Humayun promised his father on his father’s deathbed that he would always be kind to his brothers, Kamran, Askari and Hindal. When Humayun became the Moghul Emperor, his brothers became extremely greedy. They betrayed him many, many times and wanted to dethrone him. But Humayun forgave them time and again.

When Humayun’s son, Akbar, was only a baby, Kamran set a cannon in a tricky way in order to kill the child. When Akbar’s nurse, Maham Anaga, came to know of the plot, she shielded and protected the child with her own body.

Everybody wanted Humayun to have Kamran killed for this attempt on Prince Akbar’s life, but Humayun said, “I have forgiven my brother many times. This time also I have to forgive him.”

But his subjects said, “No, this time you have to listen to our request. We are so faithful to you. We offer you our constant admiration and adoration. It is your duty to listen to us.”

Finally, the Emperor said, “All right, what do you want?”

His subjects said, “Blind your brother so that he cannot be of harm to us any more.”

The peace-loving Humayun replied, “I am ready to send him into exile, but I do not have the heart to blind him.”

His subjects would not accept the Emperor’s proposal. They said, “No, if you send him into exile, in some tricky way he will escape and raise an army to attack us. So the best thing is to blind him.”

Eventually Humayan was compelled to put aside his brotherly feelings and order Kamran to be blinded.

from The Moghul Emperors
by Sri Chinmoy