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History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c80: Chapter LVII. The Last Phase 1705-1707.

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c80

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English

Contents

Chapter LVII. The Last Phase 1705-1707.

§ 1. Desolation of the country caused by Aurangzib's wars.

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The siege of Wagingera was the last campaign of Aurangzib. He was already turned of eighty-seven, and this fort was destined to be the bourne of his lifelong warfare and ambition to extend his empire. After its capture he set out on his return to Delhi, which death was to interrupt at Ahmadnagar less than two years afterwards. This is a point where the historian can most conveniently turn away from Aurangzib's camp and take a general view of the situation all over the country.

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Such a survey afforded a most gloomy prospect. At the end of the 17th century the great empire founded by Akbar and raised to world-famed prosperity and splendour by Shah Jahan, was in a state of hopeless decay; administration, culture, economic life, military strength and social organisation,—all seemed to be hastening to utter ruin and dissolution.

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The material waste caused to the empire by this quarter century of warfare was frightful. The desolation of the Deccan was complete. As a contemporary European observer notes, "Aurangzib withdrew to Ahmadnagar leaving behind him the fields of these provinces devoid of trees and bare of crops, their place being taken by the bones of men and beasts. Instead of verdure all is blank and barren. The country is so entirely desolated and depopulated that neither fire nor light can be found in the course of a three or four days' journey...There have died in his armies over a hundred thousand souls yearly, and of animals, pack-oxen, camels, elephants, &c., over three hundred thousand......In the Deccan provinces from 1702 to 1704 plague [and famine] prevailed. In these two years there expired over two millions of souls." [Storia do Mogor, iv. 252 and 96.]

§ 2. Maratha raiders dominant throughout the Deccan.

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As he began his retreat northwards from the environs of Wagingera, the exultant Marathas in a vast horde of 50 to 60 thousand men followed his army a few miles in the rear, cutting off grain supplies and stragglers and even threatening to break into his camp. A force sent under Hamid-ud-din Khan to repel them was defeated, many of the Mughals being killed or carried off prisoners and giving their horses up to capture. On another side a second Maratha band looted a part of the baggage of the imperialists; but when they beheld the Emperor's palki they did not venture near it, "out of respect for him" as Bhimsen imagines. [Dil. ii. 155a.]

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The same eye-witness writes, "When the Emperor was involved in the siege of Khelna, the Marathas became completely dominant over the whole kingdom and closed the roads. By means of robbery they escaped from poverty and gained great wealth. I have heard that every week they gave away sweets and money in charity, praying for the long life of the Emperor who had proved [to them] the Feeder of the Universe! The price of grain grew higher and higher; in the imperial camp in particular vast numbers perished (of hunger), and many kinds of illegal exactions and practices appeared. Ever since His Majesty had come to the throne he had not lived in a city but elected all these wars and hard marching, so that the inmates of his camp, sick of long separation, summoned their families to the camp and lived there. A new generation was thus born [under canvas]; they passed from infancy to youth, from youth to old age, and passing beyond old age girt up their loins for the journey to the world of the angels, and yet never once saw the look of a house, but only knew that in this world there is no other shelter than a tent." [Dil. ii. 141a.]

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The difficulties of the imperialists were the opportunity of the Marathas. Bhimsen adds, "As the Marathas are gaining large sums on the road, they have changed its name from *shah-rah* (king's highway) to *shah-ran* (? royal beauty.) When they invade a country they take from every pargana as much money as they desire and make their horses eat the standing crops or tread them underfoot. The imperial army that comes in pursuit can subsist only when the fields are cultivated [anew.] All administration has disappeared...The realm has been desolated, nobody gets justice, they have been utterly ruined. The ryots have given up cultivation; the jagirdars do not get a penny from their fiefs... Many mansabdars in the Deccan, starving and impoverished, have gone over to the Marathas." [Dil. ii. 139b—140a, 157b.]

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§ 3. Causes of the dissolution of government.

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This contemporary observer tries to account for the dissolution of government thus: "When after the death of Shivaji his dominions passed on to Shambhuji, the system of the Maratha Government paying salaries to its officials disappeared. Rajaram, who succeeded Shambhuji, lost his capital (Raigarh) and had to flee to Jinji. So, the Maratha State servants supported themselves by plundering on all sides, and paying a small part of their booty to the king.... In despair of getting their monthly salaries regularly, they regarded the plunder of Mughal territory as a gain and a means of maintaining themselves." [Dil. ii. 140a.]

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There was a regular trade in booty by the Maratha raiders. Bhimsen gives one example. "The ruined village of Abhona* was colonised by a Maratha named Ragho, who had formerly served under the Mughal faujdar of Nasik, and had afterwards taken to robbery. He used to bring his plunder from the surrounding country and lodge it here, and traders used to buy and sell these articles. As Ragho was on friendly terms with all men, none hindered him!" [Dil. ii. 145a.]

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∗ 23 m. n. w. of Chandor and 7 m. w. of Kalvan.

§ 4. Famine and chronic scarcity of grain.

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The effect of the enemy's robbery and stoppage of rent from the Mughal officers' jagirs was aggravated by a long-continued famine. "Nowhere south of the Narmada could grain be found cheaper than six seers a Rupee,"—while in certain periods it sold in the imperial camp for two seers or even less. Hence, "the condition of the Mughal army grew worse from the high price of grain and the devastation of jagirs, while the resources of the Marathas increased through robbery. They even attacked walled cities like Haidarabad, Bijapur, Aurangabad, and Burhanpur. When the Emperor was marching from Khed to Wagingera (Nov. 1704), the Marathas plundered his baggage near Bahadur-garh and set fire to much that they could not carry off. This year their audacity was even greater than in the past. Out of the capital cities of the eight chief subahs of the empire, population has decreased in the three Deccan towns of Bijapur, Haidarabad and Burhanpur, while the villages round them have been totally ruined. From the Narmada southwards, throughout the entire Deccan, in every pargana and village, the Marathas have spread like ants and locusts." [Dil. ii. 146a, 149, 138b.]

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The break-down of the administration and of public peace created a vicious circle aggravating the evil, as Bhimsen has clearly pointed out: "The mansabdars, on account of the small forces under them, cannot gain control over the territories granted to them in jagir. The local zamindars, growing stronger, have joined the Marathas, levied troops, and stretched the hand of oppression over the realm... As the imperial dominions have been given out in tankha (fief) to the jagirdars, so too the Marathas have made a distribution of the whole empire among their generals, and thus one kingdom has to maintain two sets of jagirdars! ...The peasants subjected to this double exaction have collected arms and horses and joined the Marathas," [Dil. ii. 139a—140a.]

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Many of the Mughal mansabdars, goaded by poverty, began to plunder the innocent and loyal peasants to support themselves, and some went into shares with the Maratha raiders. Thoughtful people of Northern India serving in the Deccan now became so seriously alarmed about the future that they began to send away their wives and children for safety to their ancestral homes in Hindustan. [Dil. ii. 149b.]

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§ 5. Maratha system of spoliation described.

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The Marathas had reduced spoliation to a system. "As the Emperor and his troops were engaged in the inaccessible hills far in the south, the Marathas began to show greater audacity and raid the old provinces of the empire. Wherever they arrived they engaged in a regular revenue collection of the place and passed months and years there with wife and children in peace of mind. They divided the parganas among themselves, and in imitation of the imperial Government they appointed their own subahdars, kamavish-dars (revenue collectors) and rahdars (road-guards). Their subahdar was a leader of troops: whenever he heard of a large caravan coming, he overtook it at the head of [some] seven thousand cavalry and looted it. Everywhere kamavish-dars were posted for collecting the chauth. When a kamavish-dar was opposed by a strong zamindar or imperial faujdar and could not levy the blackmail, the Maratha subahdar came to his aid, besieged and desolated the habitations there. The duty of the Maratha rahdar was this,—when traders wanted to travel unmolested by these people, the rahdar took a sum of money from each cart or bullock (three or fourfold the imperial faujdar's transit duty), and left the road open to them. In each subah the Marathas built one or two small forts (garhis), which they made their place of refuge and from which they issued to raid the country around.

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"The powerful headmen of certain villages, in concert with the Maratha *subahdars*, built small forts and refused to pay revenue to the imperial Government, the Maratha troops supporting them. Up to the boundary of Gujrat and Malwa they have raided and reduced the country to dust. They looted caravans within 10 or 12 *koses* of the imperial army, and have even plundered the grain-market of the Emperor's own camp!" [K. K. ii. 517—518].

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§ 6. Changes in Maratha equipment and tactics.

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After 1703 the Marathas were masters of the situation all over the Deccan and even in parts of Northern India. The Mughal officers were helpless and reduced to the defensive; they only sought to escape from the enemy by flight or by the payment of blackmail, without venturing to resist them. A change now came over the Maratha tactics with this growth of their power: they were no longer, as in Shivaji's and Shambhuji's times, light forayers who "cut and ran" or merely looted defenceless traders and villages, and dispersed at the first report of the Mughal army's approach,—moving like the wind and keeping themselves in hiding as far as possible. On the contrary, as Manucci noticed in 1704, "These [Maratha] leaders and their troops move in these days with much confidence, because they have cowed the Mughal commanders and inspired them with fear. At the present time they possess artillery, musketry, bows and arrows, with elephants and camels for all their baggage and tents. They carry these last to secure some repose from time to time...In short, they are equipped and move about just like the armies of the Mughal... Only a few years ago they did not march in this fashion. In those days their arms were only lances and long swords two inches wide. Armed thus, they [used to] prowl about on the frontiers, picking up here and there what they could; then they made off home again. But at the present time they move like conquerors, showing no fear of any Mughal troops." [Storia, iii. 505]

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In the internal administration the break-down of Aurangzib's Government was equally conspicuous. On account of his absorption in the Deccan wars, the exhaustion of his resources and best men there, and, according to Khafi Khan, his senile softness in not punishing wrongdoers sternly,—all administration ceased, the officials became incorrigibly corrupt and inefficient, all the forbidden exactions (abwabs) were revived by the local governors in violation of his orders, and even the sergeants sent from the Court to punish the wrongdoers took bribes and let the evils continue. [K. K. ii. 550-551.] As Manucci observed [iv. 100], the Emperor in his old age was disobeyed by his distant officials and the administration lost its efficiency.

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§ 7. Aurangzib encamps at Devapur, 1705.

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Immediately after the capture of Wagingera (27th April, 1705), the Emperor removed his camp to Devapur, a quiet green village near the Krishna, eight miles south of the fort. Here his soldiers and followers gained unwonted comfort and repose. [M.A. 507.] The district, so long ravaged by war, was settled again; lawless oppressors were put down by a strong roving column under Chin Qalich Khan; the peasantry were reassured and induced to return to their homes and engage in tilling again. The walls of Wagingera were repaired and strengthened, and a new gate* and mosque added to it by the Emperor's eunuch Khwajah Masaud. The tributes collected from the refractory chiefs of the surrounding country reached the Treasury.

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During the rainy season the Marathas recovered Kondana, thanks to the cowardice and negligence of the Mughal qiladar. Hamid-ud-din Khan was immediately afterwards detached to recover it, but he returned after merely riding round it. So, at the end of January 1706, Nusrat Jang was ordered to capture it. This he succeeded in doing in a month's time, by cutting off the grain supply of the garrison and forcing them to evacuate the fort with their bare lives. [M.A. 508-'12; Dil. ii. 155b.]

§ 8. Illness of Aurangzib at Devapur.

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At Devapur the soldiers had just recovered a little from their campaigning hardships of the last six years, when the whole camp was thrown into the greatest alarm and distress by the Emperor's illness. His spare frame had been enabled by regular habits and a sober life to stand incessant work and rigorous marching for well-nigh ninety years marvellously well; but at last it seemed to have been worn out. And if he died, the only bond that held the empire together, the single force that guided and protected the lives of hundreds of millions, would be dissolved, and the North-Indian army, girt round by countless ill-subdued enemies in that far-off southern land of hills and jungles and strange peoples, would perish helplessly. Despair seized all men, from the highest officers to the humblest tent-pitcher, when Aurangzib fell ill and took to his bed.

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∗ This western gate (8 feet by 11) bears his inscription: "By command of the Emperor...Aurangzib...under the management of...Hafiz Masaud, built on 1st Rajab 1117 A. H, 49th year of the reign" = 8 Oct. 1705.

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At first he had courageously struggled with disease, and had through sheer strength of mind continued for some days to transact business as usual and even to peep out of his bed-room window to reassure the public that he was alive. Though he could not hold public Court, "he received petitions from all who had business with him; and wrote answers and orders on them with his own hand with great firmness." [M.A. 508.] But the strain of this work only increased his malady, till he was seized with great pain, which at times made him senseless. Then the terror and agitation of the camp reached the extreme, and the wildest rumours spread about his death, wars among his sons, and usurpation of power by his generals ambitious of creating independent principalities for themselves.

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The Emperor lay in this state for ten or twelve days, and then he began to rally, but slowly, and still feeling very weak. At this time, one day in extreme agony he muttered these verses of Shaikh Ganja :

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“By the time you have reached your 80th
or 90th year,
You must have met with many a hard blow
from the hand of Time ;
And when from that point you reach the
stage of a hundred,
Death will put on the garb of your life.”

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Amir Khan, who was in attendance by the sick-bed, tried to console the sufferer, saying “Peace be on your Majesty! Shaikh Ganja composed those verses merely as introductory to the following couplet :—

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Then, it is better for you to be cheerful,
Because, being cheerful you can remember
God!”

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The Emperor had the couplet recited to him again and again and read it written down on a piece of paper, and received divinely sent comfort and strength in his troubles.* The next morning he left his bed and visited the Court of Justice. "The people got back their lives." [M. A. 509-510.]

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∗ The royal physician Haziq Khan, who had effected the cure by means of the China root (Smilax China) was weighed against gold.

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§ 9. Imperial camp marches to Ahmadnagar, 1706.

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On 23rd October, 1705, Aurangzib broke up the encampment at Devapur and set out northwards in a *palki*. Travelling slowly by easy stages, in a month and a half he reached Bahadurgarh, on the Bhima, on 6th December. Here a halt of 40 days was made for passing the month of fasting (6 Dec. —4 Jan.) and the days of religious celebration following it. Then resuming his march on 14th January, 1706, he reached Ahmadnagar, 50 miles northwards, on the 20th, after an interval of 23 years since the time when he had started from it to begin his Deccan conquests.

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This place he recognised as his "journey's end," [K. K. ii. 541 ; *Ahkam* § 56], and here he lived till death overtook him on 20th February 1707.

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At Ahmadnagar Prince Muhammad Azam arrived on 25th March. On hearing of the Emperor's illness at Devapur last year, he had begged hard to be allowed to come to his side, but Aurangzib had refused permission: he did not wish to suffer the fate of Shah Jahan at the hands of his ambitious and powerful sons in his sickness and old age [K. K. ii. 541.] Furthermore, he wanted to keep poor weak Kam Bakhsh at a safe distance from Azam's unscrupulous ambition. But at last he had yielded to repeated entreaty and allowed Azam to come to him. Bidar Bakht was sent to take charge of the province of Gujrat vacated by his father, pending the arrival of the new subahdar Ibrahim Khan from Kashmir (who, however, died on the way). Malwa and Khandesh were placed under Khan-i-Alam and Najabat Khan respectively, while Bijapur continued to be governed by Chin Qalich Khan. [M. A. 512.]

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§ 10. Sorrow and despair of Aurangzib’s last years.

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The last years of Aurangzib’s life were inexpressibly sad. On the political side he found that his lifelong endeavour to govern India justly and strongly had ended in anarchy and disruption throughout the empire. His own health had broken down, and the Court news-letters every now and then give us pathetic glimpses of the weak old Emperor ordering the screen of his bedroom tent to be drawn aside a little, while officers, horses &c. were passed in the courtyard below, as if presented to him for inspection. In this way did he keep up the form of holding public darbars daily, to which he had been devoted for fifty years.

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A sense of unutterable loneliness haunted the heart of Aurangzib in his old age. One by one all the older nobles had died out, and the sole personal friend and survivor of the generation in which his youth had been nurtured that was now left to Aurangzib was Asad Khan the wazir, and even he was some five years his junior. As the aged monarch looked round his Court circle he only found on all sides younger men, timid sycophants, afraid of responsibility, afraid to tell the truth, and eternally intriguing in a mean spirit of personal greed and mutual jealousy. His Puritan austerity had, at all times, chilled the advances of other men towards him, but its effect was intensified by the reputation of being a miracle-working saint (*Alamgir, zinda pir*) which grew on him with each succeeding year. Men shrank in almost supernatural dread from one who was above the joys and sorrows, weakness and pity of mortals, one who seemed to have hardly any element of common humanity in him, who lived in the world but did not seem to be of it. The genial human heart was not touched in others by Aurangzib, and therefore his own heart's hunger could not be satisfied. His sole companions, when free from the ever-engrossing State affairs, were his daughter Zinat-un-nissa, already an old maid, and his last wife Udipuri, a low animal type of partner, whose son Kam Bakhsh broke his imperial father's heart by his freaks of insane folly and passion.

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His domestic life was darkened, as bereavements thickened round his closing eyes. His best-loved daughter-in-law, Jahanzeb Banu, died in Gujrat in March 1705. His rebel son Akbar had died in exile in a foreign soil in 1704, but the authentic news of it reached him only in 1705. Still earlier, his gifted daughter, the poetess Zeb-un-nissa had ended her days in the prison of Delhi (1702). And now Gauhar-ara Begam, the sole survivor among his numerous brothers and sisters, died in 1706, and the news of it dragged out of his heart the pathetic cry, which he repeated again and again, "She and I alone were left among Shah Jahan's children." [M. A. 513.] In May 1706, his daughter Mihr-un-nissa and her husband Izid Bakhsh (Murad's son) both died together in Delhi, and next month Buland Akhtar, the son of Akbar. Two of his grand-children died shortly before his own death (1707), but his ministers mercifully withheld the news from the sinking man.

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§ 11. Imperial dominions harassed by Marathas, 1706-1707.

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Aurangzib had left desolation and anarchy behind him when he set out for Ahmadnagar. But his retreat to this city did not bring rest to his army or peace to his empire. In April or May 1706, a vast Maratha army under all their great generals,—Dhana Jadav, Nima Sindhia, Dado Malhar, Rambhā Nimbālkar* and others,—appeared four miles from the imperial encampment and threatened it. Aurangzib sent Khan-i-Alam and other officers to drive them away, but this force was hopelessly outnumbered and had to be strongly reinforced before it could succeed, after a long and severe contest, in repulsing the Marathas from the neighbourhood. [Dil. ii. 155b.]

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In Gujrat, the interval between Azam's departure and Bidar Bakht's arrival was marked by a terrible disaster to the imperialists. Inu Mänd, a former brewer of Khandesh, who had taken to a very profitable course of highway robbery, gathered a band of followers and made a league with the Maratha generals. Inviting Dhana Jadav and his army, he sacked the large and rich trading centre of Baroda (Mar. 1706). Nazar Ali, the faujdar of the place, was defeated by the Marathas and captured with his men; other imperial officers fled to Broach; and the raiders retired in safety with a vast booty* [Dil. ii. 156a.]

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∗ The Pesian MS. reads Navalkar.

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Similarly, the province of Aurangabad was frequently ravaged by the Maratha bands under Dhana Jadav and other leaders. The Emperor ordered Nusrat Jang to punish the enemy. Leaving his baggage in Ahmadnagar (May 1706), he rapidly advanced to Tisgaon (24 m. e.) and thence followed the trail of the ever-shifting Marathas to Bir (65 m. e. of Ahmadnagar). The pursuit was closely kept up. The Marathas fled by way of the Dharampuri ghat, Purley (13 m.n.e. of Ambajogai), Ausa, Tuljapur and Parenda, and then across the Bhima to their refuge in the Mahadev hills. Nusrat Jang came back to the imperial camp, but was soon afterwards sent against Dhana, who was now reported as roving near Miraj. The latter retired beyond the Krishna, and the Khan halted for the rainy season 24 miles from Miraj. In his recent forced marches nearly all of his horses and transport-cattle had perished through scarcity of fodder. Grain and fodder continued to be very scarce in his camp even during this monsoon halt; the soldiers were greatly distressed and the horses lost condition. [Dil. ii. 156b 157a; M. A. 515.]

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∗ Khafi Khan (ii. 518) wrongly says that this invasion took place just after the death of Shujaet Kh. (June 1701.) But Mirat-i-Ahmadi gives the exact date 4th March 1706 (i. 383.) A very long account of this series of battles, fought at Ratanpur on the Narmada, is given in Mirat (i. 379-388), and very briefly in Khafi Khan (ii. 518-519) and Manucci (iv. 246.)

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§ 12. Notable Maratha victories, 1706.

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In July Maratha activity near Wagingera forced the Emperor to detach Tarbiyat Khan to that region to punish them. [M. A. 516.] Pidia Berad, in alliance with Hindu Rao, gained Penu-konda, "the key of both the Karnataks," by bribing its Mughal qiladar, who had been starving from his salary being left in arrears.* Flushed with their gain of such a fort, the Marathas turned to Sera, the capital of Bijapuri Karnatak Uplands, the district round which they had plundered before, in June 1704. [Storia, iii. 506.] Daud Khan, the faujdar of Karnatak, afterwards recovered Penu-konda. [Dil. ii. 157a.] Siadat Khan, an officer of the Court, was wounded in both eyes by musket-shot, captured, and held to ransom by the enemy. [*Ibid.*] They also recovered Basantgarh from the imperialists about this time. [*Ibid*, 156b.]

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∗ Storia, iv. 249, 251 (details); Dil. ii. 156b. The qiladar was, however, taken prisoner and held to ransom by the Marathas.

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When the rainy season ended (Sep. 1706), Maratha activity was renewed with tenfold intensity. Muhammad Amin Khan was detached against their bands in the Ahmadnagar district and returned after driving them away and taking some spoils. (Nov.) [*M.A.* 518.] Dhana Jadav now made a dash for the old dominions, Berar and Khandesh; but Nusrat Jang, leaving his camp near Miraj, headed him off into Bijapur and thence beyond the Krishna. The Berads had seized the fort of Allur (28 m. n. w. of Kulbarga), but Tarbiyat Khan reconquered it. A long train of caravans coming from Aurangabad to the imperial camp was plundered of everything near Chandā, 24 m. from Ahmadnagar. [*Dil.* ii. 157.]

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Chin Qalich Khan, the subahdar of Bijapur, having been summoned to Court (Dec. 1706), Nusrat Jang marched from Miraj and guarded the environs of Bijapur. (Jan—Feb. 1707.) At this time Tara Bai, the Maratha Queen Regent, sent Dhana to arrest Baharji Ghorpare. The latter took refuge in fort Kurkal,* but all his property and animals were captured by Dhana, who besieged him in a fort. Baharji begged succour from Nusrat Jang, offering to enter the Emperor's service. The Mughal general advanced across the Bhima river and the Raichur Doab to the bank of the Tungabhadra, to attack Dhana, who fled away to Mysore at the news of it. But Baharji, thus delivered from danger, retired to his home in fort Sindur (18 m. s. of the ruins of Vijaynagar) and evaded coming over to Nusrat Jang. [Dil. ii. 158.]

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∗ *Dil.* places this fort 14 kos from Adoni. There is a Kupgal, 35 m. s. w. of Adoni, and a Kudikul, 75 m. n. (not likely.) N. J. had left his heavy baggage in fort Sindanur, 35 m. n. w. of Adoni, and 12 m. n. of the Tungabhadra, while Baharji's Sindur is 18 m. s. of that river.

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§ 13. Azam's plan for murdering Kam Bakhsh.

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While dangers were thus thickening round Aurangzib's forces, the internal troubles of his camp became even more ominous. Muhammad Azam's inordinate vanity and ambition urged him to secure the succession for himself. Confident of his valour and of the money and men he had gathered when in Gujrat, and eager to increase them by seizing the treasure and troops in the imperial camp at the moment of his father's death,—he considered himself as senior to his elder brother Muazzam and regarded poor young Kam Bakhsh as "non-existent." In view of the Emperor's frequent fits of illness, Azam planned to remove all his rivals from his path. So, he poisoned the ears of the Emperor against Azim-ush-shan, the able third son of Muazzam and had him recalled from the government of Patna, where he was rumoured to have amassed a vast treasure. He also drew over to his side the prime minister Asad Khan and some other nobles. Then he looked out for an opportunity to make a sudden attack on Kam Bakhsh and kill him. Every day Azam's hostile designs against Kam Bakhsh became more evident, and therefore the Emperor appointed the brave and faithful Sultan Husain (Mir Malang) paymaster of Kam Bakhsh's forces, and charged him with that prince's defence. Whenever Kam Bakhsh came to his father's Court, Sultan Husain attended him with a strong body of comrades fully armed, and also stood guard round his tent day and night. Azam complained of these acts to the Emperor, but the latter gave no reply, till at last Azam wrote his grievances to his younger sister Zinat-un-nissa, saying, "Though it would not be very hard for me to punish the insolence of this rude fellow, yet respect for His Majesty hinders me from doing it." The letter was shown to Aurangzib, who wrote across it with his own hand, "The power of Husain is well-known, and yet you are overcome with so much terror and suspicion about him! I shall send away Kam Bakhsh elsewhere." The irony of the reply stung Azam, but he had no help except to wait patiently for the end. [K. K. ii. 546—548.]

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§ 14. Emperor sends his sons away from him.

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That end was not long in coming. Early in February 1707, Aurangzib had one more of the attacks of languor and ill-health which had become rather frequent of late. He recovered for a time and began once more to hold public darbars and do business of the State. But he felt that this time the inevitable could not be far off, and that the peace of his camp and the safety of the vast host assembled there were threatened by Azam's growing impatience and violent ambition which might break bounds any day. So he appointed Kam Bakhsh subahdar of Bijapur and sent him away with a large force to his charge on 9th February. The leave-taking from this Benjamin of his old age, whom he felt he would never see again, broke the Emperor's heart; he burst into tears as he gave the prince the parting embrace and sent him away with the band playing from the gate of the imperial tent-enclosure (gulal-bar.) [Dil. ii. 158a.]

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Four days later, (13th Feb.) Md. Azam was despatched to Malwa as its governor; but the cunning prince, knowing his father's death to be very near, marched slowly, halting every other day, so that he had passed only 50 miles when he received the news that Aurangzib was no more.

§ 15. Last illness and death of Aurangzib.

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The event happened only a week after his departure. Four days after sending away the last of his sons from his side, the aged and worn-out monarch, now left in utter loneliness, was seized with a severe fever; but for three days he obstinately insisted on coming to the Court-room and saying the five daily prayers in full congregation. In these days he often recited the couplet of foreboding—

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"In a twinkle, in a minute, in a breath,
The condition of the world changes."

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On Thursday, the 19th, Hamid-ud-din Khan, by the advice of astrologers submitted a petition for giving away an elephant worth Rs. 4,000 in alms (tasadduq) for averting evil influences from the Emperor. The dying man sanctioned it, but added across the petition, "The giving away of an elephant in charity is a custom of the Hindus and star-worshippers. Give, instead, Rs. 4000 to the Chief Qazi for distribution among the poor. Convey quickly to the first station and consign to dust this heap of dust." [M. A. 521 ; K. K. 549 adds, "Do not go to the ornament of a coffin."]

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During these last days he dictated two pathetic letters to his sons Azam and Kam Bakhsh, entreating them to cultivate brotherly love peace and moderation, and illustrating the vanity of all earthly things. These are given in the next appendix, as also is a paper, said to have been found under his pillow after his death, in which he proposed a peaceful partition of his empire among his three surviving sons.

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In the morning of Friday, 20th February, 1707, Aurangzib came out of his bedroom, went through his morning prayer, and began to count his beads and repeat the Islamic confession of faith in the oneness of the Godhead and the Prophetship of Muhammad. Gradually unconsciousness crept on, his breathing became harder and harder ; but such was the mastery of that indomitable spirit over the natural weakness of the body that his fingers continued to move over his rosary and his lips to gasp out the *Kalimah*, till about eight o'clock when all was over. He had ever wished to die on a Friday, and that prayer had been granted by a gracious Deity to one of His truest servants. [M.A. 521, K. K. ii. 549.]

§ 16. Burial of Aurangzib.

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Muhammad Azam arrived in the camp on the 22nd, and after mourning for his father and consoling his sister Zinat-un-nissa Begam, he took part in carrying the corpse a short distance, and then sent it away to Khuldabad near Daulatabad, for burial in the enclosure hallowed by the earthly remains of the saint Shaikh Zain-ud-din.

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A low simple tomb, without any marble platform below or dome over it, but having the trough in its covering slab filled with earth for growing green herbs (in imitation of his sister Jahanara's tomb outside Delhi),—now covers all that remains of the greatest of the Great Mughals save one.

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Aurangzib's last letter to Azam.

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"Peace be on you!

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"Old age has arrived and weakness has grown strong, strength has left my limbs. I came alone and am going away alone. I know not who I am and what I have been doing. The days that have been spent except in austerities have left only regret behind them. I have not at all done any (true) government of the realm or cherishing of the peasantry.

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"Life, so valuable, has gone away for nothing. The Master has been in my house, but my darkened eyes cannot see His splendour. Life lasts not; no trace is left of the days that are no more; and of the future there is no hope.

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"My fever has departed, leaving only the skin and husks behind it. My son Kam Bakhsh, who has gone to Bijapur, is near me. And you are nearer even than he. Dear Shah Alam is farthest of all. Grandson Muhammad Azim has, by order of the Great God, arrived near Hindustan (from Bengal).

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"All the soldiers are feeling helpless, bewildered, and perturbed like me, who having chosen to leave my Master, am now in a state of trepidation like quicksilver. They think not that we have our Lord Father (ever with us). I brought nothing with me (into the world), and am carrying away with me the fruits of my sins. I know not what punishment will fall on me. Though I have strong hopes of His grace and kindness, yet in view of my acts anxiety does not leave me. When I am parting from my own self, who else would remain to me? (Verse)

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Whatever the wind may be
I am launching my boat on the water.

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"Though the Lord Cherisher will preserve His slaves, yet from the point of view of the outer world, it is also the duty of my sons to see that God's creatures and Muslims may not be unjustly slain.

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"Convey to my grandson Bahadur (i.e. Bidar Bakht) my parting blessing. At the time of going away I do not see him; the desire of meeting remains (unsatisfied). Though the Begam is, as can be seen, afflicted with grief, yet God is the master of hearts. Shortness of sight bears no other fruit than disappointment.

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"Farewell! farewell! farewell!"*

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Aurangzib's last letter to Kam Bakhsh.

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"My son, [close to my heart like] my liver! Although, in the days of my power, I gave advice for submission to the will of God and exerted myself beyond the limits of possibility,—God having willed it otherwise, none listened to me. Now that I am dying, it will do no good. I shall carry away with myself the fruits of all the punishments and sins I have done. What a marvel that I came [into the world] alone and am [now] departing with this [large] caravan. Whenever I cast my eyes, no caravan-leader save God comes into my view. Anxiety about the army and camp-followers has been the cause of [my] depression of mind and fear of final torment. Although God will undertake the protection of His people, yet it is also obligatory on Muslims and my sons. When I was full of strength, I could not at all protect them; and now I am unable to take care of myself! My limbs have ceased to move. The breath that subsides, there is no hope of its return. What else can I do in such a condition than to pray? Your mother Udipuri [Begam] has attended me during my illness; she wishes to accompany me [to the next world]. I consign thee and thy children to God. I am in trepidation. I bid you farewell......Worldly men are deceivers (literally, they show wheat as sample but deliver barley); do not do any work in reliance on their fidelity. Work ought to be done by means of hints and signs. Dara Shukoh made unsound arrangements and hence he failed to reach his point. He increased the salaries of his retainers to more than what they were before, but at the time of need got less and less work out of them. Hence he was unhappy. Set your feet within the limits of your carpet.

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∗ Translated by me from Br. Museum Addl. 26240. The version given in the lithographed edition of the Ruqat has been rejected.

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"I have told you what I had to say and now I take my leave. See to it that the peasantry and the people......are not unjustly ruined, and that Musalmans may not be slain, lest punishment should descend on me." [India Office MS. 1344, f. 26a].

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*Aurangzib's last will*

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(From India Office Library MS. 1344, f. 49b.)

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Said to have been written with his own hand and left under his pillow on the death-bed.

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"I was helpless [in life] and I am departing helpless. Whichever of my sons has the good fortune of gaining the kingship, he should not trouble Kam Bakhsh if the latter is content with the two provinces of Bijapur and Haidarabad. There is not, nor will there [ever] be any wazir better than Asad Khan. Dianat Khan, the diwan of the Deccan, is better than other imperial servants. With true devotion entreat Muhammad Azam Shah, —if he agrees to the mode of partitioning the empire which was proposed in my lifetime, then there will be no fighting between armies and no slaughter of mankind. Do not dismiss my hereditary servants, nor molest them. The occupant of the throne should have [one of] the two subahs of Agra and Delhi, and whoever agrees to take the former [of these] will get four subahs of the old kingdom—Agra [sic], Malwa, Gujrat, and Ajmir and the chaklas dependent on them,—and four subahs of the Deccan, namely Khandesh, Berar, Aurangabad and Bidar and their ports. And whosoever agrees to take the latter [i.e., Delhi] will get the eleven subahs of the old kingdom—Delhi, Panjab, Kabul, Multan, Tatta, Kashmir, Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Allahabad and Oudh. [Another version is given in Fraser's Nadir Shah, 36-37. See Irvine's Later Mughals, i. 6.]

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∗ I have not accepted the other version of this letter given in the lithographed bazar edition of Ruqat, No. 73. Udipuri died a natural death at Gwalior in June 1707.

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Another alleged will of Aurangzib is given in the *Ahkam-i-Alamgiri* ascribed to Hamid-ud-din Khan Bahadur (§ 8 of the text and translation published by me.) It runs thus:

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"Praise be to God and blessing on those servants of Him who have become sanctified and have given satisfaction to Him.

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I have [some instructions to leave as my] last will and testament :—

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FIRST,—On behalf of this sinner sunk in iniquity [i.e., myself] cover [with an offering of cloth] the holy tomb of Hassan (ON HIM BE PEACE!), because those who are drowned in the ocean of sin have no other protection than seeking refuge with that Portal of Mercy and Forgiveness. The means of

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performing this great auspicious act are with my noble son, Prince Alijah [Azam] ; take them.

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SECOND,—Four rupees and two annas, out of the price of the caps sewn by me, are with Aia Beg, the *mahaldar*. Take the amount and spend it on the shroud of this helpless creature. Three hundred and five rupees, from the wages of copying the Quran, are in my purse for personal expenses. Distribute them to the faqirs on the day of my death. As the money got by copying the Quran is regarded with respect by the Shia sect*, do not spend it on my shroud and other necessaries.

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THIRD,—Take the remaining necessary articles from the agent of Prince Alijah ; as he is the nearest heir among my sons, and on him lies the responsibility of the lawful or unlawful [practices at my funeral] ; this helpless person (*i.e.*, Aurangzib) is not answerable for them, because the dead are at the mercy of the survivors.

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FOURTH,—Bury this wanderer in ‘the Valley of Deviation from the Right Path’ with his head bare, because every ruined sinner who is conducted bare-headed before the Grand Emperor (*i.e.*, God), is sure to be an object of mercy.

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FIFTH,—Cover the top of the coffin on my bier with the coarse white cloth called *gazi*. Avoid the spreading of a canopy and innovations like [processions of] musicians and the celebration of the Prophet's Nativity (*maulud*).

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∗ The reading in MS. N. may be taken to mean, “As the money got by copying the Quran is suspected by the Shia sect to be an unlawful [kind of wealth.]”

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SIXTH,—It is proper for the ruler of the kingdom (i.e., my heir) to treat kindly the helpless servants who in the train of this shameless creature [Aurangzib] have been roving in the deserts and wilderness [of the Deccan]. Even if any manifest fault is committed by them, give them in return for it gracious forgiveness and benignant overlooking [of the fault].

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SEVENTH,—No other nation is better than the Persians for acting as clerks (*mutasaddi*). And in war, too, from the age of the Emperor Humayun to the present time, none of this nation has turned his face away from the field, and their firm feet have never been shaken. Moreover, they have not once been guilty of disobedience or treachery to their master. But, as they insist on being treated with great honour it is very difficult to get on together with them. You have anyhow to conciliate them, and should employ subterfuges.

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EIGHTH,—The Turani people have ever been soldiers. They are very expert in making charges, raids, night-attacks and arrests. They feel no suspicion, despair or shame when commanded to make a retreat in the very midst of a fight, which means, in other words, 'when the arrow is drawn back';—and they are a hundred stages remote from the crass stupidity of the Hindustanis, who would part with their heads but not leave their positions [in battle]. In every way, you should confer favours on this race, because on many occasions these men can do the necessary service, when no other race can.

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NINTH,—You should treat the Sayyids of Barha, who are worthy of blessing, according to the Quranic verse, ‘GIVE UNTO THE NEAR RELATIONS [OF THE PROPHET] THEIR DUES,’ and never grow slack in honouring and favouring them. Inasmuch as, according to the blessed verse, ‘I SAY I DO NOT ASK OF YOU ANY RECOMPENSE FOR IT EXCEPT LOVE TO [MY] KINSMEN,’ love for this family is THE WAGES OF [MUHAMMAD’S] PROPHETSHIP, you should never be wanting [in respect for them], and it will bear fruit in this world and the next. But you should be extremely cautious in dealing with the Sayyids of Barha. Be not wanting in love of them at heart, but externally do not increase their rank, because a strong partner in the government soon wants to seize the kingship for himself. If you let them take the reins ever so little, the result will be your own disgrace.

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TENTH,—As far as possible the ruler of a kingdom should not spare himself from moving about; he should avoid staying in one place, which outwardly gives him repose but in effect brings on a thousand calamities and troubles.

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ELEVENTH,—Never trust your sons, nor treat them during your lifetime in an intimate manner, because, if the Emperor Shah Jahan had not treated Dara Shukoh in this manner, his affairs would not have come to such a sorry pass. Ever keep in view the saying, 'THE WORD OF A KING IS BARREN.'

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TWELFTH,—The main pillar of government is to be well informed in the news of the kingdom. Negligence for a single moment becomes the cause of disgrace for long years. The escape of the wretch Shiva took place through [my] carelessness, and I have to labour hard [against the Marathas] to the end of my life, [as the result of it].

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TWELVE IS BLESSED [among numbers]. I have concluded with twelve directions. (Verse)

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If you learn [the lesson], a kiss on your wisdom,
If you neglect it, then alas! alas!