Ruler of the World

fear from me. The wider world knows nothing of our lives at court. They see simply that the Moghul emperor has taken a royal Hindu bride and they rejoice.’

Hamida was silent, her fine brow wrinkled in thought. ‘Perhaps you are right,’ she said at last. ‘Shock and maternal anger made me speak as I did. I will reveal to no one — not even Gulbadan — what you have just told me, but my attendants will watch Hirabai and make sure that she is doing nothing to prevent or to end a pregnancy. Many such tricks are known in the haram — potions of bitter herbs, sponges soaked in vinegar and pushed deep inside before intercourse, even twigs wrapped in sheep’s wool and inserted afterwards to scour the womb — and the Rajput women too may have their methods.’

‘She is already watched. The khawajasara, observing through her jali screen, records our couplings and is looking for signs of anything untoward. . I only hope it isn’t hatred that prevents Hirabai from conceiving. She is strong-willed and the mind can rule the body. Sometimes I worry that even if she did bear me a child such a birth could not be auspicious.’

‘That is foolish, Akbar. And who knows. . Hirabai is very young. With a child she may change. .’

‘She’s not as young as you were when you married my father.’

‘I was lucky. Your father chose me out of love and I loved him. Also, I was only the daughter of a nobleman. I wasn’t royal like Hirabai with all the weight of an ancient lineage on my shoulders. Things were perhaps simpler for your father and me.’

‘Even though you endured so much hardship and danger?’

‘Perhaps because of it, who knows?’ For the first time since he had told her of Hirabai’s hatred of him, Hamida’s face softened. She was thinking of Humayun, he was sure. Would he ever feel for a woman the kind of love that had existed between his parents?

‘Akbar, perhaps I can help you. Gulbadan has told me of a Sufi mystic, Shaikh Salim Chishti. She has visited him and says that, just as my own grandfather did, he has the power to see into the future. . Perhaps he can tell you something to ease your mind.’

‘Where does this Sufi live?’

‘In Sikri, not far from here.’

‘I know it. I stopped there once to drink from a well while out hunting.’

‘Perhaps I am wrong to suggest it. Your father in his youth became so preoccupied with what the stars could tell him about the future that he failed to see the dangers lurking around him. Sometimes it is better not to know what the future holds.’

‘No, I want to know. Then I can plan for it.’

Akbar led his small troop along the dusty road and up the plateau towards Sikri. Two of his favourite hunting dogs were running alongside, pink tongues lolling, and his only escort apart from a few bodyguards were two huntsmen and his qorchi. A young deer he had shot as it burst from a thicket was already on its way to Agra, slung across the saddle of another huntsman he had sent back with it. It was sensible to maintain the fiction that this was a hunting party, Akbar thought. He didn’t want it known that he was consulting a mystic.

Ahead, through the shimmering midday heat haze, he saw the outline of the cluster of mud-brick houses on the edge of the plateau that was Sikri. ‘We’ll rest there until the heat abates a little,’ he said to his qorchi. ‘I’ve heard stories of a Sufi mystic who lives in this village and I’m curious to see him. Ride up there and ask him if the emperor may visit him.’

As the youth galloped ahead, Akbar followed more slowly, trotting up the steep slope and into the village where he dismounted in a pool of green-black shade beneath the dense foliage of a mango tree. A few minutes later, he saw his qorchi returning.

‘Majesty, Shaikh Salim Chishti bids you welcome. Come this way.’

Akbar followed his squire through the village to a low single-storey house with only two slits on either side of the door for windows. Ducking inside, for a moment he found himself in darkness. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he made out an old man dressed entirely in robes of rough-spun white wool kneeling in prayer, head to the floor and facing in the direction of Mecca.

‘Forgive me, Majesty, I was praying to God for guidance so that I may help you.’ As he spoke the old man picked up a tinder box and with swift, efficient movements lit a candle in a clay holder. In the faint light Akbar saw a face crinkled as a walnut.

‘How did you know I’ve come for help?’ he asked, looking around him. The room was almost empty except for the dark red prayer rug, a rough-hewn wooden chest and the string charpoy that was the Sufi’s bed.

‘Everyone who seeks me is hoping for divine assistance, even though they may tell themselves they have only come out of curiosity. You look surprised, Majesty. Perhaps you think I claim too much for myself? I did not ask for my powers, but I know that by God’s divine grace I can sometimes be a conduit to him. Come and sit in front of me where I can see you.’

Akbar squatted down on a piece of woven matting. For several minutes the Sufi said nothing, but his eyes, the irises curiously luminous like an owl’s, looked hard at Akbar, as if trying to divine his innermost thoughts. Then, swaying gently, long, slender hands folded against his chest, he began to intone, repeating over and over, ‘Give me your wisdom, show me the way.’ When was the holy man going to ask him why he’d come? Akbar wondered. But as he waited a sense of peace and tranquillity began to possess him. His eyes were closing and his body and mind beginning to relax, cares and anxieties, desires and ambitions rolling away until he felt unsullied and carefree as a child.

‘We are ready to begin.’ The Sufi reached out a hand and gently touched Akbar’s shoulder. Akbar opened his eyes with a start, wondering how long he had been in that half-dreaming state that had been so strangely pleasurable. ‘What is it you wish to know, Majesty?’

‘Whether my wife will bear me a son.’

‘Is that all? That is a simple question.’

‘Perhaps not so simple. You know that the empress is a Hindu?’

‘Of course, Majesty. All of Hindustan knows that.’

‘As a Muslim yourself, do you believe her childlessness could be God’s way of punishing me for marrying an unbeliever?’

‘No. As a Sufi I believe there are many roads to God and that it is for each of us to find him.’

‘Whatever our faith?’

‘Yes. God belongs to us all.’

That was true, Akbar thought, gazing into the Sufi’s searching yellow eyes. He had been foolish to wonder even for a moment whether there was any truth in what the ulama were alleging. Perhaps he had been equally foolish to fear that Hirabai’s antipathy towards him was the reason she hadn’t conceived. . Things he’d never thought his pride or his position would allow him to reveal to a stranger came tumbling out.

‘She doesn’t love me. Each time I lie with her I see her contempt for me. . I have tried to be good to her. .’

But the Sufi raised his hand. ‘Move closer.’

Akbar leaned forward and the Sufi took his face in his hands and pulled it gently towards him until Akbar’s forehead was resting against his own. Again a wondrous sense of well-being flooded through Akbar and his mind felt bathed in light.

‘You needn’t fear, Majesty. Your wife will soon bear you a fine son. And you will have two more sons. The Moghul bloodline will flourish here in Hindustan for many generations, nourished by your conquests and your vision of a powerful and united empire.’

‘Thank you, Shaikh Salim Chishti. Thank you.’ Akbar bowed his head. His confidence was renewed, his self- doubts stilled. Everything would be as he wished, he was certain. He would build a mighty empire, with sons to help him, and when he died they would continue his work. . the dynasty would flourish. ‘When what you say comes to pass, I will found a great city here at Sikri to honour you. Its gardens and fountains and palaces will be a wonder of the world and I will move my court here from Agra.’

‘When your wife conceives, send her here. Outside the village is a small monastery where she will be cared for, and perhaps away from the court her mind will grow calmer and she can prepare for motherhood more