Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/172

 l.'i.S

HISTORY OF 1NI>IA.

[Book I.

A I). 1090.

Siego of All ludUiiuggur.

Heroism of Chand Beeby.

Akber's personal campaign in the Dec?an.

The miniHter, Mceaii Muiija, who called in this {orei;^ri aid, had repented of the .step, and therefore prepared to meet the prince a« if he had wjnie not oh an ally, but as an enemy. Having provisioned and otherwise prepared for the defence of Alimednu<ro-ur, he jjave the command of" it to the Princess Chand Beeby, who had been queen and dowager-regent of the neighbouring kingdom of Bejapoor, and marched toward the Bejapoor frontier with the remainder of the army. Prince Murad Mirza and Mirza Khan having united their forces, met the altered circumstances by laying aside their o.stensiljle character as auxiliaries, and assuming that of principals in the war.

Chand Beeby, equally j^repared to act her part, and when the Moguls opened the siege of Ahmednuggur, made a most resolute defence, counterworking their mines, superintending the repairing of breaches, and often making her appear- ance, sword in hand, to animate the garrison when their spirits began to fail. Not contented with thus resisting in the fort, she entered into correspondence with tlie neighbouring kings ; and, by vivid description of the common danger by which they were threatened, succeeded in forming a confederacy which levied a powerful army for the purpo:!e of advancing to her relief The Moguls, anxioas to effect a capture before this army could arrive, fired their mines, which blew up about eighty feet of the wall, and threw the garrison into such consternation that they would have given up the plase had not Chand Beeby, appearing among them with a veil on her face and a naked sword in her hand, animated them to new exertions. She caused gims to be brought to bear on the assail- ants, and stones to be hurled upon them, so that the ditch was filled with their dead. During the night she stood by the breach, superintending the workmen, and did not depart till she had seen it built up to such a height as to be no longer practicable. It was now the turn of the Moguls to be disheartened; and Prince Murad was glad to conclude a peace which left Ahmednuggur and its dependencies entire in the hands of its native sovereign, and only required him to renounce some obsolete or unavailable claim on the throne of Berar.

No sooner was this treaty ratified than the dissensions among the princes of the Deccan, which had only been suspended by a common danger, again broke out. Among other follies, they voluntarily assumed the offensive against the Great Mogul ; and, in the very face of their recent engagement, marched a hostile force into Berar. Akber had thus only too good ground for interfering; and he accordingly resolved, in 1599, to take the field in person. One cause of this resolution is said to have been the desire to divert his thoughts, and lighten the grief which he felt for the loss of his second son. Prince Murad, who had died of a sudden Ulness. Another care weighing heavily upon him was the miscon- duct of his eldest son, Prince Selim. He had formally appointed him his suc- cessor, and treated liim with the utmost indulgence, but met with a most ungrateful return. The prince had become the slave of intoxication, and imder its influence was hurried into several crimes. One of these was treason, wdiich