was to be seen on the walls and in place of the tumultuous din of battle, reigned solitude and silence. Chítor was hushed to the stillness of death until suddenly the gloomy night was lightened by the weird red glow of fires in the heart of the fort. To most of the Chagátáïs this transition was fraught with mystery and even the Emperor asked, marvelling, what it betokened. Bhagwán Dás answered, "Be on your guard, it is the johar."

The johar is the last awful sacrifice which Rájpút despair offers to honour and the gods. Rájpútnís choose rather to die than to fall into an enemy's hands and willingly mount the funeral pyre, strewed for the sacrifice with sandal wood and wetted with fragrant oil. When the women have accomplished the fearful rite, the men dedicate themselves to death, by donning saffron garments and eating pán* together after which they either await their fate resignedly or throw themselves upon the foe to die sword in hand. As a last desperate sortie might be looked for, the Mughuls remained under arms through the night. Day broke and still ghostly silence brooded over the town and no enemy appeared. Word was given to enter the place and Akbar, mounted on his elephant, Asmán Shakoh, (high-as-heaven) led his troops through one of the breaches. He met with no resistance in the deserted streets until he had penetrated far into the town where a carnage began which ceased only for lack of victims. In the grey of the early morning, trained elephants were brought in and worked the most ghastly devastation. At three points the massacre was at its worst,

* Pieces of areca nut (pán) wrapped in betel leaves. Wilson 88.

near the Ráná's palace, at the temple of Mahádeo, and at the Rampúra gate. Whole quarters of the town had to be stormed, every foot of ground to be bought with blood; each bázár, each street, each house was a fortress. The conflict raged from the last watch of the night till afternoon; the Rájpúts defended themselves like lions; one of them, Aisardás Chohán, seized an elephant by the tusk and struck his dagger into its trunk, shouting, "Let this be my greeting to the Emperor." As Akbar came near the temple of Govind Siám, an elephant held out towards him the still quivering body of a boy named Pata whom it had just trampled underfoot. Pata was only sixteen but he had taken the command at the Sun Gate when the chief of Salumbra had fallen and he had displayed prodigies of valour.

Nine queens, five princesses (their daughters) with two infant sons, many wives of commanders and other distinguished Rájpúts had suffered self-sought death in the johar. Eight thousand soldiers and some 30,000(?) town and countrymen who had taken part in the fray, had fallen by the swords of the conquerors. The Rájpút prime was past and, in place of the Ráná's sunbanner on its sable field, there waved, from the battlements of Chítor, the green standard of Islám.

Akbar could now truly say that that the time was come for fulfilment of his vow of pilgrimage. In the afternoon of the memorable day on which he had entered the fort, he returned to his camp. Here he remained three days, appointed Açaf Khán governor and put in train the most pressing arrangements for the administration

* Chalmers I, 517. This estimate appears too high. See Elliot V, 328; Bádáoní (Lowe, Fas, I, 107). Trs.

29th Sha'bán 975H.

of the new province. On 8th February 1568, he set forth towards Ajmír; in pursuance of his vow, he travelled with a small retinue, bare-footed, in homely garb, a staff in his hand and a dry gourd slung in pilgrim fashion over his shoulder to serve as a drinking vessel; his road lay through burning sand; he gave alms to the needy, tended the sick and comforted the mourning. Abul Fazl says, "When he had "reached Mandalgarh, one of the couriers who had been previously despatched to announce the intention of "the Emperor, returned with a message from those who "ministered at the shrine purporting that the sainted "Khwajah Mu'ín had appeared in a dream, communi"cating to them his perfect sense of the piety and "sincerity of the Emperor's design in coming thus far "on foot to visit his humble sepulchre and urging them "by all means to dissuade him from continuing his "journey in a manner so inconvenient to himself.

66

Upon the receipt of such communication the Emperor "consented to perform the remainder of his pilgrimage on horseback, until within one stage of Ajmír when "he finally resumed his journey on foot towards that "place which he reached in safety, on Sunday "6th March 1568." The next few days were spent in devotional exercises and the fulfilment of pious duties after accomplishing which, he returned to his capital.

The Ráná of Chítor had not surrendered but, as he did not venture from his hiding, he was left for a time unmolested. There were still two great fortresses untaken-Rantanbhúr, 115 miles south-east from Ajmír and Kálinjar, in the south-east corner of Bhandalkand and on the lowest slope of the Vindhyas. Up to the date of Akbar's accession, Rantanbhúr had been in the

hands of the Afgháns *; in 1556, Salím Sháh's general, Jhujhár Khán, despairing of his master's cause, made it over to Rái Surjan Hádá a vassal of Udai Singh.. It was invested in the fourth year of the reign but no decisive result was obtained, owing to the imbroglio with Bairám Khán. Now, on his return from Ajmír, Akbar despatched against it those amirs who had not served at Chítor, placing them under the command of Ashraf Khán.† Hardly had they set forth when news was brought that the Mírzás-who had quarrelled with their benefactor Chingíz Khán and had left Gujrat— had made a descent upon imperial territory and were laying siege to Ujjain. Ashraf's march was therefore, diverted and he moved to relieve Ujjain. His troops were reinforced on the way and the mere news of his approach drove the Mírzás to retreat towards Mandú. They were closely pursued across the Narbadah and, with great loss, turned again to Gujrát. This success notwithstanding, Ashraf Khán fell into disfavour at court, because he and the other leaders were accused of slackness in the pursuit of the rebels, an accusation afterwards discovered to be unfounded. The Emperor now determined to act in person against Rantanbhúr but before again girding on his sword and placing himself at the head of his brave warriors, he prayed at his father's tomb that strength and courage might be vouchsafed him, for well he knew that the mighty levies of two of his royal forbears had been shattered on the rock of Rantanbhúr. On 9th February 1569, the imperialists pitched their

21st Sha’bán 976 H.

* Chalmers I, 339, Blochmann 436.

† Táríkh-i-Alfí (Elliot V, 175-6,) Nizámuddín Ahmad (Elliot V, 330-332), Firishtah (Briggs II, 232-3.) Abul Fazl. (Chalmers I, 526-534.)

tents before the fort which stands on a hill, almost inaccessible but commanded by another eminence which is called the Ran and which lies within gun-shot. The is so steep that Badáoní * says even an ant's foot would slip in ascending it yet Akbar contrived to have fifteen guns dragged to its summit. The bombardment was brief-from this advantageous position almost every ball hit its mark and one of the first did great damage to the Rájah's palace: Surjan Hádá must soon have seen that further resistance would be not only useless but ruinous to him and his. He consequently sent his sons, Dauda and Bhoj to negociate with Akbar who willingly came to terms for it was ever his principle to meet a brave adversary magnanimously. After the concession of free exit to the garrison and a three days' truce for the evacuation of the fort, Surjan Hádá paid homage. This was on Wednesday, 3rd Shawwál 976H. 22nd March and on this occasion he surrendered the keys of the fort which were made of gold and silver, an unintentional symbol of the high price at which they had been purchased, for he received at Akbar's hands the lucrative government of GarhaKatanga and to his sons also were given considerable appointments. By this generous treatment, Akbar transformed a dangerous enemy into an ally.

At the time of his departure for Rantanbhúr, Akbar had sent Majnún Khán Qáqshál with a large force against Kálinjar,† that place of peril which Sher Sháh

* Bádáoní II, 107 (Ed. Nassau Lees, 3 vols, 8vo. Calcutta, 1865) by the kind co-operation of Prof. George Hoffmann.

† Nizamuddin Ahmad (Elliot V, 333; Chalmers I, 534-5); for situation, etc., of the fort see Description of the Antiquities of Kálinjar, F. Maisey, Journal A. S., March 1848.