Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/23

Rh the eye of the Hindu leader. There was no one in authority to take up the command, and the masterless crowd broke up like a herd of stampeded horses. Himu on his elephant was driven straight into the presence of Akbar, and Bairam bade the boy flesh his sword on the dying "infidel." The honourable chivalry which distinguished Akbar above all his line at once burst forth: "How can I strike a man who is as good as dead?" he cried. Bairam had no such fine scruples, and immediately dispatched the wounded man.

The crisis had been bravely met, and Akbar had never again to confront so dangerous an enemy. Henceforward, though constantly fighting, he had the advantage – incalculable in Oriental warfare – of being in the position of the attacker, not the attacked. Delhi again opened its gates and received him with effusive loyalty. Agra followed the example of the capital, and after an eight months' siege Sikandar surrendered Mankot and retired to Bengal. The young prince was now king at least in the northwest corner of India. The process of settling this comparatively small territory and dealing with the revenues and the status of the military vassals occupied the next few years, and, except for the reduction of the great fortress of Gwalior and the conquest of the Ganges valley as far as Jaunpur and Benares, the limits of the kingdom were not greatly extended.

In 1560 Akbar took the reins into his own hands. He had chafed under the masterful management of Bairam, whose severity and jealousy had been shown