86 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
The usurpation of Shere Shah, which reduced 
Humayoon to the condition of a fugitive and de- 
pendant upon the hospitality . of a foreign monarch, 
took place nine years after the accession of the latter 
to his father’s throne. The taking of the celebrated 
Rhotas, a hill-fort of immense strength, of which an 
engraving appears in the second volume of the 
Oriental Annual, being one of the most remarkable 
events of Indian warfare, and only having just pre- 
ceded the flight of the Emperor Humayoon from his 
kingdom, deserves a brief notice in this place. That 
fortress was situated upon the top of a lofty and almost 
inaccessible hill, each pass to the summit being pro- 
tected by a gateway of immense strength, which it was 
necessary to gain before a further approach to the fort 
could be made. There were several of these fortified 
gates to be secured before the grand obstacle could be 
reached. The building above was of prodigious 
strength, being based upon a lofty rock, and inacces- 
sible on all sides but through the main gate, which 
commanded the ascent. Within the walls was a large 
space of very fertile land ; this furnished the garrison 
with grain and fruits and a plentiful supply of ex- 
cellent water, found everywhere in great abundance 
by digging a few feet below the surface. 
