Travels in India (Tavernier) 48: CHAPTER II Concerning the sickness and supposed death of Shah Jahan, King of India, and the rebellion of the Princes, his sons.

48

The revolutions which took place in the Empire of the Great Mogul on account of the supposed death of Shah Jahan are full of so many important and memorable incidents, that they deserve to be known throughout the whole world. This great monarch reigned more than forty years, less as a King over his subjects than as a father of a family over his house and children; to such an extent was this the case that, during his reign, the police was so strict in all things, and particularly with reference to the safety of the roads, that there was never any necessity for executing a man for having committed theft. In his old age he committed an indiscretion; and, moreover, used some drugs of so stringent a character that they brought on a malady which nearly brought him to the grave. This necessitated his shutting himself up for two or three months in his harem with his women, and during that time he showed himself to his people but rarely, and at long intervals; this caused them to believe that he was dead. For custom requires these Kings to show themselves in public three times every week, or, at the very least, every fifteen days.