Indian Antiquary Vol 53

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 43

FEBRUARY, 1924 ] THE SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF THE FORT OF ASIRGARH
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of this, and, realising that his army was unable to force an entry into so impregnable a fortress, determined to take it by deceiving its defenders. He sent a mossage to king Miran33 inviting him to come to his own tent to discuss certain points; and at the same time he swore on the head of the prince34,-which is an inviolable' oath among those gentile kings, as much as when the princes swear on the heads of their fathers,--that afterwards he should go back to his fort without injury.
"The ill-fated King took advice from his councillors on this proposal. The chief commandant Abexin, with the other seven white captains, opposed the meeting ; but others, who are supposed to have already been suborned, advised him to go to the Moghul King's tent. Miran followed the latter advice, and left at once36 wearing around his neck & stole. like scarf that reached his knees, to show his subjection. On reaching the presence of Akbar36 he made three bows, and the Moghul King remained motionless ;8T on approaching, he was just about to make another bow when one of the captains who was present came out and, grasping the scarf, pulled it suddenly, causing the King to fall flat on the ground. This was supposed to have been done with the Emperor's consent ; although he, pretending that he disliked this act of impoliteness, gently scolded his captain. He entertained the King with kind words, and made him write a letter to the defenders of the first wall38, ordering them to open the gate of the fort to the lord who was coming, for the good of the kingdom,
38 The official Muhammadan account here begins to take a different line ; but the author of the Zafar. al-Walih, who belonged to the opposito party and had no need to flatter the Emperor, continues relating the events as they occurred, and serves us as & splendid guide in annotating Fr. Xavier's letter. From his narrative it soems that before this invitation of Akbar to the King Miran Bahadur, the latter sent an embassy to the Emperor, with the precise object of avoiding the surrender of the fort. Knowing the character of Akbar, he concluded that he would remain in his kingdom until the fort fell. Hence he decided to go personally to the imperial camp and make an act of submission, in the hope that the Emperor would give back to him the government of Khandesh. When the garrison learnt the king's decision, they would not allow him to leave the fort alone, but one of the nobles, named Sadât Khân, was sent to the Imperial camp with his troops and servants, carrying many rich gifts, to arrange preliminaries with the Emperor. Akbar then started his new tactics of bribery. Sadat Khan never came back to the fortress, but from that day joined the service of the Emperor. The garrison then sent another embassy, headed by the son of the Abesoin Malik Yaqut, named Mukarrab Khan by both Sirhindi and our present guide. This embassy came back after & while with the promise that Bahadur would be maintained on his throne. This was precisely the invitation of Akbar which Fr. Xavier speaks of. And this satisfactorily explains why Mukarrab Khan was afterwards sent back, because he who had heard the oath of the Emperor was the fittest to recall its remembrance to him.
34 Vix. On his own royal head ; that is, a Persian oath, as Smith notes.
36 From the Zafar-al-walih we learn that Bahadur Khan left the fort, accompanied by the leading men of his army, among whom, no doubt, was Mukarrab Khan, as we conclude from one of the subsequent events which we shall narrate in the sequel. At this point our guide says: "And that was the end of his reigo (vio. of Bahadur Shah) over his kingdom and his mountain".-The Indian Antiquary., p. 182. This proves the truth of. Xavier's account, which cannot be reconciled with that of Abu-l Fapland Sirhindi.
36 Smith thinks that these events took place near the end of August; I hope to show that they occurred laters Of. note 43. The same author ways that the ordinary residence of Akbar during the siege was the palace of Burhanpur ; but Sirhindi, who knew the facts well and haa no reason to make a false statement on this point, tells us that the royal camp was at Búrgáwn "seven or eight kos from Asir", and that Shaikh Farid, to meet the Emperor, proceeded to this royal camp.-Elliot, p. 143.
87 The author of the Zafar-al-Walih does not say anything about this dar bar. Why? Because he, being inside the fort, did not know what happened outside it, and so he merely records that Akbar did not permit Bahadur Shah to come back to his subjects. I think however that the darbar, described by Sirhindi just before the surrender, is this darbar, at which both he and Xavier must have been prosent: "When Bahadur came out," says he, "the Emperor held a grand darbar, at which all the great men were present, and Bahadur was amazed at the splendour and state."-Eliot, p. 146.
38 The so-called fort of Malai or Malaigarh.