________________
in all three Hindu princesses. One of them was the princess of Bikaner. It was only the heroic Pratap who repulsed all such advances of Akbar and kept the banner of Rajput prestige aloft.
Thus, after gaining the support of the Hindu princes, he started conquering other countries one after the other. In the army he used to give high posts to Rajput chiefs. For twelve years he incessantly fought to extend and consolidate his Empire.
Chief of his battles were those fought in the Punjab, Sind, Kandhar, Kashmere, Deccan, Malwa, Jaunpur, Mewad, Gujarat and Bengal. He was successful in all these countries and had put his governors there. After conquering a country Akbar maintained highly friendly relations with its ruler. He often contracted marital alliances with the families of the conquered kings.
Often his conduct in his wars was praiseworthy.
When Raja Mansinh was the governor of the Punjab, Akbar's brother named Mirza Mahmud Hakim came from Kabul and invaded the Punjab. Akbar himself opposed him, and his brother ran away. Then Raja Mansinh invaded Kabul and conquered it. Hakim was reduced to the state of committing suicide. When Akbar heard of such a plight of his brother, his heart was filled with compassion for him, and he re-instated his brother as the governor of Kabul.
Akbar had sent Mirza Sarfuddin Hussain* to capture the castle of Medta. Maldev, the king of Medta, fought very bravely; but ultimately he was forced to yield, due to food-shortage. But Akbar honoured this brave Maldev by offering a seat to his right. Maldev had given his daughter Jodhabai to Akbar in marriage.
In the monsoon of A. D. 1560, Akbar had sent a force to conquer Malwa, under the leadership of Adhamkhan. Adhamkhan defeated Bajbahadur, the king of Malwa; but he himself and Pirmahammud acted very cruelly in this battle. Akbar became very angry with Adhamkhan for his cruelty; and but for the
* For the various proper names occurring in this chapter consult "Ain-i-Akbari " or Darbar-i-Akbari ” of Prof. Azad.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
