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History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c84: Chapter LXI. Some Provinces During Aurangzib's Reign.

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c84

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Chapter LXI. Some Provinces During Aurangzib's Reign.

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It is neither possible nor necessary to give here the history of every *subah* of the Mughal empire during this reign. The historian is concerned with those provinces only whose affairs assumed an imperial importance by influencing the course of events in other parts of the country and thus modified the Emperor's policy and the destiny of the empire.

Bengal

§ 1. Bengal: its natural wealth and recuperative power.

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Among all the provinces of the Mughal empire, Bengal was most lavishly favoured by Nature. Its copious rainfall makes the labour of artificial irrigation unnecessary. The annual flood of its countless rivers not only waters its 'wet' crops, but also fertilises the fields by spreading over them every year a new layer of mud which dispenses with manuring. One may almost say of Bengal that here the peasant has merely to sow the seed, go away, and reappear on the scene only for reaping the harvest, while all the intervening agricultural processes are done for him by Nature. Its numberless rivers and tanks with their abundance of fish and its fruit-laden orchards spreading a green veil round its homesteads, richly supplement the corn-fields. The climate alone is vile and justifies Aurangzib's epigram that this province was "a hell full of bread."

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Such a country only needed peace to be full of wealth and population. The most fearful ravages of war pestilence or natural calamity could be completely repaired in a single generation of orderly beneficent government and uninterrupted growth. Such peace and good government were supplied to Bengal by the Mughal empire throughout the 17th century.

§ 2. Mughal conquest and its benefit to Bengal.

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In the 16th century Bengal had been an unhappy scene of anarchy and desolation from the decay and dismemberment of its independent provincial sultanate. The misery of the people can be guessed not only from the bloody annals of the ruling houses of Gaur, but also and more vividly from the social back-ground on which the new religion of Chaitanya (1485-1533) appeared as a welcome healing balm to the stricken hearts of millions. The evil was aggravated by the Mughal conquest of Delhi and Jaunpur and the crowding of the defeated Pathans into Bengal. The middle 16th century was darkened by rapid changes of kings, disputed succession, local independence, and the annihilation of wealth and culture through political turmoil.

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In the midst of this internal decay and exhaustion of the old order, its conquest by Akbar came as a blessing to the province. But it took twenty years to complete the change of masters, and therefore during Akbar's reign Mughal rule in Bengal was more like an armed occupation than a settled administration. His viceroys had to content themselves with the nominal submission of the old independent Afghan princelings and Hindu ruling zamindars, and to leave the actual government of the province to them. The Emperor's subahdars merely received the tributes, but did not establish direct imperial administration over the people, except in the district round the capital and the strategic cities held by their assistants, the faujdars. Over most of the country zamindars and humbled scions of ancient sultans ruled as before, though not with the title and pomp of kings. The Mughal governor's writs did not run beyond the capital city and its environs. The huge though irregular armed forces under the various zamindars remained quiescent but undestroyed. They only waited for some weakening of the Emperor's power, some catastrophe at Delhi, to assert their independence once again. Such an explosion might occur any day. The Mubarak Shahi, Iliyas, Muhammad Shahi, Abyssinian, Sharifi, Sur and Karrani dynasties had each ruled over Bengal for its brief day and then gone. Who could say that the upstart Turki house of Babur would last longer?

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§ 3. Mughal peace prevails in Bengal through out the 17th century.

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The repeated victories of Man Singh and, even more than these, his spirit of moderation in victory and natural desire to spare old houses, had maintained peace in Bengal during Akbar's last years. But with the accession of Jahangir (1605) and the recall of Man Singh from Bengal (1606) a change in the situation became inevitable. The change was, however, precipitated and intensified by the character of the Emperor's new viceroy, Islam Khan, who governed the province for six years, (May 1608—11 August 1613). A most ambitious active and high-spirited noble, he gave himself royal airs and could not brook the least insubordination in any zamindar. By a series of campaigns, which have been most graphically described in the memoirs of his general Mirza Sahin Shitab Khan,—he crushed all the independent zamindars of Bengal, destroyed the last remnant of Afghan power in Mymensingh, Sylhet and Orissa, and imposed full Mughal peace and direct imperial administration upon all the parts of Bengal. This revolutionary and beneficent change was completed by the year 1613. Thereafter Bengal enjoyed profound internal peace for nearly a century and a half, because the wars with Kuch Bihar, Kamrup, and Assam were all outside the province, the rebellious incursion of Prince Shah Jahan (1624) was a quickly passing blast, and the piratical raids from Chatgaon in the rivers of the Delta and the contest between Aurangzib and Shuja (1659-1660) touched only the southern and western fringes of the province.

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Islam Khan's successors pushed back the frontiers of the independent Mongoloid Rajahs of the Kuch and Ahom families to the western bank of the Bar Nadi (by annexing Hajo) and thus protected Bengal from raids on that side. Under Mughal peace, as fully and finally imposed in 1614, Bengal recovered wealth and population, trade expanded by rapid strides, industries developed, and a great indigenous literature grew up in the hands of the Vaishnav sect.

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The Arracanese, and subsequently their agents, the Portuguese pirates of Chatgaon, were a pest to the riverside districts of East Bengal; but this evil was removed early in Aurangzib's reign (1666) by Shaista Khan, and thereafter there was nothing to check Bengal's natural power of recuperation, except occasional calamities,* which were however purely local in their effect. This peace and prosperity, the gift of the Mughal empire, was fully utilised by the European merchants, especially the English and the Dutch, whose trade grew by leaps and bounds from the middle of the century onwards and whose factories and purchase-agencies stimulated production and wealth in the country.

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∗ E.g., a cyclone (hati-shunra) in August, 1668, [M.A. 74.]

§ 4. Miserable condition of Bengal at Aurangzib's accession.

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The supine administration of Prince Shuja during his nine years' viceroyalty (1649-1658), the internal disorder and foreign invasion to which the province became subject when he marched west to fight for the throne of Delhi, the war of succession between him and Aurangzib's generals in the Malda district, and immediately following these Mir Jumla's disastrous invasion of Assam, had created as their after effect a great deal of popular misery, as the administration had grown slack and corrupt through the want of superior control and supervision and the absorption of the head of the province in war for years together. Disorder, oppression and illegal exaction had become widespread, and the sufferers could find no redress. This misery is graphically,—if also in a querulous and exaggerated form,—set forth in Shihab-ud-din Talish's memoirs, in the following language: "The mansabdars were given jagirs scattered over several parganahs, and this multiplicity of partners [in the land revenue] led to the oppression of the peasants and the ruin of the villages. Large sums were wasted [in the cost of collection]... It was not good for the same place to have two masters (viz., the jagirdar's and the Government collectors)... Mir Jumla had confirmed in his own jagirs many men celebrated for piety and some holding imperial *farmans*, for the enjoyment of rent-free grants of land or pensions. All other men who had been enjoying such grants &c., in the Crownlands or the fiefs of the jagirdars,......had their grants cancelled by the Sadr. It was ordered that these *aimadars* should take to cultivation and pay revenue for the lands they had been enjoying, [like ordinary peasants.] In enforcing this harsh order, these poor creatures were not given any respite...... So, the land has become waste, and the aimadars impoverished and distressed." [Continuation, *f.* 118.]

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Another cause of popular suffering was the defenceless condition of the province on water. During the late interval of confusion and anarchy, the flotilla (*nawwara*) of Bengal had been neglected. "During Prince Shuja's governorship, the extortion and violence of the collectors ruined the villages (yielding 14 lakhs a year) assigned for the support of the flotilla. Many naval officers and workmen holding jagir or cash stipend, were overcome by poverty and starvation......Many naval officers and men perished in the Assam expedition of Mir Jumla ; so that at that nobleman's death the *nawwara* was in utter ruin......Its only remnants were a few broken and rotten boats." [Ibid. 113a.] This unprotected condition of the Bengal sea-board increased the audacity of the half-breed Portuguese pirates of Chatgaon, and the riverside tracts of Noakhali and Barisal, and even Dacca, were ruthlessly devastated by them year after year.

§ 5. Shaista Khan's achievements as governor of Bengal.

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With the coming of Shaista Khan as governor the scene happily changed. His first viceroyalty of Bengal extended for 14 years (1664-1677). During this unusually long period of office in one province, he first ensured the safety of the Bengal rivers and sea-board by destroying the pirates' nest at Chatgaon, won over the Feringi pirates and settled them near Dacca, and pushed the imperial frontier southwards to Ramu, beyond Chatgaon fort, as we have seen in Chapter 32.

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His internal administration was equally mild and beneficent. He immediately stopped the resumption by the State of the old rent-free lands which the local officers had begun during the interregnum. He ordered the new Sadr of the province to confirm all the charitable grants and stipends, lying in the Crownlands, for which documentary evidence could be produced. As for the rent-free lands in the fiefs of the jagirdars, they were asked to respect the rights of the grantees if the total land thus alienated did not exceed one-fortieth of the extent of the fief, this proportion being regarded as the charity-tax (zakat) enjoined by the Quranic law. Within his own jagir he made many new gifts in charity. These orders were promptly carried out by his hard-working, honest and polite civil officers.*

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Every day he held open Court for administering justice and redressed wrongs very promptly. This he regarded as his most important duty. In his own jagir he ordered that everything collected by the revenue officers above the fixed rent should be returned to the cultivators. Again, the former governors of Bengal used to make monopolies of all articles of food and clothing and other things and sell them at fanciful rates, which the helpless people had to pay. Shaista Khan restored absolute freedom of buying and selling, and also abolished two illegal exactions of his predecessors, namely, a tax of one-fortieth (zakat) on the income of merchants and travellers, and a custom duty (hasil) from every class of artificers and tradesmen "from the rose-vendor down to the clay-seller, from the weaver of fine linen down to that of coarse stuff." Aurangzib had issued orders for abolishing the zakat and hasil in the Crownlands, and left to the jagirdars free choice in respect of them within their fiefs. "But this just, God-fearing, benevolent subahdar abolished the hasil, yielding 15 lakhs of Rupees a year, which used to be collected in his own jagirs......Thus, the peasants and the merchants were freed from oppression and fiscal innovations......Shaista Khan's profuse charity so thoroughly removed poverty and need from Bengal that few labourers or workmen could be had for hire to do any work." [Continuation, as tr. in *Studies*, 160-167.]

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∗ Described fully in Talish's Continuation, ff. 118a-121a. Translated in my Studies in Mughal India, pp. 156-160.

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In foreign affairs, too, his term was prosperous. In 1669 he suppressed the rising of a bogus Shuja in Morang (a hill State north of the Purnia district), and conquered it in 1676. [*M.A.* 84, 150.] In the latter year the province of Orissa was added to his charge. The long interval of peace thus secured to Bengal was employed by him in adorning his capital Dacca with many fine buildings (especially the *Katra*), as well as in constructing bridges and sarais all over the country. On the whole, he was a generous nobleman of the grand old style. The English, Dutch and French greatly improved their trade in his time.

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After the short regimes of Fidai Khan entitled Azam Khan Kokah, a grasping tyrant, (less than a year) and Prince Muhammad Azam (one year), Shaista Khan was sent back to Bengal again, and reached Dacca in January 1680. His second term covered the nine years 1680 to 1688; the most noticeable event of this period was the war with the English E. I. Co. which has been described in Ch. 60.*

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∗ Shaista Khan in Bengal: Talish, as translated in my *Studies in Mughal India*, (best); *Riyaz-us-Salatin*, tr. 227-228 (very meagre); Stewart's *Bengal*, sec. vi; dates in *M.A.*

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The popular tradition is that during his governorship rice sold in Bengal at the incredibly cheap rate of eight maunds to the Rupee. He repeatedly sent rich presents, including the rare products of Bengal, to the Emperor. [M.A. 109, 167 ; Storia ii. 117.]

§ 6. Ibrahim Khan's supine rule.

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Shaista Khan was succeeded by Khan Jahan Bahadur (a brother of Azam Khan Kokah) for a few months (1688-1689), and then came Ibrahim Khan in June 1689, as permanent subahdar. He was an old man of mild disposition and sedentary habits and a great lover of books. Without strength of purpose or capacity for action, he let matters drift, till the administration of the province entirely broke down, and every one did what he liked. But Ibrahim Khan's character had some redeeming features ; the English traders call him "the most famously just and good nabob," and the Muslim historian records that "he did not allow even an ant to be oppressed." He personally administered justice, was free from venality and caprice, and promoted agriculture and commerce. [Riyaz. tr. 231.] His first act after coming to Bengal was to make terms with the

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His very interesting will is given in the Proceedings of the Ind. Hist. Records Commission, 1923. Fidai Khan died at Dacca on 25 May 1678. Azam entered Dacca on 29 July 1678 and left it on 6 Oct. 1679; his only achievement was the recapture of Gauhati, [Ch. 32 § 4.] Shaista Kh. died at Agra in April 1694, aged 92 lunar years. (Storia, ii. 322.)

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English and invite them to settle in Bengal again. [Letter dated 2 July 1689, in *Madras Diary*, 7 Oct.]

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But Bengal in the late 17th century was no place for a bookworm. During the closing years of Aurangzib's reign, as reports came of the Emperor's increasing difficulties in the Deccan and of disasters to his arms here and there in that far-flung battle line, the lawless elements in Bengal, as elsewhere, seized the opportunity presented by Ibrahim Khan's supine administration and slothful unmartial character. The many Afghans settled in North Orissa brooded over their lost empire in Hindustan and were ever ready for a rising. The storm burst in 1696 and for the first time broke the deep peace which Bengal had enjoyed ever since the days of Jahangir.

§ 7. Rebellion of Shova Singh and Rahim Khan.

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Shova Singh, the zamindar of Chatwa-Barda* in the Medinipur district, rebelled, and in alliance with Rahim Khan, the chief of the Orissa Afghans, began to plunder the lands of his neighbour Rajah Krishna Ram, a Panjabi Khatri settled in Bengal and then serving as the farmer-general of the revenue of the Bardwan district. Krishna Ram advanced against them with a small force, but was defeated and slain, and his wife, daughters and entire property and the town of Bardwan itself were captured by the rebels, while his son Jagat Ray fled to Dacca.

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∗ Shova Singh's rebellion : Salimullah's *Tarikh-i-Bangala*, I. O. L. MS. 2995, Eng. tr. by Gladwin as *Transactions in Bengal* (full); *Riyaz* (derivative); Stewart's *Bengal* (useful addition from Eng. factory records); Orme MSS. 119, Surat to Bombay 23 Oct. 1696, Sutanati to Bombay, 3 Sep. 1696 and 24 Nov. 1697 (most authentic); *Akhbarat* year 42. Cheto is a mistake for Jatra, 27 m. n.e. of Medinipur and 40 m. s. w. of Bardwan. Burdah is 9 m.e. of Jatra and 5 m. w. of Ghatal. Chandrakona is 5 m.w. of Jatra, and 25 m.n. of Medinipur. [Rennell's *Bengal Atlas*, sh. 7.] These three

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Ibrahim Khan at first underrated and neglected the danger. He merely ordered Nurullah Khan, the faujdar of west Bengal and the imperial officer nearest to the scene of disturbance, to march against Shova Singh. But their initial success had greatly swelled the rebels' ranks and heightened the terror of their arms. Nurullah, whose principal business had been money-making by private trade, timidly shut himself up in the fort of Hughli, where the rebels soon blockaded him. He slipped out of it at night with his bare life, but all his wealth and the fort (including its commandant) fell into Shova Singh's hands.

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On the outbreak of the rebellion, the three European nations in Bengal had enlisted Indian

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places are close to Radhanagar and Ghatal. The last battle took place not in the environs of Bardwan (as Salimullah implies), but near Chandrakona (as we learn from the victor's despatches.) Chandrakona continued as a rebel centre for some time longer, as Murshid Quli Khan had to conduct an expedition against it about 1702-3. [Inayet's Ahkam, 221 b.]

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soldiers to guard their property and obtained the subahdar's permission to put their factories in a state of defence. This was the origin of the forts round the three commercial settlements of Calcutta, Chandernagar and Chinsura, and these were the first defended places which the Mughal Government had suffered foreigners to build on the Indian soil. These places at once became the only havens of refuge amidst the general disturbance in Bengal.

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The rout of the imperial faujdar and the capture of Hughli fort crowned the rebels' success. They now lost every check or fear, and boldly sent out parties to plunder the rich. All who could, fled to the European settlements for shelter. After some time the newly arrived Bakhshi of the province entreated the Dutch of Chinsura to help the Government. They sent 300 European soldiers and Malays to attack Hughli on the land side, while two of their ships bombarded the ramparts from the river. At this the rebel garrison (200 horse and two to three hundred foot) escaped by the back door, August 1696. [Sutanati to Bombay, 3 Sep. 1696 in Orme 119.]

§ 8. Rahim Khan's war with the Mughal Government.

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Shova Singh's next step was to detach Rahim Khan with the main part of his army to take the rich cities of Nadia and Murshidabad, while he returned to his head-quarters at Bardwan. Here he was stabbed to death by a daughter of Rajah Krishna Ram, upon whose honour he had tried to make an attempt. His brother Himmat Singh succeeded him. But the rebel army chose Rahim as their chief, and he now crowned himself with the title of Rahim Shah. By this time all Bengal west of the Ganges had passed into the hands of these men, while Ibrahim Khan lay inactive at Dacca, vainly hoping that the enemy would soon disperse of themselves when gorged with plunder.

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Rahim's army had now increased to 10,000 horse and 60,000 infantry,—a vast medley of vagabonds and adventurers of all kinds. Near Murshidabad he was attacked singlehanded by Niamat Khan, a small jagirdar, who was slain and his property plundered. Then, defeating a Government force of 5,000, the rebels plundered Murshidabad. The neighbouring city of Qasimbazar escaped this fate in consequence of its merchants paying a blackmail. [Surat to Bombay, 23 Oct. 1696, in *Orme MSS.* 119.] Smaller bands spread all over the country, looting, burning and forcing people to join them. In March 1697 Rahim took Malda and Rajmahal.

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Immediately on hearing details of this rising and Ibrahim Khan's negligence, the Emperor dismissed him from the viceroyalty of Bengal and appointed his grandson, Azim-ush-shan to the post (middle of 1697, *M.A.* 387.) The prince was then in the Deccan, and pending his arrival Zabardast Khan (the son of Ibrahim and faujdar of Bardwan) was ordered to take the field against the rebels, with all the available imperial forces in those parts. Equipping an army as quickly as the previous neglect and administrative derangement of his father's rule would permit, Zabardast marched from Dacca with his artillery and infantry against Rahim, who issued from Murshidabad and formed an entrenched camp on the Ganges at Bhagawan-gola. Detachments of Zabardast Khan's cavalry made a rapid detour and recovered Rajmahal and Malda.

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At Bhagawan-gola Zabardast attacked the rebel position by land and water. His artillery, well served by Feringis, made havoc in their crowded ranks and silenced their guns. After a two days* fight the Afghans were routed and their camp captured (May 1697). But the victors were too exhausted and too much encumbered with wounded to give chase immediately. After a short stay he resumed his march and drove Rahim successively out of Murshidabad and Bardwan into the woods.*

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Shortly afterwards, Prince Azim-ush-shan reached Patna and, envying the martial fame already gained by Zabardast Khan, sent him positive orders not to engage the rebels again before his own arrival. The rainy season (June—Sept.) now put an end to operations; Zabardast Khan's army encamped at Bardwan and the prince's at Monghyr for this period of enforced inactivity.

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∗ Rennell's *Bengal Atlas*, sh. 7, marks the country northwest of Medinipur as "impenetrable woods."

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In November the prince arrived near Bardwan. Zabardast welcomed him on the way, but was received with so much coldness and slight after all his great services that he resigned his command in disgust and left Bengal with his father for the imperial camp in the Deccan (January, 1698.) The prince halted at Bardwan for many months. Zabardast's defection weakened the Mughal forces in Bengal by 8,000 choice cavalry and a great general. The rebels, who had gone into hiding in the woods after their late defeat, now reappeared and renewed their activity on all sides.

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Rahim, after plundering the Nadia and Hughli districts, arrived near Bardwan to confront the imperial army. Here he treacherously slew Khwajah Anwar, the prince's chief minister, at an interview, and then delivered an impetuous attack on the imperial army, but was killed.* Their leader being gone, the rebel army melted away. The prince gave a general amnesty; some of Rahim's soldiers were taken into Mughal service and the rest dispersed to their homes and returned to tillage.

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∗ *Akhbarat*, 11 Sep. 1698, records that on that day a despatch was received from Prince Azim stating "Rahim Afghan and Shova Singh, rebels, were living in fort Chandrakona and robbing the imperial dominions. I took horse against them, arrived there, fought, and defeated them. The Afghan was slain."

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After a long stay at Bardwan, Azim-ush-shan went to Dacca, the environs of which city he caused to be cleared and beautifully laid out.

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§ 9. Bengal under Murshid Quli Khan.

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Muhammad Hadi had distinguished himself and won the Emperor's confidence by his ability and honesty in many minor offices in the Deccan and been created Kar Talb Khan. From the diwani of Orissa he was transferred in 1701 to be diwan of Bengal, with the title of Murshid Quli Khan. "The prudent management of the new diwan soon raised Bengal to the highest degree of prosperity. Particularly careful in the choice of his officers, he obtained through their means complete information about the actual capacity of the lands and the amount of custom duties.......With the Emperor's approval he resumed all the jagirs in Bengal (except those annexed to the governor's and diwan's offices) and in lieu of them gave assignments on Orissa, the cultivation of which province had of late been very much neglected. The diwan took the collection into his own hands, and by preventing the embezzlements of the zamindars and jagirdars, augmented the annual revenue." [Gladwin.]

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Murshid Quli, conscious of his own ability, power, and dignity, refused to let Azim-ush-shan interfere with revenue matters in any way. The foolish prince instigated a plot of some troopers to mutiny and murder the diwan. The conspiracy was defeated by Murshid Quli Khan's presence of mind courage and tact. But, to guard against further attempts on his life, he removed the revenue office from Dacca, where the prince lived as governor, to a more centrally situated village on the bank of the Ganges, whose name of Maqsudabad he changed to Murshid-abad in honour of himself. Here a city sprang up round his newly built mansion, which was destined to be the capital of Bengal for half the 18th century.

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Aurangzib, on hearing of the incident, grew very angry, and ordered the prince to remove to Bihar, which had been added to his charge in January 1703. For the next three years (1704-1707) Azim lived at Patna, which he was permitted by the Emperor to name Azim-abad after his own name. [Inayet's *Ahkam*, 116b.] His son, the boy Farrukh-siyar, remained behind at Dacca as his deputy in Bengal.

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Murshid Quli Khan repeatedly sent to the Emperor large sums as the surplus revenue of the province;—the amount in one year being 2 kror 33 lakhs in Rupees and 16848 gold coins, and 90 lakhs of Rupees in another. [Inayet's *Ahkam*, 220b, 219a.] The money came most opportunely to Aurangzib, whose other resources had been exhausted by the endless war with the Marathas. The faithful diwan of Bengal was highly rewarded, and the Emperor assured him in writing that all his prayers would be readily granted and nobody's complaints against him would be heard. [Inayet's *Ahkam*, 217b-222b.]

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In fear of Murshid Quli, the ruling chiefs on the frontiers of Bengal began to pay their due tributes punctually. They all felt that a strong master had come to the province. He collected the revenue by his own agents directly and thus saved the profits which middlemen or zamindars used to make. "He did not go to the expense of maintaining a provincial militia or [large] regular army. Two thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry were sufficient for all his purposes. ......The orders of Murshid Quli Khan were so absolute that the most refractory men trembled in his presence, and his commands were so implicitly obeyed that it was sufficient to send a footman to sequester an estate or to punish an offender at a distance. He did not allow the inferior zamindars even public audience, nor permit the Rajahs to be seated in his presence. Two days in the week he administered justice in person, and was so impartial in his decisions and rigid in their execution that no one dared to commit oppression.......He did not place absolute confidence in his accountants, but himself examined the daily accounts of the receipts expenditure and balances and then signed them." Defaulting zamindars were put to unspeakable kinds of torture in order to make them pay the Government dues. [Gladwin.]

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For these eminent services, he was, in Nov. 1704, promoted to be a commander of 2000. He had before this been appointed faujdar of Orissa (the subahdari being kept in abeyance) and diwan of Bihar, in addition to the diwani of Bengal. [M.A. 483 ; Inayet's Ahkam, 222a ; Akhbarat 26 Feb. 1703.] A few years after the death of Aurangzib he became independent ruler of Bengal, as the Delhi Government sank into hopeless decline. Under him Bengal entered on a career of peace and marvellous material prosperity, which were interrupted only by the follies and crimes of his unworthy successors. [M.U. iii. 751, his life. Salimullah very misleading jumbled and incorrect as to facts. Riyaz a mere late compilation. Ahkam of primary value.]

Malwa

§ 10. Malwa : races forming its population ; its importance in Mughal times.

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The Mughal province of Malwa extended from Garha-Mandla to Banswara and from Chanderi to Nandurbar, or roughly speaking north to south between the Jamuna and the Narmada rivers. West of it, across the Chambal, lies Rajputana, and east of it Bundelkhand, from which the river Betwa separates it. The most notable element of its population are the Rajputs, divided into an immense number of petty clans or minor branches of famous clans, and not organised in compact tribal States as in Rajputana proper. But their number and importance were not so preponderant as to throw into insignificance other races of inhabitants, such as the Jats who were spread over the northern side, and the Gonds concentrated in full strength in the south and the south-east,—besides a strong infusion of Muhammadan immigrants (mostly Afghans) settled in definite centres. The undeveloped primitive races which had taken refuge in out of the way corners and among the hills and jungles, were too uncivilised and too much divided to count for anything, though in mere number they formed the largest substratum of the population.

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Uniformity of administration, the regular advance of civilisation, and the effective and easy maintenance of order were impossible in a province with such a diversified population. But Malwa was rich in agricultural wealth,—producing large quantities of the higher crops, such as opium, sugar-cane, grapes, musk-melons and betel-leaf, besides sheltering large herds of elephants in its forest tracts. In industries it occupied the first rank among the Mughal subahs after Gujrat. "Cloth of the best texture was woven here," notably the chintz and white muslin of Sironj, which commanded a ready market throughout India and even beyond seas in the 17th century. [Ain ii. 195-202 ; Tavernier, ii. 5.]

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Malwa had been the foremost centre of Indian culture from before the age of Christ. In Mughal times its importance was enhanced by the fact that all the great military roads from the northern capitals, Agra and Delhi, to the Deccan passed through this province. Mughal armies had to cross some part of Malwa in order to be able to strike at Rajputana or the Gond country, Berar or Gujrat. Any disturbance in Berar or Gondwana, Bundelkhand or the Eastern Rajput States would immediately spread by contagion to Malwa. While Aurangzib's attention and forces were occupied in holding the Maratha land in the closing years of his reign, Berar and Khandesh became the happy hunting ground of roving Maratha bands, and these penetrated into Malwa almost as a matter of course, in concert with the rebel Bundela and Gond chieftains of the neighbourhood.

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A preponderantly Hindu province with a sturdy Rajput population, was not likely to take Aurangzib's policy of temple destruction and poll-tax on the Hindus with tame submissiveness. They often fought the agents of Islam in defence of the seats of their religion, as we have seen in vol. iii. ch. 34, (p. 283 of the 2nd ed.) Again, in January 1703, when a Muslim tax-collector visited the zamindari of Devi Singh (son of Brahma-dev Siodia) to demand the jaziya, the men of the zamindar turned him back after plucking out his beard and moustaches. [Akhbarat, 28 Jan.]

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But, on the whole, the disturbances in Malwa during the first half of this reign were all on a small scale and confined to a few localities, (see Ch. 26 § 7.) The raids of Chhatra Sal Bundela, Bakht Buland Gond and others touched only the north-eastern and south-eastern fringes of the province.

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With these few exceptions, Malwa continued to enjoy peace and uneventful administration till near the end of the 17th century. But after Rajaram's return home from Jinji began a movement which was destined in less than fifty years to completely change the political history of the province.

§ 11. First Maratha incursion into Malwa, 1699.

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In November 1699, a Maratha band crossed the Narmada and raided Malwa up to the environment of Dhamuni. It was led by Krishna Savant, of whom we have no other mention in the Persian or Marathi sources.* Bhimsen alone mentions the event, and he describes it thus: "When Aurangzib set out to conquer Satara, Krishna Savant, a Maratha general, at the head of 15,000 cavalry, crossed the Narmada and ravaged some places near Dhamuni and returned. Since the time of the early Sultans the Marathas had never crossed the Narmada till now. He plundered and returned to his home unmolested." [Dil. ii. 129a, 142a.]

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The path thus opened was never again closed, till at last in the middle of the 18th century Malwa passed into regular Maratha possession. In January 1703, as soon as the Emperor became involved in the siege of Kondana, "the Marathas crossed the Narmada again, and caused disturbances up to the environs of Ujjain. Some Afghans of that district also engaged in lawlessness. Nusrat Jang was sent to punish them. Some months later another band, after plundering the environs of Burhanpur, looted the city of Khargon, 52 miles north-west of it and a part of the subah of Malwa lying south of the Narmada. [*Dil.* ii. 144b, *Akh.* 11 Feb. 1703.]

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∗ Except that Bakht Buland, the Rajah of Deogarh, captured him in April 1699 [Akhbarat.]

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§ 12. Nimaji Sindhia's raid into Malwa, 1703.

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When the campaigning season opened in October 1703, Nima Sindhia* burst into Berar, defeated and captured Rustam Khan the deputy governor of the province (on behalf of Firuz Jang); and then raiding the Hushangabad district and crossing the Narmada he advanced into Malwa at the invitation of Chhatra Sal. After plundering many villages and towns, he laid siege to Sironj, but the chaudhuri of the place gallantly held out. The Emperor had (on 31st October) sent orders to Bidar Bakht, then in Aurangabad, to go out against these raiders. The prince was too distant from the threatened place, and could not begin his march in time. Then Firuz Jang, who had entered Berar in pursuit of another Maratha force, was given this duty. Leaving the frontier of Berar on 12th Nov. and depositing his heavy baggage and camp at Burhanpur, he hastened with light equipment on the track of the raiders, overtook them near Sironj, and immediately delivered his attack. Scattering the Maratha vanguard, he forced his way to the elephant ridden by Nima, who leaped down and fled away on horseback. Many of the Marathas and their local Rajput and Afghan allies were slain or wounded; the flags, kettledrums, elephants, camel-swivels &c. plundered from Rustam Khan were seized by the imperialists. The followers and cattle of Rustam, whom Nima was dragging along with himself, were released. The broken enemy fled eastwards into Bundelkhand, wishing to reach home by way of the Gond principality of Garha. Firuz Jang kept up the pursuit. [Akh. 11 March 1704.]

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∗ "Who did not co-operate with Dhana and other Maratha generals, being prompted by self-will" &c. [*Dil.* ii. 148b.] Manucci says (iii. 426) that the Marathas plundered Sironj most fearfully, having crossed the Narmada in two bodies, totalling 50,000 horse. And again (iii. 501), "In January 1704, the Marathas crossed the Narmada, penetrated the forests of Mandu, plundering and ravaging several provinces, as well as the town of Sironj. They went further, and going through the hill-passes of Narwar, they entered the province of Calabad (? Kalpi), close to Gwalior, a three days' journey from Agra." The two accounts seem to refer to one and the same raid. The unhappy Rustam Khan,—this being his second capture by the Marathas—was suspected by the Emperor of cowardice and collusion with the enemy, and degraded by a hazar zat (7 Jan. 1704.) But on 7 Feb. the general's Court-agent submitted to the Emperor that in the fight with Nima in Berar, Rustam had 2000 men (including his son-in-law) slain on his side, and that the spy's report charging him with cowardice was false. The Emperor ordered an enquiry, after which Rustam was reinstated. [*Akh.*] Bhimsen also charges him with shirking battles. [*Dil.* ii. 146b.]

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The general's despatch of victory, following the spy's report by three days, reached the Emperor, then sitting down before Torna, on 13th March, 1704, and he rewarded Firuz Jang by an increase of 2,000 troopers in his *mansab* and the title of commander-in-chief (*sipah-salar*),—to the intense disgust of his rival Nusrat Jang.[*] All the officers of this army were highly favoured and promoted. The brave Chaudhuri of Sironj was also rewarded.

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On 10th February 1704 Firuz Jang, following up his success, set out from Bhamgarh against Chhatra Sal, by way of Chanderi and Dhamuni, towards Garha. After marching 24 miles he halted in the jungle of Dhamuni. His vanguard under Khanjar Khan issued from the jungle and surprised Nima's army, which was off its guard, slaying many and recovering much booty. There were heavy losses on the Mughal side too. This victory removed famine from Firuz Jang's camp, where grain began again to sell at 20 seers a Rupee, against 1½ seers during the height of the raid. The victorious general reached Burhanpur on his return on 8th April.[†]

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[*] M. A. 481; *Akhbarat*, 14, 20, and 24 March 1704. It is amusing to read how Bhimsen, the literary champion of Firuz Jang's rival, tries to prove that this victory was mythical, [Dil. ii. 148b] :—"Reaching Sironj quickly, he reported to the Emperor details of his victory, without having fought any battle...When the Emperor learnt the truth, he ordered that the title and favours granted should be withheld."

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[†] *Akh.* 16 March. The date of his return is given as 14

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It was a great deliverance for the Mughals. The Maratha activities in Berar had held up the reports of news-writers, official letters and baskets of fruits sent for the Emperor by the governors of Kabul and Kashmir, for 3 or 4 months on the bank of the Narmada, as the couriers durst not proceed further south and the faujdars on the road could not supply them with sufficiently strong escorts. We read that early in March 1704, some 355 bags of letters and 55 baskets of fruits, liberated by Firuz Jang's victory, at last reached the Emperor. [Akh. 8 March.]

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Meantime, the discomfiture of Rustam Khan at the hands of Nima Sindhia had struck such terror among the imperialists that the governor of Malwa (Abu Nasar Khan, a son of Shaista Khan) lay sheltering himself in the fort of Ujjain, without venturing to take the field against the invaders. Similarly, Nawazish Khan, the faujdar of Mandu, a very important fort guarding the Deccan highway, had run away from that fort and taken refuge in Dhar. The result was that Firuz Jang in campaigning against Nima in Malwa received no support from the local officers. The Emperor issued stern reprimands* followed by orders of dismissal to the two officers.

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shahar-i-Shawwal, which I correct into shahar-i-hal (i.e., Zihijja) [Akh. 24 April 1704.]

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∗ A letter "by order" of the Emperor was sent to the subahdar of Malwa: "In spite of the going of Firuz Jang, rightly so named, in pursuit of the thieves [i.e., Marathas], why are you sitting down in your fort gazing at the show?

§ 13. Prince Bidar Bakht as governor of Malwa, 1704—1706.

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Nawazish Khan was at once dismissed from the faujdari of Mandu (Jan. 1704), and sent to Khandesh. A month later he was reinstated, but Dhar was taken away from his charge, and in August Mandu also. [Akh. 3 Feb., 28 Mar., 8 Aug. 1704.] Abu Nasar was judged too weak to hold a province like Malwa. The danger from which Malwa had just escaped, through Firuz Jang's courage and activity, brought home to Aurangzib's mind the gravity of the situation. He felt that a subahdar of the highest rank and armed strength must be posted in Central India if the Maratha peril was to be kept out of Northern

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If you wish to remain in my service, then, now that Firuz Jang, after defeating Nima near Sironj, is chasing him and the latter is fleeing towards Bundelkhand and Garha [Mandla], you should issue forth, take the militia, assemble the faujdars and the captains posted there, and attack expel slay and bind the scattered bands of the enemy roving without leaders and the rebel Afghans,—who, seeing the field empty [of imperial troops], are molesting the peasantry. Send Nawazish Khan to Burhanpur. Take Mandu as your own jagir and entrust Dhar to the [new] qiladar appointed."

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Nawazish Khan was addressed thus, "At the request of Nusrat Jang (the imperial Paymaster), you have been retained in service, but you have not been your own self. What do you mean by vacating Mandu and hiding your self in Dhar? Come to Burhanpur and serve under Bidar Bakht. I shall give you jagirs in the Deccan or an annual stipend of Rs. 20,000." [Kalimat T. f. 44a—45a.]

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India. Prince Bidar Bakht, a brave and skilful general, then acting as governor of Aurangabad and Khandesh, was appointed viceroy of Malwa in addition to Khandesh, on 3rd August, 1704. A year later his task was lightened by withdrawing Khandesh from his charge. He continued to govern Malwa till March 1706, when he received urgent orders to go to Gujrat and take charge of its defence, as that province had been exposed to Maratha attack by reason of his father's journey from it to the Emperor's side and the delay in the arrival of his successor. Khan-i-Alam was appointed subahdar of Malwa vice the prince, in April 1706. [M.A. 483, 496, 498, 512; Akhbarat, 3 Aug. 1704.]

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A large number of letters written by Aurangzib to Bidar Bakht during his nineteen months' government of Malwa have been preserved. They cover folios 27 to 116 in Inayetullah's *Ahkam* (Rampur MS.) The prince's favourite lieutenant was the young gallant Jai Singh,* the new Rajah of Jaipur, who had gained his good opinion by his conspicuous services when both of them were posted together outside the Konkani gate of Khelna in April 1702, and also later as his subordinate in Khandesh (1703-4.) When the prince was about to march from Malwa to Khandesh he proposed to leave Jai Singh there as his deputy governor; but Aurangzib vetoed the proposal, as he had made a rule that no Rajput should be appointed subahdar or even faujdar. [Inayet, 68a, 72b.]* Khan-i-Alam was appointed deputy governor and became full subahdar in 1706, when the prince was transferred to Gujrat. [M.A. 512.]

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∗ In 1704 Bidar Bakht recommended Jai Singh for the grant of kettledrums and the parganahs of Chatsu, Deosa, Muizzabad and Rewari, on condition of his keeping a strong contingent. But the Emperor demurred to it on the ground of the Rajah being too young and dependent on others.

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§ 14. Effect of disturbances on the condition of the country.

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In October 1704, Nima Sindhia was reported to be again advancing towards Malwa, and Bidar Bakht was warned to be ready for the danger. [Akh. 20 Oct.] In February 1700 Nasiri Afghan was out with 2000 followers. In this year and the next Gopal Singh Chandawat's rebellion disturbed some parts of the province. [Akhbarat.] Another rebel was Gopal Chaudhuri of Sironj. [Ch. 59 § 6.] Nawazish Khan, faujdar of Mandu from about 1700 to 1704, had to wage many small campaigns against local rebels and Maratha bands from beyond the Narmada, as we learn from his letter-book.† Abbas Afghan was reported as raiding the highways and stopping the mails. Umar (another Pathan) broke out of his prison in Sholapur and reached Kotri Paraya to take to plundering again. [*Akh.* 5 July 1699.]

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∗ Jai Singh was further ordered to hold office sitting on a cloth (suzani) spread on the ground and not on an elevated pillow (gadi.)

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† A MS. of this work was purchased by me in Lahor in 1914. No other copy of it is known to exist.

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In fact, the local disturbers of peace in Malwa in the closing years of the reign were too many to be counted. An official report states, "Marathas, Bundelas, and Afghans out of employment are creating disturbances in the province" (1704.) And, again, "It has been repeatedly reported to the Emperor that from Burhanpur to Sironj by way of Handia and up to Ujjain by the Akbarpur route, the infidels have desolated the villages and very little habitation is now left." The result is summed up in Aurangzib's own words: "The province of Khandesh has been totally desolated......Malwa too is ruined." [*Inayet*, 15a, 61a.]

Bundelkhand

§ 15. Chhatra Sal Bundela's early life : as a Mughal captain.

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When the rebel and general robber Champat Rao Bundela was hunted down by order of Aurangzib (1661), he left five sons behind him. The fourth of these, named Chhatra Sal,[*] was then a boy of eleven only, but he lived to defy the imperial Government with success for half a century, keep his own province in constant turmoil, invade Malwa, and finally to carve out an independent principality in Eastern Malwa, with its capital at Panna. His long life of 81 years ended in 1731 with the complete effacement of Mughal rule in Bundelkhand.

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∗ Chhatra Sal : (*M.U.* ii. 510—512 useless and incorrect); service with Jai Singh (*H.A.* Paris MS. 111, Ben. MS. 64a, 73a); *Chhatraprakash*, cantos 10 (Deogarh expedition), 11 (interviews with Shivaji and Sujan Singh), 12 (meeting with Ratan Shah, 13 *et seq* (war against the Mughals.) In *M.U.*

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For some years before his death, Champat had robbed the territories of other Bundela chiefs as freely as the Mughal dominion. His orphans were, therefore, left utterly friendless and found no honourable career open to them anywhere. Chhatra Sal and his elder brother Angad repeatedly entreated Mirza Rajah Jai Singh to befriend them and give them employment and the chance of distinction in the Emperor's service by taking them with him to the war against Shivaji (1665). Jai Singh moved cautiously and first employed the two brothers in his own contingent, promising to recommend them

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Chhatra Sal Bundela has been confounded with Chhatra Sal Rathor (son of Ratan Singh), a loyal servant of Aurangzib and qiladar in the Deccan, who rose to be a commander of 1500 in 1703. The mistake originated in the news-writers of the imperial Court, in their hurry, giving the latter's title as Bundela in some places (and Rathor in others), though his father's name is given as Ratan Singh Rathor. M.A. using one such wrong Akhbarat called the qiladar C.S. Bundela; M.U. and Irvine's Later Mughals repeated the error, from M.A. It is only the study of the mass of original Akhbarat that has enabled me to detect and rectify this mistake. C.S. Bundela never served under Aurangzib between 1670 and 1704.

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for enlistment in the imperial army only if they did good service. The two youths did distinguish themselves at the siege of Purandhar, and Jai Singh kept his promise by getting (3rd Aug. 1665) for Angad and Chhatra Sal the mansabs of hazari and 3-sadi respectively.

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They also followed him in his invasion of Bijapur (Dec. 1665—Feb. 1666.) Chhatra Sal was next employed in the Mughal attack on Deogarh by Dilir Khan.* Here he fought heroically and was severely wounded, but we must reject his Court-poet's hyperbole that the Mughal victory was solely due to a charge made by Chhatra Sal single-handed, while the rest of the army hung back in fear! Whatever grain of truth the story may have contained, the young Bundela prince felt that he was not being rewarded as he deserved, and that a subaltern's career in the Mughal army did not offer full scope to his soaring ambition. He dreamt of taking to a life of adventure and independence in imitation of Shivaji, which meant a defiance of the Mughal Government.

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∗ Here the Chhatraprakash (canto 10) presents several difficulties: (1) The Mughal general is called Bahadur Khan (Kokah or foster-brother of Aurangzib); but we know from official records that both in 1667 and 1669 it was Dilir Kh. who commanded the Mughal forces in Deogarh, (2) Chhatra Sal is said to have been detached to Deogarh by Jai Singh, though the latter died early in July 1667. (3) The Mughals are said to have fought a severe battle before the Deogarh Rajah was compelled to submit; but we know from the Alamgirnamah that the expedition of 1667 resulted in no fighting, as the Deogarh Rajah submitted in fear. In 1669 there was some fighting, but that was long after Jai Singh's death.

§ 16. Chhatra Sal aims at independence.

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Young Chhatra Sal with his wife left the Mughal army under the pretext of hunting, and made a perilous journey to the Court of Shivaji, under whom he begged employment. But the Maratha king advised him to return to his own country and use his local influence to promote risings against Aurangzib, so as to distract the Mughal forces. Meeting with disappointment at the Maratha Court, Chhatra Sal next paid a visit to Subh-karn Bundela, a loyal officer and favourite of the Emperor, then serving in the Deccan at the head of a large contingent of his clansmen. This general held Chhatra Sal's plan of a national rising against the Mughals to be a wild and futile dream; his own loyalty could not be shaken, he was contented with Mughal service, and merely offered to beg the Emperor for a high command for Chhatra Sal. The latter refused it and returned home.

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It seemed to all that Chhatra Sal, without troops treasure stronghold or even country, could not attack the mighty Mughal empire with success. But just at this time Aurangzib's blind fanaticism played into the hands of the young Bundela patriot. The policy of temple destruction on which Aurangzib launched in 1670, created an opening which Chhatra Sal at once improved. The Hindu population of Bundelkhand and the adjoining province of Malwa took up arms in defence of the altars of their gods. An attempt of Fidai Khan, the governor of Gwalior (1670) to demolish the famous temple of Urchha led to his defeat and repulse by the Bundelas under Dharmangad. The feelings of the entire clan were outraged by this wanton attack on their religion, and even those Bundela chiefs who had been so long loyally serving the ungrateful Mughal Government, now gave their secret sympathies to their rebel brethren, and could not be ordered out against them.

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The people in Bundelkhand sighed for a bold leader who would repeat Champat's spirited defiance of the Mughal Emperor and protect their religion. Chhatra Sal was, therefore, hailed as the champion of the Hindu faith and Kshatriya honour. Even Sujan Singh, the loyal Bundela Rajah of Urchha, sent him a secret message of praise and good wishes.

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