Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/220

 203 INDIA the vacant throne in 1321. He was one of the best of the Mohammedan sovereigns, but his reign lasted only four years, when he was killed by the fall of a pavilion which is sup- posed to have been intentionally caused by his son, who succeeded him under the name of Mohammed Togluk, and after a reign of about 27 years died in 1351, leaving, says a historian, "the reputation of one of the most accom- plished princes and most furious tyrants that ever adorned or disgraced human nature." During this disorderly reign Bengal and several of the provinces of southern India became in- dependent. Mohammed Togluk was succeeded after a short civil war by his cousin Feroze Togluk, the founder of Ferozabad, near Delhi, who reigned for 86 years, and was distin- guished for humanity and for the vast num- ber of public works which he constructed and endowed with revenues. In the reign of his grandson Mahmoud Togluk, in 1398, India was invaded by the famous Tartar conqueror Tam- erlane, who captured Delhi, plundered and slaughtered the inhabitants with frightful bar- barity, and caused himself to be proclaimed emperor of India. At the end of 15 days, however, he abruptly quitted Delhi and re- turned to his own country, "marking his way with fire and sword, and leaving anarchy, fam- ine, and pestilence behind him." The gov- ernors of the various provinces of the empire proclaimed their independence of Delhi, and assumed royal titles, so that only a small dis- trict remained subject to the authority of the imperial capital. Half a century of anarchy succeeded, during which there were five titu- lar emperors in Delhi, who however had no real authority beyond the walls of the city. The Togluk dynasty ceased with the death of Mohammed Togluk in 1414. At length in 1450 Beylol Lodi, an Afghan military chief of talent and energy, made himself the actual sovereign, though nominally acting as vizier to one of the titular monarchs, whom he finally succeeded in 1478. Before his death in 1488, he succeeded in recovering many of the provinces which had formerly be- longed to the empire. His son Sikunder still further enlarged his dominions in a reign of 29 years, during the latter part of which he made Agra his capital. Sikunder was suc- ceeded by his son Ibrahim, in whose reign India was again invaded by the Moguls, led by a descendant of Tamerlane, the cele- brated Baber, sultan of Cabool. Ibrahim was defeated and slain in a battle on the plains of Paniput in 1526, and Baber ascended the throne with little further opposition, the im- perial cities of Delhi and Agra surrendering without resistance. In the course of his reign of five years, Baber, who had remained in India, made himself master of all the provinces which had belonged to his predecessor. He died in December, 1530, and was succeeded by his son Humayun, who allowed one of his brothers to hold Cabool and the rest of Af- ghanistan as an independent kingdom, and contented himself with his Indian dominions. These he was deprived of at the end of nine years by Shere Khan, the governor of Bengal, a man of great military talents, who rebelled, defeated the emperor in several battles, and finally compelled him to fly for refuge to Per- sia. Shere Khan was then proclaimed empe- ror of Delhi, with the title of Shere Shah. He reigned with wisdom and success for about five years, when he was killed by the explosion of a magazine while directing the siege of a re- bellious fortress. He was succeeded by his son Selim Shah Soor, and by his grandson Feroze Khan, the latter of whom after a few days' reign was murdered by his uncle Mubari, who usurped the throne and took the name of Mohammed Shah. In the mean time the exiled Humayun, by the aid of the king of Persia, had made himsell master of Cabool, and now resolved on attempting the recovery of the throne of Delhi. This he successfully accom- plished by the aid of his heroic son Akbar, and he reentered the city of Delhi, whence he had been driven 15 years before, in July, 1555. He did not survive his restoration to power more than a few months, being killed by an accidental fall from the terrace of his palace at Delhi. Akbar, who succeeded his father in 1556, reigned for 51 years. He is reputed the ablest, most liberal, and most powerful of the Mogul emperors of India. He restored the empire to its former bounds, reorganized the army and the finances in a statesmanlike manner, so that his revenues were largely in- creased while the burdens of the people were diminished, and treated all religions with re- spect and impartiality, freely admitting the Hindoos to a share in the administration of public affairs, from which they had hitherto been jealously excluded by their Mohammedan masters. Akbar was succeeded in 1605 by his son Selim, who took the title of Jehanghir, or " conqueror of the world." In the early part of his reign he was intemperate, capricious, and cruel ; but his habits and conduct greatly improved after his marriage with the cele- brated Nourmahal, " the light of the harem," one of the most extraordinary and accom- plished women known to history, whose influ- ence over the emperor was so great that it is said he took no step without consulting her, and that in every affair in which she took an interest her will was law. The last years of Jehanghir were embittered by the quarrels of his four sons, each of whom aimed at the suc- cession, and who were at times in open rebel- lion against their father. He died in 1627, in the 22d year of his reign. He was succeeded by his favorite son Shah Jehan, in whose reign the Deccan was completely subdued and ren- dered tributary, and a long and eventually un- successful war was waged with the Persians and the Afghans. In 1G57 he fell very ill, and being thought to be dying, his son Dara, the heir ap- parent, assumed the reins of government. The