History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c80.s6: § 16. Burial of Aurangzib.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c80.s6
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§ 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!