Note 5 — Introductory Life of Akbar.

A brief introductory notice of the great Emperor’s life may, perhaps, be acceptable to readers of Van Limburg-Brouwer’s historical romance. Akbar was the third Indian sovereign of the House of Timur. Hindustan had been ruled by Afghans for two centuries and a half5 when Baber crossed the Indus and founded the Mughal6 Empire in 1525. Baber died in the Charbagh at Agra, on December 26th, 1530, and his son and successor, Humayun, was defeated and driven out of India by the able and determined Afghan chief, Shir Shah, in 1540. Shir Shah died on the throne, and was succeeded by a son and grandson, while Humayun took refuge with Tahmasp, the Shah of Persia. The restored Afghans kept their power for fifteen years.