CHAP.

II.

the place was called forth against them: matchlockballs and arrows poured on them from the works; guns were brought to bear upon the breach; rockets, gunpowder, and other combustibles were thrown among the crowd in the ditch; and the garrison in front opposed so steady a resistance, that, after an obstinate and bloody contest, which lasted till evening, the Moguls were obliged to draw off their troops and postpone the renewal of the assault till the next day. But the garrison and inhabitants had been raised to enthusiasm by the example of the regent; and, as her activity and energy were not slackened during the night, the Moguls found, when the day dawned, that the breach had been built up to such a height as to render it impossible to mount it without new mines. Meanwhile the confederates drew near; and, though the Moguls were still superior in the field, they were unwilling to risk all on the chance of a battle. Chánd Bíbí, on the other hand, was well aware of the precarious duration of a combination like the present; and both parties were well satisfied to come to terms, the king of Ahmednagar Peace surrendering to the emperor his claims on Berár, of which he had recently made a conquest.*

agreed on.

A. H. 1004,
Rajab;

A. D. 1596,
about

Chánd Bíbí is the favourite heroine of the Deckan, and is February. the subject of many fabulous stories. Even Kháfi Khán mentions her having fired silver balls into the Mogul camp; and the common tradition at Ahmednagar is, that when her shot was expended, she loaded her guns successively with copper, with silver, and with gold coin, and that it was not till she had begun to fire away jewels, that she consented to make peace.

BOOK
IX.

War re

newed, and

the whole

of the Deckan.

The Moguls had not long withdrawn, when fresh dissensions broke out in Ahmednagar. One Mohammed Khán, whom Chánd Bíbí had appointed extended to péshwa*, or prime minister, plotted against her authority, and finally applied for aid to Prince Morád. The prince was already engaged in a dispute with the Deckan princes about the boundaries of Berár; both parties had once more recourse to hostilities, and before the expiration of a year from the peace they again met each other in the field in greater force than before.

December,

or

The king of Cándésh, who acknowledged himself Akber's subject, appeared on his side on this occasion, while the king of Golcónda had now joined his forces to those of Bíjapúr and Ahmednagar. The battle took place on the river Godáveri: though maintained with great fury for two days, A. D. 1596, its result was indecisive. The Moguls claimed the victory, but made no attempt to advance; and their ill success, together with the disagreement between Prince Morád and the Kháni Khánán, induced Akber to recall them both. Abul Fazl (the author), who was his prime minister, and had been lately in temporary disgrace, was sent to remove the prince; and, if necessary, to take the comAkber goes mand of the army. His representations convinced Akber that his own presence was required: he

Jan. 1597.

in person

to the

Deckan.

*The title of péshwa (i. e. leader) had been used under the Bahmani sovereigns. It has since become famous as that under which the Bramin ministers of the rája of Sátára so long governed the Maratta empire.

II.

therefore left the Panjáb towards the end of 1598 CHAP. (after a residence of fourteen years in the countries near the Indus); and before the middle of 1599 he arrived on the river Nerbadda. The strong fortress of Doulatábád had been taken before he appeared; several other hill forts fell about the same time; and as soon as the royal army reached Burhanpúr, on the Tapti, a force was sent forward under his son, Prince Dániál, and the Kháni Khánán, to lay siege to Ahmednagar. Chánd Bíbí's government was now in a more disturbed state than ever. Nehang, the Abyssinian chief, who had joined her in Ahmednagar at the beginning of the former siege, was now besieging her. He drew off on the approach of the Moguls; but the intestine disturbances still rendered a defence hopeless; and Chánd Bíbí was negotiating a peace with the Moguls, when the soldiery, instigated by her factious opponents, burst into the female apartments and put her to death. Their treason brought Death of its own reward: in a few days the breach was tána. practicable; the storm took place; the Moguls gave no quarter to the fighting men; and the young king, who fell into their hands, was sent prisoner to the hill fort of Gwáliór. But the fall Taking of of the capital did not produce the submission of nager. the kingdom. Another pageant king was set up, A. D. 1600, and the dynasty was not finally extinguished till A. H. 1009, the reign of Sháh Jehán, in A. D. 1637.

Chánd Sul

Ahmed

Safar.

Before the siege of Ahmednagar, a disagreement Conquest had taken place between Akber and his vassal,

of Cándésh. Akber re

IX.

turns to Hindostan.

the former king of Cándésh, which induced the emperor to annex that country to his immediate dominions. The military operations which ensued occupied Akber for nearly a year, and it was not till some months after the storm of Ahmednagar that the reduction of the province was completed by the fall of Asírghar, when Akber appointed Prince Dániál viceroy of Cándésh and Berár, with the Kháni Khánán for his adviser; and marched, himself, to Agra, leaving the command in the Deckan Spring of and the prosecution of the conquest of Ahmednagar to Abul Fazl.

A. D. 1601,

end of
A. H. 1009.

Refractory

conduct of

his eldest

son, Selím.

Before his departure Akber had received embassies and presents from the kings of Bíjapúr and Golcónda, and had married his son Dániál to the daughter of the former prince.* Akber's return to Hindostan was rendered necessary by the refractory conduct of his eldest son Selím.† The prince, who was now turned of thirty, does not appear to have been deficient in natural abilities; but his temper had been exasperated, and his understanding impaired, by the excessive use of wine and opium. He had always looked on Abul

* The account of the operations in the Deckan is from the "Akbernámeh," and Ferishta, especially his "History of Ahmednagar," vol. iii.

Afterwards the Emperor Jehángír.

His own account is, that in his youth he used to drink at least twenty cups of wine a day, each cup containing half a sír (six ounces, i. e. nearly half a pint); and that if he was a single hour without his beverage, his hands began to shake, and he was unable to sit at rest. After he came to the throne, he

On his

Fazl as his mortal enemy; and the temporary dis-
grace of that minister, and his subsequent removal
to the Deckan, were concessions made by Akber
to the complaints and jealousy of his son.
own departure for the Deckan, Akber declared
Selím his successor, appointed him viceroy of
Ajmír, and committed to him the conduct of the
war with the rána of Oudipúr, sending Rája Mán
Sing to assist him with his arms and counsels.
After much loss of time Selím set forth on this
duty, and had made some progress in the fulfilment
of it, when intelligence arrived of the revolt under
Osmán in Bengal, of which province Mán Sing
was the viceroy. He immediately set off for his
government; and Selím, now free from all control,
and seeing the emperor's whole force employed in
other quarters, was tempted to seize on the pro-
vinces of Hindostan for himself. He marched to
Agra; and, as the governor of that city contrived
to elude his demands for its surrender, he pro-
ceeded to Allahábád, and took possession of the

says, he drank only five cups (i. e. little more than a quart), and only took it after nightfall. It does not appear how long he adhered to this sobriety. (Price's Jehangir, pp. 6, 7.) Drinking seems to have been the vice of the age among the Mahometan kings and great men: Báber and Humayun both drank hard: the princes of Túrk dynasties seem all to have had the same propensity; and even the Sófis of Persia, so lately elevated by the sanctity of their family, not only drank to excess in private, but made their piles of cups and flagons of gold and jewels compose a great part of the splendour of their court.