Rulers of India: Akbar

by G. B. Malleson

HUMÁYÚN INVADES INDIA. HIS DEATH

Sher Khán Sur, who had defeated Humáyún at Kanauj in 1540, had used his victory to possess himself of the territories which Bábar had conquered, and to add somewhat to them. He was an able man, but neither did he, more than the prince whom he supplanted, possess the genius of consolidation and union. He governed on the system of detached camps, each province and district being separately administered. He died in 1545 from injuries received at the siege of Kálinjar, just as that strong fort surrendered to his arms.

His second son, Salim Sháh Sur, known also as Sultán Islám, succeeded him, and reigned for between seven and eight years. He must have been dimly conscious of the weakness of the system he had inherited, for the greater part of his reign was spent in combating the intrigues of the noblemen who held the several provinces under him. On his death, leaving a child of tender years to succeed him, the nobles took the upper hand. The immediate result was the murder of the young prince, after a nominal rule of three days, and the seizure of the throne by his maternal uncle, who proclaimed himself as Sultán under the title of Muhammad Sháh Adel. He was ignorant, cruel, unprincipled, and a sensualist of a very pronounced type. He had, however, the good fortune to attach to his throne a Hindu, named Hemu, who, originally a shopkeeper of Rewárí, a town of Mewát, showed talents so considerable, that he was eventually allowed to concentrate in his own hands all the power of the State. The abilities of Hemu did not, however, prevent the break-up of the territories which Sher Sháh had bequeathed to his son. Ibráhím Khán revolted at Biáná, and occupying Agra and Delhi, proclaimed himself Sultán. Ahmad Khán, Governor of the country north-west of the Sutlej, seized the Punjab, and proclaimed himself king under the title of Sikandar Sháh. Shujá Khán seized the kingdom of Málwá, whilst two rival claimants disputed the eastern provinces. In the contests which followed Sikandar Sháh for the moment obtained the upper hand. He defeated Ibráhím Khán at Farah, twenty miles from Agra, then marched on and occupied Delhi. He was preparing to head an expedition to recover Jaunpur and Behar, when he heard of danger threatening him from Kábul.

The events that followed were important only in their results. Humáyún marched from Kábul for the Indus in November, 1554, at the head of a small army, which, however, gathered strength as he advanced. Akbar accompanied him. Crossing the Indus the 2nd of January, 1555, Humáyún made for Ráwal Pindí, then pushed on for Kálánaur, on the further side of the Ráví. There he divided his forces, sending his best general, Bairám Khán, into Jálandhar, whilst he marched on Lahore, and despatched thence his special favourite, Abul Má'alí, to occupy Dípálpur, then an important centre, commanding the country between the capital and Múltán.

Events developed themselves very rapidly. Bairám Khán defeated the generals of Sikandar Sháh at Machhíwára on the Sutlej, and then marched on the town of Sirhind. Sikandar, hoping to crush him there, hurried to that place with a vastly superior force. Bairám intrenched himself, and wrote to Humáyún for aid. Humáyún despatched the young Akbar, and followed a few days later. Before they could come, Sikandar had arrived but had hesitated to attack. The hesitation lost him. As soon as Humáyún arrived, he precipitated a general engagement. The victory was decisive. Sikandar Sháh fled to the Siwáliks, and Humáyún, with his victorious army, marched on Delhi. Occupying it the 23rd of July, he despatched one division of it to overrun Rohilkhand, another to occupy Agra. He had previously sent Abul Má'alí to secure the Punjab.

But his troubles were not yet over. Hemu, the general and chief minister of Muhammad Sháh Adel, had defeated the pretender to the throne of Bengal, who had invaded the North-west Provinces, near Kálpi on the Jumna, and that capable leader was preparing to march on Delhi. Sikandar Sháh, too, who had been defeated at Sirhind, was beginning to show signs of life in the Punjab. In the face of these difficulties Humáyún decided to remain at Delhi himself, whilst he despatched Akbar with Bairám Khán as his 'Atálik,' or adviser, to settle matters in the Punjab.

We must first follow Akbar. That prince reached Sirhind early in January, 1556. Joined there by many of the nobles whom Abul Má'alí, the favourite of his father, had disgusted by his haughtiness, he crossed the Sutlej at Phillaur, marched on Sultánpur in the Kángra district, and thence, in pursuit of Sikandar Sháh, to Hariána. The morning of his arrival there, information reached him of a serious accident which had happened to Humáyún. He at once suspended the forward movement, and marched on Kálánaur, there to await further intelligence. As he approached that place, a despatch was placed in his hands, drafted by order of Humáyún, giving hopes of speedy recovery. But, a little later, another courier arrived, bearing the news of the Emperor's death. Akbar was at once proclaimed.

The situation was a trying one for a boy who had lived but thirteen years and four months. He occupied, indeed, the Punjab. His servants held Sirhind, Delhi, and possibly Agra. But he was aware that Hemu, flushed with two victories, for he had obtained a second over another pretender, was marching towards the last-named city with an army of fifty thousand men and five hundred elephants, with the avowed intention of restoring the rule of Muhammad Sháh Adel. To add to his difficulties he heard a few days later that the viceroy placed by his father at Kábul had revolted.

Humáyún had met his death by a fall from the top of the staircase leading to the terraced roof of his library in the palace of Delhi. He lingered four days, the greater part of the time in a state of insensibility, and expired the evening of the 24th of January, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Tardí Beg Khán, the most eminent of all the nobles at the capital, and actually Governor of the city, assumed on the spot the general direction of affairs. His first care was to conceal the incident from the public until he could arrange to make the succession secure for the young Akbar, to whom he sent expresses conveying details. By an ingenious stratagem he managed to conceal the death of the Emperor for seventeen days. Then, on the 10th of February, he repaired with the nobles to the great Mosque, and caused the prayer for the Emperor to be recited in the name of Akbar. His next act was to despatch the insignia of the empire with the Crown jewels, accompanied by the officers of the household, the Imperial Guards, and a possible rival to the throne in the person of a son of Humáyún's brother, Kámrán, to the head-quarters of the new Emperor in the Punjab. He then proceeded to take measures to secure the capital against the threatened attack of Hemu.