The History of Humāyūn (Gulbadan Begam) 4.3.8

4.3.8

A campaign was planned for 1549 against the Uzbegs and Balkh. This was done despite marked instability in the royal following. Instability or, in a plainer word, desertion, was an accident to which Humayun was peculiarly liable. One cause of it is more interesting than the common one of personal gain, because it is rooted in theological bias. Humayun's coquetry with Shi'ism in Persia is one of the most entertaining of the episodes of his sojourn there, and it had consequences in arousing distrust of him, which cropped up from time to time. Babar himself had lost ground because of his tolerance to variety of faith. But to this, both in the father and still more in the son, were added, as causes of desertion, the flux and reflux of weak government which forbid men to know who will keep the upper hand and have power to oppress.