condition of retaining their arms and property. One of the holy men attached to the emperor, however, decided that no faith could be kept with infidels, and Shere Khan directed the Hindoos to be attacked. None escaped this massacre, which appears to have been revolting even to the Mahomedans employed in it, and whose loss was very severe. After a brief rest, Marwar was invaded from Agra: and the emperor, finding how resolutely he was opposed by the Rajpoots, contrived, by means of a forged letter, to excite dissension and mutual suspicion among them. But while Mal Déo, prince of the country, retreated, Koonbha, one of his chieftains, discovered the deception; and being unable to convince Mal Déo of his error,' determined to subdue Shére Shah with his own tribe, or in any case to remove the stain upon their reputation. Shére Shah had 80,000 men in the field, Koonbha only 12,000; yet such was the fury of the Rajpoots' attack, that the emperor would have been defeated, but for the opportune arrival of a reinforcement, at the head of which he charged the Rajpoots, broke them, and slew the greater part of them. In allusion to the poverty of the country, and the bravery of its people, he had nearly,' he said, 'lost the empire of India for a handful of millet.' Chittore surrendered, and the emperer advanced to Runtunbhore, where he established his son Adil Khan. The Rajah of Kalinjer was next summoned, but he had heard of the emperor's treachery to the garrison of Raiseen, and refused to surrender. His fort, too, was one of the very strongest in India. The emperor invested it, and the siege had made much progress, when a shell burst in the battery, where the emperor was standing, blew up the magazine, and with it himself and many of his officers. He survived, however, till the Shére Shah evening, though in great agony; and when he heard dies, 1545. that the fort had been taken by assault, he cried out, 'Thanks be to Almighty God!' and expired. This event occurred on May 22, 1545. The emperor had reigned about five years, and had, notwithstanding his wars, done more for his country than most of his predecessors. He had built caravanserais, and dug wells-one at every two miles-from Soonargaum, in Bengal, to the Indus. He had erected mosques on the highways, and travellers were entertained at every stage at the public expense. Fruit-trees were planted along the lines of road, and horse-posts established for the public convenience. It is impossible to say what reforms might not have followed in the general administration, but for the emperor's death, in, as it may be said, the prime of his life. He had thoroughly effected what he had believed and declared to be possible-the expulsion of the Moghuls—and he had no rival in Northern India. 30 In comparison with most of the Afghan monarchs of India, the character of Shére Shah takes a high rank; nor is there any stain of the national cruelty attached to it, except in the instance of the massacre of the brave garrison of Raiseen. Shére Shah's subjects in Bengal were for by far the most part Hindoos. Yet he had governed them without any display of bigotry, which renders the event at Raiseen the more inexplicable. Stratagem, however, was a national characteristic, and was exhibited in a remarkable manner in the capture of the stronghold of Rhotas. As a general, Shére Khan takes a very high rank among Indian commanders. His military operations against the Emperor Hoomayoon, on both occasions of invasion of Bengal, were directed by great skill in strategy; and the combination of his comparatively weak forces against the flower of the Moghul army, hitherto unchecked, and the personal bravery by which they were directed, met with deserved success. There is no instance in the attainment of empire by military adventurers in India, which can be compared with that of Shére Shah Soor. From a private soldier, he had raised himself, in comparatively few years, to the rank in which he died, and that too without any of those crimes of murder or assassination which were the characteristics of his predecessors; and from his antecedents, had his life been spared, there is every reason to think that India might have enjoyed the effects of a firm and beneficent reign. Shére Shah's remains were carried to Sasseram, his family estate in Behar, and interred in the noble mausoleum there, which is still perfect. Surrounded by a reservoir of water, a mile in circumference, it is one of the noblest specimens of Afghan architecture in Bengal. CHAPTER V. OF THE DYNASTY OF SOOR (concluded), 1545 to 1555. SHERE SHAH SOOR left two sons-Adil Khan and Julal Khan-and had appointed the elder to be his successor; but the officers of the army, with whom Julal Khan was most popular, elected him to be emperor, and he was crowned in the fortress of Kalinjer, on May 25, 1545, three days after his father's death, under the title of Islam Shah, or more familiarly, Sulim Shah, by which Soor emperor he is best known. He wrote, however, to his brother, Adil Khan, then at Runtunbhore, to meet him at Agra, declaring that he had only taken up the authority as emperor till he should arrive; but near Agra he was met by Khowas Khan, the commander of all the forces, who had hastened from the Punjâb Sulim Shah 1545. on receiving news of Shére Shah's death, and who again caused him to be solemnly crowned, amidst the rejoicings of the army and the people. Sulim then renewed his invitation to his brother, and at his request deputed four officers whom he had named to escort him. The brothers met in a hunting-party near Futtehpoor Sikry, with much apparently real affection, and returned together to Agra, where Sulim attempted to seat his brother on the throne: but Adil Khan, by nature timid and indolent, well knowing also how little he had to expect from the nobles of the court, declined the honour, and leading forward Sulim Shah, placed him on the royal seat and saluted him, at the same time publicly disclaiming his birthright. He only stipulated for an estate; and being offered his choice, selected Byana, in Rajpootana. It would seem that the emperor would, on that occasion, have seized and imprisoned his brother, but for Adil Khan's conduct; but his suspicions remained, and two months afterwards he despatched a eunuch, with a pair of golden fetters, to bring Adil Khan to Agra. Of this intention Adil Khan had received intelligence, and he fled to Khowas Khan, in whom, as his father's most trusted friend, and a party to the settlement made at Agra, he had most reliance. Khowas Khan, shocked by Sulim Shah's perfidy, at once rebelled; and, aided by a number of the officers of the army, marched upon Agra. Sulim Shah was by no means prepared for such vigorous proceedings, and would have fled to Chunar; but being encouraged to try the event of a battle, marched out his troops, and attacked Khowas Khan, who was defeated. The Prince Adil Khan now fled to Patna; but disappeared soon afterwards, and was never traced. The insurgent chiefs protracted their rebellion, and retired to the Punjâb, where they were finally easily defeated at Umballa. Khowas Khan had, however, withdrawn from them on the eve of the action; and had he thrown himself on the emperor's mercy, would in all probability have been pardoned instead of which, he wandered from place to place, till, in the year 1550, he was put to death by Taj Khan, the governor of Sumbhul, with whom he was residing. His remains were taken to Dehly and interred there, and such was the veneration in which his character had been held, that Ferishta informs us his tomb was considered sacred, and prayers were offered there, as to a saint, by all classes of suppliants. 1553. Sulim Shah Soor lived till 1553, when he died of a painful disorder which had long afflicted him. He had reigned Sulim Shah about nine years. Like his father, in whose campaigns Soor dies, he had always taken an active part, he was a brave soldier, and in other respects followed his example in time of peace. He built intermediate post-houses between those of his father, on the road from Bengal to the Indus, and maintained an excellent police. In his general conduct he was spirited and energetic; and it is related of him, that when having leeches applied to him, he received news that the King of Kabool had crossed the Indus; he immediately started from his bed, ordered out his army, and had marched six miles before evening. As the gunbullocks were at a distance grazing, he caused the field-artillery to be dragged by men as far as Lahore. This alarm, however, proved to be unfounded, and the emperor retired to Gwalior, where he died. It is remarkable that Mahmood Shah, king of Guzerat, and Boorhan Nizam Shah, of Ahmednugger, died in the same year. " Sulim Shah Soor had married his cousin Beebee Bye, the daughter of Nizam Khan Soor, and had by her one son, the Prince Feroze, who, at his father's death, was twelve years old. Ferishta relates that the emperor had frequently warned his wife of her brother, Mobariz Khan; and asked her, if she wished to preserve her child, to consent to his execution, for she might rely upon his putting his nephew to death.' Beebee Bye, would not, however, consent. The event proved that the emperor's suspicion was not without foundation; for, on the third day after his death, Mobariz Khan entered the females' apartments, and tearing the young prince from the arms of his mother, slew him with his own hand. He then caused himself to be crowned under the title of Mahomed Shah Soor, to which the appellation of Adily was added commonly, and by which he is distinguished. Mahomed Shah was a profligate libertine, addicted to the lowest company. He could neither read nor write, and he began to confer the highest dignities of the State upon his low-born companions. He selected Hémoo, originally a Hindoo shopkeeper, and a man of much spirit and cleverness, who had been made superintendent of the markets by the late emperor, to be his minister, which gave dire offence to the proud Afghans of the court. Hémoo, however, did good service to his master, and was faithful to him to the last. It is impossible to conceive a court more profligate or disgraceful than that of Mahomed Shah Soor, who flung away his treasures, even in the streets, shooting golden arrows among the populace for his amusement. Brawls among the rough Afghan chiefs, even in the royal presence, were common; and one of them resulted in a rebellion which obliged the emperor to take the field for its suppression. Ibrahim Khan Soor, his brother-inlaw, was also a cause of anxiety. An attempt to seize him drove that person into rebellion, in which he was very successful. He seized Dehly, and declared himself king, and proceeding to Agra, reduced the country about that city to some distance. During Mahomed these proceedings, Mahomed Shah Adily was at Chunar, and from thence made a feeble attempt to suppress the usurpation. He found, however, that Ibrahim Khan was too strongly supported: and returning to Chunar, contented himself with the sovereignty of the eastern provinces. The empire was thus, for the present, divided into two portions. Meanwhile another strange revolution was in progress. Ahmed Khan, another nephew of the late Shére Shah, and brother-in-law of Mahomed Shah Adily, was in the Punjâb; and with the aid of some chiefs and nobles there, assumed the title of Sikunder Shah Soor, with royal state, and marched upon Agra at the head of 12,000 cavalry. Ibrahim Khan opposed him with a magnificent army of 70,000 cavalry, splendidly equipped: 200 of its officers possessed tents lined with velvet, and the gorgeous tent-equipage of the king himself had never been equalled. Before this imposing host Sikunder Shah's resolution failed for a time, and he made overtures for peace; but these were rejected, and he was attacked with impetuosity by Ibrahim's whole army. Part of his own was at once broken, but with a reserve he charged his adversary at a judicious moment, and completely defeated him. Ibrahim Khan fled, and the conqueror took possession of the capital; but he was not long able to enjoy his good fortune; the Emperor Hoomayoon was returning to India, and was to be opposed at all hazards. Having been defeated by Sikunder, Ibrahim Khan fled to Kalpy. Here he was met by Hémoo, on the part of Mahomed Shah Adily, with a fine army, which had been collected at Chunar, to reconquer the western provinces. With this, Hémoo defeated Ibrahim Khan, and pursued him to Byana, which he besieged. But Mahomed Shah Soor of Bengal now appeared in the field against Mahomed Shah Adily, and Hémoo was recalled; when Ibrahim Khan fell upon his rear during the march, and was badly defeated. Ibrahim afterwards became chief of the Afghans of Meeana; but he continued restless till the end of his life, and was executed at Orissa, by one of the Emperor Akbur's generals, in 1567. After his recal from Byana, Hémoo followed Mahomed Shah Soor into Bundelkund: and, in an action which ensued at the village of Chuppurgutta, the Bengal king was defeated and slain. Hémoo was dispatched to Agra to oppose the Emperor Hoomayoon, and recovered both Agra and Dehly from the Moghuls; but he was finally defeated by Beiram Khan, the general of the Emperor Akbur, and executed, as will be hereafter related. He had been the main stay of Mahomed Shah Adily: and after his death the fortunes of that king declined, and he was eventually killed in a battle with the son of Mahomed Shah Poorby, of Bengal. The reign of Sikunder Shah proved to be a very brief one. |