History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c32.s1.t8: H.—Letters.

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c32.s1.t8

Language: English

H.—Letters.

v2.c32.s1.t8.1

The letters of Aurangzib have reached us in (a) three compact and clearly defined collections made by his secretaries. (b) Three compilations consisting of selections from various earlier sources, made long after his death. These are generally of an ill-defined and mixed character, hardly any two MSS. agreeing in the number and arrangement of the letters. This is partly due to the fact that after the editors had issued their compilations with their own prefaces, later copyists covered the leaves left blank at the end of their transcripts by inserting other letters of Aurangzib out of the vast number of them circulating in India throughout the 18th century. There is a second difficulty with regard to this group : sometimes a letter of a certain purport differs so much in language and extent in two different collections that they must be considered as belonging to two distinct types. Which of the two faithfully represents Aurangzib’s original letter and which of them is a later recension, it is difficult to say. (c) Two incomplete collections which stand apart from all other groups. (d) Short orders written on petitions, as given in No. 21 above. (e) Stray letters scattered through a large number of other works.

v2.c32.s1.t8.2

(a) 16. *Adab-i-Alamgiri*, being a collection of fully drafted letters of Aurangzib from 1650 to 1658 written by his secretary Abul Fath, afterwards created Imperial Munshi and entitled Qabil Khan, who retired from service in June 1659 and died in May 1662. Aurangzib's last letters here are some addressed to Shah Jahan about two months after that Emperor was placed in confinement. The volume also contains (1) a number of letters written by Abul Fath on his own behalf or by order of his master, (2) letters written by Sadiq of Ambala, the secretary of Muhammad Akbar, on behalf of that prince and of himself, and (3) a history of the War of Succession. Compiled in 1704. (See Elliot, vii. 205 and Rieu on Br. Mus. Or. 177.) I have used the beautiful Khuda Bakhsh MS., which once belonged to the Fort William College. A few letters from it have been inserted in other collections and also in Khafi Khan. In every case the addressee is mentioned, and I have found out the dates of most of the letters from internal evidence, by a thorough study of Waris and Kambu.

v2.c32.s1.t8.3

30. *Ahkam-i-Alamgiri* by Inayetullah Khan, the last and favourite secretary of Aurangzib. The volume contains not fully written out letters but only a precis of the points which the Emperor dictated to his secretary for inclusion in the letters. But they are not so brief and obscure as the contents of 31. The persons addressed are usually named. The contents refer to the last decade of Aurangzib's reign. I have used the Rampur State Library MS., a fine copy which must have belonged to the Delhi Palace Library, and collated it with the Khuda Bakhsh MS., a neatly written copy of the 18th century. No other MS. of it is known to exist.

v2.c32.s1.t8.4

31. *Kalimat-i-Tayyibat*, a precis of the points dictated, including scraps of verse and Arabic texts, for inclusion in the formal letters. Of the same character and date as No. 30, but the persons addressed are usually not named, and the contents are often hopelessly obscure from their brevity. Compiled in 1719 by Inayetullah. I have used A. S. B. MS. F. 27, a fine old copy, probably of the Delhi Palace Library, and compared it with I. O. L. 1761 and 1594 (f. 52a to end.) Some letters from it have found a place in other collections.

v2.c32.s1.t8.5

(b) 32. *Raqaim-i-Karaim*, compiled by Syed Ashraf Khan Mir Md. Husaini, consists (but not exclusively) of Aurangzib's letters addressed to the editor's father Mir Abdul Karim. (Br. Mus. Addl. 26, 239).

v2.c32.s1.t8.6

33 and 34. *Dastur-ul-aml-i-Agahi* and *Ramz* (or rather *Rumuz)-wa-Isharahha-i-Alamgiri*, two collections of Aurangzib's letters formed at the instance of Rajah Aya Mal, the diwan of Siwai Jai Singh of Jaipur, in 1738 and 1742 respectively. (Elliot, vii. 203—206.) British Museum Addl. 26240, which bears the title of *Ramz* and Addl. 18,881, which is named *Dastur*, are identical in contents and arrangement with each other and with the *Ruqat-i-Alamgiri* lithographed at Lucknow and Cawnpur and everywhere available in the bazar,—there being some slight differences and the inevitable additional letters at the end. The *Ruqat* has been four times translated into English. Br. Mus. Addl. 26239, bearing the title of *Raqaim*, agrees with I. O. L. 3021, 3388 and 1594 (f. 1—50b), and all of them reproduce the contents of the lithographed *Ruqat*, with some additions, omissions and changes in the arrangement. I. O. L. 3301 agrees with 3021, but with many differences and additions. I. O. L. 1761 agrees with Br. Mus. Addl. 26239. Irvine MSS. 344 and 350, though both entitled *Ramz*, greatly differ from each other in their contents and arrangement. Most of their letters (esp. in 344) are to be found in the *Ruqat* and I. O. L. 1344. But there are large additions, many from the *Kalimat-i-Tayyibat* in the case of 350, and a few from sources not yet traced by me. Irvine MS. 350, f. 37a—43b, contains a number of stories, epigrams, and maxims told by the Emperor, many of which are to be found in the Ruqat, I. O. L. 1344, and the K-i-T. I. O. L. 370, f. 56b—80a, mainly reproduces the contents of Irvine 350, with additions from I. O. L. 1344. Cambridge University Library Addl. 420 (Browne's Catalogue, No. CXVII) is almost identical with Irvine 344, with a number of letters from Irvine 350 thrown in.

v2.c32.s1.t8.7

Thus we may take the bazar Ruqat-i-Alamgiri as the type of one class of this group. The other type is supplied by I. O. L. 1344, (agreeing with I. O. L. 3337), which reproduces many of the letters of the Ruqat, but usually in an altered form, and gives many others which are not to be found in the Ruqat, being taken mostly from the K-i-T, and in a few cases from the Adab.

v2.c32.s1.t8.8

(c) 35. Kalimat-i-Aurangzib, I. O. L. MS. 3301, f. 33a—60b, incomplete at the beginning. It contains letters belonging to the Emperor's last years, none of which is to be found in any other known collection. A few seem to have been taken from Inayetullah's Ahkam, but I have not yet compared the two works closely enough to pronounce an opinion on the point. The contents give information of value.

v2.c32.s1.t8.9

36. Rampur State Library, Insha 109 of the new Catalogue, is entitled Kalimat-i-Tayyibat, but does not at all agree with the A. S. B. MS. of that work except in the preface! It contains 204 pages of a very small size. The first two letters of it are found in 35 above. From the short examination I could make of it, it struck me as different from Inayetullah's Ahkam. Ends with a letter of Aurangzib to Md. Akbar and that prince's taunting reply (both abridged). Probably these letters were added on at the end. The conclusion is abrupt, without the regular khatimah.

v2.c32.s1.t8.10

(e) 37. Paris Bibliotheque Nationale MS. Persan Suppl. 476 (Blochet's Catalogue No. 704), f. 1b—13a, gives Aurangzib's letters to Jai Singh, the replies to which are to be found in the Haft Anjuman.

v2.c32.s1.t8.11

38. Two farmans on revenue regulations [Berlin Royal Library, Pertsch's Catalogue Nos. 15 (9) and (23)], published by me with an English translation in J. A. S. B., 1906. I was wrong in holding these farmans to be unique. The farman to Rasik-das is to be found in Bib. Nat. Sup. 476 and in the I. O. Library, while that to Md. Hashim was translated by Noel Paton in his Principles of Asiatick Monarchies and also in the Persian Reader, Vol. II. (Calcutta School Book Society, 1836), where the text also is given.

v2.c32.s1.t8.12

Aurangzib's correspondence with Shah Jahan and Jahanara is quoted by Kambu and Aqil Khan (a paraphrase) and given verbatim in the Faiyaz-ul-qawanin and the A. S. B. MS. F. 56.

v2.c32.s1.t8.13

39. Aurangzib's letters to Md. Akbar, his fourth son, after his rebellion, are given in the Khatut-i-Shivaji (R. A. S. MS. 71), and also in 40 below. The Khatut contains three letters of Aurangzib to three Maratha generals.

v2.c32.s1.t8.14

40. Zahur-ul-insha, lithographed at Lucknow.

v2.c32.s1.t8.15

41. Insha-i-Farsi (A. S. B. MS. F. 56) contains, among other things, letters from Prince Akbar to Aurangzib, Sambhaji to Aurangzib (both given in 39), Muhammad Shah to Nizamulmulk on the invasion of Nadir Shah, Aurangzib to Md. Yar Khan, Aurangzib to Shah Alam I., Shah Jahan to Aurangzib during the siege of Agra Fort, the Mughal collectors of Surat to Pratap Rao Gujar, Aurangzib to Siddi Masaud on the surrender of Adoni, Shah Jahan during his sons' advance from the Deccan, Aurangzib's reply, Lutfullah Khan to Mir Jumla on his being taken under Imperial protection.