This person, formerly a retainer of Beiram Khan, was, on account of his abilities, preferred to the office of private tutor to the King; and having gained great influence with his Prince, he be­haved with insolence towards the nobles of the court, making them wait whole hours for an au­dience, and at last sending them word that he could not see them at all. This conduct gave universal offence. Beiram Khan himself, on going one day to Moolla Peer Mahomed's house to en­quire after his health, was stopped by the servants, and made to wait outside, and even when admitted, was only allowed to take one servant with him into the court-yard. This conduct so incensed the Protector, that without speaking to the King on the subject, he sent Moolla Peer Mahomed pri­soner to a fort, from whence he was banished to Guzerat, and eventually to Mecca, on the plea of performing a pilgrimage; and Hajy Mahomed Khan Seestany, a townsman of the Protector, was appointed to succeed Moolla Peer Mahomed as the King's preceptor.

Akbur was highly enraged at this proceeding; but Beiram Khan, by way of diverting his mind, projected an expedition against Gualiar. That fortress still remained in possession of Soheil Khan, an officer of Sulim Shah, the son of Sheer Shah, who held it for Mahomed Shah Adily. Soheil Khan, hearing of Akbur's intentions, wrote to Ram-Sa, a descendant of Raja Man-Sing, saying, that as his ancestors had been masters of Gualiar, and as he was not capable of holding the place against the King, he would put it into the pos­session of the Raja for a reasonable sum. Ram-Sa availed himself of this offer, and moved towards the fort; but Yekbal Khan, who possessed an estate in the neighbourhood of Gualiar, having raised his vassals, attacked and defeated the Hin­doo chief, who fled into the dominions of the

A. H. 964.
A. D. 1556.

Rana. * After which Yekbal Khan, having invested Gualiar, Soheil Khan surrendered it into his hands.

In the course of the same year, Khan Zuman, in order to recommend himself, and to effect a recon­ciliation with the King, after all that had happened regarding the trooper, marched with his troops and subdued all the districts near Joonpoor and Benares, which till then remained in the hands of the adherents of the Afghan dynasty.

Rujub,
A. H. 965.
May,
A.D. 1556. In the month of Rujub, of the same year, Mahomed Ghows, the brother of Sheikh Bheilole, who on account of his attachment to the Mogul dynasty had retired to Guzerat, now returned to court with his family; and being favourably received Beiram Khan was requested to provide him with a suitable establishment. Mahomed Ghows, relying too much on his personal interest with the King, neglected to pay that attention to the minister which he al­ways expected, and Beiram Khan made so many excuses and delays that Mahomed Ghows found his stay at court disagreeable, and quitting it, retired to his old family residence at Gualiar. The King was much vexed with Beiram Khan for his conduct on this occasion; and he, observing a visible alteration in Akbur's manner towards him, proposed an expedition against Baz Buhadur, ruler of Malwa, to the command of which Bahadur Khan, the brother of Khan Zuman, governor of Depalpoor, was nominated.

About this time the King, being on a hunting party near Sikundra, was joined by Mahim Atka, who stated that the Queen-dowager was extremely ill at Dehly, and wished to see him. He accord­ingly proceeded to Dehly, and Shahab-ood-Deen Ahmud Khan Nyshapoory, an officer of five thou­sand, who then commanded in the city, came out to meet him. Apprehensive, however, lest Beiram Khan should suppose that the King's journey to Dehly had originated in an invitation from him, and fearing that he might in consequence be re­moved, as Moosahib Beg had been on a former occasion, Shahab-ood-Deen communicated his fears to Akbur, and begged that he might be permitted to retire, on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Surprised to find how much the minister was dreaded; yet by way of courtesy to Beiram Khan, as well as to re­move Shahab-ood-Deen Ahmud's fears, Akbur wrote to Beiram Khan, telling him that he had come to Dehly, not by invitation of any person, but merely to pay his respects to his sick mother. Beiram Khan replied, that “he should never en-“tertain resentment against any person whom his “Majesty was pleased to honour with his favour;” he, moreover, deputed Hajy Mahomed Khan Sees-tany, and Tursoon Beg, to Dehly, with assurances of his loyalty. The enemies of Beiram Khan at court procured the seisure and confinement of his messengers. This circumstance was no sooner made known at Agra, than many of the minister's adherents began to quit him, and proceed to the court at Dehly, where Shahab-ood-Deen Ahmud, finding the King disposed to listen to accusations against the falling minister, gave full vent to his ani­mosity, in which he was joined by many of the courtiers whom he had attached to his interest. In short, so many insinuations were thrown out against Beiram Khan, particularly one of a design in favour of Abool Kasim Mirza, the son of the late Kamran Mirza, that Akbur became alarmed, and thought it necessary to curtail the Protector's authority. Accordingly, when Mahomed Khan and Tursoon Beg arrived in Dehly, instead of being admitted to an audience, they were seized and imprisoned, as has been related.

This breach between the King and Beiram Khan is related, with other particulars, by Abool Fuzl. “One day,” says that historian, “while the King was at Agra, one of his elephants “being must, * attacked and killed another of “Beiram Khan's, who, on the spur of the moment, “commanded the keeper of the royal elephant to “be put to death, without first speaking to the “King. Akbur was highly incensed, the more so, “on finding that the man was not to blame, having “lost all command over the animal. Soon after “this,” continues Abool Fuzl, “while Beiram Khan “was taking his pleasure in a barge on the river, “one of the elephants which had been carried down “to the water, ran furiously against the boat, and “had nearly sunk it, but for the great efforts of his “driver. The minister, naturally suspicious, ima-“gined these accidents were actually plots against “his life; and he required the King to punish “the driver. In order to satisfy the Protector, “and to remove his suspicion, Akbur ordered the “elephant driver to be sent to him to be punished “at his discretion, when Beiram Khan caused him “to suffer death. Akbur, much incensed at these “two instances of his minister's cruelty, came to “the resolution of depriving him of office; a mea-“sure which required great firmness and much “address.” Some authors mention a scheme sug­gested to the King by his nurse to get possession of the seals; while others say, that she discovered it was the Protector's design to seize and confine him; a plot she is stated to have accidentally over­heard, in a conversation between Beiram Khan and the Queen-dowager. “This,” say they, “was “the cause which determined Akbur to quit “Agra,” but Abool Fuzl does not mention it. He informs us, and with great probability, that the idea of shaking off the trammels of the minister was first communicated to Adam Khan Atka, and Mahim Atka, by the young King, who, tired of tutelage, thought he was capable of acting for him­self. When it became known the messengers from Beiram Khan had been imprisoned, his ruin was easily foreseen by every body. A few days after, Akbur issued a proclamation, announc­ing to his people that he had taken the sole management of affairs into his own hands, requiring that henceforward no orders from court but those issued under his own seal should be obeyed.

Shah Abool Maaly, a favourite noble of the late Hoomayoon Padshah, had been long con­fined in Lahore; but having some time before this period found means to escape, he joined Kumal Gukkur, and accompanied him in an expedition against Kashmeer. These chiefs were defeated with great slaughter; and Shah Abool Maaly, retiring to Depalpoor, instigated Bahadur Khan Seestany to rebel; but the latter repenting of his conduct, a quarrel ensued, and Shah Abool Maaly retired towards the Indus, whence he fled to Gu­zerat, and eventually came to Joonpoor; where being seized by Khan Zuman, he was sent pri­soner to Agra, and condemned to perpetual im­prisonment in the fort of Byana.

Beiram Khan, finding himself out of favour at court, marched to Malwa, with the intention of reducing that country, and establishing an inde­pendent principality. At Byana, finding that Ba-

A. H. 966.
A. D. 1558.

hadur Khan Seestany and other chiefs, on whose assistance he calculated, were unwilling to aid him, Beiram Khan pro­cured the release of Shah Abool Maaly from con­finement, and intended, through his aid and that of Khan Zuman of Joonpoor, to attack and expel the Afghans from Bengal, and fix himself in that quarter. Before he had proceeded far, however, he changed his resolution, and took the route of Nagoor, with the avowed design of making a pil­grimage to Mecca; while Bahadur Khan Seestany, Yekbal Khan, and many other chiefs who had joined him, took leave and departed. On reach­ing Nagoor, Beiram Khan gave up the notion of going to Mecca, and assembled troops, in order to establish himself in Punjab.