of Patar, some twenty
miles to the west of the Indus. There he found Hindal, surrounded by
his nobles, prepared to receive him right royally. During the
festivities which followed, the mother of Hindal--who, it may be
remarked, was not the mother of Humayun--gave a grand entertainment,
to which she invited all the ladies of the court. Amongst these
Humayun especially noted a girl called Hamida, the daughter of a
nobleman who had been preceptor to Hindal. So struck was he that he
inquired on the spot whether the girl were betrothed. He was told in
reply that, although she had been promised, no {52} ceremony of
betrothal had as yet taken place. 'In that case,' said Humayun, 'I
will marry her.' Hindal protested against the suddenly formed
resolution, and threatened, if it were persisted in, to quit his
brother's service. A quarrel, which had almost ended in a rupture,
then ensued between the brothers. But the pleadings of Hindal's
mother, who favoured the match, brought Hindal to acquiescence, and,
the next day, Hamida, who had just completed her fourteenth year, was
married to Humayun. A few days later, the happy pair repaired to the
camp before Bukkur.

The times, however, were unfavourable to the schemes of Humayun. All
his plans miscarried, and, in the spring of 1542, he and his young
wife had to flee for safety to the barren deserts of Marwar. In
August they reached Jaisalmer, but, repulsed by its Raja, they had to
cross the great desert, suffering terribly during the journey from
want of water. Struggling bravely, however, they reached, on August
22nd, the fort of Amarkot, on the edge of the desert. The Rana of the
fort received them hospitably, and there, on Sunday October the 15th,
Hamida Begam gave birth to Akbar. Humayun had quitted Amarkot four
days previously, to invade the district of Jun. His words, when the
news was brought to him, deserve to be recorded. 'As soon,' wrote one
who attended him, 'as the Emperor had finished his thanksgivings to
God, the Amirs were introduced, and offered their congratulations. He
then called Jouher (the historian, author of the Tezkereh al {53}
Vakiat) and asked what he had committed to his charge. Jouher
answered: "Two hundred Shah-rukhis" (Khorasani gold coins), a silver
wristlet and a musk-bag; adding, that the two former had been
returned to their owners. On this Humayun ordered the musk-bag to be
brought, and, having broken it on a china plate, he called his
nobles, an