10-18-2006, 02:14 AM
From Deccan Chronicle, 15 oct., 2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1542: Year of great turmoil
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Itihaas: By Akhilesh Mithal
Fifteenth Oc-tober is an important date in history. A ruler of India, whom even the India-despising British chroniclers called âGreatâ, was born on this day. The year was 1542, a year of great turmoil in the country. The dominion over the country was in serious dispute. <b>Turki-speaking Timurids originating in Samarqand were fighting Afghans from Roh who had, over many generations, become Bihari by residence and through intermarriage in their country of adoption. </b>
Babur won India the decisive battles of Panipat (April 21, 1526) and Kanwaha (March 17, 1527). Humayun lost the dominion he inherited as well as the areas he had added to it during his reign by losing the battles at Chausa (June 7, 1539) and Kannauj (May 17, 1540). The victories of the Timurids under Babur and the Suris under Farid (later Sher Shah) demonstrated that the military genius of the commander was the decisive factor. The defeated in all four battles far outnumbered the victors.
Humayunâs brothers were his bitterest enemies and did not help him or offer refuge. <b>Humayun chose to make his way to Iran where the Shah, hailing from another Turki-speaking tribe, could give sanctuary for the moment and, perhaps, provide armed support when the situation was ripe for an attempt to return to India.</b>
<b>During the long and arduous journey, Humayun chanced to see the fourteen-year-old Hamida Bano Begum. She was the daughter of a Sufi divine named Ali Akbar.</b> She was a beauty and most erudite lady of cultivated tastes. Humayun sought her hand in marriage. Hamida was initially doubtful about marrying a much-older man who had already had many women in his harem and no throne to sit upon. <b>The charm of the sensitive and most kindly emperor, the aura of the dynasty of Timur and the persuasion of Humayunâs female relatives prevailed and the marriage was solemnised.</b>
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar was born at Umerkote in Sindh on October 15, 1542.Â
Humayunâs misfortunes did not cease with the birth of a son and heir. Repeated betrayals and fear of being made hostage made him abandon Akbar and flee to Iran with a very small entourage including Hamida and the resolutely loyal Bairam Khan.
<b>Sher Shah, at fifty-five or sixty years of age when he assumed the crown, was a seasoned administrator and an experienced general who soon organised the civil and military administration along efficient lines. He also created the silver rupee coin which was to last many centuries. What distinguishes his coins is the line in Devanagari stating the name of the ruler. The improvements he made in communications include effective policing of highways, construction of caravan serais and employment of Brahmins to serve water and cook food to make sure that both Hindus and Muslims would use the facilities provided.</b>
To awe the recalcitrant tribes of the Indus region, Sher Shah built a formidable fortress on the banks of the Jhelum and called it Rohtas after the fortress already in existence in Bihar.
<b>Sher Shah died of burns and injuries suffered when an ammunition and gunpowder heap blew up under him while he was blasting his way into the gateway of Kalinjar fort. </b>His successor Islam or Salim Shah died after a short reign in 1552. Three weak and ineffectual rulers followed.
By 1553, Humayun had recaptured Kabul and repelled his brother Mirza Kamranâs assaults on Kabul three times. The other brothers, Askari and Hindal were already dead. <b>Humayun hardened his heart and had Kamran blinded and exiled to Mecca.</b> Humayun was now free to single-mindedly fight the Surs and captured Lahore in 1555.
<b>The reigning Sultan Adil Shah, disparagingly called âAdaliâ, was a great musician and is reputed to have trained both Miyaan Tansen and Baaz Bahadur. Military matters were left to Hemu, a Dhusar or Bhargava (Brahmin?) who had started as a saltpetre manufacturer/ merchant of Rewari and risen to win some twenty one pitched battles against Adaliâs rival Afghans.</b>
Humayun recaptured Delhi but died in January 1556 by falling down the steps of his library. The thirteen-year-old Akbar was proclaimed emperor. <b>Hemu captured Delhi and his army met the Timurid forces at Panipat on November 5, 1556. Hemu drove the enemy army back hundreds of yards and was in the act of moving in his war elephants to destroy them when an arrow pierced his eye. Hemu was brought captive and his head struck off.
Abul Fazl, the chronicler of Akbarâs reign pays unqualified tribute to Hemuâs administrative and military genius and says that if his life had been spared he would have been a great asset to the empire.</b> We shall revisit Akbarâs glorious reign in a future column.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1542: Year of great turmoil
Â
Itihaas: By Akhilesh Mithal
Fifteenth Oc-tober is an important date in history. A ruler of India, whom even the India-despising British chroniclers called âGreatâ, was born on this day. The year was 1542, a year of great turmoil in the country. The dominion over the country was in serious dispute. <b>Turki-speaking Timurids originating in Samarqand were fighting Afghans from Roh who had, over many generations, become Bihari by residence and through intermarriage in their country of adoption. </b>
Babur won India the decisive battles of Panipat (April 21, 1526) and Kanwaha (March 17, 1527). Humayun lost the dominion he inherited as well as the areas he had added to it during his reign by losing the battles at Chausa (June 7, 1539) and Kannauj (May 17, 1540). The victories of the Timurids under Babur and the Suris under Farid (later Sher Shah) demonstrated that the military genius of the commander was the decisive factor. The defeated in all four battles far outnumbered the victors.
Humayunâs brothers were his bitterest enemies and did not help him or offer refuge. <b>Humayun chose to make his way to Iran where the Shah, hailing from another Turki-speaking tribe, could give sanctuary for the moment and, perhaps, provide armed support when the situation was ripe for an attempt to return to India.</b>
<b>During the long and arduous journey, Humayun chanced to see the fourteen-year-old Hamida Bano Begum. She was the daughter of a Sufi divine named Ali Akbar.</b> She was a beauty and most erudite lady of cultivated tastes. Humayun sought her hand in marriage. Hamida was initially doubtful about marrying a much-older man who had already had many women in his harem and no throne to sit upon. <b>The charm of the sensitive and most kindly emperor, the aura of the dynasty of Timur and the persuasion of Humayunâs female relatives prevailed and the marriage was solemnised.</b>
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar was born at Umerkote in Sindh on October 15, 1542.Â
Humayunâs misfortunes did not cease with the birth of a son and heir. Repeated betrayals and fear of being made hostage made him abandon Akbar and flee to Iran with a very small entourage including Hamida and the resolutely loyal Bairam Khan.
<b>Sher Shah, at fifty-five or sixty years of age when he assumed the crown, was a seasoned administrator and an experienced general who soon organised the civil and military administration along efficient lines. He also created the silver rupee coin which was to last many centuries. What distinguishes his coins is the line in Devanagari stating the name of the ruler. The improvements he made in communications include effective policing of highways, construction of caravan serais and employment of Brahmins to serve water and cook food to make sure that both Hindus and Muslims would use the facilities provided.</b>
To awe the recalcitrant tribes of the Indus region, Sher Shah built a formidable fortress on the banks of the Jhelum and called it Rohtas after the fortress already in existence in Bihar.
<b>Sher Shah died of burns and injuries suffered when an ammunition and gunpowder heap blew up under him while he was blasting his way into the gateway of Kalinjar fort. </b>His successor Islam or Salim Shah died after a short reign in 1552. Three weak and ineffectual rulers followed.
By 1553, Humayun had recaptured Kabul and repelled his brother Mirza Kamranâs assaults on Kabul three times. The other brothers, Askari and Hindal were already dead. <b>Humayun hardened his heart and had Kamran blinded and exiled to Mecca.</b> Humayun was now free to single-mindedly fight the Surs and captured Lahore in 1555.
<b>The reigning Sultan Adil Shah, disparagingly called âAdaliâ, was a great musician and is reputed to have trained both Miyaan Tansen and Baaz Bahadur. Military matters were left to Hemu, a Dhusar or Bhargava (Brahmin?) who had started as a saltpetre manufacturer/ merchant of Rewari and risen to win some twenty one pitched battles against Adaliâs rival Afghans.</b>
Humayun recaptured Delhi but died in January 1556 by falling down the steps of his library. The thirteen-year-old Akbar was proclaimed emperor. <b>Hemu captured Delhi and his army met the Timurid forces at Panipat on November 5, 1556. Hemu drove the enemy army back hundreds of yards and was in the act of moving in his war elephants to destroy them when an arrow pierced his eye. Hemu was brought captive and his head struck off.
Abul Fazl, the chronicler of Akbarâs reign pays unqualified tribute to Hemuâs administrative and military genius and says that if his life had been spared he would have been a great asset to the empire.</b> We shall revisit Akbarâs glorious reign in a future column.
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