Anecdotes or Aurangzib Translated Into English Wit

WORKS BY

Professor JADU NATH SARKAR, MA .

History of Aurangzib, based on Persian sources.

Vo l. I . Re ign of Shah Jahan, pp. 4o o ,-RS. 3-8.

Vol. 1 1 . War of Success ion, pp. 32 8 ,—Rs. 3- 8.

Vol. 1 1 1 . North India, 1 65 8— 1 68 1 , pp. 46 r,

—RS. 3- 8 .

2 . Anecdotes Of Aurangzib (Engl i sh translation and

notes) and Historical Essays, pp: 2 48, —Re. 1- 8.

3. Ahkam—i-Alamgiri , Persian text w i th an Engl ish translation (Anem

’otes of Aurangzz

’

b) and no tes, pp . 7 2 1 46,

Re . i .

4 . Chaitanya’

s Pilgrimages and Teachings, be ing an

Engl ish trans l ation o f his co ntempo rary biography, C/zaz'

t

anya-cfiam

’

t-amrz'

fa,Madhya l i la, pp . 338,

-RS. 2.

5 . India Of Aurangzib, Topograp/zy and . Roads,

with translat ions from the Klzu!asa t~ut-tawa riklz and the.

Clza/zar Ga ls/um . (No t a history) , pp. 3c c ,— Rs . 2-8.

6 Economics of Brit ish India, 4th Ed ition,

tho roughly revised and en larged, pp . 384,— RS. 3.

SOLD B Y

M . C . SARKAR SONS, 9O/2A, Harrison Road, Calcutta.

G. A. NATESAN , 3, Shunkurama Chetti Street, Madras.

D . B. TARAPOREVALA SONS Co .,

1 03, Medows Street,Bombay.

HEFFER SONS. Cambridge, England.

ANECDOTES

or AURANGZIB

(Transla ted into Englishw it}: N otes)

STORICAL ESSAYS

JADU NATH SARKAR,M.A.,

P rofessor, P ama College.

$4 5

M. c. SARKiiR sons.

90-2A HARRISON Boar) . CALC UTTA

191 7 .

Re. 1 - 8.

46 l

522Z.

HISTORY OF AURANGZIB .

(7 7

Vol. I . Reign of Shah Jahan

Lesson ofAurangz ib’

s reign- materials—Aurangzib’s boyhood and edu

cat ion- early viceroyalties— marriage and family—war in Central Asias ieges of Qandahar—viceroyalty of the Deccan— invasions o fGolkonda andBnJapur

—Rise of Mir Jumla—Rise of Shivaji and his earlyconflict withAurangzib—il lness of Shah Jahan -

‘

Murad crowns himse'

i fpreparations for contesting the throne .

Vol. I I .'

w ar of Succession.

Defeat of Jaswant S ingh— defeat to Dara— pursuit, ca ture and execu

t ion of Dara—capture of Dara’s eldest son— struggle wit Shuja—war inBenga l—tragic end o f Shuja— captivity and execution o f Murad— grandcoronation ofAurangz ib— long and critica l bibl iography of authorities inPersian.

Vol. 11 1 . Northern India during 1 658-1 681 “

Aurangzib’

s sons, sisters , and chief m inisters— re lations w ith the outer

Muslim world— strict mo ra l and rel igious regulations, “buria l ofMusic”

captivity, sufferings and death o f Shah Jahan—conquests o f Kuch B ihar,Assam, Chittagong, etc. -M ir j umla

’

s last campaigns—re lations between

Bengal and Assam— rebe l l ions of frontier Afghans—p ersecution o fthe H indus, —temp le destruction,—Jaziya -tax fully d iscussed - war w iththe Rajputs—Maharana Raj S ingh—Durgadas and Ajit Singh—H indureaction—Satnamis—Sikh Gurus Tegh Bahadur and Govind Singh— Shivaji

’

s letter on re ligious to leration—Tod ’s Raj ast/zan criticised— correct

chrono logy, ofAurangzib’

s reign, I st half—second Persian bibl iography.

V0]. IV. Southern India, 1 644-1689 preparing .

Decline of BiJapur and Go lkonda—reign o f Ali Adi! Shah I I . —] aiS ingh and Shivaji invade Blja ur— interna l anarchy at Bijapur— swge and

fell of Bijapur— fal l o fGo lkon a—Shivaji the Maratha hi s rise—h is war

with Jai Smgh- his visit to Aurangzib and romantic escape—hi s strugglewith the Mughals— his conquests in the Karnatak—clirnax ofhis career

death and character—Shambhuji’s reign, capture and execution—th ird

bibliography mainly Marathi and H indi sources.ECONOM IC S “

OF BRITISH INDIA.

4tuEdition . 1 9 1 7 . RS» 3

The book has been throughly revised and enlarged in this ed ition.

There are about 100 pages of abso lute ly new matter and about 1 00 other

pages have been re-written o r modified , so that only 1 84 pages of the

previous edition remain unchanged . The satistics have been a ll broughtup to 1 9 13-14, the last year of peace , but in many cases the figures for 1 9 1 7a lso have been given for comparison. A new chapter on the Econom iceffects of the War on India, added .

I t gives tbe best and most correct information on I ndia’

s econom ic

condi tion and proélems in a single volume, and i s an indispen sable [rand

em to every I nd ian politician , w riter and student of econom i cs .

CONTENTS .

Life o f

Anecdotes o fAurangzib

Introduction

1 . About Aurangzib himse lf

1 1 . About his sons and grandsons

1 1 1. About his offi cers

IV. About the Shiahs and the H indus

Who bu i l t the Taj Mahal

I he Compan ion of an

The Weal th o f Ind, 1 650

Dai ly Life of Shah Jahan

Aurangzib’

s Dai ly Life

A Musl im

The Feringi Pirates of Chatgaon

The Conquest ofChatgaon

Khuda Bakhsh, the Ind ian'

B0dley

E rrata

ERRATA.

32 l ine 1 7 [or Ms . read Mss

keeeping

Emperror

dimissed

94 foot note

mm

1 35 l ine as a town is a town

Muhammad Mahmud

is her in her

5 ARRAKAN ARRAGAN

1 3 acoss acro ss

2 6 add note,-Ms. N . reads “

with his.

own troops and the watchmen (c/zawki ) o f the Rajah

of Narwat .”

2 06 l ine 2 0 add note,— up to fo l io 1 32 o o f the

Persian text this offi cer is named ‘Mahmud Beg’

and thereafter ‘Muhammad Beg Abakash’.

LIFE OF AURANGZIB.

1 .

EARLY LIFE.

U H IU DD IN Muhamm ad Au rangz ib, the th i rd son

o f the Empe ror Shah J ahan and h is famous con

sor t ‘Mum taz Mahal,was born o n 24th Octobe r , 1 6 1 8 ,

at Do had,now a town in the Pan ch Mahal ta/ug o f

the Bombay P re s idency and a s tat ion o n the God ra

Kutlam ra i l way—l ine . The m o s t no table inc iden t o f his

boyhood was h i s d i s pl ay o f cool co u rage when charged

by an infur i ated e lephant , du r ing an elephant combat

unde r h i s fathe r’s eyes o n the bank of the J um na

o uts ide Agra Fort, (2 8 May ,

The vi cto r ious

beast,afte r pu t ting i ts r i va l to the fl ight, tu rned fie rce ly

o n Aurangz ib, who fi rm l y kept h i s horse from runn ing

away and s tru ck the e lephant o n"

the forehead w ith h i s

spear. A sweep o f the brute’s tu sk hurled the horse

o n the ground ; but Aurangz ib leaped down from the

sadd le in t im e and aga in faced the e lephan t. J us t

then a id arr ived,the an im al ran away

,and the prince

was saved . The Em pe ror rewarded the he ro i c lad wi th

h i s we igh t in gold .

O n 1 3th Decembe r,

1634, Aurangz ib, then 1 6

years of age , re ce i ved his fi rs t appointmen t in the

Impe ri a l army as a commander o f ten thousand caval ry

(nom inal rank) , and next September he was sent ou t to

learn the art of war in the campaign agains t Jhujhar

2 LIFE OF AU RANGZIB

S ingh and h i s son Vikram aj i t, the Bande l a ch iefs o f

U rchha ,who we re final ly exti rpated at the end o f the

year.

From 1 4th J u ly, 1 636 to 2 8th May, 1 644 ,Aurangz ib

se rved as Viceroy of the Deccan,—pay ing seve ral v i s i ts

to N o rthe rn I nd i a dur ing the pe r iod to see the Empe ro r .Th i s h i s fi rs t go ve rnorsh ip o f the Deccan

,was m arked

by the conque s t o f Baglana and the final ext inct io n

o f the il izam - shah i dynasty o f Ahm adnagar. He was

m ar r ied,fi rs t to D ilras Banu

,the daughte r o f Shah .

N awaz Khan Safawi, (8th May, and at some l ate r

but unknown date to Nawab Bai,and began to have

c h i ldren by them,h i s e lde s t offsp ring be ing Zebunn issa ,

the gi fted poe tes s , (bo rn l gth February ,In May

,1 644 the pr ince gave up h i s dut ies and

took to a l i fe o f re t i rement,as a p ro tes t agains t Dara

Shukoh’

s j eal ous inte rfe rence wi th h i s work and Shah

Jahan’

s part i a l i ty to h is e lde s t so n. At th i s the Empe rorwas h igh ly d i spleased, and at once depr i ved him o f

h i s gove rno rsh i p, estates,and al lowance s . For some

m on ths the pr ince l i ved at Agra in d i sgrace . Bu t o n

2 5th N ovembe r,when Jahanara ,

the e ldes t and best

be lo ved daugh te r o f Shah J ahan,re cove red from a

terr ible burn ,her joyfu l fathe r cou ld refuse he r no th ing,

'

and at her ent reaty Aurangz ib was res tored to h i s rank .

O n 1 6th February,1645 , the Vi ce royal ty o f Gu z e rat

was gi ven to him ; his vigorous ru le suppressed l aw

lessne ss in the prov ince and won rewards from the

Empe ror.

EARLY LIFE(43

From Gu ze rat Aurangz ib was re cal led two yea rs

l ate r and sent to Central Asia to re cove r Bal kh and

Badakhshan , the c rad le o f the royal h o use o f Tim u r .

Leav ing Kabu l o n 7 th April , 1 647 , he reached Balkh

on 2 5th May, and batt led l ong and arduous ly w i th the

fie rce enemy. The braves t Raj pu ts shed the ii‘ blood

in the Van o f the Mughal a rmy in that far o ff so i l ;imm ense quant i t ie s o f s tores

, p rov is ions and t reasu re

we re wasted ; bu t the I nd i an army m e re l y he ld the

ground o n wh i ch i t encam ped ; the ho rde s o f Cen tra l

As i a,

'

m ore nume rous than ants and lo cu sts,

”and al l

o f them bo rn horsem en,— swarmed o n al l s ide s and cou ld

no t be c ru shed o nce fo r a l l . The ba rren and d i s tan t

conque s t could have been re ta ined on ly a t a ru ino u s

cos t. So,a t ruce w as patched up N az ar Muhamm ad

Khan,the ex -k ing o f Bal kh

,was sough t ou t w i th as

m uch eage rne ss as S i r Lepe l Gr iffin d i sp l ayed in ge t t inghold o f the l ate Am i r Abdu r Rahman ,

and coaxed in to

t ak ing back h i s th rone ,and the Ind i an army be at a

hu rr ied re treat to avo id the d readed w in te r o f tha t

regi on . Many lrrorcs o f rupee s o f Ind i an revenue w e rethus wasted fo r absol u te ly no ga in ; the abandoned

store s a lone had cost seve ral [a le/25 , and m u ch p rope rty

to o had to be sac ri ficed by the rearguard fo r l ack o f

t ransport .

Dur ing th i s cam pa ign Aurangz ib d id an act wh ic h

m ade h i s fam e r ing th roughou t the I s l am i c world .

Wh i le the Mughal army was fight ing de spe rate ly w i th

the vast legi ons o f Abdu l A z i z Khan,King o f Bukhara,

4 LIFE o r AU RANGZI r.

the t ime fo r the even ing praye r (s u/za r ) arr i ved . D is

regard ing the p ro h ib i t i ons o f h i s offi ce rs, Aurangz ib

»

d i sm ounted from h i s e lephan t,kne l t down on the gro und ,

and de l i be rate ly and peacefu l ly wen t th rough al l the

ce remon ies o f the praye r,in ful l v iew o f both the

arm ies . Abdu l A z i z on hear ing o f i t c r ied out,

‘To

fight wi th such a man i s to ru in one ’s se lf,

’and sus

pended the battle.

From Bal kh,Aurangz ib re turned to Kabu l o n 20th

O ctobe r,1647 , and was afte rwards appointed V i ce roy

o f Mul tan ( 1 5th'

March,

Th is pos t he‘ he ld t i l l

J u ly,1 652 , be ing twi ce in the meant ime c al led away

from his charge to besiege Qandahar ( loth May— sth

Septembe r, 1 649 , and and May—oth J uly ,

Th i s

fort had been wre s ted from Shah J ahan by the Pe rs ians .

and these two huge and costly s iege s and a th i rd and

s t i l l greate r o ne unde r Dara (2 8th Apri l— a7 th Sep

tembe r, 1 653) fa i led to recove r i t.

W i th his second Viceroyalty of the Deccan (to

wh i ch his appoin tm en t was m ade o n 1 7 th August ,began the m os t im po rtant e hapter o f Aurangz ib

’

s

e arly l ife . W hat Gau l was to J u l iu s Caesar as a tra in~

ing-

ground fo r the com ing con tes t fo r emp i re , the

Deccan was to Aurangz ib. Many hundreds o f h i s

le tte rs , prese rved in the Adao-zlAlcw/zgir i , gi ve us m uch.

inte re st ing inform at ion abou t h i s l ife and work dur ingthe next Six years

,— how he ove rcame h is recu rring

financ i a l d ifficu l t ies, how he gathe red a p i cked band o f

o ffi ce rs round h imse lf, how ably and s trenuously he

EARLY LIFE 5

r u led the count ry,main ta in ing orde r and se cu r ing the

h app iness o f the peop le . By constan t inspe ct ion and

e xe rc i se he kep t h i s army in good cond i t i on . He m us t

h ave been often o ut o n to u r,as he adm i t s in o ne o f

h is le tte rs that he was a hard r ide r and keen spogtsman

in those days . Thus the year 1 658 fo und him beyond

do ubt the able st and bes t equ ipped o f the sons o f Shah

J ahan in the ensu ing W'

ar o f Succe ss ion .

At th i s pe r iod ,too

,occurred the on ly rom ance o f h i s

l i fe ,h is passion for Hira Bai, (su rnamed Zainabadi) ,

w hom be pro cu red from the harem o f h i s m aternal unc le .

I t was a case o f lo ve at fi rst s ight , and Aurangz ib’

s

m fa tua tion fo r the beau t ifu l s inge r knew no bo und : to

p lease her he co nsented to d r ink w ine ! The i r un io n

was c ut short by her death in the blo om o f yo u th,

wh i ch plunged her l ove r in the deepes t gr ief.

After a long int rigue he seduced from the Kingo f Go lko nda h i s w a sz

’

r Mi r J um l a,one o f the abl est

Pe rs i an s who have eve r se rved in Ind i a . At Aurangz ib’

s

re commendat ion Shah J ahan en rol led M i r J um l a

amo ng h i s o ffice rs and th rew the man t le o f Im pe r i a l

p rote ct i on o ve r him . To fo rce the Go lkonda King to

g i ve up Mi r Jum la’

s fam i ly and prope rty,Aurangz ib

m ade a raid on Haidar’abad (Jan. Apr.,

the

King fled to Go lko nda whe re he was fo rced to m ake a

hum i l i at ing peace wi th imm ense sac rifi ce s . M i r J um l a

j o ined Aurangz ib (20th March ) , was summ oned to De lh i

a nd c re ated w as e’

r (7 th J u ly) , and then o n 1 8th J anuary,

1 6 57 , re tu rned to the Deccan to re inforce Aurangz ib .

6 LIFE OF AURANGZIB

A year after th i s unprovoked attack on Golkonda ,

o n the death o f M uhamm ad Ad i l S hah,King o f

Bijapur, Aurangz ib with his fathe r’s sanct ion invaded

the l atte r co unt ry, (J anuary ,

cap tu red the forts

o f Bidar and Kal i an i (29th March and I st August

respect i ve ly) , and w as l oo k ing forward to annex ing a

good dea l o f the te rr i tory, when the w hole scene changed .

in the m ost unexpected and s udden manne r.The Em pe ror Shah J ahan had now reached his

66 th year,and was ev ide nt ly dec l in ing in heal th . H is

e lde s t son and intended he i r- apparen t , Dara Shukoh ,.

who l i ved wi th him and conducted much o f the admin is

tratio n,induced h im to reca l l the add i t io na l troops sent

to Aurangz ib fo r the Bij apu r war, o n the very reaso nable

ground that the Bij apur King had th rown him se lf on

the Empe ror’s m e rcy and offe red a l a rge indemn i ty

and p ie ce o f te rri tory as the p r i ce o f peace . But . th is

pe rem ptory orde r to Aurangz ib to come to te rm s w i th

Bijapur gG ave him a sharp check when flushed wi th v ic to rx

and cu t short h i s schem e s o f aggress io n. Bes ides , the

deple t ion of h i s army left h im to o weak to hold the

Bijapuris to thei r prom i se s , and thu s the fru i ts o f his

v i c to ry we re l os t .

I I .WAR OF SUCCESSION.

O n 6th Septembe r, 1 6 57 , Shah j ahan at De l h i was

taken seve re ly i l l . For som e t ime h i s l ife was despai red

o f. Dara. attended h im d ay and n ight wi th extrem e

fi l ial p ie ty , bu t he al so took steps to secu re h i s own.

WAR or SUCCESS ION 7

su cce ss ion. He s topped the cou r iers o n the roads and

p revented h is bro thers from ge tt ing true news o f Cou r t

affai rs . But’

th i s on ly aggravated the evi l : the w i ldes t

rum ou rs prevai led al l ove r the co untry ; the Empe rorwas be l ieved to be al ready dead ; the offi ce rs in the

prov inces we re d i st racted by the prospect o f an

/

em pty

th ro ne ; l aw le ss m en in al l par ts r a i sed the i r heads w i th

o ut fea r o f pun i shmen t . Two o f the pr ince s , Murad

and Shuj a,open ly crowned them se l ves in the i r gove rn

m en ts, Gu ze rat and Bengal respect i ve l y . Aurangz ib

afte r a sho rt pe r i od o f gnaw ing anx ie ty and depress ingunce rtainty

,de c ided to p l ay a subtle r gam e . He

denounced Dara as an apostate from I s l am,proc la im ed

h i s own de s ign to be m e re ly to free the o ld Empe rorfrom Dara ’s dom ination and to purge the State from

no n - I s l am i c influen ce s . and l ast ly he m ade an al l i ance

wi th Mu rad Bakhsh swear ing o n the Q uran to gi ve him

a l l the Mughal te rr i to ry from the Panj ab we stwards .

M eanwhi le Dara had de spatched tw o arm ie s, o ne

unde r his son Su l a im an Shukoh and Mi rz a Raj ah Ja i

S ingh against Shuj a who was a dvanc ing from-

B e ngal ,

and the othe r’

unde r Maharaj ah J aswan t S ingh and

Qas im Khan aga ins t Aurangz ib and Murad . The fi rs t

a rmy su rpri sed and rou ted Shuj a at Bahad urpu r, o ppo

s i te Benare s , ( 14th February ,and pu rsued him t o

Mungi r . But Aurangz ib and M urad effected a junc ti on

outs ide Dipalpur and c ru shed j aswant’

s army afte r a

lo ng and te rr ibly contes ted battle at Dharmat, 1 4 m i le s

sou th o f Uj j a in, ( 1 5th Apr i l ) . Dara sen t o ff u rgent

‘

8 LIFE o r AURANGZIB

orde rs recal l ing h i s son from Bengal . But h i s d i v i s ion

o f his force s had been a fatal m i s take Sul a im an re tu rn

ed from far—o ff Bihar to o l ate to he l p h i s fathe r o r even

t o save h im se lf. Aurangz ib had the imm ense advantage

o f c ru sh ing h i s enem ies p ie cemeal,wh i le h i s o wn a rmed

s trength was doubled by the league wi th Mu rad .

From Ujj a in the v i c to r i ous bro the rs pushed o n to

the cap i tal . At Samugarh ,I O m i les eas t o f Agra , Dara

who had i s sued from the c i ty wi th a seco nd army,

a t tacked them o n a frightfu l ly hot day (29th'

May) , was

s ignallv defeated, and fled from Agra towards De l h i

and the Panj ab . Aurangz ib now m arched o n Agra ,compe l led h i s o ld fathe r to surrende r the fort by sto p

p ing -the supply o f d rink ing w ate r from the Jum na , and

kept Shah J ahan stri c t ly confined in the harem fo r the

rem ainde r o f h i s l ife . Then,at Mathura he treache rous ly

made Murad prisoner at a banquet (2 5th J une ) , and

advancing to De l h i crowned h im se lf Empe ror (2 1 3t J u ly ,

Dara was chased th rough the Panj ab and S indh

t o Tatta,whence he fled to Guzerat o ve r the Rann o f

Cu tch,unde rgo ing te rr ible hardsh ips o n the way . A

second army wh i ch he rai sed was de s troyed near Ajm ir

( 14th March , and he was hunted by Aurangz ib’

s

gene ral s from p l ace to p l ace , t i l l he reached Dadar, a t

the Ind i an m outh o f the Bol an Pass,who se ch ief be tray

ed h im to Aurangz ib. The capt i ve Dara was brought

to De l h i,paraded wi th insu l t th rough the bazar

,and

murdered by some s l aves o f Aurangz ib, (3o th August ,who had go t the M u l l as to i ssue a sentence that

AURANGZIB’

S REIGN IN NORTHERN IND IA 9

accord ing to I s l am i c Law Dara de se rved an apostate’

s

death . Murad Bakh sh was beheaded in Gw al i o r pr i son

as a judic ial pun i shm en t,o n . the accusat ion o f a m an

whose fathe r he had s l a in in Guze rat , (4th Decembe r,

Dara’s e lde st so n ,Su l a iman Shukoh ,

was secre t ly

done to death in the sam e S tate -

pr i son .

Meant im e Shuja had gathe red toge the r a new army

and advanced beyond Al lahabad to make a second

attem pt fo r the th rone . But he was s ignal ly defeated

at Khajwah ( 5th J anuary .and d r i ven back to

Bengal , whence afte r a two yea rs"s truggle o n l and and

r ive r he was fo rced to flee m i se rably to Arracan fo r

re fuge (6th May , H e re he was massacred w i th

h i s whole fam i ly fo r a p lo t aga ins t the Burm ese King o n

who se ho sp i tal i ty hewas l i v i ng .

Thus al l h i s r i val s be ing removed from h i s path ,Aurangz ib becam e the und i spu ted sove re ign o f I nd i a .

I I I .

AURANGZIB’

S REIGN IN NORTHERN INDIA.

The new m onarch now enjoyed a long pe r iod o f

comparat i ve peace : he re ce i ved grand em bass ie s from

Pe rs i a ( 2 2 nd May,

Bukhara ( 1 7 th Novem be r,Mecca , Abyss in i a and Arab ia

,se n t to

congratu l ate him o n his acces s io n and the envo v s we re

t reated to a s ight o f the l av i sh sp lendou r o f the Mugha l

Cou rt ,~—~a sp lendou r wh i ch daz z led the eye s o f Be rn ie r,Tave rn ie r and othe r Eu rope an t rave l le rs o f the t ime .

He had a sharp attack o f i l lne ss ( 1 2 th Mav— 24 th J une ,wh ich threatened to shake his newly p l anted

I O LIFE OF AU RANGZIB

I

th rone ; bu t he recove red and pa id a v i s i t to Kashm i r

( 2 3rd Apri l— 29th Septembe r ,

Though peace re igned in the heart of the emp i re ,the re was war on the frontiers ambi t ious and e n te r

pri s ing oflicers t r ied to extend the i r m aste r’s dom in i on ;Daud Khan

,the Gove rnor o f B ihar

,conque red Pa lamau

(Apr i l— Decembe r, Mir J um l a,the Gove rno r o f

Bengal , ove rran Kuch Bi har and Assam,captu r ing

the i r capi tal s o n 19 th Decembe r,1 66 1 and 1 7 th March ,

1 662 ; bu t fam ine and pe st i lence destroyed his army,

and he sank down unde r d i sease befo re reach ing Dacca

o n re tu rn (g1 st March ,Shai s ta Khan

, the next

Gove rnor of Bengal , wre s ted Chatgaon (Ch i ttagong)from the Portugue se and Burmese p i rates (2 6th J anuary ,

and al so captured the i s l and o f Sond ip in the

Bav o f Bengal . An exped i t i on from Kashm i r forced the

ru le r o f Greate r T ibe t to be a feudatory o f the Empe rorand to subm i t to I s lam (N o vembe r, To crown

al l,the able and as tu te genera l J a i S ingh tamed

Shivaji, the dar ing and h i the rto inv inc ible Maratha

ch ief, annexed two - th i rd s o f h i s fo rts, (Treaty 61

Purandhar,8 th J une

,and indu ced h im to do

hom age to the Em pe ro r by a v i s i t to Agra (9th May ,

Aurangz ib’

s l ack o f s tatesm ansh i p in deal ing

wi th Shivaji and the l atte r’

s rom ant i c e scape from

p r i son ( 1 9 th A ugust) are a fam i l i ar ta le al l ove r I nd i a .

True,the Mughal arm s d id no t gain any con sp i c uous

success in J a i S ingh'

s i nvas io n o f B ij apu r ( second half

o f 'bu t these exped i t ions we re o f the nature o f

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1 2 LIFE OF AURANGZIB

grandes t sh rine o f Mathura,Kesav Rai ’s temp le , bu i l t

at a cost o f 33 l akhs o f rupees by the Bunde la Raj ah

Birs ingh D e v,was razed to the gro und in J anuary

,

1 670,and a m osque bu i l t o n i ts s i te .

“The ido l s we re

bro ugh t to Agra and bu ried unde r the s teps o f Jahanara’

s

m osque that they m ight be cons tan t ly trodd en o n by

the Musl im s go ing in to p ray . Abo u t th i s t im e the

( new ?

) tem ple o f Som nath on the so u th co ast o f the

Kath i awar pen insu l a was dem ol i shed,and the offe r ing

o f wo rsh ip’

the re orde red to be s to pped . The sm al le r

re l igi ou s bu i ld ings that su ffe red havo c we re beyond

c oun t. The Raj pu t o f 1 67 9- 80 was accom pan ied

‘by the de s truct i on o f 1 7 5 temp les in Mewar al one,

i nc lud ing the fam o us o ne o f Som e shwar and three grand(one s at Uda ipur. O n 2 nd A pri l , 1 67 9 ,

the jazia or pol l

t ax o n non -Musl im s wa s rev ived . The po o r peo ple who

appealed to the Empe ro r and blo cked a ro ad abje ctly

c ry ing fo r its rem i ss io n ,we re trampled d own by

e lephan ts at h is orde r and d i spe rsed . By anothe r ord i

n ance (March , a ll H indus except Rajputs we re

forb idden to carry a rm s or r ide e lephan ts, fi zz/Ms,or

Arab and Pe rs i an horses . W i th o ne s troke o f h i s pen

he d i sm issed al l the H ind u c le rk s from o ffice .

’

dut ie s we re abol i shed o n the Mus l im s and doubled o n

the H indus .

The d i s conten t provoked by such measu re s was

an om inous s ign o f what the i r u l t imate pol i t i cal co nse

q uence would be,tho ugh Aurangz ib was to o bl ind

a nd ob st inate to th ink o f the fu ture . A rebe l l ion broke

C us tom

A URAc IB’

s RE IGN I N N oRTI IERN I ND IA 1 3,

ou t am o ng the peasantrv in Rewari (Decembe r,

anothe r nea r Mathu ra unde r Gokla J a t (J anuary,

and the Satnam is or Mund ias rose near N arno l (March

and Apr i l , and i t taxed the’ Impe r i a l powe r

se rio usly to exte rm inate these 5000 s tubborn peasan ts:

figh ting fo r church and hom e . The S ikh Guru Tegh

Bahadur was to r tu red in p r i so n t i l l he cou r ted death

as a but h i s fo l l owe rs the reafte r gave

no rest to the Panj ab offi ce rs .

At l ast Aurangz ib th rew o ff al l d i sgu i se and Open l y

attacked the Rajputs . Mahara jah J aswan t S ingh o f

Jodhpur d ied in the Empe ro r'

s se rv i ce at Pe shawar

( l o th Decembe r. Imm ed i a te ly Aurangz ib sent

ou t office rs to take possess ion o f h i s kingdom and

h im se lf m arched to Ajm ir to ove rawe oppos i t io n . Two

w ive s o f the Maharajah de l i ve red two so ns afte r reach ingLahore in the fol l ow ing Februa ry . Aurangz ib so ld the

J odhpu r throne fo r 36 l akhs o f . rupees to a wo rthless

nephew o f J aswant and orde red the l ate Maharajah'

s

widow s and new -born babes to be se i zed and de ta ined

in th i s Cou rt t i l l the l atte r sho u ld come o f age . But

thanks to the devot ion of the i r Rathor guards , a l l o f

whom d ied l i ke he ro e s,and the sagac i ty and loyaltv

o f D urgadas , (one o f the nobles t cha racte rs in Raj pu t

h i sto ry) , Aj i t S ingh , the su rvi v ing infant o f J aswant

and the futu re hope o f Marwar , was safelv conveyed

to J odhpu r (2 3rd J u ly, But Aurangz ib was upto any t r i ck : he p roc l a imed Aj 1t Singh

'

to be a coun te r

fe i t prince , and fo r m any years che r i shed a beggar boy


in h i s Cou rt unde r the s ign i ficant name o f Muhamm ad i

Raj, as ,.the t rue so n o f Jaswan t ! Al l Rajpu tana

(except e ve r - loyal J aipu r) burs t in to flame at th i s

out rage to the head o f the Ratho r c l an . The Maharana,

Raj S ingh , ch i val rous ly to ok up the defence o f the

orphans r ights . The war d ragged o n wi th varying

fortune ; the count ry was devastated w he reve r the

Mughal s co u ld pene t rate ; the Maharana too k refuge

in h i s m o un ta in fastnesses . At l ast Prince Akbar, the

fourth so n o f Aurangz ib; rebelled (J anuary,j o ined the Rajpu ts , and assumed the royal t i t le . Fo r afew days Aurangz ib was in a m o st c r i ti ca l pos i t i on,

bu t

h i s wonde rfu l c unn ing saved h im : by a fal se le t te r he

sowed d i s trus t o f Akbar in the m inds o f the Raj pu ts ,the

'

p r ince’s a rmy m e l ted away ,

and he fled,l eav ing al l

h i s fam i ly and pro pe rty beh ind and reach ing the

Maratha Court afte r a pe r i l ous j ourney unde r the

gu idance o f the fai th fu l D urgadas (about May,

The Em pe ror patched up a peace wi th the Maharana

(June, bo th s ide s m ak ing conce ss ions . But hence

fo rth the Raj puts ceased to be supporte rs o f the Mughal

throne w e no lo nge r read o f‘

l a rge Raj put cont ingents

fight ing u nde r the Im pe r i a l banne r ; he had to depend

m ore o n the Bundelas . The Ratho rs cont inued the war

t i l l the c lose o f:

Aurangz ib’

s l i fe.

8

He re ends the fi rst

and s table half o f Aurangz ib’s reign— the pe r iod passed

in N orthe rn Ind i a .

AU RANGZIB’

S REIGN IN THE DECCAN

IV.

AURANGZIB’

S REIGN IN THE DECCAN.

\Ve nex t en te r o n a scene o f unceas ing bu t fru i t les s

exe rt i on fo r 26 years,— the war wi th the

“ s l im

Marathas,wh i ch ru ined the Em pe ror’s heal th

,the /mora le

o f h i s army,and the finance s o f the S tate

,—a war o f

wh i ch a l l saw the fut i l i ty and al l we re heart i l y t i red ,al l

save Aurangz ib,who pu rsued o ne po l i cy w ith inc reas ing

obstinacv,t i l l at l as t the o ld m an o f 90 sank in to the

grave am ids t despa i r, dark ness , and chao s ready to ove r

whe lm h is fam i ly and emp i re .

Shivaji’

s e ldes t so n Sam bha was a more daring

ra ide r than h i s fathe r and de te rred by no fear o f co nse

quences . “'

i th Akbar as h i s pens io ne r, what m ight he

no t do aga inst the Mughal c rown ? Moreove r,o f al l

Aura’

hgz ib’

s gene ra l s and even h i s sons sen t aga in s t the

k ingdom s o f the Deccan had fai led o f conque s t,and

we re righ t ly suspec ted o f corrupt i on . So ’ the re was

nothing left fo r Aurangz ib but to conduct the war in

pe rson . \Vi th th i s'

obj ect he”

left Ajm ir forthe Deccan

(8th Septembe r , neve r aga in to/ re turn to N orthe rn

Ind i a a l i ve or dead . The cap i tal Aurangabad was

reached on 2 2 nd March,1 682 . Thence , on 1 3th N o vem

ber,1 683, he arr i ved at Ahm adnagar, a town to wh i ch

he was des t ined to re tu rn 2 3 years afte rwards on ly to

d ie . Two o f h i s sons and some noble s we re de spatched

aga ins t the Bijapuris and the Marathas , bu t they e ffe cted

noth ing dec i s i ve,though a l arge numbe r o f Sambha

’

s

forts we re captu red . A large force wh i ch pene t r ated into

1 6 LIFE o r AU RANGZ IB

Ram -de rah in the Konkan u-nde r Pr ince M uaz zam,re

t u rned wi th fa i l ure and heavy loss (Septembe r , 1 683,

May,

F ie rce as was Aurangz ib’

s hatred o f the H indus

( the vas t m aj ori ty o f h i s subj e cts) , it was equal led by h l s

aversion for the Shiahs — who supp l ied him wi th som e

o f his bes t gene ral s and al l his able s t c i vi l o ffi ce rs . To

him the Sh iah was a he re t i c in o ne o f h i s le tte rs

he quote s w i th adm i rat i on the s to ry o f a Sunn i who

e scaped toi

Tu rkey afte r m urde r ing a Sh i ah a t I sfahan,

and d raw s from it the m o ra l,Who ever ac ts fo r t ruth

and speaks up fo r tru th,i s befriended bv the True

God l”

In anothe r le tte r he te l l s us how he l i ked the

nam ing o f a dagge r as the Sh i ah - sl aye r ’

(Rd

and o rde red some m o re o f the sam e name to be m ade fo r

him . In h i s correspondence he neve r m en t ions the Sh iah s

w i thou t an abu s i ve epi the t :‘co rpse - e at ing dem ons ’

(g/zztl‘m i sbe l ieve rs (bril l? are

am ong h i s favour i te ph rases . Indeed ,even the h ighes t

S h iah office rs had such a bad t im e o f i t in h i s Co u rt

th at they often p l ayed the hypocr i te to p le ase him !

Aurangz ib th rew the c loak o f Sunn i orthodox y o ver

h i s aggre ss i ve conques t o f Bij apur and Go lko nda,o f

w hi ch the ru le rs we re S h i ahs . The Sha ikh -ul- I sl am (son;

o f the Ch ief Qaz i Abdu l W ahhab and o ne o f the pures t

characte rs of the age ,) t r ied to d i ssuade the Em pe rorfrom these wars be tween Musl im s as opposed to

I s l am . Bu t Aurangz ib got d i spleased at the oppos i t i on

the honest and m an ly Sha i kh re s igned h i s post , left the

AURANGz IB’

s RE IGN IN THE DECCAN 1 7

Cou rt,and fo r the res t o f his l ife rejec ted the Empe ror’s

repeated sol i c i tat ions to re sum e his h igh ofli ce .

O n 2 7 th March , 1 685 the siege of Bijapur was

begun by Prince Az am and Khan-i-J ahan Bahadur. The

Empe ror advanced to Shol apu r (24th May) to be/near

the seat o f war. A te rr i ble fam ine de sol ated the besie

ge rs ; bu t re inforcements soon arri ved wi th provi s ions,

though scarc i ty o f a k ind con t inued in a ch ron i c state

in the M ughal cam p. The re l iev ing arm ies o f Beydurs

and Marathas we re beaten back and the s iege pressed

o n . The garri son fough t wi th the he ro i sm o f despa i r.

Aurangz ib h imse lf arr i ved in the env i rons o f the c i ty

to supe r intend the s iege ope rat ion s (3rd J u ly ,At l as t

,o n 1 2 th Septembe r , S i kandar, the l as t o f the

Ad i l S hah i k ings , su rrende red,and h i s k ingdom was

annexed .

Meant ime ano the r force had been sen t unde r Pr ince

Muaz zam or Shah A lam ( 2 8th J une , aga inst

Go lko nda to preven t aid from com ing from that

quarte r to B ij apu r. I t captu red the r i ch c i ty gf Haidarabad

,m ak ing an immense l oot (O ctobe r) . The k ing,

Abu l H asan,a worth le ss vol uptuary and the exact

coun te rpart o f Waj id A l i o f O udh , he l p less ly Shut

h im se lf up in the Fort of Golkonda; But h i s ch iefs

we re seduced by the Mughal s ; the re was d i sconten t

among h i s Muhamm adan offi ce rs at the powe r o f his

Brahm an min i s te r M adna Panth . The bes iege rs, too?)

had a h ard t ime o f i t before that impregnable for t :. a

te rr i ble fam ine raged in Haidarabad,

(

but the ra ins and

2

1 8 LIFE or AURANGZIB

swol len r i ve rs rende red the t ransport o f gra in im poss ible ,a nd the most ghastly scenes we re acted by the suffe re rs .

an“ immense co s t the Mughal s fi l led the moat and

a l so e re cted a huge barrie r wal l of wood and c l ay

c omp le te ly surround ing the fort and p reven t ing ingress

and egress . Aurangz ib h im se lf arr i ved near Go lko nda

o n 2 8th J anuary ,1 687 , and pressed on the s iege c

—f r But

m in ing and assau l t fai led ,and i t was o nl y the treache ry

o f a Go lkonda o ffice r that o pened the gate o f the fort

to the Mughal s at m idn ight ( 2 I s t Septembe r,The k ing was d ragged o ut and sent to sha re the

c ap t iv i ty o f his brothe r o f Bij apu r. H is k ingdom was

annexed . Two years l ate r,Sambhaj i, the

'

brave but

d i sso lu te Maratha k ing, was su rpr i sed by an ene rge t i c

D eccan i o ffi ce r (Muqarrab Khan ) , ignom ini ous ly paraded

th rough the Impe r i a l cam p l i ke a wi ld beast,and

executed w i th pro lo nged and inhum an tortures ( 1 1 th

March,

H is cap i ta l Raigarh was captu red ( 1 9th

O ctobe r) and h i s en t i re fam i ly,

“mothe rs,wive s

,

d aughte rs , and sons ” m ade pr i sone r by the Mughal s .

H is e ldes t so n,Sahu

,was brought up in the Im pe r i a l

Cou rt in gi lded fe tte rs

A l l seem ed to have been gained by Aurangz ib now,

bu t in real i ty all was l ost. I t was the beginning of

his end. The sadde s t and most hope less chapter o f

h is l ife now opened . The Mughal em pi re had become

too l arge to be ru led by o ne man or from o ne cent re .

Aurangz ib,l i ke the bo a constr i c tor , had swal lowed fu ore

than he cou ld d igest . I t was imposs ible fo r him to tak

20 LIFE OF AURANGZIB

the i r l ocal offi ce rs,m any o f whom had set up fo r

them se l ve s . The Beydurs , a wi ld h i l l t ri be , whom C o l.

Meadows Tay l or h as de s cribed in his fasc inat ing Story

of 111} Lg'

fe, we re the fi rs t to be attacked . The i r count ry ,

s i tu ated be tween B ij apu r and Go lko nda,was ove rrun ,

the i r cap i ta l Sakhkhar captu red (2 8th N o v .,

and

thei r ch ief Pid N a i k,a st rongly bu i l t unco u th black

savage, b rought to~the Cou rt . Bu t the brave and hardy

c l ansmen rose unde r othe r leade rs and the M ughal s had

to send two m ore exped i t io ns against them .

A de sol at ing ep idem i c o f bubonic p lague broke

o ut in B ij apu r (early in Novembe r,

sparingne i the r pr ince no r peasant. The Im pe r ia l householdpa id to l l to Death in the pe rso ns o f Aurangabad i

Mahal (a wi fe o f the Em pe ro r) , Faz i l Khan the Sadr,

and the bogus son o f J aswant S ingh . O f humble r

v i ct im s the numbe r i s sa id to have reached a [a le/z.

Afte r Sam bha’s captu re , his younge r bro the r Raj ah

Ram m ade a ha i r-bread th escape to the fo rt o f' Jinji,

(Gingee in the S . Arcot d i s t r i c t o f Mad ras ) , wh ich was

be s ieged by the Mugha l genera l Zulfiqar Khan N usrat

J ang and Prince Kam Bakhsh (De cembe r , and

fe l l o n 7 th February ,1 698. Soon afte rw ards Raj ah

Ram , the l as t king o f the Marathas,d ied . But the

Maratha capta ins , e ach act ing on his own account,

incessant ly ra ided the Mughal te rr i tory and d id the

greates t poss ib le inju ry by the i r gueri l la warfare . The

two ables t , most su ccessfu l , and mos t d readed leade rs o f

th i s c l ass were Dhanna Jadon and San ta Gho rpure (and

THE LAST PHASE 2 1

l at terly N im a S indhi a) , who deal t heavy b lo ws at some

im portant Mughal detachments . They seem ed to be

ubi qu i tous and e lus i ve l i ke the wind . The movable

colum ns frequen tly sen t from the Im pe r i a l headquarte rsto “ chas t i se the robbe rs

,

” on ly marched and counte r

m arched,wi thou t be ing able to c rush the enem y . \Vhen

the Mughal force had gone back the scat te red Marathas ,l i ke wate r parted by the oar

,c losed aga in and resumed

the i r attack,as if noth ing had happened to them .

V.

THE LAST PHASE.

Afte r mov ing about a lmost eve ry year be tween

Bij apu r in the sou th and the Manjira r i ve r in the north ,Aurangz ib (2 1 5 t May,

1 69 5) final ly made Brahm apur i

o n the Bh ima r ive r, east o f Pandharpu r, h i s Base Camp ,

a nd named i t Islampuri. He re a c i ty sprang up from

h i s encampment,

'

and i t was wal led round in t ime.

He re h is fam i ly was l odged when he was ou t on

c ampaign .

On 1 9th Oc tobe r, 1 699 , afte r a four years’ s tay at

Islampuri, Aurangz ib,now aged 8 1 years , se t ou t to

besiege the Maratha forts in person . The re st o f h i s

i ife i s a repe ti t i on o f the sam e s i cken ing tale a h i l l fort

captured by h im afte r a great l oss o f t ime m en and

m oney,recove red by the Marathas from the weak

Mughal garr i son after a few months,and the s iege begun

aga in afte r a year or two ! The sold ie rs and camp

fol lowers suffe red unspeakable hardsh i ps in march ing

2 2 LIFE OF AU RANGZIB

ove r flooded r i ve rs and ra in- soaked roads,porte rs d is~

appeared ,t ransport beasts d ied o f hunger and overwork,

s carc i ty o f gra in was ch ron i c in the camp . The office rs

ail wear ied o f th i s l abou r o f S i syphus ; bu t Aurangz ib

wou ld bu rs t in to wrath at any suggest ion o f re treat to

H industan and taunt the un l ucky co unse l l or wi th

coward i ce and l ove o f ease The mu tu a l jea lous ies o f

h i s gene ral s , Nusrat J ang and F i ru z J ang, Shujae t Khan

and M uhamm ad Murad Khan,Tarbiyat Khan and

Fathu l l ah Khan,spoi led h i s affai rs as tho rough ly as the

French cause in the Pen insu l ar Wa r was dam aged by

the jealous ies o f N apoleon’s m arshal s. The refore

,the

Empe ror must conduct eve ry ope rat io n in pe rson,or

noth ing wou ld be done

A bare record of his sieges wi l l suffice he re

BASANTGARH (su r rende rs 2 sth N o v .

,

SATARA (s iege , 8 th D ec .

,1 699— 2 1 Ap .

,

PARLIGARI I ne ar Satara (s iege , 3o th Ap.—9th J une) .

Halt a t K/zaw a spw‘

for 1116 ra iny season o f 1 700

(from 3o th .Aug.)PANHALA (s iege , 9th Mar.— 2 8th May

,al so

Pawangarh captu red .

H a lt d l K/za z‘mzun for Me m z'

rzy sea s on o f 1 70 1 , (29th

May— 7 th N ov.)Cap tu re o f VVardhangarh (6th J une , N andgir,

Chandan and Wandan (6th O ct .) by Fathu l l ahKhan .

KHELNA (s iege, 26th D ec ., 1 70 1

— 4th J une,

THE LAST PHASE 2 3

H a lt a t Banrm’urpnr for {no ra iny season o f 1 702 ,

after a mo st pa infu l m arch from l o th J une to this

th i rd week o f Octobe r !KONDANA (se ige , 2 7 th Decembe r, r7 o 2— 8th Apr i l

,

1 703)H a lf a t P nna for Ike ra iny season o f 1 703, ( I st May

“

- I o th Novembe r).

RAJGARH (s iege , 2 nd De cembe r,1 703— 1 6th Febru ary “

,

1 704)TORNA (s iege , 2 3rd February— 1 0th March ) .

H a lt a t K/zoa’ for £126 ra iny sea son o f 1 704 ( 1 7 th Apri l

2 2 nd O ctobe r) .-’AK1NKHERA ( s iege ,

8th Febru ary— 2 7 th Apri l ;H a lt a t D ew apur , 6 m iles from \Vakinkhera for Ike

ra iny season o f 1 705, (May— 2 3rd Octobe r) .

Thi s was the l as t o f h i s s iege s , fo r he re he go t a

w arn ing o f what was to come . At D ewapur a seve re

i l lne ss attacked him,whi ch was aggravated by h i s

ins i stence to transact bu s iness as u sual . The whole

cam p was in despai r and confus ion who wou ld ex tri

cate them from that gl oomy moun ta inous region if the

Empe ror d ied ? At l ast Aurangz ib y ie lded to the i r

e nt reaty and probably al so to the warn ing o f approach

ing death , and retreated to Bahadu rpu r (6th Decembe r,whence he reached Ahmadnagar (20th J anuary,to d ie a year l ate r.

The l as t few y e ars of h i s l ife we re inexpre ss ibly sad

O n i t s publ i c s ide the re was the con sc i ousne ss th at h i s

lo ng re ign o f half a centu ry had been a col ossal fai l u re .

24 LIFE OF AURANGZIB

l” th i s morose foreAfte r m e wi l l com e the de l uge

bod ing o f Lou i s XV . was repeated by Aurangz ib

almost word fo r word (As nza - st llama/z fa sad—z’

H is dome s t i c l i fe,too

,was love less and d reary

,and

wan t ing in the ben ign peace and ho pefu lness wh i ch

th row a halo round o ld age . O ne daugh te r , Z inat - un

n i ssa,al ready an o ld m aid

,l ooked afte r his ho usehold ,

and his younges t concub ine , U da ipuri, bore him com

pany. But he had,at o ne t im e o r o the r

,to impri son

all h i s five - sons except o ne ! By hi s own’ cond uct in

the War o f Success io n he had ra i sed a spectre w h ich

re len t le ssly pursued h im : what if his sons should t reat

him in h i s weak o ld age as he had t reated Shah j ahanTh is fear o f N em es i s eve r haunted his m ind

,and he had

no peace whi le h i s sons we re wi th him ! Lastly,the re

was the ce rta inty o f a de l uge o f blood when he wou ld

c l ose h i s eyes,

and h i s th ree surv iv ing sons, each

supported by a p ro v inc i al army and t reasu ry,wo u ld

fight fo r the th rone to the bi tte r end . In two most

p athe t i c le tte rs w r i tten to h i s sons when he fe l t the

su re approach to death,the o ld Emperor speaks o f the

a l arm and d i s tract ion o f h i s sold iery , the pass ionate

grief o f U da ipuri, and h i s own bi tte r sense o f the

fut i l i ty o f h i s l ife,and then en treats them no t to cau se

the s l aughte r o f Musalm ans by engaging in a c i v i l wa r

among them se l ve s . A pape r,sa id to have been found

unde r h i s pi l l ow afte r h i s death , conta ined a plan fo r

the peacefu l part i t i on o f the em pi re among h i s th ree

s ons . Meant ime death was a l so busy at work wi th in

THE LAST PHASE 2 5

h i s fam i ly c i rc le . W hen Gauharara , the l as t among

Aurangz ib’

s brothe rs and S i s te rs,d ied , (about March ,

he fe l t that h i s own'

turn wou ld com e soon .

Some o f h i s nephews , daughte rs, and grand son s , too ,

we re snatched away from him in the course o f h i s l as t

year. In the m ids t o f the darkne ss c l os ing around h im ,

he used to burn the pathe t i c ve rses

By the time you are 80 or 90 years o f age ,

You w il l have fe lt many hard blows from FateAnd when you reach the stage of a 1 00 years,L ife w il l be the image of death to you .

And al so ,

In a m oment, in a m inute , in a breath ,

The cond ition of the wo rld may become d ifi’

eren t .

H i s l ast i l lnes s ove rtook him at Ahm adnaga r , l ate

.in j anuary , 1 707 ; then he ral l ied fo r 5 or 6 days , sen t

’ away h i s two sons from h i s cam p to the i r prov in c i a l

gove rnm en ts,

and wen t through bus ine ss and da i ly

p raye rs regu l a rly . Bu t that worn-ou t fram e o f 9 1

years had been taxed too m uch . A seve re feve r set in,

and in the m orn ing o f Friday,20th Febru ary

,1 707 ,

he gradu al ly sank down ex hau sted into the arm s o f

death , wi th the Musl im confess ion o f fa i th o n h i s l ips

and h i s finge rs on h i s rosary .

The corpse was despatched to Khu ldabad, s ix m i les

from Dau latabad,and the re bu ried in the courtyard of

'

the tomb o f the saint'

Shaikh zainudd in,in a red sand

s tone sepu l ch re bu i l t by Aurangz ib in hisown l ife t ime .

The tomb -stone, 9 feet by 7 fee t

,is a few inches in


he igh t , and has a cav i ty in the m idd le wh i ch i s fil led

w i th earth fo r pl ant ing fragran t he rbs in .

Aurangz ib’

s wife,D ILRAS BANU BEGAM

,the

daughte r o f Shah N awaz Khan Safaw i,d ied on 8th

O ctobe r, 16 57 , afte r bearing him Zebunnissa,A z am and

Akbar. A se condary w i fe NAWAB BAI,the

mothe r o f Su l tan and Muaz zam,doe s no t seem to have

been a favour i te,as he r hu sband se ldom sough t her

soc ie ty afte r h is acce ss i on . O f h i s th ree concubines

( pa rastar ) , H ira Bai o r ZAINABAD I , wi th whom he was

i nfatuated alm os t to m adness,d ied ve ry young ; .

AURANGABAD I , the mo the r o f M ihrunn issa ,d ied o f the

p l ague in N o vembe r 1 688 ; U DAI PURI,the favour i te

compan i on o f Aurangz ib’s o ld age and the mothe r o f

h i s pet so n Kam Bakhsh,ente red h i s harem afte r h i s

access i on. She i s sa id to have been a C i rcass i an

S l ave—gi r l o f Dara, gained by Aurangz ib among the

spoi l s o f v i ctory . Bu t anothe r accoun t wh i ch descr ibes

her as a KaShm iri wom an ,i s m ore l i ke ly to be t rue

,

because the M asz’

r - i -Alamgz'

m'

ca l l s her Ba i,a t i t le

whi ch was appl ied to H indu women on ly . Her de scen t

from the royal house o f Mewar i s a fanc ifu l conje c tu re

o f some m ode rn wri te rs . W e al so read o f a woman

nam ed D i/aranz,as hav ing been h i s pa rasz

‘

a r in h i s

early l ife bu t she was probably a handm aid on ly .

Aurangz ib’s e lde s t so n

,SULTAN

,chafing unde r the

re stra ints o f h i s fathe r’s offi ce rs

,du r ing the war in

Bengal,fled to Shuj a and m arried h i s daughte r, bu t

in a few m on th s re turned to his fathe r. The fool i sh »

2 8 L1FE OF AURANGZIB

AURANGZIB’

S CHARACTER.

So l i ved and so d ied Aurangz ib, surnamed Alamgi r

S hah,the l as t o f the Great Mughal s. For

,in spi te

o f h i s re l igio us intole rance,narrowne ss o f m ind

,and

l ack o f gene ros i ty and statesm an sh ip, he was great in

the po ssess ion o f some qual i t ie s wh i ch m igh t h ave

gained fo r him the h ighes t p l ace in any Sphere o f

l ife excep t the s uprem e one o f ru le over m en . He

would have m ade a successfu l gene ra l , m in i s te r, theo lo

g i an , or sch ool -maste r , and an ideal departmenta l head .

But the cri t i cal em inence o f a throne o u

'

wh i ch he

was placed by a freak o f For tune,led to the fai l u re

o f h i s l i fe and the bl igh t ing o f h i s fame .

Pure in h is domes t i c re l at i ons,s imp le and abstem i

ous l i ke a he rm i t,he had a pass ion fo r work and a

hatred o f ease and pleasu re wh i ch rem ind one o f George

Grenv i l le,tho ugh wi th Grenv ille

’

s un t i ring indu s try he

had al so got Grenv ille ’s narrowness and o bs t inacy .

Eu ropean trave l le rs observed wi th wo nde r the grey

headed Empe ror ho ld ing open Court eve ry day,read ing

eve ry pe t i t i on and wr i t ing orde rs across i t wi th h i s

own hand . O f the le tte rs d i c tated by h im, those

that are known to exi st in Eu rope and Ind i a,numbe r

about two thousand. ( l have got copies'

o f al l o f them

as far as known to me) . Many more m ust have pe r i shed .

In m atters o f offic i a l d i sc i p l ine and Court e t ique tte

he was a m art ine t and enforced the s tr i c test obed ience

to ru les and e stabl i shed usages : If I su ffer a s ingleregu l at ion to be v iol ated , a l l o f them wi l l be d i s regard

AU RANGZ IB'

S CHARACTER 29

ed,was his frequent remark . But th i s punct i l iou s

observance o f the form must have led to neglect o f the .

sp i r i t o f ins t i tu t ions and l aws .

H is pass ion fo r doing eve ryth ing h im se lf and d ic

t at ing the m inutes t part i cu l ars to far-o ff gove rnorsand

gene ral s, robbed them o f al l se l f- re l i ance and powe r o f“in i t i at i ve

,and left them he s i tat ing and he lpless in the

{face o f any u nexpe c ted em e rgency . H is susp i c io us

po l i cy c rushed the l a ten t abi l i ty o f h i s sons,so tha t at

h is death they w e re no be tte r th an ch i ld ren tho ugh

tu rned o f s ixty years o f age . Al i ke in his pass ion fo r'

w o rk ,d i s t rus t o f the m an o n the spot , prefe rence fo r

i n competen t but se rvi l e agents , and re l igi ous b igo try

he resembled h i s con tem porary in Eu rope , Lou i s X IV.

Hi s co o lne ss and cou rage were fam ous th roughou tInd i a : no dange r howeve r great , no emergency how

e ver un l ooked fo r, cou ld shake h i s heart o r c loud the

se rene l ight o f his in te l lect . Indeed,he regarded

d ange r as on l y the legi t im ate r i sk o f greatness . N o

am ount o f exert i on cou ld fat igue that th in w i ry fram e .

The pr i vat ions o f a campa ign o r forced r ide had no

te rror fo r him . O f d ip l omacy he was a past m aste r,and cou ld no t be bea ten in any k ind o f in t r igue o r

se c re t m an ipu l at i on . He was as much a “m aste r o f

the pen” as a m aste r o f the swo rd .

”

From the s tr i c t path o f a M us l im k ing ’s duty as

l a id down in the Quran i c Law noth ing cou ld m ake

him dev iate the l eas t. And he was al so‘

de term ined

no t to let ot/zers dev i ate too " N o fear o f m ate r i a l lo s s

30 LIFE O F AU RANGZIB

o n influence o f any favou ri te , no tears o r supp l i ca t i on( co u ld induce h im to act cont rary to the S/za rz

'

(Canon

Law ) . F l at te re rs styled h im “ a l i v ing sa in t,”

(Alamgz'

r

s z'

na’a pr

'

f ) . I ndeed,from a ve ry early pe r io d o f h i s l ife

he had chosen “the s tra i t gate and narrow way’

wh i ch

l eade th u nto l i fe bu t the defe cts o f h i s heart m ade

,.the gate st ra i te r and the way narrowe r.

He l acked that . w arm gene ros i ty o f the heart ,

t hat ch i val ry to fal len foes,and that e asy

.

fam i l i a r i ty

o f add re ss in pri vate l ife , wh i ch m ade the great

Akbar w in the lo ve and adm i rat ion o f h i s con tempo

rar ie s and o f a ll po ste r i ty . Li ke the Engl i shPu r itans

,Aurangz ib d rew h i s i nsp i rat ion from the o ld

l aw o f re lentle ss pun i shm ent and vengeance and fo rgo t

that m e rcy i s an att ribute o f the S upreme J udge o f the

I I n ive rse .

H i s cold inte l lectual i ty,his susp i c io us nature

,and

h is fam e fo r p rofound s tate craft,ch i l led the l ove o f all

who came near him . So ns,daughte rs , gene ral s , and

m in i sters , al l feared h im wi th a secret but deep - ro oted

fear, wh ich ne i ther respe c t no r flatte ry co u ld d i sgu i se .

Art,mus i c

,dance

,and even po et ry (o the r than

fam i l i ar quotat ions”

) we re h i s ave rs ion,and he spen t

h i s le i su re hou rs in hunt ing fo r l egal p receden ts in

Arabi c work s o n J ur i sprude nce .

Scrupu l ously fol lowi ng the ru le s o f the Quran in

h i s own pr i vate l ife , {he cons ide red i t h i s duty to enforcethem on eve rybody elsel‘; the leas t dev i at ion from the

s tr i ct and narrow path o f I sl am i c o rthodoxy in any

AURANGZIB’

S CHARACTER 3 1

part o f h i s dom in i ons,wou ld (he fea red) e ndange r h i s

own so ul. H i s spi r i t was the refo re the narrow and

se lfish Spi r i t o f the l one l y rec l u se,who ,seek s h i s ind ivi

dual sal vat i on,obl i v iou s o f the ou ts ide world . A man

possessed wi th such ideas m ay have m ade a go od

faqz'

r,— though Aurangz ib l ac ked the food

’s nobles t

qual i ty,ch ar i ty ;— but he w as the worst ru le r im agi’n

able o f an em p i re com posed! o f m any creeds and race s,

o f d i ve rse inte re s ts and walys o f l ife and though t .“The nature o f main i s intr i cate ; the obj ects o f

soc ie ty are o f the gre ate s t poss i ble comp lex i ty ; and

t he refore no S imp le rdispo s ition or d i re ct ion o f powe r

can be s u i table e ithler to man ’s natu re,or to the qual i ty

o f h is affa i rs Pro litical re ason i s a com pu t ing pr in

c iple ; add ing, Subtract ing,m u l t i p ly ing,

and d i v id ingt rue m ora l denom inat i on s The t rue l awg i ve r ough t to

have an heart fu l l o f sens ib i l i ty . He ought to love and

respect h i s k ind“ and to fear h im se lf. Pol i t i ca l arrange

ment i s to b,e

_on ly wrough t by soc i a l means . The re

mind m u s t C q,rnsp ire w i th m ind .

I Aurangz ib u tte r ly l acked sy athy,im aginat ion

,

bread th O f.

v i s ion,e l as t i c i ty in the cho i ce o f means

,and

that warmt'h o f the heart wh i ch atone s fo r a hund red

faul ts Of thie head . These l im i tat i ons o f h i s characte r

comple telyi' unde rm ined the Mughal emp i re , so that‘

on

h i s death it);sudden ly fe l l in a s ingle downward p l unge .

I ts inner Ii tfe was gone , and the ou tward form cou ld no t

d C CC iVC the ; world l ong. Tim e re lent less ly sweeps away

whateve r iS ineffi c ient,unnece ssary

,o r false to N a tu re .

AN EC DOTES O F AU RANGZIB

I N TROD U CT IONIn 1 903, Mr. W i l l i am I rv ine

,I .C.S. (re t i red) , the

h i sto r i an of the Later Mughal s, in his usual sp i r i t o f

he lp to younge r men engaged in research,lent m e a

work (numbered bv h im 2 5 2 ) from h i s pr i vate col lect ion

o f Pe rs i an MSS. which was no t known to ex is t in any

other l ibrary o f Europe o r Ind i a and wh i ch no h is tor i an

had ye t used . I t was the Akk’xam—i attr ibuted

to the pen o f Ham idudd in Khan (su rnam ed N imchah

i-Alamgiri) , whose l i fe is gi ven in‘ the M a sz'

r -nZ-zunam,

i . 60 5— 6 1 1 . But o f th i s au thorsh ip there i s no proo f,and none o f the th ree Mss . bears ",h i s nam e . Subse

quently Mr. I rv ine sen t me ano tluer and earl ie r MS.

o f the Afr/ba rn, (No . 340 o f h i s l ib ra ry) ,

"

o f wh i ch N o . 2 52

i s on ly a copy . I m ade a t ranscrippt o f the work,

ca refu l ly col l at ing the two Ms. In IgeDS, I d i s coveredanothe r fragmen t o f th i s work bou nd to w i th some

le tte rs o f Aurangz ib, wi th the leaves t together in

d i sorde r , in the I nd i a Office L i bra ry Per Ms . 3388 .

In Oc to ber 13577 1 fo und at Rampur i1khand ) a

fourth copy,iden t i cal with M r. I rvine’s x tent and

arrangem ent o f matte r,bu t m ore correc t a supp lying

usefu l vari ants. The ow ne r, N awab A IS Sal am

Khan Bahadu r,re t i red Sub -J udge , O udh , ve il

'y kind l y

pe rm i tted me to t ake a copy o f i t . Th is (gent lem an

possesses anothe r Ms . o f the work,wh i ch he ha s named

S/zaran-z°

-dastkna t- z' I t i s incomp le te and

cove rs a port ion o f the Ind ia Office Ms . (the; arrange

I NTRODUCT ION 33

m ent,howeve r

,be ing d i fferent.) The re i s on ly one

new anecdote in i t,wh i ch I have printed as 5 1 .

O n the bas i s o f these th ree Mss. (visa, No . 2 52

co l l ated wi th 340,N o . 3388 ,

and the Ram pu r copy ,)I have ed i ted the Pe rs i an text and made the fol l ow ingEngl i sh t rans l at i on o f i t. The d i v i s i on o f the

i

book

a nd the arrangem ent o f the anecdotes are my own .

The passages p r inted in th i ck type are in Arabi c in

the orig inal,and have been t rans l ated wi th the k ind he lp

o f Prof. Abdu l H a i o f Patna Col lege .

Abbrew'

a tz'

ons.

I r . Ms .= I rv ine Ms . No . 2 5

°

Ms . N .= Ind ia Offi ce L i brary Pe rs i an Ms. N o . 3388.

Ms . R=Rampur (Abdu s Sal am Khan’s ) fi rs t M s .

o f the A/z/eanz.

A N .=Alamgz

'

rnaman.

ed. by Abdu l Ham id Lahor i .-ul- Umam The l as t five works in

the Bibl i otheca Ind i caKhafi Khan=Mnnta ~

ed i t i on ,

knob-nZ-Laoab

My Pe rs i an text main ly fol lows I rv ine Ms. 2 52 ,

wh ich i s refe rred to as N as/e/za B. Al l the importan t

var ian ts are gi ven in the footnote s . [Va se/2a A . m eans

I rv ine Ms . 340,rVns/e/za JV. m ean s the I nd i a Offi ce Ms ,

and [Va st/1a R . s tands fo r Abdus Salam ’s fi rs t Ms .

ANE CDOTE S OF AU RANGZIB

( Translafea’

from the P ersian)

SECTION IABOU T AU RANGZIB {H IMSELF

1 . Young Aurangzib fights with an Elephant .

HEN the Empe ror Shah J ahan was s taying at

Lahore,he O ften engaged in [wi tness ing ] e lephant

combats in the garden o f Shal amar. Once the Gove rnor

o f Bengal sent h im 40 h igh ly pra ised gam e e lephants.

The Emperor sat at the balcony , whi le the four prince s

( h i s sons ) wi tnessed the Sport from horse -back . O ne

e lephan t flee ing from i ts opponent came towards the

pr ince s . Three o f the Empe ror’s sons fled to the r igh t

a nd left . Only Muhamm ad Aurangz ib, who was fou r

t een years o ld, s tood firm ly wi thout mov ing at al l . The

runaway e lephan t passed by him . The pu rsu inge lephan t , leav ing i ts r i val , turned towards h im . The

prince charged i t w i th the spear he he ld in his hand .

A blow from the e lephant’s t runk hur led the horse

down upon the ground . Aurangz ib leaped up and

se i z ing the spear again tu rned to the e lephan t in orde r

to throw i t at i ts head . At th i s j unc ture the se rvant s

came , up and the Empe ror in great a larm descended

from the bal cony. Aurangz ib sl owly proceeded

towards h i s Majes ty . Itimad Khan, the na s z

’

r,who

had come near, —cons ide r ing that he , as o ne o f the

fam i ly o f the Pr ince ’s m ate rnal grandfather Asaf Khan,

36 ANECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

the Princes. Aurangzib was just 1 4 years of age at the time. The

Emperor presented him w ith go ld co ins , the e lephan tSudhakar, and o ther gifts of the to tal value of two [ale/ts of rupees .

I timad Khan is evidently a m is take for Itiqad Khan, the

bro ther of Yam inuddaula Asaf Khan and N ur Jahan . He was

sent to D e lhi as S ubahdar earl y in March, 1 633 .

i . A. D ied 1 650.

g 2 . Aurangzib’

s early J ealousy of Dara.

A mans ion had been [newly] bu i l t at Agra fo r

Dara Shukoh. He inv i ted to i t Shah J ahan and h is

th ree brothe rs . As i t was the s ummer season,an unde r

ground room had been const ructed c lose to the r ive r,and m irrors from A leppo, l onge r than the human

s tature,had bee n hung o n the s ide

-towards the r i ve r

Dara conducted Shah J ahan and h is brothe rs to see

how the room l ooked . Muhammad Aura ngz ib sat

down c l ose to the door lead ing in and out o f the room .

Dara see ing i t winked at the Emperor, as if to saySee whe re he i s s i tt ing.

’ Hi s maj es ty sa id,My ch i ld

,

though I know you to be learned and herm i t- l i ke, yet

i t i s al so needfu l to ma in ta in one’s rank. The re is a

popul ar say ing,—‘If you do no t m ainta in you r rank ,

you are an athe i s t ’. What necess i ty i s the re fo r yo u

to s i t down in the path by wh ich people pass, and in

a pos i t i on be l ow and beh ind you r younge r brothe r ?

Aurangz ib rep l ied ,

“I shal l afterwards te l l you the

reason o f my s i tt ing thus .” Afte r a Short t ime he rose

o n the pl ea o f pe rform ing h is m id -day praye r ( Z n/1am;

a nd went back from the pl ace to his own house wi thou t .

JEALOUSY OF DARA 37

t ak ing the Empe ror’s pe rm i ss ion . When the Empero r

heard o f i t he fo rbade h im the Cou rt,

so that

the Prince was debarred from the aud ience fo r seven

m onths . Afte r the seven mon ths , the Empe ror to ld the

Begam"

Sah i b [Jahanara ,the Crown Princess] ,

“G0 to

h is house and learn fo r me the reason o f h i s com ing

back o n that day wi thou t my leave and o f h i s s i t t ing

d own on a l ow'

leve l . When the Begam Sah ib went and

a sked him,he repl ied , On the day when Dara Shukoh

invi ted us,if that brothe r intent i onal ly so acted that

,

a fte r m ak ing h i s fathe r and th ree brothers s it down in

t hat unde rground room wi th o ne door,he repeated l y

c ame in and went ou t fo r the necessary supe rv i s ion o f

the en te rta inment, [I feared that] he m ight shu t the

d oor,and then al l wou ld be ove r [wi th us]. If he acted

thu s th rough care lessness,i t repeated ly stru ck me that I

s hou ld do the work (o f guard ing the door) wh i le he

was ins ide the room . But H i s Maje s ty o ut o f a sense

o f d i gn i ty forbade my ac ti on . So I came ou t afte rbegging God

’s pardon . Immed i a te ly on hear ing thi s

the Empe ror summoned the Pr ince and conferred

favou rs on h im . The Pr ince told Sad u l l ah Khan [the

Prime Min i s te r] ,“Send me away from the Court by

any means that you can,as I have l ost my sleep and

peace o f m ind .

” So H i s Majesty sen t h im from Laho rear

to ac t as Gove rnor of the Deccan.

Te ri— Ir Ms . 1 5 o— 1 6a

,Ms . N . 24 a —2 5 o.

This mu s t be a m is take for z’

ll u lta n . Aurangz ib was never Subahdar of Lahore( the Panjab) , bu t on 1 4th J uly, 1 65 2 he was appo inted Subahdar o f the D ecm n on

aransfer from Multan.


N otes— Ou 1 st D ecember, 1 645 Dara was given two Za/s/zs o f

rupees fo r h is new house on the Jumna a t D elnz'

(Abdu l Ham id’sii. This house was vis ited by Shah Jahan

o n 1 4th March, 1 643 (Mid, Dara’s house on the bank of

the J umna at Agra was inhab ited by the Emperor from 20th Ju lyto 8th August, 1 644 380, Aurangzib was in disgraceat Agra from 2 8th May to 2 5th N ovember, 1 644 (MM 37 6, 398)

and was afterwards ( 1 6th February, 1 645) sent as Subahdar to

Guzerat The Emperor again vis ited D ara’s house a t Agra

o n zud January, 1 6453. Young Aurangzib

’

s Courtesy to Nobles .

Dara Shukoh behaved towards some of the no bles

w i th enm i ty and towards some o the rs w i th arrogance ,

s uch as Al i Mardan Khan,Sadu l l ah Khan

,and Syed

M iran of Barha,who we re commande rs o f five tho u

sand each and i nt im ate cou rt ie rs o f Shah J ahan . But

Aurangz ib had a spec ia l fr iendsh i p w i th eve ryo ne o f

them “

so that in h i s le tte rs he used to add ress Al i

Mardani

Khan, (o n whom Shah J ahan had bestowed

the t i tle o f ‘Fai thfu l w i th the fr iend ly ep i the t‘Man o f good deeds ’ to add ress Sadul l ah Khan (who

had the t i tle s of Staff of o ld age and Min i s te r fu l l o f:

plans’

,and o f whom Aurangz ib, by reason o f h i s hav ing

read with him,regarded h im se lf as a pupi l ), as M ini s ter

fu l l o f p l ans’and ‘

the Head o f humble pup i l s’

; and

Syed Mi ran Barha,whom the Empe ror had ent i t led.

the Syed o f Syeds’

,as The e ssence o f the descendants

o f H is Holiness the Syed o f the Un i ve rse Muham

Eve ry o ne o f these three noble s,and o the rs

bes ides them such as Afzal Khan Mul la A l a-ul-mu l k

COURTESY TO NOBLES 39

(who from the rank o f e/zansama n afte rwards atta ined to

the post o f w ager) , in the i r extreme l ove fo r Aurangz ib

d id eve ry se rv i ce requ i red by fr iendsh i p in conceal ing

h i s sec re ts . H i s Majes ty Shah J ahan was deeply

grieved at heart to see the S igns o f [fu tu re] misfortu/neo n the forehead o f Ska/z- zl on/and - z

'

qoa! (Dara Shukoh)and the marks o f r i se in the fortune o f Aurangz ib. He

advi sed Dara aga ins t h i s bad acts and words. Bu t

w hen he found that D ara Shukoh d id no t p rofi t by the

good counse l , as has been we l l s a id ( Verse) ,I If the blanket of a man’

s Fate has been woven black,1 Even the waters o f the Zam zam and Kausari‘ cannot wash

it white,he wished tha t M uhammad Aurangz ib shou ld change

h i s behav iou r to the noble s that they m igh t gi ve up

guard ing h i s sec re t s .

O n a roya l le tte r he wro te in h i s Own hand to

Aurangz ib ,

“My ch i ld ! i t i s proper for kings and the i r

sons to have a lo fty spi r i t and to d i s pl ay e levat ion o f

m ind . I have heard that in deal ing w i th e ve ry one o f

my office rs you show the gre ate s t hum i l i ty on you r

part . If you do so wi th a View to the futu re, [know

t hat] a ll th ings depend on predest inat ion,

and that

noth ing bu t con tempt wi l l be gained by th i s meekness

o f spi r i t . Aurangz ib repl ied ,“\Vhat you r Majesty has

,

ou t o f favour and k indness,wri tten wi th you r grac i ous

pen concern ing th i s h umble s l ave , h as com e like a reve

lation from the heavens. Hai l,t rue sa in t and sp i r i tual

gu ide ! ‘Thou givest honour to Whomsoever Thou

1 Zamzam is a w e ll at Mecca and Kausar is a Spring of heaven.

4Q ANECDOTES OF AU RANGZIB

wishest and disgrace to whom thou desirest,’

[th i s

text proves that honou r and l owl iness] are sole l y

dependen t on the predes t inat i on o f the Maste r o f

S l ave s and Creator o f Earth and Ci t ies. I am act inga ccord ing to the Trad i t ion narrated by Anas the son

o f Mal i k ,‘Whosoever humbles himself, God bestows

honour on h im .

’ I cons ide r wound ing the hearts [o f

o the rs] as the worst o f s in s and the most sham efu l o f

v i ces . l am no t con trad i c t ing what has been wri tten

in you r grac ious le tte r, bu t I know force rta in that i t

was wr i tten agreeably to [the ve rse]‘The temptations

o f the Devil, who creates suspicion in the hearts of

men and he is one of the genii and men .

”

( Verse) ,ii I canno t say anything except excuses fo r my s ins .

’Pardon the sins of me,a wretch w ith a blackened

face and dark record

Tex t — Ir. Ms. 2 2o— 23o.

N otes .

—Mul la Ala -ul-mu lk Tun i was created Faz il Khan (no tAf z a l) and Knansanzan by Shah Jahan (M U . iii. 5 24

Aurangzib appo inted him a’

z'

wan,z'

.e. wa z z'

r,on 7 th June, 1 663,

but he died on the 23rd . (M A . Anas ibn Malik (d. 93

A . H . ) was the last of the Companions of Muhammad and the

founder of the Mal iki sect.

g4. Shah J ahan’

s Estimate of his Sons.

The Empe ror Shah J ahan u sed to say , At t imes

I fear that my e ldest‘

son [Dara Shukoh] has become

the enemy o f good men ; Murad Bakhsh has set h i s

heart on d r ink ing ; Muhammad Shuj a has no good

t ra i t except contentmen t (z'

. e.,easy good natu re ) . Bu t

the re sol u t ion and inte l l i gence o f Aurangz ib make i t

LOVE AFFAI R W ITH ZAI NABAIH 4 I

necessarv that he wou ld unde rtake th i s d iffi cu l t task

(v ia ,ru l ing Ind i a) . But the re i s great s i ck l ine ss and

infi rm i ty in h i s phys i ca l frame . ( Verse)

So that,whom w il l he w ish fo r a s a friend

and to whom w il l h is heart inc lineTex t.— Ir. Ms . 14 a . N o t in Ms . N . This anecdo te o ccurs

in many o ther co l lections,and is N O . 5 in the l ithographed [Er/oa t

j Alanzgz'

rz'

.

5 . Love-affair with Zainabad i.

The affai r o f Zainabad i was in th i s m anne r

At the t im e when Aurangz ib, then gove rnor o f the

Deccan,was going to Aurangabad [his head quarte rs],

~o n arfiv ing at Bu rhanpu r, the gove rnor o f wh i ch was

S a i f Khan, (who had m arr ied the Prince

’

s mate rna l

a unt,w ig . Sal iha Banu

, the daughte r o f Asaf Khan) , he

wen t to v i s i t her,and she too had inv i ted h im . As it

was the house o f his aunt,no t m uch care was taken to

remove the women o f the harem ou t o f h i s v iew ,and

the Pr ince ente red the house w i thout announc ingh im se lf. Zainabadi

,whose or ig inal name was H i ra Bai

,[w as stand ing unde r a t ree

,ho ld ing a branch wi th her f

r igh t h and and s inging in a l ow tone . Immed i ate l y

afte r see ing he r,the Prince he lp le s sly sat down the re ,

and then s tre tched h imse lf at fu l l length on the ground"

in a swoon . The news was carried to h i s aunt . Runn ingbarefooted [to the pl ace] she c l asped h im in her breast

and began to wa i l and l ament. Afte r 3 or 4 glaa rz’

s

the Pr ince regained consc iousne ss . H oweve r m uch she

rinquired about h i s cond i t i on,say ing,

‘What m al ady i s

4 2 ANECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

i t ? D id yo u eve r have i t befo re ?’

the Prince gave no

reply at al l , but rem ained s i lent. The j oy o f the ente r

ta inm ent and hospi tal i ty was dest royed ,and the affai r

t u rned in to mou rn ing and gr ief. I t was m idn igh t when

the Pr i nce recove red his speech , and sa id ,If I m en t io n

my d i sease,can yo u apply the remedy ?” When his

aunt heard the se words , she in extrem e gl adness gave

propi t ia tory alms made sacrifice s

and sa id,

-Vhat to speak o f remedV PI

I shal l offe rmy l ife i tse lf [to cu re Then the Pr ince re

vealed the who le m atte r to her. O n hearing i t,she

[almos t] l os t her co nsc iousness and became tongue

t ied, no t knowing what to answe r. At l as t the Prince

sa id ,

“Y ou have use less ly Shown al l th i s benevolence

in inqu i ri ng afte r my heal th . When yo u are no t gi v inga reply to my words , how can you t reat m e The

a un t repl ied ,

“May I be your sacri fice Y o u

know th i s wretch, (v i sa, Sa if Khan) ; he i s a blood th i rsty

m an,and does no t care in the leas t fo r the Em pe ror Shah

J ahan or you rse lf. O n o n ly hearing o f your reques t [fo r‘

H i ra Bai] he wi l l fi rs t m u rde r her and then me . Te l l

ing him [abo u t your pass ion] wi l l do no other go od than

that I shal l have to sacr ifi ce my l ife . But why shou ld

the l i fe o f that poo r innocent gi r l be des troyed fo r"

no offence ?”

The Prince re pl ied ,

“I ndeed ,you

have spoken the t ruth . I shal l t ry some othe r devi ce .

”

Afte r sunr i se he came back to h i s own house , and"

d id no t eat anyth ing at a l l . Summon i ng Mursh id

O u l i Khan ,who was the Prince

’

s subord inate and


o bject i on !” The aun t sen t a report o f the facts to her

husband by m eans o f an eunuch . Sa if Khan sa id,

Now no cove r i s left [fo r m e to take refuge in] , and

mounted and sen t the Ba z'

to the Pr ince wi thou t de l ay.

Tex t — Ir. Ms . zoa -2 I a .

N otes — There are many m is takes in the above account. SaifKhan who had married Mal ika Banu (no t Sal iha) , the e ldest sisterOf Mum taz Mahal , was rem oved from the governo rship of Khandesh at

.Shah Jaban’s accession ( 1 62 8) and never again emp loyed

there . Mal ika died on 2 5 111 August, 1 64 1 (Ab . Ham id’s P aa’. ii.

Her husband,Saif Khan M irza Safi (Al l /l ii. 4 1 6

d ied in Benga l in May, 1 640 (Ab . Ham id’s P aa'

. ii.

The fo l low ing vers ion of the ep isode given in the M asz'

r -nl

U/na ra,seem s to be the co rrec t one

M ir Khal il, (successive ly surnamed Muftakhar Khan

,S ipahdar

Khan,and Khan - i-Zaman ) , a son- in - law of Asaf Khan, was sent

to the D eccan as Ch ief of the Arti l lery in the 23rd year of ShahJahan

, 1 649 50 . (Text has 3oth or 3rd year. Bo th dates wrong,

'

zn'

a’e Al l ] . iii. In 1 653, he became commandan t of Dharoo r.

I t was on ly in Aurangzib’s re ign that he became S ubahdar o f Khandesh [ July 168 1 . D ied Ju ly 1 684. (AKA . Zainabad i, who

was be loved by Aurangzib before h is access ion, had been, it issa id

,in the Khan’

s harem as h is concub ine . O ne day the P rincew ent w ith the ladie s of his harem to the garden o f ZainabadBurhanpur, nam ed A/za -k/zana/z [Deer Park] and began to stro l lw ith h is cho sen be loved ones . Zainabadi, whose m usical sk il lravished the senses

,and who was un ique in blandishments, having

come in the train o f Khan—i-Zaman ’

s w ife (the Prince’s maternalaunt) , on see ing a fruit- laden mango tree

,in m irth and amorous

p lay advanced, leaped up and p lucked a'

fruit,w ithout paying due

respect to the P rince’s presence . This m ove of hers robbed theP rince of h is senses and self-con tro l. W ith shameful importun ity hep ro cured her from h is aunt’s house , and became infatuated and .

LOVE AFFAI R “’ITI I ZAIN ABAD I

given up to her, in spite of al l his severe continence and temperance

and pure training in theo logy . The sto ry go es that one day she

o ffered him a cup of w ine and requested him to drink it. All h is .

profess ions of re luc tance and entreaty were d isregarded . Then .

the poo r Prince ( at last) pr epared to drink it,but that S l y

enchan tress snatched away the cup (from his hand) and said My

purpo se was to test yo ur love and no t to embitter your mouth

w ith this w icked and un lucky l iquo r This love -affair pro ceededto such lengths as to reach Shah Jahan ’

s ears . Dara Shukoh,

who loved not Aurangz ib, m ade cap ital of th is inc ident to s landerh is bro ther to the Emperor, saying, ‘

See the p ie ty and abs tinenceo f th is hypocritical knave He has gone to the dogs fo r the sakeo f a wench of h is aunt s househo ld .

’ By chance the ro se o f he r

life w’

ithered in its very spring tim e,and left the P rince seared w ith

the brand o f e ternal separation . She is buried a t Aurangabadc lo se to the big tank. O n the day of her death the Prince becam e

v ery unwe l l in extrem e agitation he rode ou t to hunt. M ir Askari(Aqil Khan ), who was in attendance , secured a private audienceand remonstrated

,

“What w isdom is there in reso lv ing to huntin this (disturbed) state ?” The Prince rep l ied, (Verse)

‘Lam entation in the house canno t re l ieve the heart,

In the so l itude alone you can cry to your heart’s content.

’

Aqil Khan recited the fo l low ing coup le t [o f his own compo sition]as apt for the o ccasion

‘How easy d id love appear, but alas how hard it isHow hard was separation ,

but what repo se it gave to the be loved .

The P rince could no t check h is tears, but comm itted the verses to

h is m emory,

i. 790-7 92 ) after vain l y trying to learn the

modes t poet’s name . (loia

'. ii.

N ow ,when did the ep isode happen Aurangzib w as tw ice

S ubahdar of the D eccan, v ia , 1 636

— 1 644 and 1653— 1 657 . It was

o n ly during the seco nd of these periods that this Khan - i-Zaman,M urshid Q ul i Khan Khurasan i iii. and M ir Askaris erved in the D eccan . Therefo re

,the da te seems to have been


4 653 at the earl ie st,when Aurangzib was 35 years old and the

father of six children he was no t exac t ly a passionate youth who

m ight cons ider the wo rld we l l lo st fo r love .

Akbar made it a ru le that the concubines of the MughalEmpero rs shou ld be nam ed after the p laces of the ir birth o r the

towns in which they w ere adm itted to the harem . (Waris’

s

45 H ence we have lad ies surnam ed Akbarabad i,

Fatihpuri, Aurangabadi, Za inabadi, and U daipuri. Zainabad is the

name of a town near the bank of the Tapti Oppo site Burhanpur.

In Inayatullah’s Ali/ea rn ( 13 1 a ) our hero ine

’

s tomb is m en tioned,

t hough her name is w rongly given as Zainpuri.

5 6 . Aurangzib’

s precautions in beginning the

War of Succession .

At the t ime when Aurangz ib left Au rangabad in

o rde r to fight Dara Shukoh, and encam ped at Arsul,

fou r m i le s from the c i ty,he orde red that the re wou ld be

a hal t o f ten days the re in orde r that h i s m en m igh t ge t

the i r rem ain ing needmen ts ready. N obody e l se du rs t

rem on strate wi th him . On ly N aj abat Khan ,who w as a

friend o f firm fide l i ty and great boldness, said ,

“S tat ingthe intent i on to m arch and then orde ring a hal t in th i s

Aurangz ib sm i ledm anne r,wi l l embo lden the enemy .

’

and sa id,

“F i rs t,te l l m e O f the m anne r o f the i r be ing

emboldened,and then I shal l give yo u my an swe r. The

Khan repl ied ,When the enemy wi l l hear o f o ur l ong

hal t he re,they wi l l send a s t rong

“ fo rce to bar o ur path .

Au rangz ib said ,That i s the ve ry e ssence o f pol i cy. If

I m arch qu i ck ly I shal l h ave to e nco unte r the who le

army [o f Dara at o ne p l ace But if I de l ay here , mystruggle wi l l be Wi th the fi rs t d i v i s ion [o f the enemy

’

s

H IS PRECAUT ION S I N THE WAR OF SUCCESS ION 47

force]. I t i s eas ie r to defeat the fi rs t d i v i s i on than to

defeat the whole army. In case he h im se lf [i .e. Dara]bold ly com es o n ,

and crosse s the N arm ada , h i s cond i t i on

wi l l be th i s ( Verse)

The man who go es far from h is asylum and home

B ecom es he lp less, affl icted , and fo rsaken .

In the water even the l ion becom es the prey o f fishe s,O n dry land the cro codile becom es the food of an ts .

Th i s de l ay i s fo r the above pu rpose and no t fo r

wh i l ing away my t ime . N ay m ore,the re i s anothe r

object,to wh i ch the advan tage al ready m en t i oned i s

s ubord inate (o r co ro l l a ry) . Th i s second obj ec t i s tha t

I may know the c i rcumstan ce s o f the men accom pany

ing m e,both poo r and r i ch ; if a m an de l ays inspite Of

h i s be ing we l l—to -do,then i t i s be tte r no t to take h i m

along any fur the r from th i s p l ace,because in futu re th i s

s tate of th ings wi l l c a u se a total fa i l u re . In case Im ake a qu ick m arch

,t h ose noble s whose s ince r i ty i s

d oub tfu l m ay Show negl igence and de l ay,and then the

d i s tance [from my base] be ing great , i t w i l l be im

po ss ible to rem edy the ev i l,and I s hal l have e i the r to

he lp less ly leave them in the i r negl igence or to re tu rn

and correct them .

”

\Vhen N aj abat Khan heard th i s,he k i ssed Au rang

z ib’

s fee t and cr ied ou t,

“God : knows best Where to

send one on a prophetic mission .

The above b lessed say ing was ve r ified by th i s fact

th at M i rz a Shah N awaz Khan ,one o f the offi ce rs

appo inted to the Deccan ,d id no t comes wi th Aurangz ib

Ir. Ms. reads came.

48 AN ECDOTES O F AURANGZIB

d u ring the fi rst day ’s m arch,and on the second day’s

march he subm i tted,

“ In cons ide rat ion o f my be ing a

se rvant o f Shah J ahan, I have no he lp bu t to rem ain

he re as a p r i vate pe rson ( f agir ) I have no connect ion

wi th Dara Shukoh. O ne o f my d aughte rs has been

m arried to you and anothe r to Murad Bakhsh . I haven o re l at ionsh ip wi th Dara Shukoh wh i ch i t m ight be

n e cessary fo r me to re spect. Y our H ighness knows

w e l l that I have no t Shown,in any batt le or hal t, any

shortcom ing or hold ing back wh i ch m ay be attr ibu ted to

coward i ce o r d i s l oyal ty.

Aurangz ib repl ied ,Indeed

,the c l a im o f fide l i ty to

S'

l lt i s no t d i s tant from m en o f pu re blood [l ike yo u] .

But assembl ie s are b eing he ld here I wish to see yo u

[dai ly] fo r some days , and shal l gi ve yo u leave to depart

when I re sume my m arch . What need i s the re that

you sho u ld tu rn fagir P” Shah N awaz Khan sa id

,

Th i s too,i s opposed to a se rvant

’s dut ies I t is ShahJ ahan 5 bus iness to che ri sh h i s o ld se rvants .

Afte r th i s Aurangz ib gave o ut that he was down

w i th looseness o f the bowe l s . The nobles who came to

pay the [cus tomary] v i s i t to the S i ck,we re orde red to

en te r a lone and one by o ne, leaving the i r a ttendants

o uts ide . Thus,on the second day , when Mi rza Shah

N awaz Khan cam e,Shai kh M i r p rom p tly arrested him

,

t ied him hand and neck,and placed h im handcuffed

and cha ined o n the naw a’a/i o f an e leph ant . That ve ry

m omen t Aurangz ib gave the orde r to march . A fte r

reach ing Burhanpur, Shah N awaz Khan was im pri soned.

H IS PRECAUT ION S I N THE WAR OF SU C CESS ION 49

Afte r the v i ctory ove r Dara Shukoh, at the ent reaty'

of

Zebunn issa Begam,— who had absta ined from food fo r

th ree days,say ing that she would keep fast ing ti l l her

m ate rna l grandfathe r was re leased ,— Aurangz ib wi th

ange r and d i s pleasu re orde red h im to be set free and

appoin ted h im Gove rnor o f Ahm adabad , wh i ch prov ince

had been wi tho u t a Gove rnor s ince Murad Bakhsh left

it. But Aurangz ib sa id,

“My m ind i s no t free from

anx ie ty [abou t h im] . I have i ssued th i s order unde r

compu l s ion ,but I shal l recons ide r i t ca refu l ly afterwards .

As he i s a Syed ,i t i s h ard to orde r his execu t i on .

O therw i se,the re i s the we l l -known say ing

,

‘A seve red

head te l l s no tale .

’

What he had sa id did final ly com e to pass . Afte r

D ara’s fl ight, the Khan j o ined h im in the batt le of

Ajm ir and was s l a in in the m idst o f the fight.

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 2 5 a— 26 o.

N orm —Aurangz ib started from Aurangabad on sth February, 1658to contes t the throne . At Arsul

, 4 m iles N . E . of the c ity,be hal ted

for one day on l y. (Alamgirnanzan, 43 But a halt of one

m on th ( 1 8th Feb— 20th March) was m ade at Burhanpur.

“ ShahN awaz Khan Safaw i did no t accompany Aurangz ib, but l ingered at

Burhanpur under various pretexts. So the prince on reachingManduah (2 5 th March) sent Muhammad Su ltan and Shaikh M irback to Burhanpur to arrest and confine Shah Nawaz Khan in the

fo rt o f Burhanpur” ( loia’, Shah Nawaz Khan Safaw i, the father

in -law of Aurangzib, was a'

Syed of very high pedigree. (Life inM U . ii. At the end Of September Aurangzib from Mu ltano rdered h is re lease and appo inted h im Subahdar of Guzerat.S lain in the battle of Ajm ir, 1 4th March, 1 659. (A. XV. 209,

4

50 AN ECDOTE S OF AURANGZIB

§ 7 . Battle of Khaiwah .

On the n ight preced ing the day wh i ch had been

fixed for the batt le wi th Shuj a,when abou t 7 —5 ho urs

o f the n igh t had worn o n,the Empe ror learn t that

Raj ah J aswant S ingh , who had been g iven the command

o f the Van,had de term ined to go ove r to

'

Shuj a w i th

h i s own troop s who numbe red caval ry and in

fantry ,and that dur ing h i s j ourney he had l a id a seve re

hand o n ( i . e.,l ooted) the fol lowe rs and an im al s o f the

Impe r i a l Camp , so that the orde rly arrangem ent of the

army had been broken up, and a great pan i c had se i zed

the men,many o f whom had j o ined th i s wre tch ’s

(Jaswant’

s) force and we re advanc ing wi th h im in the

path o f misfortune . The Empe ror was then engaged

in the ta/zajj na’

praye r on hearing the report he m ade

a S ign wi th h i s hand [as if to say]‘If he has gone away,

let h im go away,but gave no o the r re

'

p ly. After

fi n i sh ing h i s praye r, he summoned Mi r J um l a and sa id,

Th i s incident , too, i s a mercy from God, fo r if the

hypocr i te had taken th i s s tep in the m id s t o f the battle ,i t wou ld have been hard to remedy the m isch ief.”

Then he orde red the ke tt ledrums to be beaten and

h is mount to be go t ready. Rid ing an e lephant, he

p assed the res t o f th e n ight in that cond i t ion.

When the sun rose i t was found tha t the a rmy o f

S huja was com ing on from the left s ide fi r ing its

A numbe r o f men,whose day o f d eath had

“MS. N . reads d ifferently : “ I t was fo und that the fo rce w ith Aurangz ib was no te ven one-fo urth of Shuja

'

s army. There was a short art illery-fight. He (Shuja or:

Aurangzib came on from the left side with his own Vanguard.

5 2 AN ECDOTES OF AURANGZI B

F IRST,—On behalf o f th i s s inne r sunk in in i qu i ty

myse lf] cove r [wi th an offe r ing o f c loth] the ho l y

tomb o f Hasan (on him be peace I) , be cause those who

are d rowned in the ocean o f s in have no othe r pro tec

t ion except seek i ng re fuge wi th that Portal o f Me rcy

and Forgi veness . The m eans o f pe rform ing th i s great

auspi c ious act are with my noble son,Prince Alijah ;

take them .

SECOND,— Four rupees and two annas

,o ut o f the

pri ce o f the caps sewn by m e,are with A i a Beg,

the

Take the amount and spend i t o n the

shroud o f th i s he lp le ss. c reatu re . Three hund red and

five ru pees , from the wage s o f copying the Quran,are

in my purse fo r pe rsonal expense s . Distr i bu te them

to the faq i rs on the day o f my death . As the m oney

got by copy ing the Quran i s regarded wi th respe c t by

the Sh i ah sect'

l'

,do no t spend i t on my sh roud and

othe r neces sar ie s .

TH IRD,

-Take the rem ain ing ne cessary art i c le s.

from the agent o f Pr ince Alijah ; as he i s the neare s t

he i r among my sons , and o n h im l ie s the respons ib i l i ty

o f the l awfu l or un l awfu l [practifi s at my fune ral]th i s he l p less pe rson Aurangz ib) i s not answe rable

for them ,becau se the dead are at the mercy o f the

s u rvi vors.

FOURTH,— Bury th i s wande re r in ‘

the Val ley o f

Dev i at i on from the Right Path ’

w i th h i s head bare ,

1 The rea dingin MS. N . may be taken to mea n ,

“As the mo ney go t by copyingthe Quran is suspected by the Sh iah sect to be an unlawful [k ind of wealth ].

AURANGZIB’

S'

LAST W ILL AND TESTAMENT 53'

b e cau se eve ry ru ined s inner ivho i s condu cted ba re

headed before the Grand Empe ror God ) , i s su re to

be an obje c t o f m e rcy.

F I FTH,— Cove r the top o f the coffin on my /b ier

w i th the coarse wh i te c l oth cal led ga zz'

. Avoid the

spread ing o f a canopy and innovat ions l i ke [process ion s

o f] m us i c i ans and the ce lebrat ion o f the Prophet’s

N at i v i ty

S IXTH,—It i s prope r fo r the ru le r o f the k ingdom

my he i r) to treat k ind ly the he l pless se rvan ts who

in the t ra in o f th i s shame less c reatu re [Aurangz ib] have

been ro ving in the de se rts and wi lde rne ss [of the

Deccan] . Even if any m an ifes t fau l t i s comm i t ted by

them, gi ve them in re tu rn fo r i t grac iou s forgi veness

a nd ben ignant ove r- l ook ing [o f the fau l t] .

SEVENTH,

-No othe r nat ion i s be tte r than the

Pe rs i ans fo r ac t ing as c le rk s And in war,

t o o,from the age o f the Empe ror H umayun to the

presen t t ime,none o f th i s nat ion has tu rned his face

away from the fie ld,and the i r fi rm fee t have neve r been

shaken . Moreove r,they have no t once

’

been gu i l ty o f

d i sobed ience or treache ry to the i r mas te r. But, as they

ins i st o n be ing t reated with great honou r, i t i s ve ry

d ifficu l t to pu l l o n we l l w i th them . Y o u have anyhow

to conc i l i ate them,and shou ld employ subte rfuge s .

E IGHTH ,—The Tu ran i people have eve r been

s old ie rs. They are ve ry expert in m aking charges,

r aids, n ight-attacks and arrests . They fee l no susp i c ion,

despa i r or shame when commanded to make a re treat

54 AN ECDOTES or AURANGZIB

in the ve ry m ids t o f a fight, wh i ch means, in other

words,‘when the arrow is d rawn back - and they are

a hundred s tage s remote from the c rass stupid i ty o f the

H industan i s,who wou ld part w i th the i r heads bu t no t

leave the i r posi t ions [in battle]. In eve ry way, you

shou ld confe r favo u rs o n th i s race,becau se on m any

occas ion s these men can do the necessary serv i ce,when

no o the r ra ce can .

N I NTH,— Y o u sho u ld t re at the Syeds o f Barha

,

who are worthy o f b less ing,accord ing t o the Quran i c

ve rse ,‘Give unto the near relations [of the Prophet}

their dues,’

and neve r grow s l ack in ho no u ring and

favou r ing them . In as much as,acco rd ing to the ble s sed

ve rse ,‘ I say I do not ask of you any recompense for

i t excep t love to [my] kinsmen’

, l ove fo r th i s fam i ly

is the wages of [Muhammad’

s] Prophetship, yo u

s hou ld neve r be want i ng [in respect fo r them ] , and

it wi l l bea r fru i t in th i s.

world and the next . But yo u

s hou ld be extrem e ly cau t io us in deal ing wi th the Syeds

o f Barha . Be no t wan t ing in l ove o f them at heart,

but exte rnal ly do’

no t in crease the i r rank,because a

s trong p artne r in the gove rnment so on wan ts to se ize

the k ings h ip fo r h im se l f. If you le t them take the re ins

e ve r so l i t t le , the resu l t w i l l be you r o wn d i sgrace .

TENTH,— As far as poss ible the ru le r o f a kingdom

shou ld no t spare h im se lf from m ov ing abou t he shou ld

avoid stay ing in one p l ace , wh i ch o u tward ly gi ve s him

repose bu t in effec t br ings on a thousand ca lam i t ies and

t roubles .

AURANGZIB’

S LAST W ILL AND TESTAMENT 5 5

ELEVENTH ,— N ever t rus t you r sons

,no r t reat

them'

du ring your l ife - t ime in an int imate m anne r ,be cause , if the Empe ror S hah‘ J ahan had no t t reated

Dara Shukoh in t h i s m anne r,h i s affai rs wou ld no t have

cometo such ‘a sorry pass . Ever keep in View the say ing,

The word of a king is barren .

’

TWELFTH,—The m ain p i l l ar o f gove rnmen t i s to

be we l l informed in the news o f the k ingdom“ Negl i

gence fo r a s ingle m oment becom e s the cau se o f d i sgrace

fo r l ong years . The escape o f the wre tch Sh iva took

p l ace through [my] care lessness , and I have to l abou rhard [agains t the Marathas] to the end o f my l ife , [as

the resu l t o f it] .

Twelve i s blessed [among numbe rs] . I have co n

c l uded wi th twe l ve d i rect i ons . ( Verse)If you learn [the lesson], a k iss on your w isdom ,

If you neglect it, then alas alasTwat— Ir Ms . Sé— l oa . Ms . N . 1 5— 35, incomp lete, ends

w ith the 9th c lause .

N oles .—Alijah was the title conferred by Aurangzib on his

sons Muazzam and Azam . The latter is eviden tl y meant here, ashe was w ith the Emperor shortly before h is death.

56 AN EC DOTES OF AURANGZIB

SECT ION I I .

ABOU T H IS SON S AN D GRAN DSON S .

A. BAHA DUR SHAH (MUAZAAM) .

g 9 . Arrest of Prince Muazzam .

HEN the Em pe ro r cal led fo r Prince Muhammad

Muaz zam Bahadur Shah,intend ing to imprison

h im,he came to the Empe ro r in the

'

chape l . H i s

Majes ty to ld Bakhtawar Khan,the Super intenden t

o f the Pe rfum e Departm ent,

“ Bring eve ry e ssence

( a far) that my son wishes fo r. Bahadu r Shah sub

m itted,What powe r has th i s s l ave to m ake any cho i ce

h im se lf? Any e ssence that you r Maje sty may be

grac i ously pleased to presen t wou ld be be tte r [than o ne

o f my se le ct ion] . The Empe ro r repl ied ,

“ Th i s

orde r o f m ine i s a l so an act o f grace .

” Then

Bahadu r Shah told Bakhtawar Khan,

“ Any essence

that you have,except the essence o f scented wax

( a tar i s good . His Maje sty cried o ut,

Y es,I too

,hav ing the same pruden t i a l cons ide rat ion

in my m ind, have put you to t rouble in th i s house .

”

W hen the essence arr i ved ,he ordered the Pr ince to

pu t o ff h i s arm s and come neare r,in orde r that the

Empe ror m ight, wi th h is own hand ,rub h im ove r wi th

the e ssence . Afte r the pe rfum ing,when the Prince

wen t [back] to make h is bow [o f thanks-gi v ing] , the

Empe ror wen t away, orde r ing M uharram Khan,wi th

the he lp _

o f Hamid -ud -d in Khan,to d i s arm the fou r

sons o f the Pr ince , and de ta in all the five the re . As

WISE COUN SELS FOR K I NGS

they wen t up fi rs t o f all to Muhammad Mu iz uddin,

the l a t te r l a id h i s hand o n the h i l t o f his sword .

Bahadu r Shah in ange r c r ied [to h is son] , W re tch ,

yo u are re s i st ing the orde r o f your Cent re o f Fa i th and

K ’ aba H is Sacred Majes ty) W i th his own hand she tore o ff h i s [e ldes t] so n

’s arm s and gave them up toM uharram Khan . The othe r sons w i thou t obje ct ionstr i pped o ff the i r a rm s and su rrende red them .

When the Empe ror heard o f i t,he sa id

,

“ The

chape l has taken the p l ace o f the We l l o f J oseph,and

he wi l l atta in to the d ign i ty o f J oseph .

Te ra— Ir. Ms . 7a .

N oz‘es .

— Price Muazzam ,afterward s Emperor Bahadur Shah l

,

was imprisoned by Aurangzib on 20th February, 1 687 , and re

leased on 9th May, 1 69 5, when he was sent to Agra as Governo r.

The M asz'

r -z'

-Alamgz'

m'

(p . 2 94) gives a sl ightly d ifferent accoun tof the manner of h is arrest. The Bakhtawar Khan of this anec

do te could no t have been the author of the M z'

ra i -z'

-a lam (who-d ied on 9th February, but was eviden tly Khwajah Bakhtawar

,created a Khan in April, 1 70 5 . There is a play upon the

wo rd fima,which m ean s ( 1 ) scen ted wax and (2 ) d isturbance ,

tumul t. The Kaba is the square temp le of black stone at Mecca,toward s which Mus l im s turn their face s when praying. Jo seph,the son of Jacob , was flung into a dry w ell by h is w icked bro thers,and then so ld as a s lave to som e m erchan ts go ing to Egypt, and th iscalam ity was the means of h is future greatness as the P rime

M in ister of Egypt. (Genes is , XXXVI I .

gI O . Wise Counsels for Kings.

O n the day when the Em pe ror re leased Bahadu rS hah from capt i v i ty , he made h im s it down in h i s pre

sence and to ld him,

As a fathe r l i ke m e has been

p leased wi th you, the c rown w i l l ce rta in ly fall to you r

58 ANECDOTES or AURANGZIB

lo t. I had no need to sat i sfy my fathe r Shah J ahan ,as

he was devoted to Dara Shukoh,who had become the

com rade o f H indus and infidely ogz'

s (asce t i cs) . I t i ss imp ly the ass i stance o f

'

the fai th o f the Syed amo ng

Prophe ts, Muhamm ad , (on whom be blessings and

peace l ) that is the cause o f v i ctory.

* Some counse l sI am going to give you you shou ld l ay them to heart .A l tho ugh I know i t fo r ce rta in that i t i s far from your

natu re to put them into pract i ce , yet I am speak ing o ut

o f pate rnal affe ct ion and in View o f the l ove and obe

d ience wh i ch you have shown .

FIRST,— ah Em peror ought to s tand midway

be tween gen t leness and seve r i ty . If e i the r o f these two

qual i t ies exceeds the othe r , i t becom es a cau se o f the

ru in o f h i s throne,becau se in case o f excess i ve gent leness ,

the peop le d i sp l ay audac i ty, wh i le the inc re ase o f harsh

ness scarces away hearts,e.g.

,my uncle Su l tan U lugh

Beg, in sp i te o f h i s graces and good qual i t ies, was

fearless in shedd ing blood, so that fo r pe tty offences he

orde red exe cu t ions . H is son,Abdu l Lat if, m ade him

p r i soner and sen t h im to the Fort o f Nahawand .

O n the way he asked a m an,W hat do you th ink was

the cause o f the fal l o f my royal powe r ?’

The m an

answe red, On accoun t o f you r bloodshed

,wh ich m ade

m en shr ink from you . W hat my augus t an cestor the

Em pe ror Hum ayund i sp l ayed was im prope r negl igence ,forgiveness

,and weakne ss in affa i rs

,be cause , in Sp i te o f

h i s repeated ly hear ing o f the audac io us deeds o f Shi r

Khan in the prov ince o f Bengal , he acted wi th care less

Text has advice wh ich makes no sense . I read m es ra t fo r nas i/za t.

6 0 AN ECDOTES or AU RANGZIB

g 1 1 . Advice to h is Heir. Gloomy Prophecy.

\Vhen the Empe ror re leased Pr ince Muhamm ad

Muaz z am Bahadu r Shah from confinement,he confe rred

favours and gifts o n him ,and

,o n the day o f gi v ing him

leave to depart , sa id ,Al though out o f shee r nece ss i ty

and force.

[o f c i rcumstances] I have pun i shed you r

extrem e ly ru inous acts by keeeping yo u in pri so n fo r

some years, yet, th i s i s the s tronges t S ign o f [your

future ] k ingsh i p, as the fo rtune and d ign i ty o f J o seph

w e re cond i t io nal on h i s be ing [fi rs t] impri soned . God

wi l l ing,the same p roce ss wi l l take p l ace in you r case .

In th i s hope I have in my l ife t ime entrusted to yo u

[the go ve rnorsh ip o f] parad i se - l i ke H industan .

“The presages o f my horoscope,— composed by

Faz i l Khan Ala-ul-m u l k, [and giv ing the inc iden ts] from

the day o f my bi rth t i l l afte r my death ,— have all been

ve r ified by actual In that horoscope i t i s

wr i tten that afte r m el wi l l come an Empe ror, igno rant,narrow-m inded ,

ove rpowered by inj u ries,— whose word s

wi l l be al l im perfe ct and whose p l ans wi l l be imm atu re .

He wi l l acti

towards some wi th so m u ch prod igal i ty as

a lm ost to d rown them,and towards othe rs wi th so m uch

r igou r as to ra i se the fear o f [u tter] dec l ine. All these

adm i rable qual i t ies and prai seworthy characte r i st i cs are

fo und in yo u r natu re'

l A l tho ugh I Shal l send or leave ]i One example o f the co rrectness of the horoscope is given in rWas ir -ul-um a ra

, iii.

{The transla tion here fo llows the I r. MS. But MS. N . reads,

“After th is re ign.

w h ich is the d ivider o f the life of Sa l/zak-i-ram i/z and Sa nm é -La’

za l ( two po rt io ns o f'

t he conste lla tion Leo ) and is situa ted a t the most conspicuo us place of the degree o f

a scendency,an emperor Shall come , 63°C .

"

ADVICE To H IS HE IR. GLOOMY PROPHECY 6 1

be h ind m e a ve ry compe ten t w as z

’

r who has com e to

the fron t in my re ign and whom I have secu red , ye t

what good wi l l i t do,as the fou r p i l l a rs o f the emp i re ,

v ia . my fou r sons , wi l l neve r leave that poor m an to

h im se lf to do h i s work ? In sp i te o f th is be ing the/

case,

[he] ought st i l l to exe rt [h im se lf] that the work [o f

adm in i s t rat i on] m ay on the whole be we l l do ne . But

it is a ru le o f m ed i c ine that a l though the lowe r l imbs o f

the body m ay re ta in the i r s trength so l ong as the bad

hum ou r does no t de scend from the u ppe r parts o f

the body , in the end the d i sease tu rn s in to [gene ra l ]weak ness and s l ackness

,may even into d i sorde r and .

de cl ine . In th i s matte r,too

,the s ame is the case .

A l though owing to my m a rch ing thro ugh wi lde rnesses

a nd fore sts,my offi ce rs , who love repose and fee l d i sgusted

w i th the i r own paren ts, l ong fo r the des tru ct ion o f th is

my borrowed l ife,

-

yet afte r my death they w i l l , ow ingto the thoughtlessness and ignorance o f th i s son incap

able of apprec iat ing m e r i t,dem and fo r them se l ve s that

v e ry th ing (me , de ath) whi ch they are now pray ing fo r

m e . Any how,I adv ise you ,

o ut o f a fathe r’s l ove,

‘Don ’t be so sal t that [you r subje cts] wou ld Sp i t yo uo ut o f the i r m ou ths

,no r be so swee t that they m ay g ulp

you down .

’ But th i s adv i ce is . o ut o f p l ace he re , as

s al t i shness is no t at a l l presen t in you r natu re , but isthe share o f you r dear brothe r. The po rt io n o f sa l tlessness is the l ot o f you

,my ve ry sagac iou s so n . May

God keep both the brothe rs in pe rfect mode rat ion !Amen

,O Lo rd o f the

°

U n iverse l"

Tex t— Ir. Ms. 19b 81 20a , Ms. N . 2 1 5— 2 3a .

6 2 AN EcDOTES OF AURANGZIB

N otes .

—Aurangzib’s favo urite waz z

'

r was Asad Khan . FazilKhan (Mu l la Ala -ul-mu lk Tun i) , a versatile scho lar

,was Shah

Jahan’s K/za nsaman . (Life in M U. iii . 5 24

g 1 2 . Infringement of Royal Prerogative .

From the news - le tter o f Kabu l the Empe ror learntt hat Prince Muhamm ad Muaz zam Bahadu r Shah had

a t the t im e o f h i s ho ld ing Court orde red fou r d rum s to

be beaten . The Em pe ror wrote , “The Prim e Min i s ter

shou ld wri te to the Prince a ‘Le tte r By O rde r ’ to th ise ffect —In the p l ace o f fou r d rum s you shou ld beat

fou r tabors , be cau se i t i s the pre rogat ive o f Empe rorsalone to beat ke tt led rum s wh i le hold ing Court . W hen

God give s you [the throne] , you Wi l l [enj oy these Im

pe ri a l r ights]. Why th i s impat ience ?”

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 3b. Ms . N . 96- 1 04 .

N otes — Prince Muazzam ascended the throne as Bahadur Shah Iin 1 707 . He was appo inted by h is father Subahdar of Afghanistan ih May, 1 698.

1 3. Infringement of Royal Prerogative .

From the le tter o f the co u r ie r of the

province o f Afghan i s tan,the Empe ror learn t that Pr ince

Muhamm ad Muaz zam Bahad u r S hah pe rformed the

t rad i t i onal p raye rs afte r se tt ing up canvas sc reens (bana l)in the Cathed ral Mo sque . On the shee t o f the le tter

Aurangz ib wrote ,“Ve r i ly th i s matte r is no t unconnec t

!e d wi th fear and coward i ce,wh ich are t ra i ts o f th is

son’

s characte r. Insp ite o f su ch cowa rd i ce,he ought

to have a l i tt le fear o f me, too. How d id he dare

t o do a th ing which i s the spec i a l prerogat ive of k ings ?

The l ate Emperor S hah Jahan was ve ry negligent

IN FRIN GEMEN T OF ROYAL PREROGAT IVE 63

towards h i s sons,so that matte rs came to a pass th at i s

notor ious .’

On the m argin the Empe ro r wrote , “The

nas z’

r (o f Kabu l) i s d i sm i ssed from h i s pos t and reduced

in rank by a hund red t roope rs,as he has no t wri tten a

s ingle sy l l able abou t th i s affai r. Muharram Khan Shou ldrecommend anothe r naz z

'

r . Ent i re l y change the j agirs

o f the news -wri te r and reporte r [o f Kabu l]. I have no t

degraded them in rank as they may be o f se rv i ce in

fu ture . The cou r ie r (lzarkara/z) shou ld qu i ckly m ake

a nothe r inqu i ry and wri te abou t the fa cts . I f i t i s t rue,

the”

Prince shou ld be removed from the governorsh ipa nd summoned to my presence .

Tex t — Ir. Ms. 1 0a a, no t in Ms . N .

§ 1 4. Royal Prerogative Infringed .

The Emperor learn t from the le tte r o f the ”(Lair

o f Muhamm ad Muaz z am Bahadu r S hah that when the

Prince was i ssu ing from the Clea/rid o f Sarhind he

w h ispe red some th ing into the ears o f the Superinten

d en t o f the e lephants which the wri te r cou ld no t catch .

When they had advanced 8 m i les from the [l as t] hal t ing

p l ace, a fight took pl ace between two infur i ated e lephan ts.

The Pr ince h imse lf s topped wi th h i s t r00ps and cam p

fol l owe rs and wi tnessed the fight afte rwards the drivens

o f the two e lephan ts separated them from each other

a nd con t inued the j ou rney . Bu t in th i s combat ne i ther

o f the e lephants had hu rt or trodden down any pe rso n.

On the shee t the Empe ro r wrote , The fi rs t s tate

men t was due to fear fo r h i s life , as concea lment . [o f the

m atter] was poss ible . The second s tatemen t, that ne i ther

64 AN ECDOTES o r AU RANGZIB

o f the e lephan ts had hu rt anybody, d i sp l ays the sham e :

o f av ar i ce wh i ch m ake s people bl ind and dumb . The

Ch ief Paym aste r shou ld redu ce the nas e’

r’

s rank by 200

and change his j agz'

r in p roport ion to the redu ct ion in

h i s rank . The Pr im e M in i s te r shou ld wri te to the

fo ol ish Pr ince a ‘Le tte r by O rde r’ in the p l ace o f a

farman,say ing,

‘O rder ing an e lephan t-fight i s the exclu~

s i ve pre roga t ive o f k ings . By these use less and unpro~

fi table l ongings you cannot get the c rown soone r,

When the t im e com e s and fortune befr iend s you , yo u

w i l l be k ing . What ru in s a m an i s dem and ing m o re

than his l o t and before the o rdained t ime . Why do

y o u [by such a ssumpt i on o f royal ty] m ake me angry

and yourse lf affl i c ted ?

Tex t.— Ir. Ms . 1 1 a St 5, Ms . N . 2 1 4: 85 b.

1 5 . Royal Prerogative Infringed.

From the news - le tte r o f the province o f Kabul

the Em pe ror le arn t that Muhamm ad Muaz zam Bahadu r

S hah,o n the d ays that he he ld Cou rt

,used to s i t o n a

platform s tand ing one yard above the ground . The

Emperor wrote on the shee t ( Verse)I t is no t by m ere w ish ing that our wo rks are done .

God’s grace is required in every work .

Y ou canno t secure the seat of great ones by [mere] rash acts,U n less yo u have gathered toge ther al l the materials for greatnessIt i s ve ry strange that the confinem en t o f so m any

ye ars has no t refo rm ed the presum ptuou s m ind of th i s

proud and fo o l i s h [Prince]. Two stri ct m acebeare rs

shou ld be sen t to m ake him get down from h i s seat in

open Cou rt, and to d i smant le the pl atform . If they

SUSP IC IOUS WATCH IN G o r H IS SON S 6 5.

a rr i ve [at Kabu l] when he is no t hold ing Court,they

shou ld wai t t i l l he does so, ‘and t hen carry out my orde r,

as a recompense for that which they do . The l ate

Empe ro r Shah J ahan showed so m u ch len iency and .

negl igence towards h i s sons that the independent ch ief

o f affai rs was tu rned ups ide down .

Tex l . Ir. Ms . 2 1 5 .

1 6 . Susp icious watching of his sons.

Ham ida Banu,the s upe r in tenden t o f

the h arem o f Muhamm ad Muaz z am Bahadu r Shah,

from the prov ince o f Mul tan pe t i t ioned the Em peror,

“Ve ry often at n ight in the Pr ince ’s pri vate chambe r,

w he re his be l oved ones com e,he takes wi th h im se lf h i s

pen-case and m emorandum -book . O ut o f regard fo r

e t ique tte i t is no t al lowed by the Court regu l at ions that

the ma ize /J ar or her depu ty shou ld be present a t that

t ime . When you r Majesty gave th i s o ld s l ave woman .

[the wri ter] her congee you told her oral ly,and you

a l so inse rted i t in a [subsequen t] royal le tter, that when

e ve r the Pr ince wou ld cal l fo r. h i s pen - case th i s o ld

bondma id or her deputy Sharf-un -n i ssa shou ld be pre

sen t. These are the facts . W hat orde r in th i s matte r ?”

The Em peror wrote in answe r, If you[cannot in

e t ique tte go to the Pr ince ’s p r i vate chamber, what

e t ique tte is there in you r refus ing to send h im the pen~

c ase ? In any case in fu tu re do no t at al l leave the pen

c ase in the inner apartmen ts . I have al so sen t an order .

to the naz ir that wheneve r the Pr ince in the ou te r apart

66 AN ECDOTES or AURANGZIB

men ts needs [wri t ing m ate r i a l s] he shou ld produce the

pen- case

,so that the Pr ince may keep i t w i th h im se lf

o n ly t i l l the necessary s ignatu res are fin i s hed the reafte r

the nas z’

r shou ld keep i t unde r h i s own seal . Te l l my

fool i sh son that h i s capt i v i ty fo r so m any years has no t

made h im wise, as he has taken su ch audac ious steps !

Even now the m atte r has no t gone ou t [o f my hand].

Distance cannot prevent [me from ] puni sh ing [h im ].

Verse)H ere is the po lo -bal l , and here is the fie ld

,

Y ou incons iderate , utterl y ignorant man .

Tex t — Ms . N . 20a 6— 205 1 2 .

N otes — Prince Muazzam after having been confined by h is

father from 1 687 , was final ly re leased in 1 695, and on 1 3th July, 1 69 6,went to Mul tan as Governor, (M A . H ere he remained fo r.two years, nom ina l ly a Vicero y, bu t still watched by h is jealousfather’s spie s. The ma/mla

’a r was the highe st female servan t and

contro l led the harem,— a so rt of female maj or ( lama. She evidently

acted as a spy in the interests of the Emperor.

B . AZAM SHAH

g1 7 . The Cap itulation of Parli .

The s iege o f the fort o f Parl i had cont inued fo r

four months,and then the ra iny season approached .

I t was usual in that part fo r the ra ins to be accom

p an ied by bai l - s torm s . The sold ie rs we re in consequence

g reatly a l armed . Shaikh Sadu l l ah Khan subm i tted to

the Em pe ror,th rough Muharram Khan

,

“ If the

Empe ror’s son Al i -j ah is no t d i spleased ,peace can be

m ade in a day.

” H i s Majesty sa id,“Wai t tc -day ;

the answer w i l l be given to-morrow.

” At the end of the

68 ANECDOTES or AU RANGZIB

I have indeed cher i shed rascal s . N ow I shall dr i ve

both the r ascal s ou t o f my camp . Shaikh Sadu l l ah'

wi l l

be sen t to the Base Camp, and you to the Province o f

Ahmadabad Then he ordered that

Siadat Khan,the supe r in tendent o f the mace -beare rs,

with al l the mace-beare rs shou ld accompany the Prince

and m ake h im res ide at Sanpgaon , 3 koses from the

Impe r i al army, wi thou t pe rm i tt ing the Pr ince to go backto his present quarte rs . Then H is Majes ty d ropped

the screen and ret i red from the Cou rt. Prince Az am ,in

confus ion and aston i shment,entreated the med i at i on o f

Asad Khan,the w as z

’

r,who begged the Empe ro r to .

gi ve the Prince two days’ respi te

,that the ra ins m ight

s top a l i t t le . H i s Majes ty rep l ied , What bus iness have

my se rvants to say anyth ing in the affa i rs o f my sons

A sad Khan fe l t ashamed o f hav ing m ade the reques t.

Howeve r,the Prince wi th the m ace -bearers took up his

re s idence in h i s own quarte rs , and thence subm i tted to

the Emperor, “Wax fo r mak ing oi l - c loth cannot be

had . Aurangz ib rep l ied ,

“Y ou m ay take some from

the Impe r i a l Gove rnm en t [s tores] afte r paying the pri ce .

”

The Pr ince p rayed that the pri ce might be deducted

from h i s cash s t i pend . The Empe ror wrote [on the

appl i cat ion], N o wi se m an leaves cash to be tu rned

into fo r,at the t ime o f paym en t there i s no

knowing who wi l l l i ve and who wi l l be dead. Y o u

f Ms. N . reads, “ I t can’

t be . Th is is c red it bus iness , wh ile I ha ve w ritten abou tcash payment. When the time for paying [the cred it price] comes, there is no

knowing &c."

STRICT JUST ICE BETWEEN A PRINCE A COMMONER 69

must pay the p r i ce in cash and take [the wax]. So,

the Prince d id as he was o rde red ; he sen t Rs.

and got the wax .

Tex t.

—Ir . Ms . 2a— 3a , Ms . N . 394-

4o5 .

N otes — The fort of Parli, which is described as 4 m . from

Satara, wa s besieged by Aurangz ib from 3o th April to 9th June,1 700

-z'

42 5 Prince Alijah was Muham

m ad'

Azam,the 3rd

'

son o f Aurangzib . Shaikh Sadul lah was atone time the mus/zarraf of the Emperor

'

s personal attendantsMace -bearers were som ewhat l ike sergeants, and made

arrests and carried out the Emperor’s disc ip linary orders .

g 1 8. Strict J ustice between a Prince and a

Commoner.

Prince Muhamm ad A zam Shah wrote a le tte r to

I nayatu l l ah Khan wi th inst ruct ions to subm i t to the

Em pe ror the pu rport o f the let te r and h i s reques ts . He

s tated there in,Syed L’al

,

'

who has been hold ing a rank

(mansa5 ) in the Mughal se rv i ce fo r three gene rat ions,d r inks w ine and does m any k ind s o f i rre l igi ou s pract i ce s

in my j agzr o f Mandeso r. The Emperor shou ldo rde r h is faga

'

r to be taken away from him and gi ven

to me,so that th i s ev i l may be pu t down.

”The Em

pero r wrote across the pe t i t ion,I t i s a nove l and

funny m anne r o f approp r i at ion to take o n yourse lf a

work wh ich appe rta ins to the Censor o f Moral s and

to p ray fo r the t ransfe r o f anothe r’s j agz'

r. I t i simposs ible to transfe r a j agz

'

r he ld fo r one gene rat ion

on ly,— what to speak o f one enj oyed fo r three genera

t ions ? I won’

t transfe r anybody’s j hgz'

r at the m e re

word o f any other m an . In be ing my se rvants th i s

70 ANECDOTES o r AURANGZIB

s on and Syed L ’al are exactly equal,wh i le the l atte r

,

by reason o f his be ing a Syed, is a thousand s teps

h ighe r. The ch ief Sada r shou ld wri te to the Censo r '

o f that p l ace to enqu i re in to the tru th o f the m atter

and report the de tai l s to m e . Prai sed be God that I

have no t gi ven my sons predom inance as the Empero rShah J ahan d id

,les t I shou ld be put to d i sgrace [by

them ].Tex t — Ir. Ms . 341

—35, Ms . N . 85— 911 incomplete and confused .

N ate — Censor of Morals o r an officer appo inted to

see that the ordinances of I s lam are s trict ly observed in private l ife.

1 9 . Be not too bold.

The Em pe ro r learn t from the news - lette r o f the

a rmy o f Prince Muhamm ad A zam Shah that he u sed

to go incau t i ously towards the en trenchmen ts in orde r

to View the fort o f Panhala . Al though the fl rt cz'

r and

the mafia/afar forbade him,he d id no t m ind the i r pro

hibition . The same th ing was al so reported to the

Emperor in the le t te rs o f the fl az z'

r and the reza/za la’a r .

H is Maj’

estyw ro te,

“I wonde r at th i s son,on whom

my soc ie ty has produced no [educat ive] effect whateve r

He is a thousand s tages remote from'

cau t ion and far

s ightedness , and has no t l a id to heart the m ax im‘Precaution is a suspicion of m isch ief,

’

nor put to use

the ve rse ‘Don

’

t thrust yourself with your own hands .

into destruction’

. ( Verse)A b ird that is prudent in th is garden of a world

,

S uspects the ro se for the c laws o f a royal falconWhen a partridge fl ies w ithout c ircum spection,

B lood drops from its visible wounds,as the resul t of its laughter.

BE N OT TOO BOLD 7 1

The society of the good does no t turn a bad nature into good,The almond retains its b itter kernel even in sugar.

Man l iness does no t cons i s t “ in audac i ty and fear

lessness bu t in break ing one’s se lf hum i l i ty) .

The perfection of man liness and human ity l ies inse lf-suppression.

K iss the hand o f the man who has broken this how self

Tex t.— Ir. Ms . 1 8a— 5 .

N o ies .— Panhala

,1 1 111 . SW . of Ko lhapur. Aurangzib captu red

it after a siege lasting from oth March to 28th May, 1 70 1 . (M asz'

r—z'

A lamgz'

rz'

, 430— 439, K/zafi Kfian, ii. 476

2 0 . Prince Azam punished for quarrelling with

the Superintendent of his harem.

Bahro z Khan,the nas z

’

r o f the deer/25 o f Pr in ce

Muhamm ad A zam Shah reported to the Em pe ror,“The Pr ince has behaved bad ly towards Nur—un-n i ssa

,

the ma/zala’a r,so that he d id no t take her wi th h im se lf

[in h is v i s i t s] to the Im pe r i al garden at Ahm adabad .

The mzz/zala’ar sen t a le tte r ou ts ide [the harem to m e].

forb idd ing the Prince ’s j ourney . So,th i s s l ave the

w r i ter) cam e and s topped the r id ing ou t o f the Prince,

in the absence o f any orde r [from the Em pe ror]. The

Prince expe l led the ma lm/a’a r from h i s assem bly

The Empe ror wrote th i s o rder z— “The rzzansa5a’ars

appointed [to that prov in ce] and Khwaj ah Qu l i Khan,

wi th his own t roops and those o f the Raj ah o f N arwar,

shou ld co -ope rate and preven t the Pr ince from r id ingou t or giv ing aud ien ce, pend ing the arr i val o f order

from m e .

”


Next day, when the Pr ince got news o f i t,he

sen t a pe t i t ion th rough his s i ste r,Pad i shah Begam ,

begging pardon fo r h i s O ffence s , and enclos ing an agree

m en t to a comprom i se sealed wi th the seal s o f the

naz z'

r and the fl ea/za la’a r . On the pe t i t i on the Em pe ro r

w rote — “I refra in from transfe rring your mafia/s (z

'

. e. ,

j agzr) . But if no pecun i ary pun i shm en t i s infl i c ted ,

you wi l l re ta in the audac i ty to do th i s sort o f work

aga in . F ifty thousand ru pees shou ld be taken from

the cash sal ary O f th i s Shorts ighted,base -m inded and

fool i sh son,in to the publ i c treasu ry as pun i shmen t fo r

th i s o ffence .

Tex t— Ir. Ms. 4a 8: 5 , Ms. N . 5a 5 .

N otes — Prince Azam was Subahdar of Guzerat from the m idd leof 1 70 1 to September, 1 705. Pad ishah Begam was the title of

h is sister Zinat-nu -n issa.

2 1 . Maintain peace on the highways.

From the report o f the p rov ince o f Ahmadabad ,o f whi ch Muhammad Az am Shah was the Gove rnor,the Em pe ror learn t Janaji Dal i a

,a comm ande r

o f the enemy Marathas], had p l unde red som e

me rchan ts on the h ighway o f Surat,at a p lace 80 mi le s

from Ahmadabad . Th is matte r had become known

to the Pr ince Shah Alijah A z am] from the news

brought by a cou r ie r ; but he had said,‘I t has occu rred

within the fauj da rz’

o f Am anat Khan,the col lector

o f Su rat I have no conce rn wi th i t

On the shee t o f the report the Em pe ror wrote,Decrease five thousand from the real rank o f the

UN INTENT IONAL CONTEMPT OF COURT PUN ISHED 7 3

Pr ince,and take from his agen ts m oney correspond ing

to the [loss] repo rted by the m e rchan ts . If i t had been

an offi ce r other than a Prince,th i s orde r wou ld have

been i ssued afte r an inqu i ry . Fo r a Prince the pun i sh

ment i s the absence o f invest igat io n . Bravo fo r you r

P rin cesh i p,that yo u con s ide r you rse lf l owe r than

Am anat Khan ! As in my l ife - t im e you have a c l a im

to inhe r i t the em pi re,why then do yo u no t m ake

Am anat Khan a Share r o f you r he r i tage Verse)A malady that does no t go away for m ed icine, has no cure .

A in an who has no t go t w isdom,does no t need any thing.

”

Te.rt.— Ir. Ms . 2 25, Ms . N . 265— 2 7a .

N ola— Is Dal ia a m istake for D ulway, a Maratha fam ily name ?

§ 2 2 . Unintentional contempt of“Court punished .

One day when the Em pe ror was hold ing Cou rt,Prince Muhamm ad A z am Shah stood up and m ade

a reques t. At no t ge tt ing a reply favourable to h i s

d e s i re,he grew angry and advanced so far that h i s foot

touched the Em pe ror’s seat (masrzad) . The Em pe rorin d i spleasu re d ropped the screen o f the Cou rt

,wen t

away,and forbade the Pr ince to com e to the presence .

N obody e l se had the powe r to in te rcede wi th him ;

bu t Shah Salimullah, [a he rm i t] o f N andu rbar

,sa id

to the Empe ror, That the Prince advanced h is foot was

no t due to a spi r i t o f daring,but to care lessness . Of

him who pardons and makes peace, the recompenseis from God. Be low the above [Quran i c] ve rse the

Em pe ror wrote,

“From the bank of safety in to the sea of destruction, feII

That man who set h is steps beyond h is own lim its.

”

74 AN ECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

Tex t—J r. Ms . 55, Ms . N . 32a 5 .

N ote — W’hen the Emperor dropped a screen in fron t of his

seat at a dar5ar,it was a Sign that the Court was c losed . Then he

retired to the lzarem by a door at the back of his seat .

2 3 . The Emperor’

s repartee.

Prince Muhamm ad A z am Shah,owing to h i s levi ty

o f characte r and v i leness o f tongue,had l ikened H is

Maje sty to the sweepe r J umm a who used to se rve in

the Hal l o f Pri vate Aud ience,and the matte r had

reached the Im pe r i a l e ars . O ne day, wh i le J umma was

sweepi ng the court-yard o f the Pri vate Aud ience Hal l ,the Emperro r tu rned toward s Azam Shah and said

,

Baba ! th i s sweepe r has fou r sons .” A z am Shah re

pl ied,

“He has ‘ on ly one son,and that too a me re ch i ld.

”

H is Majes ty rej o ined,

“ Y our statemen t i s wrong. My

inform at ion i s even tha t one o f these fou r sons has gone

to Pe rs i a O n hea ring these words, the Prince unde r

s tood the po in t [o f the Empe ror’s speech] and was great ly

ashamed . He comp l a ined to h i s S i s te r, Z inat-un -n i ssa

Begam ,His Majes ty , u tter ly d i s regard ing the cons idera

t ion and honour du e to m y l ady m othe r, has descri bed

J umm a sweeper as my fathe r I”The Em peror re to rted ,

“But, then,

son ! yo u showed no cons ide rat ion and

honou r to Shah J ahan,when yo u descr ibed h i s l ate

Maj es ty ’s son as the sweepe r J umm a

Ter n— Ir. Ms . 64 , Ms . N . 1 1 a & 5 .

N ote — On l y four sons of Aurangzib were a l ive at th is time,

and one o f these, P rince Akbar, had fled to Persia after the failure .

o f h is rebe l l ion in 1 68 1 .


yo u bo und [you rse lf] to the world and tem poral th ingsY o u r he art i s to be taken [wi th you to the next world],and the World and Tim e wi l l have to be given up.

Verse)Every [earthl y] th ing which you e levate w il l throw you

into the dust .

E xcept the flow of tears,which is capable of e levating

you [toheaven].Tex t — Ms . N . 1 04 5

— 105 1 1 .

N oies .

— In April , 1 693, Prince Azam at Cuddapah in Madrash ad a long and severe attack of dropsy, after wh ich he was conveyed to the Co urt by o rder o f the Em peror, 2 zud O ctober, 1 693,

( 41A . 353, 36 1—363, K/zafi Kficm, ii. But he was not then

Governo r of Guzerat. Khafi Khan, give s the fo l low ing accountof an appl ication made by the Prince in 1 705

-6 to com e fromGuzerat and visit h is father

“Prince Muhammad Azam,in Guzerat, on hearing of h is

father’s il lness, appl ied fo r perm iss ion to come to Court on thep lea of the air and water of that province no t being congen ialto him . The Emperor was displeased and sent h im a letter to

th is effect —‘I, to o , had sent a s im ilar petition to my father Shah

Jahan during h is il lness [at the c lo se of his reign], and he had

rep lied to it by saying that{

the air Of every p lace is agreeableto m en except the w ind of evil pass ions l ’ ” (ii . In the end

the Empero r perm itted Azam to com e to Court, and he arrivedthere on 2 5th March , 1 706. (MA . 496,

C . KAM BAKHSH .

g2 5 . Kam Bakhsh placed under arrest.

The Empe ror learnt from the le tte rs o f the naz z'

r

and news -wri te r wi th Pr ince Muhamm ad Kam Bakhsh,

“Afte r the capt u re of fort J inji,’Nusrat J ang Khan

KAM BAKHSH PLACED UNDER ARREST 7 7

made a reque s t to the Pr ince abou t mar ch ing and

ha l t ing,in the sp i r i t of caut ion ,

as the re we re more

than cava l ry o f the enemy around [the Mughal

force]. The Prince d i s p l ay ing ro ughness answe red,‘I

have the power. I shall march W heneve r I l i ke .

’

Ti l l

at l as t the matte r passed into unpleasantness . The

Khan gave up wa i t ing o n the Prince in his quarte rs,

a nd inte rv iewed h im [on ly] when r id ing ou t. O n Wed

nesday,the oth Ziqada [: 1 3th J u ly , 1 692] at noon

w hen the Prince had d i smoun ted in h i s own camp, he

sent' a s l ave to cal l the Khan,

and the l atte r de l ayed

to come . Fou r s l aves came in success ion. At thi s

j uncture the Khan ’s cou rie rs brought him

news that the Prince had formed a pl an w i th h i s foste r

b rother to impri son the Khan . Al so from the le tte r

o f the nas z’

r,i t becam e known that th i s report was

true . The Khan cal led toge the r the [news]-wri te rs ,

took them as h i s w i tnesses,h imse lf wi th Rao D alpat

Bundela went r id ing o n e lephants to i ns ide the fence

the Prince ’s quarters], and pu l led down the

Pr ince ’s Court- ten t w i th the e lephan t’s trunk . The

P rince on see ing th i s,wanted to flee to h i s karem . But

Rao D alpat com ing up Se i zed both his hand s,and

pul l ing h im by the sleeves d ragged h im to the e lephan t

o f the Khan, who made a S ign to D alpat to seat the

P r ince o n his own elephan t. So in that manner fou r

marche s were m ade,the Prince rem a in ing with Rao

D alpat and s tay ing in h is tent day and n ight .


Afte r read ing i t, the Empe ro r wrote o n the shee t.

Verse)

A slave girl’s son comes to no good

Even though he mav have been bego tten by a k ing.

What refo rms cou ld N o ah (on the prophets and

on h im be peace 1) effect in h i s d i sobed ien t so n, that

I can succeed [in the sam e work ] P N us rat J ang Khan

i s no t wi thout wi sdom . VVho so ever speaks, ill o f him

i s h im se l f a bad man . As fo r bringing th i s worth less

[Prince], the leade r O f the wi cked, let N usrat J ang

Khan accompany esco rt ) him up to B ij apu r, and

t he reafte r en trust h im to the Prime Min i s te r. Send

a f arman to the Gove rnor o f Bij apu r,to gi ve h im an

e scort o f o ne tho usand caval ry and send h im to me .

N usrat J ang Khan should go to guard the newly con

quered te rri to ry, su ch as fort J inj i and othe r p l aces.

When I send h im a fa r/man,he wi l l come to me . O n

the margin o f the pe t i t ion,H is Majes ty wrote “

Fo r

the sake o f a Son who agreeably wi th the ve rse He is

your enemy’

, has been proved and ascerta ined to be

an enemy,— why shou ld

1

] quarre l w i th my fr iends,among whom a good se rvant is reckoned one ? E spe c i al lyw hen that se rvant i s a near kinsman

,be ing the son o f

my m ate rnal aunt and dese rving the fr iend ly inter

c ourse of k indred . [Ms. N . adds,— O h the marg in he

wrote ,“Plato has said ,

‘Your friends are three : the

Sharer of your salt meals) , the Sharer of your

danger, and the companion of your travels.

B IDAR BAKHT PUN ISHED FOR N EGLECT OF DU TY 7 9

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 2 2a St 5 , Ms . N . 2 75— 29d .

N 0tes .

— Kam Bakhsh,the yo unges t and pe tted son of Aurang

zib and U daipuri Mahal, (bo rn 24 February, began the s iege

of J inj i on 1 6th D ec . , 1 69 1 , the real commande rs being Asad Khanand his son N usrat Jang. The fo rt fe l l on 7 th February, 1 698. But

in 1 693 Kam Bakhsh, for h is Oppo s ition to the two generals and

intrigue w ith the enem y, was arrested and brough t to the Court,1 4th June . (M .A.35 5

-

359, K/mfi Kean ,ii. 4 1 8

—42 1 , Al l ] . ii. 94

i . 3 13, D z’

lka s/za , 1 07a et seq) .

D . BIDA‘R BAKHT (so n o f A z am Shah) .

g 2 6. Bidar Bakht punished for neglect of duty .

The Em pe ror learn t from the le tte r o f the 724 5 57

a ccompanying B idar Bakht Bahadu r that he had at

fi rst great ly exe rted h imse lf to captu re the fort o f

Sansan i,be l onging to Rajah Ram J at

,and that i t be

came then known that he had sent a ve rba l m essage

to the latte r, wh i ch was ev ident ly th i s that he shou ld

give h i s brothe r’s daughte r to the Prince and h im se lf

go out o f the fort .

Across the shee t the Empe ror wrote,

“The re is no

harm . Gi v ing a daughte r i s a m ark o f subm i ss ion . He

m ay go ou t of the fort , bu t whe re wi l l he go ou ts ide

the Imperi a l terr i tory ? But (verse)What sort of man was he who was less than a womanA man subm issive to women is worse than a woman.

The bringing up o f ch i ld ren be l ongs to fathe rs and

no t to grandfathers . Prince Alijah (Muhamm ad A zam,)

o ut o f his weak natu re and affec t ion for Bidar Bakht’s

late mothe r, has brought matters to su ch a pass. To

80 AN ECDOTES OF AU RANGZIB

wise m en a st ra i tened cond i t i on which is [caused by]

pun i s hment in money is the greates t cal am i ty and d is

tress . For o ne year redu ce h i s j agz'

r by o ne -half and

remove him from h i s rank (merm a i d?Tex t— Ir . Ms . 2 1 5 2 2a ; Ms . N . 2 7a 8: b d iffers a good deal ,

but on ly verbal ly.

N otes — Muhammad B idar Bakht, the son of Prince Muham

m ad Azam and Jahanzeb Banu Begam ( the daughter of Dara) ,was bo rn 4th August, 1 670. All three of them w ere greatly lovedby Aurangzib, and B idar Bakht was the old Emperor

’s spec ia l

favourite . With Khan - i-Jahan he led an expedition agains t RajahRam Jat, the rebe l chief of San sani

,whom he defeated and s lew,

4th Jul y, 1 688, (M . A . San san i was cap tured by h im in

January, 1 690 (111 . A . 334 K'

lzafi K/zem, ii. It is now a stationo n the E . I . R . be tween Hathras and Al igarh.

Late m o ther ’ is incorrect,as the lady died long afterwards,

March, 1 705. (M . A .

2 7 . Quarrel between Bidar Bakht and his Wife.

From the le tte r o f the naz z'

r accompanying Pr ince

B idar Bakh t Bahadu r, the Em peror learn t, “The Prince

had always before shown the greates t affect ion and favou r

to Sham s-un-n i ssa,the daughte r o f Mukh tar Khan.

But now,con t rary to his usual m anne r, he often t reats

her wi th d i sp leasu re , so that one day he sa id,The

d aughter o f a rasca l (paj z) ought not to show such pr ide

to princes .’ At th i s S ham s -un-n i ssa rep l ied, If you l i ke

youmay sl ay me

,bu t I shal l no t speak to you aga in.

’ So

from that day the Pr ince had given up speaking to her.

”

Across the sheet of the l ette r the Emperor . wrote

Verse)

QUARREL BETWEEN B IDAR BAKHT AND H IS W IFE SI

“At dawn the bird of the garden [n ightingale] said tothe newl y blossomed ro se ,

‘D on’t give yourself airs so much

, because in this

garden many l ike you had budded.

’

The rose laughed [say ing], ‘I am no t disp leased tohear the truth

,but

N o lover ever spo ke a bitter word to his be loved .

’

Be i t c lear to th i s l igh t o f the eye grandson]th at in the

,season o f you th , wh i ch in the v i le phraseo

logy o f h i s boon compan i ons is s tyled ‘mad you th,

"

I,too

,had th i s re l at ion wi th a pe rson [wife] who had

extreme se lf-wi l l and state l iness,but to the end o f her

'

l ife I cont inued to love her and neve r once d id I wound '

her fee l ings . Then again,to apply the te rm paj z

'

to

the Syeds i s s im ply to act l i ke a paj z’

. If a Syed i s

c al led a paj z’

,i t w i l l no t certa in ly m ake h im a paj z

’

. If

I do no t learn from the le tters of the ma/za la’a r and the

724 2 1? that you have made i t u p w i th th i s Syed g i rl,you.

wi l l m ee t w i th rebuke , nay more,with pun i shment.

[[God shall give them] recompense for that which

they were doing.

Tex t — Ms. N . 235 1 -24a 5.

N otes — B idar Bakht, the son of Azam , and the favourite

grandson of Aurangzib, was married to the daugh ter of MukhtarKhan surnam ed Puti Begam ,

on 2 1 st N ov ., 1 686 (IV. A . A

son , named F iruz Bakht was born to them on 23rd Aug, 1 695

( lbz'

d, 374) B idar Bakht’s

'

father- in-law was Qamruddin,the son of

Sham suddin, the son of Syed Muhammad, al l three of them beingsuccessive ly entitled Mukhtar Khan (M U . iii ., This fam ily

,

the Ben-i-Mukhtar, enjoyed the greatest respect among the

6


Mus lims,and traced its descent from the P rophet, through Abul

Mukhtar, nagz’

b of Al i’s Mashhad and Am z’

r -u l-l mj . O ne of its

members m igrated from Najaf to Sabzawar in Khurasan, hencethe ir title of Sabzawari. (AI . U . iii .

Aurangzib is referring to h is own married l ife . H is w ife D ilras

Banu,the daughter o f Shah Nawaz Khan Safaw i, (married 8th May,

1 637 , d ied 8th October, must have been a very proud woman,

if we can judge he r character from that o f her son,Muhammad

A zam,who was incredibly vain and haughty.


Private Aud ience . Y ar Al i Beg wrote [to N usrat j ang]ful ly abou t th i s angry order. The Khan d i smoun ted

at the gula l-bar (red canvas wal l round the Imper i al

quarte rs ), s tr ipped o ff al l weapons from h i s pe rson, and

wish ing for an inte rv iew sat down by the raw fz'

at the

door o f the Pri vate Aud ience Hal l,wa it ing for the orde r

o f h i s pre sentat ion. The Empe ror passed two gkarz'

s"

withou t speaking o f or attend ing [to N usrat J ang], and

then pe rm i tted him to ente r. As he wished to k i ss the

Empe ror’s toes

,H is Majes ty extended h i s r ight leg] :

I

O n accoun t o f h i s great confus ion and agi tat i on ,N usrat

Jang’

s knee s tou ched the cush ion, (masnaa

’

) o f the

Empe ror,who go t d i sp leased at i t, but with extreme

k indness and favou r he l a id h i s hand o n the Khan’s

back and sa id,“Y ou we re absent fo r a l ong t ime and

so have forgotten the et ique t te o f the Cou rt . ( Verse)

A.

crow turned its tail to the city and its head to the vil lage[Sure ly] the crow

’s tail was better than its head i ”

Then the Em peror tu rned h i s face towards Bahra

mand Khan and said,How can i t be that se rvants

brought up in my household wou ld un learn e t i que tte byreason o f the i r going away from the Court ? Evident lyth i s Khan’s eyes ight has been affected 'So he orde red

Muharram Khan to br ing a pa i r o f spectac les and with

h is own hands p l ace them o n N usrat Jang’

s nose,and

a l so ins i sted that he shou ld go to h is quarters in that

gu i se,and that as i t was a g ift from the Em peror he

Ag/za rz'

is 2 4 minutes.1 Ir. Ms. reads Nusrat Jang extend ing his right leg.

OBEY ORDERS FIRST 85

shou ld for th ree days come to the darbar wi th the

spectac les o n,as was the ru le abou t robes o f honou r .

When N usra t J ang saw th i s d i sgrace, he , through

the inte rcess i on o f Am ir Khan , the super intendent

(darogha ) o f the em pe ror’s pe rsonal se rvants (khawas)at n ight secu red pe rm i ss i on to depart fo r the pun i sh

m ent o f theMarathas . Afte r the ‘z

'

s/zzz praye r he came

w i th the spectacle s 0 11 , had aud ience in the room whe re

the Em pero r coun ted h i s beads , and took h is leave .

[Tex t — Irvine Ms . 1 5— 2a , Ms. N . 37b.—39a .]

N oies .

— Zulfiqar Khan, surnamed N usrat Jang Bahadur, was

a son of Aurangzib’s prim e m inister Asad Khan . (Born 1 657 A.D

,,

e xecuted in The fort of J inj i (o r Gingee in the South Arco t

D is trict) capitulated to him on 7 th February, 1 698. Parnala (or

Panhala) was bes ieged by Aurangzib from 9th March to 2 8th May,

1 70 1 . The Base Camp was at Islampuri on the Bhima river.Bahramand Khan was the chief paymaster, (died sth N ovember,

Am ir Khan was Mir Abdu l Karim (son of Am ir KhanShah Jahani) .

8 2 9 . Obey orders first.

Zulfi qar Khan Bahadur N usrat J ang had by order

gone in pursu i t o f Hanuwant [Rao], the wre tched com

m ande r o f the [Maratha] infidels . By chance he passed

wi th in fou r m i les of the Imper i a l encampment. So,he

pe t i t ioned ,As i t has happened by chance that I have

t o pass c lose to the Empe ror’s army

,I cons ide r it a

breach o f e tique tte to go away wi thou t wa i t ing upon

your Majesty .

’

O n the appl i cat ion the Empe ror wrote,Two th ings have been done by yo u con tra ry to good

m anne rs : firs t, why have you let the brigands pass

AN ECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

c lose to the Impe r i al encampm en t ? Th i s act was not

free from badne ss of conduct,nay i t was l i ke ly to cause

a d i stu rbance . Second ly , by no t engaging in the work

ent rusted to you and by m ak ing a reques t cont ra ry to

i t, you have shown d i sobed ience . Obey God , obey the

Prophet, and Obey the commanders (kings) among

you

Ted — Ir. Ms . 2 1 a 8: 5 .

g 30. Presumptuousness of a Deccani officer.

From the news - le tte r o f the army o f Zulfiqar Khan

N us rat J ang,the

‘ Empe ror learnt that J ang-ju Khan

D eccani,who he ld the rank o f a Comm ander o f F i ve

Thousand caval ry,had p l aced h i s ke ttled rum s o n

buffaloes and in a m i sch ievou s sp i r i t had orde red them

to be carried s ide by s ide with the ke ttled rum s o f N usrat

J ang Khan on an equal foot ing. The Em pe ro r wrote ,What harm doe s i t do to m e

,and what object ion has

N usrat j ang Khan to i t ? So long as th is ch ief o f the

accu rsed and wretched t ribe does no t unde rs tand h i s ow n

parad ing wh i ch i s the he ight o f d i sgrace , even“

if he carr ie s h i s drum s in advance o f those o f Nusrat

J ang,i t wou ld be j ust what [we] de s i re His march ing

abreast o f N usrat J ang, too, i s no smal l d i sgrace to

him .

”

Tex t— Ir. Ms . 35— 441, not in Ms. N .

N otes is a m ode o f pun ishm en t in which a man is

publ ic ly disgraced by be ing paraded through a city or camp m oun t

ed on an ass and accompan ied by no isy music,in parody of a roya l

procession.

BEWARE OF THE SYEDS OF BARHA 87

g 3 1 . Faithlessness of Becsani officers.

The le tte r-wri te r (sawam'

lz) o f N usrat J ang reported’

to the Empe ro r that Z indan Khan D eccan i, who, had?

go t the rank o f Comm ande r o f Fou r Thousand in therol l (z a 5z

'

ta ) o f the Deccan,used to sac rifice his l ife

in the [m i l i tary] serv i ce Of the Em pe ror and hence i tw ou ld be pro pe r to confe r a h ighe r rank on him . Nus rat

J ang Khan ,to o

,wrote to the Empe ror to the sam e effe ct .

The Empe ror wrote th i s o rde r ;“The te rm sacr i

fic ing h is l ife’ i s a me re p iece Of rhe tor i c and a flouri sh

o f the pen If he repeated ly sac rifi ced his l ife,how

i s i t po s s ible fo r him to be al i ve st i l l To show favour

to h i s race the D eccan is) i s to take up a scorp ion

by the hand or to keep a se rpen t in the a rm s . The

people of Kufa are faithless.

”

Tex t— Ir. Ms . 45, no t in Ms . N .

N otes— Th is contempt for D eccani Officers was unjust. I t was

a D eccan i officer who , by great activity, co urage and en terprise,

captured Sambhaji . Kufa is, a town in Asiatic Turkey, west of the

E uphrates and east of Mashhad .

32 . Beware of the Syeds of Barha !

From the report Of the prov ince o f Khandesh*

the Empe ro r learnt that Syed Hasan Al i Khan Bahadu r

Mr. Irvine '

s o rigina l Ms. reads N ad er , his copy of it A lzm ad a 5a a’,and the Rampur

Ms . Tad er . N ow,the fa ther of Ha san Ali was appo in ted Faujdar of Nander (which ,

howe ver, w as no t a province) in February ,1 690 (M .A . Hasan Ali’s charge

,the

Faujdari of Nandurbar, was a part of Ma lwa and no t o f Guzera t (Ahmadabad) . N an

durbar is described in M . U . iii. 1 31 as a part of Baglana , w h ich last was situa ted be tweenKhandesh on the east and Guzerat on the w est. So , a report abou t his explo it migh tw ell have come from Khandesh. Hence my emenda tion.


had shown great act iv i ty in fight ing wi th Hanuwant,

the gene ral o f the m i sbe l ieve rs [Marath as] , sacked h i s

base- camp taken al i ve the brothe r ’s son o f

Janaji and honou red h im by conve rs i on to I sl am .

Zulfiqar Khan Bahadu r N usrat j ang,who was

'

pass ing

by that p l ace fo r chast is ing the d i s turbe r Dhanna j ado n ,

re commended promot ions fo r both the [Syed ] brothe rs

and sen t the le tte r o f recommendat ion to the Em pe ro rby re l ays o f cou rie rs

'

pray ing that the e lde r

brothe r’s rank,wh ich was 800

,m ight be ra i sed to 1000

,

and the younge r brothe r’s

,wh ich was 700 ,

to 900.

Across the shee t [o f the report] the Empe ro r w rote ,Bravo ! Why shou ld i t no t be so ? The Syeds , who

a re sources o f ausp i c iousness , bear th i s m ean ing that

they shou ld t ry w ith al l the i r l i fe fo r supporting the

s t rong fai th o f the i r forefather,H is Hol iness the Syed

among p rophe ts [Muh ammad] . Send to both the

brothers wi th [a m ace-beare r] two robes o f honour from

the spec ial ward robe, wi th two .p l a in dagge rs set wi th

j aspe r and having pearl s t raps . The Prime Min i s te r

s hou ld wri te a Le tte r By O rde r’ fu l l o f prai se and send

i t to them .

”

Across the le tte r [o f N usrat J ang] Hi s Majes ty

wrote,

“The recommendat ion o f p romotion m ade by

th i s he red i tary se rvan t aware o f my sent iment s,was

ve ry prope r. Fa i lu re o n the part o f gene ral s tox

con

c i l i ate good sold ie rs is inj u st i ce . I t shou ld no t be done .

Bu t i t i s d iffi cul t [for me] to consent to the i r promot ion

in one step. True,l ove for the h igh- ranked Syeds is a

THE RISE OF THE N IZAM’S FATHER

part o f ou r fai th,nay m ore

,i t is the ve ry essence o f

spi ri tual knowledge ; and enm i ty to th i s t r ibe i s ' the

cause o f entry into he l l - fire and o f [incurr ing] the ange r

o f God . But we shou ld no t do an act w h i ch m ight be

a source o f o ur grief in th i s world and m i se ry in the

next . To re l ax the re ins to the Syeds o f Barha i s to

b ring o n final ru in,

a bad end because these people

o n ge tt ing the leas t prospe r i ty and promot i on bo as t‘There is none like me

’

, s tray from the path o f r igh t

conduct,che r i sh h igh v iews , and cause im ped im ent . If

they'

are neglected , world ly affa irs becom e d iffi cu l t to

pe rform . If they are corre cted,the fee t fal l into mud .

Tex t— Ir. Ms . 265 2 7a .

1Voz‘es .— Syed Hasan Ali Khan of Barha afterwards became

Qutbulmulk Abdul lah Khan and the Waz z’

r Of Farukhs iyar. He

is known to fame as one o f the Syed Bro thers ” o r Indian K ingmakers . In Aurangzib

’s reign he was Faujdar of Nandurbar and

S ul tanpur. (L ife in M U . iii. 1 30 Hasan Ali’s hero ic but

d isastrous fight w ith the Marathas under N ima S indhia ( 1698) isdescribed by Khafi Khan

,ii. 45 7 . H is bro ther Husain Ali Khan,

afterwards created Am ir -uI-umara,did no t serve in the D eccan

in Aurangzib’s reign, b ut was Faujdar of H indun -B iana. (Life in

AI U. i. 32 1 H ence bo th the MSS. are wrong in givingthe name of the hero of this episode as H u sa in A lz

'

. N usrat Jang“returned to Court after pun ish ing Dhanna Jadon about January,

1 700 (MA . But he had a roving comm ission from 1 70 1 to

1 705 to chastise the Maratha bands wherever found.

33. The Rise of the Nizam’

s father.

When Ghaz iuddin Khan Bah adu r F i ru z J ang,whose

origina l name was M i r Shihabudd in ,fi rs t came to

90 ANECDOTES o r AURANGZIB’

I nd i a from Vz'

lay et, hi s fathe r Abid Khan,th rough

the med i at i on o f S arbu l and Khan the Paym aste r,int roduced him to the Empe ro r at De l h i in the cou rse

o f H is Maj e s ty ’s r ide o n a pi lgrim age to the sain t

Qutb [Shah’

s tomb], and go t fo r him the rank o f a

comm ande r o f th ree hundred horse . Afte rwards when

the Empe ror went to Ajm ir, none o f the scouts co n

sented [to go o ut] to bring news abou t Pr ince Muham

m ad Akbar who had gone ove r to the Rajputs . Mi r

Shihabudd in sa id “Th i s s l ave i s wi l l ing. The Em pe ro rgave him a robe o f ho nour and a promot ion o f two

hundred,and so sen t him . O n the 14th day the news

o f his re turn reached the sent ine l s round the Imper i a la rmy

,and he too sen t a le tter say ing “Th is s l ave has

a rr ived with true new s . P lease qu i ck ly i ssue an orde r

fo r my adm iss i on into the cam p that I may te l l i t .”

O n the pet i t ion the Empe ror wrote , ( Verse)“t soever drinks, l ike the ruby

, the blood of the l iverand grows patien t,

B ecomes the o rnament of the top of the crown of Fortune .

The featw a! m ust gi ve him a pass to ente r the camp .

Tex t— Ir. Ms . 105, M s . N . 3 1 5 and 32a .

N 01‘es .

— M ir Shihabuddin, surnamed Ghaz iudd in Khan F iruz.

Jang, was the son ofAbid Khan ,Sadar of Aurangzib

’s reign, and

the father of the I St N izamulmulk (Mir Qam ruddin, Chin Qal ichKhan

,Asaf Jah) . Shihabuddin came from his home in Samarqand

to seek his, fortune at the Court of D e lhi in October,1 669. The

inc ident of the present anecdo te is also narrated in the Jll a sz'

r-i

A lamgz'

rz'

, p . 1 85, Khafi Khan, ii. 267 , anci in h is l ife in the M asz'

r

u l-umara, ii. 832 et seq. I t took p lace some time 5efore Akbar’s

9 2 AN ECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

35 . Preaches meekness to Firuz J ang.

The Empe ror learnt from the news - le tte r o f Ghaz iudd in Khan Bahadu r F i ruz J ang,

that the Khan had

l a id it down that in the o rde rs wh ich he sent to var iou s

p l ace s the phrase By the t a rama t-5um’

aa’ comm and [o f

the Khan]’ shou ld be wri tten .

The Empe ro r wrote ,

“NO harm . H is ances tors

we re he rm i ts and inm ate s o f monaste r ies . [ al low the

use o f By command ’ on ly . But a Comm ande r o f Seven

Thousand do es no t posse ss m i racul ous powe r (ka rama t) .

I o rde r that in future the customary pre sen t o n the

Empe ror’s coronat ion ann i versary wh i ch he wi l l send to

[us] h i s s l ave s, wi l l no t be accepted [byWhen Ghaz iudd in Khan go t news o f i t

,he pe t i

tio ned thus ,“ He who repents of a sin becomes

s inless as it were, and when a man confesses a fault

verily God forgives all his faults, few and many.

”

O n the pe t i t i on the Empe ror wrote , “Whosoev'

er earns

the pardon of his affliction by means of reformation,

God will recompense him . And if a man returns to

h is sins, God wreaks vengeance on him .

”

Tex t.

— Ir. Ms . 245 2 5a .

N 0tes .— Ghaziudd in

‘ Khan, the father of the first N izamulmulk,

was the grandson of Alam Shaikh,a scho lar and saint of Samar

qand, iii. 837 , who c laimed descent from ShaikhShihabuddin Saharawardi, a renowned saint of Central Asia. Therei s a play

'

upon the phrase A’

aramat-5um’

ad,which' may m ean

( 1 ) grac ious and (2 ) m irac le -wo rking. Aurangzib takes it in the

latter sense, hence his objection and ironical remark that he is on ly

a s lave of F iruz Jang

K I NDNESS TO HAM ID KHAN BAHADUR 93

36 . Kindness to Hamid Khan Bahadur.

The Emperor learnt from the report o f the army O f

Ham id Khan Bahadur, the brothe r o f Ghaz iudd in Khan

F i ruz J ang,that tho ugh no t granted th i s d i s t inct i on

by the Em peror, he carr ied wi th h im se lf ket t led rum s

and bandsmen,and eve ryday pl ayed the nau5d i as a t

fe s t iv i t ies . O n the shee t the Empe ror w rote ,“The

brothe r o f F i ru z J ang Khan i s no t su ch a fo ol as to acts o ve ry audac ious ly. I t i s ev iden t that the re i s some

fe st i va l [or othe r] in h i s house eve ryday. As even low

persons do no t requ i re pe rm i ss io n from the Emperorto p l ay the nau5a f on fest i ve occas ions, why shou ld he

In fu tu re the news -wri te r m us t'

no t sp i tefu l ly bring such

charges aga inst him . I adm i re his pat ience that wh i le ,

in sp i te O f h i s hold ing the rank o f a Commande r o f

Fou r Thousand horse and the t itle Ba/zaa’nr

,I have no t

gran ted him the righ t to p l ay the nau5rzt in v iew o f

the l i t t leness o f h is wi sdom ,he h im se l f has no t once

a sked [fo r th i s mark‘o f d i s t inct ion]?

Tex ts—Ir. Ms . 1 05 & 1 1 a . Ms . N . 1 1 5 8: 1 2a .

N otes .— Khwajah Ham id

, the son of Qa l ich Khan (KhwajahAb id) and bro ther of F iruz Jang, was created Ham id KhanBahadur in September, 1685 ; afterward s go t the title s of Mu izud

d aula and Salabat Jang. See Life in Alasz’

r—zzZ-zm za ra , iii. 765 .

I n Aurangzib’s re ign he did no t rise to a h igher rank than the

c ommand of 2 500 (number Of add itional troopers He was

q uite d istinct from Ham id-zzd-dz'

a Khan Bahadur. D ied at Kul

barga, 1 140 A.H .


g 37 . Oppressive Governor rebuked .

Khan- i-J ahan Bahadur, who was the Go ve rnor o f the

Panj ab , greatly oppre ssed the inhabi tants o f the p l aceat the t ime o f h i s re tu rn

,so that the m atte r reached

the Em pe ro r's knowledge from the repo rts

O n the day o f inte rv iew the Em pe ro r told him,I had

no t expected th i s o f yo u. The wors t o f al l [your acts]i s that yo u have set o n foo t ce rta i n innova t io ns

he re t i ca l pract ices) in the j agz'

rs appe rta in ing to Lahorewh i ch w i l l l as t fo r eve r. ( Verse)Even after h is death the tyrant do es no t abstain from Oppression,

The plumes of the (dead) eagle become at last the feathers of

arrowsTex t — Jr. M 5 . 64 5 .

N otes — M ir Mal ik Husain, Bahadur Khan, bro ther of AzamKhan Kokah, (created Khan -i- Jahan Bahadur Kokalta sh m 1 673,

and Zafar Jang in 167 5) was one of the h ighest officers of Aurangziband long served in the D eccan . Appo inted Subahdar of the Panjab1 1 th April, 169 1 but d im issed in the m iddle of 1 693. D ied 23rd

N ovember, 1 697 buried at N akudar in the Panjab Doab. (Lifein Al asz

’

r -u l—umam,i. 798

38. Qualifications of a Governor .

Khwaj ah Sarbu land Khan,the ch ief Paym aste r

,

whose fathe r be longed to an em inen t Khwaj ah fam i l y

o f Bukhara , was treated wi th great cons ide rat ion by

the Emperor . Once,when H is Maj e sty comp l a ined

abou t him,i t was on ly th i s that h i s words savou red a

l i tt le o f Sh iah-ism . He rep l ied ,Ay your Maj es ty, in

Bukhara’ many o f the Syeds o f Bukha r a be l ong to that

s ec t. Traces of the i r soc ie ty ha ve been left [in my

ANECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

w i thou t be ing weak’

. Th is noble has extrem e sever i ty

and obst inate adhes ion to o ne pol i cy on ly, in as m uch

as he has neve r known subterfuge . Bes ide s,he i s ve ry

hones t and s imp le -m inded ,as he canno t at al l unde r

s tand fraud and st ratagem . O ne cannot ru le wi thou t

p ract i s ing decept ion . The c lear text o f the Holy

Trad it i ons [o f M uhammad ] is‘War is

‘

stratagem .

’

The Sc ien ce o f J ur i sprudence has m any componen

parts . I t i s most l i ke l y that the art of gove rnmen t

i s included in th i s total . In the days when I was

go ing to take up the Gove rnorsh i p o f the Deccan,I m e t

at Burhanpu r a a’arvz

'

s5 who was a m aste r o f ta lesz'

r

(wo’rd-break ing and wo rd - form ing) . He had learn t some

e xamp les o f th i s art from h i s preceptor, and he al so now

and then composed som e others h imse l f. I t i s a fixed

ru le o f ta/zsz'

r that if we s t r ike o ff the common le tte rs

from the two l ine s o f taks z'

r, _we can extract a mean ing

from the words, [wh i ch may be fo rm ed from the

remain ing le tte rs ] cons i stently wi th sense . So that ,if the word s Izaeumaf (gove rnm ent) and Mint (cunn ing)are arranged in two l ines , and the common le tte rs are

c ance l led,the words 5 211, yum ,

and 7725 117: are de r i ved

[ from the rem ainde r ] by combinat ion and we

get malik-i-kuI-yum‘(k ing fo r al l t ime) , that is to say,

I t is done in the follow ing mann e r

H K U M T H Y L T ( i dia t)

Cancelling the c ommon le tters H and T, we can form ,by combina tions of the rema in

i ng s letters , only these words ‘bearing a sense

,

'

v ia , 5 1d y um . a nd m a lfé . Thus is

p ro ved the prec ious doctrine tha t if a ruler combi nes fial‘um a t and lu'

la t he becomeswm lz

'

k-ku I-yum I I

QUALIFICAT ION S OF A GOVERNOR 97

a gove rnm ent that i s j o ined to cunn ing l asts and

rem a ins fi rm fo r eve r,and the m aste r o f th i s [art o f

gove rnm en t] becomes ‘a k ing fo r al l t ime .

’

In the Op in i on o f the common he rd,cunn ing and

decept ion are greatly sco rned . As God h im se lf in H is

Holy Word the Quran] has ascr ibed cunn ing to H is

o wn holy se lf, saying,‘God is the best of plottersfi

i t i s co n trary to the Qutan to cons ide r stra tagem as

b l ameable . Bes ides,in gove rn ing Kabu l th i s qual i ty i s .

m os t -benefic ial and exce l lent.”

( Verse)

I am speaking to you of what is required by e loquenceY o u take w isdom from it o r fee l disp leased, [as you like ]

Ten t — Ms . N . 1 9 51 2— 20425 .

g39 . Ability the only qualificat ion for office.

Muhamm ad Am in Khan,

o n his fi rs t arri va l in

I nd i a from Vz'

lay et, was created a Comm ande r Of F i ve

H und red, o n account o f the fact tha t h i s fathe r had

been fa i thfu l to Pr ince Alamgi r d ur i ng the war in Bal kh

a nd had rende red good se rv i ce . In cou rse o f t ime

he re ce i ved p ra i se , was repeated ly promoted ,and at ta in

ed to the rank o f a Comm ande r o f Three Thousand

( two thousand add i t iona l troope rs) and the d i s t inct i on o f

p l ay ing nau5a z‘,fo r his act i vi ty aga ins t the accu rsed enemy

[the Marathas bringing fodde r (M me) from Satara

and o the r p l aces , convoying p rov i s i ons, and go ing to

f Tha t is , God ’s ways are inscruta ble to men and He some times seems to dece ivemo rtals in H is dealings w ith them. C f. M ilton '

s Sam s on Agom'

s tes,ll. 330

667— 686.


and from every [ Mughal ] en trenchmen t. As the

Empe ror wi shed that the Khan shou ld rem ain away

[from the Imper i a l encampmen t ] fo r som e t ime and

p l ay the nau5a t,he sa id

,I learn from the reports that

the revenue com ing from Bengal has c rossed the

N arm ada . Y o u shou ld go and hal t at Aurangabad , in

o rde r that you may at l ast enj oy some resp i te from

m ovement,and p l ay the nau5a z‘gran ted to you to you r

heart ’s conten t . Then H is Maje s ty d i sm issed him,

afte r present ing h im wi th the r id ing c loak t rimmed wi th

fur and r i ch ly l aced wh i ch he was h im se lf wear ing.

When the Khan retu rned wi th the revenue,afte r

figh t ing wi th the sham e less Marathas, ga in ing vi c torie s,

and convoy ing the Gove rnmen t t reasure in safe ty,H i s

Maje s ty presented h im wi th a horse adorned with gold

t rappings, a dagge r w i th a Zea/gr, and the robe o f

honou r worn on h i s augus t pe rson . When he saw the se

s ucce ss i ve favou rs , be subm i tted a pe t i t ion th rough

Muharram Khan,say ing,

“ In v iew o f the Obed ience

a nd o ld se rv i ce wh ich the aged s l a ve had performed in

Balkh,th i s devoted servan t had hoped fo r favou rs ;

but owing to the l arge number o f his enemies and

the fewness o f h i s fr iends [at Cou rt ] he had no t so

long made bold to subm i t som e o f h i s wi shes . [But

now ] re ly ing o n God I m ake th i s pe t i t ion.

”

Copy of Me petition :“Hai l ! sa int and spi ri tua l

gu ide o f the world and o f i ts people ! Both the Pay

mastersh ips h ave been confe rred on he re t i ca l demon

natured Pe rs i ans. If one of the Paymasterships be

ANECDOTES OF AU RANGZIB

If you have [eve r ] dec l ined th i s actual ly ex peri

enced and tested bus iness (we. re treat) , wri te to m e in

d e ta i l [about i t ]. The Pe rs i ans,whe the r born in

Vz'

lay et or in H indu stan— who (the l as t) are noted fo r

the i r gross stup id i ty,-are a hund red s tage s removed.

from th i s sort o f m ovement fl igh t.) ( Verse)D o jus t1ce, as the fo l ly Of these bad men

Is better than a thousand brains Of the fox -natured .

One brain is enough fo r an armyFor throw ing bricks from engines into the eyes

[of the enemy]Tex t — Ir. M s . 1 4a

— 1 5a .

N olan— Muhammad Am in Khan , the son of M ir Bahauddin ,

who was the bro ther of Qalich Khan ,came to Ind ia from .

Bukhara in 1 687 go t the title o f C5 2}; Ber/rada r (N ov . 1 706) and

the po st of Sadr At the tim e of Aurangzib’s death he

w as a Commander of 4000, ( 1 500 additional troopers) . Fo r h is

a ttachm entio h is Mughal fo l lowers , see Masz

’

r -u l-umara,i. 349.

x§ 40 . Aurangzib preaches hum ility to an officer.

Y ar Al i Beg subm i tted to the Emperor, on the

b as i s o f an ora l report from a co urier th at

w h i le Ham idudd in Khan Bahadur was exchangingwords wi th Muhammad Murad 9211, the l atte r said

‘Y o u

l i t t le man you are a e/ze/a/z (s l ave ) o f the

Emperor j ust as I am’

; and that at th i s Ham iduddin.

Khan res igned his post and sen t the le tte r o f res igna

t ion to Bahramand Khan,the Ch ie f Paymaste r. The

Emperor wrote , “The word mar tin/e was no t employed

in abuse ; i t i s a d im inu t i ve , m ean ing‘a l i tt le man .

’

The men of the world are no t at a l l great men.

AURANGZIB PREACHES HUM ILITY TO OFF ICER I O I

Probably the Khan Bahadu r fe l t ashamed at be ing

C al led a Verse)VVho so ever quarre ls w ith a man lower than him se lf

,

Tears up h is o wnfi tl l’da/Z (honour ) so one r than the latter’s.

Every w ise man who enters into a d ispute w ith a wo rthlessman ,

O n ly strik'es h is own lustrous jewe l in te l lect o r character)on a hard stone .

”

Tex t — Ir. MS. 1 64 5 .

1Votes .— Ham idudd in Khan Bahadur

,surnamed N z

'

mefia/z—i

was the son of Ih tamam Khan ( Sardar Khan ), andgreatl y d istinguished him se lf by his fights w ith the Marathas . (Lifein M asz

’

r -uZ-w zzara,i. 605 Qul is a Turkish word m ean ing

a s lave . The Emperor Akbar changed the title Of the Imperials laves from gytzd am (s lave) to e/zelafz (d isc ip le ), because he con

s idered it an ac t of im pious presumptuousness for one m orta l tocal l ano ther h is g/zulam ,

m en be ing the g/zzelams Of God on l y .

( Masum’s Ta rz

’

é/z

s 4 1 . Poverty is no hindrance where there is aWill

In the 32 nd year o f Aurangz ib’s re ign

,M irza

Sad rudd in M uhamm ad Khan Safav i, (who was fina l l y

g i ven the t i t le o f Shah N awaz.Khan) , was d i sm i ssed

from ' his rank fo r m ak ing an imprope r reques t. The

Empe ror se tt led o n him an annual s t ipend o f Rs .

A fte r a year H is Majesty re col le cted the c l a im s o f h i s

fathe r, Mirz a Su l tan Safav i , who had shown great con s

taney d uring the war w i th Dara Shukoh. So,he sent

.a grac iousfa rma fl summ on ing him to the Court,wi th

a spe c ia l robe o f honou r,by the hand o f m acebeare rs .

The Khan afte r tak ing the fo rm em k is sed i t,put on the

robe , and afte r showing the p rope r e t ique tte sen t a

1 02 ANECDOTES OF AU RANGZIB

pet i t i on,

“Owing to the pove rty consequent o n my

long depr i vat ion o f rank , I am no t able to engage a

body o f re ta iners wi th whom I m ay attend the Cou rt.

So , I am wai t ing fo r the caravan from Bengal [to e scort

m e ] . The Empe ror wrote , (verse)The odour of the rose and the m orn ing breeze are o ut on the

road .

If you w ish to go out of yourse lf,there is no better caravan

than these .

A las that the objects that captivate the heartAre as c lo se toge ther as the l inks of a chain

Outward ly yo u r excuse i s reasonable,but in fac t

the weakne ss Of you r spi r i t [ i s the cause Of you r ]s tra i tened m ean s . O

,God ! show the path to al l o f

w eak s teps

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 1 65 .

N otes — M irza Su ltan (M U . iii. 58 1 ) was devo ted to Aurangz ib

during the war Of succe ss ion, but did no t fight, as he was leftbeh ind at Aurangabad . H is son, Sadruddin , rose to be Paymasterunder Aurangzib and was created Shah N awaz Khan by BahadurShah I . (Life in M . U . iii.

g 4 2 . A silent suppliant .

The Empe ror told Bahramand Khan,who was

Paymaste r at that t ime ,“Musav i Khan a lz

’

as M irza

Muiz z - i-F itrat,ou t Of pride neve r pe t i t ions me about

h is wan ts,and i s l i v ing in great d i s t ress . Un le ss he

appl ies to m e abou t h i s c i rcum stances,he wi l l get no

favour from me . Y o u shou ld send him word [about i t ] ,

get in rep ly a pet i t i on from h im ,and subm i t i t to me .

”

AN ECDOTES OF AU RANGZIB

D eccan in June, 1 689 . D ied after May, 1 690 . (Mas z'

r—z'

-A lamg irz’

,

337 and 338. L ife in M U. iii H is poe tical pseudonym s

were Fz'

tra t and Alum n i . In Persian poetry the m oth whichs ilentl y burns itse lf in the flame is the emblem of the h ighest k ind-of lovers .

3“

43. Work for your wages.

Mukhl i s Khan pe t i t i oned the Emperor to gran t

an inc rement,half in cash salary and half in j agz

'

r,to

Sul tan Mahmud,o ne o f the pu re Syeds o f the ho ly

c i ty Of Mashhad ,who was l i v ing in a ve ry d i s tre ssed

cond i t i on,and whom the Khan greatly suppor ted.

The Empe ror wrote o n the pe t i t i on The good

deeds we do are for our own benefit, the sins we

commit shall lie on'

ourselves . I know fu l l we l l the

sa int l iness'

and pie ty o f that Syed . But he is no t

attached to any post. A h i red l abou re r shou ld no t

cons ide r h i s wage s as l awfu l ly earned un less he has done

se rvi ce,— whi ch i s a good and v i rtuous deed . ( Verse)

Although you canno t un tie a kno t w ith your toes,

The kno ts Of live l ihood are Opened by the exertions of the

feet active service).Tex t — Ir. Ms . 65.

g44 . Charity covers a multitude of sins .

From the news - le tter o f the offi ce o f

the High D iwan the Empe ror learnt that M i r Habibu l l ah o f J aunpur

,the ma in o f the pol l - tax on no n

Mus l im s had m i sappropri ated beyond a do ubt

Rs . ou t o f the Impe r i a l prope rty, and that hehad al so adm i tted i t. Inayetullah Khan had p l aced

CHARITY COVERS A MU LT ITUDE OF S IN S I OS

him unde r de tent i on in the offi ce and appo in ted s tr i c t

sas aw a ls (col le ctors) to exact the m o ney from h im . The

aforesa id Syed was say ing,

‘ I have my l ife,but no

e arth ly prope rty in my po sses io n .

’

Acro ss the shee t o f the news - le tte r the Em pe ro rwrote

,

“Why do you try to real i se aga in m oney wh i ch

has been al ready re co ve red by me ? F rom the reports

o f Burhanpu r I had repeated ly learn t before th i s th at

the aforesaid Syed 'was spend ing al l h i s accum u l a t io n s

o n dese rv ing m end i can ts and in works o f char i ty . As

the m oney o f th i s s inne r sunk in s in Aurangz ib)has been spen t by m ean s o f th i s my agen t in deeds o f

char i ty,its re st i tu t i on wi l l do no benefi t [to m e ] . God

save us from the wickedness of our passions

Tex t— Ir. Ms. 1 7a .

g45 . The mystic number Twelve.

When the Empe ror m arched from Islampuri (othe r

w i se cal led Barham puri) in the month o f J am ad i -us - san i

o f the 42 nd year o f h i s re ign ,to conque r the forts o f the

Deccan,— he orde red that e ve ry day Mukh l i s Khan

,

the second Paym as te r,shou ld p re sen t to H i s Majes ty

ten m ansabdars (m i l i ta ry Office rs ) from am ong the

he red i tary se rvants and others,but exclud

i ng the D eccan is . The Khan subm i t ted,

“As you r

Majesty has fo l lowed the ve rse ‘These are the ten

perfect ones,’

in orde ring that ten omcers wi th the i rre t inue (m z

’

sl) shou ld be dai ly paraded befo re yo u ,it

i s good . O the rwise,if the numbe r he twe l ve , the re i s


no harm . The Empe ror repl ied,

Y our request,too

,

is no t unsupported by [scriptu ral] authori ty . ( Verse)

Beho ld the hours of the day and the S igns of the Zodiac ,D ay and n igh t and the heavens too are [fo l lowers Of the

number] twe lveMuhamm ad Am in Khan sa id

,

“Ay,compan i on

sh ip has a wonde rfu l effe ct,as I find to -day. Why

shou ld the re no t be fou r ins tead o f twe l ve ? H is

Majesty rep l ied ,Fou r i s included in twe l ve . He

sm i led and cont inued,Why i s i t no t th ree , [yo u m igh t

ask] . But twe l ve is re l ated to three as the double o f

d o uble . Y o u are free to cho ose . D O whateve r i s l i ke ly .

to benefi t the c reatures o f God most .”

Tex t — Ir. M s . 165 1 7a .

N otes — Aurangzib marched out Of Islampuri, on

'

5th Jamad iul-awwal , in the 43rd year o f h is reign ( 2 1 9 O ctober, 1 699) toc onquer the . Maratha forts . Mukh lis Khan , appo inted 2 nd Paym aster Jul y, 1692 , died 3 January, 1 70 1 . Muhammad Am in KhanChin Bahadur was Sadr at th is tim e .

g46. Kings should never rest .

Afte r the conquest o f Bij apur and Haida rabad, , the

Prime Min i s te r pe t i t i oned the Empe ro r, “ Prai sed be

God ! that th rough the grace o f the Great Om n ipotent

and the undecaying fortune [o f your Maj esty], two .

great k ingdom s have been conque red . I t i s now goodpo licy

~that the Imper i a l standards shou ld re tu rn to ~

Parad i se - l i ke Hindustan N orthe rn Ind i a) , so that .

the world m ay know that noth ing more rem ains for“

the Empe ror to do .

”


[the Maratha ] forts,'

he orde red that whe the r he was

s ick or we l l the re sho u ld be a march eve ry day excep t

F r iday, which was to be a day o f hal t. So that,before

reach ing Khawaspu r, whe re h i s knee was hu rt , he had

two seve re fi ts o f i l lness,once feve r

,anothe r t ime

d i a rrhoea yet except o n Fr iday the re was neve r a hal t.D ur ing i l lne ss he used to be carried in a chai r (ta/55 14

'

raw aa ) w i th an o pen to p, whe reas in heal th he rode in

a chai r c losed at the to p. By chance,i t was o n a Thurs

day n ight that h is knee go t hurt a t Khawaspu r. Imme

d iate ly he said,S tri ke the ke t t led rum s fo r a m arch

Ham idudd in Khan,as he was ve ry bold ,

subm i tted,

I twou ld be contrary to the orde r i ssued when leavingIslam puri. His Maj es ty sm i led and sa id

,If yo u had

the least knowledge o f the sc ience o f l ogi c , you wou ld

no t have said so. We we re [ then ] tal k ing o f hal t ing o n

days othe r than Fr iday . My object w as preparat ion

fo r the m arch,and no t that because i t was a Fr iday

the refore no m arch shou ld be m ade [o n i t ] . An oppos i te

concep t i on do e s no t confl i c t w i th the m ean ing o f the

o r iginal .”

Tex t — Ms. N . 7 5 2— 1 1 and then 33a 1— 8 .

N oz‘es .

—Aurangzib set out from Islampuri on 1 9th O ctober, 1 699(M . A . and arrived at Khawaspur about 3 I St August, 1 700

The M asz'

r -zel—zm zara ( iii. 529 ) and Khafi Khan ( ii . 1 76)

state that he was hurt in the leg at the c lose of the 4o th year of

h is reign, (which ended on 1 3th March, Aurangzib m eans

to say that the expression“there should be a march on al l the

days of the week except Friday ” does no t logical ly imp ly thatthere wou ld be no march on Friday .

A PROFLIGATE NOBLE PUN ISHED 109

S’

48 . A profligate noble punished .

Mi rz a Tafakhkhur,the so n o f the Pr im e M in ist

e r

[Asad Khan ]’s daughte r, acqu i red ruffian ly hab i ts at

De l h i , l a id the hand o f oppress ion o n the prope rty and

hono u r women ] o f the people,often cam e to the

baz ar wi th'

h is com rades, p lunde red the shops o f the

fru i te re rs,confect i one rs and o the rs

,and wi th the h e lp '

O f h i s m en se i zed the H indu wom en who wen t to the

r i ve r to bathe,and d id them al l sorts o f d i sgrace and

d i shonou r. Eve ry t im e th at th i s m atter'

was brough t

to the Em peror’s noti ce in the news- let te rs and reports ,he wro te “The Prime Min i s te r ” and noth ing m ore .

At l as t the Empe ro r repeated l y learn t that w h i lea Ba irsa rz

’

a named Ghanashyam ,having j us t m arr ied ,

w as pass ing wi th his compan i on s by the gate o f Mi rz a

Tafakhkhur,pl ac ing h i s w ife in a a

’oo/z

'

and h im se lf

o n horseback,the ruffians inform ed the Mi rza

,who

s al l ied forth wi th a party o f them,and d ragged the a

’oo/z

’

by force in to his own ho use . Two m en we re k i l led and

s ix wounded [in the affray The men o f the Im pe ri ala rt i l le ry , on ge tt ing the news [o f the i r com rade

’s d is

honou r ] , wished to assemble and c rowd at the gate

O f M i rz a Tafakhkhur. Aqi l Khan,send ing the A

’

olw a l,

forbade them . Then be despatched an eunuch o f h i s

to Qamar-un -n i s sa,the daughte r o f the Prim e Min i s te r

and the m othe r o f Mirz a Tafakhkhur,and greatly ch id

a nd rebuked h im ; so that the poor H indu wom an,

afte r the lo ss o f her caste and honou r,was gi ven up to

“

the e unu ch , and he calmed the art i l lerymen by prom i s ing

'I I O ANECDOTES OF'

AURANGZIB

that a report o f the m atte r wou ld be inse rted in the

mew s- le tte r and the Empe ror wou ld ce rta in ly remedy

[the i r grievance ]. They,the refore

,absta ined from

c reat ing a tum u l t.

The Em pe ror, afte r read ing i t, wrote across thes hee t [o f the “The Prime Min i ste r shou ld

w r i te a ‘Le tte r By O rde r o f the Empe ror

’

to Aqi l Khan,

o rde r ing him to confine in the fort o f De l h i th i s worth

le ss wre tch and l uck less leade r o f wi cked'

m en ; and

i n case h i s m othe r,ou t o fi her extreme l ove fo r her Son

,

refuse s to part wi th him ,the gove rnor [o f De l h i ] sho u ld

be orde red to bring Qam ar-un -n i ssa Begam [in ] a

e/zazza’ol (r i ch l i t ter ) wi th in the fort wi th eve ry re spect

and keep her wi th her son . Aqi l Khan shou ld ass ign

a good ho use fi t fo r the res idence o f Qam ar-un -n i ssa

Begam . As she i s the daughte r o f my m ate rnal

a nd i s adorned wi th noble qual i t ies , I ought to Showcon s ide rat ion to her in ternal ly and exte rnal ly . But what

reform cou ld even the Prophe t N oah (on'

him and on

our Prophet Muhammad be peace !) m ake in his own

unworthy son,that othe r [paren ts] wou ld succeed ? I t i smy d uty to prevent Oppre ss ion on the people

,who are

a t rust from the Creator. F ifty men o f the leotw a l Shou ldcarefu l ly keep guard round the house and at the gate

[o f Tafakhkhur’

s house], so that th i s nox ious c reatu re

may no t c reep out l i ke a m ouse from a ho le . ( Verse)

Some of these unworthy sons of a Satan ic characterHave brought disrepute on som e we l l -reputedIr. Ms. has

“my adopted d a ugh ter. ’

1 1 2 ANECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

Khan are mentioned in Alasz'

r -u l—uma ra,i. 320. The confinement

o f Tafakhkhur is referred to in som e o f Aurangz ib’

s lettersInayetullah

’s A/zfeam—z

°

1455 , 1 46a , 1 65a , zo 7a , 2 10a,

2 90a . The m en of the garrison artil lery were taken from the

B a lesarz'

as or H indu inhab itan ts of Buxar ; these peop le (nowcal led Bhojpuris ) long supp lied the E . 1 . C o . w ith matchlockmen

a nd the Zam indars w ith.c lubm en . Aq il Khan ( surnam ed Razi)

was Subahdar of D e lhi from O ctober, 1 680 to h is death in 1 696.

N oah’s undutiful son was Canaan . N oah awoke from h is w ine,

and knew what h is younger son had done un to h im . And he

said,Cursed be Canaan .

”(Genesis , ix .

g49 . Vigilance against fo reign invader’

s

stratagem ,

From the news - le tte r o f the province o f Afghan i s

tan,the Empe ror learn t that e leven thousand horses fi t

fo r r id ing, wi th o ne groom fo r eve ry two horses,had

e n te red Kabu l , i t be ing u su al that afte r se lect i on'

by the

Gove rno r o f De l h i the horse s were sent to the Empe ror .Across the shee t o f the news - le tte r the Empe rorw rote I t i s a ve ry s trange act o f negl igence on the

part o f Am i r Khan [the Gove rno r Of Afghan i s tan]who has been t ra ined by m e and knows my m ind . I ti s as if brave Turan is have ente red the Impe r i a lte rr i tory from fore ign parts . We l l , such [was the

n umbe r o f the] m en who wres ted the k ingdom O f'

H industan from the hands o f the Afghans. H oweve r,

’

a m istake should not be punished and carelessness

should not be chast ised [like a deliberate

* Th is Arabic passage occurs in Ms. N . only, where it is fo llowed by a Pers ianre nde ring , w ith the add itional no te tha t the transla tion fo rmed no part o f wha t Aui angzibw ro te.

BE EVER VIG ILANT AGAI N ST FORE IGN POWERS I 1 3

In futu re he sh ou ld know i t to be his du ty to avo id

th i s sort o f act ion,and he shou ld remedy the past in

th i s way,that wheneve r the d rove s o f horse s arrive /[at

the fron t ier], he shou ld al low on ly one groom to eve ry

20 horses,and that groom too shou ld be chosen from

use less o ld and he lp les s m en .

”

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 5a ,Ms. N . 345

—35a .

N otes — Am ir Khan (son of Khalilullah) was governo r of

Afghanistan from 1 9th March, 1 67 7 , to 2 8th April, 1 698, (Afas ir -u l

zm za ra, i. Muhammad - i-Bakhtiar’s troopers invading Benga l

w ere imagined to be horse-dealers . (Raven‘

y ,

3 50. Be ever vigilant against foreign powers .

From the despatch o f Am i r Khan,the Gove rnor

Of Kabu l,i t came to the Emperor

’s knowledge ,“ I t

h as been learn t from the let te r of .the thanaka’ar o f

Ghaznin that the Pe rs i an front ie r was 36 m i les [from

Ghaz nin], bu t now the tbana/za’a r o f that s ide

Pe rs i a) in the d i rect ion Of Qandahar,says that if we

pe rm i t h im to set up his outpost ( thanafi) four m i le s .

furthe r tow ards ou r s ide,eve ry year a hund red Pe rs i an ,

horses wo u ld be sen t to H is Majes ty. As the wate r

has d r ied up in the S i te o f the forme r ou tpost,and

'

.

wate r i s avai l able fou r m i les from i t [towards the :

M ughal front ie r], he has m ade th i s reque s t.

The Empe ror wrote in answe r, “ I t is no t the part

o f a w i se man to cont r ibu te to the v igour and splendou r

o f the Pe rs i an t/zana/Ea’a r and to rob h is Own adm inis~

tration o f i ts cove r. But, (verse)

8


The word tam‘a [=greed] has three letters, al l of wh ich are

empty, [o ther mean ing,‘w ithout

W hat do you tal k o f pe rm i t t ing h im to come two

1205 [toward s ou r front ie r] when I wou ld no t let him

'come even two steps neare r ? I t is the O pin i on o f

theologi ans o f al l school s that pe rseve r ing in t r i vi al

s ins i s equ i valent to comm i tt ing a morta l s in . I wo nde rat th i s he red i ta ry se rvant , aware o f my sent iments

,

s

'

vho has been brought up in my Court from the age o f

se ven years ,— be ing ind i ffe ren t to the devi ces o f the

Pe rs i ans ! Co ns ide r fo r you rse lf why they have co n

sented to pre sen t m e wi th a hundred Pe rs i an horses ,whose pri ce m us t be h igh

,in re tu rn fo r th i s s imp le

matte r that the i r ou tpo s t m igh t be se t u p four m i le s

from ou r s ide o f the fron t ie r. I t is accord ing to th atv e ry prove rb, verse)

He ho lds the tip of the finger w ith the des ign Of break ing it,

And then al l of a sudden he w il l disp lay bo ldness against Thehand.

Be not negl igent about yo ur enemy’s p lans,Always scratch h is black face .

’

I t i s a we l l -known say ing (verse)‘Wisdom and fortune are c lo se l y connected w ith each o ther.

He who lacks. w isdom,has ne ither any fo rtune.

’

The common people, who are like beasts, im agine

that whosoeve r is a man of fortune must nece ssar i ly bea wise man

,bu t i t 15 a wrong idea. The real mean ing

[of the prove rb] i s that if a man is no t wise his fortuned oes not las t long, and hence we may say that i t does

1 1 6 AN ECDOTES OF AURANGZIB

m a t ion ,negl igence and de l ay wou ld o n l y be cause s o f

the decl ine o f my fortune . What need i s the re o f the

a rr i val of the ‘advance - tents ’ ? ( Verse)

The man of God is no t a stranger in the east or the west ;Whichever way he goes, the coun try ha s no t parted from H im

Afte r enter ing the garden [outs ide Agra], the

Empe ror he ld a public aud ience and told his Office rs

and c le rk s that the m arch wou ld begin the next dayand that he wo u ld hal t [on ly o n reach ing] Lahore .

The Chambe rl a in pe t i t i oned ,

“Th is m arch has been

unde rtaken al l o f a sudden . I t i s imposs ible fo r the

necessary th ings to reach us .

”

I

Across the shee t o f the pe t i t ion the Em pe ror wrote,

The e te rnal j ourney wh i ch no man can avoid,wi l l

have to be unde rtaken al l o f a sudden,wi thou t previous

w arn ing. What shal l I do t/zen ? Th is my present

j ou rney shou ld be cons ide red as l i ke that [e te rnal

voyage]. I Shal l march further o n in the same m anner

in wh ich I have arr i ved up to th i s p l ace . Nay,i t i s no t

even necessary to m ark ou t [the length s o f the succe s

s i ve] s tages I shal l [da i ly] t rave l as far as I can.

Verse)

The wayfarer in the path of death is no t in need of stages .

Tex t. Abdus Salam Khan’s second Ms .

N otesn—In September 1 666, Aurangzib, then at Agra, learnt ‘

from the reports of his spies that Shah Abbas I I wanted to enter

Khurasan w ith a view to invading Ind ia. The Emperor at once

sent h is son Muazzam w ith Jaswant S ingh towards the Panjab~( 4th S eptember) . On 9 th October, he him self left Agra for D elhi, .

PERS IAN S AND IND IAN S CONTRASTED 1 1 7

but made no haste to reach the no rth-western frontier. On 1 2 th

D ecember,at the hunting- lodge o f Palam ,

he learnt that the Shahhad died on 2 2nd August. (A . ZV. 9 74, 984, .M . A . 56 A

taunting letter wh ich the Shah sent to Aurangzib by the hand of

Tarbiyat Khan,the Mughal envo y in P ersia, Shortly before h is

d eath,is given in F a zya z -n i -gaw anin

, 496-

499 . In it he threatensto invade India.

s“

5 2 . Persians and Indians contrasted.

The Empe ror learn t from the news - le tte r of

Ghaznm, Subhan Qu l i

,the inanandar o f the Pe rs i an

front ie r, has wri tten a le tte r to Am i r Khan ,the Gove rno r

o f Kabu l , say ing,‘Be tween the two front ie rs the re i s a

d i s tance o f 1 2 m i les . Prai sed be God ! fr iendsh i p and

a l l i ance preva i l be tween the two countr ies ; and the re

is no fear o n any account whateve r o f quarre l and

ruptu re. I t is prope r that the people Of e ach s ide

shou ld go to the o the r s ide fo r buying and se l l ing,so

that both the places m ay increase in prospe r i ty.

’ Am i r

Khan wrote in rep ly,‘ I shal l report the poin t to H is

Maj es ty, and inform yo u o f the orde r that I get The

same th ing was brought to the Empe ror’s not i ce in the

report from Kabu l .

O n the shee t o f the news- le tte r o f Ghazn in ,

Aurangz ib wrote , My rep ly h as been wr i tten o n the

report o f Kabu l ,”— wh i ch was th i s “ I wonde r that Amir

Khan,— a he red i ta ry se rvan t aware o f my sen t imen ts ,

w hose ance stors from gene rat ion to generat ion had l i ved

in the soc ie ty o f the grandees o f the Cou rt o f the Timu

r ide Empe rors,— has forgotten the sense o f th i s couple t


D on’t give up caution when yo ur enemy turns gentle

S tratagem s may be concealed under a ve il,l ike water under

grass.

W i thou t [be ing charged with] prejud i ce and enmi ty,

w e may say that as the Sun i s the guard i an p l ane t o f

the Pe rs i ans , the inte l lectual keenne ss o f those m en in

qu i ckness o f percept i on and fo re s ight i s fou r t ime s as

great as th at o f the Ind i ans,whose tu te l a ry p l ane t is

Satu rn . The i r on ly defect is that by reason o f i ts con

j unct ion wi th Venus,they have grown ease - l ov ing

,

whe reas men connected wi th Saturn are accus tomed to

to i l ; and the nearness o f Saturn to J upi te r is real ly

more frequent [than that ‘

Of the Sun to Venu s]. But

the re i s a l i tt le natu ral infe r io r i ty and m eanness in

S atu rn,the except i ons be ing ce rta in ind iv idual s on ly ,

in whose horoscopes some othe r p l anet i s the i r he l pe r.

The pu rport o f my wo rds is th i s , that you shou ld be on

you r guard agains t the great cunn ing o f the Pe rs i ans

and neve r subm i t to m e su ch [seem i ngly] fr iend ly ove r

tures,as they wou ld on ly prove your l ack o f sagac i ty

( Verse)The flood kissed the foo t of the wal l on ly to overthrow it l ”

Tex t — Ms . N . 295 1— 305 5 .

8 53. A Subordinate Officer protected against his

Superior.

Jan N i sar Khan ,Deputy Gove rnor of Haidarabad

,.

act ing for Ruhullah Khan , pe t i t i oned the Empe ror thus ,Al though th i s he red i tary se rvan t was appointed Deputy

Gove rnor at the request o f the Ch ief Paym aste r,


(MA . There was a Jan-s ipar Khan (M ir Bahadur-d il, 3rd

s on Of Mukhtar Khan Sabzawari) who served as Governor o f

H aidarabad fo r many years after its conquest w ith great success

and cred it (M . U . i. E ither,he is the officer m eant here ,

(though we do no t read of h is having been Ruhullah Khan '

s

deputy, ) o r,the scene of the ep isode was B ijapur, where Jan—m eat

Khan was serving under Ruhullah Khan .

54. Aurangzib’

s just dealing with his officers.

Y ar Al i Beg,the Supe r intendent o f the Offi ce o f

the High D iwan,s ubm i t ted to the Empe ror, “ By you r

Majesty ’s orde r,whosoeve r does no t ge t a j er

z

gir fo r

s ix mon ths,m ake s a demand o n you r Maj esty ’s agen t

( tea/ail) and takes h i s sal ary fo r s ix mon ths . Thi s

orde r appears to m e d iffi cu l t to carry o ut . I have,

in orde r to effec t a sav ing to Gove rnmen t,l a id it down

that they shou ld no t dem and [the i r sal ary] un t i l they

get the i r j agirs .

The Empe ror wrote,

“ First one request, then

another. I t i s no t the act o f a wi se man to attend to

the profi ts o f th i s pe r i shable world and the reby earn

e te rnal pun i shm ent . Wa i t for a few days , that, after

the c lose o f the u tte rly dark re ign o f th i s man d rowned

in the ocean o f s in and [the commencemen t o f] the

t ime s o f my fool i sh sons, the Offi ce rs wi l l ge t prom i s

sory bond s tha t the i r due j agirs would no t be gi ven

to them befo re the Day o f Judgment !” Then he

added in s l ant ing l ines ,“Y ou are the Supe r in tenden t o f

the offi ce . Why do you no t exe r t yo urse lf abou t giv ing

j agz'

rs to people , whi ch may be a cau se of your go od

NO MON EY FOR REPA IR IN G FORTS 1 2 1

name in th i s world and o f m er i t in the next l ife ,and

wh i ch m ay re l ieve th i s ranco u r- less humble c reature

Aurangz ib] o f the he avy load o f the [unsat isfied] due s

,[O f my o ffi ce rs] ( Verse)

Alas,my l ifehas been wasted in vain 3

This wo rld has passed away in labour, andfaith has gone out of my hand I

I have angered God, and [yet] no t p leased the peop le ,I have [m ere ly] consum ed a quantity of water

and fodder [l ike a cattle].Though I am a bad m an and know myse lf to be

such, ye t, O Great God ! save [men] from the greate r

wi ckedness than m ine that wi l l prevai l afte r my t im e

Te rn— Ir. M s . 1 7 a 81 5 .

zVoies .

— Yar Ali Beg was appo in ted assistant of the

2 nd Paymaster in O ct. 1 686 . He is best known as Superinten

den t of the postal department, and greatly increased the powe r

of the news -writers (Khafi Khan ii.

5 5 . No money for repairing forts .

Ruhullah Khan I I, (whose name was M i r Hasan ) ,

pet i t ioned the Emperor, “The fort o f Is lampuri i s

weak and your Maje sty wi l l soon m arch [to i t] . I trequ i res repa i r. What o rde r o n th i s po int ?

”

The Emperor wrote , “God pardon us ! God pardon

us i t was imprope r fo r you to wri te the word ‘I sl am, pur i

’

in a context speak ing o f‘weakne ss . ’ Its o ld nam e

was Barhampuri, wh i ch yo u ought to have u sed .

'

The fort o f the body is even weake r than i t. Wha t

rem edy i s the re fo r ina t ( Verse)


W e have adorn ed ourse lves w i th works of water and mud

We have pampered ourse lves instead of preparing our

[heaven l y] home .

The Khan again u rged , If your Maj es ty ‘ orde rs

i t, the Gove rnmen t m asons may i nspect the fort o f

Barhampuri.”The Em pe ro r wrote [in rep ly] , I t i s a

k i nd o f pl ay to you to repeat the reques t inspite o f my

forme r reply . ( Verse)

D on’t be the architect o f your own [se lf], lest you

should ruin the houses .

Be a ruin, that on yo u may be raised a lofty foundation .

Be leve l w ith the dust, draw no t your neck [back]from any body.

I t is fitting that the dust should no t be raised higher thanthe ankle of the feet.

If l ife be yet spared to m e and I re tu rn,I shal l

cons ide r the quest io n o f repa i r i ng [the fort]. If,how

e ve r,m atte rs end othe rwi se, what need is the re that fo r

[the fu lfi lment o f] the ve rse,

‘Verily your property

and your children are your enemies,’ I shou ld waste

the m oney o f my t roops ?”

Tex l .— Ir. Ms . 1 9a , Ms . N . 40b 8: 84 b.

N orm — M ir Hasan, success ive ly created Khanahzad Khanand Ruhullah Khan I I

,was the son of Ruhullah Khan I . (Life

in M . U.,ii. 3 1 5 He was zud Paymaster and Klzam aman

a t the tim e of h is death, oth May, 1 704. Aurangzib m eans that

it is an insu lt to'

h is re l igion to describe anything bearing the name

o f I slam as weak, hence the o ld H indu name of the p lace, w’

z . ,

Barhampuri (Brahma-puri) , shou ld have been used This incidentthrows l ight on the overwhe lm ing financial d ifficu lties of the lastyears of the re ign.


404, A Khwajah Manzur was gilad’

a r of Dau latabad in

1 658. (A . JV. The phrase‘j ourney’s end

’ is given in Khafi

Khan,n . 54 1 .

5 7 . Reliance on God in financial difficulty.

Inayetullah Khan subm i t ted to the Empe ror, The

re t inue (m ix!) o f the o ffi ce rs who are da i ly paraded

befo re yo ur Maj e s ty i s unl im i ted,wh i le the l and fo r

grant ing j agz'

rs i s l im i ted . How can an unl im i ted th ingequal a l im i ted one P

”

The Empe ror w ro te , God pardon us The Im per i a l s tores are an emblem o f the Cou rt o f

Go d . The people are the ch ildren of God and their

livelihood is in God’

s charge . Th is poor and humble

bread -d i s tr i bu te r Aurangz ib) i s no m ore than an

agent o f the gl or io us Lord . To be l ieve in the scanti

ness and l im i t o f God’s Cou rt is the e ssence o f infide l i ty

and s in . Prai sed be God ! and aga in Pra i sed be God !

Al though my legs are broken,my heart i s no t broken .

Afte r the cap ture o f fort S atara j agz'

r fo r 5 or 7thousand s h as

,accord ing to the statemen t o f Arshad

Khan,been added to the

‘

dom inions o f th i s morta l

Make them ass ignments o n th i s (new

te rr i tory) . When i t i s exhau sted , God wi l l o n a new

day gi ve you you r l i ve l i hood .

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 24 b.

N ote.

— Inayetullah Khan (M . U . ii. 828) was appo inted diw an

of tank/1a ]: in Ju ly,1 692 . He was the

“personal d isc iple ”

and

favourite S ecre tary of Aurangzib, and ro se to be w az z’

r under

Bahadur Shah I .

‘

Arshad Khan was appo in ted diwan of lzfia lsa

in 1 698, and d ied in 1 70 1 . M'

U. i. 290 .

MUT I NOUS ART ILLERY OFFI CERS CHEATED 1 2 5

g 58. Mutinous artillery officers cheated .

When the Em pe ror was m arch i ng from Satara

towards fort Parl i, the pay o f the fol lowe rs (fl/25 1mm )and m en o f the art i l le ry was fourtee n m o n ths in arrea r

,

owing to the de l ay in the arr i va l o f the revenue o f

Bengal . Al l,

the four t ru sted Comm ande rs o f O ne

Thousand told the Empe ror o n the way, Our fol lowe rs

no l onge r l i s ten to o ur words . They w ant to m ake an o ut

break agains t Tarb iyat Kh an ,the Ch ief o f the Art i l le ry

(M ir H is Majes ty orde red ,

“Gi ve them hal f

t he i r due sal ary from the publ i c t reasu ry ins ide the

h arem . Fo r the re st gi ve an ass ignment o n the revenue

o f Chi cacole in the pro v ince o f Haidarabad,that they

may fe tch the m oney thence . Let the Prime M in i s te r

w ri te a pe rm i t to the Diwan o f Haidarabad and send

co l le ctor s (saz aw a/s ) with the art i l le rymen .

”

Man S ingh

and Chaturbh uj,both o f them Comm ande rs o f O ne

Thousand,d id no t agree to it , d ragged Tarbiyat Khan

o ut o f h i s pa/kz’

dur ing the j ou rney,and m ade h im s it

down in the m ids t o f the ra in . Y ar A l i Beg, the

Supe r intenden t o f the cour ie rs reported the

m atte r to H is Majes ty , who imm ed i a te ly o rde red the

S upe rin tendent o f the t reasury o f the harem to pay up

the i r sal ary in fu l l . They kept the Ch ief o f the Arti l le ry

s i t t ing in th i s m anne r in the ra in t i l l even ing. Afte r

they had go t the i r pay,they m ounted him [in his paler]

and brought h im to h i s quarte rs .

N ext m orn ing the Em pe ror gave robes o f honour

to e ach o f the four Comm ande rs o f One Thousand and

1 26 AN EC DOTES OF AURANGZIB

sa id,Y ou have been brough t to thi s [m i se ry] through

the wickedne ss o f the Ch ie f o f the Arti l le ry . Tarb iyat

Khan’s rank i s reduced by F i ve H und red,and h i s j agz

'

r

w i l l be decreased to the same extent.” Afte r o ne week

he o rde red those two Comm ande rs o f O ne Thousand

to go to Ch icacole and d raw in ad vance s ix m o nths’

salary ‘

fo r the i r com rades . W i th h i s own hand he wrote

a f arman to j an-n i sa r Khan,the Gove rnor [o f Haidara

bad], order ing him to d i v ide the am ount into i nstal

m ents,and eve ry day pay the ins ta lmen t due . The

news reached the othe r tw o Comm ande rs o f O ne Thou

sand who we re wi th the Em pe ro r,and the i r m ind s we re

composed . Then His Majes ty orde red that the l a tter

two office rs shou ld go to Aurangabad and take from

the treasury o f that p l ace s ix months’ advance pay fo r

the i r fol lowe rs and an orde r was sent to Mam u r Khan,

the Governor o f that Province , to pay the money by

ins talments .

Afte r ten days H is Maje sty ordered that the two

Comm ande rs o f One Thousand who had s tarted fi rst

shou ld be confined in the fort o f Haidarabad and all

the m oney pa id to them ,forme rly and now

, shou ld be

taken back ! A s im i l a r orde r was al so sent to the

Gove rnor o f Au rangabad, v iz,that he shou ld confine

( the two m en) in the fort o f Dau l atabad and recover

the i r former and p re sent s al a r ies .

Tex t — Ir. Ms. 2 35 24a .

N otes — Satara capitulated to Aurangzib on z l st April, 1 700,and he marched from it to Parli in three days (28th to 3o th

1 2 8 AN EC DOTES or AU RANGZIB

in harmony [wi th othe rs] . He is a friend, who neither

clings to thee nor separates himself from thee.

Te.r i . —M s . N . 65 7— 7 6 1 .

N otes .

— Kamgar Khan ,the son of Aurangz ib

’

s early waz ir'

Jafar Khan and Farzana Begam , (M . U. i. 53 1 ) was appo intedK/zcm sam d n in 1 687 , and married the daughter of Syed Muzafiar

Ha idarabad i in September 1 688 (M A . 2 97 , L ife iniii. 1 59 . H is s imp lic ity was no torious . The first coup let of the

satire on h is marriage is given in Al l ] . iii. 1 60, and the who le in

Ai d a/mea t.

M irza Muhammad Haj i N iamat Khan, po etical name Ali

,

w as the son of an em inent Pers ian doctor,Hak im Fa tihudd in.

U nde r Bahadur Shah he go t the title o f Danishmand Khan. He

w ro te the j a zzgrzamafz,Waqa i , and M az/za/ea t

,and was the m o st

famous satiris t of the age (M . U. ii. 690, ALA . 267 , Khafi Khan ,ii. 338, 359, E l l io t’s

'

fi is iorry of I ndia ,v ii. There is a play

upon the wo rd qu iescen t, which m eans ( 1 ) a consonant no t

fo l lowed by a vowe l and therefo re incapable of be ing jo ined to

ano ther le tter, and ( 2 ) a man wanting in viril ity.

g60 . A back-biter punished .

From the report o f the army o f Pr ince Muhamm ad

A z am Shah,who was then at Ahm adabad

,the Empe ror

learn t that o ne Muhamm ad Beg,who was o f

,the

Pr ince ’s t ro op o f akaa’is,had by m ean s o f back -bi t ing

secured the Prince ’s co m pan ionsh ip and become the

cause o f.

harm to m any o f h is se rvan ts .

H is Maje sty wrote, Siadat Khan should send

s t rong m ace -be are rs (se rgean ts ) to br ing that grace less

back -bi te r— who i s the ru ine r o f the State— to my

p resence, wal k ing on foot,becau se the most harmfu l

GOVERNOR PUN ISHES H IS SLANDERER 1 29

o f a l l bad th ings o n the part of kings and r i ch m en

i s the company o f back -bi te rs and cal umn i ators . Mischief-making is worse than murder. [Ms N . adds]Accord ing to the saying,

‘Verily the outside of a

snake is many-coloured, but Within it there is poison,

"

such i s the characte r o f a back-bi te r that exte rnal ly he

i s charm ing,but at heart he holds a dead ly po i son.

Avoid him I avo id him

Tex t - Ir. M s . 1ga b,iMs. N .

N ews — Prince M . Azam was sent to Guzerat, (capital Ahmada

bad ), as Governor about the midd le of 1 70 1 and s tayed there tillMarch, 1 706 , when he cam e back to the Court. A/zad is were gen tlem en tro opers, recruited singly, serving the Emperor directl y, and

no t attached to any chief. ( Irvine ’s Arwy of t/ze I ndian fl/ugiza ls,

Siadat Khan IV,the son of Syed U gh lan (Siadat Khan I I I )

’

was appo in ted Superintendent o f“the confirmation of postings

in 1 699 .

6 1 . Angry Governor pun ishes his slanderer.

F rom the le tte r o f Muhamm ad A z am,news -wri te r

o f the province o f Guze rat, -who was o ne o f the

Empe ror’s own re ta ine rs H i s Majes ty learnt

t hat Muhamm ad Am in Khan,the Governor o f the

province,had he ld court wh i le intox i cated wi th wine .

The Emperor wrote [o n the shee t] — “God is“

holy !

This is a great slander . The [Cou rt] agen t o f

Muhamm ad Am in Khan wrote o f th i s m atter to h i s .

m aste r. The Gove rnor in open a’aréar orde red the

m oustaches and beard o f the news-wri te r to be pul led

ou t and flung into the ai r. Th is , too, reached the

Empe ror’s knowledge . H is Majes ty wrote H i s

9


Hol iness Al i has said ,

‘Anger is a sort of madness,

and there is no law in anger .

’

The Khan has a ve ry

v iolen t tempe r. But in th i s m atte r w hat i s know n i s

that the news-wri te r had cal umn i a ted him . Wha t

powe r had he that the sme l l o f w ine shou ld reach from

the Khan’s m o u th to h i s [nost ri l s] ? Anyhow,h i s

p un i shmen t be l onged to m e,and

' i t was impro pe r fo r

the Gove rnor to infl i c t i t h im se lf. The sen tence on the

lying news-wri te r i s d i sm i ssal from hi s pos t, and that

o n the Gove rnor wi l l be wi thhold ing from h im the

robe o f honou r at the [co ro nat ion] fe st i va l eve ry yea r.

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 6b— 7a .

N 0tes .

—Muhammad Am in Khan H afiz , son of Mir jum la,was Governo r of Guzerat from 1 1 th june, 1 67 2 , to h is death

,1 6th

j une, 1 682 . A very pro ud and se lf-w il led nobleman and a b igo tedShiah . (Life in .l/asir -z¢l—1m za ra

,iii.

15 6 2 . Official discipline— both sides punish ed !

Y ar Al i Beg, the Supe r intenden t o f reports

s ubm i tted to the Em pe ror, Buzu rg Umm ed Khan

Ibas insu l ted Abdu r Rah im,the repo rt -wri te r o f the

p rov ince o f Bihar , in open aud ience ,and with d i sgrace

t u rned him out . If no pun i shm ent i s infl i c ted [fo r

th i s], othe r wri te rs w i l l absta in from wri t ing the t ru th

abou t occurrence s , and be come [me re] se rvan ts o f the

prov inc i a l Go ve rno rs . If yo u r Majesty ,too

,acts accord

' ing to [the prove rb]‘Bad humour a lways attack s the

weake s t l imb’

,then your s l aves are he lp less in obeying

[you r] orde rs . The Empe ror wrote , “Th is he lp less

pefisdni ie ” Aurangz ib] h imse lf i s eve r weak, and he

1 32 ANECDOTES o r AURANGZIB

The Empe ror o rde red , “The re i s no obje ct io n to

your be ing m ade Sar5ar i, prov ided that you l ose both

you r pre sen t posts and ge t ins tead tlie rank o f a Com

m ander o f Seven H und red Then Asad Khan asked,

“But whe re shou ld he stand ? The Empe ror rep l ied ,

The re i s no place a bove h im except over my own

head .

” Then H is Majes ty cont inued,

If a s ingle ru le

is d i s regarded ,a l l the regu l at ions wi l l be dest royed .

Though I have no t al lowed the v iol at io n o f any ru le

[o f the Co u rt], m en have grown so bold that they re

ques t me to set as ide ru le s ! When th i s p ract i ce becomes

w ide spread, a great d ifficu l ty wi l l a r i se .

Ter i — Ir. Ms . 55— 6a

,Ms . N . 32 5, 1 1a .

N 0tes .— M ir2Hasan

, the 2nd son of Ruhullah Khan I . Bakhshi,w as created Khanahzad Khan

,and in 1697 go t the po st o f Kfzan

saman and his father’s title . Appo inted D arog/za of the Imperial!retinue

,1 699 . Created 2nd Bakhshi

, Jan . 1 70 1 . Died in the ful

ness of youth, 9th May, 1 704. (Life in Masir -ul-umara

,ii.

3 1 5—31 7 )

64. Official etiquette enforced.

From the report o f the p rovi nce o f Bengal the

Empe ror learnt that Ibrah im Khan,the Gove rnor, in

exce ss o f pompos i ty and pr ide , used to hold court wh i le

s i t t ing on a couch (elzarpa i) and the Qaz i and other

o ffice rs o f Canon Law used to s it in d i sgrace on the

floor. O n the shee t o f the report the Empe ror wroteThe Prime Min i s te r shou ld wri te a ‘Le tte r By O rde r

o f the Em peror ’ to the sa id Gove rnor, stat ing that if he .

is unable to s it on the ground by,reason of any d i sease ,

ROYAL P'REROGAT IVE INFRINGED 1 33

he i s excused t i l l h i s re s torat io n to heal th ,and he

shou ld u rge h i s docto rs to cure him soon . As the report

wri te r (sawam’

lz-mga r ) has r i sen to a h igh rank (mansa5 ),he i s no l onge r fit to cont inue as repo rt -wri te r . Le t

h im be gi ven a p rom o t io n in rank o f 1 00 t roope rs.

Wr i te to I brah im Khan to find fo r him a fa zy'

a’a ri

(m i l i t i a comm and ) w i th in the j ur i sd i c t i on o f h i s pro

Vince,so that the l a tte r too m ay know the taste o f

report-wri t ing aga inst h im se l f by (othe r) wri te rs . Y ar

Al i Beg shou ld recomm end som e othe r report -wri ter,w ho has d i sc re t i on and possesses respect .

”

Teri — Ir . M s . 5a 85 5 , Ms. N . 35a 5 .

1V0fes .

~ —Ibrahim Khan was Governo r of Bengal from 1 689 to

65 . Royal prerogative infringed.

From the report o f Ahm adabad ,then gove rned by

I brah im Khan,the Em pe ro r learn t that the Khan used

to go to the Cathed ral Mosq ue r id ing a pa lki . As even

the Princes cou ld no t go [to chu rch] in a pa l/t i wi thou t

t he spec ia l pe rm i s s ion of the Em pe ro r, the news -wri te rs

had asked him What should we wri te ? and he had

repl ied ‘W r i te whateve r you l i ke .

’

O n the shee t o f the report H i s Majes ty wrote ,I brah im Khan is a hered itary sergant, aware o f my

w i shes. He has been en rol led am ong the amirs (Com

m ande rs) from the t ime o f Shah j ahan (now in heaven) ,and can neve r act con tra ry to the ru les . As he was

t wice Gove rnor o f Kashm i r,he r ides o n j /zampans ,

AN ECDOTES OF'

AURANGZIB

w h i ch the report-wri te rs he re ca l l pa l/i i from m e re

re semblance, [in spi te o f i ts] d i ffe rence of shape . Let

the Prime Min i ste r wri te to him,Why shou ld you do

an act wh ich gives a handle to the news -wri te rs [to

compl a in against you P] The pun i shm ent o f the report

w ri te r fo r h is wrong concept io n i s th at [th ough] he is

re ta ined at h i s pos t,h i s rank is de c reased by 50 and his

j izgir reduced to the sam e exten t .Tex t — Ir M s . 1 85 8: i 9a .

N 0ies .

— Ibrah im Khan,son of Ali Mardan Khan

,wa s appo in

ted Subahdar of Guzerat in 1 705, but arrived a t Ahmadabad j usta t the tim e of Aurangz ib

’

s death (L ife in i. He had

previous l y governed Kashm ir, 1 659— 1 662

,1 67 7

— 1 689, and 1 700

- 1 705 . During h is adm in istration o f Bengal ( 1 689— 1697 )

Rahim Khan ’s rebe l l ion broke out. j /zam/mn o r D andi is a boat

shaped chair carried on men’s shou lders in the hil ls . [Va l/vi

is an open P a l/ei or litter.

66 . Ambition of an Abyssinian admiral.

F rom the news - le tte r o f Machhli-bandar the Em

pe tor learn t that S idd i Y aqu t Khan ,the z

‘

lza fl a/za’a r o f

Danda Rajpur i , had inserted a pe t i t ion unde r h i s own

seal in the news - le tte r, stat i ng that if the col lec to rsh ip

(m ziz‘asaddi—gar i ) o f Danda Raj pu r i we re confe rred o n

h im ,he wou ld rende r far be tte r se rvi ce than his pre

de cesso rs in increas ing the p rospe r i ty o f the p l ace and

in send ing the Impe ri a l revenue .

Across the sheet o f the news-le tte r the Empe rorwrote

,For a long t ime I have known o f th i s aggress i ve

and se l f-wi l led sp i r i t o f S idd i Y aqu t Khan. [He re

the Ms . ends abrupt ly]


have become the cause o f h i s we l com e at cou rt (m aj ra )bu t he shou ld no t tu rn th i s r i sk ing o f h i s l i fe into the

s ale o f se rv i ce me rcenaryt

yvofk) , no r shou ld he

d i sp lease m e by d i sp leas ing my gene ral s .

Tex t - 4 1: M s . 1 2 5 1 3a . M s. R . gives on ly th e po rtion from

‘he shou ld no t turn .

’ This letter is given in many of the o ther

co l lec tions of Aurangzib’s le tters, and is N o . 1 2 3 in the l ithographede dition of the Rugat

- i I think it has go t into the A/z/camby m istake .

N o/es .

— Mir Muhammad Sadiq,surnam ed Fathu l lah Khan

Bahadur Alamgirshahi, distinguished him se lf at the s iege s o f

Panhala and Khe lh a, so that the o ther Imperial generals grewj ealous of h im . (Khafi Khan, ii. 489 ; life in zWasir -uZ-zimara

,iii.

40—47 )

SUNN I REFUSES TO MARRY SH IAH ’S DA UGHTER 1 37

SECT ION IV.

ABOU T THE SH IAHS AN D THE H IN D U S .

69 . Sunni refuses to marry Shiah’

s daughter.

U HU LLAH Khan at the t ime o f h i s de ath m ade a

w i l l in the presence o f Qaz i Abdu l l ah . O ne c l au se

o f h i s wi l l was th i s : “ I am a Sunn i,and have w i th

d rawn from the pract i ce o f my [Sh i ah] ance s to rs . Please

wed m y two daughte rs to S unn i s .’

The Qaz i repor ted

the m atte r to the Em pe ror, who wro te ,

“ Hypro crisy

i s pract i sed in l ife t ime but i t i s a nove l ty to p l ay the

hypo cr i te o n the death -bed ! P.

robab ly [he has acted

so] o ut o f regard fo r h i s sons and surv i v ing re l at i ve s .

Th i s hypocri t i cal s tep wi l l bene fi t him on ly if h i s son s

al so assen t to i t . At al l even ts you o ugh t to act accord

ing to h i s l as t wi l l . Gi ve h i s e lde r daugh te r to Prin ce

Muhammad A z im and the younge r to Siadat Khan ,

the son o f the l ate Siadat Khan .

”N ext day Siadat

Khan subm i tted,

“Th is ho use ~bo rn s l ave i s unwi l l ing

[to m arry Ruhullah Khan ’s daughte r]. How do we

know that she too holds the c reed o f the Sunn i s ? In

case she pe rse ve res in her own fai th,what can be

do ne ?”

Te.r/. — Ir. Ms. 1 0a . incomplete at beginn ing. M s . N . 4a 1 — 6.

N otes .— Ruhullah Khan I , the son of Khalilullah Khan and

Ham ida Banu, was Bab/zs/zi o r Paymaster from january 1680 to

h is death (abo ut june In Septem ber 1 686 he was appo intedSubahdar o f Bijapui in add ition . O ne of h is daughters w as

married to Prince Az im , a son of Bahadur Shah,On 26th j une

1 692 . (L ife in Mas ir -ul-umara,ii. 309

-

3 1 5. H is death is de s


c ribed in AKA . 348, Khafi Khan, ii. The title of Siadat Khan( the younger) was given to the son of Siada t Khan Syed Ugh lan,in 1 698. Khwajah Abdul lah (son of M .

ASharif ) was appo inted

Qazi of the Imperial Co urt in May 1 685 ; d ied 1 698.

g70 . Ruhullah Khan’

s death and funeral.

When the Empe ror went to v i s i t Ruhullah Khan

in h i s [l as t] i l lness , he was insens ible .

'

On regain ingco n sc iousness he m ade a sa/am and rec i ted the fol lowing

couple t

W ith what pride w il l this supp l icant leave the world ,As you have come to h is head at the time o f h is giving up

the gho st '

The Em pe ro r burst in to tears and said,

“ In no

co nd i t io n whateve r shou ld o ne de spa i r o f God’s grace .

Recove ry and hope are no t remote from H is me rcy

beyo nd H i s powe r) . Bu t as death i s inevi table to e verv

m an,te l l me you r heart

’s w ish,and I shal l ce rta in ly

gran t i t . Ruhullah Khan s tre tched ou t his hand ,

rubbed i t o n H is’

Majesty’

s feet,and sa id

,

“Through

the bless i ng o f the se fee t al l my wishes in l ife t im e

w e re grat ified. I now p ray fo r th i s on ly that you r

Majesty m ay no t m ind the incom pe tence o f my so n s ,

but keep them unde r the shadow o f you r t ra in ing,

appoint those that are fi t fo r any o ffice to that post ,

and,in the case o f those that are incompe tent , re

m embe r the se rv i ces of the i r forefathe rs .” The Empe rorrepl ied ,

“ I agree wi th al l my heart and l i fe . Then

the Khan subm i tted ,Co ncern ing the marr iage o f my

two daughte rs, I have al ready sent a petition to yo u r


gi ve t rouble to H is Hol ine ss the Qaz i . The m e re fac t

o f the Oaz i com ing to my house wi l l be the cause o f

t he sal va t io n o f th is s inne r.”

Th is Aqa Beg had outward ly assum ed the t i tle s

o f Aqa and Beg,bu t he was [real ly] o ne o f the expe rt

Sh iah theo logi an s . The -Qaz i had d i s co ve red h i s scho l a r

ship fro m h is hav ing o ften at par t ie s en tered into d is

c us s ions fearle ss ly and prom ptly when face to face wi th

learned m en. The Qaz i,o n read ing the le tte r

,becam e

aware o f the t ruth o f the case,v ia

,the invi tat ion o f

the Qaz i and the de legat i on o f the work [o f wash ing]to Aqa Beg was a m e re fo rm o f pleasan try (s/zakl- i

A'lzn s/z- ia5a i ) . So,be ing d i sp leased ,

he told Muhammad

Ghaus,the news-w r i te r o f the Oaz i

’s court,to put i t at

once in a le tte r and send the le tte r to the Empe ro r

q u i ck ly by m eans o f a s l ave (ga l ) , so that an an swe r

m igh t be bro ugh t .

When the shee t o f the news - le tte r was presented

to the Emperor, he wro te ,

“At the t ime o f h i s death

he has cast d i sgrace o n the whole o f h i s pas t l ife ,and

spread a cove ring ove r the face o f h i s work . I t i s no tnecessary fo r the Qaz i to

'

stay the re . The l ate Khan

d ur ing h i s l ife t ime had m ade decept ion h is charac te r i s t i c.

A nd at h i s dea th , too , he pu rsued th i s de te s table habit

to the end ! What co nce rn have I wi th anybody ’

s

fa ith ? Let j esus fol low h i s o wn re l igi on and Moses h i s

own . The proposal fo r the m arri age o f h i s d aughte rs

t o Sunn i s was a l so a k i nd o f s tratagem , [em p l oyed in

the hope] that the po or s imple-wi tted young nobles

H INDU PRISONERS OF WAR EXECUTED 14 1

w ho wou ld be invo l ved in th i s m i sfortune wou ld

m arry these Sh iah gi r l s) wou ld ne ce ssari ly,o ut o f love

fo r the i r wi ves,wi thd raw the i r hand s from the l ong

s tand ing fai th o f the i r ance s tors and be com e new

c onve rts to Shiahism . God protect us from the Wicked

ness of our passions and the sinfulness of our

actions.

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 1 3a— 14a, Ms. N . 1 35

— t6a .

7 1 . Hindu prisoners of war executed.

D ur ing the s iege o f the for t o f Satara , in the blessed

m onth o f Ram zan,four Mus l ims and n ine Hind us o u t

o f a party that had m ade a so rt ie from the fort,we re

taken pr i so ne rs . The Empe ror o rdered Qaz i Muham

m ad Akram,the Court Qaz i

,to inve st igate the ques t i on

w i th the he lp o f the muf tis and report as to w ha t shou ld

be done . A fte r exam in ing [the Canon Law ], he told

the Empe ror that if the infide ls accepted Muhamm ada

n i sm it wou ld be a'

ground fo r re leas ing them ,and that

the Musl im s shou ld be kept in pr i so n fo r three yea rs.

Across the shee t o f the [legal ] p roblem H is Maj es ty

w rote,

Th i s de c i s ion [is] acco rd ing to the Hanafi

s chool decide the case in som e o the r way,that control

o ve r the k ingdom m ay no t be l os t . Ou rs i s no t the r igidS h i ah c reed

,that the re sho u ld be on ly o ne tree in an

e n t i re v i l l age] Pra i sed be God the re are fou r schoo l s

[o f Sunn i theology] based o n tru th, [each] accord ing to

its age and t ime .

”

{The read in o f Ms . N . I ts meaning is supplied by I r. Ms . . wh ich reads ‘tha t only

o ne dec ision can e e x trac ted from it. ’


A fte r he had wri tten th i s,the Qaz i and muf tis pro

no unced ano the r dec i s i on,saying, From the Fa taw a - i

A/amgir i we de r i ve the sentence that the H indu and

Mus l im [pr i sone rs o f war] shou ld be execu ted as a

d e te rren t. The Empe ror wro te , I agree to i t . They

m ust be executed befo re I break the fas t [o f Ram zan ,

at sunse t], fo r I shal l no t bre ak my fast til l I have seenthe [seve red] head s o f the rebe l s .

” So,Muharram Khan ,

wi th the he lp o f Sarbarah Khan leotwa l,abou t sunse t

b ro ught the heads and p l aced them before the Empe ro rin the Cou r t .

Tex t — Ir. Ms . 8a 5,Ms . N . 355

—365 .

1V02‘es .

tend ing from 8th D ecember 1 699 to 2 l st April 1 700. MuhammadAkram was appo in ted Qazi o f the Im peria l Co urt in May 1 698 and

d ied shortly after Octobe r 1 705. There are four schoo ls of I s lam iclaw accepted by the Sunn is

,v ia

,the Hanafi

, the Shafi, the

Hanbali, and the Mal iki. The m ix/i i is an officer who expounds

the law and assists the Qaz i o r judge by supply ing him w ith

fa tawas or dec is ions. The Faraw a - i -Alamg iri is a code o f the

Satara was captured by Aurangzib after a siege ex

dec is ions of fo rm er Is lam ic lawyers se lec ted , harmon ised and

arranged by order o f Aurangzib , by 'a syndicate of scho lars under

the presidency o f Shaikh N izam , at a co st of nearly two la t/1 s

o f rupees . I t was a m ere compilation , w ith none o f the o riginal ityand value of the Code N apoleon .

7 2 . The J az ia to be inexorably levied.

The Empe ror learnt from the le t te r o f F i ruz J angKhan

,who was appoin ted to take care o f the base - camp

(5a nga’

li ) at Islampuri and to guard the road from

B urhanpur to the pl ace o f the Emperor’s s tay,—“The


Ter i —Ms . N . 55 10 -65 6 .

N otes— F iruz Jang was sen t in October 1 70 1 to guard the

Imperial base -camp at Islampuri, on the Bhima river. (M A .

Fo r Aurangzib’s s trictnes s in co l lecting the j az ia , see Khafi

Khan,ii. 2 7 9, 37 8.

WHO BUILT THE TAJ MAHAL ?

MUMTAZ MAHAL’

S DEATH .

N 1 607 A . D . ,w hen Shah j ahan (then Prince Khu r

ram ) was 15 years o ld ,h i s fathe r j ahangi r bet rothed

h im to Arjm and Banu Begam (afte rw a rds su rnamed

Mum taz Mahal ) , a daughte r o f N ur j aban’s bro the r

,

A saf Khan . F i ve years afte rwards the marr iage

was ce lebrated the bridegroom was then 20 years and

3 m onth s o f age , and the bride j u st I 4 months younge r.

Afte r 1 9 years o f wedded l ife,in wh i ch she bore 14

ch i ld ren to her royal husband ,the Begam d ied o f the

p ain o f ch i ld -b i rth , prol onged fo r 30 h0u rs , at Burh an

pu r,o n Tuesdav

, 7 th j une ,1631 ( 1 7 Ziqada ,

1040 A . H . )

Shah J ah an was so ove rpowe red by grief that fo r

o ne week he cou ld no t bring h im se lf to appear at the

window o f the hal l o f aud ience,or to attend to any

affa i r o f S tate . He sa id that he wou ld have tu rned

faqir fo r the res t o f h i s l ife,if k ingsh ip we re no t a

s acred ch arge wh i ch no o ne can l ay as ide at his p leasu re .

He gave up the use of co lou red d re ss , scen ts , and

j ewe l s ; fo rbade musi c and song at the annual coro

n at ion and b i rthday ceremon ies ,— indeed they now

sounded s trange l y l i ke d i rges and wa i l ing in h i s ears

H is beard whi ch had no t m ore t han 20 grey hai rs , now

rap id ly tu rned wh i te . At eve ry v i s i t to her tomb,he

u sed to shed “ r i ve rs o f tears ove r her remains,and

lament,say ing ,

“Empi re has no swee tness,l ife i tse lf

10“

H ISTORICAL ESSAES

has no re l i sh left fo r me now ”h e v is i ted the li a rem ,

[he promptly re tu rned weeping and s igh ing, N obody ’

s

iface can de l ight m e now l” True,Shah J ahan had

~

m arried two othe r wi ve s,the daughters o f . Muzaffar

Husa in Mi rz a and Shah N awaz Khan,2 years be fore

and 5 ye ars afte r h i s union wi th Mum taz Mahal ; but

these were po litical al l i ance s (5a igtiza - e-masli lzaZe) , no t

love -m atches . Mum taz Mahal so fu l ly o ccup ied h i s

heart that the re was no space le ft . there fo r any othe r

love and the Empe ro r in weal and wo e,in se tt led

re s idence and t rave l , neve r parted with her company.

i . 387 , and M anlak/za5 -ul-La5a 5,i .

4 59)The fo l l owing account o f he r de ath i s gi ven in a

rare Pe rs i an m anusc ript ( the auto -biography o f Qas im

Ali Afrid i,affixed to h i s D iw a n) , be l onging to

‘

the

Khuda Bakhsh Li brary . The s to ry seem s to be cur ren t

at Agra , and i s a l so fo und in a Ms . t reat i se o n the Taj

w h i ch has been lent by the Khuda Bakhsh L i brary tothe V i ctori a Mem o r i al Hal l .

Shah j ahan had,bes ides h i s four son s

,fou r

d aughte rs ; Anj uman- ara, Ga i t i -ara

,J ahan -ara

,and

Dahar-ara [Gauhar-ara]. I t i s sa id that j us t be fo re theb i rth o f the l as t

,a so und o f c rying was heard in the

womb o

’

f Mumtaz Mahal . Immed i a te ly on hearing i t,the Begam despai red o f her l ife

,summoned the Empe ro r

to her s ide , and sa id in p l a int i ve accents , I t i s we l l -knownthat when the babe cr ies in the womb

,the m o the r can

neve r su rv i ve i ts b i rth . N ow that i t i s my l ot to leave

H ISTORICAL ESSAi/‘S

Burhanpu r. O n the Ist Decembe r fol l owing her death ,i t was taken out and sen t to Agra in charge o f Pr ince

Shuj a,arri v ing at the l atte r town on the 20th o f the

mon th . ( i .

THE TA] , ITS BU ILDERS AND STONES .

A spaciou s tract o f l and,south o f Agra c i ty ,

was

chosen fo r the bur i a l p l ace , and purchased from its

owne r, Rajah j ai S ingh , the grandson o f Man S ingh

i . Plans fo r the tom b were sub

m itted by al l the m aste r a rch i te cts o f the l and . W hen

o ne o f these was approved by the Em peror, a woodenm ode l o f i t was fi rst m ade (D iw an -z

'

-Afria’i , 2 3a ) .

Begun early in 1 632 , the Taj was comple ted in

J anuary 1 643, unde r the supe rv i s i on o f IVI UKARRAMAT

KHAN and MIR ABDUL KARIM , at an expen se o f fiftylakhs o f rupees (fil anta5 5 a5 -ul-La 5a5 , i . 596 , and P adis

lzaknama/z, i i . 32 2 et seq. ) The D iw a n - i -Af ridi est i

m ates the cost at 9 c ro res and 1 7 l akhs o f rupees andn am es the fol l owing art isans as employed in the

c on stru ct ion

( 1 ) Am anat Khan Sh i ra z i , wri te r o f Tughra insc riptions, from Qandahar.

( 2 ) Maste r I sa,m ason

,a c i t izen o f Agra .

(3) Master P i ra, carpente r, a res ident o f De l h i .

(46 ) Banuhar, j hat Mal . and Zo rawar

, scu lptorsfrom De l h i .

(7 ) I sm a i l Khan Rum i , m aker o f the dome and

the scaffold ing support ing i t.

9

WHO BU ILT THE TA] MAHAL 149

(8) Ram Mal Ka shm i r i, gardene r. (P . 2 3 a

a nd

O the r wo rkm en are nam ed in a recen t U rdu worko n the Taj

,but I know no t o n what authori ty .

The fo l lo wi ng twen ty k ind s o f p reci ou s s tones we re

se t in the Taj , (D iw an - i—Af ridi , 2 3 5)

( I ) Co rne l i an from Qandahar.

(2 ) Lap i s l azu l i from Ceylon .

( 3) Onyx from ‘the uppe r w orld

’

P a i zmj a from the r i ve r N i le .

( 5) Gold [stone P] from Basrah and the sea o f

O rmuz .

(6 ) K/za z‘a from the h i l l o f Jodhpu r.

(7 ) Aj a 5a from the h i l l - r i ve rs o f Kumaon.

(8) Marble from Mak rana .

9 ) JII ar iama from the c i ty o f Basrah .

( 10) BadZ- s tone from the r i ve r Banas .

( I I ) Yapzin i from Y emen .

( I 2 ) i ll zmga/z from the A t l an t i c Ocean .

( 1 3) G/zori from Ghor-band .

( I 4) Tam ra/z from the r i ve r Gandak .

( I 5) Be ryl from the h i l l o f Baba Budhan.

( 16 ) I il usa i from Mount S inai .

( 1 7 ) Gwa iior i from the r i ve r o f Gwal i or.

( 1 8) Red [sand s tone from al l d i rect i ons.

( 19 ) J aspe r from Pe rs i a .

( 20) D a le/ra rer: from the r i ve r Asan.

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

ITS ENDOWMENT.

O n the 1 2 th ann i ve rsary o f her death, (2 7 th

J anuary,

Shah J ahan vi s i ted the Taj Mahal,and

bes towed in waqf 30 vi l l ages o f the parganahs o f Agra

and N agarchin,yie ld ing a revenue o f 1 l ak h o f rupee s,

and the se ra i s and s hops adj o in ing the tomb , produc inganothe r l akh o f rupees in ren t

,fo r the up

- keep o f the

mausoleum and the support o f the p iou s m en p l aced

in i t. The P adis/za/i rzama/z ( i i . 32 7 ) gi ve s a l i s t o f these

v i l l ages, (on ly 29 , howeve r, be ing named .)

Qas im Al i Khan Afr id i was born in 1 7 7 1 and

d ied in 1 82 7 A . D . H is fathe r was named Burhan Khan ,

and h i s grand-fathe r N eknam Khan ]

H ISTOR ICAL ESSAYS

the great phys i c i an Raknai Kash i,d ied in Ind i a

,

Sat i—un -n i ssa ente red the se rv ice o f Mum taz Mahal,the

renowned Empress o f Shah J ahan .

‘ He re her abi l i ty,c harm o f spee ch , pe rfe c t m aste ry o f the pro pe r conduct

o f a dependen t, and know ledge o f m ed i c i ne and v ar i

o us k inds o f treatm en t,wo n her royal m is t re s s’s heart ,

and she was promoted above al l the o ld se rvants

and en trusted wi th the Empre ss’s sea l

,the badge o f

the head o f her e s tabl ishmen t. She was a good c loc u

t io n ist and cou ld re c i te the Quran we l l and re ad Pe rs i an‘works in pro se and ve rse pro pe rly. Fo r her l i te rary

accomp l i shmen ts she was appointed tu tore ss to the

P r incess Royal Jahanara, and ve ry soon taugh t her to

read the Quran and wri te Pe rs i an .

She was al so the in te rm ed i a ry o f the Empe ror’sc har i ty to wom en . W heneve r she heard o f an ho nest

wom an in d i s t re ss or o f a v i rgin too poor to be m arried ,

she reported the case to the ' Empre ss,and the l a tte r

:brought i t to the Emperor’s ear o n h is com ing to the

h arem in the even ing. Large sum s we re dai ly spen t inhe lping these poor wom en

,l ands and dai ly s t ipends o r

cash bount ies we re gi ven to the wi ves and widows , and

o rnaments and money paid to the v i rgins . Sat i - nu-n i s sa

acted as the Impe r i a l a lm oneress,

and the h is to r i an

p ra i ses her as“ attent i ve

, e l oquen t, ex pe rt, and gent le in

manne r.”

When the Empress d ied (7 th J une , Sat i -nu

n i ssa,as her

’

ch ief se rvan t and agen t, accompan ied the

c orpse to its l ast res t ing-pl ace at Agra (the Taj Mahal) .

THE COMPAN ION OF AN EMPRESS '

1 53

Shah J ahan,as a l ov i ng hu sband

,fai thfu l ly che r i shed

her m emory and d id no t m arry aga in ,tho ugh he sur

v ived he r by 35 years . The d u t ies o f the l a te Em press ,as the fem ale head o f the Im pe ri a l fam i l y ,

now fe l l

to her e lde st daugh te r Jahana ra , and she had to p l ay

her m o the r's pa rt in conduc t ing m arri age ce remon ie s ,

ente rta i n ing fem ale gue sts , and pe rfo rm ing o the r so c i a l

func t io ns pecu l i a r to the m i s tre ss o f a ho useho ld . In

th i s task she was ably ass i s ted by her fo rme r t utor,Sat i - nu -n i ssa

,to whom she gave her se al and cont ro l

o f he r ho usehold s taff,

o n he r m othe r’s death . Thus

the subje ct o f o ur m emoi r cont inued to be the h ighe s t

l ady se rvant o f the M ughal Emp i re , and was l ike a

m o the r to the orphan p ri nce s and pr incesses .

At eve ry m arr iage o f a p r ince o f the bl ood royal,

Sat i -un-n i ssa,as a so rt o f fem ale m aj or dome

,conveyed

the Impe r i a l pre sents to the br ide ’s house . The m ale

offi ce rs who accom pan ied her s tayed o uts ide,wh i le

she ente red the harem and m ade o ve r the gifts to the

bride ’s m othe r,from whom she re ce i ved l ibe ral reward s

fo r her pains . Mum taz Maha l before her death u sed

to l ay as ide m o ney,j ewe l s and p rec ious art i c le s . in View

o f her sons ’ m arr i age when they wou ld grow up . J ahan

ara constant ly added to them . At the t ime o f m arri age

these we re spen t in offe r ing tr ibu te to the Em pe ro r,gifts to the p rince s and Begam s

,and pre sen ts and robe s

to 'the nobles and court ie rs. At the m arri age o f the

' Crown Prince Dara Shukoh , ( i l th N ovember,

these amounted to s ix teen l akhs o f rupees ,— seven

I 54 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

l akhs in jewe l s,o ne l akh in cash

,fou r l akhs in gold and

s i l ve r ornam en ts and rare art i c les of al l countr ie s in

the world,and the bal ance in e lephan ts and horses .

By orde r o f Jahanara ,Sat i -un -n i ssa arranged al l th i s

vast co l lect ion fo r d i sp l ay in the spac iou s cou rtyard o f'

Agra Fo rt in front o f the window at wh i ch the Em peroru sed to show h i s face to his ador ing subj ects .

At n igh t the whole place was i l lum inated,form ing

a sort o f exh ibi t ion . The court ie rs and noble s feasted

the i r eye s o n the t reasu res,

and even the Empe rorconde scended to pay a v i s i t.

So,t oo

,at the m arr i age o f the second prince ,

Shujah (2 3rd February,

a d isp l ay was m ade o f

wedd ing presen t s wort h I O l akhs o f rupee s,al l supp l ied

bv Mum taz Mahal and Jahanara . Sat i -un-n i ss a’s capa

c i ty fo r o rgan i s at ion a nd a rt i s t i c taste m us t h ave fo und

ample scope fo r exe rc i se in ge tt ing u p such exh ibi t ions .

In add i t i on to be ing the head servan t‘

o f Jahanara,Sat i -nu -n issa was al so m ade by the Emperor the Sada r‘

o r Supe r intenden t o f the harem,in reward o f her

fide l i ty and o bed ien ce . She had al so to wa i t at the

Emperor’s table and se rve him wi th provi s ions , —as the

m ost honoured and t rusted o f women attendan ts . Thus

she was constant ly in the Em pe ror’s eyes and was most

k ind ly treated by him .

She had no ch i ld o f her own,but adopted the two

d aughte rs o f her l ate brothe r, Tal iba . O n them she

lav i shed al l the l ove and m ate rnal yearn ings o f a

ch i ld less widow’s heart. The younger of the two

,on

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

her so n - ih - l aw cont inued apply ing remed ie s fo r fain t ing,but to no pu rpo se . When the pu l se fa i led ,

they knew

that she had left the wo rld . Thus she fol l owed her

daugh te r in death by a fortn ight on ly .

N ex t day ( 24th J anuary) the news reached Shah

J ahan in the hunt ing camp. He was deeply touched,and orde red al l honour to be shown to her mortal

rem ains and Rs . to be spent o n her fune ral .

A fte r more than a year the body was take n o ut and

final ly bu r ied west o f the Taj Mahal,c lose to the o u te r

quad rangle , in a tomb bu i l t by Gove rnmen t at an

expense o f Rs . A v i l l age yie ld ing Rs .

a year was ass igned fo r the pay o f i ts attendants. Thus

she was no t parted from her be l oved m aste r and

m i s tress even in death .

THE WEALTH OF IND, 1650.

HEN Mi l ton wro te ,

H igh on a throne of royal state wh ich far

Outshone the w ealth of O rmuz and of Ind,

O r where the go rgeous East w ith riches t hand

Showers on her k ings barbaric pearl and go ld ,cou ld he have been think i ng o f I nd i a u nde r S hah J ahan

,

the bu i lde r o f the Taj and the Peacock Th ro ne ? For,the fine s t exam p le o f eas te rn royal m agn ifi cence was

a fforded by tha t k ing’s Co urt . The co ntem porary

h i story o f Abdu l H am id Laho r i enable s us to e s t im a te

a ccu rate l y the weal t h o f the Mugha l Em pe ror in 1 648 .

A rupee o f tha t t im e was worth 2 5 . 34 ,but its pur

chas ing powe r was abo u t seven t im e s that o f to -da y .

The revenue w as 20 ferores o f rupee s ( 2 2 1 m i l l io n

pounds) , o f wh i ch the newly acqu i red pro v ince s ,

Dau l atabad,Telingana ,

and Baglana ,-y ie lded I r

lj krores .

The Crown - l ands supp l ied the Em pe ror’s pr ivy purse

wi th th ree ferores o f ru pees (35 m i l l io n pounds s te rl ing) .

In the fi rs t twenty yea rs o f his re ign ,Shah J ahan

s pen t 9} fer ore'

s o f rupee s in rew ard s and gifts , - about

4gkraf es in cash and 5 b ores in k ind . H is build ings

absorbed m ore than th ree m i l l io ns s te rl ing,as the fol l ow

ing lis’

t

'

w ill Show

The P earl Mo sque and the palace s and gardens inthe fort

The Taj Mahal

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

A 1 D el/zi

PalacesJumma Masj idN ew wal l ro und D e lh iThe Idea/z outside D e lhi

A t Labore

Palace s, gardens, and canal.A t Kan”!

Mo sque , palace, fo rt, and c ity-wal l1 22 Kas /zmz

’

r

Roya l buildings and gardensA t Qa zzfz

’akar , fre t .

Fo rts o f Qandahar,B ist, and Zam indawar

A Z Aj i/zz'

r,65 °C .

Ajm ir, Ahmadabad, Ste. (buildings)A ! s rk/z/z

'

spzzrImperial palacesCrown Prince Dara Shukoh’s palace

2 7 zé

The Impe r i a l jewellery was worth 5 Aware: o f

r upees , be s ide s two kraf es’ worth gi ven away to the

p r ince s and othe rs . O f the forme r,the Empe ror wore

o n h i s head ,neck

,arm s

,and wai st fu l ly two krores

’

worth ; these we re kept in the lzarem in charge o f the

women servan ts,whi le the rem ainde r (wo rth 3 kraf es)

was depos i ted in the ou te r apartm ents in the cu stody o f

the sl aves .

H is rosary conta ined 5 rubies and 30 pearl s , and

was val ued at 8 la/eks . The re we re two othe r rosar ies

of 1 2 5 l a rge round rubies worthy o f k i ngs ; be tween

eve ry pa i r o f b eads was a colou red y agul ( topaz ?) The

m idmos t bead in each rosary we ighed 32 m tt'

r

earats) and cost and the pri ce o f the two

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

o ne Zak/z z‘

olzz/zs ( = 32 55l h Troy) o f pu re gold ,equ i valen t

to 14 Zak/15 o f rupees , the art isans o f the Im per i a lgo ld -sm i th departm en t unde r the supe r intendence o f

Bebada l Khan , constru cted a throne yards l ong,

yard s broad,and 5 yards h igh , and studded i t w i th

the se jewe l s . The inne r ro of was ename l led and'

had

o n l y a few s tone s se t he re and there ; but the o uts ide

w as co ve red wi th rubies , yagu ts , and othe r gem s .

Twe l ve p i l l ars o f eme rald suppo rted th i s ro o f. Abo ve

it we re p l aced two figu re s o f peacock s o rnam en ted w i th

j ewe l s , and be tween them a tree set wi th rub ies,d ia

m onds , em e ralds,and pearl s .

Three j ewe l led s teps led up to the Empe ror’s seat

,

w h i ch was s urrounded o n e leven s ide s wi th jewe l led

p l anks se rv ing as rai l ings ; (the twe lfth was open. be ingin fron t o f the Empe ror and j us t abo ve the s teps) .

Of the se e leven pane l s the mos t splend id was the

m idd le o ne ,o n wh ich the Emperor re sted h i s arm in

re c l in ing. I t cos t 1 0 Zak/1s o f rupees , i ts central ruby

a l one ' be ing wo rth one Zakit. Th i s ruby had been pre

sen ted by Shah Abbas I .,the Pers i an k ing, to J ahangi r,

and had inscr ibed o n i t the nam es o f Timur,Mi r

Shahrukh , Mirz a U l ugh Beg, Shah Abbas , J ahangi r

the son o f Akbar, and Shah J ahan ! Ins ide the th rone,

a poem by Haj i M uhamm ad Jan Qud s i , in 20 couple ts,

was inscr ibed in le tte rs o f ename l , the l as t three words

(Aurang—z

'

gi v ing the date o f its co n

s tru ct ion. Apart from the sal ary of the c raftsmen,

THE W EALTH OF I N D 1 6 1

the m ate r i a l s a lone O f the th ro ne cos t o ne é rore o f

rupee s .

Such vas t t reasu re s w o u ld natu ra l ly tempt spoile rs

from far- o ff l ands , and requ i red a s trong force to

s afeguard them . Acco rd ingly , we find tha t the Im pe r i a l .aPmy in 1 648 compr i sed

caval ry,

mam aéa’ars (comm ande rs) ,a/zaa’z

'

s (gen tlemen t roope rs)and mounted mu ske tee rs

,

fo ot muske teers* and

art i l le rymen,

in add i t io n to caval ry unde r the pr ince s"

;

and nobles .

TOTAL

The se d id no t include the l oca l m i l i t i a pos ted in

the pa rganahs and comm anded by the fauj a’a rs

,[ worm

(Distri c t Co l lec tors ,) and anz/a s,— who must have num

be red seve ral [a/e/zs more . In a le tte r wri tten j us t before

h i s capt i v i ty Shah J ah an de sc ribes h im se lf as the l ord

o f t roope rs . The to tal a rm ed s trength o f the

em p i re ,then

,appro ached o ne m i l l i on Of men

,though

i t d id no t inc lude al l I nd i ai '

O f these , accompan ied the Emperor and the rema ining w e re qua rte redin the va rio us Suéa lzs .

f Autho rit ies ,— fo r Revenue (Abdul Hamid ’s I I . 7 1 1-7 1 4) Bu ild ings

( 16121 and Wa ris'

s P ad is lza /mam afi, Khuda Bakhsh MS , 1 0 1 6

,1 1 60 , 1 2 25 ) ; Jewe llery

(Ab i ul Hamid , I I . 39 1 Peacock Throne , (H id ,I . B. 7 7 8 1 ) Army (Mid , I I .

DAI LY LIFE OF SHAH JAHAN .

POPULAR VIEW WRONG .

HE Mughal pal ace s a t De l h i and Agra eve ry year

d raw thousands o f v i s i to rs from far and ne a r.'

The i r beau ty and sp lendo u r have mo ved the wond e r

o f the world and the rapture O f adm iring art i s ts and

e l oquen t wr i te rs . The gl obe - tro t te r in I nd i a gi ve s themthe fo rem o s t p l ace in h i s tour p rogramm e . Photo

g raphs and l an te rn- s l ide s have m ade them fam i l i ar to

.far Off l ands and home—s tay ing peop le .

But what i s i t th at the comm on to ur i s t see s in

t hem 7 He m ay feas t h is eye s on the i r de l i ca te m o sa i cs

a nd re l iefs he m ay so o the h i s sp i r i t in the co ol rece sse s

O f the se pu re wh i te dome s . But w hat he l o o ks a t i s

afte r a l l s to ne,bare s tone . Doe s he eve r refle ct that

these balls we re o nce fu l l Of l i fe , crowded wi th al l the

m ov ing pagean ts o f a Co ur t ? Doe s he try to real ise

that l ife O f a bygone wo rld ,so d is tant , so un l i ke h i s a

I f so,what i s h i s m en tal p i cture O f it ?

We are afraid tha t mos t Eu ropeans s ti l l lie unde rthe spe l l Of the popu l ar nove l i s ts. \Vi th them

,a ll

O r iental k ings we re heart less bra in le ss despots , fu l l o fpride and igno rance , surrounded by pim ps and

’

syCOph

a n ts,squee z ing the l as t farth ing o ut O f a down - t rodden

peasan try, and spend ing the i r hoard s o n sensua l p leasure

o r ch i ld i sh show,— who passed the i r l i ve s in toy ing wi th

women in the harem,in l i s ten ing to the ful som e pra i se

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

enable us to p i c tu re the l ife O f h i s Court . Le t u s see

how Shah J ahan l i ved and wo rked in h is be l oved pal ace

o f Agra . (True , he founded New De l h i and named i t.

afte r h imse lf,bu t Agra was the c i ty Of his heart .)

EMPEROR’S DAILY ROUTINE .

A .M .

4— Wakes— Prayer —Read ing.

6 -45— Appears at D am n : w indow —e lephant com bats— re

view Of cava lry.

7 -

4o— Publ ic Darbar (D z

’

wa 71

9-40— Private Aud ience (D z

’

w an -z’

-N zas) .

1 1 -

40 Secre t Consu ltation in the S/zafzbwy'

.

1 2 — In harem— m eal—~s iesta —charity to women .

RM .

4—Publ ic Audience— Even ing. prayer.

6-30—Evening assembly in the D z

'

warz

8 — S ec ret Counc il in the Sfia lzéurj .

8-

30— ln the harem— music}

I O -H ears books read.

1 0-

30—4 A .M .

—S leeps .

MORN ING PRAYER .

The Emperor woke from h i s s leep abou t two hou rs .

before sunr i se , and after h i s morn ing to i le t spent some

t ime in re l igi ous devot ions . A fte r say ing the customary

p raye r based on the Prophe t’s Traditions,wh i ch is no t

O bl igatory on Musl ims,he sat with h i s face toward s .

Mecca, rec i t ing the ve rses of the Quran and med i tat ing;

o n God . Short ly before s un ri se , he pe rformed the fi rst

O bl igato ry praye r Of the day in the pal ace mosque, and!

then engaged in h i s world ly dut ies .

DAI LY LIFE OF SHAH JAHAN 1 65

DARSAN .

His fi rs t work was to show h imse lf to h i s subjects.

In the easte rn w al l Of Agra fort, ove rl ooking the fore

shore Of the J umna w h i ch stre tches l i ke a p l a in be low,

the re was a window cal led the j /za rok/za - i -a’arsan,from

the Sansk ri t word a’arsrm mean ing the s igh t Of some

o ne high or holy. Vas t crowds o f expectan t people

a ssembled on the bank eve ry morn ing. The Empe rora ppeared at the window abou t 48 m inu te s afte r sunr i se ,a nd s howed his face to h i s subjects , who at once bowed ,

wh i le he re tu rned the i r sal u te . From two to th ree quarte rs o f an hou r we re spent he re , no t me re ly in showingh im se lf

,but al so in bus ine ss and p leasu re . The p l a in

be ing ou ts ide the fort w al l s,the publ i c had free acce ss

to i t,and the O ppre ssed cou ld subm i t the i r pe t i t i ons o r

make the i r comp l a ints to the Empe ror, wi thou t hav ingto grease the palm s o f door-keepe rs and cou rt -unde r

l ings, or go ing thro ugh the ted i ous and costly process Of

a l aw su i t. Thus the Empe ror dai ly came in touch wi th

the common peop le and cou ld free ly learn the ir

thoughts and fee l ings . Often a st ring was let down

from the window ,and the pe t i t io ns t ied to i t and pu l led

u p by the attendan ts abo ve fo r immed i ate subm i ss i on

to the Empe ro r. Th is w i se pract i ce was ins t i tuted by

t hegreat Akbar. Curiously enough,the re was a c l ass

O f Brahm ans , cal led the D a i'

sam'

s,who d id no t begin

the i r day’s work no r eat the i r b reak fast unt i l they had

g azed at the au sp i c ious face O f the Empe ror !

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

Afte r the publ i c sal ute and adm iss ion Of com pl a ints .

we re ove r, the pla in was c leared,and e lephant-fights

took p l ace the re . Th i s was the spec ia l pre rogat i ve O f

the Em pe ror, and no t even the pr inces o f the blood cou ld‘

o rde r su ch a fight fo r them se l ve s . Shah J ahan was

spec i al ly fond Of th i s sport, and on some day s as m any as.

five pa i rs o f e lephants we re m ade to fight s ingle combats

in success ion fo r his de l igh t. Th is spac ious p l a in was

a safe p l ace fo r the i r w i ld ch arge s, encounte r,and pur

su i t. In the fort quad rangle hundreds of spectators

wou ld have been t ramp led to death by these m ovingmounta ins .

F ierce war-e lephant s and newly captu red ones,

w h i ch had no t been ful ly tamed,we re he re shown to

the Empe ror. I t was impo ss ible to take them l i ke

the othe r e l ephants,to the court -yard ins ide the fort;

O n the r i ve r- s ide ,too

,w ar- e lephants we re t ra ined to

charge caval ry , and th us m ade to l ose the i r natu ra l fea r

O f horses . He re were a l so paraded the horse s o f

the Impe r i a l army and of the re ta ine rs Of the nobles .

D IWAN - I -AM .

Next took place the Publ i c Darbar in the D iwan-2'

am or Hal l O f Publ i c Aud ience . Akbar and Jahangi r

used to hold Cou rt'

at the ve ry sam e spot,but under

c anvas awn ings st re tched o n po les set u p for the occa

s i on. In 1 62 8 Shah Jahan built a gilt and deco rated

wooden pav i l i on,fo r the she l te r Of the court iers . Thi s .

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

fenced i t round on the three s ide s wi th only three

open ings in them . In the cou rt-ya rd ’

in fron t a space

was enc losed with a rai l ing o f painted wood on wh i ch

ve l ve t canopies r i ch ly embro idered wi th gold we re

s pread . Here stood a l l m en be l ow comm ande rs Of two

h undred,arche rs O f the guard ,

muske tee rs,and som e

o f the re ta ine rs o f the noble s,when they attended the

d arbar. At the do o rs o f the Hal l and o f the two ra i l

ings (s i l ve r and wooden) trus tworthy m ace -beare rs and

s e rgean ts - at-arm s in the i r sp lend id un iform s kept gua rd ,

exclud ing strangers and pe rsons who had no en tree at

Court .

The aud ience s tood ready and expectant, when ,at

about 7 -

40 A .M .,the Empe ror ente red the al cove by the

back door,took his seat

,and the bus iness o f the Court

began .

The H igh Bakhsh i or Paym aste r-Genera l reported

to the Empe ror the pe t iti ons o f the m i l i tary offi ce rs o r

aizam aba’ars

,and immed i ate ly rece i ved H is Maj es ty ’s

o rde rs gi v ing promot ions to som e,new posts to o the rs .

Office rs who had come to the cap i ta l from the pro vince s

had aud ience . Those who had been newly appointed

to some p rov ince or post we re next presen ted by the

heads Of the i r departments,v ia

,the Comm andan t O f

the Art i l le ry (M ir arise ) , the Paym aste r Of the mo unted

m uske tee rs , o r the Paym aste r o f the gent lem en tro ope rs

These ch iefs re commended eve ry dese rvingm an among them fo r som e roya l favou r. The presentees

bowed and go t the i r congee, usual ly accompan ied by a

DAI LY LIFE OF SHAH JAHAN 1 69

ro be O f honou r and gift in the form Of jewe l le ry , horse

or arms.

N ext came the c le rk s O f the Departm en t O f Crown

l ands or the Em pe ror’s p ri vy pu rse . Through the i r

ch iefs,

— the rWz'

r-saman and the D iw an - i -fiayumz‘

,they

subm i tted the i r various pro posal s and go t p rom p t

o rde rs from His Maj e s ty .

Then the cou rt ie rs who enj oyed the Empe ror’sconfidence p l aced befo re him the de spatche s O f the

pr inces , and O f the gove rnors , fauj a’a rs

,a’z

’

wans ( revenue

heads,) ba t /25 1211? and othe r Offi ce rs O f the province s , and

a lso any presents (perk/ca sk) sen t by them .

The le t te rs o f the pr ince s and ch ief Offi ce rs we re

read or heard by the Em pe ro r h im se l f. The pu rpor t

on ly o f the re st was reported to him . W hen th is work

was ove r,the Ch ief Sadr reported the importan t point s

Of the despatche s O f the provinc ia l Sari/rs sent to h im .

He al so brough t to the Em pe ror’s not i ce cases Of needy

schol ars, Syeds , Shaikhs , and p i ou s m en,

and go t

gran ts Of money fo r each acco rd ing to h i s need or dese rts .

The work O f publ i c char i ty be ing ove r,orde rs

previous ly passed abou t mansabs, j ngz

'

rs,cash grants

,and

o the r financ i a l affa i rs,we re s ubm i tted to the Empe ro r

a seco nd tim e fo r confi rm at i on . The re w as a spe c i a l

O ffice r to rem ind the Empe ro r o f these th ings , and hebo re the t i t le O f the a

’a rog/za o f - 71m /ea rra r .

N ext,the office rs O f the Im pe r ia l s tables d i sp l ayed

before H is Maje sty the horses and e lephan ts w i th the i r

fixed rat ions . Th i s pract i ce had been s ta rted by Akba r

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

in orde r to pun i sh those Office rs who stole the Imper i a lgrant and starved the an imal s . If any horse or e lephant

l ooked lean or w eak , the m oney al lowed fo r i ts feed ingwas resum ed and the o ffi ce r in charge o f

'

it rep r im anded .

S im i l arly the re ta ine rs O f the no bles , whose horses had

been re cen tly m uste red and branded,we re paraded in

fu l l equ ipm en t.

in the court-yard wi th in v iew Of the

Em pero r. The darbar l asted two hou rs, somet imes

m ore or less accord ing to the amount Of the bus i ness to

be done .

D IVVAN - I—KHAS .

Then,a l i tt le before 10 A.M .,

H is Maje sty w ent to

the Hal l Of Pri vate Aud ience s and sat o n the th rone .

H e re he wrote wi th h i s own hand the answe rs to the

m os t important le tte rs . O f the othe r le tte rs a few we re

read to him by the Cou rt agents O f the h igh grandees ,

or by the w az z'

r,or by the Offi ce rs appointed to subm i t

the despatches Of the prov inc i a l v i ce roys. In rep ly to

them, fa rm /1 775 or Imper i a l le tte rs we re d rafted by the

m in i s te rs in the term s o f the i r m as te r’

s ve rbal orde rs .

The d rafts we re afterwards rev i sed and correc ted by the

Em pe ror, wri tten o ut fa i r,and sent to the harem to

be sealed with the Great Seal,1 o f wh i ch the Emp res s

M um taz Mahal had charge .

The h ighes t revenue Ofli cers now re ported o n ve ry

Ca lled in H indus tani the Gl msa l klza nd because Akba r’

s ba th-room “as adjacen tto its s ite .

f U z uk,a sma ll ro und sea l

,bearing only the Empero r’s name

,affixed to Sabb

"

f a n /( a ns . (Blochmann'

s A 131,i. 5 2 S;

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

e xe rc i se s in the yard O f the pr i vate pal ace , unde r H is

Maje sty’s eyes .

SHAH BUR]

N early two h o urs we re thus o ccup ied ,and at abou t

hal f past e leven the Em pe ro r left th i s Hal l and ente r'

ed the l o fty Ska/z Bzuj or Roya l Towe r. The m o s t

c o nfident i a l bus iness was done he re . N o ne but the

pr ince s and a few t rusted Offi ce rs co u ld en te r th i s towe r

w i th o ut spe c i a l pe rm i ss i on . Eve n the se rvan ts had to

s tand outs ide,t i l l they we re sen t fo r.

Secre t affai rs Of S tate,wh ich i t wo u ld have been

harm fu l to m ake publ i c , we re d i scussed with the Grand

IVa s z’

r . A [wea k was m ade o f the impo rtant a nd co n

fidential le tte rs to be sen t to no blem en se rv ing in the

d i stan t pro v ince s . S uch u rgent m atte rs about the

C ro w n l ands , the, paym en t O f the m i l i tary

,&c . ,

as had

beens ubm i tted in the two previo us darbars O f the day

we re now repo rted by the w as” and the Em pe ror’s

o rde rs taken o n them . Som e th ree quarte rs O f an hour

we re u sual ly spent he re ,but the t im e varied accord ing

to the am o unt o f the bus iness to be de spatched .

I N THE HAREM AT NOON .

I t was now nearly m idday and the Emperor en te redthe harem , whe re he pe rformed the z u/zar praye r, ate

h i s m eal,and took a nap fo r an hour. W i th m ost k ings

the harem is a p l ace Of p leasure and re s t. But work

pu rsued Shah Jahan even the re . A crowd O f female

beggars— poor widows and orphans , maidens Of decayed

DAI LY LIFE O F SHAH JAHAN 1 7 3

fam i l ies,daugh te rs o f p o or schola rs , theo l ogi ans and

p i ou s m en,— besough t the royal chari ty . The i r pe t i t io

/

n s

we re put befo re the Empress by her ch ie f se rvant ‘Sat i

un - riissa , ca l l ed the Female Naz i r ; and He r Majesty

reported the cases to the Empe ro r , who gave l and s to .

s ome , pens ions o r donat ions to o the rs,and garments ,

j ewe l s , and m oney as the dowrie s O f m aidens too po or

to marry. Large sum s we re every day spent in the

harem in th i s wo rk Of re l ief.

AFTERNOON AUD I EN CE .

Shortly afte r 3 P M . the Em pero r pe rformed his

‘asa r praye r, and som et ime s v i s i ted the Hal l O f Publ i c

Aud ience again . The m en presen t bowed . A l i tt le

S tate bus iness was gone through in a short t im e . The

pal ace -

guards, cal led we re d rawn up befo re

h im and presented the i r a rm s . Then H is Maje s ty j o ined

the congregati on O f h is Cou rt to pe rform the sunse t

p r aye r in the Pr ivate Aud ience Hal l .

SOIREE I N TH E D IWAN - I -KHAS .

The day was now Spen t, but the day’s work was

no t yet ove r. The D z

'

w a n -zl kfzas was l i t u p w i th fra

gran t cand le s set in jewe l led cande l abra,the Em pe ror

and h i s cho ice assoc i ate s gathe red he re and spen t som e

two hou rs,at fi rs t in attend ing to the adm in i s trat io n and

afte rward s in p leasu re . But i t was p leasu re O f an ele~

v ated and refined characte r. He heard m us i c,vocal

and in strumental,and O ften de igned to jo in in i t . If

we may trust the Court ch ron i c le r, Shah J ahan was a

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

pas t m aste r O f U rdu so ng,and h i s pe rfo rm ance s we re

so sweet and charm ing that m any pu re - so u led Sufi :

a nd ho ly m en wi th hearts wi thdrawn from the world,who

attended these even ing assembl ies,lo s t the i r sen se s in

t he e cstasy produced by h i s s inging.

”

SECRET COUN C I L AGA I N ;

Afte r the z

'

s/m praye r (8 P . M . ) he went to the Shah

Bu rj,and if the re was any se cre t bus iness O f S tate st i l l

to be do ne,he summ oned the Grand PVaaz

'

r'

and the

Brz/cks/zz’

s and de spatched i t the re,— leav ing noth ing

.O ve r fo r the mo rrow .

MUS IC AND R EAD ING I N TH E HAREM .

At abou t 8-

30 P . M.,he re t i red to the ha rem again .

Two and some t ime s three ho urs we re he re spen t in

l i s ten ing to songs by wom en . Then H is Maje sty re

t i red to bed and was read to s leep . Good reade rs sa t

beh ind a pam’rz/z wh i ch separated them from the roya l

bed chambe r, and read aloud books o n trave l,l i ve s o f

sa in ts and prophe ts , and h i sto r ie s Of fo rm e r k ings, - a ll

r i ch in ins truct ion . Am o ng them the L ife o f Timur

and the Au tobiography o f Babar we re h i s spec ia l

favou r ite s .

F inal ly, afte r I O P. M .,the Empe ro r fe l l as leep and

enj oyed a n ight’s repose o f s ix ho urs .

COURT OF JUST ICE ON WEDNESDAY.

Such was the l ife O f the Mughal Cou rt o n ord inary

d ays . But we mus t remembe r that Fr iday is the

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

barges, hun t ing exped i t ions,and to u rs

,fo r the Great

Mughal s we re act i ve ru le rs and O ften v i s i ted the pro

v in ces with the i r who le Cou rt, pe rform ing grand

p rogre sses through the country . Thus we see that the

royal thro ri‘e w as no t exactly a bed Of roses even in

those days. The k ing had h i s du t ie s, and his d i v i s ion

o f h i s t im e showed that he knew the fact . I t was as trenuous l ife that Shah J ahan led ,

and he gave peace ,prospe r i ty and con tentment to h i s pepple . An o ld

Pe rs i an m anu sc ri pt O f the Ind i a Ofli ce L i bra ry,

Lo ndo n,afte r gi v ing Shah J aban ’s rout ine o f wo rk

,

add re sses him in the fo l low ing coup le t

[( 11a .mbzzk dz’

l z e gz’

m n bart’

yas/z,

Fz'

tm z gz'

ran kbab z e

0 ! king , thy subjects are l ight -hearted because thou

hast taken a heavy load on thy shouldersO ppress ion has fa l len into a deep s leep (in thy kingdom )

because thou hast ban ished s leep from thy eyes .

And the prai se was r ight we l l de se rved .

The ma teri a ls for th is essay have been co llec ted from Abdul Hamid ’s P a m'

s/ml:

”Ew a ll,I .A 1 44-1 5 4, 2 2 1

, LB. 2 35 , and Ind ia Ofi'

. Pers. M.S. N o . 1 344, j 7 a b.

AURANGZIB’

S DA I LY LIFE .

have a l ready de scri bed how the Empe ror S hah Jahanspent his t im e . I now p resen t to the reade r an

a ccoun t Of h is successor Aurangz ib’

s dai ly l ife at De l h i

a t the beginn ing o f h i s re ign ,as supp l ied by the con tem

po rary Pe rs i an h is tory Ala rzzgz'

m ama/z. Aurangz ib was

a s tr i c t Muhamm adan,a ve r i table Pu ri tan in the pu rp le .

Hence h i s l ife was m arked by greate r Ser iousness,re l igi ou s devot io n ,

and ave rs io n to am usem en t than.

h i s .

fathe r’

s . He scorned de l ights and l i ved l abor iou s days .

Aurangz z’

b’s routine of work.

A . M .

5—Morning Prayee evo tional read ing.

7-30 in Private Chamber.

8 30 Dam an— Review— E lephant fights .

9- 1 5 Darbar.

I 1 Audience .

1 1 -50— S iesta.

P. M .

2 P rayer.

2 Chamber— S tudy— Bus iness— Asa r P rayer— St ateafl

'

airs .

5-

30 salute in the P rivate Aud ience Hal l— SunsetPrayer.

6 -

40 in the D z’

wa n

7 -

40 d ism issed— [Ma Prayer.

8 the Harem —Re l igious m editation and read ing— S leepo

MORN ING PRAYER .

Ri s ing from his bed some t ime be fore dawn , the

Emperor performed h i s m o rn ing abl u t ion s went from

1 2

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

the na renz to the mosque attached to the Hal l O f Private

Aud ience (D i’

w an - i and sat the re fac ing the wes t,

wait ing fo r the t im e O f the m orn ing praye r as ind i cated

by the Haa’is (or Muhamm ad ’s Trad i t ions ) . After

pe rform ing th i s rel igio u s r i te , he read the Qnm n and

the Pro phe t’s Tradi tions t i l l the breakfas t hour, (say7 30

COURT OF JU ST ICE IN CHAMBER .

Then he wen t to h i s pr i vate chambe r

to”

whi ch on l y a few co nfident i a l O ffi ce rs and h i s per

sonal at tendants we re adm i tted ,and sat o n the throne

d i spens ing just i ce , the fi rs t du ty o f an eas te rn k ing.

The supe r in tenden ts O f the l aw - cou rts presen ted to him

a l l aggr ieved persons , who had com e e i the r from the

cap i tal or from the province s to seek jus t i ce at i ts

founta in head . The i r p l a ints we re reported ,and then

the Empe ror pe rso nal ly exam ined them to find o u t the

t ru th .

O n the basi s o f the facts so asce rta ined, al l case s

com ing unde r Canon Law we re dec ided accord ing to the

Qnran it injunct ions . Comm o n- l aw cases we re tr ied

acco rd ing to the custom ary p rocedu re and regu l at ion s

o f the Emp i re , ev iden t ly at the Empe ror’s own d i sere

t ion . Needy and m i se rab le p l a in t iffs we re he l ped wi th

m oney from the publ i c t reasu ry.

DARSAN .

N ext, he en te red the bed - chambe r and Showed h i sface at one Of i ts w indows , cal led

‘the window O f

180 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

despatches Of the prov inc i al v i ceroys and gove rnors Of

town s we re e i the r read by the Emperor or repo rted in

brief abstracts by the Grand Waz ir . The Em pe ror’so rde rs we re taken ,

and t he i r pu rport d i ctated by the

W az i r to the secre tar ies who d rafted the

repl ies . Many Of these we re l oo ked ove r and rev i sed

by the Empe ror ; then they we re cop ied ou t fai r and

pl aced before His Maje sty fo r be ing s igned and sealed .

Som e t ime s he wrote in h is own hand the beginn ings O f

the le tters to the h igh grandees , e i the r to do them

greate r honour , or to m ake the orde rs more u rgent, or to

remove al l doubt as to the i r genu ineness .

HAREM.

I t was now almost noon,and the Empe ror re t i red to

the narem to take h is we l l -earned rest . Afte r eat ing his

m eal,he s lept fo r an hou r to refresh h i s body and spi r i ts .

PRAYER .

But Shortly before the Z n/zar praye r (abou t

he was up again,washed h im se lf

,and wai ted in the

pal ace m osque rec i t ing God’

s nam e s and te l l ing h i s

beads . Th is p raye r was perfo rm ed in company, as

recommended by the Prophe t . The co ngregat ion pr i v i

leged to j o in the Em peror in h is devot ions , cons i sted Of

a lorna ( theologians) , Syeds , Shaikhs , faqirs , and a few

O f H is Majesty’s close attendants and le/zawases .

IN THE PRIVATE CHAMBER.

The reafte r the Empe ror went to h i s Pr ivate Chamber, s i tuated be tween the lzarenz and the Hal l o f Pri vate

AURANGZIB’

S DAI LY LIFE 1 8 1

Aud ience (named the G/znsa l and engaged in

works o f pie ty,such as

,read ing the Qnran ,

copying i t,c ol l at ing h is transcr ipt Of i t

,hunt ing through Arab ic

ju r i sprudence fo r preceden ts in Canon Law, &c . O r H i sMajesty read the books and pamphle ts o f the I s l am icp i ous m en and saints Of al l ages . Then ,

u rgen t affai rs O f

S tate forced them se l ves on h i s atten t io n . The pe t i t ion s

o f aggr ieved part ies r i ch enough to buy the med i at ion

o f the favou r i te court ie rs,we re now subm i tted . O n

s ome days,work be ing ove r

,H is Majes ty v i s i ted the

naneni aga in fo r an hour,heard the pe t i t i ons o f poor

women,w idows

,and orphans

,and sat i sfied them wi th

m oney,l ands

,or ornamen ts .

By th i s the t ime fo r the Asa r praye r (4 FM .) arr i ved .

I t was pe rformed in' company in the m osque c lose to

t he Hal l O f Pr i vate Aud ience ; afte rwards the Empe rorre tu rned to h i s Pr i vate Chamber and spent the rem a in

ing short pe r iod Of the day in the work o f adm in istrationu

EVEN I NG SALUTE AND PRAYER .

Abou t ha lf an hou r before sunse t,His Maj esty

v i s i ted the Hal l o f Private Aud ience again and sat on

the throne . A l i ttle wo rk was done . The cou rt ie rs

m ade the i r bows . The nobles and Office rs,who had

sent ry du ty that n ight , presented themse l ves in fu l l

accoutremen t, and we re m arshal led by the Mi r Tuzuk

and the se rgeants acco rd i ng to the i r ranks on the two

s ides Of the Impe r ia l standard Of cows’ ta i l s and bal l s.

The ch ief men formed a l ine in front ; the rear ranks

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

w e re m ade up by the subord inates . The Paymaste rs

m ade them sal u te,accord ing to the Imper i a l regu l at ions .

The sun was now se tt ing. Pie rc ing the even ing a'i r‘

c am e the l oud c ry,

God is mostgrea t! God is most grea t

! I testify tfia t More is

no deity ex cept God and tna t Mn/zanznzad is H is Apostle Come to '

prayer Come topray er Come to sa lva tion

I t was the nznazz in or crie r O f the m osque,chant ing

from the chu rch - sp i re the cal l to praye r. What the

ti nge/its i s to the F rench peasant ry, the axo n i s to the

M usl im world . Al l work was at o nce suspended . The

Empe ror w i thd rew h is m ind from earth l y affa i rs,and

li s tened with great reve rence to the ca l l . At eve ry pause

in the c rier’s vo i ce,he in te rjected

,l i ke a p ious Musal

m an,these responses

Yes,God is mos t grea t I testify t/ta t ”zero is no deity ex cept

God and fire dM n/zanzmad is t/ze Afiostle of God I nave no pow er

or s trengtft ex t ent from God Wita t H efw z

'

l/etlz sna il be,and w/za t

H e 'zoz'

llet/z not sna il not takep la ce.

Then he ro se from the th ro ne,wen t to the mosque

in fu l l congregati on and pe rfo rm ed the even ing praye r

and cer ta in non -obl igatory extra r i tes o f d evot ion (v i

the snnna/z and the na/Z) . The se a cts Of p ie ty o ccup ied

m ore than half an hour.

SOIREE IN THE D IWAN - I -KHAS .

The D iw an- iJ e/zas (or Hal l Of Pri vate Aud ience ):

was l i t up with camphorated cand les and torches,and

golden l anterns,m ak ing i t

‘r ival the vau l t o f the sky

d otted with myr i ads O f tw inkl ing stars . The Empe ror

1 84 H I STORICAL ESSAY S

If we may be l ieve the Cou rt h i s to r i an ,Aurangz ib

.Llept on ly th ree hours o ut o f twen ty- fo ur .* I t w as a

ive ry strenuous l ife that th i s Em pe ro r led .Al l work

:and no p l ay gave to h i s Cour t a cold ,som bre and

d reary aspe ct . He seem s to have t a ken fo r h i s m o tto

the fol lowing words o f Lou i s X IV.,whom he gre a t ly

resembled in h i s fore ign policy , re l igi ou s into le rance ,

l o ve‘

o f central i sed imper i a l i sm ,and unbo unded egot i sm

and indus try° O ne mus t work hard to r

eign,

and it

i s ingrat i tude and presump t i on towards God,inj ust i ce

and tyranny toward s m an,to w i sh to re ign wi tho ut

hard work .

”

* The materials for th is essay have bee n mainly taken from the A lamg ir/ta ma /z,

1 096-1 1 06.

A MUSLIM HERO INE.

A WARDEN OF THE MARCH ES .

noble Pe rs ian fam i ly o f Y e zd took refuge in Ind iaearl y in the seven teen th centu ry and rose to

h igh d i s t inct ion in the se rv i ce o f the Mugha l Em perors .O ne grandson o f the firs t imm igr ant was Paym as te r

under Shah J ahan,and anothe r

,named Khalilullah

Khan,was a provinc i a l gove rnor and m arr ied a n iece

o f the Em pres s Mum taz Mah al . The i r so n Am i r Khan

was a noble o f the fi rst rank in the re ign o f Aurangz ib

.and gove rned Afghan i s tan fo r 2 2 years w i th rem arkable

s ucce ss and repu tati on .

He acqu i red his knowledge o f mounta inee rs and

h i l l -fighting by act ing as the m i l i ta ry comm ande r o f the

J ammu hi l l s and afte rward s lead ing a pun i t i ve exped i

t i on agains t the Y usufza i Afghans o f Shahbazgarh i

(near Langa rko t) , whose v i l l age s he des t royed and whose

cattle he d rove away wi th great ab i l i ty and fi rmne ss.

Even when posted in B i h ar as Gove rnor, he was no t rido f the A fghans ; the re was a co lony o f the se turbu len t

m en in Shahj ahanpu r and Kan t-gol ah,who rebe l led

and we re d efeated and captu red by Am i r Khan .

Afte r the se preparato ry expe r ience s cam e the great

o pportun i ty o f h i s l ife in March 1 67 7 he was appoint

ed suéaka’a r (Vi ceroy) o f Afghan i stan,and fi l led the pos t

w i th und immed bri l l i ancy t i l l the day o f h i s death,2 8th

Apr i l , 1 698.

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

H is fi rst mee t ing w i th h i s new subjects was no t a

happy o ne . An Afghan named A im al Khan had set

up as k ing o f the h i l lmen and s tru ck co ins in his own

n ame . The fi rs t exped i t ion aga ins t the rebe l s near the

Lamghanat ended in the rout o f the Imper i al forcesThe swo rd hav ing fa i led

, the new go ve rnor took to

pol i cy . He engaged h im se lf in winn ing the he arts o f

the Afghan s wi th such success that the ch iefs o f the

c l ans “ left t he i r shy and unsoc i al m anne rs and began to

v i s i t him wi thout any susp i c ion .

”

H is s tate sm ansh ip bore such’

go od fru i t that“during

h i s go ve rnm en t o f 2 2 ye ars no d i saste r befe l l him,and

no adm in i st rat i ve fai lure or d i sorde r took pl ace . Rob

be ry and oppress i on we re kep t d own by h i s fi rmnes s

and ac t i v i ty. Whateve r he pl anned succeeded al l his .

de s i res we re fu lfi l led .

The tr i bal ch iefs became thorough ly obed ient to

h im e ve ry o ne o f them l ooked up to him fo r advi ce in

c o nduc ting'

his own affai rs . Unde r h i s aStute gu idance

they ceased to trouble the Impe ria l Go ve rnm ent and

s pent the i r ene rgies in inte rnec ine quarre l s ! His c leve r

ne ss m ade him t rium ph ove r eve ry d ifficu l ty .

O nce the re was a great gathe r ing o f the Afghans

u nd er Aim al . The re was hard ly any tr i be that d id no t

jo in him . E ve ry m ale fighte r in the h i l l s too k provi

s i ons fo r a few days and attended the mus te r. The

s uéa/m’a r

’s army was to o sm al l to encounte r a nat i on in

a rm s . Amir Khan was al armed ,took counse l w i th a

v ery c leve r subord inate,Abdu l l ah Khan Kheshgi , and

1 88 H I STORICAL ESSAY S

A WOMAN WHO RULED THE AFGHAN S .

Am i r Khan ’s w ife, SAH IBJ I (= I

—Ier Ladysh i p) ,was a daughte r O f Al i Mardan Khan

,a highly gifted

Pe rs i an,who rose to be the Prem ier Noble O f the

Co u rt o f Shah J ahan . She wa'

s a wonde rfully cleve r

and expe rt wom an . In conduct ing the adm in i s t rationshe was her husband ’s partner. H is succe ss in m any

a d iffi cu l ty was due to her wise sugges t ions and

bus iness capac i ty . 57 26 was the real Gove rnor o f Kabu l .

One n ight the Empe ror Aurangz ib learnt from

the report o f Kabu l the news Of Am i r Khan’s death .

Immed i a te ly . summon ing Arshad Khan (who had

form e rly acted as

‘

D z'

z

‘

van o f Afghan i s tan) , he said in

conce rn,“A great d ifficu l ty has cropped up. Am i r Khan

i s dead . That p rov ince ,whi ch is eve r r ipe fo r a thou

sand d i s tu rbances and t rouble s,has now none to gove rn

i t . A d i s as te r m ay happen be fore the arr i val Of his

successo r.”

Arshad Khan bold ly rep l ied ,

“Am i r Khan l i ves .

“1110 cal l s him dead ?

The Emperor handed h im the report from Kabu l .

The Khan read i t and added,

Y es ; bu t then i t i s

Sahibji who gove rned and control led the prov ince . So .

l ong as we l i ves you r Majesty need no t fear any d is

orde r.”

The Empe ror at once wrote to the l ady to guard

the province t i l l the arr i va l Of her husband’s successor in

o ffice,whi ch

,howeve r, happened two years afte rward s .

A MU SL IM HEROI NE 1 89

Dur ing th i s inte rval she was the sole Gove rnor o f

Afghan i s tan as she had been in al l bu t the nam e in

her husband 3 l ife t im e .

Death ove rtook Am i r Khan when he was o ut

am ong the val leys . If the fac t had got wind,the

Afghans would have taken heart and m as sacred h i s

leaderless e scort in the i r narrow defiles . Sahibji

wi th great pre sence o f m ind suppressed her grief,

concealed h i s death , d ressed a m an l i ke Am i r Khan,

m adehim s it in a pafiez'

wi th gl ass doors,and thu s

m arched l ong d i s tances . Eve ry day she inspe cted the

t roops and re ce i ved the i r sal u te . I t was on ly afte r

i ss u ing safe ly from the h i l l s th at she w en t into m ou rn ing.

Afte r her husband’s death

,al l the Afghan Ch iefta ins

s ent the i r re l at i ve s to condole w i th her.

‘

She t reated

them w ith great respect and sen t wo rd to the headm en ,

Take you r custom ary cl ues . D O no t rebe l o r rob , but

rem a in obed ien t as before . O therwi se I defy yo u to afight er If I defeat you

,my name wi l l rem ain famous to

the end o f t ime .

”

The headm en o ut o f regard fo r fai r pl ay gave her

new p rom i ses and assurances o f the i r l oyal ty and d id

no t break ou t in l awlessness .

Her cou rage and presence of m ind had been as

consp i cuous in her youth . Y e ars ago at De l h i she was

pass ing by a l ane in a c/zaua’ol (sedan ch a i r) . The

Empe ror’s own e lephan t— the ch ief o f i ts spe c ies

appeared in an infur i ated (mast) cond i t ion before her.

Lit. , Here is the hall and here the po lo field , a challenge to a contest

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

Her attendants w anted to turn it back . But the

fuzz/mum as a c l ass are v i c ious,and th i s one was fu rthe r

proud o f be ing the Empe ror

’s ow n d r i ve r. 5 0 he u rged ,

the e lephant rashlv o nward . Her e scort pu l led o ut the ir

arrows from the qu i ve rs but the brute flung i ts trunk

o n the c/m zza’ol to se i ze and t ram p le i t down. The

porte rs d ro pped i t and fled . Qu i ck as thought Sahibji

j um ped o ut,ran in to a m o ney - change r

’s shop hard by,

and shu t the door. Thi s was no common feat o f agi l i ty,as a M usl im noblewom an trave l l ing on the publ i c road

m ust have been secure ly wrapped up l ike a pa rce l sen t

by post in the ra iny season .

She had saved her l ife:bu t a l as ! she had broken

parda ll ,—an unpardonable O ffence agains t I nd i an e ti

que tte . Am i r Khan was angry at her audac i ty, and fo r

a few days l i ved in sepa rat io n from her. Then the

Empe ro r Shah j ahan told him frankly,

“She has p l ayed

a m an ’s part she has saved her own and you r hono ur

at the same t im e . If the e lephan t had se i zed her and

e xpo sed her (bare body) to the publ i c , what pr i vacy

w ou ld have bee n le ft ?”

So she was taken back by he r husband . Am ir

Khan m igh t have c r ied to h i s he ro i c w ife ,

Bring for th m en ch i ldren on ly I

Fo r thy undauntecl m e tt le shou ld compose

Noth ing bu t males .”

But unfo rtunate ly she was ch i ld less “l ike LadyMacbe th . Her husband, in fear o f her, du rst no t take

THE FERINGI PIRATES OF CHATGAON1665 A.D.

F rom lkewon iempora ry P ers ian account of Ski/t ab

ua’

a’ifz TaZis/z

,in the Boa

’leian M y . 5 89 ]

ARRAKAN DESCRI BED.

The fort O f Chatgaon i s an appu rtenance o f the

k ingdom o f Arracan,

'wh i ch is a l arge count ry and

great port o f the e a s t. O ne s ide o f i t i s enc losed by

h igh h i l l s wh i ch jo in the m ounta ins o f Kashm i r,Ch i na

,

Cathay,

and Mahachin . Anothe r s ide i s bo rdered by

the ocean . Deep r i ve rs and wide oceans en close the

weste rn s ide , wh ich adj o ins Bengal . The l and and wate r

rou te s al i ke fo r en tering the count ry are ve ry d ifficu l t .

I ts conques t i s an extrem e ly h ard t ask . The people

o f the count ry are cal led Maghs,— wh ich i s an abbrev ia

t ion o f M zr/zam il- i—sag ( = despicable dog) , accord ing to

[the p rove rb] The name descends from‘

heaven .

” They

d o no t admi t in to the i r count ry any o the r t r i be than

the Chri s t ians,who v is i t i t by the sea- rou te fo r pur

p oses o f t rade . Good e lephants abound ; horses a re

total ly wan t ing. This wri te r has heard from the Khan

Khanan [Mi r J um l a] that the e lephan ts o f Arracan

s u rpass al l othe r e lephants in beauty o f appearance and

characte r. Some m ines o f m e tal s are said to ex i st in

the count ry. The inhabi tan ts have no defin i te fai th o r

re l ig ion,bu t

"

incl ine [a l i tt le] to the H indu creed . The i r

learned m en are cal led Raw/is they do no t t ransgress

THE FER ING I P IRATES OF CHATGAON

the gu idance o f the l atter in the i r earth ly affai rs . The

Raw/is have the ways o f the Sew /a bs [= Shwetambar

J a ins]. The Raj ahs o f th i s coun t ry hold pre-eminence

ove r other l owe r ru le rs, by reason o f the i r l arge forces ,

spac ious coun t ry, and great splendou r. The Gove rnors

o f the ports'

and i s l ands o f the eas t a lways show respect

and m eekness to them . These Raj ahs are so proud and

fool i sh that as l ong as the sun does not decl ine from

the zen i th they do no t pu t the i r heads ou t o f the doors

o f the i r pal ace they say,“The sun i s ou r younge r

brothe r. How can we hold Court wh i le he i s ove r our

heads and we be l ow h im ?”

In the i r decrees and le tte rs

they gi ve themse l ves the t i tles o f E lde r brothe r o f theSun ,

Lo rd of the Golden House and Wh i te E lephant.O f the i r offspr ing that base-born son i s cons idered the

prope r he i r to the throne whom they have begotten on

the pe rson o f the i r own s i ste r. A fte r the conques t o f

Chatgaon [by Shai s ta Khan] i t was found from the

records o f the p l ace that the year was wri tten as 1

O n be ing asked.

to accoun t fo r the date , the people

s a id that the beginn ing o f the era was the beginn ing o f

the i r royal dynasty, and that the aforesa id years had

passed s ince the es tabl i shmen t o f the ru le o f these

Raj ahs . Th is fac t m akes i t. c lear that in th is l ong per iod

[o f I 1 2 7 years] no fore igne r had su cceeded in conque r

ing the country, and no outs ide r had got in to i t. The ir

cannon are beyond number ing,the i r flot i l l a (nawwam )

Th is sho uld be 1 0 2 7 . In the Burmese vulgar era , used also in Arracan,

1 02 7

c orre sponds to 1 665 A.D . Benga l a nd Agr a Gazetteer ) .

1 3

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

exceeds the waves o f the sea [in numbe r]. Most o f

the i r sh ips are g/zurabs and j a/bas ; Mi a/us and d/zum s

a re l arge r than gfiurabs ; these are so s trongly made o f

t imber wi th a hard co re (as e/zob- i that the bal l s

o f zambum é s and sm al l cannon cannot p ie rce them .

[Latte rly] the Raj ah appo inted the Fe ringi p i ra tes top l unde r Bengal , and hence he d id no t send the Arracan

flee t fo r the pu rpose .

OLD CHATGAON DESCRIBED.

Chatgaon i s a t ract adj acent to Bengal and Arracan

a l i ke . F rom Jagd ia, whe re the re was a [Mughal] ou t

post, to Chatgaon lay a wi lderness . On the sk i rt o f

the h i l l was a dense j ungle , wi thou t any ve st ige o f

habi tat ion or l iv ing be ing. The r i ve r Fen i,r i s ing in the

h i l l s o f Tipperah , passes by Jagd ia“and fal l s into the

o cean . N ine ty-n ine mi l/a/zs,which contain water even

in seasons othe r than the mons oons,in te rvene between

Fen i and Chatgaon . A fte r the captu re o f Chatgaon ,

bridges (p24!) we re bu i l t by Sha is ta Khan’s orde r over

a ll these nu lla/zs . From Dacca to Chatgaon s ix creeks

(ea/ear) have to be crossed in boats o ne o f them is the

r i ve r o f S ripu r, wh ich i s so broad tha t a boat can per

form on ly one trip across it and back in the whole day .

On the bank o f the Karnafuli r i ve r are some h i l l s,

h igh and l ow,s i tuated c lo se to each othe r. The l ower

h i l l s have been heaped ove r wi th earth and ra ised to the

leve l o f the highe r ones al l these h i l l s h ave been scarped

In Rennell’

s A tla s , Shee t 1, j agaia is on the L ittle Fen i River.

1 96 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

a l ofty and s trong fort, oppos i te the fort o f Chatgaon

i t i s fu l l of defence -mater ial s.

Every year the Raj ah o f Arracan sends to Chat

gaon a hundred sh i ps fu l l o f sold iers and art i l le ry mun i

t i ons,wi th a new Ka ram/éari (comm andant, superinten

v

dent) , when the forme r Kara z/zkar i,wi th the sh i ps o f

last year, retu rns to Arracan . There i s a lways some

t rustworthy re l at i ve or fai thfu l c l ansman o f the Raj ah

in charge o f the gove rnment o f Chatgaon. He i ssues

gold co ins stamped wi th h i s own name at th i s pl ace

and i ts dependenc ies .

In bygone t imes, one of the Su l tans of Bengal

named Fakhrudd in fu l ly conquered Chatgaon,and bu i l t

an embankment (a!) from Chandpur,Oppos i te the ou t

pos t o f S ri pu r ac ross the r iver, to Chatgaon. The

m osques and tombs whi ch are s i tuated in Chatgaon were

bu i l t in Fakhruddin’s t ime . The [ex ist ing] ru ins prove i t.

CHATGAON IN MAC H HANDS .

When Bengal was annexed to the Mughal empi re ,

and inc l uded in the records of the qann o department,Chatgaon was ente red in the pape rs o f Bengal as one o f

the defau l t ing unse ttled [d i s tr i c ts]. When the mu tarad

a’is o f Bengal d id no t real ly wish to pay any man whose

salary was due , they gave h im an ass ignment on the

revenue of Chatgaon ! Towards the end o f the ru le o f

the Bengal kings and the early years of the conques t

o f Bengal by the Mughal s, when great confus ion pre

va i led in the country, Chatgaon aga in fe l l in to the hands

THE FERING I P IRATES OF CHATGAON 1 97

o f the Maghs, who d id no t leave a b i rd in the a i r or a

beast on the l and [from Chatgaon] to Jagdia, the fron

t ier o f Bengal , increased the desol at ion , th i ckened the

jungles, destroyed the a l,and c losed the road so we l l

that even the snake and the wind cou ld no t pass

through . They bu i l t a strong fort, and left a l arge fleet

to gu ard i t . Ga in ing composu re o f m ind from the

s trength o f the pl ace , they tu rned to Bengal , and began

to pl unde r i t. None o f the V i ce roys o f Bengal [before

Shai sta Khan] u nde rtook to put down th i s t rouble and

pun i sh them . Onl y Ibrah im Khan Fat i h J ang, in the

Empe ror j ahangi r’s re ign,resol ved to conque r Chatgaon

and destroy the wi cked Maghs . [Thi s exped i t ion

fai led ]

DOINGS OF THE P I RATES OF CHATGAON .

F rom the re ign o f the Empe ro r Akbar, whenBengal was annexed to the Mughal empire, to the t ime

o f the conques t o f Chatgaon du ring the Vi ce royal ty o f

Sha i s ta Khan , Arracan pi rates,both Magh and Fe r ingi

,

used constant ly to [come] by the wate r- rou te and

p l unde r Bengal . They carried o ff the H indus and

Musl ims,male and female

, great and smal l,few and

m any , that they cou ld se i ze , p ie rced the pa lms ~ o f the ir

hands , passed th in canes th rough the holes , and th rew

t hem o ne above anothe r unde r the deck o f the i r sh i ps .

In the same manner as gra in is flung to fowl, eve ry

m om and even ing they threw down from above uncook

e d r i ce to the capt i ve s as food . O n the i r re tu rn to the ir

homes , they employed the few‘

hard-l i ved capt ives that


su rvi ved [th i s t reatment] in t i l l age and Othe r hard tasks,

accord ing to the i r powe r,with great d i sgrace and in su l t .

O thers we re sold to the Dutch , Engl i sh , and French.

‘

m e rchan ts at the ports o f the Deccan .

Somet ime s they brought the capt i ves fo r sale at a

h igh pri ce to Taml uk , and the port o f Baleshwar, wh i ch i s

a part o f the Impe ri a l dom in i ons and a dependency o f

the prov ince o f Or i ssa . The m anne r o f the sale was

th i s —The wre tches used to bring the p ri sone rs in the i r

sh ips,anchor at a short d i s tance from the shore o f

Taml uk or Baleshwar,and send a m an ashore wi th the

news. The l ocal offi ce rs,fear ing les t the pi rate s shou ld

comm i t any depredat ion or k idnapp ing the re, s tood on

the shore wi th a numbe r o f fo l l owe rs,and

'sent a m an

w i th a sum o f money to the p i rates . If the term s we re

sat i sfactory,the pi rates took the m oney and sen t the

pr i soners w i th the man . On ly the Fe r ingi p i rates soldthe i r pr i soners. But the Magh s em ployed al l the ir

capt i ves in agri cu l tu re and othe r k inds O f serv i ce . Manyh igh -born persons and Sayyads , many pure and Sayyad

born women,we re compe l led to undergo the d i sgrace o f

the S l avery, se rv i ce or concubinage (faras/z w a sukaba t

o f these wicked m en . Mus l im s unde rwen t such oppres

s ion in th i s region of war (da rn ed -barb) as they had no t

to suffe r in Europe . I t was less in some Gove rnors’

t ime and more in others

A s they for a l ong t ime cont inual ly pract i sed

p i racy,the i r country p rospered ,

and the i r number in

c reased, wh i le Bengal dai ly became m ore and more

‘


Once Ashu r Beg, an office r o f Prince Shuj ’a was

c ru i s ing wi th abou t 200 boats,when a few o f the

e nemy’

s flee t, in number no t even o ne- tenth O f the

Imper i a l flot i l l a, came in S igh t. Ashu r Beg was mortal l yfr ightened ; in great agi tat ion he c r ied to the mdnj/zi o r

capta in o f his sh ip,“Ai éa

'

zi cis/z bea’e/z” i f The wary/i i

i n pe rplex i ty asked ,Jil iry

'

iu whence can I get brothat su ch a t ime ? J us t now these p i rates wi l l co ok a

n i ce broth fo r you Ashu r Beg in agi tat i on and'bewi lde rmen t kep t up c ry ing,

“Y ou confounded fe l l ow,

gi ve risk,

”and the m i mj /zi went on reply ing,

“ I haven o t got i t wi th m e . VVhence can I bring i t ?

”

[The fact

i s] sa i lors use the te rm wa rs to mean,

‘backing the

boat’; Ashu r Beg in h is terror ‘

had forgotten the word

and used ( is/1 instead ! In no othe r part o f the Mughal

empi re has any ne ighbouring infide l [k ing] the power

to oppress and dom inee r ove r Mus l ims bu t rathe r do

[infide l kings] Show al l k inds o f subm iss ion and hum i l i ty

in order to save the i r homes and l ands,and the [Mughal]

o ffi cers of those places engage in making new acqu i s i

t ions by conques t. In Be'

nga l a l one the oppos i te i s

the case ; here the mere preservat ion o f the Imper i aldom in i on is cons ide red a great boon. Those Governors

in whose t imes these pi rac ies were less frequent, con

gratu lated themse l ves and exul ted a t i t . None o f them

tried to stop the path o f oppress ion and dom inat ion

of th i s wi cked t r i be through the i r fear o f the necessary

Ho, bro ther, give [me ] bro th . Ba z’

is the Dacca pronunciation of B/uu‘

.

THE FERINGI P IRATES OF CHATGAON 201

expend i tu re and exert i on,weakne ss o f fa i th and t ru st ,

and the [fal se] not ion o f the i r l ack o f powe r.

ROUTES OF THE P I RATES .

In J ahangi r’

s re ign ,the Magh pi rate s u sed to come

to Dacca fo r pl unde r and abduct ion,by the rad ial: wh i ch

leaves the Brahmapu t ra, passes by Kh i z i rpu r

,and j o ins

the m i l/a/z o f Dacca. Khi z i rpu r is s i tuated o n the

bank o f the Brahmapu tra , o n a narrow embankment

(d ) . In the monsoons al l the l and except the s i tes o f

the house s i s cove red wi th wate r. The Gove rnors o f

Dacca , the refore , at the end o f the monsoons and

du r ing the winte r, wh i ch was the season o f the com ing

o f the p i rates,used to go to Kh iz i rpu r wi th an army

and encamp the re . A fte r some years , the d ried

up,and many p l aces in the t rack o f the p i rates in the

Brahmaputra ri ve r a l so be came fordable . Thus the i r

[wate r] route to Dacca was c losed o n th i s s ide,and

restr i cted to the s ide o f J at rapu r* and Bi krampu r.

Recen t ly as the pi rates cou ld more eas i ly carry ou t

the i r ch ief des ign o f kidnapp ing men in the v i l l ages

o f Dacca and other pargana/zs , they d id no t exe rt

themse l ves to reach Dacca town.

When the p i rates came from Chatgaon to mole st

Bengal , they passed by Bhalua ,a part o f the Impe r ial

dom in i ons , o n the r igh t, and the i s l and o f Sondip, be l ong

ing to the zam indar D ilawwar,o n the left, and reached

the v i l l age o f Sangram -garh . [From th i s po in t] if theyIn Rennell, Shee t 1

, Jattrapnr is given 30 miles wes t of Dacca.


w i shed to pl unde r Jessore,Hughli, and Bhushna

,they

moved u p the Ganges ; if they wanted to raid Bikram

pur, Sunargaon, and Dacca,they proceeded u p the

Brahmapu tra. Sangramgarh'x‘ i s the l and at the ex tre

m i ty Of the i s l and de l ta) wh ich conta in s Dacca and

o the r towns and v i l l age s . In fron t o f i t . the Gange s

and the Brahmapu tra un i te . The m ingled s tream,

a fte r pass ing by Bhalua and Sondip,fal l s in to the sea.

I n anc ien t t imes,a m an named Sangram had bu i l t a

fort here to repe l the Magh ra ids into Bengal . In

H ind i a fort is cal led a ga rfi. By the combinat ion o f

these two words the name o f the p l ace has been formed .

If a fort we re bu i l t he re and stored w i th weapons ,mun i t ions

,and m ate r i al s of defence

,and a l arg e force

and we l l -equ i pped flot i l l a kept he re , the Oppress ion Of

the pi rates and the ra ids o f the Maghs into Bengal cou ld

most probably be preven t ed .

FERINGI P I RATES

Many Fer ingi s l i ved happi ly at Chatgaon-

1 and

u sed to come to the Imper i a l dom in i on fo r pl unde r

and abduct ion . Half the i r booty they gave to the Raj ah

o f Arracan ,and the other hal f they kept . Th is tr ibe

was cal led H armad i They had 100 sw ift j a léa boats

N o trace of Sangramgar is found in Renne ll The A lamgim am a/z, p. 943, says

that its name was changed to Alamgirnagar, and tha t it was 2 1 kos from Sripur (p . 944)I t must have been near Rennell

’

s fli end zgwnge . Khafi Khan calls it Sangramnagar, ii. 1 88.

1 The ir se ttlement was called F er ing i-banda r or Ba nda r . on the south bank of the

Ka rnafuli, very clo se to its mouth .1 Th is word is evidently a rmad , a corruption of a rmada : Ar mad is used in the

sense of fleet in the It'

a lz’

ma t-i-tayy ii a t.


arrears o f [th i s] revenue . We have'

wi th us papers Of

the d i v i s i on o f the booty v i l lage by vi l l age fo r the l ast

40 years .”O ne can infe r from th is answe r t he cond i

t i on Of th ings and the weakness o f the Gove rnors of“

Be ngal . The com i ng ove r o f the Fe ringi s gave compo sure to the heart s o f the peop le o f Bengal . Two

thousand rupees we re presented from the Nawwab’s own

pu rse as reward to Capta in Moor and the othe r Fe ring iswho had come from Chatgaon,

and from the Imper i alTreasury a month ly st i pend o f Rs . 500 was se tt led on

the Capta in,and othe r com fortable sal aries on othe rs o f

the tr ibe.

THE CONQUEST OF CHATGAON, 1666 A.D.

'

( From S/zi/zaouddin Tabs/2’

s account as preserved in

the Bod/eia fz M s . 5 89 ,supplemented by Me

Alamgir

DECAY OF THE BEN GAL FLOT I LLA.

UR ING the Vi ce royal ty Of Pr ince Shuj a , w hen great

confus ion was caused by h i s negl igence , the extort io n

and v iolence O f the c le rks ( z/zutasaddis ) ru ined the

parganahs ass igned fo r m ainta in ing the naww ara

Many [naval ] ofli cers and workmen hold

ing j agir or s t i pend we re ove rpowe red by pove rty and

s tarvation. Day by day t he i r d i s tress and ru in inc reased .

W hen Mir J um l a came to Bengal as Vi ce roy, he wished

to m ake a new arrangement o f the expend i tu re and

tank/za/z of the flot i l l a,wh i ch amoun ted to 14 l akhs o f

rupees . Afte r abo l i sh ing the o ld system,and j us t befo re .

beginn ing the re-organ i sat ion,he was ove rcome by the

s pel l s o f Assam d ied o f the Assam queen ’s wi tch

c raft]. Many naval O ffi ce rs and men too pe r i shed in

the exped i t ion so that at M i r Jum la’

s death the flot i l l a

was u tte rly ru ined .

[Early In 1 664] the p i rates came to Bagad i a , a

d ependency o f Dacca,and defeated Munawwar Khan

,

z am indar, who was stat ioned there wi th the re l i cs o f the

naww ara— a few broken and rotten boats— and who bo re

the h igh t i t le o f cru i s ing adm i ra l (sa rdar- i—sa irab) .

M unawwar fled in confus ion. I smai l Khan Tarin and

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

o the r N awwabi o ffi ce rs, whom [Shais ta Khan’s son and

Depu ty Gove rnor at Dacca] Aqidat Khan had sent’

w ith

a sm al l force to Munawwar, prevented the crew O f the i r

own boats from re treat ing by turn ing them round. The

c rew,on see ing the i r passenge rs ave rse to fl ight, j um ped

into the sea and swam ashore to safe ty. I sm ai l Khanand his comrade s bold ly m ade a firm s tand and repe l led

wi th the i r bows and guns the enemy who had advanced

t o se ize them . A m uske t- Shot grazed the leg o f I sm ailKhan . The cu rren t d rove the i r sa i lorless boats to the

bank,and they escaped destru ct ion . The few boats

that st i l l be l onged to the aawwa ra we re thus lost, and

i ts name alone remained in Bengal .

S I -IAISTA KHAN ’S RESOLVE TO SUPPRESS P IRACY.

On 8th March , 1 664, the new V i ceroy, Shais ta

Khan,en te red Rajmahal [the wes tern capi tal o f Bengal] .

When he learnt that the cause o f the ravages o f the

p i rates was the powe r and equ i pment o f the i r flee t and

the d i l apidat ion of the Bengal flee t, he gave u rgen t

orders to Muhammad Beg [Abakash, the darog/za o f the

nawwara] to res tore the flot i l l a,wrote to Aqidat Khan

al so [on the subject], accep ted the sugges t ions o f

Muhammad Beg,appoin ted at h i s reques t Qaz i Sam u as

mus/zarraf O f the nawwara,and sen t them back to

Dacca wi th robes o f honour and presents. As t imbe r

and Sh i pwrights we re requ i red fo r repai r ing and fi tt ingo ut the Sh ips,to every maa za o f the prov ince that had

t imber and carpenters,bai l iffs (ma/zasal) we re sen t wi th


Arracan,giv ing hal f the i r booty from Bengal to h im ,

the

N awwab sen t Sha ikh Z iaudd in Y usuf,o ne Of h i s own

offi ce rs,as da rog/za o f the port O f Ladhiko l

,

” whi ch i s

near Dacca and where Fe ringi me rchants,engaged in

the sal t trade , l i ve he orde red the Shaikh to m anage

that these Fe r ingi s shou ld wri te to the i r b re th ren,the

p ira tes of Chatgaon,O ffe r ing assu rances and hopes o f

Impe ri a l favours and rewards,and thus make them

come and ente r the Mughal se rvi ce. Z iaudd in,too

,was

to send conc i l i ato ry le tte rs [o f h i s own] to them .

SHAISTA KHAN .CR EATES A N EW FLOT I LLA.

O n 1 3th Decembe r, 1 664 Sha is ta Khan fi rst

ente red Dacca . He devoted al l h i s ene rgy to the rebu i ld

ing o f the flot i l l a : no t fo r a moment d id he forget to

matu re p l ans fo r assembl ing the c rew, prov id ing the i r

rat ions and needments,and col lect ing the m ate r i al s fo r'

s h i p-bu i ld ing and Sh i pwrights . Hakim Muhammad

H usain,mansabdar, an o ld

,able

,learned, t rus tworthy and

v i rtuou s se rvan t Of the N awwab, was appointed head o f

the Sh i p-bu i ld ing department. The ma s/taw ny? o f the

flot i l l a was gi ven ,v ice Qaz i S amu

,to Muhammad Muq

im ,an expe rt

,c leve r

,and hardwork ing Offi ce r se rv ing in

Bengal , whom Mir j um l a had le ft a t Dacca in supe r

v i s ion o f the rzaww ara at the t ime o f the Assam

exped i ti on. Kishor Das,an Impe r i a l Officer

,a we l l

informed and expe r ienced cle rk, was appo inted to have

Charge o f the pa rgana/zs o f the fl a re/wa rn,and the

In Rennell, Shee t 1, Lurjcool, 1 3 m iles west of Chandpour.

THE CONQU EST OF CHATGAON 209

s t ipend o f the j agi rs ass igned to the [naval ] Office rs and

m en .To al l pos ts o f th i s departm en t exper t offi ce rs

w e re appointed . Through the cease less exe rt i ons of/

the

N awwab , in a short t ime nearly 300 Sh i ps we re bu i l t andequ ipped wi th [the ne cessary] m ate ri a l s . Those w ho

h ad seen the [sorry] p l igh t o f the na s a ra afte r the

d e ath of Mir J um l a, can unde rs tand the great change

effec ted by Sha is ta Khan in a short t ime .

SECURING BASES FOR THE WAR.

Sangramgarh i s S i tu ated at the point o f l and whe rethe Ganges and the Brahmaputra un i te . The N awwab

o rde red Muhamm ad Shar if, the l ate fauj dar o f Hughli,

to go to Sangramgarh as taa fza/zdar, wi th many men ,

offi ce rs,and guns , and bu i ld a fort the re . Abul Hassan

was posted the re with 200 sh i ps to pat rol and check the

p i rates . Muhamm ad Beg Abakash, wi th a h und red sh ip s ,was stat ioned at Dhapa ,

wi th orde rs to go and re inforce

Abu l Hassan wheneve r he heard o f the com ing o f the

p i rates .

A wide h igh road (a!) was bu i l t from Dhapa* to

Sangramgarh , so that even in the m onsoons ho rse and

foot cou ld p roceed o n l and from Sangramgarh to Dacca,a d i s tance o f 1 8 £305 .

[Sond ip w as a halfway ho use be tween Sangramgarh

and Chatgaon ,and fo rmed an exce l lent base . Hence

the N awwab de c ided to wre s t i t from i ts z am i ndar

D ilawwar before send ing the exped i t i on to Chatgaon

The Site o f Dhapa is given in Rennell (Shee t 1 2 ) as D/zape ki Kz'

la .

1 4

2 IO H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

O n 1 2 th Novembe r,166 5 , Sond ip was conque red and a

Mughal thanak es tabl i shed the re ]

THE FERINGIS DESERT TO THE MUGHAL S IDE .

Eve r s ince his com ing to Bengal the N awwab had[been p l ann ing how to put down the root o f d i s tu rbance

,

the Fe r ingi p i rates, e i the r by winn ing them ove r or by

S l ay ing them . As al ready narrated,Shai kh Z iaudd in

Y usu f told the Fer ingi s o f Ladhiko l what the N awwab

had sa id ,and they wrote to the i r p i rat i ca l bre thren o f

'Chatgaon reassu r ing them and ask ing them to vi s i t the

N awwab . When the N awwab was m ak ing h i s progres s’

[from Raj mahal] to Dacca, the [Portuguese P] Capta in

o f the port o f Hughli inte rv iewed h im on the way. The

N awwab, afte r grac ing him wi th favou rs, asked h im to

wri te to the Fer ingi p i rates o f Chatgaon tempt ing themto come ove r to the N awwab

’

s se rv i ce. When he reach

ed Dacca,the Captain O f Tamluk al so was o rde red to

w r i te le tte rs o f invi tat ion to them . When these succe s

s i ve lette rs arr i ved at Chatgaon,and the news o f the

c onques t o f Sond ip and the e s tabl i shment O f a M ughal

Zkanalz the re spread abroad , sp ies reported these m atte rs

to the k ing o f Arracan. The news th rew him into

te rror, and he wrote to h i s unc le’s son

,the Gove rnor

o f Chatgaon,to l ook careful ly to the defence o f the

count ry and fort,conc i l i ate the Fe r ingi p i rates , and send

to Arracan the ir'

fam ilies and ch i ld ren,and informed

him that a l arge flee t equ ipped fo r battle was be ingshortly sent to Chatgaon fo r re inforcement. As he had

2 I 2 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

F rom Jagdia, the fron t ie r o f Mughal Bengal , to

Chatgaon,a d i s tance o f 30 leos

,is an u tterly desol ate

wi lderness . The exped i t ionary force wou ld have to be

s upp l ied wi th prov i s ions [from Bengal] t i l l after Chatgaon

was reached ,bes ieged ,

and captured. As the Bengal:

c rew we re mortal ly afra id o f the Magh flot i l l a, pro

~

v i s ions cou ld no t be sent by wate r, though the mean s

o f t ransport in th i s prov ince are confined to boats .

Hence , when in j ahangi r’s re ign ,

Ibrah im Khan Fat i hJ ang dec ided to a ttack Chatgaon

,fo r two years before

se t ting ou t he col lected prov i s ions at Bhalua and Jagd ia .

COMPOS IT ION OF THE EXPED IT ION .

I t was dec ided that the N awwab’

s son,Bu zurg

Ummed Khan ,wi th t roopers shou ld conduct the

c ampaign ,wh i le the N awwab would l ook after the work

o f keeping the army suppl ied w ith provi s ions. If the

s iege we re protracted he wou ld qu ick ly go and j o in h is .

son. On 24th De cember,* 1 665 , at a moment auspi c ious.

fo r making a beginn ing, Bu z u rg Umm ed Khan s tarted

from Dacca. Unde r h im we re appointed Ikhtisas

Khan ,a comm ande r o f extra troopers )

Sarandaz Khan ,a commande r of (800 t roopers) ,

F arhad Khan, a comma nde r o f ( 1 50 t ro ope rs) ,

Qarawwal Khan ,a commande r o f (800 t roopers) ,

Raj ah Subal S ingh Sisod ia , a commander o f

The Alamgim am a li , p. 948, gives 2 5 th December as the date , and says that the

e xpeditionary force was composed of “Buzurg Ummed Khan w ith two thousand trooperso f the N awwab

’

s own taé z'

m m ( followers) , Syed Ikhtisas Khan Barha,Subal Singh,

Sisodia, M iana Khan, Karn Khan and some o thers .

THE CONQUEST OF CHATGAON 2 1 3

700 t roopers) , Ibn Husain, da rog/za o f the naww ara, a

commander o f 800 (200 t roope rs) , Mi r Murtaz a, do rogao

o f the art i l lery,a commande r o f 800 ( 1 50 t roope rs) ,

othe r Impe r i al offi ce rs wi th the i r fol l owings , al l the nag

dis and a /zadis except a few who we re engaged in spec i al

works,and troo pe rs in the Nawwab

’s pay. All

the amirs,mansabda rs

,sardars

,and j amaa

’ars we re

p resented wi th robes o f honou r,horses

,swords, and

shie lds , accord ing to the i r ranks. Mi r Abu l Fath wasappointed diwan and Muhammad Khal i l paymaster

a nd newswri ter o f the force. From Dacca M i r Murtaza,

and from So nd ip Ibn Husa in,Muhammad Beg Abakash,

Munawwar Khan z am indar and othe r z am indars of the

aawwa ra,and Haiat Khan j amaa

’ar wi th the Nawwab

’

s

so ld ie rs,who had accompa n ied h im to the conques t of

Sond ip, we re orde red to go to Noakhali,j o in Farhad

Khan and Capta in Moor and othe r Fe r ingi p i rates who

had come from Chatgaon and en te red the Impe r ialse rvi ce , and then proceed o n l and and sea as the van o f

Buzu rg Ummed Khan ’s army .

Askar Khan,who had been posted to Ghoraghat,

re tu rned Opportune ly and was s tat ioned at Dacca.

The A lamgirnam a/z,p . 948, a dds : Kama ], a former Arracanese king ’s son,

who in Shah Jahan '

s re ign had fled to Dacca from the oppression of the present k ing.was ordered to accompany M ir Murtaza w ith . a band of the Maghs who lived a t Dacca ,on the assurance tha t he w ould be made ch ief of h is tribe . A letter (pa rwa na/zinviting submission to the Mughals and offering concilia tory favours from the ImperialGovernment, was w ritten to the Governo r o f Cha tgaon and sent to him with one of theM aghs.


The Imper i al flee t unde r Ibn Husain cons isted o f

2 88 sh ips,as descri bed be l ow

G/zzcrao 2 1 j a loa

So lo 3 Bac/zari

Kusa 1 57 P arenda

NAWWAB’

S VIGOROUS EXERT ION S.

Before th i s M ir Murtaza had col lected many axes

at Dacca . From the pa rgafl a/zs , too, axes had been

brought by i ssu ing pa rzvafl a llzs

,so that several thousands

o f them had been col le cted . These we re sent w i th the

exped i t ion fo r c lear ing the j ungle . Eve ry day the

Nawwab wrote to the offi ce rs of the exped i t ion le t te rs

fu l l o f plans and advi ce , and inqu i r ie s addressed to the

Khan about the cond i t ion o f the enemy and the s tate

o f the road. O n the firs t day [when the exped i t ion left

Dacca] the Nawwab stayed outs ide [the harem] t i l l noon ,

and aga in from the t ime o f the asar praye r to o ne

pra/zar o f the n ight, and superv i sed th i s bu s iness .

E ven when he was in the harem ,if any good plan .

s t ruck h im,he at once sent word to the office rs to carry

it ou t . Muhammad Khal i l was ordered to keep h im

d ai ly informed Of the occu rrence s . Shaikh Mubarak,

an exper ienced and t rusted servant, appointed to

command the Nawwab’

s re ta ine rs accompanying Buzu rg

Ummed Khan, was ordered to report a l l the da i ly

96

2

[No t Spec ified] 3

288

. 2 1 6 H I STORICAL ESSAYS

Accord ing to the Nawwab’

s command a llam a}; was

establ i shed o n the r i ve r o f Fen i,under S u l tan Beg,

mansabda r, wi th a cont ingen t of horse and foot. As

the r i ve r o f Fen i j o ins the sea,i t was feared that the

e nemy ’s sh ips would pass up the r i ve r and harass the

Impe r i a l army’s pas sage . It was

,therefore

,de c ided

that ou t o f the comm ande rs a t N oakhal i,Ibn Husa in

shou ld advance wi th the naww am by the sea and

Farhad Khan ,Mi r Murtaza

,and Haiat Khan by l and

,

in aid o f the ”aw n/am . If they cou ld,they shou ld ente r

the Karnafuli r i ve r and occupy its mouth,and al so

a t tack Chatgaon . O therwi se they shou ld s tay in the

ne ighbou rhood and wa i t fo r Bu zu rg Umm ed Khan’s

a rr i val . The j ungle was the reafte r to be cu t a long the

sea s tage by stage , the floti l la to advance by sea and

'

the Khan by i ts -coast in march and hal t the l and and

sea force s we re never to be separated .

These office rs s tarted from N oakhal i . Ibn Husa in

wi th the flot i l l a soon arr ived at the creek o f Khamari a,

two stage s from Chatgaon,and began to cu t the j ungle

before towards Chatgaon and ée/zz'

na’ towards the ad

vancing army. Farhad Khan,Mi r Murtaz a and othe r

commanders o f the l and force too advanced cu tt ing the

j ungle,

and j o ined hands wi th Ibn Husa in o n 2 1 5 t

j anuary, 1 666. Buz urg Ummed Khan who was hasten

ing c learing the j ungle, arri ved wi th the [main] army

w i th in th ree lees o f Khamar i a .

TH E CONQUEST o r CHATGAON 2 1 7

F IRST NAVAL BATTLE,23 rd fan

-na ry.

O n the even ing o f 2 2nd the scout s

(gam ww a/s) o f Ibn Husain brough t news that the

enemy ’s flot il l a h av ing come from Chatgaon was s tay ing

in the c reek o f Katha l i a,s i x hours ’ j ou rney from the i r

p l ace . Ibn Husa i n,afte r inform ing the Impe r ia l and

Nawwabi se rvan ts who we re o n bo ard m ost o f the sh ips ,

go t ready fo r a ct i on . At n ight he sen t a few sh i ps to

t he”

m ou th o f the c reek , te l l ing the passenge rs to keepa good lo ok o ut . Nex t morn

,the scou ts reported tha t

“the enemy’s flot i l l a had started from Katha l i a to figh t

the Im pe r i a l nan/w ard and m ight come imm ed i ate ly .

iIbn Husa in,afte r send ing a man to info rm Bu zu rg

Umm ed Khan o f the m atte r,se t o ut to mee t the enemy ,

rtho ugh the w ind had freshened,and the sea was raging

In bi l l ows th reaten ing to s ink the Im pe r i a l sh ips . Abu l

!Qas im,who was in the sh ip o f Muhamm ad Beg

Abakash,narrates tha t when in th i s tempe s t he nu

ino o red h i s sh i p to j o in Ibn Husa in,o ne o f the Turk ish

sold ie rs s tand ing o n the bank cr ied to M . Beg Abakash

in Turk i, Are you mad

,tha t you pu t you r boat o ut

du r ing t empes t in su ch a deep and te rr i ble sea ?”He

r ep l ied ,

“Brothe r

,if I we re no t m ad

,I shou ld no t have

be com e a so ld ie r l ” Farhad Khan,Mir M urtaz a, and

Hai at Khan advanced by land to co -ope rate wi th the

navy,fol lowing the road c leared by the m en o f the sh i ps .

Tex t g ives 'the 2 4th, w h ich is w rong. A lamgim ama /z, p. 950 , mentions the

2 3rd a s the day o f i the éa ttle.

2 I 8 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

Beyond the c lear ing they cou ld no t go o n account o f

the dens i ty of the j ungle,

Ten gfium bs and 45 j et/bas o f the enemy hove in

s ight and began to d i scharge the i r guns . Capta in Moor

and the othe r Feringis , who led the van, bold ly stee red

the i r sh i ps u p to the enemy, Ibn Husain coming beh ind

t hem . The enemy cou ld no t res i s t the onse t ; the men

o f the i r gkum bs j um ped ove rboard ,and the j aléas

took to fl ight . Ibn Husa in,se iz ing the g/zum bs, wanted

to pu rsue . But the Bengal sa i lors,who had neve r even

seen in the i r m inds the v i s ion o f a v i ctory ove r the

Magh flee t,objected

,say ing that that day

’s v i ctory

the l ike o f wh i ch even centenari ans had no t seen

ought to content them . Ibn Husa in had to y ie ld ;

bu t advanc ing a l i tt le from the spot whe re the gfium bs

had been captu red,he dec ided to stay the re t i l l even

ing and to re tu rn to the c reek o f Khamari a at n ight .

Sudden ly two or th ree sh i ps w i th

we re seen afar o ff. The Maghs , when they left the

Kathal i a creek that morn ing fo r fight and reached the

c reek o f Hurl a cl ose to Kham ari a , in the i r pride left

the i r l arge sh i ps— cal led Had /u and a’lzum

,—and [some]

o the r sh ips here , and sen t on on ly ten gkum bs‘and 45

j albas as suffic ient fo r [defeat ing and] captu r ing the

Impe ri a l floti l l a. The two or th ree sh i ps wi th flags

now seen we re among those kfialus left in the c reek.

Ibn Husa in encouraged h i s c rew,say ing,

“Now

that the fugi t i ve j a lbas have j o ined the i r l arge r fleet ,

the enemy have su re ly been se ized wi th te rror. I t

to

toO H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

and t rumpets , advanced towards the enemy fi r ing gun s

and in th i s orde r F i rs t the $4 155,then the g/zum bs , and

l as t the j a/b/zs and kosas s ide by S ide . The enemy losta ll co urage and fi rmness

,and thought o n ly o f flying.

They tu rned the head s o f the i r l arge r Sh ips away fromthe Impe r i al i s ts , attached the i r j a/bas -to them

,and

began to tow back these big sh ips , fighting dur ing the i r

fl igh t.

Ibn Husain wi thout th row ing away cau t ion o r

mak ing rash haste advanced in h is previous form at ion.

A t l as t a t abou t 3 P . M .,the enemy ente red the mou th

o f the Ka rnafuli,reached the i s l and in m id s tream in

fro nt o f Chatgaon fort,and d rew up the i r sh i ps o ff the

bank o n whi ch Chatgaon s tood . The Impe r i a l flee t

too came to the Karnafuli and se i zed i ts mou th . O n the

[furthe r] s ide o f the Karnafuli,near the mou th and c l ose

to the v i l l age ca l led Fe r ing i -bandar, whe re the Fe r ingipIrateS had the i r houses

,the enemy had bu i l t three

bambo o stockades o n the brink o f the wate r, and fi l led

them wi th art i l le ry , many Te l ingas (as the fighting m en

o f Arracan are ca l led ) and two e lephants, in p reparat ion

for fight. ~When the Impe r ia l flot i l l a ente red the m outho f the Karnafuli

,these forts opened fire on them wi th

muske ts and guns. Ibn Husain sen t most o f his sh ips

up the r i ve r and m any o f the sold ie rs by the bank , and

attacked them . Afte r mak ing some va in e fforts the

garr i son o f the s tockades took to fl ight. The M ughals

burned the forts and re tu rned .

THE CONQUEST OF CHATGAON h)

[0

r-d

ARRAGAN NAVY ANN IH ILATED .

N ow with a st rong heart and go od ho pe , Ibn

H usa in dashed upon the enemy’

s sh ips . Capta in Mdo r

and othe r Fe r ingi p i rates , the Nawwab’

s Office rs [s uch

as] Muhammad Beg Abakash and Munaww a r Khan

z am indar, c ame swiftly from d ifferen t S ides . A great

fight was fought. F i re wa s,o pened [o n the Mughals ]

from the fort of Chatgaon al so . At l as t the breeze o f

v i ctory blew o n the banne rs o f the Musl im s. The

e nemy we re v anqu i shed ; som e o f the i r sa i lo rs and

sold ie rs j um ped ove rboard ; some remain ing in the i r

sh i ps surrende red as pr i sone rs . Mo s t o f the fo rme r

carr ied O ff the i r l i ves , o n ly some be ing d rowned . Many

we re S l a in by the sword s,arrows

,and Spears o f the

v ictors . A few,reach ing the bank ,

carried the new s to

the fort. Many o f the e nemy’

s sh ips we re s unk by thefi re or ramm ing o f the Mughal fleet the rest , 1 35 sh ips ,we re captu red by the Impe r i a l i s ts* and co ns is ted o f

Kha lu 2 Kosa 1 2

G/zurab 9 f alba 67 [Sho uld be 68]fungi 2 2 2 ”

Mean t ime , Bu z u rg Ummed Khan,hearing o f the

n aval batt le , hastened to the ne ighbou rhood o f Chat

gaon. The c/zawkz’

a’a rs o f the fort info rm ed the

The Ope ra t ions in the Ka rnafuli a re thus describe d in the A lamg in mzn a /z,

p.

9 5 2 [On 2 4th Janua ry, ] Ibn Husa in w it h the Impe ria l flee t entered the Ka rnafu lir iver and a t tacked the enemy'

s flee t tha ti

had fled there . A seco nd te rrible ba ttle wasfo ugh t fo r two p rafm rs o f the day . At las t the Imperial is ts ga ined the victo ry, and

th e enemy fled , many o f them be ing killed,many o thers ta ken priso ner

,many drowned

a fter jumping o ver-board.

N I»)

(Q H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

garr i son o f the near approach o f the Mughal army .

Thi s news and the spectacle o f the v i c tory o f the Im

pe r i a l flee t st ruck su ch te rror into the hearts o f the

garri son and so ld ie rs o f the count ry, that in spi te Of

the i r l arge numbe r they fled .

N IGHT AFTER BATTLE .

That n ight* Ibn Husa in

,send ing to the fort two

t rustworthy men ou t o f those taken pri sone r in the sh i ps,

wrote to the qz'

laa’ar who represented the Raj ah o f

Arracan,

\Vhy shou ld you need less ly des troy yourse lf

a nd you r fam i ly ? Before you are forc ibly se ized and

sacr ifi ced to ou r sv'

vords, gi ve up yo u r fort, and save

y ou r l ife and prope rty . The gz'

laa’ar

,fee l ing h im se lf

he lpless and in need o f protect ion ,sent back the rep ly

that he should be gran ted re spi te fo r the n ight and that

next morn ing he would adm i t t hem .

The p. 9 5 1 , says After the vic to ry the Imperia l flee thalted in the Ka rnafuli below the fo rt of Cha tgaon. Some of the Feringis o f Cha tgaonwho had rema ined there

,and many [p. 95 2 ] o ther Feringis who ‘

a t th is time had comefrom Arracan to a id them, interview ed Ibn Husain. Captain Moo r

,who accompanied the

Impe rial fo rce s in this e xped ition , d id excellent se rvice . Nex t day [2 5 th j anuary, ]Buzurg Ummed Khan arrived a t the foo t of the fort o f Cha tgaon w ith the rest o f the

a rmy. The Impe rial forces by land and s ea enc ircled the fort. The garrison, afte r

mak ing grea t exertions, found tha t they could no t res ist the Mughal a rmy, and a t lastso ught safe ty. The second day of the s iege , a6th January , 1 666, the Impe ria l army gainedpossess ion of the fort , the whole province of Cha tgaon , and the entire artillery and na vyo f the place [p. 9 53 Tne Governo r o f Cha tgaon, who wa s the son o f the Arracan

k ing’s uncle, was taken prisoner w ith o ne son and some o ther relat ives, and nearly 350 meno f the tribe , 1 32 sh ips of war, guns made o f bronze and iron, many ma tchlocksand zambu ra/lc‘s (camel p ieces) much sho t and powder, o the r artillery materials , and threee lephants , were captured . La rge numbers of the peasants of Bengal who had beenc arried off and kept prisoner here , were now released from the Magh oppression and

re turned to the ir homes.

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

robes,horses

,and e lephants

,d i s tr i bu ted alm s to the

poor, and orde red the m us i c o f j oy to p l ay . W eal th

beyond m easure was gi ven to the Fe r ingi p i rates and

o ne mon th’s pay as bo unty to h i s own officers and the

c rew Of the naww am .

That ve ry day the N awwab sent a despatch on the

v i c to ry to the Em peror . W hen i t arr i ved at the

Em pe ror orde red j oyo us m us i c to be pl ayed . Rewards

we re gi ven to a l l conce rned in the conque st : the

N awwab was pre sen ted wi th a cost ly'

jewe l led swo rd O f

the Empe ro r, two e lephants , two horses wi th gold t rap

p ings, a Speci al k/zz'

la t,and an Im pe ri al farman o f

p ra ise . Bu zu rg Umm ed Khan,Farhad Khan , M ir;

Murtaza,Ibn Husain ,

and Muhamm ad Beg Abakash

we re prom oted . Ibn H usa in go t the t i tle Of Mansu r j'

Khan,and Mir Murtaza that o f Muj ah id Khan .

N EW GOVERNMENT OF CHATGAON .

O n 2 7 th j anuary; 1 666, Bu zu rg Ummed Khan

ente red the fort o f Chatgaon , reassu red the people that

t he i r l i ves we re safe , and fi rm ly forbade h i s so ld iers to

o ppress the people , in order to cause the p l ace to be

w e l l -popu l ated and prospe rou s .

[He re the Bod le i an Ms . ends abruptly. I gi ve the

concl ud ing port ion o f the campaign from the Alamgir

n rmm/z, pp . 9 53

“At the end of Sh‘a ban [February 1 666 ] accord ing to the Ala mgz'

m am a lz

p . 956 . The Empe ro r o rdered Cha tgaon to be renamed Islamabad.f Mu zafi

'

a r acco rding to the A lawg im ama/z.

t The date is left blank in the Bodle ian Ms. I have supplied it from the AIamgz'

r

THE CONQUEST OF CHATGAON 2 2 5

Buz urg Ummed Khan s tayed at Chatgaon fo r som e

t im e to se ttle i ts affai rs . Miana Khan was sent to the

north o f Chatgaon to reassu re the peasan try and toe s tabl i sh a {bd rm /z. Taj M iana

,with h i s fo l l owe rs and

1 00

"

m uske tee rs,w as appoin ted as t/zanafia’ar and guard

o f the roads from Chatgaon to the bank o f the Fem ri ve r

RAIVIBU TAKEN AND ABANDONED .

The port"o f Rambu* i s four days ’ j ou rney from

Chatgaon ,an

/

d m idway be tween Chatgaon and Arracan .

A large body o f the enemy defended its fort . M ir

M urtaz a was o rde red to that d i rect ion,to w in ove r the

peasantry , learn al l abou t the paths and fe rr ie s o f that

regi on ,and

,if he fo und i t poss ible

,to go to the p l ace

and bes iege i t . The Mir , afte r t rave rs ing d ifficu l t roads ,d ense j ungles , and te rr ible r i ve rs , at the end o f 1 2 days

arr iv ed wi th in one feos O f Rambu . N ext day,at m orn

he s torm ed the fort. The Arracan k ing’s brothe r named

Raw li,who he ld the gove rnmen t o f the pl ace

,t ried h i s

best to Oppose , but be ing worsted, he fled wi th the

garri son to'

a j ungle c lose to a h i l l near the fort. Mi r

M urtaz a givi ng chase S lew many o f them and captu red

m any others . Some o f the enemy, who had taken refuge

in the h i l l,cam e ou t to surrende r, and we re made

p r isone r. Many Musl im ryots o f Bengal,who had heen

kep t as cap t i ve s he re ,were l i be rated and re turned home .

Bu zurg Umm ed Khan hearing Of the v i cto ry and

learn ing that the k ing o f Arracan was send ing a force

Ram oo in Renne ll,Shee t 1 .

to

toO\

H ISTOR ICAL ESSAYS

by l and aga ins t Rambu , despatched Miana Khan,J ama l

Khan D ilzaq ,and many othe rs to re inforce Mi r Mur

taza. The Mi r, afte r h i s v i c tory, had posted a company

o f muske tee rs on the bank o f the r i ve r one and a half

lees from Rambu,to keep watch fo r the enemy’s arr i val .

‘O ne day a large force o f the enemy wi th seven‘

e lephants sudden ly i ssued from the j ungle , fe l l upon the

m uske tee rs,and d i spe rsed some o f them . Mir Murtaz a

'

v'hearing o f i t

,rode with a force to the bank o f the r i ve r,

.and in sp i te o f i ts wate r be ing deep and the enemy’

hav ing begun to make ent renchments on the [othe r]'bank

,bold ly pl unged in with h i s comrades and c rossed

'ove r in safe ty. The enemy, afte r a hard fight , fled . The

v i ctors pu rsued, s lew and captu red many o f them and

se ized 80 guns , many m uske ts , and othe r war mate ri al .

As the space be tween Chatgaon and Rambu i s

v e ry hard to cross,ful l o f h i l l s and j ungles , and i nte r

s ected by o ne or two st re ams wh i ch cannot be c rossed

wi thou t boats . and as in the rainy season the whole path

i s flooded,and th i s year there was on ly a sm al l s tore

o f provi s ions and the rainy season was near,— therefore

the send ing o f the M ughal army into Arracan was put

o ff. Buzu rg Ummed Khan,In VleW o f the roads be ing

c l osed and re - info rcements and provi s ions be ing cu t o ff

by the ra ins, ve ry w i se ly orde red Mir Murtaza to eva~

cuate Rambu and fal l back w i th the ch iefs,zam ind ars

,

pr i sone rs, and peasan ts o f Rambu,

o n Dakhin-ko l,

*

wh ich is c lose to Chatgaon. He d id so .

i. e. ,

‘The sou thern bank of the river. ’

2 2 8 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

Al l these rep resent the l ife’s work of one man

,Khuda

Bakhsh .

Y oung Khuda Bakhsh read in Cal cutta fo r some

t ime unde r the care o f N awab Ami r Ali Khan Bahadu r,

a pleade r o f the Sadar court, who he lped to mainta in

the Engl i sh admin i s t rat i on at Patna du r ing the M ut iny .

Bad news from home re cal led the young s tudent to Ban

k ipu r ; h i s father was s tri cken with pal sy , unable to earn

anyth ing, and the fam i ly was in great d i s tre ss. Khuda

Bakhsh was cal led upon to support them . He app l ied

fo r a N a z'

b-Sh i p unde r a M zm sz'

j, bu t wi thou t success .

Appointed P er/dear o f the Dist ri ct J udge , he soon d is

agreed wi th h i s ch ief, Mr. Latou r, and res igned . We

next see h im se rving as a Depu ty Inspec tor o f School sfo r 1 5 months . But in J anuary

,1 868

,he passed the

H ighe r grade Pleadership exam inat ion he ld at Patna ,threw up h i s post, j o ined the l oca l bar at the age o f

2 5 , and fol lowed a caree r o f s tri k ing bri l l i ancy and

su ccess from the ou tse t. On the ve ry day that he

began his p ract i ce, he s igned 10 1 w afalzzt-rzamaks . O f

no othe r l awye r has such phenom enal success been

recorded .

H is memory was wonderful ; and nume rous as h i s

c ases we re , he requ i red only a rap id View to m aste r

his briefs. S i r Lou i s J ackson ,a J udge o f the

Cal cu tta H igh Cou rt, wh i le o n a v i s i t to Patna was .

s t ruck by Khuda Bakhsh’s advocacy, and was pleased

to learn that he was the son o f Muhammad Bakhsh

whom he had known we l l du ring h i s D i str i c t J udgesh ip

KHUDA BAKHSH ,THE IND IAN BODLEY 2 29

o f Patna. S i r Lou i s v i s i ted the bed - r idden Muhammad

Bakhsh and offe red Khuda Bakhsh a Sub-J udgesh ipwith h opes o f p romot i on to the Statuto ry . C iv il Se rvi ce .

But he had a roaring pract i ce and de c l ined to ente r the

publ i c se rv i ce.

Publ i c hono u rs,howeve r

,came th i ck u pon h im .

Like a t rue c i t i zen he chee rfu l l y gave h i s t ime free ly to

m any a publ i c cause . For h i s work o n the School Com

m ittee he go t a Ce rt ifi cate o f Honou r at the De l h i Dar

bar o f 1 87 7 . He was the fi rs t V i ce -cha i rman o f the

Patna Mun i c ipal i ty and O f the Patna D i str i c t Board,

w hen these se lf-gove rn ing bod ies we re c reated by LordRi pon . H is forens i c ab i l i ty found re cogn i t i on in h i s

appointmen t as Go ve rnm ent P leade r ; and he rece i ved

the h ighes t honou r o f h i s pro fess i on when,in 1 894, he

was appointed Ch ief J us t i ce Of the H igh Cou rt Of the

N izam . A Khan Bahadur-sh ip was confe rred o n h im

in J anuary ,1 883, and a C. I .E . in 1903. He was al so a

Fe l l ow o f the Cal cu tta Un i ve rs i ty.

Re turn ing from Haidarabad in 1 898, he again j o ined

the Bank ipu r bar . But h i s heal th was al ready on the

de c l ine , and the to i l s o f his p rofess i on we re too much

fo r h im . Latter ly h i s menta l powe rs gave way, and

final ly at I P . NL,Augus t 3rd, 1 908, he breathed h is l ast,

afte r hav ing comp le ted h i s 66th year the day before.

His younge r bro the r , Mr. Abul Hassan,Bar-at- l aw

,was

fo r some t ime Ch ie f J udge o f the Cal cu tta Smal l Cause

C ou rt. O f Khuda Bakhsh’

s Son s,the e ldes t

,Mr. Sal i h

.ud (Oxford) , Bar-at- l aw,has a l ready


made h is mark as an O r ien ta l i s t ; the second, Mr. Shihabudd in, i s a Deputy Supe r intendent of pol i ce and

possesses a rare knowledge o f Pe rs i an MSS ; the th i rdd ied in early youth and the fourth i s now at col lege .

H IS SCHOLARSH IP.

Khuda Bakhsh was one o f the greates t authori t ies

o n I s lamic bi bl iography . An art i c le from his pen on

th i s subj ect appeared in the N z'

neleent/z Century . Bu t

it represents on ly a smal l part o f his knowledge . I

remember how one day he poured ou t o f the co pious

s tore o f h i s memory , a fu l l l i s t o f Arabi c b iographe rs

and c ri t i cs from the fi rst centu ry of the H ijera to the

e ighth , with runn ing comments on the val ue o f each .

Most Of the i r works he had h imse lf col lected . But

a las ! Arabic h as long been a dead l anguage in I nd ia .

He a l so compi led a descri pt i ve catalogue o f many o f

h i s manuscr ipts , (the M a/ibub-ul-a/bab, wri t ten in Per

s ian and l i thographed at Haidarabad in 1 314

N ext to the acqu i s i t ion o f a rare MS. what gave h im

most de l ight was to see anybody using h i s l i brary in

carry ing on research .

THE LIBRARY BU ILD INGS

Khuda Bakhsh had prom ised to his dying fathe r to

e rect a house fo r the l i brary, bu t the way in wh i ch he

c arried out his prom ise mus t have de l ighted Muhammad

Bakhsh’

s sou l in Parad i se . Th is m idd le -c lass l awye r,

there are two or three such men in many Di str i ct Courts

o f Bengal ,— spen t Rs . on the l ibra ry bu i ld ings .


"be ing sat su rrounded by h i s“

fr iends . My gu ide said ,

‘Th is man has come fo r the manuscr i pts .

’

The ve i led~one repl ied

,Let them be given to him .

’ Shortly afte r

th i s,Mss. began to pou r into my l i b ra ry from vari ou s

p l aces .”

(Th is was a v i s ion o f the Prophet Muhammad

and h i s As/zab or com pan ions . )

One n ight I d ream t that the l ane near the l i bra ry

was fi l led wi th a dense c rowd O f people . When I cam e

out o f my house , they cried ou t, The Prophe t is o n a

v is i t to you r l ibrary,and you are no t the re to Show h im

round I hastened to the m anuscript- room ,and found

h im gone. But the re we re two m anusc ri pts o f the

H ade'

s (Trad i t i ons) ly ing open o n the table . These, the

people sa id,had been read by the Prophe t.” [Both these

vol umes now conta in a note by Khuda Bakhsh,s tat ing

that they are neve r to be al l owed to go ou t o f the

l i brary ; but no reason i s g iven fo r the proh ib i t ion .]

SO keen was h i s l ove fo r the l i brary that in h i s

l ast year, when age had brought in its t rain a we aken“

ing o f the inte l lect,he cons tant ly thought o f i t and

conjured up im aginary dange rs to i t. Thé pos i t i on O f

e ve ry book in i t was fixed in h i s memory. On ly two

days before h is death he accu rate ly descri bed the case

and she lf in wh ich a co py o f Abu Daud ’s work i s kept .

I can st i l l p i c tu re to my eye s the vene rable founde r

as he sat ne ar the l i brary porch , his lengga rest ing on

a tripod, h is grey ha i r and beard and p l a in wh i te d res s

KHUDA BAKHSH,THE IN DIAN BODLE Y 2 33

consp i cuous from a d i s tance . The re we re u sual l y

o ne o r two v i s i to rs wi th him,or he was sedate ly

’turn

ings o ver the leave s o f some m anuscr ipt .

THE NAT IONAL IMPORTANCE OF H IS LIBRARY.

He i s bu ri ed in the p l a ce wh i ch he l oved SO we l l,

and to wh ich he gave h i s all. A low unpre tent i ous

tomb,be tween the l i brary bu i ld ings and the read ing

ro om ,m arks the l as t res t ing-

pl ace o f the greates t bene

faCto r and fi rs t c i t i z en o f Patna,a m an sprung from

the m idd le c l ass who has left the count ry r i che r by

a treasu re surpass ing the gi fts o f p r ince s and m i l l i on

a i res . He was the Ind i an Bod ley,and unborn gene ra

t ions o f Ind i an scho l ars and reade rs wi l l bless h i s

memory and say that he was r ightly named K/zua’a

Bale/2M,the gift o f God .

’

For,the value o f h i s gift and i ts fu l l s ign ificance

in the growth o f our nat ion wi l l be re al i sed m ore and

m ore as t im e passes . At presen t the I nd i an O r iental i st sa re a sm al l body

,and few Of them have take n to

Pe rs i an,almost no ne to A rab i c . A Eu ro pean schol ar,

after inspect ing th i s l ibrary and no t i c ing i ts l ack o f

reade rs , remarked to Khuda Bakhsh,

“What a fine

c eme tery fo r books have you bu i l t ! In Eu rope such a

l i brary wou ld have been dai ly th ronged w i th a hund red

studen ts busy in research but I see none such he re .

But i t w i l l no t be SO with u s fo r eve r ; al ready a new

era o f research has dawned among us. In the m eant ime

the Khuda Bakhsh L i brary form s a nucle us round which


Ind i an manuscrip ts are gathe r ing, some t imes by pu r

chase , bu t m ain ly by gift. A most adm i rable featu re

o f the Eu ropean characte r i s that w he reve r they go

they col lec t Mss .,ant iques , and spec im ens fo r presen ta

t ion to the i r nat ional m useum s . In the Bod le i an ,the

Bri t i sh Mu seum ,and the Ind i an Office L i brary ; there

are many p rec ious O r ie ntal Mss . bearing the s ignatu re

o f h is tori cal Angl o- I nd i ans o f the 1 8th centu ry, —Kirk

patri ck , Gl adwin ,F i tzpatri ck, Jonathan Scott, e tc . Even

in those early days o f Bri t ish powe r, wh i le they w e re

conque ring and se ttl ing the l and,they eage rly hunted

fo r MSS. and bequeathed them to the i r country’s use .

Many rare and even un i que works have thus d i sappeared

from Ind i a,and now adorn the l i brar ies o f Eu ropean

cap i tal s . Eu rope an savants use them ; to the I nd i ans chol ar

,un le ss he i s r i ch enough to v i s i t Eu rope

,they

are sealed books . The Khuda Bakhsh L ibrary,by

offe r ing a we l l -known and secu re home fo r books and“

ensu ring the i r publ i c use,i s tempt ing private owne rs .

all ove r I nd i a to send the i r col le ct ions to i t and thus .

save them from be ing d i spe rsed o r loSt to the count ry

Th is has been st r i k ingly seen in some re cent val uable

gifts o f Pers i an MSS. to th i s l i brary by gene rous

Muhammadan gent lemen . J ahangi r’s book o f fortune

te l l ing,a copy o f Hafiz

’

s Odes , wh ich he used to

open at random to learn the futu re , ( j ust as they took

sorter from V i rgi l’s poems in m ed iaeval Eu rope) ,— has

been p resen ted by M . Subhanullah Khan o f Gorakhpur.


search by the unt i ring and s i ngle -m inded fo unde r.

Most o f the po rt ra i ts o f bygone ce lebr i t ies are un ique .

The ve ry pape rs o n wh i ch the m anuscripts are wri tten

a re o f such varied desc ri pt ion and represen t so m any

co untr ie s and pe r iod s o f the pape r-m ak ing art,that a

s pec ia l t rea ti se may be w r i t ten o n them . The fine s t and

mos t nume rou s spe c imens o f Pe rs i an penmans h ip are

to be found he re , o f any count ry in Asi a.

ITS ENGLISH BOOKS .

Great as are the val ue and ce lebri ty o f its Pe rs i an

a nd Arab i c m anusc ri pts,i ts Engl ish books are o f no

m ean importance even by the i r s ide . The re are s tandard

works o n everv subjec t ,— po e t ry , ph i l osophy, h i s tory ,

fi ct ion,

e ssays,etc — and co s tly and ve ry comp le te

co l lect ions o f d i c t i onaries,Engl i sh t rans l at i ons o f

O r ien tal works,and ra re bo oks o n Ind i an h isto ry .

Al lbone ’s D ictionary of E nglish Litera ture (wi th the

supp lement ) , the D ieliorm ry of tVa tiomzl Biograp/iy ,63

vol s .,the Sacred Booles of t/ze E ast

,Burton’s Arabi an

s g/zts , and m any othe r works are to be found he re

on ly in all Bihar. The re i s a set o f the ve ry fi rs t edi

ti on o f the Waverley N ovels . Adm i re rs o f Scott w i l l be

de l igh ted to see the once famous smal l vo l umes,prin t

ed at Ed inbu rgh by Sco t t’s fr iend and ru inato r Bal l an

tyne, and bearing on the t i t le -page the words “ By the

a uthor o f Wave rley ”and no t Scott’s name , - fo r he

was st i l l the “Great Unknown,

” “the W i z ard o f the

N orth .

”

KHUDA BAKHSH,THE IND IAN BODLEY 2 37

O f the i l lustrated E ngl i sh books the to ta l pr i ce

runs up to seve ra l thousands o f Rupee s . The re are

Griflfiths’

s Aj anta Caves , Maisey’s Sa ne/i i

,Cunn ingham

’s

B/zarlzi i t,Fe rgusson and Tayl or’s Bijapur and D ira rw zzr

a nd I

’lly sore, F inden

’s By ron and m any m ore . Khuda

Bakhsh pu rchased an ent i re l i bra ry in England by

a uct io n fo r ( RS. Hence the beaut i fu l

leathe r bind ing Of most o f h i s Engl i sh vo l um es .

T'

HE ROMAN CE OF H IS BOOK COLLECT ION .

The re are m any romances connected wi th the his

to ry and growth o f the l i bra ry . The most prec iou s

MSS. in I nd i a we re undo ubted ly those o f the M ugha l

l ibrary o f Del h i . Th i the r, th rough the l 6 th and 1 7 th

cen tu rie s , came al l rare and fine examp l es o f ca l igraphy

a nd i l lum inat i on in the East . Som e we re pu rchased,

o thers we re executed by art i s ts re ta ined in the Impe r ia ls e rvi ce , som e we re secu red by conques t (as o f Haidara

bad and B ij apu r in Aurangz ib’

s re ign) , and m any by the

c onfiscat i on o f the good s of great nobles o n t he i r death .

Thus was fo rm ed the l arges t l i brary in the Eas t in thatpe r iod fo r

,whi le Cent ra l As i a , Pe rs i a and Arabi a we re

torn by incessan t war , I nd i a enj oyed peace unde r the

Great Mughal s . In the 1 8th ce n tu ry m any o f these Mss .

found the i r way to the l i bra ry o f the N awabs o f O udh .

But the Sepoy Mut iny o f 1 857 brough t abou t the fal l o f

De l h i and Lucknow . The Impe r i a l and N awab i trea

s u re s we re d i spe rsed . The N awab o f Rampur ( Roh i l

khand) , who had j o ined the Engl i sh , got the bes t of the

ls)

(J)00 H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

l oot,as he had p rocl a imed among the v i ctoriou s loya l

sepoys th at he would pay o ne ru pee fo r eve ry Mss .

brought to h im . Khuda Bakhsh began h i s col lect ion muc h

l ate r bu t the re was the greates t r i val ry between him

and the N awab . At l as t Khuda Bakhsh wo n ove r from

.the N awab’

s s ide that jewe l o f a book -hunte r,an Arab

nam ed Muhammad Makk i , pa id h im a regu l ar sal a ry

o f Rs . 50 a month ( bes ides commi ss ion ) fo r I 8 yea r s,

a nd empl oyed h im in search ing fo r rare Mss . ( mostly

A rabi c ) in Sy ri a, Arabi a , Egypt, and Pe rs i a, ( spec ial ly

a t Be i ru t and Cai ro ) . I t was Khuda Bakhsh’

s‘ invari

able pract i ce to pay the double ra i lway fa re to eve ry

manuscr i pt-se l le r who v i s i ted Bank i pu r,whe the r he

bought anyth ing from h im or no t. Thus h i s fam e spread

th roughou t I nd i a, and he was gi ven the fi rs t cho i ce o f

e ve ry Mss. o n sale in any part o f the coun t ry .

Curious ly enough, one year the l i brary was broken

i nto by a forme r book - binde r and some o f the best Mss .

stolen. The th ief sent them fo r sale to a broke r o r

m e rchan t at Lahore ,'

and the l atte r unsu spect ingly offe r

ed them to Khuda Bakhsh as the l i ke l ie s t person to

buy them . SO ,in the end the hones t m an came by his

own and the th ief was pun i shed.

In anothe r case d iv ine j ust i ce asse rted i tse lf by 3.

Sim i l a r ro undabo ut‘pro cess . Mr. J . B . E l i ot , Provinc i al

j udge o f Patna, ( a great Mss .- col lector and donor to

the Bod le i an borrowed a un ique Mss. o f the Odes o fKamal udd in I smai l I sfahan i from Muhammad Bakhshand afterwards refused to retu rn i t, offer ing a l arge pri ce

H ISTORICAL ESSAYS

copy o f the S/za/zam /mfi-nama/z,an epic poem celebrat

ing the v i cto ries o f S ul tan Muhammad I I (the conque roro f Co nstant inop le in wri tten by the .author in

1 594 and presented to S u l tan M uhamm ad I l l. Many

bold and str i k ing batt le -

p ieces i l lum inate the vol ume ,

wh ich reached I nd i a in Shah Jahan’

s re ign,and e i the r

t hat Emperor o r some l ate r owne r pa id Rs . 7 50 fo r

it. j am i’s poem Yusuf w a Z u la i/e/za

,copied by the

grea tes t o f Pe rs i an c aligraphists , Mi r A l i , fo r wh i ch

j ahangi r pa id gold m ohars,

now ado rns th i s

l ibrary . The re are two o f Shah j aban’s Commonp l ace

Books,o ne o f them conta in ing h is s ignature at the

age o f 1 4 ,— Dara Shuko h

’

s autograph copy o f h i s

w ork,the L i ve s o f Sa ints (Safi fza t-ul — the

Odes o f Hafi z be lo nging to the k ing o f Go lko nda and

brought away to De l h i as a spoi l o f war,—Ami r Kha

s rn’s M a m ur/i Copied fo r Sul tan Abdu l A z i z o f Buk

hara by N ur A l i (who was kept in confinemen t fo r

3 years to fin i sh it, )

-Ranj i t S ingh’s m i l i tary account

book,wi th ent r ies in Pe rs i an and Gu rm ukh i

,— the r i ch ly

i l l um inated copy'

o f F irdaus i’

s S/za/zmzm a/z wh i ch A l i

M ardan Khan presented to Shah J ahan at h i s fi rst

aud ience ( I 640) , —the works o f Khasru conta in ing the

s e al o f Akbar’

s m othe r Ham ida Banu Begam ,— Hatifi

’

s

rom ance S/zz'

rz'

fz w e K/msm wri tten fo r I brah im Ad i l

S hah,k ing o f Bij apur, in a fine sm al l hand

,and

Ja hangi r’s Au tobiography presented by h im se lf to the

k ing o f Go lko nda and bro ught back by Aurangz ib'

s

so n afte r the conques t o f that k ingdom . Among the

KHUDA BAKHSH ,THE IND IAN BODLEY 24 I

'

be s t i l l um inated Mss are ( 1 ) a H istory of Timur’

s dynasty

down to the 2 2nd year o f Akbar’

s re ign , r i ch in pi ctu res ,

some o f wh ich have been reproduced bu t very impe r

fectlyfin Mrs . Beveridge

’s M emoirs of Gulbaa

’an Begam ,

(2 ) the P aa’

islza l mamak or Hi sto ry o f Shah Jahan wi th

i l l u st rat ions o f the fines t ex ecution ,de ta il and ornament

at ion,and (3) a H istory of I ndia wri tten fo r Ranj i t

S ingh . Most sac red in the eye s o f Pe rs i an s tuden ts i s

the fi rst half o f Mul la Jam i ’s au tograph work s, o f wh ich

the se cond‘

ha l f is in the St . Pe te rsbu rg Impe r i a ll i brary. The gifted poe t

’s s ignatu re and handwri t ingagree exact ly wi th those reproduced in the S t .

Pe te rsburg Catalogue from the l as t page o f h i s second

volume .

Among the Arabi c works,we have the Tafs ir-i

kabir, th ree gigant i c vol ume s wr i t ten in an un i form ly

sm a l l , fine and d i s t inct hand. I t is a monum en t o f

incred i b le human pat ience and indus t ry,The re i s a

ve ry o ld Ms. on botany, the Kztab-ul-Has/za islz (fu l l o f

c oloured i l l us trat ions) , trans l ated from the Greek o f

Dioscor ides into A rabi c by S tephen,the son o f Bas i l

,

(who d ied in 240 A . In the re ign o f the Khal if

Mamun ., Anothe r equal ly o ld Ms . i s an Arabi c t reat i se

o n su rgi ca l instruments (all i l l u st rated ) , composed by

Zahrabi in Granada . Anothe r vo l um e o f Zahrabi’s

work s bears t races o f fire on many page s . Could i t

have been a su rv i va l from the Moor ish l i brary bu rn t by

X imenes ? There is a p iece o f parchment w i th Cufic

characte rs ascribed to A l i ’s hand 1 Anothe r wonde r is a

complete Quran on a s ingle fine film - l i ke parchmen t rol l

16


o f great length , wri tten in a minute bu t dis tinct hand .

A second copy o f the Quran be l ongs to the age befored i acrit i cal marks came into use in wri t ing Arabic .

A h istor i c cu rios i ty o f great interest is the “‘Story

o f Chris t” (D astan-i trans lated from the Bible

into Pe rsian at Akbar’s reque st by the Portuguese mis

sionary Geron imo Xavie r. Th i s copy was‘transcribed

by Abdur Raz zaq Qandahari in 10 1 3 A.H. ( 1604 A.

In short,if I go on describing the r iches o f the

Khuda Bakhsh l ibrary I sha l l neve r end . He who wou ld

know them shou ld see them . In J anuary 1 903, LordCu rzon,

fresh from the De l h i Darbar and w i th h i s head

fu l l o f vi s ions ofMughal grandeu r, hummed when he

entered this l i brary,

‘Agar firdaa : bar ru -i -zamin as!

Ham i’

n ast, a'o Imw in ast

,w e Iram in ast.

If there be on earth an e lysium of bl iss ,I t is this, it is this, and Oh it is this.

’

That is the best desc ript i on o f i t to a scho l ar.

T itle, contents and pp. 241 -242 reprinted ( in 19 1 7 ) by B. .B.

D ey, at the Modern Printing H ouse, Calcutta, rest of the book .

printed by R. F loris, India Press, Calcutta. {in

Anecdotes or Aurangzib Translated Into English Wit

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