The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c18.80

v4.c18.80

Aurangzīb's interests now pointed away from the Deccan to the capital of the empire. By far the most capable of Shāh Jahān's sons and the most ambitious, he had found his enterprises thwarted by the intrigues of his eldest brother, Dārā Shukoh. Succession by primogeniture is a dangerous rule in kingdoms beset by enemies and full of elements only partly subdued. Shāh Jahān, like his own father, was prematurely aged, though his weakness was due to indulgence in the pleasures of the harem rather than to wine, and as Jahāngīr had resigned his authority to his wife, so did Shāh Jahān place excessive reliance in Dārā Shukoh, and openly designated him as heir. While Aurangzīb was occupying the onerous post of viceroy of the Deccan his conduct of affairs was subject to irritating direction. His successes were not rewarded and his emoluments were in fact reduced. He saw that Dārā was allowed to govern rich tracts by deputy and had rank and honour heaped upon him. Even the bitterness of sectarian hatred was infused into the relations between the brothers, for while Aurangzīb was rigidly orthodox Dārā was an amateur of Hindu mysticism like many Muslims who adopt the creed of the Sūfīs. Shāh Jahān in the last few years had lost all his best counsellors by death, and affection for his eldest son had blinded his judgement, when he entrusted control to one who was lacking in experience of the affairs of either peace or war.