not departed. The Rajpoots fought with a valour and desperation that astonished even Babur himself; but they sustained a bloody defeat, and fled. In the sequel, Rajpootana was reduced to order, and Mahomedan garrisons placed in strong positions; and this having been accomplished, Babur turned his arms towards Mahmood Lody, who, having assumed the title of sooltan, had declared independence, and advanced to Benares with 100,000 men. This great but incongruous levy was also defeated, and afterwards dispersed, Mahmood himself retiring beyond the Soane river. Babur was now in possession of the Dehly territory south of the Ganges. North Behar was still held by the King of Bengal; but he made little resistance, and was admitted to terms. Soon afterwards a body of Afghans, who had separated from the Bengal army, rallied under Bayezeed Khan, and had taken Lukhnow; but these also were pursued and dispersed, and at the conclusion of this glorious and memorable campaign, Babur returned to Agra. It had been his last effort.

At Agra Babur was joined by his son Hoomayoon, who had left his government of Badukshan without leave, but was nevertneless affectionately welcomed. It is very possible that he had received intimation of his father's indifferent state of health, and wished to be near him. He himself, however, fell ill, and so dangerously, that his life was despaired of. When Hoomayoon had been altogether given up by the physicians, his father, in accordance with a strange superstition of his country, and despite the entreaties of his courtiers, determined to give his own life for his son's, and take his son's illness on himself; he accordingly walked thrice round his bed praying. In a short time afterwards he was heard to exclaim, 'I have borne it away, I have borne it away!' and began to decline. But, as has been stated, his health had already been affected by the climate of India, and the immense personal exertions made in the last campaign and an illness began, before which he gradually sank, and expired at Agra, on December 26, 1530, in the fiftieth year of his age, and the thirty-eighth of his reign.

Of all the varied acts of his romantic life, there was none which, for daring valour, resolution, and consummate ability, could compare with Babur's short but brilliant Indian career. In less than four years, he had not only founded the dynasty of a great empire, but had recovered most of the ancient possessions of Dehly. He had himself selected a place for his grave, by a sparkling stream, near Kabool, and he was buried there; while to this day the garden around his tomb is a favourite holiday resort of the people of that city. Mr. Elphinstone has recorded an eloquent tribute to the memory of this great man ('History,' Book VII.), and quoted

CALIFES

CALIF

from his Memoirs many curious and interesting passages; but the Memoirs themselves are hardly to be estimated from extracts, and should be read in their entirety, as the only means of understanding the great but simple wisdom, habitual generosity, and light-hearted cheerfulness, indomitable bravery and perseverance, wit, humour, and refreshing boon-companionship, of this most natural and extraordinary monarch.

CHAPTER III.

THE MOGHUL DYNASTY (continued)—THE FIRST REIGN OF
HOOMAYOON, 1538 to 1540.

ON Hoomayoon's accession to the throne of Dehly, he had to make provision, agreeably with his father's dying request, for his own three brothers: Kamrán, Hindál, and Mirza Askari. Of these, Kamrán was employed as governor of Kabool and Kandahar; the others had as yet received no offices. Hoomayoon would have preferred retaining Kabool and Kandahar as an appanage to his Indian dominions; nay, very possibly, might have preferred them to India itself; but he had little choice in the matter. Kamran was by no means disposed to give up the territory over which he ruled, and Hoomayoon had no means of compelling him to do so. He, therefore, made over Afghanistan to his brother, and with it, the whole of the Punjab. In following this course, however, he very materially weakened his own position; four years had not sufficed for consolidating the power of the new Indian dynasty, and Hoomayoon was by no means possessed of the talent or of the prestige of his father. He depended entirely upon his army, which was in fine condition; but he had alienated from himself the provinces from which fresh supplies of men could be drawn, the Indian soldiery had already the reputation of being mercenary and unfaithful, and he had no trust in them. To his brother Hindál he allotted the government of Sumbhul, and to Mirza Askari that of Mewat in Northern Rajpootana.

The emperor's first campaign was directed against the Hindoos of Bundelkund, always turbulent and disaffected. Kalinjer, so many times the subject of contention, was again being besieged, when the Afghan chieftains of Bengal, Bayezeed and Bábun, again rebelled. This insurrection was speedily repressed, and the emperor proceeded to attack Chunar, then held by Shere Khan, another powerful Afghan feudatory. He however submitted, on condition of retaining his fort; and the emperor, in 1532, returned

to Agra. At this period, the kingdom of Guzerat, as will be elsewhere related, had attained its greatest eminence. Bahadur Shah

was its king, who, as related in Ch. III., Book III., had succeeded Mozuffer Shah in 1526. He had annexed Malwah and some Hindoo States to his dominions; and as far south as Ahmednugger the kings of the Deccan acknowledged him as a paramount power. Bahadur Shah was by no means disposed to acknowledge the new dynasty of Dehly. If he owed allegiance at all, it was to the house of Lody, which had afforded him honourable protection in his absence from Guzerat; none certainly to the house of Teimoor. Nevertheless Bahadur Shah might have been as little noticed by Hoomayoon as he had been by Babur, had he chosen to keep neutral; but he did not remain so. His first offence was the protection of Hoomayoon's brother-in-law, who, under an accusation of treason, had fled from Dehly; and while negotiations regarding him were in progress, Alla-ood-deen Lody, the uncle of the late Ibrahim Lody, whose unsuccessful attempt to possess himself of Dehly has been related in the last chapter, suddenly left Afghanistan, and claimed his assistance. Bahadur Shah dare not, perhaps, openly espouse his cause; but he gave him money, by which Alla-ood-deen was enabled to equip a considerable force, and dispatch it against Dehly, under the command of his son Tartar Khan. It was, however, defeated by the emperor in a general action fought near Byana, in which Tartar Khan was slain. Hoomayoon was not now to be restrained from following up his victory over the malcontents in an advance into Guzerat ; and this was delayed on a serious point of honour peculiar to the times. Bahadur Shah was engaged in war with the Rajah of Chittore, and had invested that fort. Were he to be attacked in that position, it would not only be at a disadvantage, but as a corresponding relief to 'the Infidels.' Hoomayoon waited therefore for the fall of Chittore; and in November 1534 advanced upon Bahadur Shah's camp, which was entrenched at Mundesoor. He had placed great confidence in his guns, which were served by the Portuguese, who had enabled him to prevail at Chittore; but they were of no avail: Hoomayoon cut off the supplies, and on his final attack in March 1535, Bahadur fled precipitately to Mandoo, and thence, finding himself pursued by the emperor in person, to Cambay, and eventually to the Island of Diu. Bahadur did not attempt to defend his territories, of which the emperor took possession; but the fort of Champanair long held out, and was only taken by escalade, the emperor himself being one of the three hundred men who gained entrance by climbing its almost perpendicular side, by means of steel spikes driven into crevices in the rock, while the attention of the garrison was drawn off by a feint against the gate. Believing his occupation of Guzerat to have been secure, Hoomayoon left the province under charge of his brother

Mirza Askari, the history of whose brief administration will be given in connection with the reign of Bahadur Shah, and marched for Bengal, about 1537, according to Mr. Elphinstone's computation of time, against Shere Khan, who had again rebelled, and on this occasion in a most formidable manner. The details of Shére Khan's progress will be more fitly given in the history of his career and reign than in this place. Hoomayoon, as he advanced eastwards, found Shere Khan was engaged in subduing Bengal: and he therefore laid siege to Chunar, which lay in the direct line of his advance, and of his communications. Chunar was takenthe pass of Chikragully, on the bank of the Ganges, was found unoccupied, and Hoomayoon's army debouched without opposition into the plains of Bengal. Gour was taken possession of almost without resistance, but still Shere Khan was at a distance. He had, however, followed a wise course. He had allowed the emperor to advance, as it were, into a decoy. The Ganges began to inundate the country, and the rains rendered it impassable. The emperor held his ground near Gour during the monsoon, but when the dry season enabled him to advance, he found that Shére Khan had thrown himself between Gour and the upper provinces, and was intercepting his communications. The advanced force of his army, on its return towards the upper provinces, was defeated near Mongyr, and before he could form any plans of his own, Shere Khan with his whole army had taken up a position across his very path. This campaign is one of the few of Indian occurrence in which military manoeuvres were resorted to which can be followed with accuracy; and Shere Khan is entitled to high credit as a general, for the disposition and management of his forces. The emperor did not attack him at once, as he might have done with advantage, but allowed him, during a delay of nearly two months, to entrench his camp; out of which he sallied on the night of June 15, 1539, leaving enough force to mask his movements, and at daybreak the following morning assaulted the emperor in three divisions. The emperor's bridge of boats had not been finished, and escape was next to impossible-Shere Khan's attack was irresistible. Hoomayoon, as a last resource, plunged on horseback into the river, and would have been drowned with his horse, had not a water-carrier, floating on an inflated water-bag, rescued him. His army, including the best portion of his father's veterans, perished for the most part by the sword and in the inundations. The empress, who had been taken prisoner, was afterwards sent by Shere Khan to Agra, with every mark of respect.

Hoomayoon reached Agra safely, and found public affairs in great confusion. His defeat, and the loss of his army, had reduced his prestige. His brother Hindál had conspired against him, and

Kamrán, who had arrived from Kabool, was hardly to be trusted. Eventually, however, they were all reconciled. They expected that Shere Khan would follow up his successes, and were prepared to meet him; but instead of doing so, he remained in Bengal, reducing the whole to order, and establishing his own government. Growing weary of delay, and seeing how greatly Shere Khan was improving his position, the emperor moved against him in April 1540; and near Kanouj, met Shere Khan, who had advanced to encounter him. Hoomayoon had constructed a bridge of boats across the Ganges, over which he was allowed to pass his army without molestation. No sooner had he done so, however, than he was attacked by Shere Khan on May 16, and sustained an irreparable defeat. His army was driven back upon the bridge and into the river, where it perished for the most part; and Hoomayoon, whose horse was wounded, would have perished also, but for a eunuch, who guided an elephant on which the emperor had mounted, into the river and swam it across. Here, too, escape would have been impossible, for the elephant could not mount the steep bank on the other side; but two soldiers, who saw what had happened, tied their turbans together, threw them to the emperor, and so drew him to the shore. He was now joined by his brothers Hindál and Askari, and rallying a few troops, they made the best of their way back to Agra, whence, collecting such treasures and valuables as they could, the brothers pursued their route to Lahore, expecting that Kamrán, who was there, would enable them to hold their ground. In this, however, the emperor was mistaken; for Kamrán made peace with Shére Khan, by the cession of the Punjab, and retired to Kabool.

Hoomayoon now proceeded to Sinde, then in possession of Hoosein Arghoon; and endeavoured to excite him to action in his behalf. But he was coldly received, and in the end opposed by this prince, who forced him to leave Sinde; and in his extremity, the emperor determined to cross the desert, and threw himself upon the protection of Mal Déo, rajah of Joud poor. The march was one of misery and privation, many of his followers perished from thirst; and when the unfortunate monarch reached Joudpoor, he found the rajah hostile to him, and was obliged once more to resume his wanderings in the desert between that city and the Indus. It was a tract of burning sand, with hardly a break, unrelieved by the shade of a single tree, and almost destitute of water. Wherever there was any in the deep wells, a few. houses had been built, generally fortified, and defended by a bold race of hereditary robbers and marauders. These people guarded their water with the utmost jealousy, resisted the attempts of the emperor's escort to obtain it, and after sharp skirmishes in many