Travels in India (Tavernier) 50: CHAPTER III
Travels in India (Ball) 50
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CHAPTER III
50.1
Concerning Shāh Jahān’s prison, and how he was punished by Aurangzeb, his third son, for the injustice he had done to Prince Bolāki, his nephew, grandson of Jahāngir, to whom, since he was the son of the eldest son, the Empire of the Moguls belonged. Jahāngir, King of India, son of Akbar, and grandson of Humāyun, enjoyed a very peaceable reign for the space of twenty-three years, being equally beloved by his subjects and his neighbours. But his life was too long to suit the ambition of two of his sons, already advanced in years. The eldest raised a powerful army at Lahore, with the object of surprising his father Jahāngir, and seating himself by violence on the throne. The King, becoming aware of the insolence of his son, resolved to chastise him, and going to meet him with a large army, took him prisoner, with many of the chief nobles who followed him. But Jahāngir, being a generous Prince, who dearly loved his son, although he had him in his power was unwilling to cause him the death which he deserved; and contented himself with destroying his sight, by ordering a hot iron to be passed over his eyes in the manner which, as I have described, is followed in Persia. The King resolved ever after to keep this blind son about his person, with the intention that his eldest son, Sultan Bolāki, should some day reign ; this Prince had already several other sons, all being under age.
50.2
But Sultan Khurram, who afterwards took the name of Shāh Jahān, thinking that, as second son of Jahāngīr, he should be preferred to his nephew, resolved to use every effort to keep him from the throne, and to seat himself upon it, without waiting for the death of the King. He dissimulated, however, keeping his real purpose concealed, and appeared at first altogether submissive to the will of his father, who always kept the children of his eldest son beside him. It was by this submission that Shāh Jahān more easily arrived at the attainment of his ends ; and having in this manner gained the goodwill of his father, obtained permission from him to take with him the blind Prince his elder brother to his Government in the Kingdom of Deccan. He represented to the King that it was advisable to remove from before his eyes an object which had become distressing to him, and that this Prince, being deprived of his sight, would not in the future be other than a charge and trouble to him, and would pass the rest of his life with greater comfort in the Deccan.
50.3
The King, not penetrating the designs of Khurram, consented without difficulty to what he asked, and as soon as he had this poor Prince in his power he knew how to rid himself of him by the most secret means, and used the most plausible pretexts possible, in order to conceal his crime from the view of men, not considering that he was unable to conceal it from the eyes of God, who did not leave this action unpunished, as we shall shortly see. After the death of this blind Prince, Sultan Khurram caused himself to be called Shāh Jahān, i.e. King of the World, and in order to uphold the title raised an army to finish the task which his brother had begun, namely the dethronement of his father Jahāngīr and the taking possession of the Empire. The King, being much irritated by the death of his son and the outrage against his own person, sent considerable forces to chastise Khurram for so criminal an enterprise, and this rebel Prince, feeling himself too weak to resist them, quitted the Kingdom of Deccan, wandering with some vagabonds who followed him, sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, until he arrived in Bengal, where he raised an army in order to give battle to the King. Having passed the Ganges, he directed his steps towards the Kingdom of Lahore, and the King in person confronted him with a more numerous and stronger army than his.
50.4
But Jahāngīr, being old and distressed by the troubles which had been caused by his two sons, died on the road, and left Shah Jahan free to pursue his designs. However, before he died this good King had time to commend the care of his grandson, Sultan Bolaki, to Asaf Khan, Commander-in-Chief of his armies and Prime Minister of State, who governed the whole Empire. He ordered all his officers to recognise Bolaki as King and legitimate heir of his Kingdom after his death, declaring Sultan Khurram to be a rebel, and as such incapable of succeeding him on the throne. Moreover he made Asaf Khan swear in particular that he would never suffer Bolaki to be killed, however affairs might eventuate; this oath Asaf Khan swore upon his thigh, which bound him religiously in so far as that item, but not for his establishment on the throne, where he wished to place Shah Jahan, to whom he had given in marriage his eldest daughter, mother of the four Princes and the two Princesses to whom I have referred in the preceding chapter. On the news of the King’s death being reported at Court, all appeared to be sorely afflicted, and immediately the nobles of the Kingdom proceeded to give effect to the will by recognising Sultan Bolaki as King, he being still a youth. This Prince had two first cousins who, with the King’s consent, had become Christians, and had made public profession of the same.
50.5
These two young Princes, who were kind-hearted, observed that Asaf Khan, father-in-law of Shah Jahan, and father of Shaista Khan, of whom I have often spoken, had evil designs against the new King, to whom they speedily gave warning, and this warning cost them their lives and the King the loss of his Kingdom. The young King, who did not yet possess that prudence which can alone be acquired by age, told Asaf Khan ingenuously what the two young Christian Princes, his cousins, had said to him in private, and asked him if it was true that he designed to make his uncle, Sultan Khurram, King, as they had assured him. Asaf Khan took care not to tell him the truth ; on the contrary, he accused those who had made the report of falseness and insolence, and protested that he would be faithful to his King all his life, and that, in order to maintain him on the throne, he would shed his blood to the very last drop. Sultan BolAki understood this to refer to himself, but Asaf KhAn, when promising to be faithful to his King, really meant his own son-in-law ShAh JahAn, whom he desired to elevate to the throne — the consideration of affinity prevailing over that of justice. Seeing that his perfidy had been discovered, he averted the punishment which he began to apprehend, and obtaining possession of the two Princes, had them forthwith murdered.
50.6
As he was all-powerful both in the army and in the Empire, he had already secured, in the interests of ShAh JahAn, the greater number of the officers and nobility of the Court ; and the better to conceal his game and to lull the suspicion of the young King, who understood these affairs but imperfectly, he spread the report that ShAh JahAn was dead, and that, having desired to be interred near JahAngir, his father, his body was to be brought to Agra. The stratagem was adroitly conducted. Asaf KhAn himself told the King of this pretended death, and assured him that etiquette required that his majesty should go out of Agra to meet the body, when it came within a league or two, such honour being rightly due to a Prince of the blood of the Moguls who was the brother of his father, and son of Jahangir. Accordingly Shah Jahan approached incognito, and when he was in sight of the army, near Agra, he got into a bier, where there was sufficient air for respiration. This bier having been carried into a tent, all the principal chiefs, who were in concert with Asaf Khan, came as though to do honour to the dead Prince, the young King, on his side, having left Agra to be present at the meeting. It was then that Asaf Khan saw that the time had arrived for the execution of his design ; he had the bier opened, and Shah Jahan raised himself and appeared standing before the eyes of all the army ;
50.7
he was saluted as King by all the generals and other officers, who took their cue, and at the same moment the name of Shah Jahan as King was passed from mouth to mouth ; the proclamation was made public, and the Empire of the Moguls was assured to him. The young King hearing this news on the road, was so upset by it that he thought of nothing but flight, as he saw himself deserted by almost every one ; and Shah Jahan, not thinking it prudent to pursue him, allowed him to wander for a long time in India as a sort of Fakir. But at length, wearied with that kind of life, he took refuge in Persia, where he was magnificently received by Shah Safvi, who bestowed upon him a pension worthy of a great Prince. He enjoys it still, and I had an opportunity of conversing with him during my travels in Persia, and drank and ate with him.
50.8
Shāh Jahān having usurped the throne in this way, in order to secure himself and to stifle all the factions which might arise on behalf of the legitimate King, whom he had unjustly despoiled of his Kingdom, by degrees murdered all those who, from having shown affection for his nephew, had made themselves suspects, and the early years of his reign were marked by cruelties which have much tarnished his memory. The end of his reign was in like manner unhappy for him, and as he had unjustly stolen the Empire from the legitimate heir to whom it belonged, so he was, during his lifetime, deprived of it by his own son Aurangzeb, who kept him a prisoner in the fortress of Agra; and this, in a few words, is how it came to pass. After Dārā Shāh had lost the battle against his two brothers Aurangzeb and Murād Baksh, in the plain of Samonguir, and was basely deserted by the principal officers of his army, he retired to the Kingdom of Lahore with whatever of the royal treasure he had been able to take in the confusion of his affairs. The King, in order to resist the impetuosity of his victorious sons, whose only thoughts were of reigning by depriving him of his throne, and possibly also of his life, shut himself up in the fortress at Agra so as not to be captured, and to see to what limits his sons would carry their insolence.
50.9
Aurangzeb having secured the person of Murād Baksh, as I have related in the preceding chapter, entered Agra and pretended to believe that Shah Jahan was dead, in order to have an excuse for entering the fortress, which, as he said, one of the Omrahs was in possession of. The more Aurangzeb published the report that Shah Jahan was dead, the more Shah Jahan strove to make public the fact that he was alive ; but at length the King perceiving that he was no longer able to resist Aurangzeb, who had all the power and all the good luck on his side, and as the wells of the Agra fortress were dried up, he was compelled to provide himself with the river water by a small postern which was the weakest part of the whole place, and which Aurangzeb had already reconnoitred, he therefore sent Fazl Khan, the Grand Chamberlain, to assure Aurangzeb that he was alive, so that he should no longer pretend to be ignorant of it. Fazl Khan was instructed to tell the Prince that the King, his father, ordered him to return to the Kingdom of Deccan, the seat of his Government, without causing any more trouble, and that by showing this sign of obedience he would enable him to forget all that had passed. Aurangzeb, being still firm in his resolve, replied to Fazl Khan that he was convinced that the King, his father, was dead, and that upon that ground he had fought for the throne, which he believed he deserved equally with his brothers, who naturally had no more right to it than he had.
50.10
That if the King was alive he had too much respect for him to have the smallest idea of doing anything which would displease him, but in order that he might be convinced that he was not dead he desired to see him, and to kiss his feet, after which he would retire to his own Government, and obey his orders implicitly. Fazl Khan conveyed this reply to the King, who answered that he was willing to see his son, and sent Fazl Khan back to say he would be welcome. But Aurangzeb, more astute than Shah Jahan, assured Fazl Khan that he would not venture into the fortress till the garrison which was in it gave place to his own soldiers. This Prince feared, with good reason too, that if he entered except as master he might be served an evil turn and his person seized, and the King having heard of his resolution, not being able to do any better, consented to all that his son demanded of him. Accordingly the garrison of Shah Jahan went out of the fortress, and that of Aurangzeb entered under command of Sultan Muhammad, the eldest of his sons, to whom he gave a command to secure the person of the King his father. However, he postponed the visit from day to day, awaiting an auspicious hour for this interview, and his astrologers not finding one, he withdrew to a country house 2 or 3 leagues distant from Agra; this displeased the people much, as they awaited with impatience the fortunate hour, which, by the visit of the son to the father, would terminate their disputes.
50.11
But Aurangzeb, who had no desire for this interview, on the contrary, took a strange resolution, which was to control his father’s personal expenditure, and assume possession of all the treasures which Dara Shah had been unable to carry off on the occasion of his precipitate flight. He also caused Begum Sahib, his sister, to be confined in the fortress, that she might keep company with the King, whom she dearly loved. And he also took possession of all the wealth which she had received from her father’s liberality. Shāh Jahān, incensed at the insult of being treated in this manner by his own son, made some efforts to escape, and slew some of the guards who dared to oppose him; this caused Aurangzeb to order closer confinement for him. It is a most surprising thing, however, that not one of the servants of this grand King offered to assist him; that all his subjects abandoned him, and that they turned their eyes to the rising sun, recognising no one as King but Aurangzeb—Shāh Jahān, although still living, having passed from their memories. If perchance there were any who felt touched by his misfortunes, fear made them silent, and made them basely abandon a King who had governed them like a father, and with a mildness which is not common with sovereigns. For although he was severe enough to the nobles when they failed to perform their duties, he arranged all things for the comfort of the people, by whom he was much beloved, but who gave no signs of it at this crisis.
50.12
Thus this great King finished his days sadly in prison, and died in the Agra fort about the end of the year 1666, during the time of my last journey in India. As during his reign he had commenced building the city of Jahānābād, which was not yet completed, he wished to see it once more before he died. But for this purpose it was necessary to obtain the consent of Aurangzeb, his son, who held him prisoner, and was quite willing to allow him to make the journey, and even to remain at Jahānābād as long as he wished, shut up in the castle, as he was in Agra, provided that he consented to travel by boat, ascending the river,