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History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1: Volume 1

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1

Language
English

Contents

Volume 1

Front matter

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HISTORY

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AURANGZIB

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J. N. SARKAR

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in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation

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Works by Jadunath Sarkar, M.A.

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1. *History of Aurangzib*, based on Persian sources. Vol. I. Reign of Shah Jahan, pp. 402. Vol. II. War of Succession, pp. 328. Rs. 3½ each.

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2. *Anecdotes of Aurangzib* (English translation and notes) and *Historical Essays*, pp. 248 Rs. 1½.

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3. *Ahkam-i-Alamgiri*, Persian text with an English translation (*Anecdotes of Aurangzib*) and notes, pp. 72 + 146 ... ... Rs. 1

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4. *Chaitanya's Pilgrimages and Teachings*, being an English translation of his contemporary biography, *Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya-lila*, pp. 320 + ... ... Rs. 2

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5. *India of Aurangzib: Statistics, Topography and Roads*, with translations from the *Khulasat-ut-tawarikh* and the *Chahar Gulshan*. (Not a history), pp. 300 ... Rs. 2½

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6. *Economics of British India*, 3rd ed., pp. 300 + (In preparation) ... ... Rs. 3

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7. *Essays, Social and Literary*, by Rabindranath Tagore, translated into English (In preparation).

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SOLD BY M. C. Sarkar & Sons, 75 Harrison Road, Calcutta. S. K. Lahiri & Co., 56 College Str., Calcutta. G. A. Natesan, 3 Shunkurama Chetti Str., Madras. D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., 103 Medows Str., Bombay. Luzac & Co., 46 Great Russell Str., LONDON.

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Mainly based on Persian Sources.

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JADUNATH SARKAR, M.A.,

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*Professor, Patna College.*

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Vol. I.

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Reign of Shah Jahan.

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M. C. SARKAR & SONS,

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75, HARRISON ROAD,

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CALCUTTA.

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5s. net.

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Rs. 3. 8 as.

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DS

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.7 S32 V.1

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KUNTALINE PRESS. PRINTED BY PURNA CHANDRA DASS, 61 & 62, BOWBAZAR STREET, CALCUTTA. PUBLISHED BY M. C. SARKAR & SONS, 75, HARRISON ROAD, CALCUTTA.

Contents.

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Introduction.

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Fullest expansion of Mughal empire under Aurangzib, xi—commencing decline, xii—rise of Marathas, Sikhs, and European trading companies, xii—administrative breakdown in Aurangzib's last years, xiv—its causes, xv—materials of his history : official annals or namahs, xv—private histories written by officers, xvi—two histories by Hindus, xvii—monographs, xviii—Court bulletins, xix—contemporary letters, xix—European travellers : their value criticised, xxi—thanks for help, xxiii—spelling and dates xxvi.

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Chapter I. Boyhood and Education.

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Birth, 1—life during Jahangir's reign, 3—education, 4—knowledge of languages, 5—hand writing, 5—favourite studies, 7—intellectual tastes, 8—fights a furious elephant, 9—scorn of death, 11—reward, 12—first military appointment, 13.

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Chapter II. The Bundela War.

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Bundelkhand and its ruling clan, 14—Bir Singh Dev, 15—Jhujhar Singh subdued, 17—captures Chauragarh, 18—Mughal armies sent against him under Aurangzib, 19—capture of Urchha, 22—of Dhamuni, 23—Jhujhar pursued, 24—murdered, 25—fate of his wives and children, 27—spoils of war, 28—Urchha temple turned into mosque, 29—later Bundela resistance, 30.

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Chapter III. First Viceroyalty of the Deccan.

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Conquests under Akbar, 32—pause under Jahangir, 33—Shah Jahan extinguishes Ahmadnagar dynasty, 34—prepares to invade Bijapur and Golkonda, 35—Golkonda submits, 36—Bijapur territory ravaged, 37—peace with Bijapur : its terms, 38—treaty with Golkonda, 41—extent of Mughal Deccan : its four provinces, 42—capture of Udgir fort, 44—of Ausa, 46—Shahji Bhonsla submits, 46—exactions from the Gond rajahs, 49— Baglana, 50—invaded, 52—annexed, 53—Kheloji Bhonsla slain, 54.

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Chapter IV. Marriage and Family—Viceroyalty of Guzerat.

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Persian princes in India, 57—marry into the Mughal imperial family, 57—Aurangzib married to Dilras Banu, 58—the procession, 59—his wives : Nawab Bai, 61—Udai-puri, 64—Zainabadi, 65—how won, 66—his children : Zebun-nissa, 68—others, 70—Jahanara burnt, 73—recovers, 75—Aurangzib’s dismissal, 76—its cause, 77—he is reinstated, 79—Guzerat : the land and the people, 80—his strong rule, 81.

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Chapter V. War in Central Asia.

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Badakhshan and Balkh, 83—their peoples, 85—Uzbaks and Tartars, 86—Nazar Muhammad, king of Balkh, 89—Shah Jahan wishes to conquer Central Asia, 90—folly of the attempt, 91—Badakhshan invaded, 92—Balkh occupied, 93—arrangements for holding them, 95—Aurangzib appointed viceroy, 97—the opposed forces, 97—his march on Balkh, 99—advance to Aqcha, 101—incessant fighting 102—retreat to Balkh, 104—hardships on the way, 105—his cool courage, 106—peace negotiations, 107—Mughal army evacuates Balkh, 110—sufferings during retreat, 111—losses, 112.

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Chapter VI. Governorship of Multan and Sindh.

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Aurangzib sent to Multan, 114—his promotions, 115—his letters as preserved in the Adab-i-Alamgiri, 116—their historical importance, 117—lawless people of the province, 118—the Hot tribe controlled, 119—the Nohani tribe, 121—expedition into Baluchistan, 121—order maintained, 123—a new port opened, 124.

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Chapter VII. First siege of Qandahar.

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Qandahar district described, 126—its strategic importance 128—commercial importance, 129—past history, 130—Persians besiege Qandahar fort, 132—treachery among the garrision, 135—fort surrenders, 136—incapacity of the Indian commandant, 137—Army sent to recover the fort, 138—fort of Qandahar described, 140—Aurangzib besieges it, 143—his weakness in artillery, 145—Persians defeated by Rustam Khan, 147—retreat of Indian army, 148—losses, 149.

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Chapter VIII. Second Siege of Qandahar.

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Aurangzib sent with a second army, 150—begins the siege, 152—night attack on Qaitul hill fails, 154—bad gunnery of the Indians, 157—failure to breach, 158—Persian losses, 160—siege abandoned, 161—Uzbak raid, 162—bitter correspondence between Shah Jahan and Aurangzib, 163—causes of the failure, 164—Mughal losses in money and men, 167—loss of military prestige, 168.

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Chapter IX. Second Viceroyalty of the Deccan.

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Aurangzib goes to the Deccan, 170—his life there, 171—religious bigotry, 173—Aurangabad city described, 174—administrative confusion in the Deccan, 176—its causes, 177—chronic deficit, 179—Aurangzib’s financial difficulties, 182—no help from Shah Jahan, 185—wrangle between Emperor and viceroy, 186—Murshid Quli Khan, *diwan* of the Deccan, 189—his revenue system, 191—Aurangzib’s protection of his officers, 195—increase of efficiency in garrison artillery, 197—causes of Aurangzib’s differences with Shah Jahan, 199—Minor expeditions : Gond kingdom of Deogarh, 205—tribute exacted, 208—invasion of Jawhar, 209.

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Chapter X. Invasion of Golkonda.

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Golkonda: its wealth, 211—friction with the Mughal government, 212—Karnatak conquered by Deccani sultans, 214—Mir Jumla: his career and conquests, 216—jealousy of Qutb Shah, 219—Mir Jumla's intrigues, 220—with Aurangzib, 222—his family imprisoned at Haidarabad, 225—Shah Jahan orders their release, 228—Aurangzib invades Golkonda, 229—cavalry dash on Haidarabad, 231—plunder, 232—Aurangzib besieges fort of Golkonda, 233—his eagerness to annex the kingdom, 235—Shah Jahan orders peace, 237—terms of the treaty, 240—Aurangzib's quarrel with Shah Jahan about the Golkonda booty, 242—Qutb Shah still clings to Karnatak, 245—Sri Ranga Rayal, last ruler of the Vijaynagar line, hard pressed, 248—how treated by the Mughals, 249—Did Aurangzib capture Haidarabad by treachery? 252.

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Chapter XI. War with Bijapur.

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Bijapur kingdom: its growth under Muhammad Adil Shah, 253—relations with the Delhi government, 255—succession of Ali Adil Shah II., 259—Aurangzib seduces Bijapur officers, 261—Mughals wish to conquer Bijapur, 262—Aurangzib begins the invasion, 264—siege of Bidar, 265—carried by assault, 267—detachment under Mahabat Khan, 269—battle, 270—siege of Kaliani, 271—battle, 272—another battle, 274—Mughal detachment penetrates to Kulbarga, 276—fall of Kaliani, 277—terms of peace with Bijapur, 278—Mughal retreat, 280—Shivaji: his negotiations, 281—his raids, 282—how checked by Aurangzib, 282—Shivaji makes peace, 284—Parentage of Ali Adil Shah II., 285—Was Jan Muhammad corrupted by Aurangzib? 286.

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Chapter XII. Illness of Shah Jahan.

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Shah Jahan's long reign, 290—its glories, 291—happiness of the people, 292—Dara Shukoh: his influence, 294—his theological studies, 296—not a heretic from Islam, 298—his character, 299—Shah Jahan falls ill, 302—removes to Agra, 304—Dara's devoted attendance, 305—Dara nominated as successor, 306—tries to strengthen his own position, 307—armies sent against his brothers, 308—Aurangzib's doings, 311—Dara stops the sending of news from Court, 312—alarm and confusion in the provinces, 313—Shuja and Murad crown themselves, 315—and march on Agra, 317.

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Chapter XIII. Murad crowns himself.

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Murad Bakhsh : his character, 318—his wazir Ali Naqi, 320—is murdered on suspicion, 321—Murad sends an army against Surat, 323—siege of Surat, 324—booty at Surat, 325—Murad corresponds with Aurangzib for an alliance, 327—Murad proclaims himself Emperor, 329—chooses a stronghold to shelter his family in, 331—Murad's impatient ambition and Aurangzib's cautiousness, 332—intrigue with Persia, 333—partition of empire between Murad and Aurangzib, 335—sworn to by Aurangzib, 337—Murad starts, 338—and joins Aurangzib near Dipalpur, 339.

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Chapter XIV. Aurangzib advances from the Deccan.

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Aurangzib's anxiety and uncertainty, 340—his critical position in the Deccan, 341—his dilemma : to attend to Bijapur or to Delhi? 342—his policy, 344—sends Mir Jumla towards Parenda, 345—retreats from Kaliani and Bidar, 346—death of his wife Dilras Banu, 348—waits for news of Court, 349—despairs of getting the treaty concessions from Bijapur, 351—various devices tried, 352—Mir Jumla returns baffled, 354—Aurangzib’s preparations for disputing the throne, 355—conflicting news from Delhi, and Aurangzib’s distraction, 356—his letter to Mir Jumla in cypher, 357—a waiting policy, 358—Aurangzib summons Mir Jumla and collusively arrests him, 361—Aurangzib’s dealings with Qutb Shah, 364—conciliation of Qutb Shah, 365—dealings with Bijapur, 366—large concessions now promised to Adil Shah, 367—Aurangzib’s financial resources, 368n—his intrigue with nobles at Court, 369—his military preparations completed, 370—his able officers, 371—his arrangements for Mughal Deccan, 372—Aurangzib marches from Aurangabad, 374—halts at Burhanpur, 374—imprisons Shah Nawaz Khan, 375—crosses the Narmada and joins Murad, 376.

Introduction.

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The history of Aurangzib is practically the history of India for sixty years. His own reign (1658-1707) covers the second half of the seventeenth century and stands forth as a most important epoch in the annals of our country. Under him the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent, and the largest single State ever known in India from the dawn of history to the rise of the British power was formed. From Ghazni to Chatgaon, from Kashmir to the Karnatak, the continent of India obeyed one sceptre; and beyond this region, in far-off Ladak and Malabar, the suzerainty of the same ruler was proclaimed from the pulpit. Islam made its last onward movement in India in this reign.

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The empire thus formed, while unprecedented in size, was also one political unit. Its parts were governed not by the mediation of sub-kings, but directly by the servants of the Crown. Herein Aurangzib's Indian empire was vaster than that of Asoka, or Samudra-gupta or Harsha-vardhan. No provincial governor had as yet set up his own rule and withheld revenue and obedience from the central power. There were rebellions here and there, but no other crowned head raised itself to defy the Emperor of Delhi even in any province.

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But the reign that saw the formation of the greatest Indian empire of pre-British days, witnessed also unmistakable signs of its commencing decline and disruption. Long before Nadir Shah the Persian or Ahmad Shah the Afghan proved the Padishah to be an impotent shadow of royalty and Delhi the mere memory of past greatness, long before the Maratha confederacy hid beneath its super-imposed sway the regular monarchy of the land,—even before Aurangzib closed his eyes, the Mughal empire had turned bankrupt in finance and prestige, the administration had broken down, the Imperial power had confessed its failure to maintain order and hold this vast realm together.

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The reign of Aurangzib is also marked by the upspringing of the Maratha nationality out of the ashes of their short-lived kingship, and by the appearance of the Sikh sect in the role of warriors and armed opponents of the ruling power. Thus the supreme factors of Indian politics in the 18th and early 19th centuries owe their origin to Aurangzib’s reign and policy. In the Deccan, after kings like Adil Shah and Qutb Shah, Sambhaji and Rajah Ram, had bowed low before the Mughal blast, the *people* asserted themselves and drove back the spoiler from the North. To the Marathas, alone among the Indian peoples, belongs the glory of giving the first successful check to the onward advance of the Mughal power and saving their fatherland from foreign encroachment. Their development into conquerors and raiders belongs to the next age.

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In the very reign in which the Mughal crescent rounded to fulness and then began to wane visibly, the first glow of a new dawn was distinctly seen in our political sky. The future lords of our country's destiny gained a firm and safe footing on its soil. Madras and Bombay became presidencies of the English East India Company in 1653 and 1687 respectively; Calcutta was founded in 1690. The shelter thus secured to the Europeans formed a dominion within a dominion, and was fortified to defy the greatest onslaughts of the "country powers." The "merchant adventurers" here began their first experiments in Oriental government and legislation,—experiments which were destined in the fulness of time to result in an empire larger than that of the Romans and more populous than that of Charles V., and a civilised and progressive administration to which the world, ancient or modern, affords no parallel.

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The end of the seventeenth century reveals the Mughal empire as rotten at the core. The grand edifice which Akbar had built up and Shah Jahan and Aurangzib had extended, still looked fair as before, but it was ready to tumble down like a house of cards at the first touch of the foreign invader's lance. The Treasury was empty. The Imperial army knew itself defeated and recoiled from its foes. The centrifugal forces were asserting themselves successfully, and the empire was ready for disruption. The moral weakness of the empire was even greater than the material: the Government no longer commanded the awe of its subjects; the public servants had lost honesty and efficiency; ministers and princes alike lacked statesmanship and ability; the army broke down as an instrument of force. In letter after letter the aged Aurangzib mourns over the utter incapacity of his officers and sons and chastises them with his sharp pen, but in despair of a remedy. Contemporaries like Bhimsen and Khafi Khan, sadly contrast the misery and degradation of the nobles and the people alike in Aurangzib's closing years with the glory of the empire under his forefathers, and wonder why it was so.

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Why was it so? The ruler was free from vice, stupidity, or sloth. His intellectual keenness was proverbial, and at the same time he took to the business of governing with all the ardour which men usually display in the pursuit of pleasure. In industry and attention to public affairs he could not be surpassed by any clerk. His patience and perseverance were as remarkable as his love of discipline and order. In private life he was simple and abstemious like a hermit. He faced the privations of a campaign or a forced march as uncomplainingly as the most seasoned private. No terror could daunt his heart, no weakness or pity melt it. Of the wisdom of the ancients which can be gathered from ethical books, he was a master. He had, besides, undergone a long and successful probation in war and diplomacy in his father's life time.

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And yet the result of fifty years' rule by such a sovereign was failure and chaos! The cause of this political paradox is to be found in Aurangzib's policy and conduct. Hence his reign is an object of supreme interest to the student of political philosophy no less than to the student of Indian history.

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Happily, the materials for a study of it are abundant in Persian, the literary language of Mughal India. First, we have the official annals, —the *Padishahnamah* (in three sections by three writers) and the *Alamgirnamah*—which cover the 41 years lying between the accession of Shah Jahan and the tenth year of Aurangzib’s reign. These works were written by order, on the basis of the State papers preserved in the Imperial archives, such as official correspondence, despatches, newsletters, treaties and revenue returns. They are rich in dates and topographical details of the utmost value and accuracy, but as they were read to the Emperor and revised by him before presentation to the public, they suppress or belittle all incidents likely to throw discredit on his character or government. For the last forty years of Aurangzib’s reign we have the *Masir-i-Alamgiri*, compiled from the same class of official records, but after his death, and hence free from the fulsome flattery and misrepresentation of the former two histories. Unfortunately, this work is very condensed and lacks the fulness and detail of the regular official annals.

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Next come a class of private histories, like those of Masum, Aqil Khan, and Khafi Khan. These were written by officials, but, not having been meant for the Emperor’s eyes, they supply us with many of the facts suppressed in the court annals, though their dates and names are sometimes inaccurate and their descriptions meagre. They, however, contain many personal traits and graphic touches which the more formal official histories have excluded. Khafi Khan, who has been mainly relied on by European writers, completed his work twenty-six years after the death of Aurangzib. His history is professedly an abridgement of the Court annals for the entire reign of Shah Jahan and the earlier part of that of Aurangzib, But he begins to speak with personal knowledge from about 1688 and often quotes what he had gathered from his father and his friends, who had witnessed earlier scenes. In the same class must be placed the biographical dictionary of the peers of the Mughal empire, the *Masir-ul-umara*, written in 1780 on the basis of the existing Persian annals, but giving many characteristic anecdotes from tradition and throwing many side-lights on the manners of past generations.

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There are even two histories of Aurangzib's reign written by Hindus in the Persian tongue. One is the *Nuskha-i-Dilkasha* by Bhimsen Burhanpuri, the business man of Aurangzib's general Dalpat Rao Bundela. This author was an active traveller, with a good eye for topographical details, and a careful recorder of all he saw from Mathura to Malabar. His work is of special value for Deccan affairs, because there he was brought up and spent nearly all his life.

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He lived near enough to the Imperial Court to learn facts accurately, but was not so closely connected with it as to be a lying flatterer. The other is the *Fatuhat-i-Alamgiri* of Isar-das Nagar, who long served the Shaikh-ul-Islam and lived at Pattan in Guzerat. This work is of great importance for Rajput affairs.

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Besides these general histories of the reign, we have monographs in Persian touching only particular episodes or personages of the time,—such as Niamat Khan Ali’s account of the siege of Golkonda, Shihabuddin Talish’s diary of the conquest of Kuch Bihar, Assam, and Chatgaon, the memoirs of Iradat Khan and of some other servants of Bahadur Shah I. which start from the closing years of Aurangzib’s reign. Of the two Deccani kingdoms of Golkonda and Bijapur we have separate histories, which throw light on the dealings of the Mughal Government with them. On the Maratha side there are chronicles (*Bakhars*) of Shivaji, Sambhaji, and Rajah Ram written by their officers and others. Mr. Rajwade is said to have hunted out a number of historical letters of the 17th century in Marathi for inclusion in the *Aitihasik Lekh Sangraha* series.

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The Royal Asiatic Society of London has a box of Court bulletins of Aurangzib’s time (*Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Muala*). They are bare skeletons,—dry, extremely brief, and good only for dates. Only a few have been preserved for the first 22 years of the reign, but from the 36th year they are more numerous.

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The accounts of Aurangzib’s reign now current in India, especially in Urdu, are based on works like the *Tarikh-i-Muhammad Shahi*, and the *Tarikh-i-Farah-Bakhsh*, written long after the events and merely reproducing the bazar gossip and popular traditions. Not being based on official records and other contemporary sources of information, their evidence must be rejected wherever they conflict with the earlier and authoritative histories of Aurangzib’s reign. These unreliable but picturesque works have inspired Dow’s *History of Hindostan* and Stewart’s *History of Bengal*, and continue to perpetuate many historical heresies in the popular belief of India.

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Most fortunately, for several portions of Aurangzib’s reign I have been able to secure the very raw materials of history,—a source of information even more valuable than the contemporary official annals described above. These are the LETTERS of the actors in the political drama of the 17th century, of which nearly three thousand are in my possession. In them we see events as they happened day by day, and not as they were dressed up afterwards by writers with a purpose. In them we see the actual hopes and fears, plans and opinions of those who made Indian history. To this class belong the letters of Aurangzib (forming many different and bulky collections, to be described in the bibliography), of his father, brothers and sisters (in the Faiyaz-ul-qawanin, Lucknow MS.), of Jai Singh (in the Haft Anjuman, Benares MS.), of Aurangzib’s fourth son Prince Akbar (in the Adab-i-Alamgiri, the Zahur-ul-insha, and the Khatut-i-Shivaji), of Shah Abbas II. (in a MS. picked up by me in the Lucknow bazar), the Mughal-Maratha correspondence in the Khatut-i-Shivaji, and the letters of various officials such as Nur-ul-Hassan, Radandaz Khan, and Lutfullah Khan, besides several miscellaneous collections in the libraries of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the India Office of London, and the Nawab of Rampur. Mr. P. V. Mawji of Bombay has collected some Persian letters addressed to Shivaji and his father, but he has declined to let other scholars use them.

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An extremely interesting collection of anecdotes about Aurangzib with many of his sayings and orders on petitions, is the Ahkam-i-Alamgiri, ascribed to Hamiduddin Khan Nimchah, which I have translated as Anecdotes of Aurangzib.

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We have a cloud of witnesses,—both professed histories and collections of letters,—for the beginning and the end of Aurangzib’s reign; but the intervening period of nearly thirty years (1667–1696) is comparatively dark. I, however, believe that many other historical letters of these decades can still be discovered in India, especially in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, if my educated countrymen interest themselves in the quest and make it a point to examine the Persian MSS. in private possession with knowledge and care.

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The European travellers, Tavernier, Bernier, and Manucci, who visited India in this reign, have left long accounts of the country. Their works are of undoubted value as throwing light on the condition of the people, the state of trade and industry, and the history of the Christian churches in India. Moreover, the criticism of Indian institutions by foreign observers has a freshness and weight all its own. But of the political history of India, apart from the few events in which they took part or which they personally witnessed, their report merely reproduced the bazar rumours and the stories current among the populace, and cannot be set against the evidence of contemporary histories and letters in Persian. Tavernier and Bernier touch only the beginning of the reign; the former took most of his facts from Bernier, who, again, was indebted to Manucci for several particulars. The last-named writer's *Storia do Mogor* covers the whole reign; but he was a run-away lad of poor education when he reached India, and, as is admitted by his able editor, was a credulous listener. He wrote long after most of the events, and from memory; hence we cannot expect accuracy in his narrative. From their position these foreign travellers had no access to the best sources of information; the State archives were closed to them. They visited the makers of Indian history only occasionally and as suppliants for favours; hence they could not derive the oral information which only familiar intercourse with the highest personages in camp and Court could have given them. Finally, their imperfect knowledge of literary Persian prevented them from using the written annals of the time and checking the reports they had received orally. For instance, Manucci's story of how Aurangzib, when travelling slenderly guarded, met with Jai Singh at the head of an army and with great presence of mind hailed him as a friend (*Storia*, i. 320), is proved by the known dates to have been impossible. The official annals are so detailed that any wrong date in them clashes with what goes before and after, and can be at once detected. We must accept their dates as against those supplied by the European travellers. Hence, in my narrative, I have not been able to use Bernier and Manucci except to a limited extent, viz., where they supplement the official histories or record the writers' personal experiences.

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I cannot place this history before the public without acknowledging the deep debt of gratitude I owe to the late Mr. William Irvine, I.C.S., the author of the *Later Mughals*. He freely lent me his own Persian MSS., took great pains in securing on my behalf permission from European public libraries to take copies of their MSS., and beat down the rates demanded by photographers in London and Paris for mechanically reproducing (by a process called 'rotary bromide print') Persian MSS. for me. In every difficulty and doubt that I have appealed to him, he has given prompt assistance and advice. A certain Indian Nawab has a rare volume of Persian historical letters. I secured his permission to take a copy of it at my expense, and engaged a scribe. But for more than a year the Nawab's officers under various pretexts refused my man access to the MS. At last, in despair I wrote to Mr. Irvine about the case. He wrote to one of his friends, high in the Civil Service of the U. P., and this gentleman communicated with the Nawab. The owner of the MS. now had it copied at his own expense, bound the transcript in silk and morocco, and presented it to Mr. Irvine, who lent it to me as soon as he received it!

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Mr. Irvine criticised and emended the first five chapters of this history, as carefully and minutely as if it were his own work. His lamented death has robbed me of the pleasure of presenting these volumes to him; but I am happy that I could show him at least a portion of the book, and I have been heartened in my undertaking by the following cordial appreciation from a critic of his standing and ability:—

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"I like the style—from this first impression,—it being a judicious compromise between the over-crowded stiffness of my *Later Mughals* and mere popular, journalese writing,—yet without any sacrifice of exactness." And again, "I like very much your attention to genealogy and topography and above all your recourse to all modern sources of information—the *Indian Atlas* and modern travellers."

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Dr. C. R. Wilson, the historian of the *Early Annals of the English in Bengal*, who encouraged my historical studies and recommended me, unsolicited, to the Bengal Government for aid, is also beyond the reach of my thanks. The Education Department of Bengal, at his instance, very kindly made a grant of £39 5s. for getting copies of the MSS. I needed from the Bodleian, the British Museum, and the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris,—the copies to remain in the Imperial Library, Calcutta, as Government property, after I had done with them. The Secretary of State for India has lent me Persian MSS. from the India Office Library on four occasions and the Royal Asiatic Society of London twice, for which priceless help I am deeply indebted to them.

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My thanks are due to the authorities of the Khuda Bakhsh Library (Bankipur), the Bodleian, the British Museum, the Cambridge University Library, the Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), and the Berlin Royal Library, and to H. H. the Nawab of Rampur, Nawab Abdus Salam Khan Bahadur (late Sub-Judge, Oudh), Major Vaman Das Basu, I.M.S. (ret.), and Munshi Shyam Sundar Lal (of Benares), for their enlightened courtesy in allowing me to take copies of certain of their Persian MSS.

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Among friends in India who have taken pains for me in securing the permission of owners of MSS. and engaging copyists, I gratefully mention Hafiz Ahmad Ali Khan (Rampur State), Mr. D. N. Mallik (Electrical Engineer) and Mr. Maqbul Alam, B.A., LL.B., (Benares). Nor should I omit the name of my former colleague, Maulvi Abdul Hai, Lecturer, Patna College, to whom I have gone in every difficulty in interpreting Persian and who gave much of his time to collating the Persian MSS. copied for me.

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In the spelling of Eastern words I have followed the Hunterian system, restricting *u* to express the sound of *oo*, except in a very small number of cases (such as *Jumna, nullah, Calcutta*, &c.) I have also in a few instances (like *Barham-deo*) refrained from Sanskritising Hindi proper names, in order to avoid too great a departure from the popular pronunciation. All the dates in the Hijera era have been converted to the Christian era according to the Old Style.

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Two volumes of my history are now placed before the public. A third is expected to be ready in manuscript a year hence. To complete this long reign of 50 years and give some account of the condition of the people, trade, life and manners, two more volumes at least will be needed. I am now on the threshhold of my subject and can see its distant end but dimly.

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July, 1912.

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JADUNATH SARKAR.

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∗ * * Chapters I—IX, XI—XV, XIX, XXIII and XXIV were first printed in the *Modern Review* and a portion of Ch. XXV in the *Indian Review*; but they have been thoroughly revised and emended before publication in their present form.

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The History of Aurangzib.

Chapter I. Boyhood and Education, 1618—1634.

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Birth. Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzib, who ascended the throne of Delhi as Alamgir I., was the sixth child of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, the royal couple who lie buried in the famous Taj Mahal. His grandfather, the Emperor Jahangir, after putting down one of Malik Ambar’s attempts to revive the Ahmadnagar kingship, was leisurely making a royal progress from Guzerat to Agra, with Shah Jahan and his family in his train, when at Dohad,[*] on the way to Ujjain, Aurangzib was born, in the night of 15th Ziqada, 1027 A.H.* (or, according to European calculation, the night preceding Sunday, 24th October, 1618 A.D., Old Style). A few days afterwards when the Imperial Court reached Ujjain, the capital of Malwa, the princely infant’s birth was celebrated with befitting splendour.†

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∗ Dohad (22·50 N. 74·20 E., Indian Atlas, Sheet 36 s. w.) is a subdivision of the Panch Mahal District in the Bombay

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† *Tuzuk*, p. 251.

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Aurangzib cherished an affectionate memory of the place of his birth; we find him in his old age writing to his son Muhammad Azam, “Noble son, the village of Dohad, in the province of Guzerat, is the birth-place of this sinner. Deem it proper to treat its inhabitants with kindness. Conciliate and retain at his post the old man who has been its faujdar for a long time past.”‡

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‡ *Ruqat-i-Alamgiri*, lithographed ed., No. 31.

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Shah Jahan was intensely devoted to his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and never in her life parted from her in weal or woe. Wherever he moved, whether marching on a campaign, visiting different provinces, or, in Jahangir’s later years, fleeing from his father’s wrath through the wilderness of Telingana to Bengal,—his wife always bore him company. Thus, Aurangzib was

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Presidency, and the town stands just south of the Dohad Station on the B. B. & C. I. Railway.

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∗ *Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri* ed. by Syud Ahmud, p. 250.

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born on the return march from the Deccan and Murad Bakhsh* in the fort of Rohtas in South Bihar.

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Aurangzíb a hostage for his father. From 1622 till almost the end of his father’s reign, Shah Jahan was under a cloud; the infatuated old Emperor, entirely dominated by his selfish and imperious consort Nur Jahan, deprived Shah Jahan of his posts and fiefs, and at last drove him into rebellion in self-defence. But the prince’s efforts were in general unsuccessful, and he had to flee by way of Telingana, Orissa and Bengal to Jaunpur and back again to the Deccan by the same wild and terrible route, his wife and children accompanying him. At last he had no help but to submit to his father and give up his young sons, Dara and Aurangzib, as hostages. These two reached Jahangir’s Court at Lahore in June 1626,† and remained under the care of Nur Jahan. Shortly afterwards Jahangir died, Shah Jahan ascended the throne, and the two boys were escorted by Asaf Khan to Agra, where a most pathetic scene was acted : their eagerly expectant mother clasped her long lost darlings to her bosom and poured out all her pent up affection for them* (26 February, 1628). Aurangzib’s daily allowance was now fixed at Rs. 500.

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∗ Tuzuk, 391. † Tuzuk, 380—391, 397, 410. Gladwin, 69—75, 78.

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Thus, at the age of ten he came to a settled life; and arrangements were evidently now made for his regular education. Sadullah Khan, who rose to be the best reputed of Shah Jahan’s *wazirs*, is said† to have been one of his teachers. Another teacher was Mir Muhammad Hashim of Gilan, who after a study of twelve years at Mecca and Medina came to India, learnt medicine under Hakim Ali Gilani, and kept a famous school at Ahmadabad, where he was afterwards made Civil Judge (*Sadr*). As Aurangzib’s tutor he remained in the Prince’s service till the end of Shah Jahan’s reign.‡ Bernier§ speaks of Mulla Salih as his old teacher, but the Persian histories do not bear this statement out. Of one Mulla Salih Badakhshani|| we read that he was a scholar of Balkh and had his first audience of Shah Jahan on 4th January, 1647, when Aurangzib was already 29 years of age,—too old to go to school.

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* Abdul Hamid’s *Padishahnamah*, I.A. 70, 97, 177. † Hamiduddin’s *Ahkam-i-Alamgiri*, Ir. MS. 23a. But Sadullah entered Shah Jahan’s service in Dec. 1640. (*Pad.* ii. 220). ‡ *Padishahnamah*, I. B. 345. § *Bernier’s Travels*, ed. by Constable, p. 154.

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|| *Padishahnamah*, ii. 624.

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That Aurangzeb had a natural keenness of mind and quickly learnt what he read, we can readily believe. His correspondence proves that he had thoroughly mastered the Quran and the Traditional Sayings of Muhammad (Hadis), and was ever ready with apt quotations from them. He spoke and wrote Arabic and Persian like a scholar. Hindustani was his mother tongue, the language used by the Mughal Court in private life. He had some knowledge of Hindi, too, and could talk and recite popular sayings in that language.* He acquired a mastery over Chaghtai Turki, as he had served in Balkh and Qandahar, and the Mughal army contained a large body of men recruited from Central Asia. Under exactly the same circumstances Jai Singh had learnt that foreign tongue.†

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† *Dilkasha*, p. 63.

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Aurangzeb wrote Arabic in a vigorous and masterly *naskh* hand. In this he used to copy the Quran, a deed of piety in Muslim eyes. Two manuscripts of this book he presented to Mecca and Medina, after richly binding and illuminating them.‡ A third copy is preserved at the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya near Delhi. Others were sold in his lifetime by this puritan Emperor, who deemed it sinful to eat the bread of idleness, and used to ply the trade of copyist and cap-maker in his leisure hours in order to earn his livelihood. Copies of these Qurans are known to exist here and there in India.

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∗ *Masir-i-Alamgiri*, 334. *Alamgirnamah*, 1095.

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‡ *Masir-i-Alamgiri*, 532.

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"His nastaliq and shikasta styles of writing were also excellent," says Saqi Mustad Khan, and this we can readily believe, for Aurangzib was the author of a vast number of letters, and made it a point to write orders across all petitions in his own hand.[*] The princes of the house of Akbar were taught handwriting with great care, as the signatures of Shah Jahan and Dara Shukoh on some Persian MSS. of their libraries, and the autograph remarks of Jahangir in his book of fate (a copy of the Diwan of Hafiz), look remarkably clear and beautiful.[†]

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† MSS. containing the autographs of these princes are preserved in the Khuda Bakhsh Library, Bankipur.

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In his letters and speeches, he frequently quotes verses to point his remarks. But these "familiar quotations" were a part of the mental equipment of every cultured Muhammadan, and do not prove any special taste for poetry. Indeed his historian remarks, "This emperor did not like to hear useless poetry, still less laudatory verses. But he made an exception in favour of poems containing good counsels."* The moral precepts of Sadi and Hafiz he had evidently learnt by rote in his youth, and he quoted them to his last day, but he does not seem to have studied these poets in later life. Once he asked for the works of a poet named Mulla Shah.† But we may rightly hold that, unlike his grandfather he was not fond of poetry, and unlike Shah Jahan he had no passion for history. "His favourite study was theological works,—Commentaries on the Quran, the Traditions of Muhammad, Canon Law, the works of Imam Muhammad Ghazzali, selections from the letters of Shaikh Sharf Yahia of Munir, and Shaikh Zainuddin Qutb Muhi Shirazi, and other works of that class."‡ We also learn that he highly prized the Nihaiyya of Mulla Abdullah Tabbakh.* Like many other pious Muslims, and even some ladies of the Mughal royal family, Aurangzib committed the Quran to memory.

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∗ Alamgirnamah, 1092-'94.

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† Asiatic Society of Bengal Pers. MS. F. 27, 5a. He mentions another poet whose pen-name was Fani.

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‡ Masir-i-Alamgiri, 531-532. He spent his leisure in the afternoon in investigating theological problems, deliberating on the philosophy of truth, (lit., 'the certain sciences,') reading the books and pamphlets of wisemen and saints. (Alamgirnamah, 1103.) Aurangzib speaks of his having read two books of Ghazzali (A.S.B. Pers. MS. F. 27, 126a and b.)

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Such intellectual tastes made him find delight in the society of dervishes, and when he was Viceroy of the Deccan, he took care to visit the holymen of Islam in his province, engaging them in talk, and reverently learning wisdom at their feet.

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Painting he never appreciated. Indeed the portraiture of any living being was impossible under an orthodox Islamic king, as an impious imitation of the Creator. Music he banished from his Court, in the outburst of devotion which marked the completion of the tenth year of his reign. Fine Chinaware he liked, and these were presented to him by nobles and traders. But he had none of his father's passion for building. No masterpiece of architecture, no superb or exquisite mosque,† hall, or tomb marks his reign.

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∗ Masir-i-Alamgiri, 391.

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† Except one, the Pearl Mosque in the Delhi palace, which was begun on 10 Dec. 1659 and completed in 5 years at a cost of one lakh and sixty thousand rupees, (Alamgir-namah, 468, Masir-i-Alamgiri, 29). His mosque at Lahore is not the best one in that city.

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All that he built took the impress of his utilitarian mind. They were commonplace necessary things, piles of brick and mortar, which quickly decayed. Such were the mosques which marked the scenes of his victories, and the numberless serais which he built along the Imperial highways running to the south and the west.[*]

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One incident of his boyhood made his fame ring throughout India, and showed what stuff he was made of. It was his encounter with a fighting elephant on 28th May, 1633. That morning Shah Jahan, who loved this sport, set two huge elephants, Sudhakar and Surat-sundar by name, to fight a combat on the level bank of the Jumna near the mansion at Agra which he used to occupy before his accession. They ran for some distance and then grappled together just below the balcony of the morning salute in the fort. The Emperor hastened there to see the fight, his eldest three sons riding a few paces before him. Aurangzib, intent on seeing the fight, edged his way very close to the elephants.

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∗ Aurangzib's mosque at Fatihabad or Dharmat, where he defeated Jaswant Singh, was in ruins when I visited it on 19th October, 1909. For the serais he built, see Alamgirnamah, 1084.

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The brutes after a while let go their grip and each stepped back a little. Sudhakar’s spirit was fully roused. Losing sight of his opponent he turned to vent his wrath on the prince standing by. Trumpeting fiercely, the moving mountain charged Aurangzib. The Prince, then only fourteen years old, calmly stood his ground, kept his horse from turning back, and flung his spear at the elephant’s head. All was now confusion and alarm. The crowd swayed this way and that, men stumbling on one another in their eagerness to flee. The nobles and the servants ran about shouting, fireworks were let off to scare away the elephant, but all to no effect. The animal came on and felled Aurangzib’s horse with a sweep of his long tusk. But the prince jumped up from the ground, drew his sword, and faced the raging beast. The unequal combat would have soon ended fatally for the heroic boy, but succour was at hand. His brother Shuja forced his way through the crowd and smoke, galloped up to the elephant, and wounded it with his spear. But his horse reared and he was thrown down. Rajah Jai Singh, too, came up, and while managing his shying steed with one hand attacked the elephant with the other from the right side. Shah Jahan shouted to his own guards to run to the spot.

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Just then an unlooked for diversion came to the princes' aid. The other elephant, Suratsundar, ran up to renew the combat, and Sudhakar, having now no stomach for the fight, or being daunted by the spear-thrusts and fire works discharged at him, fled from the field with his rival thundering at his heels.

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The danger thus passed away, and the princes were saved. Shah Jahan clasped Aurangzib to his bosom, praised his courage, gave him the title of Bahadur or 'hero,' and covered him with presents. The courtiers cried out that the boy had inherited his father's reckless courage, and told each other how Shah Jahan in his youth had attacked a wild tiger sword in hand before the eyes of Jahangir.[*]

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On this occasion Aurangzib gave a foretaste of his lofty spirit and royal contempt for death, in his speech as reported by Hamiduddin Khan. When his father lovingly chid him for his rash courage, he replied, "If the fight had ended fatally for me it would not have been a matter of shame.

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∗ Abdul Hamid, I.A. 489—495, Khafi Khan, I. 474. In one MS. we have *Madhukar* for *Sudhakar*.

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Death drops the curtain even on emperors; it is no dishonour. The shame lay in what my brothers did!”*

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Three days afterwards occurred his fifteenth birthday. The Emperor had the boy weighed against gold pieces in full Court and presented him with the amount (5000 mohars,) the elephant Sudhakar, and other gifts worth two lakhs of rupees in all. The heroic deed was celebrated in Urdu and Persian verses. The Poet Laureate, Saidai Gilani, surnamed Bedil Khan, got Rs. 5,000 for his ode. Shuja was praised for his gallant exertions. Another sum of 5,000 gold pieces was distributed by the Emperor in charity.†

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† Abdul Hamid, I. A. 493.

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Thereafter we get occasional glimpses of Aurangzib. Next year the Emperor paid a visit to Kashmir. Aurangzib accompanied him, and was presented with the parganah of Lukh-bhavan near Sahibabad or Achbal (September, 1634).‡

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∗ Hamiduddin Khan’s Ahkam-i-Alamgiri, Ir. MS. 15a & b. Dara Shukoh is unjustly taunted with cowardice in the above speech. He was at some distance from Shuja and Aurangzib, and could not, even if he had wished it, have come to Aurangzib’s aid as the affair was over in a few minutes. For another version of the incident, see Dow, iii. 136.

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‡ Abdul Hamid, I. B.

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⁵² Achbal, in the Kuthar Pargana,

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Hitherto Aurangzib had been getting, like other Mughal princes before they were old enough for military appointment, a daily allowance of Rs. 500. But on 13th December, 1634, though not yet sixteen, he got his first post in the Mughal peerage, with the rank of a Commander of Ten Thousand Horse, with an additional following of 4000 troopers. He was also permitted to use the red tent, which was a royal prerogative.[*] The governorship of the Deccan was intended for him, and there, under the guidance of the highest generals of his father's Court, he was expected to receive the best education then possible for a man of action and a leader of men. As a preparation for this high and difficult post he was given his first lessons in the art of war and the control of men by being sent to the Bundela Expedition in September, 1635.[†]

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75'17 E. Long. 33'41 N. Lat., famous for its beautiful springs described by Bernier (Constable's ed. p. 413). At the western end of the Pargana and 5 miles to the s. w. of Achbal is the village of Lokbavan. King Lalitaditya is said to have built a town here. A small garden-palace erected in Mughal times near the spring is partly constructed of old materials. (Stein's Rajatarangini, i. 50n, ii. 468.)

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[*] Abdul Hamid, I. B. 65. [†] Ibid, I. B. 99.

Chapter II. The Bundela War, 1635.

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As the old road from Agra to the Deccan leaves Gwalior, it skirts on its left hand side an extensive jungly tract known as Bundelkhand. The Jumna river and the Kaimur range, meeting in a sharp angle near Mirzapur, enclose this district on the north, east, and south. Its western boundary is the edge of the Malwa plateau. The river Betwa flowing north-eastwards to the Jumna cuts it into two.

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The country took its name from its dominant race, the Bundelas, a clan of Gaharwar Rajputs, whose mythical genealogy stretches up to Rajah Pancham, a sworn devotee of the goddess Vindhya-basini, and even beyond him to Rama, the hero of the Ramayana.[*] The only element of truth that we can extract from this mass of fiction is that a great ancestor of the family migrated from the Benares, through the Mirzapur District, and established his rule over this tract by dispossessing its older rulers, Afghans and aborigines.* Urchha, on the Betwa, was their first capital, (founded in 1531). Here lived the head of the clan. The Bundelas multiplied fast, and the younger branches established principalities all over the land, each centring round a fort. One of these, Mahoba, sheltered within a network of ravines, rose to prominence in the latter half of the seventeenth century, under, Champat Rao and his son Chhatra Sal, who long troubled the Imperial government. Other scions of the family reigned at Simroha Shahpur, and many another town.†

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∗ Pogson's History of the Boondelas (1828), 3—11, Masir-ul-Umara, ii. 317.

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† Pogson, 11. Urchha is situated 7 m. south-east of Jhansi fort. Mahoba is midway on the railway line between Jhansi and Manikpur.

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The Bundela power reached its zenith under Bir Singh Dev, the agent employed by Jahangir in murdering his father's beloved minister Abul Fazl. There was hardly any favour which the Emperor could refuse to this Rajah.[*] Bir Singh grew in wealth and power, and towards the close of his patron's reign, when the Imperial administration grew slack, he freely levied contributions from the neighbouring princes, for none durst complain against the favourite. As a still higher mark of his master's favour he was permitted to build grand temples at Mathura, Urchha, and other places;—a fact which the Muhammadan historian can explain only by supposing that the Islamic Emperor was then sinking into dotage![†] With all his lavish expenditure on temples and *ghats*, gifts to Brahmans, and construction of palaces, forts and lakes, Bir Singh died in 1627, the master of fabulous weath, fully two *krores* of rupees,—which in Bundela fashion was buried in wells and other safe places in the pathless jungles, and their secret confided only to a few.[‡]

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∗ Elliot's Memoirs...of the Races of the N. W. P. ed. by Beames, i. 45-46. Imperial Gazetteer (ed. 1906) ix, 68, 70, Masir-ul-Umara, ii. 131.

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† *M.U.* ii. 199. Abdul Hamid's *Padishahnamah*, I. A. 293.

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‡ Abd. Ham., I. B. 117.

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Jhujhar Singh punished.

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His eldest son Jhujhar Singh had given offence to Shah Jahan by leaving the capital for his home without permission, soon after the Emperor's accession. But an army of 34,500 soldiers—cavalry, foot musketeers, and sappers, penetrated into his country from three directions, stormed the fort of Irich, slaughtered 2000 of the garrison including “many young and old,” and quickly forced the Rajah to make submission. He secured pardon only by promising a large tribute and sending a contingent of his clansmen to fight in the Emperor's wars in the South.∗

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∗ Blochmann's *Ain-i-Akbari*, i. 488 and xxv-xxvi *M.U.* ii. 197-199.

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∗ Abdul Hamid, I. B. 240—242, 246—248. Jhujhar's life in given in *M.U.* ii. 214—217. The cause of his flight is stated to have been his fear lest the stricter administration of Shah Jahan should make him disgorge his father's unauthorised annexations of territory. Dow says that “having come to pay his respects at the court of Agra, he found that an addition was made in the books of the Imperial Treasury, to the tribute which he and his ancestors had formerly paid to the house of Timur. Instead of petitioning for an abatement of the impost, he fled without taking leave of the Emperor.” (iii. 108.) Khafi Khan, i. 406, says that Jhujhar was alarmed and fled on learning that Shah Jahan had been thinking of extirpating his father for his annexations and exactions during Jahangir's last years. Irich is stiuated on a bend of the Betwa river, 40 miles N. E. of Jhansi (*Ind. Atlas*, sheet 69 N. W.).

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To this race of primitive warriors a peaceful life was impossible. War was their sole occupation, their sole means of earning glory and riches, and their only amusement. This restless spirit made the Bundelas, when not usefully occupied in war, a bye-word for robbery and disturbance throughout the seventeenth century.*

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