CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE AFFGHANS AND MOGULS BEFORE we proceed to sketch, briefly, the history of the princes of the Affghan line, an opportunity is supplied of giving an account of the political divisions of Hindostan at that particular period. The materials have been principally furnished by Ferishta. The peninsula was at this time-the middle of the fifteenth century-split up into several separate principalities, possessing or claiming independence. The Deccan, Gujerat, Malwa, Juanpore, and Bengal, had each its independent king. The Punjaub, Depalpore, and Sirhind, as far south as Paniput, formed the territory of Behlol Khan Lodi. Mehrowly, and the country within a few miles of the city of Delhi, as far as the Seray Lado, was in the hands of Ahmood Khan Mewatty. Sumbhul, even to the suburbs of Delhi, was occupied by Duria Khan Lodi; Kolejalesur, in the Doab, by Eesa Khan Toork; and Raberry and its dependencies by Kootub Khan Affghan; Kampila and Pattialy by Rajah Purtab Sing; and Byana, by Dawood Khan Lodi; Candeish, Scinde, and Mooltan, had each its distinct Mohammedan king: so that the city of Delhi had but a very small tract of country attached to it; in one place it only extended twelve miles from the walls, and in another scarcely a mile, when Behlol took possession and assumed the title of king. The new king, Behlol Lodi, was of Affghan descent. The Affghans claim to be of Jewish origin, and were from a very remote period a commercial community, and carried on the trade between India and Persia. In the reign of Feroze Toghluk, the grandfather of the king possessed wealth and power, and rose to the government of Mooltan. His uncle, in the army of Khiza Khan, commanded the Affghan contingent, distinguished himself in that war, and as a reward of his bravery and fidelity, was appointed governor of Sirhind, with the title of Islam Khan. His brothers participated in his good fortune; and one of them, the father of Behlol, had a district bestowed upon him. On the father's death, he entered the military service under his uncle, Islam Khan, and subsequently married his daughter; and though he had full grown children of his own, Islam Khan made Behlol his heir, and he was also nominated his successor in command of the troops, a body of twelve thousand Affghans. The daily augmenting influence of the Affghans in Sirhind had, ere this, excited the jealousy of the ruling power at Delhi, and | Syud Mohammed had sent an army against them; while at the same time Jusrut Gukkur was also instigated to attack them. During the vicissitudes of this war, Behlol was forced to retreat to the hills with the women and children, but his cousin fell into the enemy's hands; his head was cut of and carried to Jusrut, and by him placed before the young man's father, who had been treacherously placed in the hands of his enemies. The father denied that it was the head of his son, but hearing of the gallant manner in which he provoked his fate, the brave old warrior burst into tears, and exclaimed, "Yes, it is my son; but I would not recognize his countenance till convinced he had done honour to his tribe." He observed at the same time, "My nephew Behlol could not have been in the battle or he would have been slain also. He lives, and will avenge the death of my boy." The result justified the prediction; the old man escaped, joined the nephew. Sirhind was quickly retaken, and the entire province of the Punjaub occupied; the vizier, at the head of a large army, was defeated, as has been related. Hamid, the vizier by whose intrigue the government had been secured to him, still possessed great influence. He was, in the beginning of the reign, treated with the greatest respect; but the king either apprehensive of some such treachery as had been practised towards his predecessor, or thinking that he was overshadowed by the great power of his benefactor, by an artful stratagem seized on his person, and coerced him to retire into private life, after he had effectually crushed his influence. By the accession of Behlol, an important addition was made to the territories and strength of Delhi. All the petty chiefs around that city, who had been tempted to throw off the yoke, were soon reduced to obedience; and Behlol's supremacy was established over all, but the principality of Juanpore, with which a vigorous war was waged during the successive reigns of three sovereigns, extending, with short intervals of hollow peace, over a lengthened period of twenty-six years This state, too, he eventually conquered. This war he survived ten years. an advanced age, in 1488, after a reign of thirty-nine years. He died at Though he gets credit for being virtuous, mild, and just, and for having successfully prosecuted his enterprises, the breaking up of his kingdom into six divisions amongst his rela- | be his who will best promote the good of his tives, if creditable to a parent's care, was not subjects." The profession of arms under his a wise act for a sovereign. He had greatly government assumed a new character. He increased the kingdom, having left at his made a point of ascertaining the qualities of death a territory extending from the Jumna every officer who was promoted, and partito the chain of the Himalayas, as far cast as cularly inquired into his origin and educaBenares, besides a district to the west of that tion. The result was that the officers were river extending to Bundelcund. all well educated men. He established horseposts through the country, and received ac To his son, Nizam Khan, better known as Sikunder, he bequeathed the crown, notwith-counts regularly from every military detachstanding the remonstrances of his nobles, who maintained that the right of succession undoubtedly rested in his grandson, whose father had been assassinated by one of his servants. It does not appear that the kings of Delhi had a testamentary power; their privilege apparently extended no further than a recommendation, as we find on every vacancy created by the peaceful demise of the Sovereign, that the right of election was exercised by the nobles. On this occasion the crown was claimed for three different aspirants the father's nominee; the grandson, a minor; and the eldest surviving son. The decision was in favour of Sikunder, but his election was disputed by two of his brothers. These he defeated, reduced to submission, received into favour, and reinstated in their governments. The Rajah of Gwalior, and the governor of Byana, acknowledged fealty; and the latter was removed from that district and appointed to Jalesur, Chundwara, Marhera, and Sukeet. Agra was taken by him. An insurrection was fomented among the zemindars of Juanpore, which soon spread to an alarming extent. An army, one hundred thousand strong, took the field, and though they at first put to flight the adherents of the king, they were at length reduced to obedience. Bahar, as far as the confines of Bengal, was reannexed to Delhi. The rajahs of Dholpore and Gwalior submitted; he obtained possession of Chundery, but was baffled through the intrigues of one of his disappointed nobles, in laying hold of Rhuntunbhore. He was renewing his preparations for another attempt on Gwalior, when he was taken ill and died of quinsy, 1517. Sikunder exhibited during his reign several attributes of a good king. His military prowess was acknowledged, and the internal and civil affairs were not neglected. All the articles of life were abundant and consequently cheap, and peace pervaded the interior. He frequently spent the entire day at business, and was strictly just in his administration. When on his march to give battle to one of his rivals, he was met by a calendar, who saluted him with, "God send you victory." Pray," said the king, "that the victory may 66 ment. Reports of the armies, of the courts, and of the principal cities were received daily. The great flaw in his character-that which among his co-religionists was his highest virtue-was his sectarian devotion to his creed. He made a point of destroying all Hindoo temples. He had musjids and bazaars built opposite the bathing stairs in the city of Muttra, leading to the river, and ordered that no Hindoo should be suffered to perform his ablutions there. He forbade the barbers to shave the beards and heads of the inhabitants, to prevent them from the discharge of their religious duties. Before his ascent to the throne, in a disputation with a holy man, who maintained the impropriety for a king to interfere with the religion of his subjects, or to prevent them from bathing at places to which they had been accustomed to resort for ages, he drew his sword, and exclaimed, "Wretch! do you maintain the propriety of the Hindoo religion?" The holy man replied, “By no means, I speak from authority; kings should not persecute their subjects on any account." A story is also told of a Brahmin who, being upbraided by some Mohammedans on account of his faith, maintained "that the religions, both of the Moslems and Hindoos, if acted upon conscientiously, were equally acceptable to God." This opinion being maintained with some ingenuity and much argument, says Ferishta, the subject came to be discussed publicly, and the Brahmin was ordered to defend his thesis against twelve of the most learned men in the empire. Whatever may have been the success of the learned doctors against their solitary adversary, the issue of the disputation does not speak well for their liberality. Their intemperate decision argues their defeat. They decided, unless he renounced his errors and embraced Islam, he ought to suffer death. The Hindoo, refusing to apostatize, was accordingly executed, and the doctors were munificently rewarded. Sikunder was a poet, and a patron of learned men. His reign lasted twenty-eight years. Sikunder dying at Agra, his son Ibrahim ascended the throne. This prince had estranged his kindred by a maxim which, though offensive to them, is by no means unworthy of a man destined to rule a mixed people, that is, provided that all were to be treated with kindness and justice-" that king's should have no relations nor clansmen, and that all should be looked upon as subjects and servants of the state." It would appear by the sequel that such was not Ibrahim's interpretation, for instead of elevating the others to the status of the Affghans, he degraded theirs to that of the masses. The Affghans had the privilege of sitting in the royal presence, but were constrained by him to stand in front of the throne, with their hands servilely crossed behind them. The disaffection of the Lodi chiefs began early in his reign to manifest itself. They came to an agreement to leave him in possession of Delhi and a few dependant provinces, and to elevate his brother, Julal Khan, then governor of Calpee, to the throne of Juanpore. He soon secured in his interest all the nobles of the eastern provinces. His partizans, reflecting on the injury the division of the kingdom might inflict upon themselves, repented of what they had already done; but it was now too late. Ibrahim issued a proclamation, denouncing as traitors all who should adhere to the pretender, and at the same time sent presents and envoys to all the principal officers. These precautions had the effect of detaching the nobles, and of bringing them over to his side. Julal Khan prepared to maintain his claims. He sought with success a powerful alliance, assembled an army, attacked the forces of Oude, and compelled them to retreat on Lucknow. Ibrahim, on being informed of these proceedings, arrested and imprisoned his other brothers, and then led his forces towards Oude. Julal being deserted by his ally, who moreover passed over to the king, marched on Agra, and might have taken possession of that city or plundered the treasury there. He was prevented from doing either by an assurance which was given, that Ibrahim would ensure to him the independent possession of Calpee. But the king having taken Calpee, repudiated that arrangement; and Julal Khan having been forsaken by his soldiers, was obliged to fly to Gwalior to seek the protection of the rajah. The king, capriciously, after this turn of fortune, had his vizier put in chains, and at the same time he loaded his son with honours. An army having set out for the siege of Gwalior, Julal Khan sought refuge in Malwa; not being well received, he fled to Gurrakota, but being intercepted on the road, he was sent prisoner to the king. Julal was sent to the prison at Hansi, where his other brothers were confined; but private orders were given for his assassination on the journey. Gwalior, which for a hundred years pre VOL. I. viously was in the power of the Hindoos, fell into his possession. The cruelty of Ibrahim, whose hands were imbrued, not only in the blood of his brother, but in that of many of his chiefs, had provoked another rebellion. The army of the insurgents amounted to forty thousand cavalry, five hundred elephants, and a large force of infantry, with which they proceeded to oppose the royal forces under Ahmood Khan. They were defeated, leaving one of their chiefs on the field of battle, and the others, together with all their treasures and baggage, in the hands of the royalists. A series of butcheries succeeded this victory, and Ibrahim manifested the bitterest hatred and resentment against the nobles who had figured in the court of Sikunder. These proceedings provoked another rebellion, in which the governor of Bahar was assisted by several men of extensive influence. The governor having died, his son, Bahador Khan, assumed the title of king, as Mohammed Shah. Such was the odium in which the tyrant was held, that this chief was joined by a number of disaffected chiefs, and found himself at the head of an army of a hundred thousand men, with which he took possession of all the country, as far as Sumbhul, and defeated the royal troops in many successive engagements. Ghazee Khan Lodi, in obedience to a summons which he had received from the court, was hastening from Lahore with an army to its assistance; but having been informed, on his way, of the treacherous and bloodthirsty proceedings of the king, he became alarmed for his own safety, and returned to his father, Dowlat Khan Lodi, who, seeing no safety for himself or his family, threw himself on the protection of Baber, the Mogul prince then ruling in Cabul, and encouraged him to undertake the conquest of India. Before the invasion was matured, an attempt was made by Alla-oodDeen, who had contrived to escape from his brother Ibrahim, and fled to Cabul; Dowlat Khan encouraged his pretensions, but his object was to clear the way for the future prosecution of his own ambitious designs. Alla-ood-Deen was soon joined by many chiefs of distinction, and was, in a very short time, at the head of an army of forty thousand, with which he directed his course to Delhi. He was met by the royal army, which, after a hard fought battle, defeated him and forced him to retreat to the Punjaub. After this, no events of importance transpired till the year 1526, when Baber arrived in India, and at the battle of Paniput defeated the Delhians; and Ibrahim lost both his crown and his life, and left the empires of Delhi and Agra a prey to the victorious de 4 L scendant of Tamerlane. The reign of Ibrahim Lodi lasted twenty years. Few of the many conquerors of India deserve more special notice than Baber. He not only subdued a great portion of it, but he also imposed a dynasty, and is therefore more identified with its history than was either of his ancestors, Jenghis Khan or Tamerlane. Baber was the sixth in descent from the last-named conqueror, and a worthy inheritor of no inconsiderable share of his acquisitions. His military and political operations were as solid and enduring as they were brilliant. The extensive dominions of his grandfather, Abasaid, were shared by the numerous sons of that monarch. One of them, Ahmood Mirza, obtained Samarcand and Bokhara; Balk, or Bactria, came to another; Cabul to a third, whose name was Ulugh Beg. Omar Shekh* Mirza, the fourth son, and father of Baber, at first had charge of Cabul, but was transferred during his lifetime to Ferganah, on the upper course of the Jaxartes, a small but rich and beautiful country, which Baber always mentions with affection. He was born at Indijah in February, 1483, the same year which gave birth to the father of the Reformation, Luther, and the year of his accession was that in which Charles VIII. invaded Italy. His father having been killed by an accidental fall from the roof of a pigeon-house, Baber was advanced to the throne by his nobles, and assumed the title of Zeheer-ood-Deen (protector of religion), in 1494. He was then only twelve years old. His father had been involved in a war with both his brother and brother-in-law; the extreme youth of the young king gave them hope of ample satisfaction, and they calculated that with little difficulty they would be able to appropriate his kingdoms. To save him from this imminent danger, his relations proposed to convey him into the mountains; but this intention was overruled, and Baber began to make preparation for the threatened siege. An incident which occurred at this time will give an insight into the character of the future man. One of the courtiers was detected in corresponding with the enemy, and, being sum moned before the king, he slew him with his own hand. The confederates entirely failed in their attack on his capital; a raging pestilence having suddenly broke out among their cavalry, their horses died off in hundreds daily, and a peace was concluded. The khans of Kashgar and Khostan, after this led their armies against him, but they also, eventually, made peace. The governor of * Shekh or sheikh, an Arabic word, meaning an old man and prince. Asheera rebelled: Baber besieged the town, and the rebel was compelled to come forth, with a sword suspended about his neck, and a shroud hung over his shoulders. Thence he proceeded to Sharokia, where he met his maternal uncle, and a reconciliation was effected. The King of Samarcand having occupied Aratiba, one of the provinces be longing to his father in his lifetime, he resolved to retake it, and accordingly marched with an army against it. The war was protracted through three years, when the King of Samarcand, having been abandoned by his ally, the ruler of Turkistan, proceeded with a small retinue of three hundred horse to solicit the assistance of Khosrow Shah, ruler of Khondoos. Baber availed himself of his absence, and hastened to Samarcand, where he was received into the city, and ascended the throne with the approbation of the majority of the nobles, in 1497, and in the fifteenth year of his age. Some of the chiefs, being disappointed in not having the town given up to plunder, went off in a body, and having placed at their head his young brother, Jehanghire Mirza, they demanded for him the province of Indijan. When this demand was presented to Baber he could not restrain his indignation, and threw out imputations which affected his adherents as well as those who had deserted him. This imprudence so offended the remaining officers, that in a body they went over to his enemies. To aggravate his perils, he was seized with a dangerous illness, by which he was reduced to the last extremity. His life, indeed, was preserved, with the greatest difficulty, by conveying sustenance through moistened cotton applied to his lips. On his recovery he found his affairs in the greatest confusion. The officers and soldiers, despairing of his life, began each to shift for himself; and Ali Dost Taghai, having heard that he was dead, surrendered Indijan to the rebels. He then applied to his uncle, Mahmood, for aid; and though he marched to his assistance, having no military capacity, he listened to the artful proposals of the cabal, and was persuaded to retreat. This misfortune was followed by the desertion of all his forces, with the exception of three hundred, who faithfully adhered to him, and shared his exile and fallen fortunes. He took up his quarters in Khojend, a town so small as to support with difficulty two hundred men. Burning with the desire of conquest and dominion, his ambitious spirit spurned the insignificance of his position, and aspired to a wider and a nobler field of action. In the winter of 1498 he led forth his few followers, and, as he himself relates, won all the strongholds of Yar Ailak by treaty, storm, or stra withdrew to Bokhara. Shadmar, and Sog- The tagem. The first gleam of good fortune was the return of Ali Dost Taghai to his allegiance. The Sultan Mahmood next sent an army to his assistance; and the chiefs of the rebellion had acted so tyrannically, that the towns began to rise up against them, and their troops to desert them; and in 1499 his paternal kingdom was entirely restored to him. An act of indiscretion made him a second time a refugee. A party of the rebels, who had capitulated on condition of taking away all their property, were with his sanction plundered by his partizans. This order was issued with too much precipitation; and as Baber himself observes, "in war and affairs of state no matter ought to be finally determined till it has been viewed in a hundred different lights." The Moguls in his service were so alarmed, that they forsook him, and marched away, in number about four thousand, and offered their services to a neigh-vations of the most afflicting character. He bouring sultan, who by this reinforcement was enabled to defeat the forces of their former master. After a series of operations a convention was made between Baber and his brother Jehanghire, by which the latter should have the territory on the north of the Sirr, while Indijan and Urkund were to belong to the former; and in the event of Baber obtaining possession of Samarcand, the whole should be resigned to Jehanghire. On his part he bound himself to unite his forces with his brother's for the invasion of that country. By repeated invitations Baber was induced to renew his designs against Samarcand, and set out for that capital; but before he reached it, he was informed that both it and Bokhara were seized on by the Uzbecks, who were at that time laying the foundation of that dominion, which has continued to the present in Transoxiana. In his absence Tambol had a second time taken possession of Ferghana, and Baber with his followers fled to the mountains to the south of that country. While in this retreat he learned that Sheibani Khan, the chief of the Uzbecks, had left Samarcand on some expedition, leaving a garrison of five or six thousand men. He resolved to surprise it in his absence, and with that object proceeded with the small force of two hundred and forty men. They rode all night, and when all the enemy were at rest they escaladed the walls without giving the least alarm. The citizens received them with thanksgivings for their success, and united with them heartily in their attack upon the garrison, and assisted with clubs and stones in driving out the Uzbecks. Sheibani Khan, on being informed of this dashing exploit, hastened back, but found the gates closed against him and ultimately commonly went barefoot through the mountains with his companions, and their feet, he says, became so hard, that they did not mind rock or stone in the least. His servants deserted from want of food. He sometimes expresses the despondent feelings by which he was in these wanderings harassed. The following is a translation of a verse composed by him then : "No one remembers him who is in adversity: A banished man cannot indulge his heart in happiness. My heart is far from joy in this exile: However brave, an exile has no pleasure." At length his patience gave way, and he said to himself, "Rather than appear in this state of debasement, it were good to flee from the sight of man as far as my feet could bear me." He resolved to travel into Northern China. Occasional communications from his adherents in Ferghana served to keep alive his hopes, and at length, with the aid of his uncle, he recovered his capital, and was joined by his brother, who had hitherto been his rival. His old enemy and traitor, Tambol, called to his aid the formidable Uzbecks; Baber was again defeated. He fled with a few men, fighting at every step, and was so hotly pursued, that his guards fell one by one into the hands of the enemy, and his horse was so much exhausted, that he was overtaken by two of Tambol's soldiers. They called to him in an assumed friendly voice to stop, but he pressed forward up a glen till about "bedtime prayers." Both of them, with a solemn oath, assured him that Tambol desired to reinstate him, and they also "swore unto him by the holy book that they would follow and serve him wherever he led." If they were at any time sincere in their assurances, they ultimately abandoned their |