up in the imperial robes and make the usual daily appearance before the people from the balcony of the fort, till Akbar's coronation. He also secured the loyalty of his rival, Tardi Beg by appointing him as the governor of Delhi. On 14 February 1556, Akbar was crowned as the new Mughal Emperor and his first deed was to appoint Bairam Khan as Vakil (Prime Minister) and grant him the lofty titles of Khan-i-Khanan and sipahsalaar itizad-i-daulat qahira (commander-in-chief of the army, mainstay of victorious dominion). Under Bairam Khan's leadership, the Mughal army moved to Jalandhar, where they encamped for five months and managed to drive Sikandar Suri deeper into the Siwalik hills. However, the Mughals now had to face a far greater threat from Hemu, Vakil of Adil Shah Suri, the final ruler of the Sur dynasty. Taking advantage of the political instability in the Mughal Empire, Hemu swiftly took Gwalior, Delhi and Agra. Leaving behind a small force to keep Sikandar Suri in check, Bairam Khan moved the Mughal Army towards Sirhind and ordered Tardi Beg (who had been defeated by Hemu at the Battle of Tughlaqabad, near Delhi on 7 October 1556 and retreated) to meet the imperial army there. At Sirhind, differences arose between Bairam Khan and Tardi Beg as to what would be their military strategy in the future. Shortly afterwards, Bairam Khan had Tardi Beg executed for his cowardice during the Battle of Tughlaqabad, though there is some doubt as to whether these allegations were true as Tardi Beg was a senior official and a political rival of Bairam Khan and his execution certainly helped consolidate the authority of Bairam Khan. Conveniently, Akbar was absent during the whole incident as he was out on a hunting trip. Tardi Beg's execution helped discipline the demoralised Mughal army. On 5 November 1556, the Mughals clashed with Hemu's army at the Second Battle of Panipat. After a fiercely contested battle, the Mughals were victorious. Hemu was captured and decapitated, either by Bairam Khan or Akbar and Delhi and Agra subsequently reconquered. After resting for a month at Delhi, Akbar and Bairam Khan resumed their campaign against Sikandar Suri, who had attempted to attack Lahore; he was driven back to the hill-fortress of Mankot (in present-day Jammu and Kashmir) where he waited for six months for Afghan reinforcements, to no avail. Disheartened, he finally surrendered to Akbar on