All the corpses were ordered to be collected together and consumed upon one vast pile, and fires were kept burning for days to purify the air and cleanse the polluted town.
Such were the frightful circumstances under which the Mogul emperor became master of Chittore. It is, in truth, melancholy to contemplate the horrors which frequently follow on the heels of human ambition. It seems to look upon the sanguinary devastations of war as a sort of legalised licence to destruction, and they therefore fail to excite our sympathies; but if we consider what an awful amount of human beings have been cut off by the sword, or by those scourges so often the frightful handmaids of war, pestilence and famine, we should be startled at the prodigious total. Animals destroy each other singly, and in obedience to an irresistible instinct to support their own lives, which, to them, is the greatest boon of heaven, because they have no prospects beyond, but the rational portion of God’s creatures destroy each other by large masses and in mighty sums merely to substantiate the sordid calculations of interest, to appease their base passions, or to realize the aims of a bloated ambition.
Akbar having done all in his power to alleviate the miseries of the few surviving native inhabitants of Chittore, commanded the walls to be repaired, appointed Asuf Chan Hirvy governor of the fortress, leaving with him a numerous garrison, and returned with the rest of his army to his capital.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY.
1603 A.D.—In the year of the Hegira 1014, Prince Selim ascended the imperial throne of the Moguls immediately upon the death of his father Akbar, who expired at Agra, amid the general lamentations of his subjects, who loved him as their father, admired him as their leader, and feared him as their prince.
Heg. 1015 (1604).—A conspiracy was formed in favour of Chusero, Jehangire’s eldest son. When it was discovered, the prince appeared in arms and broke out into open rebellion. He marched to Delhi, ravaged the country, and laid the suburbs under contribution. Many houses were burned, many persons perished, and thousands were utterly ruined. Jehangire, hearing of these outrages, immediately commanded his captain-general to put the army in motion and pursue his rebellious son. Suspecting that officer’s loyalty, however, he recalled him just as the latter was about to quit the city gates, and gave command of the imperial forces to Ferid Bochari, paymaster-general of the army, who pursued the rebel to Lahore, where he was entirely routed. As the person of Chusero was known to the troops generally, they did not attempt his life, and he was permitted to escape. He was, however, soon after taken prisoner, which put an end to the rebellion. In the same year a peace was concluded with Persia.
Heg. 1018 (1609).—Shere Afkun, a Turkoman noble, slew the Suba of Bengal, and was immediately killed by the latter’s troops.
Heg. 1019 (1610).—Jehangire married the beautiful widow of Shere Afkun Noor Mahil.
Heg. 1020 (1611).—The Afghans, a fierce and untractable people, inhabiting the mountains beyond the Indus, rebelled, and entering Cabul with a considerable army, committed the most cruel excesses. The rebellion was suppressed by Nadili Meidani, who pursued the Afghans to their native mountains, putting a great part of their ill-disciplined troops to the sword. The close of this year was distinguished by two formidable insurrections, one in Bengal, the other in Behar; the former was put an end to by Sujait Chan, who for this signal service was advanced by his imperial master to the title of Rustum Zimân, which signifies the Hercules of the age. The insurrection in Behar was quashed in consequence of the rebel Cuttub, who assumed to be the Prince Chusero, being killed by a brickbat.
Heg. 1022 (1613).—Prince Purvez was despatched with an army against Amar Sinka, Rana or Prince of Odipoor, in the Deccan, who had attacked and defeated the imperial troops. He was unsuccessful. Jehangire recalled him and sent Mohabet Chan to replace him. The army, however, being reduced by disease, and in a state of insubordination, Mohabet was not in a condition to oppose the Rana. Prince Churrum, the emperor’s third son, was consequently sent with fresh troops to supersede Mohabet. He entered by the mountains, engaged the enemy, and obliged him to sue for peace.