Editing Humayun (section)

==Kandahar and onward==
[[File:‘Abd al-Samad. Akbar Presents a Painting to His Father Humayun. Mughal, probably Kabul, c. 1550–1556. Golestan Palace Library, Tehran.jpg|thumb|upright|The infant [[Akbar]] presents a painting to his father Humayun.]]

On 21 March 1545, Humayun, with the Safavid support, reached the area around [[Kandahar]] with 14,000 Persian soldiers and began a siege. During the siege, he sent [[Bairam Khan]] to [[Kabul]] in an effort to win over the Timurid princes and nobles. On 3 September 1545, Mirza Askari gave up the fort, and Kandahar was handed over to the Persians as agreed. However, the Persian troops stopped offering further assistance. With his own supporters gathering but lacking shelter, Humayun felt forced to act. One month later, he launched a surprise attack on Kandahar, drove out the Persian garrison, and took control of the city despite having promised it to Shah Tahmasp.<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire">{{cite book |last1=Majumdar |first1=R. C. |title=The Mughal Empire |year=1974 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Bombay |isbn= |page=59}}</ref> After appointing [[Bairam Khan]] as governor of [[Kandahar]], Humayun set off for [[Kabul]]. Mirza Hindal joined him on the journey, while desertions in his own camp forced [[Kamran Mirza]] to escape into [[Sind]]. By 18 November 1545, Humayun entered [[Kabul]] without resistance and soon met his son Akbar after nearly two years. With both [[Kandahar]] and [[Kabul]] under his control, he effectively dominated southern [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/>

In March 1546, Humayun began a campaign in northern [[Afghanistan]], [[Badakhshan]], against the local ruler, Mirza Sulaiman, who had recently been freed from Kamran’s influence in [[Kabul]]. Accompanied by Askari, Humayun ordered the execution of Yadgar Nasir Mirza because he was showing signs of disloyalty. At Tirgiran, he defeated Sulaiman, who then fled to [[Kulab]]. Humayun continued on to Kishm and Qila Zafar, but a serious illness weakened his forces and allowed Kamran to leave [[Sindh]]. With help from his father-in-law Shah Husain, Kamran returned to [[Afghanistan]], captured [[Ghazni]] (executing its governor Zahid Beg), and advanced on [[Kabul]]. Kamran took [[Kabul]] by force, terrorising many of Humayun’s supporters. Despite harsh winter conditions, Humayun hurried back, besieged the city for several months, and the fighting became so fierce that Kamran even placed Akbar on the battlements, exposing him to enemy fire. Realising he could not hold the fort, Kamran escaped through a breach in the wall on 27 April 1547, narrowly avoiding capture. Initially seeking support from Mirza Sulaiman, Kamran then allied with the Uzbek chief [[Pir Muhammad Khan]] of Balkh to capture much of Badakhshan. In response, Humayun launched a second campaign against Badakhshan in June 1548. He travelled through Andarab, where Mirza Hindal joined him from Qunduz, to Taliqan, which he besieged. When Kamran failed to secure further Uzbek support, he surrendered on 17 August 1548 and was granted Kulab, north of the Oxus, as his fief, a move that was seen as an insult by the former rulers of Kabul and Badakhshan. Humayun then returned to Kabul in October.<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/> By February 1549, Humayun led another campaign, this time against Balkh and the Uzbeks, who had long been his enemies. Even though Mirza Hindal and Mirza Sulaiman supported him, Kamran refused to help. Early successes against Pir Muhammad Khan’s forces nearly enabled Humayun to capture Balkh, but the news of Kamran’s attack on Kabul demoralised his troops, resulting in a chaotic retreat and heavy losses. Meanwhile, Kamran seized Taliqan and Qila Zafar and clashed with Mirza Hindal, though he was eventually forced back into the Hazara region.<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/>

Around mid-1550, Humayun marched from [[Kabul]] toward Ghurband to punish his unruly brother. In a narrow pass known as the Qibchaq defile, Kamran ambushed him, causing significant casualties and wounding Humayun. Kamran quickly took control of [[Kabul]] and held it for three months, while many believed Humayun to be dead as he hid in Andarab. Reinforcements sent by Mirza Sulaiman’s wife enabled Humayun to challenge Kamran, and after a hard-fought battle for Kabul, Kamran was forced to flee. His ally, Mirza ‘Askari, was captured and exiled.<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/> Even after regaining Kabul, Humayun still faced the threat from Kamran, who had teamed up with the influential officer Haji Muhammad Khan. To deal with this danger, Humayun recalled Bairam Khan from Qandahar. Bairam Khan succeeded in persuading Haji Muhammad Khan to switch sides. Already hardened by past betrayals—evident in the executions of Yadgar Nasir Mirza and the exile of ‘Askari—Humayun ordered the execution of Haji Muhammad Khan. Kamran then rallied Afghan forces and stirred up trouble between Kabul and the Indus. On the night of 20 November 1551, Kamran launched a surprise attack at Jiryar in Nangarhar. Although Kamran was ultimately defeated, Mirza Hindal was killed in the conflict. Humayun pursued Kamran, who fled to [[Punjab]] and sought refuge with [[Islam Shah]], though he received little support there. Eventually, Kamran found temporary shelter with Sultan Adam, a local Gakkhar chief, who hesitantly handed him over to Humayun. On his nobles’ advice, Humayun had Kamran blinded in 1553 and sent him off to [[Mecca]]. Later historians noted that Kamran suffered more from the turmoil than he caused.<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/>

[[File:The Emperor Humayun Returning from a Journey Greets his Son.jpg|thumb|Humayun is reunited with [[Akbar]].]]

After these events, Humayun planned an expedition into [[Kashmir]], where a brief Mughal rule under Haidar Mirza had ended two years earlier, but opposition from his advisors forced him to return to [[Kabul]] in December 1553.<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/> Throughout these struggles in [[Afghanistan]], Humayun’s position was strongly supported by [[Bairam Khan]], who managed [[Kandahar]] as a secure base. By 1554, Bairam Khan left [[Kandahar]] to join Humayun as he prepared for an Indian campaign. At that time, Humayun had firm control over [[Kandahar]], [[Kabul]], and [[Ghazni]], and with his brothers out of the picture, no rival threatened his throne. When news arrived of Islam Shah’s death and of widespread chaos in [[India]] marked by the rule of the young Firuz and civil war among the Afghans—Humayun realized it was time to make another bid for the throne of [[Delhi]].<ref name="Majumdar Mughal Empire"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Tripathi |first=Ram Prasad |editor1-last=Alam |editor1-first=Muzaffar |editor1-link=Muzaffar Alam |editor2-last=Subrahmanyam |editor2-first=Sanjay |editor2-link=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |year=1998 |chapter=The Turko-Mongol Theory of Kingship |title=The Mughal State 1526–1750 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=124 |isbn=0-19-563905-7}}</ref>