Storia do Mogor 281.3
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 281.3
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281.3.1
When the general Zu,lfiqar Khan appeared to take leave of him preparatory to joining his army, he confided to him several instructions in respect of the above. Among other things he said to him in so many words : 'When you have an enemy to destroy, spare nothing rather than fail, neither deceptions, subterfuges, nor false oaths, for anything is permissible in open war. Invent as many tricks, if possible, as there are grains of purslane on your arm after you withdraw it from a barrel of honey. In one word, make use of every pretext in the world that you judge capable of bringing you success in your projects.' At the beginning of June in this year, 1701, the fortress of Parnala-garh, finding all its food and other supplies exhausted, was forced to surrender to Aurangzeb. Learning by reports repeated daily that the rebel Hindu princes had never ceased to ravage and plunder Hindustan still more and more, the monarch issued orders to his son, A'zam Shah, to apply some remedy. Shah 'Alam, as soon as he heard of this order, lost no time in coming out of the province of Kabul, and made for Multan city. Afraid that A'zam Shah might make common cause with the rebel princes and become master of the castles and cities of Dihli and Agrah, he (Shah 'Alam) directed his son, 'Azim-ud-din, to leave Bengal without delay, and march as quickly as he could to the latter of these cities. He hoped thus to hinder A'zam Shah from carrying out his [supposed] designs.
281.3.2
Here again is a specimen of Aurangzeb's passion for appearing to the minds of his people — above all, to those of his own religion — as a saintly and charitable man. There was a childless woman who had employed all methods, both legitimate and superstitious, to become fruitful, but without success. In the end she took it into her head that she would vow a payment of five rupees to the saintly king. The vow had due effect, and several years afterwards the woman gave birth to a fine, healthy male child. After her recovery she proceeded to the court to carry out her promise, but she encountered difficulties in approaching the king's person. The fact came to the king's knowledge, and he ordered her to be admitted, desiring to receive in person from her hands the sacrificial offering, which was at once distributed to the poor. This act conquered for him among all those composing his court the reputation of saintliness and great charity. To confirm them in such an opinion, he has never allowed, nor does he ever allow, an occasion to escape which can be used to further this design.
281.3.3
Here is one more example which I have selected from a number of others. His wife Depoury (Udepuri Mahal) invited him one day to her apartments, where she wished to treat him to a ragout she had herself prepared. To gratify her the king consented. But as a servant-girl was bringing in the stew, she let the dish drop and broke it. The queen was very dejected at this accident, the more so that she saw herself deprived of the pleasure of offering to her husband a dish that she had prepared with so much trouble. Thus her impulse was to punish the servant-girl at once, but the king interfered, and resorted to every device to appease her wrath, in no way sparing soft and conciliatory words, as is his habit. He reminded her that it was God's good Providence that had thus ordained ; it was (he added) a manifestation that a sinner, such as he, was not worthy to eat of so delicate a plat. He added other words, which in the end cooled the wrath of the queen.
281.3.4
Moved by this craze of being held a saint, the king got up one night to pray. Before beginning he ordered a eunuch to bring him water to wash his hands and feet, for it is a great sin among the Mahomedans to say your prayers without this ceremony. The eunuch, heavy with sleep, rose in a hurry, and by mischance stumbled against the king and knocked him down. Overcome with fear and dread, the eunuch collapsed at once in the other direction, with all the appearance of a dead man. The king noticed this, and said to him in the mildest of tones : ' Wherefore fearest thou a created being, one like thyself ? thou shouldest reserve such fear for God, and thereby hinder thyself from offending Him. Rise and be not afraid.' As soon as this adventure became known among the people, they were confirmed in their previous good opinion of his holiness. Another time, as the king was on his way to the mosque, one of the officials noticed that the carpet on which he would have to tread had a hole in it, and he therefore attempted to spread a cloth over it. On noticing this action, the king reproved the man most severely, and said that all this cleaning and fussing was well enough for the court, but had no place in God's house, where he was no higher than the least of his subjects. These words were highly prized by the people, and regarded as proceeding from a saint. This is ever the chief end aimed at by this monarch in all his actions and in all his talk. I add another example.
281.3.5
Some years ago there arrived in the Mogul country two Arabs from Mecca, who were differently dressed from Indians. After these men had suffered many privations from inability to get employment in the king's service, they thought of a stratagem which had excellent results. They set to work to study the character of Aurangzeb, and, having done so, they resorted to the mosque one day when the king would appear there. When the king arrived, they began, as agreed on between them, to stand up and make signs to each other, expressing extreme astonishment, throwing their glances at the king's person, and making it seem that their wonder was growing greater and greater at each step of his approach to them. The king saw all these grimaces, and asked them what was the cause of their astonishment. 'Your majesty,' they replied, 'it is not without good cause! For only a few months ago we had the felicity of seeing your majesty, clad as a faqir, enter into and issue from the dome at Mecca, where our most Holy Prophet is entombed; and here, to-day, we find you again surrounded by all this state and dignity.' The king, in reply to this speech, said with an air of gravity that entry into the house in question was free only to God's faithful servitors, and that the great could not draw near to it in any other garb.
281.3.6
When prayers were over, he took those two Arabs into his service, and gave them enough for an honourable subsistence. This affair made many people in the Mogul country believe that this king is of a truth a very great saint, that he becomes invisible whenever he pleases, and proceeds to Mecca to hold conversations with Muhammad. From this cause the people revere him, and hold him in the greatest respect. Yet in spite of his being himself imbued with this idea, he assumes always great humility in his attitude. Of this fact here is one example. For instance, if he sends orders to an officer at a distance in regard to any complaint that has been made of his conduct, and then learns that the said order has passed unheeded, and submission to it has been refused, he betrays no wrath at such insubordination. All he says is (and that in the softest voice) that he is only a miserable sinner, that there is no reason for astonishment if his orders are disregarded, since every day those of God Himself are neglected and repudiated. He does not forget, however, to repeat his orders, and adopt very exact means of getting them executed. This monarch is also desirous of appearing a great lover of justice. This is why he said one day that it was the bounden duty of kings to apply themselves unweariedly and painstakingly to the dispensing of equal justice to everybody.
281.3.7
For, as he said, this duty and that we owe to God for having devoted us to His sole service are the two principal grounds of action on which should rest the conduct of princes. They owe inviolable fidelity to that Supreme Being, and must work without ceasing for the furtherance of His glory and the propagation of religion. 'The great Taimur-i-lang, my ancestor, that illustrious conqueror and founder of empire, was a rare and magnificent exemplar of these fine qualities. For, as it may well be said, nothing except love of justice and of virtue forced that great prince into the war he undertook against Bayazld, Emperor of the Turks. Everybody knows that it was the cries of the oppressed and innocent that put arms into his hands. He did not drop them until he had enjoyed the pleasing satisfaction of inflicting on this cruel tyrant a punishment proportioned to the heinousness of his crimes. I may well assert without flattering myself overmuch,' he added, 'that they are the same motives which have hitherto impelled me. Yes, the fear of seeing the Mahomedan religion oppressed in Hindustan if my brother Dara had ascended the throne; that of beholding the ruin of the kingdom, which I looked on as inevitable if my father's reign had continued, by reason of his bad government: these are the only causes why I have always opposed myself strongly and without self-seeking to the attempts of everyone to supplant me.
281.3.8
In addition, from how many miseries have I not delivered my subjects by the course I have pursued? They are now enabled to enjoy in repose and with delight all the good and pleasant fruits that it has produced. It is by it that my kingdom is now full of noble mosques in place of the hideous temples crowded with idols, which, had I not been here, would undoubtedly have been erected. Instead of taverns and houses of ill-fame, which would have spread their poison all around, we find congregations of devout men, modest and full of wisdom, who proclaim without ceasing the greatness and the virtues of God.' But, in spite of all that this monarch may assert, it is not to be controverted that every day there are committed in Hindustan the most monstrous crimes in the world.