He ascended the throne in his 14th year. Hemū, the infidel whom the Afghan ruler had raised to high station, collected a wonderful force after King Humāyūn’s death with a stud of elephants such as no ruler of Hindustan had at that time, and he went towards Delhi. Humāyūn had appointed Akbar to drive off some of the Afghans from the foot-hills of the Panjab, but just then he exemplified the hemistich which is a description of the accident and the chronogram of his death—
“The august monarch (Humāyūn) fell from the roof. The news (of the death) was conveyed to my father by Naz̤ar-jīvī.”[87]
Bairām K͟hān, who was then his tutor, having collected the nobles who were in the province, chose an auspicious hour and seated him on the throne of rule in pargana Kalānūr, near Lahore.
When Hemū reached the neighbourhood of Delhi, Tardī Beg K͟hān and a large force that was in the city drew up to oppose him. When the preparations for the combat had been made the armies attacked one another, and, after considerable endeavours and strife, defeat fell on Tardī Beg K͟hān and the Moguls, and the army of darkness overcame the army of light.
“All things and battles and fights are of God,
He knows whose will be the victory.
From the blood of the brave and the dust of the troops,
The earth grew red and the heavens black.”
Tardī Beg K͟hān and the other defeated ones took the road to my revered father’s camp. As Bairām K͟hān disliked Tardī Beg, he made this defeat an excuse to put him to death.
A second time, through the pride engendered in the mind of this accursed infidel by his victory, he came out of Delhi with his force and elephants and advanced, while the glorious standards of His Majesty (Akbar) proceeded from Kalānūr for the purpose of driving him away. The armies of darkness and light met in the neighbourhood of Panipat, and on Thursday, Muḥarram 2nd, A.H. 964 (November 5th, 1556), a fight took place. In the army of Hemū were 30,000 brave fighting horsemen, while the g͟hāzīs of the victorious army were not more than 4,000 or 5,000. On that day Hemū was riding an elephant named Hawāʾī. Suddenly an arrow struck the eye of that infidel and came out at the back of his head. His army, on seeing this, took to flight. By chance S͟hāh Qulī K͟hān Maḥram with a few brave men came up to the elephant on which was the wounded Hemū, and would have shot an arrow at the driver, but he cried “Do not kill me; Hemū is on this elephant.” A number of men immediately conveyed Hemū as he was to the king (Akbar). Bairām K͟hān represented that it would be proper if the king with his own hand should strike the infidel with a sword, so that obtaining the reward of a g͟hāzī (warrior of the Faith) he might use this title on the imperial farmans. The king answered, “I have cut him in pieces before this,” and explained: “One day, in Kabul, I was copying a picture in presence of K͟hwājaʿAbdu-ṣ-Ṣamad S͟hīrīn Qalam, when a form appeared from my brush, the parts of which were separate and divided from each other. One of those near asked, ‘Whose picture is this?’ It came to my tongue to say that it was the likeness of Hemū.” Not defiling his hand with his (Hemū’s) blood, he told one of his servants to cut off his head. Those killed in the defeated army numbered 5,000 in addition to those who fell in various places round about.