s
that Kamran, who had planned the manoeuvre, surprised him at the
upper end of the defile of Kipchak, and forced him to take refuge in
flight. During the flight Humayun was badly wounded, but nevertheless
managed to reach the top of the Sirtan Pass in safety. There he was
in comparative security. Meanwhile Kamran had marched upon and
captured Kabul, and, for the third time, Akbar found himself a
prisoner in the hands of his uncle. Humayun did not submit tamely to
this loss. Rallying his adherents, he recrossed the mountains, and
marched on the city. Arriving at Shutargardan he saw the army of
Kamran drawn up to oppose him. After some days of fruitless
negotiation for a compromise Humayun ordered the attack. It resulted
in a complete victory and the flight of Kamran. For a moment Humayun
feared lest Kamran should have carried his son with him in his
flight. But, before he could enter the city, he was intensely
relieved by the arrival in camp of Akbar, accompanied by Hasan Akhta,
to whose care he had been entrusted. The next day he entered the
city.

This time the conquest was decisive and lasting. In the distribution
of awards which followed Humayun did not omit his son. He bestowed
upon Akbar as a jaghir the district of Chirkh, and nominated Haji
Muhammad Khan of Sistan as his minister, {59} with the care of his
education. During the year that followed the causes of the troubles
of Humayun disappeared one by one. Kamran indeed once more appeared
in arms, but only to be hunted down so vigorously that he was forced
to surrender (August, 1553). He was exiled to Mekka, where he died
four years later. Hindal Mirza, another brother, had been slain some
eighteen months before, during the pursuit of Kamran. Askari Mirza,
the other brother, in whose nature treachery seemed ingrained, had
been exiled to Mekka in 1551,[3] and though he still survived he was
harmless. Relieved thus of his brothers, Humayun contemplated the
conquest of Kashmir, but his nobles and their followers were so
averse to the expedition that he was forced, unwillingly, to renounce
it. He consoled himself by crossing the Indus. Whilst encamped in the
districts between that river and the Jehlam he ordered the repair,
tantamount to a reconstruction on an enlarged plan, of the fort at
Peshawar. He was contemplating even then the invasion of India, and
he was particularly anxious that he should possess a _point d'appui_
beyond the passes on which his army coul