Brothers at War eotm-2

by Alex Rutherford

  ‘The defenders clearly have little stomach for the fight, as we suspected. Have those archers with the message offering surrender terms attached to their arrows advance and fire them into the city,’ Humayun commanded. Within a few minutes he saw the arrows fly into the air, most of them overtopping the walls and landing within the fort.

  Scarcely two hours later, with Akbar at his side, Humayun rode through the tall, iron-studded gates of Rohtas and into the silent, deserted courtyard of the fortress, which was strewn with abandoned weapons and items of heavy equipment. Having seen the strength of Humayun’s army, the defenders had immediately appreciated the generosity of the surrender offer. Within a few minutes the great thick wooden gates had creaked open and the garrison had begun to stream through them, some on foot and some on horseback, carrying what valuables they could and all heading south, leaving Humayun master of this gateway to Hindustan.

  Humayun ordered some of the officers of his bodyguard to check that all the garrison had indeed departed and that none lurked in ambush. Receiving their swift confirmation, Humayun walked towards the open doors of the fortress’s great hall. As he did so, he glanced to his right where he saw that charcoal fires were still glowing beneath some clay tandoor ovens. Looking inside one, he found several loaves of warm, unleavened bread. He took one, bit a small portion from it and then handed it to Akbar.

  ‘Enjoy it. It tastes of victory.’

  Chapter 25

  Shock and Awe

  ‘Humayun Padishah! Long live Emperor Humayun!’The cries of the citizens of Lahore rang out all around as, one warm late February day in 1555, Humayun and Akbar made their triumphal entry into the city in a gilded howdah atop a tall elephant, whose long saddle cloth embroidered with golden thread and set with pearls swept the dust of the city’s wide streets.At the head of the procession was a squadron of Humayun’s best cavalry, all riding on black horses and all wearing turbans of gold-coloured cloth. The afternoon sun glinted on the steel points of the long lances they held vertically as they rode. Behind them, just in front of Humayun, six mounted trumpeters and six drummers with small kettledrums on either side of their saddlebows played with skill and vigour. Their music, together with the roar of the crowd, made it difficult for Humayun to hear Akbar’s words.

  ‘Father, ever since we left Kabul we have fought only skirmishes. All the major fortresses like Rohtas have surrendered at our approach and now this great city of Lahore has too. How much further can we go into Hindustan without a real battle?’

  ‘Not far, I think. We’ll soon be entering what were the heartlands of Sher Shah’s and Islam Shah’s dominions. The three contenders for their throne will have heard of our advance and will know that we — the rightful rulers of Hindustan — are a greater threat than any of their fellow pretenders. One or all of them will turn aside from their squabbles to attack us.’

  ‘D’you think they will unite against us?’

  ‘Possibly, but the amount of death and destruction they have inflicted on each other makes that unlikely. However, each will be a formidable opponent in his own right.’

  ‘How long will we stay in Lahore?’

  ‘Only long enough to have the chief mullah proclaim me emperor once more by reading the khutba — the sermon — in my name at the Friday service in the mosque. Look, you can see its two tall minarets over there through the palm trees. We need to keep up the impetus of our advance. Too often I’ve delayed and let my opponents seize the initiative.’

  Two weeks later, as, shrouded in early morning mist, his troops were lighting their cooking fires to prepare their early meal, Humayun sat with his military council around him in his scarlet tent at the centre of his camp. Since leaving Lahore eight days earlier, he and his army had advanced ninety miles southeast, ever deeper into Hindustan across the featureless, red plains.

  ‘You are certain, Ahmed Khan, that the forces of Adil Shah are heading east across our line of march?’

  ‘Yes. Five days ago they had the worst of another encounter with the army of their rival Sekunder Shah and now they are hastening towards their stronghold in the fortress of Sundarnagar to regather their strength.’

  ‘How far away are they?’

  ‘Perhaps eight miles ahead of us, Majesty.’

  ‘How many of them are there?’

  ‘Ten thousand or so, nearly all mounted. They have abandoned most of their cannon and heavy equipment.’

  ‘Do they have pickets and outriders posted?’

  ‘Only a very few, Majesty; they are in too much disorder. They paused merely for a few hours overnight to snatch some sleep and were in the saddle again before dawn. Their minds seem concentrated only on reaching Sundarnagar as speedily as possible.’

  ‘Then let us attack immediately, taking advantage of the cover of the mist while it lasts. Tell the men to douse their cooking fires. There is no time to eat. We will take mounted cavalry and archers. Also, order some of the cavalrymen to take musketeers up behind them on their horses.You, Bairam Khan, will remain with Akbar in charge of the camp. Ensure you establish good defences and post pickets. I expect to win but the camp must be strongly protected in case Adil Shah evades us or for any reason secures a temporary advantage.’

  Two hours later, the mist had entirely evaporated. Humayun — who had ridden a mile or so ahead of his advancing main force with Ahmed Khan and a party of his scouts — looked over the low mud wall of a small village inhabited by a few poor farmers and their goats and chickens. Shielding his eyes with his hands against the sun’s glare, he saw about three-quarters of a mile away a large cloud of dust billowing as it crossed from right to left in front of him. Within the dust cloud, Humayun could just distinguish the shapes of riders and a few small baggage wagons pulled by mules or oxen. Two large banners fluttered at the head of the column. At this distance and through the dust, Humayun found it difficult to make out their colour, let alone any device on them, but it could only be Adil Shah’s forces.They had no scouts posted and appeared as yet oblivious of any danger.

  ‘Send orders back to Nadim Khwaja to take his division of cavalry and attack the rear. Tell Zahid Beg to bring his men here and I will lead them in an attack on the vanguard. Additionally, let those horsemen who have musketeers with them ride straightaway to within a hundred yards of the enemy line of march and there let the musketeers add to our opponents’ discomfort.’

  Soon, Humayun’s musketeers were dismounting to place their long muskets on their firing tripods and Humayun and his troops were almost on Adil Shah’s vanguard. At the last moment their opponents had suddenly become aware of them and were turning to face them, unsheathing their weapons as they did so. Officers were shouting orders to close ranks and to prepare to receive the attacks. Almost immediately, Humayun’s musketeers fired their first volley, which knocked some of Adil Shah’s men from their saddles and wounded and panicked some of their horses.

  Moments later, Humayun at the head of his cavalry thudded into their vanguard. His first action was to cut down one of the two banner holders with a sword swipe to the head. As the man fell backwards, he dropped his great banner, which Humayun could now see was orange with a gold sun on it. The long cloth twisted around the legs of Humayun’s black horse and it stumbled. Humayun, caught off balance as he leaned from the saddle to aim a sword stroke at the second banner carrier, fell. As he landed on the hard ground, his sword was knocked from his grasp.

  Another of Adil Shah’s men, a stocky officer wearing a domed helmet with an orange plume, reacted more swiftly than Humayun’s bodyguard. He kicked his chestnut horse towards Humayun and attempted to impale him on his long lance. Humayun rolled quickly away, throwing off his gauntlet as he did so and trying to extract his dagger from its jewelled scabbard hanging at his waist. After what seemed an age, he tugged it free and threw the foot-long weapon with all his force at the throat of the horse of his opponent, who was attempting to ride him down once more. The point of the dagger hit its mark and the horse, bleeding
profusely, staggered and collapsed, throwing its rider, who hit the earth with a thump.

  Humayun was by now on his feet and rushed over to the winded officer, who had lost his helmet in the fall. Humayun grabbed him round his thick neck as he too attempted to stand. For some seconds they fought as the officer tried to extract himself from Humayun’s headlock. Then he bit hard into the bare flesh of Humayun’s wrist and hand, drawing blood. Humayun relaxed his grip slightly and the officer wrenched his head free.

  Half smiling through teeth flecked with Humayun’s blood, he immediately kicked out at Humayun’s groin. But Humayun leaped back and his opponent missed, throwing himself off balance. Humayun swept the man’s trailing leg from beneath him and, as he fell, leaped upon him, landing with his knees on his opponent’s chest. The officer, although winded again, in turn succeeded in kneeing Humayun in the back and dislodging him.They rolled over and over in the dust together until Humayun used his superior strength and agility to get both his hands firmly round his opponent’s neck. Deliberately he pressed his thumbs into the man’s windpipe as hard as he could and twisted his neck sharply. There was a loud crack and slowly the officer’s face suffused with purple and his bulging eyes grew unfocused as he ceased to struggle.Throwing the limp body aside, Humayun scrambled to his feet and retrieved his sword. Grimly he realised that without the training of his wrestling bouts with Bayzid Khan he might not have prevailed. It would have been very difficult in the press of the fight for his bodyguard to protect him once he was unhorsed.

  These same bodyguards were by now gathering round and Humayun saw that many of Adil Shah’s men were already fleeing. Others were surrendering. It was still less than an hour since he had first seen Adil Shah’s army, phantoms in the dust, from the shelter of the farmers’ village. Now they were in complete confusion and disarray, as were Adil Shah’s chances of making good his claim to the throne of Hindustan.

  ‘Pursue our enemies. Capture as many animals and as much equipment as you can. We will need them for the harder fights that surely lie ahead. If you capture Adil Shah show him no mercy, as he showed none to his young nephew.’

  Three hours after the battle, some of the troops Humayun had sent in pursuit of his defeated enemy returned. Humayun saw that one of them was leading a horse with a body slung across its back, the arms and legs tied together beneath the animal’s belly. The rider leading the group dismounted and bowed low before Humayun. ‘It’s Adil Shah, Majesty. Members of his bodyguard whom we overtook only two or three miles from here surrendered the body to us. They told us that he had died a short time before from a chest wound inflicted by a musket ball at the beginning of the battle.’

  Humayun walked over to the corpse and, pulling the head back, looked into his opponent’s face. Beneath the caked blood and dirt, Adil Shah looked ordinary. Humayun could see no outward trace of the wicked depth of his ambition which had led him to slaughter his sister’s son. Letting Adil Shah’s head drop, he suppressed the temptation welling within him to show his contempt for his enemy by leaving his corpse unburied for the birds and pariah dogs to feed on. Instead, he turned away with a curt instruction, ‘Inter him in an unmarked grave.’

  That night, in the quiet of his tent, Humayun offered a silent prayer of thanks. He had eliminated one of the three other major contenders for the throne of Hindustan. But he knew he must not relax. He must retain the initiative and the impetus of his victories, pushing himself and his army to the utmost. Otherwise, his chance to recover his throne and to transform himself from failure to victor might be lost and might never arise again.

  The next morning Ahmed Khan’s scouts brought news of a further opportunity. Travellers coming up the road from the south had told them that a small army led by two of Tartar Khan’s generals was about five days’ ride away, heading north in their direction. Its apparent aim was to confront Adil Shah of whose defeat they were as yet ignorant. Realising that he had a great chance to inflict a serious blow on the second of the contenders for the throne of Hindustan and in all probability remove him too from contention, Humayun immediately ordered his men to move south to attack Tartar Khan’s army.

  A week later, Humayun surveyed another battlefield. Riding hard, his troops had come up with their enemy earlier that day and had found that their opponents were travelling in two distinct divisions separated by at least a mile. Neither group numbered more than four thousand men. Humayun had straightaway ordered an attack on the leading division, which had quickly broken under the impact and scattered across the plain. Rather than riding to the aid of their stricken comrades, the second division had retreated and occupied a defensive position on a nearby small hill, which Humayun’s troops had swiftly encircled.

  At this moment, Humayun could see a group of officers conferring on the hilltop. Turning to Ahmed Khan at his side, he asked, ‘Do we know who the general of that division is?’

  ‘Majesty, during the recent battle the commander of a squadron of cavalry surrendered almost immediately and told us that he and his men wished to serve you. We put his men under guard and confined him to one of our tents where he volunteered much information about the make-up of our enemy’s army and its morale. He is sure to know.’

  ‘Bring him to me.’

  A few minutes later, two of Ahmed Khan’s men appeared leading a tall man of about thirty with a neatly trimmed black beard. To forestall any possibility of his attacking Humayun they had shackled his ankles so closely that he could only shuffle forwards. When he was within a few yards of Humayun he threw himself on the ground.

  After a moment Humayun spoke. ‘Help him up.’ Then he asked, ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Mustapha Ergun, a Turkish officer in the service of Tartar Khan.’

  ‘I understand you wish to transfer your allegiance to me.’

  ‘My hundred men also.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We joined Tartar Khan in search of booty and of position if he became Padishah of Hindustan. But we have found he is not serious about pursuing this ambition. While he loitered on the borders of Gujarat in the arms of his concubines, he despatched us on this tentative expedition against the weaker of his fellow contenders, Adil Shah. He didn’t even provide us with enough men, weapons or equipment to do our job properly and our pay is three months in arrears. We believe that you are serious in your ambition to regain the imperial throne and that when you succeed you will reward us generously.’

  ‘I remember well the esteem in which my father held his Turkish gunners. I too have been served well by officers from other nations. Bairam Khan here joined me from the army of the Shah of Persia. But how can I be sure of your sincerity?’

  ‘We are prepared to swear our loyalty to you on the Holy Book — or let us lead the attack in your next battle to prove ourselves.’

  ‘I will consider both offers, but I pose you this initial test. Go to the other division of your army who sit surrounded on that hill. Persuade them to surrender. I extend to them the following terms — either to depart unmolested retaining their personal weapons but leaving behind their heavy equipment or — like you — to volunteer to join my forces. If they do not surrender, I may take up your offer to lead the next attack, which will be on them. Do you accept my proposition?’

  ‘Yes, Majesty.’

  ‘Strike off his shackles.’

  A quarter of an hour later, Mustapha Ergun rode out from Humayun’s camp accompanied by ten of his men. When he reached the hill on which his comrades were drawn up, they opened a gap in their lines to receive him. Humayun could see him and his men ride to the top of the barren hill to talk to the officers congregated there. Soon the knot of men broke up and individual officers seemed to be consulting their men.There were occasional outbursts of cheering before the gap in the front line reopened and Mustapha Ergun with his ten soldiers behind him re-emerged and rode back down to Humayun’s position.

  Two of Humayun’s bodyguards placed themselves on either side of him as, smiling, he approached Humayu
n, who had Bairam Khan and Akbar at his side. ‘What success have you had?’

  ‘No more blood will be spilled, Majesty. The division on the hill is commanded by a Gujarati prince named Selim and two-thirds of his troops are Gujaratis enlisted by Tartar Khan when he first decided to pursue the imperial throne. They’re tired of this campaign and wish to return home and are prepared to accept your conditions for doing so.’

  ‘Good. And the other third?’

  ‘A mixed bunch from many places. Some are mere boys who joined our ranks as we passed through their villages from a desire for adventure, most of whom now want nothing more than to preserve their lives. Others are hardened soldiers of fortune like ourselves, including one hundred musketeers from my own country under the command of an old comrade of mine, Kemil Attak, and about the same number of Persians, recruited to man the few small cannon we have with us. Both these two groups wish to join you with their weapons, as we do ourselves.’

  ‘You have done well. I accept your offer of service and that of your men and I will accept those of the other volunteers, provided like you their officers convince me of their sincerity.’ Then, turning to Bairam Khan, he said, ‘Each victory brings us nearer to our goal. But we cannot falter or all we have achieved so far will be lost. This evening we will feast to celebrate our victory and to welcome our new comrades-in-arms but tomorrow we will march to vanquish the last of the pretenders to my throne, Sekunder Shah. He is the best leader and his army is the largest of the three. His governor occupies Delhi and he himself sits with his army across the road to the capital. Our greatest battle is to come.’