Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.s3.230

v1.c20.s3.230

Birth of Akbar.—In the same year that the song of joy was raised in the cloud-capped³ palace of Kumbhalmer for the deliverance of Udai Singh, the note of woe was pealed through the walls of Umarkot, and given to the winds of the desert, to proclaim the birth⁴ of an infant destined to be the greatest monarch who ever swayed the sceptre of Hindustan. In an oasis of the Indian desert, amidst the descendants of the ancient Sogdoi⁵ of Alexander, Akbar first saw the light; his father a fugitive, the diadem torn from his brows, its recovery more improbable than was its acquisition by Babur. The ten years which had elapsed since Humayun’s accession were passed in perpetual strife with his brothers, placed according to custom in subordinate governments. Their selfish ambition met its reward; for with the fall of Humayun their own was ensured, when Sher Shah displaced the dynasty of Chagatai for his own, the Pathan (or Sur).