, although much frightened,
, |iad never made personal submission, and Akbar desired to
^ [)ring him definitely to heel. He also wished to annex the

5 jurbulent hill region of Badakhshan, the scene of perpetual
I jonflicts between the princes of Kabul and the chiefs of the
\ |Jzbegs. He hoped, when firmly established in Kabul and
^ Ijadakhshan, to win back the ancestral territories of Trans-
I xiana (Turan), from which his grandfather Babur had been
. Ixpelled early in hfe ; and lastly, he meditated the sub-

> Chalmers, MS. transl. of ^.A'^., is a mistake somewhere. I cannot

I, 289. He puts the accident find the passage in Mr. Beveridge's

• hortlyafterthc murder of Masilm proof-sheets. Latif (.l^ra, p. 159)

j[ plan Farankhudi, which occurred agrees that the hike burst in the

!i the twenty-seventh regnal year 27th year, in a. d. 1582. He

6 Blochmann, Aln, vol. i, 444). erroneously adds that no lives
'hat year began March 11, 1582 were lost. For description of the
f= Safar 15, a. h. 990), as stated lake and waterworks see E. W.
I E. & D., V, 246. Chalmers Smith, Fathpur-Slkrl, part iii,
^tes the death of Masum on pp. ;J8-40. The breach in the

I afar 23 = .March 19, and states dam must have l)cen repaired,

J jjiat the embankment burst in because in 1619 Jahangir hold an

he hot season of the same year. entertainment on the bank of the

I |ut he adds that, the accident lake, which was then seven kos,

j ^ving occurred on Akbar's birth- or ncarlv fourteen miles in circuni-

ay according to the solar calendar fcrcnce '(.Jahangir, K. I}., ii, 66).

«7. October 15 by oflicia I reckon- Tlic bed of tlic lake was linallv

ig|, the custom of weighing the drained under the orders of .Mr.

iip(ror()n his solar as well as his .Tames Thomson, Lieut.-Governor

liar birthday was introduced. of the North-^Vest Province from

(■tol)er 15 cannot be reckoned in 1«4;{ to ]85:J (I.atil, p. 160).

ic hot season. Evidently there

224

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Founda-
tion of
Alla-
habad,
Nov.,
1583.

jiigation of Bijapur and the other kingdoms of the Deccan
plateau.^ There is no direct eAidence that Akbar knew or
cared anything about the Dravidian kingdoms of the far
south, but he may have hoped to carry his arms to the
extremity of the peninsula.

The immense empire of Vijayanagar, occupying all the
southern parts of the peninsula, was shattered by the com-
bined forces of the Muhammadan Sultans of the Deccan at
the battle of Tahkota in 1565, while Akbar was fighting for
his crown and Ut'e against the rebel Uzbeg chiefs. Xo echo
of the crash of the mighty edifice of the Vijayanagar empire
seems to have reached the ears of the ruler of northern
India. After the revolution consequent on the battle of
Talikota, the considerable Hindu princes who continued to
rule at Chandragiri and elsewhere seem to have been unknown
to and ignorant of the northern empire and its ambitious
sovereign. The only trace of communication between Akbar
and the far south is a trivial anecdote that an envoy from
the Raja of Cochin once came to court and gave a magic
knife to the emperor, who professed to beheve in its ^^rtues.*

In pursuance of his ambitious plans, Akbar decided to
secure the important strategical position at the confluence
of the Jumna Avith the Ganges. The spot from time im-
memorial has been one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage
and known to Hindus as Prayag or Payag. It does not
appear to have been fortified.^ In October 1583 Akbar
travelled from Agra to the confluence, proceeding most of
the way by river. He began the building of the fort, which
still exists, in November ; and, in accordance with his
regular practice, hurried on the work so that it was com-
pleted in a remarkably short time. A great city, the modern
Allahabad, grew up in the neighbourhood of the fortress.*
The rapidity of Akbar's building operations much impressed

1 A.N., iii, 616.

2 A.N., ii, 499.

' Jhusi, on the opposite side of
the Ganges, seems to have been
the old Hindu fortress. It was
important in the fourth and fifth
centuries a.c.

* Ilahabas is the Hindu form
of the name, and still in common
use. Some writers assert that
Akbar gave that name, but it is
more probable that he employed
the Persian form Ilahabad.

AKBAR AND PRINCE SALlM

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 225

father Monserrate, who cites instances of quick construction
t Fathpur-Sikri.^

The disturbances in Gujarat, already noticed, obliged the
mperor to return to the capital and forgo his intention of

siting the eastern provinces.

The year 1584 was marked by two interesting domestic Domestic
|vents, the marriage of the emperor's eldest son, Prince fences.
Salim, and the birth of a daughter. The lady selected to
»e the young prince's first consort was a daughter of Raja
phagwan Das of Jaipur and a sister by adoption of Kunwar

tan Singh. The wedding was celebrated in February
th exceptional magnificence. Many Hindu customs were
jollowed and the Raja gave the bride a dowry of im-
mense value, including a hundred elephants.^ The name
f the princess was Man Bai, and her husband gave her
he title of Shah Begam. He was deeply attached to
er, and twenty years later records her death in touching
mguage :

' What shall I write of her excellences and goodness ?
he had perfect intelligence, and her devotion to me was
Lich that she would have sacrificed a thousand sons and
rothers for one hair of mine.'

She did her best to keep her son Khusru in order, and
hen Madho Singh, one of her brothers, brought disgrace
a the family, the high Rajput spirit led her to end her life
[y an overdose of opium. She lies buried near her rebellious
m in the Khusru Bagh at Allahabad.^
The daughter, Aram Band Begam, was born towards the
ose of the year, and died unmarried forty years later in
ic reign of Jahangir.^

' Commentarius, p. 642, ' Mira the forty-ninth re<inalyear,1604-5,
liTitate,phirimi.s adhibitis archi- and erroneously ascrilies it to ' a

(•

lis, fahris, et opcris exaedificat quarrel with one of her rivals '

' ubsolvit.' (K. & D,, vi, 112). The autliority

' .-1.iV.,iii,(i78; Radaoni, p.352. of Jahaufrlr is better; he must

' Jalianj;ir (K. & IJ.), j, 5;> ; have known the facts, althou<,'h

■Ncrid^e in ,/. It. A. S., 1(}()7, ])]>. liis text misdates the event. Her

. '.) -iH)7. She eotnrnitted suicide name is given in /. G. (1908), xiv,

I May 1G()4, not in 1G05. The 184.

(Amii describes her suicide under * Jahangir (R. & B.), i, 30.
1845 ,.

226

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Death
of Das-
wanth,
the
painter.

A suttee
pre-
vented.

The death of the famous artist Daswanth, which occurred
at some time in the twenty-ninth regnal year, apparently
in 15S4, desen-es notice as a tragic incident in itself, and as
being one of the few closely dated events in the history of
Indian art. Daswanth was the son of a Kahar, or palanquin-
bearer, but his lowly position could not conceal his innate
genius. He used to draw and paint figures even on walls, airf
had devoted his whole hfe to his art. Some accident brought
him to the notice of Akbar, who recognized his ability, and
had him taught by his own former dra -wing-master, Khwaja
Abdu-s samad. In a short time he excelled his teacher, and
became, in the judgement of many critics, the first master of
the age, a worthy rival of the best Persian and Chinese artists.
Unhappily his genius was clouded by insanity. One day Ik
stabbed himself with a dagger, and died two davs later.^

A romantic adventure, characteristic of Akbar at his best,
shows that even when he was past forty he retained the
activity and chivalrous spirit of his youth. Jaimall, a cousin
of Raja Bhagvvan Das, who had been sent on duty in the
Eastern P^o^'inces, rode hard to comply with urgent orders, .
and died near Chausa from the effects of the heat and over-
exertion. His widow, a daughter of Udai Singh, the Moti
or Fat Raja, refused to commit suttee, as demanded by tb
custom of the family. Her son, also named Udai Singh
and other relatives insisted that, wiUing or unwilling, sh<
must bum. Early one morning Akbar heard the new
while in the female apartments of the palace, and resolve
to prevent the sacrifice. Throughout his reign he insiste
on the princi ple that no widow s hould be forced to bur
agai nst her will. He jumped cki a swift horse and rode t
the spot, unattended, although some of his personal sta
galloped after him as soon as they learned of his disappea
ance. He was in time, and his unexpected arrival stoppt
the proceedings. At first he was disposed to execute t]
guilty parties, but on consideration he granted them tht
lives and merely imprisoned them for a short period.-

* -4.-V.. iii. 659: Atn. vol. i,
p. lOS ; H. F. A., pp. 455, -470.

* A. X., iii, 595 ; abstract v ■
sion in E. & D., vi, 69. For 1

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 227

Direct intercourse between England and India began in Father T.
3tober 1579, when the Reverend Father Thomas Stevens i^eVrst

Stephens, a Jesuit, bom in Wiltshire and educated at Anglo-
-iichester and Oxford, landed at Goa. So far as is kno\sTi 1579 '
: was the first EngUshman to land and reside in India,
e remained at or near Goa for forty years, engaged in his
ork as Christian priest and missionary'. He made himself
jiorough master of the local Konkani tongue, called Lingua
anarim by the Portuguese, and composed a grammar of it,
hich was printed at Goa in 1640, after the author's death.

at is the first grammar of an Indian language compiled

. a European author. Father Stevens also wrote in

same language a huge poem, designed for the religious

.ruction of converts, which contains more than 11,000
-ophes, and is considered to possess high Uterarv' merit.
Shortly after his arrival at Goa he vrrote to his father

ong letter, dated November 10, giving a detailed descrip-

Ti of the incidents and sights of the voyage. That letter,
-ch was published by Hakluyt in 1589, seems to have

ome known before it was printed, and to have stimulated

jlish interest in the mysterious land of India, which

iously offered rich possibilities of commerce, abundantly

Li zed in the following centurj'.^

In 1581 Queen Elizabeth granted a charter to a small Mission
pmpany entitled the ' Company of Merchants to the xewberw
ant ', the region of the eastern Mediterranean. Two ^- 1^^-
jears later the Company sent out John Xewberv', a London

rchant, on the first British trading adventure in India.

vber*', who took with him as assistants William Leedes,
jeweller, and James Story, a painter, was accompanied

.+.ionship of the Rajputs con-

i -^' f"' . vol. i, pp. 42T-^iO.

' xa' *. I ^^lity and date of the

•icident are not stated. Abu-1

lazl's narrative, as usual, is lack-

ig in clearness and precision.

- I think, correctly

xt.

I ^ F. >i. Mascarenhas, ' Father

bonaas Estevao. S J.' (Ind. Ant.,

fu (1878), pp. 117, 118) ; Did.

Nat. Biog., .Supplement (1909),
vol. xxii, p. 1227. The letter is
printed in Haklu\-t, Principal
Savigaiions,td. MacLe hose, vol. vi,
pp. 377—85, and also in Purchas.
It does not give any material
information alx^ut trade. .Stevens
was aijfjut thirty years of age
when he arrived in India, and
atx»ut seventy when he died in
1619.

228 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

by Ralph Fitch, another London merchant, who volunteered
because he desired to see the world.i They sailed in the
Tyger for Tripoli in Syria, whence they journeyed to Aleppo,
and so overland through Bagdad to Ormuz, at the mouth
of the Persian Gulf. At Ormuz the Englishmen were put
in prison by the Portuguese governor, and after a time were
shipped for Goa to be disposed of by the higher authorities
there. At Goa, too, they were imprisoned, and found much
difficulty in obtaining their release on bail through the
good offices of Father Stevens. James Story, who was
welcomed by the Jesuits as an artist capable of painting
their church, settled down in Goa, married a half-caste girl,
opened a shop, and gave up all thought of returning to
Europe. His three companions, finding themselves in
danger of being tortured as suspected heretics, forfeited
their bail and escaped secretly. They made their way into
the Deccan, visited Belgaum, Bijapur, Golkonda, Masuli-
patam, Burhanpur, and Mandii. No doubt they did some
trading during their wanderings, but notliing on that sub-
ject has been recorded. From Mandii they travelled across
Malwa and Rajputana, through Ujjain and Sironj, and so to
Agra, ' passing many rivers, which by reason of the rain were
so swollen that we waded and swam oftentimes for our lives '.
Fitch, the only member of the party who returned to
Europe, has recorded a brief description of Agra and Fathpur-
Sikri as he saw those cities in the rainy season of 1585,
which has been already quoted in Chapter IV.
lA^j^e The narrative does not state the date on which the

of the adventurers arrived at Fathpur-Sikri, but it must have

travellers. • , • t i i • » i * i i

been either in July or early in August, because Akbar
started on August 22 for the north, and he had taken
Leedes into his service before that day. Newbery and
Fitch stayed at the capital until September 28, when they

* Ralph Fitch, England's Pioneer illustrated work are given in

to hidia and Burma, his Com- modern spelling, except the quota-

panions and Contemporaries, with tion from Queen Elizabeth's letter,

his remarkable Narrative told in his which is given in the old spelling,

own words, by J. Horton Ryley ; save that v and j are used instead

London, Unwin, 1899. The ex- of u and i. ,

tracts from that useful and well-

THE DIVINE FAITH ; ENGLISH VISITORS 229

parted. Newbery took the road for Lahore, intending to
travel overland through Persia to either iUeppo or Constanti-
nople. As head of the expedition he directed Fitch to pro-
ceed to Bengal and Pegu, holding out hopes that in the course
of two years he might find an English ship.

Fitch duly accomplished his travels in the eastern king-
doms, and arrived safely at home in 1591. Newbery was
never heard of again.

Fitch's meagre narrative, which is mainly concerned with
the ob\ious peculiarities of the country and people, as

I noted in most books of travel, and possibly copied in part
from other authors, is chiefly of interest because of its early
date. He quitted India at Sunargaon, now an insignificant
village in the Dacca. District, but at that time an important
port.

When the expedition left England early in 1583 Queen Queen
Elizabeth had given Newbery letters of recommendation ?^'!^'-'.
to both the Indian monarch and the emperor of Cliina. letter to
She knew Akbar's name, and addressed him as ' the most
invincible and mostmi ghtie prince, lord Zelabdim Echebar
king of Cambaya '. She requested politely that the bearers
of her letter, as being her subjects, might be ' honestly
intreated and received '. She further asked that ' in respect
of the hard journey which they have undertaken to places
so far distant, it would please your Majesty with some libertie
and securitie of voiage to gratify it, Avith such privileges
as to you shall seem good ' ; and concluded by promising

, that ' wee, according to our royall honour, wil recomi^ence
the same ^^^th as many deserts as we can \^

Although the grammar of the missive leaves something

; to be desired, the meaning of the letter is plain enough.

, The document is of high interest as being the earliest com-

. munication between the governments of India and England,
and also as proving that Akbar's name and fame had

' reached the isles of the west as early as 1583. Probably

^ * Fitch, p. 44. Elizabeth evi- had conquered ten years earlier,
dently knew of Akhar only as the Prol)ably she had never heard of
sovereign of Gujarat, which he Agra or Fathpur-Sikri.

Akhar.

230 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

any slight knowledge of him that penetrated to the court

of Queen Elizabeth had been derived from the letters of

Father Stevens. Fitch renders no account whatever of the

reception of the party by Akbar, nur does he give any

important information concerning the emperor or his court.

The only really vivid descriptions of Akbar and his court

are those recorded by the Jesuits, who were skilled observers

and competent writers.

Adminis- Early in the thirtieth regnal year, which began on

nieas'^ March 11, 1585, important administrative changes were

i.'>85. made. Shihab Khan received the government of Malwa ;

Raja Bhagwan Das, Raja Todar Mall, Abu-1 Fazl, and other

officers were promoted.

Amir Fathullah of Shiraz, an intimate friend of the
emperor, and a man of great learning, who held office as
a Sadr, was given the title of Aminu-1 Mulk, and was directed,
with the assistance of Raja Todar Mall, to examine the old
revenue accounts, which had not been checked since the

time of Muzaffar Khan in 1574. The proceedings were
guided by an elaborate code of rules, approved by Akbar,
and set forth at length by Abu-1 Fazl. Those rules provided
for assessments on the average of a series of years, for an
equitable settlement of the arrears due from each ryot or
cultivator, and for the protection of collectors from unjust
demands and penalties.^

Badaoni expresses the official position of Amir Fathullah

by saying that he was associated with Raja Todar Mall in

the office of Vizier.

Tlie The death of Mirza Muhammad Hakim of Kabul towards

tiorTo^ the end of July 1585, at the age of thirty-one, from the

Kabul, effects of chronic alcoholism, finally freed Akbar from

anxiety concerning rival claims to the throne, and enabled

him to incorporate Kabul definitely as a province of the

empire. No question of formal annexation arose, because

' A.N., iii, 687-93, in much him. He was a staunch Shia and

detail. For life of Amir Fathullah would not have anything to do

see Blochmann's note, Am, vol. i, with the Divine Faith. He was

p. 33. Badaoni (pp. 325, 326) too useful to be persecuted for his

gives interesting anecdotes about independence.

THE UlVir^E l^AiJM; EINUl^lbM Vll5liUKb T61

the territory ruled by the Mirza, although in practice long
administered as an independent State, had been always
regarded in theory as a dependency of the. crown of India.
The campaign of 1581 had rendered the dependence more
of a reality than it had been for many years. The decease
of Muhammad Hakim at an early age, leaving only minor
children, settled the question, and the province passed
quietly under the rule of imperial viceroys. Akbar, on
receiving the news of his brother's death, sent Man Singh
on in advance with some troops to maintain order until he
himself could arrive. He was, no doubt, prepared for what
had happened, as it was obvious that the Mirza's constitu-
tion could not long resist the violence done to it by his

.vicious habits.i

r" The necessary arrangements were rapidly completed, so
that Akbar was able to march in the autumn,^ and to
proceed quickly along the northern road which he had
traversed four years earlier. He was not to see Agra or
Fathpur-SikrI again for thirteen years. The queen-mother
I joined the camp in November, and early in December Akbar
pitched his tents at Rawalpindi. While he was staying there
Man Singh came in and reported the arrival of the Mirza's
sons, as well as of the turbulent Faridun and many other
men of note, including Farrukh Beg, afterwards famous as
one of the best painters at Akbar's court. Faridun was
detained under surveillance, and ultimately sent to Mecca,^
Before the death of Muhammad Hakim, Abdullah Khan,
the Uzbeg chief, had made himself master of all Badakhshan.
The dread of an Uzbeg invasion was the principal reason
i for Akbar's long-continued residence at Lahore.

' Akbar's prescience is indicated
in A.N., iii, 702.

» A.N., iii, 705, ' 11 Shah-
riyar ', the sixth month of year
beginning 11 March. Beveridge
gives the equivalent date as
August 22, which is not necessarily
inconsistent with the statement
of Fitch (p. 99) that ' Here in
Fatepore we staid all three until

the28.of Septemberl585[o.s.]

I left William Leades the jeweller

in service with the King Zelabdim
Echebar in Fatepore '. Leedes
must have been accepted for
service prior to August 22, and
have remained at Fathpur-Sikri
on the imperial establishment
after Akbar's departure.

* ^.iV.,vol.iii, ch.ilxxxiv,p. 713.
For Farrukh, known as the Cal-
muck (Kalmak), see //. F. A.,
p. 470.

232 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Designs Akbar's pride was much offended by the conduct of
Kashmir Yusuf Khan, the Sultan of Kashmir, who had always
evaded compliance with suggestions that he should come
to court and do personal homage to the emperor. At the
close of 1581 he had tried to compromise by sending Haidar,
his third son, to court, but that concession did not satisfy
Akbar, who demanded from the ruler himself the obedience
and submission of a vassal.^ The Sultan always hoped that
the difficulties of invading his country would save him from
the necessity of forfeiting his independence. In February
1585, while still trying to escape the painful humiliation
of personal vassalage, he had sent his elder son Yakub
to Fathpur-Slkri,^ but even that act of complaisance did
not suffice. Akbar, who was resolved to put an end to
the pretensions of the Sultan of Kashmir to pose as
an independent sovereign, directed the assemblage of an
army for the purpose of coercing him.^

^ ' H. M. asks nothing from the vol. iii, ch. Ixv, p. 550).

princes of the age beyond obedi- ' Ibid., ch. Ixxix, p. 676.

ence, and when they render this ^ Ibid., ch. Ixxxv, p.715. Abu-1

he does not exert the might of Fazl offers his usual sophistry in

sovereignty against them ' {A. N., defence of the aggression.

//V«j."'->.;>^j -jf^

CHAPTER IX

WARS ON NORTH-WESTERN FRONTIER ; ANNEXATION
OF KASHMIR AND SINP ; SECOND JESUIT MISSION ;
REGULATIONS ; ANNEXATION OF BALOCHISTAN AND
KANDAHAR, ETC.

Akbar moved from Rawalpindi to Attock (Atak-Bcnarcs), Defeat
Iso that he might occupy a position favourable for the ^h^n"
jcontrol of the operations against Kashmir and also against and Raja
the Afghans of the Yusufzi and Mandar tribes, who had by the
been very troublesome. Zain Khan Kokaltash, who was XMf"'^^''
commissioned to chastise the tribesmen, began by entermg
the Bajaur territory to the westward, while other officers
were sent into the Samah plateau — ^the home of the Mandar
tribe — lying between Peshawar and the Suwat (Swat,
iSuwad) river. Zain Khan having asked for reinforcements,
iRaja Birbal was sent up with orders to march through the
Samah and enter the Suwat country. Hakim Abu-1 Fath
was also directed to enter the same region in the neighbour-
hood of the Karakar Pass further east. Ultimately, all the
three commanders united their forces at Chakdara, just
inside the Suwat boundary, and on the north side of the
Suwat river. Violent disputes then broke out between the
generals, Raja Birbal being unwilling to recognize Zain
Khan as his superior. Zain Khan, the only one of the
three who had any knowledge of the military art, advised
I that Chakdara should be held in strength while the tribes-
men were being reduced by punitive expeditions. The Raja
and the Hakim, on the other hand, agreed that they were
not required to occupy the country, and that they should
make their way back to Akbar at Attock. The advice
given by Zain Khan that the withdrawal should be effected
through the Malakhand Pass was ignored, and his colleagues
resolved to retire through the Karakar and Malandarai
defiles.

72*

3*'

Sketch Map to illustrate the

campalgii against the Ytisufzi

m 1585-1586

a;?'^"e

PESHAWMl

Note:- The disaster to Uie
imperialists occurred
in the Malandarai Pass.

KSBatti/L,

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 285

They soon found reason to regret their rash decision,
he retirement through the Karakar Pass, which had been
I managed, was grievously harassed by the tribesmen ;
ut after passing the crest of the Malandarai Pass further
)uth the retirement became a rout. Nearly 8,000 of the
nperialists, something hke half of the force, perished, and
nly a shattered remnant rejoined Akbar at Attock in the
liddle of February 1586.

Both Zain Khan and the Hakim survived. Raja Blrbal

as killed. He seems to have frankly run away in a vain

jttempt to save his life.i Akbar grieved bitterly over the

i»ss of his old friend, and was particularly distressed because

is body could not be found and cremated according to the

tes of Hinduism and the ' Di\dne Faith ', of which the

.aja was a disciple. The accident that the Raja's body

•as never recovered gave rise to stories that he had escaped

'ive, which Akbar was inclined to believe for a time. There

, however, no doubt that Birbal was killed. The disaster

ppears to have been due in large part to his folly and

lexperience. Akbar made a serious mistake in sending

ich people as Birbal and the Hakim to command military

)rces operating in difficult country against a formidable

lemy. Neither possessed the knowledge or ability qualify-

ig them for the task committed to them. When Birbal

as appointed, Abu-1 Fazl had claimed the command.

kbar decided the rival claims of liis favourites by drawing

)ts. Abu-1 Fazl at that time was no better equipped with

lilitary experience than the Raja was, but his subsequent

.roceedings in the Dcccan wars suggest that, if the lot had

iappened to fall upon him, he might have done better

laan the Hindu jester.^ Akbar censured Zain Khan and the

TV » ' Nearly eight thousand men during his lifetime ' (Badaoni, tr.

ere killed, and Raja Birbal, who Blochmann, in Am, vol. i, p. 204 ;

,ed for his life, was slain' tr. Lowe, p. 361, with same pur-

Vabakat, in E. & D., v, 451). port). The statements as to the

Bir Bar also, who had fled from number of casualties are widely

•a.T of his life, was slain, and discrepant (^.iV., iii, 732 ».).

itered the row of the dogs in ^ The best account of the

ell, and thus got something for Yusufzi campaign is that by

lie abominable deeds he had done llaverty, Notes on Afghanistan

236

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Raja
Birbal.

Hakim, but rather for their failure to recover Blrbal's body
than for their defeat. So far as appears Zain Khan was not
to blame. If he had been free to act on his own judgement,
it is probable that he would have avoided disaster.

The defeat was avenged to some extent by Raja Todar
Mali, who ' entered the mountain region with great caution.
Here and there he built forts and harried and plundered
continually, so that he reduced the Afghans to great straits.'
Man Singh subsequently fought a battle in the Khyber Pass
against other tribes, winning what is described as ' a great
\dctory '.^ But the imperial government never thoroughly
subdued any section of the tribesmen, who, even now, are
imperfectly controlled.

Raja Birbal, who thus perished ingloriously, was a member
of Akbar's innermost circle of friends, rivalling in intimacy
Abu-1 Fazl, whom the Jesuits called the emperor's Jonathan.
Indeed, it is said that Birbal possessed the uncanny power
of di\4ning his master's secrets, a dangerous gift to which
Abu-1 Fazl did not pretend. Akbar loved to have Birbal
by his side, that he might enjoy his witty conversation.

Birbal, originally a poor Brahman named Mahesh Das,
was born at Kalpi about 1528, and consequently was
fourteen years older than Akbar. He was at first in the
service of Raja Bhagwan Das, who sent him to Akbar
early in the reign. His gifts as musician, poet, story-teller,
and conversationalist soon gained him high favour, with

(1888), pp. 259-65. The leading
contemporary authority is A. N.,
iii, 719 seqq. The Karakar and
Malandarai (Malandri) Passes, not
marked on all maps, are shown on
Stanford's Sketch Map of the
North-Westerti Frontier (1908).
The order of the passes from east
to west is Karakar, Shahkot,
Malakhand. The Malandarai Pass
lies to the south of the Karakar.
Elphinstone did not know the
position of the passes (5th ed.,
p. 519ri.). The Afghans of Suwat
(Swat) deny that the imperialists
ever succeeded in crossing to the
north of the Suwat River, and

assert that the disaster occurred
in the Shahkot Pass, but they
seem to be mistaken (Raverty,
op. cit., p. 262 n.). Abu-1 Fazl
has written much insincere non-
sense about the defeat (A. N., iii,
735). Yusufzi, not Yusufzai, is
the correct form.

1 Tabakat, in E. & D., v, 451.
Nizamu-d din does not give the
date of the victory gained by
Man Singh, who did not succeed
his adoptive father Bhagwan Das
as Raja until November 1589.
Elphinstone gives 1587 as the
year in which Jalala was defeated
by Man Singh (5th ed., p. 520).

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS

237

he title of Kabi Rai, or Hindu poet laureate. He is some-
imes described in English books as a 'minister' or even
IS ' prime minister ', but erroneously. He is not recorded
IS having held any important office, although he was
)ccasionally employed on special missions, and enjoyed the
■;ink and pay of a ' commander of 2,000 '. The proximity
)f his beautiful house in the palace of Fathpur-Sikri to the
>tables has suggested the hypothesis that he may have been
Master of the Horse. At one time, in the eighteenth year
if the reign, Nagark5t or Kangra had been assigned to him
IS his jdglr or fief, but he does not seem ever to have
:)btained possession of it. He then received the title of
Raja Birbal. He actually enjoyed the jdglr of Kalanjar in
Bundelkhand later in his life.^

li He was devoted to the cult of the sun, and his influence
supported that of the Parsees in inducing Akbar to give
much prominence in practice to solar worship. He took
an active part in the discussions about religions, and is
the only Hindu named as having become a member of the
Divine Faith order. No complete work by Birbal is known
to exist. Tradition credits him with numerous verses and
witty sayings still quoted. A collection of facetious tales,
in which he and Akbar figure as the principal personages,
is commonly sold in the bazaars of Bihar.

He was hostile to the Sikhs, whom he considered to be
heretics. They consequently regard his miserable death
las the just penalty for his threats of violence to Arjun Singh,
itheir revered Guru.^ Akbar did not agree with Birbal con-
! earning the merits of the Sikh religion, the doctrines of which
[seemed to the emperor deserving of high commendation.^

' ' The castle
i which had been

of Kalanjar,
in that dog's

/ jagir' (Badaoni, p. 369).

, '^ ISIahesh Das was the personal
name of the Raja. Badaoni (ii,

j 164 and l<>rata) calls him Brahma

» Das, probably because when he
was in the Jaipur service he used
to sign his compositions as Brahm
Kabi. His title Birbal is often
written Birbar or Birbar. Sec

Grierson, The Modern Vernacular
Literature of Hindustan, Calcutta,
1889, being a Special Nund)er of
J.A.S.B., part i, 1888, No. 106,
p. 35 ; and lilochmaim in Alu,
vol. i. No. 8.), p. 401.. The story-
concerning Birl)al and Guru Arjun
Singh, too long to quote, is in
Mac-aiiliffc, The Sikh Religion,
Oxford, 1909, vol. iii, |)p. Ifj-IT.
^ Macauiiile relates interesting

238

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The exquisite structure at Fathpur-Slkri known as Raja
Birbal's House was erected in 1571 or 1572 (S. 1629), and,
according to tradition, was intended for his daughter's
residence. The beauty and la^'ishness of the decoration
testify to the intensity of Akbar's affection for the Raja.^

The troubles on the frontier had

* originated in a fanatical spirit, which had sprung up,
many years before, among this portion of the Afghans.
A person named Bayazid had then assumed the character
of a prophet ; had set aside the Koran, and taught that
nothing existed except God, who filled all space and was the
substance of all forms. The Di\inity despised all worship
and rejected all mortifications ; but he exacted implicit
obedience to his prophet, who was the most perfect mani-
festation of himself. The believers were authorized to seize
on the lands and property of infidels, and were promised in
time the dominion of the whole earth.'

The

Rosha-
nivva or
* Ilfu-
minati '
sect.

They called themselves Roshamyya (Roshani), or ' Illu-
minati '. That attractive creed, which should have met
^\'ith Akbar's approval on its merits, captivated the tribes-
men of the Sulaiman hills and Khyber Pass. The Yusufzi,
who adhered to its tenets for a time, had renounced them
when they fought Zain Khan and Birbal. Bayazid, the
founder of the sect, who died in a. d. 1585, had been succeeded
by a son named Jalala, a boy of fourteen. Notwithstand-
ing his youth the new prophet proved to be a most trouble- 1
some enemy. He kept up the fight ww-ith the imperialists
for years, and in 1600 captured Ghazni. He was killed soon
afterwards, but the reUgious war was continued by his
successors during the reigns of Jahangir and Shahjahan.
When the sectarian fervour died out the \-igorous tribal
spirit enabled the clans to maintain their independence,
wliich they still enjoy to a large extent.^ j

anecdotes concerning the transac-
tions between Akbar and the
Guru (op. cit., pp. 81—4).

1 E. W. Smith, Fathpur-Sihrl,
part ii, pp. 1-15, with numerous
plates ; part iii, p. 5.

^ Elphinstone, ed. 5, pp. 517-

21 ; BadaonI, p. 360, as corrected
on p. xii. The word ' Tajik '
given by Elphinstone on p. 521.
7?. 1, as a synonym for RoshanI\ya
is a misreading for Tdfifci, ' here-
tics ' ; see Raverty, p. 598.

^YARS AND ANNEXATIONS

239

The campaign against Kashmir proceeded concurrently Annexa-
^\-ith the operations against the tribesmen. The command Kashmir
of the force intended for the subjugation of the mountain 1586.
•kingdom was entrusted to Kasim Khan, Raja Bhagwan
Das, and certain other officers. Early in 1586 Sultan
Yusuf Khan, distrusting his ability to make effectual
resistance, had met and conferred ^^'ith the imperial generals,
'but Akbar ordered the advance to continue. Yusuf Khan
then blocked the Buliyas Pass on the Baramula route, to
:the west of the capital, a position from which it was not
easy to dislodge Mm.^ Rain and snow fell, supplies ran
short, and the invading force was confronted A^'ith difficulties
50 great that the commanders decided to patch up a peace
and retire. They granted easy terms, stipulating that the
name of the emperor should be recited in the Khutba and
stamped on the coins ; the mint, saffron cultivation, shawl
manufacture, 2 and game laws being placed under the control
of imperial officers designated for the charge of those depart-
■ments of the administration. Akbar, while disappro\-ing of
the treaty, which had been negotiated under the influence
of the news concerning the defeat of Zain Khan and Raja
Birbal, did not formally A^ithhold his consent.

The Sultan and his son, Yakub Khan, came into his camp
and surrendered. The Sultan was imprisoned. His hfe is
said to have been guaranteed by Raja Bhagwan Das, who
about this time stabbed liimself \^'ith a dagger, though not
fatally. He recovered quickly under the care of the court
surgeons.^ The official explanation of the incident is that
the Raja committed the act in a fit of insanity. Badaoni,

* ' I believe, therefore, that the
Vitasta Valley below Varahamula
'[Baramula] was held as an out-
lying frontier tract as far as the
present Buliasa [Sanskrit, Bolya-
saka]. It is exactly a few miles
below this place that ascending
[the valley the first serious diffi-
iculties are encountered on the
road. An advanced frontier-post
icould scarcely have occujiicd a
strategically more advantageous
position ' (Stein, tr. Hdjaluranginl

(1900), vol, ii, p. 403). The name
of the pass is given nearly cor-
rectly as • Bhuliyas ' in Tabakdt,
E. & D., V, 452 ; and WTongiy as
' Phulbas ' in Badaoni, tr, Lowe,
p. 363, The reading depends on
the dots and the vowel-points.
Buliyas is about forty miles by
road westward from Baramula.

- Ab-resham seems to mean
shawls, rather than silk,

^ A.N., iii, 745; Blochmann,
Ain, vol. i, p. 333.

240 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

on the contrary, asserts that, Akbar having intended to
violate the safe-conduet and execute the Sultan, the Raja,
on hearing of the perfidious design, stabbed himself in order
to vindicate his Rajput honour. That charge, so discredit'
able to Akbar, is not to be hghtly believed, and may, I think,
be safely rejected as untrue, because the historian who
makes it certainly was misinformed concerning the fate of
the Sultan and his son, as will be shown presently. Badaoni
evidently sympathized with the Kashmir princes, and was
willing to believe that they had received from Akbar treat-
ment even more harsh than that which they actually
endured.

Meantime, Yakub Khan, who had been granted a petty
stipend of thirty or forty rupees a month, became alarmed,
and finding that Akbar, in practical disregard of the treaty,
was preparing for a fresh invasion of his country, fled from
the imperial camp and prepared to resist. Muhammad
Kasim Khan, the engineer-in-chief, who was now appointed
to command the attack, advanced from the south through
Bhimbhar, and across the Pir Panjal (Pantsal) range.^ The
efforts of Yakub Khan not being vigorously supported h}
his people, the imperialists were able to enter Srinagar, the
capital, without encountering serious opposition. Furthei
attempts at resistance had no better success, and Yakub
Khan, who had regarded himself as the lawful successor of
his captive father, was compelled to surrender.

Kashmir was then definitely annexed, organized under
imperial officers, and attached as a Sarkar to the Suba or
province of Kabul. It remained under that form of adminis-
tration until the disintegration of the empire in the middle
of the eighteenth century.

Yusuf Khan and his son were exiled to Bihar, where they
were imprisoned under the charge of Man Singh, the governor.
A year or so later Yusuf Khan was released from confinement
and appointed to a ' command of 500 ', a rank carrying

* He realined the road, which Bhimbhar is at the foot of the
became the regularly used im- hills,
perial highway into Kashmir.

RAJA MAN SINGH

^^...rjati

aivit^ij. t.v

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 241

salary ranging from 2,100 to 2,500 rupees a month, and
ladequate to the dignity of a deposed sovereign. He
?rved in that capacity under Man Singh for several years,
he time and manner of liis death do not appear to be
•corded. His son paid his respects to Akbar when the
.iiperor visited Kashmir. Badaoni undoubtedly is in error
'hen he asserts that both father and son perished miserably
I a Bihar prison.^ The treatment of the ex- rulers of Kashmir
mnot be described as being generous, but it was not quite
) bad as Badaoni represents it.

In 1587 2 Man Singh's sister bore to Prince Salim a boy. Prince

rince Khusru, destined to a miserable life and a secret JH^"^''" '

Rajas

3ath. Man Singh, who was reheved as governor of Kabul Man
{ Zain Khan, was appointed to the government of Bihar, ^^^
ajipur, and Patna. A little later, after his reputed father's Bhagwan
■ath, the great province of Bengal was added to his charge,
an Singh, who succeeded Bhagwan Das as Raja in 1589,

; id held the liigh rank of ' commander of 5,000 ', which
as raised subsequently, and contrary to precedent, to that

I ' commander of 7,000 ', remained in charge of Bengal,
th Httle interruption, until the closing days of Akbar's

le, but resided for a considerable time at Ajmer, leaving

16 pro\incial administration in the hands of deputies.

i' From this point the proofs of 1st issue, p. 200 ; 2nd issue,

J;'. Beveridge's translation of p. 192). Lethbridge translates : —

^ lume iii of the Akbarndmah are ' The king was taken alive, but

t longer available. For the life was pardoned by Akbar. He

<{ Sultan Yusuf Khan see Aln, received a pension, as did his

^1. i, p. 478, No. 228. Abu-1 father ; but not sufficient to

Izl states that ' Yiisuf was re- maintain his dignity' (Calcutta

1 sed from prison, and received Review, 1873, p. 193). Badaoni

'•ijdglr, so that he might learn alleges that the Kashmir princes

I; ter manners, and appreciate the ' were both of them imprisoned

V id treatment he had received ' in the cell of affliction, and by the

( N., text, iii, 549 ; cited in sickness of melancholy and spleen

i & D., V, 454 n.). His state- they were released from the

r nt is supported by the Dutch prison of the body ' (Lowe, pp.

a ;hor, van den Broecke, whose 364, 365). Clearly that statement

1 igmentum Ilistoriae Indicae was is untrue. The error, presumably,

hied on a 'genuine chronicle'. was due to incorrect information

I says that : — ' Rex [scil. Yakub rather than to wilful perversion

Fian, the son] vivus in pote- of the truth.

s tern venit, sed venia ab Acha- ^ KhafI Khan dates the birth

1 "e impetrata, annuum stipen- of the prince two years later in

dm una cum Parente, baud satis A.n. 997 (Blochmann, Aln, vol. i,

l'» dignitate, accepit ' (De Laet, p. 310).

1845 j^

242 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

He established his oflficial capital at Akmahal or Akbarnagar,
the modern Rajmahal. His buildings are now in ruins, and
lie buried in jungle. He is reported to have ruled his exten-
sive dominions, in which he was practically almost inde-
pendent, ' with great prudence and justice '.^ He died in
the ninth year of Jahangir's reign.

Man Singh's father, or more accurately ' adoptive father ',
Raja Bhagwan Das of Amber or Jaipur, had done the
emperor good service from an early time in the reign, and
had fought bravely by his sovereign's side in the hotly
contested skirmish of Sarnal. When he died in November
1589, at Lahore, he was a ' commander of 5,000 ', and bore
the lofty title of Amiru-1 umara, or Premier Noble.
Raja Five days before the death of Raja Bhagwan Das, Akbai

Mall. lost another valued friend in the person of Raja Todai
Mall, who had risen, by reason of his virtues and abilities,
from the humble position of a clerk to the highest officia]
rank in the empire, that of Vakil. He was an old man and
faiUng when he died. He was born in Oudh at a smal
town or village named Laharpur, and, after serving ii
subordinate offices, received his first important commissioi
by being entrusted with the revenue assessment of Gujara
in the eighteenth year of the reign (1573-4). He provec
himself to be a good and valiant soldier when serving ii i
Bengal with old Munim Khan, into whom he infused som
of his own superabundant energy. When in Gujarat fo
the second time he vigorously attacked Sultan Muzaffai
and in 1577-8 received his reward by being appointe*
Vizier. During the Bengal rebellion of 1580 he held Mungi
(Monghyr) gallantly against the insurgents, and in 1582-

• Stewart, History of Bengal as the son of Bhagwan Das, an

(1813), p. 189. Man Singh was, certainly was his successor, h

strictly speaking, the brother's must have been adopted by hii

son, not the son of Bhagwan Das, as a son. I do not know of an

who had three brothers, namely, actual record of the suppose

Surat Singh, Madho Singh, and adoption, except that Tod (lo(

Jagat Singh. Man Singh was the cit.) calls him the ' adopted son

son of the last named (Tod, of his predecessor. Tod says th£

' Annals of Amber ', chap, i ; in abundant materials for the life (

Annals of Rajasthan, popular ed., Man Singh existed at Jaipur. S(

vol. ii, p. 286 n.). Inasmuch as Blochmann, Ain, vol. i, pp. 338

Man Singh is ordinarily regarded 41, No. 30.

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 243

Ivas appointed Diwan. He is specially remembered for his
hare in the assessment of the land revenue which he under-
ook in that capacity. He compelled Hindus to learn
'ersian by requiring that the revenue accounts should be
[prepared in that language and character, and so qualified
lis countrymen for more responsible employment under
': Muhammadan government. In 1589, when Akbar paid
, hurried visit to Kashmir, Todar Mall was left in charge
\f Lahore, at that time the capital, where he died in
!*^ovember.

Abu-1 Fazl, who did not altogether like him, and censured
^im for religious bigotry and a vindictive disposition,
leclares that he was incomparable in courage, administra-
iive skill, and freedom from avarice. ' There was no cupidity
h his administration.' ^ On the whole, he was, perhaps, the
ilblest officer in Akbar's service.

Akbar seized an early opportunity for a hasty visit to Akbar in
ihe fascinating valley of Kashmir, which he had coveted j^^j
or so long, and now described as his ' private garden '. Kabul,
Che emperor, starting from Lahore on April 22, 1589,
irrived at Srinagar about the end of May. He entered the
lill country from Bhimbhar and crossed the Pir Panjal
iPantsal) range by the improved though still bad road
^/hich his engineer-in-chief had constructed, and then spent
I few days in the valley. Prince Murad and the ladies,
^ho had been left at Bhimbhar at the foot of the hills,
vere directed to meet the emperor at Rohtas near Jhclum.
likbar travelled by the Baramula route and through the
lazara District, then known as Pakhli, to Attock. In
ompliance with amended instructions his family met him
^ere instead of at Rohtas. Thence the emperor proceeded
) Kabul, where he spent two pleasant months, often visit-
ig the gardens and places of interest. While there he
■ccived the news of the deaths of Rajas Bhagwan Das and
i'odar ]\Iall. On November 7 he started for India, leaving
vabul in charge of Muhammad Kasim, the engineer.^

' A.N.,\\i,22^. For biography ^ Tabakdt, in E. & D., v, 457.

f Todar Mall see Blochmann in Pakhli was the name of the

\lin, vol. i, pp. 351, 620, No. 39. Sarkar or District lying between

244 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's Akbar — in pursuance of his deliberate policy directed t(

mTlind *^^ object of bringing every province of northern Indii

under his sway, as a necessary foundation for still mor(

ambitious enterprises — now took steps for the subjugatioi

of southern Sind, the independence of which was an offenc(

in his eyes. Multan, lying to the north, and at presen-

under the government of the Pan jab, but naturally anc

historically belonging to upper Sind, had been regarded a;

an integral part of the empire of Hindostan since the tim(

of Babur. The original province or Suba of Multan include(

three Sarkars or Districts, namely, Multan, Dcbalpur, am

Bakhar.^ The strong island fortress of Bakhar had beei

surrendered to Keshu Khan, an officer of Akbar's, in 1574

and had remained since then under imperial control. ^

The emperor now desired to extend his dominion ove

southern Sind, or the principality of Thathah, as far a

the mouths of the Indus, and so bring under his power tb

last remaining independent State of northern India.^

Conquest The conquest of Sind and Baldchistan being regarded a

1 ri'i'"*^' ^ necessary prelude to the long meditated recovery of Kan

dahar, Akbar attached great importance to the operations

and chose one of his best officers to conduct them. H

took no personal share in the campaign, and never visiter

any part of either Sind or Balochistan after his infancy.*

the Kashmir frontier and Attock "^ The correct name of the office

{Am, book ii, vol. ii, p. 390), appears to be Keshu Khan, as ii

equivalent to the ancient king- I. G. (1908), s. v. Bukkur. It i

dom of Urasa (Stein, tr. Raja- sometimes written Gesu, Gisii, c

iarangini, vol. ii, p. 434), or the Kisu. See Tdrlkh-i M'asumi h

modern Hazara District. On the E. & D., i, 240 ; Raverty, Notes

passes over the Pir Pantsal range p. 595.

see ibid., pp. 392-100. ' Thathah (Raverty), Tatt;

1 Am (transl. Jarrett), vol. ii, (1. G!), Nagar Thato, &c. ; situatet

pp. 325-36. Debalpur is com- in 24° 45' N. and 67° 58' E., am

monly,though incorrectly, written now included in the Karach

Dipalpur. It is now a large (Kurrachee) District. The town

village in the Montgomery Dis- at present small and unhealthy

trict, situated in 30° 40' N. and was a populous and busy mart ii

73° 32' E. Bakhar is the Bukkur Akbar's time and throughout th(

of /. G. The name is sometimes seventeenth century. It decaye(

written Bhakhar or Bhakkar. during the latter half of thi

The fortress stands on a rocky eighteenth century,

island in the Indus between Sak- * The story that in 1591 h<

har (Sukkur) and Rohri (Rurhi), revisited Umarkot, his birth

and is situated in 27° 43' N. and place, which has found its wav

68° 56' E. into the latest edition of thi

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 245

iThe officer selected to effect the conquest was Bairam

] ban's son, Abdurrahlm, who had received the title of

]han Khanan for his suppression of Sultan Muzaffar and

1e final reduction of Gujarat. In 1590 he was appointed

libadar of Multan, and directed to annex the principality

i! Thathah, then under the government of Mirza Jani the

]irkhan, who, like the ruler of Kashmir, had omitted to

f er homage to his all-powerful neighbour and had committed

tje unpardonable sin of pretending to independence. The

iirza attempted to defend his country and fought two

igagements, in which flotillas of boats {ghiirdbs) on the

J dus took part. He lost both fights and was obliged to

Jrrender, giving up both Thathah and the fortress of

jihwan (1591). He was treated without harshness, and

•Jiter his appearance at court was granted his former

iminions as a fief of the crown. He was appointed a ' com-
ander of 3,000 ', and joined the ranks of the adherents of
e Divine Faith, making a formal renunciation of Islam.
Jini Beg accompanied Akbar in the expedition to the Deccan,
Jid after the fall of Aslrgarh in January 1601 died of de-
Ilium tremens, like so many of his notable contemporaries.^

.tperial Gazetteer and many other to be a mistake. The ancestor

IDdern pubUcations, is baseless referred to (accordincr to him)

Hion, ' as every history that was not Arghiin Khan of the

}s ever been written shows '. lineage of the great Khan, but a

iiverty, Notes, p. 601 ; I. G. person named Amir Arghun, who

(308), s. v. Umarkot. died about a. d. 1275 {Notes,

ii The fullest and best account p. 580 «.). Sihwan (Sehwan of

the conquest of Sind is that in I. G.), a town and fortress of

e TdTlkh-i M'asumi or Tdrlkfiu-s immense antiquity, is situated in

fnd by Mir Muhammad M'asum 26" 26' N. and 67° 54' E., and is

> Hakhar, who took an active now included in the Larkanah

rt in the operations. The (Larkana of I. G.) District of Sind.

tlior resembled Nizamu-d din It stood on the bank of the Indus

being both a gallant com- in Akbar's time, but the river has

mder and an accomplished withdrawn. The town is generally

yiter (E. & D., i, pp. 247-52). called Siwistan in the Persian

iiverty also tells the story from histories, and has been often con-

1 (■ original authorities (Notes, fused by English writers with the

001). For the life of Mirza totally different place, Siwi or

III Beg, of the Arghun clan, Sibi, in Ralochistan to the SE. of

ilth the title of Tarkhan, see Quetta, situated in al)out 29° 30'

lochmann, yffn, vol. i, pp. .361-5. N. and 68° E. (Sec Raverty,

iochmann traces his descent Notes, csp. pp. 556, 602, and

rough Arghun Khan (d. a. n. India Oflice map of .'J2" to mile).

0=A. D. 1291) back to Chingiz Sihwan or .Siwistan belonged to

lan, but Raverty declares that the 'I'hathah province. Siwi or

Deccan.

246 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

j)esigns Akbar, who had always cherished the hope of being able

on and some day to bring under his sway the Sultanates of the
missions j ^ j

to the Deccan, which had been formed out of the fragments of ^■
the Bahmani empire, now began to see his way towards
the accomplishment of his ambitious design. The whole '
of northern India, including Balochistan, Afghanistan, and
Kashmir, had either been subdued or was on the point of
being reduced to obedience. The emperor felt that he was
sufficiently secure in the north to justify an adventurous i P
policy in the south. If fortune should favour him and his "
life should be prolonged he might afterwards undertake ^'
the conquest of Turan, the regions in Transoxiana where
his ancestors had ruled long ago. But the Uzbegs were ' s"
strong in that direction, and that project must wait, whereas
the Sultanates of the Deccan were comparatively weak i ill'
and always at variance one with the other. fi

Akbar resolved as a preliminary measure to send missions i J
to the rulers of the Deccan, in order to ascertain whether or
not they would be willing to accept his suzerainty without
putting him to the trouble of fighting and defeating them.
Accordingly, in August 1591, he dispatched four missions,
severally directed to Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and
Golkonda. The emperor's first objective was Khandesh,
the small kingdom in the valley of the Tapti, then ruled
by a prince of the Faruki dynasty, named Raja All Khan,
who is described as ' a man of great talent, just, wise,
prudent, and brave '.^ He recognized the superiority of the
Mogul power, and showed indications of willingness to
acknowledge Akbar's suzerainty. His capital was Bur-
hanpur,2 which still survives as a considerable town, possess-

Sibl was a dependency of Kan- and plate ; Yule and Burnell,

dahar, and was annexed on Glossary, s. v. Grab. The tonnage

Akbar's behalf by Mir Muhammad ran from about 150 to 300 tons,

M'asiim in February 1595. It Ghurdb means a ' raven ' ; com-

thus became part of the Kabul pare ' corvette '.

Suba. The Thathah province, in- ^ Bombay Gazetieer{1880),Khan-

eluding Sihwan', was added to desh, p. 247.

the old Multan Suba. ^ The name is written as

For the two-, or sometimes Brampour or in other corrupt

three-masted ships called ghurdbs forms by the older European

(' grabs '), see R. Mookerji, Indian writers.
Shipping, Longmans, 1912, p. 251

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 247

la a valuable trade in cotton, with wire-drawing and

Ik- weaving industries. The chief importance of Raja All

Ihan's territory lay in the fact that it included the mighty

prtress of Asirgarh, commanding the main road to the

)eccan, and justly regarded as one of the strongest and

'est equipped fortresses in Europe or Asia.^ Shaikh FaizI,

.bu-1 Fazl's brother, the most notable of the four envoys,

ceordingly was sent to Burhanpur, with instructions to

roceed later to the court of Burhan Shah, or Burhanu-1

lulk, king of Ahmadnagar, to whom a special ambassador

ras also sent. Ahmadnagar, after Khandesh, was the most

Iccessible of the Deccan sultanates. Akbar, as will appear

ubsequently, never advanced farther.

J In August 1592 Akbar started on a hunting expedition Akbar's
long the banks of the Chinab, intending to pay a second ^^^^^^^
isit to Kashmir. While on his way he received news that Kashmir,
nephew of his governor in the valley had rebelled and set ^j Orissa.
j.p as Sultan on his own account. A little later the emperor 1592.
ras greeted by a pleasanter dispatch announcing the victories
if the Khan Khanan in Sind, and he accepted the information
;.s a good omen of the speedy suppression of the Kashmir
iebellion. He was not disappointed in his expectations,
,nd before he entered the hills from Bhimbhar had the
Satisfaction of inspecting the rebel's head which his officers
lad sent in. He stayed only eight days in the valley,
imusing himself with sport, and then departed, as on the
f)revious occasion, by the Baramula Pass, and on through
he Hazara District (Pakhli) to Rohtas. He thence returned
io Lahore, where intelligence reached him that Raja Man
lUngh had defeated the Afghan chiefs in Orissa and annexed
hat country. The new province, although imperfectly
ubducd, was attached to the Suba of Bengal, and con-
■inuedto be part of the empire until 1751, when Allahvardi

' Asirfjarh is written Asirgad in sometimes disguises names wliieh

:lie Bombay Gazetteer. Educated are familiar in literature in their

Hindus in the Deccan and on the northern form. ' Raja ' seems to

jjBombay side pronounce as d or dh have been part of the name of

[;he cerebral letters which are pro- the king of Khandesh, not a

lounced as r or rli in northern Hindu title.
India. The difference of spelling

248

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

surrender it to the

Death of

Shaikh

Mubarak

Azam

Khan,

1593.

\Var in

the

Deccan

decided

on ; Xi-

zamu-d

din

Ahmad,

3 593.

(Alivardi) Khan was compelled to
Marathas.

Akbar's arms were thus successful on all sides, and he
was able to contemplate with the assurance of \-ictory
further adventures in the Deccan.

In 1593 the campaign in Gujarat was ended by the
suicide of Muzaffar Shah, as already mentioned. In August
the emperor's old friend. Shaikh Mubarak, father of Abu-1
Fazl and Faizi, and the real founder of the Divine Faith,
died at an advanced age. He was a man of profound
learning after the Asiatic manner, and so much of a philo-
sopher that he had changed his theological \-iews several
times.

Azam Khan, Aziz Koka, governor of Gujarat, who had
never been on cordial terms with Akbar since innovations
in religion had been introduced, disobeyed a summons to
come to court, left his pro^•ince, and departed for Mecca
without permission. Strange to say, when he returned to
India in the autumn of 1594, he not only became reconciled
with the emperor, but actually enrolled himself as a disciple
of the Di\-ine Faith. It is said that he was fleeced so shame-
lessly by the harpies of the Mecca shrines that he found
orthodox\'^ too expensive. One of his daughters was married
to Prince Murad, who succeeded him as governor of Gujarat.
Another daughter was married later to Prince Khusru. The
subsequent life of Aziz was marked by various \-icissitudes.
He died in his bed, in the nineteenth year of Jahangir's
reign.^

At or about the close of 1593 the envoys to the Sultans
of the Deccan returned ■with reports unsatisfactory' to
Akbar, who was disappointed to learn that Burhanu-1 Mulk,
the ruler of Ahmadnagar, had not sent suitable tribute, his '
gifts being limited to some fifteen elephants, with certain
textiles, and a few jewels. The paucity of his offerings was
understood to imply that he desired to maintain his inde-
pendence. Akbar regarded the assertion of independence

^ Blochmann gives a full bio-
graphy, Ain, vol. i, pp. 325—7,

No. 21. His title is sometimes
written as Khan-i "Azam.

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 249

i»y anv ruling prince within the reach of his arm as a personal
ffront to be expiated by ruthless conquest.^

War was decreed in consequence, and at first Prince
Janival was nominated for the supreme command of the
Qvadincr armv, which included 70.000 horse. On second
Ihoughts, after holding a Council, Akbar revoked the com-
jnission to his son, and appointed the Khan Khanan (Abdur-
jahim) as commander-in-chief of the expedition.

At this point the historical narrative [Tahakat-i Akbarl) of
s'izamu-d din Ahmad, Bakhshi of the empire, ends abruptly,
'he accomplished author had hopes of continuing the story,
■ut at the end of October 1594 he died, aged forty-five,
fter a short illness. His friend Badaoni has recorded

touching tribute to his memors% and avers that in the

ity of Lahore there was scarcely any one, whether of high

r low degree, who did not recall his gracious qualities and

jiment his premature decease.^ Certainly he was one of the

lost estimable of Akbar's officers.

, Before completing the history of Akbar's extensive
[nnexations in the north-west, we must revert to the subject
f his relations vdih Christianity and his orders concerning

ligious matters.

, After the departure of Father Aquaviva in the spring Renewed

f 1583 nothing more is heard of dealings "v^-ith Christian i"ter-
, '' ^ course

riestS until 1590, when a Greek sub-deacon, named Leo with Goa

(irimon, on his way back to his native country, returning Le^"°

'om we know not where, happened to appear at the imperial Grimon.

lOurt in the Panjab, and so gave an opportunity for renewal

if the intercourse ^Wth Goa, of which Akbar gladly took

dvantage.

The emperor issued fresh invitations to the authorities

. Goa asking them again to send him teachers of the

hristian faith, and using language far stronger than that

. hich he had employed in 1579. His words, no doubt

lictated by himself, seem to indicate that in 1590 he may

|ave had some thoughts of becoming a Christian. Every-

' Terry compares the Great neighbours ' (ed. 1777, p. 148).
|logul to ' a huge pike in a irreat * Badaoni, p. 411.

ond, that preys upon all liis

250

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Pass
granted
to the
sub-
deacon,
Leo
Grimon.

thing known about the invitation, the reply made by the
civil and ecclesiastical officials of Goa, and the complete
failure of the mission sent has been recorded by Du Jarric
and reproduced in English by Maclagan.i The documents
are so full of personal interest and throw so much light on
the puzzling character of Akbar that they must be tran-
scribed almost in full. Certain phrases especially striking
are printed in italics, and Maclagan's notes, so far as they
have been utilized, are distinguished by his initials.

The pass or parwdna granted to the sub-deacon was as
follows :

' Order of His Highness, Muhammad, great King and
Lord of the Fosliera (sic),^ to all the Captains, Viceroys,
Governors, rulers, and other officers of my realm : —

' " I would have you know that I have shown much
honour and favour to Dom Leo Grimon, willing thereby
that you should do likewise, inasmuch as I hope to obtain
by his means certain other learned P'athers from Goa, by
whom I trust to be restored from death unto life through their
holy doctrine, even as their Master Jesus Christ, coming from
Heaven to Earth, raised many from the dead and gave them life.

' " On this occasion I am summoning the most learned
and virtuous of the Fathers, by whom I would be taught
many things concerning the faith of the Christians and of the
rm/al highway whereon they travel to God's presence. Where-
fore I order my officers aforesaid to bestow great honour
and favour both on Dom Leo Grimon and on the Fathers
for whom I am sending, in all the towns of my realm through
which they shall pass, granting them an escort to conduct
them safely from town to town, providing them with all
that is necessary for themselves and their beasts, and all

* pp. 60-4. The letters were
first published by Father Spitilli
in Italian at Rome in 1592.
Guzman (1601) and Du Jarric
(1608) copied from him. I have
not seen Spitilli's rare tract.
Peruschi (Roma, 1597, p. 4) dis-
misses the Second Mission in a
few words : — ' E similmente alcuni
altri [Padri] ne furno mandati poi
neir anno 1591 ; ma per diverse
occasion! se ne ritornorno, e non
si pote fare effetto alcuno ' ; or
in English, ' And likewise some
other Jesuit Fathers were sent

later in the year 1591 ; but on
account of various happenings
they came back and were unable
to gain any result.' The story of
the mission is told by Du .Jarric
in book ii, chap, xii ; Latin ver-
sion, vol. ii, pp. 524-9.

^ The superscription evidently
has been imperfectly copied.
Akbar never called himself simply
Muhammad. The word ' Fos-
liera ' in the French, and ' Domini
Follierii ' in the Latin text of Du
Jarric is obscure. E. D. M. (p. 60)
suggests ' Fasli era ', but qu.?

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 251

^Ise they need, at my charges : and you shall be responsible
for their safe arrival and shall take heed that they lose
nothing which they have with them.

' " I order also my Captain Khankhanan (mon Capitaine
Canchena) ^ to forward them safely to my Captain Raizza (?),
iwho with the other Captains shall do likewise until they
'reach my court. I enjoin also Giabiblica (?), the Captain of
Cambay, to furnish whatsoever they need in going or
icoming.2 j ^Iso forbid my customs officers to take anything
from the said Fathers, whose baggages they shall let pass
without toll : and the aforesaid shall pay heed to my com-
mandment, troubling the said Fathers neither in their
persons nor in their property. If they make any complaint
you shall be severely punished, even to the danger of your
.heads. Moreover I desire that this my order be carried out
'in respect both of their persons and of their goods, that
they may pass freely through my towns without paying
tax or toll and be well guarded on their road.

' " They shall be conducted from Cambay to Ahmadabad,
,and thence to Paian (Pattan), and thence to Gelu (? Jalor),
from Gelu to Guipar (?), and from Guipar to Bikanir,*
whence they shall go to Bitasser (? Jalaslr), from Bitasser^
;to Multan, and from Multan to Lahore where we reside.
For this is the route by which I would have the Fathers
[come. Whom I hope by God's aid to see shortly at this
^Court, when they shall be received by me and mine as their
|Worth deserveth." '

Letter from Akhar to the Fathers of the Society at Goa.

' In the name of God.

' The exalted and in\dncible Akbar to those that are in
fGod's grace and have tasted of his Holy Spirit, and to those
that are obedient to the spirit of the Messiah and conduct
^men to God. I say to you, learned Fathers, whose words

I » ' IVIirza 'Abdu-r rahim Khan, [E. D. M.]. The Raja was killed

•son of Bairam Khan and com- in 1596.

mander in Gujarat ' (E. D. M.). ^ Gelu=? Jalotra on meridian

Maclagan used the French original 72° nearly due N. of Patan.

'of I)u Jarric. I have chiefly con- ' Guipar ' might be Kharopar,

suited the Latin version in the further N. I doubt if the party

' India Oflice Library. The book is went round to the east by Jalor

of extreme rarity in either form. and Jodhpur. They may have

I * ' Raizza ' is ' perhaps Rai travelled due N, througli Po-

' Singh of Bikanir ' (Blochmann, kharan,

Aln, \, 357). I am unable to * Bitasser ' = ? Kalasar, N. of
identify ' Giabiblica ', unless he Bikaner. The names are hope-
be Raja ' All Khan of Khan- lessly corrupted apparently,
desh (Blochmann, Aln, i, 327).'

252

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

are heeded as those of men retired from the world, who
have left the pomps and honour of earth : Fathers who
walk by the true way : I would ha.\e your Reverences
know that / have kuoziledge of all the faiths of the ziorld,
both of various kinds of heathen and of the Muhammadans}
save only that of Jesus Christ ichich is the faith of God and as
stich recognized and follozi'ed by many. Now, in that I feel
great inclination to the friendship of the Fathers, I desire
that bv them I mav be taught this faith.

' There has recently come to our Court and royal Palace
one Dom Leo Grimon. a person of great merit and good
discourse, whom I have questioned on sundr\' matters and
who has answered well to the satisfaction of myself and my
doctors. He has assured me that there are in India [scil.
Goa] several Fathers of great prudence and learning, and
if this be so Your Reverences \\ill be able immediately, on
^e<?ei^^ng my letter, to send some of them to my Court
with all confidence, so that in disputations %\'ith my doctors
I may compare their several learning and character, and
see the superiority of the Fathers over my doctors ; whom
we call Qazis,- and whom by tliis means they can teach the
truth.

' If they will remain in my Court, I shall build them such
lodging that they may Uve as nobly as any Father now in
this countr\-,^ and when they wish to leave, I shall let them
depart ■uith all honour. You should, therefore, do as I ask,
and the more "«illinglv because I beg of vou the same, in
this letter written at the commencement of the moon of June.'

When perusing this letter we should remember that it
is translated from the French of Du Jarric, who probably
used either a Portuguese or an Itahan version of the Persian
original. It reads as if the sub-deacon had had a hand in
some parts of the phrasing.

Anyhow it. or something ver^' hke it, reached the persons
to whom it was addressed.

^ Compare Abu-I Fazl on liim-
self : — ■ Without dishonourable
curiosity I became acquainted
with the tenets of all creeds, and
my spirit was weary of their
multitude ' (Ain, vol. iii, p. 446).

- ■ Qazis ' is an error. The
word is written ' Cassises " by
Botelho. and is " not qdzi = a
Muhammadan judge, but from the
Persian kashish, in Arabic qasis =

a muUd, a Muhammadan doctor
or priest ' (Beveridge, in J. and
Proc. A. S. B.. 1910, p. 456 n.).
In the Latin version of Du Jarric
(vol. i, p. 211) the form used is
■ Cacizes \

' "In this countr\-" may mean
Goa. In Akbar"s dominions there
may or may not have been one
or two priests in Bengal at that
date, but there were no others.

WARS AND AXNEX.\TIOXS

253

The P^o^■incial. in liis report dated November of the The Pro-

ame vear. recites how nearly nine vears had elapsed since '^'^"^'^' **

• " ^ report.

he Great Mogul Akbar had sent a similar request, and Nov..
tates that the sub-deacon had brought ■with liim liberal ^' '
rifts for the poor of Goa wliich the donor had desired to be
till more la\-ish than Grimon would accept.
The reporter goes on to say :

' And from what the sub-deacon tells us at Goa, it appears
hat tliis excellent emperor is most anxious to estabUsh
he fundamental truths of Christianity, and has induced
he Prince Ms son, and Ms cMef general to hold the same
iews.^

' On the day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
August 15]. he held a festival,^ setting forth in an elevated
ituation the picture of the Virgin wMch Father Rodolfi
nd his companions had given Mm. and called on Ms rela-
ions and courtiers to kiss the picture with due reverence,
liey had asked that the Prince Ms son should do so and
consented with the greatest alacrity.

' The Emperor turned all the mosques of the city where
lived into stables for elephants or horses, on the pretence
t preparation for war.^ Soon, however, he destroyed the
ilcorans (wMch are the turrets from wMch the priests call
i ith loud voices on Muhammad),* saj-ing that if the mosques
ould no longer be used for prayer there was no need for
he turrets : and tliis he did in Ms hatred for the Muham-
'ladan sect and in Ms affection for the Gospel. The sub-

' The ' Prince ' means Salim
vJahangir), then about twenty-one
iears of age. The • cliief general "
rould seem to indicate the Khan
vlianan, but I am not certain
hat he is intended.
' * The festival of the Assump-
Ijon, instituted by the Byzantine
Imperor Maurice in a. d. 582, is
'elebrated on August 15 {Encijd.
i<rit., latest ed.. s.v. Assumption),
ir Harris Nicolas gives the date
- August 25 in his Alphabetical

ilendar of Saints" Davs {The
hronohgyof History. im3. p. 127).
'he same author, in the Roman
rul Church Calendar(ibid.,p.lO(i).
ives the date as the 15th, wliich

correct.
See Peruschi. p. 27. ' Ha fatto

vinare tutte le moschee delli

suoi paesi, e ne ha fatto stalle,
e luoghi di \ilissimi essercitii.'
The fact of the desecration of
mosques, amply proved by the
Jesuit testimony, is confirmed
independently by Badaoni, who
states that " mosques and prayer-
rooms were changed into store-
rooms, or giN'en to Hindu chau-
kxdars [watchmen] ' (Blochmann,
Aln. vol. i, p. 200 ; Lowe. p. 332.
' Hindu guard-rooms "). The de-
struction came later. I cannot
find any specific instances of
minarets demolished by Akbar.

* • .\n error for Manors. Other
writers of the period make the
same mistake " (E. D. M.). The
spellings maixdr and mlndr are
both in use.

254

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The Pro-
vincial's
report,
Nov.,
1591.

deacon also said that the name of Muhammad was as hated
at the Mughal's court as in Christendom, and that the
Emperor had restricted himself to one wife, turning out the
rest and distributing them among his courtiers. Moreover,
that he had passed a law that no Muhammadan was to
circumcise his son before the fifteenth year of his age, and
that the sons should be at liberty on attaining years of
discretion to embrace what religion they chose.'

The Provincial, continuing his report in the year follow-
ing, under date November 1591, informs his superior that
the mission, consisting of two Portuguese Fathers, Edward
Leioton (Leitanus) and Christopher di Vega,^ with an assis-
tant, had been dispatched from Goa and received at Lahore
in 1591 :

' This embassy induced many, not only of the Fathers,
but also of the students, to apply to be sent on the mission,
and there were chosen for the purpose two Fathers and
a Companion who reached the Emperor's Court in 1591,
and were received with great kindness.^ Every kind of
favour was shown to them, a house was given to them in
the palace itself, necessaries were supplied, and a school
was started in which the sons of nobles and the Emperor's
own sons and grandson were taught to read and write
Portuguese.^

' But when the Fathers saw that the Emperor had not
decided, as they expected, to embrace the Christian Faith,
they proposed to return to Goa, but were bidden by me
not to do so : Father Edward Leioton (who is one of the
Fathers that remained there) being expressly ordered not
to return, but to remain where he was. Father Christopher
di Vega, who returned with Father Leioton 's consent, was
sent back by me, as he was a great favourite with ther
Emperor, and was told not to come away except it were
under an oath that he would return. And since the hearts

* ' Leitam or Leitao is distinctly
a Portuguese name. He may
have Joined the Society in India,
for his name is not on Franco's
list ' (Hosten, Jesuit Missionaries
in Northern India, pamphlet,
Catholic Orphan Press, Calcutta,
1907, p. 8).

* The name of the lay com-
panion is not known (ibid.).

* The school probably was

established for political rather
than for religious purposes. The
grandson was Khusru, then about
four years of age. The sons,!
namely, Prince Murad, aged 21,
and Prince Daniyal, aged 19,
were not likely to pay much
attention to lessons. The atten-
dance of the princes, evidently,
was merely formal.

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 255

jf Kings are in God's hand we have decided with much
nward waiting and firm hope of God's goodness to continue
:his mission. And now our priests are occupied, as above
iioticed, in teaching the youths to read and write Portuguese
ind in other such duties, awaiting a convenient opportunity
for speaking more freely with the Emperor on rehgious
mbjects ; a matter hitherto rendered difficult by the opposi-
tion of the generals who are with him and in whose absence
lo audience is usually granted. And as the conversion of
:he Emperor to the Catholic Faith is a matter of the greatest
noment, it is necessary to proceed skilfully and gently in
j:he matter.'

j No printed record explains how, why, or exactly when Failure
;he mission came to an abrupt conclusion. Its members vj* •
were recalled and returned to Goa, at some time in 1592.
[t is known that their precipitate return was disapproved
|n Rome,^ and it is probable that manuscripts may exist
|;here which contain full explanations. The suspicion seems
ustifiable that the Fathers selected were not in all respects
:he right persons for the task entrusted to them, and that
;hey may have been somewhat faint-hearted. The emperor,
ivho was at the time deeply engaged in wars in Sind and
)n the frontier, seems to have temporarily lost interest in
•eligious problems, and to have feared that he might endanger
he success of his military operations if he went too far in
jomplaisance to the foreigners whom his generals distrusted
!ind disliked. Probably Akbar was never perfectly sincere
When he used expressions implying belief in the Christian
.religion. It may be true that he preferred it, on the whole,
;o any other religion, but it may be doubted if he ever
[leriously intended to accept baptism and openly profess
iiimself a follower of Christ.^ His interest lay chiefly in the
ftudy of the subject now called ' Comparative Religion ',

I * Catron, Histoire ginirale de states : — ' His Majesty firmly be-

f Empire du Mogol, quarto ed., lieved in the truth of the Christian

(Paris, 1715, p. 108. The book is religion, and wishing to spread

|rare. I have used the India Oflice the doctrines of .Jesus, ordered

!x)py. Du .Jarric (vol. ii, p. 529) Prince Murad to take a few lessons

Ijxpressly states that the Fathers in Christianity by way of auspi-

livere recalled : — ' Omnes Goam, ciousness, and charged Abu-1 FazI

(•e infecta, revoeati, redierunt.' to translate the Gosjm'I ' (Lowe,

- Referring to the time of the p. 207 ; Blochmann, Alii, vol. i,

/irst Mission (1580-2), Badaoni p. 182).

256

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

A.H.IOOO

Mahdist
hopes ;
novel
regula-
tions.

and was prompted by intellectual curiosity rather than by
an awakened conscience. Grimon's statement that Akbar
had confined himself to one wife, and distributed his other
consorts among the courtiers is not directlj'- confirmed from
other sources. It is unlikely that the assertion should have
been wholly baseless, because the other statements of fact
attributed to Grimon are supported more or less by inde-
pendent testimony. Probably Akbar really did repudiate
some of the hundreds of women in his harem and distribute
them among his nobles. His record renders it improbabk
that he should have gone so far as to restrict himself to one
wife, when he was still under fifty years of age. He maj
have promised to do so or even asserted that he had made
the sacrifice, but it does not follow that he actually kepi
such a promise or uold the exact truth about a mattei
incapable of verification.^

; The imagination of Akbar and of many of his contem-
poraries was much impressed by the thought that a com-
plete millennium of lunar years since the Hijra or Flight
of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina was about to b(
completed. The year 1000 of the Hijri Era correspondec
with the period running from October 9, 1591 to Scptem
bcr 27, 1592. For several years before the final year of th(
millennial period speculation had been rife concerning th(
changes which might be expected when the cycle of oik
thousand years should be ended. Some people, Akba
included, thought that Islam would no longer survive, anc

* The following quotation from
the ' Happy Sayings ', recorded
at some time late in the reign
between 1576 and 1600, bears on
the subject :

' To seek more than one wife is
to work one's own undoing. In
ease she were barren or bore no
son, it might then be expedient.

' Had I been wise earlier, I
would have taken no woman
from my own kingdom into my
seraglio, for my subjects are to
me in the place of children ' (Ain,
vol. iii, p. 398).

In A. D. 1587, the beginning of
A. H. 995, Akbar had proclaimed

that :

' No one was to marry mon
than one wife, except in cases o
barrenness ; but in all other case
the rule was — " One God, an(
one wife " ' (Badaoni, in Bloch
mann, Aln, vol. i, p. 205). Lowi
renders, ' In any other case, thi
rule should be one man, and om
woman ' (p. 367), which seems ti
be the correct version. Akba
could hardly avoid taking somi
personal action in order to justif;
such a public act of legislation, si
manifestly inconsistent with hi
earlier practice.

WARS AND ANNEXATIONS 257

lany looked for the appearance of a Mahdi or Guide, who
tiould be the Saviour of mankind, and supersede the teaeh-
ig of the ancient prophets. Even the fanatically orthodox
ladaonl yielded to the allurements of Mahdist expecta-
ons. Akbar directed the compilation of a comprehensive
'ork, to be entitled the Tdrlkh-i Alfi, the History of the
'housand Years.^ In March 1592, when the thirty-seventh
3gnal year began, he marked the occasion by issuing
jecial coins. People who desired the emperor's favour
iligently shaved their beards. The next year (a. h. 1001)
itnessed the issue of other new-fangled regulations, the
articulars of which are not recorded ; and in a. h. 1002,
16 thirty-ninth regnal year, equivalent to 1593-4, many
I ore enactments of a novel kind appeared, not having any
Ibvious connexion with the close of the millennial period,
mong the more important were the following :
' ' If a Hindu, when a child or otherwise, had been made

Musalman against his will, he was to be allowed, if he
eased, to go back to the religion of his fathers.

' No man should be interfered with on account of his
iligion, and any one was to be allowed to go over to any
iligion he pleased.

' If a Hindu woman fell in love with a Musalman, and
itered the Muslim religion, she should be taken by force
om her husband, and restored to her family.

' If any of the infidels chose to build a church, or syna-
j)gue, or idol-temple, or Parsee " tower of silence ", no one

, or irarsee tower oi siiciiL-t; "
as to hinder him.' ^

The reader will not fail to observe the i nconsistency
ptween the second and third_of _the^egulations quoted,
"le general principle of toleration admirably expressed in
te second, while actually put in practice concerning religions
(her than Islam, was not acted on in matters concerning
juhammadan faith and practice. Akbar showed bitter
i)stility to the faith ofJiis fathers and his own youth, and
f tually perpetrated a persecution of Islam. "

About the same time multitudinous orders appeared
(|aling with every department of civil and military adminis-

> Badaoni, p. 327, * Ibid., pp. 392, 393.

1845 «

258

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Annexa-
tion of
Balo-
chistan
and
Kanda-
har.

tration, as well as with the details of social life. ' To recount
them all ', Badaoni exclaims, ' would take a lifetime of
more than the human span.' Many of the orders then
issued may be read in the Ain-i-Akban, but that book
does not usually specify the chronological sequence of the
regulations cited, and it is not always possible to identify
in it the legislation promulgated in any particular year.

The year 1595 saw the completion of the conquests and
annexations in the north-west effected by the arms of
Akbar's officers or through diplomacy based on the terror
of his name. In February of that year Mir Masum, the
historian, who wielded the sword and the pen with equal
facility, attacked the fort of Siwi to the south-east of Quetta
{ante, p. 245), which was held by the Parni Afghans. The
tribesmen, who mustered in force to defend their stronghold,
were defeated in battle, and after consideration surrendered
the place, with the result that all Balochistan, as far as
the frontiers of the Kandahar province, and including
Makran, the region near the coast, passed under the imperial
sceptre.

A little later, in April, Kandahar itself came into Akbar's
possession without bloodshed. As already mentioned, the
Khan Khanan's campaign in Sind was intended as a prelude
to an attack on Kandahar. But no attack was needed
The Persian governor, Muzaff ar Husain Mirza, being involvec
in quarrels with relatives and in danger from the UzbegS'
asked Akbar to depute an officer to take over charge. Tb'
emperor, of course, complied gladly, and sent Shah Beg
who had been in the service of his brother at Kabul. Th<
city thus peacefully acquired remained under the Indiai
government until 1622, when Jahangir lost it. Shahjaha;
regained it and held it from 1638 to 1649, when it wa
finally separated from the empire.^

* Raverty, Notes, pp. 600-3, from original authorities.

CHAPTER X

|THE third JESUIT MISSION (1595) ; FAMINE (1595-8) ;
WARS IN THE DECCAN ; FALL OF AHMADNAGAR AND
ASIRGARH ; LAST EMBASSY TO GOA (1601) ; THE JESUIT
FATHERS ; P^OUNDATION OF THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH
EAST INDIA COMPANIES.

I Once again, for the third and last time, in 1594-, Akbar The
jrenewed his entreaties for instruction in the Christian '^^"^^
religion, and begged the Viceroy at Goa to send him learned Mission
priests. The Viceroy was eager to accept the invitation, jj^ 1594.
The Provincial of the Jesuits, remembering previous failures,
was disposed to decline it, but ultimately yielded to Vice-
regal solicitation and consented to choose missionaries.

The best men who could be procured were chosen, namely

jJerome Xavier, grand-nephew of St. Francis Xavier ;

[Emmanuel Pinheiro, a Portuguese ; and Brother Benedict

a (of) Goes.i The Armenian who had been in attendance

bn Aquaviva at the time of the First Mission was again sent

jwith them as interjoreter. Father Jerome Xavier had already

(done evangelistic work for many years in India. He now

'gave himself up with unstinting ardour to his new duties,

'ind stayed for twenty-three years at the Mogul court, con-

'binuing his labours long after Akbar had passed away.

[Father Pinheiro, whose fate it was to reside mostly at

Lahore, was less in personal touch with the emperor than

Jerome Xavier was. He devoted himself specially to the

:ask of gathering a congregation of converts among ordinary

oeople. The letters from him which have been preserved

irc rich mines of information for the historian. The third

nissionary, Benedict a Goes, who kept away from the

jourt as much as possible, remained in India for eight years.

[n January 1603 he was sent to Tibet by his superiors,

vvho believed that he would find there a more promising

' Goes is a town in Central Jerome Xavier was the grandson
Portugal, to the east of Coimbra. of a sister of the saint.

260 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

field for his labours. He penetrated to the confines of
China, where he died in 1607.^
Value of The Persian histories fail us to a large extent as sources
reports. ^^^ ^he history of the last ten years of Akbar's life. Nizamu-d
din's work closes in 1593, Badaoni's ends in August 1595,
and the Akbarndma of Abu-1 Fazl, which is obscure and
sketchy in the later chapters, comes down to the beginning
of 1602, the year of the author's death, which occurred
more than three years prior to the decease of his sovereign.
The minor authors who treat of the closing years of the
reign supply only a meagre record. The reports of the
Jesuits, which extend into the reign of Jahangir, conse-
quently have special value as authorities for secular history,
in addition to their extraordinary interest as records of the
personal relations between Akbar and his Christian teachers.
As statements of fact they are eminently deserving of credit.
The inis- The missionary party which left Goa on December 3,
journey. 1594, did not reach Lahore until five months later, on May 5,
1595. The journey should not have occupied ordinarily
more than two months, but the roads were extremely
unsafe, and the Fathers were obliged to travel under the
protection of a large and slowly-moving caravan. They
passed, like the members of the Second Mission, through
Ahmadabad and Patau, and thence crossed the desert of
Rajputana, probably following the route laid down by
imperial order for their predecessors. They describe most
of the country between Cambay and Lahore as being sandy
and desolate, offering great hindrances to travel ; and they
did not reach prosperous, fertile regions until they were
within sixty leagues of Lahore. The heat and dust during,
the greater part of the journey were extremely trying.)
They had with them 400 camels, a hundred wagons, as many
horses, and a huge multitude of poor folk on foot. Water
was scarce and brackish, being often nearly as saline as
sea- water, and supplies were inadequate. Akbar seems to
have taken little pains on this occasion to arrange for the
safe and commodious transit of his guests. '

* His adventures are related by Du Jarric, vol. iii, chaps, xxiv, xxv.

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 261

The travellers found in the extreme kindness of their Kind
.'eception compensation for the miseries of a long and ofTlie
langerous journey in the height of the hot season. Akbar Mission.
>ent for them at the earliest possible moment, and was
•areful to assign to them a pleasant residence near the river,
iwhere they should not be disturbed by the noise of the
nty or the curiosity of unbidden visitors. He paid the
Fathers extraordinary personal honour, such as he did not
fender even to ruling sovereigns, permitting the Jesuits
jnot only to be seated in his presence, but to occupy part of
|:he cushion on which he himself and the heir to the throne
at. They were not required to perform the ceremony
)f prostration, which was rigorously exacted even from
•eudatory princes.

It was impossible for the missionaries not to feel some
3onfidence that the conversion of Akbar was imminent
[when they mtnessed his reverential treatment of their
|>acred images and his devout participation in their services.
He used to embrace images of Our Lord and the Blessed
(Virgin, and keep them a long time in his arms in spite of
|cheir heavy weight. One day he attended a Litany service,
ion bended knees and with clasped hands, like a Christian
(prince. On the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin,
Icelebrated on August 15, he not only lent his own images
\ — which were of the best kind procurable from Europe —
jbut sent costly silken and golden hangings for the adorn-
[ment of the chapel. Both Akbar and Prince Salim exhibited
»5pecial devotion to the Virgin Mary. A Portuguese artist
ivvho had come with the Fathers was directed to copy a por-
trait of her which they possessed. Images of the infant
jJesus and a crucifix were likewise copied by the court
draftsmen.

I The prince undertook to obtain from his father a suitable
lite for a church, and promised to provide the necessary
(funds for its erection.

Xavier and Pinheiro, writing from Lahore in August and Akbar's
[September 1595, respectively, fully confirm the statements towards
made four or five years earlier by Leo Grimon and the I^'^'»«

262 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

members of the Second Mission, as well as by Badaoni,
concerning Akbar's hostility to Islam, and his religious
attitude generally.

' The King ', Xavier tells us, ' has utterly banished
Muhammad from his thoughts [sbandito da se a fatto
Mahometto]. He js inclined towards Hinduism [gentilita],
worships God and the Sun, and poses aslTprophet, wishing
it to be understood that he works miracles through healing
the sick by means of the water in which he washes his
feet. Many women make vows to him for the restoration
of health to their children, or for the blessing of bearing
sons, and if it happens that they regain health, they
bring their offerings to him, which he receives with much
pleasure, and in public, however small they may be. The
Hindus are in favour just now, and I do not know how
the Muhammadans put up with it. The Prince, too, mocks
at Muhammad.' ^

Pinheiro, having mentioned that an excellent site for
a church close to the palace had been granted, proceeds
to say :

' This King has destroyed the false sect of Muhammad,
and wholly discredited it. In this city there is neither
a mosque nor a Koran — the book of their law ; and the
mosques that were there have been made stables for
horses and store-houses ; and for the greater shame of the
Muhammadans, every Friday it is arranged that forty or
fifty boars are brought to fight before the King ; and he
takes their tusks and has them mounted in gold.

' This King has made a sect of his own, and makes himself
out to be a "prophet. He has already many people who
follow him, but it is alljFor money which he gives them.
He adores God, and the Sun, and^sa^ Hindu [Gentile] :
he follows the sect of the JaiiisX^ertei].'

» Compare Badaoni, as trans- the Hindustanis nor the Moghuls

lated by Blochmann : — ' The real can point to such grand lords as

object of those who became dis- the Hindus have among them-

ciples was to get into office ; and selves. But if other than Hindus

though His Majesty did every- came, and wished to become

thing to get this out of their disciples at any sacrifice, His

heads, he acted very differently Majesty reproved or punished

in the case of Hindus', of whom he them. For their honour and zeal

could not get enough ; for the he did not care, nor did he notice

Hindus, of course, are indispens- whether they fell in with his

able ; to them belongs half the views or not ' (Aln, vol. i, p. 204 ;

army and half the land. Neither Lowe's version is not as good).

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 263

Then follows a brief account of Jain tenets and practices.
The writer goes on :

' We keep school here, attended by some sons of officers
capitani] of very high rank, and three sons of a King,
who is in the service of the aforesaid Akbar. Two of those
pupils desire to be Christians, and ask for permission. The
third is so far moved that he seems to be one of our devout
pupils and to ask for the faith.'

The Father proceeds to give anecdotes of the pupils'

behaviour, and concludes by begging for some relics to

stimulate devotion, and by imploring the blessing of the <^ ' >" r^^i^*-^

JGeneral of the Order.i ^^^^ ■

Akbar, although he really took keen interest in comparing Akl^ar's

■the merits of rival religions and apparently felt a genuine ^^^'^"^

admiration for Christian doctrine, w^as not influenced merely the

by intellectual curiosity and religious sentiment when he guese.'

bestowed unprecedented personal favours on the reverend

^Fathers accredited to his Court. He Avas a_craf±y^ and

Itortuous politician as well as an attentive student of com-

parativelxeirgioiir He regarded the existence of all the

Portuguese settlements on the western coast, and especially

that of Diu and Daman in his province of Gujarat, as an

offence, and always cherished hopes of destroying the

•Portuguese dominion. He did not in the least realize the

'value of naval power, and so made no serious attempt to

dispute the Portuguese command of the Arabian Sea. He

^erroneously believed it possible to capture the foreign settle-

fments by land operations alone, and during the last thirty

iyears of his reign never abandoned the hope of success in

'that project, until the rebellion of his eldest son and the

deaths of the younger princes put a stop to all his ambitions.

|While petting the Fathers, whom he liked personally, and

Ikeeping up friendly communications with the authorities

iat Goa, his real intentions towards the Portuguese were

j • These passages are translated First Mission and from Xavier and

I directly from the Itahan of Pinheiro for the Third. The king

IVruschi (1597), wiiich is more referred to as being in the service

j authoritative tiian tlic later Latin of Akbar probably was a prince

version used by Maciagan. Peru- of Badakhshan, as pointed out by

schi's statements are derived Maciagan.

mostly from Monserrate for the

264 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

hostile. He had tried in vain to conceal those intentions
from Aqiiaviva and Monserrate in 1582, but in 1601, nearly
twenty years later, he openly avowed his designs in con-
versation with his intimates. His friendly missions, sent
avowedly with the innocent objects of acquiring religious
instruction and purchasing European curiosities, had a
sinister political purpose also, and were utilized as means
of espionage. On the other hand, the Fathers, especially
the members of the Third Mission, while thoroughly con-
vinced believers in and enthusiastic missionaries of the
faith, were not without guile. They sought to serve the
interests of their country, as well as those of the Christian
religion, and certainly were regarded by their astute superiors
as being in some degree political agents for Portugal and
Spain. His early direct attacks on the foreign settlements
having failed, Akbar perceived that the subjugation of the
Sultanates of the Deccan plateau was the necessary pre-
liminary to a systematic assault in force on the European
possessions along the coast.

He desired the subjugation of the Sultanates also for its
own sake, because, as already observed, the mere existence
of any independent power in territories accessible to his
armies was an offence to him, and he loved the wealth and
power acquired by his victorious arms. But at the back of
his mind he always had the further plan of driving his
Christian friends into the sea, and there can be little doubt
that his gushing courtesies to the Jesiiit missionaries were
in part designed to lull suspicion and divert attention from
his ambitious projects. His son. Prince Salim, who became
tired of waiting for the crown many years before his father
was ready to lay it down,i was still more extravagant in his
attentions to the reverend gentlemen ; his object being to
obtain Portuguese support in his intended fight for the
throne. No person acquainted with the history and character
of Sallm, whether as prince under that name, or as emperor,

* As early as 1591, when Akbar second son, Murad, also cherished

was suffering for a time from hopes of succeeding his father,

stomach-ache and colic, he ex- and was watched by his brother's

pressed suspicions that his eldest confidential servants (Badaoni, ii,

son had poisoned him. The 390).

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS

265

linder the title of Jahanglr, can contemplate his pro-
Christian antics without a smile. Sir Thomas Roe, who
ssociated intimately with him for about three years (1616-
1.8), roundly declared him to be 'an atheist '.^ That judge-
ncntj perhaps, may be too harsh, but »Salim certainly never
lad any real inclination to lead a Christian life, or the
|lightest intention of accepting baptism.
' Akbar, accordingly, entered upon his wars in the Deccan
vith a fixed resolve to use his expected conquests on the
olateau as a foothold for a further advance to the coast and
*hc consequent subjugation of the European settlements.^

Akbar's preparations for the conquest of the Deccan had Dissen-

, , sions.
came to the coast, he would

' Ed. Foster (HakUij-t Soc),
). 313.

* ' But that powerful king was
ntenscly covetous {maximopere
nhiabat) of Goa and the Portu-
juese dominions in India, with
he regions adjoining, and hence
)ften discussed the matter in
;onversation with his intimate
riends. On a certain occasion,
vhen talking of these things with
ihe nobles, he said with great
confidence and presumption, that
vhen the expedition against the
cingdom of the Deccan [scil.
vhandesh and Ahmadnagar] was
inished, Adil Khan [of Bijapur]
yould submit readily, and tlfiat he
[vould then in continuance of the
Hame operations {eadeni opera)
nvade Goa and the whole Portu-
ijuese dominion."

; An anecdote follows of a Portu-
guese deserter who overheard the
■jonversation and intervened by
|)ermission, speaking Persian. He
juoted a proverb equivalent to
he English saying that it is un-
irise to count chickens before they
're hatched (Du .larric, iii, 52).
The author goes on (p. 53) to say :
I ' He [.\kbar] always had this
me design, namely, how he should
4efeat (debellarel) the Portuguese ;
ind, therefore, often sent some of
?jis peo|)le to Goa on pretence of
in embassy, in order that they
lOight ascertain what the Portu-
guese were doing and what forces
;hey had. Es|)ecially at tiie
reason when Portuguese shii)s

inquire what wares and what
forces they brought.'

Abu-1 Fazl observes in the
course of his description of
Gujarat that ' through the negli-
gence of the ministers of state
and the commanders of the
frontier provinces, many of these
Sarkdrs are in the possession of
European nations, such as Daman,
Sanjan, Tarapiir, Mahim, and
Base (Bassein), that are both
cities and ports ' (Aln, vol. ii,
p. 243). So Akbar, in his letter
dated August 23, 1586, to Ab-
dullah Uzbeg of Turan, writes
explicitly : — ' I have kept before
my mind the idea that ... I
should undertake the destruction
of the Feringhi infidels who have
come to the islands of the ocean.
. . . They have become a great
numlicr and are stumbling-blocks
to the pilgrims and traders. We
thought of going in person and
cleansing that road from thorns
and weeds ' (A. N., iii, 757). That
was between the First and .Second
Jesuit Missions.

jMaclagan (pp. 108-10) gives
ample proof that the .Jesuits acted
as political agents for the Portu-
guese authorities, and holds that
' it is even possible (see Noer, i,
489=i, 331 of Bevcridge's transl.)
that the Third Mission was under-
taken mainly on political grounds,
and that the .Jesuit superiors had
from the beginning little belief in
the conversion of the l*'mperor'.

266

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

begun, as related in the last preceding chapter, by the!
dispatch of four missions designed to ascertain whether or!
not the Sultans would acknowledge his supremacy without'
fighting to maintain their independence. When those
missions failed to win a diplomatic victory w^ar was resolved
on, and in 1593 the Khan Khanan (Abdurrahim) was com-
missioned to obtain by force the results which peaceful
negotiation had failed to achieve. Meantime the Deccaii
powers continued to fight among themselves, as they had
been accustomed to do. Burhanu-1 Mulk, king of Ahmad-
nagar, had been succeeded by his son Ibrahim, who was
defeated in 1595 by the army of Bijapur.

The operations of the Khan Khanan and of Prince Murad,
who was associated with him in the command, were equally
hampered by dissensions. The prince, who was governor
of Gujarat, desired that the main advance should be made
from that province, whereas his colleague recommended
an invasion from Malwa. Ultimately, the two generals met
at Chand, a fort thirty kos distant from Ahmadnagar, but
the meeting was not cordial, and ' when the army moved,
there was no unity of feeling '.

The generals, however, managed to invest Ahmadnagar,
where the defence was encouraged by the obvious discord
nagar_ in the beleaguering force. A gallant lady, Chand Bibi,
Bibi. queen-dowager of Bijapur and sister of Burhanu-1 Mulk of
Ahmadnagar, undertook as regent to defend the city, and
did so in heroic fashion with such effect that the imperialist
generals agreed to accept terms, denounced by Abu-1 Fazl
as ' unworthy '.

It was agreed that a child named Bahadur, a grandson
of Burhanu-1 Mulk, should be recognized as King or Sultan
of Ahmadnagar, under the suzerainty of the emperor, that
jewels, elephants, and other valuables should be handed
over, and that the province of Berar (Birar) should be
ceded. Although the fortifications of the capital had been
badly breached and there was reason to believe that a deter-
mined assault could have carried them, the imperialists
consented to the treaty, which was signed (Isfandarmuz 17)

Defence

Ahmad-

JESUITS ; DECCAN AFFAIRS 267

irly in 1596.^ Thus ended the first stage in the Deccan
far.
At this time the whole of Hindostan or Northern India Famine
iffered from a terrible famine, which lasted continuously pesti-
pr three or four years, beginning in 1595-6 (a. h. 1004). 'ejice,
. contemporary historian records that :

' A kind of plague also added to the horrors of this period,
nd depopulated whole houses and cities, to say nothing
f hamlets and villages. In consequence of the dearth of
tain and the necessities of ravenous hunger, men ate their
jwn kind. The streets and roads were blocked up with

ad bodies, and no assistance could be rendered for their

moval.' 2

Relief measures were attempted under the control of

great noble, Shaikh Farld Bokhari, known later as Murtaza

plan, a man renowned for his personal generosity. But

lis efforts were of little avail, and the mortality must have

een appalling. Unfortunately, Asiatic historians never

ake the trouble to ascertain or relate in detail the economic

lEfects of grievous famines, or to trace their influence on

16 land revenue assessments and the financial administra-

,on generally. Firishta, whose well-known work is con-

dered the best Persian summary of Indian history, does

ot even mention this famine, which accordingly is ignored

ly Elphinstone, who relied chiefly on Firishta. A famine

) intense and prolonged as that which lasted from 1595 to

598 or 1599 must have been intrinsically one of the most

[nportant events of the reign, and productive of far-reaching

!fects ; but, if a minor historian had not happened to

* E. & D., vi, 92-4. experienced officers in every direc-

' '^ Nuru-1 Hakk, ibid., p. 193. tion, to supply food every day to

ibu-1 Fazl characteristically the poor and destitute. So, under

■ozes over the calamity in the Imperial orders, the necessi-

Inguagc which gives no notion tous received daily assistance to

hatever of the severity of the their satisfaction, and every class

isitation. ' Forty-first year of of the indigent was entrusted to

1(16 reign [soil. lo9(i-7] Famine.' the care of those who were able

irext, vol. iii, p. 744.] ' In this to care for them ' (E. & D., vi, 94).

ear there was little rain, and the That statement is substantiallv

rice of rice rose high. Celestial false. The opportunity for offer-

ifluences were unpropitious, and ing one more morsel of flattery to

nose learned in the stars an- his master ai)pealed to Ahu-l Fazl

jpunccfl dearth and scarcity. far more strongly than the suffer-

ihe kind-hearted Emperor sent ings of nameless millions.

268

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Fire at
Lahore
Akbar

write the few lines quoted above, even the bare fact that
such a calamity had occurred would not be on record.

The Jesuit reports of 1597 note that in that year Lahore
suffered from a great pestilence which gave the Fathers
the opportunity and intense satisfaction of baptizing many
infants who had been abandoned.^ Such a visitation is the
usual concomitant of a severe famine.

On Easter Day (March 27, o.s.) of 1597, while Akbar
sat on the terrace of his palace at Lahore celebrating the
in Kash- festival of the sun, fire came down from heaven and con-
sumed a large part of the palace, which was built of timber,
destroying a vast quantity of rich carpets, plate, jewellery,
and other valuables, to such an extent that it is alleged
that molten gold and silver ran down the streets like water.^
In order to allow time for the necessary rebuilding of his
palace, Akbar resolved to spend the summer in his ' private
garden ' of Kashmir, to which he had already twice paid
hurried visits.

He brought with him to the valley Fathers Jerome
Xavier and Benedict of Goes, leaving Pinheiro in Lahore to
superintend the building of a church and to look after his
congregation. The emperor was absent from Lahore for
exactly six months, returning in November. Father Jerome
soon afterwards wrote a long letter describing his experiences
and giving some account of the charms of the valley. The
famine did not spare it, and hard necessity compelled
mothers to expose their rufants, many of whom the priests
picked up and baptized wholesale, in the full assurance
that by so doing they secured instant salvation and eternal
bliss for the souls of the little ones.^ ;

A severe illness which prostrated Xavier for two monthsl

' Maclagan, p. 71. The Jesuits
firmly believed that the souls of
children so baptized went straight
to heaven.

2 Ibid., and A. N. in E. & D.,
vi, 132, but the passage is not
translated at length ; Du Jarric,
ii, 558.

^ Xavier's letter, along with
Pinheiro's less important epistle

of 1599, is printed in full by
Oranus. English abstracts and
extracts will be found in Maclagan,
pp. 72-9; and Be veridge, ' Father
Jerome Xavier ', J. A. S. B.,
part i (1888), p. 36. A Latin
summary is in Du Jarric, ii, 558-
60. Maclagan's extracts include
all the valuable matter.

I JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 269

ave the opportunity to Akbar of showing him the utmost
lindness and personal attention. When the Father recovered,

kbar himself fell ill, and in his turn was nursed by his
Bend, who was allowed to enter his bedroom, a privilege
lot conceded to the greatest viceroys in the empire. The
lountain roads, even after Kasim Khan's improvements,

ere in such bad condition that many elephants, horses,
bd servants perished during the return journey of the
purt. Prince Salim was nearly killed in an encounter with

lioness. Like most members of his family he was fearless
kid always ready to imperil his life in combat with wild
leasts. The pious Fathers attributed his deliverance from
lie jaws of the lioness to the devotion which he had sho^\Ti
-) the Blessed Virgin and the emblems of the Christian
lith. While Akbar was in Kashmir the new church at
Lahore was consecrated with imposing ceremony on
'eptember 7, when the friendly Muhammadan viceroy
onoured the occasion by his presence. The Fathers cele-
Irated Christmas with great pomp, and got up an effective
jiow of the Nativity scene, which attracted immense crowds,
Specially of Hindus, Prince Salim professed intense devo-
ion to the Blessed Virgin and placed pictures of her and
'er Son in his bedroom.

In the meantime the military operations in the Deccan Feeble
ad not progressed in a satisfactory manner. The jealous ^^^^l^^
'ostility which marked the relations of Prince Murad with the
he Khan Khanan continued to exist undiminished. The
irince, a drunken scamp, was filled with overweening pride
[nd arrogance. Badaoni, in his accustomed ill-natured way,
bserves that His Highness in these faults ' imitated his
flustrious father ', and vaunted himself as being ' a ripe
jrape, when he was not yet even an unripe grape '.^ Murad,
Allowing the ordinary practice of Asiatic princes, indulged
{imself in hopes of being able to supplant his elder brother
liid secure the succession to the throne. Some people even
upposed that Akbar accorded him his preference. If
'lurad had lived he would undoubtedly have made a fight

' Badaoni, ii, 391.

270 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

for the succession. A man intent on such schemes was not
an easy person to work with in the conduct of a campaign
for his father's benefit. The Khan Khanan, who belonged
to a Shia family, but professed outward conformity with
the Sunni ritual, was more than suspected of continuing
to be at heart a follower of the Imams, and to be a secret
supporter of the Shia Deccan Sultans, whom he was
expected to destroy.^ It was impossible that Akbar's affairs
in the south should prosper while they were controlled by
commanders at variance one with the other and both half-
hearted in the execution of their duty.
Battle of The respite gained for Ahmadnagar by the heroism of
Chand Bibi did not last long. Her authority was overthrown
by intriguers, who violated the treaty and sought to recover
Berar. War with the Moguls soon broke out again, and
the total defeat of the small Deccan State was delayed
only by the wilful inefficiency of the imperialist commanders.
About the beginning of 1597 the Khan Khanan fought
a hardly-contested engagement near Supa on the Godavari
with Suhail Khan, who was in command of the Ahmadnagar
forces supported by a contingent from Bijapur. The Khan
Khanan claimed a victory because he retained occupation
of the battle-field, but his losses were heavy, and he was
unable to pursue the enemy. Raja All Khan, the ruler of
Khandesh, who had fought bravely on the imperialist side,
was killed in the battle, and was succeeded by a son named i
MIran Bahadur, a man alleged to be of no personal merit.
Akbar now superseded both Prince Murad and the Khan
Khanan, appointing Mirza Shahrukh, one of the refugee
princes who had been expelled from Badakshan by the
Uzbegs, to be commander-in-chief. Abu-1 Fazl was directed
to send Prince Murad to court.
Death of Akbar's prolonged residence in the Pan jab, extending
Khan ^ ^ ^^^^ thirteen years, had been largely due to his fears of an
Uzbeg ; Uzbeg invasion.^ Abdullah Khan Uzbeg, who had come
of Akbar to the throne of Bokhara (a kingdom also called Turan,

* Blochmann,^w, vol.i, p.338. and detailed. He was an accom-
The biography of the Khan plished man, but untrustworthy.
Khanan given in pp. 334-9 is full - Firishta, ii, 276.

JESUITS ; DECCAN AFFAIRS 271

^lawaranu-n nahr, or Transoxiana) in 1556, the year of from

T 3 11 Off*

i\kbar's accession, had greatly extended the limits of his
dominion by the annexation of Badakhshan, Herat, and
Vlashhad.i His formidable power not only rendered vain all
\kbar's hopes of recovering the possessions of his ancestors
n Central Asia, but constituted a standing menace to the
[ndian empire. Akbar was especially vexed by the loss of
Badakhshan, which was regarded as an appanage of his
family, and he made a point of showing all possible honour
to the local princes driven into exile by the Uzbegs. The
lews of Abdullah Khan's death received in 1598 freed the
emperor from all fear of a Tartar invasion, and left him
it liberty to super^dse the doings of his sons and to take
■ueasures for the effective prosecution of the campaign in
the Deccan, which obviously needed the master's eye.

Akbar accordingly decided to proceed to the south in
3erson. He left Lahore late in 1598 for Agra, which he
low treated as his capital. He was obliged to stay there
for several months in order to deal with the difficulties
baused by the insubordinate conduct of his sons. In July
1599 (beginning of a. h. 1008) he felt himself at liberty to
i-esume his progress southwards. He placed Prince Salini
n charge of the capital and the Ajmer province, with orders
;o complete the subjugation of the Rana of Mewar ; but
:he prince had other things to think of and took no effective
Steps to fulfil his father's commands.

In May 1599 Prince Murad died of delirium tremens at Death of
a town in the Deccan, and so ceased to trouble anybody, y^^^l^i .
|A.bout the middle of the same year Akbar crossed the

! * Sir Charles Eliot and Prince in 1555, but placed his father
'Kropotkin, art.' Bokhara ', Encifcl. Sikandar (Iskender) on the throne,
Urit., 11th ed. Beale gives the while he occupied himself for
date of Abdullah Khan's acces- many years in recovering the
3ion as 1583. The discrepancy is former possessions of his family.
I^ccounted for (subject to differ- His father survived until 1583.
ences of a year or two) by the Abdullah Khan died early in 1598
history of Abdullah Khan as (.January 29 or 30) (Hajab 2,
■riven by Vambery, Ilistorif of 1006). Before his death he had
i[^o/i-/j«ra,'H. S. King & Co., 1873, lost to the Persians Mashhad,
chap, xiv, pp. 282-94. That Merv, Herat, and most of Trans-
author states that Abdullah took oxiana.
possession of the town of Bokhara

272

AKJBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

storm of
Ahmad-
imgar.

Khan-
desh and
Asirgarh.

Descrip-
tion of
Asirgarh.

Narbada and occupied Biirhanpur without opposition. His
third son, Prince Daniyal, and the Khan Khanan were
charged with the duty of taking Ahmadnagar. Internal
dissensions precluded the effective defence of the city, and
Chand Bibi, the only capable leader, was either murdered
or constrained to take poison. ^ The town was stormed
without much difficulty in August 1600, and about fifteen
hundred of the garrison were put to the sword. The young
king and his family paid the penalty for their crime of
independence by lifelong imprisonment in the fortress of
Gwalior. But the whole territory of Ahmadnagar did not
pass under the dominion of the Mogul, and the larger part
of it continued to be governed by a local prince named
Murtaza.

In Khandesh, of which Burhanpur was the capital. Raja
All Khan's successor, being unwilling to endure the imperial
yoke, trusted to the strength of his mighty fortress Asirgarh
to enable him to defy the Mogul power. Akbar, therefore,
determined to reduce the stronghold which commanded the
main road to the Deccan. When marching to Burhanpur
he had passed by Asirgarh, leaving it at the distance of a few
miles from his line of advance, but he could not venture to
permit such a fortress to remain permanently in his rear
unsubdued.

The hill on which Asirgarh is built is a spur of the Satpura

range, with an elevation of about 2,300 feet above the sea,

and nearly 900 feet above the plain. It commands the

obligatory pass through the hills, which must always have

been the main road of access to the Deccan from Hindostan.

The railway now traverses it, and the ancient stronghold

has lost all military importance. In the sixteenth century

Asirgarh was reckoned to be one of the wonders of the

world. Travellers who had roamed over Persia, Tartary,

Turkey, and Europe, we are assured, had never seen its

• ' Tziand-bebie veneno hausto
sibi mortem jam ante consciverat '
(van den Broecke in de Laet,
P- Ml)- According to Firislita
(iii, 312) she was murdered by
a mob headed by Hamid Khan.

Blochmann notes that the alleged
murderer was a eunuch, whose
name may be also read as Jitah
or Chitah Khan {Am, vol. i,
p. 336 n.).

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 273

qual. ' It was impossible ', says the chronicler, ' to con-
leive a stronger fortress, or one more amply supplied Avith
irtillery, warlike stores, and provisions.' The summit of
he hill, a space about sixty acres in extent, was amply
Provided with w^ater from numerous reservoirs and ponds,
ind the air of the place was salubrious. Except at two
joints, access to the top was barred by inaccessible cliffs,
rom eighty to a hundred and twenty feet high. The natural
ijtrength of the position had been enhanced by three
loncentric and cunningly-devised lines of fortifications,
jupplemented by a massive outwork at the western end.
fejenerations of princes had made it their pleasure and pride
store this ideal stronghold with every form of ordnance
jind munitions then known, and to accumulate provisions
mough to maintain a full garrison for ten years.

When the place surrendered to Akbar, his officers found
fi it 1,300 guns, small and great, and multitudes of huge
aortars, with vast stocks of powder, ammunition, and
jupplies of all kinds. ^
[ I The preliminaries to regular investment operations were Prelimi-
^egun about the end of February 1600, under the direction ^^^^^^ '
■f Shaikh Farld of Bokhara (Murtaza Khan) and Abu-1 dictory
fazl. The emperor, who was insufficiently supplied with '^g^^^^'

' Asirgarh (or Asirgad, accord- the residence of the Mogul Suba-

'tig to the western pronunciation dar of Khandesh. Plans of the

;nd spelling) is situated in 21^ fort will be found in the Bombay

;8' N. and 76° 18' E., about Gazetteer for Khandesh (vol. xii,

;welve miles nearly due north of part ii, 1880) ; and in Cunning-

iurhanpur. It is now included ham, A.S.R., vol. ix (1879),

n the Nimar District of the PI. xix. The purport of the

(Central Provinces, a modern inscription is given by Cunning-

Ldministrative aggregation of ham, and also by Bloch in Annual

egions with little natural con- Hep. of A.S., Eastern Circle,

[texion. The present capital of 1907-8, pp. 26, 27. The text does

Ihat district is the ancient town not seem to have been published.

')f Khandwa. In Akbar's time The most detailed contemporary

Asirgarh was the stronghold of the description of the place as it was

[mall kingdom of Khandesh situ- in Akbar's days is that in the

ked on the lower course of the Akburndma of Shaikh Illahdad

ifapti, of which Burhanpur was Faizi of Sirhind (E. & I)., vi, 138-

jhe capital. The greater i)art of 41). The author was in the

hat kingdom now forms the service of Shaikh Farltl of Bo-

;ihandesh District under the khrira(Murta7.a Khan), who formed

j;overimient of Bombay. After the plan for the siege, and super-

I Ihe surrender Asirgarh became intended the operations,
1845 fr

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 275

heavy breaching artillery, soon found that the task of
taking the fort by storm was beyond his powers. The
nature of the ground prevented the besiegers from using
mines or construeting covered ways (sdbdts). The siege,
therefore, became little more than a blockade, and mere
blockading operations directed against a fortress so amply
supplied with food, water, and munitions offered little
prospect of success within a reasonable time. Two divergent
and irreconcilable accounts of the manner in which Akbar
ultimately attained his purpose are on record. The official
historians aver that the surrender of Asirgarh was due to
an outbreak of deadly pestilence. The Jesuit version, based
on unpublished letters from Jerome Xavier, who was in
attendance on Akbar, state that possession of the fortress
was gained by wholesale bribery of the officers of the garrison,
and that earlier in the proceedings Miran Bahadur, the
iking, was lured into Akbar's camp and made prisoner by
an act of shameful perfidy. After careful analysis of the
ji evidence I feel no hesitation in believing the Jesuit story
as printed by Du Jarric and in discrediting the tale of the
nlleged fatal pestilence, which seems to be a pure invention.
jThe following narrative, therefore, is mainly based upon
Du Jarric ; but certain incidents in the earlier stages of
the siege, which appear to be truthfully narrated by the
jMuhammadan historians, have been accepted as facts on
their authority.

Before active measures had been taken to invest the interview
fortress, that is to say, probably at some time in February
11600, Bahadur Shah arranged to come out and meet Shaikh and
iFarid. Both sides being represented in considerable force j<\,rjj '
were distrustful one of another, but ultimately Bahadur
Shah ventured out and had a talk with the Shaikh. Every
argument was used to induce the king to submit to the
mperor, but he would give no answer, and merely shook
(his head. He then returned to his fortress, trusting to its
impregnability. The historian observes that ' some men
jhave maintained that the Shaikh ought to have made him
[prisoner at this meeting ; but resort to subterfuge and want

between
Bahadur

276

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Close
invest-
ment ;
arrival of
Akbar.

Progress
of the
siege to
Aug. 21,
1600.

of faith and truth never prove successful '. The real value
of that expression of moral sentiment is naively exposed
by the following sentence : ' Besides this, Bahadur had
with him a force sufficient to resist the weak army of the
Shaikh.' 1 We shall see presently that a little later Akbar
did not disdain to use the weapons of subterfuge and want
of faith.

All expectation of Bahadur's submission being now given
up, arrangements were made to close the roads and cut off
all communication between the fortress and the outer world.
Akbar, whose mind was intent on attaining success in his
difficult undertaking, occupied Burhanpur without opposi-
tion on March 31, 1600,^ and took up his abode in the palace
of the old rulers. On April 9 he arrived under the walls
and directed the allotment of the trenches to different
commanders. The nature of the ground, as already observed,
forbade the construction of either mines or covered ways.
A heavy fire was kept up night and day by the besiegers
and endured by the garrison without ffinching.

In May Bahadur sent out his mother and son with sixty-
four elephants, and asked for terms, but Akbar insisted on
unconditional submission, for which the king was not pre-
pared. In June an unsuccessful sortie resulted in the
capture by the besiegers of an outlying hill which partially
commanded the main fortress.

So far the official account appears to be perfectly accurate
and truthful, but from this point the divergence between
the authorities begins. flB|

The detailed story told by the Jesuit author, which must
be based on the letters of Jerome Xavier, is in my judge-
ment literally true, and deserving of acceptance as being
the only authentic history of the events which led to
the capitulation of Asirgarh. The official account, which
appears in more shapes than one, can be proved to be false.
The following narrative, therefore, follows Du Jarric, and
is to a large extent translated from his text. The news of

» Sirhindi, in E. & D., vi, 142.
' Farwardin 21, Ilahi year, 45

= Ramazan 25, a. h. 1008 ; both
dates work out correctly for o.s.

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS

277

the fall of Ahmadnagar on August 19 ( = Safar 18, a. h. 1009),
which arrived at Asirgarh three days later, on August 22,
must have had a considerable effect on the minds of Bahadur
Shah and his officers. The date on which he was treacherously
captured is not clearly stated, but several circumstances
indicate that the event occurred late in August, and that it
was brought about by the receipt of the news concerning
the storming of Ahmadnagar, which naturally suggested
'to the garrison a renewal of negotiations. The siege of
Asirgarh had not made any progress towards success since
the capture of the outwork in June. In August Prince
Salim was in open rebellion, and it was essential for Akbar's
safety that he should free himself at the earliest possible
moment from his entanglement in the Deccan. Both
parties, therefore, had adequate motives for re-opening the
discussion of terms in the days immediately following
August 22.1

|i The strange tale told by Du Jarric, an author whose The
general trustworthiness is abundantly proved, and whose P""'"*^^^
narrative in this case rests upon unquestionable authority, mandant.
will now be related as follows : ^

' The Fragmentum in de Laet
(P- 5§J) places the surrender of
Bahadur Shah about six months
(post semestre spatium) after the
beginning of the siege. The
author erroneously supposed that
the captivity of the king synchro-
luized with the capitulation of the
fortress. Other authors make the
same or nearly the same mistake.
' Xavier, on whose unpublished
letters Du Jarric's account (vol.
iii, Latin tr., pp. 43-9) is based,
.sas with Akbar at the time, and
•n all probability was present
when Bahadur Shah was kid-
napped. His close relations with
the Portuguese captives enabled
him to ascertain accurately every-
thing that had happened inside
the fortress before the capitula-
tion. Du Jarric's narrative is
^iven in abstract by Purchas, and
tlmost in full (with some errors
if translation) by Ogilby on
J. 287 of the First Part of Asia

(London, printed by the author,
1673, folio), being the fifth volume
of his English Atlas, containing
the latest and most accurate
description of Persia and India.
I have acquired a copy of this
rare and magnificently illustrated
work, which is not in either the
Bodleian or the India Office
Library. Both of those institu-
tions have the Second Part only.
Ogilby's version is quoted at
length in the Bombay Gazetteer
(1880), vol. xii, part ii, Khandesli,
pp. 580-2). The compiler of the
Gazetteer, who was not acquainted
with Du .Jarric's rare book, rightly
guessed that Ogilby must have
copied from some Jesuit author.
Ogilby, in fact, refers to * .Jar-
rick ' as one of his authorities
(p. 236). He describes Asirgarh
twice on the same page, first as
' Hosser ', and secondly as ' Sye ',
a misprint for Syr ; not knowing
that both corrupt forms referred

278 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The custom of Khandesh ordained that the seven princes

of the royal family standing nearest in succession to the

throne should reside in the fortress and never leave it until

one of them should be called to assume the crown.^ Such

had been the fate of Bahadur Shah himself, and at the

time of the siege seven such princes {reguli) were within

the walls. The commandant was an unnamed Abyssinian,

and, under his supreme control, the defence was entrusted

to seven renegade Portuguese officers {duces), employed

presumably on account of their skill as artillerists. They

had made all proper dispositions to maintain their charge

intact against Akbar's huge host, estimated to number

200,000 men.2

Kid- When the emperor found that it was impossible to break

napping j ,

of Baha- down the defence either by gun-fire or by storm, he exchanged

attend of *^^ lion's for the fox's skin, and resolved to rely on those
August, arts of intrigue and guile in which he excelled. He therefore
invited King Miran (Bahadur) to come out for an inter-
view, swearing on his own royal head that the visitor would
be allowed to return in peace.^ The invitation was accepted,
contrary to the advice of the Portuguese officers. The king,
accordingly, came out, wearing round his neck a sort of
scarf arranged in a particular fashion which was understood
to signify submission. Akbar, sitting motionless as a statue,
received him in full court.

The king, advancing humbly, thrice did reverence.
Suddenly one of the Mogul officers caught him by the head

to the same place. I first read ^ Even if the gross total were

the narrative in the Gazetteer, and as large as stated, the effective

was not acquainted with it when fighting force probably would

the fifth edition of my Oxford not have exceeded 50,000 men.

Student's History of India was Mogul armies always included a

published in 1915. Like other majority of men who were really

people, I had overlooked the mere ' followers '.
passage in Purchas {Pilgrinies, ^ The form of oath was Persian,

chap, iv, sec. 2 ; reprinted in ' They have no more obliging

Wheeler, Early Travels in India Test, than Seir Pedeshaw [sell, ba

(1864), p. 27). Du Jarric's nar- sir-i pddishdh], " By the Em-

rative is now for the first time peror's Head " ' (Fryer, A New

subjected to critical examination. Account of East India and Persia,

» The existence of the custom ed. Crooke, Hakluyt Soc, 1915,

is confirmed by Sirhindi (E. & D., vol. iii, p. 41).
vi, 134).

j JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 2fQ

and threw him down on the ground {in terram projecit) in
Drder to force him to perform complete prostration {sijda),
I ceremony on which the emperor laid much stress. Akbar
contented himself with making a perfunctory protest against
,:he use of such violence. He then addressed the king in
3olite language, and desired him to send orders in writing
:o the defenders of the outer wall commanding them to
iurrender. When Bahadur Shah failed to comply with the
lemand, and solicited permission to return, he was detained
)y force, in violation of Akbar's solemn oath.

The Abyssinian commandant, on hearing the news, sent Suicide
lis son, who seems to have been named Mukarrib Khan,^ com-^
,o make a remonstrance against the shameless breach of mandant.
:aith. Akbar questioned the envoy concerning the willing-
ness of his father to surrender. The young man replied that
lis father was not a man to think of surrender or even of
larley, and added that if King MIran should not return
uccessors were ready to take his place, and that whatever
light happen the fortress would not be surrendered. Akbar,
tung by that spirited reply, instantly ordered the youth
be stabbed {confodi impend). The Abyssinian thereupon
2nt a message to Akbar expressing the prayer that he
light never behold the face of a king so faithless. Then
iking a scarf in his hand, he addressed the officers and
arrison in these terms :

' Comrades ! winter is now coming on, which will oblige
ne Mogul to raise the siege, and return home, for fear of
le destruction of his host.^ No mortal man will storm
lis fortress — it may be taken by God, or if the defenders
lould betray it. Truly, better and by far more honourable

the fate of those who observe the laws of fair dealing
equitatis) ; wherefore, let you defend the place with
)irit. I, indeed, overcome by weariness, gladly have done

* The name occurs in Sirhindi's mandant spoke, but violent storms

irbled version. See Appendix A. mifrht be expected in September.

- ■ Winter ' here means the rains. The cold season at Asirgarh,

lany of the older writers (e. g. which modern people would call

tch and v. Linschotcn) use the ' winter ', is favourable to military

ird in that sense with reference operations. The degree of cold is

Western India. The rainy slight,
lason had begun when the com-

280

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Attempt
to procure
siege-
train
from
the Por-
tuguese.

with life, so that I may not be forced to endure the sight of
a king so depraved.'

' Having thus spoken, he tightened the knot of the scarf,
and strangled himself.' ^

The historian, having interposed certain observations
concerning the ethics of suicide, proceeds

' After the death of the Abyssinian, the garrison, con-
tinuing to defend the place for some time {ad aliquot dies),
caused great difficulties to the Mogul, who desired to shatter
the works by engines of all kinds. But since he had none
fit for the purpose to hand, he sent for Xavier and his
colleague (Benedict of Goes), who were in attendance on
the camp, and desired them to write an indent for the same
addressed to the Portuguese dwelling at Chaul, a mart
distant a hundred leagues from the camp and under Portu-
guese jurisdiction. 2 He further said that he would add
separate letters of his own asking for battering engines as
well as other munitions, and that if the Portuguese wished
to gain his friendship, they should send both with all
speed.

' Xavier, a shrewd politician, artfully replied that the
emperor's orders required him to perform a task which
could not be lawful for him on any account, inasmuch as
the Christian religion forbade him either to seek such things
from the Portuguese or to arrange for their being sought
by others.

' I believe (Du Jarric justly observes) that Xavier so acted
for no other reason than that the Portuguese had concluded
a treaty of peace with King Miran a short time before. The
free speech of Xavier irritated the barbarian {barbaro) to
such a degree that he foamed with rage, and gave orders
for the exclusion of the Fathers from the imperial residence
{regia) and their instant return to Goa. Xavier, accom-
panied by his colleagues, immediately withdrew into honour-
able retirement {abitum adornans). But one of the nobles
gave them friendly advice to the effect that they should
not quit the locality, lest Akbar should order them to be
intercepted and killed when they had gone a few leagues.
He recommended them, accordingly, to wait at Idome,

1 Similar suicides after the
death of a near relative used to
be common in India, especially in
the south.

2 Chaul, situated in 18° 34' N.
and 72° 55' E., is a place of great

antiquity, now a small town in
the Kolaba District, Bombay. It
was occupied by the Portuguese
in 1522 and fortified in 1531
(Burgess, The Chronology of Modern
India, 1913).

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 281

until the emperor's wrath should subside. When they
1 followed his advice they found Akbar to be as peaceably
and kindly disposed as ever.'^

The date of the incidents described, although not indicated

|On the face of the narrative, may be determined approxi-

jmately. Reason has been shown for believing that the

perfidious detention of Bahadur Shah occurred near the end

iof August. The transport of heavy siege guns from the

;coast would have been impracticable during the rains, and

Icould not have been undertaken before October. Akbar

evidently was confident that the kidnapping of the king

in August would lead to the immediate surrender of the

fortress. When he found that his perfidy had been useless,

he would not have waited long before making his request

to Xavier so that the desired ordnance might be sent as

^oon as possible after the close of the rainy season in October.

We may therefore assume with confidence that the demand

was made to and refused by Xavier in September.

Akbar was then in a difficult position. He had incurred Akbar's

recourse
the odium of breaking faith to no purpose, and had no chance ^^

Whatever of procuring an adequate siege-train to effect the l^r'bery.
reduction of the fortress against which his own artillery
was powerless. The siege necessarily went on, and appa-
rently there was no reason why it should not go on for years.
But Akbar could neither abandon the undertaking nor
spend years in accomplishing it. What could he do ?
Time was precious, because his elder son was then in active
Rebellion, reigning at Allahabad as an independent king,
jind it was essential that the emperor should return to his
Capital. He was thus forced to use his only remaining
JA^eapon, bribery. The pecuniary negotiations, which must
aave occupied a considerable time, may be assumed to have
)(gun in December. The officers of the garrison were

' Quite in accordance with the palace at Burlianpur, wliioh

\,kbar's character. ' He seldom town itself, as the temporary

^ets angry, but then violently ; capital, also might be termed

yet he cools down quickly, lor lie regia. Akbar seems to have spent

IS naturally kind ' (Monserrate, no more than a short time under

j Rela^am do Equebar ' (./. c£-
Proc. A. S. B., 1912, p. 102). The
egia, or imperial residence, was

the walls of the fortress, early in
p. 102). The the operations.

282 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

bought over by heavy payments of gold and silver, so that
the seven princes found it impossible to place any one of
their number on the throne, and a capitulation was arranged
which took effect on January 17, 1601,^ about ten and a half
months after the preliminary operations for the siege had
begun. When the gates were opened the population was
found to be like that of a city, and the inhabitants were so
numerous that there was a continuous throng of people
coming out for a week.^ Some of them had suffered from
weakness of sight and paralysis of the lower extremities,
disorders of which neither is fatal.^ The assertion of Abu-1
Fazl that 25,000 persons perished in a pestilence is now
seen to be an undoubted lie.* Such a mortality in a space
of sixty acres would have converted the place into a charnel
house, and the throng of people coming out for a week
could not have existed. Firishta expressly states that
sufficient men for the defence remained at the time of the
capitulation. Everybody admits that water, provisions,
and munitions abounded and were enough to last for years.^
The story of the deadly pestilence is an invention intended
to conceal the discreditable means adopted by Akbar to
gain possession of the greatest fort in India, which had
been proved to be impregnable to his arms.^

» Inscription on front wall of causes which brought about the

the Jami Masjid in the fort, dated surrender of the fortress ', but

Bahman 6, Ilahl year 45, and knows nothing of any serious

Rajab 22, a. h. 1009. (Ann. Rep. mortality. The disease in the

A. S., Eastern Circle, Calcutta, legs was ascribed to worms

1907-8, pp. 26, 27.) Most books (Ogilby, ut supra, p. 237.
give the date wrongly; e.g. * ^. A^., as cited in E. & D., vi,

Burgess in The Chronology of 145 n. Before I had made a

Modern India, 1913, puts it in special investigation of the sub-

A. D. 1599. Count von Noer, who ject, I accepted Abu-1 Fazl's

states the date as January 14, statement, as other people had

1601, was nearly right. The done (Oxford Student's Hist, of

small gold medal struck to com- India, ed. 5, 1915).
memorate the fall of the fortress ^ Firishta, ii, 278.

is dated in Isfandarmuz, the last * Guerreiro, who gives no details,

month of the year 45= February confirms Du Jarric's [sci/.Xavier's]

1601 (B, M. Catal., 1892, No. 166 ; statement that the capitulation

Cunningham, A. S. R., ix, 118, was obtained by bribery or, as

PI. xix). he puts it, by ' much cash and

- Sirhindi, in E. & D., vi, 140. corruption ' (mucho dinero, y

^ Ibid., p. 145. The author sobornos ; Relagam, Spanish ver-

mentions the existence of these sion, Valladolid, 1604, chap, ii,

ailments as being ' among the p. 24. The rare volume is in All

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 283

The confused statements made by Faizi Sirhindl, uu-
ntelligible and contradictory as they stand, become clearer
jvhen read in the light of Du Jarric's plain narrative. It
[hen becomes apparent that the official author's stories give
i purposely muddled travesty of the facts. The murder of
ihe commandant's son is represented as a suicide, and other
ilearly false statements are made which it would be tedious
!o specify here. They are discussed in Appendix A.
ii The lives of all members of the garrison were spared. Treat-
rhe captive king, accompanied by his family, was confined "J^^J^^
A the fort of Gwalior, with a subsistence allowance of 4,000 king and
|old pieces yearly.^ The seven princes were distributed *''
'jmong other fortresses, each receiving an allowance of half
hat amount. When the seven Portuguese officers were
trought before the emperor, he was angry because they
idmitted that they had become Muhammadans. He declared
ihem worthy of death, inasmuch as being Christians by birth
(hey had apostatized and embraced the false Muhammadan
^ligion {Saracenorum impietatem).^ Probably he would
ave executed them had not Xavier begged that they
[light be made over to his care. The request was graciously
{ranted, and in a short time all had become good Christians
Igain. The activity of the Fathers did not stop at that
Liccess. Many other Portuguese of both sexes were placed
it their disposal and ultimately brought back to Goa.
lavier, while with Akbar's camp, baptized seventy or more
ersons, some being infants at the point of death.

The comparison of the official version in its different Com-
liarieties with Xavier's account of the events leading to the ^f^^j^g
Sipitulation of Aslrgarh is of extraordinary interest on official

;count of the light it throws both on the credibility of our jcsuit

ithoritics and on the character of Akbar. All the three versions.

iiding authorities, namely, Abu-1 Fazl and FaizI Sirhindi

i^uls Library, Oxford). He docs edition).

ftt say a word about pestilence. ' Ogilby erroneously says 'three

limilarly, Pnrchas, who used Du thousand '.

•irric, observes that the fortress - Tiiis remark adds one more

'jls taken by ' golden shot ' to the many proofs that Akbar

filgrimes, chap, iv, in Wheeler, had definitely renounced the

Jirly Travels in India, Calcutta, Muhammadan religion.

]<Jt, p. 27 ; or in MacLehose's

284

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Truth
of the
Jesuit
version.

on one side, and Xavier on the other, were present at the
siege, and so in positions to be equally well informed. It
is impossible to reconcile the official statement that the final
capitulation was brought about by the voluntary surrender
of Bahadur Shah with Xavier's statement that he had
been kidnapped several months earlier, and that during his
captivity the fort was surrendered by his officers. Equally
irreconcilable are Abu-1 Fazl's allegation that the surrender
was due to a pestilence which killed 25,000 people, and
Xavier's detailed story of the manner in which the fortress
was gained by bribery. The numerous other differences
between the two narratives need not be examined in detail.
Either one party or the other must be lying ; honest mistake
is out of the question.

Xavier had no conceivable motive for concocting a false
story. His version was contained in confidential letters
addressed, through Goa, to his superiors in Europe, who did
not care whether Akbar broke his oath or not, and it was
absolutely unknown to any person in Akbar's dominions.
The description of Akbar's perfidy and military failure is
inextricably mixed up with obviously truthful accounts of
affairs in which Xavier was personally concerned. Nor had
the Jesuit any personal bias against Akbar. On the contrary,
notwithstanding a momentary quarrel, he and the emperor
continued to be the best of friends until Akbar's death.
The character of Akbar, as painted by Du Jarric from the
materials supplied by the letters of Xavier and the earlier
missionaries, is on the whole a noble and generous panegyric.
It is quite impossible that the author should have permitted
himself to libel Akbar.

The conclusions necessarily follow that Akbar was guilty
of perfidious violation of his solemn oath, that Asirgarh fell
because the officers of the garrison were bribed, not because
25,000 people died of pestilence, and that the contrary
statements of the official chroniclers are deliberate false-
hoods.

Even in an Asiatic country in the year 1600 perfidy such
-.as Akbar practised was felt to be discreditable, a deed not

SWl!

JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 285

1 be described in plain language by courtly historians, official
too the failure of that perfidy to accomplish its purpose
i the consequent inglorious resort to bribery were not
mgs to be proud of, or fit to be inserted in the ofRcial
1 ord of an ever-victorious sovereign. Nothing could be done
;;ept to tamper with the history, which accordingly was
;>ified. Abu-1 Fazl and Faizi Sirhindi neither knew nor
led what story the Jesuit Father might send to Europe.
;eir business was to supply matter suitable for Indian
tders. Although they were not careful enough to agree in
i details, they agree in hiding their master's treachery,
tascribing the capitulation wholly or in part to pestilence,
r ignoring the request for a Portuguese siege-train, and in
ncealing the final recourse to bribery. They also omit to
rntion the important fact that the defence was maintained
• seven Portuguese officers.

^he resulting story, which is not well composed, exhibits
ony inconsistencies and absurdities, with some travestied
lits at the real facts. The justice of those criticisms will
.j)ear from perusal of Appendix A, considered in connexion
irhXavier's plain and consistent narrative, as summarized
rDu Jarric.

f surprise should be felt that a man so great, and in Akbar's
nny respects so good as Akbar, should have demeaned ^"" "^ '
liiself bythe commission of an act of base personal treachery,
uh surprise would indicate imperfect acquaintance with
li history and with the prevailing practice of statecraft in
r ia and elsewhere. On many occas ions Akbar _ showed
liiself to be crafty and insincere when dealing with affairs
)f state. Even in modern Europe, which is professedly
Jistian, most governments draw a sharp line of distinc-
v< between public and private morality. Acts which
vtild be universally condemned, if committed in private
ii are justified or applauded when committed in the sup-
'( (I interest of the State. It is unnecessary to dwell upon
h enunciation and practice of that doctrine by Germany ^^^yit
IE her pupils. ^kf4 \

'1 the case of Aslrgarh the temptation to Akbar wasff^ V^^. »

'^^ii.

286

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Three
new
Subas
formed.

strong. His military reputation was staked upon the
capture of the fortress, while owing to his age and the rebel-
lion of his elder son he could not wait indefinitely for its
fall. Almost universal Indian experience justified the belief
that the captivity of the king would result in the immediate
surrender of the garrison. The disappointment of that
reasonable expectation, probably due to the presence of
foreign officers, as well as the manifest impossibility of
breaking down the defences, forced Akbar to rely on bribery
when treachery had failed. His breach of faith, which
cannot be justified on sound principles, need not cause
surprise. Many rulers, ancient and modern, would have
felt no hesitation in committing acts of perfidy quite as
gross.

The newly-acquired territories were organized as three
Subas or provinces, namely, Ahmadnagar, Berar (Birar),
and Khandesh, all three, along with Malwa and Gujarat,
being placed under the supreme command of Prince Daniyal,
whose appointment as Viceroy of the Deccan is com-
memorated in an inscription at Asirgarh dated April 20,
1601. The land revenue assessment of the Khandesh Siiba
was summarily enhanced by 50 per cent.^ In compliment to
the prince the name of Khandesh was changed to Dandesh,
as stated in the well-known inscription on the Buland
Darwaza, or Lofty Portal, of the Great Mosque at Fathpur-
Sikrl, which records Akbar's triumphant return to his former
capital in the forty-sixth year of his reign (a. h. 1010). The
famous passage, ' So said Jesus, on whom be peace ! The
world is a bridge ; pass over it, but build no house upon I
it ', occurs near the close of the eastern section of the
document.^

The grant of an exceptionally wide jurisdiction to the
younger prince probably was intended as a counterpoises
to the growing power of the elder. Prince Salim, then in
open rebellion. Possibly Akbar may have thought of
dividing the empire, as Aurangzeb proposed to do a century

' Ain, vol. ii, p. 224.

* Latif, p. 147. The source of

the saying attributed to Jesus has
not been discovered.

JESUITS ; DECCAN AFFAIRS 287

later, and of securing his younger son in possession of the
I southern and western provinces.

However that may be, the attitude of Prince Sallm Return
i rendered absolutely necessary the return of the emperor ^^ ^^^^
jto his capital if he wished to retain his crown, treasures,
land life, which were all threatened by the ungrateful and
undutiful conduct of his first-born son, the well-beloved
Shaikhu Baba, the child of many prayers. Akbar accord-
ingly made all possible speed in the task of organizing the
conquered provinces, and marched in April for Agra, where
e soon arrived, probably early in May 1601.

Aslrgarh was the last of the long list of Akbar's con- close of

quests, which had been practically continuous for forty- Akbar's

cfirccr or
five years. ' Hardly ever ', observes the Jesuit historian, conquest.

i' did he undertake anything which he failed to bring to
^ successful issue ; so that his good fortune is celebrated
throughout the east by the current saying, " As fortunate
^s Akbar ".'

But the perfidy which failed to win and the ignoble
corruption which won Aslrgarh marked the waning of
j\kbar's fortunate star. His remaining years were few and
pvil. He was no longer ' the terror of the East ', and was
forced to lay aside for ever his grandiose projects of winning
|3ack the Central Asian realms lost by his grandfather,^ of
mnexing the kingdoms of Golkonda and Bijapur, of carry-
ing his victorious arms to the extremity of the Peninsula,
|ind of driving into the sea the hated Portuguese whose
^hips and forts mocked at his power.^ For the rest of his
time all his failing energy was required to hold what he
possessed and to save himself from ignominious supersession

» Abu-1 Fazl begins his descrip- as a power. His personal liking

ion of the j)rovinces of the and friendsliip for individual

mpire as in 1595 with the words : Portuguese priests seem to have

I propose to begin with Bengal, been sineere. Purchas, a careful

/hich is at one extremity of studentof his authorities, believed

Hindustan, and to proceed to that Akbar ' longed to adde the

jiabulistan [=the Kabul terri- rest of India, whatsoever is bc-

■ory], and I hope that Ira?i twixt Indus an<l Ganges even

jPersiaJ and Turan [Transoxianal, to the Cape Comori, to his

nd otluT countries may be adde(l Dominion' (Pilgrimcs, chap, iv ;

) th( count ' (/fir/, vol.ii, p. 115). ^Vhecler, Early Travels i7i India,

''■ Akbar hated the Portuguese p. 28).

288

AKBAR THE GREAT IMOGUL

Akbar's

relations t-v- • -i? j ,\
with the Daniyal s death

Jesuits

Embassy
to Goa,
1601.

by his rebellious son. The city of Fathpiir-Sikri, on which
he had lavished so much thought and so many millions of
rupees, lay desolate and deserted, a monument of shattered
beliefs and the vanity of human wishes. He had reason to
take to heart the words which form part of the inscription
already quoted : ' Worldly pleasures are but momentary ;
spend, then, thy life in devotion, and remember that what
remains of it is valueless.'

The story of Prince Sallm's prolonged rebellion, of Prince
and other events which saddened the
closing years of Akbar's glorious life will be told in the next
chapter. Before those subjects are discussed it will be
fitting to notice the interesting and little known details
of the Jesuit dealings with both Akbar and Salim, as well
as of the final embassy sent to Goa in 1601 ; and to mark
the beginnings of commercial intercourse between England
and the Mogul empire.

Father Pinheiro, having been relieved at Lahore by
Father Corsi, joined the imperial camp apparently soon
after the capitulation of Aslrgarh, and experienced intense
pleasure at meeting Jerome Xavier, from whom he had been
parted for about three years. He offered pictures of the
Virgin to Akbar, which were received with gratitude and
indications of profound reverence. The emperor made many
inquiries concerning the Pope, and was particularly interested
in the ceremony of kissing the foot of His Holiness. The
Father explained that a cross was marked on the Pontiff's
shoe in order to show that the homage was really offered
to Christ through his Vicar, and not to the Pope personally.
Akbar also made the Jesuit explain the proper method of mak-
ing the sign of the cross. When the emperor marched to Agra
in April 1601 he brought both Xavier and Pinheiro with him.

Early in 1601 Akbar resolved to send an embassy to
Goa. The ambassador selected was a wealthy and influential
nobleman of Gujarat, whose name is disguised as Cogetquius
Sultanus Hama, meaning seemingly, Khwaja Sultan Hamid,
or something like that.^ Father Benedict of Goes was
* My efforts to identify this person have failed.

JESUITS ; DECCAN AFFAIRS 289

lirected to accompany the envoy as his colleague. Akbar's

'letter, of which translations have been preserved, was

iddressed to the Viceroy, Ayres de Saldanha, and bore the

late March 20, 1601, equivalent to Farwardin 9, Ilahl or

Jegnal year 46.^ The mission arrived safely at Goa towards

he end of May, bringing as presents a valuable horse,

trained hunting leopard, and other choice gifts. Father

jJenedict felt extreme gratification that he was allowed to

arry with him a number of Portuguese prisoners of both

lexes who had been taken at Burhanpur and Aslrgarh.

|?hose poor people had been long among Muhammadans

jnd had not been even baptized. The good Father repaired

ihe omission, and also took the trouble to convert and

aptize an old Portuguese Jew aged ninety.

Akbar no longer asked for instructors in Christian doctrine

) be sent. The requests expressed in his letter were of

purely secular nature, and it is clear that his main purpose

as to obtain Portuguese support in the coming struggle

ith his eldest son. The emperor laid stress upon the warm

iiterest taken by him in trade, expressed his desire for

terpetual amity between the two governments, asked that

cilled artificers might be sent to him who should be assured

generous treatment and full liberty of return ; and

equested that his envoy might be permitted to buy gems,

Soths, and other valuable goods. So much was committed

> writing, but the Khwaja was also furnished with verbal

jid doubtless more important instructions, the nature of

ihich the Viceroy was requested to ascertain. Probably

icy related to the supply of munitions.

The Portuguese authorities received the mission with due

bnour, and proved their understanding of its real purpose

V exhibiting to the ambassador all their munitions of war,

:id firing a deafening salvo of the whole of their great

' Ayrcs do Saldanha, the seven- p. 91 ). In the Latin version of

I nth viceroy, came out to India Du .lairic the Viceroy's name

< DeeendxT 25, IGOO, and apj)ears as Ariandc Saldajrna. In

jverned PortuKuese India until the Spanish translation of Guer-

l^e middle of .laiuiary 1605 reiro, where the letter also is

i onseea, Sketch of the City of Goa, printed (chap, iii, p. 33), the name

mihay, Thacker & Co., 1878, is written Airfes dc Saldana.

1845 U

290

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Sealed
orders
permit-
ting the
conver-
sion of
Musal-
mans.

ordnance. Du Jarric drily remarks that the ambassador
must have appreciated the meaning of that ' martial sym-
phony '. Nothing more appears to be on record concerning
the results of the mission, which evidently failed in securing
active Portuguese support.^

While at Goa Father Benedict of Goes received orders
from his superiors to proceed to Tibet, which was supposed
to offer a field favourable to the spread of the Christian
faith. Father Machado was sent with him to Agra in order
to take his place at Akbar's court. The emperor, as we
have seen, had marched from Burhanpur late in April 1601,
and must have arrived at Agra in May. He was there
when Benedict and Machado came from Goa. Father
Pinheiro went out some leagues to meet them on the road.

Akbar graciously gave Pinheiro, who was a favourite of
his, permission to return to Lahore, where the newly-
appointed Viceroy, Kulij Khan, had shown hostility to the
Christians.

The Fathers made the bold demand that the emperoi
might be pleased to issue written orders vnider his sea]
expressly permitting such of his subjects as desired it tc
embrace Christianity without let or hindrance. Akbar
after satisfying himself that the Christians at Lahore hac
been hardly used, agreed to the Father's request. Up tc;
that time the liberty to convert Musalmans to the Christiai
faith had depended on verbal instructions only. The notioi
that such liberty should be confirmed by signed and sealei
orders was regarded by the court officials as destructive o
the Muslim religion. The officials also feared that the issu-
of orders in the sense desired by the Fathers would be dis.^
pleasing in the highest degree to Kulij Khan, the Viceroj
at Lahore, at that time the most powerful and influentii-
supporter of the throne, whose hostility was not to bi
provoked lightly. The eunuch in charge of the department
consequently hesitated to carry out his master's instruction

> Du Jarric, iii, 53-6.
2 The employment of a eunuch
was necessary because one of the

queens had the custody of tl
seal.

JESUITS: DKCCAN AFFAIRS 291

and respectfully suggested reconsideration. The difficulties
placed in the way of issue of the written orders were so
great that the Fathers almost despaired of success. Ulti-
'mately they obtained the good offices of a young man who
had been Pinheiro's pupil, and had opportunities of private
laccess to the emperor. The young man was able to overcome
bven the powerful opposition of Aziz Koka, who was at that
■time the great officer charged with the sealing of imperial
commands. The desired document was made out in due
form and handed to the Fathers. Akbar's determined
'fiction convinced the Muhammadans that he could no longer
i)e considered a Muslim,

Pinheiro, having won a success so notable, was allowed
|o return to Lahore, and was given a horse for the journey,
before he left he had the pleasure of laying before Akbar
\ work by Jerome Xavier, entitled the ' Mirror of Holiness '
]Mirdtu-l-Kuds), or alternatively, ' The Life of the Messiah '
Ddstdn-i-Maslh), which had been composed in Portuguese
ind translated into Persian by Xavier with expert help,
ikbar was delighted with the treatise, and insisted on
iziz Koka reading it aloud to him. That nobleman, who
lUst have hated the task, made the best of a bad business,
nd asked that a second copy might be prepared for his
jwn use. The actual manuscript presented to Akbar in
i602 is said to be that now in the Bodleian Library.^
Prince Salim showed anxiety as great as that of his father Prince
) secure Portuguese support, and through it command of overture
uropean ordnance. In the year 1602, while in open to the
})cllion, he cultivated assiduously the friendship of the „uese.
others, and did his best to persuade them that he was
icerely devoted to the Christian religion and especially

' The MS. is No. ;}(i4 in Cata- words, with tlie addition of the

i'^ue Persian MSS. = Fraser, 206. Uahi year 47. All the incidents

J contains 200 folios of 15 lines mentioned in the text, except

<|ih, written in a clear and legi- the reference to the Bodleian

Ie; nastalili iiand, and measures copy, will be found in Maclagan,

'. by 5b inches. An illuminated j). 80, with other details. The

< )ss is inserted on folio l''. The same author gives a nearly com-

< ophon states that the book was plcte account of .Jerome Xavier's
I ished to Akbar's order in 1002, works (pp. ll()-i;{).

t • date beint; written in Persian

292

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Adven-
tures of
John
Milden-
hall.

to the cult of the Virgin Mary. He even sent an envoy t
Goa asking that priests might be accredited to his riv,*
court at Allahabad. But the Provincial cautiously decline
to entangle himself in such a dangerous affair and returne
a polite refusal. The prince also entered into prival
correspondence with Xavier, who was as cautious as h
superiors, and showed the prince's letters to Akbar. Salii
tried to secure the Father's goodwill by presenting hii
with a black cloak which he had worn himself. He al;
sent for the use of the church a heavy silver image of tl
infant Jesus, and round his neck wore a locket containii
portraits of Jesus and the Virgin. He subscribed his lette
with the sign of the cross.

After the final reconciliation with his father in Novemb
1604, the prince, while staying at Agra, continued his flattc
ing attentions to Xavier. He employed skilled artists
reproduce sacred Christian images, and had a cruci:
engraved on a large emerald which he wore suspend
by a chain from his neck. He also contributed consid*
able sums for the erection of a suitable church at Ag,
and professed the deepest interest in Xavier's theologi<l
writings. The obvious insincerity of his proceedings nef>
no comment.

The strange adventures and proceedings of John Mildi ■
hall or Midnall are known from his two letters printed f
Purchas combined with certain information collected f
Orme and Foster from the East India Company's recor.
Mildenhall, a merchant, was employed in 1600, while e
establishment of the company was under adjustment, o
bear a letter from Queen Elizabeth to Akbar request g
liberty to trade in his dominions on terms as good as th e
enjoyed by the Portuguese. The text of the letter d;s
not seem to be recorded. Mildenhall sailed from Lon<n
for the coast of Syria on February 12, 1599, and arri d
overland at Aleppo on May 24 of that year. More t n
a year later, July 7, 1600, he left Aleppo, travelling vh
a great caravan, and so journeyed through Mesopotaia
and Persia to Kandahar on the frontier of Akbar's emf e.

j JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 293

His further proceedings are related in a long letter addressed
to Mr. Richard Staper, dated from Kaswin (Casbin) in Persia
jon October 3, 1606, nearly a year after Akbar's death.

From Kandahar he had made his way to Lahore early Milden-
in 1603, and on arrival there had reported himself by letter Akbar's
to Akbar, who directed him to proceed to Agra. He com- court-
j plied, and, after a journey of twenty-one days, was well
received at court. He must have been amply supplied
with cash, because he states that at his audience he pre-
sented the emperor with twenty-nine good horses, some of
which cost £50 or £60 each. He was then summoned to
state his business before the council of ministers. He replied
ithat the Queen of England sought the friendship of Akbar
jand trading privileges in his empire equal to those of the
[Portuguese. He further asked the emperor not to take
offence if the English should capture Portuguese ships or
ports on his coasts.

I Some days later Akbar presented Mildenhall with gifts
jworth £500 and flattered him with fair words. But the
situation changed when the emperor consulted his Jesuit
friends at Agra and Lahore, who were ' in an exceeding
great rage ', and denounced Englishmen generally as thieves
land spies. The Jesuits gained over the councillors, so that
Mildenhall, failing to obtain any satisfaction, absented
himself from court. Akbar then soothed him by more fair
^ords and presents of rich garments. Six months thus
jpassed, during which the Jesuits bought over Akbar's two
principal ministers with bribes of at least £500 each, and
enticed away the Armenian interpreter of the envoy, who
kas obliged to work hard studying Persian for six months
n order to be able to speak for himself. He then resumed
ittcndance at court and requested permission to depart
because he felt unable to withstand the Jesuits. He also
pkcd Akbar to hear a statement of his grievances. Audience
vas granted on a Wednesday, evidently some time in 1605.
The Sunday following was appointed for hearing the state-
pent of Mildenhall, who explained the advantages to be
lerived by the emperor from friendshij) and commerce

294 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

with England, on terms similar to those arranged by the
queen with Turkey. Prince Salim stood forward and
expressed his agreement with Mildenhall, who had argued
that intercourse with the Jesuits for ten or twelve years
had not resulted either in the arrival of an embassy or in
the receipt of valuable presents. Mildenhall promised that
Akbar should get from England both the embassy and the
presents. Akbar then laughed at the Jesuits and directed
his chief minister, called the Viceroy by the writer, and
evidently the Khan-i Azam (Aziz Koka), to make out and
seal formal documents granting Mildenhall 's requests in
full. Within thirty days the papers were actually completed,
and, as an extra precaution, confirmed by the prince. When
Mildenhall was writing on October 3, 1606, he had them
with him in Persia.^ According to Orme, he actually
obtained the farmdn, after Akbar's death, from Jahangir.
The discomfiture of the Jesuits, therefore, must have taken
place in August or September 1605, after the reconciliation
with Salim and shortly before Akbar's fatal illness, which
began late in September.

The chief motive which influenced Akbar and his son in
granting the requests of the English envoy evidently was
the expected gratification of their vanity and cupidity.
An embassy from a country so distant as England would
be regarded and represented as a mission bearing tribute
to the foot of the throne, while the accompanying presents
would be interesting as curiosities in addition to being
welcome for their intrinsic value.
The MildenhalPs letter is of special value as giving a lively

picture of the corrupt intrigue prevalent at the Mogul
court, and as affording conclusive proof of the activity of
the Jesuit missionaries in their capacity as political and
commercial agents. They appear to have been somewhat
unscrupulous when so acting, and were gravely suspected
of using poison more than once to attain their ends. Orme
relates that Canning, a factor of Surat, who was sent to
Agra in 1613, ' continued in daily dread of poison from the

» Purchas, vol. ii, pp. 297-303.

Jesuits.

JESUITS ; DECCAN AFFAIRS 295

Portuguese Jesuits ; and died on the 29th of May, which
j;onfirmed the suspicion ', and he adds that ' Andrew
Jtarkey was poisoned somewhere on the way by two friars '.^
ilildenhall himself was reputed to have used the same
.ecret weapon, and to have perished by it.

' The rest of his story ', Orme observes, ' is very obscure.
le returned to Persia, if not before, in 1610, with some
ommission, in which two others, young men, were joined ;
rhom it is said he poisoned, in order to embezzle the effects
ommitted to their common charge, with which he re-
'aired to Agra, where he turned Roman Catholic, and
ied himself of poison, leaving all he possessed to a French-
lan, whose daughter he intended to marry. Mr. Kerridge
'as at that time the resident at Agra ; but being constantly
pcupied in attendance on the court, sent for Wittington
) collect the effects left by Mildenhall ; of which to the
mount of 20,000 dollars were recovered.' ^

It is, of course, impossible now to judge how far such
ispicions of poisonings on all sides were justified. Probably
ley were quite unfounded in many cases, if not in all.
lildenhall's negotiations seem to have formed the basis of
t;ie decision taken a few years later to send Sir Thomas Roe
i the duly accredited ambassador of King James I.

Mildenhall's informal mission was, as we have seen. First

(jnnected with the proposed formation of a chartered com- charter

jiny for trade in the east. That project took shape on the East

lit day of 1600, when Queen Elizabeth granted her charter Comnanv

t ' the Governor and Company of Merchants of London l^ec. 3i,

tiding with the East Indies ', and so founded the famous

list India Company.^ The results of that Company's

i Orme, Historical Fragments, curious reader will find further

4i>, 1805, p. 333. .Jerome Xavier, details about Mildenhall (Midnall)

ii his letter dated September 6 and Canning in Letters received by

(is.), 1604, published by Mac- the East India Company from its

li'an only (pj). 89, 93), accuses Servants in the East, vol. ii, H}13-

tl ' English heretic " [sci7. Milden- 15, ed. Foster, Sampson, Low

hi] of contriving a 'diabolical & Co., 1897. Mildenhall seems to

p t ', and giving lavish bribes. have been a rogue. That volume

>vicr was of opinion that the does not support the poisoning

Eglishman Avouid never obtain hypothesis, so far as Canning was

tl concessions asked for. No concerned.

«1 ibt both sides bribed as ^ A copy of the charter will be

hlvily as their resources per- found in Purchas, ed. MacLehose,

n ted. vol. ii, pp. .•$00-91.
Orme, op. cit., p. 31.2. The

296

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's
relations
with
Euro-
peans.

proceedings are known in substance to everybody. They do
not, however, concern the biography of Akbar, who may
never have heard of the newly founded institution. Milden-
hall, one of the three or four Enghshmen known personally
to him, may or may not have informed him on the subject.
No important consequences resulted from the entry of the
Company into Indian trade until after Akbar's death. But
no account of his reign could be considered complete which
should fail to notice the remarkable fact that the power
which became the heir of the Moguls was born during the
life and reign of the real founder of the Mogul empire.

The merchants of London, who incorporated themselves
by virtue of Elizabeth's charter, aimed primarily at annex-
ing a share of the profitable Dutch trade with the Spice
Islands. The subsequent development of the trade in India
proper was in large measure an afterthought consequent
on the failure of the attempt to oust the Dutch from the
Indian Archipelago, which failure was made definitive by
the massacre of Amboyna in 1623.

The Dutch had already entered into possession of a valuable
trade in the eastern iSeas when their East India Company
was incorporated on March 20 ,1602. They did not come
into contact with Akbar. The establishment of English
' factories ', or trading stations, on the coast of the Bay
of Bengal in 1610-11 marks the effective beginning of Anglo-
Indian commerce, five or six years after Akbar's death.
The first English ship to arrive at an Indian port was the
Hector, commanded by Captain William Hawkins, which,
called at Surat in August 1608, and, after doing a little trade '
with much difficulty, went on to Bantam. The few English-
men who visited India during Akbar's lifetime were merely!
pioneers surveying the ground for the operations of future
generations. The first Englishman to reside in India, as^
already mentioned, was the Jesuit, the Rev. Thomas;
Stephens or Stevens, who came out in 1579 and laboured
for forty years as a zealous priest and missioner in Goa
and the neighbourhood, taking no part in politics. So far
as appears Akbar never heard of his existence. The emperor:

j JESUITS: DECCAN AFFAIRS 297

jmust have had some communication with John Newbery
and Ralph Fitch when they were at Agra and Fathpur-
Sikri in 1585, as otherwise he could not have taken their
bompanion, William Leedes, the jeweller, into his service,
but Fitch makes no mention of any audience being granted
to his party. The only other British subject known to have
conversed with Akbar is John Mildenhall, whose story has
been related. The notions about England which Akbar
can have picked up from those trading visitors must have
been fragmentary and confused, and in all probability he
'ormed a poor opinion of their country. Mildenhall was not
I creditable representative.

The only European power concerning which Akbar
possessed any substantial knowledge was the Portuguese,
md his interest in Portuguese affairs was mainly aroused
:>y his intense desire to destroy the settlements of the
ntrusive foreigners who dared to trespass on the coast of
)ne of his richest provinces, and to humble him by requiring
lis ships to sail under cover of passports granted by Portu-
i^ese authority.

APPENDIX A

' Official account of the Cajntulation of Asirgarh

Professor Dowson, the translator of the extracts quoted below,
ertiftes that, with certain exceptions, the Akbarndma of FaizI
irhindl is ' nothing more than a compilation from the Tabakdt-i
ikbari and the Akbar-ndma of Abu-1 Fazl. It ends with the
itter work in 1010 n. (1G02 a. d.) ' (E. & D., vi, 116). The
[xtracts, therefore, save where difference is noted, are equivalent
b passages from Abu-1 Fazl's book. The relevant parts will
ow be cited.

' On the 21st Safar {sdl. a. h. 1009] news arrived of the capture
f Ahmadnagar on the 18th ' (p. 144). That date is equivalent

) August 19, 1000 (O.S.).

The author then gives a briel" account of the fall of Ahmadnagar,

il lowed by a gap in the translation marked. . . ,

He continues (p. 145) :

• A few days after, Baliadur sent Sadat Khan and Shaikh Pir
iilianunad Ilusaiii, two of his cliief men, to t!ie Emperor, with ten
(•|iliaiits and an entreaty for forgiveness. Two days afterwards,

298 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUI,

Shaikh Pir Muhammad was sent back into the fortress, and Sadat
Khan was kept as the guest of Shaikh Farid. The escort which had
come out with him was ordered to return with Pir Muhammad ; but
the men, about a hundred in number, declared that they would not
return into the fortress and become prisoners (asir) in Asirgarh. Per-
mission to remain was given to those who could give some bail that
they would not run away, otherwise they were to be put in confine-
ment. In the end some found the required bail, and some went back
into the fortress.'

That passage as it stands by itself is absurd and incredible.
But when read in the light of Du Jarric's straightforward narra-
tive, it is seen to be a garbled account of the kidnapping of
Bahadur with his escort about the end of August. The writer
is careful to make no mention of the king. The extraordinary
phrase that ' Sadat Khan was kept as the guest of Shaikh Farid '
is merely a polite way of saying that he was made prisoner.
Although Du Jarric does not happen to mention Pir Muhammad
and Sadat Khan by name, there is no difficulty about believing
that they were kidnapped along with their king, and that negotia-
tions for capitulation were conducted through Pir Muhammad.
The statement that a hundred of the escort made a pun in order
to excuse their refusal to rejoin the garrison is ridiculous. We
are then told that some were allowed out on bail, some were
imprisoned, and some allowed to return to the fortress. Why ?

The author continues without a break :

' Among the causes which brought about the surrender of the fortress
was the impurity of the atmosphere, which engendered two diseases.*
One was paralysis of the lower extremities, from the waist downwards,
which deprived the sufferer of the powers of motion ; the other was
weakness of sight. These maladies greatly distressed and discouraged
the men of the garrison, so that men of all ranks and degrees were
of one mind and voice in urging Bahadur to capitulate. At their
instance he wrote to the Emperor offering to surrender.'

It will be observed that the author states that a corrupted
atmosphere, manifested by two non-fatal disorders, was merely
among the causes leading to the capitulation. That statement
is wholly inconsistent with Abu-1 Fazl's allegation of mortality
on a gigantic scale. The kidnapping of the king having been [
concealed, the author necessarily pretends that Bahadur remained
within the walls to the end.

He continues without interruption :

' When Bahadur came out, the Emperor held a grand darbdr, at I
which all the great men were present, and Bahadur was amazed at the
splendour and state. Mukarrib Khan, and several other of Bahadur's
nobles, were sent into the fortress, in advance of Shaikh Abu-1 Fazl, i
to inform the garrison of the surrender, and to require the giving up .j
of the keys. When they approached, Mukarrib Khan's father mounted ,
the top of the fort, and reviled him for having thrown his master into
bonds and surrendered the fort. Unable to endure his abuse, the son

' Dowson's note. — ' Abu-1 Fazl 100,000 animals in the fortress,
says that the pestilence arose and that 25,000 himian beings
from the penning up of more than died from it.'

I JESUITS; DECCAN AFFAIRS 299

;tabbed himself two or three times in the abdomen, and a few days
fterwards he died. On the 17th Safar the royal forces were admitted,
nd the keys were given up. . . . Khan Khanan, who had come from
ilimadnagar, went into the fortress, and placed the royal seal on the
reasure and warlike stores, which were then placed in charge of
esponsible officers. Just at this time Mirza Jani Beg of Tatta died.
I ' On the 8th Sha'ban the Emperor bestowed great honours on Shaikh
ybu-1 Fazl, etc. . . . The Emperor went in and inspected the fortress.
.11 the treasures and effects of Bahadur Khan, which had been collected
,y his ancestors during two hundred years, were brought out, and the
ives and women of Bahadur, two hundred in number, were presented,
'he Emperor stayed in the place three days, and then proceeded to
■urhanpur. . . . On the 28th Shawwal all the country of the Dakhin,
;irar, Khandesh, Mahwa and Gujarat were placed under the rule of
,rince Daniyal.'

j That passage contains statements even more absurd than

jiose in the first extract, which it resembles by including veiled

iferences to the kidnapping which had occurred at the end of

jUgUSt.

; The 'grand darbar ' placed by Sirhindi in January 1601,
hen, as we know from the mosque inscription, the fortress
ally surrendered, is the one held at the end of August 1600,
hen Akbar ' sat like a statue ', forced Bahadur to prostrate
mself, and then kidnapped him. The success of the bribery
aerations in January did not offer occasion for a solemn court
; nction. The author had just told us that Bahadur, in deference
11 the wishes of all ranks of the garrison, had written offering
^ capitulate. He now states that information had to be sent
1j the garrison that the capitulation had taken place. The king,
lio, is represented as being 'in bonds'. Mukarrib Khan, who
i' said to have stabbed himself because of his father's abuse,
(^arly is the plain-spoken youth murdered by order of Akbar.
lis father must be the unnamed Abyssinian commandant of
Ij Jarric, whose rejjroaches, alleged to have been hurled at his
s,n, were really directed against the perfidious emperor. If
lihadur had come out to surrender in accordance with the
igent entreaties of the whole garrison, why should Mukarrib
llian be blamed for his sovereign's captivity ?

jThe dates are impossible. Ahmadnagar fell on Safar 18, the
rws reaching Aslrgarh on the 21st. We are now told that ' on
te 17th Safar the royal forces were admitted [to Aslrgarh], and
ti keys were given up ', which is absurd.

A. n. 1009 began on July 3 (o.s.), 1600. Consequently the
1,111 of Safar, the second month (29 days July + 19 of August =
1 flays) was August 19 (Mubarram, first month, 30 days + 18
' second month = 48 days). The fortress of Aslrgarh was
sjrrendered in January 1601, not in August 1600, and long after
ti2 fall of Ahmadnagar, not before it, as stated by the author.
Te capitulation took place on the 22nd of Rajab, the seventh
Ti>nth of A. H. 1009 = January 17, 1601, and not in Safar the
s iind tnonth. The conferment of honours in Sha'ban, tiic

300 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

eighth month, is therefore correctly stated. The dating of
Prince Daniyal's appointment in Shawwal, the tenth month =
April 1601, also is correct.

The chronology is muddled in many books, but so much
exposition must suffice. It would be too tedious to examine in
detail the errors of various writers. One of the worst is that in
Burgess, The Chronology of Modern India, 1913, where the fall
of Aslrgarh is placed in 1599.

CHAPTER XI

REBELLION OF PRINCE SALiM ; DEATH OF PRINCE
DANIYAL AND OF AKBAR'S MOTHER ; SUBMISSION
AND ARREST OF PRINCE SALiM ; LAST ILLNESS AND
DEATH OF AKBAR (OCTOBER 1605) ; DESECRATION OF
HIS TOMB (1691).

. As early as 1591, when the emperor suffered from an Prince
ittack of colic, he expressed his suspicion that Prince Salim p^ell^res
lad caused poison to be administered to him.^ It is impos- to rebel,
ible to say whether or not the suspicion was then justified ;
»ut it is certain that in 1600 wSalim had become utterly
/eary of waiting for the long-deferred and ardently desired
uccession. The prince, who was then thirty-one years of
ge, felt aggrieved because the reign of his father had already
listed more than forty years, and Akbar's strong con-
titution seemed to postpone indefinitely the close of his
fe. Sallm, therefore, following many evil precedents in
.siatic history, resolved to anticipate the course of nature,
nd occupy the imperial throne by force, whatever might
e the consequence to his father. The prince was then
ijsiding at Ajmer.

I Shahbaz Khan Kambu, who had been appointed to assist
alim in the administration of the Ajmer province, died in
500, probably about the middle of the year.^
The deceased nobleman, although renowned for generosity
!id lavish expenditure, left behind him immense wealth,
hich Salim promptly appropriated, thus providing himself
ith cash for the execution of his meditated treason.'
Raja Man Singh, governor of Bengal and Bihar, who Raja
sliked the Bengal climate, usually resided at Ajmer, ^,^"11 .

' Badaoni, ii, 390. must have occurred towards the

- The precise date of the death close of a. h. 1008.

Shahbaz Khan is not recorded. ^ The treasure seized is said to

e died in a. n. 1008, which have exceeded ten milHons of

■ ided in .luly 1600. The course rupees, a ' crore ' (dc Laet, p. ^gg).
events indicates that his decease

302 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

levolt in leaving the administration of his provinces in the hands of
AD^%00 ^^P^ties. About this time (a. d. 1600) an Afghan chief
named Usman Khan rebelled, defeated the imperial officers,
and occupied the greater part of Bengal. Raja Man Singh
was obliged to take the field in person. He acted with
vigour and defeated the rebels decisively at Sherpur Atai,
a small town, now apparently in the Murshidabad District.^
The Raja, after his victory, returned to court, and was raised,
contrary to precedent, to the exalted rank of ' commander
of 7,000 ', reserved up to that time for members of the
imperial family. ,

Man Singh remained in Bengal until a. h. 1013 (a. d. |
1604-5), when he resigned the government and proceeded
to Agra. His offering of 900 elephants greatly pleased
Akbar.2 He was, consequently, at the capital when Akbar*i
became ill in September 1605.
Open Sallm had been advised by his brother-in-law, Raja Man

rebellion Singh, to proceed on service against the Bengal rebels, and,
Salim, according to one authority, the Raja went so far as tol
^■^' ' counsel the prince to take possession of the eastern pro- •
vinces. If Man Singh really gave that counsel, it would
have been offered for the purpose of keeping Salim out of
the way, and opening up Khusru's path to the throne.
Salim, however, who was not inclined to endanger his own
prospects by absence in remote regions, decided to retire I
no farther than Allahabad, where he had partisans. Hal
had hoped to obtain possession of Agra, the capital and chief
treasure city of the empire, which at that time probably
had not less than fifteen million pounds sterling of cash:
stored in the vaults of the fort. Kulij Khan, the governor
of Agra, visited the prince, who was advised by some of his
adherents to seize the visitor, but Salim shrank from that

1 It was in the Sharifabad ^ Stewart, Hist, of Bengal (ed. '

Sarkar {Am, vol. ii, p. 140), 1813), p. 190. Abu-1 Fazl, after

which, according to Blochmann, his manner, minimizes the extent

extended ' from Bardwan to Fath of the success gained by the I

Singh, south of Murshidabad ' rebellious chief. ' The province ', ;

(ibid., vol. i, p. 341). Thornton he says, 'was not lost; but the'

(Gazetteer) mentions ' Seerpore ', rebels got possession of some

18 miles W. by S. from Murshid- places ' {A. N., in E. & D., vi, 98). [
abad.

PRINCE SALiM; DEATH OF AKBAR

303

langerous treachery, and finding that Kuhj Khan would
lot betray his trust passed on eastwards. In July he crossed
jhe Jumna a few miles from the city, and carefully avoided
In interview with his grandmother, who desired to dissuade
dm from his purpose of rebellion and had come out to meet
^im. The old lady, who loved him ardently, was deeply
lained by his behaviour. Salim, on arrival at Allahabad,
ippropriated the revenue of Bihar, a treasure exceeding
ihree million pounds sterling (30 lakhs of rupees), seized
lany provinces and districts extending from Kalpi to
lajipur, and assigned them to his leading supporters as
S^glrs. Kutbu-d din Kokaltash obtained Bihar ; Allah Beg
j^as appointed to Jaunpur ; and so on. Those acts amounted
b avowed rebellion.^

; Akbar, having left the Deccan in April, as related in the Salim
ist preceding chapter, must have arrived at Agra in May.
[ome time after his return, the exact date not being recorded,
le received reports that Salim was coming to court at the
ead of 30,000 cavalry, and that he had actually advanced
> far as Etawah (Itawa), only seventy -three miles distant
lom the capital. The emperor dispatched an urgent letter
lied with remonstrances and threats, directing his son to
;<turn to Allahabad. He followed up that communication
y a second conferring on the prince the government of
|engal and Orissa. Salim took no notice of his appoint-
lent to the eastern provinces, but submitted to the necessity
returning to Allahabad, where he openly assumed the
>yal style and set up as an independent king. He was
bod enough to designate his father, by way of distinction,
. the Great King.^

assumes
royal
title,
KiOl.

' Salim crossed the .lumna on
•nardad 1, Ilahi year 45 (March
iiOO-March 1601) as stated by
N. in E. & D., vi, 99 ; that is
say, al)()ut July 10, IGOO.
|adwin (i. c. Ma'dsir-i J.) asserts
^at Man Singh advised the seizure
«[the eastern provinces. For the
^e of Kulij (Qiilij) Khan see
jlocliniann, Aln, vol. i, pp. 34//.,
^4. The names of the provinces

seized by Salim are given by
de Laet in corrupt forms. At
Akbar's death in 1G05 the cash
in Agra fort exceeded 20,000,000
pounds sterling. It can hardly
liave been less than 1;),000,()0() in
lUOO.

^ (Iladwin, p. vi. ' Princeps
quijjjie se ctiam regcm, etsi
Patrcm magnum diccrct regem '
(Du Jarric, iii, 118).

304

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Negotia-
tions ;
Salim's
defiance.

ISIurder
of Abu-
Fazl.

Either late in 1601 or early in 1602 Sallm sent his adherent,
Dost Muhammad of Kabul, generally designated by his later
title of Khwaja Jahan, as his envoy to negotiate with Akbar.
The envoy remained at Agra for six months, but the prince's
insincere protestations of regret for his conduct were coupled
with conditions which the emperor could not possibly
accept. Salim required that he should be permitted to
visit his father at the head of 70,000 men, that all his grants
to his officers should be confirmed, and that his adherents
should not be regarded as rebels. The negotiations for
definite reconciliation consequently failed. At that time
Akbar could not make up his mind to fight his son, for
whom he had undoubtedly felt warm affection. How far
he was influenced by parental love, and how far by fear of
Salim' s considerable power, cannot be determined. Prob-
ably his hesitation was caused by both motives. Throughout
the year 1602 the prince continued to hold his court at
Allahabad and to maintain royal state as king of the pro-
vinces which he had usurped. He emphasized his claim to
royalty by striking both gold and copper money, specimens
of which he had the impudence to send to his father. That
insult moved Akbar to action.^

The emperor wrote a full account of the misdeeds and
insolence of the prince to Abu-1 Fazl, who was in charge ol

* For Dost Muhammad of
Kabul, or Khwaja Jahan, see
Blochmann, Am, vol. i, pp. 424,
477. He was highly favoured by
Jahanglr, who married his daugh-
ter and appointed him to the
important office of Bakhshi. He
is frequently mentioned in Jahan-
gir's Memoirs ; see Beveridge's
Index. The account of his mission
to Akbar is from van den Broecke
in de Laet, p. igf. The Takmil
names Mir Sadr Jahan as the
agent employed in these early
negotiations, and he, too, may
have been utilized. The money
was gold and copper (auream
atque aeneam monetam suo no-
mine non modo cudi fecit, sed
et ad patrem misit ut animum ejus
magis irritaret), not gold and silver,

as Lethbridge (p. 198) wrongly
translates (de Laet, p. |gf). No
specimen is recorded of those
coins, which presumably were
few in number and soon called in.
The silver ' Salimi rupees ' seem
to have been struck after the
prince's accession, before he had
dies ready with his new title ol
Jahangir (Taylor, J. A. S. B.,i
1904, Num. Suppl., pp. 5-10),
Certain Allahabad coins of the*
44th and 45th years (1.599-1601)'
have been supposed to be coins
struck during the prince's rebel-
lion. But they are silver and d(
not bear Sallm's name, so they dc
not agree with the description ir,
de Laet (Rodgers, J.A.S.B.
part i, vol. Ivii (1888), p. 18 ,
B. M. Catal., pp. Ixviii, 48).

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 305

le imperial interests in the Deccan. His dispatch may be
• ited in June 1602, or early in July. Abu-1 Fazl saw the
ijicessity for strong action, and replied saying that he would
ling the prince bound to court. Salim fully understood
e danger to himself which would ensue on the acceptance
Abu-1 Fazl's advice, and resolved to intercept and kill
father's dearest surviving friend. ^ The story of the
rurder is related in detail by Asad Beg, who made special
iq[uiry into the circumstances. He was in the suite of the
r:urning minister as far as Sironj, now in the Tonk State,
aid begged to be allowed to escort him to Gwalior, because
tiachery was feared. But Abu-1 Fazl refused to pay any
hed to warnings, and proceeded on the way towards Agra
V|th an inadequate escort. When he arrived at Sarai
I.rar, ten or twelve miles from Narwar, he was again
Vfrned of the intended attack by a religious mendicant, but
d'iberately abstained from taking the most obvious pre-
citions, and even dismissed the guards offered to him by
fends.

^arly in the morning of August 12, 1602, the minister
ws attacked, as he was about to make the day's march,
b Bir Singh, the Bundela chieftain of Orchha, whom
S im had hired for the purpose. The bandit chief's force
0|five hundred mailed horsemen soon overpowered the
rcistance of the traveller's small retinue. Abu-1 Fazl was
ti'nsfixed by a lance and promptly decapitated. His head
W8 sent to Allahabad, where Salim received it with unholy
jc and treated it with shameful insult.^

1
Du .Tame (iii, 114) gives the et patrem non parum irritavit, et

foiwing brief account of the regiani oninem consternuvit.' The

m der, without naming the Takmll represents the summons

vi'.im. I do not know why he of Abu-1 Fazl to court as a recall

sh-jld describe Abu-1 Fazl as an due to Akbar's displeasure at the

aoercnt of Salim. ' Pater enim tone of his reports concerning

ci|i |)rimari)im ()uem<lam duccm Prince Salim (E. & D., vi, 107).

Ajudicii siiigiihiris viriim, f|ui I do not believe that version.

fili adhaerebat, ()uem(juc ille ob The text follows the Fragmentum

in.rrncm prudent iam & robur in de Laet, p. f g|.

m;ni facicbat, vocasset ; filius, - Asad Beg in K. & D., vi,

qintum coiisilio liujus e re j)atris 15(i-()0. ' Caput |)rincipi missum,

fn.ira essoiit, pniesagiens, per ingenti gaudio ipsuin jjcrfudit '

ill lias ilium in via interiici curat, (de Laet, p. §iJ). 'Salim ... it

ca'itque ad se deferri. Quo facto is said, had it thrown into "an

345

306 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The prince felt no remorse for the crime. On the contrary,
he gloried in it, and was graceless enough to place on record
the following account.
Salim's ' I promoted Raja Bir Singh Deo, a Bundela Rajput, who

^f th""* ^^^ obtained my favour, and who excels his equals and rela-
crime, tives in valour, personal goodness, and simple-heartedness,
to the rank of 3,000. The reason for his advancement and
for the regard shown to him was that near the end of my
revered father's time, Shaikh Abu-1 Fazl, who excelled the
Shaikhzadas of Hindustan in wisdom and learning, had
adorned himself outwardly with the jewel of sincerity, and
sold it to my father at a heavy price. He had been sum-
moned from the Deccan, and since his feelings towards me
were not honest, he both publicly and privately spoke
against me. At this period, when, through strife-mongering
intriguers, the august feelings of my revered father were
entirely embittered against me, it was certain that if he
obtained the honour of waiting on him (Akbar) it would be
the cause of more confusion, and would preclude me from
the favour of union with him (my father). It became,
necessary to prevent him from coming to court.

' As Bir Singh Deo's country was exactly on the route
and he was then a rebel, I sent him a message that if he!
would stop that sedition-monger and kill him he would!
receive every kindness from me. By God's grace, when
Shaikh Abu-1 Fazl was passing through Bir Singh Deo's
country, the Raja blocked his road, and after a little contest
scattered his men and killed him. He sent his head to me
in Allahabad. Although this event was a cause of anger in
the mind of the late King (Akbar), in the end it enabled^
me to proceed without disturbance of mind to kiss thf
threshold of my father's palace, and by degrees the resent-
ment of the King was cleared away.' ^

The cynical effrontery of that passage would be difficuH
to beat. The blasphemous ascription of success in th(
treacherous murder to the grace of God is particularly dis|
gusting, while the avowed indifference to Akbar's feelingi

unworthy place ", where it lay The explanations offered in tb

for a long time ' (Blochmann, Aln, Ma'dsir-i Jahdngir, E. & D., vi

vol. i, p. xxv). Probably the 442-4, agree with those given b;

quotation is from the Ma'dsiru-l .Jahangir, but are expressed at ;

Umard. Elphinstone and some little more length. The autho

other authors erroneously write seems to deny that Salim struc

' Nar Singh ' for ' Bir Singh '. coins in his own name.

1 Jahangir, R. B., i, 24, 25. i

ABU-L FAZL

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 307

proves the insincerity of the writer's frequent references to
his ' revered father '.

The crime made Akbar furious with rage and distracted Escape
with grief. For three days he abstained from appearing in gin^h the
pubHc audience, a dangerous omission in a country where murderer,
the non-appearance of the sovereign for a single day might
be the signal for a revolution. Urgent orders were sent out
to hunt down and slay the chief who had presumed to kill
the emperor's friend. Akbar fell into the greatest con-
ceivable passion when he learned that Bir Singh had escaped
;.hrough the territories of the Raja of Gwalior, and he was
iiuch puzzled by conflicting reports which cast the blame
I'or the failure of the pursuit now on one person, and now
t>n another. At last, about three months after the murder,
le called for Asad Beg (November, 1602) and put him on
pecial duty to ascertain who was guilty. In due course,
»resumably towards the end of 1602, Asad Beg returned
rom his mission and judiciously reported that nobody had
rred intentionally, although there had been gross neglect,
fault shared by all concerned. Akbar accepted the excuse,
|nd did not prosecute his researches further.^ Bh' Singh,
Ithough hotly pursued and wounded on one occasion,
raded capture, and lived to enjoy the favour of Jahanglr,
s already related.^

The murder was effectual for two years in stopping Akbar
om taking strong measures to coerce his rebellious son.
Abu-1 Fazl, who thus met his death in the fifty-second Abu-I
>ar of his age, was the second son of Shaikh Mubarak, the
lamed unorthodox theologian who had been the first to
Mggest to Akbar the idea of assuming the spiritual as well
i the temporal guidance of his people. Faizi, the Shaikh's
^ler son, who had entered Akbar's service in 1567. was not
iinbitious of high official rank, and devoted himself mainly
t literary pursuits. He was content with a modest pro-
\sion as ' commander of 400 ', and died in 1595, two years
^ter his father, who had attained a great age. Abu-1 Fazl,

Asad IJofr, in K. & I)., vi, 102. niadi- in Dtoomher 1002.
. ;i(l Hog's report must have l)ec'n - Takmll, in E. & D., vi, 114.

308 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

who had shown extraordinary precocity and had spent !
a studious youth, succeeded in 1574, by means of a Koranic
commentary, in attracting the attention of the emperor.
Having once entered on the road to advancement he took
good care to secure his continual progress, and in due
course attained the lofty and lucrative dignity of ' com-
mander of 4,000 '. His favour at court became so marked
that the Jesuits speak of him as ' the King's Jonathan '.
He appears to have possessed more influence over Akbar
than that enjoyed bj'^ any other person. It was not neces-
sary to appoint him to any of the highest offices. He
occupied an informal position as Secretary of State and
Private Secretary, which secured him in practice greater
power than if he had been Vakil or Vizier. He was largely
concerned in developing his father's ideas, especially those
of universal toleration and the spiritual headship of the
emperor. It is not clear how far he advised or supported
his master's unworthy insults to Islam which obviously
violated the principle of toleration. He suppresses mention
of them, our knowledge of the facts being derived from
BadaonI and the Jesuits.

The brilliant official success of Abu-1 Fazl was due partly
to his exceptional intellectual gifts and partly to his adroit-
ness as a courtier. He resembled Francis Bacon in com-
bining extraordinary mental powers and capacity for work
with the servility of an ambitious courtier. Father
Monserrate, who knew hinr intimately, had no hesitation!
in declaring that Abu-1 Fazl easily surjiassed all his con-
temporaries in acuteness of intellect.^ The observation,
undoubtedly true, is supported by the verdict of later ages
and the testimony of the successful minister's writings.
When Badaoni describes Abu-1 Fazl as being ' officious,
time-serving, openly faithless, continually studying the
emperor's whims, a flatterer beyond all bounds \^ the
language may be censured for its obvious malice, but I dc

not think it is far from the truth. Notwithstanding Bloch-

i
» ' Qui aeumine ingenii facile p. 639). ■

omnes superabat ' {Commentarius, ^ Badaoni, ii, 202.

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR

309

iiann's opinion to the contrary, the author of the Akharndma

ind Aln-i Akharl actually was a consummate and shameless

latterer. Both works were conceived and executed as

lUonuments to the glory of their writer's master. Almost

ill matters considered detrimental to Akbar's renown are

,uppressed, glossed over, or occasionally even falsified.

^bu-1 Fazl, when not influenced by his resolve to magnify

^kbar at all costs, was more conscientious in the collection

ff facts than most Asiatic historians, and was especially

areful about the details of chronology. But his books are

•ne-sided panegyrics, and must be treated as such by

critical historian. Their merits as literature will be con-

jdered in the fifteenth chapter.

, Abu-1 Fazl availed himself of the liberty allowed by his

eligion in his relations with women. He had at least the

anonical four wives.^ His private life, when judged by

Muslim standard, was considered to be blameless. He

ad a prodigious appetite, rivalling that of Sultan Mahmud

figarha of Gujarat, and is reputed to have consumed daily

early thirty pounds of food.^

His sincerity in adopting and managing Akbar's ridiculous

electic religion may be doubted or even denied, with good

rnson. Badaoni relates a conversation which he had with

'm about 1576, when Badaoni inquired, 'Who will have a

i-eater passion for all the notorious heresies than yourself? '

'|he reply was, ' I wish to wander for a few days in the

ile of infidelity for sport.' ^ The obvious inference of

isincerity to be drawn from that reply is supported by

lie anecdote of Prince Sallm's malicious delight in finding

Irty scribes copying Korans at the Secretary's house when

te prince paid a surprise visit.* Abu-1 P'azl, who had been

' Aln, vol. iii, {>. 449. He
lirried Hindu, Persian, and
lishmiri wives, in addition to
J lady of an honourable house
i|d a family distinguished for
lirning. He says that the extra
uisorts were ' oeeasions of great
\^ ' to hiin, and so was more
f "tunate than many polygamists.

• For the Sultan see Bayley

Hist, of Gujarat, p. 162. The
' maund ' of Akbar, containing
40 * seers ', was ecjuivalent to
552" pounds. Abu-1 Fazl is said
to have eaten 22 ' seers ' daily.

■' Badaoni, ii, 270.

* Bloclnnann, in Ain, vol. i,
p. xvi ; the authority is not stated,
i)ut probably is the Ma'dsirti-l
Uinara.

310

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Recon-
ciliation
effected

Salima

Begam,

1603.

brought up as a learned Muslim theologian with Sufi or
mystical tendencies, appears never to have heartily renounced
his unorthodox form of Islam. He was far too clever and
deeply read to believe in Akbar as the prophet of a new
religion. This work being a biography of Akbar himself,
and not a detailed account of his contemporaries, it is
impossible to discuss more fully in this place the interesting
life-story of Abu-1 Fazl which would furnish material for
a separate volume. His son Abdu-r rahman attained con-
siderable distinction in an official career.^

Sultan Salima Begam, Bairam Khan's widow, and Prince
Murad's mother, whom Akbar had espoused in his youth,
had always occupied a position of great influence in the
imperial household. Being resolved to bring father and
son together, and to ward off the horrors of civil war, if
by any means peace could be arranged, she journeyed to
Allahabad either late in 1602 or early in 1603, under instruc-
tions from the emperor, in order to persuade the prince to
submit. She succeeded so far that Sallm was induced to
march towards Agra. In or about April 1603 (beginning
of 48th regnal year), Akbar received the welcome news that
his son had passed Etawah and would shortly present him-
self at court. Salima Begam returned with the prince and
asked Akbar's mother, Maryam Makani, to accord him her
personal protection. That aged lady consented, and went
out a day's journey to meet the rebel, whom she brought
to her own residence. She arranged an interview between
Sallm and his father, who received him courteously, even
advancing several steps to meet him. The prince gave
tangible evidence of his submission by presenting to his
sovereign 12,000 gold mohurs, and no less than 770 elephants,
out of which 354 were accepted and placed in the imperial
stables, the remainder being returned to the giver. He
knew that his father had a passion for collecting fine

» Blochmann, in Aln, vol. i, on the same subject. He had a

p. XXV. Abu-1 Fazl's autobio- good conceit of himself, as appears

graphy will be found in the same from the concluding paragraphs

work, vol. iii, pp. 417-51. His of the autobiography,
writings contain other passages

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 311

lephants and that no gift more acceptable could be imagined.
p. return he begged for the best elephant in his father's
lossession, a request which was graciously conceded. After
j short interval Akbar, taking off his own turban, placed

I on the head of his son, thus publicly recognizing him as
'eir to the throne. The reconciliation was complete to

II appearance, and Sallma Begam must have felt proud
t the success of her intervention.^

j The reconciliation, however, was not sincere. It is
npossible to believe that Akbar can have forgiven heartily
iie atrocious murder of his dearest friend, and it is certain
fiat Salim, who felt a grudge against his father for living
■} long, continued to cherish rebellious thoughts. Akbar
esired that his now acknowledged heir should devote him-
ilf in earnest to the destruction of the Rana of Mewar,
mar Singh, who carried on with unquenchable spirit the
iiequal contest so long waged by his gallant father, Partap,
ho had died in 1597. The comparative quiet enjoyed by
.mar Singh during the last eight years of Akbar's life was
rpt due, as Tod supposed, to any softening of the cmjaeror's
I'art, under the influence of admiration for a brave adver-
J,ry. The evidence proves with certainty that Akbar
ifver forgave either of the Ranas for their unflinching
isertion of independence. Partap had actually succeeded
Ifore his death in recovering possession of the greater part
(i Mewar, and the emperor earnestly desired to break the
isistance of his successor. But Akbar's son and officers
Cciliked warfare in the Rajputana hills, where little plunder
MS to be gained, while there was always the risk of a
Ifmiliating disaster. Amar Singh, therefore, though strong
qough to defend himself, was not put to the necessity of
serious fighting on a large scale, and found leisure to remodel
te institutions of his country.

Salim, who had withdrawn to Fathpur-Slkri, evaded Salim
Cmpliance with his father's orders by making extravagant ^^ Allah-
dmands for increased forces and supplies of treasure, abad,

Takmll, tr. Chalmers, in von in K. «!k D., vi, 108 ; Gladwin,
her, ii, 411, 412 ; and less fully p. vii.

312 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Nov., which he knew would certainly be refused. He intimated
1603. ^j^g^^ •£ j^-g proposals should not be considered acceptable,
he desired the favour of another interview and permission
to return to Allahabad.

Akbar decided that another interview would be in-
expedient, and gave his son the desired permission to
return to Allahabad, adding that he should be at liberty
to come again to court after a time. Sallm marched on
November 10, 1603, crossed the Jumna near Mathura,
and on arrival at Allahabad celebrated the reconciliation
with his father, imperfect though it was, by brilliant
festivities. Apparently he resumed a position of practical
independence.
Death About this time the prince suffered a grievous personal

SMh^ loss by the death of his first and much-loved wife, the Shah
Begam. Begam, adoptive sister of Raja Man Singh, and mother of
Prince Khusru. She was deeply distressed by the unfilial
attitude of her son towards his father, as well as by some
misconduct of a brother of her own, named Madho Singh,
and being a passionate woman, liable to fits of mental
derangement, committed suicide by taking a large dose of
opium, as already mentioned. ' In consequence of her
death,' Jahangir tells us, ' from the attachment I had for
her, I passed some days without any kind of pleasure in
life or existence, and for four days, which amount to thirty-
two watches, I took nothing in the shape of food or drink.' ^
Few bereaved husbands would exhibit such abstinence.
Jahangir, a strange ' mixture of opposites ', was equally
capable of intense love and devilish cruelty. Akbar sent a
warmly sympathetic letter of condolence accompanied by
gifts of a robe of honour and the turban from his own head,
thus confirming his previous nomination of Salim as heir- i'
apparent.

1 Jahangir, R. B., i, 55 ; ante, A. H. 1012 = A. d. 1603-1. Ja-

chap. viii. The Takmll (E. & D., hangir, apparently by a clerical

vi, 112) erroneously ascribes the error, places it at the end of 1013,

lady's suicide to ' a quarrel with on May 6, 1605. The true date is

one of her rivals'. As usual the May 16, 1604 (J.R.A.S., 1907,

authorities differ about the date p. 604).
of her death. The correct year is

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR

313

The fall of Ahmadiiagar in August 1600, and the capitula-
tion of Aslrgarh in the January following, had naturally
alarmed the Sultans of Bijapiu* and Golkonda, who felt that
they must be the next victims sought by imperial ambitions.
Embassies intended to placate Akbar were sent to him by
both governments, and a marriage was arranged between
Prince Daniyal and a princess of Bijapur. Early in 1604,
shortly before the bridegroom's death, the bride was fetched
Tom her home by Mir Jamalu-d din Husain and Firishta
';he historian, and made over to the prince, who espoused
lier at Paithan on the Godavari.^

• An interesting gold medal, apparently unique, may or
nay not commemorate the event. ^

i The elder prince, when safely established with his court
lit Allahabad, far removed from parental supervision,
tbandoned himself without restraint to his favourite vices,
•onsuming opium and strong drink to such an extent that
lis naturally fierce temper became ungovernable. The
inost fearful penalties were inflicted for trivial offences ;
pardon was never thought of, and his adherents were
truck dumb with terror '. Although public opinion in the

' ' He [sdl. the Mir] delivered
he young Sooltana to Daniel
pon the banks of the Godavery,
lear Peitun, where the nuptials
vere celebrated with great magni-
cence.'

Note by Briggs. — ' Ferishta, the
luthor of this work, attended the
:'rincess to Peitun, and was after-
'rards invited by the Prince Daniel
p accompany them to Boorhan-
oor, where he spent some time
ith the royal pair ' (Firishta, ii,
,79, 280). Again :— ' On the
I'rince's return from Ahmud-
fuggur, with his bride, he en-
amped at the town of Peitun,
n the banks of the Godavery,
nd remained there some days in
rder to celebrate the marriage ;
|fter which he jirocecdcd to
foorhanjioor ' (ibid., iii, 318).
lllochmann gives no authority
pr his statement that Daniyal

as ' betrothed to a daughter of

)rahim 'Adilshuh of Bijapur ;

Marriage
of Dani-
yal with
Bijapur
princess.

but he died before the marriage
was consummated ' (Aln, vol. i,
p. 309). That statement cannot
be accepted as against the evi-
dence of Firishta. Daniyal died at
Burhanpur.

- B. M. Catal., No. 172, from
the Prinsep Collection. The ob-
verse exliibits the bridegroom (?)
wearing a crown with three cusps,
and carrying a sheaf of arrows
and a strung bow ; with the
bride (?) following him, drawing
a long veil back from her face.
The reverse simply gives the date,
' 50 Ilahi, Farwardin ', scil. the
first month, March-April. The
name of the mint is not on the
piece. If the medal concerns
DaniyaFs marriage it is diflicult
to understand the date, because
it seems clear (see Ap|)eiulix B)
that Daniyal died in April 1()04,
wiiich fell within the year 49, not
50. Tiie latter year began on
March 11, 1G05 (o.s.).

Salim's
cruelty.

314 AKliAli THE GREAT MOGUL

sixteenth eentury did not disapprove of death with tor re

as the jjunishnient for jwlitical crime, Akbar was shoe d

when he learned that a news-writer convicted of a ot

against the prince's life had been flayed alive while S;m

calmly watched his long-drawn agony.^ It is recorded it

the criminal had tried to escape to Prince Daniyal in le

Deccan, a detail which suggests that the plotters may h.e

tried to substitute that prince for liis elder brotheiis

successor to the throne. The incident must have occu d

previous to Daniyal's death in April 1G04.

Salim at Certain curious passages from a letter written bv Fa1-r

Sikri. Jerome Xavier at Agra, and dated September 6, 1604 (n..,

= August 27. o. s.). may be cited in this place.

The Father had had occasion to go and see cer n
Armenians living at some unnamed locality distant alit
thirty miles from Agra.

' On the way ", he writes, ' there is a city which usedo
be the court of the Em|K'ror Akbar when Father Roc fi
was here, which is ealkci Fatehpur ; we might say "Be
stood Troy "\ for it is totally demolished ; but a few ediL'S
made by the Emperor still stand lirm. The Prince is
there at the time and I went to see him. He was mh
pleased at my visit and entertained me very well; d
when his second son [Par\iz], who was with him, tooko
notice of my salutation, he said to him, " Ho there ! e
Father is saluting you'', and the young man then obed
him.'

The Father, when returning to Agra, called again, .d
found his Royal Highness busily engaged in superinteno g
the extraction of copper from peacocks' tails, to be used a.' n
antidote against poison. Salim, who still hoped to find im-
port from the Jesuit influence as exercised both at court d
at Goa, exhibited most edifying devotion, carrying a cruci;,
and bestowing five hundred rupees on the Jesuits for bu •
ing their church. A little later he pursued his journeyo
Allahabad, declining ' to return to Agra where his fat r
was, so as not to fall into the snare again '.

» Gladwin, p. ix ; Elphinstone, 5th ed., p. 528/*.; TakmlU^
E. & D., vi, 112.

PRIXCE SALIM: DEATH OF AKBAR 315

Ater he had been li^'ing two or three months in Allahabad,
he snt a private letter to Xa\ier. written and conveyed by
an talian senant named Jacopo Filippo [James Philip],
whc brought a supplementai^k' donation of another five
huiired rupees for the church.^ The messenger was pre-
seniy followed by Salim in person, marching \\-ith troops.^
The interesting reference to the ruined state of Fathpur-
Siki need not be discussed at present, but the letter raises
twodifficult questions, namely, when did Xa\-ier see Salim
at .'athpur-Sikri, and what was ' the snare ' from which
the )rince had escaped ?

ii\-ier does not specify the date of his ^'isit. The context
sugests that it took place after Easter, 1604, but the
diffiulty in that interpretation is that Salim is not recorded
to hve come to the neighbourhood of Agra between his
deprture on November 10, 1603, already described, and his
arrial exactly a year later, on November 9, 1604, after
his grandmother's death. Perhaps, therefore, the Easter
des( ibed in the letter should be interpreted as being that of
160, and the visit should be assumed to have taken place
in te autumn of that year. It is, however, possible that
Salii may have paid an unrecorded visit to Fathpur-Sikrl
in ?av 1604. after recei\'ing news of his brother Danival's
deati early in April that year. Nothing in the books
expiins the allusion to ' the snare ', and it is useless to
con cture what had happened. Akbar certainly caught
his on in a carefully baited snare in November 1604, but
noting beyond Xavier's allusion is known concerning any
sim ir incident at an earlier date. The original Jesuit
lefts between 1600 and 1604 are missing at present. If
the; were accessible they would no doubt solve the diffi-
cult s which are now insoluble.

.A bar's intention that his third son. Prince Daniyal, Death of
sho'd have both the honour of conquering the Deccan and ^^^jj

* aclat^n, pp. 89-92. The f>etiit, ciii ipse, Patres adiret et
krtti is not printed elsewhere. munera simul et obsequium quam

* Cum copiis instructus .\gram humanissime defeiret, injunxit'
ad irentem properaret, Italu-S (Du Jarric, iii, 116).

prat irrendi ab illo facultatem

316

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

April
1604.

Akbar's
frus-
trated
expedi-
tion ;
death
of the
queen-
mother,
1604.

the privilege of governing the territory annexed was frus-
trated by the young man's incurable vice of inebriety.
During the southern campaign he was never fit to be any-
thing more than a figure-head, and his habits disqualified
him for serious business. Like most confirmed drunkards
he could not either observe solemn pledges of abstinence or
pay any heed to the most earnest remonstrances. Akbar
did his best to reclaim him, and at last was obliged to send
Abu-1 Fazl's brother to devise means for recalling to court
the prince, who was much afraid of his brother Salim, and
with good reason. The Khan Khanan (Abdurrahim), to
whose daughter Daniyal was married, also did his best to
restrain his son-in-law, but all efforts were in vain. The
guards posted to prevent him from obtaining liquor were i
corrupted, and the poison was brought in secretly, some- •
times in the barrels of muskets, sometimes in phials hidden
in men's turbans. At last the prince was seized with delirium (
tremens, and after nearly six weeks' acute illness died at
Burhanpur, early in April 1604. The news reached Akbar
about a month later (beginning of a. h. 1013), and caused
him intense distress, which affected his health. At first the
emperor was exceedingly angry with the Khan Khanan
for failing to prevent the catastrophe, but when more fully
informed of the facts restored him to favour.

The prince is described as a handsome man, fond of horses
and elephants, and clever in the composition of Hindi verses.^

The accounts of Salim's conduct continuing to be unsatis-
factory, Akbar resolved at some time in the summer of 1604
to proceed in person to Allahabad, and if necessary to use
force in order to reduce his son to complete submission.
Salim, on his part, heard reports that preparations were
being made with Akbar's approval to nominate Prince i
Khusrii as heir to the throne, and was impelled by fears for i
his life, liberty, and prospects to defend himself. It seemed ;
as if nothing could avert a battle between father and son.

» Blochmann, Ain, vol. i, p. de Laet, p. f^^ ; Jahanglr, R. B.,
309 ; Takmll, in E. & D., vi, 107, i, 35. See Appendix B for dis-
111, 114 ; van den Broecke in cussion of the chronology.

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 317

[n August Akbar assembled an army and sent it into camp

\>n the other side of the Jumna, six miles from Agra, giving

)ut publicly that he proposed to proceed to Bengal. When

the camp had been formed he embarked one night on a barge

inattended, intending to join the camp, but his vessel stuck

)n a bank and he was unable to proceed. Then, the season

j)eing in the height of the rains, a deluge of rain flooded the

famp, lajing low all the tents except the imperial pavilion.

fhose accidents, which the astrologers regarded as of evil

;men, were sufficient to delay the expedition, although not

nough to induce Akbar to change his plans. His aged

lother, then about seventy-seven, who loved Sallm dearly,

4iticipated that if the quarrel should come to the arbitra-

fient of battle her grandson would have little chance of

scaping destruction when pitted against her son, a veteran

eneral mth an unbroken record of victories. She, there-

)Te, used every argument that she could think of to dissuade

kbar from marching against the rebel. When her entreaties

dl upon deaf ears, the disappointment at the failure of her

itervention brought on a serious illness which rapidly

ecame critical. Akbar, on receiving reports of her con-

ition, felt bound to return to Agra and attend on her

3dside.^ When he arrived she had already lost the power

^ speech. Five days later, on or about August 29 (o.s. =

sptember 8, x.s.), she passed away.

I Her body was conveyed with all speed, borne on the
•Moulders of relays of nobles, to Delhi, and there laid by
"»e side of her husband, whom she had outlived for forty-
i^ht years. 2

The deceased left in her house a large treasure and a will
< rccting that it should be divided among her male dcscend-

' Gladwin, p. x ; Xavier in
.i<la},'an, p. 96; Takmil, tr.
thinners, in von Noer, ii, 414.
'le Quecn-Mothcr was not in her
i{ietieth year, as stated by I)u
Jrric, iii, 118. She was only
rout fifteen years older thaii
} r son .

' Haniida Banf) IJeyani, alias
Jiryam Makani, died on the 2()th

Shahriwar, the (ith montli of the
49th Ilahi or regnal year, whieh
began on March 11, 1C04. Her
death oeenrred apparently two
days after September (> (N.S.),
the date of Xavier's letter, b«it it
is not possil)1c to convert Ilahi
dates with absolute precision.
Many authors confound her with
Haji Begani.

318

AKBAll THE GREAT MOGUL

Sub-
mission
and

arrest of
Salim.

ants. Akbar, notwithstanding his genuine affection for his
mother, was too fond of money to withstand the temptation
of annexing her wealth, the whole of which he appropriated,
without regard to the terms of the vvill.^

Akbar did not care to proceed with his hostile expedition
after the death of his mother. The opportiniity was seized
for the renewal of negotiations, which were entrusted to
the management of Mir or Miran Sadr Jahan, the emperor's
agent at the court of the prince, and a favourite of Salim,
who regarded the Sadr as his spiritual preceptor. The
negotiator employed all his diplomatic skill in favour of
the prince, and did his best to bring about a final reconcilia-
tion. He was instructed to point out that Salim was now
the only surviving son of the emperor, and that he had no
reason to fear any opposition to his succession. If the
prince would come before his father as a suppliant, he might
feel assured that full pardon and oblivion of all his offences
would be granted. We are told that the Mir also conveyed
secret orders, the nature of which has not been recorded.
Presumably they were purely oral and not committed to'
writing. It may well be that they held out the threat of
the public recognition of Khusru, in the event of Salim
proving obstinate.

The envoy, somehow or other, persuaded Salim that it^
was worth his while to submit. In October the prince
marched from Allahabad escorted by troops towards Agra,
with the ostensible purpose of offering condolences for the
death of his grandmother. He arrived at the capital on
November 9, 1604, apparently leaving his troops encamped
at a considerable distance from the city. He entered Agra.
accompanied by his second son Parviz,. then a boy about
fourteen years of age, and by all his principal adherents.
He was introduced to the presence by Murtaza KhaiT
(Shaikh Farid of Bokhara). The prince did not come empty
handed. He offered for his father's acceptance 200 gold

* Du Jarrie, ill, 118. Accord- Agra. Such small discrepancie.'
ing to de Laet (p. |ff) she died in the authorities arc innumer
two days after Akbar's return to able.

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 319

nohiirs, a diamond worth a lakh of rupees, and 400
elephants.

He was received publicly in a certain gallery or verandah

vith every appearance of cordiality and affection. Suddenly,

IS he prostrated himself reverently, Akbar seized him by the

land and drew him into an inner apartment. The emperor,

nflamed by intense passion, then administered several

Kolent slaps on his son's face, showering upon him bitter

jeproaches for his unfilial conduct, and mocking him because,

Ik^hen he had 70,000 horsemen at call, he had been fool

nd coward enough to cast himself at his father's feet as

suppliant. After that scene Akbar, who professed to

Jegard the prince as a patient requiring medical treatment,

iirected to cure his vitiated tastes, ordered that he should

|e kept in close custody in a bath-room under the charge

jf Raja Salivahan, a physician, and two servants named

j',up Khawass and Arjun Hajjam (barber).^ At the same

me Salim's principal adherents were arrested and imprisoned

|i chains. One only escaped, Raja Basu of Mau near

tangra, an insurgent chief, who received timely warning

the intended treachery, and succeeded in getting away.

ihe prince was subjected to the misery of deprivation of

s accustomed dose of opium for twenty-four hours, but at

;ie expiration of that time his father brought him a supply

ith his own hands.^ A day later Akbar, yielding to the

^itreaties of his wives pardoned the prince, and assigned

( him a residence and suite commensurate with his

ink.

|SalIm had been mastered. He humbly accepted the
^•vernment of the western provinces which had been
l,ld by his deceased brother Daniyal, and continued to
i'e at Agra in apparent amity with his father until
.jvbar died on October ^^, 1005. During all that time,
I )re than eleven months, the prince continued to lavish

The Rfi.ja seems to have been lint Chidwin, on tlie authority

;i pliysieiaii (lOlpliinstone, ed. oi tlie Ma'dsir-i Juhdngir, states

Cvvcll, p. '>2{) ; presumably on that Salim was (le|)rive(l of both

a hority of Khati Klian). lifjuor and opium lor ten days.

Thus, according to de Laet.

320

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's

fatal

illness.

favours upon the Jesuits, whose influence he was eager to
secure.

At first Salim used to come to court with a large retinue,
but when that procedure aroused Akbar's suspicions orders
were issued that he should be admitted with four attendants
only. No further act of overt rebellion was attempted, and
we do not hear what became of Sallm's army of 70,000
horsemen, who presumably dispersed and went to their
homes. Intrigue in the palace continued, and a powerful
party, led by Aziz Koka and Raja Man Singh, desired that
Salim should be set aside in favour of his son Khusru.
SalTm's rebellion, with intervals of insincere reconciliation,
had lasted for more than four years, from about the middle
of 1600 until November 1604. The authors who state that
it continued for only a few months are in error. Jahangir
lied freely on the subject in his Memoirs, and pretended
that he had resisted the temptation offered by evil counsellors
who had prompted him to rebel. ^

The fatal illness of Akbar, apparently some kind of
diarrhoea or dj^sentery, began on Monday, September 21. ^

' The texts concerning Salim's
arrest are given in Appendix B.
They prove conckisively that
Daniyal was then dead, and that
the arrest followed the decease
of the Queen-Mother at no great
interval. It is impossible to
accept the statements which
place DaniyaPs death in 1605.
The detailed story of Akbar's
passionate violence, which is
found in de Laet's book only, is
thoroughly in accordance with
Akbar's character, and in my
judgement should be accepted as
true. It is supported by the state-
ment of Gladwin (from the Ma'a-
sir-i Jahangir) that Akbar ' gave
full vent to his rage '. The story
as told by de Laet was copied
with some embellishment by Sir
Thomas Herbert in the editions
of his book from 1638 (ed. 1677,
p. 72). Talboys Wheeler, who
quotes the anecdote from the 1638
edition, was under the erroneous
impression that Herbert ranked as

an original authority (Hist, of
India, vol. iv, part i, p. 192 n.).
For Mir or Miran Sadr (^adr)
.Jahan see Jahangir, R. B., i, 22 ;
Blochmann, Aln, vol. i, p. 468.
Mr. G. P. Taylor supports a sound
numismatic argument by the
erroneous assertion that Salim's
disaffection was ' shortlived, and
apparently was confined to the
Allahabad District' {J.A.S.B.,
1904, Num. SuppL, p. 6). Jahan-
gir's false statement (.Jahangir,
R. B., i, 65, 68) has been quoted
already.

2 Blochmann, using Persian
authorities, gives the fullest in-
formation on the subject. ' It is
said that the Emperor died of
dysentery or acute diarrhoea,
which no remedies could stop.
Ali had at last recourse to a most
powerful astringent, and when tl)e
dysentery was stopped costive
fever and strangury ensued. He
therefore administered purgatives
which brought back the diarrhoea

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 321

His physician, Hakim AH, a practitioner of high repute,
refrained for eight days from administering medicine, pre-
Vrring to trust to nature and the patient's strong con-
stitution. But after the week's experiment no improvement
ipeing apparent, drugs were exhibited, presumably strong
(istringents. An unlucky quarrel between the servants of
Prince Sallm and those of his son Prince Khusru, concern-
ing an elephant fight, caused the emperor much annoyance,
nd increased his disorder.
A report had long been current, and apparently not Plot to
firithout reason, that Akbar desired to be succeeded by his pj.fnce^ ^
Irandson rather than by his rebellious son, and it is certain Salim.
jhat the Khan-i Azam (Aziz Koka) and Raja Man Singh
'ere most anxious to exclude Sallm and place his son on
le throne. Salim's conduct at Allahabad had been so
'niel and tyrannical, and his intemperate habits were so
:)torious, that opposition to his succession would have
•en justifiable on public grounds. The two great nobles
imed also had private reasons, because Prince Khusru's
^dy wife was a daughter of the Khan-i Azam,^ while Raja
Ian Singh was the brother by adoption of the young prince's
ijother, a daughter of Raja Bhagwan Das.

When it became apparent that the emperor's disease was
Itely to prove mortal, Aziz and Man Singh resolved to
sze Prince Sallm on a day when he was coming to pay his
ripects to his dying father.^ The prince's boat had reached
t;e foot of the fort tower, and he was about to step on

owhich Akbar died. The first sence and fine carriage, so cxcced-

auclc was caused, it is said, by ingly beloved of tlie common

wlTy and excitement on account people. . . . He was a man who

othe behaviour of Prince Kliusrau contented himself with one wife,

afin elephant light. . . . Akbar which with all love and care

wiadrew, and sent next morning accom])anicd him in all his

fo'Ali, to whom he said that the strcights, and tiicrefore he would

vtution caused by Khusravfs never take any wife but herself,

bti behaviour had made him ill ' though the liberty of his religion

{A%, vol. i, p. 467). Gladwin did admit of plurality ' (ed. 1777,

df rilx's the illness as ' a fever '. p. 411).

Til Ilijri date was 20 Jumada I, - According to Asad Beg, this

lOit. Gladwin (p. xii) wrongly incident hajjpcnod the day after

gi"'s August 3 as the equivalent. the elephant light (E. & 1)., vi,

iTerry, who met Prince Khusru 169). JBut it may have occurred

mi> than once, describes him as later.
■ arentleman of very lovely pre-

45 v

322

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Failure
of the
plot.

Con-
ditions of
Salim's
recogni-
tion.

shore, when he received warning of his danger, and was
enabled to retire in safety.

While Akbar still lived Aziz and Man Singh convened
a meeting of the nobles and endeavoured to persuade them
that Salim should be set aside as unworthy in favour of his
son. The proposal was stoutly resisted by several members
of the assembly, who maintained that it was contrary both
to natural justice and to the laws of the Chagatai nation
to which the royal family belonged. The meeting broke
up without coming to a definite decision, but the business
was settled by the action of Raja Ram Das Kachhwaha,
who posted an adequate guard of faithful Rajputs over the
treasury to hold it in the interests of Prince Salim. At
the same time Shaikh Farid (afterwards known as Murtaza
Khan) rallied the brave Sayyids of Barha, who declared for
the legitimate heir. The conspirators then perceived that
their plan could not be carried out, and Raja Man Singh
prepared to retire to his province of Bengal, taking Prince
Khusru with him.^

Prince Salim so far had not visited Akbar during his
illness, and it is possible that he may have been excluded
by imperial order, but fears for his own safety sufficiently
explain his abstention.^ He suffered from intense anxiety,
and when his father lay at the point of death spent a night
wandering about restlessly. His adherents exacted fron
him two solemn oaths, binding him in the first place t(
defend the Muhammadan religion, and in the second placr
to refrain from inflicting any penalty or injury on thi
persons who had supported the cause of Khusru. Salin
gladly accepted both conditions and took the requirei
oaths.^ He kept them honourably.^

1 Asad Beg (E. & D., vi, 170).

2 Du Jarric, iii, 132 ; de Laet,

F* 213*

^ Du Jarric, iii, 133,

* The promise to defend Islam
involved a show of coldness
towards the Jesuit Fathers for
a time. After his accession he
neglected them temporarily, as if
he had never seen them before

[' Patres ver6 quasi anth num
quam vidisset, neglexit '] (D
Jarric, iii, 138). But later h
renewed his intimate friendshi
with the reverend gentlemen, an
made use of Pinheiro as a dipl(
matist. In 1614 the Jesuits wei
again out of favour (Orme, Frai
merits, p. 341).

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 323

On Saturday, October 22,^ Father Jerome Xavier and Visit of
jiis colleagues called at the palace and were admitted to \esj,itsto
the presence of the royal patient. They had expected to Akbar.
jind him at the point of death, and hoped to address to him
tolemn warnings about the salvation of his soul. But they
lound him surrounded by his courtiers and in such a gay
ind cheerful mood [' hilarum et laetum '] that they judged
idmonition inopportune, and withdrew. On Monday,^
isarning that His Majesty was in a critical condition and
Ihat his life was despaired of, they again sought admission,
|ut, in spite of repeated requests, were refused entrance,
lonsequently, they were not present at the final scene.

I hey were, however, well informed concerning the course
: events, and their statement, which is supported by two
i)parently independent testimonies, may be accepted with
'pnfidence. The following brief narrative rests on those

ree authorities.

Sallm, when he had taken the oaths mentioned and was AkViar

sured of the support of the nobles, ventured into his y^fj^'as
ither's presence. Akbar then could not speak, although successor.

retained consciousness and understanding. When Sallm
^d prostrated himself and risen, the dying emperor made
^sign that he should put on the imperial turban and gird
Ilmself with the sword of Humayun which hung at the foot
(1 the bed. His silent commands having been obeyed,
{[lothcr sign directed the prince to leave the room. He
cmplied gladly, and was received outside with the applause
(the crowd.

Akbar expired soon afterwards in the presence of only Dcatli of
aifew faithful friends, who would not desert him. They qc^'^v
(• istantly reminded him of the Prophet, and sought with- 1605.'
ojc success to obtain some indication of assent. They
U|derstood that he tried several times to utter the name of
Gd. Thus he died as he had lived — a man whose religion
n^ody could name — and he passed away without the
bjliefit of the prayers of any church or sect.' The assertion

' Die Subbathi,' extremis esse passim dicebatur.'

' At post biduum rex in • Du Jarric, iii, 133 ; Asad Beg

27»

324 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

of some authors that he made formal profession of tl
Muslim faith when on his death-bed seems to be untrue.^
He died soon after midnight, early in the morning (
Thursday, October 27, new style (October 17, old style), o
according to the Muhammadan reckoning, on Wednesda
night.2
Prince Suspicions that the emperor's mortal illness was due 1

suspected po^son administered either by the direction of Prince Sallr
of poison- or by other people acting in his interest, were current eve
° ' before his death, and the accusation was widely believf
after the event. The symptoms, so far as recorded, appe;
not to be inconsistent with the presence of an irritant poiso
and the motive for bringing Akbar's long reign to a clo
was potent. It is certain that Salim ardently desired 1;
father's demise, and the step from entertaining such a desi
to taking active measures for its realization was not a loi
one in an Asiatic court. The fact that Salim, after his acce
sion as Jahangir, invariably refers to his ' revered fathe
in terms of warm affection and profound respect is far fro
being conclusive. His affection and respect were n
sufficiently strong to deter him from prolonged rebellic
which, if successful, would have involved the destruction
his parent. His rebellion, including an interval of insincf
reconciliation, lasted for about four and a half years. Ev

(E. & D., vi, 171) ; de Laet, p. ff^. the date is October 17. Irv

The short account given in the calculated it as October 15. 1'

Provincial's report dated Decern- Takmll gives the a. h. date ;

ber 20, 1607 (Maclagan, p. 107) 12 Jumada II, Wednesday. I;

agrees substantially with Du as the Muhammadan day begi

Jarric. at sunset, wliile ours begins ;

^ e. g. Sir Thomas Roe, ' and midnight, any hour after m •

so he dyed in the formal profes- night falls in Thursday, accord ;

sion of his sect ' (ed. Foster, to the European tables. Thi •

p. 312); and Father Botelho, day is right according to bi

'and at the last, died as he was Cunningham's Boo/i;o/i«dian£s

born, a Muhammedan ' (Maclagan, and Sir Harris Nicolas, The Chro -

p. 107). See Blochmann's dis- logy of Historij (1833). See Bio -

cussion of the subject, ^in, vol. i, mann, Aln, vol. i, 212 n. '.-

p. 212. definite date, October 27, t\^e

^ The date, October 27, new given by Du Jarric, supersedes I

style, is fixed conclusively by Du cajculation. The correct dat* s

Jarric, ii, 495 ; iii, 131. The in Purchas (Pilgrimes, chap. ;

Fathers used the new style, which Wheeler, Early Travels in Jn< a,

was introduced into Spain and p. 29). But nobody took no ce

Portugal in 1582. In old style, of the statement.

PRINCE SALIM; DEATH OF AKBAR 325

when the final reconciliation had been effected in November
1604, after the death of Prince Daniyal, Sallm must have
continued to feel impatient for the long-deferred inheritance.
In his Memoirs he had, as already noted, the audacity to
pretend that he had \'irtuously resisted the counsels of
ffebellion given by e\dl advisers.^ His proved readiness to
place on record such an obvious lie precludes his readers
|from placing any confidence in his protestations of intense
filial affection. JMy conclusion is that, while no definite
proof exists that Jahangir, as Prince Sallm, hastened his
father's end by the use of slow poison, he was capable of
the crime, and it is possible that he may have committed it.
knother possibility is that poison may have been adminis-
tered by somebody else in the interest of Prince Khusru.

The strange story that Akbar poisoned himself by mistake, Story
lis intention being to destroy one of his great nobles, was Akbar

■sidely accepted within a few years of his death. It assumes poisoned

/ , . 11..,. 1 . . himself

WO forms, the intended victim being named in one version by mis-

l^s Raja Man Singh, and in the other as Mirza GhazI Beg, ^'*'^^-

he chief of Thathah (Tatta) in Sind.

The Man Singh variation is found in the ' Annals of

iBundi (Boondee) ', which Tod considered to be ' well

vorthy of belief, as diaries of events were kept by her

princes ', who were personages of high importance during

he reigns of Akbar and his successors.

The emperor, we are told,

had designed to take off the great Raja Man by means of

poisoned confection formed into pills. To throw the

f jlaja off his guard, he had prepared other pills which were

1 nocuous ; but, in his agitation, he unwittingly gave these

p the Raja, and swallowed those which were poisoned.' ^

The GhazI Beg variation is best told by President van den
Iroccke (1628), as follows :

' At length, the King, being angry with Mirza Ghazi, son
f Jani, and ruler of Sind and Thathah, on account of an
rrogant expression which had fallen from him, decided to

' Memoirs, R. B., i, 65, 08. i, 279. Tlicre is no pood reason

* Tod, ii, ;}85. The story is for supposing that Alcbar had a
ven in the ' Ajinals of Mewar ', grudge against Man Singh.

326 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

remove him by poison. With that purpose, he ordered his
physician to prepare two pills, alike in shape and mass,
and to poison one of them. He had intended to give that
one to Ghazi, and to take the wholesome one himself ; but,
by a notable mistake, the affair turned out contrariwise,
for, while the King was rolling the pills in his hand for some
time, he gave GhazI the harmless pill, and took the poisoned
one himself. Later, when the mistake was discovered, and
the strength of the poison had spread through his veins,
antidotes were administered without success.' ^

The next paragraph gives the true account of the death-
bed nomination of Prince Salim as heir to the throne.

Manucci recounts the tale of the pills without naming

the intended victim, and denounces Akbar as a practised

poisoner,^ a view which Talboys Wheeler rashly adopted.'

I do not believe a word of the story about the alleged

accidental self-poisoning in any of its forms, although it

is true that Akbar, like many European princes of his time,

did remove several of his enemies by secret assassination,

probably using poison in certain cases. On the whole, while

it is perhaps most probable that Akbar died a natural

death, the general belief that he was poisoned in some

fashion by somebody may have been well-founded.^ The

materials do not warrant a definitive judgement.

1 De Laet, p. |?§. The text - Manucci, vol. i, pp. 149, 150;

is : 'Tandem Rex, Myrzae Gaziae, and Irvine's note, vol. iv, p. 420.

Zianii filio, qui Sindae et Tattae Irvine was mistaken in reckoning

imperaverat, ob arrogans verbum Herbert as an independent autho-

quod ipsi forte exciderat, iratus, rity. He simply copied de Laet,

eum veneno 5 medio tollere adding some blunders of his own.

decrevit : & in eum finem medico ^ Hist, of India, vol. iv, part i,;

suo mandavit, ut binas ejusdem pp. 174, 188. Wheeler believed in

formae et molis pillulas pararet. Sir Thomas Herbert, and did not

& earum alteram veneno inficeret : know that he was a mere com-

hanc Gaziae dare proposuerat, piler of Indian history in his later

medicam ipse sumere : sed in- editions, as already observed.,

signi errore res in contrarium Herbert was only a short time in

vertit, nam Rex quum pillulas India as a young man, and while

manu aliquandiu versasset, Gaziae there remained at Surat or in the

quidem innoxiam pillulam dedit, neighbourhood,

venenatam vero ipsemet sumsit : * The general belief is expressed

Seriusque errore animadverso, positively by Bartoli (p. 79) in the

quum jam veneni vis venas words : — ' fin che mori di veleno

pervasisset, antidota frustra ad- I'Ottobre del 1605 ' ; ' until he

hibita fuerunt.' For the life of died of poison in October 1605.'

Mirza Ghazi Beg, who was a But Botelho (1660) treats the

dissolute scamp, see Blochmann, poison story merely as a mattei

Am, vol. i, p. 363. of rumour (Maclagan, p. 107). Dt

OBSEQUIES OF AKBAR 327

The obsequies of the dead lion were hurried and per- Akbar's
"unctory. A gap was made in the wall of the fort, accord-
ing to custom,^ and the body, having been carried out
hrough it on the shoulders of Akbar's son and grandson,

as interred in the sepulchre at Sikandara, three miles
istant, where the deceased emperor had begun to build
is own monument. The members of the funeral proces-
ion were few in number. Nobody wore mourning except
he heir to the throne and certain other persons, who all
esumed their ordinary garb at sunset.

* Thus ', sadly observes the Jesuit historian, ' does the
^orld treat those from whom it expects no good and fears

evil. That was the end of the life and reign of King
kbar.' 2

1 Jahangir professed the most profound reverence for the Akbar's
lemory of his father once he was safely dead and buried, (j°"g.
[id there is no reason to doubt that he sincerely admired crated,
kbar's great qualities. His admiration, however, had

ht been strong enough to restrain him from persistent
|bellion, which, if successful, must have resulted in his
^.rent's death. Akbar was not the man to submit to

cTric (iii, 132) mentions that who was away in the Deccan

srne people suspected the prince when Akbar died, believed that the

(^having poisoned his father, but obsequies were conducted ' with

V. abstains from expressing any all the ceremonies due to his rank '

anion on the subject. (E. & D., vi, 172). Similarly,

\ The custom is widespread in Gladwin, following the Ma'dsir-i

liny countries. Mr. Crooke has Jahangir, avers that Akbar was

ffwured me with the following ' interred with great pomp ' (p.

radian references:^ — -Crooke, In- xii). The TaA-mi/ (E. & D., vi, 115)

t d. to Popular Religion and states with more detail that ' on

llldoreof N. India{l894^), p. 21Q ; the following day his sacred re-

Ijpular Religion, &c. (1896), mains were borne by men of all

\|:. ii, p. 56 ; Dubois, Hindu ranks, in stately and becoming

Amners, &c., third ed. (lieau- pomp, to the grave '. Nothing is

Gimp), 1906, p. 499 ; Jdlaka, known about the author of the

t nsl. Rouse and Cowcll (1895), Ta/twl/, except that he was named

\ . ii, p. 55. Inayatu-llah, alias Muhammad

l)u .Jarric, iii, 137. Xavier Salih. He seems to have written

gsumably attended the funeral. by order of .Jahangir, and, con-

IJ .Jarric's account is founded sequently, would have been care-

o{ his letters ; the text of those fu! to please his master. The

Wtten at the time in question Jesuits had no motive to mis-

n| being at present available. represent the facts, and tlieir

Ti? authority is better than that account is the most authoritative,
ofiny other version. Asad Beg,

328

AKBAR THP: great MOGUL

inglorious supersession and seclusion, as Shahjahan did
later. Jahanglr took much interest in rebuilding from its
foundations the mausoleum at Sikandara, for which he
caused fresh designs to be prepared, and he willingly expended
large sums on its construction and decoration.^ The
noble monument received high honour from Jahangir and
his successors for many years. Aurangzeb was painfully
affronted, when in 1691, during his prolonged campaign in
the Deccan against the Marathas, he received a report that
certain turbulent Jat villagers had desecrated the tomb and
scattered his ancestor's bones. They pillaged the mausoleum,
breaking in the great bronze gates, tearing away the orna-
ments of gold, silver, and precious stones, and destroyino
wantonly what they could not carry off. Their impious
fury led them on to outrage still more shocking. ' Dragging
out the bones of Akbar, they threw them angrily into th(
fire and burnt them.' The pilgrim to Akbar's tomb visits
although he does not know it, an empty grave.^

APPENDIX B

The Arrest of Prince Salim and connected events

Chrono- The contradictions of various authorities concerning th

logical chronology of the closing years of Akbar's life caused me mucl

Y?r perplexity until I discovered where the principal error lay

Careful readers may be puzzled by the conclusions adopted in th

narrative of the text, unless full explanations are provided

» Jahangir, R. B., i, 152. The
cost was 1,500,000 rupees (15
lakhs).

" Manucci, i, 142, ii, 320 n.
The date is given in both words
and figures, and there is no reason
to doubt it. Irvine erroneously
refused to accept the date given by
Manucci because that author states
that tlie desecration happened
' during the time that Aurangzeb
was actively at war with Shiva
.Ji ', observing that Shiva Ji had
died in 1681 [really, 1680], ten
years earlier. Tlie learned editor
forgot for the moment tliat
European authors of the seven-

teenth and eighteenth centurie
often speak of the Marathas a
' Sevajee ', as he himself point
out in the preceding note. Th
desecration of the mausoleum, 2
Irvine states, is described b
Ishar Das Nagar in the Fatuhdt
Alamglrl (B. M. Add. MS., N(
23884, fol. 131 a). The burnin
of Akbar's bones is mentione
only by Manucci, but there is n
reason to doubt the accuracy <
his statement. Although he wi
living at Madras in 1691, he ha
good information about conten
porary facts.

ARREST OF PRINCE SALIM 329

have, therefore, prepared this appendix in order to justify the
ext by detailed proofs.

It will be convenient to begin by setting forth the equations

f the Ilahl or regnal, the Ilijrl, and the Christian years con-

erned. The Ilahl year is taken to begin on Mareh 11 (o.s.)

[see E. & D., v, 246). The year is solar, consisting of twelve

bionths normally of 30 days each, but sometimes containing

pi or 32 days. Cunningham's account of the Ilahl era is inaccurate.

The equation of the lunar Hijrl years is from Cunningham,
c of Indian Eras, 1883 ; the dates a. d. being in o.s., and
apparently accurate. In Great Britain the ' new style ' took
^ffect from 1753 ; but in Portugal and Spain and certain other
liountries it came into use from 1582 or 1583. Akbar's Jesuit
quests of the Third Mission dated their letters n.s., whereas
Vlildenhall and other Englishmen dated theirs in o.s. The a.,d.
lates in E. & D. are, I think, all o.s.

Ilahl (regnal) year 48th = March 11, 1603 — March 10, 1604.

Ilahl (regnal) year 49th = March 11, 1604— March 10, 1605.

Ilahl (regnal) year 50th = March 11, 1605— — —

Akbar died on October 17, 1605, o.s. Xavier's letter in Maclagan,
)p. 89-95, is dated September 6 (n.s.), 1604 = August 27 (o.s.).

A. H. 1012 = June 1, 1603— May 19, 1604.
A.H. 1013 = May 20, 1604— May 8, 1605.
A.n. 1014 = May 9, 1605— April 28, 1606.

I Those A. D. dates are all o.s. The corresponding N.s. dates
ji^ould be ten days later, e.g. May 19 (o.s.) = May 29 (n.s.).

The four texts which chiefly concern me will now be given
rrbatim.

The text of the Fragmentum in de Laet, pp. |f^, is as Van den
'allows : Broecke

m de

' Justis autcm matri persolutis, ablegavit Rex ad filiiim Miratsedderan Laet.

,)sius quondam paedagogiim, cimi Uteris ; qviibus prime accrrimc

Ilium objurgabat, dein ob oculos ponebat, ipsuin jam solum superrssc,

bque quemquam esse qui regnum ipsi posset praeripere ; modo sibi

'lyiplex fieret, facile antecedentium dclictorum vcniam, & antiquam

iitiam recupcraturum, addidit & secreta mandata, cum qiiibus

■iratseddera ad principem profectus, tandem ij)suni perniovit, ut ad

itrem supplex veniret. Xa-Selimus igitur cum filio suo Sultano

•rwees, ex Elhabasse anno Mahumetano 1013, nostro cio lO cm,

ofcctus cum cxcrcitu trajeeit Semenam, & bidiio post (die auspicato,

' haruspices illius obnunciaverant) cum onmibus suis Omnierauwis

■nit ad arcem Agrensem, ubi k Mortosa Cliano ad Patrem fuit intro-

ictus ; cjvuimfiue se more gentis ad thronum Parentis inclinasset,

ex maiui illius prchonsa ipsum in MahacI, id est, interius cubiciilum

traxit, & ingcnti furore percitus, ipsi aliquot cola[)lios in os inllixit,

j^are exprobans quaecunciue im])robe in patrem admisissct, pusill-

^imafcnuiiic- ridcns, cpiod lxx millibus er|uitum stipatiis, tamcn

|(|)l<x ad pedes suos aecidisset, quibus factis dictisfpic ilium in aliud

limn dcdiici ot eustodiri jussit. Onunciauwi (pKKiiic principis,

(■(■|)to Kad/.ia Hatso (qui mature fuga se subduxerat ) fueruiil {jreliensi,

< eatcnis onusti in carcercs conditi. Xa-Selimus qui quotidie opio uti

330

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Du
Jarr c.

Anfdu-l
Akhbdr.

Takmll-i

Akbar-

ndina.

consueverat, viginti quatuor horis eo abstinuit, sed postero die Rt
ad ipsum ingressus id ipsi propria manu exhibuit ; tertio aiitei;
die omnes regiae concubinae Regem adierunt, et veniam principi
impetrarunt : atque ita ad proprias aedes fuit dimissus, h quibus
quotidie prodiens cum magno comitatu Patrem more gentis venera-
batur ; sed quum Regis familiares suspieiosi senis animum meti;
implessent, filium ipsi exitium meditari, cum quatuor tantum ministris
imposterum fuit admissus.'

A formal translation is unnecessary, the substance being given
in the text.

Du Jarric's version (iii, 119) of the incident is as follows : —
Having described the obsequies of the Queen-Mother, he con-
tinues :

' Tum nuntiis & litteris aliorum opera filium permovit, ut ad patrem
ultro sine copiis accederet. Agrae ilium {scil. Salim] insigni cum
amore & benevolentia quadam in porticu excepit, dein ab aliis secretum
in locum deducit ; huic laudis ilium verbis includit sed post triduum
in libertatem asseruit, et domum & comites pro dignitate addidit.
Denique ita se erga ilium habuit, quasi nulla umquam inter eos exsti-
tisset contentio. Princeps vicissim Cambaiano vel Guzzaratensi
[Guzzaxatensi in text] regno, quod pater assignarat, contentus fuit,
donee post menses aliquot per patris interitum, quem tantbpere
desiderabat ' . . .

In English ;

' Then by messengers and letters and with the help of other people,
he induced the son to approach his father voluntarily without troops.
At Agra [AkbarJ received him [Salim] with distinguished love and
kindness in a certain gallery : then he withdrew him from the others
into a private place : in this he shut him up, using words of praise
[? is text right], but three days later he restored him to liberty, and in
addition gave him a house and suite in accordance with his rank.
Ultimately he behaved towards him as if there had never been any
strife between them. . . . The Prince was content with the government
of Cambay and Gujarat, as assigned to him by his father, until some
months later, through the death of his father which he desired so
eagerly.' . . .

A third version is given in the Anfdu-l Akhbdr (E. & D., vi, 247),

where it is stated that :

' In the year 1012 a. h. Prince Sultan Salim was imprisoned in a bath
[leg. " bath-room "], on the very day on which his Royal Highness
repenting of his evil actions, presented himself to the King, availing
himself of the opportunity which the death of his grandmother, Mariam
Makani, afforded him of offering his condolences to His Majesty. He
was, however, after a space of twelve days, released. This year if
also marked by the arrival from the Dakhin of the news of the deatb
of Sultan Daniyal. In the year 1013 a. h. the King [Akbar] wat!
taken ill.'

The fourth version is that of the Takmtl (transl. Chalmers, ir

von Noer, ii, 415), as follows :

' Salim, learning the grief and distress of His Majesty, left behinc
him Sharif, who had been the chief author of the death of Abu-1 FazI
and on 14th November [scil. 1604 ; 4th Azur, the 9th month of th(
49th Ilahi or regnal year, which began March 11, 1604 ; November!
seems to be correct] arrived at the presence, and presented a diamonc
worth a lakh of rupees and 200 mohurs as an offering and 400 elephant:
as a tribute. The young prince was for ten days placed under thi.

ARREST OF PRINCE SALIM

331

irge of Rup Khawass, Arjun Hajjam, and Raja Salivahan. Each
. his followers was in the same manner made over to one of the imperial
;tendants. and Basu (the Raja of Mau), the instigator of the prince's
ults, who had remained on the other side of the river, was ordered

be pursued, but contrived to gain intelligence and escaped. At

e end of ten days, however, the prince's loyalty and integrity became

[splendent, and he was remanded with joy and gladness to his own

^sidence. After which all his attendants were allowed to rejoin him

his own request.'

All the authorities agree in stating that the submission and

rest of Salim occurred soon after the death of Akbar's mother,
|iich took place in August (o.s.) or September (n.s.) 1604.
jdo not see any reason to doubt the precise statenient of the
'fifcmil that Sallm presented himself before his father on the
|h day of Azur, the 9th month of the 49th Ilahl year. E. & D.
W the corresponding a, d. date (o.s.) as November 14. I make

out to be November 9 (the 244th day of the year), but exact
cpversion of Ilahl dates is impracticable.

|The Anfdu is clearly wrong in placing the arrest in a. h. 1012,
ajd Akbar's death in 1013. The latter event undoubtedly
cburred in 1014. The arrest was effected in 1013.

The narrative of van den Broecke in de Laet proves that
I.niyal was dead before Salim made his submission.

But the Takmll (E. & D., vi, 114) places the death of Daniyal
iijthe 50th Ilahl year, and consequently in A. d. 1605. That
sftement, which has been generally accepted, as it was by
ni^self {Oxford SludenVs History of India, 5th ed., 1915, p. 178),
bjUg inconsistent with de Laet, caused me great perplexity,
uoil I saw that it must be wrong, and that the death of the
ymger prince must be placed in the 49th Ilahl or regnal year,
athe close of 1012, and not in the 50th regnal year, at the close
O11013.

j'he clue was obtained from Beale (ed. Keene, s. v. Danial
Mza, Sultan), who gives the date of the {)rince's decease as
A-il 8, 1605=:Zil-hijja 1, a. h, 1013; but at the end of the
er.ry writes :

iFrom the chronogram it would seem that the Prince Danial
dii in the year a, h. 1012, or a. d. 1604, a year and six months
bd)re his father.'

jhronograms are not conclusive in themselves, and require to
be upported by other evidence. Turning to Jahanglr's genuine
Mhoirs (not Price's version, which should not be citefl), Daniyal
is Slid to have been born on 10 Jumada I, a. h. 979 1 ; that is
to xy, September 30, 1572 ; and it is stated that when he died
heivas ' in the 33rd year of his age ' (Jaiianglr, II. B., i, 34).
InJmuch as he was born in September 1572, and died in Ai)ril
16<'., he was in his 32nd year by solar reckoning, and in his

Criticism
of the
authori-
ties-

' »79 is an error for 980, which
befin on Wednesday, May 14,

1572. See A.N., 543, in 17th
regnal year.

332 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

33rd year by lunar reckoning (5th month, Jumada I, to 12th
month, Zil-hijja ; 980 -f 32 = 1012). Jahanglr's words could not
be made applicable to 1013, when Daniyal would have attained
33 lunar years complete. Therefore, the chronogram of Daniyal's
death is right, and the year a. h. 1013 (or a. d. 1604) is correct
for the arrest of Sallm.

The Takmll (von Noer, ii, 415, and less fully E. & D., vi, 113)
correctly gives the date of the death of the Queen-Mother as the
20th of Shahrlwar, the 6th month of the 49th regnal year,
A. D. 1604-5 = about August 29 (o.s.), September 8 (n.s.). That
date, if correctly converted, falls two days after Xavier had
dispatched his letter, and in a. h. 1013.

Beale (s.v. Hamida Bano Begam), after a series of other
blunders mixing up Akbar's mother with Hajl Begam, erroneously
states that Hamida ' died at Agra on Monday the 29th August,
A. D. 1603, 17th Shahrlwar, A. h. 1012 ', She certainly died in
A. D. 1604, A, H. 1013.

The student, therefore, will perceive that it has not been easy
to work out the real order of events. I trust that he may be
satisfied that the correct result has been embodied in the text.
The case is an excellent illustration of the difficulties which
constantly beset the critical historian of the Mogul period. It
is hardly worth while to notice that the term of Salim's detention
is variously stated as three, ten, or twelve days. I accept the
statement in de Laet, who seems to give the whole story truth'
fully.

CHAPTER XII

AKBAR

Akbar, as seen in middle life, was a man of moderate Personal
tature, perhaps five feet seven inches in height, strongly tiou"^"
]uilt, neither too slight nor too stout, broad-ehested, narrow-
aisted, and long-armed. His legs were somewhat bowed
iwards from the effect of much riding in boyhood, and
hen walking he slightly dragged the left leg, as if he were
me, although the limb was sound. His head drooped
little towards the right shoulder. His forehead was broad
ilid open. The nose was of moderate size, rather short,
nth a bony prominence in the middle, and nostrils dilated
;. if with anger. A small wart about half the size of a pea
ich connected the left nostril with the upper lip was
nsidered to be a lucky mark. His black eyebrows were
in, and the Mongolian strain of blood in his veins was
i|dicated by the narrow eyes characteristic of the Tartar,
iiinese, and Japanese races. The eyes sparkled brightly
. d were 'vibrant like the sea in sunshine '.^ His complexion,
sfmetimes described by the Indian term ' wheat-coloured ',
Vis dark rather than fair. His face was clean shaven,
dcept for a small, closely trimmed moustache worn in the
f ;hion adopted by young Turks on the verge of manhood.
Ps hair was allowed to grow, not being clipped close in the
cestral manner. His very loud voice was credited with
peculiar richness '.
His whole mien was in such perfect accord with the
iclal of kingly dignity that ' anybody, even at the fu:st
g nee, would recognize him as a king '. His son declares
t^ Akbar ' in his actions and movements was not like the
pf>ple of the world, and the glory of God manifested itself

' Micantibus oculis, ct qui vibrare videantur ' (ComHttf/itartus,
qijsi mare, cum a sole collucct, p. 040).

334 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

in him '. When he turned an angry look upon an offender
his appearance was strangely terrible.

Dress. His outer garment was a surcoat or tunic of the kinc

called cabaya, reaching a little below the knees, but no'
coming down to the ankles like the long robes commonh
worn by Muslims. It was made ordinarily of thin materia
interwoven with gold thread, decorated with embroiderec
patterns of flowers and foliage, and fastened by a largt
clasp. On his head Akbar wore a small tightly rolled turban
made so as to combine Hindu with Musalman modes. Thi
head-dress was enriched by pearls and other gems of inestim
able value. His trousers, made of the finest sarcenet
extended down to his heels, where they were tucked in anc
held by a knot of pearls. His shoes were made in a peculia
style after a design of his own. He liked European clothes
and when in private often wore a Portuguese suit of blacl
silk or velvet. He invariably kept a dagger in his girdle
and if at any moment he did not happen to be wearin|
a sword one always lay ready to his hand. Whenever h(
appeared in public a score of pages and guards were in atten
dance ready to place a variety of weapons at his disposal.^

Manners, All observers agree that Akbar's manners were charming
He is described as being ' pleasant-mannered, intimate, an(
kindly, while still preserving his gravity and sternness '.
Father Jerome Xavicr, who, as Bartoli says,

' was an eye-witness of his conduct for many years, give
him the praise so rarely due to a Prince engaged in higl
affairs of state, by remarking that " in truth he was grea
with the great, and lowly with the lowly ".^ Du Jarri'
varies the observation by stating that " to his own famil;
he was most dear ; to the great he was terrible ; to th
lowly, kind and affable ".'

* Mostly from Monserrate, Com- i, 384. ;

meniarius, p. 640, and Relagam, * ' E faceto, domestico, & amc

with special reference to the years revole, & insieme tiene la su

1580-2. Some particulars are gravita, & severita ' (Perusch

taken from Peruschi, Bartoli, and p. 20).

Jahangir, R. B., 1, 33, without ^ ' Veramente egli era grand

reference to any particular date. co' grandi, e co' piccoli piccolo

For cabaya see Yule and Burnell, (Bartoli, p. 5).
Glossary, s.v., and Jahangir, R. B.,

PERSONAL 335

The same author goes on to say that

With small and common people he was so sympathetic and
|dulgent, that he always found time gladly to hear their
Ibises, and to respond graciously to their requests. Their
i:tle offerings, too, he used to accept with such a pleased
iok, handling them and putting them in his bosom, as
I did not do with the most lavish gifts of the nobles,
■^ich, with discreet pretence, he often seemed not even to
||ance at.'^

Akbar was extremely moderate in his diet, taking but Diet.
(jie substantial meal in the day, which was served when-
trer he called for it, not at any fixed hour. The variety of
cshes placed at his disposal was of course great, and they
V^re presented with appropriate magnificence and elaborate
jiecautions against poison. He cared little for flesh food,
£id gave up the use of it almost entirely in the later years
q his life, when he came under Jain influence. ^

frhe following sayings of his deal with the subject :

' Men are so accustomed to eating meat that, were it not
fj" the pain, they would undoubtedly fall on to them-
slves.

' Would that my body were so vigorous as to be of service
tj eaters of meat who would thus forgo other animal life,
o that, as I cut off a piece for their nourishment, it might
D replaced by another.

' Would that it were lawful to eat an elephant, so that
ae animal might avail for many.

,' Were it not for the thought of the difficulty of sustenance,
Ii»\'ould prohibit men from eating meat. The reason why
Ko not altogether abandon it myself is that many others
nght willingly forgo it likewise and be thus cast into
4->pnndcney.

From my earliest years, whenever I ordered animal food
t«be cooked for me, I found it rather tasteless and cared
livle for it. I took this feeling to indicate the necessity for
p;)tecting animals, and I refrained from animal food.

|j Men should annually refrain from eating meat on the
ahiversary of the month of my accession as a thanksgiving
t^the Almighty, in order that the year may pass in pros-

• Du .Jarric, iii, 1:53.

* See Ain, book i, Ain 2G ; vol. i, p. 61.

336 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

' Butchers, fishermen, and the like who have no othe
occupation but taking life should have a separate quarte,
and their association with others should be prohibited b
fine.

' It is not right that a man should make his stomach th
grave of animals.' ^

Akbar had a great liking for fruit, especially grape:

melons, and pomegranates, and was in the habit of eatin

it whenever he indulged in either wine or opium.^ He too

much pains to improve the supply, both home-grown ani

imported.

Use of He followed the practice of his family for many genera

and tions in consuming both strong drink and various pre

opium. parations of opium, sometimes to excess. His drinkin

bouts, naturally, were more frequent while he was youn

than they were in his more mature years, but it is certai:

that tolerably often he was ' in his cups ', as his son put

it. When he had drunk more than was good for him h

performed various mad freaks, as when at Agra he gallope(

the elephant Hawal across the bridge of boats, and at Sura

tried to fight his sword.

He seems to have drunk usually country liquors of sortf
rather than imported wines. In 1580 he specially fanciei
a very heady toddy, arrack, or palm-wine. As an altei
native at that period he used to take a spiced infusion c
opium (postd), and when he had had too much of either o
both would sometimes drop off asleep while the Father
were discoursing. When Monserrate, on his way to cow
in 1580, halted at Gwalior he took note of a sect of opiur
drinkers, followers of one Baba Kapur, and was told tha
Akbar himself was then reputed to be a member of th
fraternity. A little later the same author observes tha;
Akbar rarely drank wine, preferring the soporific infusio:
of opium. The cultivation of the poppy seems to hav|
been encouraged.*

1 ' Happy Sayings,' Aln, vol. ' For Akbar's use of intox
iii, pp. 394, 395. cants see ante, chap, iv ; Jahai

2 Jahangir, R. B., i, 270, 350 ; gir, R, B., i, 2 ; Bartoli, p. 64
Ain, book i, Ain 28 ; vol. i, ' lo troppo uso hor dell' Orraci,
pp. 64, 65. che 6 un fumosissimo vino <

PERSONAL 337

He took special delight in the practice of mechanical arts Practice
th his own hands. We are told that ' there is nothing ch^l^al
tat he does not know how to do, whether matters of war, arts.
c| of administration, or of any mechanical art. Wherefore
t takes particular pleasure in making guns and in fovmding '.

a,d modelling cannon '.^ Workshops were maintained on j /

aarge scale within the palace enclosure, and were frequently '

vjited by him. He was credited with many inventions and
iiprovements.2 That side of his character suggests a com-
prison with Peter the Great.

We have seen how idle he was as a boy, so that he never Formal
lerned even the elements of reading and writing. The but^w^d'e /
p hcipal loss involved in his boyish truancy was the lack know- ^
ni'discipline in his training. He was far from being an "
igorant man, but his multifarious knowledge was picked
11] in a haphazard way without system or co-ordination,
H possessed a memory of almost superhuman power, which
gnbled him to remember accurately the contents of books
rea to him, the details of departmental business, and even
th| names of hundreds of individual birds, horses, and
slohants. In the business of government he had the rare
Fadlty of combining a firm grasp on principles with minute
at ntion to details.^ His mastery of detail was well exem-
pli ed in his conduct of the expedition to Kabul in 1581,
th' most elaborately organized of his military operations.
Faher Monserrate, who accompanied him as far as Jalalabad
anthe Kabul river, was filled with admiration for the
pri'lent care exercised by the emperor personally in all the
ari^ngements for the campaign. His formal illiteracy does

pal a, hor del Posto, che b una cosa, che non sappia fare,' &c.

tal I'onfettione d' Oppio, rin- " Aln, book i, Ain 35, &c.

tuz to [diluted], e domo [modi- ^ ' His INIajesty looks upon the

Redcon varie correttioni d' aro- smallest details as mirrors capable

mai'; and Commentarius, pp. of reflecting a comprehensive out-

558}42. For ' arrack ', variously line ' (Aln, book i, Aln 73 ; vol. i,

spe see Yule and Burnell, p. 157) ; and ' True "rreatness, in

Wo.ryny, s.v. The article 'Opium ' spiritual and worhlly matters,

ma; also be consulted. Land does not shrink from the minutiae

un(|- poppy paid a high cash of business, but regards their

reviue rate. See Aln, book iii, performance as an act of Divine

Ain 4; vol. ii. worship' (ibid., Ain 1; vol. i,

' cruschi, p. 20. ' Non vi 6 p. 11).

. o

338

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

not seem to have caused the slightest practical inconvenience
Indian rulers have always been accustomed to dictate order;
and to leave most of the actual writing to subordinate pro
fessional secretaries and clerks.

Akbar was intimately acquainted with the works o
many Muhammadan historians and theologians, as well a
with a considerable amount of general Asiatic literature
especially the writings of the Sufi or mystic poets. H
acquired from the Jesuit missionaries a fairly complet
knowledge of the Gosjoel story and the main outlines of th
Christian faith, while at the same time learning from th
most accredited teachers the principles of Hinduism, Jainisir
and Zoroastrianism ; but he never found an opportunit
to study Buddhism. As a boy he took some drawing lesson;
and he retained all his life an active interest in varioi
forms of art. The architecture of the reign unmistakabl
bears the impress of his personal good taste. A man s
variously accomplished cannot be considered illiterate i
reality. He simply preferred to learn the contents of boot
through the ear rather than the eye, and was able to tru!
his prodigious memory, which was never enfeebled by the u;
of written memoranda. Anybody Avho heard him arguir
with acuteness and lucidity on a subject of debate wou]
have credited him with wide literary knowledge and profour
erudition, and never would have suspected him of illiterac}

Akbar was not ashamed of his inability to read and writ
which he shared with many eminent princes both befo
and after his time.^ His sayings include the maxim :

' The prophets were all illiterate. Believers should thei '
fore retain one of their sons in that condition.' ^

' ' Non mediocriter, in multarum
rerum cognitione, et scientia pro-
gressus est ; quo litterarum igno-
rationem (est enim legendi, scri-
bendique prorsus ignarus) non
compensat solum, verum etiam,
res difficiles adeo plane, ac
dilucide exponit : et de quavis
re proposita, acute, arguteque
respondet ; ut nemo qui nescierit,
ipsum literarum esse ignarum, non

eum doctissimum, eruditissimui,
que esse judicet ' {Commentam
p. 643). ,

2 e.g. Timur, Haidar ^
Ranjit Singh.

* ' Happy Sayings,' Aln, v
iii, p. 385 ; with allusion to ' t
apostle, the illiterate prophet '
Koran, Sura 7 ; and ' It is
who hath raised up amidst 1
illiterate Arabians an apos;

PERSONAL 339

The intelligent imperial patronage of literature and art

ill be noticed in the concluding chapter.

Akbar suffered from some form of epilepsy, which in no Melan-

ay impaired his vast bodily strength, but probably was tempcra-

«cause of the ' melancholy and oppression of heart ' which i"t>nt ;

Jilicted him continually and drove him to seek diversions and other

all sorts even when engaged in important business.^ diver-

<=' ^ I- sions.

rom early boyhood he was devoted to every form of sport.
Ad learned in everything concerning horses, camels,
cbphants, and dogs. He was a perfect horseman, and had
tje faculty of exercising absolute control over the most
frocious elephants. He was a splendid shot, and took
rbch delight in all kinds of hunting. It was his practice
t' organize a great hunt as a preliminary to a campaign,
aid so to give his cavalry exercise in informal manoeuvres.
I? kept many falcons, but did not care much for hawking.
Ife took great pleasure in chasing antelopes with specially
tUned leopards {clieetalis). He was ready to encounter
ay beast, however fierce, tiger, lion, or other, and was
ffcpared to undergo any amount of fatigue in order to run
dwn the game. On the only occasion that he saw wild
aies, which happened in the desert of Bikaner, he was so
k';n in the pursuit that he became separated from his
a endants, and nearly perished of thirst. He was absolutely
fc'rless, and, like Alexander of Macedon, was always ready
tt'risk his life, regardless of political consequences.

IkVhen residing at his capital or in a standing camp he
p)vided himself with amusements of many kinds. He
kpt immense flocks of choice pigeons, and loved to watch
til ir antics. He was a keen polo player, and insisted on his
c<iirtiers keeping up the game with spirit. Like most
piices in India he enjoyed watching animal combats, of
eliohants, buffaloes, rams, and other beasts and birds.

frti among themselves ', ibid., revelation. Abu-I Fazl applies

Sfli 02. See Sale, Preliminary that argument to the case of

I)ii«urse, see. ii. .Aluhammadans Akbar.

glity in their prophets illiteracy » ' Natura erat melancholicus,

asi pro<3f of his divine mission et epileptieo subjectus luorbo '

an) of the authenticity of his (Du Jarric, ii, p. 498).

340 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The elephant fights, which frequently resulted in the deal
of the riders, are often depicted by the artists of the age
The feelings of most modern Europeans are hurt by exhib
tions in which beasts alone suffer, but Akbar did not shrin
from witnessing also the deadly conflicts of gladiators aft(
the Roman manner.^ When the two parties of fakirs i
Hard war came to blows Akbar ' greatly enjoyed the sight
and even sent some of his own troops to join in the fra
until about a thousand men were engaged. The resultar
bloodshed, which was on a considerable scale, costing aboi
twenty lives,^ did not trouble him in the least. The kind]
ness of his disposition moderated, without eradicating, tl
taste for bloody exhibitions which he inherited from h
ferocious Turk and Mongol ancestors.

His more peaceful amusements were as varied as tho
of a strenuous kind. He took extreme pleasure in mus
and song, and was reputed to be a skilled drummer. I
loved to watch clowns and jugglers, and had a stran:
habit of disposing of serious business while looking at shoi
with, so to speak, the corner of his eye. Witty convers
tion and lively story-telling would keep him awake ;
night. He slept little and lightly, seldom more than thr
hours in the night time. The hours which he kept mi
have been dreadfully trying to the court.
(Jut- Akbar had a naturally quick temper which occasional

^l""^*^ . carried him away in a gust of passion. Such outbreaks
wrath at times caused him to execute substantial althou
irregular acts of summary justice, as when he punish
his uncle Muazzam and his foster-brother Adham Kh
for cruel murders. On one recorded occasion a sudden
of anger caused him to commit a shocking act, when
caused the negligent lamplighter to be hurled from 1'
battlements of the palace and dashed to pieces as a puni;

^ Aquaviva and Monserrate to the ' gladiatorii ludi ' '

boldly denounced to him such Akbar's time. They were c-

entertainments as being wicked tinned by Jahangir and Sli-

(scelus nefarium), and refused his jahan.

invitation to witness them (Co7n- ^ Tarikh-i Khandan Tlmw^ \

mentarius, p. 574). I have not in Oriental Public Library, Bai •

noticed elsewhere any reference pore.

PERSONAL 341

ijnt for a trivial transgression. Peruschi justly sums up
tis side of the emperor's character by observing that

he Prince rarely loses his temper, but if he should fall
po a passion, it is impossible to say how great his wrath
r^y be ; the good thing about it is that he presently regains
calmness, and that his wrath is short-lived, quickly
ssing from him ; for, in truth, he is naturally humane,
tie, and kind.'

[is conduct to Jerome Xavier and his colleacrue at

»'

rhanpur offered a conspicuous example both of his
libility to sudden anger, and of his readiness to forget
a,d forgive. For a few hours their lives were in danger,
It when those hours had passed their favour was undi-
rnished and nothing more was said about the offence
viich they had given.

A.S a rule he had perfect self-control. Bartoli expresses
1 2 truth neatly by the remark that

'rhether by training or innate power, he was so completely
mster of his emotions that he could hardly ever be seen
oierwise than as perfectly pleasant and serene.'

Akin to his habitual control over a naturally violent Artful-
tpper was the artfulness with which he was wont to "^^^'
cjnceal his thoughts and real purposes.

' He never ', says Bartoli, ' gave anybody the chance to
Uiderstand rightly his inmost sentiments or to know what
ffth or religion he held by ; but, in whatever way he could
list serve his own interests, he used to feed one party or
tje other with the hope of gaining him to itself, humouring
h side \\dth fair words, and protesting that he had no

her object with his doubts than to seek and find out by

e guidance of their wise answers the simple truth till then
Hdcn from him. The answers given, however, never

iTiced to satisfy him ; the disputes, and with them the
hfpes and vexations of the disputants, never came to an

d, because each day they began again at the beginning.

' And in all business this was the characteristic manner
(I King Akbar — a man apparently free from mystery and
gale, as honest and candid as could be imagined — but in
rality so close and self-contained, with twists of words
aljd deeds so divergent one from the other, and most times
s contradictory that even by much seeking one could not

342 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

find the clue to his thoughts. Thus it often happened tha
a person, comparing him to-day with what he was yestei
day, could find no resemblance ; and even an attentiv
observer, after long and familiar intercourse with birr
knew no more of him on the last day than he had know:
on the first. Details to be given presently [by Bartoli] m.
enable us to understand better the action of that peculia
mind of his, concerning which no man can divine whethe
it was the work of nature or the result of studied training.'

Duplicity That admirably worded description of Akbar's peculia

craft. mind helps the historical student to understand to som

extent the tortuous diplomacy and perfidious action, whicl

on several occasions marked the emperor's political pre

ceedings. The occurrence of such incidents should no

excite surprise or draw excessive censure. Experienc

proves that in practice it is impossible for any persoi

engaged in high affairs of State to be invariably quit

straightforward. A certain amount of finesse is recognize"

to be inevitable in diplomacy and politics. The incredulity

more or less polite, with which official explanations o

denials of awkward facts are received in all countries is ai

expression of the well-founded conviction that statesmei

must often practise at least an economy of truth. In tb

sixteenth century statesmen certainly were not more candi(

or scrupulous than they are now, and it would not be reason

able to expect an Asiatic potentate like Akbar to be ii

advance of his European contemporaries in respect o

straight dealing. As a matter of fact, his policy does no

seem to have been more tortuous than that of the Europeaj

princes of his time. Whatever may be the amount o

Akbar's moral guilt in comparison with that of othe

sovereigns, it is certain that at times he said one thin'

when he meant another, and that on one occasion he shame

lessly broke a most solemn oath. At the time of the firs^

Jesuit mission, while he was writing letters of the mos

friendly and affectionate kind to the authorities at Goa, h

was secretly engaged in plotting the capture of their ports

Diu and Daman. When his governor sent him the head

^ Bartoli, p. 6» <

PERSONAL 343

' certain young Portuguese captives he pretended never
• have seen the ghastly offering ; and yet to the end of
s Hfe one of his most ardent desires was to drive the

t" rtuguese into the sea. The government at Goa under-
od the reaUties of the situation perfectly, and knew well
bw to utilize the Jesuit missionaries as unofficial political
{*ents. The tortuous policy was not all on one side. Akbar's
goss breach of faith to the King of Khandesh at Aslrgarh
^is disgraceful, and the pains taken by his official historians
tl conceal the truth prov^e that the sentiment of the age
ondemned the imperial treachery. Akbar's hypocrisy in \
prforming certain outward acts of conformity with the
Bjislim religion, long after he had lost all faith in the mission
Othe Prophet of Arabia, is frankly admitted by Abu-1 Fazl
iimore than one passage.^
SCn connexion with this subject mention may be made of ^^
tfe undoubted fact that Akbar on many occasions got rid
o people whom he considered dangerous by means of
a:'assination, or secret execution, to use a milder expres-
si'n. In some cases the issue of orders by the emperor is
ojy suspected, but the instances in which no reasonable
d'lbt can be entertained are sufficiently numerous to justify
t\\ assertion that Akbar felt no scruples about removing his
ei'^mies by assassination whenever a public condemnation
w'uld have been inconvenient.^

;' Ardently feeling after God, ... all this honotir was done out
ar, searching for truth, His of abundant perceptiveness, re-
IVf esty exercises upon himself spect and appreciation, and wide
bcfi inward and outward austeri- toleration, in order that the
ti(|, though he occasionally joins reverence due to that simple-
pi lie worship, in order to hush minded Saiyid might not be spilt
th slandering tongues of the on the ground, and that jovial
hi ts of the present age ' (Aln, critics might not break out into
bdk i, Ain 72; vol. i, p. 154). smiles' (ibid., pp. 411, 412).
Hjl paid his final visit to the ^ As it is possible that the
shne at Ajmer as ' a means of assertion in the text may be dis-
ca ling the public ' in September puted, and the reader may find
LW (A.N., iii, 40.3). The sham a dilliculty in remembering the
dcjtion which he showed in cases mentioned in the course of
'wc'ioming the stone supposed to the narrative, it is desirable to
be; the impress of the Prophet's bring the principal incidents to-
foi is cynically explained by the gether. (1) Secret execution of
roiirks that 'although the Asylum Akbar's cousin, the son of Kam-
of:he Faith (iJiiipanah) knew ran, in 15r>.> at (iwalior ; (2) the
th. the thing was not genuine highly suspicious deaths of Makh-

344

AKBAR TIJE GREAT MOGUL

Justice. ' If I were guilty of an unjust act ', Akbar said, ' I woulc
rise in judgement against myself.' ^ The saying was no
merely a copy-book maxim. He honestly tried to do justic(
according to his lights in the summary fashion of his ag(
and country. Peruschi, following the authority of Mon
serrate, declares that

' as to the administration of justice, he is most zealous anc
watchful. ... In inflicting punishment he is deliberate, am
after he has made over the guilty person to the hands of th(
judge and court to suffer either the extreme penalty or thi
mutilation of some limb, he requires that he should bt
three times reminded by messages before the sentence i
carried out.'

The sentences on convicts were of the appalling kind thei
customary in India and Asia generally. The modes o
execution included impalement, trampling by elephants
crucifixion, beheading, hanging, and others. Akbar dre\

dumu-l Mulk and Shaikh Abdu-n
Nabi after their return from
Mecca. The Ikbdlndmah expressly
states that the latter was put to
death by Abu-1 Fazl in pursuance
of Akbar's orders {A.N., iii, 406,
note by Beveridge, see Badaoni,
ii, 321) ; (3) the equally suspicious
death of Masum Farankhudi
(Blochmann, in Aln, vol. i, p. 444);
(4) execution of Mir Muizzu-1 Mulk
and another by their boat ' foun-
dering' (ibid., p. 382) ; (5) ' One by
one he sent all the Mullas against
whom he had any suspicions of
dissatisfaction to the abode of
annihilation ' (Badaoni, ii, 285) ;
(6) mysterious death of Haji
Ibrahim in the fortress of Ran-
thambhor (ibid., pp. 286, 322).
Those cases amply support the
proposition formulated in the
text. But Wheeler's assertion —
that Akbar ' had another way of
getting rid of his enemies which
is revolting to civilization. He
kept a poisoner in his pay ' — is
not supported by good evidence.
It rests only on the contradictory
gossip about the supposed cause
of Akbar's death, which does not
deserve any credit. I do not
suppose that Akbar had any con-

scientious objections to the use o
poison, but no well-authenticatei
case of his employment of tha
secret weapon seems to be re
corded. He deliberately rejectei
advice to remove his brother b;
assassination, though his refusa
was not based on any high mora ^
grounds.* t

* ' Happy Sayings,' Aln, vol
p. 383. ' Some bold spirit

asked permission to lie in ambus)
and put an end to that rebel
I could not consent, thinking i;
remote from what was fitting i.j
his regard. Thus both that dis;
tinguished memorial of majest;
[sci7. of Humayun] escaped fror
harm, and my devoted friend
were shielded from peril.' Th!
author of the Khazdnatu-l Anbiy]
asserts that Akbar caused Makb
dumu-l Mulk to be poisoned, bu
Blochmann disbelieved the assei'
tion because Badaoni, a friend c
the deceased, is silent on th
subject (Aln, vol. i, Biography (
Abu-1 Fazl, p. vii), a reason by n
means conclusive.

» ' Happy Sayings,' Aln, vol. ii;
387.

PERSONAL 345

he line at the old Mongol practice of flaying alive, and was
isgusted when his son inflicted that horrible punishment,
abur had ordered it without scruple. As minor penalties
utilation and whipping of great severity were commonly
dered. The emperor occasionally called up civil suits of
portance to his own tribunal. No records of proceedings,
vil or criminal, were kept, everything being done verbally ;
d no sort of code existed, except in so far as the persons
ting as judges thought fit to follow Koranic rules. Akbar
d Abu-1 Fazl made small account of witnesses and oaths,
he governor of a province was instructed that

in judicial investigations he should not be satisfied with
itnesses and oaths, but pursue them by manifold inquiries,

[y the study of physiognomy and the exercise of foresight ;

or, laying the burden of it on others, live absolved from
licitude.' ^

i Akbar encouraged the use of trial by ordeal in the Hindu
iishion. He possessed an intellect so acute and knowledge
ff human nature so profound that when he undertook
idieial duties in person his efforts to do substantial justice
.1 a summary fashion probably met with considerable
wccess.

The horrors of an execution ground are realistically
cpicted in one of the contemporary illustrations to the
Ikbarndma at South Kensington. Although Akbar was free
I'om the love of cruelty for its own sake, and did not enjoy

; itching the death-agonies of convicts, as his son and

fandson did, he could display a considerable degree of
rocity when his anger was roused by obstinate resistance
) his ambition. He showed such severity in his treatment
'.' the garrison of Chitor and in the tortures inflicted on the
Mlowers of the Mirzas. He regarded prolonged opposition
> his will as a heinous crime, no matter how chivalrous his
pponent might be ; and when the opposition had been
Irushcd by superior force he was not always merciful.
L is probable that his clemency, when shown, often was
ictated by policy rather than by sentiment.

• Aln, book i, Ain 1 ; vol. ii, p. 37. Sec also p. 41.

346 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Ambi- The ruling passi on o f Akbar was ambition. His whol

reign vvas'de3Icated_to conquest. His aggressions, mad
without the shghtest regard to moral considerations, wer
not determined in any instance _by ^ desire to better th
condition of the people in the kingdom attacked. He woul(
have laughed at the canting apology for his action tenderec
by a modern, uncritical panegyrist, who was rash enougl
to write :

' Akbar did not conquer in Rajputana to rule in Raj
putana. He conquered that all the Rajput princes, eacl
in his own dominions, might enjoy that peace and prosperitj
which his predominance, never felt aggressively, secured fo;
the whole empire.' ^

Similar untrue nonsense will be found in von Noer's bool
and elsewhere. In reality a more aggressive king nevei
existed.^ His attacks on Gondwana, Kashmir, Sind, anc
the Deccan kingdoms were aimed avowedly at destroying
the independence of every State on his borders, and o
securing the material gains of conquest. There is no evidenc(
that his administrat ion in fact causedjnorejiappinessjthar
that produced by most of the governments which he over
threw so ruthlessly. We may be tolerably certain, on th(
contrary, that the people of Gondwana were happier undo
Rani DurgavatI than they were under Asaf Khan, and thai
they must have felt bitterly the humiliation endured by th(
family who had ruled them for so many generations.

Akbar himself did not cant on the subject. He woulc
not have quarrelled with Terry's comparison of him witl
a great pike in a pond.

' A monarch ' , he said, ^ should be ever intent on con
quest, otherwise his jieig hbour s rise in arms against him
The army should be exercised in warfare, lest from want
of training they become sel f-indu lgent.' ^ Accordingly ht
continued to be intent on conquest all his life and to keej
his army in constant training. He never attained more
than a part of the objective of his ambition, which in-

1 Malleson, Akbar, p. 184. ^ 'Happy Sayings,' ^In, vol. iii

" ' Est enim gloriae percupidus ' p. 399.
{Commentarius, p. 619).

PERSONAL 347

;luded the conquest of every part of India besides Central
\.sia.

In Rajputana he pursued the successive Ranas of Mcwar
i^ith unrelenting hostiUty, and whenever he was strong
nough he annexed the territory of the clans.^

Akhar was much attracted by the prospect of the booty

be gained by a successful campaign, in which he valued
specially elephants and jewels. He took the best care
ossible that his generals should not defraud him. He
)v ed ric hes and the accumulation of wealth, being, as

onserrate says, ' rather penurious and retentive of money '.^
Although at times he would lavish prodigious sums on
t hobbies, as at Fathpur-Sikri, he was generally disposed
economize. The Agra fort Avas paid for by a special
X, and it is not improbable that the cost of his freak at

jathpur may have been defrayed in the same way. He
cumulated a gigantic treasure and became the richest
ng in the world. An exact inventory of the possessions

Ift by him in the fort at Agra in 1605 showed a cash hoard

1 more than twenty millions sterling. Similar hoards on
i smaller scale were preserved in six other treasure cities,
1 le aggregate of which cannot well have been less in amount
1lan the Agra treasure. It is legitimate, therefore, to
isume that Akbar left behind him fully forty million
]|)unds sterling in coined money, equivalent in purchasing
])wer to at least two hundred millions now. Such a hoard
('uld not have been accumulated except by a man fond
c money. When Khandcsh was annexed Prince Daniyal
lised the assessment 50 per cent, by a stroke of the
lln.*

riie systematic assessment of the empire for which Akbar Fiscal
afd Todar Mall are given so much credit was primarily P*^'^y-
i ended to increase the imperialj;evenue. Improve iiuiit in
t condition of the people w as quite a secondary considera-
I II. Akbar was a hard-headed man of business, not

The portions annexed formed sinius omnium rcgum est ' (Com-

ti Suba of Ajmcr. incnUtriiis, p. (\U\).

' I'^t ouni parcior sit, ct in ^ Aln, vol. ii, p. 224.
niacnda pecuiiia tenaeior, ditis-

348

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Three
stages of
religious
develop-
ment.

Mysti-
cism.

a sentimental philanthro pist, and his^ whole^olic^was
directed principally to the acquisition of power and riches.
All the arrangements about jdg'irs, branding, &c., were
devised for the one purpose, namely, the enhancement of
the power, glory, and riches of the croMTi. We do not
know anything substantia l ab out the actual effect of his
administrative measures on the welfare and happiness of
the common people. Certainly they did not prevent the
occurrence of one of the most terrible famines on record
which desolated Northern India late in the reign, from
1595 to 1598. The enormous hoard described above then lay
idle in the treasure vaults. No important Avorks designed for
the public benefit, as distinct from buildings and roads
intended to promote the imperial comfort and magnificence,
stand to the credit of Akbar's account.

The subject of Akbar's opinions on religion has attracted
much attention from many of the authors who have dealt
with his life and history. It occupies a large space in the
works of Badaonl, Abu-1 Fazl, and the Jesuit writers, anc
obtains great prominence in the books of the few moderi
European historians who have discussed the events of th(
reign at any considerable length. His attitude towards th(
problems of religion changed completely and more thai
once during his lifetime. For many years he was a zealous
tolerably orthodox, Sunni Musalman, willing to executi
Shias and other heretics. He next passed through a stag'
(1574-82), in which he may be described as a sceptical
rationalizing Muslim ; and finally, rejecting Islam utterly'
he evolved an eclectic religion of his own; with himself a
its prophet7i582^^05).

His religious speculations and vagaries rested primarily o;
the fact that he was born with the mystic temperameni
Even in the early years of his reign, when he was a zealoDi
pilgrim to the shrines of the saints, a generous builder (
mosques, and a willing persecutor of unorthodox the(
logians, his orthodoxy was modified by a strain of nfyst
cism based chiefly on the writings of the Persian Su
poets. Later in life he came more under the influence »

PERSONAL 349

[indu pantheistic doctrine, which has close affinities with

ufl teaching. Throughout all phases he seems always to

ave cherished the mystic's ideal of close and direct com-

lunion with God, unobseured by priestly intervention or

isputable dogmas. An able writer has observed that

lystics often are ' intensely practical '.^ Akbar was, as we

ave seen, one of the most ambitious of men, with a lust

|)r power, a love of money, and infinite capacity for hard i^^

ork, the most practical of characteristics. Yet he remained

mystic to the end.

In the discussion of the strange experience through
hich Akbar passed in 1578, at the time when he was on
|ie point of renouncing the religion of Muhammad, certain

her incidents which throw some light on that obscure

ent have been cited. To them may be added one of his

yings :

' One night my heart was weary of the burden of life,
then suddenly, between sleeping and waking, a strange
sion appeared to me, and my spirit was somewhat com-
-rted.' 2

Such visions come to the mystics only. The epileptic
^sease from which Akbar suffered probably induced the

isions.

Akbar, whatever may have bee n the e xt ent o fjiis failings Akbar
\\ practice, was a sincerely religious man, constitutionally ^'"^j^.r^'y
ffivout. Jahangir declares that his father ' never for one
foment forgot God '.^ That testimony is corroborated by
jbu-l Fazl, who avers that his sovereign ' passes every
ioment of his life in self-examination or in adoration of
fDd '. He performed private devotions four times a day
: sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight, spending a con-

.Sjlerable time over them. In his latter days those devotions . -

(insisted largely of acts of reverence to the sun, fire, and
ll'ht. In earlier years he had observed strictly the five

' Literary Supplement of The which he visited in 1573, appa-

//if.v, January i:j, 1910, p. 20. rentiy in the interval between the

- ■ Happy Sayings,' ^Zn, vol. iii, two Gujarat expeditions (Growse,

I ;W«. Acconiiiif^ to Hindu Mrt/Zti/m, .'Jrd cd., p. 241).

iidition he jjeheld • a marvellous * Jahangir, 11. B., i, 37.

' ion ' at the Urindaban temples.

350 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Muhammad an canonical times for prayer.^ Apart from
formal religious exercises, his whole course of life testified
to the extreme interest taken by him in the problem of the
relations between God and man, and many of his sayings
express his views on the subject.

' There is no need ', he observed, ' to discuss the point
that a vacuum in nature is impossible. God is omni-
present.

' There exists a bond between the Creator and the creature
which is not expressible in language.

' That which is without form cannot be seen whether in
sleeping or waking, but it is apprehensible by force of imagina-
tion. To behold God in vision is, in fact, to be understood
in this sense.

' Each person according to his condition gives the Supreme
Being a name, but in reality to name the Unknowable is
vain.

' Who can sever the attachment of the rational soul to
the Supreme Being ?

' Although I am the master of so vast a kingdom, and all
the appliances of government are at my hand, yet since
true greatness consists in doing the will of God, my mind
is not at ease in this diversity of sects and creeds ; and
apart from this outward pomp of circumstances, with what
satisfaction, in my despondency, can I undertake the sway
of empire ? I await the coming of some discreet man of
principle who will resolve the difficulties of my conscience.' ^

He awaited him in vain. The quotations might be largely

multiplied, but so much may suffice.

The Nuru-1 Hakk, a contemporary author, is right, I think,

search ^^ affirming that at the time of the first Jesuit mission

for truth. (1580-2), when lively religious discussions were going on,

Akbar's ' mind was solejy bent __UEon ascertaining, the

truth '.^ His restless, rationalizing spirit never could find a

satisfying answer to that old, old question, 'What is Truth?',

and he died a baffled, disappointed man. At one time he

nearly attained a firm conviction that the creed of Aquaviva

was the best religion in the world on its merits. But he

* Until A. D. 1578 (a. h. 986 ; Note the allusion to his ' de-
Nuru-1 Hakk, in E. & D., vi, 189). spondency ', the ' melancholy' of

* ' Happy" Sayings,' various pas- the Jesuit observers,
sages, Am, vol. iii, pp. 380-6. ' E. & D., vi, 190.

PERSONAL 351

ciuld not accept its claims to absolutely exclusive allegiance ;

H; intellect revolted against the doctrine of the Trinity,

a'd practical difficulties forbade him to admit the necessity

c: monogamy. In practice he found imperfect solace from

aoration of, or reverence for, the sun,^ fire, and light after

tie Zoroastrian manner, and in following Jain precepts con-

crning the sanctity of animal life. He played vnth Christian

rual, but nothing could induce him to submit to the mind

othe Church,

jIn 1582 he r esolved to attem pt the jnvgossible, task of ' Divine

poviding all sects in his empire with one^ universal edectic theism '

r'igion to which he gave the name of Divine Mo nothe ism.

I.' persuaded himself that he was the A-icegerent of the

Amighty, empowered to rule the spiritual as well as the

taiporal concerns of his subjects. That audacious attempt

vs an utter failure, but Akbar never formally admitted the

fi t, and to the end of his life he persisted in maintaining

tj; farce of the new religion. From the time he proclaimed

tilt creed he w^as not a jMuslim. The formula of initiation

r(|iuired the categorical apostasy from Islam of the person

iiitiated.

lis attitude towards religion expressed the queer mixture

ii his mind of mysticism, rationalism, superstition, and

a irofound belief in his own God-given powers. His actions

a'times gave substantial grounds for the reproach that he

^s not unfiling to be regarded as a God on earth.^

le avowedly held extreme beliefs, such as were current Divinity

of kings.

Compare Akbar"s attitude to- lated by Blochmann, ventured to

w ds the sun with the utterance wTite :

of he modern mystic and theo- ' The old-fashioned prostration

sO|iist : — • An enormously elabo- is of no advantage to thee ; see

ra: and magnificent hierarchv of Akbar, and you see God ' {Ain,

S{ itual Beings, beyond whom, vol. i, p. 56l). But the words of

inlaziling and (as yet) impene- the second clause,

trile mystery, there exists an ' Akbar ba shinds td Khuda ba

inimprehensible sublime Power, shindsi ',

nf honi the Sun may be thought mean rather

tlic piiysical symbol' (.•\. P. 'Acknowledge' or 'take know-

tt, in Xiiifteenth Century, ledge of Akbar, so that you may

M ch 1916, p. 595). Some notion take knowledge of God"',

of lat sort seems to have been at through his representative on

th back of Akbar's mind. earth.
His flatterer FaizI, as trans-

352

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Force of
personal
cha-
racter.

in Persia, concerning the ' divinity that doth hedge a king '
and often gave utterance to his views on the subject. Som(
of his sayings are :

' The very sight of kings has been held to be a part o:
divine worship. They have been styled conventionally the
shadow of God, and indeed to behold them is a means o:
calling to mind the Creator, and suggests the protection o
the Almighty.

' What is said of monarchs, that their coming bringi
security and peace, has the stamp of truth. When mineral:
and vegetables have their peculiar virtues, what wonder i
the actions of a specially chosen man should operate for thi
security of his fellows ?

' The anger of a monarch, like his bounty, is the source
of national prosperity.

' Divine worship in monarchs consists in their justice anc
good administration.

' A king should not be familiar in mirth and amusemen
with his courtiers.

' He who does not speak of monarchs for their virtues wil
assuredly fall to reproof or scandal in their regard.

' The words of kings resemble pearls. They are not fi
pendants to every ear.' ^

Like most autocrats he enjoyed flattery and receivec
with pleasure adulation of the most fulsome kind.

The practical ability displayed by Akbar as soldier
general, administrator, diplomatist, and supreme ruler ha
been shown abundantly by his whole history, and does no
need further exposition. The personal force of his character
discernible even now with sufficient clearness, was over
powering to his contemporaries. He was truly, as th.
Jesuit author calls him, ' the terror of the East '. In th
later years of his reign, when all his old friends had diS;
appeared, and he had been spoiled to a certain extent b

* ' Happy Sayings,' in Aln,
vol. iii, pp. 398-400. The sayings
may be compared with Abu-1
Fazl's declaration : — ' Royalty is
a light emanating from God and
a ray from the sun, the illuminator
of the universe, the argument of
the book of perfection, the recep-
tacle of all virtues ' (Am, vol. i,
Preface, p. iii). Both Abu-1 Fazl

and his master took their doctrin
from the Persians, who, we ar
told, ' esteem their Emperors nc
only as Lords Paramount, bt
reverence them as Sons of th
Prophets, whose Dominion then
fore is grounded more on Hiei
archy than bare Monarchy
(Fryer, A New Account, &c., e(
Crooke, vol. iii, p. 40).

PERSONAL 353^

: ore than four decades of autocracy, it is probable that he '^^^
as feared rather than loved. . The dread of him, even at
a earlier time^ was-so-p otent t hat he felt liimself free to
l)ut and insult the most sacred feelings of his Muhammadan
tibjects and to continue in that course of conduct for more
ian twenty years. As early as 1582 Monserrate noted
4fh surprise that Akbar had not been killed by the Musal-
lans.^ It is true that his innovations provoked rebellions,
lit we never hear of their resulting in direct attempts on
Is life. His grand personal qualities seem to have shielded
Im from the violence of the assassin. We read of only one
; tempt to murder him, and that occurred when he was
tj^enty-one years of age, and was still a zealous Muslim,
At had given deep offence by invading the honour of
finilies.

{After his return from Kabul at the end of 1581 his personal
acendancy was established so firmly that he could venture
tl do what he pleased. He used the liberty to do some
dtrageous things. While we deplore and condemn certain
ol his actions, we cannot but marvel at the commanding
fcce of character wliich guaranteed him impunity.

lie was a born king of men, with a rightful claim to rank
a one of the greatest sovereigns known to history. That
dim rests securely on the basis of his extraordinary natural
gts, his- original ideas, and his magnificent achievements.
I'is weakened, rather than strengthened, by the adulation
Q'uncriti cal ad mirers.

' A nemine est interemptus ' faithful subject ' (Pinheiro, in

{wmmentarius, p. 641). In Maclagan, p. 99. The letter

A^ust 1605, shortly before the quoted is not available elsewhere

e peror's death, Kulij Khan, the in print. It is in Marsden MS.

veroy at Lahore, publicly de- No. 9854 in the British Museum).
c!red himself to be AJcbar's • only

'•n-

845

CHAPTER XIII

genius
for

organiza-
tion.

INSTITUTIONS, MILITARY AND CIVIL

Akbar's Akbar, a brilliant soldier and pre-eminently successful
general after the Asiatic manner against Asiatic foes, was
endowed with a genius for organization rare among eastern
potentates and not common in any part of the world. His
mind, capable of grasping broad and original principles of
government essential to the consolidation and stability of
an extensive empire won by aggressive conquest, had also
an extraordinary capacity for laborious attention to detail,
which enabled him to check and control the laxity in
administration natural and habitual to his officers. He had
no conception of any form of government other than auto-
cracy^of the most absolute possible kind, nor was any other
form practicable in the India of the sixteenth century. No
materials existed in the country from which a system of
administration could be evolved on lines of organic develop-
ment. His institutions consequently depended for their
success on the personal ability of the autocrat working
them, and necessarily lost much of their efficacy when their
author died.^ '

All the three sovereigns, his son, grandson, and great-
grandson, who succeeded Akbar for a century, had sufficient
intelligence to recognize the value of many of the institu-
tions of their brilliant ancestor, and to maintain in working
order to a certain extent the machine which he had con-
structed and set in motion. His son Jahangir made littlei
change. The alterations effected by Shahjahan, the grand-
son, and Aurangzeb, the great-grandson, were for the worse,

Partial
survival
of

Akbar's
institu-
tions.

* ' There is, in sooth, no remedy
for such a world of confusion but
in autocracy, and this panacea in
administration is attainable only
in the majesty of just monarchs
^ . . how can the tumult of this

world-nest of hornets be silenced
save by the authority of a vice-
gerent of Almighty power 1 '
( Abu-1 Fazl in Am, book ii, Ain 7 ;
vol. ii, p. 51).

INSTITUTIONS 35l

1 1707, when Aurangzeb's unduly prolonged reign came ^n-

i an end, the machine, which had been out of gear for
|any years, fell to pieces, and almost all traces of Akbar's
•aborate organization seemed to have disappeared. But,
iom the time of Warren Hastings in the last quarter of
lie eighteenth century, the newly constituted Anglo-Indian
athorities began to grope their way back to the institutions
(j Akbar. They gradually adopted the principal features
c! his system in the important department concerned with
t|e assessment of the land revenue, or crown share of
gfricultural produce, known in Indian official language as
tie Settlement Department. In several provinces of the
eisting Indian empire the principles and practice of the
^ttlement Department are essentially the same as those
virked out by Akbar and his ministers. The structure of
tfe bureaucratic framework of government also still shows
riiny traces of his handiwork. His institutions, therefore, \
a^ not merely of historical and antiquarian interest, but ^
a^ in some degree the foundation of the system of administra-
tJn now in operation.

[The principles of government laid dow^l by Akbar, and Origin-
th administrative system described in the Aln differed ^kbar.
e;entially from the principles and system of the Sultans
o: Delhi. The brief and disturbed Indian reigns of his
gi'ndfathcr, Babur, and his father, Humiiyun, need not be
ccisidered in this connexion. Neither of those sovereigns
hil either the inclination or the opportunity to elaborate
ai improved form of government. The credit for the novel
pihciples and improved practice is due to Akbar himself.
H; remark that

' i, was the effect of the grace of God that I found no
csable minister, otherwise people would have considered
tKt my measures had been devised by him,'

w ch has been already quoted, is true in the sense that
ncVe of his ministers could either have conceived his original
id'is or given them practical effect. The ministers were
usally his pupils rather than his teachers. SonieT not
m ly, of them rendered excellent service, but Akbar, from

A a2

56 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

the age of twenty-one, was master of both his household

and his kingdom, and able to impress his personal stamp

on the policy of his government in all departments.

His ' After the fall of Bairam Khan, the Protector, in 1560,

policy I Akbar continued for a short time to rule in the spirit of the

trasted old Sultans as the chief of a small body of foreign military

of the adventurers, alien in language and manners, and hostile in

Sultan- religion to the mass of the inhabitants of India. Those
ate.

adventurers derived a certain amount of support from the

colonies composed of descendants of similar adventurers

who had been settled in northern and western India at

various times during the five preceding centuries. But such

support was extremely intermittent and often replaced by

active enmity. The Sultans had considered India to hi

i a Musalman country, and had taken credit to themselves

whenever they graciously allowed the Hindu majority tc

purchase their lives by the payment of a special tax. Public

exercise of the Hindu religion was illegal, and frequentl)

was treated as a capital offence.^

Akbar at an early age saw the unsoundness of thai

position, and realized that a stable empire could not bt

established on the basis of the principles of the Sultanate

The most original of his ideas consisted in his recognitioi

J ! and practical acknowledgement of the principles that Hindu

' as well as Muhammadans should be considered eligible fo

j the highest offices in the State, civil or military, and tha

the adherents of every creed should have complete libert

to worship God after their own fashions. Throughout hi

life, after the first few years of his reign, he maintained th

theoretical validity of those two principles, although in h

later years he actually infringed the second, and was guilt

of a persecution of Islam. J

Military The military character impressed on the government (

character ^j^^^^j, j^y jjjg ancestry and the circumstances of his earl

1 Firoz Shah Tughlak burned a who had erected a new temple ' i

Brahman alive for publicly per- a Musalman country '. Hebougl

forming the worship of idols at multitudes of ' converts ' by pri

his house, and prided himself on mising exemption from the jizi

having executed certain Hindus tax (E. & D., iii, 365, 381, 386).

INSTITUTIONS 357

fe continued to the end. The primaiy object of his policy of the
'^as conquest, directed to the estabhshment of his sovereignty ment!""
Ver the whole or nearly the whole of India and to the re-
onquest of the Central Asian kingdoms once held by his
jrandfather. He recognized the facts that effective conquest
jivolved adequate organization of the conquered territories,
jnd that such organization was unattainable without the
p-operat ion of all classes of his subjects. He began life
ijraetically without any territory, and had to subdue the
I'hole of the enormous empire which owned his sway at
[he time of his death. The bureaucracy which he organized
In a Persian basis was essentially military, and almost all
inportant officials exercising civil jurisdiction were primarily
lilitary commanders.^ Their civil powers were attached
b and dependent on their military rank. His court, even
tpben- quartered in a city, was a camp, and his camj) was
j travelling city.

I It is fitting, therefore, that an account of his institutions
lould begin with the court and army. He did not possess
ay navy to signify.

I The sovereign, being recognized as an absolute autocrat. The
|ititled to do what he pleased, so long as he retained his '"""^t^^'s-
jOfice, was not constrained by any law or custom having
jie force of law. As a Muhammadan his personal religious
juty required him to obey the scripture and authentic
■Editions, but if he chose, as often happened, to disregard
[oranic precepts, nobody could hinder him. The only
•medics available to the orthodox against an impious or
titudinarian king were rebellion and assassination, both
3erations being extremely dangerous to attempt. A really
rong king could defy Koranic law as far as he thought fit.
tkbar did so in greater or less degree throughout most of
is reign, and carried his defiance to the utmost lengths
tiring the last twenty-three years of his life. His action

' Even the kitehen department pay of a foot soldier varies from

as organized on mihtary lines. 100 to 400 rf«»i.v.' Hakim Humam.

lin 20 of book i (Alri, vol. i, p. (J2) the Mir Hakawal, or chief of that

(ids with the words : — ' In this departnunt, ranked as a eom-

i;partment nobles, ahudls, and mander of (>()() {Alu, vol. i. ]>. ■1-74,

|her military are employed. The No. 20.'>).

358 AKHAi; 11 IK GHKAT MOGUL

endangered his throiu- in 15H1, but when he had rmounted
that crisis he was able for the rest of his time ^ do what
he pleased. A monarch in such a position la; under no
o})ligati(>n to have a council or ministers at all. \ practice
however, such aids to personal government \?re indis-
pensable. But nothing required the autocrat t maintain
any particular number of ministers or to have a-ouncil of
any particular f«)rm.

In .Xkbar's reign the principal ministers were:

1 . The Vakil, or Prime Minister.

•J. The Vizier (lacFr, xcazlr), or Finance Minisi • ; some-
times called Diwan.

3. The chief HakhshI, an^fTicer, whose variec functions
cannot be indicated by any English denominaon. His
duties, as defined bv Irvine, included the recruitig of the
army, and the keeping up of certain registers, (mprising
the list of high ollieials (mansabdurs) in proper Irm ; tis
roster of palace-gnards ; the rules as to grant of pay ;
list of ofTicers paid in cash. &c. Wiien an importat battk
was being arranged it was his business to assigi posts tc
the sevcnU commanders in the van, centre, wing or rear-
guard, and to lay a ' present state ' or muster ill of the
army before his sovereign. He might or might nc assume
a high command himself.

4. The Sadr. or Sadr Sudur, whose functions a> equally
inexpressible by any English official designation. Early in
the reign, while his position was unimpaired, he Sadr
ranked as the highest ecclesiastical officer, excising the
jwwers of a Chief Inquisitor, even to the inflictia of the
capital penalty, and enjoying the privilege of granting
lands for ecclesiastical or benevolent purposes wiiout the
necessity of obtaining royal sanction. His readii; of the
KhutboL or * bidding prayer ', in the name of a new wereign
legalized the accession.

I In the later part of the reign Akbar clipped th powers

' of the Sadr. and in 1582 he abolished the office as aiimperial

appointment, dividing the duties among six pDvincial

officers. In practice other officials besides the fur great

INSTITUTIONS 359

officers pecified often enjoyed immense power. Abu-1
Fazl, fc instance, was never, I think, formally appointed
either ^zier or Vakil, but he was for a long time Akbar's
most trsted minister and Secretary of State.

The prson of the sovereign being regarded as precious The
beyond verything, the officials of the household occupied ""P^nal
positior of high importance. The two principal officials hold.
at the place seem to have been the First BakhshI, some of
whose aties have been described above, and who, accord-
ing to Ivine, is to be identified with the Mir Arz, or Lord
of Requsts, and secondly, the Palace Commandant. All
imperia orders passed through tlieir hands. The various
househ(d departments, such as the kitchen, water-supply,
stables. I nd so forth, were carefully organized, but it would
be tire ime to go into details. Hakim Humam, the Mir
Bakawc. or Master of the Kitchen, possessed great influence
at cour and ranked as one of the intimate personal friends
of the aiperor.^

The nperial harem constituted a town in itself. No T^e
less tha five thousand women dwelt within the walls, and harem,
each of hem had a separate apartment. The maintenance
and cotrol of such a multitude of women necessitated
a carefdy devised system of internal administration and
the orgnization of adequate arrangements for discipline.
The inrates were divided into sections, each under a female
iommadant {ddroga), and due provision was made for the
mpply om the ranks of clerks to keep the accounts. A strict
Tiethocof check was applied to the expenditure, which was
Dn a Ip^e scale.

The aside of the enclosure was protected by armed
'emale uards. Eunuchs watched on the outside of it, and
jcyoncithem again were companies of faithful Rajputs,
vhile toops of other classes posted at a greater distance
^ave frther security.

■ Bloi rnann, Ain, vol. i, p. nine friends, namely. Raja Rirbal,

174, N< 205; and the nauratna Haja Man Siniili, Haja Todar Mall,

|jicture i the Vietoria Memorial Ilakini Ilumain, Miilla Dfipiyaza,

"ollcetii., Calcutta. Tlic mm- Faizi, Ai)ii-I Fazl, Mirza Ahdu-r

ulna t 'nine jewels' meant raliim, Khan Khaiian, and Taiisen.

360 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

More or less similar arrangements must necessarily hav
been made by earlier rulers, but there seems to be no reaso:
to doubt that Akbar's genius for organization and his rar
capacity for mastering the minute details of any subjec
enabled him to effect practical improvements in the adminis
tration of his household and harem, as well as in the externa
departments of his government.^ He kept a watchful ey
over everybody and everything.
The Akbar did not maintain a large standing army, equippec

army and at the expense of the State and paid directly from hi;
con- treasury, as the Maurya kings in ancient days are said t(

have done. Most of his military strength consisted of thi
aggregate of irregular contingents raised and commande(
either by autonomous chieftains or by high imperial officers
Then, as now, a large part of the empire was in the posses
sion of hereditary kings or chieftains, who are now knowi
as the rulers of the Native or Protected States, In Akbar';
time they recognized more or less effectively the authoritj '
of the emperor, which they supported by the more or les;
regular payment of tribute and the furnishing of militar;
aid on demand. Akbar was willing to allow such kings o
chieftains to retain their territories and rank, with ful
powers of internal administration in their own severa
fashions, on condition that they should attend court fron
time to time, humbly do homage, offer valuable gifts
recognize the Padshah as their suzerain, and give him hel{
in his wars. When his power was at its height he is sair
to have had twenty such princes in constant persona
attendance. They often rendered active service in war
as, for instance, the ruler of Khandesh, who fell fighting
for Akbar's cause at the battle of Supa (a. d. 1597).

But the emperor relied more on the contingents furnisher
by the officials whom he himself had appointed for th(
purpose. Each of them was required to recruit and equif
a certain number of men and horses, besides elephants
Regulations to which he devoted much thought and laboui

1 Compare the arrangements in (Sewell, A Forgotten Empire, 1900
the Hindu court of Vijayanagar pp. 247, 370, 382).

INSTITUTIONS 361

re devised with the object of securing the actual recruit-
nt of the numbers prescribed and of preventing fraud
i| the provision of horses and equipment. The troops so
rcruited were cavalry for the most part, the infantry and
rtillcry being of httle account.^ The men brought up to
^e standards by each great official looked to him as their
[llrsonal chief. They were not formed into regiments or
fiy other organized body, and were not required to drill
[;[ to observe uniformity in dress or arms.

iBlochmann calculated that the standing army, equipped Small
1/ the State and paid directly from the Treasury, could not army. "
live exceeded normally 25,000 men ; but we now know
Fom the testimony of Monscrrate, who accompanied the
nperor, that at the time of the expedition to Kabul (1581) ^
■kbar had 45,000 cavalry equipped and paid by himself,
2si!des 5,000 elephants and an unnumbered host of men
h foot. The latter, who were little esteemed, included
1 sorts of people besides regular soldiers. The effort made
I 1581 was exceptional, Akbar's life and throne being then
1 imminent danger, and it may be accepted as certain that
1 ordinary years he did not incur the expense of keeping
nder arms a force at all as large as that raised to defeat
is brother's attack.

The historian specially notes that in 1573, when the
mergency in Gujarat had necessitated prompt action,
kbar had opened wide the doors of his treasury and
quipped his nobles' contingents at his own expense.
Ordinarily, however, the Rajas and mansabddrs were cx-
ected to provide the men of their contingents with all
ecessaries. Hardly any transport was engaged officially ;
ach man had to make his own arrangements. No com-
lissariat service existed. Supplies were provided by huge
azaars marching with the camp, and by the nomadic tribes

' ' Verum tota virtus belli in peditionary force. It consisted of

qjiitatu posita est ' {Commev- .'iO.OOO cavalry, recruited from

trius, p. .585). diverse nations, and, of course,

^ Commentarius, p. aS;!. Mon- including chieftains' and olficials'

L»rrate does not state how many contingents ; 500 elephants,

f the 45,000 state-paid cavalry camels, and infantry of sorts (ibid.,

ftually took part in the ex- p. ,582).

362

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Mansab-
dars, or
graded
officials.

of Banjaras, who made a profession of carrying grain with
which to feed armies. Similar old-world arrangements con-
tinued in India until quite modern times. Under Akbar
they were usually effective. Monserrate was much impressed
by the plenty and cheapness of provisions in the great
camp on its way to the Indus. ^

The superior graded officials of the empire were called
mansahddrs, holders of mansahs, or official places of rank
and profit. The Arabic word mansah, which was imported
from Turkistan and Persia, simply means ' place '. The
earliest mention of the grading of mansahddrs in India is
the statement of Tod that ' Bihar Mall was the first prince
of Amber who paid homage to the Muhammadan power.
He attended the fortunes of Babur, and received from
Humayun (previous to the Pathan usurpation) the mansab
of 5,000 as Raja of Amber '.^ That must have happened
about 1548. The next reference to a mansab of definite
grade known to me occurs in the fifteenth year of Akbar's
reign (1570-1), when Baz Bahadur, the ex-king of Malwa,
came to court and was appointed a ' mansabdar of 1,000 '.^

But the systematic grading of the ranks was not accom-
plished until three years later, in the eighteenth regnal year
(1573-4), after the conquest of Gujarat, a landmark in
Akbar's career.*

The system was based on the fact that the bulk of the
army consisted of contingents recruited and supplied by
individual chiefs or leaders. The grades fixed by Akbar
had originally indicated the number of men which each
officer was expect ed to bring in.^

* ' At Sacerdoti, qui in castris
erat, magnam admirationem
movebat, in tanta multitudine,
potissimum elephantum, tanta
vilitas annonae, quae Regis pro-
vida, et solerti cura, atque dili-
gentia, contingebat ' (ibid., p. 581).
Terry expressed similar senti-
ments in the next reign.

2 Tod, 'Annals of Amber',
chap, i ; popular ed., ii, 286.

^ Blochmann, Aln, vol. i, p.
429. He does not name his

authority. The statement is not
in either the A.N, or Badaoni.

' A.N., iii, 95.

^ The system was borrowed
directly from Persia. See Fryer,
A New Account of East India and
Persia, ed. Crooke, Hakluyt Soc.,
1915, vol. iii, p. 56. The Persian
gradation extended from ' a com-
mander of 12,000' to 'commanders
of 10 '. The Sultans of the Deccan
had a similar organization.

INSTITUTIONS

363

He classified his officers in thirty-three grades, ranging
rom ' mansahddrs [usually translated as ' commanders ']
)f 10 ' to ' mansahddrs of 10,000 '. Late in the reign such
)fficers numbered about 1,600 in all, and formed an official
lobility. Their appointment, retention, promotion, and
lismissal depended solely on the arbitrary will of the
overeign, and no incident of the dignity was heritable. On
he contrary, the emperor regarded himself as the heir of
11 his subjects, and ruthlessly seized the entire property of
;very deceased official, whose family had to make a fresh
tart, contingent on the goodwill of the emperor.

The 10,000 and 8,000 grades w ere reserved exclusively

or princes of the royal family. The 7,000 grade was so

eserved at first, but later in the reign Raja Todar Mall

md one or two other officers were raised to that rank.

fjSich class carried a definite rate of pay, out of which the

Uolder was required to pay the cost of his quota of horses,

llephants, beasts of burden, and carts. Further, there were

hree gradations of rank within each class from 5,000

lownwards.

I A few examples will make the matter clearer. The table
s condensed from Blochmann, Am, vol. i, p. 248.

Beasts of bur-

Salary, monthly {in rupees).

Com-

Ele-

mander of

Horses.

phanis.

ivith strings

1st

2nd

3rd

of mules.
260

grade.

5,000

340

100

30,000

29,000

28,000

1,000

8,200

8,100

8,000

500

2,500

2,300

2,100

100

700

600

500

100

82i

The pay, it should be understood, was seldom, if ever,
[rawn for the whole year, and in some cases only four
'lonths' pay was allowed. Various deductions also were
lade, and the pay was usually, if not always, several months
11 arrear. The number of men actually supplied rarely
greed with the number indicated by the rank. A ' com-
nander of 5,000 ' would have done unusual I}- well if he
iroduccd 4,000 cavalry, and ordinarily would not be asked

364

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Addi-
tional
' suwar
rank.

'Da-

khili '
troops ;
Ahadls.

for more than a thousand or so. Most of the men brought
their own horses. In later times the ranks became purely-
honorary so far as supplying contingents was concerned.^

Another complication was introduced by the grant of
suwdr rank in addition to the personal (zdt) class rank, thati
is to say, an officer was allowed to add and draw extra pay
for a supplementary body of suwdr s or horsemen. The
grading within each class depended on the suwdr addition.
' From 5,000 downwards, an officer was First Class [or grade],
if his rank in zdt and suwdr were equal ; Second Class, if
his suwdr was half his zdt rank ; Third Class, if the suwdr
were less than half the zdt, or there were no suwdr at all.'
For example :

Commander (mansabddr) of 1,000 + 1,000 suwdr was first

class or grade ;
Commander {mansabddr) of 1,000+500 suwdr was second

class ; and
Commander {mansabddr) of 1,000 + 100 suwdr was third

class.

It is unnecessary to pursue the subject further. Any
reader interested will find additional details in the pages!
of Blochmann and Irvine. The comments of the later'
author clear up certain points left obscure by the earlier.^

Troops paid by the State, and not raised by the man-
sabddr s, under whose command they were placed, were
called Ddkhili, or ' supplementary '.^ There was also a body
of gentlemen-troopers recruited individually, and callec' '
Ahadls. They were not distributed among the inansabddrs'
contingents, but were under the separate command oi
a great noble, and had a Bakhshi of their own. The pay

'■ ' As, for instance, . . . Lut-
fullah Khan Sadiq [in eighteenth
century], although he held the
rank of 7,000, never entertained
even seven asses, much less horses
or riders on horses ' (Irvine, p. 59).
Terry, referring to 1617 or 1618,
says : — ' He who hath the pay
of five or six thousand, must
always have one thousand in
readiness, or more, according to

the king's need of them, and sc
in proportion all the rest ' (ed
1777, p. 391). According to thf
same author the salaries of thf
mansahddrs were paid punctuallj
(p. 396).

2 Am, vol. i, pp. 236-49
Irvine, pp. 3-11.

^ Am, vol. i, p. 254 ; Irvine
p. 260.

INSTITUTIONS 365

: an Ahadi sometimes exceeded 500 rupees a month, but
; was paid for only 9| months in the year.^

Mansahddrs under the rank of 500 had no extra title. Official
hose ranging from 500 to 2,500 were Umard, or Nobles, titles,
jmmonly anglicized as ' Omrah ', and the highest classes
icre Great Nobles, Amir-i Azam. A few individuals from
Ime to time were granted the rank of Premier Noble, Amiru-1
mara. Another lofty title occasionally conferred, was that

Khan Khanan, by which Bairam Khan's son, Abdu-r
ihlm, is commonly designated.

Most of Akbar's predecessors used to pay their officers Jagirs
y grants of land (jdglrs), administered as temporary g"o^,^
itates by the holders, who were expected to defray all lands,
leir official expenses from the proceeds, that is to say, the
nd revenue, which otherwise would have been paid to the
tate. The theory was that the whole produce should be
aared between the cultivators and the State, or its assignee,
conomic rent was not supposed to exist. Akbar, following
le example of the Siir kings, was hostile to the jdglr system,

cause it was expensive and gave his nobles too much ^-
3wer and independence. Each jdgirddr was a little king -^^ /j
I his own domain. Akbar devoted nmch energy to the Z' '''

inversion of jdglrs into crown lands (Khdlsa), that is to
ly, whenever possible, he paid his rnansabddrs by cash ^^^^^.-'^
daries, not by assignments of land revenue, administering
le crown land territory through his own officers. Thus he
;cured more money and more power, the two things which
e loved most.

All office-holders, as a rule, did their best to cheat the Frauds
overnment. ^^^\^;„.

' False musters were an evil from which the Moghul army n^^i^*-
iffered even in its most palmy days. Nobles would lend \
ich other the men to make up their quota, or needy idlers
i"om the bazaars would be mounted on the first baggage )
•ony that came to hand and counted in with the others as
(Ticient soldiers.' ^

Akbar, who made incessant efforts to cope with the

* Ain, vol. i, p. 249 ; Irvine, - Irvine, p. 45. Compare Fal-

;p. 10, 40, 43. staff : — ' I am damned in hell for

366

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Artillery

and

infantry.

Protean forms of roguery practised in his service, admittedly
attained only imperfect success. At first he relied on the
preparation of minute descriptive rolls for each man. Later,
after the conquest of Gujarat, he supplemented that measure
by introducing the practice of branding each horse in the
service. He trusted chiefly to continual musters and minute
personal inspections for the due execution of his orders,
which no subordinate was willing to enforce strictly. Indeed,
the great Bengal revolt of 1580 was partly due to the resent-
ment provoked by his insisting on the resumption oijdgirs,
the preparation of descriptive rolls, and the systematic
branding of horses. The last-named precaution had been
practised by Sher Shah, and long before his time by Alau-d
din Khilji.

Akbar took great pleasure in watching the practice of
mechanical arts, and often worked at them himself. He
paid special attention to the founding of cannon and the
manufacture of matchlock guns. He was an excellent shot,
and killed a vast quantity of game. His lucky hit when he
shot Jaimall brought about the fall of Chitor. But, in spite
of all his efforts, he never succeeded in securing either
a tolerably efficient park of artillery or good infantry. His
biggest guns were powerless against the walls of Aslrgarh,
and he fully admitted the superiority of the Portuguese
ordnance. He was much disappointed when the astute
authorities at Goa politely declined to furnish him with
their better weapons. His infantry, too, continued to be of
poor quality and little account ; and to the end he relied*
chiefly on his irregular horsemen used in the old Central'
Asian manner.^ Akbar made considerable use of elephants,
which he kept in large numbers. He used to mount archers'
or musketeers on them.^

It is abundantly clear that Akbar's military organizationi

swearing to gentlemen my friends,
you were good soldiers and tall
fellows ' (Merry Wives, Act ii,
scene ii).

» ' Until the middle of the
eighteenth century, when the
French and English had demon-

strated the vast superiority of
disciplined infantry, the Indian
foot-soldier was little more than
a night watchman, and guardian
over baggage, either in camp oi
on the line of march ' (Irvine,
p. 57). 2 Ibid., p. 175.

INSTITUTIONS 367

\ as intrinsically weak, although it was far better than that Weak-
)f his happy-go-lucky neighbours. His army could not "ftj^g
lave stood for a moment against the better kinds of con- military
emporary European troops. Whenever his officers ventured tion.
o attack the Portuguese settlements they failed disastrously.
lis admirable personal qualities alone enabled him to
nake wonderfully effective use of an instrument essentially
nefficient. After his death the quality of the army deterior-
ited rapidly, until in the latter days of Aurangzeb's
tign its proceedings in the Deccan became ridiculous,
'^ven in Akbar's time the court pomp and display main-
ained on the march and in camp were fatal to real efficiency.
Alexander the Great would have made short work of Akbar's
nightiest host.

Akbar knew the value of rapid military strokes, un- Unwieldy
tampered by the cumbrous equipage of an imperial camp, ^^mp, a
lid gave a notable example of his power to strike a stunning city,
•low by his wonderful nine days' ride to Gujarat and the
itroic hand-to-hand fights in which he engaged on his
rrival in that province. But ordinarily he was content to
allow the current practice and to encumber his fighting
jTce when on the march with all the paraphernalia of the
ourt and the incubus of a moving city. He could afford
o run the risks involved in that practice because he never
ncountered an enemy sufficiently alert to take advantage
f the opportunities offered to a mobile and enterprising
DC. Father Monserrate, who accompanied him on the
[abul expedition^ the most carefully planned military
peration of the reign, gives a vivid account of the pomp
;nd magnitude of the imperial camp, which can be amplified
om the detailed descriptions in the Aln. The imperial
onsorts selected to accompany their lord were carried by
he-elephants and shut up in decorated cages. The female
;rvants, riding on camels, shaded by white umbrellas,
j)llowed their mistresses, the cortege being protected by
' guard of five hundred men under the command of grave
3niors. The treasure was conveyed on a multitude of
lephants and camels. Ordnance stores were carried on

368

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Local
des-
potisms.

carts, and the imperial furniture and belongings on mules.i
The state records also accompanied the army.
Abu-1 Fazl states that

' His Majesty has invented an admirable method of encamp-
ing his troops, which is a source of much comfort to them.
On an open ground they pitch the imperial seraglio, the
audience hall, and the Naqqdrah Khdnah (musicians' gallery),
all occupying a space the length of which is 1530 yards.
To the right and left, and behind, is an open space of 360
yards, which no one but the guards are allowed to enter. *
Within it, at a distance of 100 yards to the left centre, are-
the tents of Maryam Makani [the Queen-Mother], Gulbadan
Begam [Akbar's aunt], and other chaste ladies, and the,
tents of Prince Daniyal ; to the right, those of Prince
Salim ; and to the left, those of Prince Shah Murad. Behind
their tents, at some distance, the offices and workshops are
placed, and at a further distance of 30 yards behind them,
at the four corners of the camp, the bazaars. The nobler
are encamped without on all sides, according to their rank.' '

Such arrangements, which must have been slightly variec
in detail as occasion required, however well organized the}
were for a peaceful imperial progress, could not have beer
maintained in war against any capable enemy. In Aurang
zeb's days the luxury and cumbrousness of the imperia
encampment were carried still further to such a degree tha
the army became absolutely useless. If Akbar had had thi
misfortune to encounter the Maratha light horse it is possibl
that he might not have fared much better than his great
grandson did. Akbar's military organization had in it th
seeds of decay and failure.^

The whole framework of the government, as has beei
said, was military. The only considerable officials who di'
not take rank as army officers were those charged wit
purely ecclesiastical and civil legal duties, such as the Sadi
and Kazis. Each of the more considerable jdgirddrs an
mansabddrs was vested as such with civil administrativ
powers, practically unlimited. A local governor was nc
bound by any rules of either substantive law or procedun

1 Commentarius, p. 580.
^ Am, vol. i, p. 47.

^ For all details see Horn's an
Irvine's works, as in Bibliograph;

INSTITUTIONS 369

inless in so far as his conscience required him to follow
he Koranic precepts. He was the representative of the
imperial autocrat, and as such could do much as he pleased
within his jurisdiction, subject to the risk of being recalled
to court and punished if complaints reached the ears of his
jovereign. Ordinarily, the subjects had to make the best
)f the treatment which their local rulers thought fit to
^ive them. ' It is a long, long way to Delhi ', as the proverb
jays, and nothing but exceptionally outrageous oppression
lad a chance of eliciting reproof from head-quarters. Even
i^kbar, one of the most vigilant and diligent of monarchs,
;ould exercise only slight control over distant subordinates.

The government, in short, was carried on by a vast multi-
ude of petty local despotisms, kept in order to a certain
extent by an overpowering autocracy at the top.

The principle laid down by Kautilya, the early Hindu Akbar's
vriter on statecraft, that ' all undertakings depend upon ^g^^j
inance. Hence foremost attention should be paid to the measures,
freasury ', was present to the mind of Akbar from the time
i;hat he emerged from ' behind the veil ', and began to regard
teriously the duties of his position. The following pages
?ive a brief summary of the principal fiscal measures of the
reign. As early as 1565 or 1566 Muzaffar Khan Turbat!
iid something to reform the financial confusion which had
txisted during Maham Anaga's brief tenure of power, but
the details of his measures are not recorded. Two or three
jrears later (1568) Shihab Khan (Shihabu-d din) was ap-
jointed Finance Minister in the room of Abdullah Khan. The
;iew minister was a careful expert and did his best to check
[Embezzlement, although hampered by the fact that ' officers,
vho did not much embezzle, were few '. The exact nature
<f the measures taken by him is not known. It is impossible
jo attach any definite meaning to Abu-1 Fazl's enigmatic
statement that ' he abolished the yearly settlement, which
vas a cause of great expense and led to embezzlements,
nid he established a rate, and by his acuteness suppressed
he fraudulent '.^

■ » A. N., ii, 488.

1845 Bb

370

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Todar
Mall's
' settle-

More definite reforms were effected in the fifteenth regnal
year (1570-1), when Muzaffar Khan TurbatI, with the
assistance of Todar Mall, prepared a revised assessment oj
the land revenue based on estimates framed by the local
Kanungos and checked by ten superior Kanungos at head-
quarters.! The amount of the demand was somewhat lesj
than in former years, but the discrepancy between th(
estimate and the actual receipts was diminished. Tht
early assessments had been simply rough guesses, mad(
with little or no help from hereditary officials with loca
knowledge.

The conquest of Gujarat in 1573 gave Todar Mall th(
opportunity for further exercise of his special abilities. H(
ment ' of was sent to make the land revenue assessment of the newly
ujara . (,Qj^qygj.g(j province, and was engaged on the task for si?
months. Certain districts which had been conquered b^
the local kings were restored to neighbouring jurisdictions
so that the provincial area as taken under direct imperia
administration was largely reduced. "\Ve_nowJiear for th(
first time of systematic measurement as a preliminary t(
the ' settlement ', or assessment of the land revenue ; 6'
out of 184 parganas or subdivisions were surveyed, and th
measurement was so far completed in 1575. About two
thirds of the area measured were found to be cultivated o
fit for cultivation, and in that portion of the total area thi
assessment was determined with reference to the area am
quality of the land. In the rest of the province the govern
ment share of the produce was determined either by actua
division of the grain heaps at harvest time or by the officia
selection of a certain portion of each field while the croi
was still standing. The total revenue demand appears ti j

* The Kanungo was an officer
retained as a special authority on
all customs and usages connected
with the tenure of land. The
office was hereditary. It still
survives in the United Provinces
in a modified form. Some of the
old Kanungo families used to be
mines of information, and they
were often in possession of ancient

documents. The word Kanung'
means ' expounder of the law '
or ' customary rules '. Akbar
Kanungos were graded in thre
classes, with allowances respec
tively equivalent to twenty, thirtj
and fifty rupees a month {Alri
vol. ii, p. 66 ; book ii, Ain Vi
and p. 88). ;

INSTITUTIONS 371

lave been largely reduced when compared with that levied
iy the kings, but any attempt to give exact figures is beset
|»y formidable difficulties.

Payment in either money or kind was permitted, a pre-
jrence being given to cash collections. The collectors were
ijistructed that ' when it would not prove oppressive the
alue of the grain should be taken in ready money at the
larket price '.

T he ' sett lement ' was made f or a term of ten years, with

demand uniform for each year.
I Certain other minor improvements were introduced at
pe same time. It thus appears that all the essential features
f Raja Todar Mall's later ' settlement ' in Northern India
'ere anticipated by him in Gujarat, in 1574-5.

Shihab Khan, who governed the province from 1577 until
'583 or 1584, continued to develop the arrangements made
y Todar Mall.i
' The reader may remember that at about the same time

574-5) as the Gujarat settlement, the conversion of
tgi/rs into crown lands (khdlsa), the grading of man-
ihddrs, and the branding of army horses had been taken

hand.
f In 1575- 6, as already described in chapter v, Akbar The
ecidedto disregard the old traditional local jurisdictions Karoris.
r revenue and administrative purposes called ' parganas ',
^id to divide the empire as it then existed, with the impor-
Int exceptions of Beiigal, Bihar, and Gujarat, into 182
|irely artificial areas, each yielding a ' crore2,or ten millions
•'■ tonkas, equivalent to 250,000 rupees. The officers
^pointed to collect the revenue were styled Amils or
3arorIs. The change was not a success and was not per-
i^jted in, but the title of Amil long survived.

*T^jnost important reforms in fiscal administration were Subas,
(ose effected in 1579-80, the 24th and 25th regnal years. ^^";5;|[^'
jjie empire, as it then stood, was divided into twelve Subas, or par-
< viceregal governments, roughly equivalent in rank to the and'^'

„ dasturs.

' Bombay Gazetteer (1896), vol. i, part i, pp. 221-4, 265-9 ; Bayley,
i'.jardt, pp. 20-3.

B b2

372

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Prin-
ciples of
the ten
years'
' settle-
ment '.

provinces, each under a local government, of modern
times. The Subas comprised more than 100 Sarkars or
Districts, each Sarkar being an aggregate of Parganas, ^Iso
called Mahals. For example, the Siiba of Agra included
13 Sarkars and 203 Parganas. The Sarkar of Agra, 1,864
square miles in area, comprised 31 Parganas.^ The territorial
gradation was essentially the same as that now in existence
in Northern India under different names, but, of course,
infinite changes in detail have occurred.

The statistics in the Ain are arranged accordingly, withoui
reference to the karori system.

The early rough guess-work assessments had been largeb
based on the statistics of prices current, so far as they ha(
any statistical foundation at all. It is admitted that the} J
were largely influenced by 'the caprice of the moment'
The principles of Todar Mall's new ' settlement ' are explainec
by Abu-1 Fazl in the following terms :

' When through the prudent management of the Sovereigi
the empire was enlarged in extent, it became difficult t
ascertain each year the prices current and much incon
venience was caused by the delay. On the one hand, th
husbandmen complained of excessive exactions, and on th

* Ain 15 of book ii, Aln, vol. ii,
pp. 88, 96, 115, 182, with some
discrepancies in the numbers.
The Kanungos used to prepare
manuals or codes of instructions
and tables for the use of revenue
officers in particular territories.
Local customs and usages vary
too much to permit of one uni-
form code. Such local codes,
specimens of which survive, were
called Dasturu-l 'Amal, or ' Cus-
tomary Practice ' ; and for con-
venience of administration par-
ganas which followed the one code
were grouped together, and the
groups became known as Dasturs.
Thus the Sarkar of Agra had four
codes or dasturu-l 'amals used in
it, and consequently was said to
comprise four Dasturs. The
grouping of Parganas in Dasturs,
which never was of much impor-
tance, has been long obsolete. See
Elliot, ed. Beames, Supplemental

Glossary (1869), vol, ii, pp. 82
146, s. V. Dastiir. E. Thoma;
who had read many of the doci
ments, says : — ' Dastur-al 'Amai
are difficult to describe, as it i
rash to say what they may nc
contain amid the multifarioi
instructions to Revenue Officen
They combine occasionally
court guide, a civil list, an arm
list, a diary of the period, sun
maries of revenue returns, honr
and foreign ; practical hints aboi
measures, weights, and coin
with itineraries, and all mannc
of useful and instructive inform:
tion ' {Revemie Resources of ti
Mughal Empire (1871), p. 14 n.
In the older ' settlements ' undi
the British Government the pr
paration of the dasturu-l ^am
was continued under the name
ivdjibu-l 'arz, which was prepan
for each mahdl separately, not f ,
groups of mahdls.

INSTITUTIONS 373

jther, the holder of assigned lands was aggrieved on account
f the revenue balances.^

' His Majesty devised a remedy for these evils and in the
iscernment of his world-adorning mind fixed a settlement
)r ten years ; the people were thus made contented and
heir gratitude was abundantly manifested. From the
eginning of the 15th year of the Divine era [a. d. 1570-1]
J the 24th [a. d. 1579-80], an aggregate of the rates of
jolleetion was formed and a tenth of the total was fixed as
lie annual assessment ; but from the 20th [a. d. 1575-6]
the 24th, an aggregate of the rates of collection was
prmed and a tenth of the total was fixed as the annual
;ssessment ; but from the 20th to the 24th year the collec-
ions were accurately determined and the five former ones
ccepted on the authority of persons of probity. The best
rops were taken into account in each year, and the year
f the most abundant harvest accepted, as the table
hows.' 2

measures.

I Akbar and his advisers fixed the units of measurement Linear
s the necessary preliminary to survey. The gaz or yard super-
'as determined as being equal to 41 digits or finger-breadths, ficial
r about 33 inches. The iandb, jarlb, or ' chain ', was
gaz, and the bigha, or unit of superficial measure, was
gaz square, or 3,600 square gaz. As a matter of fact,
he exact length of Akbar's Ilahi gaz, on which the area
f his bigha depends, is not known. The precaution of
(epositing at the capital carefully attested metal standards
i not mentioned as having been taken ; and if it had been,
he standards would have been lost long ago. The assump-
ion adopted by the British revenue authorities in 1825-6
,hat the Ilahi gaz should be deemed the equivalent of
3 inches ( = 83*82 cm.) was an arbitrary decision, formed
)r convenience, because inquiry showed that calculated
lalues ranged from 29"20 to 33"70 inches.

Measurements had been made formerly by a hempen rope,
mich contracted or lengthened according to the amount of
loisture in the air. From a. d. 1575 the rope was replaced

' The holder of a jdglr was gone to the Treasury. Heavy

"uthorized to appropriate tiie balances, therefore, were a grave

iind revenue or government share personal grievance to him.

^f the produce, which, if his /agir - Am, vol. ii, p. 88 ; Ain 15.
ad been crown land, would have

374

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Classi-
fication
of lands.

by ajarib of bamboos joined by iron rings, which remained
of constant length.^

The first step in the new system of ' settlement ' opera-
tions was measurement. The next was the classification of
lands ; the third was the fixation of rates for application
to the classified areas.

Modern ' settlement officers ' usually prefer a classifica-
tion based on either the natural or the artificial qualities
of the soil, and divide the land into classes of clay, loam,
irrigated, or unirrigated, and so forth. Todar Mall and
Akbar took no count of soils, whether natural or artificial,
and based their classification on the continuityor dis-
continuity of cultivation. The four classes were ;

1. Polaj, land continuously cultivated.

2. Paraidi, land left fallow for a year or two in order to
recover its strength.

3. Chachar, land that has lain fallow for three or four
years.

4. Banjar, land uncultivated for five years or more.
Each of the first three classes was subdivided into three

grades, and the average produce of the class was calculated
from the mean of the three grades in it. For instance, the
average produce of wheat in polaj land was worked out as
nearly 13 maunds (12 m. 38|- s.), the produce per h'lgha in
each of the three grades being, first grade, 18 m. s. ; second
grade, 12 m. s. ; and third grade, 8 m. 35 s.

The government share was one-third of the average, or
in the above case, 4 m. 12f s.

Parautl land, when actually cultivated, paid the same as
polaj.

Chachar and banjar land, when brought under cultiva-
tion, were taxed progressively until in the fifth year they
became as polaj.

Only the area actually under cultivation was assessed.^

' Aln, book ii, Ains 8-10 ; the facilities of the husband-

Prinsep's ' Useful Tables ', in man year by year, and under the

Essays, ed. E. Thomas (1858), pledge of his engagements take

vol. ii, pp. 122-30. nothing beyond the actual area

^ The collector of the revenue under tillage ' {Aln, book ii, Ain 5;

was instructed : ' Let him increase vol. ii, p. 44).

': sj
f ci
8 i\

INSTITUTIONS 375

Ihe area under each crop had its own rate. The kmds Nu-
( crops being numerous, the multitude of rates quoted in ^"^"^
iDU-1 Fazl's condensed tables is extraordinary. The number rates.
1 ed in the preliminary calculations must have been enor-
lous. The use of so many rates made the calculations
1 edlessly complicated, and no settlement officer nowadays
■'3uld dream of working such a complex system. Abu-1
lizl, who must have controlled a gigantic statistical office,
jid the rates worked out for nineteen years (6th to 24th
]gnal years inclusive) for each crop in polaj land, which
ffved as the standard. A separate set of rates was com-
]led for the spring, and another for the autumn harvest,
■[lose for the Subas of Agra, Allahabad, Oudh, Delhi,
lihore, Multan, and Malwa are recorded in Ain 14 of
hok ii.

The figures offer many difficulties and problems to expert

(iticism. It seems to be doubtful whether or not laborious

tialysis of them can yield many results of value. The

sbject is too technical for discussion in these pages. Abu-1

]izl, who was not a practical revenue expert, probably did

lit thoroughly understand the statistics collected and

ibulated by his kdnungos and clerks. It is no wonder that

1^ the time his seven years of unremitting labour and the

f th revision of his great book were concluded he was very ^^

^'2ary.^ \^^

Wilton Oldham is right in affirming that ' Aktiax'-&r£venue Akbar's

settle-
sstem was ryotwaree ' (raU/ativdrl) ; and that ' the actual ment

( Itivators of the soil were the persons responsible for the '^Y'*'^ ^"^"
tivators

finual payment of the fixed revenue '.^ The ' settlement ' direct,
ns not made either with farmers of the revenue, as was
siterwards done in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis, or with the
1 admen of villages, as in the modern settlements of the
Inited Provinces. Many passages in the Ain prove the

' See the author's extremely or may not obtain definite results,
i^eresting autobiography in Ain, • Memoir of the Ghazeepoor Dis-

••1. iii, pp. 400-51, especially trict (Allahabad, 1870), part i,

1 . •i02, 4.11, 415. Mr. W. H. p. 82. The author served under

i Ireland, C.S.I., C.I.E., is en- Mr. Wilton Oldham, who was

jged on the study of the agricul- a learned and skilled revenue

1 ral .statistics in the Ain, and may expert.

376

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Instruc-
tions to
revenue
officials.

correctness of Oldham's proposition. P'or instance, the
collector is directed to ' stipulate that the husbandman
bring his rents himself at definite periods so that the mal-
practices of low intermediaries may be avoided '.^ The
Bitikchi, or accountant, was instructed that ' when the
survey of the village is complete, he shall determine the
assessment of each cultivator and specify the revenue of
the whole village '.^ But if the village headman should aid
the authorities by collecting the full rental, he was to be
allowed 4^0*^ of each blgha, or otherwise rewarded ' accord-
ing to the measure of his services '.' No special engagement
was made with the headman, who was simply paid a com-
mission not exceeding 2| per cent, for work done.

The instructions recorded for the several officers of the
revenue department are full and judicious, and may be
compared with Thomason's Directions to Collectors, a book
with which I had to be familiar in my youth. The cultivators
were to be allowed ordinarily the option of paying in kind,
which they might do in any one of five different ways.
But for certain of the more special and valuable crops, such
as sugar-cane and poppy, cash rates were obligatory. Bound-
aries in the areas surveyed were to be properly marked.
The records prescribed were substantially the same as those
used by modern settlement officers in the United Provinces,
and elaborate provision was made for the transmission oi
both statistics and cash to the head-quarters of the province.
The ' royal presence ' to which both the figures and the
money were transmitted must mean the official capital oi
the province, not the imperial capital. The collection oi
miscellaneous cesses was prohibited, and Abu-1 Fazl gives
a long list of such cesses which were universally remitted bj
Akbar's order. The statistics included regular prices current
The treasury arrangements were much the same as those ir
force some years ago in the United Provinces, and no doubl
still maintained for the most part.

In short, the system was an admirable one. The principles

* Ain, book ii, Ain 5 ; vol. ii,
p. 46.

2 Ibid., Ain 6 ; vol. ii, p. 48.
^ Ibid., Ain 5 ; vol. ii, p. 44.

INSTITUTIONS 377

jwere sound, and the practical instructions to officials all
jbhat could be desired. But a person who has been in close
'ouch, as the author has been, with the revenue administra-
:ion from top to bottom, cannot help feeling considerable
|>cepticism concerning the conformitj'^ of practice with pre-
cept. Even all the resources of the modern Anglo-Indian
Sovernment often fail to secure such conformity, and in
\kbar's time supervision undoubtedly was far less strict
ind searching. Histories tell us hardly anything about
phe working of revenue legislation in actual practice. Stray
■lints are all that can be gleaned from books. A notable
nstance is the discrepancy already cited between the
iccounts of the working of the karorl system, as expounded
py Abu-1 Fazl and by Badaonl. We find, too, that proclama-
ions abolishing miscellaneous cesses and imposts were often
,"epeated, and so draw the inference that the benevolent
sntentions of the autocrat were commonly defeated by
liistant governors enjoying practical independence during
heir term of office.

The revenue assessment was not light. On the contrary, Severity

t was extremely severe. Abu-1 Fazl expressly states that ^g^^^g.

the best crops were taken into account in each year, and ment.

he year of the most abundant harvest accepted '. His

.iverage crop rates seem really to have been ' selected rates '

jased on the average of the best fields, not on the average

,)f the whole area in any given class of land. The meaning

«)f the statement that ' the year of the most abundant

iiarvest was accepted ' is not clear to me ; but, whatever

ts exact meaning may be, it implies a standard of assess-

}nent so high that large remissions must have been required

n bad seasons. Remissions were not easy to obtain, if we

|nay judge from probabilities and the experience of later

imes. Little information on the subject for Akbar's

eign seems to be available, although the collector was

instructed to report cases of disaster to the crops, and

ubmit an estimate of the amount. No specific case of the

letion taken on such official reports appears to be on record.

'3ut in 1586 (31st year) more than a million of rupees was

378 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

remitted from the revenues of the crown lands in the Subas
of Delhi, Oudh, and Allahabad, because prices were so low
that the peasantry could not pay full cash rates. A similar
remission had been made in the previous year.

Abu-1 Fazl admits that ' throughout the whole extent of
Hindustan, where at all times so many enlightened monarchs
have reigned, one-sixth of the produce was exacted ; in
the Turkish Empire, Iran, and Turan, a fifth, a sixth, and
a tenth respectively '.^

But Akbar asked for one-third, that is to say, double the
Indian and Persian proportion. Abu-1 Fazl seems to think
that the abolition of a host of miscellaneous cesses and
imposts justified the doubling of the government share of
the produce. But it is impossible to doubt that in practice
many of those imposts and cesses continued to be collected,
and, as Oldham drily remarks in a note, ' most, if not all,
of these taxes were subsequently revived '.

He calculated that in the Ghazlpur District Akbar's
revenue assessment worked out at 2 rupees per acre as
against 1| in 1870, the assessment then in force being that
made in 1789, when the country was in a very depressed
and backward state. He points out that ' in Akbar's time
only the best lands were cultivated ', the cultivated area
in the Ghazipur District being then only about one-fifth of
the tillage in 1870. Moreover, the government in Northern
India no longer deals directly with the cultivator, as Akbar
did. Private rent has been allowed to develop, so that the
crops have to provide for at least three parties, the State,
the landlord, and the tenant. Akbar did not recognize the
existence of a landlord class. He left the actual cultivator
as much of the crops as was considered to be necessary for
tolerable existence, and took the rest for the State.^

The assessment unquestionably was severe. The question

whether or not it was actually oppressive depends on the

* Am, book ii, Ain 7 ; vol. ii, Akbar took half the crop. The
p. 55. But in the Ajmer Suba local Sultans used to take two-
only one-seventh or one-eighth of thirds (ibid., p. 366). For the
the produce was taken as revenue, remissions see A. N., iii, 643, 749.
and very little was paid in cash ^ Oldham, op. cit., p. 83.
{Am, vol. ii, p. 267). In Kashmir

INSTITUTIONS 379

lature of the adniinistration, concerning which hardly any

vidence exists. We have no knowledge of the extent to

v^hich remissions were granted, or as to the amount of the

iiscrepancy between the assessment and the ordinary actual

ollections. In all probability cases of hardship must have

!ieen numerous. The scanty evidence available concerning

he economic condition of the country during Akbar's reign ^-^

irill be discussed in the next chapter.^ \y^

The best set of figures indicating the amount of the The land

jiperial income derived from the land revenue is that revenue
. ^ . of the

iven by President van den Broecke as the sum of the collec- empire.

ions in 1605 at the time of the accession of Jahanglr, accord-

ig to Akbar's official accounts. He states that the annual

lollections from the provinces named by him (with their

ependencies, cum limitibus) amounted to 174,500,000

upees (17 ' crores ' and 45 lakhs), or, taking the rupee

be worth 2s., £17,500,000 sterling. That sum may or

lay not have included other items besides land revenue,

ut certainly was such revenue in the main. If the

^upee be valued at 2*. 3d., we may say that Akbar's share

f the crops was worth £20,000,000 sterling to him at the

|lose of his reign. The ordinary civil and military expenses

•Aere defrayed from the revenue so stated ; the gigantic

oards of coin, precious metals, and jewels stored in the

jCeasure cities being accumulated from plunder, from the

iresents continually offered, and from escheats. The Dutch

.uthor's figures include the Deccan provinces which had

lot been annexed when the Am was compiled.^

* According to Sikh tradition, easily recognized in the author's

^^kbar remitted the land revenue spelling, except ' Benazaed ' tacked

? the Panjab for the famine year, on to Ghazni (Ghassenie, & Bena-

j)39.5-6, in deference to the inter- zaed), which I cannot identify.

|Sssion of Guru Arjun (Macauliffe, It is odd to find Burhanpur and

^he Sikh Religion, iii, 84). Khandesh distinguished. The

i ^ De Laet, p. |f | ; E. Thomas, list does not tally with the list of

'he Revenue Resources of the Akbar's Subas in the Atn, but the

rfughal Empire (1871), pp. 5-21, number, 15, is the same. During

|2-4. The names of the pro- Akbar's reign and the early years

,inces, Kandahar, Kabul, Kash- of Jahangir's the trade with

)iir, Ghazni, Gujarat, Sind or Europe was so little developed

(I'atta, Khandesh, Burhanpur, that a definite sterling exchange

lerar, Bengal, Orissa, Oudh, rate for the rupee hardly existed.

jl&lwa, Agra, and Delhi, are De Laet (not van den Broecke)

380 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL"]

The We now pass to the executive as distinguished from the

ssF^ ' fiscal or revenue administration. The organization was of
Subadar, the simplest possible kind. Each of the fifteen provinces

Governor. ^^ Subas was a miniature replica of the empire, and the

Subadar, as long as he remained in office, had powers
practically unlimited. The essentially military character ol
the government is marked by the fact that in the Am, the
provincial viceroy or Subadar, as he was called in later
times, is designated as Sipahsalar, or commander-in-chief.
He is described as ' the vicegerent of His Majesty. The
troops and people of the province are under his orders,
and their welfare depends upon his just administration.'
It is needless to transcribe the admirable copy-book maxims
which enjoin him to practise all the virtues, but a few oi
the more practical instructions possess special interest and
may be cited. When good counsel failed to produce the
desired effect on evildoers, the governor was to be ' swift
to punish by reprimands, threats, imprisonment, stripes, oi
amputation of limb, but he must use the utmost delibera-
tion before severing the bond of the principle of life '. It
will be observed that the penalties in the list do not include
fines. The horrid punishment of mutilation, which is pre-
scribed by the Koran, was used freely.

Neither Akbar nor Abu-1 Fazl had any regard for th(
judicial formalities of oaths and witnesses. The governor
who like all Asiatic rulers was expected to hear man}
criminal cases in person, and to dispose of them in a sharp
summary fashion, was enjoined not to be satisfied witl
witnesses and oaths, but to trust rather to his own acute
ness and knoAvledge of physiognomy, aided by close examina
tion. For ' from the excessive depravity of human nature
and its covetousness, no dependence can be placed oi
a witness or his oath '. The judge should be com-
petent to distinguish the oppressor from the oppressec
by the help of his own impartiality and knowledge o

puts it as ranging from 2s. to Shahjahan. Terry (p. 113) give;

2s. 9d. (p. Iff). He also quotes the range in 1618 as from 2s. M. t(

a 2s. 3rf. rate, which was that 2s. 9d.
usually current in the time of

INSTITUTIONS 381

character ; and, having come to a decision, he should
ict on it.

The proceedings were verbal, no written record being
jprepared.^

The executive authority was expected to obtain help in
ilhis judicial duties from the Kazi, an officer learned in
Muslim law, and if need were he might appoint a Mir Adl,
I justiciary, to carry out the Kazi's finding.^

The province was divided for executive purposes into The
districts, each composed of several parganas, each such o^J^/gf^'
'district, probably identical with the area denominated trict
Sarkar in the Ain, being governed by a Faujdar, or com- (jant,
mandant, as the deputy of the Sipahsalar or governor of
the province. The Faujdar was expected to reduce rebels,
always numerous, and, whenever necessary, to use his
troops against recalcitrant villagers in order to enforce pay-
ment of the government dues. ' When he had captured the
rebel camp, he must observe equity in the division of the
spoil and reserve a fifth for the royal exchequer. If a balance
of revenue be due from the village this should be first taken
'into account.' The existence of such instructions is clear
iproof of the extremely imperfect manner in which order
was maintained even in the best days of the Mogul empire.
Akbar usually had a rebellion somewhere or other on his
hands, and the unrecorded outbreaks of disorder in the
provinces, summarily dealt with by the Faujdars, must have
been innumerable.^

In towns the repression of crime, the maintenance of The

[public order and decency, and all duties of a police nature "^"t^^*^'-

I were entrusted to the Kotwal. If in any town there happened

to be no Kotwal, the collector of the revenue was bound

to take the police duties on himself. In modern India the

offices of collector and magistrate of the District are usually

' ' Everything is done verb- ' ' His people are continually

ally ' : e tudo se iulga uerbalrnente in revolt against him ' : 7w? se

i (Monserrate, Rela^am, in J. & acabarn de alctttltar cotra elle

' Proc. A. S. B., 1912, p. 201). (Monserrate, lielagam (1582), in

^ Book ii, Ains 1 and 3 ; Aln, J. & Proc. A. S. B., 1912, p. 216).

vol. ii, pp. 37-41.

382

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Special
duties
of the
Kotwal.

combined in one person. The Kotwal was authorized to
inflict penalties for breach of regulations, extending even
to mutilation. Probably he could not legally execute
a prisoner without the sanction of superior authority, but the
point is not determined by the books. We may feel assured
that if an energetic officer chose to take the responsibility
of drastic action against evil-doers he would not have been
troubled by official censure. The whole administration
was absolutely personal and despotic, directed to the strin-
gent collection of a heavy assessment, the provision of
numerous military forces, and the maintenance of imperfect
public order in a rough and ready fashion under the sanction
of ferocious punishments, inflicted arbitrarily by local
despots.

The penalties in ordinary use included impalement,
trampling by elephants, beheading, amputation of the
right hand, and severe flogging.^ But there was no effective
law to hinder the infliction of many other cruel forms of
punishment according to the caprice of the official.^

The duties of the Kotwal, as defined by Abu-1 Fazl, were
essentially the same as those prescribed for the Nagaraka,
or Town Prefect, in the old Hindu books. The Kotwal was
expected to know everything about everybody. In order
to acquire such knowledge he was bound to employ spies,
or detectives in modern language, to keep up registers of
houses and persons, and to watch the movements of strangers.
He was responsible for the regulation of prices, and the use
of correct weights and measures. It was his business to
take charge of the property of any deceased or missing
person who had left no heir.

He was required to see to the observance of Akbar's
special ordinances. Those included the universal prohibi-
tion of the slaughter of oxen, buffaloes, horses, or camels ;
the prevention of ' suttee ' against the inclination of the
woman ; prohibition of circumcision before the age of

1 Monserrate, Rela^am, p. 194.

^ Prince Salim when at Allah-
abad inflicted the horrible penalty
of flaying alive, which was com-

monly ordered by Mongol chiefs,
and was inflicted by Babur on at
least one occasion. Akbar dis-
approved of that form of cruelty.

INSTITUTIONS 383

svelve, and of any slaughter of any animals on many days

1 the year, as prescribed by imperial order. It was also

is duty to enforce the observance of the Ilahi calendar

nd of the special festivals and ritual practices enjoined by

le emperor. An energetic Kotwal could always find plenty

f occupation.^

Every institution of the empire derived its existence from Akbar in

jnd was dependent for its continuance on the all-powerful audience

ill of the sovereign. The most fitting conclusion to this ^"<i ^^.,
^ " 1-1 council,

lapter, therefore, will be a glimpse of Akbar on his throne

nd in council.

Before daybreak his people, high and low, assembled in

lie outer court of the palace to wait for the appearance of

neir lord. Shortly after sunrise he showed himself to his
ibjects of all ranks, who watched eagerly for the darsan,

i' view of him on whom their good or evil fortune dej^ended.
efore retiring he often disposed of matters of business,
is second formal public appearance generally took place
'ter the first watch of the day, but sometimes at a later
lur. Only persons of distinction were then admitted. He

jiso frequently appeared informally at other hours at the
indow (jJiarokhd) opening on the audience hall, and would

|imetimes stand there for two hours, hearing petitions,
ceiving reports, disposing of judicial cases, or inspecting
irades of men or animals. Usually he preferred to stand,
it would sometimes sit, either cross-legged on cushions in
le Asiatic manner, or on a raised throne after the European

ishion. The princes and great nobles were ranged near
m according to their several degrees.

The proper officers, who came on duty in accordance
th a regular roster, presented petitions or persons with

*ie form and solemnity, and orders were passed at once.

j|;ribes stood by who took accurate notes of every word

lich fell from his lips.^

' ' The Faujdar ',book ii, Ain 2 ; - The practice was continued

lie Mir AdI and the Kazi ', ibid., by Jahangir. 'And when the

^n 3 ; ' the Kotwal ', ibid., Ain 4 ; King sits and speaks to any of his

'ilie Collector of the Revenue ', people publickly, there is not a .

ijd., Ain 5 ; in Ain, vol. ii, pp. word falls from him that is not

^-7. written by some scriveners, or

384

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

In private council he was ready to hear the opinions ofj
his inner circle of advisers. It was his practice to announce
the view he took and his reasons. Ordinarily his resolve
would be greeted by all with expressions of assent and the|
prayer, ' Peace be with the King ', But if any one present
felt and expressed doubts, His Majesty would listen patiently
to the objections raised, and reserve the intimation of his
decision. Whatever anybody might say, the final resolve
was his alone.i

scribes, that stand round about
liim' (Terry, ed. 1777, p. 393).
So also at Vijayanagar (Nuniz in
Sewell, A Forgotten Empire, p.
375). Jahangir used to appear

three times a day.

* Aln, vol. i, pp. 156-9 ; Aim
72-4 of book i ; Monserrate.
Relagam, p. 202 ; Peruschi, p. 24

CHAPTER XIV

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE

' A HISTORY of the people ', Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole The
iibserves, ' is usually assumed in the present day to be ' simple
nore stimulating and instructive than the records of kings ^^"poor'.
md courts ; but, even if true, this can only be understood
i»f Western peoples, of peoples who strive to go forward, or
!it least change. In the East, the people does not change,
jlnd there, far more than among more progressive races, the
i' simple annals of the poor ", however moving and pathetic,
,re indescribably trite and monotonous, compared with
he lives of those more fortunate, to whom much has been
iven in opportunity, wealth, power, and knowledge.' ^

Mr. Lane-Poole is right. The Indian commonalty has
lo history that can be told. There has been practically
iO evolution of institutions, and when we read descriptions
f Indian social conditions recorded by Megasthenes twenty-
wo centuries ago, we feel that his words are still applicable
ill the main to present conditions in India ' up-country ',
k'here the ancient structure of society and the habits of
aily life have been very slightly affected by changes of
overnment or by modern influences. ,

In Europe we can watch with intense interest the slow
verthrow of paganism by Christianity, the conflict between
loman and Teutonic ideals, the birth and decay of the
:-udal system, the growth of municipal autonomy, the
evelopment of representative government, and a hundred
ther political and social changes, which go down to the
cry roots of national life, and make the Europe of to-day
Hidamentally different from the Europe of Alexander the
ireat.

Although it would be absurd to affirm that India does Lack of
ijt change from age to age, or that there is nothing in its "^^*^"^'-
istory at all comparable with the changes in Europe, it is

» Mediaeval India under Mohammedan Rule, 1903, Preface, p. v.
1845 C ^

386 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

true that basic revolutions in essential institutions have beer
few. The Indian autocrat, whatever his name might be
always was essentially the same in kind, while the daily life
of the twentieth-century villager differs little from that o:
his ancestor two thousand years ago. The history of Indie
in the Muhammadan period must necessarily be a chronicl*
of kings, courts, and conquests, rather than one of nationa
and social evolution. The main interest of the story musi
lie in the delineation of the characters of individual rulers
who, although essentially one in type, yet varied widely u
personal qualities. In Akbar's case that personal interes
is supreme. He was truly a great man and a great kinj
deserving of the most attentive study.

But when we try to picture the effect of his qualities oi
the people whom he conquered and governed, and seek ti
decide whether or not they were happier and more prosperou
under his rule than under that of many other despots per
sonally inferior in character and genius, it is not easy ti
draw even an outline sketch. The record is painfull;
defective. We hardly ever hear anything definite in th
histories about the common people or their mode of life
Information about the actual working of the revenu
administration, a matter all-important to the Indian peasani
is almost wholly lacking, and the record of the state c
education, agriculture, and commerce is extremely meagre.
The A reader glancing hastily at the Aln-i Akhari, or ' Ir

Akbari. stitutes of Akbar ', and seeing the elaborate statisticf
tables, the prices current, the details of wages paid, and th
chapters headed education, building materials, shawl mam
facture, &c., might suppose that Abu-1 Fazl's remarkabl
work contains ample materials for an economic history c
description of the country under the rule of his master. Bi
closer study would soon dispel the illusion. All subjeci
are considered solely with reference to the sovereign an
the court, and little or no attempt is made to compare th
conditions under Akbar with those existing under his pr(
decessors. The important subject of ' Regulations regardir .•
Education ' (book ii, Ain 25), for instance, is dismissed wit

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 387

few perfunctory words intimating that boys should be
aught reading and writing in an intelHgent way, and should
1)6 required to read 'books on morals, arithmetic, the ^>^'*^^«^^'
lotation peculiar to arithmetic, agriculture, mensuration,
cometry, astronomy, physiognomy, household matters,
ihe rules of government, medicine, logic, the theological
ildhi), the mathematical and physical {riydzl and tablet)
Sciences, as well as history, all of which may be gradually
icquired '. Particular school-books are recommended for
lanskrit studies. ' No one should be allowed to neglect
hose things which the present time requires.' That is all.
The section is closed by the baseless assertion that ' these
emulations shed a new light on schools, and cast a bright
listre over Muslim schools [madrasahs) '. The curriculum
ecommended obviously has no relation to the facts. No
chool in India or elsewhere has ever attempted to work
[uch a programme. The author simply desired to lay
nother morsel of flattery on the altar of Akbar's shrine.

When the statistics in the Ain are examined with atten- DilTi-
fion something more may be learned, although the figures f"'*'^-'' "f
[ffer many difliculties of interpretation. Some of the pretation.
'ifficulties which embarrass the student of the revenue
tatistics have been already mentioned. When the tables
f prices and wages are considered obstacles to complete
inderstanding of them become immediately manifest. As

preliminary, the meaning of the terms referring to coinage,
ireights, and measures has to be settled. That can be
one with a considerable, although not absolute, degree of
crtainty. The figures themselves, apart from the question
[f arithmetical and copyists' errors, suggeslxloubts of many
finds. The tables published by Abu-1 Fazl arcina4e up of
Ibstract averages. Nothing is known about the metliod of
Compilation, or the area from which the statistics are drawn,
tid it is obvious that the figures must be subject to criticism
•om different points of view. Still, notwithstanding such
lindrances to complete understanding, Abu-1 Fazl is entitled
h the gratitude of later ages for the industry and skill
ith which he handled his embarrassing mass of material.

c c 2

388

AKBx\R THE GREAT MOGUL

Copper
coinage ;
the dam.

Dally

Nothing approaching his survey of the empire is to b
found anywhere else in the sixteenth century.

A considerable part of the information about wages givei
in Ain 87 of book i {Am, vol. i, p. 225) is intelligible and o
interest.

The darn, paisd, or fulus, was a massive copper coin
copied from Sher Shah's issues, and weighing normall;
323*5 grains, or very nearly 21 grammes (20-962). Th
normal relative value of copper to silver was 72-4 to ]
and for purposes of account 40 of the copper dams wer
reckoned uniformly as equivalent to the silver rupee c
172*5 grains, the silver being practically pure. In practic
the bazaar rate equating the ' pice ' or dams with the silve
rupee varied somewhat, but the actual rate did not depai
widely from the standard of 40 dams to one rupee. Wage:
of course, were paid in real coins, and not in the money (
account. Poor people then, as now in India, thought i
terms of copper coins, and the revenue accounts were mad
up in dams at the rate of 40 to the rupee. The dam wa
divided into 25 jitals for account purposes, but no coi
called jital then existed. Very small change was pn
vided by certain subsidiary coins and by cowrees.^ T\
coinage in silver and gold was abundant and of excellei
quality.

It is needless to attempt to make out the exact meanir
of the rates for piece-work given by Abu-1 Fazl. The dail
rates for wages are more easily understood, subject to tl
preliminary observations already made that we do n(
know either the area to which they apply or the sourc<
from which they were obtained.

* See Ain 10 of book i in Aln,
vol. i, p. 31, ' The Coins of this
Glorious Empire '. Abii-1 Fazl
says that the old copper coins
used to be called Bahloll. That is
true, but the Bahlolis of Bahlol
and his son Sikandar bin Bahlol
Lodi weighed only about 140
grains (E. Thomas, Chronicles of
the Pathan Kings, p. 362). ' Prac-
tically ', Thomas observes, ' the

dam was the ready money
prince and peasant. Abu-1 Fa
relates that a kror of dams w
kept ready for gifts, &c., with
the palace, " every thousand
which is kept in bags ".' Small
pieces were the ^, ^, and | of
dam. Double dams were al
struck. See the Catalogues
Coins, as in Bibliography.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 389

The normal rate for an unskilled labourer was two dams,
»r the twentieth part of a rupee, or four-fifths of an anna
n modern currency. A first-class carpenter got seven dams,
even-fortieths of a rupee, and other working-men obtained
)ay at intermediate rates. Those two leading rates, assum-
ng their approximate accuracy, may be taken as the basis
)f discussion.

The value of the rupee in English money was estimated

o range from 2*. to 2s. 9</., and more generally might be

aken as 2s. 3d., or 27 pence. Consequently, the normal

vage of an unskilled labourer may be taken as ^^d., or from

Ji^d. to l^d. a day.

1 The first-class skilled workman drawing 7 dams got less
fhan one-fifth of a rupee, about three annas in modern
•urrency, or -^^ of 27 pence, that is to say, about ^d. a day,
iiccording to the rate of exchange then prevailing.

The table of average prices shows the amount of food Low
:;hat could be purchased in normal times for either 2 or ^hlf mfl/<
r ddins, that is to say, for from l^d. to l^d. or for about or
fi^d. The figures certainly express, as E. Thomas justly
pbserved, ' the extraordinary cheapness of food '. It must
Se understood, of course, that they are average figures
I3alculated from a mass of details no longer in existence,
md that they can refer only to years of ordinary plenty.
[India in Akbar's time, as will be shown presently, was
,3y no means exempt from famine in its most appalling

brm.

Abu-1 Fazl gives the price per man, or ' maund '. It is

|well established that that term in his book expresses a weight

Mjuivalent roughly to half a hundredweight (5G pounds

ivoirdupois), or more exactly, to 55^ pounds. His ' maund ',

herefore, was approximately two-thirds of the present
standard ' maund ' of 82 pounds. In both cases 40 ' seers '
^ser) go to the ' maund '. The modern ' seer ' is a trifle
pvcr 2 pounds, and nearly agrees with the kilogramme.
The ' seer ' of Akbar was slightly more than two-thirds of

2 pounds, or about 21 ounces.

With these preliminary explanations, the prices of the

890

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

principal articles of food and the amount obtainable by an
unskilled labourer for 2 darns, or by a skilled artisan for
7 dams, may be stated in tabular form.^

Amount of Food obtainable in Akbar's Reign, about a. d. 1600,
AT Average Prices in Normal Years

Price per ' maund ' or

Obtainable by

Unskilled la-

Skilled arti-

Article.

man of 55^ lb. avoir-

bourer at

san at 7

dupois in dams at 40

dams or ^g

dams or ^

to rupee.

rupee per diem.

of rupee

per diem.

lb.

oz.

lb. oz.

Wheat.

12
( = 194| lb. per rupee
of 40 dams)

32 6

Barley.

8
(=277^ lb. per rupee)

48 9

Rice, best.

110
(=20| lb. per rupee)

3 8

,, worst.

20
(111 lb. per rupee)

19 7

Mung pulse (Pha-

21 10

seolus mungo).

(=37 lb. per rupee)

Mash pulse {Phaseo-

24 4

lus radiatus).

( = 138| lb. per rupee)

Moth pulse (Phaseo-

32 6

lus aconitifolius).

( = 194| lb. per rupee)

Gram, or chick-pea

16|

21 7

(Cicer arietinum).

( = 134| lb. per rupee)

Juwdr millet (Hol-

nearly 11

38 15

ctis sorghum).

(=222 lb. per rupee)

White sugar.

128

(=17| lb. per rupee)

nearly

3 1

Brown „

56
(=39| lb. per rupee)

nearly 2

nearly 7

Ghi, or clarified

105

3 11

butter.

( = 13^ lb. per rupee)

Sesamum oil (tel).

80
(=27| lb. per rupee)

4 13

Salt.

16
(=138j lb. per rupee)

24 4

• Prinsep's view ('Useful Tables ',
p. Ill) that Akbar's man was
' in round terms ' about ' one-half
of our present standard man ' of
82 pounds is erroneous. The true
value of about 55| pounds avoir-
dupois has been worked out by
E. Thomas {Chronicles, p. 430),
and in a different way by Wilton
Oldham, Memoir of the Ghazee-
poor District (1870), part i, p. 84.

Hawkins also defined Jahangir's
man as 55 pounds. De Laet,
following him, correctly states
that 'Maune item est pondus LV
libr. Angl.' (p. {^). The table
following has been compiled from
Ain 27 of book i, ' Statistics of
the Prices of Certain Articles ' ;
Ains 27 and 87 of same (Aln, vol. i,
pp. 62, 225) ; and from Thomas,
Chronicles, p. 430.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 391

Four of the leading items may be compared with the
lost recent set of average retail prices as given in the
mperial Gazetteer, 1907. The table there is made out for
seers ' per rupee. Taking the ' seer ' as two pounds, the
seer ' figures may be doubled to get pounds and so com-
ared with the rupee prices as given in brackets in the
)receding table.

Prices per Rupee

Article.

jVTieat
farley .
pram
iuwdr millet

Pounds avoirdupois per Rupee.

In Akbar's time, a. d. 1600.

194-25
277-50
134-25
2220

In 1901-3 (/. G.).
290 (seers 14-5)
43-8 (seers 20-9)
330 (seers 16-5)
41-2 (seers 20-6)

The low prices were not confined to grain. Nearly every- Low

hing elsejwas equally cheap. For instance, sheep of the mea?and

rdinary kinds~could be~bought for a rupee and a quarter milk.

r a rupee and a half each. Mutton is priced at 65 dams

.'cr ' maund ', equivalent to 34 pounds or 17 ' seers ' for

Ihe rupee. Milk sold at 25 dams the maund. A rupee

[herefore would purchase 89 pounds, or 44 seers. The

irger seer of the present day is reckoned as equal to a quart.

)educting one-third from the figure 44, the price in Akbar's

iay works out at about 30 quarts for the rupee, or a penny

, quart, if the rupee be taken at 2*. Qd. (30 pence) as it

isually was by Terry, early in the reign of Jahangir, which

vas simply a continuation of Akbar's, so far as social and

;;conomic conditions were concerned, as well as in most

•ther respects. The historian of Akbar, therefore, is fully

nstified in using the evidence of Roe, Terry, and Tom

voryate, who all resided in northern and western India

letween 1615 and 1618. Their testimony emphatically

confirms that of the Ain, respecting the lowncss of prices

ind wages, while adding to it by distinctly afiirming the

abundance of provisions in ordinary years. In 1585 and

1586 prices were so exceptionally low that the full cash

•evenue rates could not be paid, and considerable remissions

>ecamc necessary in three i:)rovinces.

392

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Low
prices in
Western
Asia.

Value
of the
rupee in
sterling.

..*»

The low cash retail prices were not confined to India
They extended all over Western Asia. That fact is con
clusively proved by the experience of Tom Coryate, ' th
Wanderer of his age ', a most accurate observer and truthfu
writer, whose trustworthiness was not in any way affecte(
by his eccentricities. He entered the Mogul dominions b;
way of Kandahar and Lahore, having travelled overlanc
from Syria on foot through Armenia, Mesopotamia, anc
Persia. During the journey of ten months from Aleppo t<
Kandahar he spent in all £3 sterling, but out of that lOi
had been stolen, so that he lived on twopence a day al
round, and at times on a penny. ^

In October 1616 he managed to secure access to cour
without the knowledge of Sir Thomas Roe, the Englisi
ambassador, and extracted a hundred rupees from Jahangi
in recompense for a flattering oration in Persian. Th
recipient reckoned the gift as the equivalent of £10 sterling
valuing the rupee expressly at 2s. ; but Terry, who als
tells the story, valued the present as equal to £12 10s,
which implies that he then estimated the rupee at 2s. 6c
He states in general terms that the ' meanest ' rupees wer
worth 2*. 3d., and the ' best ' 2s. 9d. sterling. On anothe
occasion, when paying a rupee as compensation for a
injury, he valued it at 2s. 9d.^ These instances explai
de Laet's remark in 1631 that rupees ranged in value fror
2*. to 2s. 9d.^ In another place Terry reckons the pay c
an ordinary servant or follower as 5*. a month, meanin
apparently two rupees.*

The statistics show that that small sum would hav

* The epithet ' Wanderer of
his age ' is from Terry's verses
(p. 73). Coryate' s Crudities, a
queer medley, as originally pub-
lished in 1611, in a single rare
volume of 653 pages, plus the
index and some supplementary
matter, deals with Europe only.
The reprint of 1776, in three
volumes octavo, adds the Letters
from India in vol. iii, which are
not paged. Another reprint, by
MacLehose of Glasgow, was issued
in 1905. I have used the 1776

edition. The eccentric travelle
died at Surat in December 161'
Terry gives a good account t
him, which is included in the 177
edition of the Crudities, and occi
pies pp. 55-74 of the 1777 editio
of Terry, whose first editio
appeared in 1655.

2 pp. 113, 167.

' ' Per Rupias ; quae con
muniter valent duos solidos <
novem denarios Angl. interdui
etiam tantum duos ' (p. iff).

' p. 173.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION

393

nrchased 194 x2 = 398, or nearly 400 pounds of wheat in Plenty
1600. Abu-1 Fazl does not state the price of flour, which, visions.
jf course, must have been appreciably higher. It is clear,
owever, that a man co uld feed himself adequately for

cost of from SLpenny^ U) twopence a day.

Terry further states that fish were purchaseable ' at such

|asy rates as if they were not worth the valuing \^ and that,

jenerally speaking, ' the plenty of all provisions ' was ' very

jreat throughout the whole monarchy ' ; ' every one there

lay eat bread without scarceness '.^

Oldham, writing in 1870 with reference to the Ghazlpur Prices in
X' J. • J. ■ j^i n , ^. . ^ n 1870 and

iiistnct m the eastern part of the United Provmces, was of 1901-3.
pinion that ' according to the prices given in the Ayeen
\lkbery, a rupee in the days of Akbar would purchase at the
cry lowest computation about four times the amount of
gricultural produce that can now be bought for a rupee '.^
('hings were cheaper in 1870 than they were in 1901-3, for
•hich the Gazetteer statistics have been quoted. It may be
s well to compare the figures for the four selected grains in
she two recent periods.

Price per Rupee in Pounds Avoirdupois

1.
\lrticle.

V'heat
■larley
;lram
I'uwdr

Akbar,
A.D. 1600.

194-25
277-50
134-25
2220

1866-70.

39-4 (seers 19-7)
58-0 (seers 29-0)
47-2 (seers 23-6)
53-6 (seers 26-8)

4.
1901-3.

29-0 (seers 14-5)
43-8 (seers 21-9)
33-0 (seers 16-5)
41-2 (seers 20-6)

Percentage to col. 2

of col. 3.

20-3
20-9
35-6
243

of col. 4.

150
15-7
24-2
18-4

These figures indicate that the rise in prices from the

feriod 1866-70 to that of 1901-3 has been large. Even

hen Oldham wrote, his estimate that the purchasing

ower of the rupee in 1600 was more than four times what

was in 1870, fell below the mark except in the case of
ram. For the later period the purchasing power of the
lupee is far less.

When the material condition of the people is the question

p. 89.

p. I7i

' Op. cit., part i, p. 84.

h«V

»•-

394 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Effect under consideration, a rise in prices is immaterial if the
Mri-^pJ buyer is provided with additional cash in the same pro-
portion. The rise in prices in the course of three centuries
has been something like 500 or 600 per cent. The rise in
wages has not been so great. I doubt if it comes up tc
300 per cent. In Akbar's time the daily wage of the unskilled
labourer was one-twentieth of a rupee. During my service
in the United Provinces, between 1871 and 1900, the familial
current rate paid by Europeans was one-eighth of a rupee,
but natives of the country often paid less. The fractior
one-eighth is 250 per cent, larger than one-twentieth. Thf
increase in the wage of skilled labour may be even less
and has hardly more than doubled. I refer to ' up-country
conditions, not to Calcutta or Bombay. On the whole, s(
far as I can judge, the hired landless labourer in the time
of Akbar and Jahanglr probably had more to eat in ordinar}
years than he has now. But in famine years, such as 1555-(
and 1595-8, he simply died. Now, even in seasons of severe
famine, he is often kept alive.

The advance in prices does not affect cultivators so much
When prices are exceptionally low they find it impossibh
to pay cash revenue rates based on a normal scale of prices
High prices mean for them enhanced incomes as well ai
enhanced cost, and they have greater security than thej
used to have, while the demand made by the State is less
We must remember that the absolutely landless labourer ii
not common in the country districts. I doubt if the culti
vators on the whole were better off three centuries ag(
than they are now, and it is possible that they may hav*
been less prosperous.
Urban When we come to compare the conditions of the towi

popula- population then and now, exact, or approximately exac
figures are lacking. It is obvious that the disappearanct
of the imperial court and of many splendid viceregal an(
princely courts has adversely affected certain localities am
trades. But the development of commerce in modern time
has been so great that townspeople on the whole may b
better off than they were in Akbar's day. It would carr,

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 395

e too far to pursue the subject in detail. Contemporary
avellers undoubtedly were much impressed by the wealth
id prosperity of the great cities in the reigns of Akbar
id Jahangir. Fitch, for example, in 1585, tells us in
passage already quoted that

|Agra and Fatepore are two very great cities, either of
liem much greater than London and very populous. Between
;gra and Fatepore are 12 miles [scil. kos], and all the way
i a market of victuals and other things, as full as though
|man were still in a towne, and so many people as if a man
]ere in a market.' ^

Terry, from the testimony of others, describes the Pan jab
;. ' a large province, and most fruitful. Lahore is the chief
«ty thereof, built very large, and abounds both in people
ad riches, one of the most principal cities for trade in all
.idia ' (p. 76). Mon serrate, speaking from personal know-
Idge of the same city as it was in 1581, declares that Lahore
as not second to any city in Europe or Asia. Every kind
<■ merchandise was to be found in its shops, and the streets
pre blocked by dense crowds.^ Similarly, Burhanpur in
^)handesh was ' very great, rich, and full of people ' (p. 80).
ibu-1 Fazl is enthusiastic over the glories of Ahmadabad
i Gujarat, ' a noble city in a high state of prosperity ',
'hich ' for the pleasantness of its climate and its display
i' the choicest productions of the whole globe is almost
iiri vailed '. It was reputed to contain a thousand mosques
|iilt of stone.^ Kabul was a place of busy trade, crowded
iith merchants from India, Persia, and Tartary.^ Such
(stimonies concerning the conditions of the great inland
1>wns, which might be largely multiplied, permit of no
oubt that the urban population of the more important
^ties was well to do. Whether or not it was better off on
le whole than the townspeople of the twentieth century
■e it is hard to say. I am not able to express any definite

)inion on the subject.

'Famine', as has been truly said, 'lies broad written

' Fitch, p. 98. The distance ^ Cnmmentarius, p. 622.

•tween Agra and Futhpur-Sikri ' Ait}, vol. ii, p. 240.

about 23 miles. * Commenlarius, p. G17.

396

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

villages.

Famines across the pages of Indian history.' ^ We hear of it in thf
remote age when the Buddhist Jdtaka stories were com-
posed,^ and from time to time in every age. The occurrence
of famine, resulting from the absolute non-existence oi
crops, was and is inevitable in a country like India, when
the possibility of sowing and reaping a crop depends oi
seasonal rains, which often fail, and where the mass of the
people are, and always have been, extremely poor. Th(
modern extension of communications and of irrigation oi
a gigantic scale has done much to remove the causes o
extreme famine, but nothing can absolutely prevent it
recurrence. When it does come it is now fought with al
the resources of a highly organized and philanthropi
government. Even so, as recent experience proves, intens
suffering cannot be prevented whenever there is a wide
spread failure of the rains, and appalling mortality sti
results. Pestilence, in one form or another, inevitably dog
the steps of famine.

The old governments, whether Hindu or Muhammadai
were not so highly organized as the existing Anglo-India
government. Perhaps the most elaborate native organizs
tion which ever existed in India was that of the Maur}i
dynasty in the fourth and third centuries before Chris
The extant descriptions of the Maurya administration, ar
the indubitable facts which prove the wide extent of dominie
ruled by Asoka, his father, and grandfather, as well as tl
firm grip of the government on remote territories, leave (
my mind the impression that Akbar's machine of gover
ment never attained the standard of efficiency reached I
the Mauryas eighteen or nineteen centuries before his tim
Nevertheless, the iron hand of the great Maurya emperc
could not coerce the clouds or save their much-goverm
realm from the miseries of famine. The traditions of t'
Jains give prominence to the terrible famine which occurr
late in the fourth century b. c. towards the close of t
reign of Chandragupta Maurya, and lasted for twel;

» Sir Harcourt Butler in 1. G., ^ Jdtaka, No. 199, in Cambrid

iii (1907), chap, x, p. 475. The transl,, ii, 94.
whole chapter is worth reading.

Ancient
famines.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 397

iears.^ Famines recur throughout all ages ; as, for instance,
'arly in the tenth century after Christ, when a Hindu king
?i»ned in Kashmir, that pleasant land was desolated by
famine of the severest kind.

' One could scarcely see the water in the Vitasta (Jihlam),
atirely covered as the river was with corpses soaked and
vvollen by the water in which they had long been lying,
he land became densely covered with bones in all direc-
ons, until it was like one great burial-ground, causing
?rror to all beings.' ^

Similar scenes occurred over and over again under Muham-
ladan kings in various parts of India, and the glorious
bign of fortunate Akbar was not an exception.

The year of his accession (1555-6) was marked by a famine The
s grievous as any on record. Abu-1 Fazl, who was a child i^^^^^^
ve years old at the time, retained in after life ' a perfect

collection of the event ', and learned further details from
'ider eyewitnesses. The capital (Delhi) was devastated,
nd the mortality was enormous.^ The historian Badaoni

'with his own eyes witnessed the fact that men ate their
\vn kind, and the appearance of the famished sufferers was
:) hideous that one could scarcely look upon them. . . . The
'hole country was a desert, and no husbandmen remained

till the ground.' *

Gujarat, one of the richest provinces of India, and generally Famines,
:^puted to be almost exempt from the risk of famine, suffered
jverely for six months in 1573-4. Pestilence, as usual,
bllowed on starvation, so that ' the inhabitants, rich and
oor, fled the country and were scattered abroad '.^
' Abu-1 Fazl, with characteristic vagueness, records that
'i 1583 or 1584, ' as prices were high on account of the
rjmess of the year, the means of subsistence of many
feople came to an end '.^ He does not trouble to give any
ctails or even to mention which provinces were affected.
f we may judge from the slovenly way in which he treats

* E.U.I., 3rd ed., p. 146. ante, chap. ii.

* Ibid., p. 374. ' Tabakat, in E. & D., v, 384.

^ Aln, vol. iii, p. 475. ' A.N., vol. iii, chap. Ixxiv,

* Badaoni, tr. Rankinjr, i, 549- p. 625.

1 ; E. & D,, V, 490, 491. See

398 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

the tremendous calamity of 1595-8, we may infer that th
famine of 1583-4 was serious. It does not seem to b
mentioned or even alluded to by other chroniclers.

The famine which began in 1595 (a. h. 1004) and lastei
three or four years until 1598 equalled in its horrors the on
which had occurred in the accession year, and excelled tha
visitation by reason of its longer duration. Abu-1 Fazl, a
already observed in chapter x, slurs over the calamity b;
using vague words designed to conceal the severity of th
distress, and to save the credit of the imperial government
A minor historian, who was less economical of the trutl
lets us know that

' during the year 1004 n. [August 1595-August 1596] ther
was a scarcity of rain throughout the whole of Hindostar
and a fearful famine raged continuously for three or foii
years. . . . Men ate their own kind. The streets and road
were blocked up with dead bodies, and no assistance coul
be rendered for their removal.' ^

The Jesuit missionaries witnessed the effects of tli
famine and pestilence in Lahore and Kashmir, but n
contemporary authority cared to record details or to gi\
any estimate of the extent of the havoc wrought. Nothin
is known concerning the process of recovery, which mu;
have occupied a long time. The modern historian woul
be glad to sacrifice no small part of the existing chronica
if he could obtain in exchange a full account of the famir
of 1595-8 and of its economic effects.
Epi- Pestilence, as already observed, was the inevitable accon

ancTimin- paniment and consequence of widespread starvation. Tl
dation. Vague statements of the historians give no clue to tl
nature of the diseases occasioned by the two great famine
and the minor visitations of Akbar's reign. Cholera, whic
usually appears under similar conditions, probably cause
a large part of the mortality in the sixteenth centur
Bubonic plague was regarded by Jahangir as a novel!
when it appeared in 1616.^

> He gives details of the famine Akbar ascended the throne,
in the accession year in order to ^ E. & D., vi, 193.

show that things improved when ^ Jahangir, R. B., i, 330, 441

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION

399

The deadly epidemic of 1575, which extended over
lengal, and was particularly virulent at Gaur, seems to

ive been a kind of malarial fever, or rather several kinds

' that multiform disease.

The destructive inundation which occurred in the Megna
,3lta in 1584-5 may be mentioned here as one of the calami-
res which occasionally marred Akbar's record of prosperity.
|he Sarkar of Bagla, in which the disaster happened,
Ictended, we are told, along the sea-shore. ' In the 29th year
the Divine Era, a terrible inundation occurred at three
Iclock in the afternoon, which swejjt over the whole Sarkar.
. . Nearly 200,000 living creatures perished in this flood.' ^

The ancient governments, Hindu or Muhammadan, did Relief
lathing, as a rule, in the way of famine relief. The King

' Kashmir in the tenth, and Hemu in the sixteenth century,

bth showed heartless indifference to the sufferings of their

?ople. The most considerable effort to relieve distress

;;ems to have been that made by Akbar during the famine

'"1595-8, when Shaikh Farid of Bokhara, a man of naturally

^;nerous disposition, was put on special duty to superintend

llief measures. But no particulars of his operations are

jicorded, and it is certain that their effect was extremely

Juited. The definite famine relief policy of the British

overnment as now practised may be said to date from

^77, its main principle being the determination to save

iman life so far as possible, even at enormous cost. Not-

ithstanding the heroic exertions made for that purpose,

le mortality in the widespread famine of 1900 reached

; gantic figures. We dare not expect that similar calamities

<,\,n be altogether averted in the future.

■ & D., vi, 346 ; Terry, pp. 226-8.

iX Thomas Roe's suite was

kacked by the disease at Ahmad-

|>ad in May 1616.

> Am, vol. ii, p. 123. The

irkar of Bagla or Bogla, more

jxrectly spelt Bakla, corresponded

lughly with the southern part of

e modern Bakarganj District.

le Ain (vol. ii, p. 134) names

iir mahals which I cannot

L-ntify. The district, much of

which lies below sea-level, is still
liable to disastrous inundations.
It was visited in 1.586 by Ralph
Fitch, who calls it Bacola. The
position of the town of that name
is not known. The .Jesuit mis-
sionaries who were in the district
in 1599 and 1600 write the name
as Bacola, Bacola, or Bacalu. See
I.G. (1908), vi, 172; and Beve-
ridge, The District of Bdkarganj,
London (Triibner), 1876.

400 AKBAR TPIE GREAT MOGUL

Forests. A few particular, though rather desultory observatiom p'
may be made to illustrate the actual condition of variouj,
parts of India in Akbar's time and to emphasize the contrasi
with present conditions.

' Pergunnahs [parganas] ', as Oldham correctly states
' are now subdivisions of a district, containing a large
number of villages, and called by a fixed name. In th(
early days of the Mahomedan empire they appear to hav(
been clearings or cultivated spaces in the forest, occupiec
generally by a single, but sometimes by more than on(
fraternity or clan.

' The Emperor Baber, in his Autobiography, mention
that the pergunnahs were surrounded by jungles, and tha
the people of the pergunnahs often fled to these jungles t(
avoid paying their revenue.^

' In the days of the Emperor Baber, the rhinocero
abounded in the country adjacent to the Ghogra ; anc
wild elephants, first met with in numbers at Karrah, no\
in the Futtehpoor^ District, became more common as i
traveller proceeded eastward. We may, therefore, fairl;
conclude that the Ghazeeppor District, which is situatei
on the Ghogra, and far east of Karrah, must have been ii
a great degree a forest, swarming with herds of elephant
and rhinoceros, three or four hundred years ago.' ^

I lived in that District more than forty years ago, an(

can testify from personal knowledge that no large gam

was then to be found anywhere in or near it. Even th

black buck was rare, and there was practically no shootin

to be had except wild-fowl.

Increase The area under cultivation undoubtedly has increase-

in ciiltiv- vastly almost everywhere during the last three hundre^

area. years. It is not possible to give general comparative statistics

and attempts to work out the figures for any individuf

modern administrative District are difficult and yiel

indeterminate results. In certain cases, as in that of Sarka

Mungir (Monghyr) in Bihar, the Am omits the figures c

area altogether, and in a hundred other ways obstack

beset the path of the inquirer who seeks to map out th

1 The same state of things con- reference to the facts as in 1849-5(

tinned to exist in Oudh until the ^ sic ; read ' Allahabad '.

annexation in 1856. See Sleeman, ^ Op. cit., p. 51.
Tour in Oudh, 1858, passim, with

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 401

Srkars of Akbar and compare them with modern Districts.
Eliot, Beames, and many local officers have attempted the
t;k and attained partial, but admittedly only partial
S3cess.^ The proportionate extension of the cultivated
a?a has, of course, varied infinitely in different localities.
J r instance, Mr. Moreland estimates that in the Fatehpur
Estrict, United Provinces, as a whole, the tillage has about
diibled, but in different parts of the district the increase
vries between 50 and 400 per cent. Oldham, writing in
l;/0, estimated the cultivated area of the Ghazipur Sarkar
irithe east of the United Provinces to have been one-sixth
olthe total area in the reign of Akbar, as against more than
fib-sixths when he was writing. All such estimates are
n: rely rough approximations, and it is not worth while to
prsue the subject in further statistical detail.

fhe range of the Rhinoceros indicus or unicornis is now Wild
rctricted to the forests of the Himalayas and the swampy
trcts at the base of the mountains, but the great beast
W5 hunted by Babur in the neighbourhood of Peshawar as
w!l as on the banks of the Gogra.

ikbar captured wild elephants in many places where

n(v one would be as likely to meet a mammoth, and he

sKt tigers near Mathura.

n ancient times the lion used to be found throughout
I
:h greater part of North-western and Central India. At

tV present time it is almost extinct, only a few specimens

jLviving, it is believed, in Kathiawar.

^ut in 1615, when Terry was encamped at Mandu in

ZiitTal India, now included in the Dhar State, lions troubled

M camp as they do at the present day in parts of Africa.

In those vast and extended woods ', Terry writes, ' there
ir lions, tigers, and other beasts of prey, and many wild
dohants. We lay one night in that wood with our carriages,
in those lions came about us, discovering themselves by
:h;r roaring, but we keeping a good fire all night, they
!aie not near enough to hurt either ourselves or cattle ;

For Subas Agra, Allahabad, (Awadh) and Bihar, Beames in

in Delhi see Elliot, Supplemental J. A. S. B., part i, 1884, pp. 215-

V/sany, ed. Beames, 1869, vol. ii, 32; and 1885, pp. 162-82, with

ip 83-146 ; and for SQbas Oudh maps.

'« Dd

402 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

those cruel beasts are night-walkers, for in the day the^
appear not.'

At the same place, a little later :

' One night, early in the evening, there was a great Hon
which we saw, came into our yard (though our yard wa
compassed about with a stone wall that was not low) ; anc
my Lord Ambassador ha^4ng a little white neat shocJ
that ran out barking at him.^ the lion presently snapt hie
up. leapt again over the wall, and away he went.'

Jahangir and his courtiers used to ride down Hons, an
kill them ' with their bows and carbines, and launces '
It would be easy to give further illustrations of a like kinc
but so much may suffice.
Gardens. The benefits conferred on India either directly by th;'
Mogul emperors or in their time were not confined to th'
administrative reforms already noticed or to the develop
ments of art and literature to be discussed in the nes
chapter. I

Babur grumbled much at the deficiencies of the burmn
plains of India in comparison with the dehghts of hi
pleasances at Samarkand and Kabul. He missed nothit
more than the gardens with their murmuring streams t ^
which he had been accustomed, and did his best to mai
a colourable imitation of them by the help of wells ar
brick water-courses. \\Tienever he settled for a time s j
any place, his first thought was a garden, and he strai^'^l'
way set to work to make one. So at Agra, across the rive| *
he built a garden palace, where, after four years of sovereignf '
in India, his restless spirit passed away. He left directioi
that his body should be transported to Kabul, and the
laid to its final rest in " the sweetest spot of the neighbou
hood ', a lovely garden at the foot of a ' turreted mountaii
beside a tumbUng cascade.

Akbar inherited his grandfather's love for gardens ai;"-
flowers, and made many ' paradises '. as the old Engii
monks called such retreats. The scene of his accession w,
set in a well-planned sarden. and other similar abodes i

» ' Shock " or • shough ', a long- » Terry, pp. 182, 184, 403.

haired, or shagg\- dog.

SOCL\L AMD ECOXOmC CONDITION 403

it -were coRstructed at Fathpur-Sikri, Sikandara, and
places. His son Jahangir frequently expresses his
)n for flowers and gardens. The scarlet blossom of
dhdk tree, he remarks, ' is so beautiful that one cannot
one's eyes off it '. Shahjahan, the author of the Taj
its exquisite gardens, continued the family tradition,
the puritan Aurangzeb cared for none of those things-
Mogul gardens certainly -w^ere a boon to India, and
merit is only now beginning to be frankly recognized,
laid out round the great buOdings of the period were
itial element in the architectural design, and cannot
I tampered with, save at the cost of spoiling the full

rssion of the architects' ideas.^
- garden is naught unless it is graced by a good selection New
; wers and fruits. Babur, who could not be content vc«et-
the somewhat meagre assortment which satisfied the ables.
^£. of the Rajas, devoted much attention to the subject
Kenriching the stock of the Indian gardener. He never
" i until the local horticulturist was able to supply him
good grapes and musk melons. His successors followed
xample and much improved the variety and quality of
J wers, vegetables, and fruits cultivated in Hindostan.
e potato, meaning probably the * sweet potato ' [Bcdcda*
or Ipomaea baUiias). which had been brought from
to Spain in 1519, early found favour in India,- Terry
ons the vegetable as being grown along with carrots
rthem India ; and when Asaf Khan. Jahangir' s brother-
w, feasted the ambassador, ' potatoes excellently well
were an item in the numerous dishes. The con-
rious chaplain tasted Aem alL to his satisfaction.*
ny-'s account of the entertainment alluded to deserves .\saf
3ition in full as being an authoritative description, such ^^^^
not to be found elsewhere, of the manners of a great

=-f C. M. Mllieis Stoart, and Eneycl. BriL, ed. 11, s. v.

Greai MaghaU, ' Potato ' and " Sweet Potato ".

^ - ^.=.^ .-.. LoDdan, 1913 ; It is hardly possible that Terry"?

' ^Testing aod wefr3aBtzat<ed potatoes can have been Solanutn

tvberosum.
,1904, » Terry, pp. 92, 197.

D d 2

404 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Muhammadan noble in the days of Akbar and his son.
is as follows :

' The Asaph Chan entertained my Lord Ambassador
a very spacious and a very beautiful tent, where none
his followers besides myself saw or tasted of that ent*
tainment.

' That tent was kept full of a very pleasant perfume ;
which scents the King and grandees there take very mu
delight. The floor of the tent was first covered all o\
with very rich and large carpets, which were covered age
in the places where our dinner stood with other good carpc ,
made of stitcht leather, to preserve them which were riche
and these were covered again with pure white and fi;
callico cloths ; and all these covered with very many disl ;
of silver ; but for the greater part of those silver dish ,
they are not larger than our largest trencher plates, t;
brims of all of them gilt.

' We sat in that large room as it were in a triangle ; t
Ambassador on Asaph Chan's right hand, a good distar
from him ; and myself below ; all of us on the ground,
they there all do when they eat, with our faces looking ea i
to the other, and every one of us had his separate me
The Ambassador had more dishes by ten, and I less by t( ,
than our entertainer had ; yet for my part I had fil '
dishes. They were all set before us at once, and little pal ;
left betwixt them, that our entertainer's servants (for oi '
they waited) might come and reach them to us one af '
another, and so they did ; so that I tasted of all set bef( ;
me, and of most did but taste, though all of them tastl
very well.

' Now of the provision itself; for our larger dishes, tb
were filled with rice, dressed as before described ; and 1 5
rice was presented to us, some of it white, in its own projr
colour, some of it made yellow with saffron, some of it v 5
made green, and some of it put into a purple colour ; 1 1
by what ingredient I know not ; but this I am sure, thai t
all tasted very well : And with rice thus ordered, several f
our dishes were furnished ; and very many more of them w 1
flesh of several kinds, and with hens and other sorts of fcl
cut in pieces, as before I observed in their Indian cookei.

' To these we had many jellies and culices ; ^ rice groul
to flour, then boiled, and after sweetened with sugar-cany^

' Also spelt ' cullises ', and said cullises ' from Beaumont ii
to mean savoury meat jellies. Fletcher.
Webster quotes ' caudles and

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 405

III rose-water, to be eaten cold. The flour of rice, mingled
nYi sweet almonds, made as small as they could, and wth
5cae of the most fleshy parts of hens, stewed with it, and
li^er, the flesh so beaten into pieces, that it could not be
iicerned, all made sweet with rose-water and sugar-candy,
111 scented with Ambergrease ; ^ this was another of our
iihes, and a most luscious one, which the Portuguese call
mngee real, food for a King. Many other dishes we had,
Hide up in cakes, of several forms, of the finest of the
(veat flour, mingled with almonds and sugar-candy, whereof
sciie were scented, and some not. To these potatoes
25|ellently well dressed ; and to them divers sallads of the
3iious fruits of that country, some preserved in sugar,
ail others raw ; and to these many roots candied, almonds
blnched, raisons of the sun,^ prunellas,^ and I know not
w'at, of all enough to make up the number of dishes before
nmed ; and with these qiielque chose * was that entertain-
irjut made up.

1 And it was better a great deal, than if it had consisted
oi'ull and heaped up dishes, such as are sometimes amongst
unprovided for great and profuse entertainments. Our
b;,ad was of very good excellent wheat, made up very
wite and light, in round cakes ; and for our drink, some
oiit was brew'd, for ought I know, ever since Noah's flood,
tilt good innocent water, being all the drink there commonly
u:;d, (as before) and in those hot climates (it being better
d,csted there than in other parts) it is very sweet, and
aliys thirst better than any other liquor can, and therefore
b'ter pleascth, and agreeth better with every man that
cmes and lives there, than any other drink.

1 At this entertainment we sat long, and much longer
t^in we could with ease cross-legged ; but all considered,
oi' feast in that place was better than Apicius, that famous
Eicure of Rome, with all his witty gluttony (for so Pater-
cius calls it, ingeniosa gula) ^ could have made with all
p^)visions had from the earth, air, and sea.' ^

( Now spelt ' ambergrris ', scil. * More common In the corrupt

a^bre gris, or prey amber. It is form ' kickshaws '.

a norbid secretion from the in- ^ C. Velleiiis Patercuhis, author

tf :ines of the sperm whale, and of a comj)cn(lium of history

ir: Europe is used only as a finished in a. d. 30, and now

nterial for perfumery. rarely read; served under Tibe-

The sun-dried fjrapes, now rius, and was contemporary with

dtimonly sold packed in cotton- Apicius.

VI )1 in chij) boxes, and known as " Terry, pp. 19.5-8. Indian

; Fbuli. CDokery is described in the pages

Dried [)lums, the drii Bokkdrl preceding.
II I he bazaars.

406 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Temper- Asaf Khan gave his guests nothing to drink except wat(
Tntenv" adhering strictly to the precepts of his rehgion. H
perance. sovereign, as is well known, had no scruples on the subjec
and drank more or less heavily, generally more, during t
greater part of his life. Intemperance was the besetting s
of the Timurid royal family, as it was of many other Musli
ruling families. The grace with which Babur describ
his frequent orgies wins forgiveness for the elegant top(
and the thoroughness of his reformation when he becai
a teetotaller at a dangerous crisis in his fortunes comp i
admiration. Humayun, who is not recorded to ha;
indulged in excessive drinking, made himself stupid wii
opium. Akbar, as we have seen, permitted himself t:
practice of both vices. Some of the mad freaks in whii
he indulged while under the influence of liquor have bei
narrated. They, naturally, occurred while he was sl!
young. Later in life he rarely drank wine, but habitua-
consumed opium. The evil example set by the soverei^j
was followed only too faithfully by the princes and nobl.
Akbar's two younger sons died in early manhood frd
chronic alcoholism, and their elder brother was saved fru
the same fate by a strong constitution, not by virtue. I3
biographies of the nobles recorded by Blochmann reed
a surprising number of deaths due to intemperance. C3
of the most conspicuous victims of that vice was Miii
Jam Beg of Sind, who drank himself to death in the Decci
soon after the fall of Aslrgarh. Another noble of high ra <.
(Shahbeg Khan, No. 57) used to drink a terrible mixti3
of wine, hemp, and two forms of opium. Many other examf s
might be cited.

But the vice of intemperance which so disgraced co t
circles was not common in decent society elsewhere. Tef
was much impressed by the general sobriety of all ran>
both Hindu and Musalman, and declares that ' none f
the people there are at any time seen drunk (though t\f
might find liquor enough to do it) but the very offal ai
dregs of that people, and these rarely or very seldor'.
The same eminently sympathetic author names ' temp-

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONT)ITION 407

aice, justice, and unwearied devotion ' as characteristic
Idian virtues.^

IThe fighting Rajput clans all consumed opium freely,
ad often to ruinous excess. Speaking generally, the habits
c the people in relation to strong drink and potent drugs
sem to have been much the same as they are now. Princes,
Ijing free from the control of public opinion, always have
l^en liable to the temptations of vicious excess, and fearful
Samples may still be found. Individuals of good social
jjtsition below the princely order sometimes give way to
i^emperance, but the population, as a whole, is a sober
(^e to-day, as it was in the days of Akbar and Jahanglr.
(btain castes which permit drinking are apt to exceed the
Inits of seemly conviviality on the occasions when they
^ercise their liberty. Public opinion in the mass, whether
lindu or Muhammadan, is distinctly opposed to intem-
prance, and so it has always been.

Tobacco was introduced into the Mogul empire at the Introduc-
<pse of Akbar's reign, either late in 1604 or early in 1605. Jg^" "po
jie story is so well told by Asad Beg that his narrative, in 1604-5.
gthough long, deserves to be quoted in full. Bijapur must _
live received the drug from Portuguese traders. Asad Beg
Tites :

' In Bijapur I had found some tobacco. Never having
ten the like in India, I brought some with me, and pre-
wired a handsome pipe of jewel work. The stem, the finest
\ be procured at Achin, was three cubits in length, bcauti-
flly dried and coloured, both ends being adorned with
jewels and enamel. I happened to come across a very
kndsome mouthpiece of Yaman cornelian, oval-shaped,
jhich I set to the stem ; the whole was very handsome,
^lere was also a golden burner for lighting it, as a proper
cvcompaniment. Adil Khan [the Sultan of Bijapur] had
sven me a betel bag, of very superior workmanship ; this
MUed with fine tobacco, such, that if one leaf be lit, the
ihole will continue burning. I arranged all elegantly on
: silver tray. I had a silver tube made to keep the stem
I. and that too was covered with purple velvet.

' His Majesty was enjoying himself after receiving my

» Terry, pp. xi, 232.

408 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

presents, and asking me how I had collected so many
strange things in so short a time, when his eye fell upon
the tray with the pipe and its appurtenances ; he expressed
great surprise, and examined the tobacco, which was made
up in pipefuls ; he inquired what it was, and where I had
got it. The Nawab Khan-i 'Azam replied : — " This is
tobacco, which is well known in Mecca and Medina, and
this doctor has brought it as a medicine for Your Majesty." ^
His Majesty looked at it, and ordered me to prepare and
take him a pipeful. He began to smoke it, when his physiciar
approached and forbade his doing so. But His Majesty
was graciously pleased to say he must smoke a little tc
gratify me. and taking the mouthpiece into his sacrec
mouth, drew two or three breaths. The physician was ir
great trouble, and would not let him do more. He [scil
Akbar] took the pipe from his mouth, and bid the Khan-
'Azam try it, who took two or three puffs. He then sen1
for his druggist, and asked what were its peculiar qualities
He replied that there was no mention of it in his books
but that it was a new invention, and the stems were importec
from China, and the European doctors had written mucl
in its praise. The first physician said, " In fact, this is ai
untried medicine, about which the doctors have writtei
nothing. How can we describe to Your Majesty the qualitie
of such unknown things ? It is not fitting that Your Majest;
should try it." I said to the first physician, " The European
are not so foolish as not to know all about it ; there ar
wise men among them who seldom err or commit mistakes
How can you, before you have tried a thing and found ou
its qualities, pass a judgment on it that can be dependei
on by the physicians, kings, great men, and nobles ? Thing
must be judged of according to their good or bad qualitief
and the decision must be according to the facts of the case.
The physician replied, " We do not want to follow th
Europeans, and adopt a custom, which is not sanctioned b
our own wise men, without trial." I said, " It is a Strang
thing, for every custom in the world has been new at ok
time or other ; from the days of Adam till now they hav
gradually been invented. When a new thing is introduce,
among a people, and becomes well known in the work
every one adopts it ; wise men and physicians shoul
determine according to the good or bad qualities of a thing
the good qualities may not appear at once. Thus the Chin

* This seems to be the only indication that Asad Beg was regarde
as being a physician.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 409

oot, not knowTi anciently, has been newly discovered, and

^ useful in many diseases." ^ When the Emperor heard

le dispute and reason with the physician, he was astonished,

nd being much pleased, gave me his blessing, and then

laid to Khan-i 'Azam, " Did you hear how wisely Asad

poke? Truly, we must not reject a thing that has been

(lopted by the wise men of other nations merely because

> e cannot find it in our books ; or how shall we progress ? "

'he physician was going to say more, when His Majesty

topped him and called for the priest.^ The priest ascribed

iiany good qualities to it, but no one could persuade the

ihysieian ; nevertheless, he was a good physician.

' As I had brought a large supply of tobacco and pipes,

sent some to several of the nobles, while others sent to

sk for some ; indeed, all, without exception, wanted some,

iid the practice was introduced. After that the merchants

jegan to sell it, so the custom of smoking spread rapidly.

'lis Majesty, however, did not adopt it.' ^

Some years later, in 1617, Jahangir made up his mind
hat tobacco was productive of disturbance in most tempera-
nents and constitutions. Accordingly, he forbade the
)ractice of smoking, as his fellow sovereign, Shah Abbas,
iiad done in Persia.* But the prohibitions of those autocratic
)otentates were no more effectual than the Counterblast to
'^obacco issued by their contemporary, James I of England,
fhe cultivation of various species of the tobacco plant
Xicotiana) spread quickly in both India and Persia, and,
IS everybody knows, smoking is now nearly universal in
'ndia. The Indian tobacco trade in many forms is of great
nagnitude.

' The statistical returns for British India give the average
irea under tobacco for the ten years ending 1899-1900 as
(ipproximately 1,700 square miles. It is believed, however,
|,hat the actual cultivation is much higher than these figures
indicate. More than half the recorded area is in Bengal ;
he other chief centres of cultivation, in order of importance,

' Asad Beg speaks as an expert. Balfour, Cifclnpaedia, s. v.

Jhe ' China root ' is the tuberous ^ Presumably meaning aniulld;

foot or underground stem of but, perhaps, one of the Jesuits

various speeies of Smilnx, especi- is meant,

'illy S. chincnsis. It was pro- ^ E. & D., vi, 165-7.

dueed in plenty in the Sylhet * .Tahangir,R.B.,i,370; E.&D.,

Sarkar (Alt), vol. ii, p. 124). See vi, 351.
Vulc and Burnell, Glossary, and

410

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Manu-
factures
and
inland
trade.

Foreign
trade.

are Madras, Bombay, Burma, the Punjab, and the United
Provinces.' ^

The information about the state of manufactures in
Akbar's empire is scanty and shght. Such notices as exist
refer chiefly to articles of luxury used at court. The emperor
naturally encouraged the production of the well-known
Kashmir shawls, which were made on a large scale at Lahore
as well as in their place of origin. Carpets and other fine
textiles were woven at Agra and Fathpur-Sikri. Good
cotton cloths were made at Patan in Gujarat, and at Bur-
hanpur in Khandesh. Sunargaon in the Dacca District oi
Eastern Bengal was famous for its delicate fabrics, ' the best
and finest cloth made of cotton that is in all India '.^

In the autumn of 1585 Fitch travelled from Agra tc
Satgaon by river ' in the companie of one hundred and
fourscore boats laden with Salt, Opium, Hinge [assafoetida]
Lead, Carpets, and divers other commodities down the rivei
Jemena [Jumna] '. He observes that ' great store ' of cotter
goods was made at Benares. Patna had extensive trade ir
raw cotton, cotton cloths, sugar, opium, and other com
modities. Tanda in Bengal also was a busy cotton mart
Terry noticed that ' many curious boxes, trunks, standishe;
[pen-cases], carpets, with other excellent manufactures
were to be had in the Mogul's dominions.^ The ordinar}
village industries, of course, were practised as they alway:
have been throughout the ages.

The foreign trade of the empire, chiefly in articles o
luxury so far as imports were concerned, was considerable
and both Akbar and Jahanglr took an interest in its exten^
sion. The seaports, as Terry observes (p. 397), were nol
numerous. On the western coast, Surat, a safe and bus}
harbour, was the most important ;^ and on the easterr

* I.G. (1907), vol. iii, pp. 49-
52, and general index. In Nortli-
ern India tobacco is grown usually
in small patches, the statistical
record of which is apt to be
imperfect.

2 Fitch, pp. 94, 119.

« Terry, p. 111.

* Monserrate (1582) writes :—
' Frequens est in ea mercatoruir
conventus, et navium concursus
amne ab ipsis faucibus, ad urbeir
ipsam, praealto, ac lato, ad quam
est tutus portus ' {Commentarius
p. 551).

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 411

;ide, Satgaon, close to Hooghly (Hugll), seems to have been
he chief mart. ' Satagaon ', Fitch says (p. 114), ' is a faire
■ity for a city of the Moores, and very plentiful! of all
:hings.'

Terry notes that the customs duties were ' not high, that
strangers of all nations may have the greater encourage-
nent to trade there with him [scil. the Great Mogul] '. But,
in accordance with the accepted economic theory of the
jige, traders were strictly forbidden to ' carry any quantity
■>f silver thence '. Silver was largely imported, as it always
las been and still is ; and in Terry's time the English
purchases were chiefly paid for in that metal (p. 112). The
bade with England had not been established before Akbar's
aeath.

The chaplain considered indigo and cotton wool to be
; the most staple commodities ', that is to say, the principal
irticles of export in the empire (p. 105). Abu-1 Fazl does
iiot explain the system of customs. The only distinct
reference to port dues in the Am which I can find is a table
vol. ii, p. 259) giving the revenue from that source obtained
irrom ten small ports in Sarkar Sorath, Gujarat, as amount-
iing to the petty sum of 125,228 mahmudls, equivalent to
ibout £6,000 sterling.

The sdir or miscellaneous revenue collected from Mahals
iBandarban, and Mandawi in the Satgaon Sarkar (vol. ii,
p. 141), amounting to 1,200,000 dams or 30,000 rupees, must
have been customs and export duties.^ The smallness of
the amount confirms Terry's statement that the rate of duty
was low.

Akbar himself was a trader, and did not disdain to earn
icommercial profits.^

The articles of luxury imported from foreign countries Chinese
included considerable quantities of Chinese porcelain of ^"'^^ '^'"*
jhigh quality, which was largely used both by the emperor
[and by his Muhammadan nobles. Caste prejudices prevent

' Bandar means ' a port ', and gcnduin, pertinent ; mercaturis

Mandawi, ' a market '. laciendis, rem quaerit ; eamque

* ' Ac ne aliquid practermittere non mediocriter auget ' {Com-

videatur, quod ad peculium au- mentarius, p. 646).

412 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Hindus from using pottery, except of the most fragile and
impermanent kind. Akbar's dinner used to be brought to
him in porcelain dishes imported from China.^ When he
died in 1605, he left in Agra alone more than two millions
and a half of rupees worth of ' most elegant vessels of every
kind in porcelain and coloured glass '.^ The glass probably
came from Venice. Little or nothing of that vast store
now exists, but the Indian bazaars still yield occasionally,
or yielded some year^ ago, good specimens of porcelain
imported during the Mogul period. The favourite ware
was that known to European connoisseurs as ' celadon ',
but at Delhi called ' Ghori '.

' The ware is extremely heavy. The basis is red, and the
glaze, which is very thick, has a dark willow-green colour.
The vases are generally crackled, and the plates or dishes
are deep and sometimes have fluted or gadrooned edges.
Beneath the glaze are usually bouquets of flowers (generally
chrysanthemums), fishes, and other designs.'

Most of the good Indian examples seem to belong to the
Ming period (a. d. 1368-1644), but a few pieces may go
back to the Sung period (a. d. 960-1280). The ware was
specially esteemed because it was believed to split or break
if brought into contact with poisoned food. Other kinds
of Chinese pottery also were imported.^
Security The successful prosecution of commerce is dependent on
of life and ^j^g existence of reasonable security for life and property.
* Three hundred years ago people did not expect to find in
either Europe or Asia the elaborate police arrangements
now deemed essential, nor did they consider it a hardship
to meet with robbers now and again, or to be compelled to
defend their persons and goods with their own stout arms,
In Akbar's reign the roads must have been fairly secure in
the more settled parts of the country, although they were
never so safe that precautions in travelling could be dis-

> Peruschi, p. 19. J. I. A., No. 129, January 1915,

2 De Laet and Manrique in p. 1, and plates. See also a valu-

' The Treasure of Akbar ', J. R. able article in the first number

A. S., 1915, p. 242. of the Journal of the Hijderabad

' * Hendley, ' Foreign Industrial Historical Society, 1916.

Art Products imported into India,'

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION 413

ensed with. Some of the wilder regions, especially the
ihll country in the west, were much infested by daring
anditti, and travellers were well advised to move in large
iravans. Sometimes guards were furnished by the local
uthorities. In 1595 the members of the Third Jesuit
[ission, when going to Lahore through Gujarat and Raj-
utana, were obliged to join company with a huge caravan
>mprising 400 camels, 100 horses, 100 wagons, and a great
lultitude of poor folk on foot. They had a very unpleasant
nd tedious journey through sandy and desolate country,
here the supplies were scanty, until they came within
xty leagues from Lahore, when they reached fertile and
rosperous districts. Late in 1615, when Terry was march-
ig up country to Mandu in order to meet Sir Thomas Roe,
ho had summoned him from Surat, he made the long
mrney of four hundred miles ' very safely ', although his
mpany was small, comprising only four other Englishmen
id about twenty natives of the country. In some of the
liore dangerous spots they were protected by guards deputed
'V the governor. The party was attacked only once, near
iaroda.^

The roads, except certain great highways, were not good, Roads

ad permanent bridges over even the smaller rivers were ^"j^j^eg

ire. Terry did not happen to see any, but a few existed,

which the most notable, perhaps, was the substantial

ructure erected early in Akbar's reign by Munim Khan

it Jaunpur. It still stands and does good service. Ordi-

arily, rivers had to be crossed by fords, ferries, or bridges

f boats, and the passage was extremely difficult when the

reams were in flood. Akbar's chief engineer, Kasim

han, was specially skilful in constructing bridges of boats

r the passage of the imperial army. He built several

ich over the rivers of the Panjab in 1581. At Agra and

)mc other cities boat bridges were kept up for ordinary

affic as long as the state of the rivers permitted. Tom

Dryate immensely admired the ' Long Walk ', four hundred

liles in length, ' shaded by great trees on both sides ',

» pp. 161, 171. Terry spells ' Brodera '.

414 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

which was the king's highway between Lahore and Agra.
' This ', says Terry (p. 81), ' is looked upon by travellers,
who have found the comfort of that cool shade, as one of
the rarest and most beneficial works in the whole world.'
The section of the highway between Agra and Delhi had
been constructed by Sher Shah, to whom Akbar was in-
debted for so many ideas.^ Sarais, or public inns, and wells
were provided on the main roads. The provision of such
conveniences on highways was in accordance with the
practice of the best Hindu kings in ancient times.

' 'Sher Khan made the road tract east of the Jumna lying

which now runs from Delhi to between that river and the

Agra [scil. that going west of the Ganges] between those two places.

Jumna through Mathura], by There was so much security in

cutting through jungles, remov- travelling during his reign, &c.'

ing obstacles, and building sarais. (Nuru-l Hakk, in E. & D., vi,

Before that time people had to 188).
travel through the Doab [scil. the

CHAPTER XV

LITERATURE AND ART

The Indo-Persian literature of Akbar's reign, putting Indo-
jside commentaries on the Koran and other purely theo- jj^Jra^"
l>gical or technical works, may be classified under the ture.
eads of translations, histories, letters, and verse. Probably
jobody nowadays reads the translations from Sanskrit books
b laboriously made by Badaoni and other people at the
3mmand of Akbar. It would be difficult to obtain a com-
itent opinion on their literary merit, and it does not seem
orth while to try to obtain it. The principal collection of
itters, that by Abu-1 Fazl, has not been translated. The
istories, which are enumerated in the bibliography, are
f value as records of fact rather than as literature. Nizamu-d
in, who says that he wrote purposelj^ in a simple style,
eems to have succeeded in so doing. The language of
{adaoni is more difficult. His composition is utterly lack-
ig in arrangement and literary proportion. Abu-1 Fazl
lone among the historians aimed at producing a work
/orthy to be ranked as literature, but can hardly be said
o have succeeded, as will be explained presently.

The versifiers, or so-called poets, were extremely numerous,

l^bu-1 Fazl tells us that although Akbar did not care for

[hem, ' thousands of poets are continually at court, and

nany among them have completed a diwdn (collection of

rtificial odes), or have written a masnawl (composition in

hymcd couplets) '. The author then proceeds to enumerate

nd criticize ' the best among them ', numbering 59, who

lad been presented at court. He further names 15 others

vho had not been presented but had sent encomiums to

lis Majesty from various places in Persia.* Abu-1 Fazl

,'ives many extracts from the writings of the select 59,

vhich I have read in their English dress, without finding

» Ain, vol. i, pp. 548, 611.

416 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

a single sentiment worth quoting ; although the extracts
include passages from the works of his brother Faizi, the
' king of poets ', which Abu-1 Fazl considered to enshrine
' gems of thought '.

Most of the authors prostitute the word love to the
service of unholy passion, and Faizi sins in that way like
the others.

Many of the persons who claimed the honourable name
of poet had no better claim to that title than the composer
of acrostics for a magazine has. They exercised their
perverse ingenuity in torturing words into all sorts of shapes,
omitting words with dotted letters, constructing cunningly
devised chronograms, and such like trivialities. Exercises
of the kind, whatever their technical merits may be, certainly
are not poetry. Blochmann held that ' after Amir Khusrau
of Delhi, Muhammadan India has seen no greater poet
than Faizi '.^ No critic could be in a better position tc
judge. Admitting the justice of Blochmann's verdict, I car
only say that the other ' poets ' of Muhammadan Indis
must be worth very little. They do not seem to have writter
anything with substance in it sufficient to stand the ordea
of translation. All or nearly all of them, if an opinion maj
be formed upon the strength of Blochmann's translation;
.of Abu-1 Fazl's picked extracts, are disgraced by the filthi
ness to which allusion has been made.
Abu- 1 No such reproach can be levelled against Abu-1 Fazl

undoubtedly the ablest among the authors of the reign
writing in Persian. However severe may be the criticism
of his literary style, he is absolutely free from impurity
His prose style, as read in Mr. Beveridge's translation of th
Akharndma, is intolerable to me. Simple facts are wrappec
in a cloud of almost meaningless rhetoric, and an indelibl
impression is produced on the mind of the reader that th
author lacks sincerity. Nevertheless, Blochmann endorsei
the judgement of the author of the Ma'dsiru-l Vmard tha

' as a writer Abu-1 Fazl stands unrivalled. His style i
grand and free from the technicalities and flimsy prettinesse

* Aln, vol. i, Biography, p. xvi.

Fazl.

LITERATURE AND ART 417

cj other munshis (secretaries), and the force of his words,
tjs structure of his sentences, the suitableness of his com-
j unds, and the elegance of his periods are such that it
\)uld be difficult for any one to imitate them.' ^

Few Europeans can honestly agree with that criticism.
l"-^ far the most satisfactory of Abu-1 Fazl's compositions,
i my judgement, and probably in that of most western
r'lders, is the interesting autobiography which he appended
t!the third volume of the Ain-i Akbari. The style, although
i|t altogether free from the wearisome affectation in which
t|e author delighted, is far more straightforward and sincere
tjan that of the Akharndma.

On the whole, so far as I can see, the Indo-Persian works
c Akbar's age possess little interest as monuments of
Ijlerary art.

It is a relief to turn from the triviality and impurity of The

iJL)st of the versifiers in Persian to the virile, pure work ^^^ of

d a great Hindu — the tallest tree in the ' magic garden ' the age.

cl mediaeval Hindu poesy. His name will not be found

iithe Aln-i Akbari, or in the pages of any Muslim annalist,

i qin the books by European authors based on the narratives

'■ c the Persian historians. Yet that Hindu was the greatest

r|in of his age in India — greater even than Akbar himself,

i iiismuch as the conquest of the hearts and minds of millions

c men and women effected by the poet was an achievement

i i)initely more lasting and important than any or all of the

I ■\[3tories gained in war by the monarch. Although the poet

i Timbered among his friends and admirers both Raja Man

I &ngh of Amber and the Khan Khanan (Mirza Abdu-r rahim ),2

! tfe two most powerful nobles of Akbar's later years, he does

f r't appear ever to have been brought to the notice of

^in, vol. i, Biography, p. xxix. Raja Man Singh (No. 109 of

The Khan Khanan (Grierson, Grierson) also was a liberal patron

: Vrnacular Literature, No. 108), of learning and literature. Sir

,. ^lO wrote fluently under the George Grierson informs nie that

I me of Rahim in Persian as well the friend of Tulsi Das named

£ in Arabic, Turki, Sanskrit, and Todar Mall was a merchant of

' 1 ndi, was reckoned the Maecenas Benares, and not the famous

S c his age {Blochmann, in Aln, finance minister, as Sir George

^l. i, p. 332). For the Ma"asir-i formerly supposed him to be.

ihlmt see E. & D., vi, 237.

1845 E e

418

AKBAR THE GRP:AT MOGUL

Tulsi
Das, his
life.

The

Rama-

yan, or

Ram-

charit

manas.

either the emperor or Abu-1 Fazl. Probably the explana-
tion may be that the two nobles named did not become
acquainted with the poet until after the death of Akbar, in
1605. Neither the secretary nor his master showed any
unwillingness to recognize Hindu merit, and if they had
known of the genius who lived a quiet life at Benares they
would not have been slow to acknowledge his excellence
and encourage him in his undying labours.

Tulsi Das was the name of the Hindu for whom sucl
pre-eminence is claimed. He enjoyed no advantages o
birth, fortune, or education, being the son of ordinary
Brahman parents, who exposed him in his infancy to livi
or die, because he had been born in an unlucky hour. Fat'
or providence willed that the child should be picked up b;
a wandering mendicant, who gave him sustenance as wel
as instruction in the legendary lore of Rama. The rescue
child wandered about with his adoptive parent, living fc
some time at Chitrakut and Rajapur, in the Banda Distric
of Bundelkhand. Most of the latter part of his long lii
was spent at Benares, where he wrote the bulk of his poem!
His literary career, which did not begin until he was pa;
the age of forty, lasted for forty years, from 1574 to 161-
In 1623 he died, aged over ninety. Such are the simp
facts of his life, which matter little. His writings mattt
much.

The principal composition of Tulsi Das, on which h
fame mainly rests, is the huge epic poem in seven book
commonly known as the Rdmdyan, but entitled by tl
author the ' Lake of the Deeds of Ram ' {Rmn-charit mdnai
The title was intended to signify that the reading ar
recitation of the poem would purify the student from si
as bathing in the waters of a sacred lake is believed
purify the pilgrim. The work is so large that Growsd
prose translation occupies 562 quarto pages.^ The subje
is the story of the deeds of the hero Ram or Rama, who
regarded as God manifested in the flesh, and entitled to t

f? * Growse's excellent version de-
serves the highest praise. Writ-
ten in good EngHsh, it represents

the original as faithfully as pre
can reproduce verse.

LITERATURE AND ART 419

deepest reverence. Whatever the explanation of the fact
fiay be, it is certain that the theology approaches so closely
o that of Christianity that many passages might be applied
|o Christian uses by simply substituting the name of Jesus
lor that of Ram. Grierson cites a long prayer, which, as
ie justly observes, might be printed in a Christian prayer-
|>ook. The morality of the poem is as lofty as the theology,
lind there is not an impure word or idea in it from beginning
'o end. Rama's wife, Sita, is depicted as the ideal of woman-
lood. The poem is to the Hindus of northern India even
nore than the Bible is to ordinary British Christians. ' In
ts own country it is supreme above all other literature and
exercises an influence which it would be difficult to exag-
gerate.' That influence is all for good. The religion taught
's that of the love of God — a personal God, who loves and
ares for his children, and makes himself understood through
lis incarnation, Rama the Saviour.

' The poem is Avritten in archaic Hindi, the vernacular of Literary
Vjodhya and surrounding districts in the sixteenth century, ^f ^he
'ecorded phonetically. It is consequently difficult for poem.
European students, and very few people of European birth
^re able to read it in the original with ease. Sir George
irierson, one of the few, is firmly convinced that the poem
s ' the work of a great genius '. He admits that ' as a work
>f art it has to European readers its prolixities and episodes
yhich grate against Occidental tastes ' ; but, notwithstand-
ing, he holds to the opinion that the poem is a masterpiece.
le points out that the style varies with the subject, some
!)assages being filled with ' infinite pathos ', while others
i.re expressed in the form of sententious aphorisms, so much
favoured by Hindu authors. The characters, each of which
las a well-defined personality, ' live and move with all the
iignity of a heroic age '. The opinion of other competent
l-xperts coincides with that of Grierson, and, although my
icquaintance with the original is extremely slight, I may
;ay that I concur cordially. In a letter dated January 30,
i.916, Sir George Grierson exjoresses himself even more
itrongly than he has done in print, and declares that ' I still

E e 2

420

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Nature
similes of
Tulsi
Das.

think that Tulsi Das is the most important figure in the
whole of Indian literature '.

Tulsi Das, although not averse to using the conventional
language of Indian poets in many passages, is rightly praised
because his narrative ' teems with similes drawn, not from
the traditions of the schools, but from nature herself, and
better than Kalidasa at his best '. The three examples
following, which I venture to clothe in metrical garb, may
be thought sufficient to justify the criticism quoted.

Humility

E'en as the tree with golden fruitage blest
Gladly bows down to earth its lofty crest ;
Just so, the more enrich'd by fortune kind,
More and more humble grows the noble mind.

ii
The tortured heart
In time of drouth the scorching earth finds rest
By cracking ; but within my burning breast
The tortured heart, enduring ceaseless grief.
Cracks not, while God's decree forbids relief.

Sur Das.

Ill
The teachers word
As at the healthful breath of autumn's breeze
The noxious swarm of rain-fed insects flees ;
So, at the teacher's word, the mist of doubt
And error vanishes in headlong rout.i

Among the numerous Hindu poets who graced the court

* The references to Growse's
translation are No. 1, book iii,
Doha 35 (=43 of standard ed.
of text) ; No. 2, book ii, Doha 141
(= 146 of text) ; No. 3, book iv,
Doha 17 (=18 of texi;).

Growse renders in prose :

i. ' The tree laden with fruit
bowed low to the ground, like
a generous soul whom every in-
crease of fortune renders only
more humble than before.'

ii. ' My heart bereft of its
beloved is like clay drained of
water, but it cracks not ; now
I know how capable of torture is

the body that God has given me.'
iii. ' Under the influence of the
autumn earth is rid of its insect
swarms, as a man, who has found
a good teacher, is relieved from
all doubt and error.'

Grierson translates the last
passage more literally thus :

' The swarms of living creatures
with wliich, in the rainy season,
the earth was fulfilled, are gone.
When they found the Autumn
approaching, they departed. So,
when a man findeth a holy
spiritual guide, all doubts and
errors vanish.'

poetry.

LITERATURE AND ART 421

)r reign of Akbar, the second place after Tulsl Das is accorded
3y unanimous consent to Sur Das, ' the bhnd bard of Agra ',
,vho, with his father, Ramdas, is included in Abu-1 Fazl's list
)f thirty-six singers and musicians employed at court.i Abu-l
Fazl does not refer to the written compositions of Sur Das,
tvhich, according to Grierson, are characterized by ' cloying
iweetness '. He is said to have excelled in all styles.

It is impossible in this place to go farther into detail.
Readers who desire to pursue the subject will find guidance
in the works enumerated in the bibliography.

The brilliant development of original Hindi poetry in Causes of
the time of Akbar may be ascribed partly, like the con- me^tTf'
temporary development of literature in England, to the Hindi
imdefinable influence exercised by a glorious and victorious
reign, which necessarily produces a stimulating effect on all
the activities of the human mind. The emperor's known
md avowed partiality for Hindu practices and modes of
thought, and the active interest which he showed in
acquiring a knowledge of the ancient literature of India,
bontributed to the satisfactory result, as did the compara-
tive peace secured by a government stronger than its pre-
decessors. Although the achievement of Tulsl Das may
not have been brought to the personal knowledge of Akbar,
the poet felt that he could carry on his prolonged labours
without fear of disturbance or persecution. Almost all
Hindu poetry of merit is closely associated with the unre-
stricted practice of the Hindu religion, which was absolutely
[assured by the government of Akbar. Muhammadans alone
had reason to complain that the imperial principles of
juniversal toleration were often disregarded to their dctri-
fment. The Muhammadan literature of the time, written
;main]y by courtiers and officials, appears to be far inferior
in originality to the Hindi poetry. The impetus given to
Hindi literature by the policy of Akbar lasted long after
.his death, throughout the reign of Jahangir, who ordinarily
continued his father's system of government, and even into
the reigns of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, the temple-breakers.^

, * Aln, vol. i, p. 612. destruction of temples see Bdd-

* For Shahjahan's extensive shdh-ndma in E. & D., vii, 36.

422 AKBAR J UK GliEAT MOGUL

Masic The coj^ate subject of miisic, to which reference has l*n

and song, y^^^^^g already in chapter iii, requires more explicit not.e.

Akbar, we are told, I

' pays much attention to music and is the patron of all mo
practice this enchanting art. There are numerous musicios
at court, Hindus, Iranis, Turanis, Kashmiris, both men ad
women. The court musicians are arranged in seven di\-isios,
one for each day of the week '.

Abu-1 Fazl goes on to give a list of thirty-six singers ad
performers on sundry instruments, which includes the naie
of Baz Bahadur, the ex-king of Malwa, who had beat
appointed a mansahddr of 1,000, and is described as a
singer without rival '. I

The fact that many of the names are Hindu, with le
title Khan added, indicates that the professional artists a a
Muhammadan court often found it convenient and profitale
to conform to Islam. The list does not include any wom^
Several of the persons named were poets as well as singei.

According to Abu-1 Fazl, AJcbar was the master of ' sidi
a knowledge of the science of music as trained musicians o
not possess ; and he is likewise an excellent hand at pr-
forming, especially on the nakkdrah (kettle-drum)'. Te
emperor made a special study of Hindi vocalization unci
Lai Kalawant, or Miyan Lai, who taught him ' evey
breathing and sound that appertains to the Hindi language.^
Details of the daily routine of the formal performances y
the palace band are given in the Ain-i Akhari.
Tansen. All authorities and traditions are agreed that the b(t
performer at Akbar' s court was Miyan Tansen, whom Akb; ,
in the seventh year of the reign, had required the Raja f
Riwa to surrender. Abu-1 Fazl declared that 'a singer lis
him has not been in India for the last thousand years '. 1 3
was a close friend of Sur Das, and, like many of his co-
temporaries, received much of his musical education !;
Gwalior, where Raja Man Singh Tomar (1486-1518) hfl

Elphinstone exaggerated the sup- tion of temples when polii

posed ' beneficent and paternal ' required him to pose as a gO(

conduct of Shahjahan. Jahangir Musalman.

occasionally did a little desecra- ' Jahangir, R. B., i, 150.

{

T A \ S £ V

RAJl BiRBAL

■i

LITERATURE AND ART 423

'ounded a school of music. Tansen became a Muhammadan,
jissumed or was given the title of Mirza, and is buried in
'Vluslim holy ground at Gwalior. Unfortunately, he per-
nitted himself to be ensnared by the prevailing vice of
■Vlusalmans in that age. His talents included the com-
position of verse. The date of his death does not seem to
!)e recorded, but he certainly continued to serve in the
;ourt of Jahanglr.i

The active interest shown by Akbar in the ancient San- Transla-
krit literature of India, to which allusion has been made, ll^^
vas chiefly manifested by his orders for the preparation of Sanskrit,
'ersian translations and adaptations of the epics and other
(iamous works. The versions, when completed with mag-
tificent bindings and illustrations, were consigned to the
mmense imperial library at Agra. The Sanskrit books
ranslated or paraphrased comprised the Atharva Veda ;
•oth of the great epics, namely, the Mahdbhdrata and the
Idmdyana of Valmiki ; the Lildvatl, a treatise on arithmetic ;
jud many others. The work of translation was not confined
[o Sanskrit authors. Greek and Arabic books were also
l.ealt with. The Khan Khanan rendered into Persian the
elebrated Memoirs of Babur, which had been written in
'urkl.2 Faiz! made the version of the treatise on arithmetic,
Ind BadaonI, to his intense disgust, was compelled to
ibour on the infidel Mahdbhdrata and Rdmdyana. He
ould find only faint comfort in the thought that he was
blameless victim of destiny :

' But such is my fate, to be employed on such works,
i^evertheless, I console myself with the reflection that what
i predestined must come to pass.' ^

^ For Akbar's music and Tan- Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior

;n see ante, chap, iii ; Aln, must not be confounded with his

j1. i, pp. 51 (Aln 19, with plates) namesake, the Kachhwaha of

ndCll; ^. A'^., ii, 279 ; Grierson, Amber (.Jaipur). A good full-

'ernacular Literature, No. 60, &c. ; length portrait of Tansen, on a

'.S.R., ii, 370, with description small scale, is included in a well-

f Tansen's tomb ; A. H. Fox executed picture of Jahangir's

trangways, The Music of Ilindo- reign, depicting a court group,

an, Oxford, 1914, p. 83. Jahan- which is in the possession of the

ir confirms Abu-1 Fazl's opinion Royal Asiatic Society.

f Tansen's skill (.Jahangir, R. B., * Aln, book i, Ain 34 ; vol. i,

413). Tansen is labelled as pp. 103-6.

lirza in the nauratna drawing. ^ BadaonI, ii, 330, 347, 425.

424 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGIL

The nobles were required to take copies of the illustrated
adapti^tion of the Mcjhdbhdrata. which was entitled the
Bazmndma.^

LibraiA-. Akbar's ancestors, notwithstanding their stormy Uves.
had loved and collected books. Akbar. although he had
not taken tlie trouble to learn to read. yet. " by a peculiar
acquisitiveness and a talent for selection, by no means
common, had made liis own all that can be seen and read
in books '.- In order that material for liis studies throu^
the medium of the ear might not be lacking, he collected
an enormous library of extraordinary pecmiiary value, to
wliich probably no parallel then existed or ever has existed
in the world. All the books were manuscripts. Akbar cared
nothing for printed volimies. and got rid of the choice
specimens presented to him by the first Jesuit mission.
When the inventory of his treasures preserved in the fort
of Agra was taken after his death, in October ld05, the
books. ' written bv great men, mostlv bv vers* ancient and
serious authors ', adorned with extremely valuable bindings.
and in many cases enriched with costly illustrations by the
best artists, numbered 24.000. valued at nearly six and a half
millions of rupees (6.-463,731), The average valuation for
each volimie therefore comes to from £27 to £30, according
to the rate of exchange assumed. The total value similarly
was equivalent to £646.373 or £737,169. 4.300 choice
manuscripts had been transferred from Faizi's library after
his death, in 1595. The figures of the inventory are beyond
doubt, being taken from official registers copied indepen-
dently by two Eiuropean authors,^

Priutiri!;. No native Indian government or private speculator
attempted to use the art of printing by t^-pes until near the
close of the eighteenth century, when certain Bengali works
were printed imder European superv~ision. The earliest

-See Colonel Heudley's fine Akbar ' in J. fl. .4. 5.. April 1915.

edition (1SS3) of the plates in the Maudelslo. who gives the same

Jaipur eopy (vol. iv. of Mt-morials figures, does not count, as his

of (hi Ji-ypon Exhibition). editor copied from either M^

* Badioni, ii, 263. rique or de Laet. For FaiaTs

* The authors are Manrlque and library see Blochmann in Ji»,
de Laet, See ' The TrCiVsure of vol. i. p. 491.

LITEEATLTIE AND ART 425

iian printing had been done by the Jesuits in presses at

' 1 and Rachol, beginning about the middle of the sixteenth

Tury. Verj^ few specimens of the productions of those

sses have sunived. and not even one example can be

laced of the books printed at Ambalacatta in Cochin

<aring the seventeenth centun\ It is difficult to cut satis-

:on' t^-pes for the Perso- Arabic alphabet, which was

i for the works in Akbar's library, and it is impossible

- produce with t^i^jes results at all comparable with the

l,.autiful calligraphy of the best manuscripts written

i Persian. Akbar, who did not want books written in

Jiropean languages, would have been horrified to see the

■ 'ks of his favourite authors reproduced by a mechanical

:-ess, instead of bj' the artistry of the skilful penmen

\.o found liberal patronage at his court. His inability to

r^d did not hinder him from enjoying and appreciating the

l;auty of the -WTiting turned out by the best calhgraphists,

xfio were esteemed as artists at least as highly as the

daughtsmen and painters who enriched the manuscripts

vth deHcately executed illustrations.^

Asiatic connoisseurs in China, Persia, Central Asia, and Calli-
Idia treat fine handwriting or calligraphy seriously as ^ ^ ■''
abranch of art, and are often attracted by the penmanship
o: a manuscript more than by the illustrations, if any.
Siecimens of the handiwork of the more celebrated artists
h; writing were carefully collected and preser^'cd with
rrerence in albimis, of which many still exist. Abu-1
Fzl enumerates eight stvles of writing as being current
u his day in Turkey, Turkistan, Persia, and India, dis-
tiguished one from the other chiefly by the proportion of
c -ved to straight lines. In the Kufic script the straight
hfrs were five-sixths of the whole, whereas in the Xastalik,
w.ich Akbar preferred, all the lines were curs'ed. The
avhor of the Aln-i Akbari goes into much detail on the
s^i'ject, which would not interest many modern readers.

For a sketch of the history of an block-printing, derived from

piiting in India see Balloiir, China, never came into use in

' ' paedia of India. 3rd ed., India, so far as I know.
s.v. Printing. The Tibet-

426 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

The most renowned master of Nastallk in Akbar's time was j m

Muhammad Husain of Kashmir, who was honoured by th( tt

title of ' Gold-pen ' {Zarrln-kalam). Many other names o cc

eminent scribes are recorded. The taste for elegant pen ai

manship is not extinct, but the art is now little practisec ai

in India because it is no longer profitable. Sir John Malcolm Ti

writing of experience in Persia early in the nineteentl in

century, remarks : : sa

' I have known seven pounds given for four lines writter "'

by Derweish Mujeed, a celebrated penman, who has beer tl

dead some time, and whose beautiful specimens of writing ji

are now scarce.' ^ ul

It is unlikely that any Indian connoisseur would now paj
such a price. pi

Origin During the early years of his reign Akbar had had nc is

Persian' *™^ *° spare for the luxuries of art. A hard fight wat tl
pictorial needed to recover the Indian dominions of his father an(

grandfather, and to free himself from the control of hi; fj
womankind and the Uzbeg nobles. In 1569, when h< in
decided to build Fathpur-SikrI as a memorial of the birtl (ji
of his son and heir, much fighting remained to be done |ij
but he had then become master of Hindostan with its grea ]^
fortresses, and was able to feel himself to be indeed a king ^i
From about that year his active patronage of art anc jy
artists may be dated. The amenities of life in the Mogu |,
court were regulated on the Persian model. The monarchi ii
of Persia, who belonged to the dissenting Shia sect o:
Islam, took a lively interest in various forms of art and pair tl
little regard to the ancient Mosaic and Koranic prohibitioi k
of the artistic use of images. The Persian draughtsmei tl
and painters were thus able to create an important school
and produce multitudes of coloured drawings — often loose!)
called miniatures — filled with dainty representations o
men, women, beasts, and birds. The earliest works of thai
school date from the thirteenth century. The Persiar

art.

» Hist, of Persia, new ed., 1829, A work in Persian or Urdu, b)

vol. ii, p. 421 n. For the subject Professor M. Hidayat Husain

generally see Huart, Les Calli- entitled Tadhkira-i Khushnainsdn

graphes et les Miniaturistes de is said to be good, but I have nol

VOrient Musalman, Paris 1908. examined it. '

LITERATURE AND ART 427

n ster most closely connected with the Indian branch of
tl school founded by Akbar was Bihzad of Herat, the
Cdtemporary of Babur. His work, more than that of
ay other man, was taken as a model by the numerous
aiiists whom Akbar collected round him at Fathpur-Sikrl.
Ts Ddrdbndmah, a story-book prepared to Akbar's order,
irludes a composition by Bihzad, touched up by Abdu-s
3£iad (Abdul Samad), who had been the drawing-master
3l|ikbar as a boy. That picture may be regarded as one of
bl earliest book illustrations of the Indo-Persian school,
ail it is possible that it may even antedate the foundation
oj Fathpur-Sikri.i

The main subject, two men and a woman seated among
prely conventional rocks, is in the older Persian style. It
IS lot difficult to recognize the touch of Abdu-s samad in
tb' little bits of feathery foliage inserted on the right.^

Chwaja Abdu-s samad, the most notable artist at Akbar's Khwaja
3ort in the early years of the reign, and a native of Shiraz samad,
inPersia, had been an intimate friend of Humayim. His
bits Shirln-kalam, or ' Sweet-pen ', indicates that he must
li£ e been a skilled calligraphist. Akbar appointed him to
tDcMaster of the Mint at the capital in the twenty-second
rehal year, and subsequently sent him to Multan as Dlwan
arRevenue Commissioner. Although his official grading
wii only that of a ' commander of 400 ' he enjoyed much
inuence at court. His skill of eye and hand was so mar-
veous that he is recorded to have written on a poppy seed
bh much venerated chapter 112 of the Koran, which is
re ited to be worth a third of the whole book.^ It runs
bhs:

'In the Name of the most merciful God. Say, God is our
Gr('^ ; the eternal God : he begetteth not, neither is he
bcDtten ; and there is not any one like unto him.' *

The portrait of Akbar as a the original. Tlie style is crude

30 aged about fifteen (.Johnson and the picture ill arranged.

:k)-ction, I.O., vol. xviii, fol. 4) ^ //_ jp, ^.^ pj. cxiii (from B. M.

m; have been painted about Or. 4615, fol. 10.3 rev.).

I5i, and may be the earliest * Blochmann, Aln, vol. i, pp.

kn vn work of the Indo-Persian 107, 49.5 (No. 266).

ichal (frontispiece of this work). * Sale's version.
It ; anonymous, and probably

428

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Akbar's
love of

Jahangir, a competent judge, was of opinion that t.
Khwaja ' in the art of painting had no equal in the age
That emperor, immediately after his accession, promoti
the artist's son, Sharif Khan, to the office of Vizier, invest'
him with the lofty title of Amiru-1 Umara, or ' Premi
Noble ', and raised him to the princely dignity of ' eoi
mander of 5,000 '.^ The foundation of the Indo-Persii
school of pictorial art may be attributed to Khwaja Abdi
samad, working with the powerful aid of Akbar's imperi
patronage.
Akbar, although not in a position to bestow extensi
painting, patronage on artists until his throne had been secure
had shown a great predilection for painting from his earlie
youth. Characteristically, he sought a theological justific
tion for his personal taste, remarking to friends assembl
at a private party :

' There are many that hate painting ; but such m
I dislike. It appears to me as if a painter had quite peciili
means of recognizing God; for a painter in sketching an
thing that has life, and in devising its limbs, one after t
other, must come to feel that he cannot bestow individuali
upon his work, and is thus forced to think of God, t
Giver of life, and will thus increase in knowledge.' ^

Late in the reign Abu-1 Fazl was able to affirm th
more than a hundred painters had become famous mast(
of the art, while many more had attained moderate succe

The same author gives the names of seventeen specia
distinguished artists. Examples of the work of all the
persons, with the exception, perhaps, of one, are to be se
in London.^ The collection of signed pictures from t
Akharndma at South Kensington alone would suffice
material for a critical examination of the merits of ea
of the principal artists of Akbar's reign. But no mode
critic has yet attempted the task of accurately discriminati

1 Jahangir, R. B., i, 15. The - Aln, vol. i, p. 108.

splendid reward was for services ^ The exception is Haribans,

rendered to Prince Salim in the whose art I have not seen a spe

contest with his father, and men, but examples of his si

especially, it was believed, for may exist, which have escap

arranging the murder of Abu-1 my search.
Fazl.

Seven-
teen
eminent
artists.

LITERATURE AND ART 429

th styles of the various draughtsmen and colourists of the

a^. Jahangir professed his abiUty to identify the work

of my artist.

As regards myself,' he observes, ' my liking for painting
ar' my practice in judging it have arrived at such a point
tht when any work is brought before me, either of deceased
ar;sts or of those of the present day, without the names
b(,ig told me, I say on the spur of the moment that it is
th work of such and such a man. And if there be a picture
cctaining many portraits, and each face be the work of
a ifferent master, I can discover which face is the work
ofjach of them. If any other person has put in the eye
ar. eyebrow of a face, I can perceive whose work the
original face is, and who has painted the eye and eyebrows.'^

^'^e may feel assured that the accuracy of the imperial
CTUSses was never disputed. Although Akbar is not recorded
to have claimed such marvellous connoisseurship, there
ca be little doubt that he too was well acquainted with
th several merits of individuals in the crowd of artists
wbm he gathered around him. His exceptionally powerful
mnory and firm grasp of minute details must have been
efictive aids to his natural good taste. Jahangir's words
allde to the curious practice of the collaboration of several
pcions on one small work, which was frequent, and is
al ndantly vouched for by the signatures.

('he death of the artist Daswanth, a pupil of Abdu-s Hindu
3a,iad, in 1584, has been mentioned already in chapter viii. ^"^'sts-
Hi tragic story is of peculiar interest as affording definite
prof that when Akbar and Abdu-s samad introduced
P(sian technique into India they had a foundation of
in genous art on which to build. Unfortunately, the
Inian works executed during the long period of nine
ce'.uries between the latest paintings at Ajanta and the
ea.iest at Fathpur-Sikrl have perished almost without
ex3ption, and but for Abu-1 Fazl's express testimony the
CO tinned existence of Hindu schools of painting throughout
th ages would be matter of faith and inference rather
thn of positive certainty. Akbar made full use of the

» .JahanfTir, R. R., i, 20.

430 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

abundant indigenous talent at his disposal. Out of tl
seventeen artists of his reign named as being pre-eminer
no less than thirteen are Hindus. Abu-1 Fazl speciall
admired the productions of the Hindu painters, and declar(
that ' their pictures surpass our conceptions of thing
Few, indeed, in the whole world are found equal to them
Basawan disputed with Daswanth the first place amon
the Hindu artists of Akbar's age. The Indian influeiK
quickly asserted itself and resulted in the evolution (
a school differing profoundly in spirit from the Persia
school, which at first had been directly imitated.^
Por- The Indians, both Hindu and Muhammadan, speedi)

established a distinct superiority in the art of portraiture

' His Majesty himself sat for his likeness, and also ordere
to have the likenesses taken of all the grandees of the realn
An immense album was thus formed ; those that ha^
passed away have received a new life, and those who ai
still alive have immortality promised them.' ^

The gnawing tooth of time and the heavy hand of ba
barous men have dealt hardly with that ' immense album
Few of the separately executed portraits of Akbar's tin
seem to have survived in original, and it may be doubt(
if any of the portraits now extant come from the ecu
album.

At the time of Jahangir's accession a picture gallery Wi
attached to the library in the Agra fort, both institutioi
being under the care of Maktub Khan.^
Organiza- The liberal patronage accorded to painters and cal'
graphers necessarily involved the maintenance of a larj
staff of skilled artisans employed as binders, gilders, &(
who were classed as infantry soldiers in accordance wil
the military framework of Akbar's government. Similar!;
the artists and other principal people held military rar
as Mansabddrs or Ahadis, and as such drew their salarie
The emperor was in the habit of examining the worl

» See H. F. A., chaps, ix (sec. 5) ' Jahangir, R. B., i, 12. T!

and XV, and Dr. Coomaraswamy's emperor quotes an ingenioi

publications on Rajput painting. clironogram composed by tl

^ Am, vol. i, p. 108. See post, librarian.

Bibliography, section F. <

tion.

LITERATURE AND ART 431

jjoduced at weekly inspections, when he distributed rewards
^ increased salaries at his royal pleasure. Jahanglr, who
>jis more free-handed than Akbar, mentions on one occasion
tie bestowal of 2,000 rupees on Farrukh Beg the Kalmak
(lalmuck), an excellent painter, whom Akbar had taken
Cjer from his brother.^ The donations bestowed by Akbar
jjobably were on a more economical scale.

jThe labours of Akbar's artists were not confined to book Frescoes,
iiustrations or small album pictures. The art of fresco
jdnting on a large scale was sedulously and successfully
cltivated, being applied to the interior walls of many
liildings at Fathpur-Sikri and elsewhere during the reigns
cj both Akbar and his son. The extant fragments, few
ad sadly mutilated, are sufficient to show that the art of
te fresco painter was of high quality. It was Persian in
t3hnique on the whole, but much modified by Indian,
(linese, and European influence. The most interesting
figment surviving is that of the fine composition on the
rrth wall of Akbar's bedroom at Fathpur-Sikri, which
r^y be called ' Eight Men in a Boat '.2 The building may
V dated about 1570 or 1571.

Numerous decorative patterns, which are better preserved
tan the figure subjects, are of the highest excellence.
/:bar was glad to engage the services of a good artist
f)m any country, and allowed each to work in the style
sited to him.^

Architecture, ' the queen of arts ', naturally was practised Archltec-^
vth eminent success under the sway of Akbar, whose the^reign
tlerant policy permitted the votaries of all creeds to
V)rship God each in his own fashion and to build fanes of
ay pattern in honour of the divine ruler of the universe,
^.e requirements of a magnificent imperial court and
C many lesser viceregal and princely courts throughout
ts provinces demanded dignity and splendour in public

II. F. A., p. 470; A.N., iii, ^ For further information on

"Sjl. the subject of pictorial art in

' E. W. Smith, Fathpur-Sikri, Akbar's reign the reader is re-

J rt i, pi. xiii, in colour ; //. F. A., ferred to //. F. A.
I 480, pi. cxiv, uncoloured.

432 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

buildings of a civil kind, while the security of property wa,
assured in a degree sufficient to encourage the accumulatioi
of private wealth and its free disbursement on palaces
domestic dwellings, tombs, and other edifices. Each architee
was at liberty to adopt any style that he fancied. Thi
edifices erected consequently included examples pureh
Muhammadan in conception, others purely Hindu, an(
a great number executed in different varieties of an ecleeti'
style — sometimes designated as Hindu-Muhammadan -
which combined the characteristic features of Muham
madan architecture, the dome and pointed arch, with th(
equally characteristic Hindu horizontal construction anc
many peculiarities of Indian decoration. The story o
Indian architecture during the reign of Akbar and that o
his son Jahanglr, which, as already observed, may b
regarded as a continuation of Akbar' s rule, has not ye
been written. In this work it is not practicable to offe
more than a general sketch of the architectural achievemen
of Akbar' s reign only.
Existing The existing buildings are less numerous than might h
expected, if the immense complex of edifices, civil am
religious, at Fathpur-Slkri be excluded from consideration
One reason for the comparative paucity of structures o
Akbar's time is that Shahjahan cleared away nearly all o
his grandfather's numerous buildings in the Agra fort ii
order to replace them by others designed in accordanci
with his own taste. The lapse of time and the ruthles
violence of man during the eighteenth and the first half o
the nineteenth century account for many losses, while no
a little injury has been wrought by carelessness, neglect
and stupid destruction effected by officials destitute o
historical sense or artistic taste. Some of the earlier worl*
of the reign seems to have been pulled down by order o
Akbar himself. Not a vestige remains of his buildings a
Nagarchain, and in all probability the famous House o
Worship was levelled soon after 1580. We also hear of th
destruction of mosques in the later years of the reign, bu
no specific instance seems to be recorded, and it is impossibl

buildings.

LITERATURE AND ART 433

say anything about the date of the doomed buildings,
ahanglr disapproved of the plans passed by his father
jr the mausoleum at Sikandara. The unique existing
fcructure, finished in a. d. 1612-13 (a. h. 1021), is wholly
he result of instructions given by Jahangir.^

. The remains of Akbar's buildings at Allahabad, Ajmer,

iahore, and other places have not been accurately surveyed
? described.^
It is certain that many Hindu (including Jain) temples Buildings

fere erected during Akbar's reign, and it may be assumed ^^} ^mdu
i . "- ° '' style.

fiat m numerous cases the style was not affected by Muham-

jiadan influence. But the enormous destruction wrought

y Shahjahan and Aurangzeb has left few specimens of that

jeriod standing. The surviving half-ruined temples at

rindaban near Mathura are in the ' mixed ' style. Temples

1 Akbar's time, purely Hindu in character, if such still
/cist, must be sought in remote parts of Rajputana or in
■pher out-of-the-way places not easily reached by Muslim
jonoclasts.

j Some of the civil buildings erected by Akbar may be
iassed as almost purely Hindu in style. The best-known
sample of the kind is the so-called Jahangirl Mahall in
"le Agra Fort, which, as Fergusson justly observed, would
lordly be out of place at Chitor or Gwalior.^ A few kiosks
Sid minor decorations, perhaps, may display the influence
(' Islamic art, but the palace, as a whole, undoubtedly is
4ndu in style. The best modern opinion holds that it
(iites from Akbar's time, late in the reign. The so-called
fodh Bal's Palace ' at Fathpur-Sikri, which has a general
iisemblancc to the ' Jahangiri Mahall ', was built about
"70, and is considerably earlier in date than the building
i the Fort. The palace built subsequently by Jahanglr

.' Part of the cloisters in the have been altered. The same

c'closure may date from Akbar's author enumerates other build-

tne. ings erected by Akbar and still in

* Akbar's palace at Ajmer is existence at Ajmer, including a

iw the Rajputana Museum (H. handsome mosque.
1 Sarda, Ajiner, Historical and ^ Hist, of Indian and Eastern

yscriptivc (Ajmer, 1911), pp. Ill, Architecture, ed. 1910, p. 293.
13, and plates). The buildings
11845 J, ^

434 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

for his own residence in Agra was pulled down by his son.
The central hall of Akbar's original palace in the Fort,
built about 1565, appears from the photograph to be purely
Hindu in style and construction.^ The Sati Burj, a quad-
rangular town of red sandstone at Mathura, built in 1570
to commemorate the self-immolation of a wife of Raja Bihar
Mall of Amber (Jaipur), is an interesting and exceptional
monument of Hindu architecture.^
Buildings The extant buildings of the age in purely Muhammadan
hamrriad- ^^ylc are not numerous. Most of the sixteenth-century
an style, edifices, even those probably not at all influenced by defer-
ence to Akbar's personal opinions, display certain features
of Indian, that is to say, Hindu origin, resulting from the
employment of Hindu craftsmen and from the general
influence of the environment. India, from time immemorial,
has rivalled Greece in her conquest of her conquerors. Nc
information is at my disposal concerning the ' handsome
mosque erected by Akbar' at MIrtha (Merta) in Rajputana.
and it may or may not be purely Muslim in design. Th(
llwdn, or service portion of the great mosque at Fathpur-
Sikri, finished in a. d. 1571, although it professes to b(
copied from a model at Mecca, yet exhibits Hindu construC'
tion in the pillars and roofing. The noble gateways of that
mosque, perhaps, may be reckoned as being the mos1
purely Muslim in character of Akbar's buildings designee
on a considerable scale.
Tomb of The famous tomb of Humayun at Old Delhi, completer
^jj["^" to the order of Hajl Begam early in 1569, and designed by
Mirak Mirza Ghiyak, presumably a Persian, admittedly if
the most Persian in style of all the larger structures of the
age. Indeed, at the first glance it seems to be purely foreigr
and un-Indian. Nevertheless, the ground-plan, based oi
the grouping of four chambers round one great centra
room, is purely Indian. The building offers the earlies
example in India of a double dome with slightly swellini
outline standing on a high neck. That mode of construe

» Ann. Report A. S. India for (1883), p. 148, with plate. Tb
1907-8, pi. iv a. plastered dome is modern.

* Growse, Mathura, 3rd ed. '

LITERATURE AND ART

435

ion, copied from the tombs of TImur and Bibi Khanam
^. D. 1403) at Samarkand, may be traced back ultimately
b the Umayyad mosque at Damascus, built about a. d. 1082.
'he theory that the Mogul swelling dome, of which Huma-
un's tomb is the earliest Indian specimen, was the lineal
escendant of Hindu forms appears to be purely fanciful
nd opposed to clear evidence. Akbar and his architects
re entitled to the credit of introducing into India that
leasing Persian form, which far excels in beauty and effec-
veness the low-pitched so-called ' Pathan ' domes. It must
ot, however, be supposed that domes of that kind were
(together superseded by the Persian novelty. On the
)ntrary, they continued to be built in large numbers, and
: Fathpur-SikrI they are common. The tomb of Humayun

regarded by most writers as the prototype of the Taj ;
at, as Mr. Cresswell justly points out, the ruined tomb of
le Khan Khanan, which stands to the east of Humayun's

ausoleum, has a better claim to be regarded as the model
f Shahjahan's masterpiece.^

The buildings of Akbar's time, as a rule, obviously com-

ne both Hindu and Muhammadan features, and so may

b described correctly as being designed in an eclectic or

nixed Hindu-Muhammadan style. Sometimes the Hindu,

j^metimes the Muhammadan element predominates.

I One of the most remarkable edifices of the reign, although '^°™^

omparatively little known, is the tomb at Gwalior of the hammad

'fint Muhammad Ghaus, who died in 1562. The building, g^au^ ^^t

' , ° Gwalior.

onsequently, is approximately contemporary with the
liausoleum of Humayun, but its design is totally distinct,
ad nobody could mistake it for anything but an Indian
lonument. The building is a square, measuring 100 feet

' See Mr. Cresswell's papers :
"he Origin of the Persian Double
jme ' {Burlington Mag., Novem-
\r-December, 1913); 'Persian
lomes before 1400 a. d.' (ibid.,
.,nuary-February, 1915) ; ' In-
•an Domes of Persian Origin '
{[sialic Rev., November 1914) ;
J id ' The History and Evolution
« the Dome in Persia ' {Ind,

Ant., 1915, pp. 233-59). The
rival erroneous theory is advo-
cated by Mr. Havell in Indian
Architecture (Murray, 1915) and
other works. For the despoiled
tomb of the Khan Khanan see
Carr Stephen, p. 214 ; Harcourt,
Guide to Delhi (18G6), No. 35 ;
and Ain, vol. i, p. 336. Cresswell
gives a photo of it in the Ind. Ant.

F f 2

436

AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

Reflex of

Akbars
mind.

on each side, with a hexagonal tower attached by an angl
to each corner. The single tomb-chamber, 43 feet square
is surrounded by a deep verandah, protected by extre
ordinarily large eaves. The exterior formerly was covere
by blue glazed tiles in the Persian fashion. The dome is c
the ' Pathan ' type, rather high, with sides vertical fc
some distance. Some of the kiosks are Muslim in forn
while others with square columns and bracket capital
might belong to a Hindu temple. The queer undisguise
mixture of Muhammadan and Hindu elements seems t
be due to local conditions, rather than to any theoretics
attempt at harmonizing Hinduism with Islam. It is nc
likely that Akbar's opinions can have had influence on th
architect, and at the time the building was erected th
emperor still was a zealous Musalman.^

When Abu-1 Fazl declared that ' His Majesty plaE
splendid edifices, and dresses the work of his mind an
heart in the garment of stone and clay ', the imposin
phrase is not merely a courtly compliment.^ It is sobf
truth, as Fergusson puts the matter, that Fathpur-Sikri
' a reflex of the mind of the great man who built it ',^ an
it is certain that Akbar not only mastered every detail i
the working of his Public Works Department, but supplie
ideas which were carried out by the able architects whoi
he gathered around him. The names of those brilliar
artists, who adopted no precautions to secure the applam
of posterity, have perished utterly. It is true that a sma
mosque and pillared tomb outside the walls, near the Tehi
(Terha) gate of Fathpur-Sikri, expressly commemoral
Bahau-d din, who is remembered by tradition as the ove

» A.S.R., ii (1871), p. 369;
Beale, Diet., s. v. Muhammad
Ghaus, Shaikh ; 1. G. (1908), s. v.
GwaUor ; Lepel Griffin, Famous
Monuments of Central India, 1886,
pi. xlvii ; Fergusson, ed. 1910,
p. 292, fig. 422.

^ Aln, book i, Ain 85 ; vol. i,
D. 222.

* Fergusson, ed. 1910, p. 297.
It may be noted that even in that
recent edition several misstate-

ments of fact occur in the sho
section dealing with Akbar. F(
instance, it is not true that ' the
is no trace of Hinduism in tl
works of Jahangir ' (p. 288) ; <
that Fathpur-Sikri was Akbar
favourite residence ' during tl
whole of his reign ' (p. 293) ; <
that ' Allahabad was a mo:
favourite residence of this moi
arch than Agra, perhaps as mu(
so as even Fathpur-Sikri ' (p. 298

LITERATURE AND ART 437

er of works or superintending engineer engaged on the
iiilding of the city, but there is no evidence that he designed
ay of the monuments. The building work, as Father
[onserrate mentions, was pressed on with extraordinary

eed under the personal supervision of Akbar,^ and it is
jear that many architects or master-masons of the highest
cill must have been employed simultaneously.

The greater part of the palace-city of Fathpur-Sikri, Fathpur-
ilanned and begun in 1569, was built between 1570 and occupied
pSO. Nothing, except certain small mosques and tombs from 1570
rected by private individuals, is later than 1585, when

kbar moved to the Panjab for a residence of thirteen
sears in that province. In 1598, when he came south, he
'cnt to Agra, and not to Fathpur-Sikri, where he never
jsided again. While on his way back from the Deccan
\ May 1601, as already explained in chapter iv, he merely
aid a flying visit to his former capital, and marched on to
.gra. Fathpur-Sikri, which is known to have been mostly

I ruins in the summer of 1604, must have decayed rapidly
rom the date of its desertion by the emperor in 1585,
nmediately after the visit of Ralph Fitch. The effective
ccupation of the place, therefore, did not exceed fifteen
|r sixteen years, the period from 1570 to the autumn of
'585. The site being unhealthy and destitute of all natural
dvantages as a residence, there was no reason why a city
liould continue to exist there after the withdrawal of the
ourt on which its life was dependent. A small country
own has always remained.

Akbar's city, nearly seven miles in circumference, was Walls and

'uilt on a rocky sandstone ridge running from NE. to SW. S'*^*^^-

'he north-western side, being protected by an artificial

' * Commeniarius, pp. .560, 642. Monserrate was reminded of the

V. peristylar building, 200 feet scriptural precedent : ' And the

png, was finished in three months, house, when it was in building,

Ind a great range of baths, with was built of stone made ready

II its appurtenances, was com- before it was brought thither : so
Meted in six months. All the that there was neither hammer
ibaterial, prepared according to nor ax nor any tool of ii'on heard
Specification {secundum -proposi- in the house, while it was in
am aedijicattdi d€scriptionem),WRs building' (1 Kings vi, 7). For
)rought complete and ready to Bahau-d din see E. W. Smith,
'he place where it was to be used. Faihpur-Sikri, iv, .30.

440 AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL

lake measuring some twenty miles round the banks, was not
fortified. The remaining three sides were enclosed by
a wall possessing little military value. The gates were nine
in number ; the four principal ones being the Agra Gate
on the NE., the Delhi Gate, the Ajmer Gate, and the
Gwalior or Dholpur Gate.^
Dis- The visitor, entering by the Agra Gate at the north-

onhe°" eastern corner, goes through the ruins of a bazaar, passes
buildings, under the music-gallery {naubat-khdna, p. 439), and
thence proceeds, between the Mint and Treasury buildings,
along a modern road which cuts across a large cloistered
quadrangle, on the western side of which the Public Audience
Hall {Dtwdn-i Jmm) is situated. The same road, continuing
in a south-westerly direction, traverses another quadrangle,
passing between Akbar's bedroom (khwdbgdh) on the north
and the Record Room {daftar khdna) on the south (pi. 5).
It then arrives at the King's Gate (pi. 12), the eastern
portal of the Great Mosque.

The private buildings of the palace, including the ladies'
quarters and the Private Audience Hall {Diwdn-i Khdss),
adjoin the Public Audience Hall on the west, and extend
in a south-westerly direction towards the Great Mosque,
Many of the principal buildings still stand almost intact,
but much has been totally ruined. The remains of the
ancient town, as distinguished from the palace precincts
are not considerable. Taking the site as a whole, enough
survives to enable the visitor to realize with a considerable
degree of vividness the former magnificence of the mass o'
buildings during the brief period when they were the abodf

• (1) The Delhi Gate ; (2) the tantum portis), namely, (1) Agra

Lai ; (3) the Agra ; (4) Blrbal's ; Gate to E., (2) Ajmer Gate to W.,

(5) Chandanpal ; (6) Gwalior ; (3) the Amphitheatre (Circi) Gate

(7) Tehra (or more accurately, to N., corresponding apparently

Terha) ; (8) the Chor ; (9) the with the Delhi Gate ; and (4)

Ajmer (Smith, Fathpur-Slkrl, iii, the Dholpur Gate, certainly the

59). The number of gates is same as the Gwalior Gate {Com-

loosely stated as being either six mentarius, p. 561). The Elephant

or seven by the same author in Gate (Hathi Pol), which also was

another passage (ibid., p. 1). on the way to the amphitheatre,

Monserrate, who resided a long stands mthin the city walls. See

time in the town, states that there map (p. 439).
were only four gates {quattuor

tl^^^ .

.^.„_...J

THE KING'S GATE, FATH PUR-Sl K R I

ffiaaaa^'vvt'.jy-^^^j'g^^fesi

'Y/r *jy ^ y«a^i» wi»i« i iw>Mi)W'a'<w.ia« i aMitffii»j3nMWiiii>«»*iiin i *iiii i i ii nij i iiriBjii i i i rim i ^i - - * '•■ " ;

' ♦ * < I'tiiiiMiiiWwIiilliiwiiiii I i"i III III I ii iii.il

•* ,^A'. *

f ,«4', » * ♦

- * ♦ * 41"
■= 'if, ft * * ,^ !

liik,>rrs 12 9 6 3 I

tLBVATION.

ujXumu^

'FCET

SOUTH MIHRAB OF GREAT MOSQUE,

T?ATT-IOTTT3 CITTXJT

LITERATURE AND ART 441

r the richest monarch and the most splendid court in the

orld. The careful student of E. W. Smith's masterly

lonograph, even if unable to visit the deserted city, is in

position to form a fairly accurate notion of the scene as

"alph Fitch saw it in 1585.^

The Great Mosque, as a whole, was finished in 1571 ; but The

Great
s grandest feature, the noble portal known as the Buland Mosque.

I'arwaza, or Lofty Gate, a huge building, Avas not erected

htil four years later. Probably it was intended to serve

5 a triumphal arch commemorating the conquest of Gujarat

I 1573, but definite evidence in support of that hypothesis

lacking. It may have replaced an earlier structure
imilar to the other three gates, but