CHAPTER II.
The siege now proceeded with vigour. The Emperor gave orders that approaches should be made by a sabut, a description of defence for the besiegers peculiar to India. They were conducted in the following manner:—the zigzags, commenced at gun-shot distance from the fort, consisted of a double wall, and by means of blinds or stuffed gabions, covered with leather, the besiegers continued their approaches till they arrived near the walls of the place to be attacked. The miners then proceeded to sink their shafts, and carry on their galleries under ground, for the construction of the mines; in which, having placed the powder and blown up the works, the storming party rushed from the sabut, or superficial galleries, to assault the place.[31]On the present occasion, two sabuts or superficial galleries having been constructed, two mines were carried, under bastions, at different spots.
Akbar being determined to obtain possession of the place, at whatever cost, daily inspected the working of the mines, which were prepared with great expedition. Several sallies were made by the besieged, which, though well directed and vigorously maintained, were invariably repulsed by the steady discipline of the Mogul troops.
Encouraged by the presence of their sovereign, the miners worked with incredible diligence, and the soldiers displayed a valour against the frequent sorties of the besieged, which completely repelled the headlong valour of the Rajpoots. Akbar marked with his especial notice, not only every officer, but likewise every common soldier who distinguished himself; and thus, besides securing the affection of his army, excited deeds of individual heroism and of united valour, as gratifying to him as they were astonishing to the foe.
Meanwhile, within the fort, considerable confusion prevailed at the progress which the Mahomedans were making in their approaches, and at the unsuccessful issue of the sallies of the besieged. The governor’s wife was daily on the ramparts encouraging the men. An attempt by the foe to scale the walls had been repelled with determined resolution by the garrison, during which the heroic matron had, with her own hands, hurled several Moslems from the battlements as they reached the summit. Anxious to reap that glory considered the exclusive inheritance of the other sex, she determined upon an act as desperate as it was uncommon.
“Jugmul,” said she, “I will visit the enemy’s camp, and try if a woman’s arm cannot reach his heart.”
“Go,” said her husband, “if you think that you have a reasonable chance of ridding us of the foe. But what is your plan?”
“Merely to be conducted to the Mahomedan’s tent; then trust to this arm and a woman’s resolution for the issue.”
The resolute Rajpootni arrayed herself in her most becoming attire, and about dusk sought the hostile camp. She was still a handsome woman. Being stopped by the guard, she represented herself to be a minstrel, desirous of exhibiting the superiority of her art before the Mogul Emperor. She was alone, and there did not appear much risk in admitting a woman unaccompanied within the Mahomedan lines. It was announced to Akbar that a Hindoo musician was anxious to play before him. The Monarch who, after the harassing fatigues of the day, was fond of seeking relaxation from the anxieties which his present undertaking naturally accumulated upon him, commanded her to be admitted. As she entered the royal presence, Akbar was extremely struck with her natural dignity of deportment, and the commanding expression of her countenance. He instantly saw that she was not a common minstrel, and, at once suspecting treachery, gave orders that no one, on whatever pretence, either man or woman, should be admitted into the camp.
“Well, gentle dame,” said the Sovereign, “what are your wishes?”
“I have heard that the Mogul Monarch is a munificent benefactorto those who have the good fortune to succeed in administering to his pleasures. I would attempt to do as much, being held to have great skill upon my native vina.”
“A graceful instrument,” said the Emperor. “Approach and try your skill, which, if it be at all equal to your beauty, cannot fail to delight.”
She approached him; and Akbar having placed her on his right hand, bade her play; at the same time watching her with so keen a survey, that the Rajpootni began to fear she was detected. With an unruffled brow, however, she commenced tuning her vina, which is the Hindoo lute, and played an air with considerable skill. The sovereign was gratified. She played several airs with great taste and feeling. The enthusiasm of the performer was at length communicated to the Emperor; and in the excess of his gratification, he was thrown off his guard. Seizing a favourable moment, when his eyes were withdrawn from her, she drew a very small taper dagger; but before she could plunge it into the body of her intended victim, he had seized her wrist, and forced the instrument from her grasp.
“A very happy close to thy minstrelsy,” said Akbar, with a severe smile.
“I have failed,” said the heroic woman, undauntedly, “and am prepared for the issue. Give your orders, king, I am prepared to die. I did not make this attempt without weighing the penalty. I care not for the mode: you will see that I can defy your tortures; and, to give you some idea of the spirit of that foe which you seek to overcome, take the solemn assurance of a doomed woman, that there is not a living soul behind yonder battlements that would not brave death in any shape to be avenged upon the despisers of their gods.”
Akbar made no reply, but, ordering her to be placed under a strong guard in a vacant tent, on the following morning sent her with an escort to the gate of Chittore, telling her, as she quitted his camp, that the Emperor of the Moguls warred not with women. The haughty Rajpootni was deeply moved at her failure and the Mogul’s magnanimity. It, however, did not alter her determinationto accomplish his death, though at the expense of her own life. She felt no longer surprised that his troops were invincible, and himself so renowned; and her hopes of forcing him to raise the siege began, from this moment, to decline. She discovered in Akbar the virtues of bravery, and a contempt of death to a degree that would have done honour to a Rajpoot; and besides those virtues, which he possessed common to all brave men, she could not but perceive that he was endowed with some peculiarly his own. She expressed her fears to Jugmul, that under such a leader the enemy must eventually prevail. “But we can die,” she said, with energy, “fighting on our ramparts; and their success, whenever it comes, will be recorded in characters of blood.”
“Wife!” said the governor, “we have no reason to despair yet. The garrison is still strong and resolute; we have provisions for at least five months’ consumption, and long before that period it must be decided whether the Moslems or Hindoos are to be masters of Chittore.”
“He, Jugmul, who could spare the life of one who attempted his, and give her safe conduct to her friends, is no ordinary man. We have more to dread from Akbar’s magnanimity, than either from the number or bravery of his followers, though he is acknowledged to command the best disciplined armies in the East. What immortal glory would radiate from my brow if this arm had not failed to rid the world of so distinguished a foe.”
“You are eloquent in his praises.”
“Because he deserves all the good I can say of him, and all the hatred I can feel towards him. Jugmul, I could barter my own life, and that of all those of whose lives mine has been the source, to send that man to the Assuras.”
The next morning the governor and his wife were on the ramparts inspecting the defences; for, from the enemy’s movements, they hourly expected an assault, against which every provision was made which prudent foresight could suggest. Whilst Jugmul was surveying the progress of new works that he had ordered to be raised behind some low bastions where he considered the fortificationsweak, a sudden explosion was heard from before the walls, which dismayed the besiegers. The shock was so great that all standing upon the ramparts were thrown upon their faces. A considerable part of the lowest wall had fallen, and opened a practicable breach. A second explosion followed, still more terrible, and added to the ruin, opening another breach not less formidable. It was soon evident that the enemy had sprung two mines, and the besieged expected that the destruction of their ramparts was about to be followed by a general assault. They crowded the breach, to defend their city with a wall of human bodies. The enemy, however, did not storm the town, as was expected. The cause of this, although for a moment matter of anxious conjecture, was soon ascertained. Two thousand of Akbar’s choicest troops, prepared to storm, had advanced when the first mine exploded, under the supposition that both mines had been sprung at the same moment. The party immediately divided into two equal bodies, in order to enter both breaches at once. One of the mines only had ignited, and, when the party reached the other, they were scattered as with the shock of an earthquake. The ground opened beneath their feet; numbers were blown into the air; others had their limbs torn from the quivering trunks, and a scene of consternation prevailed, altogether indescribable. Fifteen Mogul officers and above four hundred men were killed.
This unforeseen disaster damped the energies of the storming parties. They paused until the confusion subsided, thus giving their enemies time to prepare for defence. They then advanced boldly—but not with elated hearts—to the breaches. They were received with unshrinking valour by the besieged. Every attempt to make good an entrance was withstood by men determined to die in defence of their walls. The Mahomedans were repulsed. They returned to the camp greatly dispirited, not covered with shame indeed, but without the glory of success. Akbar, conscious that the cause of failure was to be sought in the accident which had occurred previously to the assault being made, visited the men in person, encouraging them under their disheartening defeat, raised their sinking spirits, and animated them for fresh encounters.
The spirits of the besieged were so elated by their success and the destruction of the enemy, that they began with extraordinary energy to repair the breaches, which by the next morning they had filled up with a thick wall of mud. This was a secure defence, for the moisture of the material rendered the surface so slippery, that the difficulty of scaling such an impediment was so great as to render the attempt impracticable. This did not dismay the besiegers, who prepared to renew their attempts upon the town with increased activity. Akbar’s was not a mind to be overcome by difficulties; it became more elevated in proportion as impediments multiplied. He gave his orders with that calm earnestness of resolution which showed he would be satisfied with nothing short of complete success. His men evinced the greatest alacrity in their obedience to the orders of their officers, and soon recovered from the effects of their late mischance. The Hindoos were no less assiduous in providing against all possible contingencies; and, in the course of a few days, the works of Chittore were nearly as secure as before the opening of the breaches by the mines.
A few nights after the accident from the explosion of the mine, the Emperor, who had given orders that other works should be constructed, was in the batteries directing the workmen. While there, he observed the governor of Chittore superintending, by torchlight, the repairs of the walls, which were now nearly completed. Seizing a matchlock from one of the attendants, he directed it with so true an aim as to lodge a ball in Jugmul’s forehead. It was easy to perceive that the greatest confusion prevailed upon the ramparts of the besieged city. Persons were seen hurrying to and fro, and the walls were soon crowded with troops and citizens. Akbar, from this moment, saw that the game was in his own hands. The death of their governor he knew would render the garrison despairing and reckless; he consequently prepared for some of those dreadful eruptions so common among Rajpoot soldiers when driven to extremity.
Day had scarcely dawned, when his camp was attacked with a fury which nothing but the better discipline of his soldiers, and great numerical superiority, could have repelled. The Rajpoots,headed by their late governor’s widow, fought with a desperation which, for the moment, bore down all opposition. The widow urged her horse with heedless fury towards Akbar’s tent. An Omrah placing himself before her to oppose her further progress, she buried a short spear in his body, and, continuing her career, reached the royal pavilion. Here she was opposed by the guards, the foremost of whom struck her in the face with his sword; but having speared him, she flung herself from the back of her charger, and, rushing into the tent, sprang towards the couch,—it was empty. With some difficulty she was secured, but not until she had wounded several of the guard, and received a second severe wound in the neck, from which the blood flowed so copiously that she was obliged to relinquish the contest, becoming faint and unable to continue her exertions. By this time her followers had been nearly all cut off, and few returned to the city to bear the lamentable tale of discomfiture.
Akbar entered his tent, and saw the noble woman who had made such a brave effort to avenge her husband’s death fainting upon the ground, reeking with her own blood and that of her foes. He instantly ordered her wound to be dressed, and that she should be carefully attended during the night. He was charmed with her heroism, he reverenced her distress, and determined to offer very advantageous terms on the morrow if the garrison would capitulate. The obstinacy of the besieged had won his admiration, and he was heard to say to a confidential officer that with such troops he would undertake to conquer the world.
Next morning the captive widow rose from her couch, and demanded to see the Emperor. She was immediately brought before him.
“Sovereign of the Moguls,” she said, undauntedly, “I have thrice sought your life. I have freely braved your vengeance. I am prepared for the infliction which I have provoked, and my failure deserves. What death am I to die?”
“Allah forbid, lady, that I should punish any one for trying to take away the life of a foe in honourable warfare. It is but natural that you should seek to accomplish the death of him whohas destroyed your husband, not from feelings of enmity, for I admired his bravery and esteemed his patriotism, but as a melancholy means to a glorious end. His death is one of those sad contingencies inseparable from a state of active hostility. I have now to propose to you terms for the capitulation of Chittore.”
“If I have influence to decide upon a proposal that involves the dishonour of my countrymen, I will bid them resist till there shall no longer remain among them an arm to strike.”
“But, lady, the terms I intend to offer will be alike honourable to you and the inhabitants of yonder fortress.”
“No terms from the sovereign of the Moguls can be honourable to those whom he has so irreparably wronged. I will listen to no accommodation short of disbanding your army, and leaving the city of Chittore to enjoy that peace which you have wantonly interrupted. I am now in your power. I seek not to stay your vengeance. Wreak it upon me, with the flush and glow of a tyrant’s satisfaction. I will brave you with my last gasp of life. I will defy you with my expiring breath; but never could I listen to terms from the man who has profaned the sacred sanctuary of the Hindoos, and cast down upon the threshold of their temples the representatives of their gods.”
“Lady, I would show the difference between the magnanimity of the Mahomedan and the Hindoo. You have thrice sought my life with an asperity of passion, sanctioned only by what you consider the sacred obligations of revenge. You have refused to listen to terms of honourable accommodation. You have expressed towards me the deadliest animosity. You are in my power, and I could in a moment prevent all further exercise of your hatred; but I forbear. You are free. I have commanded an escort to be ready once more to bear you to the gates of your native city.”
The Rajpootni turned her head; a tear for an instant glazed her eye, but the warm glow of pride dried it in its crystal formation, and it ceased to flow. She uttered not a word, but silently quitted the tent, making a haughty salaam to the Emperor as she passed, mounted a litter which had been prepared to convey her,and in a short time was once more within the gates of Chittore. Her heart now swelled with thoughts of desperation and of death. She acknowledged the magnanimous forbearance of her enemy, and accepted life only to perform a last and awful duty among her family and her countrymen. Her soul dilated with the solemn purpose which she was about to fulfil—the crisis had arrived.
FOOTNOTES:[31]See Brigg’s translation of Ferishta, vol. ii., page 230.
[31]See Brigg’s translation of Ferishta, vol. ii., page 230.
[31]See Brigg’s translation of Ferishta, vol. ii., page 230.