No More Learning

There were now, he said, no divisions
in the army of Bihar, and the land, by Jalal Khan's desertion, was
his. He enlisted more troops and advanced against the army of
Bengal, but, owing to his numerical inferiority, entrenched himself
and refrained from attacking the enemy in force. Reinforcements
were summoned from Bengal, and Sher Khan found it necessary to
give battle before these should arrive. By the well-known stratagem
of a feigned flight his first line drew the enemy's cavalry away from
his artillery and elephants, and Sher Khan then fell on it with his
3


## p. 49 (#81) ##############################################

HUMAYUN DEFEATS MAHMUD LODI
49
reserves and routed it. The commander was slain while attempting
to flee, Jalal Khan escaped with great difficulty into Bengal, and
the treasure, the elephants and the artillery of Bengal fell into the
hands of Sher Khan, who was now the unquestioned sovereign of
Bihar.
He next acquired possession of the strong fortress of Chunar, on
the Ganges, from the widow of its commandant, whom he married
at the suggestion of her principal officer. The acquisition of the
fortress and of the great treasure which it contained added greatly
to Sher Khan's power and influence as well as to his resources, but
he was now seriously embarrassed.
Mahmud Lodi, the brother of Ibrahim Lodi, had been expected
to arrive in Bihar a few years before this time, but he had taken
refuge with Sangram Singh, the Rana of Chitor, and had taken
part with him in the battle of Khanua. After the battle he had
returned to Chitor, but he now left Rajputana, and, at the invitation
of some of the nobles of the Lodi court, who had settled in Patna,
made that city his headquarters. He was a mere fugitive, but he
represented the old Afghan royal house and assumed royal state.
Sher Khan was summoned to appear before him and could not
refuse to obey without belying all the principles of unity which he
had so persistently preached. He was informed that his assignment
was confirmed but that in order to provide for Mahmud's nobles
and retinue he was obliged to resume, for the present, the rest of
Bihar, which would be restored to Sher Khan when the prince had
established himself on the throne. Sher Khan submitted and retired
to Sasaram, ostensibly in order to prepare forces to accompany the
prince in a projected expedition into Oudh.
When the prince summoned Sher Khan to bring his contingent,
he replied that his troops were not yet ready and that he would join
him later. Mahmud Lodi's officers pointed out that Sher Khan had
already once served the Mughuls, and suggested that he was now
temporising. They advised a line of march by way of Sasaram so
as to compel him to accompany the army. Sher Khan made the
best of his failure and, after giving Mahmud a royal reception,
accompanied him.
Humayun's officers fled from Jaunpur on the approach of the
Afghans, and Mahmud sent his forces forward and occupied Lucknow.
When the news of the loss of Lucknow reached Agra Humayun
marched towards Jaunpur, and his army and that of Mahmud Lodi
met at Daunrua, where the latter was severely defeated and com-
pelled to retire into Bihar. Being unable to raise a fresh army there,
he withdrew into Orissa, where he passed the few remaining years
of his life, in sensual pleasures, until his death in 1542.
After the battle Humayun demanded the surrender of the important
fortress, Chunar, from Sher Khan, who had failed to support Mahmud
4


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50
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
Lodi, and had promised obedience to the Mughuls. On his refusal
Humayun prepared to besiege Chunar, but was diverted by news
of the raid made by Tatar Khan as related in chapter 11 (p. 23) and
set out for Gujarat accompanied by Qutb Khan, son of Sher Khan,
with a small force.
During Humayun's absence in Gujarat, Sher Khan spared no
efforts in consolidating his power in Bihar, and was joined by his
son Qutb Khan, who deserted Humayun's camp in Gujarat, and by
most of the leading Afghans in Bahadur's service, who abandoned
him when he was in difficulties. Sher Khan then attacked the king-
dom of Bengal and annexed all of its territory which lay to the west
of Teliyagarhi.
When Humayun returned from Gujarat to Agra he was warned
that Sher Khan had grown so powerful as to have become a danger
to the empire, but he contented himself with sending Hindu Beg to
Jaunpur with orders to report on the situation. Hindu Beg had ever
been favourably disposed to Sher Khan, and was easily induced to
report that the emperor had nothing to fear from him.
Sher Khan, having thus, as he believed, set the emperor's mind at
rest, sent an army under his son, Jalal Khan, to complete the annexa-
tion of Bengal, and Sultan Mahmud, too weak to meet the invaders
in the field, appealed to Humayun and took refuge in Gaur where
he was besieged by Jalal Khan and Khavass Khan, who had now
become Sher Khan's most capable, loyal and enterprising officer.
Sher Khan's son, Jalal Khan, leaving Khavass Khan in charge
of the siege of Gaur, marched to hold Teliyagarhi, "the gate of
Bengal”. Gaur was obliged, by lack of provisions, to surrender to
Khavass Khan, and Sultan Mahmud of Bengal took refuge with
Humayun. Sher Khan had found an asylum in the strong fortress
of Rohtas. The Mughul historians tell an absurd story, invented in
order to besmirch the character of Sher Khan, of his gaining pos-
session of Rohtas by smuggling into the fortress, in litters, as though
they had been veiled ladies, a large number of his men-at-arms; but
the true story is discreditable enough to him. He first obtained from
Churaman, the raja's Brahman minister, a promise of shelter in the
fort. The raja prudently objected that it was dangerous to admit a
force strong enough to overpower the garrison, but Churaman insisted
that his word had been passed and that nothing was to be feared
from Sher Khan. The raja yielded against his better judgement, the
Afghans were admitted, and Sher Khan in a short time expelled the
garrison and took possession of the fortress.
Then, while Humayun was making an easy conguest of a defence-
less but devastated area, Sher Khan, who had hitherto carefully
avoided facing him in the field, set about cutting his communications.
He besieged Benares and sent Khavass Khan, whom he had recalled
from Gaur, to Monghyr with instructions to seize the officer whom


## p. 51 (#83) ##############################################

HUMAYUN DEFEATED AT CHAUSA AND KANAUJ 51
Humayun had left in command of that city. Khayass Khan captured
this officer and carried him to Benares, which city Sher Khan shortly
afterwards took, putting nearly the whole garrison to the sword. He
then sent forces to Jaunpur, Sambhal and Bahraich, each of which
towns was captured, the imperial garrison being expelled, and ordered
the force which had captured Jaunpur to march on Agra, where
Humayun's brother, Hindal Mirza, had rebelled after slaying the
envoy whom Humayun himself had sent to urge him to remain loyal.
Sher Khan now assembled all his forces in the neighbourhood of
Rohtas and awaited an opportunity of attacking Humayun as he
attempted to extricate his demoralised army from Bengal. The pre.
text was that Humayun, who had promised him the kingdom of
Bengal, had broken faith with him and taken the kingdom for him-
self. At the battle of Chausa on 26 June, 1539, Humayun was com-
pletely defeated and fled to Agra.
Sher Khan now struck coin 1 and caused the khutba to be recited
in his own name and assumed the royal title, styling himself Farid-
ud-din Sher Shah. A force sent to Gaur defeated and slew the officer
whom Humayun had left to hold that city, and Sher Shah, following
Humayun towards Agra, occupied the country as far west as Kanauj
and Kalpi, and sent a mission to Malwa and Gujarat promising help
if they menaced Humayun from the west. Gujarat was too disturbed
to take part in a general attack on the emperor, but Mallu Khan
of Mandu, who had assumed the title of Qadir Shah, returned a
favourable reply, though he aroused the wrath of Sher Shah by
writing after the manner of a sovereign prince.
News was received that Humayun was marching towards Kanauj
in order to meet the Afghan army there, and Sher Shah sent his son
Qutb Khan towards Mandu to urge Qadir Shah to fulfil his promise.
Qadir Shah, however, showed no sign of support and Humayun
despatched his brothers 'Askari and Hindal against him. Qutb Khan
was defeated and slain by them on his way from Kalpi to Chanderi,
and the two princes rejoined their brother. Humayun reached
Kanauj in April 1540, and found Sher Shah encamped on the east
bank of the Ganges over against him. Crossing the river he again
encountered Sher Shah on 17 May, again sustained a crushing defeat
(chap. II, p. 34), and fled through Agra to the north.
Sher Shah despatched a force to besiege Gwalior, sent another to
Sambhal, to secure and pacify the country to the east of the Ganges,
and pursued Humayun first to Agra and thence, as he continued his
flight, to Lahore. From Lahore Kamran Mirza retired to Kabul,
and Humayun into Sind, and Sher Shah, having pursued him for
some distance, returned to Lahore. He had now driven his foes from
Bengal, Bihar, Hindustan and the Punjab, had received the submission
of the Baloch chiefs on the frontier, and was at leisure to turn his
1 Earliest known date 945 A. H. (May 1538-May 1539 A. D. ). 2 See vol. II, p. 369.


## p. 52 (#84) ##############################################

52
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
attention to domestic affairs. To guard his northern frontier he
selected the site of a great fortress in the hills ten miles north of
Jhelum, which he named Rohtas, after his stronghold in the hills
of Bihar.
Sher Shah now learned that his governor of Bengal had married
a daughter of Sultan Mahmud of that country, and was meditating
rebellion, so he set out at once for Gaur. Here he punished the
governor, by imprisonment in chains, for his presumption in marrying
without leave, and for having held courts in the royal manner. Sher
Shah then remodelled the administration of Bengal to avert the
danger of rebellion. He divided the country into a number of
charges but appointed no governor or viceroy, and gave to no official
authority over another, but appointed a jurist as supervisor of all,
with instructions to see that the charges were properly administered,
that all money due to the treasury was regularly remitted, and that
the officials abstained from conspiracy. He then returned to Agra.
In 1542 he invaded Malwa with a view to punishing Qadir Shah
for having assumed the royal title and for having failed to support
his son Qutb Khan. On his way he halted at Gwalior and received
the submission of the governor of that fortress, who had promised
that he would surrender when Sher Shah arrived. He then marched
on to Sarangpur, where Qadir Shah appeared before him, made his
submission, and was kindly received and honourably treated, and
accompanied Sher Shah to Ujjain. Here Sher Shah promised him
the government of a province instead of that of Malwa, of which he
had been deprived, but he became apprehensive of the king's inten-
tions towards him, and made his escape, taking refuge with Mahmud
III of Gujarat.
On his way back to Agra from Malwa, Sher Shah persuaded the
commandant of Ranthambhor to surrender that fortress to him.
and after his return he remained for a year in Agra, engaged in
reorganising the administration of his empire, in the laying out of
roads, and the erection of public buildings. Sher Shah then paid a
visit of inspection to Bihar and Bengal, in the course of which he
suffered so severely from malaria as to believe himself to be at the
point of death, and to vow that if God spared his life and restored
him to health he would punish Puran Mal for his offences against
Islam. 1
Puran Mal of Raisen had, not long before this time, attacked and
captured Chanderi, put its inhabitants to the sword, added to his
territory the country around that town, and enslaved many women,
Muslims as well as Hindus, some of whom he employed as dancing
girls. The punishment of such offences as these was incumbent on a
faithful Muslim, and Sher Shah, when sufficiently recovered, returned
to Agra and in 1543 set out for Mandu, whence he marched to Raisen.
1 See vol. III, p. 370.


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PURAN MAL OF RAISEN
63
The siege of the fortress was protracted until the Hindus were reduced
to distress, and at length Puran Mal came forth on receiving a solemn
oath that the lives and property of himself and his relations would
be safe. For a while, he and his clansmen were lodged in peace, but
the widows of the slaughtered Muslims of Chanderi assembled and,
waiting by the roadside, assailed Sher Shah with loud lamentations.
Sher Shah's blood boiled, but he was perplexed by the oath on the
Qur'an which had enticed Puran Mal from his stronghold. The
Muslim casuists set his mind at rest by declaring that an oath which
should never have been sworn bound none, and Sher Shah prepared
for the deed which has left the deepest blot on his memory.
The elephants were collected as for a march on the following day,
and during the night the troops were posted round the Rajput camp.
At sunrise Puran Mal saw that his fate was sealed. He severed his
wife's head from her body, and, bearing it in his hands, commanded
his clansmen to follow his example. The Afghan troops fell on them
while they were engaged in the ghastly task of slaughtering their
wives and daughters, and they fought gallantly, "like hogs at bay”
as a Muslim historian records, but they were cut down by the
Afghans and trampled to death by the elephants and not a man
escaped. A few women and children were taken alive; a daughter
of Puran Mal was given to some ministers to be trained as a dancing
girl, and three sons of his elder brother were castrated.
Sher Shah, after reaching Raisen, had received a message from
Khavass Khan to the effect that he and Haibat Khan who had been
left at Rohtas could not agree. That two Afghan chiefs should thus
seek arbitration, even of their king, rather than settle their differences
by the sword, speaks volumes for Sher Shah's influence over his
quarrelsome fellow-countrymen. Sher Shah recalled Khavass Khan
from the Punjab and left Haibat Khan in the government of that
province, with instructions to reduce it to order. Since the flight of
Humayun, Fath Khan Jat had been in rebellion and had preyed
upon travellers on the high roads between Delhi and Lahore, while
the Baloch had been governing the city and district of Multan solely
in their own interests. Haibat Khan dealt first with the Jat, who had
established himself in Ajudhan (Pak Pattan) but fled and retired
into a mud fort where he was besieged. In a few days' time he sur-
rendered himself and was imprisoned, but there still remained in the
fort Hindu Baloch and Bakhshu Langah, whose men cut their way
through the besiegers, leaving their leaders in Haibat Khan's hands.
Haibat Khan then marched on Multan and induced some of its
citizens and husbandmen to return. He reported his success to Sher
Shah, who rewarded him and at the same time commanded him to
repeople Multan, “to observe the customs of the Langahs”,1 and not
to measure the land, but to content himself with one-fourth of its gross
1 See vol. II, pp. 503-5.


## p. 54 (#86) ##############################################

54
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
produce. Fath Khan Jat and Hindu Baloch were put to death, but
Sher Shah ordered Haibat Khan to spare the lives of Bakhshu Langah
and his son, to restore to them their lands, and to retain one of them
always with him as a hostage. Haibat Khan returned to Lahore,
leaving in Multan Fath Jang Khan, who completely restored the
prosperity of the city and the province so that they flourished even
more than under the Langahs. These references to the prosperity of
Multan under the Langahs are instructive, both as to the character
of that dynasty, of which little is known, but which evidently identi-
fied itself with the interests of its subjects, and as to the justice of
Sher Shah and the historians of his line in admitting that a dynasty
which had been in rebellion against Afghan Sultans of Delhi had
left behind it a reputation worthy of emulation.
Before leaving Raisen Sher Shah had wisely rejected the advice
of some of his counsellors to invade the Deccan. For years past the
Rajputs had been a persistent menace to Muslim rule in northern
India. Sangram Singh of Mewar had defeated and captured
Mahmud II of Malwa though he was aided by a contingent of
10,000 horse from Gujarat, and had later borne a part in inviting
Babur to India with the object of profiting by the dissensions of the
Muslims. At Khanua he had wellnigh succeeded in subverting
Muslim rule in Hindustan, and, though the capture of Chitor by
Bahadur of Gujarat in 1534 had broken the power of Mewar, other
chiefs had taken the place of the Rana. Puran Mal, who had taken
advantage of the hostilities between Sher Shah and Humayun to
found an independent principality in Malwa, had been crushed, but
the great state of Marwar had become dangerous to Sher Shah's rule.
Its sovereign, Maldeo the Rathor, had established his influence in
Mewar, had recovered Ajmer and Nagaur, and while Babur and
Humayun were establishing their dominion over Hindustan proper
had annexed fortresses and districts which had been held by officers
of the Lodi dynasty. Sher Shah had good reason to be alarmed by
the growth of a hostile power on the borders of his dominions, and in
the autumn of 1543 marched from Agra with the greatest army which
he had ever led in the field to attack Maldeo. He adopted his usual
precaution of entrenching his camp at every halt, but on entering
the sandy desert of Rajasthan found it impossible to throw up a
parapet. His grandson, Mahmud Khan, said to have been only seven
years of age, suggested that the parapet should be constructed of
sacks filled with sand, and this precocious young soldier seems to
have been the inventor of sandbags in the East.
Sher Shah, with his army of 80,000 horse, came into contact with
Maldeo in the neighbourhood of Ajmer but hesitated to attack
though opposed by only 50,000 horse. For a month the two armies
lay opposite to one another and Sher Shah's situation had become
critical, owing to lack of supplies, before he used a device not infre-


## p. 55 (#87) ##############################################

DEATH OF SHER SHAH AND CHARACTER
55
quently employed in eastern warfare. Causing letters to be written
to himself, as from Maldeo's thakurs, or nobles, promising that they
would deliver their master into his hands, he had them enclosed in a
silken bag which was dropped, as though by accident, near Maldeo's
tent. It was picked up and carried to Maldeo, who was dismayed
by what he deemed the treachery of his thakurs. He countermanded
the general action which he had ordered, and would not trust their
protestations of fidelity. As the Muslims advanced, 12,000 Rajput
horse, led by thakurs bent on proving their loyalty, charged them,
and cut their way almost to the centre of the royal camp, but were
overwhelmed by numbers and almost annihilated. Maldeo saw too
late that he had been deceived and could no longer withstand the
invader. His army dispersed but its valour had so impressed Sher
Shah that he exclaimed that he had wellnigh lost the empire of India
for a handful of millet. He left Khavass Khan and 'Isa Khan Niyazi
to establish his authority in Marwar and marched to Chitor, the keys
of which were sent to him by the officers who held it on behalf of
Rana Uday Singh of Mewar.
His next objective was the fortress of Kalinjar. Raja Bir Singh
Bundela? had been summoned to court and, instead of obeying the
summons, had taken refuge with Raja Kirat Singh of Kalinjar, who
had refused to surrender him. Sher Shah determined to reduce Kirat
Singh to obedience and, on reaching Kalinjar, invested the fortress.
The siege lasted for nearly a year, and at length, when the parallels
had approached the walls, Sher Shah ascended a high tower in the
line of circumvallation, ordered one of his officers to bring a supply
of loaded shells, or, more probably, rockets, and amused himself in
the meantime by shooting arrows into the town. When the rockets
were brought one of them was fired against the gate of the town, but
rebounded and fell into and ignited a heap of ammunition by which
the king was standing. Sher Shah was most severely burned by the
explosion and was carried to his tent. Here he summoned his nobles
and commanded them to capture the fortress while he yet lived.
About the time of the evening prayer it was reported to him that
Kalinjar had been taken by storm and its garrison put to the sword,
and on learning this he died content on 22 May, 1545.
He has received scant justice from historians. The annalists of the
Timurids have been obliged to admit, ungraciously, his merits as a
soldier and a statesman, but to them he was ever Sher Khan, the
Afghan rebel, and their works have chiefly supplied the material for
European histories of India. He was, however, the greatest of the
Muslim rulers of India and was entirely free from, and active in the
correction of, the faults usually associated with his race. In youth
1 25° 1' N. , 80° 29' E.
2 It was more probably Bir Bhan the Baghel Raja of Rewah, a friend of
Humayun, see Memoir 21, Arch. Survey of India, p. 3 (Ed. ].


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50
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
and early manhood he had sedulously devoted himself to the acquisi-
tion of learning and the study of the art of government, and found
an opportunity of putting his knowledge into practice in the admini-
stration of the parganas which his father placed under his charge,
where, also in the suppression of rebellion and organised brigandage,
he gained practical experience of the art of war, and thenceforward,
for a short time in Babur's service, then in that of Sultan Muhammad
of Bihar, and then as independent ruler of that kingdom, he devoted
the whole of his time to affairs of state, allowing himself no leisure,
and by the time he attained to supreme authority he was ultimately
acquainted with all the details of civil administration, as no other
Indian ruler, before or since, has been.
The basis of Indian administration is the assessment and collection
of the land revenue, and Sher Shah's system was his own. To each
pargana he appointed an amin responsible for the general administra-
tion, a shiqqdar, his assistant, who supervised the assessment and col-
lection of the revenue, a treasurer, and two clerks, or secretaries, to
keep the records or accounts, one in Persian and the other in Hindi,
The cultivated land was measured every harvest, and the revenue
was assessed in cash on the value of the produce. To each sarkar,
or revenue district, were appointed a chief shiqqdar and a chief
munsif, whose duty it was to see that the revenue was collected in
full, but that the cultivators were not oppressed.
There was, however, one weak point in his system, which facilitated
peculation and illicit profits. It was his custom to transfer his revenue
officials every year or two, his reason for this measure being that all
his old and loyal servants might profit by the charge of a revenue
district. This pernicious practice encouraged officials to make all that
they could in the short time during which they held office.
The administration of the army was even more efficient. The
system of branding the horses of the contingents which assignees
were bound to supply, to prevent them from borrowing horses for
the muster-parades, had been invented by the Saljuqs in the twelfth
century but the only Indian ruler who had hitherto been able to
enforce it had been 'Ala-ud-din Khalji. Sher Shah enforced it
rigorously. The great Akbar after him attempted, but failed, and his
secretary Abu-'l-Fazl contemptuously observes that Sher Shah sought
the applause of posterity by reviving the regulation of 'Ala-ud-din,
of which he had read, but the remark is typical of Akbar's panegyrist,
whose bitterness may perhaps be explained by his master's failure.
Among the graver difficulties overcome by Sher Shah was that
offered by the character of his own people, proud, turbulent, dis-
obedient and vindictive, ever ready to prefer family and tribal to
national interests. Buhlul Lodi had been content with the position
of leader of a confederacy of tribal chiefs, primus inter pares, but Sher
1 See chap. XVI, p. 456.


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CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS AND BUILDINGS 57
Shah perceived that to expel the Timurids from India and prevent
their return the authority of a tribal chief would not suffice, and that
he must wield that of a sovereign. He constantly warned his nobles
that it was owing to the feuds and quarrels of the Afghans and to
their lack of a national spirit that Babur had been able to invade and
establish himself in India, and his admonitions, enforced by sterner
measures, were so effective that, perhaps for the only time in history,
he, an Afghan himself, established and ruled an Afghan kingdom in
which none was for a party and all were for the state.
The Afghan sovereign who surmounted so many difficulties and
raised himself from the condition of a petty assignee to that of ruler
of a great empire was also a builder and a road-maker. Of his four
great roads one ran from Sonargaon in Bengal through Agra, Delhi
and Lahore to the Indus, one from Agra to Mandu, one from Agra
to Jodhpur and Chitor, and one from Lahore to Multan. On either
side of all were planted fruit trees, and beside them were erected
1700 caravanserais, with separate lodgings for Muslims and Hindus
and servants to supply food to those of each religion. Grain and
fodder were supplied for horses and cattle, and each caravanserai
contained a well and a mosque of burnt brick, with a mu'azzin and
an imam in attendance. A police official kept the peace and prevented
crime and two post-horses were stabled in each building for the use
of riders conveying the royal mail. Of these caravanserais no trace
remains, for the Timurids were not careful to maintain memorials
of the Afghan rebel.
Besides building Rohtas, near Jhelum, Sher Shah built two forts
at Delhi, extended the city towards the Jumna, and built forts at
Kanauj and elsewhere. Crime was rigorously suppressed and the
headmen of villages were held responsible for the surrender of those
who committed crimes in their villages or of criminals who took
refuge in them. Even the historians of the Timurids admit that in
the Afghan's reign an old woman with a basket of gold could safely
sleep in the open plain at night without a guard, and the historian
Badauni, born in 1540, imitates the founder of his faith by thanking
God that he was born the subject of so just a king. It was India's
grave misfortune that this great king did not, as he himself once
exclaimed when observing his grey hairs in a mirror, ascend the
throne until the time of evening prayer. His body was borne to
Sasaram and there a splendid mausoleum, which still stands, was
raised above it. He was a pious and rigidly orthodox Muslim, but
was liberal and tolerant. The most flagrant act of his life was his
breach of faith with Puran Mal and the massacre of the Hindus after
the surrender of Raisen; but those Hindus had committed the gravest
of all offences against Islam, and Sher Shah was convinced that his
faith required the violation of a pledge which should never have
been given.


## p. 58 (#90) ##############################################

58
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
He left two sons, 'Adil Khan and Jalal Khan. The nobles, eager
to avoid strife by filling the throne with the least possible delay,
summoned Jalal Khan from Patna and enthroned him at Kalinjar
on 26 May, 1545, only four days after his father's death, under the
title of Islam Shah, a title corrupted by some historians, by the figure
known as imala, into Islim Shah and again into Salim Shah, but the
new king's correct title, as appears from his coins, was Islam Shah.
Islam Shah wrote to his elder brother in Ranthambhor promising
to surrender the crown, and urged him to hasten to Agra, but ‘Adi
Khan was suspicious and required the guarantee and the personal
escort of four great nobles. His request was granted and Islam Shah,
who at Kalinjar had put to death Kirat Singh and seventy of his
chief followers, marched to meet his brother. They met near Fathpur
Sikri and marched to Agra, where Islam Shah's behaviour, though he
feigned to offer the throne to his brother, was so suspicious that 'Adil
Khan declared that he required no more than a subordinate charge
and permission to depart in peace. Islam Shah was loth to let him
go free, but the four great nobles who had guaranteed his safety
insisted that faith should be kept, and 'Adil Khan went to Bayana,
the charge selected by him. Two months later 'Adil Khan fled from
Bayana in consequence of an attempt made by Islam Shah to arrest
and bring him to court. He took refuge with Khavass Khan, who
had always been a partisan of 'Adil Khan, and now openly declared
for him. They marched on Agra where they had hopes of support,
but delayed on the way. In the meantime Islam Shah had discovered
the plot and-marched against the rebels. Meeting them at a village
about ten miles to the west of the city he defeated them, and 'Adil
Khan fled, alone and unattended, towards Patna, where he dis-
appeared. Khavass Khan retired into Mewat, and defeated at
Firuzpur an army sent in pursuit of him by Islam Shah, but, being
well aware that he could not long resist all the power of the crown,
retired to his former assignment, Sirhind. Islam Shah sent an officer
in pursuit with 40,000 horse, but he and Khavass Khan understood
one another, and Khavass Khan was permitted to retire through
Katehr (Rohilkhand) to find a refuge on the lower slopes of the
Kumaun hills.
The extent of the conspiracy to raise 'Adil Khan to the throne
filled Islam Shah with suspicion of all his nobles. Some were stripped
of their possessions and imprisoned, others were confined in Gwalior
and drugged with a preparation of poppy-heads until they became
imbecile, and many were put to death. The place of the old nobles
slain or imprisoned was taken by the officers of the troops which
Islam Shah had commanded before ascending the throne, and many
of the private soldiers of that contingent were promoted to fill their
places.
1 27° 41' N. , 76° 56E.


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59 (#91) ##############################################

REBELLION OF THE NIYAZIS
59
These measures seriously alarmed those who remained, and revived
tribal jealousies, especially in the Niyazi tribe. Sa'id Khan fled to
his brother, Haibat Khan Niyazi, governor of Lahore, and persuaded
him to head a revolt against the tyrant. Qutb Khan, who had been
implicated in the attempt to raise 'Adil Khan to the throne, joined
them, and Islam Shah demanded his surrender. So little were the
tribal chiefs capable of a common course that Haibat Khan, actuated
probably by some private grudge, surrendered him, and he was
imprisoned in Gwalior with fourteen of the other old nobles.
The attitude of the rebels in the Punjab was now so menacing that
Islam Shah marched against them and was joined at Delhi by
Shuja'at Khan. The rebels, meanwhile, advanced to Ambala and
there the armies met.
The night before the battle Haibat Khan and Khavass Khan,
who had joined him from the Kumaun hills, held a council to decide
who should be raised to the throne in the event of their defeating
Islam Shah. Khavass Khan remained loyal to the Sur tribe and
maintained that the right of 'Adil Khan, whose whereabouts he seems
to have known, was indefeasible, but Haibat Khan, placing his per-
sonal ambition before the loyalty to the family of his old master,
declared that the crown was the prize of the sword. The next day,
when the forces met, Khavass Khan, refusing to aid the Niyazi chief
to gain a crown, withdrew his contingent and retired into Kumaun.
The Niyazis were defeated, but before they fled an unsuccessful
attempt was made to murder the king.
Islam Shah pursued the Niyazis as far as New Rohtas and then
returned towards Agra, leaving a force to continue the pursuit. This
force was defeated at Dungot i on the Indus and retired to Sirhind,
while the Niyazis took refuge with the Gakkhars and finally in
Kashmir.
Islam Shah now, having failed to persuade the Raja of Kumaun
to surrender Khavass Khan, entered into communication with
Khavass Khan himself and, after recording a solemn oath that he
had forgiven him all his offences, begged him to attend at court and
proceed against the Rana of Mewar who had plundered the royal
territories and carried off the wives and daughters of Muslims. At
the same time he sent orders to the governor of Sambhal to put
Khavass Khan to death so soon as he should come within reach.
Khavass Khan, disregarding the warning of his host, the Raja, obeyed
the summons and was met at Sirsi, only six miles from Sambha! ,
by the governor, who, although he owed advancement to him, caused
him to be assassinated in his tent at night, and sent his head, on a
spear, and his body, stuffed with straw, to Islam Shah. Thus perished
the noblest and the ablest of the adherents of the Sur dynasty
(1546).
171° 40' E. , 32° 58' N.
1


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60
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
Islam Shah still persisted in attempts to destroy men who had
served his father well and might have served him equally well, had
they been trusted. He secretly employed an Afghan to stab Shuja'at
Khan of Malwa on his way to court. The wounded noble, though
visited by the king who professed great concern, as soon as his wound
was healed, hastily left the court at Gwalior, without permission, and
retired into Malwa (1547). The king pursued him, and Shuja‘at
Khan might have defeated him, but refused to attack his sovereign
and withdrew into the rugged tract of Banswara, and Islam Shah,
having nominally dismissed him from the government of Malwa, was
obliged to turn towards the Punjab, where the Niyazis yet defied his
authority. The rebels had again established themselves in Dungot,
but a royal force defeated them and captured the mother and
daughters of Haibat Khan, who for two years were exhibited once
a week in a state of nudity in Islam Shah's hall of public audience
and at the end of that time were put to death. The remnant of the
Niyazis again took refuge with the Gakkhars whom Islam Shah
endeavoured for two years to subdue. Their chief successfully eluded
him, but he took one of their principal leaders, flayed him alive and
imprisoned his son in Gwalior.
It was not only the old nobles of Sher Shah's court who were
harassed by persecution. In an attempt made on the king's life at
this time his assailant was overpowered and slain, but the sword
with which he was armed was found to be one which Islam Shan
had himself presented to Iqbal Khan, an infantry soldier whom he
had ennobled. Iqbal Khan's complicity was not fully proved, and
his life was spared, but he was again reduced to the condition of a
private soldier.
The wretched king now learned of a plot to remove him and raise
to the throne his cousin and brother-in-law, Mubariz Khan Sur, but,
fearful of arousing the suspicion and resentment of his wife, sister of
Mubariz Khan, he refrained from disclosing his knowledge, and
contented himself with the precaution of increasing the guard over
his tents.
The Niyazis, finding that the Gakkhars could no longer afford
them a secure refuge, retreated to Kashmir and there intervened in
the dispute between Mirza Haidar, the conqueror and ruler of
Kashmir, and the Chakk tribe. The Chakk tribe was eventually
,
victorious and afterwards attacked Haibat Khan and his force of
Niyazis. The Niyazis, though they defended themselves valiantly,
Bibi Rabi'a, Haibat Khan's wife, fighting like a man, were out-
numbered and overpowered and all were slain.
Islam Shah, in camp near the Chenab, was thus relieved of the
menace of this long-standing rebellion, and he now received at his
court Kamran Mirza, fleeing before his brother Humayun. The prince
was haughtily received, was obliged to humiliate himself before his


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DEATH OF ISLAM SHAH. MESSIANIC PROPAGANDA 61
host, and became the butt of the Afghan nobles, who ridiculed him
in Hindi, which he did not understand. Thus goaded he uttered some
Persian verses reflecting on the king, and was placed in open arrest,
but succeeded in making his escape and took refuge with Sultan
Adam the Gakkhar, who surrendered him to Humayun on receiving
an assurance that his life should be spared.
After returning to Delhi Islam Shah learned that Humayun had
crossed the Indus, and, though seriously ill, tore off some leeches
which had been applied to his neck and set out for Lahore, but on
arriving there learned that his enemy had gone back to Kabul, so
he returned to Gwalior, his favourite place of residence. Here he
spent his time chiefly in sport but continued so to harass his nobles
that they conspired to assassinate him. He escaped by good fortune,
and the chief conspirators were put to death and others were im-
prisoned. He now suggested to his wife that her brother, whose
partisans increased in number, should be removed lest his pretensions
should injure the interests of their son, but she insisted that her
brother was a mere nonentity who cared for nothing but music,
pleasure and dissipation, to which he was devoting his time in order
to avert suspicion. The known partisans of Mubariz Khan meanwhile
refused to attend court together, lest they should be seized and put
to death, and the king dared not proceed against those who attended
singly lest the remainder should rise against him. His health now
failed but he concealed his malady from others and cauterized with
his own hand a growth from which he suffered, so injuring himself
that he fell mortally sick. He made a final appeal to his wife to
remove her brother, and, as she merely burst into tears, turned his
face to the wall and died on 22 November, 1554.
At this period there was much unrest among Muslims in India.
The millennium of Muhammad's flight from Mecca was approaching
and there was a belief, not universal, but widely current, that the
manifestation of the Mahdi, who was to convert the whole world to
Islam, to fill the earth with equity and justice as it had been filled
with tyranny and oppression, and to reign for seven years, was about
to take place. In 1504, in the reign of Ibrahim Lodi, one Sayyid
Muhammad of Jaunpur had given definite form to this doctrine,
and had at length claimed to be the Mahdi, but had died on his
return from the pilgrimage to Mecca. In Sher Shah's reign Shaikh
'Ala'i, son of Shaikh Hasan, one of the most highly respected religious
teachers in Bengal, made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and on his return
established himself in Bayana as his father's successor, but after a
time fell under the influence of Shaikh 'Abdullah Niyazi, an Afghan
who had been a follower of Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpur. The
two leaders confined their teaching and preaching, the distinctive
mark of which was rigid puritanism, to the poor. They kept no goods
or means of livelihood, but they and their followers always went


## p. 62 (#94) ##############################################

62
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
armed, and made it their business to enforce as well as to make the
laws. They admonished any whom they found in the city or in the
market doing an act which they judged to be unlawful or irreligious,
and, if he paid no heed to their warnings, administered chastisement,
and they permitted no interference with their actions by officials,
though they aided all magistrates who acted in accordance with their
tenets and principles. This defiance of constituted authority rendered
'Ala'i so obnoxious to the magistracy and the public that by the
advice of ‘Abdullah Niyazi he set out once more for Mecca, but, on
reaching Khavasspur, near Jodhpur, he succeeded in converting
Khavass Khan, then governor of Sher Shah's territories in Rajasthan,
to his views. His fanatical condemnation of all worldly enjoyment
soon, however, disgusted Khavass Khan, and 'Ala'i returned to
Bayana, where he was living when Islam Shah ascended the throne.
He was summoned to Agra, appeared at court with a large band of
ragged and dirty armed followers, saluted the king as an equal and
bore himself most insolently. Maulana 'Abdullah of Sultanpur,
entitled Makhdum-ul-Mulk, of whom more will be heard in Akbar's
reign, held the office of Sadr-us-Sudur, or chief jurist, and unsparingly
condemned 'Ala'i as a schismatic.
Shaikh 'Ala'i continued, however, to preach, and the learned
Shaikh Mubarak of Nagaur, who played a very prominent part in
Akbar's reign and was ever in search of something new in the way of
religion, attached himself to 'Ala'i and became a Mahdavi. Many
of the courtiers too, who had at first jeered at the uncouth preacher,
became, to the king's indignation, his disciples. Islam Shah hesitated
to follow the advice of the orthodox theologians, who decreed that
the heretic should be put to death, and banished him to the Deccan
where the Mahdavi doctrines had many adherents, but 'Ala'i travelled
no further than Handiya, the frontier-town on the Narbada, where
he converted the governor, Bihar Khan, and the greater number of
his troops. “Ala'i was then recalled.
Islam Shah, on his way to the Punjab to suppress the rebellion
of the Niyazis, halted at Bhasawar, near Bayana, and ordered the
governor of Bayana, Miyan Bahwa Lohani, to produce Shaikh 'Ab-
dullah. Bahwa, who was his disciple, was unwilling to deliver his
spiritual guide to the king. 'Abdullah, though he voluntarily appeared,
refused to salute the king, and Islam Shah angrily asked, "Is this the
master of Shaikh 'Ala'i? " Makhdum-ul-Mulk replied, "The very
man", whereupon Shaikh 'Abdullah was so severely beaten that he
fell as if dead, but he recovered from his punishment and after
wandering for some time settled at Sirhind, where he renounced
the Mahdavi creed, preached against the doctrines of the sect, and
became an orthodox teacher. He received a grant of land from Akbar,
and died in 1592 in the ninetieth year of his age.
Shaikh 'Ala'i was sent to Shaikh Budh, a learned and orthodox


## p. 63 (#95) ##############################################

CHARACTER OF ISLAM SHAH
63
physician in Bihar, who was commanded to examine him and to
issue a fatwa, or authoritative decree, regarding his doctrines and
the punishment due to one who held them, but although 'Ala'i
behaved arrogantly and insolently Shaikh Budh shrank from the
responsibility of condemning him. His sons, however, wrote a letter
in his name, recommending that the decision of Makhdum-ul-Mulk,
Sadr-us-Sudur, the most discriminating of the jurists of the day, should
be enforced, and sent it, with 'Ala'i, to the royal camp in the Punjab.
Here 'Ala'i refused to recant, and was made over to Makhdum-ul-
Mulk, who sentenced him to a flogging. His weakness, owing to bad
health and the fatigue of his journey, was so great that at the third
stripe he succumbed and died (1548). His body was trampled on
by an elephant, and was left unburied. After his death the Mahdavi
movement in northern India died down, but it flourished longer in
the Deccan.
Islam Shah had no share of the great qualities of his father, who
stood alone among the Afghans, while the son had all the faults
attributed to them. He was suspicious, cruel, vindictive and narrow-
minded, unable to "think imperially" and dominated by clan or
family feeling. His treatment of his nobles recalls the folly of another
Afghan ruler, Ibrahim Lodi, but his cruelty exceeded Ibrahim's.
During his father's life he had been closely associated with the greatest
of his nobles, Khavass Khan, whose services, eclipsing those of the
prince, aroused his jealousy, and whose experience of the prince's
character decided him to adopt the cause of his elder brother, 'Adil
Khan. Even after 'Adil Khan's disappearance Islam Shah's suspicions
of his nobles remained alive, and it was his treatment of them that
caused the Niyazis to rebel, and alienated them from his house. He
was unable, in spite of his cruelty, to control the tribal chieftains, and
the clan feuds which Sher Shah had suppressed broke out afresh and
made it clear that empire was not for the Afghans.
Islam Shah's jealousy of his father's reputation betrayed the mean-
ness of his character. Between each two of the caravanserais which
his father had built on the main roads he built another caravanserai,
wholly unnecessary, and instead of distributing alms in the imperiai
camp, as his father had done, he followed the wasteful course of
permitting them to be distributed, under inefficient supervision, at
all the caravanserais. He remodelled the army, dividing the cavalry
into troops and squadrons of 50, 200, 250 and 500. Two other
measures angered the old nobles and aroused in them that hostility
which drew upon them his suspicion. The first was the special favour
shown to his personal troops, a force of 6000 cavalry which had been
under his command during his father's life. After his accession the
private soldiers of this force were promoted to the rank of officers,
and the officers to that of amir or noble. The second was the arbitrary
substitution of cash payments for assignments and of assignments for


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64
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
cash payments among officers holding high command in the army.
None of these measures, either civil or military, was necessary; some
led to wasteful expenditure of public funds, others aroused discontent,
and all were introduced merely with the object of advancing their
author's reputation as an administrator and legislator.
On the death of Islam Shah the nobles enthroned in Gwalior,
on 22 November, 1554, his son Firuz, then aged only twelve years.
The minister and regent was Taj Khan Kararani, the murderer of
Khavass Khan, and the power which he wielded excited the envy
of the other nobles, who, by arousing the suspicions of the young
king's mother against him, induced her to remove him and appoint
him to the government of Malwa.
About a month after his departure Mubariz Khan, who had
assured himself of the support of many of the disaffected nobles,
arrived at Gwalior at the head of a large force. He was the son of
Nizam Khan, the younger brother of Sher Shah, and brother of the
young king's mother, who, as already described, had twice saved his
life when her husband wished to remove him as a danger to their
son. On the pretext of offering his congratulations to the young king
he forced his way, all travel-stained as he was, into his presence, and
the boy's mother, divining his intentions, besought him, as she had
saved his life, to spare that of her son, but the monster seized his
nephew, severed his head from his body, and seven days later ascended
the throne under the title of 'Adil Shah or Muhammad 'Adil.
He appointed as his minister Shamsher Khan, a younger brother
of the murdered Khavass Khan, and as his vakil, or deputy minister,
Daulat Khan, a Hindu converted to Islam, but confided in and
chiefly depended upon Himu, a Hindu of the Dhunsar caste. This
man had originally sold salt in the streets of Rewari, and, having
been appointed weighman in the market, had come under the notice
of Islam Shah, who had received him at his court and employed him
in a confidential capacity. At the court of 'Adil Shah he gradually
acquired great influence, and, though a Hindu of a non-fighting
race, proved, like the barber of Tilak, who commanded the Indian
cavalry of Mas'ud of Ghazni, that he possessed both military and
administrative ability.
'Adil Shah, in order to conciliate those of the nobles and the army
who were likely to resent his barbarous murder of his nephew,
distributed treasure freely, and conferred titles on those who desired
them. Having thus, to some extent, allayed disaffection, he marched
to Chunar and took possession of such of the treasure of Sher Shah
as yet remained there. Salim Khan, one of the Sur clan, rose in
rebellion to avenge the murder of Firuz Shah, but his rebellion was
crushed and he fled into the hills.
‘Adil Shah made Chunar his residential capital. During Islam
Shah's reign he had simulated imbecility, probably without much


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INFLUENCE OF HIMU
65
effort, for he was certainly of defective intellect. He devoted his time
almost entirely to frivolous and sensual pleasure and was contemp-
tuously known as 'Adli, which is a contemptuous diminutive of his
title. For the conduct of the public business of his kingdom he relied
almost entirely upon Himu, thus alienating most of the Afghan
nobles, many of whom withdrew from court to their districts where
each behaved as an independent prince. Junaid Khan, governor
of Bayana, and his son, governor of Ajmer, rebelled, and defeated
and plundered Jamal Khan, governor of Gwalior, who was sent
against them. Their success alarmed 'Adil Shah, but Himu offered
to crush the rebels. The king was at first ill-disposed to trust the
command of troops to a Hindu but finally allowed him to take the
field with three or four thousand horse. Junaid Khan, not unnaturally,
despised such an enemy, and sent against him one of his officers
whom Himu defeated. This was the Dhunsar's first military success.
Junaid Khan now took the field with his whole force, which far
outnumbered Himu's, but Himu chose the perilous venture of a night
attack. He fell on Junaid Khan's camp from two sides in the third
watch of the night, throwing his troops into confusion so that many
of them were slaughtering one another; the flying rebels were pursued
and slain in great numbers, and Junaid Khan was fortunate to escape
with his life. The plunder was great, and this victory, and Himu's
modesty when he returned to his master at Gwalior, established his
reputation.
Taj Khan Kararani had returned to court after the death of Firuz
and was the leading Afghan noble there. Among the few remaining
at court was Ibrahim Khan Sur, a second cousin of the king, and
also a brother-in-law. One day, on a ceremonial occasion, Ibrahim
entered the hall of audience and all present rose to salute him,
except Taj Khan, who remained seated. A few days later an attempt
was made on Taj Khan's life, and Taj Khan, convinced that the
king and Ibrahim had instigated the attempt, assembled his followers,
and as soon as he had recovered from his wound left Gwalior. Cutting
his way through a force sent to intercept him, he succeeded in
reaching Jaunpur, where the governor failed to persuade him to
return to court. A force sent in pursuit defeated him but failed to
arrest his flight.
'Adil Shah now grew suspicious of all his Afghan nobles, and
aroused their fears by putting to death his two principal supporters.
From Himu's subsequent career it seems probable that it was he who
sowed dissension between the king and his leading nobles, but, how-
ever this may be, Ibrahim Khan Sur was selected as the next victim.
He, however, learned the design from his wife, the king's sister, and
fled with his troops from Gwalior, defeating on the way a large force
sent in pursuit. At Delhi he was joined by the governor of Sirhind
and other Afghan nobles, assumed the royal title, and caused the
5


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66
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
khutba to be recited in his own name. 'Adil Shah, now at Chunar,
was much perturbed by this news, and, returning hastily to Gwalior
released two nobles whom he had imprisoned and sent them against
Ibrahim Shah. On reaching Delhi, however, they joined Ibrahim.
'Adil Shah's attention was now diverted from his rival by the
rebellion at Ujjain of a Hindu chieftain who marched on Gwalior. The
king again hastened from Chunar to Gwalior and despatched troops
against the rebel. The Hindu, after an initial success, was slain and
his army fled. The Afghans inflicted on them great slaughter and
.
'Adil Shah pursued the remnant of the Hindu force to Ujjain, where
he captured its late commander's wives and children and took much
plunder. After this success he lingered in Malwa, and Ibrahim Shah
of Delhi took full advantage of his absence from Hindustan by
annexing many districts of the Punjab. After tarrying too long 'Adil
Shah returned to Gwalior and determined to take the field in person
against his brother-in-law; but before marching on Delhi he decided
to blind or put to death Ahmad Khan, another cousin, who was
married to the king's younger sister. She, like her sister, warned her
husband of his danger, and Ahmad, who commanded 4000 horse,
left Gwalior one day when the king was drunk and rode with his
troops to Delhi. There he had an interview with Ibrahim Shah of
whom he demanded, as the price of his adherence, the government
of the Punjab. Ibrahim hesitated to confer on a possible rival such
an appointment. Ahmad broke off negotiations, withdrew, assembled
his troops and prepared to attack Ibrahim. On 18 March, 1555,
the armies of the two princes met at Farah, eighteen miles north-
west of Agra, and though Ahmad's troops were outnumbered in the
proportion of nearly four to one, he defeated his cousin, who fled to
Sambhal, while most of his troops transferred their services to the
victor. Ahmad then occupied Delhi, where he was enthroned under
the title of Sikandar Shah, and caused the khutba to be recited and
struck coins in his own name. His power increased rapidly, and
Ibrahim, unable to face him in the field, withdrew eastwards. 'Adil
Shah attempted to recover the territory which Sikandar had gained
from Ibrahim but failed, and three kings now reigned in northern
India. The authority of 'Adil Shah extended over Agra and Malwa
and as far east as Jaunpur; that of Sikandar Shah from Delhi to
Rohtas in the Punjab; and that of Ibrahim Shah from the foot of
the Himalayas to Gujrat in the Punjab.
Humayun had been preparing, since the death of Islam Shah, to
invade India and recover his throne, and now, hearing of the con-
fusion which prevailed in the land, where three kings claimed
supremacy, and of the dissensions between the Afghan princes and
nobles, resolved to carry his project into effect. One day, while taking
the air, he took an omen from the names of the first three men whom
he met. The first was Daulat ("Empire"), the second Murad


## p. 67 (#99) ##############################################

HUMAYUN INVADES INDIA
67
(“Desired"), and the third Sa'adat ("Good Fortune"). A second
omen, taken from the poems of Hafiz, fell on the ode containing
the couplet :
دولت از مرغ همایون طلب و سایه او
زانکه با زاغ و زغن شہپر دولت نبود
Seek fortune from the auspicious phoenix, and the shadow cast by him,
For the pinion of fortune is possessed neither by crow nor by kite.
The word rendered "auspicious” was Humayun's own name, and
it is not surprising that the omen confirmed his decision. Leaving
Kabul he reached Peshawar on 25 December, 1554, and, after crossing
the Indus, was joined nine days later by Bairam Khan and many
other officers from Qandahar. Sultan Adam, the Gakkhar, who had
promised him support, failed to join him, but explained his absence
by a treaty with Sikandar Shah, who had compelled him to enter
into it and to surrender his son as a hostage.
Humayun marched to Lahore and the Afghan in that city fled
on his approach. Tatar Khan Kashi, who had held Rohtas for Sikan-
dar, had already abandoned it, and Humayun was able to despatch
from Lahore a force which occupied the districts of Jullundur,
Sirhind and Hissar without striking a blow, while another force
defeated at Dipalpur, in March, 1555, an Afghan army and captured
its camp and baggage and the wives and families of the officers.
The news of this defeat aroused Sikandar Shah, who was in Delhi,
to action, and he assembled an army of 30,000 horse and despatched
it towards Sirhind, which city Humayun's advance guard had reached.
Humayun's officers, assembled at Jullundur, decided, despite their
numerical inferiority to the Afghan army, to give battle and crossed
the Sutlej. The Afghans pressed forward to oppose their passage
of the river but did not reach the neighbourhood of the bank until
the invaders had already crossed it. The armies met at sunset,
and as the darkness fell the village before which the Afghan army
was drawn up caught fire, so that the Mughul archers clearly saw
their enemy by the blaze of the thatched roofs, and rained showers
of arrows on them until they broke and fled, leaving their camp and
baggage in the hands of the victors. Bairam Khan, who commanded
the Mughul forces, then advanced to Sirhind and occupied and forti-
fied the town, and the news of his victory was received with much
joy in Humayun's court at Lahore.
Sikandar Shah, on learning of the defeat of his troops, himself took
the field, marched with 80,000 horse, and elephants and artillery,
from Delhi to Sirhind. He entrenched himself before the city, and
the Mughul officers strengthened its fortifications and sent a message
to Humayun begging him to join his army without delay. He was
indisposed, but sent his young son, Akbar, to represent him and left
Lahore as soon as his health permitted, arriving at Sirhind on 27 May,


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68
SHER SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY
1555. Here he spent nearly a month in perfecting its defences, while
occasional combats took place between his troops and those of
Sikandar Shah. On 22 June Khvaja Mu'azzam, Atga Khan and some
other officers attacked the Afghans with a considerable force, and
though Humayun, as usual, was not prepared for a general action,
other troops were drawn in, to support those already engaged, until
the action became general. Sikandar Shah had received reinforce-
ments, but his army, now numbering nearly 100,000 horse, was
defeated after a well-contested fight and fled, losing heavily in the
retreat. Sikandar took refuge in the skirts of the Himalayas, and the
leaders of the victorious army were received on their return with
much honour, until the generals disturbed their master's ease by
disputing one another's title to the credit of the victory. Humayun
summarily settled their dispute by naming his son Akbar, in the
despatch announcing the victory, as the commander of his army.
It was now discovered that Khvaja Mu'azzam had been in treason-
able correspondence with Sikandar Shah, and he was imprisoned,
but it seems difficult to believe that he can have had any object in
aiding Sikandar's cause, and it is not improbable that his corre-
spondence was designed to involve his dilatory master in a general
action, and that his message to Sikandar had the same object as that
of Themistocles to the Persians before Salamis.
After the battle Humayun marched to Samana, whence he sent
officers into the Punjab to check any attempt of Sikandar to emerge
from the hills, and to establish order in that province; and another
to occupy Delhi. He himself, finding the climate of Samana pleasant,
seemed to be inclined to loiter there indefinitely, until a message from
Delhi, which had been occupied without opposition, urged him to
take possession of his capital. He left Samana, halted on 20 July at
Salimgarh on the Jumna, and on 23 July once more entered Delhi.
Here he settled down to rest after his labours, appointing officers to
various commands. In consequence of the misbehaviour of the
governor of the Punjab Humayun sent the young prince Akbar in
his place as titular governor of the Punjab, the duties of the office
falling upon his tutor, Bairam Khan. Misgovernment in the Punjab
had been Sikandar Shah's opportunity. His forces increased, he
emerged from his retreat, and he was menacing the Punjab, necessi-
tating the movement of the imperial troops under Bairam Khan and
Akbar against him.
At the same time a rebellion in the eastern provinces broke out.
One Qambar Beg rose in rebellion, and so many adventurers from
the Sambhal district and the Gangetic Duab joined him that the
movement had the appearance of becoming serious. 'Ali Quli Khan
Shaibani was deputed to suppress the rebellion, and besieged Qambar
in Budaun. The siege did not last long; the city was taken and
Qambar was put to death, his head being sent to Delhi.


## p. 69 (#101) #############################################

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DEATH OF HUMAYUN
69
This was the last of Humayun's earthly troubles, for on 24 January,
1556, he “stumbled out of life as he had stumbled through it”. He
was sitting on the roof of the palace library at Delhi at the time
of evening prayer, conversing with astrologers and others, and rose
to descend the steep stairs in order to attend the service of prayer.
On hearing the mu'azzin's cry, he knelt in reverence, but his staff
slipped and he tripped on the skirt of his robe, falling down the stairs
and fracturing the base of his skull. He was carried within the
palace and, on recovering consciousness, learned from the court
physicians that his condition was serious and despatched a message
to his son Akbar, now with Bairam Khan at Kalanaur, informing
him that he was likely to die and finally designating him as his heir.
On 26 January he breathed his last, and the true report of his death
was sent to Akbar and Bairam Khan. Owing to the condition of the
country it was concealed from the general public, a man being dressed
up to represent him on the occasions on which he had been in the
habit of appearing in public, and the Turkish admiral Sidi 'Ali Ra'is,
who was leaving the court for Lahore, being instructed to bear the
news that the emperor yet lived. The news of his death reached
Akbar on or before 14 February, and on 14 February 3 Humayun's
death was made known and Akbar was proclaimed in Delhi.
According to the official account Humayun's fatal fall was attributed
to an act of reverence, but it has also been attributed, by less courtly
chroniclers, to the effects of drugs or drink, to both of which he was
addicted.
The empire which Humayun bequeathed to his young son con-
sisted, in fact, of little more than the ground occupied by Bairam
Khan's small army. Delhi and Agra had indeed been occupied but
events were soon to show how precarious was the tenure of these
provinces. Certain districts in the Punjab and in the trans-Gangetic
province of Katehr were held, but the army's loyalty was not wholly
above suspicion, and three members of the Sur clan still claimed the
sovereignty of the whole of north-western India. One had been
defeated, but not crushed, another was ready to take his place should
he be defeated by Akbar's troops, and the third, with his capital at
Chunar, had not yet been attacked. The economic condition of the
land was even worse than the political. Its most fertile and populous
provinces were devastated by a famine caused by failure of the rains
combined with two years' destructive internecine warfare. "The
capital was devastated and nothing remained but a few houses. An
epidemic plague ensued and spread through most of the cities of
Hindustan. Multitudes died, and men were driven to feed on human
flesh, parties being formed to seize and eat solitary victims. "
132° 0' N. , 75° 10' E.
2 C. E. A.