Chapter Three

At dead of night Jagatsingh departed from the temple of Shaileshwar. For the present I am unable to satisfy the curiosity of my readers by following his steps, or by recounting the tidings of the enchantress who held sway within that shrine. Jagatsingh is a Rajput — why he had come into Bengal, and wherefore he was journeying alone across the open plain, must be explained; and that explanation requires me to set forth, in brief, certain matters of state concerning Bengal at the period of this narrative. This chapter is therefore of an historical cast. Readers of an impatient temper may pass it by; but the author's counsel is that impatience is no virtue.

When Bakhtiyar Khilji first planted the standard of Islam in Bengal, the Mussulmans governed that kingdom without let or hindrance for well-nigh a century. In the year 972 of the Hijri era, the renowned Sultan Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, Badshah of Delhi, upon the field of battle and ascended his throne; yet Bengal did not at that time come under the dominion of the house of Timur.

Until the rise of Akbar, the crown-jewel of the Mughal emperors, independent Pathan kings had ruled this land. In an evil hour the foolish Daoud Khan laid hands upon the sleeping lion; by the just reward of his own act he was defeated by Munaim Khan, Akbar's general, and stripped of his kingdom. In the year 982 of the Hijri era, Daoud fled with his following into Orissa; the kingdom of Bengal was seized within the grasp of the Mughal sovereign. When the Pathans established themselves in Utkala, the Mughals found it no easy matter to dislodge them thence. In the year 986, Khan Jahan Khan, the representative of the Lord of Delhi, defeated the Pathans a second time and brought Utkala under the sway of his master. Thereafter yet another grievous trouble arose. The new system of revenue-collection which Akbar Shah instituted in Bengal gave deep offence to the jagirdars and other holders of the soil. They took up the sword in defence of their former privileges. So fierce a rebellion broke out that the Pathans of Orissa, seizing their opportunity, raised their heads once more; and choosing a Pathan named Katlu Khan as their chief, they recovered Orissa for themselves, and Midnapur likewise fell into their hands.

The able viceroys Khan Azim and, after him, Shahbaz Khan were alike unable to recover the country wrested away by the enemy. At last a Hindu warrior was despatched to achieve this arduous task.

The great Akbar was wiser in all respects than his predecessors upon the throne. He had formed the firm conviction that the affairs of this country were best managed by men of this country, and that foreigners were ill-suited to the same; and further, that among all races the Rajputs excelled in war and in the governance of kingdoms. He was therefore wont at all times to employ men of this land, and Rajputs in particular, in the weightiest offices of state.

Among the Rajputs who held high place at the period of this narrative, Man Singh was the foremost. He was himself the brother-in-law of Salim, Akbar's own son. When Khan Azim and Shahbaz Khan proved unequal to the conquest of Utkala, Akbar sent this great man as governor of Bengal and Bihar.

In the year 996, Man Singh arrived at the city of Patna and first composed various other disturbances. The following year, bent upon the conquest of Utkala, he set forth in that direction. When Man Singh first presented himself at Patna, intending to make that city his own place of residence, he appointed Syed Khan as his deputy for the administration of Bengal. Syed Khan, entrusted with this charge, was residing at Tanda, which was then the capital of Bengal. Man Singh, now marching to battle, summoned his deputy to join him in the field, and wrote to Syed Khan that he desired him to meet him with his forces at Burdwan.

Arriving at Burdwan, the Raja found that Syed Khan had not come, but had sent word only by messenger that he was like to be greatly delayed in assembling his troops — so much so, indeed, that the rains might well be upon them before he could set his army in order and march; he therefore entreated the Raja Man Singh to encamp where he was until the close of the monsoon, and he would then present himself before his lord at the head of his forces. The Raja Man Singh had no choice but to follow this counsel, and pitched his camp upon the banks of the Darakeshwar, where he abode awaiting Syed Khan.

While encamped there, the Raja received intelligence by common report that Katlu Khan, emboldened by his idleness, had ventured with his forces to within a short distance of Mandaran and was plundering the surrounding villages. The Raja, greatly troubled in mind, deemed it proper to send one of his principal commanders to ascertain with certainty where the enemy's force lay, what their intentions were, and what they were about. With Man Singh had come his most beloved son Jagatsingh to the war. Knowing that Jagatsingh was eager to undertake this hazardous service, the Raja sent him forth attended by a hundred troopers in the direction of the enemy's camp. The Prince accomplished his mission and returned in good time. It was as he was returning to camp, having completed his task, that the reader made his acquaintance upon the open plain.