History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c23: Chapter XVII. Capture of Agra Fort and Captivity of Murad Bakhsh, June 1658.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c23
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Chapter XVII. Capture of Agra Fort and Captivity of Murad Bakhsh, June 1658.
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The livelong day of 29th May had been passed by the Court and the people of Agra in the greatest anxiety. Reports from Dara's camp had made it known that the decisive battle would take place that day. From noon the distant booming of cannon had been heard. What would be the result of the clash of arms? Would the heir apparent confirm his power and end the troublous dispute about succession? Or, was their city to be subjected to slaughter and rapine by his victorious rivals? Such questions filled all minds,—the private citizens no less than the kindred of the soldiers or the members of the Imperial Court.
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Anxiety at Agra during the battle.
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Fugitives from the field had begun to arrive in the city as early as 2 o'clock in the afternoon. But as they had evidently fled from the battle at an early stage, their reports only agitated the citizens without confirming the belief of a disaster. As the day wore on, the public anxiety deepened. At last about 9 p. m. a small group of riders on panting horses, without torches, clattered over the streets and passed by the gate of the Fort to Dara's house in the city. It was Dara and all that was left of his retinue. He entered his house and shut the door. Loud lamentations broke out from within.[*]
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Dara's arrival in the city.
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At once the dismal news spread about; the city was filled with alarm and mourning. The scene within the Fort was equally sad. There Shah Jahan and Jahanara learnt of the disaster to their favourite son and brother, and burst into grief. The women of the harem lifted up their voices and wept.
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Shah Jahan's grief at the disaster,
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When the first paroxysm of grief was over, Shah Jahan sent word to Dara by means of an eunuch, saying, "What has brought you down to such a state is only the decree of Fate. It is better for you now to come to the Fort and see me. After hearing what I have to say, you may
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his message to Dara.
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[*] Storia, i. 287, 288-289; Khafi Khan, ii. 30; A. N. 107; Masum, 65a and b.
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go wherever Fate leads you. What is predestined for you will happen in every place that you may be in."
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But Dara was broken down in body and in spirit. The exertions of the last forty hours, his two days' marching in the sun, the long and desperate struggle of today, and the hurried ride from the fatal field, had left him prostrate. Moreover, the iron had entered his soul: he had lost all, not excepting honour. He remembered that he had risked a battle with Aurangzib against Shah Jahan's wishes; he had prevented his father from going out to meet the princes and ending the quarrel by his personal influence; and now the worst foreboded by his father had come to pass. He had been lavishly furnished with men, money and arms by a bountiful father, and he had thrown everything away in the gamble for the throne. He had left Agra shouting 'Victory or a grave,'[*] and now he had returned without victory. A bankrupt in fame and fortune, he hid himself in shame from friend and stranger alike, and sent this touching reply to his father, "I have not the face to appear before your
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Dara's pathetic reply.
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∗ *Ya takht, ya tabut*, literally, 'Either the throne or a tomb' (*Storia*, i. 242, 'a proverb current among princes laying claim to a crown'.) Dara's exact words are given on p. 262 of *Storia*.
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Majesty in my present wretched plight. Then, again, if I stay here longer, the troops of death will encircle and slay me. Give up your wish to see my abashed face and permit me to go away. Only I beg your Majesty to pronounce the benediction of farewell (fatiha) on this distracted and half dead man in the long journey that he has before him."
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The arrival of this message doubled the grief of Shah Jahan; he seemed to feel "the parting of his own life from the body." But cruel necessity did not allow him even a full expression of his sorrow. Preparations had to be immediately made for Dara's flight, if he was not to be intercepted by his victorious rivals. Mules laden with gold coins from the palace treasury were sent out to him to provide for his journey, and Imperial orders were despatched to the Governor of Delhi to open the stores of the fort there to Dara as freely as to the Emperor in person.*
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The miserable Prince, after snatching a few hours' rest in his mansion, resumed his flight. His wife Nadira Banu, his children and grandchildren, and a few choice slave-girls were placed in covered litters on elephants. Taking as much of his jewels, gold coins, and other valuable property as could be easily carried, he set off towards Delhi at about 3 A.M. with only a dozen servants and guards on horseback. All his other retainers were utterly overcome by the heat, the defeat, and the abandonment of their property in the field, and could not move that night. For the next two days, some of his soldiers and followers in small groups left Agra and joined him, and thus his force was raised to 5,000 men. Shah Jahan also continued to send him money and stores, till Aurangzib seized Agra city and closed the road to Delhi.
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∗ Masum, 65b-66b; Storia, i. 287-288; A. N. 107; Khafi Khan, ii.
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³⁰ Against these authorities Isardas (26b) wrongly asserts that Dara visited Shah Jahan that night.
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The slave-girls, musicians, and other women abandoned by Dara, took shelter in the Fort with Shah Jahan; but the property in his mansion at Agra, especially his furniture, elephants, horses, &c., was mostly looted soon after his departure.[*]
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We now return to the victors at Samugarh. At Dara's flight Aurangzib descended from his elephant and kneeling down on the ground rendered thanks to God. Twice did he do it, to show his sense of the crowning mercy vouchsafed by the Giver of Victory. Then he proceeded to Dara's tent, but all its rich furniture and treasure had
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Aurangzib after the victory, already been looted. The chiefs of the army flocked round Aurangzib to offer their congratulations, while they received praise for their exertions. Murad Bakhsh, too, arrived there and was received with every kindness, Aurangzib saying that the victory was entirely due to his younger brother's heroism and that Murad's reign would date from that day. Expert surgeons were appointed to treat Murad's wounds. If we may believe Khafi Khan, while the doctors were examining the wounds, Aurangzib laid the head of Murad on his own knees, wiped the blood with his own sleeves, and wept pathetically at the sight.
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∗ A.N. 108-109, 120; Storia, i. 287-290; Khafi Khan, ii. 30-31; Masum, 66b-67a; Kambu, 15b.
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After a time his own tent arrived from the rear and Aurangzib retired to it. Here a grand audience was held, and those officers who had distinguished themselves in the fight were rewarded. All night the sound of revelry and merriment filled the two camps,[*] and the sky was lit up by the countless fires at which the Hindus burnt their dead.
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In two marches the victorious Prince reached Agra and halted in the garden of Nur-manzil or Dhara, outside the city (1st June). Here he stayed for ten days. Every day large numbers of courtiers, nobles, and officers deserted the Imperial side and hastened to the garden to worship the rising Sun. Some of them had been so enterprising as to leave Agra and welcome him on the way the very day after the battle. The highest nobles of the capital, like Shaista Khan and Muhammad Amin Khan (the son of Mir Jumla), and Dara’s chief officers all proferred their homage and devotion to the victor. The vanquished troops who had escaped the sword entered the armies of Aurangzib and Murad, some being unable, but most being unwilling to follow their fugitive master. Many new appointments and promotions were made, and the strength of the army rapidly increased.*
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∗ A.N. 110; Aqil Khan, 49; Isardas, 25 b; Khafi Khan, ii. 29; Storia, i. 283.
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The appeal to arms having been decided against him, Shah Jahan next tried diplomacy. We have seen how as early as January, on hearing of the arrest of Mir Jumla, he had written to Aurangzib† rebuking him for this act of disobedience and ordering the release of that noble. Aurangzib took up the false plea that Mir Jumla had treacherously intrigued with the Deccani Sultans. After reaching Burhanpur Aurangzib had written a letter to Shah Jahan (middle of February), inquiring about his health and hoping that the Emperor would put an end to Dara's usurpation of authority and would personally conduct the government. To this no satisfactory reply had come. Again, after defeating Jaswant, Aurangzib had asked the new prime minister, Jafar Khan, to explain to his master how the two princes had marched from the South only to pay their filial respects to the Emperor, see him with their own eyes in order to disprove the alarming rumours current about his condition, and unfold to him all the bad turns Dara had done to them and the disorder into which his usurpation had thrown the whole empire. The battle with Jaswant, he said, had been forced on him by the Maharajah's obstinate resolve to bar the path to
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∗ A. N. 111—115; Aqil Khan, 49-50; Kambu, 15b.
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† Correspondence: Shah Jahan to Aurangzib, on hearing of Mir Jumla's arrest (Kambu, 10b); Aurangzib's reply (purport only, Aqil Khan, 20); Aurangzib to Shah Jahan after reaching Burhanpur (A. N. 48, purport). Shah Jahan to Aurangzib urging him to give up the march to Hindustan (Insha-i-Farsi, A. S. B. MS. F. 56, pp. 59—61); Aurang-
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zib's reply complaining of Dara's usurpation and protesting his own pacific intention to see the Emperor (Ibid 54—57. Cf. Masum 44a-45a, incorrect paraphrase). Jahanara to Aurangzib before Samugarh (Faiyaz, 117—119, Kambu, 12b. Aqil Khan, 34—37, gives a long paraphrase of this letter, which differs from the short text given by Kambu). Aurangzib to Shah Jahan, really in answer to Jahanara, (Kambu, 12b-13a, Faiyaz, 119—121; Aqil Khan, 37—42, a paraphrase). Aurangzib to Jafar Khan same time, (Adab, 123a & b); Murad to Jafar Khan (Faiyaz, 465—468).
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Agra, and must not be regarded as a war against the Emperor’s authority. A month later when he was crossing the Chambal, he got a letter written by his eldest sister Jahanara, but really expressing Shah Jahan’s views. It said, “The Emperor has recovered and is himself administering the State and trying to remove the disorders that cropped up during his late illness. Your armed advance is therefore an act of war against your father. Even if it is directed against Dara, it is no less sinful, since the eldest brother, both by Canon Law and common usage, stands in the position of the father. If you value your good name in this world and salvation in the next, you should obey your father, and report your wishes to him in writing, without advancing any futher.”
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To this Aurangzib had sent a long reply, following his usual line of defence: “Shah Jahan has lost all real power and control. Dara is doing everything himself and trying to ruin his younger brothers. Witness how he has crushed Shuja already. He also foiled my invasion of Bijapur, when complete success was at hand, and he emboldened the Bijapuris to defy me. He has poisoned the Emperor’s ears against his two younger brothers, and taken away Berar from me for
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Jahanara's remonstrances,
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how answered by Aurangzíb.
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no fault whatever. Against such overt hostility I am bound to take up arms in self-preservation. My wish, however, is only to go to Shah Jahan's presence and reveal everything to him personally. I shall not brook any obstacle to this loving design. See, how Jaswant fared in making the attempt. Dara should, therefore, be sent away from the Imperial Court to his province of the Panjab, to avoid mischief."
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The day after Samugarh, Aurangzib wrote to Shah Jahan directly, excusing his late conduct as forced upon him by his enemies. On reaching Nur-manzil he received a reply in Shah Jahan's own hand (1st June), inviting him to an interview, as he had come so near and his old father longed to see him. The two bearers of this letter,*—the aged chamberlain Fazil Khan and the chief justice Syed
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Fazil Khan's first visit to Aurangzib with a letter from Shah Jahan.
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∗ Correspondence: Shah Jahan to Aurangzib, inviting him to an interview, (Kambu, 15b; Aqil Khan 50-51.) Aurangzib's reply (Ibid.) Shah Jahan to Aurangzib, protesting against the suspicion of his good faith (Kambu, 16b; Aqil Khan, 53). Aurangzib's reply (Kambu 16b, Aqil Khan, 54). Shah Jahan to Aurangzib, complaining of the cutting off of Jumna water, translated by me in this chapter, (A.S. B. MS. F. 56, pp. 91-92, and, in a shorter form in British Museum Or. MSS., Addl. 18,881, folio 77a, which alone gives Aurangzib's reply, "on the back of his father's letter," as 'Karda-i-khwesh ayed pesh; ziyadah hadd-i-adab'). Shah Jahan to Aurangzib towards the close of the siege of Agra Fort (Kambu, 16b-17b, Aqil Khan
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Hedaitullah,—also delivered a loving oral message from the Emperor, and took their leave after getting Aurangzib's consent to the proposed interview. Next day they visited him again with another kind message and many presents from the Emperor, including costly jewels and a famous sword known as Alamgir ('Conqueror of the Universe'), and repeated the Emperor's desire for an interview. But they found the Prince changed. Last evening his confidential advisers had told him that Shah Jahan still loved Dara best and was exerting himself actively to promote Dara's cause, so that the invitation of Aurangzib to Agra Fort was only a trap laid for his arrest. Fazil Khan pleaded hard to remove these suspicions, but all in vain, and he had to return to his old master and report his failure. Shaista Khan must have deepened the Prince's distrust of his father, for he was always friendly to Aurangzib and Shah Jahan taxed him with setting that Prince against the Emperor. On the 5th the grey-bearded Fazil Khan came a third time, with a letter from Shah Jahan protesting against the suspicions as cruel
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His second visit;
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his third visit: Khalilullah deserts Shah Jahan.
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56-57; Masum, 69b-70b.) Aurangzib's reply (Kambu, 17b; Aqil Khan 57-58; Masum, 70b-71b).
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calumnies and asking Aurangzib to come and see for himself the full extent of his father's love and kindness. Khalilullah Khan, who accompanied Fazil Khan, had been already won over by Aurangzib. He was now granted a private interview by the Prince, in which he confirmed his fears of his father's hostile designs and urged him to imprison the aged sovereign as the only means of making him harmless. The good old Fazil Khan who was waiting outside all this time, was told that Khalilullah had been placed under arrest by the Prince, and that he must return alone to the Emperor with Aurangzib's reply declining the proposed interview on the ground of his mind not being composed about what his Majesty intended to do during it. The chamberlain came back and said that "the matter had now gone beyond the stage of sending letters and messages."*
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So, indeed, it had; for, that very night the siege of Agra Fort began. At last the last shred of pretence was thrown off; the mask was dropped altogether, and the Emperor himself was attacked.
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∗ For the embassies of Fazil Khan, Kambu, 15b-16b; Aqil Khan, 50-54; A.N. 112. Shaista Khan is said to have visited Aurangzib on 5th June (A.N. 114), but he may have sent messages to the Prince before that date. For Shaista Khan's suspected partisanship of Aurangzib, see A.N. 114; Adab, 261a; Khafi Khan, ii. 21; Storia, i. 255, 292.
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The arrival of the victorious armies in the environs of Agra threw the citizens into the greatest alarm and confusion. Murad's troops, strangers to discipline and fearless of their gay and indolent master, entered the city to plunder and ravish, in defiance of Aurangzib's order to spare life and property at the capital. These unruly soldiers, aided by the low-class ruffians of the city and the camp, threatened to create a great disturbance. So, on third June Aurangzib sent his eldest son into the city to keep the peace and protect the people. According to one account the prefect of the police (*kotwal*), Siddi Masaud, was executed, and a Tartar officer of Aurangzib appointed in his place.[*] The whole city fell under Aurangzib's control, but the Fort was still in Shah Jahan's hands.
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On the return of Fazil Khan (5th June), the Emperor learnt that Aurangzib was bitterly estranged from him and that he could not hope to meet and induce him to make a friendly settlement with his brothers. The old monarch therefore prepared to stand a siege, and shut the gates of the Fort, lest some traitor should murder or imprison him in the hope of gaining Aurangzib's favour.* The defence of the walls was entrusted to some officers whom he believed to be devoted to him, and there was a garrison of 1,500 foreign slaves,—Qalmaqs, Abyssinians, and Turks, who usually proved faithful to their salt.
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∗ Isardas, 26b; A.N. 113-114; Storia, i. 292.
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At night a detachment from Aurangzib's army, led by Zulfiqar Khan and Bahadur Khan, crept to the foot of the Fort walls and began the attack. Bombardment was tried at first. One gun was mounted on the terrace of the Juma Masjid, facing the western gate of the Fort, and another on Dara's mansion by the Jumna. They are said to have done some damage to the Fort guns and the upper stories of the palace. But the Fort was one of the strongest of that age, " no assault, mining or sapping could capture it, with its deep moat and its towers and walls too thick to be battered down."†
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The artillery of the besiegers was ineffective. Success by breaching and assault was out of the question. The musketeers on the Fort walls fought boldly and faithfully, and shot down every one who showed his head below. But most of the besiegers had taken shelter under the projecting eaves and porches of the Fort and the neighbouring trees, and in the houses which then closely adjoined it, while their officers lodged in Dara's mansion. They, therefore, suffered little loss of life. But at the same time they could not touch the garrison, and the capture of the Fort seemed as far off as ever.
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∗ Kambu, 16b; Aqil Khan, 54-55. † The history of siege of Agra, in Masum 68 a—72 a; Isardas, 27b—28b; Aqil Khan, 55—58; Kambu, 16b—18a. The Alamgirnamah is entirely silent about the affair! Khafi Khan (ii. 32,) refers to it briefly. Storia, i. 293—295, is not of much use.
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A regular investment would have caused a long delay, detained the army there, and given Dara time to gather strength at Delhi. So, Aurangzib took counsel with his generals, and after a long discussion they hit upon a clever device, which reduced "this extremely strong fort in only three days." Thirst opened the gates of Agra more speedily than assault or bombardment.
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Acting on this plan, Aurangzib's men by a sudden rush possessed themselves of the Khiziri gate which opens on the river. The arch of the gateway protected them from the fire of the defenders on the ramparts, and they could safely prevent the taking of water from the river into the Fort. The garrison now began to suffer the horrors of a siege. With the Jumna at hand, all other sources of water supply had been neglected in the Fort. It had a few wells no doubt, but their water was bitter and they had been long disused. The Emperor and his Court, so long accustomed to the "molten snow" of the Jumna, found the well-water intolerable. Many of his officers, pampered idlers of the Court, being unable to bear the hardship for more than a day, slipped out of the Fort under the plea of looking after the admission of water. Others were corrupted by Aurangzib's gold. The rank and file had indeed courage and fidelity, but all were disheartened in being led by an old and invalid master, and wanted to beg for quarter. Shah Jahan, compelled in his old age and sickness to quench his thirst in the burning heat of June with the bitter well-water, wrote the following touching letter to his cruel son :—
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cuts off the water supply of the garrison.
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"My son, my hero! (verses) Why should I complain of the unkindness of Fortune, Seeing that not a leaf is shed by a tree without God's will? Only yesterday I was the master of nine hundred thousand troopers, and to-day I am in need of a pitcher of water! (verses) Praised be the Hindus in all cases, As they ever offer water to their dead. And thou, my son, art a marvellous Musalman, As thou causest me in life to lament for (lack of) water!
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O, prosperous son! be not proud of the good luck of this treacherous world. Scatter not the dust of negligence (of duty) and pride on thy wise head. (Know) that this perishable world is a narrow pass (leading) to the dark region, and that eternal prosperity comes only from remembering God and showing kindness to men."
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To this appeal Aurangzib sent the brutal reply, "It is your own doing." For three days Shah Jahan held out. Then, amidst raging thirst, with only despair and treason around him, he decided to yield. For the fourth time Fazil Khan was sent to Aurangzib with a letter in which the Emperor sadly mourned for his own fate,—unprecedented in the history of emperors—ascribed everything to God's decree, warned his son not to be too proud of his power nor to put too much faith in his good fortune, and urged him to obey his father as the Quran enjoins, if he valued his good name in this world and feared the Day of Judgment in the next. He finally entreated Aurangzib to do his filial duty and not to ruin the Mughal Imperial family, then famous throughout the world for its splendour and power, nor lower its prestige abroad (especially in the eyes of the king of Persia).
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Aurangzib replied by professing deep obedience and defending all that he had done as forced on him by the acts of his enemies. He pointed to his own loyalty to the throne in spite of Dara's acts of manifest hostility, and concluded, “Owing to certain occurrences I am afraid to interview your Majesty....If your Majesty surrenders the gates of the Fort to my men and gives them free ingress and egress, and thereby removes my suspicion, I shall go and wait on you, consent to whatever you wish, and do nothing displeasing or harmful to you.”
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On 8th June Shah Jahan opened the gates of the Fort to Aurangzib’s officers, who took possession of it and expelled the Emperor’s officers from all parts of it. The treasure, jewels, rich robes, furniture, and Government stores within were seized by them and placed in several rooms which were strictly kept under lock and seal. Thus Agra Fort with its immense hoards of treasure and well-filled arsenals and magazines,—the accumulations of three generations of emperors of the richest country in the world,—passed into Aurangzib’s hands almost without a blow.
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Muhammad Sultan waited on his grandfather and was received with great kindness. For some days he acted as the captive Emperor’s keeper under minute instructions from Aurangzib as to what he should do and whom he should admit. Shah Jahan was deprived of all power.
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From being "the king of kings" (*Shahan-shah*), he sank at once into the condition of a helpless captive, dependent on others even for a change of dress. He was confined within the harem of the palace, behind the Hall of Public Audience. A strong force was posted in and around the Fort to prevent any attempt at rescue, and careful watch was kept on the eunuchs and other servants leaving the palace, lest they should communicate with the outside. "For a long time none except a few servants were allowed to come and go to his Majesty on any account, or even to speak a word to him from a distance!" Physicians of Aurangzib's own choosing attended the old man.∗
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∗ For Shah Jahan's captivity, Kambu, 18*a*; Aqil Khan, 58-59, 63; *A. N.* 116 (silent about the object of Jahanara's visit); Masum, 72*a* and *b*, 77*b*—79*a*; *Adab*, 187*b*—189*a* (Aurangzib's instructions to Muhammad Sultan as keeper of Shah Jahan, a few days later), 260*a*—264*a* (Aurangzib to captive Shah Jahan) ; 137*a* and *b* (Aurangzib to Fazil Khan, in charge of Shah Jahan) ; *A. N.* 124; Khafi Khan, ii. 32.
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On the 10th the Princess Jahanara visited Aurangzib to try the effect of her personal influence and sisterly persuasion. She told him of their loving father's wish to see him and proposed in Shah Jahan's name a partition of the empire between the four Princes: Dara should have the Panjab and the adjacent provinces, Murad
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Jahanara's embassy to Aurangzib Bakhsh Guzerat, Shuja Bengal, Muhammad Sultan the Deccan, and Aurangzib the remaining portion of the empire with the rank of heir apparent to the throne and the title of Buland-iqbal (which was to be taken away from the eldest-born).”
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Aurangzib was ready with his plea for declining these terms: “Dara,” he said, “is an infidel to Islam and a friend of the Hindus. He must be extirpated for the sake of the true faith and the peace of the realm. I cannot visit the Emperor before concluding this business.”* But after long discussion and entreaty, he was once more induced to promise to visit Shah Jahan, and next day marched in a splendid procession from the garden to the city,—the streets being lined with dense crowds of sight-seers who cheered and blessed him. But on the way Shaista Khan and Shaikh Mir galloped up to him and dissuaded him from making the visit, as a needless running into danger. They told him that Shah Jahan had laid a plan to get him murdered by his fierce Tartar slave-women, as soon as he would step into the harem of the Fort. Aurangzíb's purpose was shaken; he stopped his elephant, hesitating what to do. Just then a slave named Nahir-dil arrived from the Fort and betrayed into Aurangzíb's hands a secret letter which the Emperor had ordered him to smuggle out to Dara. It ran thus:
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∗ Aqil Khan, 59—61.
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"Dara Shukoh! stay firmly at Delhi. There is no lack of money and troops there. Take care not to pass beyond that place, as I myself shall despatch the affair here."*
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The warning of Aurangzíb's advisers was thus verified. Finding that his fathers's whole heart was still devoted to Dara, Aurangzíb was greatly displeased: he gave up his intention of an interview, passed by the gate of the Fort, and occupied Dara's mansion in the city. Shah Jahan's captivity was now made stricter, and communication between him and the outside world cut off.
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Ever since Samugarh Aurangzíb had been daily receiving deserters from the Imperial service and enlisting new troops and officers in large numbers. When Agra Fort surrendered, he became truly the sovereign, and the whole administrative staff submitted to him. A grand darbar was now held (10th June) in his camp. He sat on a couch of State and granted audience to the public, eager to see their new master. The new Chancellor Rai-i-raian, the grand wazir Jafar Khan, and all other departmental heads with their staffs did him homage. Hosts of men were passed before him by the paymasters and courtiers, and were given suitable rank at his command by the marshals (*mir tuzak*.) Fresh appointments were made on the 11th and 12th, after he had entered Agra City.[*] His preparations being now complete, and his mind at peace about Shah Jahan, Aurangzib on the 13th set out from Agra towards Delhi in pursuit of Dara, and arrived near Mathura[†] ten days later. His march had been slow and hesitating, because an alarming, but not unforeseen development had taken place in the meantime. Murad was trying to assert himself and cross the purposes of
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∗ Aqil Khan, 61-62. Masum (79b—82a) says that Shah Jahan wrote a secret letter to Murad to murder Aurangzíb! We read of Nahir-dil chela or slave having been appointed Kotwal of Agra in 1656. (Waris, 106 b.) Manucci (Storia, i. 296) and Bernier (65) declare this letter to Dara as a forgery of Aurangzíb's. For Aurangzíb's refusal to visit Shah Jahan, see also A.N. 122-123; Khafi Khan, ii. 34-36.
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Aurangzib openly exercises the Imperial authority and takes control of the Government.
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[*] A. N. 111-119; Isardas 29a. [†] *Storia*, i. 300 *n* (the place where Murad was arrested.) Aqil Khan 65; Isardas 31b (at Brindaban); *A. N.* 138 'the further side of Mathura.' his masterful brother. This source of danger had to be crushed before it could grow too strong for control or remedy, and Aurangzib decided to settle the affair of Murad before proceeding further.
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Since the battle of Samugarh Murad* had kept to his own camp on account of his wounds. His courtiers showed him how power was daily slipping out of his grasp while Aurangzib was becoming all in all. They flattered his vanity by saying that both the victories over the enemy had been won by his own valour, while Aurangzib had kept himself out of the heat and burden of the day; and yet now all the Imperial officers were making their bow to Aurangzib and he was issuing orders in everything as the sole master. The surrender of Agra Fort had made this Prince Emperor in all but the name. Was it to promote his brother's elevation to the throne that Murad had bled? And what certainty was there that Aurangzib would peaceably deliver to him the full lordship of the western provinces as agreed in their treaty of alliance? With his senior partner daily growing stronger, Murad must soon lose the power of enforcing respect to that treaty.
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∗ The reasons for arresting Murad are given by Aurangzib in *Adab*, 188*b*, and in his official history, *Alamgirnamah*, 134—138. See also Kambu, 18*b* and margin ; Isardas, 29*b*—31*a* ; Aqil Khan, 64—66; Khafi Khan, ii. 37 (meagre); Masum, 79*a*—81*a* (probably a mere story); *Storia*, i. 263, 283-284, 298—300; Bernier, 66-67.
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A keen disappointment is said to have aggravated Murad’s jealousy and alarm. Ever since their meeting at Dipalpur Aurangzib had done everything to soothe and flatter Murad. His own interest in the war of succession, he said, was merely that of a pious Muslim, who could not bear to see Dara openly slighting his creed and cherishing the infidels. He aimed not at the crown, but at the extirpation of the heretical heir-apparent, the ‘idolator’ as styled him. As soon as that object had been attained, Aurangzib would place Murad on the throne and himself take a low unambitious place as his minister, or retire to the life of a religious recluse. Hence in their conversation Murad used to address Aurangzib as His Holiness (Hazrat-ji), while Aurangzib referred to his younger brother as His Majesty (Padishah-ji). Again, after the victory of Samugarh, Aurangzib had congratulated Murad on the commencement of his reign, and yet he had now monopolised all power! Such is the story told by all the unofficial historians of that age.
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whom he accuses of deception and religious hypocrisy.
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But I find it difficult to credit this account as a whole. Murad must have been a greater fool than he really was if he ever truly believed in such delusive promises. It is possible that Aurangzib had pretended to defer to Murad’s judgment in public, and also by smooth words raised in his mind a vague hope that he would give Murad much more than the territory promised in the treaty. At least Murad might have imagined that Aurangzib would not seize the supreme power in the life-time of Shah Jahan, as he had hitherto avoided wearing the crown and had even urged Murad to desist from such a course in Guzerat.
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At all events, Murad was keen on reigning as king. He could not banish the fond dream of royalty from his mind, but had kept with himself his throne, golden umbrella, and other insignia of kingship since leaving Ahmadabad, in the hope of using them in Northern India; and now he saw his hopes threatened with disappointment. With every successive victory and march, Aurangzib’s power was growing greater and his position higher, while Murad’s grew less and less. Flattering courtiers fanned the young Prince’s jealousy and ambition and prompted him to assert himself: the crown of Delhi would best become a hero like him. If Aurangzib could usurp the supreme power, why could not Murad?
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Murad, ambitious to be Emperor,
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Led on by such counsellors who fed his vanity, Murad began to act in opposition to Aurangzib and to assert his own will. In order to rival his brother he began to increase his army, seduced from Aurangzib's side many of the recently joined Imperial troops by the promise of higher pay, and even intercepted and diverted to his own camp men who were coming to enter Aurangzib's service. His lax discipline and reckless generosity made him the darling of a certain class of soldiers. The Mughal mercenaries in particular were attached to such a liberal and lenient master. Many self-seekers, too, gladly deserted the strict and parsimonious Aurangzib for higher rank and pay under Murad. Thus, in a short time Murad's army was swollen to 20,000 men. In imitation of Aurangzib he conferred titles aud mansabs on his followers, as if he had already become king. Lastly he gave up visiting Aurangzib as beneath his dignity.
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Thus an open opposition to Aurangzib's authority was set up. The malcontents and plotters against him found a camp in which to take refuge and a regular organisation by means of which to display their hostility. The situation became very critical for Aurangzib, and a solution of it had to be reached before the chase of Dara could be undertaken with safety.
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When Aurangzib started from Agra, Murad stayed behind in that city; but his advisers told him that if Aurangzib entered Delhi alone he would easily crown himself Emperor. So, Murad changed his mind, and followed his brother, always encamping a few miles behind him, as if waiting to deal a shrewd blow from the rear. The public mind was greatly disturbed by this open rivalry, and turbulent men rejoiced at the prospect of a civil war, which would leave them free to plunder the country. The acts of violence committed by Murad's men could not be punished, as Aurangzib had no influence over brother now. The work he had still in hand was thrown into disorder.
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His plan was quickly formed.[*] With his inborn cunning, he first lulled Murad's suspicion to sleep. Two marches from Agra he presented 233 horses and 20 lakhs of rupees to Murad, as the latter had complained of being too poor to equip his troops for the march. Aurangzib further promised to send him soon one-third of the spoils of war, as previously agreed upon. Then he invited his brother to a feast in celebration of his complete recovery and also to hold a council of war for the projected operations against Dara. For some days after this Murad’s chief followers dissuaded him from putting himself in his rival’s power. That Prince, though professing firm faith in Aurangzib’s promises and oaths, seems to have been shaken in his purpose, and declined to make the visit, offering polite excuses. Aurangzib repeated the invitation daily. He had secretly corrupted Nuruddin, a personal attendant (*khawas*) of Murad’s, and this traitor induced the hapless Prince, when returning from a hunt, to enter his brother’s camp, (25th June.) The other officers protested, but in vain.
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∗ For the arrest of Murad, Kambu, 19a; Aqil Khan, 66—70; Isardas, 31b—33b; Masum, 82b—86a; (the last two very detailed); A.N. 138 (merely mentions the event); Khafi Khan, ii. 38, and Dilkasha, 30, (both meagre); Storia, i. 300—306; Bernier, 66—69.
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Murad was received at the gate by Aurangzib and taken within his tent. His officers were seated in a pavilion outside the portico and made welcome by his brother’s marshals. The courtyard was filled with the same Prince’s officers of the guard.
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Murad was led into Aurangzib’s private Murad welcomed in Aurangzib's tent, chamber, attended by only one servant, the eunuch Basharat. The two brothers sat down together on the same carpet. Aurangzib was all kindness and attention to Murad, smeared him over with essence and asked after his health, professing the utmost pleasure at his recovery and showering "favours beyond imagination and computation" on him. After some time a royal dinner was laid for both, and the hungry hunter did full justice to it. According to one account, Aurangzib even plied Murad with wine and overcame his natural delicacy in drinking before an elder brother by saying, "Drink in my presence, as I long to see you supremely happy after so many adversities."
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Conversation followed the dinner. Gradually the fatigue of the chase and the fulness of the repast made Murad doze and yawn. Aurangzib told him to take a nap in a bed spread close at hand, while he himself retired to the harem on the plea of similarly reposing. The plan of campaign was left to be discussed till after the siesta.
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Murad took off his sword and dagger, loosened his dress, and stretched himself at ease on the bed. Basharat sat down rubbing his legs. Soon
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Murad falls asleep, is disarmed, a lovely slave-girl entered the tent and, making a sign to the eunuch to go away, took his place at Murad’s feet and began to shampoo him. The soft touch of her palms soothed Murad and threw him into a profound slumber. Then she arose and stealthily left the room, taking away Murad’s weapons from the side of his pillow. The time long waited for had now arrived. Immediately after her departure Shaikh Mir with a dozen of the most trusty servants of Aurangzib entered the chamber and surrounded Murad’s bed. They seem to have made a clatter, which awoke Murad. Starting up at the sound, he first tried to seize his weapons, but they were gone. In a moment he understood the meaning of this “strange change:” he had been caged! Resistance was hopeless. Sinking into despair, he upbraided his brother with treachery to a guest and ally and falsehood to his plighted word and to vows sworn on the Quran. Aurangzib, who was lurking in suspense behind a screen, replied, “As at the instigation of your wretched advisers, you have recently done acts likely to cause disturbance, trouble, and injury to the people and ruin to the country, and as your head has been filled with pride and insolence, wise people apprehended from this state of affairs the destruction of public peace, injury to property, and confusion in the government. Therefore, with a view to reform your temperament and to promote the good of the kingdom and the congregation, I think it necessary to make you pass some days in patience and repose, in a retreat full of composure, and under my eyes, that you may not have to rack your head about issuing commands and prohibitions and may be freed from the hardships of the world. God forbid that I should, with regard to this ‘light of the royal eye,’ entertain the idea of doing any act to put your dear life in danger! Praised be Allah! the foundations of my promise and vow (to you) have not been at all weakened. My brother’s life is safe in the protection of God. Eating the bread of wisdom daily...and knowing this (confinement) to be purely beneficial (to yourself), give no place to sorrow or fear in your heart.”
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Murad found expostulation and entreaty alike vain; resistance would have been suicide. He yielded in silence. Shaikh Mir placed before him a pair of golden fetters and with a courteous salam tied the Prince’s feet together.
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After midnight the prisoner was placed in a Captive Murad sent to Salimgarh prison. covered litter, such as is usually used by ladies, mounted on an elephant, and sent away under a large escort of cavalry, in charge of Shaikh Mir and Dilir Khan, two of the trustiest generals of Aurangzib. By rapid marches they soon reached the fort of Salimgarh at Delhi and deposited Murad in the State-prison of that stronghold. To throw his friends off the scent, three other elephants, with similar covered hawdas and escort of cavalry, were sent out east, south, and west!
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This "excellent stratagem," as it is called in the history written by Aurangzib's order and revised by him,—had been carried out so smoothly that Murad's followers did not hear of his fate till it was too late. They had imagined that he was feasting or holding secret council with his brother all the time. Next morning his leaderless soldiery, to the number of 20,000, were taken into Aurangzib's service, Even his faithful officers,—blaming their master for his obstinate rushing into a trap in contempt of their loyal warning, and hopeless of attempting a rescue in the absense of a head,—submitted to the victor, who soothed their feelings with rich favours.
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His property and family seized and his army taken over by Aurangzib.
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The entire establishment of Murad,—generals, ministers, clerks, soldiers, camp-followers, and servants, as well as his property, became Aurang-zib’s. His son Izid Bakhsh was sent to Delhi to share his father’s captivity. The traitor Nuruddin and several others who had connived at their master’s fall, or at least had not stirred a finger to rescue him, were highly rewarded by Aurangzib.∗
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∗ For Murad's officers and property after his arrest, Aqil Khan, 70; Isardas, 34a and b; Storia, i. 305, 306; A. N. 139; Khafi Khan, ii. 38; Dilkasha, 30.
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His mind being thus set at rest about Murad, Aurangzib on 27th June resumed his march and arrived in the environs of Delhi on 5th July.
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We may here complete the history of Murad.
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Murad a prisoner in Gwalior. In January 1659 he was sent with his son to the State-prison of Gwalior, where he was suffered to live for nearly three years more. But he did not cease to be a political danger with his captivity. His prodigality of money and his spirit of gay comradery with the soldiers had made him very popular. Songs in praise of the captive Prince were sung in the bazars. At last a clever conspiracy to release him, which all but succeeded, roused Aurangzib to the need of removing his rival beyond the reach of his earthly friends. Murad had cherished the Mughal mercenaries greatly in the days of his power, and even now he spent half his prison-allowance in supporting the Mughals who resided as *faqirs* in the plain below Gwalior and the Mughal wayfarers and merchants who arrived there. Some of his former officers, including the father of the historian Khafi Khan, also lived there in disguise. The grateful Mughals now planned a rescue; one night they contrived to fasten a rope-ladder to a battlement of the fort, kept a horse saddled ready below it, and sent word to Murad to escape. The Prince was infatuated with the beauty of his concubine Sarsati Bai, whom he had taken to his prison by entreaty with Aurangzib. At midnight, when all was ready for his flight, he went to take a lover's farewell of her. There was little hope of their meeting together again. At the news, the woman set up a loud lament, crying, "To whom are you leaving me?" Hearing the noise the guards awoke, lighted their torches and searchlights, and soon discovered the ladder.∗
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∗ Khafi Khan, ii. 155-156. The word 'Mughal' is used in India for the Persians, and sometimes for the people of Central Asia also, but never for the Mongols.
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Plot to rescue him.
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When the news of this abortive attempt reached Aurangzib, he determined to remove all anxiety on the score of Murad for ever. At his instigation a son of Ali Naqi, whom Murad had murdered at Ahmadabad years ago, now demanded justice for the shedding of their father's blood. The eldest son declined to seek vengeance. Not so the second son, who lodged a complaint in the law courts. Aurangzib, now Emperor, directed the criminal judge (Qazi) of Gwalior to decide the case according to the evidence and the Quranic law. The plaintiff arrived at the fort in charge of an eunuch of Aurangzib and opened his case before the Qazi. Murad indignantly refused to plead, saying, "If the Emperor, in accordance with his promises and vows to me, abstains from this miserable creature's blood, no harm will be done to his State and power. But if needlessly he wishes for the death of this helpless being, what merit or propriety is there in my meeting such low people as these face to face? Do what you wish."
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The Qazi convicted Murad. As the avenger refused to accept any price for his father's blood, death was the only sentence possible under Islamic law. On Wednesday, 4th December, 1661, two slaves with their swords "released this Prince from the narrow cell of his prison." His corpse was buried in the 'Traitors' Cemetery' of Gwalior Fort. Forty years afterwards, Aurangzib, then an old man hastening to his latter end, refers to the grave of his murdered brother, but without a word of remorse or pity.∗ Kingship does not admit of love for brother or tenderness to the fallen who may possibly be strong.
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∗ Murad was sent to Gwalior at the end of January 1659, (A. N. 291, 304). Khafi Khan, 156, says that Murad was beheaded in the month of Rabi-us-sani, 1072 A. H.; Kambu 24b (both MSS. in the Khuda Bakhsh Library) gives the date as 21 Rabi-us-sani, 1070 A. H. Here the final figure 2 has been dropped by mistake; the year was certainly 1072 and not 1070, because in Jamadi-ul-awwal, 1071 A. H., Murad is spoken of as still in Gwalior (A. N., 603). For the execution of Murad, Kambu, 24b; Khafi Khan, ii. 156; Storia, i. 382-383; Dilkasha 35. The reference to his tomb is in Aurangzib's letters, Inayatullah's Ahkam, 289b, 302b.
Linked texts (6)
- ʿAmal-i Ṣāliḥ — Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ Kambōh 1659, Persian
- Tārīkh-i Shāh Shujāʿī — Muḥammad Maʿṣūm 1659, Persian
- Agra-fort
- Agra
- Ahmadâbâd
- Jami Masjid