1 Rhizr Khan appoint-
2 » ed governor of Lahore.
3 Demn, the shopkeeper,
4 assumes the title of
5 Raja Vikramagjit.
6 And advences to-
7 wards the Panjab.
8 Battle of Panipat,
9 1556.
10 Defeat and death of
11 Hen, 1556.
12 His character.
13 Campaign in the
14 Panjab. a
15 Submission of Sikan-
16 dar Shah Sur.
17 136 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
18 Panjéb near Nagarkot. The rainy season having then set in, he took up
19 his residence in Jalandar, About the same time Khizr Khan, husband of
20 Sultana Gulbadan Begum, the king’s aunt, was appointed governor of
21 Lahore.
22 Hemu, the active Hindu minister of Muhammad Shah, Sur Adilt, had,
23 in the meanwhile, taken possession of Agra after a short siege, and, advancing
24 upon Delhi, occupied it, expelling the Moghal goveruor, Tardy Beg Khan.
25 He commemorated this event by assuming at Delhi the title of Rajd
26 Vikramajit, and was now advancing to the Panjab with a large army. The
27 Moghal force was small, and its officers were panic-stricken. Akber was
28 advised by a council of war, convened by him, to desist from hazarding an
29 action against an enemy as numerous as locusts, and to retire to Kébul ;
30 but the voice of his faithful and gallant general, Behram Khan, prevailed
31 and the sentiments of Akber being in unison with his, hostilities were
32 determined upon. Panipat, which had so often decided the fate of the
33 empire since the old days of Muhdbhdrata, was chosen as the battle-
34 field, and Hemu advanced with a considerable army. The king offered
35 battle on the morning of November 5th, 1556, Hemu had brought a
36 large number of , elephants to terrify the Moghals, and these were so
37 galled by flights of lances, arrows and javelins, that they became
38 furious and quite unmanageable, and charged amongst the ranks of the
39 Afghans, who were thus thrown into confusion. Hemu was conspicu-
40 ous by being mounted on an elephant of prodigious size, and commanded
41 a detachment of 4,000 horse, the best of the old Pathan chivalry. He
42 urged these to the attack with great bravery, but, in the midst of the fight,
43 his eye was pierced by an arrow and he sank back in his howda from pain,
44 His troops, believing that he was dead, took to flight; but the gallant Hindu,
45 notwithstanding the intense agony of the wound, raised himself, drew the
46 arrow from the socket of the injured eye, and, binding, his head with a hand-
47 kerchief, put himself at the head of the fight, with the few men who still adher-
48 ed to him. His elephant was at last surrounded by a body of horse, aud he
49 was carried prisoner to the emperor. When Hemu came into the royal
50 presence, Behram Khan proposed to his majesty to kill the infidel captive
51 with his own hand, so that he might be ranked among the Ghazis, or cham-
52 pions of the Faith. Alber, feeling reluctant to perpetrate the horrible deed,
53 contented himself by touching Hemu’s head with his drawn sword, while
54 the furious Behram, drawing his sabre, severed the captive’s head from his
55 body ata single blow. Thus an end was put to the career of a Hindu who,
56 by the force of his genius, had risen from an insignificant position in life
57 to the dignity of minister of an empire. He was the first Hindu who had
58 risen to the highest distinction under the Mahomedan government of
59 India. He proved himself fully worthy of the confidence reposed in him,
60 and, if the Afghans were enabled to contest the empire of India with the
61 bravest of the Moghal leaders, it was due mainly to the intrepidity and
62 warlike talents displayed by this able Hindu general.
63 During the action at Panipat the Moghals captured 1,500 \elephants
64 and Akber’s victory being complete, he marched from Pénipat 2
65 possession of Delhi without opposition. About this time Khizr Khao}
66 roy of the Panjab, having been defeated by Sikandar Shah, Suv, was obliged
67 to fly to Léhore. Akber, on receiving this intelligence, marched ‘to thd
68 Panjab, expelled Sikandar Shah from Kalanaur to which he had advanced,
69 and compelled him to retreat to the fort of Mankot, built by the Emperor
70 Salem Shah, Suz. The emperor stayed at Kalanaur for a period of threo
71 months, and was there joined by his mother and other ladies of the royal
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com