Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s4.25

c7.s4.25

Another famous example of comradeship is the friendship between two Mughal nobles, the famous Bairam Khan and Abu'l Qasim. It is related that after the defeat of the Mughals at the hands of Sher Shah, the Mughal nobles were scattered and were seeking for the safety of their lives as best as they could. Bairam Khan, as a prominent organizer of the Mughal forces, and the confidant of Humayun, was sought for by the Afghans, who had made elaborate preparations to secure him. Bairam Khan and his friend Abu'l Qasim were both flying to save their lives and were about to escape into the independent and distant territory of Gujarat when they chanced to fall into the hands of an Afghan envoy who was returning from there. The Afghan envoy suspected that one of the prisoners was Bairam Khan but was not sure which of them was Bairam Khan. With calm dignity and courage Bairam Khan told him that he was the person who was wanted. Before he had finished his conversation and the envoy had made up his mind, Abu'l Qasim, who was the more prepossessing of the two, interrupted him and began to address the Afghan envoy. He told him that he (Bairam Khan) was one of his old and devoted slaves; and when he was offering himself for arrest and surrender, he was only doing what was expected of a devoted slave. But in fairness to him and to his slave, he thought it was no longer desirable to conceal his identity, for he was the real Bairam Khan. The envoy was easily persuaded to believe the frank statement of Abu'l Qasim. He released Bairam Khan and took the former to Sher Shah, where he shared the fate which was reserved for his companion. He was executed by Sher Shah in impotent rage at the disclosure of all fact of the case.¹