[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Mughals (1526–1857)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal) › [Later Mughals (1707–1857)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later) › [Muntakhab al-lubāb](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab) › [Muntakhabu-l Lubab, of Khafi Khan (Elliot & Dowson, extracts)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot) › 3 # Muntakhab al-lubab 3: Aurangzeb. Muntakhabu-l Lubáb, of Kháfí Khán (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 3 - **Language:** English ### [3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.3) \[Text, vol. ii. p. 2.\] The attempt to write an epitome of the fifty years' reign of this illustrious monarch is like trying to measure the waters of the sea in a pitcher; the affairs of the last forty years in particular are a boundless ocean, which authors have shrunk from committing to the thread of narrative. But for all this, the writer of these pages has resolved that to the best of his ability, and with the most active exertion, after the most exhaustive inquiry and complete investigation, he will narrate some events capable of narration which he has heard from the tongues of men advanced in years, which he has fully verified by inquiries from men in office and from the writers of official despatches, and by the evidence of his own eyes during this period of time. Like plagiarists of no ability, he commits one fact out of a hundred to his crude relation, and offers his petition to his intelligent critics and well-informed readers, that if, from his feeble grasp of the thread of narrative, any discrepancies should appear between the earlier and later portions of his work, or if any trifling variations from other histories should appear, they will hold him excused, because in trustworthy books even discrepancies are found arising from varying versions (of the same occurrence). - [Previous: 2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.2) - [Next: 4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.4) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.mughal.later.muntakhab-al-lubab~en-elliot.3) · Pramāṇa