Storia do Mogor 84.1

84.1

Maybe the reader would like to know who this Shiva Ji was, and to comply with such a reasonable wish I will place here what I meant to insert elsewhere, in order to make a continuous story of the events in the early part of Aurangzeb's reign. For he who writes to please others must satisfy those others' will, while ever keeping close to historical verity. Shiva Ji — that is to say, 'Lord One-and-a-quarter' — the first of his family, was the bastard son of a Hindu king, of whom [18] I spoke. His mother was the daughter of a carpenter. When this bastard had grown up, he claimed the crown upon the death of his father, although he had a brother who was legitimate. As the officers and nobles refused their allegiance, he was forced to flee and apply to the King of Bijapur, who was then powerful. The Bijapur king took him into his service, and gave him some provinces near the town of Chavel (Chaul), as far as Camba (Cambay, Kambhayat), near the lands of the Portuguese towards Bassaim (Bassein) and Bombaim (Bombay).