Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/818

794 794 INDIA [HISTORY. remains to be deciphered from mouldering palm leaves and the more trustworthy inscriptions on copper and stone. Authentic history begins with the Hindu empire of Vij vyanagar or Narsingha, which exercised an ill defined sovereignty over the entire south from the 12th to the 16th century. The foundation of the city of Vijayanagar is assigned to the year 1113, and to an eponymous hero, Raj A Vij ay a, the fifth of his line. Its extensive ruins are still to be traced on the right bank of the Tungabhadra river within the Madras district of Bellary. The city itself has not been inhabited since it was sacked by the Mahometans in 1565, but vast remains still exist of temples, fortifications, tanks, and bridges, haunted by beasts of prey and venomous reptiles. The empire of Vijayanagar represents the last stand made by the national faith in India against conquering Islam. For at least three centuries its sway over the south was undisputed, and its rajas waged wars and concluded treaties of peace with the sultAns of the Deccan on equal terms. Maho- The earliest of the Mahometan dynasties in the Deccan metan wa s that founded by Allah-ud-dfn in 1347 or 1357, which clynas- j iag rece i ve( j t[ ie name O f the BAhmani dynasty from the Deccan. supposed Brahman descent of its founder. The capital was first at Gulbargah, and was afterwards removed to Bidar, both which places still possess magnificent palaces and mosques in ruins. Towards the close of the 14th century the Bahmani empire fell to pieces, and five independent kingdoms divided the Deccan among them. These were (I) the Adil ShAhi dynasty, with its capital at Bijapur, founded in 1489 by a son of Amurath II., sultan of the Ottomans ; (2) the Kutab Shahi dynasty, with its capital at Golconda, founded in 1512 by a Turkoman adventurer; (3) the NizAm Shahi dynasty, with its capital at Ahmad- nagar, founded in 1490 by a Brahman renegade, from the Vijayanagar court ; (4) the Imad Shahi dynasty of Berar, with its capital at Ellichpur, founded in 1484 also by a Hindu from Vijayanagar ; (5) the Barid Shahi dynasty, with its capital at Bidar, founded about 1492 by one who is variously described as a Turk and a Georgian slave. It is, of coarse, impossible here to trace in detail the history of these several dynasties. In 1565 they combined against the Hindu raj A of Vijayanagar, who was defeated and slain in the decisive battle of Talikota. But, though the city was sacked and the supremacy of Vijayanagar for ever destroyed, the Mahometan victors did not themselves advance into the south. The Naiks or feudatories of Vijayanagar everywhere asserted their independence. From them are descended the well-known PAlegArs of the south, and also the present rAjA of Mysore. One of the blood- royal of Vijayanagar fled to Chandragiri, and founded a line which exercised a prerogative of its former sovereignty by granting the site of Madras to the English in 1639. Another scion claiming the same high descent lingers to the present day near the ruins of Vijayanagar, and is known as the rAjA of Anagundi, a feudatory of the nizArn of Hyderabad. Despite frequent internal strife, the sultAns of the Deccan retained their independence until conquered by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the latter half of the 17th century. To complete this sketch of India at the time of BAbar s invasion it remains to say that an independent Mahometan dynasty reigned at AhmadAbAd in Guzer.it for nearly two centuries (from 1391 to 1573), until conquered by Akbar ; and that Bengal was similarly independent, under a line of AfghAn kings, with Gaur for Mugftal their capital, from 1336 to 1573. When, therefore, BAbar dynasty, invaded India in 1525, the greater part of the country was Mahometan, but it did not recognize the authority of the AfghAn sultan of the Lodi dynasty, who resided at Agra, and also ruled the historical capital of Delhi. After having won the battle of PAnipat, BAbar was no more acknowledged as emperor of India than his ancestor Timiir had been BAbar, however, unlike Timiir, had resolved to settle in th& plains of Hindustan, and carve out for himself a new empire with the help of his Mughal followers. His first task was to repel an attack by the Rajputs of Chitor, who seem to have attempted to re-establish at this time a Hindu empire. The battle was fought at Sikri near Agra, and is memorable for the vow made by the easy living BAbar that he would never again touch wine. BAbar was again victorious, but died shortly afterwards in 1530. He was succeeded by his son HumAyun, who is chiefly known as being the father of Akbar. In Humayun s reign theAf :. subject AfghAns rose in revolt under Sher ShAh, a native rex of Bengal, who for a short time established his authority over all Hindustan. HumAyun was driven as an exile into Persia ; and, while he was flying through the desert of Sind, his son Akbar was born to him in the petty fortress of Umarkot. But Slier ShAh was killed at the storming of the rock-fortress of KAlinjar, and HumAyun, after many vicissitudes, succeeded in re-establishing his authority at Lahore and Delhi. HumAyun died by an accident in 1556, leaving butaAl circumscribed kingdom, surrounded on every side by active foes, to his son Akbar, then a boy of only fourteen years. Akbar the Great, the real founder of the Mughal empire as it existed for two centuries, was the contemporary of our own Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). He was born in 1542, and his reign lasted from 1556 to 1605. When his father died he was absent in the Punjab, fighting the revolted AfghAns, under the guardianship of BairAm KhAn, a native of BadakshAn, whose military skill largely con tributed to recover the throne for the Mughal line. For the first seven years of his reign Akbar was perpetually engaged in warfare. His first task was to establish his authority in the Punjab, and in the country around Delhi and Agra. In 1568 he stormed the Rajput stronghold of Chitor, and conquered Ajniir. In 1570 he obtained possession of Oudh and Gwalior. In 1572 he marched in person into Guzerat, defeated the last of the independent sultAns of AhmadAbAd, and formed the province into a Mughal viceroyalty or subah. In the same year his generals drove out the AfghAns from Bengal, and reunited the lower valley of the Ganges to HindustAn. Akbar was then the undisputed ruler of a larger portion of India than had ever before acknowledged the sway of one man. But he continued to extend his conquests throughout his lifetime. In 1578 Orissa was annexed to Bengal by his Hindu general Todar Mall, who forthwith organized a revenue survey of the whole province. Cabul submitted in 1581, Kashmir in 1586, Sind in 1592, and Kandahar in 1 59 4. At last he turned his arms against the Mahometan kings of the Deccan, and wrested from them Berar ; but the permanent conquest of the south was reserved for Aurangzeb. If the history of Akbar were confined to this long list of conquests, his name would on their account alone find a high place among those which mankind delights to remember. But it is as a civil administrator that his reputation is cherished in India to the present day. With regard to the land revenue, the essence of his procedure was to fix the amount which the cultivators should pay at one-third of the gross produce, leaving it to their option to pay in money or in kind. The total land revenue received by Akbar amounted to about 16^ millions sterling. Comparing the area of his empire with the corresponding area now under the British, it has been calculated that Akbar, three hundred years ago, obtained 15^ millions where they obtain only 13| millions, an amount re presenting not more than one-half the purchasing pc*er of Akbar s 15| millions. The distinction between khdlsO