Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c13.s1.1

v1.c13.s1.1

Ahmad Shah, the only son of Muhammad Shah, did no doubt come to the throne of Delhi at the age of 22 (solar) years; but his education had been totally neglected. His suspicious and miserly father had kept him confined in one corner of the Delhi palace and stinted him shamefully. Young Ahmad did not receive any training in war or government; he had never been placed in charge of a contingent of his own as royal heirs before him used to be; he had not even been given a sufficient allowance to live in ordinary comfort nor permitted to enjoy the usual games and amusements of princes, such as polo, animal combats and hunting. The result was that his natural dulness of intellect was not cured by education, and he grew to manhood as a good-natured imbecile, without a personality of his own and entirely dominated by others. Not only had he been denied any schooling in his early life, but he had received the worst possible training for a ruler of men. "From his infancy to the age of 21 (the time of his accession), he had been brought up among the women of the harem, in neglect and poverty and often subjected to his father's browbeating." Totally ignorant of administration and war alike, when he succeeded to the throne unbridled power had its natural effect on such a raw youth. He was immediately surrounded by base instruments of pleasure, who placed every temptation before him, to which he only too readily yielded, neglecting his duty to his realm and to society. Thus responsibility could not call forth any capacity latent in him, but only revealed to the public his defects of character in the ugliest light. He practically resigned his royal function to Jāvid Khan, and openly referred all questions and suitors to that eunuch for decision, while he himself plunged into sensual pleasure without check or distraction. Jāvid Khan, on his part, encouraged the unhappy youth to drink wine and filled his harem with women. With these debased women came equally debased men whose only business was to humour his passions and fancies. "Gradually the Emperor's mind inclined to the society of vulgar persons (only), and he practised evil deeds which made him a shame to the country."