The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c16.153

v4.c16.153

Akbar, whose presence had been most necessary in the Deccan, had been detained in the north by the apprehension that ‘Abdullah II, who had wrested Badakhshān from his cousins, intended to annex Kābul also. His apprehensions were allayed by the death, on 4 February, 1598, of ‘Abdullah. From his son and successor, ‘Abdul-Mūmin, Akbar had nothing to fear, and he was now free to turn towards the Deccan, but the desire of recovering his ancestral home was revived by the opportune death of ‘Abdullah and was, not improbably, encouraged by Abu-’l-Fazl, who perceived an opportunity of attaining his own ends. He detested Akbar’s eldest son, Salīm, and suggested that the task should be entrusted to him; but the prince detected the malice which prompted the proposal. Akbar was growing old, a campaign in Central Asia, against unknown powers and unknown interests, might last long, and he had no intention of jeopardising his chance of ascending the imperial throne. Abu-’l-Fazl naïvely records his disappointment by attributing Salīm’s refusal to certain “worshippers of India”, the writer’s own native land, and Akbar, too, was disappointed. He proposed to entrust the task to one of his two younger sons, but honest and outspoken counsellors dissuaded him from pursuing the scheme, and he wisely resolved to march to the Deccan.