the spoil before Akbar came up. This satisfied Akbar; he returned
part of the spoil and went back to Agra. Henceforth Khan Zeman was a
rebel at heart. Some Usbeg chiefs revolted in Oudh; they were joined by
Khan Zeman. Akbar was called away to the Punjab by an Afghan invasion;
on his return the rebels were in possession of Oudh and Allahabad. Akbar
marched against them in the middle of the rains. He outstripped his
army; he reached the Ganges with only his bodyguard. The rebels were
encamped on the opposite bank; they had no fear; they expected Akbar to
wait until his army came up. That night Akbar swam the river with his
bodyguard. At daybreak he attacked the enemy. The rebels heard the
thunder of the imperial kettle-drums; they could not believe their ears.
They fled in all directions. Khan Zeman was slain in the pursuit. The
other leaders were taken prisoners; they were trampled to death by
elephants. Thus for a while the rebellion was stamped out.

These incidents are only types of others. In plain truth, the Mussulman
power in India had spent its force. The brotherhood of Islam had ceased
to bind together conflicting races; it could not hold together men of
the same race. The struggle between Shiah and Sunni was dividing the
world of Islam. Moguls, Turks, and Afghans were fighting against each
other; they were also fighting among themselves. Rebels of different
races were combining against the Padishah. Meantime any scruples that
remained against fighting fellow-Mussulmans were a hinderance to Akbar
in putting down revolts. The Mussulman power was crumbling to pieces.
The dismemberment had begun two centuries earlier in the revolt of the
Deccan. Since then the strength which remained in the scattered
fragments was wasted in wars and revolts; the whole country was drifting
into anarchy.

No one could save the empire but a born statesman. Akbar had already
proved himself a born soldier. Had he been only a soldier he might still
have held his own against Afghans and Usbegs from Peshawur to Allahabad.
Had he been bloodthirsty and merciless, like Bairam Khan, he might have
stamped out revolt and mutiny by massacre and terrorism. But he would
have left no mark in history, no lessons for posterity, no political
ideas for the education of the world. He might have made a name like
Genghis Khan or Timur; but the story of his life would have dropped into
oblivion. After his death every evil that festered in the body politic