Travels in India (Tavernier) 53: CHAPTER V · How Aurangzeb seated himself upon the throne and had himself declared King ; and concerning the flight of Sultan ShujA.
Travels in India (Ball) 53
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CHAPTER V · How Aurangzeb seated himself upon the throne and had himself declared King ; and concerning the flight of Sultan ShujA.
53.1
It was not difficult for Aurangzeb, after the imprisonment of his father ShAh JahAn and of his brother MurAd Baksh, and having cruelly decapitated his eldest brother, to whom by right the Kingdom belonged, to resolve to have himself declared King, especially as fortune favoured it and all the nobles of the Kingdom applauded him. As it is the custom, at this ceremony, to sit upon the throne, not much time was required to prepare it, as ShAh JahAn, before being imprisoned, had completed the throne which the great Tamerlane had commenced ; it is the richest and most superb throne which has ever been seen in the world. But as it was necessary that the Grand Kázi or Chief of the Law should proclaim the new King, it was in this direction that Aurangzeb encountered the first obstacle. The Grand Kázi openly opposed his design, and said that the law of Muhammad and the law of nature equally prevented him from proclaiming him King during the lifetime of his father ; added to which, in order to ascend the throne, he had murdered his eldest brother, to whom the Empire belonged after the death of Shāh Jahān, their father. This vigorous resistance of the Kāzī gave trouble to Aurangzeb, and in order not to appear unjust, he assembled the doctors of the law, to whom he represented that his father was incapable of reigning on account of his great age and the infirmities with which he had been overwhelmed;
53.2
and as for Dārā Shāh, his brother, he had put him to death because he was not zealous in obeying the law; that he drank wine, and favoured infidels. These reasons, mingled with menaces, caused his "Council of Conscience" to pronounce that he merited the Empire, and that he ought to be proclaimed King — which, nevertheless, the Grand Kāzī persistently resisted. There was, in consequence, no other remedy therefore but to depose him from his office as a disturber of the public peace, and elect another zealous for the honour of the law and the good of the Kingdom. This was forthwith done. The person elected by the Council was afterwards confirmed by Aurangzeb, and in recognition for this act of grace, he proclaimed him King on the 20th of October 1660. This proclamation having been made in the Mosque, Aurangzeb seated himself on the throne, where he received the homage of all the nobles of the Kingdom, and there were great rejoicings upon that day in Jahānābād. At the same time orders were sent throughout all the Kingdom to celebrate his coming to the throne. This was effected with great splendour, and lasted for many days.
53.3
Aurangzeb did not consider his throne assured nor his Empire well established so long as Sultan ShujA, his brother, was engaged in raising a powerful army in Bengal with the design of setting ShAh JahAn at liberty. He thought that it behoved him to anticipate him, and sent considerable forces against him under the command of Sultan Muhammad, his eldest son, to whom he gave as lieutenant the Mir Jumla, one of the greatest captains who had ever migrated from Persia to India. His good judgment and courage would have caused him to be revered by posterity if he had only been faithful to the Princes whom he served. But he first betrayed the King of Golconda, with whom he made his fortune, and afterwards ShAh JahAn, under whose protection he maintained it at so high a pitch that there was scarcely another noble in the whole of India more powerful or richer than he was. Moreover, he was both feared and beloved by the army, and he understood the art of war perfectly as it is carried on in this country. Having then abandoned the interests of ShAh JahAn, he attached himself to the side of Aurangzeb, and if Sultan ShujA had not had opposed to him so brave and able a commander he would, no doubt, have given more trouble to his brother, and possibly might have conquered him.
53.4
The two armies having encountered one another many times, victory was sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, and Sultan Muhammad, assisted by the advice of his lieutenant, seeing that this war was protracted, resolved to change the method and to combine ruse with force in order to accomplish the destruction of Sultan Shujā. He treated with the majority of the officers of his uncle’s army secretly, and made them magnificent promises, urging them so strongly to follow the side of Aurangzeb — whom he called the pillar and protector of the Muhammadan law — that he secured the principals, to whom he afterwards made considerable presents, to assure himself better of their support. This was a mortal stroke for Sultan Shujā, which he was unable to parry; for those who followed him being mercenaries, and that kind of people who declare for those who give most, they concluded that they had nothing more to hope from this Prince, whose finances were expended, and would find it more profitable to declare for Aurangzeb, whom fortune favoured in every way, and was master of all the treasures.
53.5
Thus it was easy for Aurangzeb to bribe the whole army of his brother, who in the last battle which was fought found himself abandoned by all and compelled to fly with his wives and children. The traitors, ashamed of their baseness, did not pursue the unfortunate Prince, as they might have done; and, like mean folk, as soon as he had taken flight busied themselves with the destruction of his tents and the pillage of his baggage. This was allowed them by Mīr Jumlā as a reward for their treachery. Sultan Shujā, having embarked with his family in some boats, crossed the Ganges, and some time afterwards withdrew to the Kingdom of Arakan, on the confines of Bengal, where we must leave him to take breath, in order to ascertain tidings of Sultan Muhammad, eldest son of Aurangzeb, and Sultan Suliman Sheko, eldest son of Dara Shah, who still caused trouble to Aurangzeb.