throughout their lives, to his foster-mother and fosterfather, is well known. Many years afterwards Atgah Khán was slain in the royal palace by the dagger of a noble named Adham Khán; when Akbar himself immediately ran to the spot, struck Adham Khán a blow in the face which sent him spinning to the ground, and then had him thrown headlong from a pinnacle of the palace. The son of Jí Jí Anagah, called Mirzá Azíz, was raised to the highest rank by Akbar; and, with the title of Khán-i-Azam, was one of the greatest generals under Akbar and his successor. Azíz, who was a very bold man, often offended Akbar; but the latter would never punish him, always saying, 'Between me and Azíz there is a river of milk, which I cannot cross.'

When Humáyún died, Akbar was only thirteen years and four months old; and the young prince, with his guardian or atáliq, the great Bairám Khán, had to encounter the Afghán armies both of Adil Sháh and of Sikandar.

§ 2. Bairám Khán.—Bairám Khán was a Shah of Turkish descent, and his name is one of the most distinguished in Indian history. He had been the faithful companion of Humáyún in his exile; and whilst in Persia had been made a Khán by Sháh Tahmásp. An interesting story is told of the devotion to him of one of his followers named Abdul Kásim, Governor of Gwalior. Bairam was flying from Sher Shah; and was on his way to Gujarát when he was intercepted by one of Sher Shah's commanders. Abul Kasim was with him; and, being a man of imposing stature, was mistaken for Bairám. The latter immediately stepped forward, and said, 'I am Bairám.' 'No,' said Abul Kásim, 'he is my attendant, and, brave and faithful as he is, he wishes to sacrifice himself for me; so let him off.' Abul Kásim was then killed, and Bairám escaped to the protection of the King of Gujarát, and thence to Persia.

Humáyún's restoration to the throne of Hindústán may justly be ascribed to the military skill and general abilities

of Bairám. He won the battle of Máchhiwárah, which was the first great blow to the Afghán power; and just before Humáyún's death, was appointed atáliq of Prince Akbar, and sent with him against Sikandar Súr. On Akbar's accession he received the title of Khán Bábá, and acted as regent for the young king, and was the commanderin-chief in the operations against Hemú, and afterwards against Sikandar.

§ 3. Hemú and the Second Battle of Pánipat.-In the meantime Hemú boldly marched towards Delhi, and defeated one detachment of Akbar's troops under Tardi Beg. Bairám caused this officer to be executed for his rashness in attacking Hemú, on account of which execution he incurred the hatred of all the Chaghtái nobles, who were generally Súnnís; for Tardi Beg was a Chagtái Súnní, whilst Bairám (as we have said) was a Turkí Shíah. The latter immediately prepared to attack Hemú; and at length a great battle was fought on November 5, 1556, at Pánipat, between the vanguard of Bairám's army under Khán Zamán and the army of Adil Sháh under Hemú. Hemú was defeated, captured, and slain; and this Second Battle of Panipat completely established the Mughul power; for Sikandar shortly afterwards submitted to Akbar, and was pardoned.

§ 4. The fall of Bairám.-The regency of Bairám, owing to his firmness in administration and his great military ability, was remarkably successful; but he carried matters with a high hand as the atáliq of the young Emperor, and became very obnoxious to the Umarás or grandees. Akbar himself was persuaded to assume the supreme power in his eighteenth year (1560 A.D.). At length Bairám, seeing his power gone, broke out into rebellion; but was soon overcome, and threw himself on the mercy of Akbar, who treated him with the utmost generosity and affection. Bairam now set out to visit Mecca, the Muhammadan way of retiring from public life; but was assassinated in Gujarát.

§ 5. Akbar's Conquests.-The fall of Bairám left Akbar

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to govern alone. He proceeded to consolidate his power in India with the most wonderful courage, prudence, and ability; and before his death was absolute master of all Hindustan (including Kashmir and Kandahár) and part of the Deccan, and was one of the most powerful and famous monarchs of that age.

He first had to contend with a rebellion of his own nobles; Khán Zamán, the victor of Pánipat, being the chief rebel. When this rebellion was put down, he subdued in succession the Rájputs of Maiwár, Gujarát, Bihár, Bengal, Orissa, Kashmír, Sind, Kandahár; also Ahmadnagar, Khándesh, and part of Barár. Akbar's invariable policy was to deal mercifully and even generously with the conquered, generally making any conquered prince a grandee (or Umará) of his court and an officer of his army; and in this way he obtained the gratitude and affection of a large number of Indian princes, especially amongst the Rájputs of Jaipur and Jodhpur. It would be tedious if we . attempted to narrate the history of all these extensive conquests; it will be sufficient if we give a brief account of (1) Akbar's dealings with the Rájputs, (2) his conquest of Bengal, and (3) his wars with Chánd Bibi, the famous queen of Ahmadnagar, in the Deccan.

§ 6. Akbar's dealings with the Rájputs.-The Rájá of Jaipur (Amber) was Bihári Mall. Akbar eventually married his daughter: and Salim (Jahángír), the heirapparent, was married to another princess of the same family. This Rájá was the first who formed such an alliance. Rájá Bihári's son, Rájá Bhagaván Dás, Akbar's brother-in-law, was one of the most distinguished courtiers in this reign; and was appointed Amír-ul-Umará, and governor of the Punjab. Bhagaván's son, Rájá Mán Singh, was one of Akbar's best generals; and as a commander of seven thousand was of higher rank than any Muhammadan officer. He did good service in the Punjab and Kábul; and, as governor of Bengal, settled the affairs of that province, and put down the Afghán rebellions.

The Ráná of Maiwár was Udai Singh, son of Ráná Sangá. Here there was an obstinate and bloody war, and Akbar was victorious. In 1580 Ráná Partáb (son of Udai Singh) regained a part of his dominions and founded Udaipur; and his descendants are now often called Maháránás of Udaipur.

The Ráná of Jodhpur or Marwár was Máldeo. Akbar married his heir Jahángír to the grand-daughter of Máldeo, called Jodh Báí. Jahángír's mother was also a Rájput princess; and the Muhammadan historian expresses a hope about her, 'that God will receive her in his mercy; for Jahángír's mother, though a Hindu, could hardly be sent to hell.' The Ránás of Udaipur alone refused all such imperial alliances, and despised the other Rájput families for permitting them.

From this period, the Rájput chiefs constantly entered the imperial service of Delhi as governors or generals; there were at one time no less than forty-seven Rájput mounted contingents in the imperial army, and the headlong charges of their cavalry became famous in the military annals of the Mughul empire. Thus, whereas up to the reign of Akbar the Rájput clans had maintained their political freedom, though within territorial limits they were always changing, from the end of the sixteenth century we may regard their chiefs as having become feudatories or tributaries of the empire, which was their natural and honourable relation to the paramount power in India. The Ain-i-Akbari (see § 9) includes in Súbah Ajmer the whole of Central Rájputána, except a few outlying tracts which fall into other divisions; while Southern Rájputána is brought within the Málwa and Gujarát Subáhs.

Shah Jahan and Shah Alam (both, like Jahángír, sons of Rajput mothers) were largely indebted to their Rájput kinsmen for their success in vindicating their claims to the imperial throne; and the Rájput chivalry took a very prominent part in every military movement of importance