1 Murder of Abul
2 Fazl, 1602.
3 The religious notions
4 of Akber.
5 He professes to work
6 miracles,
7 Lahore mate the
8 head-quarters of Go-
9 vernment, 1582-1598.
10 The Mogha! Court
11 visited by the Christian
12 fathers, December 1568.
13 They accompany the
14 emperor to Lahore.
15 Their description of
16 his equipage.
17 142 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
18 extraordinary woman, the most able politician of her age, had been the
19 queen and dowager-regent of the neighbouring kingdom of Bijapur. The
20 royal troops were under Prince Murad Mirza and Mirza Khan. The besieg-
21 ing party having opened their trenches, raised mounds, erected batteries and
22 sank mines. The explosions caused great consternation among the besieged,
23 but the princess defended the breach with masculine bravery. She appeared
24 with a veil over her face, and, she having caused the guns to be brought to
25 bear on the besieging party and stones to be hurled on them, these active
26 measures resulted in the repeated repulse of the assailants. The siege
27 lasted three months, at the end of which period scarcity of provisions
28 prevailing in the Moghal camp, Prince Murad Mirza thought it advisable to
29 open negotiations with Chand Bibi. Berar was retained for Akber, while
30 Ahmadnagar, with its dependencies, remained in charge of the minor Bahddur
31 Shah, the grandson of Burhan Nizam Shah IT.
32 In the year 1596, Abdulla Uzbek, who had long threatened an invasion
33 from the north, having died, Akber returned from Lahore to Agra. In the
34 year 1602 the whole province of the Dekkan, including Asir, Burhanptr and
35 Ahmadnagar, was annexed to the empire of Delhi, and Akber assumed, by
36 proclamation, the title of “Emperor of the Dekkan ” in addition to his other
37 titles. The same year, Sheikh Abul Fazl was recalled from the Dekkan, but
38 the learned Sheikh was attacked and cut off by banditti near Orcha in the
39 district of Marwar, to the intense grief of the emperor.
40 Akber was a lax Musalman and celebrated the Persian festival of Nauroz
41 or New Year’s Day. He endeavoured to form a new religion, which was merely
42 a pure deism, founded on the great doctrine of divine unity. The forms
43 and ceremonies of this religion were chiefly derived from the ancient Persians,
44 who professed the religion of Zoraster. Every morning he exhibited him-
45 self at a window, and the multitude knelt down before him. The water
46 of his feet was used to cure diseases, and he professed to work miracles.
47 Women made vows to him in the hope of becoming mothers, and on their
48 bringing him presents when their object was gained, the king used to accept
49 them. Other people asked for lasting bliss, for strength of body, for reunion
50 of friends, increase of wealth, elevation in rank, and many other things. The .
51 king gave satisfactory answers to every one and suggested remedies. Nota
52 day passed but people brought cups of water on which the king breathed, and
53 which were used as a remedy for the sick. He worshipped the sun with the
54 Brahmin, discoursed with the Christian, prostrated himself before the crucifix,
55 as he did to the sun, while he respected with equal impartiality the tenets of
56 the Jews, and with great patience weighed or refuted the arguments of the
57 rival priests or sages.
58 Akber had fixed his capital at Agra, but his favourite residence was at
59 Fattehpur Sikri, twelve miles from that city. The interval between the two
60 places was occupied by a bazar. In 1582, Akber resolved on moving his
61 court from Fattehpar to Lahore, and, from that year to 1598, he apparently
62 made the latter city his head-quarters. He had been visited at Fattehptr by
63 three Christian fathers, Ridolfo Aguaviva,* a man of great learning, Monser-
64 rate and Enriques, a Persian by birth, who acted as interpreter. They
65 presented him with a Polyglot Bible in four languages, which the great
66 Moghal placed _on his head, and the images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary,
67 which he kissed, to the great delight of the Portuguese missionaries. The
68 Christian fathers accompanied the emperor’s camp to Ldhore, and the
69 greatness of his army and the splendour of his equipage excited their intense
70 ie ies eae ge oe ee ee ee ge ee
71 * Abul Fazl calls him Padri Radif,
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary : NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com