Page:Akbar and the Rise of the Mughal Empire.djvu/189

182 a degradation. It would seem that his father, Humáyún, had to a certain extent prepared the way. In his erudite and fascinating work, Colonel Tod relates how Humáyún, in the earlier part of his reign, became the knight of the princess Kurnávatí of Chitor, and pledged himself to her service. That service he loyally performed. He addressed her always as 'dear and virtuous sister.' He also won the regard of Rájá Bihárí Mall of Amber, father of the Bhagwán Dás, so often mentioned in these pages.

Akbar subsequently married his daughter, and becoming thus connected with the House of Amber (Jaipur), could count upon Bhagwán Dás and his nephew and adopted son, Mán Singh, one of the greatest of all his commanders, as his firmest friends. Writing in another page of Bhagwán Dás, Colonol Tod describes him as 'the friend of Akbar, who saw the value of attaching such men to his throne.' He adds, and few men have ever enjoyed better opportunities of ascertaining the real feelings of the princes of Rajpútána, 'but the name of Bhagwán Dás is execrated as the first who sullied Rájpút purity by matrimonial alliance with the Islámite.' Prejudice always strong, and nowhere stronger than in caste.

Rájpútána never produced greater or larger-minded princes than Bhagwán Dás and his nephew. Their intimate union with Akbar contributed more than any other circumstance to reconcile the Rájpúts