Later Mughals v1.c6.s26: Sec. 25.—Character of Bahadur Shah.
Later Mughals v1.c6.s26
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Sec. 25.—Character of Bahadur Shah.
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All accounts agree in representing Bahadur Shah as a man of mild and equable temper, learned, dignified and generous to a fault. With these qualities must have been united much command of his feelings and a power of profound dissimulation.* His mode of bearing the disgrace and indignity heaped on him by his father, proves the one, and the way in which he misled his brother as to his intention not to claim the throne proves the other. Although not so bigoted as his father, he was pious, and on Friday all business was suspended, the day being passed in prayer. He never neglected the opportunity of visiting a holy man or the tomb of a saint. He believed in omens, moreover, consulted astrologers as to the auspicious day for a battle, and complied with their directions on the occasion of an eclipse. He was kind to his children and their families, visiting them in sickness and condoling with them in time of sorrow. He could at times give way to anger, as we have seen when he rated Munim Khan after that minister's failure to capture Banda, though such outbursts were extremely rare. One personal peculiarity is noted by Iradat Khan, that this Emperor had an aversion to being in a house. Probably the habit of living in a camp had grown on him owing to the fact that from an early age he was constantly on military service in the Dakhin. When in charge of Kabul, he seems to have wandered about from place to place for the ten years or more that he was there. Certainly, from the day that he started to claim the crown until the day of his death, he never slept one night within four walls, and the occasions on which he even entered a building in the daytime could be counted on the fingers of one hand. We have a daily record of his movements for that period in the histories of Danishmand Khan and Kamwar Khan. He was in the habit of sitting up very late at night, and thus his marches began at a late hour in the morning, causing much inconvenience to the camp-followers who, not arriving till nightfall, could not find their own camp or tents and were forced to pass the night lying near the drum tent or the imperial audience-hall or among the shop-keepers. (K. K. 630.) A European traveller, who saw him about the year 1695 when he was 52 years of age, describes him as "tall and of a portly form, his beard thick, long, and beginning to grow white." (Gemelli Careri *Voyage du Tour du Monde*, iii. 182. French edition, Paris, 1727.)
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∗ Storia do Mogor, ii. 394-396; iv. 245.
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Although not a great sovereign, Bahadur Shah may be called, at least in comparison with his successors, a fairly successful one. In his time the dignity of the Empire was fairly maintained. Having selected a competent Wazir and other great officials, he left them to carry on their duties without intriguing against them himself or allowing others to do so. Unauthorized interference in public affairs was sternly discouraged. Once a man holding an office in his personal retinue ventured to take advantage of this position to speak in favour of Mihrab Khan, faujdar of Jodhpur, then in disgrace for his abandonment of that city. His Majesty was angry and said that such affairs belonged to the great officers of State and ordered the man's removal from his post, as one ignorant of manners. [Bahadur.]
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His great fault was over-generosity and an inability to say no to any one.* Tradition asserts that before his accession he made a vow that when he became Emperor he would never refuse any petitioner. He would at times throw ridicule on his own weakness. Once Hamid-ud-din asked the title of Rai for his private diwan, Kesari Singh. Bahadur Shah wrote across the petition "Khans in every house and Rais in every bazar! To please Hamid-ud-din Khan let this blockhead (gidi) also be a Rai." After that, wherever the man went, they said "Here comes Gidi Rai." [Khush-hal Chand, 383a.] The mansabs or rank granted by Bahadur Shah were higher than ever before
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∗ Yahya (116b) speaks of his servants' poverty before he attained the throne. At night-time some would come out to beg and many resorted to the imperial alms-distribution (langar) and took the cooked rice and pulses given to beggars and lived on that food. When they got pay they were again well off. This applied to all except a few favourites. The state of things arose because whenever news came that money was on the way the favourites would take 20,000, 40,000 or 50,000, 1 lakh or 2 lakhs of Rupees. What was by chance left was devoted to his own necessities—sometimes he paid it to his servants.
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After his accession the imperial rule of cash sadis which was Rs. 120 for the sadi was set aside, and he retained the same rate as when he was a Prince, viz., Rs. 83 for each sadi. Several other practices of his were different from those of sovereigns. He appointed one darogha of baghs for the whole realm with power to appoint and dismiss—the daroghas of any one bagh received their appointments as his deputy. In the same way Hakim-ul-mulk was made a darogha of the Dar-ush-shafa for the whole Empire, also one darogha for Balghur-khana (balghur=pounded wheat or dish of same) in all langars. Nobles remonstrated against this practice as likely to cause disorder and want of confidence and give rise to bribing and to diminish the good of establishments. Answer 'Zabtah anra goyand keh badshah wara mi kunad, in zabtah az ma mauzu ast.' In the end each man sent what naib he liked without asking the Emperor. Great evils.
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known, and titles were conferred regardless of the fact that another man already bore the same title. [K. K. 627-628.] Up to this time some slight difference, even of a single word, distinguished one title from another. In Bahadur Shah's reign an already perplexing system was made more perplexing still by this carelessness. As Khafi Khan relates, one *mansabdar* petitioned the Emperor that he had lost his family title by its grant to another person. On his petition Bahadur Shah wrote "Granted, granted, granted, even if another has it." From that time all system was abandoned and, as Danishmand Khan tells us, there were three men who at one time bore the title of Fazil Khan.
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Ikhlas Khan, who held the post of *arz mukarrar*, (whose duty it was to bring up all orders a second time for confirmation), thought that some check should be devised on the Emperor's profuse grants of rank and money rewards. He consulted Munim Khan, the chief minister, and as neither of them felt inclined to face the storm of unpopularity sure to be raised among the crowd of needy office-seekers, they put this disagreeable duty upon Muhammad Saqi Mustaid Khan (author of the *Masir-i-Alamgiri*) through whose honesty and uprightness they hoped that their object would be effected. His duties were to receive all applications after the first order had passed upon them, and then institute an enquiry whether the new men were fit for the service, by what means or on what grounds office or promotion had been granted, whether the proposed rank was more than their position justified or whether the promotion was given before the proper period. He had also to enquire into the grants for the support of holy and learned men. These enquiries caused great delay. The Emperor's wives Mihr-Parwar and Amat-ul-habib and other near relations put great pressure upon Mustaid Khan and forced his signature [attesting the correctness of the pay-bills] from him. In this way great irregularities arose, and the Emperor's signature lost its value. In fact he used himself to say that from him they must look for nothing but consent to everything, the claims of God's people could not be denied by him, and his signature was a formality and they might do as they thought fit. His habit of granting everything that was asked had become so notorious that some wit invented the words Shah-i-be-khabar (=1119), ‘the unheeding king’, as the chronogram for his accession. [K. K. 629-630.]
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His administration still retained some traces of Aurangzeb’s intolerance. We do not find in his reign, nor was there in the second half of his father’s reign, any Hindu in high or independent office. There was no Hindu governor of a province : no Hindu in an important position about the Court. He allowed no Hindu to be employed as a reporter or waqia-nigar. No Hindu could ride in a palki and when the Sikh rising took place, all Hindus in the employment of the State were forced to shave. [Bahadur.]
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Bahadur Shah in respect to his sons and other relations reversed the policy of his father. Instead of sending them away to distant provinces as governors, he kept them in attendance on his person. In one way the policy may be called successful. He was troubled by no revolt against his Government headed by a son or near relation, such as had been the case during the reigns of his father and most of his ancestors. To that extent he was justified by events, but as it turned out the struggle for the succession which, at the death of a Mughal Emperor, invariably broke out, if there were more than one son, though not so prolonged was perhaps more intense than ever before.