again. He had further studied his partialities
by despatching the renowned Man Singh, his relation by marriage, to
assist him.

The two princes were already on their march towards Mewar when
information reached them that a rebellion had broken out in Bengal,
of which province Man Singh was Viceroy. Man Singh was therefore
compelled to march at once to repress the outbreak. Left without a
counsellor, and commanding a {138} considerable force, Prince Salim
resolved to take advantage of the absence of his father in the south
to make a bold stroke for the crown. Renouncing, then, his march on
Mewar, he hurried with his force to Agra, and when the commandant of
the imperial fortress, loyal to his master, shut its gates in his
face, hastened to Allahabad, occupied the fort, seized the provinces
of Oudh and Behar, and assumed the title of King.

It was the news of these occurrences which drew Akbar from the
Deccan. Attributing the action of Salim to the violence of a temper
which had ever been impatient of control, he resolved rather to guide
than to compel him. Accordingly he wrote him a letter, in which,
assuring him of his continued love if he would only return to his
allegiance, he warned him of the consequences of continued
disobedience. When this letter reached Salim, Akbar was approaching
Agra at the head of an army of warriors, few in number, but the
chosen of the empire. Salim, then, recognising that his position was
absolutely untenable, and that if he persisted it might cost him the
succession, replied in the most submissive terms. His conduct,
however, did not correspond to his words. Informed, somewhat later,
that the bulk of the imperial army was still in the Deccan, he
marched to Itawa, levying troops as he proceeded, with the intention
of waiting upon his father at the head of an imposing force. But
Akbar was not deceived. He sent his son an order {139} to choose one
of two courses; either to come to Agra slightly attended, or to
return to Allahabad.

Prince Salim chose the latter course, receiving the promise, it is
believed, that he should receive the grant of Bengal and Orissa. At
any rate, he did receive the grant of those provinces. We cannot say,
at this time, how much Akbar was influenced in his course by the
consciousness of the comparative weakness of his own position, by his
dislike of having to fight his own son, or by his affection. Probably
the three sentiments combined to give to the course he