Skip to main content

Full text of "Storia do Mogor; or, Mogul India 1653-1708;"

See other formats 


PC™** 


THE    INDIAN    TEXTS   SERIES-I 

EDITED  UNDER  THE  SUPERVISION  OF  THE 

ROYAL    ASIATIC    SOCIETY 


VOL.  II. 


AlJRANGZEB    RECEIVING    DaRA    SHUKOH'S    HEAD    ON    A    CHARGER, 


Vol.  II. 


Frontispiece. 


*%** 


INDIAN  TEXTS  SERIES 


STORIA  DO  MOGOR 

OR  MOGUL  INDIA 
1653 — 1708 

BY    NICCOLAO    MANUCCI 


VENETIAN 


TRANSLATED 
WITH  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES 

BY  WILLIAM   IRVINE 

BENGAL  CIVIL  SERVICE  (RETIRED) 
'MEMBER   OF  THE   ROYAL   ASIATIC   SOCIETY 


VOL.  II 


LONDON 
JOHN    MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE   STREET 

PUBLISHED  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA 
I907 


CONTENTS  TO  VOL.  II. 


PART  II. 

PAGE 

Aurangzeb  ........  i-324 

His  first  measures,  I  ;  action  against  wine-drinking,  5 ;  action 
against  bhang,  7 ;  sumptuary  law  about  beards,  7 ;  the  burial  of 
Music,  8;  dancing-women  forced  to  marry,  9;  about  elephant- 
drivers,  9 ;  of  holy  mendicants,  1 1 ;  vengeance  on  holy  men  of 
Barah, 14;  the  feigned  faqlr  who  buried  a  horse,  15  ;  mansabdars, 
16;  M.  Zaman,  Persian  refugee,  17;  houses  and  gardens,  18; 
spies,  18      .......  1-18 

Dispute  between  Aurangzeb  and  his  father,  19;  rajahs  summoned 
to  Court,  21;  Rajah  Karan,  Bhurtiyah,  22;  Najabat  Khan's  dis- 
grace, 23  ;  Shaistah  Khan  sent  against  Shiva  Ji,  25  ;  descent  and 
history  of  Shiva  Ji,  26 ;  Aurangzeb's  tutor  reproved,  29 ;  Amir 
Khan  sent  to  Kabul,  33;  Roshan-ara  asks  for  Begam  Sahib's 
palace,  14 ;  her  lovers,  35 ;  ambassadors  from  Balkh,  36 ;  Aurangzeb 
wants  a  navy,  45 ;  ambassador  from  Persia,  47  .  .  T9"54 

Illness  of  Aurangzeb,  54 ;  his  children,  57 ;  he  remits  revenue,  60 ; 
the  Dutch  ambassador,  62;  attempt  to  make  Shahjahan  die  of 
disgust,  64;  poison  ordered  for  Shahjahan,  65 ;  Aurangzeb  departs 
for  Kashmir,  66 ;  description  of  the  order  of  march,  67 ;  N.  M. 
returns  to  Dihli,  75 ;  goes  to  Agrah,  76 ;  I'tibar  Khan,  eunuch, 
77;  digression  on  eunuchs,  80;  H.  Roth,  Jesuit,  81;  N.  M.  at 
Allahabad,  81 ;  the  Ganges,  S2  ;  Benares,  83;  Patnah, 84;  bj' boat 
to  Rajmahal,  86 ;  to  Dhakah,  86  ;  Thomas  Pratt,  87  ;  the  Sundar- 
bans,  87;  story  of  Manoel  Coelho,  'tiger-slayer,'  87;  the  iankhinl 
fairies,  87    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  54-87 

N.  M.  arrives  at  Hugli,  89;  his  stay  there  and  what  happened,  90; 
crocodile  stories,  93 ;  missionary  irregularities,  94 ;  N.  M.  returns 
to  Agrah  by  land,  95 ;  Qasimb§.z§,r,  96 ;  Rajmahal,  96 ;  Hindu 
woman  drags  her  lover  on  to  pyre,  96;  Patnah,  96;  Allahabad, 
96;  Agrah,  96;  Jacob,  a  Dutch  surgeon,  96;  N.  M.  takes  up 
medicine,  97 ;  rescues  a  widow  from  sail,  97 ;  prohibition  of 
widow-burning,  97  .  .  .  .  .  .  89-97 

Mir  Jumlah  and  the  war  in  Assam,  98 ;  death  of  Mir  Jumlah,  101  ; 
flight  of  T.  Pratt,  and  his  death,  102 ;  Shiva  Ji  wounds  Shaistah 

v 


vi  CONTENTS 

Aurangzeb  (continued) :  PAGE 

Khan.  104;  Udepuri  Mahal  drunk,  107;  story  of  an  indiscreet 
huntsman,  108;  Aurangzeb  returns  from  Kashmir,  108;  death  of 
Khalilullah  Khan,  109;  Ethiopian  ambassador,  109;  envoy  from 
the  Sharif  of  Mekkah,  114;  envoy  from  Basrah,  115;  Shahjahan 
and  Aurangzeb,  1 16  ......  98-116 

Chatganw  taken,  117;  Portuguese  there,  118;  widening  of  gates  at 
Dihll,  119;  wall  built  at  L,ahor,  119;  walls  at  Aurangabad  and 
Burhanpur,  119;  Shiva  Ji  plundering,  1 19 ;  meteorolite  at  Ujjain, 
119;  great  mosque  at  Lahor,  120  ....        1 17-120 

Rajah  Jai  Singh  posted  to  the  Dakhin,  120 ;  N.  M.  appointed  to 
command  Jai  Singh's  artillery,  121;  march  to  Dakhin,  122; 
Bahadur  Khan,  122;  death  of  Shahjahan,  125  ;  story  of  elephant 
which  died  of  grief,  127;  ambassador  sent  to  Persia,  128;  his 
misadventures,  130  ......        120-130 

Returns  to  Jai  Singh's  campaign  in  the  Dakhin,  131 ;  N.  M. 
deputed  to  Ramnagar,  Pent,  and  Chotia,  132 ;  a  horse  bewitched, 
133;  bewitched  radishes,  134;  Indian  witchcraft,  134;  ven- 
triloquism, 134 ;  amorous  spells,  134 ;  country  of  western  ghats, 

135 I3I-I35 

Shiva  J I  surrenders  to  Jai  Singh,  135;  goes  to  Dihli,  but  takes  to 
flight,  137;  Jai  Singh  moves  against  Bijapur,  140;  Sharzah  Khan, 
141 ;  Jai  Singh  retreats,  142 ;  Padre  Damiao  Viera,  143 ;  attack  on 
Portuguese  at  Chaul,  143  ;  N.  M.  resigns  Jai  Singh's  service,  144; 
proceeds  to  Kambe,  thence  to  Bassein,  144;  N.  M.  nearly  murdered, 
144;  passes  on  to  Goa,  145  ;  speaks  ill  of  the  Goanese,  145  135-145 

Shah  'Abbas  defies  Aurangzeb,  146 ;  Tarbiyat  Khan,  envoy,  returns 
from  Persia,  146 ;  birth  of  Kam  Bakhsh,  146 ;  death  of  'Abd-ul- 
Qawi,  147 ;  death  of  Shah  'Abbas,  Safawi,  149 ;  Begam  Sahib 
makes  Mullas'  wives  drunk,  149 ;  French  envoys,  De  la  Boullaye 
le  Gouz  and  B£ber,  150;  death  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  152;  persecu- 
tions, 154;  death  of  Father  Buse"e,  S.J.,  154;  Ja'far  Khan,  wazir, 
156;  Shah  'Alatn  sent  against  Shiva  Ji,  158;  execution  of  a 
renegade  friar,  159;  Shah  'Alam  negotiates  with  Shiva  Ji,  161; 
pretends  to  rebel,  162;  deception  discovered,  165;  Mundiyahs 
attack  Dihli,  167  .  .  .  .  .  .  .        146-167 

Goa,  diseases  at,  169;  fruit  of,  169;  N.  M.  leaves  Goa  in  disguise, 
171 ;  crosses  Bhimra,  172;  attack  by  robbers  in  Pandharpur,  172; 
arrives  at  Parenda,  173;  stays  at  Aurangabad,  173;  journey 
through  Burhanpur  and  Agrah  to  Dihli,  174;  tobacco  tax 
remitted,  175  .......        169-175 

N.  M.  moves  to  L,ahor,  176;  turns  doctor — his  first  case,  176; 
origin  of  Lahor  and  description  thereof,  179;  Husain  Pasha 
(Islam  Khan)  from  Basrah,  187 ;  marriages  of  princesses — Bernier 
criticised,  187;  the  chief  qazl  tricked  by  his  daughter,  188;  death 
of  Roshan  Ara  Begam  (1671),  189;  the  king  of  Kashghar  arrives, 
190;  a  Pathan  rising — fictitious  Shah  Shuja',  193 ;  death  of  Sultan 
Muhammad,  194    .......         176-194 


CONTENTS  vii 

Aurangzeb  (continued) : 

N.  M.  accused  by  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  of  theft,  196 ;  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan  defeated  by  the  Pathans,  199;  Mahabat  Khan  sent 
back  to  Kabul,  202 ;  peace  made  with  Shiva  JI,  203 ;  Shiva  JI 
moves  into  the  Karnatik,  203 ;  Aurangzeb  takes  the  field  against 
the  Pathans,  204;  Mahabat  Khan  falls  ill  and  dies,  204;  N.  M. 
treats  the  daughter  of  Murad  Bakhsh,  207;  N.  M.  in  trouble  for 
using  human  fat,  209;  other  Europeans  persecute  N.  M.,  212; 
N.  M.  attempts  to  elope  with  a  Pathan  widow  from  Qasur,  214; 
story  of  Daulat,  eunuch,  215;  N.  M.  expels  devils,  217         .        196-217 
Misconduct  of  'Izzat  Khan,   Governor  of  Sind,   218;   Aurangzeb 
returns  to  Dihll,  221 ;  slaughter  of  fifty-two  Pathan  chiefs,  222; 
the  treaty  with  Shiva  JI  broken,  222 ;   Multafat  Khan    attacks 
Agrah  villagers,  223 ;   houses  of  Agrah  priests  searched,   225 ; 
wine  of  Kabul,  225  ......        218-225 

N.  M.  quits  Lahor,  goes  to  Bandora  via  Dihli,  Agrah,  Surat,  and 
Daman,   227 ;    N.   M.   loses  his   money  and  returns  to  Mogul 
territory,  228;  Agrah  priests  falsely  accused,  229;  N.  M.  enters 
Shah  'Alam's  service,  229;  march  of  army  to  Aurangabad,  230; 
death  of  Shiva.  Ji,  231 ;   death   of  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh,   233; 
attack  on  Tibet,  235  ;  war  against  the  Rana,  236 ;  recall  of  Shah 
'Alam  from  the  Dakhin,  239;  Udepur,  239;  Ajmer — rebellion  of 
Prince  Akbar,  243 ;  Shah  'Alam  summoned  to  Ajmer,  244;  comet, 
December  24,  1680,  246;  Akbar's  attack  fails,  247;  Shah  'Alam's 
pursuit,  249;  peace  made  with  the  Rana.,  251;   story  of  Mirza 
Kuchak,  a  Persian  refugee,  253  .....        227-253 

Aurangzeb  goes  to  the  Dakhin  (1681),  255;  still  there  (1700),  255; 
death  of  Begam  Sahib  (1681),  255;  events  in  the  Dakhin,  256; 
death  of  Diler  Khan  (1683),   257;    removal   of  Surat  Governor 

(1684),  259 255-259 

N.  M.  leaves  Shah  'Alam,  260;  reaches  Goa  via  Surat  and  Daman, 
261 ;  Sambha  Ji's  and  Akbar's  project  against  Goa,  261 ;  N.  M. 
employed  by  Governor  as  translator  and  negotiator,  262 ;  Sambha 
JI  defeats  Portuguese  at  Ponda  (1683),  263;  Portuguese  send 
envoy  to  Sambha  Ji,  and  his  return  embassy  to  Goa,  265 ;  N.  M. 
takes  part,  266;  N.  M.'s  visit  to  Mogul  fleet  off  Vingorla,  269; 
Santo  Estevao  Island  taken  by  Sambha  Ji  (November,  1683),  269; 
N.  M.'s  second  visit  to  Sambha  Ji,  271 ;  Shah  'Alam  arrives  near 
Goa,  272 ;  he  sends  envoy  to  Goa,  273 ;  N.  M.  sent  to  Shah  'Alam, 
275;  flight  of  Akbar  to  Persia,  279;  peace  with  the  Portuguese, 
280;  N.  M.  made  a  Knight  of  St.  Iago  (January,  1684),  281 .  260-281 
N.  M.  forced  to  rejoin  Shah  'Alam,  283;  destruction  of  White 
Pagoda,  285 ;  return  march  to  Bardes,  286 ;  disastrous  march  via 
Ramghat  to  Ahmadnagar,  287;  move  to  Sholapur,  288;  Shah 
'Alam  sent  against  Gulkandah,  289  ....  283-289 
N.  M.  takes  flight  to  Gulkandah,  289 ;  Shah  'Alam  occupies  Gul- 
kandah (1685),  290 ;  peace  made,  294 ;  N.  M.'s  flight  to  Masuli- 
patam  and  Narsapur,  294 ;  is  brought  back,  295 ;  escapes  once 


viii  CONTENTS 

Aurangzeb  (continued) : 

more  and  reaches  Madras,  296;  N.  M.'s  marriage  (October,  1686), 
298;  infant  son  dies,  298;  treats  many  patients,  298  .  .        289-298 

Capture  of  Bijapur — king  deposed  (1686),  299;  story  of  BIjapur 
queen  mother  and  her  marriage  to  a  cock,  300;  operation  for 
artificial  noses,  301 ;  Aurangzeb  renews  attack  on  Gulkandah 
king,  301 ;  Shah  'Alam  and  his  family  imprisoned  (March,  1687), 
303 ;  Gulkandah  taken  and  king  deposed  (October,  1687),  305  ; 
capture  of  Sambha  Ji  (December,  1688)  and  execution  (Marcb, 
1689),  310;  Ghazi-ud-din  Khan  blinded,  315;  arrest  of  Kam  Bakhsh, 
316;  Shah  'Alam  released  (May,  1694),  317 ;  Sobha  Singh,  a  Bengal 
rebel,  318;  the  Jats  burn  Akbar  Badshah's  bones,  319;  death  of 
Shaistah  Khan  (1694),  321 ;  Prince  Akbar  advances  on  India,  but 
retreats,  322 ;  concluding  remarks,  324  .  .  .  1-324 


PART  III. 

Introductory  remarks    ........     329 

The  royal  household,  the  palace,  the  mahal  or  seraglio,  330 ;  waqi'ah- 
navis,   khufiyah-navis,  331;    king's  expenditure,  332;    names  of 
queens  and  princesses,  333;  of  concubines,  334;  of  the  matrons, 
334;  of  superintendents  of  dancers,  335;  of  women  slaves,  336; 
expenditure,  338;  life  in  the  harem,  339;  wearing  of  jewels,  339; 
henna,  340 ;  harem  attire,  341 ;  the  hospital,  342 ;  Aurangzeb's 
simple  habits,  342 ;  precious  stones,  342 ;  birth  ceremonies,  343 ; 
allowances  to  princes,  343 ;  birth  of  a  prince,  343 ;  presents,  how 
looked  on,  344 ;  M.  Raisin,  French  merchant,  344 ;  bribes,  34,5 ; 
festivals,  345;  the  salgirah,  346;  modes  of  addressing  the  king, 
346;  education  of  princes,  346;  Nauroz  festival,  348;   the   'Id 
and  the  Khutbah  (bidding  prayer),  349;  names  of  eunuchs,  350; 
physicians,  352;    presents,  353;    bloodletting,    355;    names    of 
physicians,  356;  chief  male  slaves,  357;  names  of  swords  and 
daggers,  358 ;  names  of  shields,  359 ;  names  of  principal  horses, 
360;   the  chief  elephants,  361;  elephant  fights,  364;   names  of 
cannon,  365    ........    33°-365 

Titles  of  nobles,  366;   mamabs  and  pay,  369;   rate  of  pay  for  com- 
manders of  twenty  up  to  six  thousand  horse,  369;   pay  and 
allowances,  374;    branding  of  horses,  375;    rozlnahdars  (daily 
allowance  holders),  377  ;  recruiting  and  inspection,  377  ;  payment 
of  soldiers,  379 ;  disputes  about  pay,  case  in  1699  at  Jinji,  379     366-379 
Disobedience  of  orders,  380;  local  hindrance  to  Sir  W.  Norris,  381; 
bad  administration,   382 ;    faith  not  kept,   382 ;    digression  on 
Dutch  embassy  of  1688,  383  380-383 

Note  on  the  Dutch  embassy  of  1688        .....  384 

Bribery,  388;  seal  of  emperor  and  panjah  (hand  imprint),  389;  pensions, 
389;  payment  of  queens'  and  princesses'  establishments,  390; 
imported  horses,  390 ;    Aurangzeb's    subtle  policy,  391 ;    Shah 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

'Alam's  habits  and  character,  392 ;  A'zam  Shah's  character  and 
conduct,  394;  disputes  between  princes,  394;  quarrel  between 
Shah  'Alam  and  his  son,  396  .....    388"396 

Slave  girl's  strange  illness,  397 ;  Shah  'Alam  tries  to  make  N.  M.  marry, 
398;  attempt  to  convert  N.  M.,  401 ;  Mogul  princes'  manner  in 
public  and  in  private,  401 ;  Rajah  Bhao  Singh,  Hada,  402 ;  Shah 
'Alam  and  N.  M.,  402 ;  envious  rival  physicians,  404 ;  some  cases 
treated  by  N.  M.,  404;  Christian  physicians  given  the  hopeless 
cases,  405 ;  more  cases  described,  406       ....    397-406 

Diler  Khan's  death,  409;  practice  of  abortion,  410;  Prince  Mu'izz-ud- 
din  and  his  wife,  411 ;  N.  M.  treats  a  concubine  of  Shah  'Alam, 
411;  Shah  'Alam's  affable  character,  412;  slaves,  position  of, 
412;  N.  M.  employs  the  actual  cautery,  412       .  .  .     409-412 

List  of  the  twenty- four  provinces  with  their  land  revenue     .  .  413 

Table  showing  land  revenue  in  1707        .....  4l& 

Jizyah  or  poll-tax,  415  ;  inland  customs,  415 ;  pilgrim-tax,  417 ;  diamond 
mines,  417 ;  sea  customs,  417 ;  escheats,  417 ;  deductions  from 
pay,  417;  miscellaneous  revenue,  418       ....    415-418 

Exports:  cotton  and  cotton  cloth,  418;  indigo,  418;  opium,  418;  silk, 
418;  import  of  gold  and  silver,  418;  export  of  diamonds  and 
saltpetre,  418  .......  4'8 

The  wazir,  419;  the  diwans,  419;  Lord  Chamberlain,  419;  Mir  Bakhsht, 
419;  second  ditto,  419;  qazi,  419;  mufti,  419;  story  about  QazI 
'Abd-ul-wahhab,  419 ;  the  kotwal,  420  ;  halal-khor  (house  scaven- 
gers), 421 ;  Daroghah  of  the  Ganj  (grain  market),  421 ;  the  news- 
reporters,  421  .......    419-421 

The  provinces  and  their  products,  42 1  ;  Dihli,  421 ;  standing  army,  422 ; 
audience-halls,  423 ;  mace-bearers,  423 ;  Agrah  ( Akbarabad),  424 ; 
Lahor,  424;  Ajmer  (Sambhar  Lake),  425;  Gujarat  (Ahmadabad), 
425;  Malwah,  425;  Patnah  (Bihar),  426;  Multan,  426;  Kabul,  426; 
Tattah,  427;  Bhakkar,  427;  Urissah,  427;  Ilahabas  (Allahabad), 
428;  Aurangabad,  428;  Barar,  429;  Burhanpur  (Khandesh),  429; 
Bagianah,  429 ;  Nander,  429;  Dhakah,  429;  Ujjain,  430;  Rajmahal, 
430;  Bijapur,  430;  Gulkandah,  430  ....    421-430 

Coinage,  431;  tetfar  stones,  431;  latitudes  and  longitudes,  431;  royal 
agents  for  purchase  of  goods  in  provinces,  431 ;  governors'  and 
zamindars'  quarrels,  432      ......    431-432 

Territories  of  Hindu  rajahs,  432;  the  Rana,  432;  Rathor  Rajah,  432; 
story  of  Shahjahan  and  Chattarsal,  Hada,  432 ;  Sisodiah  Rana, 
433 ;  Rathors,  433 ;  Kachhwahahs,  434 ;  Bhurtiyahs,  434 ;  Hadas, 
434;  Bundelahs,  434;  Rawatelas,  435;  other  rajahs,  435;  names 
of  Rajput  tribes,  435;  story  of  a  converted  rajah,  436;  names  of 
Rajputs,  437;  their  bards,  a  battle  charge,  437;  Rajah  Sarup 
Singh,  438;  the  Barfl  Rajah  or  Ice  King,  438;  Bhutan,  439   .    432-439 

Summing  up :  Mogul  strength  hollow,  440 ;  routes  and  distances,  441 ; 
rajahs  south  of  Allahabad,  442 ;  their  tribute,  442 ;  Aurangzeb's 
chained  lion,  443 ;  court  etiquette,  anecdote  of  ja'far  Khan,  443 ; 
zamindars,  444;  the  two  Karnatiks,  444;  Velur  and  other  for- 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

tresses,  445 ;  collusion  of  Mogul  commanders,  445 ;  anecdote  of 
Mahabat  Khan  (Ibrahim),  445;  fortresses,  445;  anecdote,  Fort  of 
the  Slaves,  447 ;  slaves  and  servants,  character  of,  447 ;  anecdote 
of  Asaf  Khan,  448;  insolence  of  servants,  448;  hardships  of  cam- 
paigning, 448 ;  the  ser  weight,  449 ;  high  prices  and  plague,  449    440-449 

The  kayath  caste,  449 ;  the  kayath  and  the  soldier,  449 ;  faujdars,  450 ; 
the  peasants  are  bad  payers,  450 ;  force  used,  450 ;  sales  of  children 
and  cattle,  451 ;  faujdars  must  compensate  travellers  for  losses, 
451 ;  Indians  like  oppression,  451 ;  a  tirade  on  the  Indian 
character,  452;  nature  of  conversions  to  Christianity,  452       .    449-452 

Mahomedan  tribes :  Pathans,  453 ;  Sayyids,  454 ;  Shekhzadahs,  454 ; 
Biloch,  455 ;  Ghakkars,  455 ;  J  at,  455 ;  clever  disguise  of  a  spy, 
456;  Bhatis,  457;  L,akhi  jungle,  457;  Mewatis,  458;  MInas  and 
Baurias,  458 ;  thieves — Bidaris,  459 ;    Bundelah,  459 ;    Purbiyah, 

459 ■       •  •  •  •    453-459 

Chess-playing — anecdote.of  Jahangir's  envoy  to  Persia,  460;  ambassador 
from  Grand  Seignor  (1689),  461 ;   Mogul  mode  of  government, 
461 ;  case  of  Arab  merchants,  462 ;  ghusal-hhanah  (privy  council 
hall),  462 ;  Shah-burj  (royal  bastion),  462 ;  palace  gardens,  463 ; 
other  gardens,  463;   story  of  twelve  men  and  eleven  women 
(L,ahor),  463    ........    460-463 

Deceits  and  false  oaths  of  Mogul  kings,  464 ;  honours  and  gifts,  464 ; 
barani  gifts,  464;  traditionary  secrets,  464;  attendance  at  audi- 
ence, 465 ;  rivalry  between  princes,  466 ;  unruly  act  of  Prince 
Kam  Bakhsh,  465 ;  pigeon-flying,  467 ;  A'zam  Shah's  behaviour 
during  father's  illness,  467;  human  sacrifices,  468;  anecdote  of 
Ibrahim  (son  of)  Adham,  469;  and  of  King  Bikramajit,  470     .    464-470 


ILLUSTRATIONS   TO   VOL.   II. 


Aurangzeb  receiving  the  head  of  Dara  Shukoh    .  Frontispiece 

Blochet,  '  Inventaire  '  No.  14. 

NO.  FACING    PAGB 

XIII.  Sultan  Muhammad,  eldest  son  of  Aurangzeb        .  .  -36 

Blochet,  No.  17. 

XIV.  Shah 'Alam,  second  son  of  Aurangzeb       .  .  .  72 

Blochet,  No.  18. 

XV.  Sultan  A'zam  Shah,  third  son  of  Aurangzeb         .  .  .     108 

Blochet,  No.  19. 

XVI.  Sultan  Akbar,  fourth  son  of  Aurangzeb     ....     144 
Blochet,  No.  20. 

XVII.  Sultan  Kam  Bakhsh,  fifth  son  of  Aurangzeb  .  .  .     180 

Blochet,  No.  21. 

XVIII.  Sultan  Sulaiman  Shukoh,  son  of  Dara  Shukoh    .  .  .     216 

Blochet,  No.  22. 

XIX.  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din,  eldest  son  of  Shah  'Alam  .  .  .     252 

Blochet,  No.  23. 

XX.  Sultan  'Azim-ud-din,  second  son  of  Shah  'Alam  .  .  .     288 

Blochet,  No.  24. 

XXI.  Sultan  Sikandar,  son  of  Shah  Shuja'  ....     324 

Blochet,  No.  25. 

XXII.  Shaistah  Khan,  maternal  uncle  of  Aurangzeb        .  .  .     360 

Blochet,  No.  26. 

XXIII.  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh,  Rathor,  of  Jodhpur  .  .  .     396 

Blochet,  No.  27. 

XXIV.  Rajah  Jai  Singh  (Mirza  Rajah),  Kachhwahah,  of  Amber  .     432 

Blochet,  No.  28. 

XXV.  Mirjumlah 468 

Blochet,  No.  29. 


SECOND    PART 


OF   THE 


HISTORY    OF    THE    MOGULS 


BY 

NICCOLAO    MANUCCI,  Venetian 


ON  THE   REIGN   OF  AURANGZEB,   WARS   OF 

GULKANDAH   AND   BljAPUR,  WITH   VARIOUS   EVENTS 

UP   TO  THE   YEAR   1700 


VOL.  II. 


OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF 

HINDUSTAN,  AND  ELEVENTH  OF  THE  RACE  OF 

TAIMUR-I-LANG 

Those  are  kings  whom  God  appoints,  but  as  they  know  not 
His  secret  purposes,  men  decline  to  acknowledge  those  who 
unjustly  seize  some  kingdom.  All  the  same,  the  saying  in  the 
Proverbs  of  Solomon,  chapter  viii.,  is  incontrovertible :  Per 
me  reges  regnant  (v.  15,  '  By  me  kings  reign  and  princes  decree 
justice').  God  alone  raises  men  to  the  throne  to  be  either  a 
scourge  or  a  solace  to  their  subjects.  Thus,  although  the  holy 
men  of  Mecca  declined  to  accept  the  gifts  sent  by  Aurangzeb, 
because  Shahjahan,  his  father,  was  still  alive,  I  shall  not, 
in  this  my  book,  delay  speaking  of  him  as  king  until  the  death 
of  Shahjahan,  but  from  the  commencement  I  feel  obliged  to 
concede  his  being  such,  for  as  an  undisputed  monarch  he  ruled 
over  Hindustan  ;  and  this  course  is  demanded  by  this  history 
to  facilitate  the  reader's  understanding  thereof. 

Finding  himself  now  arrived  at  the  goal  of  all  his  hopes,  his 
father  in  prison,  his  brothers  dead,  Aurangzeb  ordained  a  nine 
days'  festival,1  during  which  he  received  congratulations  and 
valuable  gifts  from  the  great  men  of  the  kingdom.  He  continued 
his  accustomed  sacrifice  of  pimento,  which  he  began  when  prince 
in  the  Dakhin.  This  was  conducted  in  the  following  way: 
Having  taken  a  handful  of  pimento  and  said  a  prayer,  he 
threw  it  on  some  live  charcoal,  where  it  was  allowed  to  smoke 
for  some  moments.  Then  the  coals  and  the  said  smoking 
pimento  were  sent  out  to  be  thrown  on  some  mound  or  other, 

1  This  was  the  jashan,  or  accession  festival,  which  recurred  annually.  The 
first  one  began  on  the  24th  Ramazan,  1069  H.  (June  15,  1659),  though  the  reign 
was  counted  from  the  1st  Ramazan,  1068  H.  (June  2,  1658). 

3  1—2 


4      OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

where  the  whole  was  consumed.     Thus  he  has  been  accustomed 
to  act  every  Friday  up  to  the  present  time.1 

He  knew  that  the  people  murmured  at  his  usurpation,  and 
therefore  after  the  days  of  festival  he  set  to  work  to  restore 
order  in  the  realm,  by  way  of  showing  that  his  object  was  not 
merely  to  reign,  but  to  work  for  the  good  of  Hindustan,  which 
(as  he  said)  was  near  to  destruction  by  reason  of  the  careless- 
ness of  Shahjahan  and  the  bad  judgment  of  Dara.  Therefore 
he  began  by  rewarding  the  nobles  who  had  aided  him  in  his 
undertaking.  He  confirmed  to  Rajah  Jai  Singh  the  present 
made  to  him  of  the  province  of  Sambar  (Sambhar2) ;  the  pay  of 
others  was  increased  ;  each  noble  received  a  set  of  robes,  to  the 
greatest  being  given  a  scimitar  covered  with  precious  stones  [2], 
having  a  rich  and  handsome  hilt,  an  elephant  and  a  horse. 
He  well  knew  that  liberality  and  generosity  are  necessary  to  a 
prince  ;  but  if  not  accompanied  by  justice  and  sufficient  vigour 
they  are  useless ;  rather  do  they  serve  to  the  perverse  as  occasion 
for  greater  insolence,  as  in  the  verse  : 

Oderunt  pecan  boni  virtutis  amore  ; 
Oderunt  pecare  tnali  formidine  poena? 

Thus,  after  the  festival,  he  sent  an  order  to  decapitate 
500  thieves,  thereby  terrorizing  the  perverse.  These  execu- 
tions were  to  take  place  in  front  of  the  mosque  called  Cadam 
Racul4  (Qadam-i-rasul) — that  is  to  say, '  Footsteps  of  the  Sent,' 
because  it  has  a  stone   on  which  two  footmarks  are  cut,  for 

1  As  Mr.  A.  G.  Ellis  points  out,  the  prayer  sanctified  this  pagan  rite.  Mr.  W. 
Crooke  has  kindly  given  me  the  following  references  to  the  use  of  incense  against 
the  influence  of  demons:  'Popular  Religion  of  Northern  India,'  second  edition, 
ii.  21  ;  Burton,  'Arabian  Nights  '  (edition  Smithers),  i.  185,  x.  407;  Burckhardt, 
'Nubia,'  293  ;  Tylor,  'Primitive  Culture,'  i.  482;  Bleek,  'Avesta,'  i.  69;  Maurice, 
'  Indian  Antiquities,'  vii.  637  ;  Drew,  '  Jummoo  and  Kashmir,'  431.  See  a  curious 
instance  of  consecrating  mares  and  camels  by  incense,  Yule,  'Marco  Polo,'  first 
edition,  i.  272.  For  the  use  of  turmeric  in  India,  see  Watt,  '  Economic  Products,' 
ii.  669.  Sipand,  or  wild  rue,  is  used  by  Mahomedans  (see  Herklot's  'Qanoone 
Islam,'  Glossary,  lxxxiv.). 

2  See  ante,  Part  I.,  folio  221. 

3  '  The  good  hate  to  sin  for  love  of  virtue ; 

The  wicked  hate  to  sin  for  fear  of  punishment.' 
4  This  shrine  lies  about  one  and  a  half  miles  to  the  south-west  of  the  Lahor 
Gate  of  Dihli  (Carr-Stephen,  'Archaeology,'  147).     It  was  founded  in  a.d.  1374. 


WINE  IS  PROHIBITED  5 

which  the  Mahomedans  have  great  veneration.  Not  content 
with  putting  in  order  affairs  in  the  city  of  Dihli,  where  his 
court  was,  in  his  desire  to  be  called  just  and  thus  cover  his 
usurpation,  he  also  sent  off  new  governors  and  viceroys  to  the 
provinces  and  kingdoms  to  displace  the  old  ones.  Although  he 
did  not  fail  to  give  the  new  governors  good  instructions,  he 
added  unfailingly  some  others  that  served  his  own  dissimula- 
tions and  intrigues.  Among  these  was  an  order  that  they  might 
take  false  oaths,  and  by  thus  swearing  gain  over  men  and  raise 
rebellions  in  neighbouring  kingdoms.  When  the  attempt 
succeeded,  it  would  suffice  for  them  to  feed  ten  mendicants, 
by  which  they  would  be  freed  from  their  sin  and  absolved 
from  their  promises,  in  spite  of  having  backed  them  by  a 
thousand  oaths  on  the  Quran. 

AURANGZEB  TAKES    MEASURES    AGAINST   WlNE. 

Among  the  other  disorders,  Aurangzeb  observed  that  in 
Hindustan,  chiefly  in  Dihli,  there  was  great  licence  among 
Mahomedans  and  Hindus  in  the  consumption  of  wine,  although 
most  repugnant  to  this  king,  who  declared  himself  a  strict 
follower  of  the  Quran.  This  licence  began  in  the  time  of 
JahangTr,  although  Akbar  was  the  first  to  give  leave  to  the 
Christians  to  prepare  and  drink  wine ;  but  in  his  time  the 
Mahomedans  did  not  drink.  The  evil  example  of  JahangTr 
established  this  custom  among  the  Mahomedans.  In  the 
days  of  Shahjahan  they  drank  with  full  liberty,  just  as  if  drink- 
ing water,  encouraged  by  Dara's  example.  Nor  did  Shah- 
jahan, although  not  a  drinker  himself,  care  to  remedy  this  dis- 
order, but  left  everyone  to  live  as  he  pleased,  contenting  himself 
with  passing  his  days  among  women,  as  I  have  already  said. 

It  was  so  common  to  drink  spirits  when  Aurangzeb  ascended 
the  throne,  that  one  day  he  said  in  a  passion  that  in  all  Hin- 
dustan no  more  than  two  men  could  be  found  who  did  not 
drink,  namely,  himself  and  [3]  'Abd-ul-wahhab,  the  chief  qazi 
appointed  by  him,  as  already  said  at  the  end  of  Part  I.  (I.  277). 
But  with  respect  to  'Abd-ul-wahhab  he  was  in  error,  for  I 
myself  sent  him  every  day  a  bottle  of  spirits  (vino),  which  he 


6      OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

drank  in  secret,  so  that  the  king  could  not  find  it  out. 
Aurangzeb  wished  to  repress  this  disorder,  and  therefore 
ordered  that  all  Christians,  excepting  physicians  and  surgeons, 
should  leave  the  city  and  remove  to  near  the  park  of  artillery, 
which  was  beyond  the  suburbs  at  one  league's  distance  from 
the  city.  There  they  had  leave  to  prepare  and  drink  spirits  on 
condition  they  did  not  sell  them. 

After  the  issue  of  this  order  he  directed  the  kotwal  (chief  of 
police)  to  search  out  Mahomedans  and  Hindus  who  sold  spirits, 
every  one  of  whom  was  to  lose  one  hand  and  one  foot.  With- 
out fail  the  kotwal  went  out  to  search  for  the  vendors,  although 
himself  one  of  the  consumers.  One  day  I  saw  him  carry  out 
such  a  sentence  on  six  Mahomedans  and  six  Hindus;  after 
the  punishment  he  ordered  them  to  be  trailed  to  a  dung-heap, 
leaving  them  there  to  die  discreetly.  This  penal  order  was  in 
force  for  a  time,  so  that  no  vendors  were  to  be  found ;  for 
whenever  the  kotwal  suspected  that  spirits  were  made  in  any 
house,  he  sent  his  soldiers  to  plunder  everything  in  it.  The 
regulations  were  strict  at  first,  but  little  by  little  they  were 
relaxed  ;  and  during  the  period  of  strictness  the  nobles,  who 
found  it  hard  to  live  without  spirits,  distilled  in  their  houses, 
there  being  few  who  do  not  drink  secretly. 

I  have  said  that  the  Christians  had  leave  to  prepare  spirits 
for  their  own  consumption,  but  were  prohibited  selling  them. 
On  this  account  sentinels  were  kept  over  them  to  watch  that 
they  did  not  sell.  In  spite  of  this,  the  gain  being  great,  they 
did  not  refrain,  by  resorting  to  a  thousand  expedients,  from 
selling  them  on  the  sly,  although  when  the  offence  was  dis- 
covered the  kotwal  used  to  send  and  plunder  the  house,  the 
still  being  hung  round  the  offender's  neck,  and  then  he  was 
taken  through  the  streets  chained,  and  buffeted  on  his  way  to 
the  kotwaVs  house.  On  arrival  there  half  dead  he  was  locked 
up  in  prison,  and  only  released  after  many  months  with  a  fine 
and  a  beating. 

But  such  was  the  Christians'  insolence  and  absence  of  shame 
that  they  did  not  desist.  They  were  of  many  nations,  mostly 
thieves  and  criminals  ;  and  without  slandering  anyone,  I  can 
say  with  truth  that  the  Christians  who  served  in  the  artillery  of 


THE  USE  OF  BHANG  IS  PROHIBITED  7 

the  Moguls  retained  of  Christianity  nothing  but  the  mere  name, 
were  worse  than  the  Mahomedans  and  Hindus,  were  devoid  of 
the  fear  of  God,  had  ten  or  twelve  wives,  were  constantly  drunk, 
had  no  occupation  but  gambling,  and  were  eager  to  cheat  whom- 
soever they  could.  For  these  reasons  the  Farangis  (Franks) 
have  not  in  the  Mogul  country  the  estimation  they  formerly  had  ; 
many  from  greed  of  a  small  pay  abandon  their  faith  and  turn 
Mahomedans,  as  if  it  imported  little  for  the  salvation  of  one's 
soul  whether  one  is  a  Christian  or  a  Mahomedan. 


Action  against  Bhang. 

So  accustomed  are  the  Mahomedans  to  intoxication  that  the 
poor  people,  who  have  not  enough  funds  to  procure  spirits, 
invented  another  beverage,  called  in  the  language  of  the  country 
bang  (bhang).  It  is  nothing  else  than  leaves  of  dried  hemp 
ground  down,  which  intoxicate  as  soon  as  taken.  Aurangzeb 
also  wanted  to  suppress  this  disorder.  He  therefore  appointed 
an  official  under  the  title  of  matucib  (muhtasib),  whose  business 
it  was  to  prevent  the  use  of  this  beverage  or  of  others  similar  to 
it.  Not  a  day  passed  that  on  rising  in  the  morning  we  did  not 
hear  the  breaking  by  blows  and  strokes  of  the  pots  and  pans 
in  which  these  beverages  are  prepared.  But,  seeing  that  the 
ministers  themselves  also  drank  and  loved  to  get  drunk,  the 
rigour  of  prohibition  was  lightened  by  degrees. 

Aurangzeb  did  another  very  ridiculous  thing  to  show  himself  a 
scrupulous  observer  of  the  Faith.  This  was  the  issue  of  an  order 
that  no  Mahomedan  should  wear  a  beard  longer  than  four  finger- 
breadths.  Now  the  Moguls  are  much  concerned  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  big  beards,  using  for  this  many  unguents.  An  official 
was  appointed  whose  business  it  was,  in  company  with  his  attend- 
ants and  soldiers,  to  measure  beards  in  the  middle  of  the  street, 
and,  if  necessary,  dock  them.  This  order  was  not  carried  out, 
except  against  ordinary  people,  the  official  not  daring  to  meddle 
with  the  nobles  or  the  soldiers  for  fear  of  receiving  injury  to 
himself.  It  was,  however,  amusing  to  see  the  official  in  charge 
of  beards  rushing  hither  and  thither,  laying  hold  of  wretched 
men  by  the  beard,  in  order  to  measure  and  cut  off  the  excess, 


8       OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

and  clipping  their  moustaches  to  uncover  the  lips.  This  last 
was  done  so  that,  when  pronouncing  the  name  Ala  (Allah, 
God),  there  might  be  no  impediment  to  the  sound  ascending 
straight  to  heaven.  It  was  equally  quaint  to  see  the  soldiers 
and  others  covering  their  faces  with  their  shawls  when  they 
beheld  afar  off  the  said  official,  for  fear  of  some  affront. 


The  Burial  of  Music. 

Not  resting  content  with  the  above  orders,  Aurangzeb  took 
steps  against  the  excessive  number  of  musicians.  In  Hindustan 
both  Moguls  and  Hindus  are  very  fond  of  listening  to  songs 
and  instrumental  music.  He  therefore  ordered  the  same  official 
to  stop  music.  If  in  any  house  or  elsewhere  he  heard  the  sound 
of  singing  and  instruments,  he  should  forthwith  hasten  there 
and  arrest  as  many  as  he  could,  breaking  the  instruments. 
Thus  was  caused  a  great  destruction  of  musical  instruments. 
Finding  themselves  in  this  difficulty,  their  large  earnings  likely 
to  cease,  without  there  being  any  other  mode  of  seeking  a  liveli- 
hood, the  musicians  took  counsel  together  and  tried  to  appease 
the  king  [5]  in  the  following  way  :l  About  one  thousand  of  them 
assembled  on  a  Friday  when  Aurangzeb  was  going  to  the 
mosque.  They  came  out  with  over  twenty  highly-ornamented 
biers,  as  is  the  custom  of  the  country,  crying  aloud  with  great 
grief  and  many  signs  of  feeling,  as  if  they  were  escorting  to  the 
grave  some  distinguished  defunct.  From  afar  Aurangzeb  saw 
this  multitude  and  heard  their  great  weeping  and  lamentation, 
and,  wondering,  sent  to  know  the  cause  of  so  much  sorrow. 
The  musicians  redoubled  their  outcry  and  their  tears,  fancying 
the  king  would  take  compassion  upon  them.  Lamenting,  they 
replied  with  sobs  that  the  king's  orders  had  killed  Music,  there- 
fore they  were  bearing  her  to  the  grave.  Report  was  made  to 
the  king,  who  quite  calmly  remarked  that  they  should  pray  for 
the  soul  of  Music,  and  see  that  she  was  thoroughly  well  buried. 
In  spite  of  this,  the  nobles  did  not  cease  to  listen  to  songs  in 
secret.     This  strictness  was  enforced  in  the  principal  cities. 

1  The  story  is  in  Khafi  Khan,  text,  ii.  211,  and  Elliot,  vii.  283,  under  the 
nth  year,  1078  H.  (1667-68). 


MUSIC  AND  DANCING  ABOLISHED  9 

Dancing-Women  forced  to  Marry. 

In  the  reign  of  Shahjahan  female  dancers  and  public  women 
enjoyed  great  liberty,  as  I  have  said,  and  were  found  in  great 
numbers  in  the  cities.  For  a  time,  at  the  beginning  of  his 
reign,  Aurangzeb  said  nothing,  but  afterwards  he  ordered  that 
they  must  either  marry  or  clear  out  of  the  realm.  This  was  the 
cause  that  the  palaces  and  great  enclosures  where  they  dwelt 
went  to  ruin  little  by  little ;  for  some  of  them  married  and 
others  went  away,  or,  at  least,  concealed  themselves. 

Of  the  Class  of  Elephant-Drivers. 

But  from  the  first  days  of  his  reign  there  was  no  attempt  to 
disguise  his  intention  of  correcting  the  insolence  of  the  elephant- 
drivers.  These  men  bring  daily  some  highly-decorated  elephants 
to  court  for  parade,  and  others  to  fight  together,  as  is  the 
custom  in  the  Mogul  country.  Sometimes  they  cause  the 
elephants  to  be  enraged,  when  they  rush  through  the  city 
killing  people  and  destroying  shops  and  bazars.  First  and 
foremost  they  attack  the  shops  of  those  to  whom  they  are  ill- 
affected,  and  cause  the  destruction  of  all  their  contents. 

Aurangzeb  made  inquiries  from  the  elephant-drivers  whether 
perchance  the  elephants  became  savage  of  themselves,  or 
whether  they  were  made  mad.  Thinking  they  would  please 
the  king,  and  he  would  raise  their  pay,  the  drivers  replied  that 
they  made  the  elephants  mad  themselves,  giving  them  certain 
drugs  for  the  purpose.  The  king  then  ordained  that  a  writing 
should  be  demanded  from  each  driver,  in  which  he  bound  him- 
self to  pay  with  his  own  life  any  deaths  [6]  caused  by  his 
elephant,  and  from  his  pay  reimburse  any  damage  done  in  the 
city.  In  this  way  he  hindered  the  great  damage  they  used  to 
cause  ;  and  although  in  his  reign  there  were  always  parades, 
the  harm  done  was  very  small.  I  say  there  were  few  disasters, 
for  it  is  almost  impossible  to  prevent  any  injury  being  done  by 
elephants,  since  sometimes  they  turn  mad  all  of  a  sudden, 
through  reasons  hardly  to  be  imagined,  as  I  shall  state  in 
Part  III.  when  talking  of  elephants  (III.  19-21,  144-149). 

But  here  it  is  fitting  to  relate  how  one  day  Aurangzeb  ordered 


io    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  be  brought  before  him  all  the  elephants  of  Shahjahan,  more 
than  three  thousand  in  number,  of  which  the  principal  ones 
were  decked  out  with  gold  and  silver,  and  bore  housings  of 
brocade.  On  the  first  day  they  wished  to  produce  the  captain 
of  all  the  elephants,  an  animal  of  wonderful  size,  12  cubits  in 
height,  and  highly  esteemed  by  Shahjahan  ;  its  name  was  Calec- 
dad  (Khaliq-dad) — that  is  to  say,  '  Given  by  the  Creator.'  But, 
for  all  the  drivers  could  do,  they  could  not  succeed  in  making 
him  enter  the  fortress.  Thus  they  were  forced  to  leave  him  behind 
and  take  the  others  to  the  royal  presence.  On  arriving  there, 
according  to  signs  from  the  drivers,  the  elephants  either  raised 
their  trunks  as  a  mark  of  respect,  or  went  down  on  their  knees. 

Aurangzeb  was  told  that  the  elephant  Khaliq-dad  would  not 
enter  the  fortress.  He  informed  the  drivers  that  he  would  not 
hear  of  any  objection  and  they  must  bring  the  said  elephant  to  his 
presence,  unless  they  wanted  to  be  turned  out  of  the  service  and 
beaten.  Frightened  at  such  a  threat,  the  drivers  left  the  elephant 
three  days  without  food  or  drink,  expecting  to  force  him  through 
hunger  and  thirst  to  do  the  king's  pleasure.  After  three  days 
they  decorated  the  streets  with  green  branches  and  sugar-cane, 
brought  out  the  elephant,  and  got  it  into  the  fortress.  Pleased 
at  this,  Aurangzeb  then  hastened  to  see  this  bold  animal 
standing  in  the  space  called  Amcas  ('Am-Khass),  where  public 
audiences  were  given. 

When  the  driver  on  the  elephant  was  aware  of  the  royal 
presence,  he  gave  the  usual  signal  to  the  animal,  and  he  made 
his  obeisance.  Then,  recollecting  that  he  had  been  brought  to 
the  place  by  deceptions  and  against  his  will,  the  elephant  began 
suddenly  to  trumpet,  and  flinging  himself  on  the  female  elephants 
who  accompanied  him,  he  pushed  them  aside  with  his  trunk, 
and,  turning  round,  ran  off  with  great  fury.  He  knocked  down 
everything  in  his  way,  and  threatened  everyone  who  appeared 
before  him.  In  this  manner  the  whole  court  was  thrown  into 
confusion.  In  trying  to  make  his  way  out  of  the  fortress,  he 
came  across  a  fine  elephant  made  in  masonry,  which  stood  at 
the  gate.1     Thinking  it  was  a  real  elephant  coming  [7]  to  bar 

1  See  Bernier,  256,  257,  and  Mr.  Constable's  note,  where,  relying  on  Mr.  H.  G. 
Keene's  'Handbook  to  Dilhl,'  he  states  that  one  stone  elephant  is  in  the  public 


ELEPHANT  DRIVERS  AND  MENDICANTS  u 

his  exit,  he  fell  upon  it  and  destroyed  it  before  he  left  the  fort. 
Aurangzeb,  as  a  follower  of  the  Quran,  ordered  the  other 
elephant  opposite  this  one  to  be  also  knocked  down.  Upon 
them  were  two  figures  of  Jamal  (Jai  Mall)  and  Fata  (Fath),  who 
bravely  defended  the  fortress  of  Chitor  against  Akbar,  as  I  have 
said  before  (I.  77-82). 

The  elephant  (Khaliq-dad)  ran  out  into  the  great  square. 
There  it  was  a  curious  spectacle  (though  one  to  be  enjoyed  at  a 
distance)  to  see  the  way  in  which  he  broke  the  palanquins,  ran 
at  other  elephants,  killed  horses,  and  pursued  men,  who  fled 
with  cries  and  clamour,  some  without  turban,  some  without 
shield,  some  without  sword,  some  without  bow.  It  was  an 
astonishing  thing  to  see.  Relying  on  my  horse,  I  put  him  at 
full  gallop,  turning  my  head  from  time  to  time.  I  felt  sorry  for 
the  sufferers,  but  could  not  help  laughing  to  see  so  many  fleeing 
in  all  directions,  their  feet  bare  and  in  the  greatest  hurry. 

Learning  what  the  elephant  had  done,  Aurangzeb  became 
distrustful  of  him,  and  ordered  the  unlucky  animal  to  be  sent  to 
Agrah  to  be  placed  at  the  tomb  of  Taj  Mahal  within  sight  of  his 
master's  palace.  The  king's  orders  were  carried  out :  the 
elephant  was  taken  to  the  place  assigned,  where  he  remained 
nine  years  ;  and  on  the  day  that  Shahjahan  died  the  elephant 
also  expired,  some  other  events  also  happening,  as  I  shall  relate 
(II.  94,  96). 

Of  the  Holy  Mendicants. 

The  greatest  abuse  there  was,  and  still  is,  in  the  Mogul 
kingdom  is  due  to  the  cheating  and  hypocrisy  of  the  holy 
mendicants.  These  men  call  themselves  Sahedes  (Sayyid), 
descendants  of  Muhammad,  and  deceive  the  people  with 
hypocrisy  and  pretended  miracles,  so  that  many  resort  to  them 
as  saints,  either  to  ask  for  sons,  or  to  obtain  wives  or  husbands. 
Others  go  to  secure,  through  their  intercession,  employment  or 


gardens,  but  the  other  has  disappeared.  The  two  figures  which  rode  on  them 
are  in  the  museum.  According  to  the  Homeward  Mail  of  September  26,  1904, 
p.  1362,  Lord  Curzon  has  commissioned  Mr.  R.  D.  Mackenzie  to  produce  two 
elephants  and  figures  in  black  marble  to  be  "placed,  as  before,  at  the  Dihll  Gate 
of  the  fort. 


12     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

places  at  court ;  others,  that  some  man  or  woman  may  fall  in 
love  with  them ;  others,  to  win  victory  over  their  enemies 
or  to  gain  success  in  business ;  each  man  according  to  his  need. 

No  one  goes  to  such-like  men  with  empty  hands,  but  always 
with  something  as  an  offering.  Thus  these  holy  men  live  in 
luxury.  They  know  how  to  cover  their  impostures  by  decep- 
tion, and  with  the  aid  of  the  devil  hold  the  people  under  their 
spells  by  written  incantations  and  bonds.  Above  all,  they  have 
control  of  the  women,  who  resort  to  them  in  large  numbers. 
They  know  how  to  make  use  of  their  opportunities,  sparing 
neither  Mahomedan,  Hindu,  nor  Christian  women,  if  they  are 
good-looking.  In  addition,  they  have  numerous  wives  and 
slave  girls  in  their  houses,  whom  they  send  out  at  night  in  all 
directions  [8]  as  pretended  devotees  to  earn  an  illicit  livelihood, 
or  to  act  as  go-betweens  to  bring  to  the  house  of  their  master 
any  woman  that  he  desires.  This  is  done  under  a  covering  of 
religion.  These  women  also  serve  to  find  out  about  those 
who  come  to  ask  for  any  favour,  and  whether  or  not  they 
have  obtained  what  they  desired.  This  is  done  to  obtain 
information  beforehand.  These  women  also  serve  to  make 
excuses  if  any  suppliants  have  not  obtained  their  desires,  or  to 
persuade  people  that  the  holy  man's  supplications  are  specially 
effective  ;  also  to  find  out  what  is  going  on,  and  thus  give  their 
master  occasion  to  reveal  secrets,  as  is  fitting  to  holy  men  who 
know  hidden  things. 

In  fine,  the  devices  are  not  to  be  counted  of  which  they  make 
use  to  establish  the  reputation  of  saints  ;  and  if  they  perform 
any  deed  worthy  of  admiration,  it  is  all  the  work  of  the  devil. 
When  they  leave  their  houses  they  never  go  on  foot,  but  in 
a  carriage  or  on  horseback,  at  the  same  time  taking  with  them 
down  to  their  scullion-boys,  to  demonstrate  the  number  of  their 
disciples  and  devotees.  They  carry  themselves  humbly,  so  that 
in  the  streets  many  passers-by,  men  and  women,  prostrate 
themselves  on  the  ground  and  call  to  them  with  lifted  hands,  as 
if  to  a  just  and  saintly  man.  On  these  occasions  each  prays  for 
what  he  wants,  whether  health,  or  delivery  from  demons,  call- 
ing out  according  to  his  necessity.  But  the  hypocrite,  with  a 
severe  mien,  goes  on  his  way,  making  signs  with  his  hands  as  of 


PRETENDERS  TO  HOLINESS  13 

one  who  gives  good  hope  to  all,  and  takes  on  himself  to  satisfy 
every  one. 

Thus  they  return  to  their  houses.  These  are  sufficiently 
commodious,  with  a  special  apartment  for  the  women  and 
another  for  receiving  visitors.  Among  others  is  a  fairly  hand- 
some room,  where  are  drawers,  such  as  worn  by  Mahomedan 
women,  and  a  chemise,  the  whole  placed  upon  a  rope.  If  any 
Hindu  woman  turns  up,  after  hearing  her  requests,  should  her  face 
please  him  the  make-believe  saint  retires  as  if  going  to  prayers. 
Then,  taking  some  provocative  drug  (of  which  they  have  no 
lack),  he  comes  back  and  orders  the  woman  to  remove  her 
shirt.  Ordinarily  they  do  this  at  once,  out  of  the  esteem  in 
which  they  hold  these  accursed  men,  under  the  supposition  that 
they  are  receiving  a  great  favour.  Promises  are  made  of  securing 
what  they  want.  If  at  times  a  woman,  being  of  an  honourable 
degree,  is  hurt  at  such  an  extraordinary  proposal  put  forward 
by  the  holy  man,  the  latter  falls  into  a  rage,  saying  that  she  is 
a  woman  with  an  evil  conscience,  that  he  never  told  her  to  take 
off  her  shirt,  but  to  bring  the  one  hanging  on  the  rope,  in  order 
to  give  her  some  letters  or  some  other  thing  lying  in  the  pocket 
thereof,  as  a  means  of  obtaining  her  desire.  Then  he  bundles 
her  out  with  abuse,  as  if  it  had  never  entered  his  mind  to  do  her 
any  wrong.  Thus  the  woman  withdraws  in  great  confusion,  for 
two  reasons :  because  she  has  put  a  wrong  interpretation  upon 
the  words  of  the  holy  man,  and  because,  through  her  own  fault, 
she  did  not  obtain  the  remedy  she  wanted  [9]  and  hoped  for. 
The  same  thing  is  done  with  Mahomedan  and  Christian  women, 
who  wear  drawers.  It  is  to  this  intent  that  they  keep  a  shirt 
and  a  pair  of  drawers  on  a  rope,  in  order  to  cover  the  equivocal 
proposals  they  make  to  women. 

It  often  happens  that  the  woman  who  was  scandalized  the 
first  time  falls  a  second  time  into  the  trap,  either  through  eager- 
ness to  get  rid  of  her  trouble,  or  because  of  the  devotee  women. 
These  go  to  the  house  of  any  woman  who  had  left  without  con- 
senting to  the  perverted  desires  of  the  holy  man.  Opening  a 
conversation,  they  dilate  on  the  holiness  of  their  master,  and 
lead  her  to  expect  all  sorts  of  benefits  to  be  obtained  by  going 
to  the  holy  man. 


M     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

I  cannot  write  the  filthiness  of  such  men,  and  all  I  shall  say 
will  be  very  little,  not  to  fall  into  the  error  spoken  of  by 
St.  Paul :  Corrumpunt  bonos  mores  eloquia  prava.1  Still,  the 
insolence  and  outrages  of  these  deceivers  are  sufficiently  ex- 
posed. There  are  numbers  of  them,  also  of  women,  who, 
under  the  name  of  sanctity,  practise  similar  impostures.  All 
the  same,  the  populace  in  the  Mogul  realm,  and  also  the  nobles, 
retain  great  esteem  for  these  people,  sending  them  valuable 
presents ;  even  gardeners  carry  to  them  the  best  of  their  fruit 
and  vegetables,  and  goat-herds  their  kids  and  milk.  Thus  do 
these  villains  lead  a  more  luxurious  life  than  any  grandee,  being 
at  the  same  time  obeyed  by  princes  and  governors. 

aurangzeb   wreaks    vengeance    on   the   twelve    holy 
Men  of  Bara  who  dwelt  in  DihlI. 

To  this  abuse  Aurangzeb  applied  no  remedy,  being  the  com- 
panion of  such  men,  a  pretender  and  hypocrite  like  them,  an 
inventor  of  miracles  and  deceits  quite  equal  to  any  of  theirs. 
Yet  he  resolved  to  take  revenge  upon  twelve  of  them  who  lived  in 
Dilhi.  They  had  prophesied  to  Dara  that  he  would  be  emperor 
of  the  whole  Mogul  empire,  and  as  absolute  lord  would  triumph 
over  all  men  ;  for  they  would  pray  Muhammad  with  all  their 
fervour  to  assist  him,  nor  could  the  prophet  fail  to  hear  them. 

After  he  had  arranged  matters  in  the  empire,  Aurangzeb 
sent  for  these  men.  When  they  had  all  reached  his  presence, 
he  made  believe  to  appreciate  highly  the  sanctity  and  good 
reputation  they  possessed.  On  this  account  he  begged  them  to 
perform  some  miracle  in  his  presence,  so  that  he,  too,  might 
acquire  reasons  for  becoming  their  disciple.  If  they  did  so,  he 
would  prove  in  what  estimation  the  King  of  Hindustan  held 
such  holy  men  and  friends  of  God.  For  this  purpose  he 
granted  them  three  days  in  which  to  comply  with  the  royal 
[10]  pleasure. 

On  hearing  this  speech  from  Aurangzeb,  the  holy  men  were 
in  a  great  quandary,  recognising  that  now  had  gone  by  the  time 
for  playing  jokes  on  simple  people,  because  Aurangzeb  was  not 

1  'Be  not  deceived:  evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners'  (i  Cor. 
xv.  33,  A. V.). 


CERTAIN  HOLY  MEN  PUNISHED  15 

a  man  of  jests  like  Dara.  Thus  they  were  thrown  into  a  state 
of  much  anxiety.  Two  of  them,  to  cut  the  thing  short,  said  at 
once  to  Aurangzeb  that  they  were  descendants  of  Sultan  Maxac 
(Sultan-ul-mushajikh1),  a  famous  saint  of  Balkh,  and  were 
thus  venerated  by  the  people  as  saints,  although  they  knew 
themselves  to  be  the  greatest  sinners  in  the  world,  and  it  was 
useless  to  look  for  miracles  from  them.  Aurangzeb  ignored 
this  reply,  and  told  them  all  that  it  was  necessary  for  them 
within  three  days  to  perform  some  miracle  in  his  presence,  and 
thus  sent  them  away. 

They  came  forth  much  cast  down,  and,  according  to  the 
habits  of  these  men,  they  had  recourse  to  demons  favourable  to 
them,  performing  with  this  idea  many  sacrifices,  so  that  at  least 
in  dreams  they  might  prove  to  Aurangzeb  that  they  were  really 
saints ;  thus  the  king  would  hold  them  to  be  of  some  repute. 
However,  on  the  third  day  Aurangzeb  sent  for  them.  On  their 
arrival  in  his  presence  he  said  to  them  in  a  severe  tone  that  the 
time  granted  was  already  past ;  that  the  matter  in  hand  was 
for  them  to  produce  a  miracle ;  otherwise  he  would  have  them 
all  flogged  and  send  them  in  a  body  to  be  publicly  disgraced. 
Thus  would  the  people  be  undeceived  who  had  so  long  been 
led  astray  by  their  impostures  and  hypocrisy.  Being  neither 
able  to  say  anything  nor  perform  a  miracle,  some  were  ordered 
to  be  banished,  and  others  were  sent  prisoners  to  fortresses. 
He  told  them  that  when  they  showed  him  a  miracle  he  would 
order  their  release.  Sharply  admonishing  the  two  men  from 
Balkh,  he  ordered  them  to  retire  to  their  homes,  and  never 
again  to  lay  claim  to  sanctity,  else  he  would  chastise  them 
without  fail. 

Aurangzeb  discovers  the  Imposture  of  the  Faqir  who 
buried  his  Horse. 

The  assumed  devoutness  of  Aurangzeb  served  him  to  discover 
the  imposture  of  a  soldier.     This  man's  horse  had  died,  and 

1  Comparing  this  passage  with  Part  III.,  53,  where  the  saint's  tomb  is  said  to 
be  at  Dihli,  I  think  the  name  must  be  meant  for  Sultan-ul-musha,ikh,  a  title 
given  to  Nizam- ud-din  Auliya  (died  at  Dihli,  1325).  But  he  was  a  native  of 
Buda,un,  and  not  of  Balkh. 


16    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

having  no  funds  to  buy  another,  he  decided  to  bury  the  horse 
outside  the  city  of  Dihli,  on  a  small  eminence  not  far  from  the 
royal  road  to  Lahor.  He  took  the  garb  of  a  faqlr,  and  pre- 
tended great  devoutness,  collecting  offerings,  which  were  never 
lacking,  the  Moguls  having  an  easy  method  of  devotion,  con- 
sisting in  visits  to  tombs  great  or  small,  in  order  to  obtain  what 
they  are  in  need  of.  I  have  even  seen  the  wives  of  Christians  send 
their  sons  and  grandsons,  when  they  were  unwell,  in  order  to 
obtain  benefit  from  these  tombs  by  making  the  children  touch 
them  with  their  bodies.  For  all  the  preaching  of  the  priests 
against  this  abuse,  it  has  not  been  abandoned  [n] ;  since  the 
Christian  women  in  India  are  more  inclined  to  heathendom 
and  superstition  than  to  the  true  Faith  or  the  recognised  aids 
of  holy  Mother  Church. 

Aurangzeb  passed  close  to  the  aforesaid  tomb,  and  seeing  so 
much  adornment,  asked  what  saint  was  buried  there.  The  faqlr 
replied  that  it  was  the  tomb  of  Melecdinar  (Malik  Dinar). 
Aurangzeb  began  to  think  over  this  answer,  and  said  he  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  saint.  He  should  therefore  like  to  see 
the  body.  He  ordered  the  tomb  to  be  opened,  and  in  it  was 
the  skeleton  of  a  horse.  The  king  directed  that  everything 
round  it  should  be  destroyed,  and  after  the  faqlr  had  been 
flogged  he  was  banished.  Hereby  arose  great  fame  for 
Aurangzeb  as  being  well  acquainted  with  all  the  saints  of 
the  Mahomedans,  and  also  a  diviner  of  occult  things. 

Mancebdares  (Mansabdars). 

It  was  a  custom  introduced  by  Akbar,  and  maintained  by  his 
successors,  to  receive  and  to  favour  those  who  justly  or  un- 
justly were  persecuted  by  the  King  of  Persia,  when  they  took 
to  flight  and  sought  the  protection  of  the  Mogul  kings.  They 
were  granted  pay  suited  to  each  man's  station,  keeping  as 
soldiers  and  officers  those  who  were  soldiers,  as  physicians 
those  who  were  physicians,  as  doctors  of  the  Law  those  learned 
in  the  Faith.  Pay  was  given  them  as  mansabdars — that  is  to 
say,  as  nobles.  As  these  men  were  not  of  use  to  the  Mogul, 
since  the  Moguls  are  of  a  different  sect,  and  do  not  follow  'AH 
as  do  the  Persians,  they  were  sent  to  the  province  of  Kashmir, 


M.  ZAMAN,  OR  PAULO,  THE  CHRISTIAN  17 

where  they  lived  upon  their  allowances  comfortably  and  with- 
out care.  Since  Mahomedans  are  subject  to  the  same  con- 
ditions as  other  men — namely,  to  come  to  the  end  of  their  life 
and  die — when  one  of  these  dropped  out,  the  others  appro- 
priated the  dead  man's  allowances. 

Aurangzeb  desired  to  remedy  this  abuse,  and  therefore 
ordered  all  the  mansabdars  of  Kashmir  to  attend  at  court. 
There  were  a  great  number  of  them.  Among  them  I  had  the 
opportunity  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  Muhamedzama 
(Muhammad  Zaman),  a  man  of  great  intelligence,  whom  Shah 
'Abbas,  King  of  Persia,  sent  to  Rome  as  a  student  early  in  his 
reign.1  He  had  to  learn  how  to  answer  our  missionaries,  who 
in  Persia  confounded  the  mullds  and  doctors  of  the  Mahome- 
dan  faith.  This  Muhammad  Zaman,  well  acquainted  with  his 
own  fa;th,  by  study  came  to  know  the  Truth  ;  and  instead  of 
becoming  more  stubborn  in  the  faith  of  Muhammad  and  of 
'All,  he  renounced  it  and  turned  Christian,  and  taking  the 
name  of  Paul,  called  himself  Paulo  Zaman.  He  then  went 
back  to  Persia.  There  the  learned  men  of  Persia  became 
aware  by  their  talk  with  him  that  he  was  more  favourable  to 
the  Christians  than  the  Mahomedans  (although  [12]  he  con- 
cealed his  being  a  Christian).     They  began  to  speak  against 

1  It  is  not  clear  which  Shah  'Abbas  is  intended  ;  the  first  reigned  from  1587  to 
1629,  the  second  from  1642  to  1667.  I  have  been  unable  to  find  any  confirmation 
of  the  presence  of  these  students  at  Rome,  either  from  Oriental  or  European 
sources.  The  date  of  the  party  sent  in  the  time  of  the  Sherleys,  about  1606, 
seems  too  early.  One  of  them  became  a  Christian,  and  published  a  book  under 
the  name  of  Don  John  of  Persia.  Mr.  A.  G.  Ellis  suggests  that  Manucci's 
Muhammad  Zaman  is  possibly  identical  with  the  painter  of  that  name,  by  whom 
there  are  three  beautiful  signed  and  dated  pictures  in  a  copy  of  Nizami's 
'  Khamsah.'  British  Museum  Oriental  MS.,  No.  2265,  fols.  2036,  213a,  and  2216. 
The  influence  of  European  art  is  most  unmistakable  ;  the  date,  however — 1086  H. 
(1675-76) — is  somewhat  late  to  suit  Manucci's  story  (circa  1660).  But  the  man 
may  have  returned  to  Persia  after  the  death  (1667)  of  Shah  'Abbas  II. 

Sir  Caspar  P.  Clarke,  CLE.,  whose  article  in  the  Journal  of  Indian  Art, 
vol.  vii.,  October,  1896,  No.  56,  bears  on  the  subject  of  Raphael's  influence  on 
Persian  art,  tells  me  that  when  he  was  in  Persia  in  1874-76,  the  book  illuminators 
had  a  tradition  that  twelve  young  Persians  were  sent  in  the  time  of  Shah  'Abbas 
to  study  in  Rome.  Of  the  twelve,  eight  or  nine  only  returned ;  some  died,  and 
some,  on  becoming  Christians,  remained  in  Europe.  At  Rome  he  was  told  that 
they  lived  in  the  Borgo. 

VOL.  II.  2 


18     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

him,  and  fearing  some  harm,  he  fled  from  Persia  and  claimed 
protection  from  Shahjahan.  He  was  given  the  pay  of  a 
mansabdar  and  sent  to  Kashmir  to  join  the  other  Persians. 
On  the  occasion  when  they  were  sent  for  by  Aurangzeb,  he 
came  to  Dihll  and  made  friends  with  the  Christians,  chiefly 
with  Father  Buzeo  (Busee).  They  discussed  theological 
questions,  he  having  several  Latin  books ;  yet,  although  he 
was,  and  declared  himself  to  be,  a  Christian,  his  way  of  life 
differed  in  no  respect  from  that  followed  by  Mahomedans. 

Houses  and  Gardens. 

Having  verified  the  existence  of  the  mansabdars,  Aurangzeb 
sent  them  back  to  Kashmir.  He  then  issued  orders  that  every- 
one in  Hindustan  who  owned  a  house  or  a  garden  must  produce 
his  deeds.  It  was  to  see  whether  they  all  held  under  a  royal 
fir  mad  (farmdn,  or  rescript).  For  no  one  can  hold  any  of  these 
things  without  a  confirmation  and  a  grant  in  writing.  Such 
farmans  as  it  was  necessary  to  admit  he  upheld;  those  that 
were  forged  were  declared  invalid. 

Spies. 

The  best  means  that  kings  possess  for  the  good  regulation  of 
their  kingdom  is  through  trusty  spies.  These  report  to  the 
prince  what  goes  on  in  the  realm,  chiefly  amongst  the  officials. 
And  with  truth  it  may  be  said  that  the  Mogul  country  is  behind 
none  other  in  having  that  kind  of  person,  from  whom  may  be 
learnt  all  that  passes.  But  throughout  his  reign  Aurangzeb 
had  such  good  spies  that  they  knew  (if  it  may  be  so  said)  even 
men's  very  thoughts.  Nor  did  anything  go  on  anywhere  in  the 
realm,  above  all  in  the  city  of  Dihll,  without  his  being 
informed. 

In  this  way  he  learnt  one  night  that  the  wife  of  Allah wirdi 
Khan,  the  man  who  made  Shah  Shuja*  get  down  from  his 
elephant  at  the  battle  of  Kaj  wah,  had  left  her  house.  Without  any 
delay  he  ordered  the  husband  to  take  her  back  again.  Through 
such  spies  he  also  learnt  one  night  of  the  fall  of  an  arch  at  a  shop 
in  the  main  street,  under  the  ruins  of  which  three  faqlrs  were 


AURANGZEB  SCOLDS  HIS  FATHER  19 

buried.  At  early  dawn  Aurangzeb  rode  out  on  his  way  to  hunt, 
and  seeing  the  fallen  shop,  stopped  his  elephant,  and  ordered 
them  to  dig  out  the  buried  faqlrs.  The  nobles  of  the  court  were 
much  astonished  at  such  an  order,  not  knowing  that  under- 
neath the  ruins  were  some  dead  bodies.  The  order  was  carried 
out,  and  the  dead  faqlrs  having  been  reached,  were  pulled  out. 
They  were  buried  [13]  according  to  the  king's  orders,  and  he 
remained  on  the  spot  until  the  corpses  were  recovered.  He 
handed  over  some  money  to  pay  for  the  funeral.  From  this 
incident  they  began  to  talk  of  Aurangzeb  as  a  saint,  while  all 
the  people  shouted  with  a  loud  voice  :  '  Long  live  our  saintly 
king  !'  Up  to  this  time  they  style  him  '  Miraculous  Saint,' 
either  through  flattery,  or  because  with  his  sorceries  he  has 
done  such  wonderful  things. 

Dispute  between  Aurangzeb  and  his  Father. 

Proud  of  administering  imperial  affairs,  and  correcting,  as  I 
have  said,  the  abuses  which  had  arisen  in  the  kingdom  through 
the  neglect  of  his  father  Shahjahan,  Aurangzeb  was  not  content 
merely  to  do  good  work,  but  he  strained  his  utmost  to  get 
himself  praised  by  the  nobles  and  his  father  discredited.  He 
tried  to  lower  Shahjahan's  reputation,  and  to  take  away  his 
name  in  every  way  he  could. 

In  addition  to  this,  in  order  to  further  enrage  the  old  man 
and  make  his  imprisonment  weigh  on  him  more  heavily,  he 
several  times  wrote  him  letters,  in  which  he  set  forth  the 
measures  being  taken  against  previous  abuses,  and  condemned 
every  rule  followed  by  Shahjahan  in  his  government.  He 
accused  him  of  injustice  to  his  people,  of  being  negligent  to  his 
ministers,  of  being  a  corrupter  of  others'  wives,  of  licentiousness 
in  holding  a  women's  fair,  as  a  spendthrift  in  the  expenses 
lavished  upon  indulging  himself  with  women  in  the  Hall  of 
Mirrors,  as  I  have  already  said  (I.  130),  and  as  a  profligate  by 
retaining  in  his  palace  a  public  dancer.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
exalted  all  he  did  himself,  glorifying  his  own  works.  Thus  it  may 
be  said  that  Aurangzeb  was  a  perfect  disciple  of  the  Pharisee, 
spoken  of  by  our  Saviour  in  the  Gospel,  who,  instead  of  asking 

2 — 2 


20     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

mercy  from  God,  did  nothing  but  recite  his  own  good  works. 
Above  all,  he  prided  himself  on  the  number  of  hours  he  spent 
every  day  in  public  audience,  in  the  hearing  of  complaints,  and 
in  efforts  to  suppress  the  abuses  existing  in  the  empire. 

Nor  did  Shahjahan  refrain  from  replying  and  excusing  him- 
self to  his  son,  pointing  out  to  him,  among  other  things,  that 
a  man  who  rebelled  against  his  father,  treated  his  brothers 
cruelly,  and  drank  so  much  blood,  not  sparing  even  his  own 
sons,  would  never  be  able  to  do  useful  work  for  others.  As  for 
praising  himself  on  account  of  sitting  many  hours  daily  in 
audience,  what  more  patent  sign  could  there  be  that  the 
kingdom  was  badly  administered  ?  For  when  he  (Shahjahan) 
directed  the  empire,  officials  walked  so  uprightly  that,  in  spite 
of  the  daily  beating  of  the  big  drum  to  call  into  his  presence 
anyone  wanting  to  complain  of  having  received  an  injustice, 
months  and  months  would  pass  without  anyone  coming  to 
lodge  a  petition. 

This  [14]  quarrel  between  them  lasted  a  long  time,  until 
Shahjahan  in  a  rage  wrote  to  Aurangzeb  that  he  must  remember 
that,  after  all,  whatever  he  did  proceeded  from  force  belonging 
originally  to  the  man  from  whom  he  derived  his  life.  Besides  the 
reasons  given  by  Shahjahan  in  his  own  behalf,  Mahabat  Khan, 
governor  of  Kabul,  did  not  fail  to  transmit  to  Aurangzeb  a  long 
argument,  in  which  he  described  the  qualities  of  Shahjahan  and 
the  deeds  of  Aurangzeb,  a  vigorous  defence  of  the  father  against 
the  son.  Affected  by  these  letters,  Aurangzeb  began  to  soften 
and  show  himself  more  compassionate  to  his  father.  By  other 
letters  he  attempted  to  mollify  him,  sent  him  numerous  presents, 
wrestlers  to  help  to  pass  his  time,  players  on  instruments  to 
alleviate  the  weariness  of  prison,  and  other  playthings  suitable 
to  Shahjahan's  habits  while  still  free  and  emperor. 

After  these  endearments  Aurangzeb  wrote  to  his  father  asking 
for  a  gift  of  the  jewels  still  under  his  control.  Shahjahan 
replied  with  a  stiff  letter,  wherein  he  said  that  if  ever  again  he 
dared  to  talk  of  such  things,  he  (Shahjahan)  had  by  him  a 
metal  mortar  and  a  pestle  wherewith  to  reduce  the  jewels  to 
powder ;  nor  would  Aurangzeb  ever  get  the  jewels  until  thus 
made  useless.     But  in  place  of  the  jewels  asked  for  he  sent  him 


RISE  OF  A  SAD  KB  AN,  WAZlR  21 

the  loyal  Acetcan  (Asad  Khan)1,  a  person  whom  he  strongly 
recommended,  declaring  that  he  might  be  more  safely  trusted 
than  any  other  living  being.  Others  had  been  rebels  to  the 
father,  and  thus,  on  the  occasion  arising,  they  would  also  rebel 
against  the  son.  On  the  other  hand,  Asad  Khan  had  never 
wished  to  forsake  his  king,  and  would  without  fail  be  loyal  to 
the  son  under  every  circumstance. 

Aurangzeb  accepted  Asad  Khan  as  his  servant,  giving  him 
some  of  the  principal  offices  at  court.  Finally,  upon  the  death 
of  Ja'far  Khan,2  he  was  made  secretary  {  =  wazlr)  of  the  whole 
empire,  the  which  office  Asad  Khan  continues  to  fill  with  great 
faithfulness  until  this  very  day,  the  10th  of  March,  1699.  Never 
again  did  Aurangzeb  write  to  Shahjahan  on  the  subject  of  the 
jewels,  for  which  he  had  shown  such  cupidity.  He  sent  an 
order  to  Foladcan  (Fulad  Khan),  the  treasurer,  inquiring  in 
what  space  of  time  he  could  look  through  the  jewels  and  make 
him  a  report  of  their  value.  Fulad  Khan  asked  for  time  for 
this  estimate,  and  six  months  afterwards  replied  that  it  would 
take  fourteen  years  to  go  through  them  and  find  out  the  value. 
On  receiving  this  answer,  not  wishing  to  waste  so  much  time, 
Aurangzeb  abandoned  his  design. 

The  Rajahs  come  to  Court. 

Whilst  Aurangzeb  was  restoring  order  in  the  affairs  of  the 
kingdom,  with  a  view  to  the  peace  and  good  government  of  his 
subjects,  the  Hindu  princes  came  to  court,  some  to  secure  his 
friendship  and  push  their  fortunes,  others  to  obtain  a  position 
in  his  military  forces  [15] .  Aurangzeb  never  failed  to  receive 
them,  but  he  could  not  satisfy  them  all,  it  being  a  defect  of  our 
nature  that  everyone  thinks  he  deserves  more  than  he  gets. 

1  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  son  of  Zu.lfiqar  Khan,  QaramanlQ,  was  the  grandson, 
on  his  mother's  side,  of  Sadiq  Khan,  Mir  Bakhshl.  He  was  born  about  1035  H. 
(1625-26),  and  was  created  Asad  Khan  in  the  27th  year  of  Shahjahan.  He  became 
Aurangzeb's  deputy  wazlr  in  1670,  under  Prince  Mu'azzam,  and  full  wazlr  in  1676, 
retaining  the  office  to  the  end  of  the  reign  (1707).  He  died  on  the  25th  Jamfida  II., 
1128  H.  (June  18,  1716). 

2  Ja'far  Khan  was  made  wazlr  in  1664,  and  died  in  1670.  .  le  was  the  son  of 
Sadiq  Khan.  Mir  Bakhshl,  and  was  also  sister's  son  and  son-in-law  of  Asaf  Khan , 
Yamin-ud-daulah  (Beale,  188). 


22     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Thus  there  were  three  of  these  princes  who  would  not  accept 
the  offers  the  conqueror  made  to  them,  putting  forward  the 
excuse  that  they  were  princes  of  too  high  standing  to  accept  the 
pay  and  rank  assigned  to  them.  Aurangzeb  dissembled  and 
made  no  demonstration  of  displeasure,  whence  the  princes,  sup- 
posing he  had  great  need  of  them,  became  more  proud  and 
vain-glorious  than  ever,  after  having  given  such  an  answer. 
But  three  days  afterwards  he  gave  secret  orders  for  their  be- 
headal.  Thus,  not  suspecting  anything,  they  found  themselves 
with  the  bare  sword  at  their  necks.  Their  excuses  and  the 
protestations  they  made  were  of  no  avail.  They  were  all  three 
beheaded,  and  their  heads  stuck  upon  the  gateway  of  the  royal 
fortress.  By  this  act  the  other  princes  were  alarmed,  and 
accepted  without  a  word  the  conditions  laid  down  by  Aurangzeb. 

He  gave  orders  that  with  all  haste  thirty  thousand  horsemen 
and  fifty  field-pieces  should  be  sent  against  Rajah  Caran  (Karan). 
The  general  in  command  was  Razandascan  (Ra'dandaz  Khan).1 
The  rajah  had  declined  to  come  to  court  after  Aurangzeb's 
coronation,  and  precise  orders  were  given  that  they  should 
bring  back  the  recusant's  head.  The  matter  became  known  to 
Rajah  Jai  Singh,  who  was  related  to  the  said  Rajah  Karan,  and 
he  requested  the  king  to  have  a  little  patience,  and  he  would 
take  upon  himself  to  make  Rajah  Karan  come  and  pay  his 
respects  at  court. 

To  this  intent  he  (Jai  Singh)  wrote  to  the  said  rajah  that  it 
was  inadvisable  to  set  up  opposition  to  such  a  powerful  and 
victorious  monarch  as  Aurangzeb.  Let  him  accept  his  advice, 
given  as  a  relation  and  a  friend,  to  come  in  at  once.  He  should 
not  take  to  arms,  for  Aurangzeb  was  powerful ;  and  if  the  king 
made  war  on  him,  he  (Jai  Singh)  could  no  longer  be  his  friend 
nor  help  him  in  any  way ;  on  the  contrary,  he  should  be  forced 
to  oppose  him  and  join  in  the  quarrel. 

Rajah  Karan,  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  Hindus, 
replied  to  Rajah  Jai  Singh  that  he  was  grateful  for  his  kindness, 

1  I  can  find  no  mention  of  Ra'dandaz  Khan  in  connection  with  Rao  Karan, 
BhQrtiyah,  of  Bikaner.  In  Aurangzeb's  3rd  year  (1660-61),  Amir  Khan,  Khwafi, 
marched  towards  that  country.  Karan  submitted,  came  to  court,  and  was 
employed  in  the  Dakhin.  He  died  in  1077  H.  (1666-67)  (see  '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,' 
ii.  287,  and  289,  line  3). 


RAJAH  KARAN,  BHURTIZAH  23 

but  he  could  not  act  against  the  precedents  set  by  his  ancestors, 
none  of  whom  had  ever  consented  to  appear  at  court ;  thus  he 
was  resolved  rather  to  lose  his  life  a  thousand  times  than  dis- 
regard ancient  custom.  He  therefore  earnestly  entreated  him 
to  settle  the  matter  with  the  king,  but  in  such  a  way  that  he 
should  not  be  forced  to  go  to  court ;  as  for  the  rest,  he  would 
approve  whatever  he  agreed  to  as  mediator.  Rajah  Jai  Singh 
made  proposals  to  Aurangzeb,  who,  seeing  the  firmness  of  Rajah 
Karan,  contented  himself  with  passing  over  the  matter,  but 
ordered  the  rajah  to  proceed  to  the  Dakhin  against  a  Bljapur 
rebel  called  Xevagi  (Shiva  Jl),  as  to  which  campaign  I  will 
speak  hereafter  (II.  jj). 

Rajah  Karan  complied,  but  more  as  if  he  were  going  for  a 
stroll  than  on  a  warlike  expedition,  for  he  only  marched  at 
night,  and  never  farther  than  a  league  [16],  or  thereabouts. 
Aurangzeb  knew  all,  but  thought  fitting  to  conceal  it,  that 
others  might  not  have  occasion  to  rebel  against  him,  for  the 
reason  that  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign  they  saw  he  did  not 
uphold  the  privileges  of  anyone.  Thus  do  intelligent  princes 
act  at  times  with  dissimulation,  and  content  themselves  with 
little,  in  order  to  make  a  future  haul  of  much  greater  value. 
He  who  at  the  commencement  of  his  authority  shows  himself 
timid  in  dealing  with  the  great,  sees  reason  afterwards  to 
repent  of  his  timidity  when  it  is  too  late.  This  was  the  pro- 
cedure by  which  Aurangzeb  strengthened  himself  in  his  king- 
dom, displaying  harshness,  where  he  dared,  as  an  example  to 
others,  and  leaving  alone  the  resolute  who  could  injure  his 
plans,  as  can  be  seen  in  the  following  case,  although  it  appeared 
to  be  a  dishonour  to  him. 

What  happened  to  Nezabetcan  (Najabat  Khan). 

Among  others  who  remained  little  satisfied  with  Aurangzeb 
was  Najabat  Khan,1  to  whom  he  had  promised  high  pay  and 

1  We  have  spoken  of  Najabat  Khan's  career  under  Shahjahan  in  notes  to 
I.  147,  149.  In  Aurangzeb's  1st  year  he  fell  into  disgrace,  but  in  1070  H. 
(1659-60)  he  returned  to  Court.  In  1073  H.  (1662-63)  he  was  left  with  Jai  Singh 
to  guard  the  camp  on  the  Chenab,  while  Aurangzeb  visited  Kashmir.  In  the 
same  year  he  was  made  Governor  of  Malwah,  and  died  there  some  time  in 


24     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

rank  should  he  ever  become  king,  in  reward  for  his  conduct  in 
the  battle  against  Dara  when  he  fought  Rustam  Khan,  DakhinI, 
and  Chhatar  Sal  Rae.  This  man,  after  the  first  compliments  and 
rewards  had  been  distributed,  went  no  more  to  court.  Aurangzeb 
had  failed  to  grant  the  very  great  pay  promised  to  him  when  he 
took  Mir  Jumlah,  making  him  only  a  lord  of  four  thousand 
h^rse  instead  of  twelve  thousand,  as  promised.  Aurangzeb 
noticed  that  Najabat  Khan  did  not  come  to  court,  and  sent  to 
him  an  officer  holding  the  rank  of  one  thousand  horse  with  a 
message  that  he  must  appear. 

The  officer  went,  and  entering  where  Najabat  Khan  was,  sat 
himself  down  without  ceremony.1  At  this  Najabat  Khan  was 
put  out.  However,  he  inquired  civilly  the  cause  of  the  visit. 
The  officer  replied  that  the  king  sent  him  to  make  him 
accept  without  demur  the  rank  of  four  thousand  horse.  The 
hero  retorted  that  he  would  not  accept,  because  the  king  had 
promised  to  make  him  lord  of  twelve  thousand  horse.  The 
messenger  grew  angry,  and  said  contemptuously  that  the  rank 
of  four  thousand  horse  was  more  than  he  deserved.  So  stung 
was  he  by  this  remark  that  Najabat  Khan  drew  his  sword,  and 
with  one  blow  severed  the  messenger's  head  from  his  body, 
and  ordered  him  to  be  flung  by  the  feet  into  the  street. 

When  this  was  reported  to  Aurangzeb,  he  sent  ten  thousand 
horsemen  with  orders  to  produce  the  head  of  Naja'>at  Khan, 
killing  everyone  who  should  resist.  But,  aware  of  Najabat  Khan's 
courage,  he  being  a  man  of  much  valour  and  of  great  strength, 
who  with  one  arrow  from  his  bow  could  transpierce  two  oxen, 
even  when  hitting  them  in  the  shoulder-blades  ;  and  of  his  being 
related  to  many  important  men,  whereby  there  would  be  great 
slaughter  and  much  uproar  [17]  in  the  court ;  Shaistah  Khan 

Rabi'  I.,  1075  H.  (October,  1664)  (see  '  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  32,  42,  47,  48,  and 
'  Mu,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  821).  He  was  the  third  son  of  Mirza  Shahrukh,  of 
Badakhshan  (died  1016  H.),  son  of  M.  Ibrahim,  son  of  M.  Sulaiman,  rank  5,000, 
5,000  suwar  ('  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi,'  year  1075  H.). 

1  The  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  826,  says  the  man  so  sent  and  killed  was  Mir 
Abu.l-fazl,  Ma'muri  (Ma'mur  Khan).  There  is  a  separate  biography  of  him  in 
'  M.-ul-U.,'  iii.  503,  with  another  version  of  the  story  of  his  death,  which  appears 
to  have  happened  in  1068  H.  (1658)  at  the  Agharabad  (Shalihmar)  camp  near 
Dihll. 


NAJABAT  KHAN'S  UNRULY  CONDUCT  25 

spoke  to  the  king  and  succeeded  in  making  Aurangzeb  conceal 
his  resentment.  But  Najabat  Khan  did  not  come  to  court, 
and  he  died  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty- 
one,  two  years  after  the  above  affair.  After  his  death  Aurangzeb 
rewarded  his  two  sons,  making  them  officers  with  considerable 
rank,  assigning  to  the  elder  son  the  title  of  Khan  'Alam — that  is 
to  say,  '  Grandee  of  the  World.' 

Shaistah  Khan  sent  against  Shiva  Ji. 

Aurangzeb  was  very  liberal  in  making  promises  when  he 
wanted  to  gain  his  ends,  at  the  same  time  having  quite  made 
up  his  mind  not  to  keep  his  word.  His  maxim,  as  I  said,  was 
to  make  use  of  oaths  only  to  deceive,  the  truth  of  which  the 
reader  will  gather  from  my  history.  Thus  he  broke  his  word 
to  Shiva  Ji,  but  it  cost  him  dear.  For  up  to  this  day  on  which 
I  write  (?  1699)  he  has  quite  as  much  as  he  can  manage  to 
struggle  with  this  single  prince.  At  the  end  of  this  book  can 
be  seen  the  acts  of  Shiva  JI  and  the  difficulties  which  were 
encountered  by  this  great  and  powerful  king  on  his  account. 
We  come  now  to  the  beginning  of  the  wars  between  Shiva  Ji 
and  the  Mogul. 

Finding  himself  now  fully  established  as  king,  Aurangzeb 
sent  Shaistah  Khan  in  fifty-nine  (1659) l  with  a  powerful  army 
to  compel  Shiva  JI  to  pay  tribute,  and  prohibit  him  from 
collecting  the  revenues  conceded  to  him  when  the  rising 
against  Shahjahan  was  begun.  He  treated  as  of  no  account 
the  deed  on  a  plate  of  copper  ('  gold  '  in  the  French  text) 
which  he  had  given  to  him  (Shiva  JI),  whereon  was  written 
the  grant,  as  I  stated  at  the  end  of  Part  I.  (I.  171).  Orders 
were  also  given  to  Shaistah  Khan  to  threaten  the  Kings  of  Bljapur 
and  Gulkandah,  and  make  them  agree  to  higher  tribute.  Those 
pitiful  and  timorous  creatures  did  as  requested  by  Aurangzeb. 
But  Shiva  Ji  did  not  act  thus ;  he  took  up  arms,  and,  attacking 
first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  another,  plundered  the  Mogul 
country  and  Bljapur,  taking  many  fortresses  and  territories. 

1  The  year  1659  seems  correct;  according  to  the  '  Ma,ash-ul-Umara,'  ii.  690, 
Shaistah  Khan  reached  the  Dakhin  before  Jamada  I..  1070  H.  (January,  1660). 


26     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Descent  of  Shiva  Ji. 

Maybe  the  reader  would  like  to  know  who  this  Shiva  JI  was, 
and  to  comply  with  such  a  reasonable  wish  I  will  place  here 
what  I  meant  to  insert  elsewhere,  in  order  to  make  a  continuous 
story  of  the  events  in  the  early  part  of  Aurangzeb's  reign.  For 
he  who  writes  to  please  others  must  satisfy  those  others'  will, 
while  ever  keeping  close  to  historical  verity. 

Shiva  Ji — that  is  to  say,  'Lord  One-and-a-quarter n — the 
first  of  his  family,  was  the  bastard  son  of  a  Hindu  king,  of 
whom  [18]  I  spoke.  His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  a  car- 
penter. When  this  bastard  had  grown  up,  he  claimed  the 
crown  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  although  he  had  a  brother 
who  was  legitimate.  As  the  officers  and  nobles  refused  their 
allegiance,  he  was  forced  to  flee  and  apply  to  the  King  of 
Bljapur,  who  was  then  powerful.  The  Bljapur  king  took  him 
into  his  service,  and  gave  him  some  provinces  near  the  town  of 
Chavel  (Chaul),2  as  far  as  Camba  (Cambay,  Kambhayat),  near 
the  lands  of  the  Portuguese  towards  Bassaim  (Bassein)  and 
Bombaim  (Bombay). 

He  served  Bljapur  loyally,  and  so  also  did  his  son  Xagi 
(Shah  JI) ;  but  not  so  Xevagi  (Shiva  Ji),  son  of  Shah  JI.  The 
latter  lived  in  the  family  territory  while  his  father  was  at  the  court, 
and  began  to  realize  money  without  sending  any  to  his  father. 
Next  he  began  to  enlist  men  and  attack  the  lands  of  Bljapur  in 
all  directions,  giving  no  heed  either  to  his  father  or  the  king. 
The  latter  complained  to  Shah  JI  of  Shiva  Jl's  temerity,  and 
Shah  JI  replied  that  his  majesty  might  act  as  he  pleased.  His 
son  neither  obeyed  him  nor  remitted  to  him  the  revenues  of 
their  lands,  and  had  already  declared  himself  a  rebel  to  the 
crown. 

1  A  wrong  etymology  ;  from  sawde,  one  and  a  quarter.  The  name  is  obviously 
that  of  the  Hindu  god  Shiva,  meaning  '  auspicious,'  '  lucky,'  '  fortunate,'  followed 
by  the  honorific  affix  '  JI. '  The  person  here  meant  is  not  the  celebrated 
Shiva  JI,  but  his  grandfather,  whose  real  name  was  Mallu  Ji  (see  Grant-Duff, 
'  Mahrattas,'  40). 

2  Chawal,  a  town  and  seaport,  20  miles  south  of  Bombay,  lat.  180  34', 
long.  72°  59' ;  Cambay  (Kambhayat),  230  miles  north  of  the  same  city,  lat.  220  18', 
long.  720  39' ;  Bassain,  28  miles  north  of  the  same  city,  lat.  19°  20',  long.  72°  52'. 


SHIVA  JI  AND  AFZAL  I<HAN,  BIJAPURI  27 

The  King  of  Bljapur  wrote  to  Shiva  JT  that  his  unruly  con- 
duct was  not  the  way  to  respond  to  the  benefits  that  had  been 
conferred  on  his  grandfather,  and  were  still  being  shown  to  his 
father  and  himself.  He  should  desist  from  such  courses  and 
repair  to  the  court,  where  an  office  would  be  given  him.  Shiva 
JI  took  no  notice  of  this  letter,  and  continued  his  plundering 
more  vigorously  than  before,  so  that  the  King  of  Bljapur,  finding 
himself  endangered  because  Shiva  JI  had  taken  one  of  his  for- 
tresses, determined  to  send  against  him  a  famous  general  called 
Afzel  Can  (Afzal  Khan).  This  man  pursued  Shiva  JI  so  per- 
sistently that  the  rebel  was  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the 
mountains.  Finding  himself  powerless  for  further  resistance, 
he  resorted  to  a  trick,  writing  to  Afzal  Khan  a  letter,  in  which 
he  made  excuses,  confessed  himself  a  criminal  and  culprit,  and 
asked  the  general  to  intercede  for  him.  He  besought  pardon 
from  the  king. 

Afzal  Khan  replied  that  he  might  come  in  without  any  hesita- 
tion, that  he  would  obtain  his  pardon  from  the  king,  and  would 
be  always  his  protector.  But  he  must  appear  without  delay 
to  obviate  the  receipt  of  fresh  orders  from  the  king,  enjoining 
further  exertions  to  defeat  and  capture  him.  It  would  be 
better  for  himself  and  for  his  men  to  come  to  a  friendly  agree- 
ment than  to  allow  any  opening  for  the  horrors  of  war.  In 
any  case,  however,  he  (Shiva  JI)  could  not  resist  long,  the  king 
being  so  much  the  more  powerful. 

Shiva  JI  consented  to  appear  before  Afzal  Khan,  but  begged 
him  to  come  with  only  five  persons  to  a  spot  at  a  distance  from 
the  camp,  while  on  his  side  he  (Shiva  JI)  would  bring  no  more 
than  five  men.  He  would  fall  at  his  feet  and  throw  himself 
upon  his  mercy.  Delighted  at  finding  that  Shiva  JI  meant  to 
give  himself  up,  Afzal  Khan  accepted  his  proposals.  At  a  dis- 
tance from  the  camp  he  caused  to  be  made  ready  a  splendid 
tent  with  carpets  for  the  reception  of  Shiva  JI,  who  on  his 
side  [19]  did  not  neglect  to  send  messages,  imploring  Afzal 
Khan's  friendship  and  assurances  of  the  petitioners  being 
received  with  affection. 

Meanwhile  he  (Shiva  JI)  so  disposed  his  army  for  the  carry- 
ing out  of  his  plot  that  when  he  gave  the  agreed  signal,  all  of 


28      OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

them,  spurring  on  their  horses,  could  gallop  straight  into  the 
royal  camp.  Shiva  Jl  got  ready  a  small  and  very  sharp  lancet, 
which  at  the  top  was  formed  into  the  shape  of  a  ring  with 
a  projecting  stone.  Pushing  a  finger  into  the  ring,  the  lancet 
was  concealed  under  cover  of  the  hand.  His  five  companions 
received  orders  that  when  he  embraced  the  general,  they  should 
silently  seize  their  swords,  and  fall  each  upon  one  particular 
enemy.  All  the  five  men  with  their  leader,  Shiva  JI,  wore 
coats  of  mail  beneath  their  clothes.  This  precaution  was  not 
adopted  by  Afzal  Khan  and  his  five  men,  nor  did  they  suspect 
the  treachery  about  to  be  practised  on  them. 

Afzal  Khan  was  in  his  tent  between  the  two  armies,  waiting 
with  great  anxiety  for  the  arrival  of  Shiva  Jl,  and  building,  I 
fancy,  many  castles  in  the  air.  Then  Shiva  Jl  appeared  with  his 
five  men,  all  on  horseback.  At  some  distance  from  the  tent  they 
descended  from  their  horses.  Shiva  Jl  began  to  advance,  bowing 
again  and  again,  as  if  he  was  petitioning  for  a  good  reception  and 
was  in  a  state  of  apprehension.  Afzal  Khan  beckoned  to  him  with 
his  hands  that  he  might  approach  without  fear  ;  and  as  Shiva  Jl 
drew  near,  Afzal  Khan  raised  his  arms  as  if  to  embrace  him. 
Shiva  Ji's  hands  came  round  him  lower  down,  Afzal  Khan 
being  a  tall  man  and  very  corpulent ;  then  swiftly  and  forcibly 
he  rent  open  Afzal  Khan's  abdomen  from  the  left  to  the  right 
side,  so  that  the  bowels  protruded.  The  other  five  men  laid 
hold  of  their  swords  and  cut  to  pieces  Afzal  Khan's  companions. 
The  appointed  signal  was  given,  and  Shiva  Ji's  soldiers  arriving, 
fell  upon  the  army  of  Afzal  Khan,  and  being  taken  unawares,  it 
could  not  resist  the  impetus  of  Shiva  Jl,  more  especially  now 
its  general  was  gone.  Everything  was  thrown  into  confusion, 
and  the  men  took  to  flight.  But  Shiva  Jl  had  adopted 
measures  by  which  the  passes  into  the  hills  were  already 
occupied  by  his  soldiers,  and  thus  the  whole  of  the  royal 
army  was  disposed  of.  He  became  more  powerful  than  ever 
through  the  plunder  in  horses,  arms,  and  money  that  he 
acquired. 

From  this  time  Shiva  Jl  began  to  plunder  the  territories  of  the 
Mogul  in  addition  to  those  of  Bijapur.  He  took  various  strong- 
holds, more  frequently  by  deceit  than  by  force  of  arms.  He  ravaged 


MURDER  OF  AFZAL  KHAN  29 

towns  and  cities,  above  all  Surat,1  where  he  remained  seven  days 
with  seven  thousand  horsemen,  gathering  all  that  there  was  of 
gold  and  silver  in  that  famous  port.  It  was  through  the  reputa- 
tion thus  acquired  by  Shiva  Jl  as  a  valiant  and  quick-witted  man 
that  Aurangzeb,  when  viceroy  in  the  Dakhin,  conceded  to  him 
the  lands  of  which  I  have  already  spoken  (I.  171),  so  as  to 
make  use  of  him  in  case  of  necessity.  Aurangzeb's  object  was 
to  have  someone  on  his  side  in  case  he  failed  in  his  attempt  to 
become  king,  and  he  knew  how  defensible  Shiva  Jl's  territories 
were,  owing  to  their  situation  among  [20]  hills. 

Aurangzeb's  Tutor. 

Among  the  others  who  hastened  to  court  after  Aurangzeb 
had  been  crowned  as  king  was  one  Melecsale  (Malik  Salih),2  a 
former  tutor  of  Aurangzeb.  This  man  lived  in  Kabul  on  the 
allowance  made  him  by  Shahjahan.  He  waited  a  little  while 
before  he  appeared  to  present  his  congratulations  to  his  pupil. 
He  knew  that  at  the  beginning  of  a  reign  it  was  necessary  to 
leave  time  for  the  arrangement  of  more  important  matters,  and 
that  when  Aurangzeb  was  able  to  rest  from  his  greater  anxieties, 
he  would  receive  him  the  more  willingly  and  reward  him 
more  bountifully  for  the  fatigues  which  the  teachers  of  young 
princes  usually  have  to  undergo.  Thus  Mulla  Salih  left  his 
home  with  the  prospect  of  some  great  reward.  Arraying  him- 
self in  even  greater  solemnity  than  is  customary  to  doctors  of 
the  Mahomedan  faith,  he  pursued  his  route  until  he  arrived 
at  Dihli. 

There  he  began  by  paying  his  court  to  the  amaraos  (umard, 
nobles),  invoking  each  one's  aid  in  working  for  his  interest,  so 
that  the  king  might  receive  him  with  greater  affection,  and 
endow  him  the  more  liberally.  Aurangzeb  was  told  of  his 
teacher's  arrival,  but  made  no  sign,  so  that  in  the  interval  he 
might  prepare  himself  for  a  talk  with  him,  through  which 
he  might  instruct  the  teachers  of  his  own  sons  in  the  course  to 

1  Surat  was  taken  on  January  5,  1664  (?  O.S.).  Shiva  Ji  was  there  six  days 
(Grant-Duff,  '  Mahrattas,'  89,  and  '  Bombay  Gazetteer,'  ii.  [Surat]  89). 

2  Make  is  probably  intended  for  Mulla  (a  learned  man),  and  not  for  Malik 
(princeling,  petty  king).     Further  on  Make  is  rendered  by  Doutro  (doctor). 


30     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

be  adopted  in  the  bringing  up  of  princes.  The  emperor  was  of 
opinion  that  Shahjahan  had  not  provided  him  with  a  good 
teacher. 

Thus  three  months  elapsed  before  Mulla  Salih  was  able  to  see 
the  face  of  his  pupil,  and  he  was  forced  to  have  recourse  to 
Roshan  Ara  Begam's  intercession,  and  yet  the  sole  result 
was  to  be  put  to  shame  before  all  the  nobles.  The  day 
arrived  on  which  Mulla  Salih  had  to  appear  at  the  Audience. 
Aurangzeb  ordered  the  chief  nobles,  the  men  learned  in  the  law, 
and  the  teachers  of  his  sons  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony. 
Highly  delighted  at  this  news,  Mulla  Salih  came  to  court 
hoping  for  some  great  reward.  He  came  in  with  the  accustomed 
bows,  whereupon  the  king,  leaving  him  no  time  to  open  his 
mouth,  began  thus: 

'Mulla  Jl!  Master  Doctor!  The  first  object  of  a  king 
or  a  prince  of  this  world  who  has  sons  ought  to  be  to  seek 
out  a  nurse  of  good  constitution  without  disease,  who,  giving 
the  child  to  suck,  should  strengthen  its  feeble  limbs.  The 
child,  sharing  with  her  milk  its  nurse's  health,  will  acquire, 
following  the  royal  expectations,  the  vigour  necessary  for  a  good 
ruler  of  the  people.  But  here  the  anxieties  of  a  king  are  not  at 
an  end ;  on  the  contrary,  if  he  has  great  trouble  in  choosing  a 
wet-nurse,  he  must  be  still  more  careful  in  choosing  an  instructor 
to  teach  the  young  prince,  for  [21]  as  the  health  of  the  child 
depends  upon  the  milk,  so  upon  good  teaching  depends  the  life 
of  the  mind,  a  thing  more  to  be  desired  than  bodily  existence. 
This  is  the  reason  why  all  emperors,  kings,  and  princes  of 
intelligence  have  always  done  their  best  to  obtain  good  teachers 
for  their  sons,  knowing  well,  as  they  do,  that  for  want  of  such 
spiritual  milk  the  son  will  not  retain  the  paternal  qualities,  nor 
be  so  successful  as  hoped  for  by  his  people.  It  was  thus  that 
Philip,  King  of  Macedonia,  urgently  entreated  the  great 
Aristotle  to  submit  to  a  life  at  court  and  take  charge  of  his  son 
Alexander,  who  promised  to  be  of  good  judgment.  He  so 
profited  by  his  master's  lessons  that  he  ended  in  being  the 
greatest  warrior  spoken  of  in  history. 

'  It  is  possible  for  a  prince  when  grown  up  to  forget  the  good 
lessons  received  in  his  early  days,  and  give  himself  up  to  the 


HOW  TO  EDUCATE  A  KING  31 

vices  common  to  mankind.  But  it  is  impossible  that  an  un- 
trained child  should  grow  up  to  be  a  man  of  virtue.  This  is 
why  Aristotle  declared  that  children  owed  as  much  to  their 
teachers  as  to  their  parents ;  the  latter  give  physical,  the 
former  spiritual,  life.  But,  all  things  considered,  I  hold  pupils 
to  be  more  indebted  to  their  teachers  than  to  their  parents,  the 
reason  being  that  corporeal  life  without  the  life  of  the  mind  is  of 
no  value ;  and  it  would  be  better  for  anyone  not  to  have 
material  life  if  deprived  of  spiritual  life.  These  are  the  virtues 
that  arise  from  sound  teaching,  and  without  them  no  one  can 
fitly  reign  over  a  kingdom. 

'  It  was  for  this  reason  that  the  great  Solomon,  in  addition  to 
the  lessons  learnt  from  his  father,  did  not  ask  God  for  riches  or 
power,  but  for  knowledge  and  prudence  whereby  to  rule  properly. 
He  knew  it  was  better  not  to  be  a  king  at  all  than  to  be  one 
void  of  knowledge.  Without  knowledge  no  justice  can  be  dealt 
out,  nor  without  equity  is  there  any  peace  for  a  subject  people. 
Knowledge  forms  the  trusty  scales  of  reason,  is  the  cure  of 
frowardness,  the  stay  of  the  aggrieved,  the  refuge  of  the 
oppressed,  and  a  terror  to  them  that  do  evil.  Prudence  is  the 
harmonizer  and  the  conscience  of  the  body  politic  and  the 
republic,  a  light  in  a  dark  place,  a  sun  amidst  the  stars. 
Blessed  is  that  prince  who  finds  a  learned  man,  who,  with 
affection  and  fidelity,  imparts  to  him  the  virtues  and  good 
qualities  fitting  for  a  king.  Nor  can  I  do  other  than  rejoice  at 
finding  in  our  annals  and  elsewhere  in  the  world's  chronicles  a 
number  of  princes,  kings,  and  monarchs  who  met  with  this  good 
fortune. 

'  But  at  the  same  time,  what  can  I  do  but  weep  when  I 
remember  that  in  my  tender  age  I  fell  into  your  hands,  Doctor 
Salih,  who,  paying  no  need  to  the  good  disposition  God  had 
given  me,  made  me  waste  my  time  by  teaching  me  trivialities 
and  things  that  did  not  concern  me — or,  at  least,  things  that 
could  only  serve  me  as  ornaments  in  conversing  with  learned 
men — overlooking  meanwhile  the  teaching  of  the  things  neces- 
sary to  a  prince.  For  example,  did  you  tell  me  about  the 
monarchies  of  the  world — that  is  to  say  [22],  the  Assyrians, 
the  Persians,  the  Scythians,  who  formerly  were  clad  in  skins, 


32     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

dwelt  among  mountains,  and  were  few  in  number,  but  nowa- 
days, under  the  name  of  Turks,  dominate  and  hold  with  a 
heavy  hand  the  reins  over  the  whole  of  Asia  and  Africa  ? 
When  was  it  that  you  related  to  me  the  valour  and  ingenuity  of 
the  European  Franks,  who  with  smal1  means  met  and  repelled 
the  forces  of  the  powerful  Ottoman  ?  At  the  least,  you  ought 
to  have  spoken  to  me  of  the  riches  and  majesty  of  China.  All 
these  things  you  withheld. 

'  It  is  possible  that  your  knowledge  did  not  extend  beyond 
the  king  and  realm  of  Hindustan,  for  you  taught  me  there  were 
no  other  kings  in  the  world,  that  the  others  were  petty  prince- 
lings of  no  weight.  You  told  me  nothing  about  their  armies, 
wars,  customs,  religions,  government,  and  business.  Hardly 
did  I  learn  from  you  the  names  of  my  ancestors,  of  the  renowned 
Taimur-i-lang  and  the  bellicose  Babar,  the  founders  of  this 
empire.  You  made  no  attempt  to  give  me  the  story  of  their  lives, 
their  wonderful  conquests,  their  mode  of  warfare,  of  ordering 
their  armies,  of  commanding  their  soldiers.  All  your  purpose 
and  effort  was  to  turn  me  into  a  good  Arab,  making  me  waste 
my  time  over  a  language  which  demands  from  ten  to  twelve  years 
to  obtain  a  little  proficiency  in  it.  Meanwhile  my  youth  and 
my  capacity  for  lofty  things  had  vanished. 

'  Who  instructed  you  to  educate  a  royal  prince  in  that 
manner  ?  Would  it  not  have  been  better  to  teach  me  in  my 
mother-tongue  what  you  taught  me  in  Arabic  ?  Leaving  that 
out  of  account,  was  it  not  your  duty  to  teach  me  the  customs 
of  the  Mogul  princes,  to  inform  me  that  one  day  I  should  be 
forced  to  take  the  field,  sword  in  hand,  against  my  brothers,  if 
not  to  gain  a  crown,  at  least  to  defend  my  life  ?  Thus  you  should 
have  told  me  how  to  gain  friends,  to  take  or  besiege  fortresses, 
and  fight  pitched  battles.  These  are  the  things  you  ought  to 
have  taught  me,  but  you  overlooked  the  whole  of  them,  I  know 
not  why,  nor  know  I  whether  to  charge  it  to  the  negligence  of 
my  father  or  to  your  ignorance. 

1  If  I  am  under  obligations  to  anyone,  I  owe  thanks  to  Shekh 
Mir,  whom  I  might  well  call  my  tutor ;  for  he  taught  me  the 
art  of  war — a  man  who  gave  even  his  life  for  love  of  me  at  the 
battle  against  Dara  near  Ajmer.     If  you  did  not   know   the 


AND  HOW  NOT  TO  EDUCATE  A  KING  33 

military  art,  you  might  at  least  have  taught  me  the  methods  of 
governing  the  people  when  my  father  should  send  me  to  rule  in 
some  province.  Thus  you  might  have  laid  down  rules  for  the 
equal  administration  of  justice,  the  way  of  capturing  a  people's 
love,  under  what  circumstances  I  should  be  severe,  when  to 
humour  the  nobles  in  their  unruliness  and  the  ministers  in 
their  misdeeds,  and  the  [23]  method  of  remedying  such  irregu- 
larities. All  this  you  ought  to  have  taught  me,  but  not  a  word 
did  you  breathe  to  me  of  such  things. 

'  Thus  I  owe  you  nothing,  for  you  misled  me.  Go  and  enjoy 
what  my  father  has  given  you,  and  never  again  appear  in  my 
presence  ;  for  you  made  me  waste  a  great  deal  of  time,  and  by 
your  fault  I  have  also  wasted  this  day.' 

Saying  this,  Aurangzeb  retired,  leaving  the  nobles  in  wonder- 
ment at  such  a  speech,  which  perplexed  much  the  learned 
class,  especially  those  who  were  teachers  of  the  king's  sons  and 
were  present.  Mulla  Salih  left  the  court  much  disillusioned, 
his  head  hanging,  and  forthwith  disappeared,  nothing  more 
being  heard  of  him. 

Amir  Khan  sent  to  Kabul. 

After  this  speech,  Aurangzeb,  to  show  his  gratitude  to  Shekh 
Mir,  his  teacher,  who  had  given  up  his  life  for  love  of  him  at 
Ajmer,  as  I  have  stated  in  my  First  Part  (I.  241),  sent  Amir 
Khan1  as  governor  of  Kabul  in  place  of  Mahabat  Khan.  The 
latter  had  not  adopted  Aurangzeb's  side  at  the  time  of  rebellion, 
and  had  remained  true  to  Shahjahan.  But  this  change  of 
governors  was  effected  not  so  much  to  please  Amir  Khan  as 
from  Aurangzeb's  fear  of  Mahabat  Khan.  That  noble  was 
friendly  with  the  independent  Pathans,  and  thus  might  make 
an  attempt  against  him  (Aurangzeb)  in  favour  of  Shahjahan. 
This  is  why  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  reign  he  cajoled  the 
said   Mahabat  Khan  by  several  friendly  letters  until  the  time 

1  Sayyid  Mir,  entitled  Amir  Khan  (son  of  Mir  Muhammad  Khan,  Khwaflj,  died 
27th  Rabi'  II.,  1081  H.  (September  13,  1670).  He  was  the  brother  of  Shekh 
Mir,  who  died  in  1069  H.  (1659)  (' Tarikh-i-Muhammadi,' year  1081).  See  also 
Sayyid  Amir  Khan,  Khwafi,  '  M.-ulU.,'  ii.  476,  and  Shekh  Mir,  ibid.,  ii.  668. 
For  Mahabat  Khan  II.  (Lahrasp),  see  ibid.,  iii.  590.     He  died  1085  H.  (1674-75). 

VOL.'  II.  3 


34     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

came  for  ejecting  him.  The  king  had  suppressed  the  lengthy 
letter  written  against  him  by  Mahabat  Khan  at  the  time  when 
father  and  son  were  exchanging  controversial  letters  touching 
the  mode  of  government. 

On  his  arrival  at  Kabul,1  Amir  Khan  presented  Aurangzeb's 
letter  to  Mahabat  Khan,  whereby  he  was  recalled  to  court.  He 
was  thence  to  proceed  as  governor  of  Gujarat.  Without  a 
word  Mahabat  Khan  left  Kabul,  came  to  court,  afterwards 
moving  on  to  Gujarat,  and  at  the  proper  place  I  will  speak  of  his 
doings  [II.  79].  Meanwhile  he  managed  to  insinuate  pleasantly 
to  Aurangzeb  that  he  ought  not  to  discharge  old  soldiers  as  he 
was  doing — that  is,  he  had  his  beard  shaved  and  went  thus 
ostentatiously  to  court.  The  king  asked  in  wonder  what  had 
made  him  shave.  Mahabat  Khan  replied  that  as,  in  accord- 
ance with  His  Majesty's  orders,  old  soldiers  were  being  dis- 
missed, he  had  shaved  off  his  beard,  so  as  not  to  be  discharged 
like  the  rest,  being  desirous  of  remaining  in  the  service  of  such 
a  great  monarch.  Aurangzeb  divined  the  intention  of  Mahabat 
Khan,  and,  laughing,  gave  fresh  orders  to  retain  all  the  old 
soldiers,  and  restored  the  pay  of  the  veterans  who  had  already 
been  turned  out  [24]. 

ROSHAN   ARA   ASKS    FOR   THE    PALACE    OF    BEGAM    SaHIB. 

I  stated  in  the  First  Part  of  my  history  (I.  149)  that  Begam 
Sahib  had  a  palace  outside  the  fortress,  where  she  lived  when 
Shahjahan  was  emperor  and  dwelt  at  Dihli.  Roshan  Ara 
Begam  was  anxious  to  get  similar  liberty  and  enjoyment. 
Relying  upon  the  love  and  gratitude  her  brother  Aurangzeb 
had  to  her,  she  made  petition  to  him  for  a  grant  of  the  said 
palace,  so  that  she  might  live  outside  the  fortress  and  pass  her 
days  as  she  pleased.  Aurangzeb  knew  well  the  meaning  of  the 
request,  but  intentionally  concealed  that  fact,  and  replied  to 
her  :  '  Roshan  Ara  Begam,  my  beloved  sister !      Most  gladly 

1  Amir  Khan's  appointment  was  made  about  the  4th  Rabi'  II.,  1072  H. 
(November  27,  1661)  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  38).  Mahabat  Khan  was  sent  on  the 
16th  Zi.l  Hijjah  (August  2,  1662)  to  replace  Rajah.  Jaswant  Singh  in  Gujarat 
(ibid.,  41). 


ROSHAN  ARA  BEGAM'S  DELINQUENCIES  35 

would  I  concede  what  you  ask,  but  my  love  to  you  will  not 
allow  me  to  live  deprived  of  your  society  ;  and  it  being  the 
custom  for  the  king's  daughters  not  to  live  outside  their  father's 
palace,  my  daughters  resent  being  deprived  of  you.  Thus  it  is 
fitting,  for  many  reasons,  that  you  live  with  them  and  train  them 
in  the  habits  of  royal  princesses.  By  any  chance,  is  there  any- 
thing deficient  in  the  palace  where  you  reside  ?  Or  have  you 
less  state  than  was  maintained  by  your  sister,  Begam  Sahib  ? 
You  know  well  that  all  my  state  and  the  wealth  of  the  Moguls 
are  yours.' 

These  and  other  reports  about  the  royal  palace  were  given  to 
me  by  a  Portuguese  woman  called  Thomazia  Martins,  who,  on 
the  fall  of  Hugh",  spoken  of  in  Part  I.  (p.  121),  was  carried  off 
captive  by  the  Mahomedans.  She  had  charge  of  the  royal 
table,  and  was  much  liked  by  Roshan  Ara  Begam.  According 
to  the  practice  of  soldiers'  wives  living  in  the  royal  palace,  she 
was  allowed  once  a  month  to  stay  seven  days  in  her  husband's 
house.  At  those  periods,  through  the  affection  she  had  for  me, 
in  addition  to  various  presents  that  she  made  to  me,  she  in- 
formed me  of  what  passed  inside  the  palace. 

A  few  months  afterwards  the  under-eunuchs  reported  to  the 
head  eunuch  of  the  king  how  two  men  had  entered  the  apart- 
ments of  Roshan  Ara  Begam.  This  being  an  important 
matter,  the  eunuch  dissembled,  and,  without  any  warning, 
posted  faithful  watchers  to  ascertain  the  truth.  In  a  few  days 
these  guards  seized  in  the  garden  two  youths,  whom  Roshan 
Ara  Begam  had  just  dismissed  after  they  had  complied  with 
her  will.  They  were  taken  off  to  the  king,  who,  at  once  under- 
standing why  they  had  gone  there,  gave  an  order,  without  any 
inquiry,  that  the  prisoners  must  go  out  by  the  way  they  came 
in.  One  said  he  entered  by  the  door,  and  by  the  door  he  was 
allowed  to  go  out.  The  other  was  so  incautious  as  to  say  that 
he  had  climbed  over  the  garden  wall.  The  head  eunuch, 
whose  [25]  only  anxiety  was  to  wreak  vengeance  for  having 
been  convicted  of  carelessness,  had  him  thrown  over  the 
garden  wall,  and  he  was  killed.  Aurangzeb  was  much  disturbed 
at  the  eunuch's  act,  because  he  held  it  expedient  to  conceal  a 
matter  so  greatly  affecting   the   good    name   of  the   princess. 

3—2 


36     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Therefore  the  eunuch  was  removed  from  office  for  some  days, 
the  reason  given  being  that  he  was  too  severe  to  the  servants 
working  in  the  palace.  Thus  the  eunuch  had  to  take  upon 
him  the  sins  of  Roshan  Ara  Begam,  but  the  princess  began  to 
lose  some  of  the  esteem  that  Aurangzeb  had  for  her,  and  after 
a  little  time  she  came  to  lose  her  life  from  similar  causes,  as  I 
shall  state  in  the  proper  place  (II.  145). 


Ambassadors  of  Balkh.1 

When  the  news  reached  Balkh  how  Aurangzeb,  having 
destroyed  his  brothers,  had  crowned  himself  King  of  Hindustan, 
the  King  of  Balkh  brought  to  mind  the  bravery  of  the  new 
monarch  in  his  youth,  when  Shahjahan  sent  him  as  prince  to 
fight  him.  He  dreaded  that,  having  now  become  king,  with 
so  much  wealth  and  so  many  valiant  and  victorious  soldiers, 
he  might  take  the  route  of  Balkh,  and  renew  the  former  wars. 
He  therefore  sent  ambassadors  to  offer  him  presents,  and 
establish  a  firm  friendship  and  a  sincere  peace. 

Aurangzeb  was  well  aware  of  the  reasons  for  which  the  King 
of  Balkh  had  decided  to  send  this  embassy,  and  although  he 
still  treasured  in  his  mind  the  design  of  conquering  that  land, 
he  feared  that  the  said  king  might  ally  himself  to  others  and 
cause  him  trouble  thus  early  in  his  reign.  He  knew,  also,  that 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  send  an  army  to  conquer  a  kingdom 
lying  amid  such  lofty  mountains,  in  a  climate  so  cold  that 
the  soldiers  of  Hindustan  could  not  endure  it.  He  therefore 
received  the  ambassadors  with  affection  and  goodwill,2  on  con- 
dition that  they  made  obeisance,  as  usual  in  India,  by  putting 
the  hand  on  the  head  and  lowering  it  three  times  almost  to  the 
ground.  The  ambassadors  agreed  to  the  condition,  and  on 
entering  into  the  royal  presence  they  made  obeisance  as  agreed 
upon,  and  when  they  wished  to  draw  near,  the  second  secretary, 

1  See  Bernier's  account,  '  Travels,'  pp.  116-123. 

2  The  Balkh  embassy  arrived  some  time  in  the  fourth  year,  1071-72  H.  (April  29, 
1661,  to  April  19,  1662).  Ibrahim  Beg,  the  envoy  of  Suhban  Quli  Khan.  King  of 
Balkh,  brought  a  letter  and  gifts  from  Turan.  He  fell  ill  and  died  in  a  few  days 
('Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  34). 


XIII.     Sultan  Muhammad,   Eldest  Sox  of  Aurangzeb. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  36. 


PRESENTS  FROM  BALKH  37 

called  Molfed  can  (Multafat  Khan),1  stopped  them,  and,  taking 
the  letters  from  their  hands,  presented  them  to  the  king,  by 
whose  orders  they  were  made  over  to  Jafar  can  (Ja'far  Khan),2 
the  chief  secretary,  and  he  should,  in  due  course,  prepare  a 
reply.  Meanwhile,  he  ordered  each  man  to  be  invested  with 
sarapa  (robes  of  honour),  and  directed  that  their  offerings 
should  be  produced. 

The  first  of  these  consisted  of  nine  boxes  of  lapis-lazuli,  a 
marvellous  thing,  all  full  of  musk,  and  of  a  kind  of  tuber  of 
violet  colour,  which  Arabs  and  Persians  call  zeduar.3  It  is  a 
rare  article,  and  most  medicinal.  In  others  was  a  certain  kind  of 
fish  that  physicians  call  instinco*  [26]  of  Mecca,  which  are  found 

1  Multafat  Khan  (Mir  Ibrahim  Husain)  was  the  second  son  of  Asalat  Khan, 
Mir  Baklishl.  He  was  Bakhshi  of  the  Ahadis,  and  in  the  sixth  year  became 
Akhtah  Begi,  or  Master  of  the  Horse,  in  succession  to  his  brother,  Iftikhar 
Khan.  He  died  rof  wounds  on  the  19th  Jamada  II.,  1092  H.  (July  6,  1681) 
('  M.-ul-U.,'  iii.  611). 

2  For  Ja'far  Khan,  see  note  to  Part  I.,  121. 

3  Zeduar  (Yule,  second  edition,  979,  under  Zcdoary),  an  aromatic  medicinal 
root ;  in  Arabic  jadwar,  in  Persian  zadwar.  In  Persia  it  is  looked  on  as  a 
panacea,  and  is  sold  for  four  times  its  weight  of  pure  gold  (J.  L  Schlimmer, 
'  Terminologie  Pharmaceutique  Francaise-persane, '  p.  335;  Tihran,  1874).  See 
also  G.  Watt,  'Dictionary  of  Economic  Products  of  India,'  1889,  vol.  i.,  84, 
89,  s.v.  A conitum ;  v.,  under  Zedoary,  black  ;  andii.  655,  656,  658,665,  greyish  black, 
but  when  cut  of  a  greyish  orange.  Also  in  'Notices  et  Extraits,'  vol.  xxiii., 
Ibn-el-Beithar,  *  Traite  des  Simples,'  translated  by  L.  Leclerc,  p.  347. 

4  Instinco ;  in  the  French  text  instinct.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  G.  Ellis  for 
the  recognition  of  this  obscure  word.  It  is  saqanqur  (Arabic),  with  the  article 
prefixed — that  is,  as-saqanqur.  Schlimmer,  in  the  work  just  quoted,  p.  337, 
defines  it  as  the  Lacerta  scincus,  or  Scincus  officinalis — Crocodile  terrestre,  sginque 
(French) ;  shink,  skink  (English)  ;  Stink,  Eidechse  (German).  I  am  also  indebted 
to  Mr.  Ellis  for  the  following  references :  '  There  are  two  kinds,  Egyptian  and 
Indian,  the  former  found  in  the  Gulf  of  Suez  ;  among  other  qualities,  it  increases 
sexual  desire'  (Al  Damirl,  •  Hayat-ul-haiwan,*  2  vols.,  ii.  28).  In  '  Alfaz 
Udwiyeh  '  of  Nooreddeen  M.  Abdullah  Sheerazy,  translated  by  F.  Gladwin, 
Calcutta,  1793,  p.  141,  it  appears  as  Iss  Kun  Koor,  the  skink.  There  is  a  long 
article  in  Ibn-el-Beithar,  'Traite  des  Simples,'  translated  by  L.  Leclerc,  'Notices 
et  Extraits,' vol.  xxv.,  1881,  pp.  261-264.  Richardson,  'Dictionary,'  705,  says 
the  word  is  from  the  Greek,  and  the  thing  is  a  species  of  newt  or  spawn  of 
crocodile  burrowing  in  the  sand ;  when  held  in  the  hand  it  is  said  to  be 
stimulative  of  venery.  Mr.  D.  Ferguson  kindly  refers  me  to  an  instance  of  its 
use  given  in  D.  Havart's  'Op  en  Ondergang  van  Cormandel,'  Deel  2,  211. 
Mirza  Ahmad,  Prime  Minister  of  Gulkandah,  caused  to  be  brought  from  Egypt 
at  great  expense  '  a  certain  kind  of  fish  caught  in  the  Nile.' 


38      OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

in  a  certain  stream  of  the  said  kingdom  of  Balkh.  The  pre- 
paration made  from  these  is  so  pungent  that  one  ounce  of  it  is 
equal  to  four  ounces  of  Mecca  instinco.  Mahomedans  make 
great  use  of  these  fish  as  a  remedy  for  impotence,  and  to 
increase  sexual  desire.  The  second  present  consisted  in  some 
eighty  camels  with  long  hair  and  of  great  strength,  and  one 
small  horse,  well  made  and  lively,  of  such  singular  activity  that 
it  could  travel  eighty  leagues  in  twenty-four  hours  without  any 
difficulty.  There  were  other  eighty  fine  horses,  such  as  are 
called  Turki.  The  third  present  consisted  in  one  hundred 
camels  loaded  with  fresh  fruit — melons,  apples,  pears,  pome- 
granates, and  grapes  without  seeds ;  and  other  hundred  camels 
loaded  with  dried  fruit — Bukhara  plums,  the  best  in  the  world, 
apricots,  quismis  (  =  kishmish,  or  raisins),  which  are  a  white, 
seedless  grape  of  great  sweetness,  and  other  three  kinds  of 
dried  grapes,  one  large  and  white,  which  looks  candied  and 
the  Italians  call  zebibo,  and  the  other  two  kinds  purple — 
one  large,  the  other  small,  both  very  sweet — and  nuts,  filberts, 
pine-nuts,1  almonds,  and  pistachios. 

Aurangzeb  showed  pleasure  at  the  presents,  and  replied  that  the 
envoys  would  be  speedily  sent  on  their  return  journey.  Mean- 
while, they  might  come  to  the  court  whenever  they  wished. 
They  were  contented  and  satisfied  at  the  honours  paid  them  by 
the  king,  not  having  hoped  for  so  much.  But  throughout  the 
interview  they  stood,  following  the  custom  set  up  by  King 
Akbar.  When  the  ambassadors  had  gone  out,  Aurangzeb 
ordered  the  little  horse  to  be  brought,  to  try  its  paces.  He 
wondered  at  the  activity  of  the  little  creature,  and  as  a  further 
trial  ordered  it  to  be  ridden  to  Agrah,  a  distance  of  seventy-six 
leagues  from  Dihli.  It  was  to  start  at  sunrise,  bearing  a  letter 
to  the  eunuch  I'tibar  Khan,  who  was  to  report  the  hour  of 
arrival.  Before  the  sun  had  set  it  arrived  at  the  gate  of  Agrah 
Fort,  as  reported  by  I'tibar  Khan  to  the  king.  It  was  ordered 
to  be  placed  in  the  royal  stable  in  the  principal  rank,  and  the 

1  Zibibbo,  dried  grapes,  raisins.  Pine-nuts,  see  G.  Birdwood,  'Catalogue  of 
the  Economic  Products  of  the  Presidency  of  Bombay'  (Bombay,  1862),  p.  84, 
Pinus  pinea,  W.,  stone-pine;  the  seeds  =  pine-nuts  ;  vernacular  name  chilghoza 
(Persian).     Royle  says  the  chilghoza  of  Kabul  may  be  P.  gerardiana. 


HABITS  OF  BALKH  ENVOY  AND  SUITE  39 

name  of  Bad-raftar  was  given  to  it — that  is  to  say,  '  Swift  as 
the  Wind.'  It  was  delightful  to  see  this  horse,  a  pigmy  among 
giants,  chief  over  them  all,  and  more  esteemed  and  liked  by 
Aurangzeb  than  the  choicest  horses  from  Persia  and  Arabia. 

The  ambassadors  stayed  four  months  in  Dihli,  at  the  house 
of  Lutfula  can  (Lutfullah  Khan),1  assigned  by  the  king  as  their 
dwelling.  They  were  all  men  of  dirty  and  rustic  habits,  of 
green  and  black  complexion,  tall,  with  scanty  beards  and 
diminutive  eyes,  active  horsemen  and  dextrous  archers,  their 
bows  and  arrows  being  large  and  powerful.  This  people  fight 
their  enemies  most  vigorously  with  arrows,  but  if  they  meet 
with  resistance  they  take  to  flight  at  a  great  pace,  though  con- 
tinuing to  shoot  their  arrows,  as  I  have  [27]  seen  in  several 
battles.  While  they  were  at  Dihli  the  envoy's  people  sold 
different  articles  of  merchandise  brought  by  them,  such  as 
horses,  camels,  musk,  beaver  {castor),  and  skins.  I  bought 
several  things  from  them. 

They  soon  prayed  the  king  to  give  them  their  leave  to 
depart,  for  they  did  not  find  themselves  comfortable  in  that 
climate,  through  the  great  heats  that  had  come  on.  They 
were  accustomed  to  cold  ;  thus  several  of  them  died.  But  the 
chief  cause  of  mortality  was  their  avarice,  and  in  order  not  to 
disburse  what  the  king  allowed  them  for  expenses,  they  con- 
sumed the  flesh  of  sick  horses  and  camels. 

It  happened  that  a  relation  of  the  envoy  fell  ill,  and  imagining 
that  I  was  a  physician,  as  they  suppose  all  Europeans  to  be, 
they  called  me  to  their  house.  I  knew  a  few  secrets,  but 
I  did  not  give  myself  out  as  a  physician,  nor  was  I  bold 
enough  to  teach  myself  medicine  at  the  expense  of  others' 
lives.  But  seeing  that  these  savages  had  sent  for  me  to  their 
house,  I  was  anxious  to  see  how  they  lived.  I  proceeded  with 
great  solemnity  to  the  spot.  When  I  had  gone  in  I  found  the 
patient  on  a  very  dirty  bed  in  a  fetid  sweat  with  the  odour  of 
very  rotten  cheese.  I  ordered  his  urine  to  be  shown,  and  it, 
too,  smelt  the  same.  I  felt  his  pulse,  but  my  thoughts  were 
not  given  to  the  pulse,  but  to  finding  something  I  could  seize 

1  i'ossibly  L.  K.  (son  of  Sa'dullah  Khan,  wazir)  is  meant.  He  died  18th  Sha'ban, 
1 1 14  H.  (January  7,  1703). 


40     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

on  in  the  difficulty  to  effect  a  good  recovery.  Nevertheless,  I 
ascertained  that  he  was  in  a  high  fever,  and  placing  my  hand 
upon  his  head,  bathed  in  malodorous  perspiration,  I  found  it 
was  burning  hot,  like  a  pot  placed  upon  the  fire.  To  induce 
him  to  believe  that  I  was  a  great  physician,  I  asked  the 
patient's  age,  and  then  for  a  time  I  assumed  a  pensive  attitude, 
as  if  I  were  seeking  for  the  cause  of  the  illness.  Next,  as  is 
the  fashion  with  doctors,  I  said  some  words  making  out  the 
attack  to  be  very  grave.  This  was  done  in  order  not  to  lose 
my  reputation  and  credit  if  he  came  to  die. 

All  of  them  were  in  a  state  of  admiration,  saying  among 
themselves  that  I  was  a  great  physician,  and  that  the  Franks 
had  received  from  heaven  the  gift  of  being  accomplished  doctors. 
The  principal  envoy  prayed  me  earnestly  to  put  forth  all  my 
powers  to  cure  this  relation  of  his.  I  held  out  to  him  good 
hope  of  a  cure,  and,  being  unable  to  stay  any  more  in  the  place 
owing  to  the  smell,  I  told  them  I  was  going  home  to  prepare 
medicine,  and  that  in  the  evening  I  would  return  once  more. 

I  came  out  and  repaired  to  a  friend  of  mine  called  Joao  de 
Souza,  a  Portuguese,  who  was  under  an  obligation  to  me,  and 
recounted  to  him  all  that  had  passed.  As  he  had  considerable 
acquaintance  with  medicine,  he  was  much  astonished  at  such 
a  report,  and  did  not  know  what  to  prescribe  for  the  patient. 
Still,  he  delivered  to  me  some  pills.  For  three  days  I  went  on 
with  these,  giving  them  to  the  sick  man,  who  did  not  seem  to 
me  to  be  improving.  But  all  the  men  asserted  to  me  that 
already  he  was  recovering  [28],  whereat  I  rejoiced  much.  I 
seized  the  opening  to  still  more  cry  up  the  medicine  and  dwell 
on  the  danger  of  the  disease.  Twice  a  day  I  visited  the  patient, 
once  in  the  morning  and  once  in  the  evening.  Each  time  four 
horsemen  arrived  to  escort  me. 

Almost  every  day  that  I  went  there  I  was  obliged  to  dine 
with  the  envoy,  and  I  thus  had  the  chance  of  observing  their 
mode  of  eating.  Over  fifty  persons  seated  themselves  together 
round  the  cloth.  The  food  was  flesh  of  camels  and  of  horses 
cooked  with  salt  in  water,  and  some  dishes  of  pulao  of  goat's 
flesh.  The  cloth,  spread  upon  a  carpet,  was  very  dirty.  To 
wait  on  us  were  two  men  with  bare  feet,  who,  walking  upon 


MANUCCI  AS  ME  DEC  IN  MALGRE  LUI  41 

the  cloth,  distributed  the  food,  each  with  a  big  spoon  in  his 
hand.  It  was  disgusting  to  see  how  these  Uzbak  nobles  ate, 
smearing  their  hands,  lips,  and  faces  with  grease  while  eating, 
they  having  neither  forks  nor  spoons.  The  only  implements 
each  had  on  him  were  three  or  four  knives,  large  and  small, 
which  they  usually  carry  hanging  from  their  waistbelt.  Maho- 
medans  are  accustomed  after  eating  to  wash  their  hands  with 
pea-flour  to  remove  grease,  and  most  carefully  clean  their 
moustaches.  But  the  Uzbak  nobles  do  not  stand  on  such 
ceremony.  When  they  have  done  eating,  they  lick  their 
fingers,  so  as  not  to  lose  a  grain  of  rice ;  they  rub  one  hand 
against  the  other  to  warm  the  fat,  and  then  pass  both  hands 
over  face,  moustaches,  and  beard.  He  is  most  lovely  who  is 
the  most  greasy.  They  render  thanks  to  God  with  '  Alaham 
dilaha '  {Al-hamdu-l'illahi).  Each  man  then  begins  to  take 
tobacco,  and  remains  for  a  time  talking.  The  conversation 
hardly  gets  beyond  talk  of  fat,  with  complaints  that  in  the 
Mogul  territory  they  cannot  get  anything  fat  to  eat,  and  that 
the  puldos  are  deficient  in  butter.  As  a  salute  to  their  repletion, 
they  emit  loud  eructations,  just  like  the  bellowing  of  bulls. 

Although  against  my  will,  I  went  on  with  my  treatment  of 
the  sick  man  ;  and  I  found  out,  by  questioning,  the  kind  of 
food  eaten  by  the  sick  man  when  at  home.  He  told  me  that, 
being  a  shepherd,  he  lived  on  camel's  milk  and  ate  much  cheese 
and  curds  made  when  the  milk  turns  sour.  I  discovered  in  this 
way  that  the  odour  of  his  perspiration  and  of  his  urine  arose 
from  this  kind  of  diet,  the  heat  of  India  having  drawn  out  the 
smell.  Thus  I  ordered  him  to  eat  what  he  ate  in  his  own 
country.  Continuing  with  some  tonic  extract  of  coral,1  I 
restored  him  to  health  in  five  days,  and  the  envoy  was  so 
pleased  that  he  made  me  a  present  of  nine  melons  and  a 
quantity  of  dried  fruit.  He  entreated  me  to  continue  in  his 
house,  and  did  all  he  could  think  of  to  persuade  me  to  go  with 
him,  promising  [29]  to  procure  for  me  from  the  King  of  Balkh 
lands  and  herds  of  horses  and  camels  and  flocks  of  sheep.  He 
said  I  should  be  highly  esteemed  by  the  king  and  all  the  court. 

1  Alguns  cordiacs  de  coral,  possibly  coral  de  jardim,  capsicum,  Guinea  or  bonnet  - 
pepper. 


42     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

I  was  very  anxious  to  join  his  suite  as  a  means  of  seeing  more  of 
the  world,  but,  as  their  habits  did  not  please  me,  I  made  excuses 
many  times  that  I  should  never  get  accustomed  to  their  way 
of  life.  Above  all,  I  had  seen  once  one  of  their  Uzbak  soldiers 
lay  hold  of  a  small  knife  and  bleed  his  horse  on  the  neck  with 
great  dexterity.  Having  drawn  forty  ounces  of  blood,  he  closed 
the  wound  with  one  finger,  and  drank  the  blood  with  great 
gusto.  After  he  was  satisfied  he  shared  the  rest  with  his  com- 
panions, who  came  hurriedly,  each  trying  to  be  first,  like  so 
many  famished  wolves.  Afterwards  the  wound  was  tied  up  with 
a  cloth,  and  the  horse  was  left  to  get  well  of  itself.  I  asked 
him  why  he  drank  his  horse's  blood.  He  replied  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  it,  because  in  their  country,  when  plundering 
within  an  enemy's  boundary,  if  provisions  failed,  their  soldiers 
sustained  life  with  the  blood  of  their  horses ;  nor  from  this 
blood-letting  did  the  horses  lose  their  vigour.  In  addition  to 
this,  he  told  me  it  was  their  habit,  when  they  captured  any 
camel,  horse,  or  sheep  in  an  enemy's  country,  if  they  were 
unable  to  carry  it  off,  to  decapitate  it,  cut  it  into  pieces,  and 
place  some  pieces  between  their  saddle  and  their  horse's  back, 
for  consumption  on  the  march  whenever  they  were  hungry. 

The  envoys  brought  several  Tartar  and  Uzbak  women  with 
them  for  sale.  They  are  employed  [in  harems]  either  to  carry 
palanquins  or  to  stand  on  sentry  at  night,  when  the  king  or 
the  princes  are  with  their  wives.  They  are  chosen  because  they 
are  warlike,  and  skilful  in  the  use  of  lance,  arrow,  and  sword. 
Among  them  was  one  called  Jacsi1  (Yakhsh'i) — that  is,  in  the 
Turkish  language,  '  Good,'  who  was  very  skilful  with  bow  and 
arrow,  of  good  stature,  and  strong,  with  a  broad  face  and 
little  eyes.  This  woman  was  bought  by  Aftecar  can  (Iftikhar 
Khan),2  and  by  him  presented  to  the  king.  Aurangzeb  ordered 
her  to  be  placed  upon   the   list   of  the  numerous  Kashghar, 

1  Jacsi.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  G.  Ellis  for  the  identification  of  this  word  in 
'  Sheikh  Suleiman  Efendi's  Chagatae  Osmanli  Worterbuch,'  by  Dr.  Ignaz  Kunos 
(Buda-Pest,  1902),  p.  96.  It  is  Yakhsht,  '  schon,  gut.'  See  also  Pavet  de 
Courteille,  'Dictionnaire.'p.  543. 

2  Sultan  Ilusain,  eldest  son  of  Asalat  Khan,  Mir  Bakhshi,  received  the  title  of 
Iftikhar  Khan  in  the  first  year  of  Aurangzeb.  He  died  in  1092  H.  (1681)  (Beale, 
'Or.  Biography,'  175,  and  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  252). 


AN  UZBAK  SLAVE  AND  HER  SON  43 

Qalmaq,  '  Partaras '  (?  Pathani),  and  Abyssinian  women,  who 
acted  as  sentinels  round  the  king  at  night. 

After  some  months  had  passed,  the  chief  of  these  amazons 
informed  the  king  of  Yakhshi's  pregnancy.  Aurangzeb's 
answer  was  that,  should  it  be  a  boy,  he  would  rear  him  as 
a  son ;  if  a  girl,  as  a  daughter.  The  Tartar  woman  brought 
forth  a  male  child,  whereupon  the  king  adopted  him  as  a  son, 
and  gave  him  the  title  of  Alantox  Bahader  (Alamtosh  Bahadur)1 
— that  is  to  say,  '  Valorous  of  the  World.'  When  he  grew  up 
he  was  granted  the  establishment  of  a  prince.  But  owing  to 
the  undisciplined  conduct  of  the  youth,  Aurangzeb  was  forced 
to  thrust  him  out  and  take  away  from  him  his  rank  as  a  prince, 
leaving  him  very  small  [30]  pay.  Here  it  is  appropriate  to 
remark  that  in  India  it  is  the  custom  to  bring  up  such  children 
as  if  they  were  true  sons.  Experience  teaches  that  such  children 
rarely  turn  out  well,  and  are  like  a  conflagration  in  a  house. 

The  four  months  were  drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  envoys 
from  Balkh  began  to  talk  of  a  return  to  their  own  country. 
Aurangzeb,  at  their  leave-taking,  ordered  them  to  receive  two 
sets  of  robes  of  rich  stuff  for  each  man,  and  eight  thousand 
rupees.  For  the  King  of  Balkh  he  sent  as  a  remembrance 
many  pieces  of  costly  brocade,  a  quantity  of  very  fine  white 
cloth  to  make  veils  (beatilhas),2  many  pieces  of  striped  gold  and 

1  There  was  such  a  person  of  undescribed  origin  about  the  Court  from  1081  H. 
(1670)  to  1097  H.  (1686).  He  is  styled  variously  Yalangtosh  ('  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,' 
iii.  971),  Palangposh  Khan,  and  Palangtosh  Khan.  Bahadur  ('Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,' 
108,  etc.).  The  last  form  is  probably  correct,  from  palang,  'panther,'  and  tosh, 
'strength.'  In  1093  H.  (1682)  he  was  made  Qurbegi,  or  head  of  the  armoury, 
and  in  1096  H.  (1685)  superintendent  of  the  pages  (an  important  office).  He  fell 
into  disgrace  in  1097  H.  (1686),  and  we  hear  no  more  of  him.  His  son,  Subhan 
WirdI,  was  living  in  1104  H.  (1692). 

Yalangtosh  Khan,  Bahadur,  was  a '  Turk-bachah '  (slave),  brought  up  by  'Alamgir ; 
he  received  a  mansab  and  the  title  of  Khan.  In  Aurangzeb's  fourteenth  year  he 
was  given  a  sword,  dagger,  and  spear.  In  the  twenty-fifth  year  he  was  made 
superintendent  of  the  armoury,  and  in  the  twenty-eighth  superintendent  of  the 
pages.  He  was  liked  by  the  Emperor,  whose  ways  and  temperament  he  under- 
stood. For  a  time  he  was  out  of  favour ;  the  year  of  his  death  is  not  known  (Kewal 
Ram,  'Tazkirat-ul-Umara,'  British  Museum  Additional  MS.,  16,703,  fol.  1086). 

2  Beatilha  (Yule,  90,  and  '  Madras  Manual  of  Administration,'  iii.  233),  an  old 
trade  name  for  a  fine  kind  of  muslin.  Beatilha,  Portuguese  for  '  a  veil ' ;  from 
beata,  '  a  nun.' 


44     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

silver  cloth,  five  pairs  of  very  large  carpets,  two  daggers, 
adorned  with  precious  stones,  five  flasks  of  essence  of  roses, 
and  nine  costly  and  beautiful  sets  of  robes,  with  the  whole  of 
which  the  envoys  were  much  satisfied. 

Ignorance  made  them  thus  satisfied,  for  they  were  not  aware 
that  the  King  of  the  Moguls  sends  sarapas  (sets  of  robes)  to 
subjects  only.  To  send  a  sarapa  to  anyone  is  to  declare  him  to 
be  a  subject.  If  he  submit  to  this,  no  further  present  need  be 
added.  The  reader  should  understand  that  the  Kings  of 
Bijapur  and  Gulkandah,  and  the  Rana,  when  the  Mogul  king 
sent  them  sarapas,  were  under  obligation  to  come  out  one 
league  from  their  capital  to  be  invested  with  the  robes,  after 
making  obeisance  three  times,  as  usual  in  Hindustan,  with 
their  face  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  court  and  the  letters 
placed  on  the  top  of  their  head.  But  the  king  Rana  [of 
Udepur  ?]  would  never  consent  to  put  on  the  sarapa  of  the 
Mogul,  in  order  not  to  admit  himself  to  be  a  subject,  although 
every  year  he  pays  for  seven  thousand  cavalry,  who  are  kept 
continuously  in  the  service  of  the  Mogul  king. 

After  the  royal  audience  of  leave-taking,  the  envoys  sent 
their  baggage  out  of  the  city,  while  they  stayed  behind  with 
fifty  horsemen  in  order  to  take  leave  of  the  greater  nobles. 
The  first  to  whom  they  went  was  Ja'far  Khan,  chief  secretary 
{i.e.,  wazlr),  and  he  produced,  as  is  the  custom,  a  box  full  of 
betel,  of  which  they  ate  as  they  came  away.  The  box  was  of 
gold,  and  its  salver  covered  with  precious  stones,  the  whole 
worth  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  rupees.  Feigning  the 
innocent,  the  envoy  made  believe  that  the  whole  was  made 
over  to  him  as  a  gift.  He  took  the  box  and  the  salver  and 
placed  them  inside  his  clothes,  which  are  long,  wide,  and 
flowing,  then  hurriedly  made  his  adieu  with  a  few  complimentary 
words.  Off  went  the  eunuch  at  once  to  inform  the  secretary  of 
the  low  conduct  of  these  rustics.  The  wazlr,  aware  of  the 
avaricious  character  of  the  people,  gave  orders  that,  without 
the  least  delay,  all  the  umaras  (nobles)  should  be  warned  of 
what  the  Balkh  envoys  had  done.  The  nobles,  warned  at  the 
cost  of  others,  when  the  envoys  appeared,  sent  them  betel-leaf 
in  silver  boxes  of  small  value.     Thus  did  Muhammad  Amin 


MEANNESS  OF  THE  BALKHlS  45 

Khan,  and  after  him  [31]  Multafat  Khan  ;  whence,  recognising 
that  no  one  else  could  be  cheated  like  Ja'far  Khan,  they  took 
the  betel,  made  no  more  visits,  and,  quitting  the  city,  started 
for  their  country,  being  thus  filled  with  grease,  inside  and  out. 

The  Naval  Forces. 

Having  arranged  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  with  sufficient 
completeness,  Aurangzeb,  relying  upon  the  victories  he  had 
gained  on  land,  thought  of  establishing  the  fear  of  himself  at 
sea  ;  he  therefore  resolved  to  set  up  a  fleet,  with  a  considerable 
number  of  ships.  The  reason  for  this  resolve  was  the  loss  of 
a  Mahomedan  vessel  loaded  with  kauris.  In  Italian  these  are 
called  lumaquelle  ;x  they  come  from  the  Maldives,  and  are  current 
money  in  the  kingdom  of  Bengal.  After  some  fighting  this 
ship  was  taken  by  pirates.2  The  captain  and  the  merchants 
on  the  ship  said  to  the  pirates  that  the  kauris  would  never  be 
of  any  use  to  them  ;  thus  they  should  be  satisfied  to  accompany 
them  as  far  as  Mecca,  in  which  port  they  would  pay  them 
forty  thousand  patacas. 3  The  proposal  was  accepted,  and  the 
pirates  went  to  Mecca.  At  a  distance  from  the  harbour  they 
awaited  the  fulfilment  of  the  agreed  bargain.  But  the  Maho- 
medans,  instead  of  satisfying  the  pirates,  laid  hold  of  the 
opportunity  of  two  royal  vessels  being  there.  These  ships  had 
brought  faqlrs  and  the  ladies  and  lords  of  Hindustan  to  Mecca. 
They  so  arranged  that  with  the  assistance  of  other  merchant 
ships  they  all  sailed  out  to  capture  the  Frank  pirate.  But  it 
turned  out  very  differently  from  what  they  expected.  For, 
going  out  to  hunt,  they  were  themselves  hunted.  The  pirates, 
seeing  some  ten  or  twelve  vessels  coming  against  them,  pre- 
tended to  take  to  flight,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  these  inexperienced 
men  out  to  the  open  sea. 

The  Mahomedans  did  all  they  could  to  catch  the  pirate  ship, 
under  the  belief  that  she  could  not  escape,  when,  much  to  their 

1  Lumachella,  a  small  snail.     Lumaca,  a  snail. 

2  Apparently  the  'pirates'  were  Portuguese;  see  further  on,  where  the  men 
are  called  Farangis,  a  word  then  in  use  in  Bengal  and  elsewhere  for  a  low  class 
of  Portuguese  half-castes. 

3  A  pataca  was  worth  two  rupees. 


46     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

surprise,  the  pirate,  with  great  determination  and  courage,  veered 
round,  and,  getting  amongst  the  attacking  vessels,  most  dexter- 
ously discharged  its  guns  and  threw  them  into  disorder.  Thus, 
some  dispersed  one  way  and  some  another.  The  pirates  captured 
one  ship,  and  after  stripping  it,  set  it  on  fire,  consuming  both 
the  vessel  and  all  those  that  were  in  it.  Nor  were  they  satisfied 
with  this  vengeance.  Knowing  the  little  acquaintance  with 
sea-life  and  the  little  handiness  at  sea  possessed  by  the  Maho- 
medans,  they  sailed  to  the  latitude  of  Dio  (Diu),  near  Surat, 
and  waited  for  the  royal  ships.  These  were  on  their  way  from 
Mecca  with  high-placed  lords  and  ladies,  besides  faqlrs.  There 
was  also  much  coin,  chiefly  Venetian,  vulgarly  called  zequinhos 
(sequins).1  It  turned  out  as  they  had  hoped,  for  when  the  two 
ships  arrived,  they  attacked  them  and  overcame  [32]  one  of 
them,  when  they  not  only  took  its  valuable  cargo,  but  dishonoured 
the  ladies  aboard  of  it. 

The  damaged  vessel  arrived  at  Surat,  whence  the  governor 
reported  to  Aurangzeb  what  had  occurred.  This  was  the  reason 
of  his  wishing  to  create  a  war  navy,  to  sweep  the  seas  of  the 
pirates  and  make  himself  powerful  at  sea.  With  this  object 
in  view  the  king  imparted  his  design  to  Ja'far  Khan,  the  chief 
secretary,  a  man  of  judgment,  who  demanded  time  before 
answering.  After  some  days  he  said  to  Aurangzeb  that  his 
majesty  had  no  deficiency  of  money  or  timber,  or  other  materials 
to  form  a  navy.  But  he  was  without  the  chief  thing — that  is 
to  say,  men  to  direct  it.  Aurangzeb  retorted  that  the  conduct 
of  it  might  be  entrusted  to  the  Franks,  who  lived  on  his  pay. 
But  Ja'far  Khan  boldly,  as  a  faithful  minister,  replied  that  it 
would  not  be  well  to  confide  to  foreigners — fugitives  from  their 
own  country — a  business  of  such  importance.  Those  men 
might  easily  abscond ;  nor  would  they  think  the  Mogul  soldiers, 
who  might  man  the  ships,  of  any  account ;  and  these,  not  being 
properly  trained,  would  allow  themselves  to  be  completely 
controlled  by  those  commanders. 

To  all  these  arguments  Aurangzeb  turned  a  deaf  ear  (as  he 
persisted  in  his  desire  to  have  a  fleet),  and  then  issued  an  order 

1  The  Venetian  zecchino,  cecchino,  or  sequin,  a  gold  coin  long  current  on  the 
shores  of  India  (Yule,  second  edition,  1936). 


UNSATISFACTORY  NAVAL  EXPERIMENT  47 

to  have  a  ship  constructed.  He  wanted  to  have  ocular  demon- 
stration of  the  difficulties  raised  by  Ja'far  Khan.  This  order 
was  taken  to  my  fellow-countryman  Ortencio  Bronzoni,  a 
lapidary,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken,1  who  made  a  small 
ship  with  its  sails  and  rigging,  guns  and  flags.  When  it  was 
ready,  it  was  launched  on  a  great  tank.  The  king  and  all  the 
court  assembled  to  behold  a  kind  of  machine  which  could  not 
travel  by  land.  Here  the  European  artillerymen,  accustomed 
to  navigation,  went  aboard  the  vessel,  and  caused  it  to  move  in 
all  directions  by  adjusting  the  sails  and  working  the  helm  with 
great  dexterity  and  cleverness.  Then,  as  if  engaging  some  other 
man-of-war,  they  discharged  the  cannon,  turning  in  all  direc- 
tions. On  seeing  all  this,  after  reflecting  on  the  construction 
of  the  boat  and  the  dexterity  required  in  handling  it,  Aurangzeb 
concluded  that  to  sail  over  and  fight  on  the  ocean  were  not 
things  for  the  people  of  Hindustan,  but  only  suited  to  European 
alertness  and  boldness.  Thus  at  last  he  abandoned  the  project 
entertained  with  such  obstinacy. 

The  Ambassador  of  Persia. 

In  the  second  year  of  Aurangzeb's  reign  the  ambassador  of 
Shah  'Abbas  [33]  the  second,  King  of  Persia,  arrived.  Learning 
that  he  was  about  to  reach  the  boundary  of  the  Hindustan 
kingdom,2  Aurangzeb  sent  to  meet  him  an  officer  called  Abdulbeg 
('Abdullah  Beg),  formerly  police  officer  of  Shahjahan  [abad], 
a  man  of  good  judgment.  His  orders  were  to  receive  the 
ambassador  at  the  frontier  and  to  discover  his  intentions, 
not  sparing  expense.  He  must  also  succeed  in  particularly 
impressing  on   him  the  ceremonial  of  the   Indian  court,   the 

1  Ortencio  Bronzoni,  Venetian  ;  see  Part  I.,  p.  164,  where  he  is  named  as  the 
cutter  of  the  diamond  given  by  Mir  Jumlah  to  Shahjahan.  He  is  also  mentioned 
by  Tavernier  (Ball,  vol.  i.,  p.  396  ;  ii.  440)  under  the  form  of  Borgio. 

2  See  Bernier  (Constable),  146,  147.  Budaq  Beg,  envoy  of  Shah  'Abbas  II.  of 
Iran,  on  the  last  day  of  Sha'ban,  1071  H.,  the  third  year  (April  30,  1661),  entered 
Multan.  An  order  was  passed  for  Tarbiyat  Khan,  Governor  of  Multan,  and 
Khalilullah  Khan,  Governor  of  Lahor,  to  entertain  him.  He  reached  Sarae 
Badll,  and  had  an  audience  on  the  3rd  Shawwal,  1071  H.  (June  2,  1661) 
('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  35).  Budaq  Beg  was  the  son  of  Qalandar  Sultan, 
Cholah,  Tufangchi-aqasT  (see  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umarii,'  i.  495,  s.v.  Tarbiyat  Khan). 


48     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

obligatory  obeisances,  and  how  it  was  an  ancient  practice  from 
Akbar's  days  up  to  that  time  that  Mogul  kings  accord  seats  to 
no  one,  and  do  not  take  a  letter  direct  from  the  hand  of  any 
man.  Letters  are  delivered  to  the  wazlr,  and  he  reads  them  to 
the  king.  After  he  had  given  him  this  information,  he  was  to 
find  out  if  the  ambassador  was  minded  to  make  the  accustomed 
obeisances  and  to  put  the  letter  into  the  hands  of  the  wazlr.  On 
all  these  points  he  was  to  report  to  court  minutely. 

Some  men  further  assert  with  great  positiveness  that  the 
king  had  given  a  secret  order  to  'Abdullah  Beg  to  send  back 
the  Persian  ambassador  if  he  did  not  choose  to  do  according  to 
the  customs  of  Hindustan.  He  also  ordered  the  viceroys  and 
provincial  governors  to  receive  the  ambassador  with  every 
honour,  in  order  thus  to  gain  his  goodwill  and  to  be  able 
to  discover  the  more  easily  what  intentions  he  had.  'Abdullah 
Beg  started,  and  went  out  to  meet  the  ambassador  at  the 
Qandahar  frontier.  Thence  he  brought  him  in  his  company 
as  far  as  Kabul.  From  this  place  'Abdullah  Beg  wrote  to  the 
king  that  he  had  already  instructed  the  ambassador  in  the 
practice  of  the  Mogul  kings,  and  that  he  had  raised  no  diffi- 
culties about  doing  what  the  ambassadors  of  other  great  kings 
had  done,  as  he  had  assured  him  several  times. 

Aurangzeb  knew  the  discretion  and  power  of  dissimulation 
of  the  Persians.  For  he  remembered  the  rudeness  shown  by 
another  Persian  ambassador  in  the  time  of  Shahjahan.  He 
therefore  wrote  to  Khalilullah  Khan,  Governor  of  Lahor,  that 
during  a  feast  he  must  succeed  in  finding  out  delicately  from 
the  ambassador  himself  if  he  meant  to  make  the  obeisances 
after  the  Indian  mode  or  not.  Khalilullah  Khan  informed  the 
king  that  the  ambassador  had  given  him  his  word  to  do  them 
as  others  did. 

On  the  ambassador's  arrival  within  one  day  of  Dihli, 
Aurangzeb  sent  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  [the  son  of  Mir  Jum- 
lah]  at  the  head  of  one  thousand  selected  horsemen  to  meet 
him  and  escort  him  to  the  city.  He  was  to  discover  the  object 
of  this  embassy  and  why  he  had  come.  Gifts  and  presents 
were  not  to  be  stinted,  whether  to  the  ambassador  or  to  the 
five   hundred   Persian  cavaliers  who   accompanied   him.      To 


RECEPTION  OF  PERSIAN  AMBASSADOR  49 

gain  time  for  finding  out  the  reason  of  the  embassy  and  the 
intentions  of  the  ambassador  in  regard  to  the  obeisances  usual 
in  India,  he  further  ordered  him  to  come  in  leisurely,  so  that  the 
streets  might  be  prepared  through  which  the  ambassador  [34] 
was  to  pass ;  he  was  to  bring  him  to  a  halt  near  the  royal  garden 
called  Xalemas  (Shalihmar),1  distant  three  leagues  from  the  city. 

Aurangzeb  despatched  various  nobles  on  the  heels  of  Muham- 
mad Amln  Khan  to  meet  the  ambassador.  But  the  latter 
would  not  so  far  state  whether  he  would  make  the  usual 
obeisances  or  not,  and  never  disclosed  the  object  of  his  mission. 
Aurangzeb  insisted  on  knowing  the  object  of  the  embassy,  and 
whether  the  ambassador  meant  to  make  the  obeisances  usual 
in  India.  He  feared  that  Shah  'Abbas,  supported  by  Mir 
Jumlah,  Khalilullah  Khan,  Ja'far  Khan,  and  many  other 
officers,  who  were  Persians,  might  attempt  something  in  these 
early  days  of  his  (Aurangzeb's)  reign.  For  there  still  lived 
several  men  ill-affected  towards  him,  favourites  of  Shahjahan, 
and  he  wanted  to  adopt  precautionary  measures,  knowing  by 
experience  how  much  inclined  the  Persians  are  to  treachery. 

The  ambassador  halted  near  the  garden  referred  to,  and  an 
official  was  sent  from  the  court  to  Muhammad  Amln  Khan, 
instructing  him  to  tell  the  ambassador  that  although  ambas- 
sadors' letters  were  received  only  by  the  wazlr,  still,  as  he  was 
the  ambassador  of  the  King  of  Persia,  to  him  would  be  con- 
ceded the  favour  that  one  of  the  princes,  Aurangzeb's  sons, 
should  receive  it.  The  ambassador  seemed  satisfied  at  this. 
Meanwhile,  Aurangzeb  gave  orders  for  soldiers  to  be  posted  on 
both  sides  of  the  street,  a  league  in  length,  through  which  the 
ambassador  would  pass.  The  principal  streets  were  decorated 
with  rich  stuffs,  both  in  the  shops  and  at  the  windows,  and 
the  ambassador  was  brought  through  them,  escorted  by  a 
number  of  officers,  with  music,  drums,  pipes,  and  trumpets. 
On  his  entering  the  fort,  or  royal  palace,  he  was  saluted  by  all 
the  artillery. 

Aurangzeb  was  seated  on  a  throne  in  shape  like  a  peacock — 

1  The  garden  of  Shalihmar  at  Dihll  disappeared  many  years  ago  ;  it  was  near 
the  village  of  Badli  Sarae.  Badli  is  mentioned  in  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgin '  as 
the  halting-place. 

VOL.  II.  4 


50     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

a  marvellous  piece  of  work  made  by  King  Shahjahan — but  he 
never  had  the  good  fortune  to  sit  on  it.  Fearing  that  the 
ambassador  might  not  wish  to  make  the  necessary  obeisances, 
Aurangzeb  caused  four  tall,  muscular  men  to  be  posted  near 
him  with  orders  that,  should  he  decline  to  follow  the  custom, 
they  should  by  force  make  him  bend  his  neck.  The  whole 
court  was  adorned  with  a  thousand  marvellous  things. 

The  ambassador  appeared  within  sight  of  the  king,  accom- 
panied by  all  the  nobles,  and  having  arrived  at  the  place  where 
he  had  to  make  the  salam,  the  nobles  intimated  that  he  had  to 
fulfil  his  duty,  for  now  was  the  time.  Ignoring  the  lessons  of 
'Abdullah  Beg  and  his  own  promise  confirmed  so  many  times,  he 
made  his  salam  in  the  Persian  fashion  by  placing  both  hands 
on  his  breast.  Whereupon  the  four  strong  men  told  off  for 
this  purpose  came  up ;  two  took  him  [35]  by  the  hands,  and 
two  by  the  neck,  and  without  force  or  violence,  as  if  they  were 
teaching  him,  they  lowered  his  hands  and  bent  his  head. 
They  told  him  that  thus  it  was  the  fashion  to  make  obeisance 
in  the  Mogul  country.  Upon  this  the  ambassador  acted 
prudently,  and  allowed  his  whole  body  to  bend  without 
resisting,  and  performed  his  bow  in  the  Indian  manner. 

At  this  moment  Aurangzeb  turned  his  face  a  little,  as  if 
speaking  to  his  son,  Sultan  Mu'zzam,  nowadays  known  as  Shah 
'Alam,  who,  rising,  came  to  the  ambassador.  The  latter,  with- 
out any  token  of  grievance,  with  a  smiling  countenance,  drew 
forth  the  letter,  and  having  raised  it  to  his  head,  made  it  over 
to  the  prince.  The  prince  presented  it  to  the  king,  who  made 
a  sign  for  its  delivery  to  the  eunuch  Danex  (Danish),  the  head 
of  the  king's  household.  After  the  ambassador  had  put  on 
a  rich  set  of  robes,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies  informed  him 
that  now  was  the  time  to  produce  the  presents  he  had  brought 
from  Persia. 

This  present  consisted  of  twenty-seven  handsome,  large,  and 
powerful  horses,  each  horse  having  two  men  to  lead  it  by  reins. 
Nine  of  these  horses  were  decked  out  with  precious  stones,  and 
saddles  decorated  with  pearls.  The  others  had  housings  of 
costly  brocade  reaching  to  their  feet.  There  were  eighteen 
large  shaggy  camels,  taller  than  any  in   India  or   in    Balkh, 


THE  PERSIAN  PRESENTS  51 

clothed  in  lovely  coverings ;  sixty  cases  of  perfect  rose-water, 
and  twenty  cases  of  another  water,  distilled  from  a  flower 
which  is  only  found  in  Persia,  and  is  called  bedemus  (bed-i- 
mushk),1 :  it  is  a  very  comforting  water  against  all  fevers  caused 
by  heat ;  twelve  carpets,  fifteen  cubits  in  length  and  live  in 
breadth,  very  handsome  and  finely  worked  ;  four  cases  filled 
with  brocade  lengths,  very  rich,  figured  with  pleasing  flowers, 
and  very  costly ;  also  four  damascened  short-swords,  four 
poignards  covered  with  precious  stones ;  also  a  sealed  box  of 
gold,  full  of  manna  from  the  mountains  of  Shiraz.  Aurangzeb, 
with  a  lively  expression  on  his  face,  spied  out  with  curiosity 
all  these  presents  of  Shah  'Abbas,  and,  meanwhile,  directed 
Muhammad  Amln  Khan  to  put  some  friendly  questions  to  the 
ambassador ;  then,  rising,  he  sent  word  to  him  that  he  might 
retire,  and  if  he  came  to  court  again  he  would  be  most  welcome. 

The  ambassador  came  out  in  the  company  of  several  nobles, 
who  conveyed  him  to  the  palace  of  'All  Mardan  Khan  (he  who 
made  over  Qandahar  to  Shahjahan),  which  had  been  prepared 
beforehand,  and  spread  with  carpets  for  the  purpose.  Aurang- 
zeb also  directed  the  nobles  to  invite  and  entertain  the  ambas- 
sador with  pomp  throughout  his  stay  in  the  city  of  Dihli  at  the 
cost  of  the  royal  treasury,  taking  each  one  day,  as  most  con- 
venient to  themselves  [36].  The  wretched  'Abdullah  Beg  was 
expelled  from  court  in  disgrace,  because  the  Persian  ambassador 
had  not  made  at  once  the  required  obeisance.  The  man  died 
in  a  short  time  from  grief.  During  this  time  there  was  much 
whispering  at  court  and  in  the  city  about  the  force  used  to  the 
ambassador  in  making  him  do  obeisance  in  the  Indian  fashion, 
even  if  it  was  force  politely  applied.  The  Persians  complained 
a  great  deal  of  this  violence,  imputing  to  Aurangzeb  rashness, 
and  saying  the  King  of  Persia  would  take  vengeance  for  such 
an  affront.  Many  rumours  were  current  and  in  everyone's 
mouth,  even  those  of  the  great  nobles,  as  is  the  habit  when 
any  considerable  event  occurs  in  regard  to  foreign  ambassadors. 

Others  said  Shah  'Abbas  would  never  pardon  the  ambassador 
for  having  bowed  his  body  in  the  presence  of  Aurangzeb,  and 

1  Bed-i-mushk,    Egyptian  willow   (Salix    sygostomon),   according    to    Steingass, 
'  Persian  Dictionary,'  2 '7. 

4—2 


52     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

that  on  his  return  to  Persia  his  head  would  be  cut  off.  Others 
declared  that  the  King  of  Persia  administered  reproofs  to 
Aurangzeb  in  the  letter  he  had  forwarded.  He  told  him  how 
the  whole  world  was  scandalized  at  the  harsh  deed  he  had 
done  in  cutting  off  the  head  of  Dara,  his  elder  brother ;  and, 
furthermore,  in  spite  of  an  oath  confirmed  on  the  Quran  that 
he  would  raise  his  brother,  Murad  Bakhsh,  to  the  throne,  he 
had,  under  pretext  of  law,  caused  him  to  be  decapitated. 
Farther,  leaving  those  things  out  of  the  question,  he  could  not 
resist  calling  a  man  barbarous  and  inhuman  who,  in  defiance 
of  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  inexpugnable  obligations  due  to 
parents,  had  seized  the  emperor  Shahjahan,  his  father.  The 
latter  had  for  many  years  concealed  his  son's  bad  qualities, 
hoping  that  age  would  ameliorate  his  judgment.  But,  through 
lapse  of  time,  he  came  to  know  instead  that  he  had  a  heart 
more  ferocious  than  a  tiger's,  more  barbarous  than  any  animal's. 
Among  them  there  were  even  some  who  taught  men  the  right 
way  to  behave  to  their  aged  parents,  as  could  be  seen  in  books 
on  natural  history. 

These  and  such-like  things,  rumour  said,  had  been  written  by 
Shah  'Abbas  to  Aurangzeb.  Others  declared  that  Shah  'Abbas 
was  very  wroth  that  Aurangzeb,  on  his  coin,  had  styled  himself 
'  Conqueror  of  the  World  '  (i.e.,  'Alamglr).  But  the  truth  is 
that  no  one  knew  what  was  entered  in  the  letter,  because 
Aurangzeb  did  not  confide  it  even  to  his  own  wazlr,  he  being  a 
Persian.  On  the  whole,  the  above  statements  were  the  nearest 
to  certainty.  Thus,  anyone  who  had  no  experience  would 
wonder  how  Shah  'Abbas  could  send  along  with  such  a  terrible 
letter  presents  of  such  value.  But  anyone  who  reads  history 
well  knows  that  it  was  a  great  crime  to  appear  before  the  kings 
of  the  Lacedemonians  and  of  the  Persians  [with  empty  hands]. 
Hence  the  kings  of  Asia  acquired  the  habit  [37]  of  finding  out, 
when  a  foreigner  came  to  court,  whether  he  brought  presents 
or  not ;  he  who  brought  none  was  unable  to  obtain  an  audience. 

After  eight  days  the  ambassador  was  invited  by  the  wazlr, 
Ja'far  Khan,  and  there  a  splendid  banquet  was  given  after  the 
manner  of  India.  In  the  four  months  and  longer  that  he 
stayed  at  Dihll,  the  ambassador  would  not  accept  any  other 


DEPARTURE  OF  PERSIAN  EMBASSY  S3 

noble's  invitation,  except  that  of  Muhammad  Amln  Khan. 
This  was  eight  days  before  his  leave-taking,  when  Muhammad 
Amln  Khan  entertained  him  most  magnificently.  Before  every- 
one else  he  set  down  dishes  and  basins  of  silver,  but  the  ambas- 
sador was  served  on  gold  alone.  At  the  end  of  the  meal, 
Muhammad  Amln  Khan  caused  all  the  services  of  silver  and 
gold  to  be  placed  upon  the  table,  and  urgently  entreated  the 
ambassador  to  accept  them  as  a  present.  But  the  ambassador, 
tendering  his  thanks,  made  excuses,  and  would  accept  nothing. 

It  was  a  striking  thing,  and  I  most  particularly  observed  it, 
the  difference  between  the  people  of  India  and  the  Persians. 
Putting  them  side  by  side,  you  could  then  recognise  the 
difference  both  in  attitude  and  features,  in  speech,  in  acts,  in 
voice.  Thus  the  Persians  had  the  advantage  over  the  Indians, 
and  it  was  a  fine  sight  to  see  the  ambassador  followed  by  his 
five  hundred  horsemen,  almost  all  of  the  same  height  and 
appearance,  large-limbed  and  handsome  men,  with  huge  mous- 
taches, and  riding  excellent  and  well-equipped  horses.  Among 
them  I  knew  one,  a  Muscovite,  a  slave  of  the  Persian  king,  who 
came  in  the  ambassador's  train.  Owing  to  the  friendship  we 
had  had  in  Persia,  he  came  several  times  to  my  house.  Desirous 
of  finding  out  something  about  the  embassy,  I  asked  him  in 
a  friendly  way  the  favour  of  his  telling  me  something  about  it ; 
but,  shrugging  his  shoulders  and  shutting  his  eyes,  he  gave  me 
a  sign  that  he  could  not  speak. 

At  the  end  of  four  months  and  a  half  the  ambassador  was 
sent  away  honourably,  and  Aurangzeb  made  him  a  gift  of  two 
horses  with  trappings,  of  a  poignard  mounted  with  precious 
stones,  a  lovely  emerald  to  wear  in  his  turban,  and  a  valuable 
set  of  robes.  Last  of  all,  a  letter  for  Shah  'Abbas  was  made 
over  to  him,  and  a  small  escritoire  of  gold  covered  with  precious 
stones.  This  was  closed  and  sealed  up,  and  was  to  be  made 
over  to  his  king ;  no  one  knew  what  was  in  it  [38].1  The 
ambassador  left  the  court,  but  at  his  departure  there  were  no 
festivities  equal  to  those  at  his  arrival.  At  the  time  of  the 
return  journey,  Aurangzeb  wrote  to  Khalllullah  Khan  at  Lahor 

1  The  envoy's  audience  of  leave-taking  was  on  the  10th  Zi  Hijjah  of  the  fourth 
year,  1071  H.  (August  7,  1661)  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  36,  line  15). 


54     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

that  he  must  send  men  to  every  ferry  to  search  the  ambassador's 
packages,  and  strict  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  his  taking 
any  men  of  India  to  Persia.  Aurangzeb  acted  thus  because  the 
Persians  call  the  people  of  India  slaves  (so  it  was  said),  but  the 
real  reason  is  not  known.  The  order  of  the  king  was  carried 
out  with  such  rigour  that  they  took  away  all  the  slaves  he  had 
bought.  Nor  did  it  avail  to  hide  them  in  boxes,  for  they  were 
found  and  dragged  out.  Thus  the  ambassador  went  back  to 
Persia  affronted.  But  since  kings  know  not  how  to  forgive, 
Shah  'Abbas  took  his  revenge  after  some  years  when  Aurangzeb 
sent  to  him  an  ambassador,  as  in  its  place  I  shall  recount  (II.  96). 

Illness  of  Aurangzeb. 

Some  time  after  the  departure  of  the  ambassador,  Aurangzeb 
fell  ill  of  sudden  fever,  which  was  so  severe  that  it  caused 
delirium,  and  the  doctors  were  unable  to  reduce  the  heat  of  the 
blood.1  As  a  last  remedy  they  decided  to  bleed  him,  as  was 
done.  But  Aurangzeb  being  very  restless  on  his  bed,  it  happened 
that  by  the  movements  of  his  body  the  bandage  came  undone, 
and  the  blood  began  to  flow.  By  the  time  the  physician,  called 
Aquim  el  Mulq  (Hakim-ul-Mulk),2  had  arrived  much  blood  had 
already  been  lost ;  the  physician,  though  in  a  great  fright,  tied 
the  bandage  anew. 

Aurangzeb,  owing  to  the  great  heat  he  was  in,  wanted  to 
eat  water-melons,  and  Haklm-ul-Mulk  incautiously  gave  him 
permission.  Thus,  through  eating  water-melons,  he  had  a 
paralysis  of  the  tongue,  so  that  he  very  nearly  lost  his  power 
of  speech  entirely,  and  the  physicians  were  doubtful  about  his 
recovery. 

Believing  that  there  was  no  hope  of  her  brother  surviving, 
Roshan  Ara.  Begam  took  away  the  royal  seal  and  wrote  to 
many  rajahs  and  generals  on  behalf  of   Sultan  A'zam,  then 

1  The  illness  began  about  the  commencement  of  the  fifth  year,  3rd  Shawwal, 
1072  (May  22,  1662).  Aurangzeb  was  ill  until  the  10th  Zi  Hijjah,  1072  (July  27, 
1662).  On  the  17th  Zi  Qa'dah  (August  3,  1662)  he  bathed  on  recovery 
(' Ma.asir-i-'Alamgirl,' 41 ;  Elphinstone,  538;  Bernier,  123-126). 

2  Mir  Muhammad  Mahdi,  Ardistani,  came  with  Aurangzeb  from  the  Dakhin  in 
1068  H.  (1658),  was  made  a  Hazari,  and  soon  obtained  the  title  of  Hakim-ul-Mulk 
('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  599). 


APPREHENSIONS  OF  AURANGZEB'S  DEATH  55 

nine  years  of  age  and  actually  living  in  the  harem.1  When 
the  mother  of  Sultan  Mu'azzam  learnt  this,  she  said  to  Roshan 
Ara  Begam  that  what  she  was  doing  was  not  right,  thus  to 
rouse  the  empire,  setting  on  foot  in  it  confusion  and  disquiet  [39], 
while  the  king  was  still  alive  and  there  was  hope  of  his  recovery. 
Having  said  this,  she  proceeded  to  the  king's  bedside,  but  Roshan 
Ara  Begam  boldly  seized  her  by  the  hair  and  ejected  her  from 
the  royal  chamber.  The  queen,  not  to  afflict  her  suffering 
husband,  bore  it  quietly  and  patiently. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  terrible  to  see  the  city  of  Dihli  in  such 
confusion.  Rumours  were  current  that  the  king  was  already 
dead;  wherefore  everyone  made  preparations  for  doing  what 
best  suited  his  own  affairs.  Others  said  that  though  the  king 
was  alive,  there  was  no  hope  of  his  recovery,  that  Rajah  Jaswant 
Singh  was  coming  from  Gujarat  to  free  Shahjahan  from  prison, 
and  that  Mahabat  Khan  would  surely  come  for  the  same  purpose. 
I  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  what  confusion  there  must  have 
been  in  a  city  the  capital  of  a  kingdom  which  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  recognise  as  king  none  but  the  one  who,  after  the  defeat 
of  all  others,  came  out  sole  victor. 

Roshan  Ara  Begam  was  the  causer  of  all  this  uproar.  She 
allowed  no  one  to  see  the  sick  Aurangzeb,  except  one  eunuch 
belonging  to  her  faction.  But  Sultan  Mu'azzam,  who  was 
sixteen  years  of  age2  and  lived  outside  the  fort,  in  the  mansion 
of  Prince  Dara,  was  afraid  that  his  father  was  already  dead, 
and  that  Roshan  Ara  Begam  did  not  want  the  news  to  spread 
until  she  had  persuaded  the  Hindu  princes  to  support  Prince 
A'zam  Tara.  Since  it  was  clear  that  she  favoured  this  little 
prince,  and  was  inimical  to  Sultan  Mu'azzam,  the  latter  resolved 
to  make  use  of  Jai  Singh.  Therefore,  disguising  himself,  he 
went  one  night  to  this  rajah,  and,  presenting  to  him  some 
jewels  of  great  price,  prayed  him  earnestly  to  take  his  part  on 
this  occasion.  His  father  was  already  dead.  He  then  made 
a  movement  as  if  to  fall  at  the  rajah's  feet ;  but  the  latter,  taking 

1  As  Sultan  A'zam  was  born  on  the  12th  Sha'ban,  1063  H.  (July  g,  1653),  in 
May,  1662,  he  had  nearly  completed  his  ninth  year.     He  was  the  third  son. 

2  Sultan  Mu'azzam  was  born  on  the  30th  Rajab,  1053  H.  (October  14,  1643). 
Thus,  in  May,  1C62,  he  was  nearly  nineteen  years  of  age. 


56     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

him  in  his  arms,  raised  him.  After  lengthy  discourse,  wherein 
he  set  forth  the  particular  esteem  he  had  for  the  prince  and  the 
singular  desire  he  cherished  to  be  of  service  to  him  in  this 
juncture,  he  inquired  if  he  knew  for  a  certainty  that  the  king, 
his  father,  was  dead. 

The  prince  replied  that  it  could  be  assumed  this  was  so,  since 
Roshan  Ara  Begam  would  not  allow  anyone  to  go  into  the 
royal  harem,  nor  anyone  to  come  out,  who  could  give  word  of 
the  life  or  death  of  the  king.  In  spite  of  all  he  had  done  to 
ascertain  the  truth,  no  one  could  find  out  if  [40]  Aurangzeb 
was  alive  or  dead.  Upon  this  the  rajah  asked  him  to  take  some 
repose,  for  in  a  few  hours  he  would  know  the  condition  of  the 
king.  With  this  object  he  wrote  a  short  note  to  one  of  Roshan 
Ara  Begam's  eunuchs  saying  he  offered  him  two  hundred 
thousand  rupees  on  condition  of  his  sending  him  a  clear  state- 
ment whether  the  king  was  alive  or  dead.  He  forwarded  this 
note  by  one  of  his  own  trusted  eunuchs.  The  eunuch  of  Roshan 
Ara  Begam  replied  by  another  note  stating  that  the  king  was 
still  alive. 

On  perusing  this  answer,  Jai  Singh  said  to  the  prince  that 
the  king,  his  father,  not  being  yet  dead,  he  could  therefore 
return  to  his  house  and  retire  to  rest,  and  this  was  the  best 
thing  for  him  to  do.  The  prince  trusted  in  the  affection  shown 
him  by  the  rajah ;  and  he  asked  him  if  it  was  advisable  to  go  to 
Agrah  and  fall  at  his  grandfather's  feet,  to  get  him  on  his  side 
when  the  death  of  his  father,  Aurangzeb,  should  come  to  pass. 
Rajah  Jai  Singh,  who  saw  plainly  that  if  Shahjahan  got  out 
of  prison  a  great  many  must  lose  their  lives,  answered  in  the 
negative.  It  were  better  to  dissemble  till  the  death  of  the  king, 
and  if  God  so  willed  it  he  would  certainly  get  the  news  early. 
He  swore  to  him  upon  his  gods  that  on  the  king's  death  he 
would  be  with  him  at  once  at  the  head  of  thirty  thousand 
Rajputs,  and  would  adopt  his  cause.  Sultan  Mu'azzam  felt 
consoled  by  this  promise,  and  relying  upon  the  rajah's  oaths, 
went  back  to  his  palace. 

Finding  there  was  little  hope  of  recovery,  Aurangzeb  sent  for 
his  faithful  eunuch,  Danish,  and  warmly  recommended  to  him 
Sultan  A'zam.     If  he  should  die,  he  ordered  him  to  hand  over 


AURANGZEB'S  FAMILY  57 

the  said  prince  to  Shaistah  Khan,  who,  being  a  Persian,  would 
see  that  this  small  boy  was  protected,  and  would  defend  him 
from  the  insults  he  might  have  to  suffer.  For  Sultan  Mu'azzam 
was  already  grown  up,  while  the  mother  of  that  prince  and 
powerful  captains  were  also  of  his  party.  He  said  nothing 
about  Prince  Akbar,1  brother  of  Sultan  A'zam,  he  being  of 
tender  years,  not  more  than  three  years  old. 

The  Children  of  Aurangzeb  [41]. 

Be  it  known  to  the  reader  that  at  this  time  Aurangzeb  had 
four  sons  and  four  daughters.  The  sons  were  Sultan  Muhammad, 
of  whom  I  have  already  spoken  (I.  237),  at  this  time  a  prisoner, 
and  Sultan  Mu'azzam,  the  second.  These  were  the  sons  of  one 
mother,  a  Rajput  by  race,  who  offered  sacrifice  to  idols  that 
Sultan  Mu'azzam,  her  son,  might  be  king,  seeing  that  the  eldest 
was  a  captive.2  She  had  a  daughter  called  Zebetnixa  Begam 
(Zeb-un-nissa.  Begam) — that  is  to  say,  '  Light  of  Women  ' — and 
she  died  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-one, 
on  September  i.3  The  other  sons  were  Sultan  A'zam  and 
Sultan  Akbar,  who  were  sons  of  another  mother,  a  Persian 
by  race,  the  daughter  of  Xanavascan  (Shah  Nawaz  Khan),  of 
whom  I  have  already  spoken  (I.  225). 4  This  queen  had  two 
daughters  called  Zinethnexa  Begom  (Zinat-un-nissa  Begam) — 

1  Sultan  Akbar  was  born  on  the  12th  Zu,l  Hijjah,  1067  H.  (September  22, 
1657).  Thus,  in  May,  1662,  he  was  in  his  fifth  year.  Bernier  is  more  wrong 
here  than  Manucci. 

2  The  mother  of  Sultan  Muhammad,  Sultan  Mu'azzam  (Shah  'Alam),  and 
Badr-un-nissa,  was  Nawab  Bae,  daughter  of  the  Rajah  of  Rajauri  in  Kashmir. 
She  died  at  Dihli  in  1690  ('  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgirI,'  343,  533,  and  Khushhal  Chand, 
'  Nadir-uz-zamani,'  British  Museum  MS.,  Oriental,  3288,  fol,  227a).  Badr-un- 
nissa  died  on  the  27th  Zu,l  Qa'dah,  1080  H.  (April  18,  1670). 

3  According  to  the  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  533,  Zeb-un-nissa  Begam  died  in 
1113  H.  (1701-02).  This  does  not  agree  with  Manucci,  nor  did  any  daughter  of 
Aurangzeb  die  in  168 1  (1092  H.).  Begam  Sahib,  Aurangzeb's  sister,  died  in  that 
year  (1092),  and  perhaps  N.  M.  here  confuses  the  two  events. 

4  Dilras  Bano  Begam  was  a  daughter  of  Shah  Nawaz  Khan  (Badi'-uz-zaman), 
Safawi,  known  as  Mirza  Dakhini.  She  died  in  1067  H.  (1656-57)  at  Aurangabad. 
Her  children  were  A'zam  Shah  (born  July  9,  1653)  and  Zabdat-un-nissa,  (born 
September  7,  1651).  The  mother  of  Zeb  un-nissa,  Zinat-un-nissa,  and  of  Akbar, 
is  styled  simply  '  Begam,'  and  this  may  possibly  mean  Dilras  Bano. 


58     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

that  is  to  say, '  Riches  of  Women' — and  the  other  called  Bederexa 
Begom  (Badr-un-nissa  Begam)  —  that  is  to  say,  'Moon  of 
Women.'  These  princesses  forced  their  father  to  get  them 
husbands,  in  opposition  to  the  precedent  handed  down  by  King 
Akbar  to  the  Mogul  kings  not  to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage. 
As  Aurangzeb  was  unwilling  to  break  this  rule,  they  told  him 
that  the  Mogul  kings  were  not  greater  than  the  great  Muhammad, 
who  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  'All.  Thus  Aurangzeb, 
overcome  by  their  importunity,  and  worried  by  an  old  man 
named  Miyan  JanI,  who  passed  as  a  saint,  and  every  Friday 
when  the  king  went  to  the  mosque,  said  to  him  nothing  beyond 
these  words  :  '  Marry  5'our  daughters,  and  let  them  follow  the 
example  of  Muhammad's  daughter.'  They  were  married  in  the 
year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy,  one  to  the  son  of 
Dara,  the  other  to  the  son  of  Murad  Bakhsh,  and  up  to  this 
day  they  live  with  their  husbands  in  the  fortress  of  Salimgarh. 
The  fourth  daughter's  name  was  Facronexa  Begom  (Fakhr-un- 
nissa  Begam) — that  is  to  say,  '  Grandeur  of  Women,'  who 
was  [42]  the  child  of  another  particular  wife.  She  did  not 
wish  to  marry,  and  she  will  give  us  occasion  to  speak  of  her 
farther  on.1 

When  the  news  of  Aurangzeb's  severe  illness  reached  Agrah, 
the  eunuch  Ptibar  Khan  was  thrown  into  great  perplexity, 
chiefly  because  he  heard  that  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh  and  Mahabat 
Khan  were  coming  to  deliver  Shahjahan.  The  eunuch  called 
to  mind  the  harshness  he  had  used  to  Shahjahan,  and  looked 
upon  himself  as  lost,  and  saw  facing  him  a  sad  and  dishonoured 
death.  He  therefore  provided  poison  to  kill  himself  when  any 
change  happened.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  he  sent  off 
daily  many  couriers  to  find  out  news  as  to  the  life  or  death 
of  Aurangzeb.  At  this  time  the  common  people  spoke  bitterly 
against  I'tibar  Khan,  and  said  that  now  had  come  thetimeforhim 

1  According  to  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  120,  125,  540,  these  marriages  took 
place  as  follows :  In  the  fifteenth  year,  16th  Sha'ban,  1082  H.  (December  18, 
1671),  Ezad  Bakhsh,  son  of  Murad  Bakhsh,  was  married  to  the  fifth  daughter, 
Mihr-un-nissa  (died  April  1,  1706),  and  in  the  sixteenth  year,  21st  Shawwal, 
1083  H.  (February  10,  1673),  Sipihr  Shukoh,  son  of  Dara  Shukoh,  was  married 
to  Zubdat-un-nissa,  the  fourth  daughter  (died  1707).  Apartments  were  prepared 
for  them  in  Salimgarh.     No  such  name  as  Fakhr-un-nissa  is  on  record. 


MISUSE  OF  PRIVY  SEAL  59 

to  be  paid  out  for  his  barbarities.  Aurangzeb,  although  still  ill, 
knew  the  importance  of  proving  he  was  alive  and  in  his  senses  ; 
therefore  he  never  abandoned  the  passing  and  issuing  of  orders 
intended  to  take  effect  throughout  the  kingdom.  Above  all,  he 
sent  to  Ttibar  Khan  injunctions  to  take  good  care  of  the  king, 
his  prisoner.  Needing  to  seal  his  letters,  he  called  for  the  great 
seal,  which  was  kept  in  a  bag  sealed  with  the  small  seal  worn 
by  the  king  on  his  finger.  After  a  search  for  the  seal,  it  could 
not  be  found ;  he  asked  Roshan  Ara  Begam  where  his  signet 
ring  was.  The  princess  replied  that  one  day  when  he  swooned 
it  fell  off  his  finger,  when  she  had  taken  charge  of  it,  keeping 
it  beneath  her  pillow.  He  sealed  the  letter  and  gave  it  back 
to  her,  concealing  his  suspicion  and  waiting  till  he  was  thoroughly 
restored  to  make  inquiries  into  the  affair,  and  find  out  how  they 
had  removed  the  ring.  Aurangzeb  did  not  content  himself  with 
the  mere  recording  and  issuing  of  orders,  but  to  prove  to  the 
populace  that  he  lived,  he  caused  himself  to  be  carried  into 
a  hall  full  of  many  nobles  and  great  men,  where  he  showed 
himself  in  person.  But  in  withdrawing  he  hurt  himself,  the 
result  lasting  a  long  time,  and  greater  trouble  than  before  was 
caused,  for  everybody  supposed  that  now  he  must  die. 

[Note. — Here  are  interpolated  thirty-nine  pages  of  a  French 
version  of  the  preceding  Portuguese  text  and  then  three  blank 
pages.  I  have  compared  this  French  version,  and  it  is  nothing 
more  than  a  translation  of  the  Portuguese  text.] 

[40  bis].  Having  rested  for  some  days,  and  finding  himself 
a  little  better,  Aurangzeb  sent  for  Ja'far  Khan,  Multafat  Khan, 
Muhammad  Amln  Khan,  and  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  to  disabuse  them 
of  the  then  prevailing  fear  that  he  was  dead.  By  degrees  he  re- 
covered his  strength,  but  with  great  difficulty,  it  taking  him  a  long 
time  to  get  well.  Even  after  he  was  sound  again  he  remained  a 
little  defective  in  speech,  and  up  to  this  day  he  speaks  deliberately. 
Having  now  been  restored  to  perfect  health,  he  obtained  from 
the  eunuchs  accounts  of  all  that  Roshan  Ara  Begam  had  done 
during  his  illness.  He  was  much  annoyed  at  her  having  written 
letters  to  the  viceroys,  governors,  and  generals,  in  order  to  gain 
them  over  to  serve  Sultan  A'zam,  and  at  her  having  sealed  them 


60     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

with  the  royal  seal.  Above  all,  he  was  much  affected  by  her 
unmannerliness  to  the  mother  of  Sultan  Mu'azzam,  and  by  the 
patience  with  which  that  queen  endured  the  insolence  of  the 
princess.  For  these  reasons  he  thenceforth  thought  more  of 
the  queen,  increased  her  rank,  and  conferred  on  her  the  title 
of  Nabab  Balgi  (Nawab  Bal  Ji) — that  is  to  say,  '  Greatest 
among  Women  ' — and  felt  more  affection  for  Sultan  Mu'azzam, 
to  whom  he  gave  the  title  of  Xaalam  (Shah  'Alam) — that  is  to 
say,  '  King  of  the  World.'  Roshan  Ara  Begam  lost  much  of 
the  love  that  Aurangzeb  had  borne  her,  he  being  now  angered 
at  her  behaviour. 

Aurangzeb  remits  Tribute. 

When  other  Mogul  kings  fell  ill,  there  always  arose  some 
trouble  with  the  viceroys  and  governors,  but  during  Aurangzeb's 
illness  there  was  no  such  rising.  For,  in  spite  of  rumours 
becoming  current  that  the  king  was  dead,  the  nobles  put  no 
trust  in  them,  fearing  that  Aurangzeb  himself,  out  of  policy, 
and  in  order  to  discover  which  way  each  of  them  was  inclined, 
had  set  these  stories  in  motion.  They  knew  before  this  that  he 
was  a  very  acute  manoeuvrer,  and  he  benefited  now  by  being  so 
considered.  Otherwise  there  might  have  happened  some  great 
disaster  or  rebellion  in  the  kingdom,  the  liberty  of  Shahjahan 
being  dependent  on  Aurangzeb's  death  and  the  coronation  of 
another  king.  Thus  it  is  with  trickishness ;  more  often  the 
deceivers  suffer,  but  sometimes  the  habit  is  of  profit  to  them 
[41  bis], 

Aurangzeb  now  found  himself  restored  to  perfect  health,  with 
the  exception  of  his  tongue.  This  might  be  called  a  proof  that 
the  illness  was  a  warning  sent  by  God  to  make  him  kind  to 
His  people.  It  was  as  if  an  angel  had  come  from  heaven  to 
speak  with  him.  He  now  began  to  announce  to  those  who 
came  to  give  him  congratulations  on  his  restoration  to  health, 
that  God  had  first  sent  this  illness  and  then  given  him  back 
his  health  to  let  him  see  that,  although  He  had  raised  him  to 
authority,  He  could  take  away  his  life  whenever  He  pleased,  or 
give  him  health  at  will.  Through  this  illness  he  had  come  to 
the  knowledge  that  the  followers  of  Muhammad  were  the  beloved 


FINANCIAL  MEASURES  61 

of  God.  He  held  it  as  pertain  that  this  illness  fell  upon  him, 
so  that  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign  he  should  not  demand  the 
same  great  revenues  that  his  predecessors  had  imposed  upon 
Mahomedans.  This  is  the  reason  why  he  decided  to  relieve 
true  believers  from  the  payment  of  revenue,  and  by  this 
incentive  open  a  door  for  all  Hindus  to  embrace  the  faith  of 
the  prophet  Muhammad,  the  beloved  of  God.  To  this  intent 
he  sent  forth  an  order  to  all  the  kingdoms,  provinces  and  cities, 
that  the  Mahomedans  were  freed  from  taxation  and  under  no 
obligation  to  pay  anything  to  the  crown,  except  the  duty  on 
tobacco,  which  he  afterwards  remitted  owing  to  a  case  which 
happened,  as  I  shall  relate  (II.  133). 

He  also  said  that  the  other  cause  of  his  illness  was  the 
collection  of  taxes  from  pagodas,  which  are  (be  it  said  with  due 
respect  and  without  offence  to  our  Christian  religion)  churches 
to  which  the  Hindus  resort  to  pray  in  front  of  some  idol  or  other. 
For,  every  pagoda  paid  to  the  king  every  year  a  considerable 
sum.  It  was  very  undesirable,  he  said,  to  levy  such  a  tax,  for 
thereby  it  looked  as  if  he  approved  of  idolatry.  He  therefore 
directed  that  such  a  tax  should  never  more  be  collected.  It 
should  suffice  for  every  Hindu  to  pay  five  per  cent.  Afterwards 
he  repented  of  such  liberality,  and,  indeed,  he  wished  some  years 
afterwards  to  rescind  what  he  had  done ;  but  for  the  sake  of 
his  credit,  and  also  through  his  hypocrisy,  he  was  prevented  from 
carrying  out  this  change.  Therefore  he  invented  a  new  device 
for  getting  money.  He  continuously  reduced  the  pay  of  his 
generals  and  officers,  and  ordained  [42  bis]  that  the  rupees  or 
coined  money  of  silver,  not  worth  more  than  fourteen  sols  (sous) 
of  France,  or  thereabouts,  should  pass  as  worth  twenty-eight 
sols.1  In  carrying  out  this  matter  Aurangzeb  did  a  thing  which 
forms  a  lesson  to  princes  as  to  the  mode  of  making  themselves 
obeyed.  For  the  sarrdfs,  who  are  the  money-changers,  resisted 
the  royal  orders,  giving  various  excuses  for  disobedience,  in 
spite  of  their  being  sent  for  several  times  by  the  king  to  explain 
that  reasons  of  state  required  the  alteration.  Nevertheless, 
these  men,  always  contumacious,  ignored  the  order  until  the 

1  If,  as  stated  in  Part  III.,  51,  30  sols  went  to  the  rupee  (16  annas),  then 
1  50/  =  ^  of  an  anna,  and  14  sols  amounted  to  7^  annas. 


62     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

king  in  anger  sent  for  all  the  money-changers  in  the  city  of 
Dihll.  Taking  his  place  on  his  royal  seat  upon  a  bastion  [of 
the  palace],  when  the  sarrdfs  arrived  he  sent  them  word, 
quite  quietly,  that  their  resistance  must  come  to  an  end  and 
the  rupee  must  be  passed  at  twice  its  former  value.  The 
sarrdfs  were  firm  in  their  contention,  and  replied  that  they 
could  not  comply,  as  the  loss  caused  would  be  beyond  calcula- 
tion. Aurangzeb,  quite  quietly,  and  without  any  movement  of 
his  body,  issued  an  order  to  throw  down  from  the  bastion  one 
of  the  oldest  of  the  sarrdfs.  Upon  the  carrying  out  of  this 
order,  the  rest,  terrorized,  said  they  would  obey;  and  never 
another  word  was  heard  on  the  subject.  Until  this  time 
rupees  are  worth  double  what  they  were  in  the  days  of 
Shahjahan,  and  thus  the  people  obtained  relief. 

The  Dutch  Ambassador. 

About  the  time  when  Aurangzeb  recovered  his  health  there 
arrived  at  Dihll  an  ambassador  from  the  Dutch  called  Adrian1 
to  offer  congratulations  on  the  king's  accession.  This  man  was 
of  sound  judgment,  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Mogul 
customs,  having  been  for  a  long  time  at  the  head  of  the  Dutch 
factory  at  Surat.  Since  he  knew  that  those  who  bring  the 
largest  present  and  the  heaviest  purse  are  the  most  acceptable, 
the  best  received,  and  the  soonest  attended  to,  he  brought 
a  present  for  the  king.  It  consisted  in  a  large  quantity  of 
very  fine  scarlet  broadcloth,  much  fine  green  cloth,  some  large 
mirrors,  many  earthenware  dishes,  bric-a-brac  from  China  and 
Japan,  and  a  small  throne  in  appearance  like  a  litter  (cherolla), 
a  piece  of  Japanese  work  with  many  pleasing  paintings.  For 
the  ministers  there  was  a  large  sum  in  gold  and  silver,  with 
different  kinds  of  cloth  and  other  bric-a-brac.  As  soon  as  he 
arrived  he  began  [43]  to  set  forth  to  the  ministers  what  he 

1  '  Vies  des  Gouverneurs-Generaux,'  by  J.  P.  I.  Dubois  (4to.,  La  Haye,  1763), 
p.  208.  The  Governor  of  Batavia  sent,  in  1662,  Mr.  Dirk  van  Adrichem,  Director 
of  Surat,  as  ambassador  to  Aurangzeb.  A  farman  was  obtained  favourable  to 
their  commerce  in  Bengal,  Orissa,  and  Patnah  (see  Bernier,  127,  and  note  ; 
Valentyn,  '  Oud  en  Nieuw  Ost  Indien,'  iv.  261).  The  farman  was  dated 
October  29,  1662  :  Aurangzeb  bathed  on  recovery,  August  3,  1662. 


A  DUTCH  EMBASSY,  1662  63 

desired.  Thus  in  a  few  days  leave  was  granted  to  him  to  be 
presented  to  the  king,  on  condition  of  making  obeisance  first  in 
the  European,  and  then  in  the  Indian  manner. 

Thus,  on  entering  the  court  and  reaching  the  royal  presence 
he  did  as  he  had  promised.  Aurangzeb  was  interested  at  seeing 
the  European  fashion  in  dress  and  their  way  of  bowing.  Coming 
to  meet  them,  Morturacan  (Murtaza  Khan)1  took  the  letter 
from  the  hands  of  the  ambassador  and  presented  it  to  the 
secretary  (i.e.,  the  wazlr).  The  master  of  the  ceremonies,  with 
his  gold  cane  in  his  hand,  took  the  ambassador's  hand,  and 
placed  him  in  a  fairly  honourable  place  along  with  the  five 
persons  who  accompanied  him.  This  was  a  favour  accorded 
to  them.  For  it  is  not  usual  for  more  than  one  man  to  enter 
with  an  ambassador  into  the  royal  presence.  Then  they  were 
invested  with  a  sardpd  (set  of  robes)  of  brocade. 

Next  Aurangzeb  ordered  the  present  to  be  brought,  and  above 
everything  else  he  prized  the  throne,  and,  as  it  was  ornamented, 
he  had  it  covered  with  glass  to  preserve  the  pictures  from  the 
great  dust,  and  until  this  day  he  makes  use  of  it.  Then  he 
sent  to  say  to  the  ambassador  that  he  might  withdraw,  and  he 
would  soon  receive  his  leave  to  depart.  But  the  ambassador 
knew  the  vain-gloriousness  of  the  Moguls,  who  hold  it  a  point 
of  honour  to  keep  ambassadors  dancing  attendance  upon  them. 
They  like  to  have  a  foreign  ambassador  always  attending  at  the 
court  audiences.  For  this  reason  he  sent  more  gifts  to  the 
ministers,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  leave  to  go  after  four 
months. 

The  letter  that  the  ambassador  brought  for  the  Mogul  stated 
that  the  Dutch  Company  expended  in  the  Mogul  realm  large 
sums  of  gold  and  silver,  besides  importing  a  large  quantity  of 
spices,  also  copper  and  lead.  But  they  were  delighted  to  incur 
such  expense  in  the  territories  of  so  just  a  monarch.  As  a  token 
of  gratitude  for  his  justice,  the  Dutch  Company,  masters  of  the 
seas,  offered  to  his  majesty  the  use  of  their  ships  and  fleets,  and 
all  that  they  held  in  India,  being  many  fortresses,  lands,  and 

1  This  is  probably  the  Bukhara  Sayyid  with  that  title  whose  biography  is  given 
in  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  597.  He  was  head  of  the  Chaukl,  or  palace  guards, 
and  died  in  1088  H.  (1677-78). 


64     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

islands.1  The  ambassador  on  his  taking  leave  received  a  second 
sarapa,  and  in  addition  he  was  entrusted  with  a  rich  sarapa  for 
delivery  to  the  general  of  Batavia,  a  poignard  covered  with 
precious  stones,  and  a  letter  in  most  friendly  terms  [44]. 

AURANGZEB  ATTEMPTS  TO  MAKE  SHAHJAHAN   DIE  OF   DlSGUST. 

Although  Aurangzeb's  illness  was  at  a  height  for  only  a  few 
days,  it  took  him  a  long  time  to  become  convalescent  and  to 
recover  his  strength.  The  medical  men  recommended  a  change 
of  air  by  a  visit  to  the  province  of  Kashmir.  Aurangzeb  was 
quite  willing  to  take  the  change  of  air,  but  the  existence  of 
Shahjahan  was  like  a  thorn  piercing  his  heart,  hindering  him 
from  resting  or  taking  the  recreation  demanded  by  nature. 
Therefore  he  now  displayed  no  increase  of  gentleness  to  his 
father ;  on  the  contrary,  he  decided  to  aggravate  the  old  man 
more  and  more.  Of  a  truth,  this  was  never  the  inspiration  of 
the  angel  during  his  illness  nor  the  teaching  of  God,  but  was 
arrived  at  from  the  perversity  of  his  own  nature.  In  order  to 
bring  his  father's  life  quickly  to  an  end,  he  sent  orders  to  make 
his  imprisonment  more  severe.  He  ordered  the  bricking  up  of 
a  window  looking  towards  the  river,  where  Shahjahan  sat  for 
recreation.  A  company  of  musketeers  was  posted  below  the 
Agrah  Palace  with  orders  by  firing  to  disturb  the  old  man,  and 
to  shoot  him  if  he  appeared  at  the  window.  In  addition  to 
this,  to  increase  his  despondency,  the  greater  part  of  the  accu- 
mulation of  gold  and  silver  money  was  carried  away,2  making 
as  much  noise  as  possible,  so  that  he  (Shahjahan)  might  hear 
and  be  dejected  in  his  mind.  But  Shahjahan,  too,  played  a 
game  of  finesse,  and  made  out  he  saw  nothing ;  responding 
to  the  cries,  noise,  and  musket-shots  by  music,  dancing,  and 

1  Dubois  (loc.  cit.)  says  that  a  year  afterwards  (1663),  Aurangzeb  asked  for  two 
vessels  with  the  idea  of  a  campaign  against  Arracan.  But  he  managed  to  win 
over  the  Portuguese  pirates  of  Arracan,  and  employed  them  instead.  In  the  end 
both  Dutch  and  Portuguese  were  his  dupes. 

2  'On  the  1st  Rajab  of  the  fourth  year  (1072  H.)  Fazil  Khan  arrived  from 
Akbarabad,  and  displayed  to  the  Emperor  a  portion  of  the  jewels  and  jewelled 
vessels  sent  by  His  Majesty  Shahjahan  '  ('  M.-i-*A.,'  p.  38).  The  date  is  equivalent 
to  February  20.  1662. 


AURANGZEB  TRIES  TO  POISON  HIS  FATHER  65 

entertainments,  and  carried  on  a  joyous  life  with  his  wives  and 
women.  I'tibar  Khan,  who  knew  everything  that  went  on  in 
the  palace,  wrote  it  all  to  the  court,  so  that  Aurangzeb  decided 
to  take  Shahjahan's  life  by  poison. 


Aurangzeb  orders  Poison  for  Shahjahan. 

It  was  for  this  reason  that  he  sent  poison  and  a  letter  to 
Mocorrom  can  (Mukarram  Khan),1  the  physician  of  Shahjahan, 
a  man  who  had  refused  to  take  the  side  of  Aurangzeb  when  he 
arrived  at  Agrah  to  make  his  father  a  prisoner.  In  this  letter 
it  was  written  that  if  the  physician  desired  to  live  a  little  longer 
and  be  left  in  peace,  he  must  administer  to  Shahjahan  the  potion 
which  would  be  made  over  to  him  by  the  eunuch  Fahim,  who 
had  been  sent  for  this  purpose.  If  he  did  not  obey,  it  would 
cost  him  his  life.  Mukarram  Khan  received  the  drug,  and 
answered  that  he  would  do  better  than  what  his  majesty 
required  of  him.  The  eunuch  Fahim  went  back  [45]  with  this 
answer.  Mukarram  Khan  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
not  right  for  him  to  murder  King  Shahjahan,  seeing  how  he 
had  been  raised  by  him  from  a  humble  station  to  this  greatness, 
with  such  wealth  and  the  respect  and  veneration  of  everybody. 
Above  all,  had  not  Shahjahan  confided  his  royal  person  into 
his  hands  ?  Besides  this,  he  perceived  clearly  that,  should  he 
give  the  poison  to  Shahjahan,  Aurangzeb  would  never  spare 
his  life — experience  had  taught  him  that  much.  He  therefore 
resolved  to  die  honourably,  and,  swallowing  the  poison,  was 
thrown  into  a  lethargy,  and  in  half  an  hour  he  died  in  his 
sleep.  Aurangzeb  awaited  the  hoped-for  news  of  his  father's 
death;  but  he  learnt  that  Shahjahan  had  been  more  respected 
by  one  who  had  only  received  some  of  his  favours  than  by  one 
who  had  received  life  from  him.  Nor,  after  all,  was  this  lesson 
sufficient  to  make  an  entrance  into  the  heart  of  Aurangzeb,  who 
perversely  sought  some  other  means  of  procuring  his  father's 
death  before  his  own  departure  to  Kashmir. 

1  Mukarram  (Taqarrub  ?)  Khan,  a  Persian  physician,  has  been  named  before 
(see  I.  199).     As  already  stated,  he  died  in  the  second  half  of  1662. 
VOL.  11.  5 


66     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 
AURANGZEB   GOES   TO    KASHMIR. 

But  already  the  hot  season  was  near,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
start  for  Kashmir  before  the  sun's  rays  had  increased  in  the 
land  of  Hindustan.  In  this  he  followed  the  advice  of  the 
doctors,  and,  above  all,  of  Roshan  Ara  Begam,  who  longed 
very  much  to  get  rid  of  the  hindrances  of  the  harem  and  be 
able  to  indulge  her  libidinous  propensities ;  furthermore,  she 
wished  to  appear  in  the  camp  with  more  state  than  that  used 
by  Begam  Sahib  in  the  time  of  Shahjahan.  Having  decided  to 
go  to  Kashmir,  Aurangzeb  selected  his  most  faithful  adherents, 
in  whom  he  had  much  confidence,  and  deputed  as  governor 
of  the  city  of  Agrah  one  Osdarcan  (Hoshdar  Khan),1  and  as 
general  of  the  camp  Murtaza  Khan.  He  gave  fresh  injunctions 
to  Ttibar  Khan,  the  eunuch,  to  take  great  care  of  Shahjahan. 
Since  Shah  Shuja'  had  died  in  Arracan,  as  I  stated  in  the  other 
book  (I.  247),  the  king  sent  an  order,  before  his  departure,  to 
Mir  Jumlah,  directing  him  to  conquer  Axame  (Assam). 

Thus  Aurangzeb  started  from  the  city  of  Dihll  on  the 
6th  December  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty  [?  T662] 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  joint  decision  [46]  of  the 
astrologers  being  that  this  was  the  best  date  that  could  be 
found  for  the  king  to  start  on  a  long  journey,  which  must  last 
at  least  a  year,  or  even  more,  in  going,  coming,  and  staying. 

It  is  a  strange  thing  how  Monsieur  Bernier  says  in  his  third 
book  that  this  departure  took  place  in  sixty-four  (1664) ;  for  it 
is  a  certainty  that  it  happened  at  the  time  that  I  have  recorded. 
Nor  can  I  persuade  myself  how  he  committed  so  great  an  error, 
and  suppose  it  due  rather  to  the  printer  than  the  author, 
although  he  says  in  his  history  many  other  things  far  from  the 
truth.2 

1  Mir  Hoshdar,  entitled  Hoshdar  Khan,  was  the  son  of  Multafat  Khan  (A'zam 
Khan,  ''Alamgirl').  In  the  fifth  year  he  was  made  4,000,  3,000  horse,  and 
appointed  Governor  of  Dihll.  In  the  sixth  year  he  was  transferred  to  Agrah  on 
the  death  of  Islam  Khan.  In  the  seventh  year  the  faujdarl  of  the  Agrah  environs 
was  added.  He  was  long  Governor  of  Agrah.  In  the  fourteenth  year  he  became 
Governor  of  Khandesh,  and  early  in  the  fifteenth  year,  1082  H.  (1672),  he  died. 

2  '  But  I  sympathize  with  him,  for  he  was  ever  on  duty  in  the  house  of  his 
Persian  doctor,  Danishmand  Khan,  and  he  more  often  encountered  fraud  and 
falsity  than  the  truth.    I  frequently  warned  him  not  to  accept  what  the  common 


THE  EMPEROR  ON  THE  MARCH  67 

There  were  rumours  that  Aurangzeb's  departure  was  not  for 
Kashmir,  but  on  a  campaign  against  the  fortress  of  Qandahar, 
then  held  by  this  King  of  Persia.  But  this  story  was  false. 
The  king,  on  leaving  the  city,  rested  for  the  night  in  an 
extensive  garden  called  Xalemar  (Shalihmar),  planted  by 
Shahjahan  as  a  pleasure  resort ;  it  lies  three  leagues  distant 
from  the  royal  palace,  adjoining  the  road  to  Lahor.  Here 
Aurangzeb  halted  six  days  to  give  time  for  everyone  to  make 
his  preparations,  and  when  everybody  had  joined  the  army  he 
meant  to  begin  his  march.  It  is  the  custom  in  the  Mogul 
country  when  an  army  is  in  the  field  to  order  a  trumpet  to  be 
blown  at  nine  o'clock  at  night  as  a  signal  that  there  will  be  no 
march  on  the  following  morning. 

On  the  sixth  evening  there  was  no  trumpet,  and  the  advance 
tents  were  sent  on.  With  regard  to  this  you  must  know  that 
in  the  Mogul  kingdom  the  king  and  many  of  the  nobles  march 
with  two  sets  of  tents,  so  that  while  the  one  set  is  in  use  the 
other  may  be  sent  on  for  the  next  day.  To  carry  the  royal 
tents  there  were  set  aside  two  hundred  camels  and  fifty 
elephants,  which  were  used  for  this  purpose  only. 

On  the  seventh  day  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
march  began.  First  went  the  heavy  artillery,  which  always 
marches  in  front,  and  is  drawn  up  as  an  avenue  through  which 
to  enter  the  next  camp.  With  it  went  a  handsome  boat  upon 
a  large  car  to  ferry  the  royal  person  across  any  river  when 
necessary.  Then  followed  the  baggage.  In  this  way,  when 
the  morning  broke,  the  camp  was  free,  leaving  only  the  cavalry 
and  infantry,  each  in  its  appropriate  position.  With  the  rest, 
in  addition  to  the  other  transport,  went  two  hundred  camels, 

people  said,  and,  being  myself  specially  informed,  I  gave  him  the  true  events ' 
(Venice  Codex).  The  Venice  Codex,  fol.  179,  has  '  1661'.  Considering  Manucci's 
own  erroneous  chronology,  this  reproof  of  Bernier  is  rather  bold.  Bernier,  350, 
says  the  start  was  on  December  3  at  three  o'clock  ;  he  gives  no  year,  but  the 
letter  is  dated  December  14,  1664,  leading  to  the  obvious  inference  that  he 
means  December,  1664.  Elphinstone,  538,  gives  1662,  December  6.  The 
'  Alamglrnamah,'  763,  and,  following  it,  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  42,  fix  the 
actual  start  for  the  7th  Jamada  I.,  1073  H.  (fifth  year),  equivalent  to  Decem- 
ber 18,  1662,  N.S.,  or  December  8,  1662,  O.S.  I  have  here  compared  six  folios 
of  the  Venice  Codex  (fols.  178-186)  with  the  Berlin  text. 

5—2 


68     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

loaded  with  silver  rupees,  and  each  camel  carrying  four  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds'  weight  of  silver  ;  one  hundred  camels  loaded 
with  gold  coin,  each  carrying  the  same  weight ;  one  hundred 
and  fifty1  camels  [47]  loaded  with  nets  used  in  hunting  tigers, 
of  which  mode  of  hunting  I  have  already  spoken  (I.  128). 

The  royal  office  of  record  also  was  there,  for  the  original 
records2  always  accompany  the  court,  and  this  required  eighty 
camels,  thirty  elephants,  and  twenty  carts,  loaded  with  the 
registers  and  papers  of  account  of  the  empire.  In  addition 
to  these  there  were  fifty  camels  carrying  water,  each  camel 
bearing  two  full  metal  vessels  for  the  royal  use.  The  princes 
of  the  blood-royal  marched  in  the  same  fashion,  each  according 
to  his  rank.  Attending  on  the  king  are  eight  mules  carrying 
small  tents,  which  are  used  on  the  march  when  the  king  desires 
to  rest,  or  to  eat  a  little  something,  or  for  any  particular 
necessity.  Along  with  them  are  two  mules  carrying  clothes, 
and  one  mule  loaded  with  essences  of  various  odoriferous 
flowers. 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  court,  when  the  king  is  to  march  the 
next  day,  that  at  ten  o'clock  of  the  night  the  royal  kitchen 
should  start.  It  consists  of  fifty  camels  loaded  with  supplies, 
and  fifty  well-fed  cows  to  give  milk.  Also  there  are  sent 
dainties  in  charge  of  cooks,  from  each  one  of  whom  the  prepara- 
tion of  only  one  dish  is  required.  For  this  department  there  is 
an  official  of  standing,  whose  business  it  is  to  send  in  the  dishes 
sealed  up  in  bags  of  Malacca  velvet,  etcetera;  and  two  hundred 
culles  (qulis),  each  one  with  his  basket  of  chinaware  and  other 
articles  ;  further,  there  are  fifty  camels  carrying  one  hundred 
cases  packed  with  sarapa  (robes  of  honour)  :  also  thirty  elephants 
loaded  with  special  arms  and  jewels  to  be  distributed  among 
the  generals,  captains,  etcetera.  These  arms  are  of  the  follow- 
ing kinds  :  swords,  with  their  accoutrements ;  shields ;  various 
kinds  of  daggers,  all  worked  in  enamel  and  in  gold,  adorned 
with  different  precious  stones ;  plumes ;  also  things  to  give  to 
ladies,  jewels  to  wear  on  the  breast  and  other  varieties ;  also 

1  Two  hundred  and  fifty  (Venice  Codex,  fol,  180). 

2  In  the  Venice  Codex,  180,  the  earlier  composition,  the  contrary  is  stated — 
that  the  originals  are  left,  and  only  copies  and  extracts  taken. 


DETAILS  OF  THE  ROYAL  MARCH  69 

armlets  of  gold,  mounted  with  pearls  and  diamonds.  Again, 
there  marched  close  to  the  baggage  one  thousand  labourers, 
with  axes,  mattocks,  spades,  and  pick-axes  to  clear  any  difficult 
passage.  Their  commanders  ride  on  horseback  carrying  in 
their  hands  their  badges  of  office,  which  are  either  an  axe  or  a 
mattock  in  silver.  On  arriving  at  the  place  appointed  for  the 
royal  halt,  they  put  up  the  tents  and  placed  in  position  the 
heavy  artillery.  When  the  light  artillery  comes  up,  it  is  placed 
round  the  royal  tents.  Aurangzeb  started  at  six  o'clock  of  the 
day,  seated  on  the  throne  presented  to  him  by  the  Dutch,  as  I 
have  stated  (II.  42).  To  carry  this  throne1  there  were  twelve 
men  ;  in  addition,  there  were  three  palanquins  of  different 
shapes,  into  which  [48]  he  could  get  when  he  pleased.  There 
were  also  five  elephants  with  different  litters  (cherollas)  for  his 
use  whenever  he  desired.  Upon  his  issuing  from  his  tents,  the 
light  artillery  began  the  march  from  its  position  round  them. 
It  was  made  up  of  one  hundred  field-pieces,  each  drawn  by  two 
horses. 

The  following  is  the  order  of  the  king's  march.  At  the  time 
when  he  mounted  the  throne  and  issued  from  his  tents  all  the 
warlike  instruments  of  music  were  sounded.  At  the  head  came 
the  son  of  the  deceased  Shekh  Mir  with  eight  thousand 
cavaliers.  In  the  right  wing  was  Assenalican  (Hasan  All 
Khan),  son  of  Alaberdican  ( Allah wirdi  Khan).2  This  is  the 
Allah wirdl  Khan  who  caused  Prince  Shah  Shuja'  to  get  down 
from  his  elephant  at  the  battle  of  Khajwah  (I.  229).  Hasan 
'All  Khan  commanded  eight  thousand  horsemen  ;  the  left  wing, 
consisting  of  eight  thousand  horsemen,  was  commanded  by 
Muhammad  Amln  Khan.  In  the  rear  of  these  two  wings  were 
the  mounted  huntsmen,  each  with  his  bird  of  prey  (hawk)  on 
his  wrist.  Immediately  in  front  of  the  king  went  nine  elephants 
with  showy  flags  ;  behind  these  nine  were  other  four,  bearing 
green  standards  with  a  sun  depicted  on  them.  Behind  these 
elephants  were   nine   horses  of  state,   all  adorned  and  ready 

1  'It  was  no  more  than  a  portable  chair,'  adds  the  Venice  Codex,  fol.  181. 

2  AllahwirdI  Khan,  a  descendant  of  the  Saljuqs,  died  1069  H.  (1658-59)  (see 
'  M.-ul-U.,'  i.  207).  Hasan  'All  Khan,  Bahadur,  'Alamglr  Shahl,  was  his  second 
son  (ibid.,  i.  593);  he  died  outside  Bljapur  the  day  after  it  was  taken,  15th  Zu,l 
Qa'dah,  1097  H.  (October  3,  1686). 


70     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

saddled ;  after  these  horses  came  two  horsemen,  one  carrying  a 
standard  with  Arabic  letters  on  it,  the  other  with  a  kettle-drum, 
which  he  struck  lightly  from  time  to  time  as  a  warning  that 
the  king  was  approaching. 

There  was  no  want  of  men  on  foot,  who  advanced  in  ordered 
files  on  the  one  and  the  other  side  of  the  king ;  some  displayed 
scarlet,  others  green,  pennants ;  others,  again,  held  in  their 
hands  their  staves,  with  which  they  drove  off  people  when  any- 
one made  so  bold  as  to  draw  near.  There  were  on  the  right 
and  on  the  left  many  horsemen  with  silver  staves  keeping  the 
people  back.  Among  the  men  on  foot  were  some  with  perfumes, 
while  others  were  continually  watering  the  road.  By  their  side 
was  an  official  provided  with  a  description  of  the  provinces, 
lands,  and  villages  through  which  the  king  must  pass,  in  order 
to  explain  at  once  if  the  king  asked  what  land  and  whose 
province  it  was  through  which  he  was  then  passing.  These 
men  can  give  him  an  account  of  everything  down  to  the  petty 
villages,  and  the  revenue  obtained  from  the  land. 

Other  men  on  foot  march  with  a  rope  in  their  hands, 
measuring  the  route  in  the  following  way.1  They  begin  at  the 
royal  tent  upon  the  king's  coming  forth.  The  man  in  front  who 
has  [49]  the  rope  in  his  hand  makes  a  mark  on  the  ground,  and 
when  the  man  in  the  rear  arrives  at  this  mark  he  shouts  out,  and 
the  first  man  makes  a  fresh  mark  and  counts  '  two.'  Thus  they 
proceed  throughout  the  march,  counting  '  three,'  '  four,'  and 
so  on.  Another  man  on  foot  holds  a  score  in  his  hand2  and 
keeps  count.  If  perchance  the  king  asks  how  far  he  has 
travelled,  they  reply  at  once,  as  they  know  how  many  of  their 
ropes  go  to  a  league.  There  is  another  man  on  foot  who  has 
charge  of  the  hourglass,  and  measures  the  time,  and  each  time 
announces  the  number  of.  hours  with  a  mallet  on  a  platter  of 
bronze.  Behind  all  these  the  king  moves  on  his  way  quietly 
and  very  slowly. 

So  great  is  the  dignity  with  which  the  Mogul  kings  travel, 

1  See  the  '  A,in-i-Akbari '  k(Jarrett),  vol.  ii. ,  p.  414:  'Whenever  His  Majesty 
travels,  the  distances  are  recorded  by  pole  measurements  by  careful  surveyors.' 

2  '  Holds  in  his  hand  certain  pieces  of  wood  or  glass  threaded  on  a  string 
exactly  like  a  rosary,  and  with  these  as  they  advance  he  keeps  the  count '  (Venice 
Codex,  181). 


THE  ROYAL  STANDARDS  71 

and  the  delicacy  with  which  they  are  treated,  that  ahead  of  the 
column  goes  a  camel  carrying  some  white  cloth,  which  is  used  to 
cover  over  any  dead  animal  or  human  being  found  on  the  road. 
They  place  heaps  of  stones  on  the  corners,  so  that  the  cloth 
may  not  be  blown  away  by  the  wind.  When  he  passes,  the 
king  stops  and  asks  the  why  and  the  wherefore. 

[Behind  all  these  squadrons  rode  on  horseback  the  princes 
Sultan  Mu'azzam  and  Sultan  A'zam.]1  After  the  king  came 
ten  horsemen,  four  with  the  royal  matchlocks  enclosed  in  cloth- 
of-gold  bags :  one  bore  his  spear,  one  his  sword,  one  his  shield, 
one  his  dagger,  one  his  bow,  one  the  royal  arrows  and  quiver ; 
all  of  these  in  cloth-of-gold  bags.  After  the  weapons  came  the 
captain  of  the  guard  with  his  troops,2  then  the  three  royal 
palanquins,  and  other  palanquins  for  the  princes  ;  then,  after 
the  palanquins,  twenty-four  horsemen,  eight  with  pipes,  eight 
with  trumpets,  and  eight  with  kettle-drums.  Behind  these 
mounted  musicians  were  the  five  royal  elephants  bearing 
litters  (cherollas) ;  also  three  elephants,  one  of  which,  that  in  the 
middle,  bore  three  hands  in  silver  upon  a  crossbar  at  the  end  of  a 
pole,3  covered  with  its  hood  of  Malacca  [velvet].  These  signify 
'  Observer  of  the  Mahomedan  faith.'  The  other  two  bore  hands 
in  the  same  style,  which  signify  '  Augmenter  and  Conservator 
of  the  faith.'  On  the  right  of  this  middle  one  was  another 
elephant,  which  displayed  a  plate  of  copper  (lamina)  upon  a 
staff,  with  engraved  letters  in  Arabic,  meaning  '  God  is  One,  and 
Muhammad  just.'  The  other  had  a  pair  of  scales,  which 
means  'a  king  dealing  with  justice.'4  On  the  right  [?  left] 
hand  was  another  elephant  bearing  a  crocodile's  head,  with 
a  body  made  of  fine  white  cloth,  which,  when  moved  by  the 
wind,  looked  like  a  real  crocodile,  signifying  '  Lord  of  the  rivers.' 
On  the  left  went  an  elephant  showing  a  spear,  which  means 
'  the  Conqueror  ';  to  its  left  again,  another  with  the  head  of  a 
fish  having  a  body  made  of  cloth,  and  when  swaying  in  the 

1  The  passage  in  the  square  brackets  is  struck  out  in  the  Venice  Codex. 

2  In  the  Venice  Codex  this  is  the  place  assigned  to  the  princes. 

3  The  word  used  is  sirial  (cirial),  the  frame  on  which  votive  tapers  are  displayed 
in  Roman  Catholic  churches. 

4  'Although  I  hold  them  to  be  unjust  judges  and  true  sons  of  Astrea'  (Venice 
Codex,  182). 


72     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

wind  [50]  this  looked  like  a  great  fish,  and  it  means  ■  Lord  of 
the  seas.'1  All  these  elephants  were  decorated  with  valuable 
housings  and  ornaments.  They  were  followed  by  twelve  more 
bearing  large  kettle-drums,  and  other  instruments  made  of  re- 
fined metals  not  employed  in  Europe.  They  are  of  the  nature  of 
large  dishes,  which,  being  beaten  one  against  the  other,  make 
a  great  noise.  These  musical  instruments  are  employed  by 
Armenians,  Syrians,  and  Maronites  in  Syria  at  church  solemni- 
ties and  at  weddings;  they  are  also  used  at  such  events  by  the 
Turks.2  After  these  musicians  came  Rajah  Jai  Singh  with 
eight  thousand  horsemen,  serving  as  rearguard.  Be  it  known 
to  the  reader  that  each  division  of  those  spoken  of  had  six 
highly-adorned  elephants,  with  rich  trappings,  displaying  on 
brilliant  flags  the  device  of  its  commander. 

At  some  distance  from  the  foregoing  came  Roshan  Ara 
Begam  upon  a  very  large  elephant  in  a  litter  called  pitambar,s 
which  is  a  dome- roofed  throne,  very  brilliant,  made  all  of 
enamelled  gold,  and  highly  adorned.  Behind  her  followed 
one  hundred  and  fifty  women,  her  servants,  riding  handsome 
horses,  and  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  their  mantles  of 
various  colours,  each  with  a  cane  in  her  hand.4  Before  Roshan 
Ara  Begam's  elephant  marched  four  elephants  with  standards, 
and  a  number  of  bold  and  aggressive  men  on  foot  to  drive  away 
everybody,  noble  or  pauper,  with  blows  from  sticks  and  with 
pushes.  Thus  I  wonder  when  I  find  someone  writing  in  Europe5 
that  he  managed  one  day  to  get  near  enough  to  see  a  woman 
servant  whisking  away  the  flies  from  Roshan  Ara  Begam,  which 
is  an  impossibility.     For  the  princesses  and  nobles'  wives  are 

1  The  passage  is  confused  in  the  text,  and  I  make  out  the  total  of  standard- 
bearing  elephants  to  be  five,  and  not  three.  The  Venice  Codex  presents  the  same 
difficulty. 

2  '  Ear-piercing  instruments  which  fatigue  the  hearers  rather  than  delight 
them '  (Venice  Codex). 

3  Platts,  'Dictionary,'  Pitambar,  'clothed  in  yellow,'  a  name  of  Vishnu. 
Bernier,  372,  speaks  of  it  as  mikdunber  (meghdambar),  which  is  also  a  metaphorical 
name  for  an  elephant. 

4  '  They  seemed  so  many  ghosts  or  spirits  of  the  abyss,  you  could  not  tell  if 
they  were  handsome  or  ugly,  old  or  young,  men  or  women  ;  for,  let  alone  the 
face,  you  could  not  see  even  the  tips  of  their  toes '  (Venice  Codex,  183). 

5  This  is  a  covert  allusion  to  the  passage  in  Bernier,  p.  373.  In  the  Venice 
Codex,  183,  he  is  named. 


XIV.  Shah  'ai.am,  Second  Sox  of  Alrangzeb. 


To  face  page  72. 


PLAN  OF  ENCAMPMENT  73 

shut  up  in  such  a  manner  that  they  cannot  be  seen,  although 
they  can  observe  the  passers-by. 

Behind  Roshan  Ara  Begam  came  her  retinue,  which  consisted 
of  several  sour-faced  eunuchs  on  horseback,  with  others  on 
foot  surrounding  the  litter;  after  these  were  three  elephants 
with  different  kinds  of  litters  covered  in  rich  cloth.  Still 
farther  in  the  rear  were  many  palanquins  covered  with  different 
nettings  of  gold  thread,  in  which  travelled  her  chosen  ladies. 
Following  them  were  some  sixty  elephants  with  covered  litters, 
carrying  her  other  women.  After  Roshan  Ara  Begam's  retinue 
came  three  queens,  wives  of  Aurangzeb,  and  other  ladies  of  the 
harem,  each  with  her  own  special  retinue.  It  would  be  [51] 
very  lengthy  to  recount  all  the  details  of  this  march,  the  Moguls 
being  extremely  choice  in  such  matters,  overlooking  no  detail 
that  could  minister  to  their  glory. 

It  remains  to  state  that  ahead  of  all  this  innumerable  throng 
there  always  moved  one  day  ahead,  at  the  least,  the  Grand 
Master  of  the  Royal  Household,  with  other  engineers,  to  choose 
an  appropriate  site  where  the  royal  tents  should  be  unloaded. 
For  this  purpose  is  always  chosen  some  pleasant  spot.  The 
camp  is  divided  in  such  a  way  that  on  the  arrival  of  the  army 
there  may  be  no  confusion.  In  the  first  instance  they  fix  the 
site  of  the  royal  enclosure,  which,  by  measurements  I  subse- 
quently took  several  times,  occupies  five  hundred  paces  in 
circumference.  Behind  the  royal  quarters  is  another  gateway, 
where  the  women  live,  a  place  much  respected.  After  this  is 
arranged  they  fix  the  position  of  the  tents  of  the  princes,  the 
generals,  and  the  nobles.  This  is  so  managed  that  between 
these  tents  and  the  royal  tents  there  should  be  a  wide  space. 
The  central  space  is  encircled  by  scarlet  cloths,  having  a  height 
of  three  arm-lengths,  and  these  serve  as  walls.  Around  these 
enclosing  screens  are  posted  the  field-pieces  ;  in  front  of  them 
is  a  ditch,  and  behind  them  are  palisades  of  wood  made  like 
network,  which  open  and  shut  just  like  the  ancient  chairs  of 
Venice.1     At  the  sides  of  the  gateway,  at  a  distance  of  one 

1  Professor  Dr.  Coggiola,  of  Venice,  is  unable  to  refer  me  to  any  chair 
peculiar  to  Venice,  though  there  were  folding  -  chairs  there  as  elsewhere. 
Codex  XLIV.,  fol.  184,  has :  '  Che  s'aprono  e  serrano  come  alle  seggie  che 
costumano  gli  Barbieri  e  molte  frequentati  nelli  teatri  di  Venetia. ' 


74     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

hundred  and  thirty  paces,  were  two  tents,  holding  each  nine 
horses,  most  of  them  saddled.  In  front  of  the  gateway  is  a 
large  raised  tent  for  the  drummers  and  players  of  music. 

Among  the  special  royal  tents  are  some  where  the  king 
gives  audience ;  these  are  supported  by  small  ornamented 
masts,  upon  which  are  gilt  knobs.  No  one  else  may  make  use 
of  these  knobs,  only  persons  of  the  blood-royal.  On  the  top  of 
a  very  high  mast  was  a  lighted  lantern,  which  served  as  a  guide 
to  those  who  arrived  late.  The  tents  of  the  rajahs  and  nobles, 
although  high,  must  not  be  so  high  as  those  of  the  king ;  other- 
wise they  would  run  the  risk  of  having  their  tents  knocked  down 
and  being  ruined  themselves. 

When  the  king  comes  out  of  his  tent  to  begin  a  march,  the 
princes,  nobles,  and  generals  throng  round  to  pay  him  court, 
each  one  bringing  forward  some  short  request,  to  which  a  brief 
answer  is  given.  They  accompany  the  king  to  the  end  of  the 
camp  in  which  they  had  halted  for  that  day,  then  each  departs 
to  his  proper  place  in  his  own  division.  Then  the  king  joins 
the  huntsmen,  and  announces  [52]  whether  he  intends  to  go 
hunting  or  not.  When  he  so  wishes  he  leaves  the  army,  and 
is  followed  by  only  the  men  on  foot  and  the  soldiers  of  his 
guard.  Everybody  else  continues  the  march  very  slowly.  If 
he  does  not  wish  to  hunt,  the  huntsmen  move  to  their  previously 
appointed  places.  When  the  advance  tents  come  into  sight, 
the  musicians  commence  anew  to  play  their  instruments  until 
the  king  has  passed  through  the  gateway  of  the  tents.  Then 
the  small  artillery  is  discharged,  while  the  queens  and  ladies 
offer  to  the  king  congratulations  on  arrival,  saying,  '  Manzel 
mobarec '  (Manzil  mubdrak),  which  means  '  Happy  be  the 
journey.' 

It  should  be  observed  that,  although  the  princesses  and 
ladies  start  the  last,  they  always  arrive  the  first,  having  taken 
some  other  shorter  route.  Ordinarily  the  women  start  after 
the  baggage  and  move  quickly.  I  knew  that  in  this  journey 
Roshan  Ara  Begam  did  not  take  in  her  litter  her  maid-servant, 
but  in  the  latter's  place  a  youth  dressed  as  a  maid-servant. 
God  knows  what  they  were  up  to,  in  addition  to  drinking  wine. 
The  person  who  told  me  this  was  a  friend  of  mine,  a  eunuch 


THE  EMPEROR'S  ARRIVAL  AT  A   CAMP  75 

who  loved  wine.  The  same  story  was  confirmed  after  the 
princess's  death  by  several  ladies  of  her  suite,  and  much  can 
be  inferred  from  what  I  have  already  said  at  the  time  the  king 
came  to  Dihli  (II.  24). 

I  go  to  Dihli  and  then  to  Agrah. 

To  describe  here  the  royal  camp  would  occupy  much  space 
and  be  very  difficult,  owing  to  its  beauty,  its  order,  and  the 
number  of  people  who  collect  on  such  occasions ;  and  every- 
body can  infer,  from  what  happens  when  a  European  monarch 
moves  out  into  camp,  what  it  is  like  in  the  Mogul  territory, 
where  the  kings  display  indescribable  magnificence.  All  I  will 
say  is  that  it  looks  like  a  great  city  travelling  from  place  to 
place.  For  there  are  wanting  neither  bazars,  nor  shops,  nor 
markets,  nor  sports,  nor  pastimes,  nor  gold,  nor  silver;  in 
short,  all  that  could  be  looked  for  in  a  flourishing  city  is  to  be 
found  in  this  camp.1  Out  of  curiosity  I  marched  with  it  three 
days  only,  and  finding  it  did  not  suit  me  to  go  on  to  Kashmir 
while  out  of  employ,  I  decided  to  turn  back.  I  meant  to  go' to 
Bengal,  as  it  is  a  productive  country  where  living  is  cheap, 
having  also  many  Europeans  in  it  [53]. 

This  is  why  I  do  not  write  the  whole  of  the  king's  journey  to 
Kashmir,  although  in  its  proper  place  I  shall  touch  on  some 
matters  in  Kashmir  of  which  I  have  information.  I  leave  it 
to  the  reader's  curiosity  to  read  what  Monsieur  Bernier  has 
written  about  that  journey,  although,  if  I  am  to  speak  the 
truth,  he  puts  many  things  of  his  own  into  his  Mogul  history ; 
and  I  could,  through  his  chronology  of  the  times,2  make  it 
clear  that  he  writes  many  things  which  did  not  occur — nor 

1  'The  numbers  of  an  army  do  not  consist  solely  in  cavalry  and  infantry 
soldiers,  but  the  majority  are  the  families  and  friends  of  the  Rajahs  and  nobles, 
who  all  follow  it ;  the  numbers  being  doubled  by  dealers  of  many  sorts,  gold- 
smiths, shoemakers,  forgieri  (shoeing-smiths),  weavers,  embroiderers,  and  money- 
changers. The  followers  are  four  times  the  number  of  the  soldiers.  When  you 
talk  of  a  division  of  8,000  cavalry,  the  reader  may  assume  that  there  are  always 
30,000  persons.  However  badly  off  a  soldier  is,  he  must  have  three  or  four 
servants'  (Venice  Codex,  184). 

2  N.  M.'s  own  chronology  being  persistently  two  years  in  arrear  of  the  true 
dates,  it  is  amusing  to  find  this  serious  reproof  of  Bernier's  inaccuracy. 


76     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

could  they  have  occurred — in  the  way  that  he  relates  them. 
Nor  could  he  have  been  too  well  informed,  for  he  did  not  live 
more  than  eight  years  at  the  Mogul  court ;  it  is  so  very  large 
that  there  are  an  infinity  of  things  to   observe.     Nor  could 
he   so   observe,   for   he  had  no  entrance   to  the  court.1     As 
it  seems  to  me,  he  relied  for  what  he  said  upon  the  common 
people ;  and  if  there  is  any  good  thing  in  his  books,  it  is  due  to 
the  information  given  him  by  Pere  Buzeo,  also  to  what  I  gave 
him,  having  then  no  intention  of  writing  anything.     If  I  write 
now,  I  do  so  at  the  demand  of  my  friends,  chiefly  Monsieur 
Francois  Martin,2  Director-General,  and  Monsieur  Deslandes.2 
Thus  I  returned  to  DihlT,  where  I  stopped  several  days  to 
take  leave  of  my  friends.     Then  I  started  for  the  city  of  Agrah, 
where  I  came  across  the  Jesuit  fathers.     I  remained  there  for 
a  while  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  conversation  of  my  old  friends, 
with  whom  I  had  been  in  the  fortress  of  Bhakkar.     I  did  not 
care  to  take  service  with  Aurangzeb,  but  they  had  accepted  and 
at  this  time  were  artillerymen  in  the  fort  at  Agrah.     They  were 
urgent  for  me  to  enter  the  service  ;  but  finding  I  would  not 
listen  to  their  words,  they  went  and  spoke  to  I'tibar  Khan, 
fancying  that  he  could  persuade  me.     I'tibar  Khan  sent  for 
me,  and  on  visiting  him  I  presented  a  cup  of  crystal.     Receiv- 
ing it  with  a  pleased  face,  he  ordered  robes  of  honour  to  be 
given  to  me.     He  endeavoured  to  win  me  over,  and  urgently 
entreated  me  to  remain  in  the  fortress  and  enter  the  service. 
He  would  grant  me  any  terms  I  demanded,  and  allot  me  the 
pay  I  received  from  Prince  Dara  at  Bhakkar.     He  would  make 
me  captain  over  the  Christians  (which  was  what  they  desired, 
remembering  how  well  I  had  treated  them  at  Bhakkar). 

I  tendered  my  excuses,  and  said  in  addition  that  I  was  most 

1  '  He  who  goes  not  into  the  palace  will  find  it  a  very  difficult  thing  to  know 
what  occurs  inside.  If  medicine  had  not  opened  to  me  the  road,  I  should  never 
have  been  able  to  learn  the  curious  details  of  court  life.  It  was  medicine  that 
opened  to  me  the  door  of  many  nobles,  and  of  the  principal  ladies  of  the  palace, 
where  I  penetrated  to  the  most  hidden  quintessence  of  their  secrets.  Monsieur 
Bernier  could  well  have  practised  medicine,  it  being  his  profession  ;  but,  for  good 
and  sufficient  reasons,  he  refrained,  for  he  knew  that  if  he  did  he  would  be  in 
danger  of  his  life '  (Venice  Codex,  185). 

2  For  Martin  and  Deslandes,  see  Appendix  to  the  Introduction. 


HOW  SHAHJAHAN  WAS  TREATED  77 

desirous  to  see  different  parts  of  the  world ;  there  was  also  the 
aversion  [54]  I  had  to  Aurangzeb  ;  and  equally  the  face  of 
Ttibar  Khan  displeased  me — in  fact,  to  speak  properly,  he 
looked  like  a  baboon.  To  me  it  seemed  that  from  one  with  a 
face  like  that  no  good  deed  could  proceed.  Nevertheless,  I  did 
not  fail  to  go  several  times  to  court,  as  requested  by  Ttibar 
Khan,  he  imagining  in  this  way  to  overcome  little  by  little  my 
resolve  and  bring  me  to  take  employment.  But  each  time  I 
went  to  the  audience  served  only  to  renew  my  determination 
not  to  stay  in  Agrah. 

Going  thus  several  times  into  the  fort,  I  noted  that  the  imprison- 
ment of  Shahjahan  was  closer  than  can  be  expressed.  There 
passed  not  a  day,  while  I  and  others  were  in  conversation  with 
the  governor,  that  there  did  not  come  under-eunuchs  to  whisper 
into  his  ear  an  account  of  all  the  acts  and  words  of  Shahjahan, 
and  even  what  passed  among  the  wives,  ladies,  and  slave-girls. 
Sometimes,  smiling  at  what  the  eunuchs  told  him,  he  would 
make  the  company  sharers  in  what  was  going  on  inside,  adding 
some  foul  expressions  in  disparagement  of  Shahjahan.  Not 
content  with  this  even,  he  sometimes  allowed  it  to  be  seen  that 
he  treated  him  as  a  miserable  slave.  Once  an  under-eunnch 
came  to  tell  him  that  Shahjahan  was  in  want  of  '  papuz ' 
(pdposh),  which  are  slippers  without  heels,  such  as  Mahomedans 
wear.  He  ordered  several  pairs  to  be  brought,  and  the  trades- 
man produced  different  kinds  of  pdposh,  some  of  leather  worth 
half  a  rupee,  some  of  plain  velvet,  and  some  of  velvet  more  or 
less  embroidered.  Some  were  worth  as  much  as  eight  rupees, 
a  very  small  thing  for  a  great  king  like  Shahjahan,  even  when 
in  prison.  In  spite  of  this,  the  eunuch,  immeasurably  stingy, 
sent  him  shoes  neither  of  eight  rupees  nor  of  four  nor  of  two, 
but  the  common  leather  shoes.  He  smiled  over  it  as  if  he  had 
done  some  great  deed ;  and  it  was  a  great  deed,  being  after  the 
nature  of  his  friend  Aurangzeb,  who  knew  from  this  eunuch's 
physiognomy  the  vileness  of  his  soul,  and  selected  him  to  receive 
charge  of  his  greatest  enemy  in  the  world,  his  father,  so  that 
by  force  of  ill-treatment  the  wretched  old  man  (Shahjahan) 
might  die. 

I  know  not  how  it  was  with  the  others  who  were  present 


78     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

when  this  was  done,  but  certainly  I  felt  it  much.  I  knew  the 
dignity  with  which  Shahjahan  had  lived  when  he  was  free 
and  Emperor  of  Hindustan,  above  all,  when  one  remembered 
that  I'tibar  Khan  was  formerly  [55]  a  slave  of  this  same 
Shahjahan,  by  whom  he  was  given  to  Aurangzeb.  This 
faithful  eunuch  made  it  his  boast  to  do  such-like  things  to 
Shahjahan  :  One  day  while  a  number  of  us  were  present 
and  conversing,  he  (Shahjahan)  sent  him  (I'tibar  Khan) 
two  violins  he  used,  asking  for  them  to  be  repaired  and  sent 
inside  again  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  eunuch  did  not 
trouble  himself  about  having  them  repaired ;  then  three  days 
afterwards  Shahjahan  sent  to  inquire  whether  they  were 
mended.  At  this  the  eunuch  flew  into  a  rage,  and  with  a 
vinegary  face,  sent  them  off  to  be  repaired.  Thus  it  was  only 
after  eight  days  that  they  were  returned. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  the  nature  of  this  eunuch  from  what 
he  did  to  his  parents.  They  came  from  the  country  of  Bengal 
as  far  as  Agrah,  having  heard  that  their  son  was  governor  of 
that  fortress.  They  anticipated  the  receipt  of  something  to 
help  them  in  their  old  age  and  poverty.  On  reaching  the 
gates,  they  stayed  there  several  days,  the  door-keepers  not 
consenting  to  permit  their  entrance,  until  they  swore  they 
were  the  parents  of  the  governor.  Thereupon  came  a  door- 
keeper at  the  time  of  full  audience  (I  was  there  myself),  and 
reported  to  the  eunuch  that  an  old  man  and  an  old  woman 
had  been  at  the  doors  for  several  days.  As  they  had  been 
refused  entrance,  the  old  people  swore  that  they  were  the 
parents  of  his  excellency. 

For  a  little  I'tibar  Khan  sat  silent,  like  one  to  whom  some- 
thing has  happened  that  he  does  not  like,  then  said  under  his 
breath,  'Are  the  wretches  still  alive?'  He  ordered  them  to 
be  brought  into  the  audience-hall.  On  their  appearing,  he 
inquired  angrily  who  they  were,  what  their  names  were, 
where  they  came  from,  what  was  their  village.  To  all  this 
they  replied  in  such  a  manner  that  by  this  time  I'tibar  Khan 
could  have  no  doubt  that  they  were  his  parents.  Recognising 
that  most  certainly  they  were  such,  he  said  publicly  to  them  : 
'  How  have  ye  the  great  temerity  to  come  into  my  presence 


ANECDOTES  OF  VTIBAR  KHAN,  EUNUCH  79 

after  you  have  consumed  the  price  of  my  body,  and  having 
been  the  cause,  by  emasculating  me,  of  depriving  me  of  the 
greatest  pleasures  attainable  in  this  world  ?  Of  what  use 
are  riches  to  me,  having  no  sons  to  whom  I  could  leave 
them  ?  Since  you  were  so  cruel  as  to  sell  your  own 
blood,  let  not  my  auditors  think  it  strange  if  I  betray  anger 
against  you.' 

He  therefore  ordered  each  to  receive  fifty  stripes.  Through 
the  courage  that  inspired  me,  I  took  up  my  parable  and  told 
him  the  story  of  Joseph  and  his  rise  to  the  greatest  place 
in  Egypt  [56],  and  how  God  made  use  of  the  cruelty  of  his 
brothers  to  raise  that  patriarch  to  the  highest  dignity.  Then 
I  made  the  application  to  his  case,  so  that,  quieting  down, 
he  forgave  them,  and  ordered  one  hundred  rupees  to  be  given 
them,  enjoining  them  never  to  appear  again,  for  if  they  did,  he 
would  without  fail  take  their  lives. 

Let  not  the  reader  be  astonished  at  the  eunuch  ordering 
into  his  presence  his  miserable,  poverty-stricken  parents,  for 
it  is  against  our  nature  to  have  arrived  at  high  rank  and 
yet  not  be  annoyed  at  having  to  disclose  the  misery  from 
which  we  started,  and  allowing  it  to  be  found  out  that  our  pro- 
genitors were  of  lowly  origin ;  but  it  is  notorious  that  all 
eunuchs,  grandees  as  they  may  be,  have  no  other  than  poor 
and  miserable  progenitors,  who  out  of  absolute  hunger  have 
sold  their  sons.  Nor  do  they  themselves  hold  it  out  as  other- 
wise, deriving  hence  occasion  to  vaunt  themselves  of  their 
own  high  abilities  and  great  deeds,  through  which  they  have 
risen  to  such  rank. 

It  was  very  revolting,  the  strange  manner  in  which  this  eunuch 
treated  his  own  parents,  and  angered  thereby  I  resolved  to 
leave  Agrah.  This  eunuch  was  such  a  close-fisted  fellow  that 
it  soon  came  to  his  selling  the  dung  of  his  elephants  and  horses, 
whereby  he  made  ten  thousand  rupees.  With  this  money  he 
bought  an  elephant,  which  one  day  escaping  broke  one  of  its 
legs,  and  the  populace,  who  in  Hindustan  are  very  free  of 
speech,  began  to  shout  as  a  joke  that  it  was  no  wonder  the 
elephant  broke  its  leg,  for  it  was  an  elephant  made  out  of  dung. 
In  spite  of  all  this  avarice,  he  built  for  a  memorial  during  his 


80     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

government  an  outer  wall  (coirassa,  literally  'cuirass'1)  round 
the  whole  of  the  Agrah  Fort,  which  cost  him  a  great  deal  of 
money,  it  being  good  work  and  decorative. 

Of  Eunuchs. 

Before  setting  out,  since  I'tibar  Khan  has  given  me  occasion 
to  speak  of  the  race  of  eunuchs,  I  will  give  here  a  short  account 
of  that  sort  of  brute.  It  may  be  that  everyone  does  not  know 
what  is  meant  by  a  eunuch,  and  may  imagine  they  are  like  the 
eunuchs  of  Europe  who  are  employed  as  singers  .  .  .  [57].2  If 
they  are  rich,  they  do  not  fail  to  have  in  their  houses  chosen 
women,  with  whom  they  have  converse.  If  they  cannot  do  this, 
owing  to  deficient  income,  they  go  in  search  of  them  in  all 
directions,  seeing  that  no  doors  are  shut  to  them,  nor  do  women 
hide  from  them. 

Among  the  other  qualities  of  this  sort  of  animal,  one  is  their 
extreme  covetousness  in  collecting  gold,  silver,  diamonds,  and 
pearls,  and  they  are  immeasurably  avaricious.  They  are  afraid 
to  spend  money  even  when  it  is  necessary ;  fond  of  receiving, 
niggard  in  giving.  Still,  they  are  anxious  to  appear  well 
dressed,  and  when  they  are  astride  a  fine  horse,  they  are  as 
elated  as  if  they  were  the  greatest  men  in  the  world.  Well 
may  they  hold  themselves  in  such  estimation,  for  they  are  the 
favourites  of  princesses,  who  are  very  liberal  to  them,  in  order 
to  win  them,  and  from  time  to  time  get  permission  to  enjoy 
that  of  which  I  cannot  speak.  They  are  useful  for  the  intro- 
duction secretly  of  men  into  the  harem,  and  through  them 
a  husband's  favour  may  be  obtained.  For  the  houses  of  the 
great  are  ordinarily  under  the  direction  of  these  persons. 

Another  of  their  qualities  is  to  be  friendly  to  women  and 
inimical  to  men,  which  may  be  from  envy,  knowing  what  they 
have  been  deprived  of.  The  tongue  and  the  hands  of  these 
baboons  act  together,  being  most  licentious  in  examining  every- 
thing, both  goods  and  women,  coming  into  the  palace ;  they 
are  foul  in  speech,  and  fond  of  silly  stories.     Among  all  the 

1  Probably  what  is  meant  is  a  fausse-braye,  or,  as  Anglo-Indian  writers  style  it, 
a  renny  or  rownee  (see  Yule,  771). 

2  Some  obscene  details  are  here  omitted. 


ALLAHABAD  FORT  81 

Mahomedans  they  are  ordinarily  the  strictest  observers  of  the 
faith,  although  I  knew  some  who  did  not  fail  to  drink  their  little 
drop,  and  were  fond  of  wine.  These  men  are  the  spies  for  every- 
thing that  goes  on  in  secret,  whereby  they  are  always  listening 
among  the  kings,  princes,  queens,  and  princesses.  Fida'e  Khan, 
of  whom  I  have  spoken  (1. 140),  aware  of  the  character  of  these 
monsters,  did  not  allow  such  to  be  employed  in  his  house, 
although  he  retained  two  young  men  [58]  who  acted  as  pages ; 
he  was  indifferent  to  the  fact  that  this  sort  of  people  are  kept 
in  the  houses  of  princes  and  great  men.  This  suffices  for  a 
brief  notice  of  what  the  eunuchs  are. 

Of  the  City  of  Ilavas  (Allahabad). 

When  the  Jesuit  fathers  saw  that  I  did  not  want  to  remain  in 
Agrah,  but  was  determined  to  go  to  Bengal,  Father  Henriques 
Roa  (Heinrich  Roth1),  a  German  rector  of  the  College,  earnestly 
entreated  me  to  take  with  me  two  Portuguese  friars,  then  living 
in  his  College.  They  were  companions  of  others  who  had  fled 
from  the  town  of  Chavel  (Chaul2),  and  he  (Roth)  did  not  wish 
to  be  accused  of  harbouring  fugitives.  Although  I  did  not 
burden  myself  willingly  with  such  merchandise — for  I  have 
always  held  that  he  who  flees  from  a  convent  is  capable  of 
other  misdeeds — nevertheless,  to  be  agreeable  to  the  Father 
Rector,  I  took  with  me  the  two  friars,  turning  them  into  my 
servants.     In  twelve  days  we  reached  Allahabad. 

I  believe  that  the  reader  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  on  the 
eastern  side  of  this  city  is  a  fortress  all  of  red  stone ;  it  was 
King  Akbar  who  ordered  it  to  be  built ;  it  is  very  handsome, 
and  very  strong.  For,  in  addition  to  art,  Nature  also  has  helped 
to  make   it  strong:    the  river  Ganges,  flowing  on   the  north 

1  Roa  (the  form  also  used  by  Bernier)  is  Heinrich  Roth  (born  December  18, 
1620,  died  January  20,  1667),  a  native  of  either  Dillingen  or  Augsburg.  He 
started  for  the  East  in  1650.  Some  of  his  work  will  be  found  in  P.  Kircher, 
'China  Illustrata  '  (Amsterdam,  1667);  Stoecklin,  '  Weltbott,'  i.  113-115  (Brief 
aus  Rom,  1664) ;  and  the  pamphlet  '  Relatione  .  .  .  Rerum  Mogul '  (Aschaffen- 
burg,  1665).  See  C.  Sommervogel,  '  Bibliographie  de  la  Societe  de  Jesus,'  s.v. 
Roth,  and  Bernier,  edition  Constable,  329  note,  330. 

2  Chaul  (Chehwal),  twenty-three  miles  south  of  Bombay,  now  known  as 
Revadanda  (Yule,  210).  It  is  given  in  Thornton's  '  Gazetteer,'  p.  212,  and  is 
marked  in  Constable's  'Hand  Atlas,'  plate  31. 

VOL.  II.  6 


82     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

or  left  side,  directs  its  course  towards  the  south  until  it  reaches 
the  fortress,  while  the  river  Jamnah,  flowing  on  the  east, 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  fort,  forms  a  junction  with  the  Ganges 
River  beneath  the  walls.  Besides  these  rivers,  there  issues 
from  the  rock  on  which  stand  the  fort  and  its  outworks  a  petty 
stream  with  blue  waters,  which  is  called  Tirt  (Tirth);1  it  goes 
by  a  straight  course,  like  a  tongue,  between  the  two  rivers  until 
it  flows  into  them.  Just  as  if  the  said  two  rivers  held  those 
waters  in  respect,  on  account  of  their  birthplace,  they  allow 
them  to  pass  down  for  a  long  distance  without  their  colour 
being  modified.  Thus  you  can  plainly  see  the  waters  of  this 
streamlet  flowing  in  the  middle  of  the  waters  of  the  two  rivers, 
Ganges  and  Jamnah. 

I  observed  this  very  specially  when,  during  my  stay,  one  of 
my  friends  named  Aquim  Momena  (Hakim  Mumin),  physician 
to  Bahadur  Khan,  gave  me  a  dinner  upon  the  said  fortification. 
As  it  was  the  first  time  [59]  I  saw  it,  I  showed  my  admiration 
of  this  work  of  Nature.  For  many  gave  me  particular  informa- 
tion, and  told  me  that  the  Hindus  worship  this  river  Tirth, 
their  story  being  that  one  of  their  gods  opened  with  an  arrow 
the  spring  from  which  the  said  river  rises.  Every  five  years 
multitudes  of  Hindus  assemble  and  wash  their  bodies  in  the 
said  stream.  This  yields  a  good  revenue  to  the  Mogul  king, 
for  every  person  who  bathes  in  the  river  pays  six  and  a 
quarter  rupees.  Such  is  the  multitude  of  frequenters  that  in 
the  crowding  many  are  stifled.  Nor  on  this  account  do  the 
relations  of  the  smothered  persons  make  the  usual  lamenta- 
tions. On  the  contrary,  they  boast  that  their  relations  died  in 
a  state  of  grace  and  holiness,  all  of  which  is  included  in  the 
word  Tirth. 

These  three  rivers  flow  below  the  city  of  Banaras  (Benares), 
ninety  leagues  from  Allahabad,  pass  near  the  city  of  Patana 
(Patnah),  forty  leagues  distant  from  Benares,  then  flowing 
onwards,  water  the  shores  of  the  small  town  of  Muguer  (Munger) 
at  a  distance  of  eighty  leagues  from  Patnah,  and,  continuing 
their  course,  greet  the  town  of  Ragemahal  (Rajmahal)  at  forty 
leagues  from  Munger.     There  they  divide  into  two  branches : 

1  The  Hindi  word  Tirth,  a  place  of  pilgrimage. 


BENARES  AND  PATNAH  83 

one,  keeping  the  name  of  Ganges,  flows  as  far  as  Ugulim 
(Hugh")  in  Bengal,  and  from  Hugh"  goes  southward  to  the  sea  ; 
the  other  branch,  under  the  name  of  Jamnah,  flows  near  the 
town  of  Daca  (Dhakah),  where  it  mingles  with  other  great  rivers. 

We  were  some  days  in  Allahabad,  and  the  then  governor  was 
Bahadur  Khan,1  who  was  absent  on  a  campaign  against  some 
villagers  who  objected  to  pay  their  revenue  without,  at  least, 
one  fight,  just  as  the  villagers  near  Agrah  do,  as  I  have 
recounted  (I.  83).  Leaving  Allahabad,  I  took  the  road  for 
Benares  by  land,  carrying  with  me  a  passport,  as  is  the  practice 
of  all  travellers.  The  route  was  level  and  without  hills,  and  in 
eight  days  we  came  to  the  city  of  Benares,  where  we  remained 
several  days.  This  city  is  small  but  very  ancient,  and  venerated 
by  the  Hindus,  by  reason  of  a  temple  there  possessing  a  very 
ancient  idol.  Some  years  after  my  visit  Aurangzeb  sent  o»ders 
for  its  destruction,  when  he  undertook  the  knocking  down  of  all 
temples,  as  I  will  state  in  the  proper  place  (II.  116). 

In  this  city  is  made  much  cloth  worked  in  gold  and  silver, 
which  is  distributed  hence  all  over  the  Mogul  realm,  and  is 
exported  to  many  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  the  fashion  in 
Hindustan  to  use  [60]  this  proverb :  '  Toracana  Banarismo 
Rana '  [Thord  khana,  Bandras  mon  rahnd] — that  is,  '  Little  to 
eat,  but  live  in  Banaras,'  suggesting  that  Benares  is  a  nice 
place,  with  a  good  climate,  productive  land,  and  cheap  food.2 
Here  I  crossed  the  great  river,  showing  the  Allahabad  passport, 
as  is  usual ;  and  by  land  I  arrived  in  four  days  at  Patnah,  a  very 
large  city  with  bazars,  the  greater  part  thatched,  inhabited  by 
many  merchants.  For  here  is  prepared  much  white  cloth  of 
fine  quality. 

In  this  city  were  two  factories,  one  of  the  English,  and  the 
other  of  the  Dutch,  seeing  that  here,  besides  cloth  of  cotton, 

1  Bahadur  Khan  was  sent  against  Bahadur,  Bachgoti,  in  Baiswarah  (Eastern 
Oudh),  and  after  punishing  this  rebel  a  farm  an  was  issued  appointing  him  to 
Allahabad  subah,  vice  Khan  Dauran.  He  was  long  governor  there,  and  in  the 
tenth  year,  1077-78  (1666-67),  was  moved  to  Gujarat.  He  died  in  1109  H. 
(1697-98)  (■  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  801).  He  is  the  man  that  has  been  mentioned 
so  repeatedly,  and  was  Aurangzeb's  foster-brother. 

2  In  my  time  the  young  bloods  of  the  city  punned  on  its  name,  saying  it  meant 
bana-ras,  or  '  Perfect  Delight.' 

6—2 


84     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

much  fine  silk  cloth  is  woven  and  a  huge  quantity  of  saltpetre 
produced,  which  goes  to  be  stored  in  Bengal,  and  is  there 
loaded  on  ships  for  various  parts  of  Europe.  Bottles  are  also 
made,  and  cups  of  clay,  finer  than  glass,  lighter  than  paper,  and 
highly  scented;  and  these,  as  curiosities,  are  carried  all  over 
the  world.  When  I  was  at  Patnah  I  saw  an  Armenian  friend 
of  mine  called  Coja  Safar  (Khwajah  Safar)  of  Agrah.  He  had 
a  letter  entitling  him  to  receive  from  a  sarraf  (money-changer) 
twenty-five  thousand  rupees.  On  his  arrival  he  learnt  that  the 
sarraf  had  become  bankrupt.  The  Armenian  dissimulated. 
As  all  the  merchants  knew  him,  they  brought  him  cloth,  and  he 
took  delivery  up  to  thirty  thousand  rupees'  worth.  He  loaded 
up  all  this  cloth  for  Surat,  continuing  himself  at  Patnah. 
When  came  the  time  for  paying  the  merchants,  he,  in  pursuance 
of  the  custom  of  the  country,  lighted  two  candles  in  the 
morning  as  a  sign  that  he  had  become  bankrupt  j1  he  sat  at  his 
house,  with  no  turban  on  his  head,  a  simple  cloth  bound  round 
his  loins,  his  seat  an  old  bit  of  matting,  and  a  dejected  expres- 
sion on  his  face.  A  great  tumult  arose  in  the  city,  and  the 
merchants  thronged  to  learn  the  cause ;  there  was  a  storm 
of  questions,  answers,  and  bad  language.  To  all  this  he  replied 
with  a  sad  countenance,  calmly,  and  without  heat,  by  the 
word  '  Divalia '  (diwala),  which  means  '  bankrupt'  No  other 
response  could  they  get.  They  carried  him  off  to  court,  but  on 
the  quiet  he  had  given  the  judge  a  bribe  of  five  thousand  rupees. 
At  the  hearing  he  (Safar)  produced  the  bill  of  exchange  that  he 
got  at  Agrah  upon  the  sarraf  of  Patnah,  and  made  the  defence 
that  this  sarraf  was  the  cause  that  he,  too,  was  a  bankrupt. 
The  judge  decreed  that  the  merchants  must  take  the  bill  of 
exchange  and  procure  payment  for  themselves,  being  fellow- 
citizens  of  the  sarraf.  It  was  unreasonable  that  a  stranger 
should  suffer  in  a  foreign  country.  The  Armenian,  being  thus 
absolved,  made  his  way  to  Surat  [61]. 

At  this  time  Dautcan  (Da,ud  Khan)  governed  the  city  of 
Patnah.  This  is  the  man  who  was  unwilling  to  forsake  the 
service  of  Dara,  yet  was  forced  to  leave  it  because  Dara,  in  op- 

1  This  practice  is  the  origin  of  the  Hindi  phrase  for  bankruptcy — diwala  nikalna, 
to  come  out  diwala  (with  lamps),  from  diwa,  a  lamp. 


JOURNEY  BY  RIVER  85 

position  to  all  reason,  expelled  him  from  the  service  when  he 
marched  out  of  Multan.  The  prince  acted  on  unfounded  sus- 
picions, as  I  have  recounted  in  the  other  part  (I.  208,  217). 
I  went  to  visit  him,  and  he  was  very  delighted  to  see  me, 
remembering  that  I  had  been  something  of  a  favourite  with 
Prince  Dara.  He  gave  me  a  set  of  robes  (sarapa).  He  still 
retained  much  affection  for  the  deceased  prince,  upbraiding  the 
evil  fortune  that  had  pursued  him.  He  said  to  me  that  if  Prince 
Dara  were  still  alive  he  would  never  have  taken  service  under 
Aurangzeb,  and  now  that  he  had  accepted  employment,  he  had 
been  sent  to  govern  Patnah.  He  was  desirous  for  me  to  become 
his  follower,  making  me  great  offers  ;  but  as  I  wished  to  con- 
tinue my  projected  journey,  I  asked  him  to  forgive  me,  as  I  had 
business  in  Bengal.  He  agreed  to  let  me  go,  on  condition  that 
I  accepted  from  him  a  boat  for  making  my  journey  by  river  to 
Bengal,  as  a  mark  of  the  affection  he  bore  me. 

I  accepted  the  offer,  and  of  the  two  horses  I  had  I  sold  one ; 
the  other  I  embarked  on  the  boat.  Then  I  got  into  it,  taking 
the  two  friars,  with  whom  I  was  considerably  incensed.  We 
proceeded  slowly,  and  arriving  near  an  island,  while  our  meal 
was  in  preparation  I  landed  with  my  boys  to  go  shooting,  there 
being  abundance  of  game  in  these  islands,  all  of  them  unin- 
habited. Having  shot  sufficient  for  supper  and  breakfast,  I 
returned  to  the  boat,  and  every  evening  we  slept  close  to  the 
bank.1 

One  day  during  this  voyage  the  boatman  told  me  not  to  put 
any  trust  in  the  friars,  for  they  were  not  my  friends  ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  had  several  times  wanted  to  resume  the  journey 
while  I  was  out  on  an  island  shooting.  But  the  boatman  would 
never  consent,  knowing  that  Da,ud  Khan  would  wreak  vengeance 
on  him  for  daring  so  to  act.  I  knew  quite  well  that  the  friars 
were  capable  of  doing  this ;  for  the  more  I  tried  to  please  them, 
the  more  insolent  they  became.  They  did  not  recognise  the 
benefit  I  was  doing  them,  for  no  other  reason  than  their  being 
men  of  religious  profession,  recommended  by  the  Father  Rector 
of  the  Jesuits  in  Agrah. 

1  Or,  in  old  Anglo-Indian  parlance,  they  '  lagoed '  for  the  night  (see  Fanny 
Parkes,  passim). 


86     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

I  wanted  to  find  out  whether  really  they  spoke  thus  to  the 
boatman,  and  I  learnt  after  some  days  that  they  again  did  as 
before.  Thus,  I  was  compelled  to  show  myself  [62]  in  a  rage, 
and  I  said  to  them  that  if  they  did  not  amend  their  impertinent 
ways,  I  would  abandon  them  on  some  island,  and  leave  them 
at  the  disposal  of  Time  and  the  wild  beasts.  I  hoped  that  they 
would  not  thereafter  venture  to  incur  my  displeasure.  All  men 
of  wisdom  know  that  with  certain  characters  it  is  necessary  to 
be  resolute  before  you  can  make  them  abate  their  rage,  and 
thus  was  it  requisite  to  do  on  this  occasion  to  make  them 
thoroughly  uneasy. 

Finally  I  reached  Rajmahal,  the  former  court  residence  of 
Prince  Shah  Shuja',  where  I  delayed  a  few  days  to  see  the  ruins 
of  the  city,  the  dilapidated  palaces,  the  great  fallen  mansions, 
the  neglected  groves  and  gardens.  At  this  time  the  city  was 
ruled  by  Mirza  Jam,  who  had  been  the  captain  of  Shah  Shuja"s 
artillery  in  the  severe  battle  of  Khajwah.  Upon  the  defeat  of 
that  prince,  Mir  Jumlah,  who  was  Viceroy  of  Bengal,  aware 
of  the  prudence  and  valour  of  Mirza.  JanI,  made  him  governor 
of  this  city.  Here  I  satisfied  myself  that  the  affair  of  the  cobras, 
which  I  related  before  I  began  to  speak  of  the  rebellion  in  the 
Mogul  kingdom  (I.  157),  happened  exactly  as  I  told  it  then,  for 
everybody  gave  me  the  story  in  one  and  the  same  way. 

From  Rajmahal  I  continued  my  journey  on  the  river  to  the 
city  of  Daca  (Dhakah),  which  was  reached  in  fifteen  days  from 
leaving  Rajmahal.  The  city  of  Dhakah  is  the  metropolis  of 
the  whole  province  of  Bengal,  where  a  viceroy  always  resides 
who  wields  the  greatest  power,  although  when  I  reached  it 
Mir  Jumlah,  the  then  viceroy,  was  not  there,  he  having  gone 
to  make  war  on  Assam,  a  campaign  of  which  I  will  speak 
farther  on  (II.  74).  The  city  of  Dhakah,  without  being  strong 
or  large,  has  many  inhabitants.  Most  of  its  houses  are  made  of 
straw.  At  this  period  there  were  two  factories,  one  English  and 
the  other  Dutch ;  there  were  many  Christians,  white  and  black 
Portuguese,  with  a  church  served  by  a  friar  called  Agostinho.1 

1  Mullbauer,  '  Geschichte, '  342,  refers  to  the  Augustinian's  church  at  Dhakah, 
'Nostra  Senhora  da  Assumpcao,'  relying  on  Thevenot,  199.  But  he  does  not 
mention  the  priest's  name. 


RAJ  MA  HAL  AND  THOMAS  PRATT  87 

Here  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  an  Englishman  named 
Thomas  Plata  (?  Piatt),1  a  courteous  man,  who  had  from  Mir 
Jumlah  five  hundred  rupees  a  month.  He  was  master  of  the 
riverside,  and  employed  in  building  boats  and  making  ammuni- 
tion for  river  fighting.  This  Englishman  carried  me  off  to  his 
house,  and  I  received  from  him  many  favours  ;  I  shall  have  some- 
thing to  say  [63]  about  him  after  the  death  of  Mir  Jumlah  (II.  75), 
through  something  that  then  happened  to  him.  After  some 
days  I  embarked  once  more,  accompanied  by  the  friars,  traversing 
the  great  river  of  Dhakah,  on  my  way  to  Hugh".  Having  dis- 
covered that  I  had  little  time  to  spare,  and  that  there  was  a 
shorter  and  safer  route  to  Hugh",  we  therefore  quitted  the  main 
stream  and  passed  by  a  way  between  forests,  which  are  called 
the  Forests  of  Sunderi  (Sundarbans).2 


The  Forests  of  Sunderi  (the  Sundarbans). 

These  forests  are  renowned  in  Bengal  for  the  ferocious  tigers, 
the  buffaloes,  and  rhinoceroses  inhabiting  them.  In  passing 
through  them  it  is  necessary  to  post  sentinels  at  night,  for 
often  it  happens  that  tigers  swim  out  and  enter  the  boats, 
picking  out  the  most  portly  of  the  travellers  and  carrying  him 
off  to  the  jungle.  A  short  time  before  there  passed  by  this  way 
a  Portuguese  from  Chatigao  (Chatganw),  one  of  those  Portu- 
guese who  know  neither  God  nor  eternity.  His  boat  was  the 
Julia,  and  his  own  name  was  Manoel  Coelho.  One  day  he  said 
to  his  crew  that  they  must  land  to  cook  food.  They  answered 
that  it  could  not  be  done,  by  reason  of  the  jungle  being  full  of 
tigers  capable  of  doing  them  injury.  More  ferocious  than  the 
very  tigers,  he  flew  into  a  passion  and  insisted  absolutely  on 

1  This  must  be  the  Thomas  Pratt,  Englishman,  named  on  fol.  5b  of  Richard 
Bell's  'Travels,'  British  Museum,  Sloane  MSS.,  No.  811,  who  assisted  Shah 
Shuja',  and  was  in  command  of  twenty  brigantines. 

2  Sundarbans  (see  Yule,  869, 870).  The  use  of  '  matos  de  Sunderi '  by  Manucci, 
referring  to  1663  {circa),  is  interesting  and  important  as  an  early  example  of 
the  modern  appellation.  He  places  the  Sunderbans  in  their  proper  situation. 
Apropos  of  Yule's  remark  about  Sandari  being  the  correct  transliteration,  it 
should  be  noted  that  Manucci's  Sunderi  (following  the  Italian  or  Portuguese 
vowel  scheme)  points  to  Sundari  as  more  correct  than  Sandari. 


88     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

their  landing.  If  any  tiger  came,  let  them  tell  it  they  were  the 
men  of  Manoel  Coelho,  and  it  must  therefore  take  good  heed 
not  to  do  them  harm,  otherwise  such  conduct  would  cost  it 
dear. 

Intimidated  by  the  threats  of  their  master,  the  sailors  landed, 
and  hardly  had  they  reached  the  bank  when  a  fierce  tiger  snatched 
up  one  of  them  and  carried  him  into  the  jungle.  The  others 
did  not  count  their  steps  on  their  way  back  to  the  Julia,  where, 
arriving  more  dead  than  alive,  they  made  complaint  that  the 
tiger  had  already  killed  one  of  them.  Manoel  Coelho  inquired 
whether  they  told  the  tiger  they  were  his  men.  They  replied, 
1  Yes,  but  the  tiger  made  no  account  of  our  shouts.'  Manoel 
Coelho  was  courageous,  and  seized  his  shield  with  his  left  hand 
and  his  dagger  (cm)1  with  his  right.  The  latter  is  a  poignard 
made  in  the  shape  of  a  serpent  (or  bill-hook  ?),  the  wound  from 
which  is  usually  incurable,  they  being  tempered  in  poison. 
This  is  the  usual  weapon  of  the  Malays.1 

He  (Manoel  Coelho)  entered  the  jungle  boldly  and  alone. 
Following  [64]  the  traces  of  blood,  he  saw  the  tiger  tearing 
the  dead  man  to  pieces.  He  gave  a  shout,  and  the  tiger, 
expecting  to  make  a  fresh  prize,  with  one  bound  was  upon  him. 
He  parried  the  attack  with  his  shield,  and  plunged  the  dagger 
into  its  belly  so  that  the  tiger  died,  while  Manoel  Coelho, 
*  Tiger-slayer,' — for  so  he  called  himself  thenceforth — returned 
to  the  boat  and  contemptuously  ordered  the  men  to  skin  the 
tiger,  and  of  it  he  caused  a  drum-head  to  be  made. 

In  the  forest  many  fires  are  to  be  seen  at  night,  and  the 
common  opinion  is  they  are  the  fires  of  witches,  whom  in 
Bengal  they  call  sangueny  (Sankhini)2  of  whom  there  are  many. 
It  happened  that  in  passing  these  forests  a  boat  sent  its  people 
ashore  to  collect  wood.  A  Portuguese  youth,  out  of  curiosity, 
penetrated  into  the  interior,  where  there  met  him  a  beautiful 

1  The  'cris  '  or  'crease  '  is  the  Malay  sword  or  dagger  (Yule,  274). 

2  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Grierson,  C.I.E.,  for  this  identification.  It  is  a  word 
adopted  into  Bengali,  with  the  meaning  of  '  a  fairy ' ;  when  further  corrupted 
into  shhhirii,  it  means  'a  spectre,'  'a  goblin.'  It  is  the  Sanskrit  iahhhirii,  the 
third  of  the  four  orders  into  which  women  are  divided.  They  have  treacherous 
dispositions  and  harsh  voices.  Much  unedifying  information  about  these  ladies 
will  be  found  on  pp.  128  ff  of  Schmidt's  '  Beitrage  zur  Indischen  Erotik.' 


SUNDARBAN  STORIES— HUGLI  89 

woman,  with  whom  he  fell  in  love.  The  woman  made  him 
a  sign  with  her  hand,  and  he  followed  her.  She  took  him 
to  a  place  where,  under  the  shelter  of  a  great  tree,  stood  a 
house.  Every  day  she  came  to  visit  him,  and  brought  him 
delicate  viands.  There  he  dwelt  four  years,  when,  upon  the 
arrival  of  another  boat,  its  crew  landed  to  collect  wood,  and 
he  was  discovered  by  these  travellers,  who  took  him  away 
from  the  tree,  he  being  unable  to  speak.  They  took  him  on 
board,  and  two  hours  afterwards  there  was  a  great  upheaval 
in  the  stream.  This  may  have  happened  because  his  lady-love 
did  not  find  him,  and  therefore  attempted  to  wreck  the  vessel ; 
but  by  the  favour  of  God  they  reached  Hugli.  The  boy,  being 
devoted  to  her,  always  cherished  a  longing  for  his  companion 
and  the  tree.  This  happened  in  my  time,  and  although  I  never 
talked  with  the  youth,  I  knew  many  to  whom  he  had  told 
the  story. 

In  forty  days  we  got  through  the  forest  and  reached  the 
waters  of  Hugli,  not  far  from  the  sea.  The  friars  made  for 
the  harbour  of  Balasor,  where  they  wanted  to  beg  for  alms. 
I  disembarked  at  Hugli,  and  went  to  see  the  Father  Prior 
of  St.  Augustin's,1  named  Frey  Irao  Bautista.  Here  I  found 
the  chief  inhabitants  of  Hugli,  all  of  them  rich  Portuguese,  for 
in  those  days  they  alone  were  allowed  to  deal  in  salt  through- 
out the  province  of  Bengal.  The  father  asked  me  at  once  if 
there  had  come  with  me  two  fugitive  friars.  I  replied  that  two 
fathers  had  come,  but  they  were  not  fugitives — on  the  contrary, 
they  were  religious  persons  much  to  be  esteemed;  that  they 
had  come  to  gather  alms  for  their  convent,  and  were  gone 
[65]  to  Balasor.  Thus  did  I  repay  the  troubles  they  had 
caused  me  on  the  journey.  But  they  did  not  equally  return 
to  me  the  good  I  had  done  them,  as  I  shall  relate  (II.  67). 
The  Father  Prior  placed  trust  in  my  words,  and  made 
ready  two  cells  to  receive  the  friars  on  their  arrival,  which 
came  to  pass  a  few  days  afterwards,  when  they  were  well 
received. 

1  Thornton,  'Gazetteer,'  390,  says  the  church  bears  the  date  of  1599,  and  was 
built  by  the  Jesuits.  The  last  statement  is  probably  erroneous,  as  Hugli  was  at 
first  a  mission  of  the  Augustinian  Order. 


90     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

My  Stay  in  Hugo,  and  what  happened  there. 

Some  days  after  my  arrival  the  Jesuit  fathers  came  to  visit 
me,  and  in  course  of  conversation  they  said  to  me  that  they 
had  a  tiny  church,  and  that  only  built  of  straw.  They  desired 
to  construct  one  of  stone,  but  the  governor  objected,  although 
they  were  ready  to  pay  him  five  thousand  rupees.  The 
governor  was  Mirzagol  (?  Mirza  Gul  or  Mughal),  an  old  man 
of  Persian  race,  who  had  been  in  Shah  Shuja"s  service  when 
he  fought  the  famous  battle  of  Khajvvah  against  Aurangzeb.  He 
afterwards  entered  the  service  of  Aurangzeb,  and  Mir  Jumlah, 
who  knew  his  prudence,  made  him  governor  of  Hugh".  This 
governor  was  determined  that  the  Jesuit  fathers  should  not 
build  a  church,  and  he  issued  orders  that  no  one  should  work 
at  such  an  edifice  under  penalty  of  losing  a  hand. 

The  fathers  begged  me  most  earnestly  to  speak  to  Mirza 
Gul  on  this  matter.  To  be  of  service  to  the  fathers,  I  paid 
a  visit  to  the  governor,  when  we  had  a  talk  over  the  events 
in  the  recent  wars,  so  that  he  took  a  fancy  to  me.  He  said 
to  me  that  if  he  could  be  of  use  to  me  in  any  way  he  would 
do  it  willingly.  Seeing  an  opening  for  carrying  out  the  project 
of  the  fathers,  who  were  with  me,  I  explained  to  him,  after 
many  polite  words,  that  I  should  be  content  if  he  would  allow 
the  fathers  to  build  their  church.  This  was  the  greatest  favour 
that  he  could  do  for  me.  Then  I  presented  to  him  their 
petition,  which  he  granted  on  the  spot. 

When  they  learnt  this,  the  Portuguese  were  all  amazed 
that  I  with  a  few  words  had  secured  what  they  could  not 
obtain  for  five  thousand  rupees.  This  thing  caused  them 
to  seek  every  mode  of  keeping  me  in  Hugh",  they  supposing 
that,  as  I  had  managed  so  easily  such  a  difficult  affair,  I  would 
prove  of  benefit  to  the  Portuguese  should  I  take  up  my 
residence  there.  They  found  that  I  was  not  willing;  on 
the  contrary,  I  wanted  to  go  back  to  Mogul  territory  [66]  to 
practise  the  science  of  medicine,  of  which  I  had  begun  to  learn 
the  elements,  and  was  continuing  my  studies.  I  knew  from 
experience  that  Frank  physicians  are  held  in  esteem  by  the 
Mahomedans.     Then  they  thought  to  detain  me  by  a  marriage 


PORTUGUESE  OF  HUGLI  91 

to  a  young  lady,  with  the  promise  of  thirty  thousand  rupees 
and  two  pataxos1  loaded  with  salt,  making  in  the  whole  one 
hundred  thousand  rupees,  also  a  house  furnished  with  every- 
thing necessary  for  a  newly-married  couple. 

I  was  really  anxious  that  this  contract  should  be  carried 
through ;  all  the  same,  I  made  a  show  of  not  caring  a  rap,  pre- 
tending, on  the  contrary,  that  I  was  absolutely  determined  to 
return  to  the  Mogul  country.  The  Jesuit  fathers  were  never 
tired  of  trying  to  get  a  '  Yes  '  from  me,  but  though  in  reality 
desirous  in  my  heart  of  assenting,  I  made  a  show  of  refusal, 
so  that  they  might  not  fancy  they  were  conferring  any 
benefit  on  me ;  nor,  if  afterwards  there  chanced  to  be  any 
quarrel,  could  they  throw  in  my  face  the  benefit  they  had 
done  me. 

The  friends  with  whom  I  had  travelled  from  Agrah  to  Bengal 
were  anxious  on  this  occasion  to  repay  me  for  the  kindness 
I  had  done  them  in  taking  them  as  my  companions.  They 
came  to  interview  me,  and  by  a  long  argument  tried  to  draw 
from  my  purse  three  thousand  rupees.  They  said  if  I  gave 
them  the  three  thousand  rupees,  they  had  the  power  of  arrang- 
ing a  very  profitable  marriage  for  me.  They  supposed  that  at 
the  time  I  knew  nothing  of  this  proposed  marriage,  and  thus 
they  came  confidently  hoping  to  suck  these  three  thousand 
rupees  out  of  me.  With  an  unmoved  face  I  gave  them  my 
thanks,  saying  that  I  had  no  wish  to  marry.  Worn  out  by 
talking,  they  had  to  quit  my  dwelling  without  the  rupees. 

They  (the  friars)  waited  until  a  day  on  which  my  proposed 
father-in-law  had  prepared  a  luncheon,  and  intended  to  come 
with  the  Jesuit  fathers  and  other  of  his  friends  to  carry  me  with 
them  to  this  feast.  He  meant  to  obtain  my  acquiescence  during 
the  meal.  All  of  a  sudden  they  (the  two  friars)  appeared  in 
the  company.  Everybody  was  pleased,  looking  on  the  friars  as 
my  friends ;  and  they  were  invited  to  come  also  to  my  house  to 
fetch  me  and  settle  about  the  wedding.     Those  two  men,  who 

1  Can  this  be  intended  for  patela,  a  large  flat-bottomed  boat  ?  (see  Yule,  687, 
s.v.  •  Pattello ').  Or,  perhaps,  it  is  merely  the  Italian  patascia,  advice-boat, 
packet-boat ;  in  French  patache.  Faria  y  Souza,  in  his  '  Asia  Portuguesa,'  uses 
the  word  patache  for  some  kind  of  boat. 


92     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

sought  nothing  but  my  harm,  began  to  give  vent  to  the  rage  that 
they  had  against  me,  at  not  having  been  able  to  extract  the  three 
thousand  rupees  from  me.  They  expressed  their  surprise  that 
a  rich  man,  having  only  one  daughter,  the  heiress  of  much 
wealth,  should  seek  for  her  the  ill  fortune  of  being  married  to 
a  foreign  youth,  one  [67]  of  little  ability.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  were  many  Portuguese,  of  good  sense,  of  good  family, 
well-established  merchants  in  Hugh",  who  were  willing  to  marry 
the  girl ;  if  others  were  consenting  to  this  union,  they  could  not 
concur  in  such  an  injury  being  inflicted  on  the  girl. 

Everybody  was  amazed  at  this  kind  of  talk  from  the  friars, 
they  all  supposing  them  to  be  my  friends,  as  I  had  vouched  for 
them ;  and  their  words  found  acceptance  in  the  minds  of  many 
present.  The  two  knew  that  someone  would  come  to  tell  me 
what  had  happened,  therefore  they  cunningly  took  the  initiative 
and  came  within  the  same  hour  to  visit  me.  They  said  Hugh" 
was  not  a  good  place  for  me ;  it  were  better  to  quit  it  at  once. 
The  father  Prior  of  the  Augustinians  was,  they  said,  very  vexed 
with  me  for  obtaining  permission  for  the  Jesuit  fathers  to  build 
their  church.  He  had  sworn  that  when  he  came  across  me  he 
would  thrust  some  insult  upon  me. 

As  soon  as  they  had  left  my  house  I  took  pen  and  ink  and 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  said  father  Prior,  asking  the  cause  of  his 
displeasure.  For  it  did  not  seem  to  me  sufficient  cause  to  be 
vexed,  because  a  stranger  had  assisted  in  getting  God  glorified. 
Nevertheless,  if  I  had  offended,  I  would  come  to  him  for  my 
penance.  But  it  did  not  seem  to  me  right  that  he  should  show 
signs  of  displeasure,  as  recounted  to  me  by  such  and  such 
priests.  He  replied  to  me  that  he  had  no  grievance  about 
my  gaining  the  permission  for  the  Jesuit  fathers,  but  it  was 
because  they  had  promised  him  one  hundred  and  fifty  rupees  if 
the  negotiation  succeeded,  and  now  were  unwilling  to  keep 
their  word.  Meanwhile  there  appeared  the  foster-brother  of  her 
who  was  to  be  my  wife ;  he  was  my  great  friend,  and  he  told 
me  all  that  had  occurred.  The  story  was  confirmed  by  other 
friends,  who  had  been  present  during  the  telling  of  falsehoods 
about  me  by  the  two  friars. 

I  came  out  of  my  house  and  went  to  the  father  Prior  of  the 


CROCODILE  STORIES  93 

Augustinians,  where  I  made  known  what  the  friars  were,  for  I 
saw  now  they  were  full  of  guile.  I  told  him,  as  was  the  truth, 
that  they  collected  alms  not  for  the  convent,  but  for  themselves. 
They  had  tried  to  levy  from  my  purse  three  thousand  rupees ; 
but  as  I  did  not  wish  to  give  them  this  money,  they  invented 
falsehoods  about  me.  They  supposed  I  wanted  to  get  married, 
whereas  the  thought  of  it  had  never  entered  my  head.  The 
father  Prior  approved  what  I  said  [68],  and  extracted  from  the 
hands  of  the  fugitives  the  alms  collected,  writing  to  the  convent 
of  the  said  friars  at  Goa  as  to  what  he  had  done.  He  gave 
orders  in  his  convent  of  the  Augustinians  for  the  preparation  of 
a  satisfactory  account  of  the  money.  The  said  father  Prior 
made  complaint  to  me  for  my  not  having  denounced  them  as 
absconders.  I  replied  that  under  the  impression  that  they 
intended  to  do  better  deeds  than  those  they  had  committed  in 
the  Mogul  country,  I  judged  myself  under  an  obligation  to 
screen  my  neighbour's  faults  ;  but  finding  that  they  were  acting 
worse  than  before,  I  held  it  now  opportune  to  declare  the  truth. 

Crocodiles  of  the  Ganges. 

My  stay  at  Hugh"  lasted  two  months.  I  observed  that  the 
waters  are  full  of  carnivorous  crocodiles,  which  live  upon  the 
dead  bodies  thrown  by  the  Hindus  into  the  Ganges.  No  year 
passes  without  the  crocodiles  killing  several  living  persons,  who 
go  either  to  bathe  their  bodies  or  to  draw  water.  The  crocodile 
lies  in  wait,  and  with  one  stroke  of  its  tail  on  the  person's  legs 
knocks  him  down.  A  Portuguese  was  in  the  habit  of  bathing, 
and  as  a  protection  against  the  crocodiles,  he  had  erected  a 
palisade  in  the  river  at  the  place  where  he  always  took  his  bath, 
so  that  the  crocodiles  could  not  reach  him.  One  day  he  went 
for  his  bath  and  began  to  undress;  but  a  dog  he  had  with 
him  hindered  his  taking  off  his  clothes.  This  angered  the 
Portuguese,  but  still  the  dog  would  not  desist  from  interfering 
with  his  master  and  keeping  him  out  of  the  water.  He  had 
spied  a  crocodile,  which,  one  knows  not  how  or  where,  had 
managed  to  find  entrance  into  the  enclosure.  The  Portuguese 
tried  his  best  to  get  rid  of  the  dog,  but  the  faithful  creature 
would  not  allow  his  master  to  die.     Therefore,  growing  angry, 


94      OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

he  barked  as  if  he  meant  to  bite  the  man  in  whose  house 
he  had  been  reared.  The  Portuguese  ordered  the  troublesome 
dog  to  be  taken  away.  The  latter,  seeing  they  wanted  to  catch 
him,  and  that  if  they  did  so  he  would  be  unable  to  protect  his 
master  from  the  crocodile,  jumped  into  the  water  where  the 
crocodile  was  before  his  master  could  enter.  The  crocodile, 
with  one  rush  to  the  side  of  the  water,  laid  hold  of  the  dog. 
Thus  was  the  man  saved,  and  he  then  knew  the  meaning  of 
the  cries  and  noise  made  by  the  dog. 

There  was  another  thing  I  wondered  at  in  the  Ganges — that 
is,  frequently  [69]  the  Mahomedans,  as  an  amusement,  get 
into  a  small  boat,  and  try  to  catch  a  crocodile  by  sorceries, 
which  are  much  resorted  to  in  the  country  of  Bengal.  They 
take  a  pot  and  throw  into  it  some  flowers,  repeating  a  spell 
over  the  pot.  Then  they  place  the  pot  in  the  river,  and  it 
moves  of  itself  against  stream.  They  follow  it  leisurely  in  the 
boat  until  the  pot  arrives  of  itself  where  there  is  a  crocodile. 
Thereupon  the  sorcerer  orders  the  crocodile  to  give  a  paw,  and 
it  obeys.  This  paw  is  made  fast ;  then  he  asks  for  the  other, 
and  it,  too,  is  fastened.  Then  the  brute  is  dragged  to  shore  as 
if  he  were  quite  meek,  or  merely  an  old  woman.  They  kill  him 
with  their  spears  in  perfect  security.  When  I  was  in  Hugh 
they  killed  a  crocodile,  which  had  then  in  its  stomach  bracelets 
and  rings  of  the  women  it  had  eaten. 

I  know  that  it  is  not  seemly  for  a  layman  to  raise  his  eyes 
to  the  skies  (ponere  os  in  caelum)  when  speaking  of  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel.  Yet  I  cannot  dispense  with  saying  something, 
at  any  rate,  to  warn  the  superior  authorities  against  sending 
such  men  to  mission  work  as  give  an  opening  for  speaking  ill 
of  the  priesthood.  Let  them  be  vowed  to  poverty,  and  more 
gentle  in  dealing  with  their  neighbour  than  those  I  encountered 
when  in  Bengal ;  and  if  I  must  tell  the  truth,  let  them  send 
priests  more  devout  than  those  that  were  there.  I  solemnly 
declare  I  speak  of  no  individual,  nor  wish  to  lay  bare  the  failings 
of  anyone,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  Mahomedans  and 
Hindus,  let  alone  the  Christians,  are  not  edified  by  the  lives  of 
some  missionaries.  I  will  not  speak  further  from  the  respect  I 
bear  to  those  ministering  at  the  altar  ;  what  I  here  say  and  do 


MISSIONARY  IRREGULARITIES  95 

is  for  love  of  God's  glory,  and  that  in  all  sincerity  what  goes  on 
in  these  countries  may  be  known  in  Europe. 

It  appears  to  me  that  if  the  orders  and  instructions  of  the 
Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  Fide  were  carried  out, 
as  to  the  recall  to  their  convents  of  the  religious  who  have  dwelt 
some  time  in  the  missions,  there  would  not  be  so  many  com- 
plaints about  the  fathers,  nor  would  they  become  the  subject 
of  conversation.  What  could  be  better  than  '  vacarent  studio 
orationi  et  ministerio  verbi,  sicut  decet  sanctos,'1  and  that  they 
should  remember  that  '  qui  militat  Deo  [70]  non  implicat  se 
negociis  secularibus,'2  as  said  St.  Paul.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  missions  are  a  great  work,  but  missionaries  must  be  imitators 
of  the  Apostles,  who  preached  by  miracles  and  not  by  hector- 
ing words.  If  I  thought  my  book  would  not  fall  into  the  hands 
of  laymen,  I  would  state  some  other  matters,  in  the  hope  that 
zealous  superiors  might  provide  a  remedy  for  the  many  dis- 
orders existing  in  India  in  this  direction. 

I  GO  ONCE  MORE  TO  AGRAH  BY  LAND. 

Certain  friends  were  very  anxious  for  me  to  remain  in  Hugh 
to  renew  the  proposals  of  marriage.  But  being  quite  ready  for 
a  start,  I  declined  to  listen  to  anyone.  Two  days  after  the 
above-mentioned  event  I  quitted  Hugh  by  land.  Some  imagined 
that  I  was  not  really  going,  for  before  I  had  reached  Cassim 
Bazar  (Qasim  Bazar)  they  sent  me  couriers  calling  on  me  to 
return,  saying  that  already  the  plot  of  my  enemies  had  been 
discovered,  and  my  father-in-law  was  anxiously  awaiting  me 

1  '  They  should  devote  all  their  time  to  study,  prayer,  and  the  ministry  of  the 
word,  as  befits  saints.'     Possibly  a  reminiscence  of  Acts  vi.  4. 

2  '  No  man  that  warreth  entangleth  himself  with  the  affairs  of  this  life  ;  that 
he  may  please  him  who  hath  chosen  him  to  be  a  soldier'  (2  Tim.  ii.  4). 

3  Mullbauer,  '  Geschichte,'  343,  relying  on  Cerri,  184,  and  Forteguerri, 
comments  on  the  low  standard  of  the  Augustinian  mission  in  Bengal  ;  the 
churches  were  in  ruins,  the  monks  avaricious,  disorderly  in  life,  keeping  many 
servants,  devoid  of  high  culture  or  any  knowledge  of  the  vernaculars  (Urbano 
Cerri,  '  Etat  present  de  l'Eglise  Romaine,'  Amsterdam,  1716;  Nicolo  Porteguerri, 
*  Memorie  Intorno  alle  Missioni,'  still  in  MS.  in  1852).  Le  Sieur  Luillier, 
speaking  of  Hugh"  in  1702,  makes  the  same  sort  of  remark  ('Nouveau  Voyage 
aux  Grandes  Indes,'  p.  48  ;   nrao. ,  Rotterdam,  1726). 


96     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  give  me  his  daughter  as  my  bride.  I  paid  no  heed  to  such 
letters  and  promises,  for  I  had  by  that  time  made  up  my  mind 
to  go  once  more  to  Dihll. 

I  reached  Qasim  Bazar,  at  three  days'  journey  from  Hugh", 
and  here  I  saw  that  they  make  much  high-quality  piece-goods 
and  much  white  cloth.  There  are  in  this  village,  which  is 
near  the  Ganges,  three  factories  of  the  French,  English,  and 
Dutch.  From  Qasim  Bazar  I  took  the  road  to  Rajmahal, 
and  there  waited  to  see  a  Hindu  woman  burnt,  although  I 
had  already  seen  many.  She  had  poisoned  her  husband  by 
reason  of  her  love  for  a  musician,  hoping  to  get  married  after- 
wards to  this  lover.  But  on  the  husband's  death  the  musician 
refused  to  marry  her.  Thus,  finding  herself  deprived  of  a 
husband  and  her  reputation  gone,  she  resolved  to  be  burnt. 
A  great  crowd  collected  to  look  on ;  among  them  appeared  the 
musician,  hoping  to  receive  from  her  something  by  way  of 
memorial.  It  is  usual  for  women  who  go  to  be  burnt  to  dis- 
tribute betel-leaf  or  jewels.  The  place  was  a  large  pit.  As 
she  was  circumambulating  this  pit,  she  came  close  to  the  young 
musician,  and,  taking  from  her  neck  a  gold  chain  she  had  on 
as  an  ornament,  she  flung  it  round  the  young  man's  neck,  and 
taking  him  forcibly  into  her  arms,  jumped  [71]  into  the  pit. 
Everyone  was  taken  aback  at  this,  not  anticipating  such  a 
thing.  Thus  did  she  and  the  youth  together  expiate  their  sin 
and  the  murder  of  the  husband.1 

From  Rajmahal  I  made  once  more  for  Patnah,  where  I 
halted  several  days,  spending  a  jolly  time  with  some  English 
and  Dutch  friends.  I  then  started  for  Allahabad,  and  from 
Allahabad  I  went  to  Agrah,  where  was  King  Shahjahan,  still 
kept  with  the  same  rigour  as  ordered  by  King  Aurangzeb,  who 
was  then  in  Kashmir.  The  routes  I  had  traversed  are  much 
frequented,  full  of  villages  and  saraes,  food  being  good  and 
cheap. 

Some  time  after  my  arrival  in  Agrah  there  came  to  my  house 
a  Dutch  surgeon  named  Jacob,  a  fugitive  from  the  harbour  of 

1  The  same  story  is  told  by  Bernier  without  place  or  date  (see  Constable's 
edition,  311).  Yule,  882,  quotes  it  from  A.  Hamilton,  'A  New  Account,'  edition 
1727,  i.  278,  who  got  it  by  hearsay. 


A  RESCUE  FROM  SATI  97 

Goa,  having  killed  a  man  when  the  Dutch  blockaded  the  entrance 
to  that  place.1  His  visit  was  most  opportune.  For  the  governor 
of  the  city,  who  suffered  from  a  fistula,  had  sent  for  me  to  see 
if  I  could  cure  him.  None  of  the  Europeans  living  in  the  fort 
knew  the  proper  treatment,  nor  was  there  any  Mahomedan 
surgeon  who  would  venture  to  deal  with  the  case.  I  asked 
Jacob,  who  was  unable  to  speak  Moors,  and  was  a  poor, 
miserable  creature,  whether  he  had  the  courage  to  treat  such 
a  complaint.  He  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  so  I  went  with 
him  to  the  governor,  and  in  a  short  time  we  cured  him,  when 
he  gave  us  a  considerable  sum  for  our  trouble,  besides  the 
presents  sent  to  me  during  the  time  we  were  attending  him. 
Thus  little  by  little  I  began  to  turn  myself  into  a  physician, 
although  I  did  not  make  bold  to  announce  myself  as  such. 

During  my  stay  in  Agrah  I  went  one  day  to  make  an  excur- 
sion into  the  country  on  horseback,  in  the  company  of  a  young 
Armenian.  We  came  where  a  Hindu  woman  had  begun  to  move 
round  her  pyre,  which  was  already  blazing  ;  she  rested  her 
eyes  on  us,  as  if  she  appealed  to  us  for  help.  The  Armenian 
asked  if  I  would  join  him  in  saving  the  woman  from  death. 
I  said  I  would.  Seizing  our  swords,  and  our  servants  doing 
the  same,  we  charged  with  our  horses  into  the  midst  of  the 
crowd  looking  on,  shouting,  '  Mata,  mata  !'  [Kill,  kill !],  whereat 
the  Brahmans,  being  frightened,  all  took  to  flight,  and  left  the 
woman  unguarded.  The  Armenian  laid  hold  of  her,  and  making 
her  mount  behind  him,  carried  her  off.  Subsequently,  having 
had  her  baptized,  he  married  her  [72].  When  I  passed  through 
Surat  (II.  177)  I  found  her  living  there  with  her  son,  and  she 
returned  me  many  thanks  for  the  benefit  done  to  her.  When 
the  king  returned  from  Kashmir,  the  Brahmans  went  to  com- 
plain that  the  soldiers  did  not  allow  women  to  be  burnt,  in 
accordance  with  their  customs.  The  king  issued  an  order  that 
in  all  lands  under  Mogul  control  never  again  should  the  officials 
allow  a  woman  to  be  burnt.     This  order  endures  to  this  day. 

1  The  Dutch  blockades  of  Goa  were  in  April,  1637,  October,  1637,  to  January, 
1638,  and  January  to  February,  1639  (see  Danvers,  ii.  262,  264,  267).  I  suppose 
one  of  these  is  referred  to  ;  or  it  may  be  the  blockade  of  1660-61 ,  mentioned  in 
Part  V.,  folio  202. 

VOL.    II.  7 


98     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

The  War  in  Assam. 

It  is  time  now  to  tell  what  happened  during  the  time  that 
Aurangzeb  was  in  Kashmir.  I  have  already  said  that  before 
his  departure  he  sent  orders  to  Mir  Jumlah  to  undertake 
the  conquest  of  Assam.1  It  was  the  common  belief  that 
Aurangzeb  ordered  Mir  Jumlah  into  Assam  that  he  might  be 
got  rid  of,  dreading  that,  as  he  had  thrown  the  kingdom  of 
Gulkandah  into  confusion,  and  had  known  how  to  arrange  for 
the  conquest  of  Dara  and  the  destruction  of  Shiva  Jl,  he  might 
likewise  attempt  by  his  devices  to  place  someone  else  on  the 
Mogul  throne. 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  reason  for  this  order,  Mir 
Jumlah  at  the  head  of  his  brave  captains  went  forth  to  conquer 
a  new  realm,  taking  with  him  his  loyal  follower  Diler  Khan. 
Both  were  anxious  to  open  to  Aurangzeb  a  door  for  entering 
China.  For  that  seemed  an  easy  thing  after  the  acquisition  of 
Assam.  Assam  lies  among  mountains,  is  a  very  fertile  country, 
most  luxuriant  in  food-products  and  fruit,  which  are  here  found 
of  various  kinds  such  as  we  have  in  Europe — that  is,  pears, 
apples,  peaches,  cherries,  grapes.  With  it  as  a  base  they  could 
take  Pegu,  and  through  it  enter  into  China. 

They  left  the  city  of  Dhakah  together,  at  the  head  of  forty 
thousand  horsemen,  in  addition  to  infantry — these  moved  by 
land ;  and  by  way  of  the  river  he  sent  a  large  fleet  commanded 
by  Portuguese.  These  two  forces  reached,  at  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  leagues  from  Dhakah,  a  small  fortress  called  Aso 
(Hajo),2  which,  years  before  this  time,  the  Assamese  had  taken 
from  the  province  of  Bengal.  In  a  short  time  Mir  Jumlah 
captured  that  fort.  From  this  place  he  marched  for  twenty- 
eight  days  into  the  territory  of  Assam.  The  Assamese  believed 
that  if  the  fleet  were  destroyed  it  would  be  easy  to  eat  up  the 

1  The  best  account  of  this  Assam  expedition  is  in  the  '  Fathiyah-i-'Ibratiyah  ' 
of  Shahab-ud-din,  Talish.  There  is  a  translation  of  it  into  French,  through  the 
Urdu  of  Mir  Bahadur  'All,  by  Theodore  Pavie  (Paris,  1845).  See  Elliot  and  Dowson, 
vii.  199;  Rieu,  British  Museum  Catalogue,  i.  266  (Additional  MS.,  25,  422); 
Sachau  and  Ethe's  Bodleian  Catalogue,  No.  240. 

a  Constable's  '  Hand  Atlas,'  Ab,  30,  Hajo,  in  the  Kamrup  district  of  Assam. 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  ASSAM  CAMPAIGN  99 

land  army.  For  it  would  suffice  to  block  the  way  to  supplies, 
and  then  the  army  would  waste  away.  It  was  very  easy  to 
accomplish  this,  as  the  country  is  mountainous  and  the  paths 
very  narrow. 

For  this  purpose  [73]  a  very  powerful  Assamese  fleet  appeared 
one  day,  and  coming  down  with  the  stream  in  its  favour,  it 
looked  as  if  it  would  swallow  up  all  the  Portuguese  and  their 
boats.  But  the  latter  warded  them  off,  and  the  force  of  the 
current  carried  the  Assamese  past  their  goal,  the  Portuguese 
meanwhile  making  a  great  din  with  their  mortars  and  match- 
locks. When  the  Assamese  had  passed  their  enemy  they 
veered,  but  the  Portuguese  fell  upon  them  with  such  impetu- 
osity that  in  a  little  the  whole  of  that  fleet  was  destroyed,  some 
ships  sent  to  the  bottom,  some  captured,  and  altogether  great 
loss  being  inflicted  on  the  Assamese. 

Glorious  and  triumphant,  Mir  Jumlah  believed  that  by  this 
victory  he  already  held  the  whole  of  Assam  in  his  grasp.  He 
considered  that  Fortune  was  in  his  favour.  Not  to  allow  the 
rajah  to  entrench  himself  in  any  fortified  place,  he  continued 
to  advance,  the  rajah  always  retreating  and  doing  nothing  but 
hindering  the  supplies,  or  killing  any  stray  individual  who  had 
gone  in  search  of  forage  or  firewood.  He  awaited  the  coming 
of  the  rainy  season,  in  which  the  floods  cover  the  low  ground, 
for  which  reason  the  cities  and  villages  are  placed  upon  heights. 

The  Assamese  finding,  in  spite  of  their  killing  all  stragglers 
from  the  army,  that  the  Moguls  were  not  deterred  thereby 
from  boldly  advancing,  they  tried  a  scheme  for  frightening 
them  and  killing  them  by  degrees.  It  was  as  follows :  To  as 
many  as  they  caught  they  inserted  in  the  anus  an  iron  like  a 
Turkish  padlock,  which,  once  in,  could  never  be  withdrawn  ; 

its  shape  was   thus    %    It    shut  up  as   it  went  in,  and  once 

_i_ 

inside  it  opened  out,  leaving  the  handle  projecting.  The  poor 
things  returned  to  the  army  lamenting,  and  died  in  a  desperate 
state.  The  army  of  Mir  Jumlah  was  terrorized,  and  after  that 
experience  men  were  very  much  more  cautious  in  going  to  a 
distance. 

Mir  Jumlah  and  his  soldiers  reached  the  principal  city  of  the 

7—2 


ioo     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Assam  kingdom,  called  Guergao  (Kharganw),1  and  fighting 
bravely,  ejected  the  rajah.  The  latter  retired  into  the  moun- 
tains, and  Mir  Jumlah,  after  occupying  the  place,  caused  the 
tombs  to  be  destroyed,  which  contained  great  treasures,  it  being 
the  Assam  custom  to  bury  with  the  defunct  the  wealth  that  he 
possessed.  It  is  the  practice  of  these  people2  that  when  the 
master  of  the  house  dies  they  bury  with  him  all  his  wives,  con- 
cubines, and  servants — that  is,  the  tailors,  washermen,  barbers, 
and  others  who  serve  in  the  deceased's  house,  setting  them  all 
on  fire  after  binding  their  feet. 

The  city  of  [74]  Kharganw  is  very  large  and  fine,  inhabited 
by  rich  merchants — that  is,  according  to  the  stories  told  me  in 
Dhakah  when  I  passed  through  it  (II.  62).  The  natives  of 
those  lands  take  four  wives.  Here  the  women  are  very  lovely, 
and  they  do  all  the  work  of  the  house,  the  men  being  indolent, 
except  in  war-time,  when  they  all  go  forth  to  fight.  When  I 
passed  through  Dhakah  I  saw  huge  boats  which  Mir  Jumlah 
was  sending  loaded  with  the  booty  taken  at  Kharganw  and 
other  places.  These  boats  had  extremely  high  poops,  carved 
with  ugly,  fear-inspiring  faces.  Their  armament  was  of  small 
pieces,  swivel-guns  (trilhoens)  and  petrechos3  of  bronze,  of  which 
the  muzzles  whence  the  ball  issues  were  fashioned  into  shapes 
of  animals — tigers,  lions,  dogs,  elephants,  and  crocodiles. 

Finding  that  though  he  had  captured  the  city  of  Kharganw 
he  was  still  unable  to  overtake  the  rajah  in  his  flight  into  the 
hills,  Mir  Jumlah  continued  to  amuse  himself  in  the  said  city. 
But  the  rajah  blocked  all  supplies,  setting  fire  to  everything, 
and  posting  soldiers  so  that  no  food  from  outside  could  find  its 
way  into  the  town.  Thus  he  continued  hostilities  until  the 
arrival  of  the  rainy  season,  which  also  fought  for  him.  For 
food  being  exhausted  in  Mir  Jumlah's  army,  the  soldiers  were 

1  Guergao  is  evidently  the  Gharganw  of  Kha.fi  Khan,  ii.  153,  154  (Elliot  and 
Dowson,  vii.  266).  In  Constable's  'Hand  Atlas,'  Bb,  30,  Kuriagaon,  in  the 
Darrang  district  of  Assam,  half-way  between  Tezpur  and  Sibsagar. 

2  The  same  statement  is  made  by  Khaf!  Khan,  ii.  153  (see  Elliot  and  Dowson, 
vii.  264). 

3  The  dictionary  for  petrechos  gives  '  ammunition  of  war ' ;   but  that  will  not 
suit  here,  as  it  is  evident  that  some  form  of  artillery  is  intended.     Is  it 
hand-grenade,  or,  perhaps,  a  mortar  ? 


RETREAT  FROM  ASSAM  101 

forced  to  eat  the  flesh  of  horses  and  camels,  and  anything  of 
that  sort  they  could  find.  In  this  way  Mir  Jumlah  was  con- 
strained to  quit  Assam,  since  his  people  began  to  die  from  such 
inferior  food.  But  if  it  had  been  easy  to  get  into,  it  was  very 
difficult  to  get  out  of  this  country,  owing  to  the  floods,  also  to 
the  ambushes  laid  by  the  natives.  It  looked  as  if  Mir  Jumlah 
would  be  quite  used  up  there,  and,  had  it  not  been  that  by  his 
prudence  he  was  able  to  manoeuvre  so  skilfully,  his  retreat  would 
have  been  a  disaster.  He  left  with  the  Assamese  a  remembrance 
of  his  name.  It  was  not  for  want  of  courage  nor  of  deter- 
mination that  he  left  to  the  Assamese  their  indigenous  king,  but 
because  the  mountains  of  the  interior  cannot  be  overcome,  and 
the  seasons  were  against  him.  With  great  difficulty  he  reached 
the  fortress  of  Hajo,  and  strengthening  its  defences,  resolved 
to  go  once  more  in  the  following  year  against  the  rajah.  But 
little  did  he  know  what  was  in  store  for  him,  for  already  was 
drawing  near  the  term  of  his  achievements  and  the  time  to 
finish  with  his  wiles  [75]. 

Death  of  Mir  Jumlah. 

Having  put  the  fortress  (Hajo)  in  order,  he  went  back  to 
Dhakah  to  enjoy  the  wealth  that  by  this  victory  he  had  added 
to  his  store.  There  in  a  few  days  he  fell  ill  with  a  retention  of 
urine.  Perceiving  Fate  approaching  to  sever  with  her  shears 
the  thread  of  his  life,  he  sent  for  his  wife,  to  whom  he  spoke  at 
length,  consoling  her  by  the  fact  that  though  he  was  dying  he 
left  a  son  behind  and  a  grandson.  For  them  he  gave  her  some 
magnificent  diamonds,  which  she  was  to  make  over  to  them 
herself.  She  was  to  receive  them  on  behalf  of  her  son  ;  and  he 
charged  her  to  have  great  care  of  the  little  one.  Then  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  Aurangzeb,  wherein  he  informed  him  that 
there  was  now  no  time  to  display  to  him  his  fidelity,  or  to  prove 
the  eagerness  with  which  he  ever  accepted  any  project  that 
could  result  in  His  Majesty's  glory.  He  hoped  that  in  remem- 
brance of  his  fidelity  Aurangzeb  would  extend  his  favour  to  his 
son,  Muhammad  Amin  Khan ;  but  above  all  he  besought  a 
favourable  reception  for  his  grandson,  Mirza  'Abdullah,  so  that 


102     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

he  might  be  accounted  one  of  the  royal  slaves.  In  a  few  hours 
the  great  Mir  Jumlah,  who  by  rebellion  against  the  King  of 
Gulkandah  caused  the  ruin  of  that  kingdom,  who  aided 
Aurangzeb  with  counsel,  arms,  and  wealth  in  the  seizure  of 
Shahjahan,  the  beheadal  of  Dara,  the  seizure  of  Murad  Bakhsh, 
and  the  extinction  of  Shah  Shuja',  ended  in  the  grave  all  his 
glories,  leaving  behind  him  much  to  be  said  of  him,  both  in 
praise  of  his  prudence  and  courage  and  in  condemnation  of  the 
treachery  done  to  two  kings — namely,  to  Qutb  Shah,  King  of 
Gulkandah,  and  the  great  Shahjahan,  emperor  of  the  Moguls.1 


The  Case  of  Thomas  Plata  (Pratt). 

Aurangzeb  received  the  above  letter  and  the  news  of  Mir 
Jumlah's  death  while  he  was  in  Kashmir.  He  appeared  out- 
wardly much  disturbed  at  this  misadventure,  and  at  once  sent 
orders  to  Da,ud  Khan,  who  was,  as  I  have  said,  governor  of 
Patnah  (II.  61),  that  he  must  proceed  to  Dhakah  and  take  over 
charge  of  the  Bengal  province  until  he  could  send  someone 
else.  As  Muhammad  Amln  Khan  was  at  court,  Aurangzeb 
sent  for  him  and  consoled  him,  saying  that  if  he  had  lost  his 
father,  he  (Aurangzeb)  took  his  place  and  accepted  him  as 
a  son.  Then  he  ordered  him  to  be  invested  with  a  valuable 
robe  of  honour  [76],  and  increased  his  pay  by  one  hundred 
thousand  rupees,  informing  him  that  he  might  take  possession 
of  all  his  father's  wealth.  He  was  made  Mir  Bakhshi— that  is 
to  say,  captain-general  of  the  cavalry  of  the  empire.  In  a  short 
time,  as  Aurangzeb  said  he  would  do,  he  was  deputed  as  Viceroy 
to  Lahor ;  in  addition,  two  hundred  thousand  rupees  were  fixed 
as  the  annual  pay  of  his  son,  Mirza  'Abdullah. 

Upon  Da,ud  Khan's  arrival  at  Dhakah,  he  began  to  issue 
orders.  One  day  it  happened  that  some  soldiers  interfered 
groundlessly  with  a  neighbour  of  Thomas  Plata,  Englishman. 

1  Mir  Muhammad  Sa'ld,  ArdastanI,  entitled  Mir  Jumlah,  then  Mu'azzam 
Khan,  then  Khan  Khanan,  Sipahsalar,  one  of  the  great  Shahjahan!  and 
'Alamgiri  nobles,  died  in  Bengal,  on  his  return  from  a  campaign  in  Assam,  on 
the  4th  Ramadan,  1073  H.  (April  12,  1663).  His  rank  was  7,000,  5,000  horse, 
5,000  duaspah.     '  Tarlkh-i-Muhammadi,'  1073). 


THE  FATE  OF  THOMAS  PRATT  103 

Thereupon  the  servants  of  Thomas  Plata  ran  out  to  find  the 
cause  of  the  noise.  They  interceded  for  their  neighbour,  but 
the  soldiers  abused  them.  Thus  it  ended  in  their  coming  to 
blows,  and  the  servants,  being  unable  to  resist  the  large 
number  of  soldiers  who  had  congregated,  beat  a  retreat  into 
their  master's  house.  Into  it  came  the  soldiers  to  renew  the 
fight,  breaking  down  the  house-door.  Upon  this  Thomas  Plata 
seized  his  weapons,  and  aided  by  his  servants  and  the  Portu- 
guese who  had  joined  him,  began  to  slay  the  men  directly  he  saw 
them,  paying  respect  to  none  of  them.  He  did  great  execu- 
tion, making  use  of  a  blunderbuss  (espalhafato)  carrying  a  good 
charge,  and  the  courtyard  being  full  of  people,  he  discharged  it 
without  interval  several  times. 

At  last,  seeing  that  the  matter  would  not  terminate  until  he 
was  destroyed,  he  ordered  the  best  of  his  goods  to  be  carried 
to  a  boat,  and  passed  out  by  a  door  in  his  house  which  opened 
upon  the  river.  He  took  refuge  in  the  boat  with  some  others 
who  elected  to  follow  him ;  then  putting  out  into  the  open,  he 
gave  the  city  a  bombardment,  and  retired  to  seek  a  refuge  in 
Arakan.  There  he  said  that,  if  his  words  were  listened  to,  they 
might  take  Dhakah  and  the  territory  of  Bengal. 

Da,ud  Khan,  who  in  addition  to  his  own  good  judgment 
had  been  to  school  under  Aurangzeb,  had  recourse  to  the  usual 
deceptions  of  his  master,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  Thomas  Plata, 
telling  him  that  it  was  now  time  for  him  to  come  back  to 
Dhakah.  But  let  him  not  forget  the  execution  of  his  agree- 
ment to  bring  with  him  the  head  of  the  Arakan  king !  He 
sent  this  letter  in  such  a  way  that  it  should  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  said  king.  When  the  king  had  read  the  letter,  being 
ignorant  of  the  falsehood  of  Da,ud  Khan,  he  fancied  that  there 
really  was  such  an  agreement  between  Da,ud  Khan  and  Thomas 
Plata,  for  he  knew  the  Mogul  king  was  very  desirous  to  acquire 
Arakan.  Therefore  orders  were  given  to  remove  the  English- 
man's goods  out  of  his  boat  [77] ;  all  his  men  were  to  be 
bound,  and  the  vessel,  along  with  Thomas  Plata,  he  and  his, 
was  to  be  sent  to  the  bottom.  Thus  were  they  got  rid  of, 
and  Da,ud  Khan's  mind  was  relieved  of  the  anxiety  given  him 
by  this  man,  knowing  that  he  could  do  great  injury  to  the 


104    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

province   of  Bengal   if  the   King  of  Arakan   listened   to   his 
proposals.1 

Shiva  Ji  wounds  Shaistah  Khan. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  my  second  part  (II.  15)  I  said  that 
Aurangzeb  had  sent  his  uncle,  Shaistah  Khan,  to  make  war 
against  Shiva  JT  in  the  Dakhin.  As  soon  as  he  reached  the 
lands  of  Shiva  Ji  he  took  a  small  fortress  called  Puna.  Out- 
side it  he  lived  in  a  mud  house  that  he  had  caused  to  be  built 
near  a  tank.     There  he  meant  to  pass  the  rainy  season.2 

Shiva  JT  sought  every  means  of  killing  Shaistah  Khan,  being 
thus  counselled  (so  they  say)  by  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh,  who 
would  have  liked  to  appropriate  the  treasury  of  Shaistah  Khan. 
He  (Shiva  JI)  came  to  the  resolve  to  send  bold  and  resolute 
men  among  the  soldiers  and  into  the  dwelling  of  Shaistah 
Khan.  They  were  to  pretend  to  be  dependents  of  Shaistah 
Khan,  so  that  they  could  carry  out  the  plot  in  security,  and 
digging  through  the  house  wall  should  slay  whatever  men 
and  women  were  found  therein. 

To  put  in  execution  such  a  plan,  he  availed  himself  of  the 
custom  among  the  Moguls  of  sounding  their  military  music 
eight  times  in  the  day  and  night  upon  the  anniversary  of 
the  king's  coronation.3  This  takes  place  near  the  headquarters 
of  the  general — namely,  in  the  morning  at  six,  at  nine,  at  noon, 

1  I  am  indebted  to  Miss  M.  Anstey  for  some  references  in  the  India  Office 
Records  to  this  Thomas  Pratt.  In  November,  1663,  he  demanded  of  the  Hugli 
Council  192  rupees  for  'extraordinary  expences  at  the  Durbar,'  attendants,  diet, 
etc.  He  said  his  expenses  were  much  less  than  those  of  the  Dutch,  and  he  was 
really  a  loser  by  his  office  (Factory  Records,  Hugli,  No.  1).  On  May  19,  1664, 
the  Council  at  Surat  wrote  to  Hugli  deploring  '  the  unhappy  accident  that  befell 
T.  P.,  hee  did  very  rashly  to  give  the  occasion,  but  when  he  was  besett  round 
wee  know  not  what  a  man  may  bee  provokt  to  doe,  especially  when  his  life  is 
engaged,  wee  are  persuaded  to  think  the  Nabob  may  be  reconciled  when  he  shall 
take  into  consideration  the  Cruel  1  attempt  made  upon  him  by  fyreing  the  house 
about  his  eares  '  (Factory  Records.  Surat,  No.  104).  On  July  9,  1664,  the  Hugli 
Council  stopped  Pratt's  wages  till  he  cleared  himself  (Factory  Records,  Hugli, 
No.  1). 

*  See  the  account  of  this  campaign  in  Grant-Duff,  '  History  of  the  Mahrattahs,' 
87,  and  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  172-175  ;  'Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  45. 

3  This  would  be  the  anniversary  of  the  accession  held  on  the  first  day  of  the 
sixth  year,  1st  Ramazan,  1073  H.  (April  9,  1663,  N.S.). 


ATTEMPT  TO  MURDER  SHAISTAH  KHAN  105 

at  three  in  the  afternoon,  at  six,  at  nine,  at  midnight,  and  at 
three  of  the  next  day.  For  his  purpose  he  chose  the  hour 
of  midnight,  at  the  time  the  musicians  began  to  play.  Some  of 
Shiva  Ji's  soldiers,  pretending  to  belong  to  the  household  of 
Shaistah  Khan,  went  back  and  fore  saying  to  the  musicians 
that,  as  it  was  a  night  of  rejoicing,  the  Nawab  wished  them 
to  make  a  great  sound  with  their  instruments,  the  whole  of 
them  playing  together.  This  was  done  that  no  one  might 
hear  when  they  were  digging  into  the  house. 

The  women  heard  the  sound  of  the  picks,  and  reported  to 
Shaistah  Khan.  He  paid  no  heed  to  their  statements,  being 
already  somewhat  elevated  by  wine,  but  said  the  noise  was 
made  by  troopers  driving  in  pegs  for  their  horses'  heel-ropes. 
Shiva  Ji's  soldiers  entered  by  the  hole  they  had  dug.  The 
women  were  in  consternation,  not  being  accustomed  to  see 
men  in  their  apartments ;  and  thus  they  cried  aloud,  assuming 
there  must  be  treachery  on  foot.  The  eldest  son  of  Shaistah 
Khan,  called  Buzurg  Omedcan  (Buzurg  Umed  Khan),  ran 
in  that  direction  sword  in  hand,  but  his  valour  served  but 
to  get  [78]  his  head  cut  off,  the  soldiers  of  Shiva  Jl  using 
their  swords  against  everyone  they  encountered.1  The  women 
perceived  there  was  a  design  by  the  enemy  to  assassinate  the 
Nawab  Shaistah  Khan.  They  lamented,  saying  that  Shaistah 
Khan  was  killed,  and  they  blew  out  the  lamps,  so  that  no  one 
might  see  him. 

The  enemy  rushed  hither  and  thither,  and,  unable  to  see, 
eight  of  them  fell  into  a  tank.  Shaistah  Khan  stood,  spear 
in  hand,  ready  to  resist   anyone  coming  at   him.     On    their 

1  Manucci  mistakes  the  name  of  the  son  killed,  who  was  Abu,  1  Fath  Khan ; 
Buzurg  Umed  Khan  did  not  die  till  the  8th  Rajab,  1106  H.  (February  22,  1695), 
when  he  was  governor  of  Allahabad.  The  '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  690-702,  tells 
us  of  Shaistah  Khan's  doings.  He  replaced  Mu'azzam  Khan  (Mir  Jumlah)  some 
time  in  1069  H.  (1659).  He  took  up  quarters  for  the  rains  at  Puna,  but  went  out 
to  besiege  Chaknah,  which  was  taken  after  fifty-six  days  on  the  16th  Zu,l  Hijjah, 
third  year  (August  13,  1661).  He  then  returned  to  Puna..  Shiva,  Ji's  attack  was 
early  in  the  sixth  year,  which  began  on  April  9,  1663.  Abu,l  Fath  Khan  was 
killed.  The  report  was  received  in  Kashmir  on  May  8,  1663  ;  Aurangzeb  was 
displeased,  and  thought  Shaistah  Khan  had  been  negligent.  On  May  13,  1663, 
Prince  Mu'azzam  started  from  Kashmir  to  replace  him  in  the  Dakhin  ('  'Alamgir- 
namah,'  819).     Shaistah  Khan  lost  his  forefinger  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alarnglri,'  45). 


106    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

finding  him,  he  managed  to  kill  one,  but  another  delivered  a 
sword-stroke,  which  cut  off  his  index  finger  and  severed  the 
spear  staff.  These  daring  men  heard  the  voices  of  the  women 
who  were  saying  that  the  Nawab  was  already  dead ;  and  con- 
cluding they  had  effected  their  purpose,  they  came  away  to 
their  own  camp. 

I  leave  it  to  the  reader  to  imagine  the  confusion  existing 
in  the  camp  during  that  night,  everyone  imagining  that  Shiva 
Ji  was  in  their  midst  and  slaying  all  men  without  intermission. 
In  this  confusion  Shaistah  Khan's  sufferings  from  his  wound 
were  increased  from  not  being  able  to  call  in  any  surgeon 
for  fear  that,  in  place  of  a  surgeon,  some  traitor  might  gain 
admittance.  When  Aurangzeb,  being  then  in  Kashmir,  received 
a  report  of  this  treachery,  it  being  a  little  after  his  hearing  the 
news  of  Mir  Jumlah's  death,  he  wrote  to  Shaistah  Khan  direct- 
ing him  to  proceed  as  governor  to  Bengal.  In  reply,  Shaistah 
Khan  prayed  His  Majesty  to  leave  him  in  the  Dakhin,  for 
he  longed  to  wreak  vengeance  for  his  son's  death  and  the 
loss  of  his  limb  occasioned  by  Shiva  Jl's  treachery.  He  took 
upon  himself  either  to  lose  his  own  life  or  to  destroy  Shiva 
Ji's  army  and  kill  Shiva  JI  himself.  A  fresh  order  issued 
from  Aurangzeb  directing  him  peremptorily  to  remove  to 
Bengal,  but  Shaistah  Khan,  anxious  to  gain  a  reputation  for 
courage  and  also  eager  for  vengeance,  wrote  once  more  to 
the  king  asking  to  be  left  in  the  Dakhin,  where  he  would 
bear  all  the  expenses  of  the  war  until  Shiva  Ji  was  destroyed. 
At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  his  friends  to  save  him  from 
removal. 

His  friends  at  court  did  loyally  all  that  they  could  to  assist 
Shaistah  Khan,  but  Aurangzeb  was  immovable  in  his  determina- 
tion, and  replied  with  severity  that  a  man  in  a  passion  could 
never  act  with  prudence,  that  the  stay  of  Shaistah  Khan  in 
the  Dakhin  as  leader  against  Shiva  JI  could  result  in  nothing 
but  the  loss  of  his  army.  He  therefore  wrote  to  him  once 
again  that  without  further  discussion  he  must  start  for  Bengal. 
Thus  was  Shaistah  Khan  sent  against  his  will  to  take  charge 
of  the  province  of  Bengal.  When  Shaistah  Khan  left  the 
Dakhin,  Aurangzeb  recalled  Jaswant  Singh  to  court,  who,  [79] 


UDEPVRl  BEG  AM  DRUNK  107 

instead  of  obeying,  retired  to  his  own  territory.  Aurangzeb 
ordered  Mahabat  Khan1  to  march  with  all  rapidity  possible  to 
take  up  the  office  of  Shaistah  Khan  and  continue  the  campaign 
against  Shiva  Ji,  sending  also  his  own  son,  Shah  'Alam,  not  as 
commander,  but  as  representative  of  the  royal  person  in  matters 
of  parade. 

A  Ridiculous  Occurrence. 

The  holiday  in  Kashmir  gave  rise  to  a  ridiculous  affair. 
Udepuri,  a  Georgian  by  race,  who  had  been  formerly  a  wife 
of  Dara,  became  afterwards  a  much-loved  wife  of  Aurangzeb. 
She  was  in  the  habit  of  drinking  spirits,  and  that  more  liberally 
than  discretion  allows ;  thus  frequently  she  was  intoxicated. 
The  other  wives  and  concubines  were  jealous  that  Aurangzeb 
was  so  fond  of  Udepuri.  They  waited  until  one  day  this 
queen  was  in  liquor,  then  went  all  in  a  body  to  the  presence 
of  Aurangzeb.  He  was  pleased  at  such  a  visit,  chiefly  because 
they  came  in  great  glee,  and  resorted  on  this  occasion  to  those 
cajoling  ways,  which  never  fail  women  when  they  mean  to 
conquer  their  husbands'  heart.  After  a  little  talk,  they  prayed 
him  to  call  for  the  attendance  of  Queen  Udepuri,  so  that  the 
conversation  might  take  a  more  elevated  tone.  He  sent  a 
message  to  his  beloved  asking  her  to  come  and  enjoy  the 
cheerful  hour.  The  maidservant  replied  that  Udepuri  was 
somewhat  indisposed. 

This  answer  caused  the  other  ladies  to  laugh  loudly,  hoping 
to  arouse  the  king's  suspicions  of  something  wrong.  He 
therefore  sent  a  second  message  that  she  should  come  only 
to  show  herself  and  please  the  other  queens  and  ladies,  who 
so  desired.  Once  more  the  servants  sent  back  word  that  being 
oppressed  by  headache  she  could  not  leave  her  apartments. 
This  reply  only  made  those  jealous  of  her  to  laugh  the  more, 
and  in  this  way  Aurangzeb  in  person  went  to  see  the  patient. 

1  Mahabat  Khan,  in  the  fifth  year  (1662-63),  had  been  removed  from  Kabul  to 
Gujarat.  In  the  eleventh  year  (1668-69)  he  was  sent  back  to  Kabul.  His  formal 
appointment  to  the  Dakhin  is  not  recorded  ;  but,  after  Shiva  Ji's  attack  on  Surat 
(1664),  Mahabat  Khan  had  an  engagement  with  him  in  that  neighbourhood. 
Surat  was  in  the  Gujarat  province  (see  '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  590,  592,  and 
'  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  71).     Prince  Mu'azzam  at  this  time  was  about  twenty-one. 


108     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

She  was  all  in  disorder,  her  hair  flying  loose  and  her  head  full 
of  drink.  Aurangzeb  seated  himself  by  her,  and  touched  her 
with  his  hand.  Thinking  it  was  her  servant-girl  she  asked 
(drunk  though  she  was)  for  more.  Aurangzeb  was  upset  by 
the  odour  of  spirits 'and  by  such  a  request.  He  came  downcast 
out  of  her  apartments,  and,  although  she  did  not  lose  the  love 
he  had  for  her,  he  turned  in  a  fury  upon  the  doorkeepers,  who 
were  bastinadoed  for  want  of  vigilance  over  the  gates. 

During  the  time  that  Aurangzeb  was  in  Kashmir  his  usual 
diversion  was  going  [80]  out  to  hunt,  of  which  he  was  always 
very  fond.  It  happened  once  that,  tired  out,  he  sat  down  in 
the  shade  of  a  tree,  having  with  him  only  one  huntsman,  a  great 
favourite,  who  had  formerly  served  Dara  in  the  same  capacity. 
They  held  together  conversation  on  various  subjects,  and 
encouraged  thereby,  the  huntsman  asked  Aurangzeb  why  he 
ordered  Dara's  head  to  be  cut  off.  Such  a  question  put  the 
royal  person  into  some  fear,  and  so  he  answered  that  it  was  his 
(Dara's)  ill  luck.  Then,  rising,  he  made  for  the  palace,  where 
he  commanded  that  this  huntsman  should  never  again  appear 
in  his  presence.  The  mere  sight  of  the  man  acted  as  a  reproof 
for  his  unjust  deed. 

Aurangzeb  returns  from  Kashmir  to  Dihli. 

Finding  that  his  stay  outside  of  Hindustan  was  not  of  good 
augury,  and  his  health  having  already  improved,  Aurangzeb 
decided  to  return  to  Dihli.  Marching  with  the  due  slowness, 
he  arrived  in  three  hundred  and  three  days  at  his  court  in 
Dihli.  There  he  learnt  that  Shahjahan  had  sent  in  search  of 
an  European  (Frank)  physician,  but  had  been  unable  to  obtain 
one.  He  (Aurangzeb)  judged  it  was  now  time  to  kill  his  father 
by  poison.  He  therefore  sent  him  a  European  who  had  formerly 
been  doctor  to  Shahjahan  when  he  was  reigning  emperor.  At 
this  time  the  man  was  his  (Aurangzeb's)  servant.  He  expected 
that  Shahjahan  would  never  distrust  such  a  physician,  a  man 
who  had  before  served  him  a  long  time.  But  Shahjahan 
refused  his  services,  suspecting  what  was  sure  to  happen  if  he 
did  accept.  I  could  give  the  name  of  this  person,  from  whom  I 
received  several  slights  while  I  was  in  the  Mogul  kingdom,  but 


XV.     Sultan  A'zam  Shah,  Third  Son  of  Aurangzeb. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  108. 


ATTEMPT    TO  POISON  SHAHJAHAN  109 

I  leave  the  dead  to  the  good  opinion  of  men  and  the  judgment 
of  God.  Since,  in  thus  speaking,  I  have  a  fear  that  the  man 
might  be  supposed  to  be  Monsieur  Bernier,  who  is  sufficiently 
well  known,  I  add  that  he  is  not  meant.  He  was  a  great 
friend  of  mine,  nor  while  in  the  Mogul  country  did  he  practise 
as  a  physician.  But  he  gave  himself  out  as  a  mathematician  in 
the  employ  of  Danishmand  Khan,  a  Persian  by  race,  who  was 
the  most  learned  man  at  the  court. 

The  European,  whose  name  I  do  not  record,  though  he  was 
of  no  use  to  Aurangzeb  for  poisoning  Shahjahan,  served  to  kill 
for  him  in  that  way  Khalllullah  Khan,  who  betrayed  Dara  in 
the  first  battle  and  helped  Aurangzeb  on  many  occasions ;  that 
Khalllullah  Khan,  who  received  a  shoe-beating  from  his  wife 
[81];  and  that  Khalllullah  Khan,  whose  tent  by  order  of  the 
eunuch  Primavera  (Basant),  at  the  fortress  of  Bhakkar,  I 
covered  from  my  cannon  with  old  shoes  and  such  like.  Aurang- 
zeb was  already  tired  of  seeing  this  traitor  still  alive,  and  when 
he  was  governor  of  Labor  he  ordered  him  to  court,  and  replaced 
him  by  Ebraimcan  (Ibrahim  Khan)1  son  of  Alimerdacan  (All 
Mardan  Khan).  On  his  arrival  at  court,  the  king  bestowed  on 
him  much  honour,  and  ordered  the  aforesaid  European,  in  whom 
Khalllullah  Khan  trusted,  to  dispatch  him  to  another  world 
through  some  cordial.  The  poison  was  very  slow,  and  Khalll- 
ullah Khan  was  many  days  in  great  pain  ;  when  he  died,  his 
lips,  hands,  and  feet  were  all  black  as  coal.  For  this  fine 
action,  Aurangzeb  made  the  European  a  mansabddr,  raising  him 
every  month  to  double  the  pay  he  already  had.2 

The  Ethiopian  Ambassador. 

During  Aurangzeb's  journey  from  Kashmir,  before  he  had 
reached  Dihli,  there  arrived  ambassadors  from  Ethiopia,  from 
Mecca,  and  from  Basrah,  to  congratulate  him  on  his  accession. 

1  Ibrahim  Khan,  son  of  Amir-ul-umara,  'All  Mardan  Khan.  1*067  H.  (1656-57). 
He  died  in  1122  H.  (1710-11). 

2  Khalllullah  Khan,  son  of  Mir  Miran,  Husaini,  Ni'amat  Ilahi,  Yazdi,  died  on 
the  2nd  Rajab,  1072  H.  (February  22,  1662,  N.S.).  This  is  nearly  ten  months 
before  Aurangzeb  started  for  Kashmir  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  775;  '  Ma,asir-i- 
'Alamglri,'  38  ;  '  Tarikh-i-Muliammadi.'  1072). 


no    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Of  all  of  these  embassies  I  will  say  something,  but  as  a  preliminary 
I  am  obliged  to  warn  the  reader  that  I  write  for  love  of  truth, 
and  thus,  although  Monsieur  Bernier  was  my  great  friend,  and 
we  carried  on  a  pleasant  correspondence,  I  cannot  approve 
what  he  has  written.1 

For  the  Armenian  Morad,  one  of  the  two  men  who  came  as 
ambassadors  from  the  King  of  Ethiopia  to  the  Mogul,  confided 
to  me  one  day,  when  he  was  a  little  elevated,  what  was  the 
truth  about  the  embassy.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  the  saying 
In  vino  Veritas,  we  must  believe  more  in  a  confidence  made 
from  friend  to  friend  than  in  the  pomposities  recited  to  Danish- 
mand  Khan.  It  is  not  uncommon  that  one  who  poses  as  an 
ambassador  should,  in  the  company  of  the  great,  give  himself 
importance,  and  having  to  speak  of  kingdoms  and  lands  afar 
off,  and  of  unknown  kings,  should  say  the  thing  that  will  the 
most  profit  him.  But  when  his  talk  is  with  a  friend,  who  can 
do  him  no  harm,  such  a  person  may  allow  himself  more  scope 
in  letting  out  the  truth.  What  was  recounted  by  him  who 
gave  himself  out  as  an  Ethiopian  ambassador  is  not  simply 
a  story  told  me  by  a  man  who  had  been  drinking,  but  he  has 
since  confirmed  it  at  a  time  when  he  was  quite  sober.  The 
matter  runs  as  follows : 

Morad  the  Armenian  had  already  some  acquaintance  with 
India,  and  on  the  accession  of  a  [82]  new  king,  he  thought  the 
time  had  come  for  him  to  practise  some  deception.  For  this 
he  joined  with  a  Mahomedan  merchant,  an  Arab  by  birth,  a  very 
trustworthy  man,  who  had  a  number  of  correspondents ;  and 
these  two  traded  jointly  from  Ethiopia  to  Arabia  and  Hindu- 
stan, and  from  Hindustan  to  Ethiopia. 

It  is  necessary  to  know  that  the  King  of  Ethiopia  calls 
himself  the  king  of  musical  instruments,  and  claims  that  no 
king  can  possess  such  instruments  without  his  permission. 
Confiding  in  this  his  belief,  he  orders  his  music  to  play  after  he 
has  dined,  thereby  permitting  other  kings  and  princes  to  sound 
their  drums  and  set  their  music  playing.  These  cunning 
merchants  made  use  of  this  mad  idea  of  the  Ethiopian  to  put 
their  plot  into  execution.     They  made  a  pretence  of  upholding 

1  For  the  Ethiopian  Embassy,  see  Bernier,  pp.  133-144. 


FICTITIOUS  ETHIOPIAN  EMBASSY  in 

the  glory  of  their  king,  and  going  to  him  said  that  in  the  Mogul 
country  was  a  new  king,  who  had  excellent  instruments  at  his 
court,  without  having  applied  for  leave  to  possess  such  royal 
insignia.  The  king  told  them  they  must  visit  the  Mogul  land 
and  demand  surrender  of  those  instruments,  and  produce  them 
before  him. 

These  words  were  enough  for  the  merchants  to  equip  them- 
selves for  that  embassy,  buying  slaves,  male  and  female,  for  sale. 
As  presents  for  the  king  they  carried  with  them  horses,  and 
a  mule  striped  naturally  in  various  colours,  so  beautiful  that  a 
tiger  could  not  be  striped  in  a  more  lovely  manner.  I  saw  the 
skin  of  this  mule,  which  died  in  Arabia  near  Mecca ;  and  of 
a  truth  it  was  a  wondrous  thing,  fit  to  be  presented  to  any  great 
ruler.  Furthermore,  they  provided  two  elephant  tusks,  very 
handsome,  to  lift  one  of  which  four  men  had  as  much  as  they 
could  do.  Also  they  had  some  horns  of  oxen,  full  of  civet. 
They  forged  letters  wherein  the  King  of  Ethiopia  demanded 
from  the  Mogul  the  instruments,  a  few  books  on  the  Mahome- 
dan  faith,  and  some  contribution  towards  the  restoration 
of  a  mosque  founded  in  honour  of  a  Darvesh,  who  had  died 
in  Ethiopia  after  coming  from  Mecca  to  preach  Mahomedanism. 
The  mosque  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Portuguese  when  they 
were  in  Ethiopia  assisting  the  king  in  the  suppression  of  a 
Mahomedan  rebellion.  The  plotters  then  left  Ethiopia  on  their 
fictitious  embassy. 

I  suppose  that  everyone  of  sober  judgment  will  decide  that 
this  embassy  was  fictitious,  simply  from  the  requests  entered 
in  the  letter.  It  is  unheard  of  that  a  great  king  like  that  of 
Ethiopia  should  send  to  ask  money  to  build  a  mosque.  I  [83] 
am  willing  to  admit  that  the  King  of  Ethiopia  might  have 
desired  books  on  the  Mahomedan  faith,  and  for  that  reason 
might  send  a  request  to  the  Mogul  king.  Although,  had  such 
been  his  purpose,  he  could  have  sent  to  the  Grand  Seignior  for 
them,  who  could  more  easily  have  given  them,  having  under 
his  rule  the  holy  men  of  Mecca.  These  use  the  Arabic  language, 
called  the  Sacred  Tongue  because  Muhammad  spoke  it,  and  in 
it  is  written  the  Quran.  It  must  not  be  translated  into  any 
other  language,  and  from  Mecca  could  be  obtained  the  most 


ii2    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

exquisite  exemplars.  But  to  send  a  request  for  contributions 
to  repair  a  mosque,  that  is  a  thing  incredible !  I  do  not  say 
here  that  the  King  of  Ethiopia  wanted  to  become  a  Mahomedan, 
but  I  will  admit  the  first  part  in  order  to  show  that  the  second 
has  no  substance.  Thus  it  does  not  appear  to  me  that  Monsieur 
Bernier  had  any  reason,  in  his  second  book,  so  greatly  to  decry 
the  King  of  Ethiopia  on  account  of  this  embassy.  He  knew 
not  how  clever  were  the  inventions  of  these  ambassadors. 
Aware  that  Aurangzeb  was  a  strong  Mahomedan,  and  anxious 
to  propagate  this  accursed  faith,  as  can  be  seen  in  my  history, 
they  selected  this  bridge  to  arrive  at  Aurangzeb's  favour.  He 
made  it  his  glory  to  use  such  openings,  and  to  pose  as  a  spreader 
of  the  Mahomedan  religion.  Nor  did  he  leave  them  without 
reward  on  finding  that  the  King  of  Ethiopia  was  said  to  look 
on  him  as  a  zealous  Mahomedan. 

These  feigned  ambassadors  reached  Mecca  (?  Mokah),  where 
they  sold  some  men  and  women  slaves  and  some  horses  to 
procure  funds  for  continuing  their  journey.  In  a  short  time 
they  reached  Surat.  There  they  sold  one  hornful  of  civet, 
retaining  the  empty  horn.  At  this  time  Shiva  Jl  came  to 
Surat,1  and  in  seven  days  sacked  the  city,  took  from  the  ambas- 
sadors the  elephant's  tusks,  the  horses,  the  other  horn  full  of 
civet,  and  all  the  merchandise  they  had.  With  them  was  left 
nothing  but  the  empty  horn,  the  mule's  hide,  the  letters,  and 
some  slaves.  In  this  state  they  were  forced  to  ask  the  governor 
of  Surat  for  some  help  in  money,  in  order  to  continue  their 
route  as  far  as  the  court.  The  governor,  looking  on  them  as 
genuine  ambassadors,  gave  them  assistance  in  money,  and  thus 
they  arrived  at  Dihll  at  the  time  that  I  was  there. 

Aurangzeb  received  the  letter  of  the  governor  of  Surat,  in 
which  was  given  an  account  of  these  ambassadors  [84]  and 
their  misfortunes  at  Surat.  To  tell  the  truth  this — that  is, 
being  plundered  by  Shiva  Jl — was  the  best  thing  that  could 
have  happened  to  secure  them  a  reception  at,  and  a  favourable 
dispatch  from,  the  court.  On  other  conditions,  seeing  the  few 
presents  they  brought,  it  would  have  been  exceedingly  difficult 

1  According  to   Grant-Duff,   •  History   of  the   Mahrattahs,'  89,   this  was   on 
January  5,  1664  (O.S.). 


CONDUCT  OF  ETHIOPIAN  AMBASSADORS  113 

to  obtain  a  royal  audience.  Often  it  is  of  profit  to  be  in  misery, 
and  frequently  do  mishaps  lead  to  good-fortune  !  These  ambas- 
sadors, despoiled  and  almost  naked,  were  very  dirty  and  drinkers 
of  jdgra.1  This  last  is  a  kind  of  black  sugar  given  to  horses  and 
elephants.  It  was  chiefly  the  Armenian  who  was  a  great  amateur 
of  this  beverage.  They  had  no  money  to  hire  a  house,  but  put 
up  in  the  public  sarde ;  and  walked  the  streets,  having  no 
palanquin.  When  the  Armenian  met  an  acquaintance,  he 
would  draw  from  him  some  present  to  equip  himself;  and 
through  dysentery  caused  by  jdgra,  of  which  they  drank  so 
liberally,  they  lost  several  slaves. 

Monsieur  Bernier  favoured  them  in  various  matters,  principally 
by  speaking  to  Danishmand  Khan,  his  disciple.  This  man  was 
advocate  in  the  cause  of  all  the  ambassadors  who  came  to  the 
Mogul  country.  Thus  they  obtained  an  audience.  There  the 
king  conferred  on  each  a  sardpd  (robes)  of  brocade,  and  directed 
that  the  sums  necessary  for  their  subsistence  while  at  court 
should  be  disbursed.  A  short  time  afterwards  they  were  allowed 
to  depart,  again  receiving  sardpd  (robes),  and  six  thousand 
rupees — two  thousand  to  the  Armenian,  and  four  thousand  to 
the  Arab.  By  this  division  Aurangzeb  wished  to  favour  more 
the  latter,  being  of  his  own  religion,  although  he  had  a  very 
ugly  face  and  was  very  short.  If  the  King  of  Ethiopia  had 
really  sent  an  embassy,  it  is  certain  that  he  would  never  have 
selected  such  an  ugly  being.2 

In  addition  he  gave  them  a  rich  sardpd  (robes)  for  the  King 
of  Ethiopia,  and  two  trumpets  of  silver-gilt,  with  two  kettle- 
drums and  a  canja  (khanjar),  which  is  a  poignard,  covered  with 
rubies.  Here  be  it  noted  how  diverse  are  the  intentions  of 
man !     The  King  of  Ethiopia  sent  to  claim  these  instruments 

1  Jdgra  (Yule,  446a,  4466,  9246),  coarse  brown  or  almost  black  sugar,  made 
from  the  sap  of  various  palms. 

2  The  official  account  is  that  in  the  eighth  year,  1075  H.  (began  March  19, 
1665,  N.S.),  SidI  Kamil,  envoy  of  the  ruler  of  Habshah,  and  Saiyid  'Abdullah, 
envoy  of  the  ruler  of  Iladramaut,  with  letters  and  presents,  arrived  before  the 
Emperor.  They  received  hhila'ts  and  money  gifts.  Nine  Arab  horses,  sent  by 
Imam  Isma'il,  ruler  of  Yaman,  were  produced.  The  audience  of  leave-taking 
was  on  the  17th  Shawwa.1,  1075  H.  (May  4,  1665,  N.S.)  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,' 
49.  50). 

VOL.  II.  8 


U4     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

as  the  would-be  lord  thereof,  and  because  the  Mogul  possessed 
them  without  his  previous  consent ;  while  Aurangzeb  sent  them 
in  quite  another  spirit,  declaring  by  this  action  that  this  king 
was  his  vassal.  For  it  is  the  practice,  when  the  Mogul  king 
gives  nobility  to  any  of  his  subjects,  for  him  to  confer  robes, 
trumpets,  and  drums.  In  addition,  he  gave  them  twenty  thousand 
gold  coins  and  rupees,  and  told  them  that  he  sent  this  money 
to  their  king  because  he  was  told  there  were  not  any  such  coins 
in  Ethiopia. 

It  was  thoroughly  understood  that  this  money  was  not 
meant  to  reach  Ethiopia,  but  was  to  be  expended  in  the 
purchase  of  merchandise,  as  was  really  done.  They  bought 
different  cloth-pieces  and  woollens  for  export  to  Ethiopia, 
some  lengths  of  cotton  decorated  in  gold  and  silver,  also  some 
pieces  of  silk  ornamented  with  flowers,  stuffs  very  rare  in  their 
country.  He  also  gave  them  a  considerable  sum  to  be  spent 
on  the  mosque,  which  money  was  also  expended  on  goods;  and 
he  added  a  Quran  and  other  books,  those  most  esteemed  among 
Mahomedans.  Thus  did  the  feigned  ambassadors  succeed  in 
their  enterprise.  They  came  to  the  Mogul  country  poor  and 
despoiled,  and  now  turned  their  faces  towards  Ethiopia  with 
considerable  wealth  ;  mocking  at  two  powerful  kings — at  one 
because  they  sacrificed  his  honour  through  the  petitions  they 
laid  before  the  Mogul ;  at  the  other,  because  with  lies  and 
impostures  they  extracted  from  him  a  large  amount  of 
cash. 


Ambassadors  of  the  Grand  Sharif  of  Mekkah. 

The  Grand  Sharif  of  Mekkah,  who  is  the  head  of  all  the 
Mahomedans,  repented  himself  of  not  having  accepted  the 
money  that  Aurangzeb  had  sent  to  Mekkah  early  in  his  reign. 
The  excuse  had  been  that  they  could  not  accept  such  offerings 
from  a  son  whose  father  was  still  alive.  He  now  sent  to 
Aurangzeb  an  embassy  to  offer  congratulations  on  his  accession, 
since  there  was  by  this  time  no  one  who  contested  the  throne 
with  him.     The  envoys  were  to  find  out  if  Aurangzeb  would 


MEKKAH  AND  BASRAH  EMBASSIES  115 

consent    to    renew    the    offering    that    he     had    before    sent 
(II.  i).i 

The  Sharif  sent  as  present  for  the  king  a  broom  that  had 
been  used  to  sweep  the  tomb  of  Muhammad,  and  with  it  a  little 
of  the  dust.  Along  with  these  gifts  were  sent  some  Arab  horses. 
Aurangzeb  received  these  ambassadors  and  their  presents  with 
great  consideration.  He  redoubled  his  finesse  on  this  occasion, 
displaying  the  greatest  solemnity  at  the  mere  sight  of  the  broom 
and  the  dust.  He  uttered  a  thousand  praises  of  Muhammad 
and  the  broom,  and  pretended  he  was  sorry  he  had  not  the 
honour  of  serving  as  sweeper  of  such  a  highly-esteemed  place. 
Furthermore,  he  said  nothing  about  the  money  he  had  for- 
warded to  Mekkah  [86],  but  told  Danishmand  Khan  to  speak 
to  the  envoys  about  it,  and  inform  them  that,  finding  the  Sharif 
did  not  care  to  accept  the  money,  he  had  already  applied  it  to 
other  objects.  He  believed  that  Muhammad  must  have  ap- 
proved his  good  intention.  Thus  in  a  few  days  the  ambassadors 
obtained  their  dismissal,  carrying  away  more  in  the  nature  of 
honour  than  of  presents. 

Embassy  from  Basrah. 

The  embassy  from  Basrah  made  no  great  stir,  although  the 
Prince  of  Basrah  sent  his  congratulations  on  Aurangzeb's 
accession,  along  with  several  very  handsome  Arab  horses, 
which  are  much  esteemed.  But  the  chief  object  of  the 
embassy  was  the  sending  of  other  Arab  horses  for  sale,  and 
to  buy  cloth  and  piece  goods  without  having  to  pay  dues 
either  on  entry  or  export,  which  is  the  usual  liberty  allowed  to 
ambassadors.  This  embassy,  on  receiving  its  farewell  interview, 
was  paid  its  expenses.  Nothing  more  was  said  of  them  beyond 
their  having  brought  some  horses,  which  they  sold  well,  nearly 
all  of  them  having  been  purchased  on  the  king's  account. 

Although  the  orders  given  by  Aurangzeb  to  the  European 

1  For  what  Bernier  says,  see  'Travels,'  133.  The  official  account  is  in  the 
'  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  49.  In  Ramazan,  1075  H.,  beginning  of  the  eighth  year 
(March  19,  1665),  Haji  Ahmad  Sa'id,  who  had  been  sent  in  the  fourth  year 
(1662-63)  to  Mekkah  with  6,60,000  rupees,  returns,  bringing  fourteen  Arab  horses, 
and  Sidl  Yahya,  envoy  from  Mekkah,  received  audience. 

8—2 


n6    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

physician  to  kill  Shahjahan  by  poison  were  secret,  yet  the 
people  observed  that  Shahjahan  refused  to  take  the  man  into 
his  service.  Thus  they  suspected  something,  and  in  this  way 
talk  against  Aurangzeb  once  more  prevailed,  on  account  of  the 
barbarities  with  which  he  was  treating  the  old  man.  Nor  did 
they  fail  to  say  that  he  was  now  without  a  competitor,  and  ought 
to  seek  his  father's  friendship  and  beg  for  his  father's  pardon, 
since,  although  Shahjahan  was  a  worldly  man,  he  remained 
all  the  same  his  father ;  nor  was  there  any  apparent  crime  for 
which  he  (Shahjahan)  could  merit  to  be  so  hated  by  him  he 
had  created.  Already  they  had  resumed  their  open  talk  against 
Aurangzeb,  and  it  was  publicly  said  that  God  had  given  strength 
to  Shiva  Ji  to  inflict  chastisement  for  such  harshness. 

Aurangzeb  feared  a  rebellion,  as  old  troubles  seemed  to  be 
renewed;  he  therefore  proceeded  to  secure  his  father's  pardon. 
He  wrote  him  letters,  in  appearance  most  loving,  filled  with 
repentances,  wherein  he  entreated  him  pressingly  for  pardon 
and  friendship.  Shahjahan  declined  to  accept  these  protesta- 
tions, the  evil  nature  [87]  of  Aurangzeb  being  sufficiently 
obvious.  Not  for  this  did  Aurangzeb  desist,  but  rather,  pre- 
tending to  be  importunate,  wrote  more  letters  with  more 
endearments,  sending  presents  which  delighted  Shahjahan, 
such  as  hunting-gazelles,  which  fought  together ;  hawks  and 
horses,  which  also  were  used  to  fight  each  other.  In  addition, 
he  asked  his  advice  on  various  matters  which  had  arisen  in  the 
kingdom.  He  told  him  he  wished  to  live  as  an  obedient  son, 
but  must  be  granted  pardon  for  what  he  had  done,  there  being 
no  remedy  for  it  now. 

To  this  Shahjahan  replied  with  somewhat  of  resentment, 
although  in  appearance  he  seemed  mollified.  His  answer  was 
that  he  did  not  mind  other  things,  but  he  could  not  excuse  the 
barbarity  by  which  Aurangzeb  made  his  few  remaining  years 
of  life  weigh  heavily  on  him  by  sending  to  him  the  head  of 
his  beloved  son  Dara.  Not  contenting  himself  with  having 
committed  that  piece  of  cruelty,  he  (Aurangzeb)  had  often 
designed  the  death  of  him,  his  father.  How  many  times  had 
he  been  obliged  to  behold  the  sepulchre  of  his  cherished  spouse, 
Taj  Mahal,  where,  simply  to  grieve  him,  he  (Aurangzeb)  had 


AURANGZEB  AND  HIS  FATHER  117 

sent  the  head  of  his  brother  Dara  for  interment  after  his 
barbarous  beheadal.  Therefore  he  (Aurangzeb)  might  rest 
assured  that  never  could  he  obtain  pardon  for  such  wrong- 
doing. Nevertheless,  as  a  token  that  he  conceded  a  little 
something  in  the  way  of  pardon  and  affection,  he  sent  him 
some  of  the  jewels  which  he  had  kept  by  him.  Aurangzeb 
was  satisfied,  hoping  by  this  concession  to  let  the  people 
suppose  that  his  father  had  pardoned  him. 


Chatganw  is  Taken. 

After  the  departure  of  the  ambassadors,  Aurangzeb  received 
as  a  congratulation  on  his  return  to  Dihli  three  hundred  cart- 
loads of  silver  and  fifty  of  gold  from  Shaistah  Khan.1  They 
were  sent  as  the  revenues  of  Bengal,  collected  by  Mir  Jumlah. 
Aurangzeb,  as  a  recognition  of  good  service,  sent  him  (Shaistah 
Khan)  an  order  to  extirpate  the  pirates  who  plundered  and 
disturbed  the  lands  of  Bengal.  They  were  sheltered  in  Chat- 
ganw, a  place  granted  them  by  the  King  of  Arakan  as  a  defence 
against  the  design,  long  entertained  by  the  Mogul  [88]  kings,  of 
conquering  that  kingdom.  It  was  no  slight  matter  they  had 
before  them  in  dealing  with  these  Portuguese,  men  hard  of  heart, 
accustomed  to  kill  even  little  children  without  a  regret.  They 
boasted  among  themselves  of  having  reached  the  very  acme  of 
evil-doing.  If  anyone  undertook  to  speak  of  these  men,  of  their 
violence,  and  of  their  barbarous  habits,  he  would  find  enough  to 
fill  several  books.  They  were  proud  of  their  Christianity,  but 
had  of  it  no  more  than  the  name.  Such  was  their  cruelty  that 
they  did  not  even  spare  the  priests  who  lived  among  them,  and 
were  little  different  from  themselves.  There  were  then  alive 
some  who  had  known  a  priest  of  some  religious  order  who  had 
acted  as  their  leader.     He  went  clothed  in  scarlet,  and  was 

1  After  28th  Sha'ban  of  the  ninth  year,  1077  (February  23,  1667),  it  was 
reported  that  in  three  days  the  fort  of  Chatganw,  by  the  exertions  of  Amir-ul- 
Umara  (i.e.,  Shaistah  Khan) .  had  been  taken.  It  was  renamed  Islamabad. 
Ainlr-ul-Umara,  and  his  son  Buzurg  Umed  Khan,  and  other  leaders,  received 
rewards  ('Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  54).  For  Bernier's  account,  see  'Travels,'  181, 
182,  and  a  reference  there  to  Calcutta  Review,  liii.  1871. 


u8    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

called  Frey  Vicente,1  who,  recommended  by  a  letter  from  Shah 
Shuja',  came  to  Bengal  and  died  there  of  poison. 

It  was  granted  to  Shaistah  Khan  to  put  an  end  to  these 
men.  This  came  about  through  the  help  of  Antonio  de  Rego, 
a  resident  of  Hugh".  This  man  had  at  Chatganw  a  brother 
named  Sebastiao  Gonsalves,2  who  was  the  commander  of 
these  robbers.  Shaistah  Khan  sent  for  Antonio  de  Rego,  and 
held  a  long  conversation  with  him.  He  requested  him  as  a 
favour  to  help  in  the  execution  of  the  royal  orders.  He 
pledged  his  word  that  he  and  his  brother  should  be  well 
treated  and  receive  high  pay.  Meanwhile  he  paid  him  twenty- 
five  thousand  rupees  as  a  present,  and  fifty  thousand  rupees 
on  account  for  his  brother,  on  condition  that  Chatganw  was 
delivered  to  him.  The  undertaking  was  made  the  easier  by  some 
of  the  Farangls  having  assassinated  a  great  prince  of  Arakan, 
whereby  the  inhabitants  feared  the  vengeance  of  that  king 
and  the  destruction  of  Chatganw.  Sebastiao  Gonsalves  wrote 
to  his  brother  inviting  the  Mogul  fleet  to  come  as  far  as  the 
island  of  Sundiva  (Sandwlpa).3  He  would  find  some  method 
of  handing  over  Chatganw,  but  the  fact  must  be  kept  secret. 
They  must  not  delay.  It  was  done  accordingly ;  and  without 
any  loss  of  life  Chatganw  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Moguls. 
Shaistah  Khan  fulfilled  his  word,  giving  high  pay  to  the  principal 
men  among  the  Farangls.  Thus  was  Bengal  delivered  from 
these  attacks. 

1  Possibly  the  same  as  Bernier's  Fra  Joan,  Augustinian  (p.  179). 

2  Sebastian  Gonzalves  Tibao,  formerly  a  common  sailor,  is  mentioned  in 
Bernier,  178,  as  a  FarangI  leader  about  1632  (see  also  Constable's  note).  Stewart, 
'  History  of  Bengal,'  206-210,  relying  on  Manuel  de  Faria  y  Souza,  gives  many 
details,  but  be  makes  this  man  flourish  in  1607  (see  the  text  of  '  Asia  Portuguesa,' 
Lisbon,  1675,  iii.  175,  years  1605-9,  and  269,  year  1615).  Gonzalves  might  have 
been  alive  as  late  as  1665-66;  but  more  probably  Manucci  got  the  name  of 
Gonzalves  from  Faria  y  Souza's  work  (to  which  he  had  access),  and,  postdating 
the  story,  adapted  it  to  Shaistah  Khan's  capture  of  Chatganw. 

3  Sundiva  (Sandwlpa)  was  held  by  Sebastian  Gonzalves.  It  is  a  fertile  island 
lying  at  the  mouth  of  the  Megna  River,  and  abounding  in  cattle;  it  is  about 
eighteen  miles  long,  and  six  broad.  Lat.  20°  30',  long.  910  32'  (Thornton, 
'  Gazetteer,'  944). 


PUBLIC  IMPROVEMENTS  119 


The  King  widens  the  Gates  of  Dihli. 

Finding  himself  delivered  from  many  dangers,  and  only  the 
war  against  [89]  Shiva  Jl  on  his  hands  (and  of  that  he  thought 
very  lighth),  Aurangzeb  took  it  into  his  head  to  confer  a  benefit 
on  the  people.  He  knew  that  the  gates  of  Dihli  towards 
Lahor  were  not  sufficiently  wide  to  allow  entrance  to  the 
large  quantity  of  supplies  that  came  from  that  direction. 
Frequently  horsemen  were  obliged  to  wait  a  long  time  at 
the  gate ;  ard  several  times  the  king  himself,  on  his  way  to 
hunt,  was  fo:ced  to  retrace  his  steps,  not  being  able  to  pass. 
He  issued  an  order  for  three  gates  to  be  made  at  this  place. 
To  carry  thii  out  it  was  necessary  to  knock  down  several 
mansions,  the  cost  of  which  was  paid  for  by  the  king  without 
hesitation. 

About  this  tine  he  also  sent  an  order  to  build  at  his  charges 
a  wall  in  the  mture  of  a  bastion  to  protect  the  city  of  Lahor 
from  the  river  tlen  encroaching  on  it.  This  wall  had  a  length 
of  a  league  and  1  half.  Also,  because  Shiva  Jl  was  plundering 
in  all  directions  h  the  kingdom  of  the  Dakhin,  he  gave  an  order 
that,  without  oppessing  the  people,  walls  should  be  built  round 
the  cities  of  Aunngabad  and  Burhanpur,  which  about  this 
time  had  been  sa.ked  by  Shiva  Jl.  He  had  carried  off  four 
hundred  Mahometan  girls  because  the  Mahomedans  had  inter- 
fered with  Hindu  vomen  in  his  territories.  To  make  a  mock 
of  Shiva  Jl,  the  M.homedans  had  killed  cows  in  temples  ;  in 
retaliation  he,  too,  ordered  the  throats  of  pigs  to  be  cut  in 
the  mosques  of  the  Mahomedans.  This  was  to  demonstrate 
his  valour  and  powe  of  defying  the  Mogul  armies. 

In  these  days  thee  fell  a  meteorolite,  the  size  of  a  large  pot, 
close  to  the  city  of  Tjjain,  which  lies  near  the  Rana's  boundary. 
The  governor,  with  tie  idea  of  doing  a  thing  that  would  please 
Aurangzeb,  had  the  stone  dug  out  of  the  ground  and  sent  it 
to  the  Dihli  court.  But  the  king,  with  a  show  of  complying 
with  the  counsels  o]  God,  would  not  look  at  this  marvel,  but 
ordered  it  to  be  caried  back  and  placed  where  it  had  been 
taken  from.     He  sai  that  it  was  not  right  to  oppose  the  will 


120    Oij*  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

of  Go^l,  who  knew  wherefore  He  had  sent  this  aerolite  to  that 
particular  place. 

By  this  time  the  memory  of  Dara  was  so  buried  thAt  no  one 
spoke  jany  longer  of  him,  when  an  order  was  sent  to  demolish 
the  famous  palace  of  that  prince  at  Lahor.1  On  me  site  of 
the  palace  a  great  mosque  was  to  be  erected,  and  k  took  ten 
years  to  finish  this  work  of  devoutness.  Upon  it/  was  spent 
the  sum  that  Aurangzeb  had  sent  [go]  to  Mekkah/  which  the 
Sharif  would  not  receive  because  Shahjahan  was /living,  as  I 
have  already  mentioned  more  than  once  (II.,  fols.  i  84).  Thus 
was  he  enabled  to  fulfil  the  vow  he  had  made  of  an  offering 
on  benalf  of  Muhammad. 


Rajah  Jai  Singh  proceeds  against  Shva  Ji. 

Although  at  first  Aurangzeb  did  not  pay  mum  attention  to 
the  war  against  Shiva  JI,  still,  he  could  not  heD  noticing  that 
this  prince  was  continuously  increasing  in  strength.  He  either 
captured  Mogul  forts  or  appropriated  towrs  belonging  to 
Bljapiir.  Mahabat  Khan,  in  spite  of  havin/  a  large  army, 
could;  not  restrain  the  fury  of  this  robber.  /While  Mahabat 
Khan!  was  investing  a  fortress,  Shiva  Ji  we/t  off  once  more 
and  plundered  Surat.  / 

Au:  angzeb  called  to  his  presence  Rajah  J  a  Singh,  in  whose 
prude  nee  and  valour  he  had  great  confidence  and  in  a  friendly 
way  laid  he  could  no  longer  endure  the  irpults  of  Shiva  Ji ; 
there;  ore  he  had  come  to  the  resolve  that  heivould  go  in  person 
agairi  >t  this  rebel.  For  it  was  necessary  eiher  that  he  should 
go  or  this  campaign,  or  that  Rajah  Jai  Sinjh  should  undertake 
to  su  )press  Shiva  JI.  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  rith  due  politeness, 
replie  i  to  Aurangzeb  that  if  His  Majesty  (/ould  deign  to  take 
a  res  t,  and  do  him  the  honour  of  appjinting  him  to  this 
expec  ition,  he  would  take  upon  himself  jhe  defeat  of  Shiva 
Ji,  w  juld  repress  his  assaults,  and,  if  necssary,  His  Majesty 
so  requiring,  would  deliver  him  into  his  haids  alive. 


Upon  receiving  this  answer,  Aurangze 


1  Tbie  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  158,  tells  us  that  a  fineiouse  was  built  at  Lahor 


by  Yaipln-ud-daulah,  Asaf  Khan ;  he  bequeathed  it 
was  given  to  Dara  Shukoh. 

i 


Shahjahan,  by  whom  it 


£ 

^ 

4 


took  off  the  small 


MANUCCI  ENTERS  JAI  SINGH'S  SERVICE  121 

cabaya  (qaba)  he  was  wearing  next  his  body  and  gave  it  to 
the  rajah  to  put  on,  and  taking  from  his  neck  the  necklace 
of  pearls  that  he  usually  wore,  placed  it  round  his  neck,  adding 
that  he  might  choose  the  commanders  to  serve  under  him 
on  this  expedition.  But  it  was  necessary  to  make  haste, 
for  in  energy  consisted  all  good  performance.  The  rajah 
came  out  of  the  presence  of  Aurangzeb,  and  at  once  sent  for 
cavalry  from  his  territory,  and  sixty  lakhs  of  rupees.1  Every 
ten  lakhs  makes  a  million ;  thus  he  brought  six  millions  of 
rupees  to  provide  for  expenses  in  addition  to  the  large  sums 
given  him  by  Aurangzeb.  The  rajah  chose  as  his  second  in 
command  the  renowned  Diler  Khan,2  who  took  part  in  all 
the  important  wars  waged  by  Aurangzeb.  With  him  went 
Da,ud  Khan,2  formerly  Governor  of  Patnah  and  temporary 
viceroy  of  Bengal,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken.  Along 
with  these  went  many  rajahs  and  brave  captains  [91]. 

The  king  having  arrived  at  Dihll  from  Kashmir,  I  went 
several  times  to  make  my  bow  to  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  who  took 
a  fancy  to  me,  and  in  the  end  requested  me  to  teach  him 
how  to  play  Hombre,  as  I  had  already  done  to  his  son, 
Queretsing  (Kirat  Singh).3  Several  times  we  played  together, 
and  we  two  won  from  the  said  rajah  some  sums  of  money.  At 
this  time  Rajah  Jai  Singh  said  he  had  need  of  me.  He  wanted 
me  to  join  him  in  this  most  important  enterprise,  and  he  would 
make  me  commander  of  his  artillery.  For  this  purpose  I  must 
search  for  Europeans  I  knew,  and  who  were  good  soldiers. 
Afterwards  he  would  entrust  other  business  to  me.  Meanwhile 
he  fixed  my  pay  at  ten  rupees  a  day.  I  could  not  resist  his 
proposal,  and  I  had  great  trust  in  his  word ;  nor  did  I  like 

1  Jai  Singh's  appointment  to  the  Dakhin  was  made  in  the  seventh  year, 
1074  H.,  after  the  21st  Qa'dah,  or  June  16,  1664  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,  48, 
line  16). 

'2  For  Diler  Khan,  see  ante,  note  to  I.  167,  and  for  Da,ud  Khan,  ante,  note  to 
I.  209. 

3  Kirat  Singh  seems  to  have  been  the  second  son.  He  died  in  Rabi'  II., 
1084  H.  (July,  1673),  six  years  after  his  father.  Kirat  Singh's  daughter  married 
'Azim-ush-shan,  second  son  of  Muhammad  Mu'azzam,  Shah  'Alam,  son  and 
successor  of  "Alamgir  Aurangzeb.  This  lady  became  the  mother  of  Muhammad 
Karim,  killed  1124  H.  (1712)  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara, '  ii.  156,  and  '  Tarikh-i- 
Muhammadi,'  year  1084  H.). 


122     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  offend  him  at  such  a  time.  For  I  had  not  yet  the  boldness 
to  announce  myself  as  a  physician.  He  gave  me  a  rich  sarapd 
(set  of  robes),  and  a  good  horse,  with  sufficient  money  for  my 
equipment. 

Everything  having  been  arranged,  we  quitted  Dihll  with  a 
strong  force.  Aurangzeb  ordered  Mahabat  Khan  to  return  to 
the  government  of  Gujarat,  and  Bahadur  Khan,1  the  king's 
foster-brother,  was  ordered  to  return  to  court.  At  this  time 
happened  an  amusing  affair.  Bahadur  Khan,  as  the  king's 
foster-brother,  had  been  lifted  from  an  obscure  position  to  that 
of  a  general.  He  had  become  very  high  and  mighty  and  vain- 
glorious. Everyone  arriving  from  court  was  asked  eagerly  as 
to  the  king's  health,  not  calling  him  by  his  title,  but  speaking 
of  him  as  his  brother ;  thus  he  used  to  say,  '  How  is  my  brother  ?' 
Mahabat  Khan  decided  to  teach  him  a  lesson.  On  reaching 
Gujarat,  he  took  his  seat  in  his  tent  and  arranged  with  his 
foster-brother  that  when  Bahadur  Khan  was  there  he  should, 
richly  clad  and  with  an  aigrette  of  gold  stuck  into  his  turban, 
gallop  past  on  a  fine  horse,  acting  the  braggart,  as  if  on  his 
way  to  his  own  quarters.  Bahadur  Khan  wondered  at  this  per- 
formance, and  asked  who  was  that  mighty  warrior.  Mahabat 
Khan  did  not  use  the  man's  name,  but,  assuming  an  innocent 
air,  he  said  briefly:  'These  foster-brothers  are  shameless 
creatures,  and  have  no  tact  in  what  they  do.  They  fancy  that, 
being  our  brothers  by  milk,  they  are  equal  members  of  our 
house  !'  Bahadur  Khan  quite  saw  the  hit,  but  pretended  not  to. 
Nor  by  this  was  he  turned  from  his  line  of  conduct.  For  the 
proverb  is  a  true  one  :  '  However  many  stratagems  a  man 
possesses,  they  sooner  or  later  ruin  him  '  [92]. 

Two  things  happened  to  me  during  this  march.  The  first 
was  that,  being  dressed  in  the  costume  of  the  country,  I  fastened 
my  gown  or  cabaya  (qabd)  on  the  right  side,  as  is  the  fashion  of 
Mahomedans.  The  Hindus  fasten  theirs  on  the  left.  I  also 
went  with  my  beard  shaved,  wearing  only  moustaches  like  the 

1  The  only  trace  of  Bahadur  Khan's  (Khan  Jahan,  Kokaltash)  service  at  this 
time  in  those  parts  is  in  the  '  Ma.asir-ul  Umara,,'  i.  801,  where  he  is  said,  in  the 
tenth  year  (1667-68),  to  have  replaced  Mahabat  Khan  in  the  government  of 
Gujarat,  which  extended  as  far  south  as  Surat. 


JAI  SINGH'S  MARCH  TO  THE  DAKHIN  123 

Rajputs,  but  without  pearls  hanging  from  my  ears  as  they 
have.  The  Rajput  officers  wondered  at  this  get-up,  neither 
Rajput  nor  Mahomedan.  They  asked  me  what  religion  I 
belonged  to  ;  I  replied  that  I  was  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Once  more  they  asked  me  whether  I  was  a  Mahomedan 
Christian  or  a  Hindu  Christian.  For  they  recognise  no  other 
religions  than  these  in  Hindustan.  I  seized  the  opportunity  to 
tell  them  a  little  about  our  faith. 

The  other  matter  was  that  one  day  Rajah  Jai  Singh  asked 
me  whether  in  Europe  there  were  armies,  wars,  and  squadrons. 
I  replied  to  him  that  the  bravery  with  which  the  Farangls 
fought,  of  which  I  was  an  example,  sufficed  to  show  him  that 
we  in  Europe  knew  what  war  and  fighting  meant.  We  were 
accustomed  to  fight  in  two  ways,  one  by  sea,  the  other  by 
land.     That  upon  the  sea  took  place  thus  : 

A  number  of  planks  are  joined  together  by  nails  in  the  form 
of  a  large  enclosed  house,  with  many  cannon  in  tiers.  Entering 
into  the  said  house,  the  soldiers  attach  huge  cloths  to  masts, 
and  driven  by  the  winds,  these  serve  to  put  the  said  house 
in  motion.  The  course  is  regulated  by  a  large  plank  fixed  on 
the  house,  and  capable  of  movement  from  one  side  to  another. 
In  this  way,  with  good  matchlocks,  pistols,  and  swords,  and 
a  sufficient  supply  of  food,  of  powder,  and  of  ball,  they  set  out  in 
search  of  their  enemies.  When  they  encounter  one,  the 
fight  begins  with  the  firing  of  cannon,  which  breaks  the 
masts  or  makes  holes  in  the  said  house,  allowing  entrance 
to  the  water.  But  those  who  are  within  assemble  and  with 
skill  plug  the  hole.  For  this  they  always  have  materials 
ready. 

Meanwhile  some  attend  to  the  vessel,  and  others  fight  with- 
out intermission.  The  dead  bodies  are  thrown  into  the  sea,  so 
that  they  may  not  hinder  the  fight.  Nor  are  there  wanting 
surgeons  to  aid  the  wounded,  who  are  carried  to  a  room 
specially  set  apart.  As  their  courage  grows  hotter,  they  bring 
the  vessels  nearer,  emptying  all  their  matchlocks  and  pistols  [93], 
until  at  length  the  fight  waxing  still  fiercer,  they  grapple  one  with 
the  other;  then  the  sword-blows  scatter  streams  of  blood,  red- 
dening the  sea.     There  being  no  mode  of  flight  for  the  fighters, 


124    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

it  is  therefore  necessary  to  conquer  or  die.  Sometimes  it 
happens  that  the  captain  who  is  losing,  resolving  not  to  be 
overcome,  orders  all  his  cannon  and  other  pieces  to  be  double- 
shotted.  He  then  sets  fire  to  the  ship's  magazine  of  powder ; 
thus  he  destroys  himself  along  with  the  others.  The  rajah 
wondered  at  such  a  mode  of  warfare,  and  it  seemed,  to  him 
very  hard  and  very  cruel  that  a  man,  if  he  did  not  want  to 
defend  himself,  could  not  even  run  away. 

The  other  mode  of  fighting  was  on  land.  There  the  foot 
soldiers  were  separated  from  the  squadrons  of  horse,  and  all 
had  their  matchlocks  and  swords.  Those  who  were  mounted 
had  good  carbines,  pistols,  and  swords.  When  I  was  giving 
this  account,  finding  some  pikes  or  spears  there,  I  exhibited 
how  the  spearmen  stood  in  front  of  the  companies  to  hinder 
the  cavalry  from  getting  in  and  throwing  into  disorder  the  well- 
ordered  ranks  of  the  infantry.  Thus  the  battle  would  com- 
mence with  great  order  and  discipline,  the  cavalry  helping 
wherever  it  was  necessary  to  repress  an  onslaught  of  the 
enemy.  Many  a  thing  did  we  tell  him  of  our  fighting  in  the 
open  country.  Upon  this  he  set  to  laughing,  assuming  us  to 
have  no  horses  in  our  country,  and  thus  we  could  know  nothing 
of  fighting  on  horseback. 

For  this  reason  we  agreed,  I  and  Luis  Beicao,  a  French 
surgeon,  Guilherme  (William),  an  Englishman,1  and  Domingo 
de  Saa,  a  Portuguese  who  had  formerly  been  a  cavalry  soldier 
in  Portugal,  to  give  the  next  morning  during  the  march,  and 
in  the  rajah's  presence,  a  demonstration  of  our  mode  of  fighting 
on  horseback.  We  rode  out  with  our  carbines,  two  pistols  in 
our  holsters  and  two  in  our  waist-belts,  and  carrying  our  swords. 
We  rode  two  and  two  and  began  to  career  about,  our  horses 
being  excellent.  Then  first  of  all  we  skirmished  with  the 
carbine,  and  after  some  circling  and  recircling,  letting  off  our 
pistols,  we  made  pretence  of  flight  and  pursuit.  Then,  turning 
round  and  making  a  half-circle,  the  fugitive  attacked  the  pursuer 
and  let  off  his  pistol.  Thus  we  went  on  till  all  our  charges 
were  fired  off,  of  course  without  bullets.     Then,  laying  hand 

1  '  William,   an   Englishman,'  may  be   identical  with  the  William   Gates  of 
Sloane  MS.,  811,  in  the  British  Museum. 


INDIAN  IDEAS  OF  EUROPEAN  FIGHTING  125 

upon  our  swords  [94],  we  made  gestures  as  if  giving  sword-cuts, 
which  the  others  parried. 

The  rajah,  who  was  on  his  elephant,  halted,  and  when  our 
display  was  finished,  we  rode  up  and  made  our  bow.  He 
asked  what  meant  these  excursions  and  alarms.  I  replied 
that  purposely  we  had  done  this  to  let  him  see  that  we  knew 
how  to  fight  on  horseback  in  the  European  way.  He  asked 
me  several  times  if  really  they  fought  like  that  in  Europe. 
I  answered  that  this  was  only  a  small  specimen.  We  would 
show  him  sport  when  it  came  to  reality,  observing  the  same 
order ;  and  if  there  were  on  the  field  dead  men  or  horses,  we 
should  ride  over  them  as  if  riding  on  a  carpet,  and  make  no 
account  of  them.  He  praised  our  way  of  fighting,  saying  he 
thought  it  a  sound  mode  of  warfare,  and  he  should  like  to  form 
a  troop  of  European  cavalry  if  I  could  obtain  them.  I  answered 
that  it  was  not  easy  to  get  so  many  men  in  Hindustan  who  had 
been  trained  in  our  wars.  He  then  gave  us  our  leave  with 
a  good  present,  and  thenceforth  thought  more  of  European 
nations,  who,  if  it  were  not  for  their  drinking  habits,  would  be 
held  in  high  estimation,  and  could  aid  our  kings  to  carry  out 
some  project  there. 

Death  of  Shahjahan. 

While  Rajah  Jai  Singh  was  halted  in  Brampur  (Burhanpur) 
awaiting  the  army  which  was  following  us,  he  received  the 
news  of  Shahjahan's  death,  which  happened  in  the  following 
manner.1  Noromgabadi  (Aurangabadi),  wife  of  Shahjahan, 
had  two  lovely  maid-servants,  one  Aftab,  which  means  '  Sun,' 
and  the  other  Mahtab — that  is  to  say,  '  Moon.'  Finding  that 
Shahjahan  was  attracted  by  them,  she  gave  them  to  him  for 
his  amusement. 

One  day  Shahjahan  was  in  front  of  a  mirror  adjusting  his 
moustaches,  and  these  two  women  were  standing  behind  him. 
One  made  a  sign  to  the  other,  as  if  mocking  the  old  man  who 
wanted  to  get  himself  up  as  a  youth.  Shahjahan  saw  the 
gesture,  and,  touched  in  his  reputation,  had  recourse  to  drugs 

1  Shahjahan  died  in  the  night  between  Sunday  and  Monday,  the  26th  Rajab, 
1076  H.  (February  i,  1666,  N.S.)  (' Tarlkh-i-Muhammadi,'  year  1076). 


126    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  maintain  his  strength  in  his  accustomed  vices.  By  these 
his  bladder  was  so  weakened  that  a  retention  of  urine  came 
on.  For  this  no  remedy  could  be  found,  he  being  now  an  old 
man  and  much  enfeebled.  At  the  same  time  [95]  he  brought 
to  mind  what  the  faqlr  with  the  two  apples  had  said.  This 
was  when  he  was  Prince  Corrum  (Khurram),  and  was  at  Juner, 
in  Bijapur  territory  (I.  119),  and  it  was  to  the  effect  that  when 
his  death  approached  he  would  lose  the  smell  of  apples  on  his 
hands.  Recognising  that  this  had  come  true,  he  lost  heart 
about  his  living  longer,  and  thus  came  to  an  end  in  a  short 
time. 

When  Ttibar  Khan  sent  the  report  to  court,  Aurangzeb  called 
to  mind  the  subterfuges  by  which  Shahjahan,  being  then  Sultan 
Khurram,  gave  out  that  he  was  dead,  and  thereby  gained  the 
throne.  Might  he  not  have  sought  a  similar  method  for  getting 
out  of  prison  and  recovering  the  kingdom  ?  Aurangzeb  there- 
fore sent  a  trusty  man  to  pass  a  heated  iron  rod  over  his  father's 
feet,  and  if  the  body  did  not  stir,  then  to  pierce  the  skull  down 
to  the  throat,  to  make  quite  certain  that  he  was  really  dead. 
Orders  were  sent  to  Ttibar  Khan  not  to  allow  his  burial  until 
the  arrival  of  Aurangzeb  in  person.1  He  journeyed  quickly  by 
river,  for  it  was  of  great  importance  to  him  to  be  delivered  of 
this  uneasiness,  and  he  cloaked  his  ill-will  under  the  shadow  of 
filial  piety,  in  the  hope  that  the  populace  would  cease  to  whisper. 

Arrived  at  Agrah,  Aurangzeb  put  up  at  the  mausoleum  of 
Taj  Mahal,  and  there  awaited  his  father's  body.  It  was  not 
carried  out  through  the  palace  entrance  ;  through  a  hole  made  in 
the  wall  they  brought  it  out  head  first,  this  being  a  superstition 
among  the  Mogul  kings,  I  know  not  the  reason  why.  Begam 
Sahib  sent  two  thousand  gold  coins  to  be  given  to  the  poor, 
but  the  guards  seized  the  whole,  saying  that  prisoners  could 
not  give  away  anything.  On  the  arrival  of  the  corpse  at  the 
tomb,  Aurangzeb  prayed  and  showed  much  devoutness,  wiping 
his  eyes  as  if  he  wept.  Thus  he  found  himself  arrived  at  the 
object  of  his  desires  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
sixty-five  (correctly,  1666),  that  father  being  now  buried  whose 

1  Aurangzeb  left  for  Agrah  by  river  on  9  Sha'ban  (February  14),  'Ma,asir-i- 
•Alamgiri,'  53,  54. 


SHAHJAHAN'S  DEATH  AND  BURIAL  127 

death  he  had  so  long  desired,  and  to  shorten  whose  life  he  had 
sought  so  many  expedients. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony  Aurangzeb  went  into  the 
fort,  when  Begam  Sahib  came  out  to  meet  him.  After  the 
usual  obeisances  she  presented  to  him  the  letter  of  pardon  that, 
as  she  said,  she  had  obtained  from  Shahjahan,  her  father, 
together  with  the  valuable  and  ancient  jewels  remaining  under 
his  control.  This  was  all  the  service  she  could  do  for  her 
brother,  for  whom  she  had  wearied  herself  enough,  without 
much  profit,  for  some  time  past.  Aurangzeb  was  satisfied  [96], 
although  he  had  grounds  for  suspecting  that  the  said  letter  was 
a  forgery  ;  nevertheless,  it  was  enough  to  justify  him  with  the 
populace.  To  those  maid-servants  and  ladies  who  were  not 
wives  of  Shahjahan  he  gave  permission  to  marry  freely  anyone 
they  pleased.  He  took  Begam  Sahib  away  with  him  to  Dihll, 
conferring  on  her  the  title  of  Pacha  Begam  (Badshah  Begam) — 
that  is,  '  Empress  of  Princesses.'  He  allowed  her  to  live  in  her 
own  mansion,  a  concession  he  would  not  grant  to  Roshan  Ara 
Begam.  Begam  Sahib's  rank  was  maintained  as  before,  and 
her  beloved  Jam  Begam,  daughter  of  Dara,  was  left  with  her. 
The  wives  of  Shahjahan  were  sent  into  retirement  in  the  palace 
for  royal  widows.1 

Here  is  the  place  to  speak  of  Shahjahan's  elephant  called 
Khaliqdad,  as  I  have  promised  (II.  7).  Hearing  a  great  noise 
being  made  in  the  tomb  of  Taj  Mahal  in  preparation  for  the 
burial  of  his  master,  this  elephant  grew  fierce  and  restless, 
when  the  driver  who  had  charge  of  him  came  up  and  said  to 
him,  '  Unhappy  Khaliqdad !  What  will  become  of  thee  now 
that  he  who  was  thy  master  is  dead  ?  What  is  there  for  thee 
now  but  to  die  too  ?  for  no  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  look 
after  thee  !'  On  hearing  these  words,  the  elephant  began  to 
gather  dust  with  his  trunk  and  throw  it  on  his  head.  Then 
with  groans  and  cries  he  fell  on  the  ground  and  died,  just  as  if 
he  recognised  his  evil  destiny,  and  took  his  departure  as  one 
forsaken. 

1  The  so-called  '  Suhagpurah,'  I  presume,  or  'Hamlet  of  Happy  Wives,'  one 
of  the  Karkhanahs,  or  divisions  of  the  royal  establishment  at  Dihli. 


128    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 
AURANGZEB   SENDS   AN   AMBASSADOR  TO    PERSIA. 

After  the  funeral  of  Shahjahan  Aurangzeb  determined  to 
send  an  ambassador  to  Shah  'Abbas,  King  of  Persia.  The 
real  reason  for  such  an  embassy  was  not  disclosed.  But  it 
was  commonly  conceived  that  it  was  to  establish  peace  and 
friendship  with  the  King  of  Persia.  He  apprehended  that  this 
sovereign  might  make  war  upon  him,  as  he  had  upon  Shah- 
jahan. On  his  side  Aurangzeb  intended  to  overcome  Bijapur 
and  Gulkandah,  to  tempt  fortune  by  an  attack  on  China,  to 
eject  the  Rana  from  his  territory,  and  to  occupy  the  kingdoms 
of  Arakan  and  Pegu,  which  barred  the  door  to  his  enterprises. 

The  ambassador  that  he  selected  was  [97]  Tarbietcan  (Tar- 
blyat  Khan),1  an  Uzbak,  a  large,  tall  man  with  a  huge  beard,, 
and  possessed  of  good  judgment,  being  a  man  of  great  learning.2 
As  presents  Aurangzeb  sent  many  pieces  of  Indian  cloth  highly 
adorned  and  very  costly,  and  several  elephants.  With  the 
embassy  went  the  usual  officials,  a  wdqi'ah-navis  and  a  khufi- 
yah-navis,  who  are  the  public  reporter  and  the  secret  reporter. 
The  ambassador  arranged  matters  so  that  on  his  arrival  in 
Isfahan  he  received  fresh  mangoes.  This  is  an  Indian  fruit 
not  grown  in  Persia.  He  also  received  there  fresh  betel,  a  leaf 
that,  on  mastication,  gives  an  agreeable  odour  to  the  mouth, 

1  About  nth  Rabi'  II.  of  the  sixth  year,  1074  H.  (November  12, 1663),  Tarbiyat 
Khan  was  sent  with  a  reply  to  the  letter  from  Shah  'Abbas  brought  by  Budaq 
Beg,  and  carried  presents  to  Persia  valued  at  seven  lakhs  of  rupees.  In  the 
ninth  year,  about  the  14th  Rabi'  I.,  1077  H.  (September  14,  1666),  a  report  was 
received  from  Tarbiyat  Khan,  envoy  to  Persia.  He  exposed  the  ill-will,  foolish- 
ness, ignorance,  and  bad  temper  of  Shah  'Abbas,  and  his  attempts  to  fly  higher 
than  his  wings  had  strength  for.  He  was  proposing  an  invasion  of  Khurasan ; 
further  particulars  were  given  on  the  envoy's  return  to  the  Indian  Court. 
Aurangzeb  determined  to  teach  a  lesson  to  that  stirrer-up  of  needless  strife.  To 
begin  with,  Prince  Mu'azzam  and  Jaswant  Singh  were  told  off,  and  Aurangzeb 
said  he  would  proceed  to  the  Panjab  himself ;  and,  as  Tarbiyat  Khan  had 
committed  faults,  he  was  denied  an  audience  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  48,  56). 
This  return  embassy  is  apparently  not  mentioned  by  Bernier. 

2  Shafi'ullah,  Birlas,  entitled  Tarbiyat  Khan,  was  born  in  Central  Asia,  and 
died  as  Faujdar  of  Jaunpur  on  the  27th  Sha'ban,  1096  H.  (July  30,  1685),  or 

1097  H.  as  the  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri'  says,  p.  261,  line  3,  or,  as  some  assert,  in 

1098  H.    ('Tarikh-i-Muhammadl,'   year    1096;    see    also    '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,' 
i.  493). 


THE  SHAH  INSULTS  THE  ENVOY  129 

and  is  comforting  to  the  stomach.  I  spoke  of  it  in  the  First 
Part  of  my  History  (I.  39)  upon  my  arrival  in  Surat.  They 
have  none  of  this  leaf  in  Persia. 

The  ambassador  was  well  received  upon  his  entry  into 
Isfahan ;  but  he  did  not  receive  equal  honour  in  the  presence 
of  Shah  'Abbas.  When  permission  to  appear  in  audience  had 
been  given  to  him,  the  king  recollected  what  Aurangzeb  had 
done  to  his  ambassador.  He  now  took  a  twofold  revenge. 
The  first  was  he  received  him  while  mounted  on  horseback,  as 
he  was  coming  from  the  court  on  a  promenade.  In  this  way 
the  wretched  Tarblyat  Khan  was  forced  to  follow  the  king  on 
foot  for  some  distance.  Then  he  was  told  to  go  away  and  take 
some  rest ;  he  would  be  sent  for  another  time.  This  was  the 
first  mouthful  the  ambassador  had  to  swallow.  He  was  forced 
to  wait  for  about  a  year  before  he  obtained  leave  to  depart. 

In  this  interval  he  was  sent  for  several  times  to  the  court, 
where  they  treated  him  with  much  less  respect  than  Persian 
subjects  were  treated.  His  going  to  court  served  for  no  purpose 
but  to  expose  him  to  the  king's  contempt.  They  merely  made 
a  mock  of  him  and  of  Aurangzeb.  One  day,  speaking  of 
Aurangzeb's  hypocrisy,  Shah  'Abbas  called  him  his  slave,  as 
the  Persians  are  used  to  do  in  naming  Indians.  Another  time 
he  scoffed  at  the  complexion  and  customs  of  the  people  of 
Hindustan.     Thus  many  months  elapsed. 

One  day,  speaking  about  the  reception  given  by  Aurangzeb 
to  his  ambassador,  Shah  'Abbas  complained  of  the  unusual 
ceremonial.  Among  other  things  they  said  to  Tarblyat  Khan 
that  the  Blackamoor  (meaning  Aurangzeb)  ought  not  to  forget 
that  it  was  the  kings  of  Persia  who  established  his  family  in 
Hindustan  ;  for  without  their  help  never  [98]  would  his 
ancestor,  Humayun,  have  returned  there  as  king.  The  am- 
bassador answered  that  it  was  the  truth,  but  equally  should  the 
Shah  recollect  that  his  predecessors  were  given  the  kingdom  of 
Persia  by  Taimur-i-lang.  Shah  'Abbas  was  amused  at  such  an 
answer,  and  as  a  reward  made  him  drink  a  cup  of  wine  by 
force.  It  was  not  a  little  of  an  insult  to  the  ambassador  to  see 
himself  forced  to  do  such  a  thing. 

Having  exhausted  their  stock  of  jests  with  the  ambassador, 

vol.  11.  9 


130    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

when  he  had  been  there  a  year  they  asked  him  one  day  who 
his  two  followers  were,  about  whom  on  every  day  of  visit  Shah 
'Abbas  made  jokes.  Tarblyat  Khan  replied  they  were  the 
public  reporter  and  the  secret  reporter,  who  informed  Aurang- 
zeb of  all  that  took  place.  Shah  'Abbas  laughed,  and  in  a  loud 
voice  said  to  him  that  one  must  necessarily  assume  he  was 
a  man  of  little  sense  and  of  slight  consideration,  seeing  that  the 
king  had  given  him  such  followers  and  had  not  trusted  in  him. 

Many  are  the  things  which  might  be  told  about  this  embassy, 
but  the  story  would  be  very  long.  It  might  even  be  that  every- 
body might  not  credit  it ;  for  infinite  were  the  jokes  with  which 
Shah  'Abbas  repaid  the  hauteur  of  Aurangzeb  in  treating  his 
ambassador  badly.  Among  other  pleasantries,  one  day  when 
the  ambassador  was  at  the  audience,  the  king  ordered  into  his 
presence  a  lion  secured  by  two  chains  of  silver  gilt.  When  the 
lion  appeared,  he  took  hold  of  it  by  the  mane  and  stroked  it,  to 
show  how  brave  he  was.  The  lion,  which  was  tame,  let  itself 
down  gently  on  the  floor,  and  made  friendly  gestures  to  the 
king.  The  ambassador  was  in  a  wonder,  and  Shah  'Abbas,  as  a 
joke  against  the  reporters,  said :  '  Write  this,  too,  to  Aurangzeb.' 

Finally,  having  by  this  time  prolonged  sufficiently  the  misery 
of  the  ambassador,  the  king  decided  to  send  him  off.  But  it 
was  a  sad  business,  this  leave-taking.  One  day  Shah  'Abbas 
held  the  ambassador  in  animated  conversation  till  late  in  the 
evening,  and  it  being  then  dark,  asked  if  he  had  any  coin  of 
Hindustan,  and  any  portrait  of  his  king.  The  ambassador 
replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  produced  some  coins  of  gold  and 
of  silver.     On  these  was  written  : 

1  Secazad  der  jahan  chum  bader  manir 
Xaa  Orangzeb  Alamguir ' 

(Sikkah  zad  dar  jahan  chun  badr-i-munir, 
Shah  Aurangzeb-i-'Alamglr) 


That  is 


'  Struck  coin  in  the  world  like  sun  and  moon, 
Aurangzeb,  the  conqueror  of  the  world.' 


At  the  same  time  he  gave  him  [99]  a  portrait  of  Aurangzeb 
painted  on  paper.  He  was  depicted  on  horseback,  and  there 
was  an  angel  in  the  air  presenting  to  him  a  sword. 


THE  ENVOY'S  BEARD  SET  ALIGHT  TO  131 

Shah  'Abbas  returned  the  coins  to  the  ambassador,  directing 
him  to  read  aloud  the  words  stamped  on  the  coins.  Beforehand 
he  had  told  the  torch-holder  to  approach  the  ambassador,  so 
that  he  might  be  able  to  see ;  then,  when  he  had  finished 
reading,  he  was  to  make  a  pretence  of  stumbling,  and  in  so 
doing  set  fire  to  the  ambassador's  beard.  This  was  done. 
Meanwhile  Shah  'Abbas  kept  calling  out :  '  It  is  nothing !  it  is 
nothing  !  there  are  plenty  of  barbers  to  repair  the  damage.' 
Then,  gazing  at  Aurangzeb's  portrait,  he  began  to  utter  against 
it  much  abuse,  going  through  the  life  and  the  chief  doings 
of  such  a  king ;  then,  spitting  on  the  picture,  threw  it  on  the 
ground.  He  ordered  his  slaves  to  shoe-beat  the  face,  which 
deserved  no  less.  This  was  done,  and  all  observing  silence,  he 
said  that  on  the  coins  there  should  not  appear  such  words,  but 

these : 

'  Secazad  bacurs  penir 
Orangzeb  beradercox  paderguir ' 

(Sikkah  zad  ba  qurs-i-panir, 
Aurangzeb,  baradar-kush-i-pidar  glr). 


That  is 


1  Struck  coin  upon  a  round  of  cheese, 
Aurangzeb,  brother-slayer,  father-seizer.' 


At  the  same  time  he  ordered  forty  fine  horses  from  his  stables 
to  be  given  to  Tarblyat  Khan,  telling  him  to  go  back  to  his 
master  and  inform  him  that  he  sent  those  horses,  so  that  he 
might  not  have  the  excuse  of  a  deficiency  of  horses  for  not  taking 
the  field  against  him.  Thereby  he  defied  him  to  enter  the 
field,  hoping  to  teach  him  thus  how  a  king  became  a  real  world 
conqueror.  But  of  the  rest  let  us  speak  farther  on,  for  the  wars 
of  Shiva  Jl  here  make  me  pause,  having  somewhat  to  say  about 
them.1 

Returns  to  Jai  Singh's  Campaign  in  the  Dakhin. 

While  this  embassy  [to  Persia]  was  in  progress,  we  were 
marching  onwards  to  the  city  of  Aurangabad,  on  reaching 
which  we  joined  Shah   'Alam.     Sending  for  me,   Rajah   Jai 

1  There  is  an  account  of  Tarblyat  Khan's  treatment  in  Persia  to  be  found  in 
Dow's  'History  of  Hindostan,'  1803,  hi.  400.402.  It  differs  in  details  from 
Manucci's  story. 

9—2 


132    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Singh  ordered  me  to  go  as  envoy  to  three  rajahs — that  is 
to  say,  Ramanagar  (Ramnagar),  Pentt  (Pent),  and  Chottia1 
(Chiutia),  who  are  petty  rajahs  among  the  Hindus,  and  the 
Portuguese  call  them  kings  of  the  Colles  (?  Kolls).  It  was 
through  their  lands  that  Shiva  Jl  passed  on  his  way  to  attack 
Surat.2  Rajah  Jai  Singh  gave  me  a  set  of  robes  and  a  horse, 
and  sent  with  me  thirty  troopers  and  some  infantry ;  also  a 
considerable  sum  for  expenses.  My  orders  were  to  go  to  these 
rajahs,  and  tell  them  they  must  give  their  word  not  to  [ioo]  take 
the  side  of  Shiva  Jl,  nor  allow  him  passage.  He  (Jai  Singh) 
must  declare  war  against  them  in  the  name  of  the  Mogul 
emperor,  if  they  did  not  take  up  arms  against  Shiva  Jl  and 
embrace  the  cause  of  Aurangzeb.  As  security  for  their  promise 
they  must  come  in  themselves  or  send  their  sons  to  attend  on 
the  court,  where  they  would  be  assigned  pay  and  rank  befitting 
their  condition. 

I  took  my  departure  on  this  deputation,  and  the  first  person 
I  visited  was  the  Rajah  of  Ramanagar,  whose  territories  lie  amidst 
frightful  hills  and  gloomy  forests.  I  was  well  received  by  this 
rajah,  who  invited  me  to  take  a  rest  while  he  deliberated  on 
what  he  thought  it  was  best  to  do.  I  amused  myself  meanwhile, 
going  out  to  shoot  and  fish ;  nor  did  the  rajah  fail  in  providing 

1  Pentt — this  is  evidently  the  Peint  of  Thornton,  761,  and  of  the  '  Imperial 
Gazetteer,'  xi.,  a  petty  State  in  the  Nasik  district  between  Bombay  and  Surat, 
east  of  Daman,  lying  between  lat.  200  1',  200  27',  and  long.  720  58',  730  4', 
with  an  area  of  730  square  miles.  The  town  of  Peint  is  73  miles  south-east 
by  south  from  Surat,  and  102  miles  north-north-east  from  Bombay.  According 
to  the  '  Bombay  Gazetteer,'  xvi.  189  (Nasik),  Pent  belonged  to  Punwar  Rajputs, 
and  not  to  Kolis.  Ramnagar  is  another  name  for  the  State  of  Dharampur, 
held  by  Sisodiah  Rajputs,  now  under  the  political  agent  at  Surat  ('  Bombay 
Gazetteer,'  vi.  254,  256).  I  am  indebted  also  to  Dr.  O.  Codrington  for  calling 
my  attention  to  Purshoram  Vishram  Mawjee's  '  Shiva  Ji's  Swarajya,'  read  before 
the  Bombay  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  on  December  17,  1903.  This 
essay,  and  the  map  attached  to  it,  show  that  this  Ramnagar  was  the  northern- 
most division  of  Shiva  Ji's  hereditary  dominions.  Chottia  may  represent  a 
village  at  the  Chivtia  (Chiutia)  Pass,  over  the  Sahyadri  range,  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  Nasik  district  ('Bombay  Gazetteer,'  xvi.  129).  It  is  not 
named  among  the  fifteen  petty  states  called  the  '  Dangs,'  '  Imperial  Gazetteer,' 
iv.  114. 

9  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  '  Bombay  Gazetteer,'  ii.  89  (Surat).  The 
invasion  of  Surat  took  place  in  1664. 


MANUCCI  NEGOTIATES  WITH  PETTY  RAJAHS  133 

pastimes  in  the  nature  of  plays  and  games.  Meanwhile  he  was 
corresponding  with  the  other  two  rajahs,  whether  they  thought  it 
suited  them  to  take  the  Mogul  side  against  Shiva  Jl.  I  was 
not  backward  in  making  promises  and  using  threats,  according 
as  I  considered  it  appropriate.  Sometimes  I  put  myself  into  a 
passion  and  demanded  an  answer,  else  I  would  be  off.  In  the 
end  the  rajah  chose  the  side  of  Aurangzeb,  giving  me  a  horse 
and  a  sword.  He  made  over  to  me  his  son  in  confirmation 
of  his  word. 

I  then  went  to  the  second  rajah,  where  I  was  received  in  a 
friendly  manner,  and  treated  just  as  I  had  been  at  the  first 
place.  He  petitioned  for  time,  feigning  that  he  had  not  had 
time  to  write  to  the  others.  Here  I  received  many  honours 
according  to  their  custom — dances,  plays,  and  the  chase. 
Finally,  he,  too,  gave  me  a  horse  and  a  sword,  and  delivered  to 
me  his  son  to  be  conducted  to  court.  But  this  tall  and  robust 
young  man  died  on  the  journey  by  reason  of  the  great  heat 
of  the  sun,  which  inflamed  his  blood.  He  would  not  agree 
to  be  bled,  as  I  counselled,  he  not  trusting  in  me. 

Next  I  proceeded  to  the  third  rajah,  who  showed  himself 
recalcitrant.  But  finding  I  was  determined,  he  set  to  work  to 
conciliate  me.  Not  having  any  sons,  he  made  over  to  me  his 
brother  to  be  taken  to  court  with  me ;  he  then  bestowed  on  me 
a  sword  and  a  horse,  and  bade  me  farewell.  It  happened  that 
at  this  time  he  was  fighting  the  Portuguese  of  Damao  (Daman), 
so  I  arranged  matters  and  persuaded  them  to  make  peace. 

Here  two  things  happened  to  me  that  I  wish  to  recount,  so 
that  inquiring  persons  may  learn  that  these  people  are  much 
given  to  sorcery  [101].  I  had  a  handsome  horse  that  Rajah 
Jai  Singh  had  given  me.  The  Rajah  of  Chottia  (Chiutia)  took 
a  fancy  to  this  horse,  and  requested  me  to  sell  it  to  him  ;  he 
would  pay  me  one  thousand  rupees.  I  was  not  willing,  but 
when  it  was  time  for  my  departure  the  horse  had  lost  the  use  of  its 
legs,  and  was  unable  to  move.  I  waited  for  eight  days  without 
any  good,  when  the  rajah  sent  me  word  that,  though  the  horse 
was  damaged,  he  would  still  give  me  one  thousand  rupees.  In 
a  rage,  I  started  from  the  place,  telling  my  people  that  if  within 
twenty-four  hours  the  horse  could  not  move,  to  cut  his  throat 


134    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

and  bring  the  hide  to  me.  Finding  me  so  resolute,  the  rajah 
sent  me  one  thousand  two  hundred  rupees,  beseeching  me  not 
to  order  the  horse's  throat  to  be  cut,  but  to  content  myself  with 
this  present,  and  he  would  keep  the  horse  in  remembrance  of 
me.  I  contented  myself  with  taking  the  twelve  hundred  rupees, 
knowing  quite  well  that  if  I  did  not,  I  should  lose  both  horse 
and  rupees. 

Another  affair  happened  to  me  in  this  return  journey  to  the 
camp  with  the  hostages.  It  was  this :  One  of  my  servants, 
passing  through  a  field  of  radishes,  stretched  out  his  hand  to 
pluck  one  out  of  the  ground,  when  his  hand  adhered  in  such 
a  fashion  to  the  radish  that  he  could  not  take  it  away.  It  was 
necessary  to  find  the  owner  of  the  field  to  get  him  liberated. 
This  was  done,  and  after  taking  something  as  a  bribe  and  giving 
him  a  beating,  the  owner  recited  some  words  and  the  man  was 
freed.  I  could  never  sufficiently  state  to  what  an  extent  the 
Hindus  and  the  Mahomedans  in  India  are  in  the  habit  of 
practising  witchcraft.  I  quite  well  know  that  if  I  were  to 
recount  that  they  can  even  make  a  cock  crow  in  the  belly  of 
the  man  who  stole  and  ate  it,  no  credit  would  be  given  to  me. 
Nevertheless,  the  truth  is  that  many  a  time  I  heard  the  crowing 
in  different  cases,  and  of  such  instances  I  was  told  over  and  over 
again.1 

As  for  the  spells  practised  by  the  women  to  bring  young  men 
under  their  control,  they  are  infinite.  Of  such  a  nature  are 
they  that  any  such  youth  becomes  mad,  nor  is  he  given  any 
respite  to  think  of  anything  else.  This  subject  I  postpone  to 
the  Third  Part  of  my  History  (III.  248-265).  Let  this  serve 
as  a  warning  to  our  Europeans  who  intend  to  travel  in  India, 
so  that  they  may  not  allow  their  liberty  to  be  taken  from  them, 
for  afterwards  they  will  weep  over  their  unhappy,  irremediable 
state.     It  happens  often  to  one  so  bound  by  spells  that  after 

1  An  obvious  case  of  ventriloquism.  Mr.  W.  Crooke  refers  me  to  a  more 
modern  story  of  the  same  sort  in  Sleeman's  '  Rambles  and  Recollections,'  i.  91. 
He  also  refers  me  to  the  passage  from  the  'Acta  Sanctorum,'  tomeii.,  March, 
quoted  in  Southey's  '  Commonplace  Book,'  third  series,  355 :  '  Some  thieves 
having  stolen  and  eaten  a  ram  of  his  [St.  Finian's],  and  denying  the  fact,  the 
saint  called  upon  the  ram  to  bear  witness ;  and  though  the  mutton  was  then  in  a 
state  of  digestion,  it  bleated  in  their  bellies.' 


INDIAN  SPELLS  AND  SORCERY  135 

his  lady-love  has  died  he  cannot  endure  the  approach  of  any 
other  woman,  remaining  ever  overcome  by  sorrow  for  the 
defunct  [102]. 

I  have  not  much  to  say  about  the  lands  through  which  I 
passed.  For  they  are  not  of  great  excellence  or  productive- 
ness. They  are,  as  I  said,  full  of  hills  and  rocks,  and  very 
difficult  for  fighting  in.  The  habits  of  these  people  are 
barbarous,  their  features  ugly,  and  complexion  black;  they 
go  almost  naked,  having  only  a  simple  cloth,  which  at  times 
is  insufficient  to  hide  their  shame.  Among  the  hills  aforesaid 
are  many  tigers  and  other  ferocious  animals.  It  happened  to 
me  in  this  journey  that  an  unknown  dog  attached  itself  to  us, 
and  served  me  as  a  guide  in  crossing  streams.  One  night  it 
was  sleeping  near  me  in  these  forests,  when  a  tiger  came  and 
carried  it  off. 

Shiva  Ji  surrenders  of  hts  own  Accord  to  Rajah 
Jai  Singh. 

During  the  time  that  I  was  carrying  out  my  deputation, 
which  lasted  nearly  seven  months,  Rajah  Jai  Singh  by  his 
valorous  enterprise  gave  Shiva  Ji  as  much  to  do  as  he  could 
manage,  never  letting  him  rest.  In  the  end,  when  Shiva  Jl's 
fortress  of  Banagar1  was  invested,  Jai  Singh,  in  his  foreseeing 
way,  began  to  write  to  Shiva  JI,  pointing  out  to  him  that  if  he 
would  only  listen  to  his  words,  things  should  be  so  arranged 
with  Aurangzeb  that  he  (Shiva  Ji)  should  be  propitiated  and 
appointed  by  the  king  as  governor  of  the  Dakhin.  At  the  same 
time,  opening  his  purse,  a  thing  which  has  strong  influence 
over  both  hearts  and  tongues,  he  sent  heavy  bribes  to  Shiva  Jl's 
ministers,  so  that,  should  he  demand  their  counsel  about  what 
ought  to  be  done,  they  should  all  tell  him  it  were  best  to  make  an 
agreement  with  the  Mogul  king,  since  he  promised  to  make 
him  governor  of  the  Dakhin.    If  Rajah  Jai  Singh  went  security 

1  Is  this  meant  for  Puna-garh  (see  II.  107),  or  can  it  be  intended  for  Raegarh, 
which  was  the  name  of  Shiva  Jl's  stronghold  ?  Rain  (renamed  Raegarh  in 
1662)  was  given  up  to  Shiva  Ji  by  the  Bijapur  officials  in  1648  (Grant-Duff, 
63.  85).  Puna,  Purandhar,  Singarh,  and  Raegarh,  were  the  places  attacked  by 
Jai  Singh  (ibid.,  92). 


136    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

for  the  royal  word,  he  could  accept  the  proposal.  For  Aurang- 
zeb  would  never  fail  in  his  word,  by  reason  of  the  estimation 
and  respect  in  which  he  held  that  rajah. 

Shiva  Jl  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  the  pleasant 
words  spoken,  and  the  large  promises  made  to  him  by  the  said 
rajah.  Finding  that  in  valour  and  experience  this  general  was 
very  different  from  the  others  who  had  been  sent  against  him 
before,  he  decided  to  listen  to  Jai  Singh's  words  and  place  him- 
self in  his  hands.  When  Shiva  Jl  came  to  visit  the  said  rajah, 
much  anxiety  was  caused  in  our  camp,  everybody  assuming 
that  he  must  be  coming  to  [103]  attack  our  army. 

But  when  it  was  known  that  he  had  very  few  people  with 
him,  Diler  Khan  and  Kirat  Singh  went  out  to  meet  him 
and  escort  him  to  the  tent  of  the  rajah.  But  he  did  not  wait 
for  all  these  preparations,  and  when  he  drew  near  to  the  tent, 
the  rajah  came  out  to  receive  him  with  great  friendliness  and 
politeness.  Meanwhile  the  governor  of  the  fortress  (?  Puna)  went 
on  fighting  with  great  energy,  bombarding  our  camp  with  his 
artillery  ;  nor  would  he  desist  until  Shiva  Jl  wrote  to  him  to 
surrender  the  fortress.  Thus  for  the  time  being  the  war  with 
Shiva  Jl  was  at  an  end.  He  trusted  in  the  various  letters 
written  to  him  by  Aurangzeb  and  the  oaths  he  had  sworn  to 
him,  also  in  the  words  and  promises  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh.  A 
tent  was  put  up  for  him  alongside  the  rajah's,  and  he  had 
liberty  to  enter  and  leave  as  he  pleased  ;  he  was  always  treated 
with  great  honour  and  respect.  Meanwhile  they  awaited  a 
reply  from  the  court. 

A  few  days  after  my  arrival  Shiva  Jl  gave  himself  up  and 
came  into  our  camp.1  Since  I  went  at  night  to  converse  and 
play  [cards]  with  the  rajah  whenever  he  so  desired,  it  happened 
one  night  during  this  period  that  we  were  having  a  game,  the 
rajah,  his  Brahman,  and  I,  when  in  came  Shiva  Jl.  We  all 
rose  up,  and  Shiva  Jl,  seeing  me,  a  youth  well  favoured  of 
body,  whom  he  had  not  beheld  on  other  occasions,  asked 
Rajah  Jai  Singh  of  what  country  I  was  the  rajah.     Jai  Singh 

1  Grant-Duff,  93,  places  Shiva  Ji's  surrender  in  July,  1665.  According  to  the 
'  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  51,  he  came  into  Jai  Singh's  camp  on  the  8th  Zi.l  Hijjah 
of  the  eighth  year,  1075  H.  (June  23,  1665,  N.S.). 


MANUCCI  MEETS  SHIVA  J I  137 

replied  that  I  was  a  FarangI  rajah.  He  wondered  at  such  an 
answer,  and  said  that  he  also  had  in  his  service  many  Farangis, 
but  they  were  not  of  this  style.  Rajah  Jai  Singh  wanted  to  do 
me  honour,  and  responded  that  as  a  rule  Nature  made  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  great  and  the  humble,  and  I  being  a  rajah, 
she  had  given  me  a  body  and  a  mind  very  different  from  those 
of  others.  I  rose  to  my  feet  as  a  mark  of  recognition  for  the 
compliment,  and  made  the  appropriate  obeisance.  This  was 
the  opening  which  afforded  me  occasion  many  times  to  con- 
verse with  Shiva  Jl,  since  I  possessed,  like  anyone  else  in  the 
camp,  the  Persian  and  Hindustan  languages.  I  gave  him  in- 
formation about  the  greatness  of  European  kings,  he  being  of 
opinion  that  there  was  not  in  Europe  any  other  king  than  the 
King  of  Portugal.    I  also  talked  to  him  about  our  religion  [104]. 

Shiva  Ji  goes  to  Court,  and  after  Some  Months  takes 

to  Flight. 

Diler  Khan,  being  habituated  to  treachery,  wished  several 
times  to  kill  Shiva  Jl,  and  to  this  intent  solicited  Rajah  Jai 
Singh  to  take  his  life,  or  at  least  to  give  him  (Diler  Khan) 
leave  to  do  so.  He  would  assume  all  responsibility,  and  see 
that  the  rajah  was  held  blameless.  He  said  the  king  would 
rejoice  at  such  a  result.  For  Shiva  Jfs  valour  and  intrepidity 
would  never  give  any  rest  to  the  Mogul.  But  Rajah  Jai  Singh, 
who  had  pledged  his  word  and  oath  not  to  allow  of  a  murder, 
but  rather  that  the  king  should  treat  Shiva  Jl  with  great  honour, 
never  listened  to  the  words  of  Diler  Khan.  On  the  contrary, 
he  made  arrangements  to  send  Shiva  Jl  to  court  well  guarded ; 
and  he  wrote  to  his  heir,  Ram  Singh,  to  take  precautions  against 
the  king's  murdering  Shiva  Jl.  For  he  had  pledged  his  word, 
confirmed  by  an  oath,  to  protect  him.  Better  would  it  be  for 
his  house  to  be  extirpated  than  to  permit  Aurangzeb,  under 
cover  of  his  words,  to  organize  treachery. 

Upon  Shiva  Jl's  arrival  at  Dihll  the  king  caused  him  to 
appear  in  his  presence,1  and  instead  of  giving  him  the  promised 

1  According  to  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  55,  line  6,  the  audience  took  place  on 
the  18th  Zu,l  Qa'dah,  1076  H.  (May  22,  1666). 


138    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

position,  which  was  to  be  the  highest  in  his  audience-hall,  he 
caused  him  to  be  assigned  the  lowest  place  in  the  first  circle  of 
nobles  within  the  golden  railing.  Shiva  Jl  was  much  hurt  at 
this  deed  of  Aurangzeb's,  which  did  not  conform  to  the  promises 
received,  and  angry  (so  to  speak)  at  being  still  alive,  he  said 
resolutely  to  Aurangzeb  that  the  position  allotted  was  not 
according  to  that  promised  to  him  under  oath,  nor  to  the 
agreement  made  with  Rajah  Jai  Singh.  From  this  his  first 
reception  he  could  well  surmise  what  would  come  to  pass 
thereafter.  Let  Aurangzeb  remember  that  the  officers  in  His 
Majesty's  presence,  with  the  exception  of  Namdar  Khan,1  who 
was  a  good  soldier,  were  the  rest  of  them  so  many  old  women, 
whom  he  had  overcome  in  the  field  with  the  greatest  ease. 
Thus  not  one  of  them  deserved  the  position  he  held.  Then  in 
anger  he  came  out. 

Everybody  imagined  that  Aurangzeb  would  order  him  to  be 
slain ;  but  Aurangzeb  was  not  used  to  display  passion  openly, 
and  only  carried  out  his  designs  in  secrecy.  He  gave  a  sign 
that  they  were  to  talk  Shiva  Jl  over,  for  at  that  time  it  was  not 
known  what  he  might  want  to  state  to  the  court.  Some  of 
them  came  out  and  managed  [105]  to  console  him,  saying  it  was 
the  habit  of  the  King  of  Hindustan  not  to  give  forthwith  the 
first  place  to  those  who  had  newly  come  to  court.  But  he  was 
certain  to  do  so  afterwards  ;  for  he  held  him  in  high  esteem  as  a 
valiant  captain.     But  he  must  wait  with  patience  for  a  few  days. 

In  the  interval  Aurangzeb  issued  orders  that  he  should  be 
escorted  to  his  tent,  and,  as  sentries  over  him,  they  should  post 
round  his  tent  three  corps  of  guards.  This  was  until  the  palace 
of  Fida,e  Khan  could  be  made  ready  for  him.  Thus  he  dwelt 
some  months  in  a  tent ;  and  finding  there  was  no  appearance 
either  of  the  execution  of  the  royal  promises  or  of  an  opportunity 
of  flight  from  the  hands  of  Aurangzeb,  he  sent  to  ask  permission 
for  his  soldiers  and  captains  to  leave  for  their  own  country. 

1  This  must  be  meant  for  Namdar  Khan,  the  son  of  Ja'far  Khan,  wazlr,  by 
Farzanah  Begam,  sister  of  Mumtaz  Mahal.  Early  in  the  reign  he  served  under 
Jaswant  Singh  in  the  Dakhin,  but  was  recalled  to  Court  in  the  seventh  year 
(1664-65)  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  hi.  830).  In  Part  III.,  33,  Manucci  claims  this 
noble  as  a  great  friend  of  his. 


SHIVA  JI  SENT  TO  DIHLI—HIS  ESCAPE  139 

This  Aurangzeb  accorded,  and  was  contented  to  detain  the 
persons  of  Shiva  Jl,  of  Sambha  Jl,  his  son,  and  of  Netu  JT,1 
the  most  renowned  captain  in  Shiva  Jfs  service. 

Shiva  Jl,  on  the  advice  of  Ram  Singh,  son  of  Rajah  Jai 
Singh,  who  was  one  of  the  captains  on  guard  over  him,  sent 
several  times  each  week  large  covered  baskets  of  sweetmeats  to 
be  shared  among  the  officers  and  others.  Aurangzeb  took  no 
precautions  about  this,  acute  though  he  was,  for  he  supposed 
such  presents  were  sent  by  Shiva  Jl  by  reason  of  his  desire  to 
give  alms  in  thanks  to  God  for  his  freedom.  When  the  adorn- 
ment of  Fida,e  Khan's  mansion  was  completed  he  (Aurangzeb) 
gave  orders,  under  the  pretext  of  honouring  Shiva  Jl,  that  on 
the  succeeding  morning  he  should  be  removed  to  the  said 
mansion,  it  being  intended  that  he  should  be  smothered  there 
and  buried  on  the  spot. 

Ram  Singh,  fully  carrying  out  his  father's  instructions,  and 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  Aurangzeb's  character,  had  spent 
money  without  stint  to  obtain  reports  of  any  orders  issued  by 
the  king,  either  in  favour  of  or  against  Shiva  Jl.  He  thus 
heard  of  the  royal  order.  Without  delay  Shiva  J I  was  informed, 
and  he  sent  out  to  buy  the  large  covered  baskets  of  sweetmeats  as 
usual.  Then,  concealing  himself  within  one,  he  arranged  to  be 
carried  away,  he  and  his  son,  to  a  place  of  security,  whence 
with  good  riding-horses  he  could  take  flight  for  his  own  country. 
Thus  was  it  carried  out.  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  having 
succeeded  in  getting  away  without  anyone  suspecting,  Shiva  Jl 
made  use  of  the  preparations  made  in  the  villages  and  woods, 
as  arranged  by  Ram  Singh,  and  escaped  without  detention  into 
his  own  country.2 

1  Netu  Ji,  Palkar  (called  Nathu  Ji  by  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  191,  etc.),  became 
sarnaubat,  or  general  of  Shiva  Ji's  cavalry,  in  1657  or  1658,  and  from  that  time 
was  conspicuous  in  all  the  Mahrattah  campaigns  until  1664  (Grant-Duff,  74,  76, 
81,  86).  The  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  58,  calls  him  the  khwesh  (son-in-law)  of 
Shiva  JI.  Grant-Duff,  99,  throws  doubt  on  his  conversion,  but  the  '  Ma,asir-i- 
'Alamgiri,'  60,  gives  the  date  of  his  circumcision  as  the  1st  Shawwal,  tenth  year, 
1077  H.  (March  27,  1667).     His  new  name  was  Murshid  Quli  Khan. 

2  According  to  the  '  'Alamgirnamah,'  971,  line  16,  Shiva,  Ji  escaped  in  the 
night  of  the  27th  Safar,  ninth  year,  1077  H.  (August  29,  1666),  the  Court  being 
then  at  Agrah  (ibid.,  1021,  line  10).  He  reached  the  Dakhin  in  December, 
1666,  after  an  absence  of  nine  months  (Grant-Duff,  96). 


Mo    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Next  morning  they  went  to  remove  Shiva  JT  to  the  mansion 
where  his  life  was  to  be  taken.  On  entering  the  tent  they  saw 
a  turban  at  the  side  of  the  cushion,  as  if  [106]  he  were  still  asleep. 
They  waited  for  a  time,  then  once  more  they  went  to  look  if  he 
was  awake.  But  what  was  lying  there  was  not  able  to  move  on 
any  account !  Thus  they  went  in  several  times  without  noticing 
any  movement,  nor  did  they  hear  any  snoring.  They  uncovered 
him  gently  to  find  out  if  he  was  alive  or  dead.  By  this  inspec- 
tion they  were  undeceived,  and  at  once  reported  to  Ram  Singh, 
who  went  to  the  king  before  anyone  else  could  speak  to  him. 
After  making  his  bow,  he  stood,  with  a  cast-down  countenance, 
in  perfect  silence.  Aurangzeb  was  puzzled  by  this  change, 
Ram  Singh  being  ordinarily  of  a  jovial  expression.  He  asked 
what  this  dejection  meant,  and  why  he  had  not  gone  home. 
Ram  Singh  replied  in  a  low  voice  that  he  had  bad  news,  namely, 
that  Shiva  Jl  had  disappeared. 

Aurangzeb  was  much  put  out  by  this  event,  and  raising  his 
hand  to  his  head  as  if  plunged  in  thought,  he  sent  out  orders 
throughout  the  realm  for  Shiva  Jl  to  be  traced.  But  Shiva  JT 
was  already  far  on  his  road,  traversing  in  one  night  what  would 
have  taken  anyone  else  three  days  and  three  nights.  In  this 
way  it  was  impossible  to  catch  him,  his  way  being  through 
jungle  and  mountains,  places  through  which  it  is  very  difficult 
to  pass.  Being  afraid  that  Netu  Jl  also  might  disappear, 
Aurangzeb  forced  him  into  accepting  service,  and  sent  him 
off  to  the  other  side  of  the  river  (the  Indus)  to  fight  under 
Mahabat  Khan. 

The  War  against  Bijapur. 
Shiva  Jl's  haste  in  taking  to  flight  has  caused  us  to  get  some 
paces  too  far  ahead,  and  leaves  now  for  this  place  various 
matters,  including  the  orders  sent  by  Aurangzeb  to  Rajah  Jai 
Singh  when  he  was  certain  that  Shiva  Jl  had  already  surrendered 
himself.  These  orders  were  that,  ceasing  to  campaign  against 
the  territories  of  Shiva  Jl,  our  army  should  proceed  to  the 
conquest  of  Visapur  (Bijapur,  Vijayapura).1 

1  There  is  a  long  and  much  better  account  of  Jai  Singh's  Bijapur  campaign  in 
Kha.fi  Khan,  ii.  191  (Elliot  and  Dowson,  vii.  277-279). 


BIJAPUR  ATTACKED       „  141 

The  raj  ah  started  at  the  head  of  fifty  thousand  horsemen,  relying 
upon  his  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  the  greater  number  of  the 
Bljapur  generals  were  on  Aurangzeb's  side.  We  were  on  our 
way  when  a  letter  arrived  from  Sargecan  (Sharzah  Khan),1  a 
Pathan  by  race  and  captain-general  of  the  Bljapur  king,  addressed 
to  Diler  Khan,  to  the  following  effect  : 

'  Valorous  and  loyal  general,  Diler  Khan  !  I  do  not  write  to 
Rajah  Jai  Singh  but  to  you,  we  being  of  one  race  and  of  one 
faith.  For  this  reason  I  believe  that  [107]  you  will  give  ear 
to  my  words.  I  pray  you  as  a  favour  to  so  arrange  that  Rajah 
Jai  Singh  obtains  from  King  Aurangzeb  orders  to  desist  from 
this  war.  For  the  King  of  Bljapur  is  of  the  same  sect  of  the 
faithful,  and  up  to  this  time  has  never  evaded  the  payment  of 
the  agreed  tribute.  If  you  are  not  able  to  secure  this,  I  shall 
be  forced  to  do  what  in  me  lies  to  defend  this  kingdom.  Nor 
must  you  take  it  ill  if  I  oppose  your  division  or  succeed  in 
routing  you,  and  deprive  you  of  the  glory  that  by  a  victory  you 
would  obtain.' 

When  Diler  Khan  received  the  letter,  he  replied  briefly  that, 
until  he  had  the  King  of  Bljapur  in  his  power,  Aurangzeb  would 
never  listen  to  the  proposals  of  anyone.  As  for  an  encounter 
in  the  field,  he  was  delighted  both  to  test  the  valour  of  Sharzah 
Khan,  and  to  give  him  a  sample  of  the  courage  with  which  he, 
too,  could  fight.  On  hearing  this,  Sharzah  Khan  took  the  field, 
and  dividing  his  army  into  two  parts,  allowed  us  to  march 
between  them  for  fifteen  days  of  our  route.  When  we  were 
close  to  Bljapur,  he  began  to  devastate  the  Mogul  provinces 
without  mercy. 

The  rajah  paid  no  heed  to  this,  assuming  that  it  would  be 

1  This  Sharzah  Khan  is  mentioned  by  KhafI  Khan,  ii.  195,  line  4,  and  by 
Dr.  John  Fryer,  1675,  edition  of  1873,  p.  406.  His  portrait  is  one  of  our 
illustrations.  He  afterwards  received  from  Aurangzeb,  thirtieth  year,  1686-87, 
the  title  of  Rustam  Khan.  In  the  thirty-third  year,  1689-90,  he  was  captured 
by  Santa,  Mahrattah,  and  not  released  until  the  forty-ninth  year,  1704-5.  Grant- 
Duff,  154,  says  Hambhir  Rao  was  the  captor,  and  the  place  Wai.  Rustam  Khan 
was  made  Deputy-Governor  of  Barar,  and  in  the  first  year  of  Bahadur  Shah, 
17078,  full  Governor,  vice  Ghazi-ud-din  Khan  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  480,  and 
Kewal  Ram,  '  Tazkirat-ul-Umara.,'  British  Museum,  Additional  MS.,  No.  16703, 
fol.  456). 


142     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

easy  for  him  to  take  Bljapur  and  its  king,  for  he  had  been 
corresponding  with  the  officers.  But  the  intrigues  being  dis- 
covered, the  king  removed  the  officers  who  had  written,  and 
replaced  them  by  others.  By  this  change  the  rajah  found 
himself  deprived  of  those  he  relied  on,  and  he  had  to  beat 
a  retreat.  This  was  the  time  when  Sharzah  Khan  captured 
three  officers  who  were  coming  over  to  our  army  to  join  us ;  he 
decapitated  them,  and  sent  the  heads  to  the  King  of  Bljapur  as 
a  proof  that  he  had  one  loyal  general,  who  would  spare  no  one 
when  acting  in  defence  of  his  king.  Sharzah  Khan  gave  us  a  lot 
of  trouble  during  our  retirement,  leaving  us  not  a  moment's 
rest,  either  by  day  or  by  night,  until  we  had  quitted  the  territory 
of  Bljapur. 

During  this  advance  and  retreat  there  was  with  our  army  the 
Father  Damiao  Vieira,  a  Portuguese1  expelled  by  the  Jesuit 
fathers.  The  cause  of  his  appearance  was  that  during  our  stay 
below  the  fortress  of  Punagar  (?  Puna-garh)  the  Hindus  of 
Chawal  came  to  complain  to  Rajah  Jai  Singh  that  the  Portu- 
guese were  seizing  forcibly  the  sons  of  the  Hindus  and  making 
them  Christians.  This  made  the  rajah  angry,  for  he  was 
zealous  in  the  Hindu  faith,  and  he  made  preparations  to  send  a 
force  against  Chawal. 

On  becoming  aware  of  this  I  gave  notice,  there  and  then,  to 
Ignacio  Sermento  at  Bassain  [108].2  He  was  chief  of  the 
northern  territory  of  the  Portuguese,  which  extends  to  Damao 
(Daman).  I  requested  him  to  send  someone  as  envoy  with 
some  presents,  and  I  would  arrange  matters.  He  sent  this 
padre,  with  a  young  Mahomedan  in  his  suite.  He  brought 
this  youth  expressly  to  get  from  him  half  of  what  he  might 
acquire,  as  being  well  acquainted  with  the  territories  of  Chawal. 
He  was  clever  enough  to  secure  the  rajah's  taking  this  young 
man  into  his  service,  and  thus  they  shared  the  pay  in  a  brotherly 
manner.     I  spoke  to  the  rajah,  and  pointed  out  to  him  that 

1  Manucci,  Part  III.,  230,  says  this  man  denounced  him  to  the  Inquisition  at 
Bassain  in  1667. 

"  Danvers,  ii.  327,  year  1662,  speaks  of  Ignatio  Sermento,  Governor  of  Cochin. 
Possibly  this  Governor  of  Bassain  in  1666  is  the  same  man.  Manucci  speaks  of 
him  again  on  fol.  no,  and  on  fol.  213  of  Part  III.  we  are  told  he  was  murdered 
on  Palm  Sunday,  1676. 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  PORTUGUESE  AT  CHAWAL       143 

there  was  no  occasion  for  the  Hindus  of  Chawal  to  complain, 
since  what  the  Portuguese  were  doing  had  gone  on  certainly  for 
a  hundred  years ;  nor  did  they  make  Christians  of  anyone  bat 
orphans  who  had  no  relations  forthcoming. 

The  padre  was  not  content  with  having  accomplished  his 
mission  with  somewhat  of  honour,  but  he  must  needs  enter  on 
warlike  proposals.  He  promised  the  rajah  that  he  would  so 
manage  that  the  viceroy  of  Goa  should  give  aid  to  the  Moguls 
in  the  acquisition  of  Bljapur.  Over  and  over  again  I  told  the 
padre  that  it  was  not  a  good  thing  to  enter  into  such  matters, 
that  he  had  much  better  withdraw  to  Goa.  For  the  King  of 
Bljapur  was  a  better  neighbour  to  the  Portuguese  than  the 
Mogul  king  would  ever  be.  The  latter,  having  conquered 
Bljapur,  would  next  try  to  take  Goa.  The  padre  was  not 
pleased  with  my  views,  and  complained  to  the  rajah,  so  that  the 
rajah  said  to  me  one  day,  without  giving  a  reason,  that  I  should 
avoid  meeting  the  padre.  After  the  business  had  been  settled, 
I  received  from  the  Portuguese  a  certificate  signed  by  Ignacio 
Sermento,  wherein  he  swore  on  the  Holy  Evangelists  that  I 
had  done  a  great  service  to  the  Crown  of  Portugal. 

We  got  to  Bljapur,  as  I  said,  and  there  we  beheld  the 
miracles  that  the  padre  had  promised  us.  We  were  to  take 
Bljapur  with  the  greatest  ease,  whereas  it  all  but  happened  that 
Sharzah  Khan  broke  all  our  heads.  Therefore,  finding,  after 
we  had  retreated,  that  we  were  going  into  quarters,  I  began  to 
long  for  a  life  among  Christians ;  and  I  was  disgusted  at  the 
conduct  of  the  padre,  who  continued  to  live  on  in  the  army. 
I  asked  the  rajah  for  leave  to  resign,  as  I  wanted  to  return  to 
my  country,  and  I  put  forward  as  excuse  that  I  wanted  to  get 
married.  They  never  refuse  anyone  leave  when  it  is  with  that 
object.  The  rajah  asked  his  Brahman  and  the  astrologers,  with 
whom  (as  I  have  said)  these  princes  are  always  well  provided,  if 
he  [iog]  should  ever  see  me  again.  They  replied  that  we  should 
never  meet  again.  He  believed  that  I  was  doomed  to  die,  but 
he  reckoned  badly,  for  while  I  got  back  to  the  Mogul  country, 
he  was  left  dead  far  from  home,  as  I  shall  relate  in  its  proper 
place  (II.  115). 

On  my  leave-taking  he  gave  me  a  set  of  robes,  and  something 


144    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

by  way  of  present.  Upon  quitting  the  army  I  went  into  a 
village  belonging  to  the  Portuguese  called  Camba  (Kambe),1 
close  to  Galiani1  (Kaliya.nl)  and  Beundi  (Bhiwandl)1,  in  the 
country  of  Shiva  Jl.  In  this  village  are  made  many  things  in 
wood — handsome  chairs,  sideboards,  bedsteads,  and  different 
playthings.  Here  I  stayed  for  several  days,  at  the  request  of  a 
friend  of  mine  who  was  owner  of  the  village,  and  he  kept  me 
in  his  house  until  he  had  stolen  some  gold  coins  I  had.  Thence 
I  made  for  Bassaim  (Bassain,  Wasai),  a  Portuguese  town,  there 
to  pass  Lent,2  and  I  lived  outside  the  town.  I  was  very  near 
losing  my  life  here.  A  gentleman  (fidalgo)  asked  me  about 
some  fidalgos  of  the  Mello  family,  then  living  in  the  Mogul 
country,  who  had  been  banished  for  putting  to  death  two  brothers 
named  Medoncas  (?  Mendoza),  brothers-in-law  of  the  questioner, 
on  the  accusation  of  treason  to  the  Portuguese  Crown.  I  had  no 
idea  that  he  was  an  enemy  of  these  fugitives,  and  I  replied  that 
they  were  men  of  worth  and  honoured  gentlemen.  This  sufficed 
to  set  him  plotting  against  me,  and  he  sent  out  men  to  assassi- 
nate me.  But  it  was  God's  pleasure  that,  when  coming  out  of 
the  town  on  my  horse,  I  should  meet  some  gentlemen,  who 
requested  me  to  put  my  horse  to  speed,  which  I  did  most 
vigorously.  With  a  pleasantry  I  look  my  leave  of  them,  and 
spurred  my  horse  into  a  gallop,  though  it  was  already  tired  out, 
getting  my  sword  out  of  its  scabbard ;  it  was  as  much  as  I  could 
do  to  get  hold  of  it,  seeing  that  my  horse  would  hardly  let  me. 
But  here  we  must  admire  God's  providence,  who  had  resolved 
on  saving  me.  Here  was  I  galloping  my  horse,  sword  in  hand, 
when  I  came  up  with  four  men  at  a  corner  round  which  I  had 
to  pass.     They  stood  there  waiting  for  me,  with  naked  swords, 

1  Kaliyani  is  the  well-known  town  (now  a  railway  junction)  in  the  Thanah 
District  ('  Bombay  Gazetteer,'  xiv.  113).  Beundi  I  identify  as  Bhiwandl,  six  miles 
north  of  Kaliyan,  and  in  the  same  district,  lat.  280  45',  long.  760  14'  (ibid.,  45). 
Camba  (Kambe)  was  a  Portuguese  fort  two  miles  west  of  Bhiwandl  (ibid., 
xiii.  457,  Thanah  District). 

2  According  to  the  '  'Alamgirnamah,'  1021,  last  line,  Jai  Singh,  after  nearly 
a  year's  absence,  arrived  at  Aurangabad,  on  his  return  from  Bijapur,  on  the 
8th  Jamadi'  II.,  1077  H.  (December  16,  1666).  Manucci  says,  farther  on,  it  was 
in  1666  he  reached  Bassain,  but  it  was  more  probably  the  Lent  of  1667.  The 
town  of  Bassain  (or  Basai)  is  twenty-eight  miles  north  of  Bombay,  and  was  held 
by  the  Portuguese  until  1765  ('  Bombay  Gazetteer,'  xiv.  28,  Thanah  District). 


XVI.  Sultan  Akbar,  Fourth  Son  of  Aurangzeb. 


Vol.   II. 


To  face  page  144. 


MANUCCI  AT  GOA,  1667  145 

ready  to  slay  me.  But  guessing  that  I  had  been  already 
warned,  and  was  coming  at  them  resolved  to  fight  to  the  death, 
they  were  in  fear  and  allowed  me  to  pass  without  hindrance. 
I  was  subsequently  informed  that  he  who  laid  this  plot  for  me 
was  the  fidalgo  to  whom  I  had  praised  the  Mellos.  Thus, 
fearing  that  he  would  lose  no  occasion  of  executing  his  evil 
intent,  I  left  for  Goa,  and  there  I  arrived  in  the  month  of  May, 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  (1666).1  Of  the  place 
itself  I  shall  have  much  to  say  presently,  but  the  reader  must 
permit  me  first  to  state  briefly  [no]  something  about  my  own 
stay  there. 

I  did  not  obtain  there  what  I  sought,  for  I  found  myself  in  a 
place  where  treachery  is  great  and  prevalent,  where  there  is 
little  fear  of  God  and  no  concern  for  strangers.  Not  that  I  can 
complain  myself  of  ill-treatment,  for  the  viceroy  desired  to 
honour  me  with  the  command  of  a  war-galley.  But  since  I  had 
many  necessary  expenses,  and  I  was  not  rich  enough  to  take 
upon  myself  the  payment  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  from  my 
own  pocket,  I  declined.  My  advice  to  the  viceroy  was  that  he 
should  take  great  care  not  to  let  the  Mogul  become  master  of 
Bljapur  ;  for  on  finding  an  opportunity,  he  would  use  all  his 
strength  to  take  Goa,  as  was  his  usual  practice. 

As  I  had  need  of  money  for  expenses,  I  went  several  times 
to  the  general,  Ignacio  Sermento,2  to  ask  for  the  three  hundred 
rupees  which  he  continued  to  owe  me  for  certain  articles  that 
he  had  asked  me  to  send  him  when  I  was  in  the  Mogul  country. 
Never  could  I  succeed  in  getting  what  was  due.  At  length, 
when  he  was  about  to  start  for  his  government  of  Mozambique, 
I  begged  him  to  make  me  a  gift  of  the  three  hundred  rupees, 
at  any  rate,  under  the  name  of  alms.  As  a  foreigner  I  had 
no  remedy  against  him ;  and  when  he  heard  me  ask  for  charity, 
he  ordered  the  sum  to  be  paid  me.  Thus  is  it  the  custom 
of  certain  of  these  gentlemen  to  pay  their  debts  after  wearying 
out  their  creditors.  I  was  very  fortunate.  Others,  in  place 
of  collecting  the  money  they  had  lent,  have  lost  a  limb  or 
even  their  life.     I  do  not  want  to  talk  of  that,  for  those  who 

1  More  probably  1667  (see  ante,  II.  107,  note). 

2  See  ante,  II.  108,  note,  and  also  Part  III.,  213  (his  murder). 
VOL.  II.  10 


146    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

are  curious  may  ask  the  Portuguese  themselves ;  there  are 
among  them  men  of  sincerity,  as  there  are  in  other  nations. 
Such  men  can  tell  them  more  than  I  dare  to  write  about  the 
Portuguese  of  India. 


Shah  'Abbas  defies  Aurangzeb. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  Moguls  and  talk  of  a  year  in  which 
several  things  happened.  The  first  event  was  that  Aurangzeb 
had  a  son  by  his  beloved  queen,  Udepuri,  who  received  the 
name  of  Kaembaex  (Kam  Bakhsh),  this  being  the  fifth  and 
last  son.1  But  Aurangzeb  could  not  resolve  to  have  him 
destroyed  in  his  mother's  womb,  in  accordance  with  the  rule 
of  Shahjahan.  He  acted  thus  out  of  his  great  love  for  Udepuri 
[in].  The  second  event  was  that  Aurangzeb's  ambassador 
to  the  King  of  Persia  arrived  at  Dihli  with  the  forty  horses 
that  Shah  'Abbas  sent  to  Aurangzeb  as  a  challenge  to  take 
the  field.  By  this  the  whole  kingdom  fell  into  great  anxiety  and 
confusion,  more  especially  the  city  of  Dihli,  for  Aurangzeb, 
to  show  that  he  had  no  fear  at  the  approach  of  Shah  'Abbas, 
who  had  already  begun  his  march  towards  India,  sent  orders 
to  cut  the  throats  of  the  forty  fine  horses  at  the  doors  of  the 
Persian  officers,  such  as  Ja'far  Khan,  Muhammad  Amln  Khan, 
and  others.  This  was  to  prove  that  he  had  no  need  of  them, 
nor  did  he  make  any  account  of  the  King  of  Persia.2 

The  wretched  Tarblyat  Khan,3  who  had  been  the  ambassador, 
as  we  have  said,  received  from  Aurangzeb  many  affronts  and 
much  abuse.     Aurangzeb  said  to  him  that  if  he  were  a  man 

1  Kam  Bakhsh  was  born  on  the  ioth  Ramazan,  1077  H.  (March  6,  1667,  N.S.) 
('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  538). 

2  The  account  by  John  Cambell,  •  gunfounder, '  in  the  British  Museum,  Sloane 
MS.,  No.  811,  fol.  66,  says  he  was  present,  and  saw  Aurangzeb  break  in 
pieces  the  sword  sent  by  the  Persian  King ;  he  ordered  the  fragments  to  be 
stamped  to  'pother,'  burnt,  and  the  ashes  thrown  into  the  river.  The  horses 
were  given  away. 

3  Tarbiyat  Khan  arrived  after  Zu.l  Qa'dah  of  the  ninth  year,  1076  H.  (after 
June  3,  1666).  He  was  appointed  to  Udisa  (Orissa),  vice  Khan  Dauran,  about 
the  25th  Zu,l  Qa'dah,  1078  H.  (May  12,  1668)  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  56,  57,  62).  As  to  the 
horses  and  Aurangzeb's  suspicions  of  the  Persians,  see  Dow,  iii.  405. 


TARBIYAT  KHAN  DEGRADED  147 

of  understanding  and  capable  of  any  shame,  he  should  have 
got  killed  in  the  Persian  king's  palace,  first  taking  the  life  of 
the  heretic  (for  thus  they  style  the  Persians).  He  would  like 
to  know  why  he  carried  a  dagger  at  his  side,  if  it  were  not 
for  defending  the  honour  of  his  king  and  offering  up  his  life 
on  his  behalf.  It  had  been  better  for  him  to  bury  himself 
alive  than  appear  again  in  the  sight  of  men.  Thus  did  he 
expel  him  from  court,  and  in  a  short  space  the  wretched 
Tarbiyat  Khan  ended  his  days.1 

Death  of  'Abd-ul-Karim. 

Aurangzeb  had  shown  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  Persians. 
All  the  same,  he  had  a  certain  amount  of  dread,  for  he  recalled 
Shah  'Alam  to  court  in  great  haste,  and  directed  Rajah  Jai 
Singh  to  make  peace  with  the  king  of  Bijapur.  His  intention 
was  to  enter  on  a  campaign  against  the  Persians.  He  still 
further  exerted  himself.  He  ordered  the  learned  'Abd-ul- 
Karim,2  master  of  theology,  to  take  steps  to  ascertain  what 
Shah  'Abbas  was  doing,  and  transmit  to  court  clear  in- 
formation. 

'Abd-ul-KarTm  was  so  energetic  that  it  cost  him  his  life. 
For,  having  seized  some  Persian  merchants  who  were  totally 
ignorant  of  the  plans  of  Shah  'Abbas,  he  tortured  them  until 
they  should  tell  him  what  they  did  not  know.  At  last  one 
of  them,  in  despair  at  so  much  suffering,  sought  for  death. 
Thus,  the  six  Persian  merchants  being  in  the  audience-hall 
under  examination,  one  of  them  drew  near  to  ' Abd-ul-Karim 
[112],  who  was  seated  upon  a  carpet,  his  sword  lying  in  front 
of  him,  as  is  customary,  and  around  him  a  number  of  persons. 
The  man  said  he  wished  to  confess  the  truth,  and  would  there- 
fore swear  upon  the  sword  to  state  what  he  knew.  Placing  his 
hand  upon  the  sword,  which  was  sheathed,  he  suddenly  raised 

1  Tarbiyat  Khan  did  not  die  until  1096  H.  (1685),  when  he  was  faujdar  of 
Jaunpur. 

2  'Abd-ul-Karim  is  probably  an  error  for  Maulana.  'Abd-ul-Qawi,  I'timad 
Khan,  who,  according  to  the  '  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  p.  57,  was  assassinated  in 
1077  H.  (1666-67)  much  in  the  way  here  described  (see  also  '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,' 
i.  225,  and  Kha.fi  Khan,  ii.  203-205). 

10 — 2 


148    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

it  and  gave  his  torturer  a  mighty  blow  upon  the  head.  'Abd- 
ul-Karim  was  killed.  The  bystanders  seized  the  other  five 
merchants,  who  were  lying  chained  in  a  corner  of  the  hall, 
while  the  brave  fellow  who  struck  the  blow  managed  to  escape 
during  the  confusion. 

Let  it  be  learnt  hereby  that  patience,  when  at  last  angered, 
is  transformed  into  fury,  and  in  pursuing  an  inquiry : 

'  Est  modus  in  rebus,  sunt  certi  denique  fines, 
Quos  ultra  citraque  nequit  consistere  rectum.' 1 

By  this  event  Aurangzeb  was  thrown  into  a  great  quandary, 
suspecting  that  the  Persians  had  already  decided  to  take 
possession  of  Hindustan  by  one  method  or  another.  He  there- 
fore ordered  everyone  to  go  about  clad  in  shirts  of  mail. 

Aurangzeb's  apprehensions  were  added  to  when  he  opened 
the  book  of  Coja  Afez  Xirazi  (Khwajah  Hafiz  ShlrazI).  He 
is  a  Persian  author  much  esteemed  by  Mahomedans,  because  he 
wrote  good  doctrine  in  verse.  On  the  occasion  of  any  important 
affair  they  open  his  book  at  a  venture,  or,  as  we  are  used  to  say, 
ad  apertum  libri.  They  regulate  their  conduct  by  the  first 
words  upon  which  their  eyes  rest,  treating  them  as  prophetic. 
He  fell  (I  say)  into  greater  anxiety,  since  on  opening  the  said 
book  he  found  the  statement :  '  I  am  greatly  amazed  that  the 
black  man  should  claim  equality  with  his  master.'2  This 
was  as  much  as  to  say  that  he  wondered  that  the  King  of 
Hindustan  should  assert  his  ability  to  resist  the  strength  of  the 
Persian  king.  For,  as  I  said  already  more  than  once,  the  Persians 
call  the  Indians  their  'slaves'  or  'black  men.'  Aurangzeb 
flung  the  book  on  the  ground  in  a  great  rage,  and  issued  orders 
for  all  copies  of  the  work  to  be  collected  and  burnt.  None 
was  allowed  to  retain  this  book  under  pain  of  death. 

1  Horace,  '  Satires,'  I.,  i.  106. 

'  Yes,  there's  a  mean  in  morals  ;  life  has  lines, 
To  north  and  south  of  which  all  virtue  pines. ' 

Conington. 

2  Haji  M.  A.  Hussein  Khan,  to  whom  I  referred  the  question,  can  find  no  such 
line  in  the  '  Diwan  '  of  Hafiz.     The  nearest  he  could  suggest  were  the  two  lines  : 

•  Hafiz  !  ba  adab  bash,  kih  darkhwast  na  bashad 
Gar  Shah  payame  baghulame  na  firistad.' 


THREATENED  WAR  WITH  PERSIA  149 

Death  of  Shah  'Abbas. 

Meanwhile  Shah  'Abbas  was  advancing  with  great  deter- 
mination and  impatience  for  a  contest  with  the  army  of 
Aurangzeb.  He  had  three  hundred  thousand  horsemen,  and 
it  is  quite  certain  [113]  that  if  Aurangzeb  had  encountered  this 
valiant  king  he  would  have  run  considerable  risk  of  losing  the 
kingdom,  to  gain  which  he  had  worked  so  hard  with  mind  and 
body.  But  it  was  his  good  fortune  that  Shah  'Abbas  fell  ill  of 
quinsy  and  died  upon  the  march,  whereby  Aurangzeb  was  much 
relieved,  though  by  that  time  ready  to  take  the  field,  as  Rajah 
Jai  Singh  had  made  peace  with  the  king  of  Bijapur.1 

Upon  the  death  of  Shah  'Abbas  the  aged  mother  of  that  king 
wrote  to  Aurangzeb  that,  now  his  rival  was  dead,  he  was  excused 
from  taking  the  trouble  of  coming  into  the  field.  All  the  same, 
if  he  wanted  to  come,  he  would  find  her  there  in  the  place  of 
her  son,  and  she  was  waiting  for  nothing  but  a  word  from  him 
to  start.  Although  Aurangzeb  had  made  every  preparation  for 
a  campaign,  and  he  was  not  occupied  with  any  other  matter  of 
importance,  Shiva  Ji  having  been  already  taken,  he  still  did  not 
care  to  interfere  with  the  Persians.  He  made  the  excuse  that 
it  did  not  befit  his  honour  to  go  against  a  woman,  while  God 
had  already  chastised  the  evil-doer.  As  a  revenge  for  what 
Shah  'Abbas  had  attempted  to  do,  he  forbade  the  sending  of 
caravans  from  Hindustan  to  Persia,  but  allowed  them  to  travel 
into  India  from  Persia. 

Begam  Sahib  gives  Wine  to  the  Wives  of  the 
Learned  Doctors. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  the  learned,  or  Mullds,  of  the  faith, 
seeing  the  king  freed  of  troubles,  obtained  from  him  the  issue  of 
laws  for  women — that  is  to  say,  that  they  must  not  wear  tight 
trousers  like  those  of  men,  but  wide  ones.  They  said  this  was 
advisable   to   distinguish  them  from  men,  but  their  meaning 

1  Shah  'Abbas  II.,  son  of  Shah  Safi,  son  of  Shah  'Abbas  I.,  died  at  the 
village  of  Kharasman  on  the  1st  Rabi'  I.,  1077  H.  (September  1,  1666),  aged 
thirty-six  or  thirty-seven  (lunar)  years  (' Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  58,  and  '  Tarlkh-i- 
Muhammadi,'  year  1077).  Tavernier,  English  edition,  200,  says  he  died  at 
Tehzon  of  an  inflammation  of  the  throat,  which  came  on  from  excessive  drinking. 


ISO    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

was  very  different.  They  also  wanted  him  to  make  a  rule  against 
women  drinking,  or  eating  bhang,  nutmeg,  opium,  or  other 
drugs.  The  women  had  paid  no  heed  to  the  orders  he  had 
given  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  saying  those  orders  did  not 
apply  to  them,  but  to  men  only. 

When  Padshah  Begam,  otherwise  Begam  Sahib,  learnt  of  this 
new  rule,  she  invited  the  wives  of  the  qazl  and  the  other  learned 
men  to  her  mansion,  and  gave  them  wine  until  they  were  drunk. 
Aurangzeb  came  to  her  palace  and  referred  to  the  restrictions 
under  which  he  had  placed  women.  He  made  excuses,  saying 
that  he  was  under  an  obligation  to  make  the  law  obeyed.  She 
had  never  [114]  heard,  she  said,  that  those  things  were  entered 
in  the  book  of  the  Law.  But  Aurangzeb  told  her  that  such 
was  the  opinion  of  all  the  learned.  Thereupon  Padshah  Begam 
invited  the  king  within  the  pardah,  where  he  saw  the  wives  of 
the  said  learned  men  all  lying  drunk  and  in  disorder,  and  also 
wearing  tight  trousers  on  their  legs ! 

Upon  this  Padshah  Begam  said  to  him  that  if  such  things 
were  part  of  the  Faith,  the  learned  should  not  allow  their  wives 
and  daughters  to  go  about  clothed  in  that  fashion,  nor  should 
they  permit  them  to  drink  intoxicating  drugs.  Instead  of 
issuing  laws  for  others,  they  required  to  regulate  their  own 
households.  Thus  was  appeased  the  storm  that  had  been 
raised  against  women. 

Ambassadors  from  France. 

In  this  year  it  was  that  ambassadors  arrived  from  the  King 
of  France  to  the  Mogul.  One  was  called  Monsieur  de  la 
Bullaye  le  Gout,  and  the  other  Monsieur  Beber.1     They  came 

1  Here,  as  in  the  case  of  Lord  Bellomont,  Manucci  is  more  correct  than  the 
biographical  dictionaries.  Francois  de  la  Boullaye  le  Gouz,  son  of  Gabriel  le 
Gouz,  was  born  at  Bauge,  near  Angers,  circa  1610,  and,  according  to  the 
'Biographie  Universelle '  (Michaud),  vol.  xviii.  (1817),  p.  216,  died  at  Isfahan 
after  1664,  or,  as  the  '  Nouvelle  Biographie  Generate '  (Didot),  vol.  xxx.  (1859), 
p.  414,  says,  '  about  1669,'  without  ever  reaching  India  on  this  journey.  Both 
works  say  the  King  of  Persia  gave  him  a  pompous  funeral.  But  H.  Castonnet 
des  Fosses,  in  his  'La  Boullaye  le  Gouz,  sa  Vie  et  ses  Voyages'  (53  pp.,  8vo., 
Angers,  1891),  drawing  upon  local  sources,  confirms  Manucci  generally.  Le 
Gouz  had  travelled  in  India  once  before,  and  produced  a  book,  '  Les  Voyages  et 


A  FRENCH  EMBASSY  151 

to  obtain  from  the  Mogul  leave  to  open  a  factory  at  Surat. 
Their  orders  were  not  to  deliver  their  letters,  unless  into  the 
hands  of  Aurangzeb  himself.  But  it  not  being  the  custom  of 
the  Mogul  kings  to  take  letters  from  the  hand  of  an  ambassador, 

Observations,'  1653,  which  brought  him  to  the  notice  of  Louis  XIV.  In  1664 
(October),  when  Colbert  formed  his  Compagnie  des  Indes,  Le  Gouz  was  selected 
with  others  to  proceed  to  India  through  Persia  to  push  the  interests  of  the  new 
enterprise.  Le  Gouz  and  Beber  reached  Swally  (Surat)  on  April  1,  1666,  and 
proceeded  to  Agrah.  On  leaving  that  place  late  in  1666  they  separated,  Beber 
returning  to  Surat,  and  Le  Gouz  making  for  Bengal  en  route  for  China.  A  few 
miles  from  Dhakah  he  was  assassinated  by  two  soldiers,  who  mistook  two  heavy 
boxes  of  books  for  treasure-chests.  This  must  have  happened  at  the  end  of 
1666  or  early  in  1667  (see  also  H.  Castonnet  des  Fosses,  '  LTnde  Francais  au 
XVIIIme  Siecle,'  Paris,  no  year,  pp.  41,  42). 

I  have  failed  to  find  any  notice  of  Le  Gouz's  death  in  the  Dutch  reports  from 
Dhakah.  There  are  some  letters  from  him  in  •  Estat  de  la  Perse  en  1660,'  by 
Pere  Raphael  du  Mans,  Capuchin,  edited  by  C.  Schefer,  Appendix,  pp.  289-321. 
Tavernier  mentions  him  in  his  'Travels,'  edition  Ball,  i.  210  (note),  224.  But 
really  the  only  full  account,  a  very  amusing  one,  is  in  Tavernier's  '  Recueil  de 
Plusieurs  Relations  (II.,  Relation  de  ce  que  s'est  passe  dans  la  Negotiation  des 
Deputez,'  etc.),  4to.,  Paris,  1679  (separate  paging  to  each  part),  98  pp.  Tavernier 
was  at  Agrah  at  the  time,  and  Beber  left  for  Surat  in  his  company.  Manucci 
was  in  the  Dakhin  then,  and  it  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  he  used  Tavernier's 
narrative  or  had  independent  sources  ;  both  accounts  are  in  substantial  agree- 
ment. J.  de  Thevenot,  'Voyage,'  1727,  v.  212,  notices  Le  Gouz  and  Beber's 
quarrel  with  a  banyd,  and  their  absurd  idea  at  Burhanpur  that  a  headman's  offer 
of  a  nazav  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  rupees  was  a  calculated  insult. 

There  are  a  few  notices  of  this  French  embassy  in  the  East  India  Company's 
records.  The  first  news  that  a  new  French  company  was  established  is  in  a 
letter  from  Surat  to  Persia  of  February  17,  1666  (Factory  Records,  Surat, 
vol.  lxxxvi.).  The  remark  is  then  repeated,  and  the  arrival  of  two  Frenchmen  is 
announced  (Surat  to  Bantam,  March  20,  1666,  Original  Correspondence,  3163). 
Next,  in  the  postscript  to  a  general  letter  from  Surat  to  the  Court,  April  4,  1666 
(O.C.,  3i57),'they  mention  the  appearance  of  the  two  Frenchmen,  one  sent  by  the 
King  and  the  other  by  the  new  company ;  they  had  left  some  others  at  Bandar 
Congo  in  the  Gulf.  The  English  factors  do  not  think  the  answer  of  the  Mogul, 
who  is  a  '  greate  zealot, '  will  be  so  pleasing  as  that  of  the  Persian  King.  In 
another  general  letter  of  September  10,  1666  (Surat),  in  O.C.,  No.  3185,  the 
difficulties  of  the  French  at  the  Mogul  Court  are  detailed,  Ja'far  Khan  having 
asked  at  once  what  present  they  had  brought.  They  left  the  Court,  were  set 
upon  by  thieves,  went  back,  and  at  last  had  an  audience.  Mr.  Randolph  Taylor 
at  Surat  writes  to  Mr.  John  Stanian  to  the  same  effect  under  date  November  24, 
1666  (O.C.,  3203).  On  March  26,  1667  (O.C.,  3213),  Surat  reports  to  the  Court 
(East  India  Company)  that  one  Frenchman  has  left  Agrah — it  is  said  towards 
Bengal — while  the  other  was  returning  to  Surat  with  a  Fartnan,  They  comment 
on  Beber's  '  hastie  and  peevish  nature,'  and  his  '  foule  language  or  blowes.' 


152    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Aurangzeb,  by  way  of  showing  the  esteem  in  which  he  held  the 
King  of  France,  ordered  Shah  'Alam  to  take  the  letter  from  the 
ambassadors.  This  was  a  thing  that  up  to  that  time  had  not 
been  conceded  to  anyone.  Although  they  had  presents  to  be 
offered  to  the  king,  among  them  some  cannon  of  a  new  inven- 
tion which  I  had  seen  in  Sfirat,  and  many  other  articles,  never- 
theless, for  some  reason,  they  gave  nothing,  and  yet  secured 
what  they  desired,  the  King  of  France  being  highly  thought  of 
among  the  Moguls.  Monsieur  de  la  Bullaye  embarked  at 
Patnah  on  his  way  to  Bengal,  but  disappeared  along  with  his 
boat,  nor  was  anything  ever  heard  of  them.  The  other 
(?  M.  B£ber),  when  at  Goa,  fell  ill,  and,  meaning  to  take  sal 
prunella  (nitrate  of  potash)  or  mineral  crystal,  by  inadvertence 
took  corrosive  sublimate,  and  died  there.1 

Death  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh. 

In  the  following  year,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  (correctly,  1 666)  Shiva  Jl  escaped  in  the  way  I  have 
[115]  spoken  of  (II.  105).  Aurangzeb,  owing  to  the  death  of 
the  Persian  king,  found  himself  no  longer  in  need  of  Rajah  Jai 
Singh's  services  [for  a  Persian  campaign] ;  and  he  had  suspicions 
that  the  flight  of  Shiva  Jl  had  been  manipulated  by  that  rajah. 
He  ordered  Jai  Singh  to  return  to  court,  and  on  the  road  caused 
poison  to  be  given  to  him,  from  which  he  died  at  Burhanpur;2 
thus  was  he  rewarded  for  the  great  services  he  had  rendered. 
The  rajah  might  have  killed  Aurangzeb  when  he  came  across 
him  near  the  Lakhi  jungle,  during  the  king's  march  against 
Shah  Shuja/,  and  could  have  done  the  deed  in  perfect  safety. 
He  had  been  counselled  to  do  it  by  his  officers,  as  I  have 
already  said  in  the  Second  Book  of  my  First  Part  (I.  220). 
Thus,  too,   was   the   rajah   rewarded   for   deserting   Sulaiman 

1  I  am  informed  that  while  sal  prunella  is  highly  soluble,  perchloride  of 
mercury  is  very  imperfectly  so  ;  and,  although  both  are  white  powders,  it  would 
for  this  reason  be  almost  impossible  to  mistake  them.  Perhaps  Beber  was  drunk, 
a  failing  of  his  (teste  Tavernier). 

2  Jai  Singh  died  20th  Muharram,  1078  H.  (July  12,  1667),  at  Burhanpur.  He 
had  been  Rajah  over  fifty  years,  and  his  age  was  about  sixty  ('Tarikli-i- 
Muhammadi').  Tod,  'Rajasthan'  (reprint),  II.,  342,  states  that  Kirat  Singh 
poisoned  his  father  at  the  instigation  of  Aurangzeb. 


AURANGZEB  OPPRESSES  THE  HINDUS  153 

Shukoh,  son  of  Dara,  in  obedience  to  a  simple  letter  sent  to 
him  by  Aurangzeb.  Thus  did  Aurangzeb  reward  the  fidelity 
with  which  this  rajah  governed  Dihll  while  he  was  in  pursuit 
of  Shah  Shuja.'.  Thus  did  he  reward  the  skill  with  which  the 
rajah  obtained  the  delivery  of  Sulaiman  Shukoh  when  he  had 
sought  shelter  in  the  mountains  of  Srinagar.  Thus  did  he 
reward  the  valour  and  determination  with  which  the  rajah 
went  against  Shiva  Jl,  and  the  expenditure  by  which  Shiva.  Ji's 
submission  was  secured.  Thus  did  he  reward  the  submissive- 
ness  with  which  the  rajah  made  peace  with  Bljapur,  under 
conditions  favourable  to  the  Mogul  court. 

As  a  further  piece  of  revenge  for  the  flight  of  Shiva  Ji, 
Aurangzeb  ordered  Ram  Singh,  the  rajah's  eldest  son,  to 
proceed  upon  the  conquest  of  Assam,1  simply  in  the  hope  of 
getting  rid  of  him,  knowing  what  had  happened  there  to  the 
great  Mir  Jumlah.  But,  on  the  representations  of  several 
princes,  he  varied  the  order,  and  sent  him  (Ram  Singh)  to  the 
farther  side  of  the  river  Indus,  to  be  under  the  orders  of  the 
governor  of  those  lands,  wherein  to  live  is  a  severe  punishment 
to  Hindus,  as  I  have  already  said  (I.  223). 

When  the  news  of  Jai  Singh's  death  reached  the  court,  he 
who  brought  it  believed  he  was  the  carrier  of  melancholy 
news  to  Aurangzeb.  For  the  whole  country  knew  the  services 
rendered  by  the  deceased  rajah  to  Aurangzeb  and  his  kingdom, 
and  they  supposed  that  the  king  could  not  but  grieve  greatly 
for  him.  But,  although  it  be  a  truth  that  the  great  make  no 
account  of  their  subjects  except  when  they  have  need  of  them, 
and  when  the  service  is  finished  make  no  payment  but  in  the 
coin  of  neglect,  Aurangzeb,  most  completely  ungrateful  of 
them  all,  held  it  a  maxim  to  withdraw  from  before  his  eyes 
those  who  had  done  the  most  for  him.  Thus  he  publicly 
declared  himself  rejoiced  at  the  death  of  that  great  leader, 
saying  [116]  at  once  to  the  bearer  of  the  news  that  his  greatest 
joy  consisted  in  this  death  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh.  Yet  it  had 
caused   sorrow  to  everybody  except   Aurangzeb.     The  latter, 

1  This  appointment  was  made  on  the  21st  Rajab,  tenth  year,  1078  H.  (January  6, 
1668)  ('Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  65).  He  left  Bengal  in  the  nineteenth  year  (1675-76), 
and  died  on  duty  in  Kabul  during  1099  H.  (16S7-88). 


154    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDOSTAN 

rid  of  a  rajah  whose  influence  might  have  been  dangerous  to  his 
kingdom,  declared  that  very  hour  an  open  war  against  Hinduism. 
He  sent  orders  at  once  for  the  destruction  of  the  fine  temple 
called  Lalta,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dihll.  He  also  ordered 
every  viceroy  and  governor  to  destroy  all  the  temples  within 
his  jurisdiction.  Among  others  was  destroyed  the  great  temple 
of  Matora  (Mathura),  which  was  of  such  a  height  that  its  gilded 
pinnacle  could  be  seen  from  Agrah,  eighteen  leagues  away.  In 
its  place  a  mosque  was  to  be  erected,  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  Essalamabad  (Islamabad) — that  is,  '  Built  by  the 
faithful.'  Not  content  with  this,  he  expelled  the  jogls  or 
sanydsls,  who  are  the  ascetics  and  saints  of  the  Hindus.  He 
directed  that  the  higher  officers  at  the  court  who  were  Hindus 
should  no  longer  hold  their  charges,  but  into  their  places 
Mahomedans  should  be  put.  He  hindered  the  Hindus  from 
enjoying  their  merry-making  (intrudo)  or  carnival,1  on  which 
occasion  Mahomedans  also  resort  to  pranks  and  filthy  sports. 
The  time  of  this  festival  or  carnival  falls  ordinarily  on  the 
moon  of  March.  It  is  their  custom  to  disport  themselves  by 
throwing  on  each  other's  clothes  scented  oils  and  odoriferous 
dust,  if  they  are  personages  of  position,  or  dirty  water  and  other 
stinking  things  if  they  are  low  people.  They  run  about  in  all 
directions,  just  as  with  us  in  Europe  is  done  at  carnival  time, 
with  noisy  cries  and  obscene  words. 

Death  of  Father  Buzeo. 
The  nobles  in  the  Mogul  country,  above  all  Ja'far  Khan,  felt 
much  the  loss  this  year  of  a  Christian  and  a  priest,  although 
they  do  not  care  a  fig  usually  whether  we  live  or  die.  They 
are  in  the  habit  of  calling  us  '  unbelievers.'  This  was  Father 
Buzeo,2  a  Flemish  Jesuit  well  known  at  the  court,  a  great 
friend  of  Dara.  and  well  liked  by  all  the  nobles,  who  delighted 

1  The  Holt,  or  spring  festival,  is  evidently  intended. 

2  Bernier  also  mentions  Father  Buzeo  (or  Busee)  and  his  friendship  with 
Dara,  p.  6  (and  Constable's  note  quoting  Catrou,  i.  170) ;  Dara's  death,  p.  101, 
note ;  Busee  and  the  false  astrologer,  p.  244  ;  intimacy  with  Dara,  p.  289.  The 
father  apparently  died  on  June  20,  1668.  There  is  an  inscribed  stone  in  the 
mortuary  chapel  at  Agrah  bearing  that  date  and  the  name  '  Henriquez  [illegible] .' 
See  J.  F.  Fanthorne,  p.  55. 


ACCOUNT  OF  FATHER  BUSEE  155 

much  in  his  conversation.  He  was  a  man  of  great  judgment, 
very  learned,  well  [117]  regulated  in  act  and  speech.  He  was 
of  a  fine  presence,  tall  and  portly,  imposing  respect  by  his  mere 
appearance.  He  was  very  polished,  a  good  mathematician,  one 
who  in  a  few  words  could  solve  the  most  difficult  problems. 
In  such  estimation  was  he  held  that  even  Aurangzeb  on  his 
journey  to  and  stay  in  Kashmir  wished  his  company. 

This  man  of  fine  constitution  met  with  trouble  in  regard  to 
a  marriage  that  he  had  arranged  among  the  Christians.  The 
husband,  renouncing  his  religion,  had  turned  Mahomedan.  So 
much  affected  was  the  father,  that  the  blood  went  to  his  head 
and  he  became  delirious.  To  let  blood  would  have  sufficed  to 
alleviate  nature ;  but  as  he  was  fifty-three  years  of  age,  and  had 
never  been  bled,  they  would  not  bleed  him.  In  this  way  his 
blood  so  troubled  him  that  one  day,  shutting  himself  into  his 
room,  he  opened  his  bowels  with  a  knife,  and,  drawing  out  the 
colon,  removed  a  piece  and  threw  it  away.  Nature  being  thus 
discharged,  his  head  was  relieved,  and  he  called  for  his  servants. 
As  they  could  not  get  in,  they  knocked  down  the  door  and  ran 
to  his  assistance.  But  it  was  too  late,  a  piece  of  the  bowel 
having  disappeared. 

In  Dihli  at  this  time  was  one  of  the  fugitive  friars  of  whom  I 
formerly  spoke  (II.  61,  66,  67),  and  among  the  Christians  who 
assembled,  this  friar  also  appeared.  This  priest  confessed  him, 
and  remained  present  until  his  death.  Since  Father  Buzeo 
was  a  wise  man,  he  forthwith,  before  he  expired,  ordered  a 
writing  to  be  drawn  up  in  his  presence,  wherein  he  declared 
that  he  himself  had  made  the  wound.  He  obtained  the  signa- 
tures of  the  greater  number  of  those  present,  so  that  this  paper 
being  carried  to  the  magistrate,  the  neighbours  and  the  house- 
servants  might  be  saved  annoyance.  He  died  with  all  the 
signs  of  a  perfect  holy  man,  and  his  dead  body  was  carried  to 
Agrah.  Speaking  with  the  king,  Ja'far  Khan  said  to  him  that 
the  sign  of  understanding  had  fallen,  alluding  to  the  death  of 
this  great  religious  person. 

It  was  not  long  before  some  renegade  servants  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers  made  use  of  this  occasion  to  get  the  fathers  ejected 
from  Agrah.     They  laid  a  petition  before  the  magistrate  that 


156    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

a  Farangi,  having  died  leaving  no  heirs,  they  asked  for  a  grant 
of  the  houses  of  the  defunct.  From  the  qdzl  they  obtained  the 
order  that  they  sought.  The  fathers  went  and  sought  the 
good  offices  of  Ja'far  Khan,  who,  for  the  friendship  he  had  to 
the  said  father,  let  the  king  know  what  was  the  real  state  of 
the  case — that  is  to  say,  the  deceased,  being  neither  married 
[118]  nor  a  merchant,  but  a  member  of  a  religious  order,  could 
have  no  heir,  possessing  nothing  of  his  own.  His  only  heirs 
were  the  fathers  of  the  same  order.  Thus  fresh  instructions 
were  issued  in  favour  of  the  padres.  By  this  death  the  fathers 
lost  much  of  the  lustre  that  they  had,  for  they  did  not  succeed 
in  maintaining  their  ancient  reputation.  The  Mahomedans  are 
very  touchy,  hence  it  is  necessary  for  the  fathers  to  conduct 
themselves  with  great  prudence.  The  slightest  indiscretion  of 
one  man  suffices  to  ruin  the  rest. 

Ja'far  Khan,  Chief  Secretary  to  the  King. 

Since  we  have  spoken  of  Ja'far  Khan,  a  great  friend  of  the 
Christians  and  of  the  fathers,  it  is  requisite  to  say  something 
about  his  character.  He  was  the  most  famous  man  of  learning 
among  the  Moguls,  first  Secretary  and  Minister  of  State.  He 
was  so  civil  and  courteous  that  he  addressed  everybody  as 
'sir,'  and  he  was  incapable  of  displaying  anger.  He  was  very 
polished,  and  his  purity  might  be  called  a  fetish.  He  declined 
to  listen  to  coarse  language  in  any  shape.  On  one  occasion  it 
happened  that  his  horse  stopped  a  moment  for  a  necessary 
purpose.  He  dismounted  from  his  horse  and  took  a  seat  in 
his  palanquin,  cloaking  the  feeling  that  caused  this  action  by 
protesting  that  it  was  very  hot. 

But  it  was  a  stranger  thing  he  did  when  the  architect  brought 
him  the  plans  of  a  fine  palace  that  he  intended  to  build.  For, 
after  asking  as  to  various  sections  of  the  plan,  he  ended  by 
inquiring  about  a  certain  place,  where  were  depicted  the  privy 
retreats.  The  architect  said  it  was  the  necessary  place,  where- 
upon he  held  his  nostrils  with  his  right  hand,  and  puckering 
up  his  face,  made  a  sign  with  his  left  to  take  the  plan  away,  as 
if  it  smelt  merely  through  having  this  painting  on  it. 

This  man  used  to  drink   his   drop   of  liquor,  and    on    this 


JA'FAR  KHAN'S  DEFENCE  OF  WINE-DRINKING  157 

account  Aurangzeb,  as  a  strict  Mussulman,  caused  him  to  be 
spoken  to  several  times,  and  in  the  end  spoke  to  him  himself, 
saying  that  it  was  not  a  fit  thing  for  the  first  minister  in  a 
kingdom  of  the  faithful  to  drink  wine,  he  being  under  obliga- 
tion to  set  a  good  example.  Ja'far  Khan  replied  that  he  was 
an  old  man,  without  strength  in  his  hands  or  firmness  in  his 
feet,  had  little  sight  in  his  eyes,  and  was  very  poor.  By  drink- 
ing wine  he  got  sight  for  seeing,  power  for  wielding  the  pen  in 
the  service  of  His  Majesty,  felt  strength  in  his  feet  to  run  to 
court  when  His  Majesty  [119]  called,  and  seemed  in  imagina- 
tion to  become  rich.  For  these  reasons  he  drank.  Wine  could 
make  the  poor  rich,  the  blind  to  see,  the  fragile  robust,  and  the 
cripple  whole.  Aurangzeb  laughed  at  this  speech,  and  Ja'far 
Khan  told  him  that,  whenever  His  Majesty  desired,  he  would 
produce  demonstration,  in  substance,  of  these  assertions. 

Aurangzeb  was  willing  to  behold  these  miracles.  Ja'far  Khan 
therefore  prepared  a  banquet  for  some  beggars,  choosing  one 
man  crippled  in  the  legs,  one  armless  man,  one  blind  man,  and 
one  healthy  poor  man.  They  were  given  leave  to  do  and  speak 
as  they  liked.  While  these  beggars  were  drinking,  he  sent  word 
to  the  king  that  if  he  wanted  to  see  the  miracles  done  by  wine, 
now  was  the  time.  Aurangzeb  went,  more  to  be  gracious  than 
for  any  other  reason.  Hidden  from  the  beggars,  he  listened, 
and  heard  the  blind  man  launch  into  praise  of  the  wine's  fine 
colour.  Ja'far  Khan  said  :  '  Behold,  your  Majesty,  the  blind 
man  with  a  cup  or  two  inside  him  can  already  see !'  Another 
beggar,  the  armless  one,  shouted  abuse  at  the  blind  man, 
telling  him  to  finish  drinking.  If  he  did  not,  he  would  thrash 
him  and  knock  his  teeth  out.  Then  said  Ja'far  Khan  to  the 
king  :  '  Already  has  the  cripple  got  back  his  arm.'  In  his 
impatience,  the  man  without  legs  flew  into  a  rage  with  the 
blind  man,  and  said  if  he  had  not  been  seated  he  would  give 
him  a  bellyful  of  kicks.  This  sufficed  for  Ja'far  Khan  to  point 
out  to  the  king  that  the  legless  man  had  got  a  foot,  since  he 
was  going  to  give  kicks.  The  unhappy  poor  man  who  had  all 
his  faculties  but  no  cash,  did  not  mean  the  comedy  to  end 
without  his  playing  a  part.  Raising  his  voice  above  the  others, 
he  egged  on  his  companion  to  thump  and  kick  the  blind  man, 


158    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

saying  he  had  money  enough  to  settle  for  them  with  the 
magistrate.  Ja'far  Khan  ended  by  joking,  as  it  were,  with  the 
king,  who  gave  him  so  little  pay,  and  said  :  '  Now  that  the 
poor  man  has  wine  in  his  head  he  is  become  rich.  And  your 
Majesty  will  tell  me  after  this  not  to  drink  wine !  For  I  have 
to  be  thus  (?  rich)  if  I  am  to  serve  your  Majesty,  who  holds 
such  a  mighty  empire.'  The  comedy  was  over,  Aurangzeb 
laughed,  and  Ja'far  Khan  kept  to  his  old  habit.1 

[Here  the  manuscript  has  an  inserted  leaf,  bearing  a  passage 
in  French,  relating  a  story  about  the  four  stages  of  drunken- 
ness.    As  obviously  non-historical,  it  is  omitted.] 

Shah  'Alam  goes  against  Shiva  JI. 

Now  it  is  time  for  us  to  speak  of  the  expedition  on  which 
Aurangzeb  sent  [120]  his  son  Shah  'Alam,  Bahadur — that  is  to 
say,  '  King  of  the  world,  the  brave.'  Aurangzeb  had  reason  to 
fear  that  Shiva  Ji  would  not  lose  a  chance  of  using  his  strength 
to  wreak  vengeance  for  the  treachery  that  he  (Aurangzeb)  had 
plotted,  and  for  his  failure  to  keep  the  promises  with  which  he 
had  lured  him.  For  this  reason  he  called  to  him  Shah  'Alam, 
and  gave  him  the  necessary  instructions,  by  following  which 
he  could  catch  him  (Shiva  Ji)  again. 

His  instructions  were  to  take  with  him  Rajah  Jaswant 
Singh,  to  whom  orders  to  proceed  to  the  Dakhin  were  sent. 
The  rajah  was  to  serve  under  the  prince.  Other  captains,  the 
greatest  he  had,  were  to  join,  among  them  Diler  Khan.  On 
reaching  the  Dakhin,  the  prince  was  to  make  a  campaign 
against  Shiva  JI.  But  when  the  day  of  battle  drew  near  he 
was  to  pretend  to  rebel,  and  seek  the  friendship  of  Shiva  JI. 
Letters  were  to  be  sent  to  the  Mahrattah,  as  if  he  (Shah  'Alam) 
meant  to  rebel  and  claim  the  crown.  He  must  also  manage  to 
make  his  officers  subscribe  to  this,  and  agree  to  his  intended 
revolt.  This  Aurangzeb  did  to  discover  which  officers  were 
loyal,  and  which  desired  that  he  should  be  no  longer  king, 
taking  thus  an  opportunity  of  playing  off  some  of  his  finessing 

1  For  an  account  of  Ja'far  Khan,  see  note  to  Part  I.,  fol.  129.  He  died  at 
Agrah  in  gi.l  Hijjah,  1080  (April-May,  1670)  ('Tarlkh-i-Muhammadi '). 


SHAH  'A  LAM  AND  SHIVA  J I  159 

tricks  in  order  to  find  out  those  on  whom  he  could  thoroughly 
rely.1 

Shah  'Alam,  Bahadur,  left  Dihli  with  great  show,  state,  and 
strength,  leaving  with  the  king  hardly  more  than  ten  thousand 
horsemen.  His  father  knew  that  Shah  'Alam  was  not  the  man 
to  revolt  in  reality.  Thus  the  prince  continued  his  march  in 
tranquillity  until  he  arrived  at  Aurangabad.  Near  that  city  he 
had  a  meeting  with  Shiva.  Jl,  disguised  as  a  cultivator  from  a 
village.  It  is  the  custom  when  princes  pass  by  to  present  to 
them  goats,  milk,  and  fruit.  The  pretended  villager  laid  before 
him  a  pot  of  milk.  When  the  said  pot  was  taken  to  the 
kitchen  and  emptied,  they  found  a  note  enclosed  in  wax  (?  waxed 
cloth).  This  was  carried  to  the  prince,  and  it  stated  :  '  I, 
Shiva  Ji,  desirous  to  know  who  it  is  that  marches  against  me, 
that  I  may  recognise  him,  present  this  pot  of  milk,  and  offer 
congratulations  on  your  arrival ;  and  if  in  anything  I  can  be  of 
service  to  you,  I  am  at  your  orders,  et  cetera.'  Shah  'Alam, 
Bahadur,  was  lost  in  amazement  at  Shiva.  Ji's  sharpness,  but 
that  did  not  induce  him  to  desist  from  the  design  of  seizing 
him  if  he  could. 

Death  of  a  Friar,  a  Martyr  called  Frey  Jacinto  [121]. 

When  he  entered  Aurangabad,  one  of  the  fugitive  friars  of 
whom  I  spoke  (II.  61,  66,  67,  117)  was  living  there;  he 
had  apostatized  from  the  faith,  and  had  turned  Mahomedan. 
After  he  had  been  married  for  many  years,  finding  himself 
scoffed  at  by  Mahomedans  and  Christians,  who  wished  neither 

1  Shah  'Alam's  appointment  to  the  Dakhin  was  made  on  the  7th  Ramazan  of 
the  tenth  year,  1077  H.  (March  3,  1667).  Jaswant  Singh  was  deputed  to  serve 
under  him  (' Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  56,  last  line  but  one;  61,  line  1).  Grant- 
Duff,  99,  and  Elphinstone,  554,  throw  doubt  on  the  rebellion  of  Shah  'Alam, 
real  or  pretended.  But  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  10 1,  treats  it  as  a  real 
rebellion  ;  therefore,  something  of  the  sort  must  have  happened.  Elphinstone 
objects  that  Jai  Singh  could  not  have  joined  it,  because  he  had  left  the  Dakhin, 
and  was,  in  fact,  dead,  before  the  date  assigned.  In  this  he  is  misled  by  Catrou 
(edition  1715,  third  part,  78)  and  his  Jacing ;  this  is  meant  not  for  Jai,  but  for 
Jaswant  Singh,  who  was  both  alive  and  in  the  Dakhin.  Orme,  '  Fragments,' 
18,  19,  believed  in  the  rebellion,  and  so  did  Bhlm  Sen,  Jonathan  Scott's  authority 
('  History  of  Dekkan,'  ii.  24). 


160    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

his  company  nor  his  conversation,  he  determined  to  give  public 
proof  of  his  penitence,  and  remove  the  scandal  he  had  caused. 
He  went,  therefore,  to  the  qazl,  to  whom  he  said  that,  recog- 
nising the  religion  of  Muhammad  was  not  good,  he  found  there 
was  in  the  world  no  other  religion  by  which  man  could  save 
his  soul  except  the  Christian  religion.  He  informed  him  of 
two  things :  one,  that  he  was  not  a  Mahomedan ;  the  other, 
that  if  he  (the  qazt)  wanted  to  be  saved  he  must  become  a 
Christian. 

The  qazl  was  much  put  out  at  this  talk,  and,  imagining  him 
to  be  deranged,  kept  the  man  in  prison  for  several  days.  Then 
he  called  him  into  his  presence,  and  asked  him  if  he  was  still 
of  the  same  mind.  He  replied  as  boldly  as  before.  The  qazl 
made  efforts  to  make  him  change  his  mind,  but  the  holy  man, 
firm  as  ever,  persisted  in  the  truth.  For  this  he  had  him 
bastinadoed  and  beaten  on  the  face.  Then,  desisting  for  several 
days  and  reducing  him  by  hunger,  he  sent  for  him  once  more 
and  dealt  with  him  as  before,  treating  him  most  cruelly.  But 
at  the  end  of  five  or  six  interviews  the  man  was  always  the 
same,  and  the  qazl  reported  the  case  to  Shah  'Alam,  Bahadur. 
The  prince  informed  the  king,  and  Aurangzeb  answered,  as  a 
strict  Mahomedan,  that  they  must  endeavour  in  every  way 
possible  to  make  the  man  recant.  Let  them  give  him  women, 
horses,  and  liberal  pay,  and  see  if  in  this  method  they  could 
overcome  him.  But  if  he  remained  obstinate  in  his  opinion, 
he  was  to  be  publicly  beheaded. 

Verily  Shah  'Alam,  Bahadur,  did  his  best  to  overcome  the 
resolve  of  the  holy  man.  But  he  had  already  felt  within  his 
heart  the  effects  of  grace,  and  rejected  wealth  and  promises. 
He  spoke  ill  of  Muhammad,  and  declared  clearly  in  the  Moors' 
tongue,  which  he  could  speak  sufficiently  well,  that  there  was 
no  other  true  religion  but  our  Christian  faith.  The  qazl  sent 
for  a  Portuguese  renegade  named  Antonio  Fernandez  to 
catechize  the  man  in  Portuguese.  He  was  known  as  a  good 
talker,  and  it  was  thought  that  in  the  maternal  tongue  he  could 
easily  persuade  the  other  man. 

But  the  holy  man,  speaking  with  inspiration  from  God,  told 
him  at  last  [122]  to  withdraw,  since  he  (Fernandez)  did  not 


MARTYRDOM  OF  A  RECONCILED  RENEGADE  161 

wish  to  listen  to  the  truth.  Thus  the  story  comes  to  an  end  by 
the  public  beheadal  of  that  holy  man.  If  he  caused  some 
scandal  by  his  evil  life  and  his  apostasy,  he  gave  equal  edifica- 
tion by  confessing  the  truth,  weeping  over  his  sins,  and  dying 
for  love  of  Christ.  By  this  event  the  Christians  were  edified, 
and  the  Mahomedans  and  renegades  confounded.  His  body 
was  cast  upon  a  dunghill,  and  a  year  afterwards  the  Portu- 
guese managed  to  get  the  bones  carried  to  Goa,  the  Christians 
having  concealed  their  intention  of  burying  them  until  the 
opportunity  arose  of  which  I  speak.  God  avails  Himself  many 
times  of  men's  sins  to  exalt  them,  and  to  show  that,  although 
to  some  it  may  appear  that  He  has  forsaken  them,  He  may 
yet  save  us  as  long  as  we  are  still  alive.  He  can  make  the 
greatest  saints  out  of  the  greatest  sinners. 

Shah  'Alam  negotiates  with  Shiva  Ji. 

At  the  time  that  Shah  'Alam  was  in  Aurangabad  he  began 
to  write  to  Shiva  Ji,1  hoping  to  draw  the  fox  into  the  trap. 
He  therefore  wrote  to  him  secretly  with  many  professions  of 
friendship,  after  which  he  asked  for  advice  whether,  now  that 
he  had  his  father's  army  under  him  and  the  officers  on  his  side, 
he  would  not  do  well  to  rebel,  and  do  as  his  father  had  done 
to  Shahjahan.  Shiva  Jfs  reply  was  that  the  opportunity  was 
favourable,  and  if  he  did  not  make  his  attempt  then,  it  might 
be  that  he  would  never  again  have  the  same  easy  chance. 
Shah  'Alam  thought  that  already  Shiva  Ji  was  approaching 
the  trap,  and  therefore  continued  to  send  friendly  letters.  In 
them  he  stated  that  he  had  now  made  up  his  mind  to  make 
the  attempt,  but  he  prayed  him  to  join  in  the  enterprise. 
He  pledged  his  word  that  if  the  plan  succeeded  he  would 
without  fail  make  him  prince  of  all  the  Dakhin ;  he  would 
never  break  his  word  as  his  father  had  done. 

Shiva  Ji,  who  pretended  not  to  penetrate  the  designs  of 
Aurangzeb,  wrote  to  Shah  'Alam  that  most  willingly  would 
he  join  him  and  take  vengeance  upon  Aurangzeb,  and  by  his 
death  put  an  end  to  the  wars  in  the  south.     But,  not  having 

1  See  Grant-Duff,  98,  99,  years  1667,  *668  ;   and  Catrou,  part  iii.,  77-80. 
VOL.  II.  II 


i62    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

the  cash  required  for  a  grand  campaign,  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  receive  a  large  sum  of  money.  With  this  he  would 
collect  his  men,  who  at  the  time  of  his  imprisonment  had  gone 
to  their  homes.  In  addition,  he  must  have  authority  to  plunder 
several  wealthy  towns  and  villages.  After  that  task  was  done, 
he  gave  his  word  that  he  would  join.  All  this  was  conceded 
by  Shah  'Alam  [123J,  a  large  sum  of  money  was  sent,  and 
he  (Shiva  Jl)  was  allowed  to  plunder  in  all  directions.  By 
this  means  Shiva  Jl  grew  rich,  and  recruited  many  men  and 
strengthened  his  fortresses. 

Shah  'Alam  pretends  to  revolt  in  the  Hope  of 
seizing  Shiva  Ji. 

During  this  interval  Shah  'Alam  employed  his  commanders 
in  matters  of  little  importance,  strict  orders  being  given  them 
not  to  enter  into  the  territories  of  Shiva  J  I.  From  this  cause 
these  officers,  who  were  not  then  in  the  secret,  wrote  letter  after 
letter  to  Aurangzeb,  informing  him  that  they  could  not  make 
out  the  intentions  of  Shah  'Alam,  who  was  wasting  their  time, 
whilst  Shiva  Jl  went  on  robbing  and  plundering,  to  the  great 
damage  of  the  Dakhin.  Diler  Khan  wrote  with  the  others, 
but  more  bitterly.1 

But  Aurangzeb,  who  knew  the  orders  he  had  given  to  his 
son,  concealed  everything,  and  replied  to  the  officers,  telling 
them  to  obey  and  take  no  notice  of  Shah  'Alam's  acts ;  but 
if  he  did  not  do  well,  he  would  recall  him  to  court.  Mean- 
while he  wrote  letters  to  Shah  'Alam  praising  him  for  his 
mode  of  working,  and  told  him  to  build  a  bridge  of  gold  for 
Shiva  Jl,  so  as  to  bring  him  into  his  camp. 

Things  were  in  this  condition  when  Shah  'Alam,  assuming 
that  Shiva  Jl  must  be  now  satisfied,  wrote  him  one  more  letter 
begging  him  not  to  delay  his  arrival,  for  he  (Shah  'Alam)  began 
to  fear  his  father  might  discover  the  plot  he  had  in  hand. 
Shiva  Jl  replied  that  he  was  then  ready  to  move,  but  he  wanted 
an  assurance  that  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh  and  the  other  officers 

1  For  the  official  account  of  the  rebellion,  see  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  100.  The 
report  was  received  after  the  28th  Zu,l  Hijjah  of  the  thirteenth  year,  1080  H. 
(May  19,  1670). 


SHAH  'A LAM'S  PRETENDED  REVOLT  163 

had  declared  themselves  on  the  prince's  side.  When  he  was 
quite  certain  of  this,  he  would  most  certainly  appear  in  the 
imperial  camp  with  all  his  army.  Satisfied  with  such  a 
response,  Shah  'Alam  began  to  talk  to  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh, 
who,  not  being  well  affected  to  Aurangzeb,  accepted  the  pro- 
posal at  once.  Thus,  one  by  one,  all  of  them  subscribed  the 
document,  in  which  Shah  'Alam  made  separate  promises  to 
each. 

Finding  now  that  he  had  procured  the  signatures  of  the 
greater  number  of  his  officers  to  the  agreement  to  rebel,  Shah 
'Alam  ordered  Diler  Khan  to  come  to  him  in  audience,  as  he  had 
something  to  tell  him.  The  talk  was  intended  to  be  about  the 
rebellion,  and  Shah  'Alam  hoped,  by  thus  sending  for  Diler 
Khan  the  last  of  all,  that  he  would  be  able,  by  pointing  to  the 
example  of  the  others,  to  draw  him  over  more  easily  [124]  to 
his  faction.  But  Diler  Khan,  already  aware  of  the  plot  for  a 
rebellion,  put  no  trust  in  Shah  'Alam,  knowing  how  very  sharp- 
witted  Aurangzeb  was ;  hence  all  this  plotting  might  be  make- 
believe.  Thus,  to  protect  himself,  he  sent  word  to  Shah  'Alam 
that  he  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  at  his  audience,  being  in 
the  king's  service.  He  was  there  in  the  field,  ready  to  go  out 
to  fight  in  any  direction  he  might  desire ;  such  an  order  he 
would  obey  forthwith,  but  to  his  audience  he  would  not  go. 

It  was  in  vain  that  Shah  'Alam  resorted  to  every  device 
to  bring  over  Diler  Khan  to  his  side,  for  the  king  was  desirous 
of  getting  rid  of  Diler  Khan  out  of  his  sight.  But  this  general, 
fully  experienced  by  this  time  in  every  subtlety,  would  never 
consent  to  appear  in  audience.  He  perceived  that,  even  if 
Shah  'Alam  really  rose  in  rebellion  and  obtained  mastery  over 
the  kingdom,  he  would  not  lose  any  reputation  by  abstention, 
for  his  proved  fidelity  would  continue  to  make  him  esteemed. 

Finding  that  he  could  not  convince  Diler  Khan,  Shah  'Alam 
passed  him  over  and  sent  the  document  signed  by  the  other 
generals  to  Shiva  Ji.  He  added  that,  to  secure  the  proposed 
object — that  is,  to  make  himself  master  of  the  kingdom  by 
seizing  his  father — all  that  was  now  wanting  was  the  aid  of 
Shiva  Jl's  valour  and  his  powerful  army.  With  this  intent  he 
would  take  the  field  fully  resolved  and  begin  his  march.     He 

11 — 2 


164    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

prayed  Shiva  Ji  earnestly  not  to  delay,  and  thereby  give 
Aurangzeb  time  to  collect  more  soldiers  ;  for  he  (Shah  'Alam)  had 
not  then  under  him  more  than  ten  thousand  horsemen,  and  with 
them  he  could  not  resist  the  valour  and  fury  of  so  great  an  army 
as  his  father's.  He  would  publish  it  to  all  the  world  that  his  ally 
was  the  famous  Shiva  JI,  who  was  executing  righteous  vengeance 
for  the  treachery  that  Aurangzeb  had  practised  on  him. 

Thus  did  Shah  'Alam  take  the  field,  announcing  to  the 
world  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Dihli  to  seize  his  father  and 
crown  himself  king.  As  a  demonstration  that  he  already  felt 
the  sceptre  in  his  hand,  he  granted  large  pay  to  his  generals, 
distributed  governments,  granted  provinces,  remitted  tribute. 
In  this  way  the  kingdom  was  filled  with  the  rumour;  and,  as 
happens  in  rebellions,  some  rejoiced  at  the  rising,  others  com- 
plained that  they  would  be  ruined  and  destroyed,  that  there 
would  be  an  end  of  the  prosperity  then  beginning  to  prevail 
in  Aurangzeb's  reign.  All  this  was  mere  child's  play ;  but  at 
the  head  of  the  game  were  persons  who  meant  to  carry  out 
a  plot  of  great  profit  to  the  Mogul. 

Aurangzeb  feigned  to  be  much  terrified,  and  showed  great 
alarm  at  this  rebellion.  To  bear  this  out,  he  ordered  the 
treasure-houses  to  be  opened,  and  preparation  to  be  made  for 
taking  the  field,  and  he  began  to  engage  [125]  additional  men 
for  his  army.  Meanwhile  he  sent  Fida,e  Khan,  with  the  ten 
thousand  horsemen  then  present,  to  hold  the  fords  on  the 
river  Chambal,  where  Dara  had  taken  up  his  position  against 
Aurangzeb  at  the  first  battle  of  which  I  spoke  (I.  184).  He 
then  got  ready  mules  and  camels  to  be  loaded  with  gold,  as 
if  in  preparation  for  flight.  He  started  a  rumour  to  that 
effect. 

Fida,e  Khan,  to  show  what  a  valiant  man  he  was,  after 
having  erected  his  tents  at  the  place  alluded  to,  sent  a  message 
to  the  king  that  he  might  take  his  ease.  For,  so  long  as  one 
soldier  was  left  in  the  camp,  Shah  'Alam  should  never  be 
allowed  to  advance;  and  even  if  any  disaster  happened,  His 
Majesty  would  still  have  time  to  retire  whenever  he  pleased. 
Fida,e  Khan  was  a  brave  soldier,  of  whom  I  shall  have  some- 
thing to  say  farther  on  (II.  152),  but  he  was  guilty  of  this 


IN  VAIN  IS  THE  NET  SPREAD  FOR  SHIVA  JI  165 

rhodomontade  with  the  idea  of  procuring  the  royal  favour. 
He  had  already  some  idea  of  the  real  state  of  the  case. 

Aurangzeb  simulated  fear  in  the  hope  of  increasing  Shiva  Jl's 
willingness  to  join  the  undertaking,  and  of  a  truth  it  was  neces- 
sary to  be  very  skilful  if  you  were  to  hit  the  bull's-eye  through 
all  this  deception.  Having  great  natural  judgment,  and  by  this 
time  great  experience,  Shiva  JI  mocked  at  the  cunning  fox,  after 
having  attained  his  own  ends  by  adding  to  his  own  wealth  and 
power.  For,  in  place  of  joining  Shah  'Alam,  he  wrote  him  a 
letter  in  which  he  said  that,  since  Aurangzeb  had  only  ten 
thousand  horsemen,  while  he  (Shah  'Alam)  had  over  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  combatants,  he  might  march 
by  himself  on  the  said  enterprise.  It  was  very  easy  of  accom- 
plishment. He  would  take  care  that  no  one  should  come  to 
seize  the  Dakhin,  and  he  gave  his  word  that  during  that  time  he 
would  not  realize  for  himself  any  more  of  the  revenue  than  what 
Aurangzeb  had  conceded  to  him  when  viceroy  of  the  Dakhin. 

Shah  'Alam  was  thunderstruck  at  such  a  reply,  which  he 
sent  on  at  once  to  the  king.  Nevertheless,  he  continued  his 
march  to  prove  that  he  was  in  earnest,  and  dispatched  letter 
upon  letter  to  Shiva  Ji,  begging  him  not  to  desert  him  at  this 
crisis.  For  it  was  on  his  advice  alone  that  he  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  enter  on  such  an  undertaking ;  if  he  did  not  assist 
him,  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  the  enterprise.  Of  a  truth, 
anyone  else  than  Shiva  JI  would  have  fallen  into  the  net.  But 
he  stuck  firmly  to  his  text,  that  he  would  not  meet  the  Mogul 
army  otherwise  than  sword  in  hand  and  ready  to  cut  off  heads. 
He  merely  sent  word  that  the  prince  ought  to  proceed  and 
deliver  battle.  If  by  ill-luck  any  harm  happened  to  him,  he 
had  always  a  friend  on  whom  he  could  rely.  The  officers  who 
had  signed  the  paper  solicited  Shah  'Alam  not  to  desert  them, 
nor  leave  the  king  time  to  collect  [126]  an  army.  Thus  they 
continued  the  march,  already  assured,  as  they  thought,  of 
victory  and  of  a  new  king. 

The  Deception  is  Discovered. 

When  quite  certain  that  his  plot  had  ended  in  smoke,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  cheat  Shiva  JI,  and  there  was  a  fear  that 


166    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

through  the  insistence  of  the  officers,  chiefly  of  Rajah  Jaswant 
Singh,  fiction  might  be  turned  into  reality,  Aurangzeb  sent  off 
an  officer  called  Abduljafar  ('Abd-ul-ja'far).1  His  orders  were 
to  seize  with  one  hand  Shah  'Alam's  horse's  rein,  and  with  the 
other  hold  out  to  him  a  letter,  adding  in  a  loud  voice  that  by 
order  of  the  Great  Aurangzeb  he  must  return  to  the  place 
whence  he  had  come,  nor  advance  a  single  step  farther. 

At  such  words  Shah  'Alam,  Bahadur,  betrayed  terror ;  his  face 
grew  pale,  and  he  now  displayed  not  valour,  but  consternation. 
He  ordered  a  retreat  upon  Burhanpur  and  Aurangabad.  The 
reader  may  here  imagine  for  himself  the  fear  and  confusion 
into  which  the  generals  were  thrown.  They  were  discovered 
as  traitors,  while  Diler  Khan  passed  on  in  pride,  not  having 
accepted  the  proposal.  It  is  certainly  the  fact  that  they  were 
all  greatly  perturbed,  knowing  that  if  Aurangzeb  did  not  pardon 
traitors  who  were  of  use  to  him,  he  would  certainly  never 
pardon  those  who  had  wanted  to  thrust  him  forth  from  the 
royal  seat. 

The  war  against  Shiva  Ji  began  anew ;  but  Aurangzeb  had 
lost  trust  in  the  generals  in  the  Dakhin  and  displaced  them, 
sending  other  captains  in  their  place.  Among  others  he  sent 
Bahadur  Khan.  The  displaced  officers  were  sent  elsewhere  as 
viceroys  and  governors,  and  he  kept  them  ever  on  the  move  from 
one  government  to  another  so  long  as  he  lived.  Rajah  Jaswant 
Singh  was  dispatched  to  the  other  side  of  the  river  Indus.2 
The  rajah,  although  he  made  terrible  grimaces,  still  obeyed, 
for  fear  that  Aurangzeb  might  attack  him  and  ruin  his  family. 
Shah  'Alam  went  off  to  Aurangabad,  abandoning  to  Bahadur 
Khan  charge  of  the  campaign  against  Shiva  JI.  To  the  new 
commander  Aurangzeb  issued  orders  to  defend  the  Dakhin 
from  the  ravaging  of  Shiva.  JI ;  he  was  also  ordered  to  attack 
Bijapur.    Aurangzeb  saw  that  unless  he  occupied  that  kingdom, 

1  The  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  101,  says  IftiKhar  Khan  (Sultan  Ilusain)  was  sent. 
For  this  man,  see  '  M.-ul-U.,'  i.  252  ;  he  died  in  1092  H.  (1681-82). 

2  Jaswant  Singh  was  made  thanahdar  of  Jamrud  (in  the  Khaibar  Pass)  in  the 
fourteenth  year,  1082  H.  (1671).  Bahadur  Khan's  appointment  to  the  Dakhin 
was  made  in  Shawwal  of  the  sixteenth  year,  1083  H.  (January-February,  1673). 
On  this  occasion  he  was  granted  the  title  of  Khan  Jahan,  Bahadur  ('  Ma.agir-i- 
'Alamgiri,'  109,  line  10  ;  127,  last  line). 


AN  OLD  WOMAN  HEADS  A  REVOLT  167 

he  would  never  be  able  to  destroy  Shiva.  JI.  But  of  these 
campaigns  I  will  speak  hereafter  (II.  157),  so  that  I  may  not 
depart  from  the  order  of  time. 

The  Mundiyahs  or  Shavelings  march  on  Dihli.  [127] 

Among  Hindu  holy  mendicants  is  a  class  of  people  who 
shave  off  all  the  hair  from  their  body,  not  even  sparing  their 
eyebrows.  This  is  why  they  are  called  Monddias  (Munda),  which 
means  '  shaven.'  They  collect  from  all  directions  at  a  place  of 
pilgrimage,  forty  leagues  distant  from  Dihli,  and  the  assembly 
amounts  to  some  twenty-five  thousand  upon  the  bathing-day. 
The  bathing  is  in  a  great  lake  adjoining  the  country  of  Kirat 
Singh,  younger  son  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh.1  After  the  bathing 
ceremonies  were  completed,  an  old  sorceress  told  them  that  if 
they  would  follow  her  orders  she  would  make  them  masters  of 
the  city  of  Dihli,  the  king  not  having  more  than  ten  thousand 
horsemen,  because  all  his  other  troops  had  gone  with  Shah 
'Alam  on  the  expedition  against  Shiva  JI,  of  which  I  have 
spoken  (II.  20). 

They  agreed  to  the  proposal,  and  marched  with  such  vigour 
that  when  the  news  reached  the  court  Aurangzeb  was  par- 
ticularly disturbed  in  mind,  and  sent  out  against  them  his  ten 
thousand  horsemen.  The  Mundas  fought  with  such  vigour, 
upheld  by  the  sorceries  of  the  old  woman,  that  they  routed 
Aurangzeb's  army.  At  this  result  he  was  more  disturbed  than 
ever.  They  had  already  arrived  within  fifteen  leagues  of  Dihli, 
when  he  ordered  out  all  the  troops  he  had  been  able  to  raise. 
Continuous  reports  were  to  be  sent  to  him  of  what  went  on. 
But  he  felt  that  these  men  would  never  have  undertaken  such 
a  great  attempt  without  the  help  of  sorcery.  He  therefore  wrote 
out  himself  several  papers,  and  sent  them  to  be  hung  on  the 

1  This  description  would  apply  to  the  Pohkar  Lake,  west  of  Ajmer.  Elphin- 
stone,  557,  giving  the  year  1087  H.  (1676),  says  the  rioters  were  Satnamis  from 
Narnol  (lat.  280  1',  long.  760  n'),  150  miles,  at  least,  north  of  Pohkar.  There  is  a 
bathing-day  at  Pohkar  on  every  full  moon,  but  October  is  the  principal  gathering. 
The  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  114,  115  (Elliot  and  Dowson,  vii.  185),  says  that  on 
the  26th  Zu.l  Qa'dah  of  the  fifteenth  year,  1082  H.  (March  26,  1672),  Ra'dandaz 
Khan  was  sent  out  against  the  Satnamis,  a  set  of  low-caste  men.  See  also 
Khaf  1  Khan,  ii.  252  (Elliot  and  Dowson,  vii.  294). 


168    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

heads  of  the  elephants  and  horses,  and  on  the  standards, 
fatiguing  himself  greatly  with  the  preparation  of  all  those 
papers. 

It  may  be  that  some  will  give  no  credence  to  this  my 
narrative ;  but  it  is  the  common  fate  of  historians  to  be 
believed  by  some  and  doubted  by  others.  I  state  the  truth 
in  saying  that  if  the  fact  were  not  thus,  I  should  not  so  write 
it.  Nor  should  the  reader  be  at  all  amazed  that  Aurangzeb 
should  act  in  this  way,  for  he  is  a  past  master  in  witchcraft,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  the  sacrifice  of  spice  which  he  is  used  to 
offer  up,  as  I  have  mentioned  (II.  i).  If  he  wearied  himself 
thus,  it  was  from  the  great  importance  of  the  matter,  for  it 
was  a  question  of  losing  kingdom  and  life,  since,  without 
exaggeration,  Aurangzeb  found  himself  at  this  moment  in 
greater  danger  than  at  any  time  in  the  rest  of  his  life,  because, 
as  I  have  said,  he  had  very  few  troops.  But  the  strength  of 
these  magical  writings  overcame  the  Muridds,  since,  elated  at 
having  gained  one  battle,  they  would  not  consent  to  march 
any  farther,  although  urged  on  by  the  old  woman.  Then  the 
spells  of  Aurangzeb  prevailed  [128]  over  those  of  the  old 
woman,  and  the  Mundas  were  shaved  of  their  heads,  nearly  all 
dying,  including  the  old  woman  herself.  Aurangzeb  came  out 
of  this  affair  with  the  reputation  of  a  saint,  as  if  through  miracles 
he  had  put  to  flight  these  faqlrs.  When  I  reached  Dihll,  of 
which  I  am  about  to  speak,  I  found  that  the  cannon  were  still 
in  position  in  the  plain.1 

Of  what  happened  to  Me  in  Goa,  and  how  I  left  It. 

I  stopped  in  Goa  a  year  and  three  months.  It  is  a  place 
with  a  climate  suited  to  men  from  forty  up  to  old  age ;  but  it 
is  very  unhealthy  for  young  men.  Thus  a  few  months  after  my 
arrival  I  fell  ill  and  could  never  recover  my  health.  Therefore 
I  retired  to  the  convent  of  the  Italian  Carmelite  priests,  where  I 

1  According  to  this  assertion,  Manucci  must  have  reached  Dihli  again  about 
the  middle  of  1672.  If  he  reached  Goa  in  the  spring  of  1667,  and  stayed  fifteen 
months,  he  left  it  about  September,  1668  ;  the  rest  of  the  time  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  journey,  and  by  his  stay  in  Aurangabad  and  Agrah.  But  the  interval 
seems  rather  a  long  one. 


GO  A,  ITS  FRUITS— THE  ACTUAL  CAUTERY  169 

was  well  received  and  attended  to  for  six  months,  during  which 
I  continued  unwell.1 

The  ordinary  diseases  of  this  country  are  mort-de-chien  (cholera) 
— that  is,  colic  of  the  bowels  with  vomiting  and  laxity — and  this 
complaint  is  the  death  of  many.  The  best  remedy  is  to  burn 
with  a  red-hot  iron  the  middle  of  the  heel  until  the  heat  is  felt, 
and  by  this  the  pain  is  allayed  and  the  discharge  and  vomiting 
stopped.2  Other  complaints  are  spleen,  the  itch,  and  fevers. 
This  is  why  the  residents  of  Goa  have  bad  complexions,  although 
they  have  abundance  of  food,  principally  fruits. 

Among  these  is  the  mango,  the  best -flavoured  fruit  in  India, 
and  of  it  I  will  speak  in  the  Third  Part  of  my  work  (III.  228, 229). 
In  Goa  the  gentlemen  are  very  particular  about  having  good 
kinds  of  this  fruit.  They  give  them  special  names,  taken  from 
the  first  person  to  have  good  mangoes  of  that  kind.  Thus 
they  speak  of  mangoes  of  Niculao  Afonco,  which  are  the  largest 
and  best;  Melajassas  mangoes,  and  Carreynas  mangoes.  Among 
the  other  fruits  are  figs,3  very  sweet,  but  not  of  the  same  com- 
position as  those  of  Europe  ;  they  are  a  palm  in  length,  more 
or  less,  and  of  various  kinds.  There  are  a  quantity  of  Jacas 
(Jack-fruit),  like  large  melons  growing  on  the  bark  of  the  tree, 
with  strong  sharp  thorns  on  the  rind.  There  are  two  kinds — 
the  barca  Jack  and  the  papa  Jack,  the  nature  of  which  I  will 
state  in  my  Third  Part  (III.  230).  There  are  other  kinds  of 
fruit  which  I  will  not  mention  at  present.  But  I  referred  to 
the  above  because  they  are  better  [129]  and  finer-looking  here 
than  elsewhere. 

1  For  an  account  of  the  Carmelite  convent,  see  J.  N.  da  Fonseca,  'Goa' 
(Bombay,  1878),  p.  256,  and  No.  22  of  his  map. 

2  See  'Lettres  itdifiantes  et  Curieuses,'  edition  1781,  xi.  159,  note,  where 
Pere  Martin,  S.J.,  quotes  N.  M.  as  recommending  this  treatment  (a  reference 
kindly  given  me  by  Professor  Zachariae,  of  Halle).  Manucci  refers  elsewhere 
to  this  treatment.  It  is  also  mentioned  by  contemporaries  as  a  usual  remedy  (see, 
for  instance,  '  Nouveau  Voyage,'  1726,  by  Le  Sieur  Luillier,  p.  220  ;  see  also 
Part  III.,  49,  186). 

3  From  the  description  these  must  be  meant  for  the  plantain  or  banana.  It 
is  strange  he  does  not  use  one  of  these  names,  which  were  known  and  in  use  long 
before  his  time.  But  Yule,  56,  quoting  Pyrard  de  Laval,  circa  1610,  says  the 
Portuguese  called  the  banana  the  '  Indian  fig. '  Barca  and  papa  are  two  kinds 
of  Jack-fruit  (Yule,  443). 


i7o    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

The  viceroy  when  I  arrived  was  Antonio  de  Mello  de  Castro,1 
who  died  afterwards  a  prisoner  in  Portugal,  through  good  works 
of  thieving,  et  cetera,  of  which  he  had  been  guilty  in  India.  To 
replace  him  came  Joao  Nunes  da  Cunha,  and  this  new  governor 
as  soon  as  he  arrived  undertook  a  great  expedition.  He  kept 
his  object  secret,  and  it  would  have  resulted  in  great  honour  to 
the  Portuguese,  if  those  who  were  envious  of  his  earning  this 
glory  had  not  impeded  its  execution.  There  came  from  Masqat, 
a  fortress  on  the  Arabian  coast  formerly  belonging  to  the  Portu- 
guese, which  by  their  negligence  they  lost,2  when  it  passed  into 
the  hands  of  an  Arabian  prince — there  came  (I  say)  from  this 
fortress  to  Goa  a  Portuguese  named  Andre  da  Andrada,  who 
was  commander  of  artillery  there  and  passed  for  a  Maho- 
medan.  This  man  pledged  his  word  to  the  new  viceroy  to 
deliver  over  the  fortress  if  a  strong  fleet  appeared  before  it  by 
sea,  and  to  secure  that  end  he  would  spike  the  guns. 

The  viceroy  took  up  the  proposal  and  hired  a  strong  fleet 
of  good  ships  and  frigates  for  this  service.  But  he  let  no  one 
know  what  he  meant  to  do  ;  and  from  this  secrecy  the  Dutch 
dreaded  some  sudden  blow  at  them,  as  they  could  not  find  out 
what  such  preparations  were  meant  for.  By  the  distribution 
of  copious  bribes  in  all  directions  they  won  over  several  of  the 
officers.  The  viceroy,  being  desirous  of  equipping  his  ships 
well,  ordered  the  embarkation  by  force  of  every  valid  man, 
compelled  the  better  class  of  the  Portuguese  from  the  northern 
parts  to  come  to  Goa,  and  directed  that  no  one  should  be 
allowed  to  quit  the  place.  Thus,  when  the  ships  were  well 
fitted  out,  he  made  over  sealed  instructions  to  the  captains, 
with  the  order  not  to  open  them  until  arrival  at  a  certain 
latitude. 

Thus  the  fleet  set  sail  without  anyone  knowing  its  destination. 

1  The  twenty-ninth  Viceroy,  Antonio  de  Mello  e  Castro,  was  appointed  on 
March  n,  1662,  and  received  the  title  of  Viceroy  in  1663.  He  arrived  in 
Bombay  on  September  29,  1662.  His  successor  (thirtieth  Viceroy),  Joao  Numes 
da  Cunha,  Conde  de  Sao  Vicente,  was  appointed  March  11,  arrived  at  Goa 
October  11,  and  took  charge  October  17,  1666.  He  died  in  India  on  November  6, 
1668  ('  Ensaios  sobre  a  Estatisca  das  possessions  Portuguezas  no  oultra  mar,' 
ii  Serie,  Livro  V.,  Lisbon,  1862 ;  and  Danvers,  ii.  327,  363,  364). 

2  It  capitulated  on  October  31,  1648  (F.  Danvers,  ii.296). 


PORTUGUESE  PROJECT  AGAINST  MASQAT  171 

But  the  bribed  pilots  and  captains  sailed  hither  and  thither  with 
the  ships,  without  overcoming  the  contrary  winds,  until  they 
reached  the  appointed  latitude,  where  the  letters  of  instructions 
were  opened,  and  some  of  them  managed  secretly  to  tamper 
with  the  water-casks,  so  that  all  the  water  was  lost.  The  fault 
was  put  upon  the  viceroy,  who,  in  his  desire  for  haste,  had  not 
given  time  to  prepare  the  ships  properly.  Thus  there  put  into 
port  only  one  frigate,  which,  in  obedience  to  orders,  anchored 
at  Bandar  Congo1  on  the  Arabian  coast,  a  Portuguese  territory 
that  now  belongs  to  the  King  of  Persia.  There  it  waited  some 
time  for  its  companions  until  it  was  obliged  to  return  to  Goa, 
to  avoid  capture  by  those  of  Masqat,  who  profited  by  the 
treason. 

I    GO    TO    DlHLI. 

At  the  time  of  this  expedition  I  was  anxious  to  quit  Goa ; 
but  I  could  not  do  it  in  lay  clothing.2  I  therefore  left  in  the 
garb  of  a  Carmelite  monk  until  I  had  got  beyond  the  district 
of  Goa  and  had  entered  the  territory  of  Bijapur,  of  which  Shiva 
Ji  had  already  taken  possession.  There  I  returned  to  my 
ordinary  costume,  and  placed  myself  under  the  guidance  of 
Divine  Providence.  I  prayed  God  to  deliver  me  from  many 
perils,  above  all  from  robbers.  For,  a  little  time  before  my 
arrival,  they  had  at  a  certain  place  murdered  fifteen  persons. 
Nor  did  they  murder  me  as  I  passed  by,  but  when  they  might 
have  done  it  they  saw  me  to  be  poor  and  a  foreigner.  A  few 
paces  farther  on  I  met  a  traveller  near  some  cattle-sheds  who 
was  escaping  in  haste,  and  he  warned  me  to  press  onwards 
because  the  people  following  us  were  robbers.  But,  weakened  by 
illness,  I  could  not  keep  up  with  the  pace  of  the  man,  who  was 
acting  as  my  guide  in  a  country  I  did  not  know.  I  passed  several 
chungams,3  which  are  places  where  they  collect  money  from 
people  passing.     The  severity  they  exercise  upon  travellers  is 

1  Bandar  Congo,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  about  100  miles 
west  of  Gombroon  (Bandar  'Abbas)  (Yule,  246). 

2  I.e.,  because  the  Viceroy  had  prohibited  all  departures. 

3  The  Portuguese  is  juncoens.  The  'Madras  Manual  of  Ad.,'  iii.  183,  gives  it 
as  chunkam  (Malalayam),  'duty  tax,'  but  more  probably  connected,  I  think,  with 
Hindi  chungl,  market  dues,  town  duties,  a  handful  of  produce  taken  as  rent.     In 


172    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

great,  depriving  them  of  the  smallest  piece  of  money  to  be 
found  upon  them,  with  no  tenderness  for  the  poor,  taking  from 
them  in  default  of  money  their  shirts,  coats,  and  sheets. 

Having  come  to  the  boundary  of  the  Bijapur  territory  near 
the  river  Bimbra  (Bhima),1  I  stopped  for  the  night  in  a  village 
called  Pandarapur  (Pandharpur)  ;2  and  on  my  arrival  I  took  up 
my  quarters  in  a  public  bazar,  as  is  the  custom  of  travellers, 
and  deposited  myself  in  an  open  shop.  Some  people  passing  said 
my  waistcloth  was  crammed  with  pearls.  I  answered  that  I 
was  only  a  poor  traveller.  God  was  good  to  me  that  night ! 
For  at  midnight  the  robbers  entered  the  village,  and  the  first 
thing  they  did  was  to  come  to  the  shop  where  I  had  put  up. 
As  they  began  by  throwing  a  number  of  stones,  I  sought  refuge 
inside,  dragging  with  me  a  servant  boy  whom  I  had  with  me, 
to  prevent  his  being  killed.  They  did  not  venture  inside,  but 
shouted  for  me  to  fling  out  whatever  I  had,  thrusting  with  their 
spears  and  cutting  with  their  swords  at  the  door.  I  assured 
them  that  I  could  fling  out  nothing,  for  I  was  a  poor  man, 
having  nothing  with  me.  Such  was  the  terror  that  throttled 
me  [131]  that  I  could  not  utter  a  word,  for  I  remembered  what 
had  been  said  to  me  that  evening,  that  I  had  a  waistbelt  full  of 
pearls,  and  I  believed  that  they  had  come  resolved  to  take  my 
life ;  therefore  I  threw  out  two  chains,3  each  of  which  might 
be  worth  some  fifty  rupees.  They  made  off,  robbing  the  bazar 
and  killing  people,  so  that  there  was  great  tribulation  in  the 
village. 

Not  considering  myself  safe  in  that  shop,  I  sallied  forth,  and 
traversing  the  streets  I  reached  a  house  where  I  halted,  and 

our  early  records  the  word  appears  asjuncan,  and  the  collectors  of  it  as  juncaneers . 
See  the  statement  of  their  old  rights  drawn  up  by  the  Madras  Council  in 
December,  1711,  printed  in  the  appendix  to  C.  R.  Wilson's  '  Surman  Embassy  ' ; 
see  also  Burnell's  articles  '  Junkameer  '  and  '  Junkeon  '  (Yule,  473). 

1  The  Bhima  rises  in  lat.  190  5',  long.  730  35',  in  Puna  district,  and  falls  into 
the  Kistna,  lat.  160  20',  long.  77°  20',  after  a  course  of  380  miles  (Thornton, 
'  Gazetteer,'  82,  Beema). 

2  Pandharpur,  on  the  Bhima.  It  is  the  place  where  Gangadhar  Shastri,  the 
Gaekwar's  minister,  was  murdered  in  1815,  and  lies  112  miles  south-east  of  Puna 
(Thornton,  'Gazetteer,'  789,  Punderpoor). 

8  The  text  has  colehas,  which  is  either  unmeaning  or  inappropriate  (colehas= 
counterpanes).     Mr.  Dames  suggests  cadehas,  cadeas,  '  chains,'  which  I  adopt. 


MANUCCI  ATTACKED  BY  DA  CO  ITS  173 

finding  the  door  open,  I  ascended  some  steps  and  reached  a 
terraced  roof.  Here  I  fancied  myself  in  security.  But  the 
owner  of  the  house,  who  had  heard  the  outcry  in  the  village, 
came  out  of  his  room  with  sword  and  shield.  On  seeing  me, 
he  ordered  me  roughly  to  make  my  way  downstairs.  I  told 
him  I  was  a  foreigner  who  had  fled  from  the  bazar,  where  the 
thieves  had  robbed  me,  and  to  save  my  life  had  taken  refuge 
there,  finding  the  door  open.  This  did  not  persuade  him  to 
let  me  remain,  but  he  insisted  on  my  departing.  I  was  content 
that  he  even  let  me  go  unharmed,  for  on  hearing  his  first  talk, 
I  feared  me  much  he  was  about  to  finish  off  what  the  robbers 
had  begun. 

I  now  went  to  the  steps  of  a  temple,  where  many  persons 
had  taken  shelter  out  of  the  way  of  the  arrows  flying  about 
the  streets  and  the  sword-blows  being  distributed  in  all  direc- 
tions. Nor  was  it  without  some  trouble  that  I  got  in  even  there. 
Next  a  Brahman  refused  to  let  me  stop,  thrusting  me  forth  by 
force.  But  God  repaid  him  for  his  want  of  charity,  for  while 
he  was  interfering  with  me,  there  came  an  arrow  and  hit  him 
on  the  leg  and  I  was  rid  of  him.  The  thieves  withdrew,  and 
I,  too,  found  a  refuge  again  in  the  bazar,  but  not  in  the  same 
shop,  for  I  feared  greatly  they  might  come  there  once  more. 
I  spent  the  night  in  the  discomfort  that  everyone  can  imagine. 
At  dawn,  feeling  much  afflicted,  I  chewed  a  clove,  washing  it 
down  with  a  little  warm  water,  whereupon  I  vomited  several 
clots  of  thickened  blood,  and  felt  relieved. 

I  continued  my  journey  up  to  the  crossing  on  the  river  [?  the 
Bhlma] .  Although  it  is  wide,  there  were  no  boats ;  I  crossed 
seated  on  a  small  bedstead  attached  to  the  tops  of  four  pots. 
I  then  reached  Paranda  (Parenda),1  in  the  Mogul  territory, 
where  I  came  across  my  friends  of  the  fortress  of  Bhakkar. 
They  took  compassion  on  my  poverty,  regaled  me,  succoured 
me  with  money,  clothes,  and  a  mount,  on  which  I  resumed  my 
travels  and  arrived  at  Aurangabad  [132]. 

1  Parenda,  now  in  the  Naldrug  district  of  the  Nizam's  dominions,  lat.  180  16', 
long.  750  30'.  There  is  an  old  fortress  erected  by  Mahmud  Gawan,  a  minister 
of  the  BahmanI  kings.  The  district  was  incorporated  in  the  Mogul  Empire 
by  Aurangzeb  when  Viceroy  of  the  Dakhin  (Syed  Hossain  and  C.  Willmott, 
'  Historical  and  Descriptive  Sketch,'  ii.  707  ;  Bombay,  1884). 


174    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Travelling  is  a  teacher  of  many  things,  and  he  who  wanders 
without  learning  anything  can  only  be  said  to  have  the  head  of 
an  ass.  The  horse  given  me  by  Manoel  Ribeiro  at  Parenda 
had  only  a  few  days  before  arrived  from  Dihli,  a  journey  of 
forty-six  days,  and  it  was  thus  much  out  of  condition.  It 
happened  one  day  that  my  servant  opened  his  bag,  in  which 
he  had  a  nutmeg,  and  by  carelessness  he  left  this  nut  on  the 
ground,  and  the  horse  ate  it.  Next  day,  on  mounting,  I  noticed 
that  he  was  much  more  lively  in  his  gait.  I  did  not  know  the 
cause  of  this  freshness ;  then  I  remembered  he  had  eaten  a  nut 
the  night  before,  and  I  concluded  that  must  be  the  cause.  Nor 
was  I  wrong,  for,  giving  him  each  day  one  nut,  he  became  ever 
more  ready  and  clever. 

After  my  arrival  in  Aurangabad  I  lived  retired.  This  was 
the  time  at  which,  as  I  have  related  (II.  122-124),  Shah  'Alam 
was  busy  trying  to  get  hold  of  Shiva  Ji,  and  I  was  informed  of 
the  friar's  death  in  the  way  that  I  have  recounted  (II.  121).  I 
went  on  through  Burhanpur,  where  I  found  several  friends  among 
the  servants  of  Jai  Singh,  all  disconsolate  at  the  death  of  that 
great  general.  I  felt  his  death  very  much,  although  I  had  no 
intention  of  re-entering  his  service,  for  I  wanted  to  start  as  a 
doctor.  Thence  I  went  on  to  Agrah,  where  I  visited  the  Jesuit 
fathers,  and  reported  to  them  what  was  going  on  at  Goa.  I 
did  not  stay  long,  but  passed  on  to  Dihli.  Thereupon,  on 
learning  of  my  arrival,  there  was  no  fail  of  women  who  proposed 
marriage  to  me  and  sent  me  cloth  and  money  and  banquets  of 
food.  One  of  them  sent  me  fifty  gold  coins  and  a  horse,  and 
handsome  stuff  to  make  me  clothes.  I  went  to  see  Kirat 
Singh,  the  younger  son  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  who,  in  remembrance 
of  the  great  affection  his  father  held  me  in,  and  which  he  con- 
tinued to  me,  gave  me  a  set  of  robes,  two  horses,  and  five 
rupees  every  day,  and  a  handsome  house  to  live  in.  By  this 
means  those  envious  of  my  good  fortune,  who  had  expected  to 
see  me  under  the  necessity  of  applying  to  them  for  my  expenses, 
knowing  that  I  was  out  of  service,  were  in  amazement  at  seeing 
me  well  dressed,  owning  horses,  and  keeping  servants.  Any 
foreigner  who  is  out  of  employment  can  only  subsist  in  a  miser- 
able fashion  in  that  country. 


OPPRESSIVE  INTERNAL  CUSTOMS  DUTIES  175 

AURANGZEB   REMITS   THE   TOBACCO   TAX. 

On  reaching  Dihli,  I  heard  that  only  a  short  time  before  the 
king  had  withdrawn  the  tobacco  tax,  owing  to  a  horrible  event 
that  happened.  All  the  world  knows  [133]  that  the  tax-con- 
tractors who  engage  for  the  taxes  and  duties  are  most  shameless 
and  mannerless.  They  spare  no  respectable  persons,  except  those 
of  the  highest  position,  and  that  chiefly  when  Mahomedans, 
such  persons  being,  as  they  know,  very  easily  roused.  It  hap- 
pened that  a  soldier  of  strict  habits  wanted  to  enter  the  city, 
having  with  him  his  wife  in  a  covered  vehicle,  as  usual  among 
Mahomedans.  A  tax-gatherer  ordered  him  to  halt,  and  asked  if 
he  had  any  tobacco.  The  Mahomedans  consume  a  great  deal 
of  this  article  in  smoking.  This  is  why  the  chief  tax-farmer 
paid  five  thousand  rupees  a  day  at  this  city  (Dihli)  only.  From 
this  the  reader  can  understand  what  would  be  the  revenue 
from  tobacco  paid  to  the  King  of  Hindustan  throughout  such 
a  great  empire. 

The  soldier  replied  that  he,  being  a  man  of  serious  habits, 
did  not  smoke  tobacco,  neither  he  nor  his  wife,  who  was  in  the 
vehicle,  and  he  might  trust  his  word.  The  tax-collector  would 
not  believe  him,  and  wanted  to  search  the  cart.  To  this  the 
soldier  would  not  consent,  not  wishing  his  wife  to  be  seen  in 
public,  and  remonstrated,  saying  if  such  an  affront  were  done 
him,  he  would  repent  of  it  later  on.  But  the  tax-collector 
would  not  listen  to  a  word,  and  uncovered  the  vehicle  to  make 
his  search.  The  soldier  laid  hand  on  his  sword  and  cut  off  the 
man's  head,  also  wounded  several  attendants.  Not  content 
with  this  even,  he  killed  his  wife  too,  and  a  daughter  she  had 
with  her.  He  was  seized  and  carried  off  to  prison,  and  a  com- 
plaint was  laid  before  the  king.  Upon  hearing  the  soldier's 
defence,  the  king  abolished  the  tax  and  released  the  soldier, 
having  compassion  on  him  for  his  loss  of  temper.  Among  the 
Mahomedans  it  is  a  great  dishonour  for  a  family  when  a  wife 
is  compelled  to  uncover  herself.  By  this  event  tobacco  was  no 
longer  so  dear,  and  numerous  merchants  lost  much  from  this 
circumstance,  whereby  the  king  conferred  a  benefit  on  the 
poor. 


176    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

I  go  to  Lahor  and  declare  Myself  as  a  Physician. 

I  lived  in  Dihli  one  year  in  splendid  style,  having  honourable 
means  of  making  money.  Then,  by  the  king's  order,  Klrat 
Singh  went  to  Kabul,1  and  I  determined  to  move  to  Lahor 
and  give  myself  out  as  a  doctor.  I  could  not  start  this  at 
Dihli,  where  there  were  already  some  Europeans,  while  in 
Lahor  there  was  none. 

On  reaching  Lahor  T  found  that  Muhammad  Amin  Khan 
was  governor,  Aurangzeb  having  kept  his  promise  to  make  him 
a  viceroy.2  As  soon  as  [134]  I  arrived  I  put  up  in  the  sarde 
with  my  grand  carpets  and  my  petty  establishment,  until  I 
could  find  a  house.  I  hired  one  belonging  to  Barqandaz  Khan, 
my  commander  in  Dara's  time  (I.  156,  240),  and  I  instructed 
my  servants  to  inform  everyone  who  asked  about  me  that  I 
was  a  FarangI  doctor.  Through  this  many  came  to  talk  with 
me,  and  in  return  I  had  no  want  of  words,  God  having  given 
me  a  sufficiently  mercurial  temperament.  Thus  it  began  to  be 
noised  in  Lahor  that  a  Frank  doctor  had  arrived,  a  man  of  fine 
manners,  eloquent  speech,  and  great  experience.  I  rejoiced  at 
such  a  reputation,  but  my  heart  beat  fast,  for  then  I  had  had 
no  experience.  It  pleased  God,  our  Sovereign  Lord,  to  open 
the  door  to  me  with  a  case  furnished  me  by  his  Divine  Providence. 

There  came  to  me  in  the  house  where  I  had  settled  an  old 
woman,  who  told  me  that  the  wife  of  the  qdzl  was  very  ill,  and 
given  up  by  all  the  Persian  and  Indian  physicians.  She  requested 
the  favour  of  my  proceeding  to  the  qdzl's  house  to  see  the  woman, 
and  decide  whether  there  was  any  cure  ;  for  all  the  doctors 
had  said  that  if  anyone  cured  her  they  would  burn  all  their 
books  and  profess  themselves  disciples  of  him  who  cured  her. 
I  put  several  questions  about  the  illness  of  the  woman  ;  I  told 

1  There  must  be  a  mistake  here,  for  Klrat  Singh  died  in  the  Dakhin  just  before 
the  28th  Rabi'  II.  of  the  sixteenth  year,  1084  H.  (August  12,  1673)  ('M.-i-'A.,' 
128).     He  was  the  father-in-law  of  Muhammad  'Azim,  Shah  'Alam's  second  son. 

2  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  became  Governor  of  Lahor  in  the  tenth  year, 
1078  H.  (between  June,  1667,  and  February,  1668)  ('M.-i-'A.,'  63,  line  1).  In 
the  thirteenth  year,  1080  H.  (January,  1670,  to  January,  1671),  he  was  sent  to 
Kabul,  vice  Mahabat  Khan  {ibid.,  104,  line  11).  The  latter  dates  do  not  quite  fit 
Manucci's  narrative  if  he  did  not  arrive  at  Dihli  until  1672. 


MANUCCrS  FIRST  PATIENT  177 

the  messenger  to  return  home  and  I  would  follow,  saying  that, 
although  the  complaint  seemed  mortal,  I  would  see  if  there  was 
any  remedy. 

I  mounted  my  horse  and  rode  to  the  qazl's  house,  followed 
by  my  servants.  Entering  the  house,  I  felt  the  patient's  pulse. 
The  attack  was  growing  more  and  more  severe,  and  no  pulse 
could  be  felt,  nor  could  I  find  out  the  seat  of  the  disease.  I 
trusted  more  to  several  secret  experiments  I  knew,  and  to  my 
questions.  I  racked  my  brains  to  think  of  something  I  could 
give  to  the  patient  that  might  do  her  good.  I  asked  if  she  had 
been  relieved,  and  they  told  me  that  for  days  she  did  not  know 
what  thing  a  motion  was.  This  sufficed  for  me  to  start  my 
treatment,  and  I  told  the  old  woman  that  the  only  thing  was 
to  administer  a  clyster.  The  old  woman  and  the  patient's  son 
were  much  opposed  to  this,  the  Mahomedans  having  objections 
to  this  treatment.  But  the  patient  was  already  speechless.  I 
said :  Agar  zarurat  bayad,  rawa  bakhshad — that  is,  '  Necessity 
has  no  law ' — which  are  words  of  the  Quran.  Thus  they  gave 
in  to  my  resorting  to  this  treatment,  and  I  told  the  old  woman 
to  come  to  my  house  in  a  few  hours,  and  I  would  give  her  all 
that  was  required  for  the  application. 

I  came  forth  from  this  house  leaving  [135]  an  excellent  im- 
pression from  my  many  questions  and  my  copious  flow  of  talk. 
But  now  came  the  moment  when  our  Nicolao  Manuchy  found 
himself  in  a  difficulty.  For  I  knew  not  what  ingredients  I 
must  employ,  nor  to  what  implements  I  could  have  recourse 
for  this  wonderful  operation.  After  much  searching  of  heart,  I 
recollected  that  the  enemas  administered  to  me  at  Goa  were  con- 
cocted of  mallows,  wild  endive,  and  some  other  herbs,  with  a 
trifle  of  bran,  black  sugar,  salt,  olive  oil,  and  C anna  fistula.  I  sent 
out  for  these  things,  and  made  a  concoction.  But  the  greatest 
difficulty  was  to  get  the  instrument.  For  this  I  sent  and  got 
a  cow's  udder,  and  for  the  tube  I  took  a  piece  of  cane  from  a 
huqqah  snake,  through  which  the  Mahomedans  draw  their 
tobacco.  I  managed  to  put  these  together  in  a  manner  that 
would  serve.  I  placed  the  concoction  into  the  udder,  and 
fastened  the  tube  to  it.  Then  the  old  woman  came,  and  to 
her  I  made  over  the  injection,  teaching  her  how  she  was  to 

vol.  11.  12 


178    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

deal  with  it.  I  enjoined  on  her  to  come  and  inform  me  when 
the  operation  had  been  performed. 

I  declared  to  her  that  if  in  a  period  of  three  hours  the  enema 
did  not  take  effect,  the  patient  had  no  hope  of  life.  It  was 
advisable  for  me  to  make  this  assertion,  since,  should  the 
patient  die  I  could  say  I  had  foretold  the  result  as  inevitable. 
This  was  necessary  to  keep  my  reputation  intact.  Off  went 
the  old  woman,  and  my  heart  began  to  beat  hard,  knowing  not 
what  effect  the  medicine  might  have.  Soon  I  heard  a  knocking 
at  my  door  as  by  one  in  haste.  My  anxiety  was  redoubled.  It 
might  be  the  news  of  the  patient's  death,  through  which  I 
should  lose  the  reputation  that  I  was  in  search  of.  For  the 
Mahomedans  easily  assign  one  a  reputation,  and  as  easily  take 
it  away.  A  happy  cure  at  the  start  suffices  to  give  the  greatest 
credit,  even  if  the  cure  be  a  mere  accident.  On  the  contrary, 
if  there  is  a  failure  in  the  first  case,  even  when  the  doctor  is 
exceedingly  learned  and  experienced,  it  suffices  to  prevent  him 
ever  being  esteemed. 

I  sent  to  have  the  door  opened,  when  the  old  woman  fell  at 
my  feet  and  gave  me  many  blessings,  telling  me  that  the  patient 
had  already  begun  to  mend,  that  she  had  had  a  large  stool  with 
great  violence,  voiding  pellets  as  hard  as  camel-dung.  Thus 
she  urgently  prayed  me  to  visit  the  qazi's  house  to  see  the 
patient  and  continue  the  cure.  Proud  and  elated  by  this  news, 
I  told  her  how  necessary  it  was  to  confide  in  experienced  phy- 
sicians, that  if  I  had  not  given  her  this  medicament,  composed 
of  ingredients  [136]  known  to  me  alone,  the  patient  was  bound 
to  die.  I  went  and  found  the  patient  had  already  begun  to 
speak,  and  recognise  everyone  who  was  present.  She  was  very 
different  from  what  she  had  been  for  some  days,  for  they  told 
me  that  she  knew  no  one  and  could  not  speak.  I  thought  it 
advisable  to  discharge  nature  farther,  so  I  gave  her  a  light 
medicine,  continuing  it  daily  until  the  system  was  well 
cleansed.  Then,  with  chicken-broth  and  bezoar  stone,1  I  began 
to  strengthen  the  patient  in  such  a  way  that  in  a  few  days  she 
was  restored  to  perfect  health. 

1  Hard  concretions  found  in  the  stomach  of  certain  animals,  supposed  in  the 
East  to  be  of  medicinal  value  (Yule,  90). 


MUHAMMAD  AMlN  KHAN  179 

This  case  became  notorious  among  the  principal  men  in 
Lahor,  for  this  wife  was  much  loved  by  her  husband,  the  qazi, 
so  that  he  had  called  in  all  the  physicians  to  treat  her  disease. 
Thus  there  began  to  be  talk  of  the  Farangi  doctor  who  was 
capable  of  resuscitating  the  dead.  This  caused  me  to  be  called 
in  by  many  sick  persons,  and  by  adhering  to  certain  books  I 
had,  I  succeeded  by  God's  favour  in  almost  every  case  in  which 
I  was  sent  for. 

My  fame  reached  the  court  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan, 
governor  of  the  city  and  viceroy  of  the  province  of  Lahor.  He 
sent  for  me,  and  after  a  long  conversation  on  the  subject  of 
diseases  and  good  health,  he  wanted  to  make  me  take  service 
with  him,  offering  me  little  pay  but  great  liberty.  But  I  knew 
the  style  of  man,  very  haughty,  far  from  genial,  just  like  the 
character  of  his  father,  Mir  Jumlah.  So  I  said  that  as  to 
becoming  his  servant,  I  objected ;  still,  I  should  not  fail  to 
appear  at  the  palace  whenever  necessary,  either  for  himself  or 
for  those  of  his  family.  He  was  a  little  put  out  by  my  answer, 
but  I  paid  no  attention  to  that,  for  I  was  already  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  chief  people  in  the  city,  and  by  God's  blessing 
my  practice  was  successful.  Thus  I  knew  of  a  certainty  that, 
in  spite  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan's  desire  to  do  me  an  injury, 
he  would  never  dare.  He  would  not  give  such  an  opening  to 
the  other  nobles  to  make  complaint  of  him  at  the  court  of 
Dihll.  On  the  other  hand,  although  he  was  much  aggrieved 
at  my  not  frequenting  his  audiences,  he  betrayed  no  anger,  for 
he  saw  I  was  of  use  for  attending  his  wives  and  sons.  There 
happened  to  me  a  terrible  business  at  the  time  of  his  departure 
from  Lahor  for  Kabul,  of  which  I  will  speak  in  its  proper 
place  (II.  150). 

Origin  and  Description  of  the  City  of  Lahor.  [137] 

Meanwhile  I  know  the  reader  will  be  pleased  at  learning 
the  origin  of  this  great  city  of  Lahor  where  I  made  my  fortune, 
since  I  have  exact  information  of  how  it  came  to  be  built.  I 
feel  under  an  obligation  to  write  about  its  origin  as  a  mark  of 
my  gratitude  to  a  city  which  did  me  such  signal  benefit.     The 

12 — 2 


180    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF^HINDUSTAN 

reader  will  get  a  lesson  from  the  fidelity  of  a  slave,  and  learn 
how  sometimes  in  persons  of  lowly  birth  lies  hidden  great 
nobility  of  heart.     Thus  the  origin  of  Lahor  was  as  follows. 

There  was  a  Sultan  Mahmud  Cazinizi  (Ghaznavl),  a  Maho- 
medan  King  of  Kabul,  who  styled  himself  King  of  Ghazni, 
because  these  kings  then  held  their  court  in  that  city.  It 
stood  between  Kabul  and  Qandahar,  but  is  to-day  in  ruins.  This 
king  had  a  slave  called  Meleq  Khas  (Malik  Khas),1  which  means 
'  Chosen  Noble.'  This  title  was  given  him  because  while  still 
a  child  he  had  great  sense,  as  he  showed  on  the  occasion  of 
which  I  here  tell  the  story. 

There  came  to  the  king  an  ambassador  from  Persia,  who  had 
a  handsome  and  very  expert  slave.  Since  Sultan  Mahmud  was 
very  fond  of  seeing  these  creatures  when  expert,  he  talked  with 
the  ambassador  on  the  qualities  of  his  slave.  The  ambassador 
gave  high  praise  to  his  boy,  saying  that  he  had  a  good  under- 
standing and  was  most  exact  at  his  duties.  Sultan  Mahmud 
wanted  to  try  an  experiment  on  this  boasted  good  judgment. 
There  arrived  at  the  city  a  number  of  loaded  horses  and  camels, 
and  the  king  asked  the  ambassador  to  send  his  slave  to  find  out 
what  they  were.  The  slave  went,  and  brought  back  the  simple 
answer  that  it  was  a  caravan  come  from  Persia.  On  hearing 
this  reply,  Sultan  Mahmud  said  to  the  ambassador  that  he,  too, 
had  a  slave,  and  he  wished  to  see  if  he  had  more  judgment  and 
was  more  exact.  He  called  to  his  presence  Malik  Khas,  and 
told  him  to  go  to  the  spot  and  find  what  people  they  were  who 
had  come  into  the  city.  Malik  Khas  went,  and  in  a  short 
while  came  back  with  the  answer  that  it  was  a  caravan  from 
Isfahan  :  it  left  on  such  and  such  a  day  of  the  month,  rested 
so  many  days  on  the  way,  reached  Qazwin  in  so  many  days ; 
it  had  two  leaders,  giving  the  name  of  both  ;  in  the  caravan 
were  so  many  mules,  so  many  horses,  and  so  many  camels.  It 
consisted  of  such  and  such  merchandise,  and  would  halt  for 
such  and  such  a  time,  and  they  sought  [138]  such  and  such 
goods  for  the  return  journey  to  Persia.     The  ambassador  was 

1  More  probably  it  ought  to  be  read  Ghiyas,  meaning  Abu.l  Fath,  Ghiyas- 
ud-dln  Muhammad,  though,  of  course,  he  was  not  a  slave,  but  a  Malik  (prince); 
nor  was  he  a  contemporary  of  Mahmud  Ghaznavl. 


XVII.  Sultan  Kam  Bakhsh,  Fifth  Son  of  Auranozkb. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  180. 


THE  FAITHFUL  WAZlR  AND  THE  ENVIOUS  COURTIERS   181 

in  astonishment  to  see  a  slave  of  such  tender  years  give  such  a 
minute  report  of  the  Cafilah,  and  acknowledged  there  was  a 
great  difference  between  his  and  the  king's  slave. 

Malik  Khas  grew  up,  and  was  found  to  be  capable  of  great 
office.  The  king,  who  loved  him  much,  raised  him  up  to  be 
his  chief  minister,  on  whom  the  whole  government  depended. 
Courts  are  very  fertile  in  envy,  and  occasions  of  uneasiness 
were  not  wanting  to  Malik  Khas.  The  nobles  could  not  endure 
that  a  slave  should  hold  so  excellent  an  office,  and  they  told 
against  this  loyal  servitor  all  the  wicked  stories  they  could 
invent.  But  the  king  already  knew  the  fidelity  and  the  love 
of  his  slave,  and  paid  no  heed  to  these  envious  speeches.  One 
of  the  things  that  these  enviers  of  others'  good  fortune  persuaded 
the  king  to  do,  was  to  enter  without  any  warning  the  room  of 
Malik  Khas,  where  he  would  be  found,  they  said,  writing 
treasonable  letters  to  the  hurt  of  the  kingdom  and  the  king. 

Sultan  Mahmud  gave  way  to  the  wishes  of  his  courtiers,  and 
he  found  Malik  Khas  taking  a  rest  on  his  bed.  At  the  entry  of 
the  king,  Malik  Khas  opened  his  eyes,  and  finding  it  was  the 
king,  he  shut  them  again  ;  and  the  king  approaching,  through 
the  love  he  held  to  him  kissed  him  and  retired.  From  this  the 
envious  men  found  an  opening  for  saying  to  the  king  that  Malik 
Khas  no  longer  paid  respect  to  His  Majesty,  for  though  aware 
of  his  sovereign's  appearance  in  the  room,  seeing  he  had  opened 
his  eyes,  he  had  not  attempted  to  move,  and  had  dissembled  his 
knowledge  out  of  hauteur.  He  forgot  that,  however  great  he 
may  be,  a  servant  is  always  a  servant,  and  must  honour  his 
lord.  If  Malik  Khas  had  done  no  other  offence,  this  act  of 
disrespect  to  His  Majesty  sufficed ;  he  deserved  to  be  disgraced 
and  expelled  from  the  court. 

Sultan  Mahmud  tried  to  make  excuses  for  his  favourite, 
saying  his  closing  the  eyes  was  out  of  respect  and  not  disrespect. 
Nevertheless,  he  would  like  to  know  the  truth  from  Malik  Khas 
himself.  Therefore  he  caused  him  to  be  sent  for  to  audience, 
and  before  everybody  made  a  pretence  of  being  provoked,  and 
complained  of  Malik  Khas'  pride,  who  shut  his  eyes  in  order  not 
to  have  to  rise  and  pay  his  duty  to  his  lord  when  accompanied  by 
the  greatest  in  the  kingdom.     The  slave  asked  leave  to  state  his 


1 82     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

excuses  and  his  reasons.  In  the  hearing  of  them  all  he  said 
that,  worn  out  in  doing  the  king  service,  he  was  taking  a  rest, 
and  he  quite  well  saw  His  Majesty  enter  into  his  [139]  room. 
But,  ignorant  of  His  Majesty's  intention  in  coming,  he  shut  his 
eyes,  so  as  to  afford  him  the  greatest  liberty  to  do  what  he 
wanted.  Even  were  it  intended  to  behead  him  he  was  quite 
prepared  for  it,  being  but  a  slave ;  and  when  aware  of  his 
kissing  him,  he  did  not  move  for  fear  of  inconveniencing  His 
Majesty.  The  king  was  satisfied,  finding  the  reply  of  his  servant 
in  conformity  with  the  conclusion  he  had  come  to  himself. 

This  did  not  make  the  envious  cease  their  efforts ;  they  employed 
spies  to  follow  Malik  Khas  and  find  out  everything  he  did.  Then 
they  went  to  Sultan  Mahmud  and  told  him  that  every  day  Malik 
Khas,  before  he  came  to  audience,  went  into  his  garden,  where  in 
one  corner  was  a  little  house,  and  in  it  a  box.  He  entered  the 
room  alone  and  closed  the  door,  so  that  no  one  could  know  what 
he  was  doing,  and  it  might  be  that  he  performed  some  spell  to 
procure  His  Majesty's  affection,  or  went  there  to  conceal  some 
treasonable  papers.  The  king  told  Malik  Khas  to  prepare  a 
banquet ;  he  and  the  grandees  wished  to  resort  to  his  garden  to 
disport  themselves.  The  obedient  servant  made  no  demur. 
The  king  went  with  his  greatest  nobles,  and  in  promenading 
round  the  garden,  the  envious  men  brought  the  king  past  the 
said  house.  Making  a  sign  to  him,  they  succeeded  in  making 
him  ask  for  the  key  of  the  said  hut.  On  entering,  he  found  it 
full  of  cobwebs  and  an  old  box  lying  in  a  corner.  Pretending  to 
laugh  at  such  a  treasure-house,  he  asked  what  precious  thing 
was  hidden  in  that  lovely  chest.  His  slave  replied  that  there 
was  nothing  fit  to  show  His  Majesty,  nor,  as  the  box  was  old, 
was  it  fit  for  putting  precious  things  in. 

These  words  were  quite  enough  to  make  the  courtiers  urge 
the  king  not  to  come  out  until  he  knew  and  had  seen  what 
thing  was  preserved  in  such  an  escritoire.  Malik  Khas  resisted 
for  a  time,  until  the  king  himself  said  he  wanted  to  see  what 
was  in  the  box.  Malik  Khas  drew  out  the  key  from  his  pocket, 
opened  the  box,  and  satisfied  the  hunger  and  thirst,  from  which 
his  enemies  were  suffering,  for  getting  hold  of  something  to  ruin 
the  faithful  man.  The  box  was  opened,  and  it  was  found  that  there 


THE   WAZIR'S  HUMILITY  183 

was  nothing  in  it  but  an  old  and  rusty  sickle  and  a  peasant's  hairy 
cloak.  They  were  all  astonished  at  finding  there  was  in  the 
box  nothing  of  any  value  in  the  eyes  of  men ;  and  where  they 
had  tried  to  catch  Malik  Khas  and  ruin  him,  they  were  only  the 
means  of  making  [140]  him  still  greater,  as  so  often  results  to 
those  unjustly  persecuted.  If  princes  allow  time  to  do  its  work 
and  are  not  precipitate,  they  can  always  attain  certainty  about  the 
machinations  of  the  envious.  The  king  asked  the  reason  of 
his  retaining  such  articles,  and  why,  every  day  before  going  to 
court,  he  shut  himself  up  in  that  room.  The  wise  Malik  Khas 
replied  that,  aware  of  the  bounties  the  king  had  conferred  and 
was  conferring  every  day  upon  him,  he  dreaded  he  might  grow 
proud.  Therefore  he  came  every  day  to  behold  the  sickle  and 
the  cloak,  so  as  to  be  reminded  that  if,  by  any  evil  deed,  he 
came  to  be  banished  from  court,  he  would  be  forced  to  live  as 
his  father  had  done,  wearying  himself  in  the  sun  cutting  herbs 
and  grass.  Having  this  consideration  fresh  in  his  head,  he 
ever  renewed  his  resolve  to  serve  his  lord  with  fidelity. 

At  this  time  they  recognised  the  meaning  of  these  words,  which 
were  often  on  his  lips  :  '  Malik  Khas  !  jde  Miud-ra  shinds ' — that  is, 
1  Malik  Khas,  know  your  place.'  This  he  said  because,  finding 
a  kingdom  in  his  power,  he  felt  at  times  a  temptation  to  pride 
and  to  rebellion.  It  was  to  say,  as  it  were,  that  he  had  no 
cause  to  exalt  himself,  being  of  such  lowly  extraction.  If  those 
who  are  the  favourites  of  fortune  at  any  king's  or  prince's  court 
could  remember  that  it  was  merely  luck,  and  that  they  might  fall 
once  more  into  worse  condition,  princes  would  have  more  loyal 
servants,  and  the  great  would  not  be  so  ready  to  look  down  upon 
the  humble. 

Malik  Khas  did  one  thing  which  was  of  great  profit  to  the 
king,  wherein  he  acted  as  a  man  of  wisdom.  Sultan  Mahmud 
was  a  great  hater  of  heathendom,  and  had  as  his  nickname 
'  Destroyer  of  Temples.'  It  happened  that  in  a  battle  he 
(Malik  Khas)  overcame  the  Hindus,  and,  destroying  a  temple, 
carried  to  the  king  one  of  the  images,  which  the  Hindus  wished 
to  redeem  by  a  large  payment.  Sultan  Mahmud  assembled  his 
council,  and  all  voted  for  his  taking  the  money,  with  which  he 
could   then  continue   the  war  against   the   Hindus,  and  thus 


1 84    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

destroy  them  utterly.  The  king  would  not  carry  out  the  deci- 
sion of  his  councillors  until  he  had  heard  the  opinion  of  Malik 
Khas.  He  said  to  the  king  that  it  was  not  a  good  proposal, 
since  His  Majesty's  greatest  fame  and  glory  was  to  be  known 
as  the  Destroyer  of  Temples.  If  he  took  this  money,  he  would 
be  henceforth  called  the  '  Vendor  of  [141]  Temples ';  thus 
would  he  come  to  lose  the  great  name  he  had.  Better  were  it 
to  order  the  image  to  be  destroyed  in  his  own  presence  ;  it 
had  a  large  abdomen.  Sultan  Mahmud  listened  to  the  words 
of  his  wise  and  faithful  servant,  and  there  and  then  ordered 
a  mace  to  be  brought,  and  the  image  to  be  broken.  Hidden 
in  the  abdomen  there  was  a  great  quantity  of  precious  stones, 
pearls  of  great  price,  and  other  valuables.  In  this  way  he 
(Malik  Khas)  preserved  the  good  name  of  his  master  without 
losing  the  money  to  be  obtained  by  selling  the  image.  On  the 
contrary,  a  great  deal  more  was  gained. 

Finally,  Sultan  Mahmud  wanted  to  test  the  fidelity  of  his 
slave,  or,  we  may  say,  he  wished  to  protect  him  from  the  envy 
of  the  courtiers  by  raising  him  still  higher,  and  giving  him  his 
freedom.  But  here  the  reader  will  see  what  fidelity  can  do 
with  a  heart  of  which  it  has  once  taken  possession.  The  king 
gave  to  Malik  Khas  much  money  and  many  soldiers,  so  that  he 
might  search  for  some  lovely  site,  there  to  found  a  large  and 
handsome  city  in  his  own  name.  He  added  a  secret  order  that 
after  the  said  city  had  been  built  he  (Malik  Khas)  should  send 
a  defiance  to  his  master. 

Malik  Khas  obeyed,  and  came  to  a  bare  and  spacious  plain 
near  to  a  fine  river  called  the  Ravi.  There  he  constructed  the 
handsome  and  beneficent  city  of  Lahor,  called  by  its  residents 
'  Allah-nur' — that  is,  '  Day-dawn  of  God.'  When  the  city  was 
completed,  he  sent  a  defiance  to  Sultan  Mahmud,  calling  on 
him  to  enter  the  field  and  fight.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
detail  the  exclamations  and  speeches  of  the  courtiers  to  the 
king.  They  told  him  that  now  he  beheld  the  loyalty  of  his 
slave ;  well  had  they  recognised  the  pride  of  Malik  Khas. 
But  the  king  had  attached  more  value  to  the  hypocrisy  of  a 
slave  than  to  the  loyalty  of  so  many  faithful  followers,  who, 
as  members  of  high-placed  families,  were  endowed  with  sensi- 


FOUNDING  OF  LAHOR— ITS  GATES  185 

tive  souls,  and  full  of  all  good  qualities.  Now  the  only  remedy 
was  to  take  the  field  and  destroy  this  rebel,  who  repaid  by 
revolt  the  love  of  a  great  king. 

Sultan  Mahmud  ordered  his  army  to  take  the  field,  and  he 
marched  against  the  pretendedrebel.  They  were  to  fight  together, 
and  the  officers  of  the  GhaznX  king,  eager  to  show  their  loyalty 
and  valour,  longed  for  nothing  so  much  as  the  hour  of  battle. 
They  hoped  for  reward  from  the  court,  coupled  with  the  death 
and  [142]  overthrow  of  their  hated  rival.  Battle  was  delivered, 
and  Malik  Khas  was  able  to  dispose  his  soldiers  so  carefully  that 
he  succeeded  in  defeating  the  army  and  capturing  the  king, 
his  master.  He  carried  the  king  to  the  new  city,  and  made  him 
ascend  a  high  throne,  while  he  (Malik  Khas),  with  a  rope  round 
his  neck  and  his  hands  bound,  came  and  fell  at  Sultan  Mahmud's 
feet,  and  exclaimed  that  the  slave  had  obeyed  his  master.  On 
his  part,  Sultan  Mahmud  took  him  to  his  arms  and  kissed  him, 
and,  removing  the  rope  from  his  neck,  caused  him  to  sit  at  his 
side  upon  the  same  throne,  and  assigning  him  great  revenues, 
confided  to  him  the  kingdom  of  Lahor,  and  retired  himself 
to  the  realm  of  GhaznI. 

This  is  the  origin  of  the  famous  city  of  Lahor,  which  has 
twelve  gates,  called:  Qadirl  Darwazah,  which  is  on  the  river 
bank  towards  the  north;  Yakkl1  Darwazah,  on  the  same  side; 
Dilll  Darwazah,  which  is  used  by  those  going  to  and  coming  from 
Dihll ;  Akbarl  Darwazah  ;  MochI  Darwazah — that  is,  '  Gate  of 
the  Shoemaker ' — and  it  got  this  name  on  the  following  occasion  : 
Near  this  gate  dwelt  a  shoemaker  who  had  a  lovely  daughter, 
with  whom  a  Pathan  youth  fell  in  love.  To  get  possession 
of  her,  he  had  recourse  to  a  procuress  called  Giho,  who  feigned 
to  be  a  physician.  She  managed  cleverly  to  smuggle  the 
youth  into  the  girl's  room  hidden  in  a  box,  on  the  pretext  that 
it  contained  medicines  to  treat  the  girl.  The  girl  was  a  con- 
senting party,  and  on  Giho's  advice  had  shammed  illness. 
Three  days  afterwards  the   girl   found   that   the  illness  from 

1  Yakki,  a  corruption  of  Zaki,  the  name  of  a  saint  and  martyr  who  lost  his 
life  close  by  (Syed  Mahomed  Latif,  'History  of  Lahore,'  p.  85;  Lahore,  1892). 
Of  the  thirteen  existing  gates,  eight  bear  the  same  names  as  in  Manucci's  time. 
The  Qadiri,  Multa.nl,  and  Ghakkari  Gates  no  longer  bear  those  names.  There  are 
five  new  names — Raushanai,  Mastl,  Khizri,  Loharl,  Takshali  Gates. 


186    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

which  she  suffered  was  alleviated.  The  father  remunerated  the 
old  woman,  who  came  back  to  remove  the  box  to  her  own 
house.  Since  there  were  not  enough  porters,  the  shoemaker 
lent  a  hand.  As  they  went  along  the  road  they  got  mixed 
up  with  a  string  of  ill-tempered  camels,  and  there  the  box  fell  to 
the  ground.  Owing  to  this  great  fall  it  opened,  and  out  came 
the  Pathan  youth,  who  set  a-running.  Seeing  this,  the  shoe- 
maker found  out  the  knavery ;  and  the  story  was  told  all  over 
the  city,  whereby  this  gate  acquired  the  name  aforesaid.  [The 
other  gates  are]  Shah  'Alarm  Darwazah  ;  BhatI  Darwazah ; 
MultanI  Darwazah,  on  the  road  leading  to  Multan ;  Mori  Dar- 
wazah ;  Ghakkarl  Darwazah,  leading  to  the  lands  of  the  Ghak- 
kars ;  Kashmiri  Darwazah,  which  opens  on  the  road  to 
Kashmir. 

The  walls  are  all  [143]  of  well-burnt  bricks,  high,  and 
provided  with  bastions.  The  houses  are  lofty,  some  having 
eight  stories.  As  to  the  number  of  people  in  this  city,  it  is 
not  easy  to  make  an  estimate,  for  the  kotwal  told  me  that  he 
collected  a  weekly  tax  from  six  thousand  houses  of  ill-fame ;  from 
this  assertion  careful  people  can  arrive  at  the  number  there  must 
be  of  public /^/tfs  de  joie,  besides  those  who  conceal  themselves. 
The  city  is  inhabited  by  great  and  rich  merchants  who  deal  with 
the  whole  of  India,  and  it  is  the  key  to  the  kingdoms  of  Kabul, 
Balkh,  Tartary,  Kashmir,  Persia,  Baloches,  Multan,  Bhakkar, 
and  Tattah.  For  it  is  crammed  with  foreigners,  is  well  provided 
with  provisions,  and  has  a  population  of  ruddy  complexion 
inclining  to  whiteness.  Round  the  city  are  fine  gardens  filled 
with  various  kinds  of  fruit,  chiefly  peaches,  which  are  fine 
and  large  and  in  great  abundance.  Once,  out  of  curiosity,  I 
weighed  one  of  them,  and  without  exaggeration,  it  weighed 
thirteen  ounces.  There  are  many  quinces  (marmelos),  figs, 
mulberries,  stoneless  grapes,  mangoes,  and  melons  of  many 
kinds.  The  air  is  very  good  and  wholesome,  as  may  be  seen 
by  the  complexions  of  the  inhabitants,  above  all  from  the 
villagers,  men  and  women,  a  very  simple  folk,  well-built  and 
friendly-natured.  There  is  an  abundance  of  wells,  from  which 
they  draw  water  by  thick  ropes1  with  the  aid  of  oxen. 

1  The  text  has  moras,  for  which  I  read  amarros,  '  cables,  hawsers.' 


A   TURKISH  REFUGEE  187 

Islam  Khan  comes  from  Basrah. 

Before  I  continue  with  the  events  that  I  encountered  in 
the  exercise  of  medicine,  it  is  necessary  to  state  what  happened 
in  the  kingdom,  so  as  to  preserve  the  order  of  time,  which  I 
profess  to  follow  as  much  as  I  can,  that  the  reader  may  know 
the  dates  at  which  the  matters  noticed  took  place.  In  this 
year  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-three  came  from 
Basrah  an  Arabian  prince  called  Islam  Khan1  with  six  hundred 
Arabians,  some  of  whom  rode  fine  horses.  The  said  prince 
had  fled  because  the  Grand  Seignor  had  sent  orders  for  his 
beheadal,  I  know  not  for  what  cause.  When  he  arrived,  he 
possessed  considerable  wealth  in  pearls,  and  he  was  received 
by  Aurangzeb  in  a  friendly  way.  Desirous  of  turning  him 
into  a  defender  of  the  kingdom,  Aurangzeb  wished  to  give 
the  daughter  of  Murad  Bakhsh  to  his  son  in  marriage.  But 
Islam  Khan  was  not  attracted  by  such  an  alliance.  After  this 
refusal  Aurangzeb,  who  knew  how  to  dissimulate  [144],  fixed 
high  pay  for  him  and  his  son,  but  at  the  same  time  planned 
treachery  against  him.  He  sent  him  to  take  part  in  the  war 
against  Bijapur,  and  privately  enjoined  Bahadur  Khan,  under 
whom  the  prince  was  to  serve,  that  during  a  battle  he  should 
be  abandoned  and  left  with  none  but  his  own  small  force. 
Thus  did  Sharzah  Khan  and  his  troops  destroy  him  and  his 
men.  For  never  did  Aurangzeb  pardon  anyone  who  had 
declined  to  do  his  will. 

Marriage  of  the  Princesses. 

This  was  the  year  (?  1673)  of  marriages,  for  in  it  was  married 
that  same  girl  (Murad  Bakhsh's  daughter)  to  a  Pirzadah  or  holy 
man  of  Balkh,  as  to  whom  I  shall  speak  further  on  (II.  60). 
In  it,  too,  Aurangzeb  married  two  of  his  own  daughters — that 

1  Ilusain  Pasha,  beglarbegi  of  Basrah,  fled  to  Iran,  and  thence  to  India.  On 
the  nth  Safar,  twelfth  year,  1080  H.  (July  n,  1669),  he  reached  Agharabad,  close 
to  Dihli.  He  was  received  in  audience,  given  the  title  of  Islam  Khan,  and  made 
Governor  of  Malwah  ;  but  in  1083  H.  (1672-73)  he  had  fallen  out  of  favour.  He 
was  placed  on  duty  in  the  Dakhin  under  Bahadur  Khan  (Khan  Jahan  Kokaltash), 
and  was  killed  in  battle  there  on  the  nth  Rabi'  II.,  1087  H.  (June  24,  1676) 
(see  '  M.-ul-U.,'  i.  241-247;  'M.-i-'A.,'  85,  121;  and  '  Tankh-i-Muhammadi '). 


188    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

is  to  say,  Zinat-un-nissa  Begam,  and  Badr-un-nissa  Begam, 
as  I  said  at  the  beginning  (II.  41) — one  to  the  son  of  Dara, 
and  the  other  to  the  son  of  Murad  Bakhsh ;  he  also  married 
the  beautiful  JanI  Begam  to  Sultan  A'zam,  to  whom  on  that 
occasion  was  given  the  title  of  A'zam-tara.  She  was  not 
married  to  Sultan  Akbar,  as  stated  by  Monsieur  Bernier,  who, 
from  not  being  present,  fell  into  error.  Begam  Sahib,  or 
Padshah  Begam,  to  the  seed-pearls  which  issued  from  her 
eyes  at  thus  losing  her  beloved  niece,  added  lovely  pearls  and 
handsome  jewels  as  a  marriage  present.  After  the  marriage, 
Aurangzeb  sent  Prince  A'zam  Tara  as  viceroy  to  Bengal.1 

A  curious  case  happened  in  Dihll  in  the  matter  of  marriages. 
For  the  daughter  of  'Abd-ul-wahhab,2  on  learning  that  the  king 
was  marrying  off  his  daughters  and  nieces,  also  wanted  to  be 
married.  However,  her  father  had  no  such  intention,  for  she 
looked  after  his  house  and  had  his  wealth  under  her  control. 
Nevertheless,  she  managed  to  get  her  father  to  give  her  in  marriage 
without  his  knowing  it.  It  was  in  this  way  :  she  got  up  a 
friendship  with  a  youth  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  came  and 
went  secretly  without  the  father  suspecting  anything.  Next  she 
decided  to  leave  the  house  one  day  in  a  covered  palanquin, 
having  first  sent  all  the  property  to  a  place  of  security.     Then 

1  Bernier,  126,  only  speaks  of  the  marriage  to  Akbar  as  'intended,'  not  as 
carried  out.  Jahan-zeb  Ba.no  Begam  (known  as  JanI  Begam),  daughter  of  Dara 
Shukoh,  was  married  to  Muhammad  A'zam,  Aurangzeb's  third  son,  on  the 
17th  Safar,  eleventh  year,  1079  H.  (July  28,  1668),  and  the  wedding-feast  took 
place  on  the  17th  Rajab  (January  i,  1669).  She  died  at  Ahmadabad  (Gujarat)  in 
Shawwa.1,  1116  H.  (February,  1705).  Muhammad  A'zam  was  sent  first  to  Multan 
for  two  years  (1675-77),  and  then  to  Bahar  and  Bengal.  He  arrived  at  Dhakah 
on  the  17th  Rabi'  of  the  twenty-first  year,  1089  H.  (June  8,  1678).  There  is  an 
anecdote  of  JanI  Begam's  bravery  in  KhafI  Khan,  ii.  317.  In  1095  H.  (1684), 
during  a  fight  outside  BIjapur,  she  used  bow  and  arrow  valiantly  from  the  top 
of  her  elephant.  Muhammad  Salih,  son  of  Khwajah  Tahir,  Naqshbandi,  married 
Asaish  Ba.no  Begam,  daughter  of  Murad  Bakhsh.  on  the  2nd  Jamada  II.  of  the 
fifteenth  year,  1083  H.  (September  26,  1672).  Ezad  Bakhsh,  son  of  the  same 
prince,  married  Mihr-un-nissa,  Aurangzeb's  daughter,  in  the  fifteenth  year, 
1083  H.  (December,  1672),  and  Sipihr  Shukoh,  son  of  Dara,  married  Zubdat- 
un-nissa,  another  daughter,  on  the  21st  Shawwa.1  of  the  sixteenth  year,  1083  H. 
(February  10,  1673)  (' Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  74,  120,  125,  and  '  Tarlkh-i-Muham- 
madl,'  year  n  16).  According  to  the  histories,  Badr-un-nissa  never  married;  she 
died  on  28th  ZI  Qa'dah,  sixteenth  year,  1083  H.  (March  18,  1673). 

2  For  'Abd-ul-wahhab,  see  I.  277,  II.  3,  and  III.  52. 


QAZI  'ABD-UL-WAHHAB  IMPOSED  ON  189 

she  went  in  the  youth's  company  to  the  qaz'is  public  audience. 
On  arriving  there,  the  youth  said  to  'Abd-ul-wahhab  that  he  and 
the  woman  in  the  palanquin  had  made  a  vow  [145]  to  be  married 
by  him.  The  qazl,  not  recognising  the  woman  to  be  his  daughter, 
asked  her  if  she  consented  to  marriage  with  the  youth.  Dis- 
guising her  voice,  she  answered  '  Yes.'  The  qazl  performed  the 
ceremony  and  dismissed  them. 

The  youth  and  his  bride  feared  that  the  qazl  by  his  influence 
might  get  the  marriage  annulled.  The  bridegroom  therefore 
hastened  at  once  to  the  captain  of  the  guard,  an  acquaintance 
of  his,  and  informing  him  of  the  facts,  begged  his  friend  to  let 
him  speak  with  the  king  and  get  His  Majesty  to  act  the  god- 
father in  the  matter.  Aurangzeb  laughed  over  the  story,  and 
at  once  gave  an  order  to  bring  the  qazl  to  him,  before  he  had 
gone  home  and  found  out  that  his  daughter  was  not  in  the 
house  ;  they  were  to  tell  him  that  what  he  had  done  was  well 
done,  but  not  a  word  was  to  be  breathed  about  the  marriage  or 
anything  else. 

Rendered  anxious  by  such  a  message,  'Abd-ul-wahhab  started 
for  his  house,  and  found  that  his  daughter  was  not  in  her  apart- 
ments. Searching,  and  again  searching,  he  discovered  a  small 
opening  made  in  the  wall,  and  by  this  time  he  realized  that 
the  marriage  he  had  just  performed  had  been  the  marriage  of 
his  daughter.  He  was  much  cast  down,  but  his  sadness  was 
doubled  when,  on  opening  his  boxes,  he  found  that  all  that  he 
had  gathered  together  by  impostures  had  been  carried  off  by 
his  daughter  with  a  liberal  hand.  From  this  contretemps, 
aggravated  by  heart  complaint,  he  fell  ill  and  died  in  great 
pain,  a  terrible  death.1 

Death  of  Roshan  Ara  Begam. 

If  this  year  was  a  joyful  one  for  these  marriages,  it  was  a  sad 
one  through  what  occurred  in  the  apartments  of  Roshan  Ara 
Begam.  She  kept  there  nine  youths  in  secret  for  her  diversion. 
The  discoverer  of  this  noble  conduct  was  Fakhr-un-nissa  Begam, 

1  Qazl  'Abd-ul-wahhab,  a  Bohrah  from  Gujarat,  died  at  Dihli  on  the 
18th  Ramazan,  1086  H.  (December  io,  1675)  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  148,  and 
'  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi,'  year  1086  ;  see  also  I.  277). 


igo    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

the  daughter  of  Aurangzeb.  This  lady,  although  not  desirous 
of  marriage,  had  no  intention  of  being  deprived  of  her  satisfac- 
tion. Therefore  she  asked  her  aunt  to  make  over  to  her  at 
least  one  out  of  the  nine.  Roshan  Ara  Begam  declined  the 
request  in  spite  of  her  niece's  importunity.  Moved  by  envy, 
the  young  girl  revealed  to  her  father  what  there  was  hidden  in 
the  apartments  of  Roshan  Ara  Begam.  By  diligent  search  they 
caught  the  young  men,  who  were  well  clothed  and  good- 
looking.  They  were  made  over  to  the  criminal  authorities, 
being  announced  to  the  world  as  thieves ;  and  following  the 
orders  he  had  received,  the  kotwal,  Sidl  Fulad,  destroyed  them 
in  less  than  a  month  by  various  secret  tortures  [146].  Already 
angered  at  the  misconduct  of  his  sister,  Aurangzeb  shortened 
her  life  by  poison.  Thus,  in  spite  of  all  she  had  done  to  get 
her  brother  made  king,  she  experienced  herself  his  cruelty, 
dying  swollen  out  like  a  hogshead,  and  leaving  behind  her  the 
name  of  great  lasciviousness.1 

The  King  of  Kashghar. 

There  arrived  in  Hindustan  in  this  year  a  king  of  Tartary, 
who  came  in  person  to  sue  for  help  from  the  greatness  of 
Aurangzeb.  This  was  the  King  of  Kashghar,2  a  very  old  man 
with  a  few  hairs  of  a  beard,  such  as  have  the  greater  number 
of  Chinese,  a  man  of  fair  complexion.  He  had  been  obliged  to 
flee  from  his  country  owing  to  the  rebellion  of  his  son,  who 
had  usurped  his  throne.  At  his  reception  Aurangzeb  made  a 
display  of  his  grandeur,  and  sent  out  Ja'far  Khan  (of  whom  we 

1  Roshan  Rae  Begam,  daughter  of  Shahjahan,  died  the  17th  Jamad|  I., 
1082  H.  (September  21,  1671,  N.S.),  at  Akbarabad,  aged  fifty-six  ('Tarikh-i- 
Muhammadi,'  year  1082). 

2  In  the  tenth  year,  1078  H.  (1667-68),  it  was  reported  that  'Abdullah  Khan, 
ruler  of  Kashghar,  had  fled,  and  was  about  to  enter  Kashmir.  On  the 
8th  Shawwal  of  the  eleventh  year,  1078  H.  (April  2,  1668),  he  arrived  near  Dihli, 
and  was  received  on  the  nth.  Jamdat-ul-Mulk  Ja'far  Khan,  and  Asad  Khan, 
were  sent  out  to  meet  him.  He  left  for  Arabia  after  eight  months,  and  was 
escorted  to  Surat  by  Hakim  Ibrahim  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  63,  71,  83).  The 
name  of  his  rebellious  son  is  variously  spelt:  Bulbaras  Khan  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  63), 
Balbaras  (index),  Bubaras  (p.  79),  Bulbaras  (p.  433).  This  son  died  in  n  12  H. 
(1700-1). 


INFORMAL  MEETING  OF  THE  TWO  KINGS  191 

have  spoken)  along  with  other  noble  persons  of  the  court,  and 
a  number  of  cavalry  to  meet  and  escort  him.  They  attended 
him  into  the  city,  and  conducted  him  to  the  mansion  of  Rustam 
Khan,  Dakhinl.  The  court  was  much  troubled  about  the  form 
of  receiving  this  king.  For  Aurangzeb  did  not  wish  to  break 
Akbar's  rule  of  not  allowing  a  seat  in  his  presence  to  anyone 
but  his  sons.  On  the  other  hand,  the  world  would  find  an 
opening  for  accusing  Aurangzeb  of  overweening  pride  if  he 
gave  no  seat  in  his  presence  to  this  king.  For  although 
evil  fortune  had  forced  him  to  quit  his  territories,  he  did 
not  thereby  cease  to  be  of  a  royal  line,  into  which  in  other 
times  the  Mogul  kings  had  married  their  sons  and  their 
daughters. 

Aurangzeb,  who  in  certain  matters  was  unwilling  that  the 
world  should  feel  aggrieved  at  his  acts,  was  very  much  per- 
plexed about  the  way  he  ought  to  receive  the  fugitive  king. 
Finally  he  came  to  the  conclusion  to  receive  him  in  the  mosque, 
where,  all  being  seated,  it  would  be  no  dishonour  for  the  king 
to  have  the  King  of  Kashghar  seated  in  his  presence.  It  is  the 
custom  of  Mahomedans  on  ending  their  prayers  to  turn  the 
head  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  saying  twice,  '  As-salam 
'alaikum,'  saluting  as  it  were  the  angels,  and  giving  them 
thanks  for  the  support  given  to  their  prayers.1  For  they  assert 
that  everyone  [147]  has  two  angels  at  his  side,  and  thus  they 
make  the  salutation  twice.  This  was  another  piece  of  finesse 
on  Aurangzeb's  part,  who  made  the  salute  to  the  angels  serve 
as  a  polite  salutation  to  the  guest ;  for,  turning  to  say  the 
'  As-salam  'alaikum,'  he  became  aware  that  the  King  of  Kash- 
ghar was  present  in  the  mosque  a  little  behind  him.  The 
other  responded  with  the  same  words,  when  Aurangzeb  turned 
entirely  round  to  him  ;  the  King  of  Kashghar  did  the  same, 
and  thus  the  conversation  began.  In  this  manner  the  inter- 
view came  off  without  prejudice  to  either  of  them.  On  finishing 
their  talk,  each  retired  to  his  own  palace,  nor  did  these  two 
kings  ever  meet  save  in  the  mosque.  The  reason  assigned  was 
that  in  God's  house  there  is  neither  high  nor  low,  and  thus 

1  This  is  the  saldm  (see  T.  P.  Hughes,  '  Dictionary  of  Islam,'  468).  As  to  the 
two  recording  angels,  see  the  same  work,  p.  15. 


192     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

they  could  pay  and  receive  visits  there  without  any  derogation 
of  their  dignity.1 

A  curious  thing  happened  to  Aurangzeb.  Going  through 
the  street  which  goes  straight  from  the  mosque  to  the  fort,  he 
passed  close  to  a  shop  where  a  faqlr  was  seated  who  had 
formerly  been  a  disciple  of  the  same  teacher,  Mulla  Salih.  On 
seeing  the  king  pass,  the  faqlr  discharged  at  him  a  potful  of 
human  excrement,  which  defiled  his  throne  and  his  body.  At 
the  same  time  the  faqlr  uttered  a  cry.  Let  not  the  reader  be 
amazed  at  such  boldness,  for  it  is  quite  impossible  to  set  forth 
completely  the  irreverence  of  these  faqlrs,  of  whom  I  have 
already  spoken  in  my  First  Part  (I.  93).  They  act  thus  in  full 
confidence  that  no  one  will  dare  to  ill-treat  them ;  above  all, 
Aurangzeb  could  not  do  so,  professing  himself  to  be  a  faqlr. 
The  king  sat  quite  still,  only  ordering  them  to  arrest  the  faqlr, 
and  afterwards  he  sent  for  the  man  to  his  presence.  The  king 
asked  him  why  he  had  so  affronted  him,  and  the  faqlr  replied 
that  he  did  it  because  he,  being  now  a  king,  had  forgotten  his 
co-disciples,  and  himself  fared  most  sumptuously,  while  those 
poor  wretches  suffered  in  poverty.  Aurangzeb  answered  that 
there  was  no  room  for  him  to  complain,  it  being  God's  decree 
that  one  should  be  exalted  and  another  left  in  want;  and 
the  very  same  God,  if  he  chose,  could  reverse  the  positions. 
Thus  the  faqlr  was  sent  about  his  business  and  received 
nothing. 

Aurangzeb  made  no  stint  of  politenesses  and  concessions  to 
the  King  of  Kashghar  during  his  stay  in  Dihli,  and  as  a  spectacle 
sent  six  [148]  elephants  to  fight  before  him.  This  was  some- 
thing new  for  this  king,  who  had  never  seen  elephants  nor  their 
combats.  In  order  that  he  might  see  this  sport,  he  was  brought 
to  the  same  palace  [as  Aurangzeb],  but  not  to  the  same  seat ; 
on  the  contrary,  he  was  placed  at  a  great  distance  from  it.  On 
learning  that  he  wished  to  proceed  to  Mecca,  Aurangzeb  sent 
him  some  handsome  horses,  which  were  killed  by  this  barbarous 

1  The  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  72,  does  not  bear  this  mosque  story  out  completely. 
But  the  interview  began  on  the  bank  of  the  river  at  nightfall  instead  of  in  the 
andience  hall,  and  the  two  monarchs  went  thence  hand  in  hand  to  the  mosque 
for  prayers.  Thus,  the  interview  was  carried  out  in  a  very  unusual  manner, 
though,  perhaps,  not  exactly  as  Manucci  states. 


A  PATH  AN  RISING,  1673  193 

king  and  eaten  during  his  journey  from  Dihll  to  Surat.     This 
act  offended  Aurangzeb  to  some  extent. 

The  King  of  Kashghar  reached  Surat,  where  the  governor 
received  him  with  great  honour,  in  compliance  with  orders  from 
court.  He  was  provided  with  a  ship,  and  then  started  for 
Mecca.  On  the  voyage  a  curious  thing  occurred,  by  which  the 
King  of  Kashghar  was  offended.  It  happened  that  a  European 
let  wind,  whereupon  the  king  complained  to  the  captain,  who  was 
also  a  European,  that  his  pilgrimage  had  been  interfered  with. 
This  sufficed  to  make  all  the  crew,  whenever  they  felt  troubled 
in  the  same  way,  to  pass  close  to  the  king's  cabin  to  give  him 
a  salute.  Owing  to  this  trouble,  when  he  returned  to  Dilhi, 
he  lodged  a  complaint,  but  no  one  would  listen  to  his  grievance  ; 
everyone  treated  the  matter  as  foolishness,  and  he  lived  on  in 
Dilhi  for  some  time  and  died  there.1 


A  Pathan  rises  in  Rebellion. 

This  was  the  year  in  which  Shah  Shuja'  was  resuscitated, 
which  caused  great  anxiety  to  Aurangzeb  and  threw  the 
kingdom  into  confusion.  Many  persons  believed  that  the 
fictitious  Shah  Shuja'  was  the  veritable  prince  and  a  true  pre- 
tender to  the  throne.  But  really  he  was  not  such,  but  only  the 
secretary  of  a  general,  who,  moving  to  the  farther  side  of  the 
Indus  river,  began  to  announce  that  he  was  Shah  Shuja',  who 
had  fled  from  Arakan.  He  was  so  clever  at  depicting  the 
events  of  his  campaign  against  Aurangzeb  that  there  soon 
collected  many  men  who  had  come  to  help  him.  To  everyone 
who  declared  himself  on  his  side  he  gave  a  rupee,  promising 
him  high  pay.  Already  he  had  gathered  together  some  thirty 
thousand  soldiers.  These  crossed  the  Indus  on  inflated  skins, 
and  Aurangzeb  ordered  his  faujddrs,  who  are  field  commanders, 
forthwith  to  occupy  the  river  bank  and  stop  their  crossing.  The 
officials  hastened  to  the  spot,  and  I  have  heard  it  said  that  a 

1  'Abdullah  Khan,  Changezi,  of  Chaghatae  race,  returned  from  the  Ilajaz  in 
the  fourteenth  year,  1082  H.  (1671),  and  died  at  Dihli  on  the  10th  Sha'ban  of  the 
eighteenth  year,  1086  H.  (October  30,  1675)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  112,  113,  143, 
and  '  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi,'  1086). 

VOL.  II.  13 


194    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

dog  belonging  to  a  general  did  such  wondrous  things  against 
these  rebels  [149],  and  so  many  died,  that  they  were  forced  to 
retreat. 

But  this  did  not  cause  the  fictitious  Shah  Shuja.'  to  lose 
heart.  He  continued  his  enlistment  of  men  on  the  promise 
that  when  he  became  king  he  would  give  high  pay,  and  would 
reward  the  valiant.  By  these  promises  more  and  more  men 
assembled,  until  Aurangzeb  wrote  to  Faridun  Beg,  governor  of 
Hasan  Abdal,  stating  his  surprise,  as  it  would  not  require  much 
exertion  to  sweep  away  this  rising.  The  governor  sent  some 
fictitious  Pathans  to  give  poison  to  the  real  Pathan,  but  false 
Shah  Shuja'.  Thus  was  this  revolt  put  an  end  to,  which  had 
started  from  this  side  of  the  river.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
many  were  not  well  contented  with  Aurangzeb,  chiefly  the 
Pathans,  who  must  be  some  three  hundred  thousand  in 
number.1 

Death  of  Sultan  Muhammad. 

I  have  already  stated  earlier  that  Aurangzeb  suspected  his 
son,  Sultan  Muhammad,  knowing  him  to  be  a  brave  soldier, 
and  therefore  he  had  him  carried  off  a  prisoner  to  the  fortress 
of  Gwaliyar.  But  in  the  end  it  oppressed  him  to  see  his  son 
for  such  a  long  time  in  prison.  He  was  also  in  want  of  his 
services  for  several  undertakings  he  was  bent  upon — that  is  to 
say,  the  destruction  of  Shiva  Ji,  the  conquest  of  Bljapur  and 
Gulkandah,  and  a  campaign  against  the  Rana.  He  therefore 
sent  for  him  from  Gwaliyar,  and  placed  him  in  the  fortress  of 
Salimgarh.  Some  liberty  was  accorded  to  him,  and  his  father 
took  him  to  the  mosque  with  him.  Still  he  placed  no  trust  in 
him,  his  object  being  to  test  him  more  and  more  in  order  to  see 
if  prison  had  weakened  him. 

One  day  he  sent  him  in  sign  of  love  a  melon,  of  which  he 
(Aurangzeb)  had  eaten  a  portion.     He  wanted  to  see  if  Sultan 

1  This  rising  of  Pathans,  in  which  Shuja'at  Khan  was  killed,  took  place  in  the 
seventeenth  year,  1084  H.  (1673-74).  Ra'd-andaz  Khan,  entitled  Shuja'at  Khan, 
son  of  Baha-ud-din,  entitled  Barq-andaz  Khan,  Sistani,  Qandahari,  was  killed 
on  the  18th  Zu,l  Qa'dah,  1084  H.  (February  24,  1674),  in  a  nght  with  the  Afghans 
of  Kabul  ('  Ma,a&ir-i-'Alamgiri,'  131,  and  '  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi,'  1084). 


DEATH  OF  AURANGZEB'S  ELDEST  SON  195 

Muhammad  retained  his  qualities  of  a  son.  They  presented 
the  melon  to  him,  saying  that  the  king,  his  father,  had  already 
tasted  thereof  and  sent  him  the  remainder.  He  asked  for  a 
knife.  The  eunuch  who  had  brought  the  melon,  putting  his 
finger  on  the  slice  cut  by  Aurangzeb,  said  that  it  was  already 
cut ;  there  was  no  need  of  a  knife  to  cut  it.  Sultan  Muhammad 
replied  that  he  would  not  eat  what  he  had  not  cut  himself. 
The  eunuch  retorted  that  knives  were  not  given  to  prisoners. 
This  was  enough,  and  Sultan  Muhammad  [150],  flying  into  a 
passion,  laid  hold  of  the  melon  and  flung  it  with  all  his  might 
at  the  eunuch's  head.  The  man  returned  to  Aurangzeb,  and 
gave  an  account  of  his  reception.  Thereupon  the  king  bit  his 
lips,  and,  holding  his  head  down,  said  :  '  What  a  terrible  mad- 
ness must  that  be  which,  after  the  medicine  of  so  many  years  in 
prison  and  of  opium  drinking,  has  not  been  cured  !'  He  ordered 
his  son  to  be  guarded  with  great  care,  and  in  secret  caused 
poison  to  be  administered,  to  remove  from  his  sight  a  son  who 
had  done  service  to  him  in  the  fighting  against  Dara,  and 
who  was  so  obedient  to  his  father's  orders  that  he  seized 
his  own  grandfather,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  First  Part  of  my 
history. 

The  day  on  which  the  poison  was  to  be  given  to  the  prince 
Aurangzeb  went  out  hunting,  and  in  the  evening  the  death  of 
his  son  was  reported  to  him.  He  pulled  up  his  horse  and  pre- 
tended to  cry  ;  then  he  offered  up  a  prayer  for  the  repose  of 
his  son's  soul,  and  ordered  his  interment  at  the  mausoleum 
of  Humayun.  The  next  day  he  went  with  his  court  to  the 
mausoleum  to  pray,  as  is  usual.  Seeing  a  white  bier  cloth  upon 
a  tomb,  he  asked  who  was  buried  there.  On  hearing  that  it 
was  Dara's  grave  he  ordered  the  cloth  to  be  taken  away,  and  im- 
posed the  penalty  of  death  on  anyone  who  should  pray  there  ; 
his  object  was  to  wipe  out  the  remembrance  of  Dara.  Thus 
ended  the  name  of  Sultan  Muhammad  in  the  year  one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  seventy-one.1 

1  According  to  the  'Tarildi-i-Muhammadi,'  1087  H.  (1676),  and  to  the  'Ma.asir- 
i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  159,  1088  H.  (1677),  is  the  correct  year.  The  former  authority 
states  that  he  died  on  the  18th  Shawwal,  1087  H.  (December  25,  1676),  aged 
thirty- eight  years  one  month  and  four  days. 

13—2 


196    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

What  I  encountered  from  Muhammad  Amin  Khan. 

This  was  the  year  in  which  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  gave  me 
a  lot  of  annoyance,  for,  having  been  ordered  by  the  king  to 
Kabul1  as  governor  in  place  of  Mahabat  Khan,  he  wanted  to 
take  me  with  him  by  force.  He  made  me  many  promises,  but 
I  knew  my  man  too  well.  He  had  promised  me  ten  rupees  a  day 
for  healing  a  putrid  venereal  disease,  of  recovery  from  which 
he  had  despaired;  afterwards,  ignoring  what  he  had  said,  he 
refused  to  pay  me  the  promised  sum.  I  therefore  made  my 
excuses,  saying  I  did  not  wish  to  leave  Lahor. 

He  left  with  his  retinue,  and  finding  that  neither  by  promises 
nor  by  threats  could  I  be  made  to  follow  him  [151],  he  ordered 
me  to  be  carried  off  by  force.  Thus  I  travelled  with  him  for 
three  days  as  far  as  Little  Gujarat,2  crossing  the  river  of  Lahor 
and  the  river  Chinab.  He  acted  thus  not  only  from  his  desire 
to  keep  me,  but  also  because  his  wife  so  willed  it.  She  went 
the  length  of  unveiling  before  me  her  daughter's  face  (a  most 
unusual  thing  among  them),  and  said  to  me  that,  if  I  would 
not  go  for  her  sake,  at  the  least  I  might  for  her  daughter's, 
whom  I  had  brought  back  to  health  when  she  was  very  ill.  I 
had  come  thus  far,  but  never  forsook  the  project  I  intended  to 
carry  out ;  for  he  who  serves  by  compulsion  can  never  be 
satisfied.  Thus,  the  marches  being  at  night  on  account  of  the 
heat,  I  turned  back,  without  saying  a  word  to  anyone  except 
an  Englishman,  whom  I  told  I  was  going  to  the  town  of  Little 
Gujarat  to  buy  some  medicines,  and  if  Muhammad  Amin  Khan 
should  ask  him  about  me,  he  was  to  give  that  answer. 

That  nobleman  had  given  an  order  that  no  one  was  to  be 
allowed  to  cross  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  permitting 
nothing  to  remain  on  our  side  except  the  ferry-boat  for  con- 
veying the  couriers  to  and  from  the  court ;  but  I  so  took  my 
measures  that  this  boat  was  forced  to  carry  me  across,  for  as  I 
approached  I  sent  my  servants  to  take  possession  of  the  boat 

1  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  was  appointed  to  Kabul  in  the  thirteenth  year, 
1080  81  H.  (1670-71)  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  616,  and  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,' 
104). 

2  Gujarat,  in  the  Panjab,  eight  miles  from  the  banks  of  the  Chinab.  Near 
here  was  fought  Sir  Hugh  Cough's  battle  of  February  21,  1849. 


MANUCCI  FALSELY  ACCUSED  OF  THEFT  197 

and  keep  it  till  I  arrived.  I  came  up  and  ordered  the  boatman 
to  convey  me  across,  pretending  I  was  a  courier  from  Mahabat 
Khan  to  the  court.  As  soon  as  I  had  passed  the  river  it  began 
to  be  dawn,  and  I  met  a  body  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan's 
people.  When  they  asked  me  where  I  was  going,  I  answered 
angrily  that  Mirza  'Abdullah1  being  unwell,  the  prince  had 
sent  me  to  treat  him.  Thus  I  got  past  them.  I  reached  Lahor 
by  fast  travelling  before  he  could  overtake  me  on  the  way. 

But  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  planned  a  piece  of  treachery  for 
my  destruction.  This  consisted  in  writing  to  Gitar,  commander 
of  the  fort  and  provisional  governor,  to  his  own  agent  (?  wakll), 
to  the  kotwal,  and  to  the  qazl,  requiring  them  to  forward  me  to 
his  camp.  If  I  refused,  they  were  to  charge  me  with  having 
stolen  from  him  five  lakhs  of  rupees.  They  knew  quite  well  it 
was  a  false  accusation,  but  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  being  a  great 
man,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  do  everything  possible  to  have 
me  seized.  But  I  was  not  asleep,  and  I  was  tolerably  versed  in 
Mahomedan  tricks,  for  they  stick  at  nothing  to  gain  success  in 
their  desires  [152].  Therefore  I  did  not  stay  inside  Lahor  at  my 
house,  but  hid  myself  in  the  gardens,  moving  about  from  one 
place  to  another  in  disguise.  This  went  on  for  forty  days,  and 
proclamation  was  made  that  anyone  knowing  where  I  was  hid 
and  discovering  me,  would  be  highly  rewarded,  and  whoever 
concealed  me  in  his  house  would  be  compelled  to  pay  the  five 
lakhs  of  rupees  robbed  by  me  from  Muhammad  Amin  Khan. 

At  this  time  Fida,e  Khan,  who  was  to  succeed  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan  as  governor,2  was  approaching.  He  was  his  pre- 
decessor's enemy.  In  advance  of  his  own  arrival  he  sent  two 
hundred  cavalry,  conveying  letters  to  the  provisional  governor, 
the  kotwal,  and  the  q&zi,  telling  them  to  carry  on  the  government 
in  his  name  until  he  should  arrive.  At  each  court  of  justice  was 
posted  one  of  Fida,e  Khan's  troopers  to  act  as  witness  and  verify 
everything  that  took  place.  When  I  knew  of  this,  I  came  boldly 
into  Lahor,  and  had  an  interview  with  the  trooper  who  attended 

1  Mirza  'Abdullah,  the  son  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan.     He  was  killed  on  the 
Peshawar  frontier,  3rd  Muharram,  1083  (April  30,  1672). 

2  Fida.e  Khan  was  appointed  to  Lahor  in  the  thirteenth  year,   1080-81   H. 
(January  23,  1670,  to  January  11,  1671)  ('  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  250). 


198    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

the  kotwaVs  court,  also  with  the  man  posted  at  the  deputy- 
governor's,  telling  them  my  story.  Both  men  pledged  me  their 
word  that  they  would  help  me,  but  I  told  them  not  to  take 
action  until  they  saw  me  being  taken  away  by  force  to  Muhammad 
Amln  Khan.  Secure  of  their  aid  if  anything  happened  to  me, 
I  returned  to  my  house.  The  kotwal  and  the  other  officials 
were  in  fear  of  Muhammad  Amln  Khan,  so  the  kotwal  sent  for 
me  and  locked  me  up  in  prison,  and  three  times,  on  three 
different  days,  he  asked  me  in  public  audience  whether  I  would 
go  willingly  to  Muhammad  Amln  Khan  or  not.  On  my  saying 
resolutely  that  I  would  not  go,  he  said  that  as  Muhammad 
Amln  Khan  had  accounts  to  go  into  with  me,  I  must  be  forced 
to  go.  My  reply  was  that  I  had  no  sort  of  account  with  him, 
nor  knew  I  aught  about  his  jewels,  for  I  was  no  official  of  his 
household,  but  only  a  Frank  surgeon,  to  whom  jewels  would 
not  be  made  over.  Seeing  me  thus  firm,  he  too  spoke  resolutely, 
at  the  instigation  of  Muhammad  Amln  Khan's  wakil,  declaring 
that  I  must  absolutely  go. 

They  had  already  removed  me  from  the  audience,  and  were 
making  me  mount  into  a  carriage  prepared  for  that  purpose, 
when  the  trooper,  whom  I  had  already  made  my  friend, 
announced  openly  that  if  they  wished  to  send  me,  they  might ; 
but  hereafter  Fida,e  Khan  would  have  something  to  say  to  them, 
he  having  given  special  instructions  for  Hakim  Niccolao,  the 
Frank,  to  be  looked  after,  he  being  his  (Fida,e  Khan's)  private 
doctor.  He  called  on  everyone  to  bear  witness  how  he  had  made 
requisition  on  his  master's  behalf.  Upon  hearing  [153]  this,  the 
kotwal  got  into  a  fright  and  sent  for  me  once  more,  and  said  to 
me  in  a  loud  voice  that  the  trooper  had  made  a  requisition  on 
behalf  of  Fida,e  Khan ;  but  the  law  demanded  that  at  the  very 
least  I  should  produce  bail  for  my  person,  so  as  to  be  able 
afterwards  to  justify  itself  against  a  claim  by  Muhammad  Amln 
Khan. 

Sureties  were  not  wanting  who,  knowing  the  truth,  were 
willing  to  bind  themselves  for  me.  But  neither  the  kotwal  nor 
the  wakil  would  accept  them  as  bail,  warning  them  that  in  this 
way  they  would  have  to  defend  themselves  from  Muhammad 
Amln  Khan,  a  violent  and  powerful  man.    Thus  it  came  to  pass 


HE  IS  PROTECTED  BY  FIDA,E  KHAN  199 

that  all  of  them  were  afraid  to  do  what  they  wished,  until  at  last 
a  Hindu  turned  up,  who,  in  defiance  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan, 
became  surety,  I  giving  him  an  indemnity,  and  thus  I  was 
free. 

Meanwhile  Mirza  Salih,1  the  son  of  Fida,e  Khan,  arrived. 
I  visited  him  and  paid  my  respects,  having  beforehand  had 
some  good  words  said  to  him  about  me ;  for  I  was  tolerably 
well  known  in  Lahor.  In  this  way,  when  Fida,e  Khan  himself 
subsequently  arrived,  he  (Mirza  Salih)  presented  me  to  his 
father,  by  whom  I  was  well  received.  I  presented  to  him  a 
box  full  of  an  electuary.2  He  sent  for  the  kotwal,  and  told  him 
to  take  good  care  that  no  one  interfered  with  me,  and  he  also 
gave  me  his  word  to  be  favourable  to  me.  This,  of  a  truth,  he 
was  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  that,  too,  in  things  of  great  im- 
portance, as  I  shall  relate  in  the  proper  place  (II.  162). 

Muhammad  AmIn  Khan  defeated  by  the  Pathans. 

But  let  us  proceed  and  see  what  happened  to  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan  with  the  Pathans.  It  looks  as  if  God  had  inspired 
me  with  this  resolve  not  to  go  with  him  in  order  to  save  my 
life.  When  he  reached  the  territories  of  Kabul,  puffed  up  with 
pride  as  he  was,  he  tried  to  interfere  with  the  Pathans,  and 
was  not  content  to  do  as  other  viceroys  had  done.  They  had 
managed  to  keep  friends  with  these  most  warlike  folk.  But  he, 
as  soon  as  he  arrived,  sent  word  to  the  Pathans  that  he  required 
them  to  pay  tribute  ;  otherwise  he  would  make  war,  and  oblige 
them  to  do  by  force  what  they  declined  to  do  from  affection. 

This  was  enough  to  give  the  Pathans  an  opportunity  of 
destroying  him.  Taking  no  notice  [154]  of  the  affront,  they 
allowed  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  with  forty  thousand  horse,  in 
addition  to  infantry  numbering  two  hundred  thousand  and  his 
baggage,  to  enter  into  the  mountains  near  Pexor  (Peshawar). 

5  Fida,e  Khan,  afterwards  A'zam  Khan,  Kokah,  died  on  the  gth  Rabl'  II.,  1089  H. 
(May  31,  1678).  He  was  the  elder  brother  of  Bahadur  Khan,  afterwards  Khan 
Jahan,  Kokaltash.  Fida,e  Khan's  eldest  son  was  Salih  Khan,  afterwards  Fida,e 
Khan  ('  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  247,  251). 

2  The  text  has  detvarlo,  which  Mr.  D.  Ferguson  emends  to  ehtvario  =  electuario 
=  ' electuary,'  and  this  I  adopt. 


200    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

When  the  imperialists  had  advanced  into  the  hills,  the  Pathans 
blocked  the  routes.  One  morning,  while  it  was  still  dark,  all 
the  Pathans  came,  marching  on  foot,  and  having  manned  the 
tops  of  the  surrounding  hills,  they  began  to  shout  as  with  one 
voice,  so  frightening  the  men  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  that 
they  were  like  a  pinha  (a  pine-tree — i.e.,  they  trembled  ?).  Then 
the  hillmen  descended  on  the  Moguls  with  a  great  rush,  their 
bare  swords  in  their  hands. 

Muhammad  Amin  Khan  issued  forth,  and  finding  himself  in 
the  last  extremity,  he  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Pathans  through 
a  holy  man  of  Balkh.  He  said  he  would  pay  them  a  great  deal 
of  money  and  comply  with  their  wishes.  But  the  enraged 
Pathans  would  not  hear  a  word,  and,  cutting  off  the  holy  man's 
head,  fell  upon  Muhammad  Amin  Khan's  soldiers,  sparing  not 
a  single  one.  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  had  recourse  to  a  device 
to  save  his  own  life.  That  is  to  say,  he  ordered  his  secretary, 
Muhammad  Riza,  to  take  the  seat  on  his  elephant,  and  thus  he 
was  destroyed,  the  Pathans  supposing  that  it  was  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan  himself.  They  contented  themselves  with  cutting  off 
this  man's  head  and  carrying  it  into  the  mountains.  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan,  with  the  aid  of  some  Pathans  in  his  service,  clothed 
himself  in  their  manner,  and  these  men  conducted  him  until  he 
had  got  out  of  the  hills  and  arrived  at  Peshawar.  When  they 
reached  the  city  it  was  night,  and  the  commandant  would  not 
open  the  gate,  fearing  some  treachery.  Nevertheless,  through  the 
urgent  petitions  forwarded  to  him  by  Muhammad  Amin  Khan, 
the  commandant  sent  men  to  examine  well  by  torch-light  the 
marks  on  his  face,  so  as  to  see  if  it  were  really  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan.  He  had  to  suffer  this  affront  in  order  to  save  his 
life.  But  how  did  the  Pathans  deal  with  the  wealth  and  the 
family  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  ? 

All  were  made  prisoners,  except  Mirza  'Abdullah,1  son  of  Mu- 
hammad Amin  Khan,  who  on  seeing  the  enemy  make  a  prisoner 
of  his  father's  wife,  the  one  who  showed  me  her  daughter's  face 
thereby  to  overcome  me,  cut  off  her  head  himself.     After  this 

1  Saiyid  Sultan,  Karbalae,  and  Mirza  'Abdullah,  were  killed  in  the  Khaibar 
Pass  in  a  fight  with  the  Afghans  on  the  7th  Muharram,  1083  H.  (May  6,  1672) 
('  Tarikh-i-Muhammadl,'  1083;  see  also  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  617). 


PATHANS  DEFEAT  MUHAMMAD  AM  IN  KHAN  201 

the  Pathans  killed  him  ('Abdullah)  along  with  Mirza  Sultan, 
brother-in-law  of  Muhammad  Amin  Khan,  a  well-made  man  of 
grave  demeanour,  a  Persian  by  birth.  They  took  prisoners  the 
mother,  the  sister,  and  the  daughter  of  the  fugitive.  The  last- 
named  lady  had  already  been  named  to  Sultan  Akbar,  the  fourth 
son  of  Aurangzeb,  but  after  this  the  marriage  was  not  carried 
out  [155].  It  was  thought  an  indignity  for  a  prince  of  the  blood 
royal  to  marry  one  who  had  been  taken  and  put  to  ransom  by 
so  barbarous  a  people  as  are  the  Pathans  of  those  mountains. 
So  barbarous  were  they,  that  they  were  not  aware  of  the  wealth 
they  had  acquired  by  the  overthrow  of  their  enemies,  and 
gave  the  gold  coins  away  for  nothing,  taking  them  to  be  of  base 
metal.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  a  jewel-box  was  lost  con- 
taining all  the  most  lovely  jewels  and  the  largest  diamonds 
belonging  to  the  widow  of  Mir  Jumlah.  She  had  refused  to 
give  them  to  Aurangzeb,  who  had  asked  for  them,  assigning  as 
her  reason  that,  being  an  old  woman,  the  said  jewels  would  serve 
her  as  torches  to  lighten  her  old  age.  Some  say  that  when 
Mahabat  Khan  was  sent  back  afterwards  to  govern  Kabul  a 
second  time,  he  found  means  of  recovering  these  valuables,  but 
it  is  not  known  for  certain. 

When  the  king  sent  Mahabat  Khan  to  Kabul  again  as 
governor,  Netu  Ji,  officer  of  Shiva  Ji,  succeeded  in  escaping ;  but 
the  attempt  did  not  end  as  he  wished,  for  he  was  caught  at 
once,  and  they  brought  him  to  Lahor,  where  they  put  him  into  a 
cage  until  the  arrival  of  the  royal  orders.  These  orders  were  that 
if  he  did  not  consent  to  become  a  Mahomedan  his  head  was  to 
be  cut  off.  He  pretended  to  change  his  religion  and  recovered 
once  more  his  rank,  but  was  ordered  to  go  across  the  river  Indus. 
After  some  months  had  elapsed  he  disappeared  and  made  for 
the  country  of  Shiva  Ji,  and  fought  anew  against  the  Moguls 
in  the  accustomed  way. 

Those  who  escaped  death  were  afterwards  ransomed ;  Muham- 
mad Amin,  unlocking  his  treasure-house  at  Peshawar,  ransomed 
his  mother,  who  had  been  wounded  in  the  side,  his  sister,  and 
his  daughter.  If  anyone  wants  to  know  if  Muhammad  Amin 
Khan  was  rich,  he  can  conceive  an  answer  from  what  was  said 
to  him  by  his  secretary — that  is  to  say,  that  without  drawing 


202    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

pay  or  income  from  the  king,  he  could  of  himself,  with  the 
rank  he  had,  maintain  twelve  thousand  horsemen  for  eighty 
years. 

Mahabat  Khan  returns  to  Kabul. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  the  above  news  at  court,  Aurangzeb 
ordered  Mahabat  Khan  to  go  once  more  in  all  haste  to  take 
charge  of  Kabul ; l  nor  would  he  accede  to  the  petition  of 
Muhammad  Amin  Khan,  who  offered,  if  not  superseded,  to 
undertake  himself  the  charges  of  the  war  against  the  Pathans, 
and  wreak  vengeance  for  the  previous  affront.  When  [156] 
Mahabat  Khan  came  the  Pathans  allowed  him  to  pass,  for  he 
was  a  prudent  man,  who  kept  up  a  friendship  with  them. 
Thus  Muhammad  Amin  Khan,  on  his  way  to  his  government 
of  Gujarat,  passed  through  Lahor,  and  he  then  confessed 
before  everyone  that  truth  was  on  my  side.  Thus  did  he  restore 
to  me  the  honour  of  which  he  had  robbed  me  by  a  false  accu- 
sation. 

He  went  on  to  his  government  in  Gujarat.  After  he  had 
arrived  there,  on  the  day  that  he  had  to  attend  at  the  mosque, 
he  gave  an  order  to  the  door-keepers  not  to  allow  the  common 
people  to  enter  during  the  time  of  his  prayers.  For  this  reason, 
when  he  came  out  of  the  mosque  the  people  rose  against  him 
with  shouts,  and  stones,  and  shoes,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to 
hide  in  a  neighbouring  house.  He  wrote  about  this  insult  to 
the  king,  hoping  that  he  would  send  him  troops,  or  would  give 
him  an  order  to  chastise  the  people.  But  Aurangzeb  replied 
that  it  was  God's  punishment  for  his  hauteur;  he  was  astonished 
at  his  promptness  in  complaining,  whereas  it  would  be  better  to 
amend  his  own  ways,  and  not  be  so  high  and  mighty.  From 
vexation  he  ended  his  life  in  a  little  time.2 

1  Mahabat  Khan  was  recalled  from  the  Dakhin,  and  sent  to  Kabul  in  the 
sixteenth  year  (December,  1672,  to  December,  1673)  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  593). 
In  refusing  Muhammad  Amin  Khan's  offer,  Aurangzeb  acted  on  the  advice  of 
Amir  Khan,  who  said  he  would  act  like  a  wounded  boar  and  attack  regardless 
of  all  consequences  (ibid.,  iii.  619).  Amir  Khan  had  served  under  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan  in  Kabul  (ibid. ,  i.  278). 

2  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  died  at  Ahmadabad  on  the  8th  Jamadi  II.,  1093  H. 
(June  4,  1683)  ('  M.-ul-U.,'  iii.  619). 


MAHRATTAH  AFFAIRS  203 

AURANGZEB    MAKES    PEACE    WITH    SHIVA   JI. 

Although  Aurangzeb  was  anxious  to  obtain  satisfaction  from 
the  Pathans  for  this  outbreak,  he  found  he  could  not  punish 
them,  being  involved  in  war  with  Shiva  Ji  and  Bijapur.  He 
therefore  sent  Fida,e  Khan  to  Peshawar  to  try  and  smooth 
things  over ;  but,  discovering  that  he  (Fida,e  Khan)  was  not  of 
that  opinion,  he  sent  his  artillery  general,  Ra'dandaz  Khan, 
a  valiant  man,  with  a  large  army  to  overawe  them.  But  when 
he  got  among  the  mountains  the  Pathans  cut  off  his  head  and 
destroyed  his  army  as  they  had  done  to  that  of  Muhammad 
Amin  Khan.1  This  was  the  opening  of  a  new  war.  Since  the 
Pathans  were  strong,  there  was  no  army  sufficient  to  reduce 
the  fury  of  these  men,  who  once  claimed  the  crown  of  Hindustan 
and  the  lordship  over  DihlT.  Ever  since  they  lost  King  Sher  Shah 
they  had  refused  to  bind  on  turbans,  wearing  in  their  place  a 
fragment  of  cloth.  This  custom  is,  they  say,  to  endure  until  there 
is  a  Pathan  king.  Thus  was  Aurangzeb  obliged  to  obtain  peace 
from  Shiva  Ji,  who  was  content  to  give  him  the  time  he  wanted 
to  fight  the  Pathans.  Aurangzeb  took  the  field  against  them 
with  a  firm  determination  to  extirpate  them,  believing  it  would 
be  easy  [157]  to  accomplish  this  purpose,  just  as  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  his  previous  undertakings.  Thus  he  withdrew  con- 
siderable forces  from  that  quarter  (the  Dakhin),  leaving  Bahadur 
Khan  to  continue  the  war  with  Bijapur. 

Shiva  Ji  enters  the  Karnatik  to  make  War. 

Shiva  Ji  had  no  idea  of  allowing  his  soldiers'  swords  to  rust.  He 
therefore  asked  the  King  of  Gulkandah  to  grant  him  a  passage  on 
his  way  to  a  campaign  in  the  Karnatik2  against  certain  princes 
who  had  risen  against  Bijapur  and  Gulkandah.  The  King  of 
Gulkandah  having  consented  to  his  passing  through,  he  came 
to  the  Karnatik,  and  there,  by  his  valour  and  determination,  he 

1  Ra'dandaz  Khan  (Shuja'at  Khan)  was  dispatched  on  the  7th  Sha'ban,  sixteenth 
year,  1084  H.  (November  17,  1673).  He  was  killed  on  the  18th  Zu,l  Qa'dah, 
1084  H.  (February  24,  1674)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  129,  131). 

a  Grant-Duff,  123.  Shiva,  Ji  was  at  Gulkandah  early  in  1677  ;  at  Jinji  in  May 
of  that  year;  the  investment  and  capture  of  Vellur  followed.  Three  other  forts 
were  taken. 


204    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

took  a  great  fortress  called  Gingi  (Jinji).1  It  includes  seven 
fortifications  upon  hills.  There  are  many  princes  in  the  Karnatik, 
but  they  would  not  agree  to  a  joint  defence;  then  he,  like  a 
dexterous  falcon,  pounced  upon  them,  and  took  many  other 
fortresses  of  great  value,  and  lands  containing  many  subjects  of 
the  Bljapiir  kingdom.  By  these  victories  he  increased  his 
strength,  and  subsequently  was  able  to  resist  the  armies  of 
Aurangzeb.  But  in  the  course  of  these  victories  he  met  with  one 
cause  of  vexation,  for  his  son,  Sambagi  (Sambha  Jl),  was  a  man 
of  unruly  habits,  who  seized  other  men's  wives.  This  gave  rise 
to  complaints  from  the  officers  and  others ;  and  their  dis- 
satisfaction was  likely  to  be  the  cause  of  great  injury  to  Shiva 
Jl,  if  thereby  any  revolt  were  occasioned.  Finding  that 
Sambha  Jl  would  not  listen  to  his  words,  his  father  decided 
to  have  him  seized  and  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  some  fortress. 
He  intended  then  to  leave  the  crown  to  his  younger  son,  called 
Ram  Raja,  in  these  days  known  under  the  designation  of 
Shiva  Jl.  But  Sambha  Jl  became  aware  of  his  father's  inten- 
tions, and  knowing  that  the  king  (?  Aurangzeb)  would  be 
delighted  to  have  him  within  his  territories,  he  made  an  appeal 
to  him,  and  was  received  most  amicably.2 

Aurangzeb  marches  against  the  Pathans. 

Aurangzeb  took  the  field  against  the  Pathans,  riding  his 
horse  in  the  sun,  with  lance  in  hand,  and  taking  no  shelter 
from  heat  or  dust.  He  did  this  to  prove  his  determination 
to  destroy  them.  He  refused  to  listen  to  the  petitions  of  his 
officers.  They  had  practical  knowledge  of  the  fierceness  and 
persistence  of  the  Pathans  [158],  and  of  the  strength  of  the 
positions  which  they  held.  They  advised  him  to  deal  other- 
wise with  these  people.  But  he  was  of  opinion  that  when 
he  was  present  in  person  everything  was  easy,  forgetting  what 
had  happened  to  the  great  Akbar,  who  lost  against  them  eighty 
thousand  horsemen.     He  would  listen  to  no  one,  but  continued 

1  Jinji,  lat.  120  16',  long.  79°  27',  eighty-two  miles  south-west  of  Madras. 

2  Grant-Duff,  129,  has  this  under  the  year  1679,  but  he  says  Sambha  Ji  was 
actually  a  prisoner  of  his  father  at  Panalla,  and  then  escaped  to  the  Moguls 
under  Diler  Khan. 


AURANGZEB  GOES  TO  HASAN  ABDAL  205 

his  onward  march.  On  arriving  at  Lahor,  he  directed  that 
the  harem  should  proceed  no  farther,  taking  with  him  thence 
only  a  few  women.  Thus  the  rest  remained  in  Lahor  awaiting 
the  king's  return,  or  his  permission  to  advance.  The  king 
marched  on  and  took  up  position  with  his  army  at  Hasan 
Abdal,1  near  the  river  Indus. 

This  campaign  lasted  twenty-six  months  without  the  king 
gaining  the  least  advantage  over  the  Pathans.  On  the 
contrary,  he  lost  some  of  his  most  valuable  soldiers.  Thus 
the  son  of  Shekh  Mir,  a  man  of  valour,  was  taken  by  the 
Pathans,  and  the  king  had  to  ransom  him.2  Finding 
himself  unable  to  overcome  the  Pathans,  and  that  he  would 
lose  thereby  much  of  his  honour  and  reputation,  Aurangzeb 
had  recourse  to  other  measures.  As  he  suspected  that  Mahabat 
Khan  was  encouraging  the  Pathan  resistance,  he  sent  an  order 
for  his  removal. 

Offended  at  this  supersession,  Mahabat  Khan  proposed,  with 
the  help  of  the  Pathans,  to  rise  in  revolt  and  declare  himself 
King  of  Kabul.  But  he  was  counselled  to  the  contrary  by  true 
friends,  who  reminded  him  of  the  loyal  conduct  of  the  great 
Mahabat  Khan,  his  father,  who  had  refrained  from  killing 
Jahanglr  when  he  could  have  done  it  if  so  minded.  Mahabat 
Khan  came  in  anger  to  the  king's  camp,  the  Pathans  allowing 
him  to  pass  without  hurt.  On  arrival  in  the  royal  presence, 
Aurangzeb  ordered  him  to  proceed  to  Hindustan ;  but  on  the 
way  he  had  him  poisoned.  There  were  two  reasons :  one  was 
because  Mahabat  Khan's  enemies  said  to  the  king  that  as  he 
was  friendly  with  the  Rajputs  he  might,  on  reaching  Hindustan, 
try  to  revolt ;  the  other  reason  was  that,  on  this  occasion,  when 
issuing  from  the  royal  presence,  being  in  an  angry  mood,  he 
ordered  his  kettledrums  to  beat  in  the  midst  of  the  royal 
encampment.     This  was  a  great  affront  to   the   king;   it  was 

1  Hasan  Abdi.1,  in  the  Rawal  Pindi  district,  lat.  330  48',  long.  720  45',  in  a  valley 
watered  by  springs.  Aurangzeb  started  for  this  place  on  the  nth  Muharram, 
1085  H.  (April  16,  1674),  and  his  camp  reached  it  on  the  2nd  Rabi'  II.  (June  6, 
1674)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  132,  133). 

a  Other  authorities  say  that  this  man,  the  third  son,  Muhammad  Ya'qub, 
Shamsher  Khan,  lost  his  life  ('  M.-ul-U.,'  ii.  670).  It  was  in  Rabi'  I.,  1086  H. 
(May  or  June,  1675). 


2o6     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

as  much  as  to  say  that  he  did  not  care  in  the  least  for  his 
life,  and  was  no  longer  a  subject  of  Aurangzeb. 

He  (Aurangzeb)  ordered,  as  I  have  said,  that  poison  should 
be  given  to  him  secretly ;  and  since  he  was  on  his  way  to 
Lahor,  they  told  the  king  there  was  in  that  city  a  Frank 
physician  who  might  cure  him.  For  this  reason  there  came 
to  me  a  letter  without  any  name,  which  stated  that  in  no 
way  must  I  afford  aid  to  Mahabat  Khan.  He  who  brought 
me  the  letter,  a  man  unknown  to  me,  took  me  by  the  hand, 
and  pressing  it,  said  I  must  pay  great  heed  to  the  letter  and 
not  act  to  the  contrary,  and  then  off  he  went. 

Mahabat  Khan  calls  Me  in. 

Knowing  that  Mahabat  Khan  was  on  his  way,  and  being 
on  very  friendly  terms,  I  sent  out  to  him  a  present  of  some 
good  spirits  that  I  had  prepared  myself.  His  doctor,  who  had 
the  order  to  give  him  the  poison,  seized  the  opportunity  for 
my  ruin  and  his  own  preservation.  On  the  day  that  the 
Nawab  drank  my  wine,  he  gave  him  the  poison  in  an  elixir 
such  as  the  Mahomedans  are  accustomed  to  take  to  reinforce 
their  sexual  powers.  Mahabat  Khan  found  himself  troubled 
with  sharp  pains,  and  suspected  that  there  must  be  poison 
in  my  spirits,  and  that  I  had  acted  thus  at  the  instigation  of 
Fida,e  Khan,  his  enemy.  He  sent  to  fetch  me  in  the  greatest 
haste,  just  as  I  was  ready  to  go  out  for  a  stroll.  At  once  I 
suspected  something.  I  jumped  on  my  horse  and  went  off 
to  him,  he  being  eighteen  leagues  away. 

Entering  the  tent,  I  found  everyone  in  astonishment,  for  they 
had  the  idea  that  I  would  never  come,  being,  as  they  asserted, 
the  culprit.  He  ordered  a  tent  to  be  prepared  for  me  and  a 
good  supper,  sending  to  entertain  me  several  of  his  nephews, 
great  friends  of  mine ;  also  a  captain  called  Mlrak  'Ata-ullah. 
This  man  was  to  spy  upon  me,  and  see  if  I  spoke  with  any 
sign  of  fear  or  surprise.  But  as  I  was  quite  innocent,  I  spoke 
in  my  usual  manner.  Next  morning  I  went  to  see  Mahabat 
Khan  again,  and  I  asked  him  if  he  had  tasted  the  spirits  that  I 
had  sent,  and  he  said  he  had.     Thereupon  I  prayed  the  favour 


DEATH  OF  M  AH  A  BAT  KHAN  (II.),  1675  207 

of  his  giving  me  a  drink  of  it.  They  brought  me  the  bottle 
from  which  he  had  drunk.  I  drank,  and  after  I  had  done  so  I 
gave  some  to  his  nephews,  who  praised  the  liquor.  I  did  this 
to  let  him  be  satisfied  that  it  was  not  my  liquor  that  had  made 
him  bad,  but  some  other  thing.  I  remained  with  him  in  talk 
a  long  time,  and  he  observed  that  the  spirits  did  neither  me 
nor  his  nephews  any  harm.  He  then  invited  me  to  treat 
him. 

I  made  excuse,  saying  that  he  was  provided  with  his  own 
doctor,  a  very  wise  man,  and  that  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
that  disease.  Thus  I  remained  with  him  nineteen  days,  and 
he  detained  me  to  find  out  if  the  spirits  we  drank  did  any  harm 
[160]  either  to  me  or  to  his  nephews.  He  was  obliged  to  let 
me  go  without  being  able  to  find  out  from  me  whether  he  had 
poison  in  his  inside  or  not.  At  my  departure  he  conferred  on 
me  a  set  of  robes,  and  sent  the  same  captain  with  twenty 
horsemen  to  escort  me,  so  that  his  men,  who  thought  me  the 
cause  of  his  illness,  should  not  harm  me.  He  died  a  few  days 
afterwards  of  fetid  discharges,  a  sign  that  his  bowels  were 
ulcerated.1 

I  ATTEND  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  MURAD  BAKHSH. 

Hardly  had  I  reached  Lahor  when  a  terrible  affair  happened. 
This  was  that  the  holy  man  of  Balkh,2  to  whom  Aurangzeb 
had  married  the  daughter  of  Murad  Bakhsh,  went  mad.  I 
was  treating  him  as  such.  But  Fida,e  Khan,3  being  away  at 
Peshawar,  Amanat  Khan4  was  in  his  place.     He  listened  to  the 

1  Lahrasp,  entitled  (1)  Lahrasp  Khan,  then  (2)  Mahabat  Khan,  son  of  Zamanah 
Beg,  Mahabat  Khan,  Khan  Khanan,  Sipah  Salar,  died  the  4th  Shawwal,  1085  H. 
(January  1,  1675),  near  Sahodrah  (Panjab),  aged  sixty-four  (lunar)  years.  His 
father  died  1044  H.  ('  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi,'  1085). 

2  See  back,  II.  149,  Muhammad  Salih,  son  of  Muhammad  Tahir,  Naqshbandi. 

3  Fida.e  Khan  started  from  Lahor  for  Peshawar  on  the  last  of  Muharram, 
fifteenth  year,  1083  H.  (May  28,  1672). 

4  Amanat  Khan  (alias  Saiyid  Ahmad  Khan)  was  in  the  thirteenth  year,  1081  H., 
dlwdn  of  Bengal;  in  the  sixteenth  year,  1083  H.,  diwan  of  the  Khalisah ;  in  the 
eighteenth  year,  1086  H.,  he  resigned  that  office,  and  was  put  in  charge  of  Lahor  ; 
in  the  nineteenth  year,  1086  H.,  he  came  out  to  greet  Aurangzeb  on  his  return 
from  Hasan  Abdal  ('M.-i-'A.,'  105,  126,  143,  148).  See  also  Part  I.,  f.  103, 
and  V.,  f.  26. 


208     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

proposals  of  the  sorcerers,  who  said  that  the  holy  man  was 
possessed  by  a  demon,  and  not  mad.  I  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  treatment,  Amanat  Khan  being  aggrieved  that  I  had  taken 
on  myself  to  treat  a  royal  connection  without  first  of  all  con- 
sulting him.  My  answer  was  that,  being  by  profession  a  medical 
man,  I  went  to  the  house  of  anyone  who  sent  for  me  without 
making  any  distinctions.  But  since  he  did  not  approve  of  my 
continuing  my  treatment,  I  would  that  very  hour  quit  the 
house  and  the  patient. 

It  happened  that  a  few  days  afterwards,  the  sorcerers 
assuring  him  that  the  man  was  now  sane,  and  had  no  longer 
a  demon  in  his  inside,  they  allowed  him  to  go  for  a  walk  in 
a  garden  along  with  the  princess  and  her  ladies.  Having  a 
dagger  in  his  waist-belt,  he  drew  it,  and,  seizing  the  princess, 
stabbed  her  beneath  the  ribs  towards  the  side.  When  the 
ladies  and  the  eunuchs,  on  hearing  her  cries,  ran  to  the  spot, 
he  killed  one  woman  with  the  same  dagger  and  wounded 
another  in  the  arm.  After  this  he  jumped  into  the  reservoir, 
playing  (bailando)  with  the  dagger  and  other  obscenities.  Then 
they  carried  away  the  princess  in  a  palanquin  as  speedily  as 
possible  to  the  palace,  and  a  eunuch  came  careering  on  horse- 
back to  my  house.  I  was  urged  to  make  all  haste  ;  I  knew  not 
why  or  wherefore.  I  sent  an  order  to  harness  my  carriage  for 
us  both  to  go  together.  But  I  could  not  extract  from  his 
mouth  where  it  was  necessary  to  go,  until  at  last  he  told  me  to 
carry  with  me  remedies  for  the  [161]  treatment  of  a  wound 
that  the  holy  man  had  inflicted  on  the  princess.  I  protested 
that  I  could  not  go  without  permission  from  the  governor, 
because  the  princess  was  of  royal  blood,  nor  could  I  treat 
her  without  the  king's  orders.  He  paid  no  heed  to  those 
words,  and  most  urgently  intreated  me  not  to  delay,  for  the 
princess  was  in  danger  of  death.  He  then  told  me  the  whole 
story. 

We  started  in  the  carriage,  and  he  made  out  I  was  drunk, 
ordering  the  carriage  to  be  driven  with  all  speed,  stopping  for 
neither  hucksters'  stalls  nor  people.  Everybody  was  amazed  to 
see  a  Frank,  who  usually  went  by  rather  quietly,  rush  past  so 
desperately.     We  reached  the  palace,  and  on  being  told  the 


THE  PRINCESS  RECOVERS  209 

facts  as  to  the  wound,  I  feared  a  lesion  of  the  bowels.  How- 
ever, continuing  my  inquiries,  I  found  that  the  wounds  were 
not  mortal.  I  did  my  utmost  to  get  an  examination  before  I 
began  the  treatment.  But  the  Mahomedans  are  very  touchy 
in  the  matter  of  allowing  their  women  to  be  seen,  or  even 
touched  by  the  hand  ;  above  all,  the  lady  being  of  the  blood 
royal,  it  could  not  be  done  without  express  permission  from 
the  king.  Thus  an  examination  was  impossible.  But  I  ordered 
them  to  describe  the  wound,  and  I  had  the  dagger  brought, 
and  I  saw  that  it  was  only  by  God's  grace  that  it  had  not  cut 
the  bowels.  I  made  my  tents  and  plasters,  mixing  in  them  a 
balsam  which  I  made,  and  since  the  persons  in  the  service  of 
these  great  people  are  intelligent,  I  instructed  them  as  to  what 
they  had  to  do.  By  God's  help  the  treatment  succeeded,  and 
in  eleven  days  I  healed  her  completely. 

When  for  the  first  time  I  had  applied  the  medicine,  I  went 
to  the  governor  and  reported  the  facts.  This  was  to  prevent 
his  expressing  surprise  afterwards  on  hearing  such  news,  and 
becoming  frightened  that  the  king  would  remark  on  the  want  of 
care  with  which  he  had  guarded  a  man  who  had  been  declared 
mad.  He  entreated  me  earnestly  to  make  my  best  efforts  to 
cure  the  princess.  Meanwhile  he  wrote  to  the  king  about  the 
case,  and  told  him  that  a  demon  had  entered  the  body  of  the 
holy  man,  and  the  princess  had  been  mortally  wounded  with 
a  dagger.  But  a  Frank  doctor  named  Hakim  Niccolao  had 
attended  her,  and  held  out  hopes  that  she  would  be  well  in  a 
short  time.  This  event  brought  me  to  the  notice  of  many 
nobles  who  were  in  the  camp.  For  on  the  matter  becoming 
public,  my  friends  wrote  to  their  acquaintances ;  and  the 
princess  herself,  as  soon  as  she  was  well,  wrote  to  the  king 
that  I  had  perfectly  restored  her,  and  she  gave  me  a  handsome 
present. 

Corpulence  of  a  Mahomedan. 

Another  case  occurred  which  made  me  famous  throughout 
the  kingdom.  It  was  as  follows :  Fida,e  Khan  ordered  the 
beheadal  of  a  powerful  rebel,  who  plundered  in  all  directions  in 
the  king's   territories  ;    he  was   brother-in-law  of  the  qdzl  of 

vol.  11.  14 


210    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Lahor.  His  name  was  Theka  Araham  (?  Thika,  Arain),1  and 
he  was  extremely  fat.  I  thought  it  was  a  good  chance  of  lay- 
ing in  a  stock  of  human  fat,  procuring  it  from  the  man  and  his 
companion,  who  was  also  very  obese.  I  spoke  to  Fida,e  Khan, 
pointing  out  the  necessity  I  was  under  of  having  this  medica- 
ment. As  the  opportunity  was  favourable,  would  he  give  orders 
to  remove  the  fat  from  these  two  condemned  men  ?  He  then 
ordered  the  kotwal  to  have  this  done,  and  in  compliance  with  the 
order  men  were  sent  to  carry  out  the  operation.  I  thus  acquired 
eighteen  sirs — that  is,  five  hundred  and  four  ounces  purified.2 

This  matter  caused  great  talk  in  the  city,  and  the  qazl, 
assembling  many  of  the  learned,  sent  men  to  complain  to  the 
king  against  Fida,e  Khan  for  protecting  a  Frank.  On  his 
behalf  he  had  committed  the  sacrilege  of  removing  the  fat  of  a 
Mahomedan,  a  man  who  read  the  Quran  and  yet  had  been 
thus  afflicted.  According  to  the  strict  law  the  Frank  deserved 
to  be  burnt,  but  as  Fida,e  Khan  declined  to  listen  to  argument, 
they  were  forced  to  come  to  His  Majesty  to  present  a  complaint 
and  demand  justice. 

I  was  warned  of  the  plot,  and  spoke  to  Fida,e  Khan  about 
the  qazts  intentions.  He  sent  at  once  a  messenger  to  court  to 
report  that  the  population  of  Lahor  were  restless,  and  if  there 
came  in  any  complaint  about  the  beheaded  man,  Thika,  Arain, 
it  must  not  be  listened  to,  for  the  qazl  and  others  had  been  his 
supporters.  This  was  enough  to  secure  that  on  the  arrival  of 
the  complaint  at  court,  where  many  had  clad  themselves  in 
mourning  to  present  the  petition,  the  king  should  send  them 
away  after  saying  very  little,  with  the  remark  :  '  Caziey  zemi, 
bessare  zemi '  {Qazayd-i-zamln  bar-sar-i-zamln).  This  means  : 
'  Cases  about  land  are  settled  on  the  land  itself.'  Thus  I  was 
left  unharmed  for  that  once  and  freed  from  a  great  persecution 
that  would  have  cost  me  my  life. 

1  Ibbetson,  'Panjab  Ethnology,'  1883,  p.  267,  paragraph  486,  Arains,  or  Rains, 
a  class  of  vegetable  growers.  '  They  are  almost  without  exception  Mussulmans.' 
They  are  numerous  in  the  Lahor  district.  N.  M.  mentions  this  man  again 
(iii.  73),  where  he  says  he  was  a  Jat.  So  the  name  may  be  Thika  Ram  instead  of 
Arain;  but  in  that  case  he  would  be  a  Hindu,  and  not  a  Mahomedan. 

2  Taking  the  ser  at  2  pounds,  or  32  ounces,  18  ser  would  be  576  ounces.  But  the 
ser  referred  to  may  have  been  a  local  one  of  28  ounces. 


USE  OF  HUMAN  FAT  AND  FLESH  211 

God  was  also  pleased  to  deliver  me  once  more  after  several 
months.  For  [163]  there  came  a  relation  of  the  beheaded  man 
expressly  to  kill  me.  By  a  lucky  chance  he  came  when  I  was 
prescribing  for  the  sick,  distributing  medicine,  adding  alms  for 
those  who  were  in  want.  He  came  into  my  dlwan  with  his 
sword  and  shield,  leaving  his  spear  and  horse  at  my  door. 
Without  any  salutation  he  sat  down  in  front  of  me  and  watched 
my  movements,  the  humanity  with  which  I  spoke  to  the  sick, 
and  the  liberality  with  which  I  succoured  the  needy.  Nor  did 
I  fail  from  time  to  time  to  observe  the  face  of  this  new  guest, 
without  knowing  either  who  he  was  or  what  he  wanted.  I 
wondered  at  his  wrathful  countenance,  his  head- shakings,  and 
other  signs  of  a  man  in  anger.  Having  got  rid  of  my  patients, 
I  asked  him  more  than  once  if  he  wanted  anything  in  which 
I  could  be  of  use,  but  he  returned  no  answer.  At  length, 
there  being  no  one  else  left,  he  asked  me  if  I  knew  the  cause 
of  his  coming.  I  replied  that  I  did  not.  He  said  he  had  come 
resolved  to  kill  me  because  I  had  removed  the  fat  from  his  uncle. 
But  finding  that  in  my  hands  it  was  being  well  employed,  he 
felt  satisfied  at  making  my  acquaintance.  He  rose  to  his  feet, 
refusing  to  eat,  or  take  betel,  or  listen  to  my  words.  He  could 
have  killed  me  quite  safely,  but  God  was  pleased  to  change  his 
intentions  in  reward  for  the  little  or  much  that  I  managed  to 
do  for  the  pooi  who  were  in  ill-health. 

The  qazl  did  not  find  it  so  easy  to  forget  his  anger  against 
me.  Fida,e  Khan  did  not  stay  much  longer  in  Lahor.  He 
(the  qazl)  then  sent  someone  for  me,  and  on  my  presenting  myself 
he  was  very  affectionate,  but  did  all  he  knew  to  trip  me  up  in 
my  talk.  He  began  a  conversation  about  the  fat  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  asking  me  if  I  ever  gave  such  fat  to  be  taken  for  a 
medicine,  and  for  what  complaints  it  was  used.  I  answered,  in 
ignorance  of  his  maliciousness,  that  fat  was  not  administered 
by  the  mouth,  but  served  simply  to  make  ointments  in  nervous 
disorders.  It  was  lucky  that  I  answered  thus,  for  if  I  had  said 
that  the  fat  was  also  given  by  the  mouth,  it  would  have  been 
enough  to  afford  him  an  opening  for  planning  a  fresh  persecution 
against  me,  and  ordering  me  to  be  tortured. 

It  appeared  to  him  most  barbarous  to  prescribe  human  fat 

14—2 


212    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  be  taken,  imagining  I  did  [164]  this  to  make  mock  of  the 
Mahomedans  by  getting  one  man  to  eat  the  fat  of  another. 
After  this,  I  fell  into  conversation  with  him  and  discovered  his 
malice,  and  saw  the  kindness  God  had  done  me  in  making  me 
reply  as  above.  For  it  was  this  which  had  delivered  me  from 
death.  But  he  who  came  to  catch  me  got  caught  himself! 
On  his  demanding  of  me  some  remedy  for  a  cough  he  had,  I 
told  him  of  various  drugs ;  among  other  things  I  said  that, 
as  he  was  an  old  man,  human  '  myrrh '  would  be  good.  He 
answered  that  he  had  already  taken  it,  but  it  had  done  him  not 
the  least  good.  Upon  this,  with  a  smile,  I  said  openly  to  him 
that  to  me  it  did  not  seem  much  of  a  thing  to  give  human  fat 
through  the  mouth  by  way  of  medicine,  when  at  the  same  time 
he  had  no  scruple  in  eating  human  flesh  and  fat.  For  that  is 
what  is  meant  by  human  '  myrrh.'  He  also  could  not  help 
laughing,  and  told  me  such  medicines  were  to  be  taken  secretly 
only,  so  that  no  one  knew. 

The  Europeans  persecute  Me. 

This  persecution  was  bad  enough,  but  without  a  doubt  the 
Christians  persecuted  me  worse  than  the  Mahomedans.  It  arose 
from  their  envy  at  seeing  me  with  name  and  fame,  whereas  at  the 
place  where  I  had  settled  down  I  had  done  no  harm  to  any  one 
of  them.  God  alone  knows  how  many  times  they  tried  to 
murder  me,  and  they  sent  men  to  steal  my  books,  on  which 
I  relied.  Finding  their  projects  had  no  success,  they  made  up 
their  minds  to  do  openly  what  they  had  failed  to  do  in  hiding. 

To  this  end  they  sent  four  Europeans  of  various  nations  to 
murder  me.  Two  came  into  the  house  as  friends  and  began  to 
talk  to  me ;  another  who  was  to  do  the  deed  stood  in  the  door- 
way, shouting  hoarsely  a  thousand  abusive  terms  at  my  servants ; 
and  the  last  sat  on  his  horse  with  his  pistols  ready,  to  back  up 
what  was  going  on  at  the  door.  Hearing  this  row  I  came  out, 
begging  the  disturber  to  hold  his  tongue ;  he  might  come  in  if 
he  wanted  to,  but  if  he  did  not  come  in  let  him  go  his  way.  When 
he  heard  this  he  fired  his  pistol,  which  was  already  at  full-cock, 
when  one  of  my  servants,  grappling  with  him,  took  the  pistol 
from  his  hand.     He  drew  his  sword  to  defend  himself  from  the 


ATTEMPT  TO  MURDER  MANUCCI  213 

servants,  who  had  begun  settling  his  business  for  him  with  thick 
sticks,  applying  them  without  remorse  to  him  and  his  servants 
until  they  fled.    Then  I  recognised  that  it  was  planned  treachery, 
and  ordered  one  [165]  of  my  servants  with  a  drawn  bow  to  see 
that  the  one  on  horseback  should  not  move  his  hand  in  the 
direction  of  his  pistols ;  if  he  moved,  an  arrow  was  at  once  to 
be  let  fly  at  him.     Thus  terrorized,  he  was  afraid  to  stir  or  to 
assist  his  companion,  who  was  getting  his  beating.     I  told  the 
others  with  their  bows  and  arrows  to  watch  without  a  word 
over  the  two  men  in  the  house.     Meanwhile  I  ordered  a  good 
thrashing  to  be  given  to  the  insolent  fellow.     While  drawing 
his  sword  to  defend  himself  from  the  servants  he  cut  his  hand, 
and  one  of  my  servants  seized  him  round  the  body  so  violently 
that  he  was  brought  to  the  ground.     But  he  would  not  let  his 
sword  be  taken  away ;  I  therefore  ordered  them  to  give  it  him 
well  until  he  let  go  the  sword.     Seeing  that  still  he  clung  to  it, 
one  of  the  men  planted  one  foot  on  his  chest,  and  so  crushed 
it  that  he  had  to  give  up  the  sword.     Thereupon  I  told  them 
to  bind  him  and  carry  him  to  the  magistrate.     But  the  man  on 
horseback  dismounted  and  earnestly  begged  me  not  to  pass  this 
affront  upon  a  white  man.     His  petition  was  his  undoing.     I 
told  him  to  fall  at  his  protector's  feet.     He  declined,  but  my 
servants  by  thumps  and  holding  his  neck  got  him  to  his  knees. 
Then  I  left  all  the  four  and  rode  off  at  once  to  Fida,e  Khan, 
who  at  the  time  this  happened  was  in  Lahor.     He  recognised 
that  I  had  good  reason  for  anything  I  had  done,  and  sent  men 
to  escort  my  assailants  to  the  other  side  of  the  river  Chinab, 
and  on  the  road  he  who  was  the  leader  died.     I  will  state  here 
that  my  enemies  seized  this  occasion  at  the  time  the  Europeans  of 
the  army  were  on  their  way  to  the  attack  on  the  Pathans,  since, 
being  war-time,  no  one  would  be  able  to  know  afterwards  who 
had  made  the  attempt.     But  God,  who  seemed  to  cherish  a 
special  desire  for  my  protection,  would  not  permit  my  death  at 
the  hands  of  those  who  had  wished  to  do  so  on  the  quiet,  by 
entering  my  house  in  the  guise  of  friends.    They  did  not  succeed 
in  this  or  other  treacheries ;  but  my  enemies  managed  to  give 
me  poison,  from  which  I  escaped,  although  I  felt  its  effects  for 
some  years  [166J. 


214    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 
I    FAIL   IN    MARRYING    THE    DAUGHTER    OF    DlNDAR    KHAN. 

So  great  was  the  name  that  I  had  of  being  fortunate  with 
the  cases  that  I  undertook,  that  they  came  from  many  places 
distant  from  Lahor  to  call  me  in  to  visit  patients.  This  was 
of  great  profit  to  me,  even  to  the  extent  that  many  wanted  me 
in  marriage.  If  I  had  been  of  little  wisdom,  I  should  have  had 
no  want  of  marriage  proposals  of  exceptional  quality  among 
the  Mahomedans.  But,  thanks  to  God,  although  I  left  my 
home  a  mere  youth,  there  remained  ever  graven  on  my  memory 
the  good  teaching  of  my  parents. 

But  I  cannot  resist  telling  of  one  case  that  happened  to  me 
with  a  well-connected  widow  woman,  the  daughter  of  Dlndar 
Khan,  Pathan.  On  one  occasion  I  had  treated  one  of  her 
sisters  at  Qasur,1  twenty  leagues  from  Lahor.  This  lady  was 
present,  and  took  such  a  fancy  to  me  that  she  wanted  to  marry 
me.  She  herself  spoke  to  me  about  it,  and  told  me  she  would 
make  her  own  arrangements  for  flight.  At  first  I  paid  no  heed 
to  these  things;  still,  seeing  the  woman  so  determined,  and 
she  being  rich,  well  proportioned,  and  intelligent,  I  began 
to  entertain  the  idea  of  carrying  her  off  to  Europe  as  she 
desired. 

The  agreement  was  that  she  should  give  sufficient  money  to 
buy  a  big  ship,  on  which  would  be  placed  the  bulk  of  her 
wealth.  Then  she  would  pretend  that  she  had  vowed  a 
pilgrimage  to  Mekka,  would  obtain  permission  for  this,  and 
leave  home.  When  she  was  on  her  voyage  and  had  left  the 
port  of  Surat,  I  with  my  ship  was  to  fall  upon  the  vessel  going 
to  Mekka,  and  carry  her  off  with  me  to  Europe.  The  agree- 
ment was  in  process  of  execution,  but  she  was  not  sufficiently 
prudent.  She  roused  suspicions  of  her  affection  for  me  by 
forwarding  message  upon  message  by  an  old  woman  in  her 
service.  But  the  special  cause  for  the  non -execution  of  the 
agreement  was  a  Portuguese  called  Joao  Rodrigues  de  Abreu. 
After  having  done  him  many  favours,  and  proved  him  suffi- 
ciently faithful,  I  confided  our  plans  to  him,  intending  to  take 
him  along  with  me.     But  he  did  not  act  in  correspondence  to 

1  Qasur,  a  Pathan  town,  south-east  of  Lahor,  lat.  310  g',  long.  74°  27'. 


MANUCCI  AND  THE  PA  THAN  WIDOW  215 

my  friendship,  for  he  went  off  and  told  Misri  Khan,  who  was 
a  suitor  for  marriage  [167]  with  the  same  woman. 

Discovering  thus  the  agreement  we  had  made,  and  the 
friendship  of  the  said  widow,  which  she  had  declared  by 
sending  me  messages  with  valuable  presents,  Misri  Khan, 
through  fear  of  Fida,e  Khan  and  other  nobles  who  were  very 
fond  of  me,  was  content  not  to  do  me  any  harm,  or  send  men 
to  murder  me,  but  only  wrote  me  a  letter  in  which  he  said  that 
he  knew  quite  well  why  Jam  Blbl,  the  widow's  maidservant, 
came  so  often  to  my  house ;  but  he  saw  quite  well  that 
what  I  was  doing  would  in  the  end  cost  me  my  life.  I 
pretended  I  did  not  understand  the  letter,  and  replied  that 
Jam  Blbl  came  and  went  as  if  she  were  my  mother.  If  it 
displeased  him  that  she  came  to  my  house,  he  had  only  to  tell 
her  not  to  go  again.  By  this  means  I  found  out  we  were 
already  discovered.  When  JanI  Blbl  came,  I  asked  her  to 
inform  her  mistress  that  it  was  no  longer  safe  to  come,  and  she 
must  conceal  everything,  otherwise  she  would  cause  my  death. 
On  finding  that  her  project  could  not  succeed,  the  widow 
married  Misri  Khan,  but  only  lived  for  eight  days  after  her 
marriage.  If  I  had  been  like  many  Europeans  in  the  Mogul 
country  and  Hindustan,  I  should  have  accepted  the  money 
that  she  wanted  to  give  me  for  buying  the  ship,  then  taken 
flight  for  Europe,  disregarding  the  marriage  and  all  my 
promises.  I  did  not  act  thus,  not  for  fear  of  discovery,  but 
because  I  had  always  professed  to  be  an  honest  man,  and  thus 
I  did  not  allow  myself  to  fall  into  this  temptation.  The  only 
thing  that  weighed  upon  me  was  that,  through  the  treachery  of 
that  Portuguese,  the  lady  continued  to  be  a  Mahomedan  when 
she  desired  to  become  a  Christian. 

Daulat,  Eunuch. 

The  fame  I  had  acquired  as  a  good  surgeon  and  physician  was 
the  cause,  among  other  things,  that  I  was  importuned  by  the 
eunuch  Daulat,  a  man  of  staid  habits,  rich,  and  well  known. 
This  eunuch  was  in  the  employ  of  'Ali  Mardan  Khan,  he  who 
made  over  the  fortress  of  Qandahar  to  the  King  Shahjahan. 
When  his  master  died  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred 


216    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

and  fifty-two,1  this  eunuch  of  his  carried  his  bones  to  Persia  to  be 
buried  in  the  tomb  of  his  forefathers.  The  fact  became  known 
to  Shah  'Abbas,  at  that  time  King  of  Persia,  who  ordered  the 
arrest  of  the  eunuch  Daulat.  'Ali  Mardan  Khan's  remains  he 
directed  to  be  burnt,  and  the  eunuch's  nose  and  ears  to  be  cut 
off.  He  was  then  to  be  expelled  from  the  country.  The  king 
held  it  an  act  of  presumption  [168]  to  bring  the  bones  of  a 
traitor  into  a  kingdom,  of  which  in  his  lifetime  he  was  a  declared 
enemy. 

The  wretched  Daulat  retired  full  of  shame  to  Lahor,  and 
kept  close  within  his  house.  Knowing  the  work  I  had  done, 
he  several  times  requested  me  by  some  art  or  ingenuity  to 
make  his  nostrils  and  ears  grow  again — an  impossible  thing. 
But  he  imagined  that  Christians  could  do  miracles  with  elixirs. 
He  therefore  besought  and  entreated  me  that  I  would  do  him 
this  favour,  and  he  would  give  me  anything  I  asked.  I  answered 
that  now  there  was  no  remedy,  the  wounds  being  old,  for  if  they 
had  been  fresh  something  might  have  been  done.  This  reply 
of  mine  only  inspired  greater  hopes,  and  he  asked  me  to  renew 
the  sores  by  making  new  wounds.  Then  I  was  to  cut  off  the 
best-shaped  nose  and  the  finest  ears  from  one  or  other  of  his 
slaves,  and  apply  them  to  his  face.  He  embraced  me,  he  styled 
me  Galen,  Bu  'All  (i.e.,  Avicenna),  Aristotle,  and  Plato ;  he 
begged  me  to  do  him  this  favour,  and  make  him  happy  all  the 
rest  of  his  life. 

The  slaves  then  present  were  in  a  great  state  of  mind  lest 
I  should  accept  the  eunuch's  proposal,  and  gazed  at  me  with 
mournful  faces,  as  if  entreating  me  not  to  comply  with  the 
request.  I  was  laughing  inwardly  at  them,  contrasting  the 
eagerness  of  Daulat  with  the  fright  of  the  slaves.  But 
as  a  final  answer  I  stated  that  even  if  I  did  what  he  asked, 
and  cut  off  the  noses  and  ears  of  the  slaves,  it  would  be  of 
no  avail,  for  being  another's  flesh  it  would  never  unite,  the 
only  result  being  to  disfigure  his  slaves  without  any  benefit 
to  him.     Finding  there  was  no  remedy,  and  being  a  facetious 

This  surrender  of  Qandahar  took  place  in  1637  (Elphinstone,  510).  'Ali 
Mardan  Khan  died  near  Nihara.,  on  his  way  to  Lahor,  on  the  12th  Rajab, 
1067  H.  (May  7,  1657,  N.S.)  ('  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi '). 


XVIII.     Sultan  Sulaiman  Shukoh,   Son  of  Dara  Shukoh. 


To  face  page  276. 


MANUCCI  AS  EXORCIST  217 

fellow,  he  said  in  joke  :  '  I  know  not  what  sins  I  have  committed 
to  be  made  an  out-and-out  eunuch  twice  over,  first  in  my 
inferior  part,  and,  secondly,  in  my  upper  half.  Now  there  is 
nothing  more  to  deprive  me  of,  nor  do  I  fear  anything  but 
losing  my  head  itself.'  This  saying  served  us  often  afterwards 
as  a  subject  of  conversation. 

Not  only  was  I  famed  as  a  doctor,  but  it  was  rumoured  that 
I  possessed  the  power  of  expelling  demons  from  the  bodies  of 
the  possessed.  This  idea  spread  because  I  was  a  man  capable 
of  conversation,  in  which  I  showed  my  nimbleness  of  wit  whenever 
an  occasion  presented  itself.  [169]  Once  some  Mahomedans 
were  at  my  house  consulting  me  about  their  complaints  when 
night  came  on.  I  did  not  want  to  lose  the  chance  of  overawing 
them,  and  letting  them  see  that  I  had  the  power  of  giving 
orders  to  the  devil.  In  the  middle  of  our  talk  I  began  to  speak 
as  if  to  some  demon,  telling  him  to  hold  his  tongue  and  not 
interrupt  my  talk,  and  let  me  serve  these  gentlemen,  for  it  was 
already  late.  Then  I  resumed  my  conversation  with  the 
Mahomedans.  But  they  had  now  only  half  their  souls  left  in 
their  bodies,  and  spoke  in  trembling  tones.  I  made  use  of  their 
terror  for  my  own  amusement,  and  raising  my  voice  still  more,  I 
shouted  at  him  whom  I  assumed  to  be  present,  lying  invisible 
in  some  corner.  I  resumed  my  talk  to  the  Mahomedans ;  and 
this  I  did  four  or  five  times,  each  time  showing  myself  more 
provoked  and  fierce.  At  length  I  threatened  the  demon  with 
expulsion  from  the  house,  and  rising  to  my  feet,  angrily  laid 
hold  of  a  coarse  glass  bottle  in  which  I  had  a  little  spirits  of 
wine,  and  going  near  the  candle,  set  light  to  it,  and  uttered 
a  lot  of  abuse  to  the  supposed  unquiet  spirit.  Then  approach- 
ing the  window,  I  made  a  noise  with  the  bottle  like  a 
pistol-shot.  I  returned  the  bottle  to  its  place,  and  said  to 
the  demon  that  I  objected  to  his  coming  any  more  into  my 
house.  I  then  turned  again  to  the  Mahomedans,  and  resumed 
the  conversation.  They  were  unable  to  speak  a  word  out  of 
fright,  and  prayed  for  permission  to  leave ;  they  would  come 
back  another  time.  But  the  special  joke  was  that  they  were 
afraid  to  go  out,  dreading  that  the  demon  might  attack  them 
in   the   street.     I   reassured  them  by  saying  that   the  demon 


218    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

stood  in  fear  of  me,  and  would  not  do  such  a  thing ;  for  I 
had  the  means  of  punishing  him.  It  would  suffice,  while 
going  to  their  houses,  for  them  to  say  en  route  that  they  came 
from  the  Doctor  Sahib.  A  grand  medicine  certainly,  and  a 
great  exorcism  for  a  make-believe  phantasm  ! 

But  this  was  not  enough  to  induce  them  to  venture  out ; 
whereby  I  was  forced  to  send  with  them  one  of  my  servants, 
who  as  they  progressed  was  to  mutter, '  Duhal  Hakim  Jl ' — that 
is,  '  On  the  part  of  the  Doctor  Sahib.'  Under  these  conditions 
I  got  rid  of  all  those  Mahomedans.  Being  credulous  in 
matters  of  sorcery,  they  began  to  bruit  abroad  in  all  direc- 
tions that  the  Frank  doctor  had  the  power  of  expelling  demons, 
including  dominion  over  them.  This  was  enough  to  make 
many  come,  and  among  them  they  brought  before  me  many 
women  [170]  who  pretended  to  be  possessed  (as  is  their  habit 
when  they  want  to  leave  their  houses  to  carry  out  their  tricks, 
and  meet  with  their  lovers),  and  it  was  hoped  that  I  could 
deal  with  them.  The  usual  treatment  was  bullying,  tricks, 
emetics,  clysters,  which  caused  much  amazement,  the  actual 
cautery,  and  evil-smelling  fumigation  with  filthy  things.  Nor 
did  I  desist  until  the  patients  were  worn  out,  and  said  that 
now  the  devil  had  fled.  In  this  manner  I  restored  many  to 
their  senses,  with  great  increase  of  reputation,  and  still  greater 
diversion  for  myself.  It  may  be  that  some  reader  will  not 
put  faith  in  me,  but  Europeans  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
Mogul  country,  and  my  character  in  India,  know  that  I  was 
capable  of  many  practical  jokes  of  this  sort.  What  is  certain 
is  that  I  very  seldom  lost  my  temper,  and  knew  how  to  divert 
myself  in  proper  time  and  place  with  harmless  amusements. 

'Izzat  Khan,  the  Viceroy  of  Sind,  dresses  Himself  as 

a  Woman. 

Before  we  proceed  to  speak  of  the  retirement  of  Aurangzeb 
[from  the  Panjab  to  Dihll]  the  reader  will  be  pleased  to  hear 
of  a  curious  matter  which  happened  in  the  city  of  Tattah,1  in 

1  Saiyid  'Izzat  Khan  began  life  in  the  employ  of  Dara.  In  the  twenty-third  year 
of  Shahjahan  (1650)  he  was  made  'Izzat  Khan,  and  sent  as  Governor  to  Multan. 
In  the  thirty-first  year  (1658)  he  replaced  Bahadur  Khan  as  Governor  of  Lahor ; 


FOOLING  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  TATTAH  219 

the  province  of  Sind,  to  the  governor,  or  viceroy,  called  'Izzat 
Khan,  a  man  I  knew  very  well.  This  great  lord  was  a  great 
lover  of  women,  nor  did  he  content  himself  with  the  liberty 
or  with  the  wealth  he  had,  by  use  of  which  he  could  choose 
everywhere  whomsoever  happened  to  please  him.  He  learnt  that 
a  certain  citizen  of  Tattah  had  a  beautiful  daughter,  whereupon 
he  set  to  work  to  see  if  he  could  bring  her  over  to  his  designs. 
Great  were  the  solicitations  by  the  medium  of  procuresses ; 
and  at  last  the  girl  revealed  to  her  father  the  messages  sent 
her  by  'Izzat  Khan.  The  father  rejoiced  to  hear  the  news, 
seeing  in  it  an  opening  to  avenge  himself  on  'Izzat  Khan  for 
the  harshness  with  which  he  treated  the  inhabitants  of  Tattah. 

He  told  his  daughter  that  if  the  procuress  came  again  she 
was  to  make  a  good  deal  of  difficulty,  but  end  by  saying  that 
the  viceroy  might  come.  But  he  was  not  to  arrive  till  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  when  her  father  was  on  the  point  of  retiring 
to  rest.  He  must  come  wearing  woman's  clothes,  for  should 
her  father  appear  at  the  same  time  he  would  suppose  it  to  be 
some  woman  come  on  a  visit.  When  'Izzat  Khan  arrived  he 
was  to  be  taken  into  a  room,  and  she  was  to  fasten  the  door  on 
the  outside,  and  tell  him  that  after  she  [171]  had  seen  that  her 
father  had  gone  to  bed,  she  would  come  back  to  pass  the 
night.  The  daughter  obeyed,  and  carried  out  in  full  her 
father's  instructions.  Thus  'Izzat  Khan  passed  the  night  in 
solitude,  locked  up  in  the  room,  and  deprived  of  the  hoped-for 
companion. 

Here  he  remained  till  it  was  clear  daylight,  and  the  father  of 
that  clever  girl  failed  not  to  send  word  to  his  friends  of  what  was 
up.  Thus  the  following  day,  being  the  day  of  audience,  many 
men  assembled  on  pretext  of  having  business  with  the  governor, 
but  really  to  be  witness  of  his  downfall,  and  to  insist  that  in- 
formation on  the  subject  should  be  sent  to  the  king.    All  awaited 

left  it  with  Dara  for  Multan  (1659),  but  did  not  go  on  to  Bhakkar.  He  joined 
Aurangzeb,  and  was  made  3,000,  500  horse ;  he  took  part  in  the  battle  against 
Shah  Shuja'.  In  the  fourth  year  (1662)  he  replaced  Sanjar  Khan  as  faujdar  of 
Bhakkar,  and  in  the  tenth  year  (1667-68)  became  Governor  of  Tattah,  vice 
Ghazanfar  Khan,  being  raised  to  3,500,  2,000  horse  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  475). 
In  the  twenty-second  year,  1090  H.  (1678-79),  he  was  sent  to  Multan  as  deputy 
of  Prince  Akbar  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  173). 


220    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

the  Nawab's  coming  out  to  hold  audience,  or  at  least  the  arrival 
of  word  that  he  was  not  to  appear.  The  eunuchs  were  at  a  loss 
what  to  say,  and  reported  him  to  be  ill.  But  as  it  was  obligatory 
to  write  to  the  king  that  the  Nawab  was  unwell,  the  public 
reporter  and  the  secret  news-writer  both  demanded  an  inter- 
view with  the  doctor  and  admission  to  see  the  viceroy. 

Thus  everything  was  in  great  confusion,  for  the  medical  man, 
ignorant  of  what  had  happened,  said  he  had  heard  no  word  of 
his  master  being  ill.  Some  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the 
Nawab  was  dead,  and  thus  a  turmoil  arose  in  the  city  and 
crowds  rushed  to  the  palace.  Among  them  was  the  venerable 
citizen  who  held  the  Nawab  prisoner  in  his  house.  He  asked 
why  there  was  all  this  uproar  in  the  audience  hall.  They  told 
him  it  was  because  they  did  not  know  what  had  become  of  the 
Nawab.  Thereupon  he  replied  that  he  knew  quite  well  where 
he  was,  and  if  they  wanted  to  see  him  they  had  only  to  go  to 
his  house  and  he  would  show  the  Nawab  to  them.  This  was 
enough  to  make  everyone  follow  him,  the  greater  part  of  them 
already  informed  of  the  truth.  On  reaching  his  house  the  citizen 
took  from  his  daughter's  hand  the  key  of  the  room,  and  opening 
the  door,  showed  them  the  Nawab.  All  were  astonished  to  see 
an  old  man  with  a  big  beard  dressed  as  a  woman.  'Izzat  Khan, 
out  of  countenance  and  ashamed  of  himself,  hid  his  face  and 
went  off  to  the  palace  in  a  palanquin.  There  he  shut  himself 
up  and  never  appeared,  making  the  excuse  that  he  was  ill. 
The  officials  wrote  at  once  to  Aurangzeb  about  the  facts.  The 
king  ordered  'Izzat  Khan  to  be  removed  frojn  his  office,  to  be 
deprived  of  rank,  and  sent  to  court  on  foot  in  the  charge  of 
cavalry  [172].  But  yielding  to  the  petitions  of  many  friends, 
the  king  varied  his  order,  and  allowed  him  to  come  to  Lahor  on 
horseback,  where  he  was  to  remain  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  as 
he  did. 

Aurangzeb  returns  to  Dihli  from  the  Campaign  against 

the  Pathans. 

Finding  that  the  death  of  Mahabat  Kh§.n  had  been  of  no  use 
to  him  in  securing  an  honourable  conclusion  of  his  enterprise 
against  the  Pathans,  Aurangzeb  decided  to  beat  an  honourable 


A'ZAM  KHAN'S  TREACHERY  TO  THE  PATH  AN  S  221 

retreat.  He  arranged  with  Cassam  Can  (?  Qasim  Khan)1  and 
other  commanders  that  they  should  report  in  public  audience 
that  the  Pathans  had  now  submitted,  and  that  A'zam  Khan  took 
upon  himself  to  stand  security  for  them.  In  this  way  he  was 
able  to  satisfy  the  army,  after  having  lost  the  flower  of  his 
soldiery.  Thus  after  two  years  and  two  months  Aurangzeb 
returned  to  Dihll.2  On  this  return  march  he  passed  near  the 
mausoleum  of  Jahanglr,  his  grandfather,  but  declined  to  pray 
at  it,  saying  that  it  was  the  burial-place  of  an  infidel.  On  the 
contrary,  he  issued  orders  to  remove  the  precious  stones  and 
jewels  from  it,  and  [stop]  the  alms  which  gave  him  the  kingdom. 

While  the  king  was  on  his  return  march,  A'zam  Khan,  who 
had  taken  upon  his  shoulders  the  pacification  of  the  Pathans, 
went  to  visit  them,  leaving  his  troops  at  some  distance.  He 
interviewed  them  all,  and  told  them  that  it  was  he  who  had 
persuaded  the  king  to  retire  and  had  restored  peace.  For  he 
wanted  to  live  in  amity  with  them,  as  had  been  so  long  the 
case.  Muhammad  Amin  Khan  had  been  the  means  of  breaking 
the  ancient  peace,  but  he  pledged  his  word  to  them  that  he 
would  maintain  their  former  privileges.  The  cunning  A'zam 
Khan  made  himself  like  one  of  them,  going  about  among  the 
Pathans  without  sword  or  shield,  totally  unarmed.  This  was 
to  show  how  much  he  confided  in  them,  and  in  this  way  he 
made  friends  with  them,  waiting  for  the  opportunity  of  executing 
his  project  of  destroying  their  leaders  easily  and  quickly. 

To  this  intent  he  decided  to  have  a  son  circumcised,  and,  as 
is  usual  among  Mahomedans,  he  invited  the  principal  com- 
manders among  the  Pathans,  who  accepted  the  invitation  but 
announced  that  they  must  be  allowed  to  come  armed.  He 
declared  himself  satisfied  at  their  coming  on  that  condition. 
His  idea  was  that  by  this  concession  he  would  prove  more 
completely  the  absence  of  suspicion,  letting  them  come  with 

1  Qasim  Khan .-  I  can  find  no  man  of  this  name  to  suit  these  facts.  The 
Governor  left  behind  by  Aurangzeb  was  Fida,e  Khan.  '  Cassam  Can  '  must  refer 
to  him  under  his  newly  given  title  of  A'zam  Khan,  but  negligently  spelt. 

2  On  the  nth  Shawwal,  nineteenth  year,  1086  H.  (December  29,  1675),  he 
started  from  Hasan  Abdal,  and  halted  at  Kala  Bagh.  On  the  15th  Zu,l  Qa'dah 
(January  31,  1676)  he  entered  the  grove  of  Faiz  Bakhsh  at  Lahor  (' Ma,asir-i- 
'Alamgiri,'  148). 


222    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

their  spears,  arrows,  swords,  and  shields,  just  as  in  war-time. 
When  they  were  all  seated  together,  A'zam  Khan  called  for  a 
melon,  and  plunging  his  knife  into  it,  cut  his  hand  slightly  on 
purpose.  He  asked  leave  from  the  company  seated  to  retire 
to  have  the  wound  seen  to,  saying  he  would  be  back  in  a 
moment.  He  went  into  a  room,  and  then  his  soldiers,  posted 
in  readiness  for  the  attempt,  with  their  matchlocks  and  arrows 
destroyed  the  whole  of  the  Pathan  leaders,  being  fifty-two  in 
number.  Thus  he  got  rid  of  the  Pathan  chiefs,  so  that  they 
could  not  attempt  another  revolt,  and  at  this  result  the  king 
was  highly  gratified.  Since  there  could  be  no  further  rebellion, 
he  sent  to  supersede  him  (A'zam  Khan)  Prince  Akbar,  accom- 
panied by  Asad  Khan,  chief  secretary  (grand  wazir)  to  the  king.1 
On  their  way  they  distributed  robes  of  honour,  and  announced 
that  the  king  had  recalled  A'zam  Khan  to  court  to  punish  him 
for  the  treachery  he  had  planned  and  his  breach  of  the  con- 
ditions of  peace.  The  Pathans  were  appeased,  but  Akbar 
wanted  to  use  the  opportunity  to  rebel  against  his  father  and 
make  use  of  the  Pathans,  if  they  would  join  him  in  the  rising. 
But  prudent  Asad  Khan  drove  this  idea  out  of  his  head.2 

The  Peace  with  Shiva  Ji  is  broken. 

When  Aurangzeb  arrived  at  Dihll3  he  sent  an  order  to 
Bahadur  Khan  to  break  the  peace  with  Shiva  JI,  and  make 
continuous  war  on  him.  At  the  same  time  he  was  to  menace 
the    King   of  Gulkandah    for   having    allowed    Shiva,  Ji,   his 

1  On  the  12th  Rabi'  I.  of  the  twenty-second  year,  1090  H.  (April  23,  1679), 
Prince  Akbar  was  sent  off  towards  Lahor ;  on  the  2nd  Sha'ban,  1090  H. 
(September  8,  1679),  he  arrived  from  Lahor ;  and  on  the  7th  Sha'ban 
(September  13),  at  Palam,  he  was  sent  off  to  Ajmer  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,' 
175,  180). 

2  In  the  twentieth  year,  1088  H.  (1677),  on  the  recommendation  of  Prince 
Shah  'Alam,  A'zam  Khan,  Kokah  (Fida.e  Khan),  was  replaced  at  Kabul  by 
Amir  Khan.  He  was  sent  to  supersede  Shaistah  Khan  in  Bengal.  In  1089  H. 
(1678)  he  is  mentioned  as  the  dismissed  Governor  of  Bengal,  then  on  his  way 
to  Bahar;  he  died  at  Dhakah  on  the  12th  Rabi'  II.,  1089  H.  (June  3,  1678) 
('  M.-i-'A.,'  157,  159.  168). 

3  Aurangzeb  reached  Dihll  on  the  22nd  Muharram,  nineteenth  year,  1087  H. 
(April  5,  1676).  Bahadur  Khan  is  Grant-Duff's  '  Khan  Jehan  Bahadur,'  his 
newer  title  (see  pp.  121,  122). 


EXACTIONS  FROM  GULKANDAH  AND  BlJAPUR         223 

enemy,  to  cross  his  territories  on  the  way  to  the  Karnatik, 
where  he  had  increased  his  power  by  the  conquest  of  fortresses, 
of  which  we  have  spoken  (II.  156).  As  a  penalty  for  allowing 
this  passage  across  Gulkandah,  much  money,  munitions  of  war, 
and  jewels,  were  to  be  demanded;  also,  in  addition  to  the  above, 
an  elephant  that  the  king  owned — all  of  which  he  agreed 
to.  This  elephant  was  not  only  of  great  size,  but  had  its  tusks 
crooked — that  is,  not  straight  like  others  but  bent  like  buffalo's 
horns,  which,  after  describing  a  great  circle,  ended  by  meeting 
at  the  side  of  its  head.  So  large  was  the  circle  made  by  these 
tusks  that  in  spite  of  the  width  of  the  fort  gate  at  Aurangabad, 
it  was  still  [174]  necessary  to  make  the  elephant  move  with  the 
greatest  care  to  avoid  the  corners  of  the  gates.  It  was  from 
this  peculiarity  that  once  when  moving  hastily  it  caught  one 
tusk,  which  was  broken  in  half,  and  they  were  forced  to  join  it 
together  with  a  massive  ring.  But  it  was  impossible  so  to 
mend  it  as  to  preserve  its  beauty. 

The  manner  in  which  Aurangzeb  treated  the  Kings  of 
Gulkandah  and  Bljapur  was  full  of  policy.  For  he  went  on 
diminishing  their  power  little  by  little ;  to-day  asking  from 
Gulkandah  one  thing,  to-morrow  another ;  one  year  some 
money,  another  year  munitions  of  war.  With  Bljapur  every 
year,  when  the  rainy  season  came  on,  he  made  peace,  getting 
them  to  give  him  by  agreement  some  fortress,  or  so  much 
money,  or  so  much  land,  or  a  province.  Finally  he  asked  for 
the  king's  daughter  in  marriage  for  his  son  A'zam  Tara,  swear- 
ing an  oath  that  after  this  alliance  all  wars  should  cease. 
Then,  the  rainy  season  over,  he  commenced  afresh,  until  he 
took  all  the  king's  country  and  made  him  a  prisoner,  as  I 
shall  state  in  its  proper  place  (II.  236). 

Multafat  Khan  marches  against  the  Agrah  Villagers. 

But  let  us  now  make  mention  of  the  peasants  of  Agrah,  of 
whom  I  spoke  before  in  my  First  Part  (I.  91).  When  Aurangzeb 
had  returned  to  Dihll,  these  men  rose  and  refused  to  pay  their 
revenue.  Owing  to  this  he  was  obliged  to  send  an  army 
against  them,  and  for  this  purpose  he  selected  an  officer  called 


224    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Multafat  Khan,1  with  whose  fidelity  the  king  was  not  satisfied, 
and  sent  him  out  to  force  the  villagers  to  pay.  On  this  man's 
arrival  near  to  a  village  where  these  rustics  were  collected  and 
ready  to  defend  themselves,  he  sent  for  the  oldest  in  age  and 
the  greatest  in  authority  to  come  to  his  presence. 

On  the  old  man's  appearing,  Multafat  Khan  met  him  cheer- 
fully and  gave  him  a  seat,  and  informed  him  most  tenderly  that 
he  had  not  come  to  harm  a  soul,  or  to  deal  with  them  as 
enemies,  but  only  as  sons  or  brothers.  But  he  must  insist 
that  payment  of  the  revenue  was  necessary.  It  were  better  to 
pay  peacefully  [175]  than  run  any  risk  of  life,  and  provoke  so 
many  deaths  and  misfortunes,  leaving  fathers  without  sons  and 
wives  without  husbands,  grandfathers  without  grandsons.  If  he, 
like  a  man  of  understanding  and  capacity,  would  persuade  the 
others  to  pay  without  a  fight,  he  gave  his  word  to  support  him 
at  court  in  everything  he  could  desire  or  demand. 

The  old  man  smiled  and  said  he  knew  quite  well  they  would 
never  listen  to  his  words,  they  being  rapacious,  insolent,  and 
over-bold.  Never  would  they  abandon  their  ancestors'  prac- 
tices. All  the  same,  he  had  no  objection  to  saying  to  the  men 
of  the  village  whatever  was  required.  The  old  man  took  his 
leave  of  Multafat  Khan,  and,  drawing  near  to  his  village,  in- 
cited them  all  to  hold  fast  their  ancestral  practices,  for  better 
were  it  to  die  fighting  than  admit  they  were  subject  to  revenue 
payments.  Thus  they  all  came  out,  resolved  to  die  rather  than 
pay  revenue.  They  fought  with  such  desperation  that  they 
routed  the  force  of  Multafat  Khan,  and  took  him  a  prisoner. 
After  they  had  given  him  a  thorough  shoe-beating  they  let  him 
go,  and  told  him  to  be  off.  They  spared  his  life,  for  they  had 
discovered  he  was  a  woman  and  not  a  soldier.  The  report  of 
this  affair  reached  the  king,  and  he  sent  a  man  with  poison  to 
be  given  to  Multafat  Khan.  He  was  told  it  was  better  to  die 
from  a  hidden  cause  with  honour  intact,  than  to  die  in  sight  of 
all  the  court  a  dishonoured  man.     Coerced  by  this  message 

1  Multafat  Khan,  having  been  removed  from  the  faujddr-ship  of  Ghazipur- 
Zamaniyah,  was  made  faujdar  of  the  Akbarabad  (Agrah)  environs.  In  an  attack 
on  a  village  he  was  wounded,  and  died  on  the  19th  Jamada  II.,  twenty-fourth 
year,  1092  H.  (July  6,  1681)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  209). 


THE  AGRAH  JESUITS  IN  TROUBLE  225 

Multafat  Khan,  in  desperation,  took  the  poison,  and  put  an 
end  to  his  life.1 

aurangzeb  orders  a  search  in  the  houses  of  the 
Padres  at  Agrah. 

The  death  of  Father  Busee  and  the  want  of  prudence  of 
a  Jesuit  father  were  the  cause  of  the  padres  undergoing 
many  disagreeables.  It  ended  in  some  of  them  being  expelled 
from  the  kingdom.  At  this  moment  Aurangzeb  was  incensed 
by  having  his  recollections  of  Jahangir  revived  on  the  sight  of 
his  mausoleum,  and  he  (Jahangir)  had  been  a  great  favourer  of 
the  priests.  They  said  to  the  king  that  these  priests  had  idols 
in  their  houses  (thus  did  they  designate  the  images  that  the 
fathers  possessed),  and  that  though  there  was  no  longer  any 
heathen  temple  elsewhere  in  the  realm,  these  men  retained  such 
idols  in  contravention  of  the  royal  orders.  This  was  enough. 
Aurangzeb  sent  forthwith  to  have  a  search  made  in  the  house 
of  the  priests,  fully  determined  to  destroy  them  [176]  if  the 
searchers  came  across  any  figures  in  the  said  house.  The 
priests  were  warned  in  time  by  some  friends,  and  at  once 
removed  all  the  figures,  leaving  only  the  cross,  which,  as 
everyone  knew,  was  our  device.  The  men  deputed  went  and 
searched  diligently  everywhere,  but  could  not  lay  hands  on 
any  figure.  Now,  among  them  were  some  friendly  and  some 
inimical.  The  news-writer,  who  was  opposed  to  the  priests, 
wanted  to  record  falsely  that  they  had  found  two  figures  ;  but 
the  other  officials  forbade  him,  saying  that  it  was  not  just  to 
write  falsehoods  against  poor  people  who  did  harm  to  none. 
Thus  this  tempest  passed  over  the  padres. 

Wine  of  Kabul, 

Aurangzeb  feared  that  some  powerful  person  might  make  use 
of  the  bravery  of  the  Pathans  for  some  attempt  in  the  direction 

1  Ibrahim  llusain,  entitled  Multafat  Khan,  son  of  Mir  'Abd-ul-hadi,  Asalat 
Khan  ('  M.-ul-U.,'  i.  167),  who  died  1057  H.,  son  of  Mir  Miran,  Ilusaini,  Ni'amat 
Ilahi,  Yazdi  (ibid.,  iii.  341) ;  he  died  at  Akbarabad  on  the  19th  Jamfida  II.,  1092  H. 
(July  6,  1681),  rank  2,500.  His  brother,  Sultan  Kusain,  Iftikhar  Khan,  died 
shortly  before  him  ('  Ma.anr-ul-Umara,'  iii.  611,  i.  252,  and  '  Tarikh-i-Muliam- 
madi,'  1092). 

VOL.  II.  15 


226    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

of  Kabul.  Therefore,  after  Akbar  had  been  some  time  in  that 
kingdom,  he  issued  an  order  for  his  supersession,  and  sent  Shah 
'Alam  Bahadur  in  his  place,1  to  keep  a  bridle  upon  the  neigh- 
bours of  the  Pathans.  Here  Shah  'Alam  gave  himself  up  to 
pleasure,  drinking  wine  and  feasting,  for  at  that  place  there  is 
good  wine. 

They  do  there  a  marvellous  thing.  On  making  the  wine  they 
put  it  into  clay  jars,  and  throw  into  some  of  them  that  they  wish 
to  keep  a  ball  of  clay,  hollow  inside.  The  jar  is  then  thoroughly 
closed.  After  two  years,  on  opening  the  jars,  they  find  the 
ball  at  the  bottom.  This  is  a  mark  that  it  is  full  of  wine,  and 
its  contents  are  given  only  to  great  lords,  as  being  the  finest 
extract  of  the  whole  jar. 

Shah  'Alam  enlivened  his  spirits  with  this  wine  to  such  an 
extent  that  his  tutor  wrote  to  the  king.  The  latter  sent  him  a 
reproving  letter,  recalling  him  to  court.  But  the  tutor  on  the 
journey  back  paid  the  penalty  of  acting  as  spy,  for  Shah  'Alam 
gave  a  secret  order  to  one  of  his  officers  to  kill  him  when  he 
was  marching  a  little  apart  from  the  army.  This  was  done 
accordingly  while  Shah  'Alam  was  at  Kabul.  Aurangzeb  next 
sent  his  son  Akbar  as  governor  of  Ujjain.  As  there  was  a  rajah 
in  rebellion,  a  secret  order  was  given  by  letter  to  open  a  corre- 
spondence with  this  rajah,  and  manage  so  that  he  should  come 
in.2  He  was  at  once  to  be  put  into  durance.  Akbar  carried 
out  his  father's  order  without  fail  [177].  He  was  very  skilful 
in  making  pretences  to  the  rajah,  writing  that  he  had  an  im- 
portant business  to  make  over  to  him,  in  which  he  had  need  of 
his  counsel  and  valour.  The  rajah  allowed  himself  to  be  de- 
ceived, and  came  to  the  court  of  Prince  Akbar.  On  his  arrival 
the  people  kept  in  readiness  for  the  purpose  slew  him.  But 
this  lesson  given  by  Aurangzeb  to  his  son  was  afterwards  used 
by  him  to  subject  his  father  to  great  danger,  when  this  same 
Akbar  rose  in  rebellion,  as  a  little  farther  on  it  will  be  necessary 
to  relate  (II.  190). 

1  Shah  'Alam  reached  Kabul  on  the  25th  Rabi'  II.,  twentieth  year,  1088  H. 
(June  27,  1677),  and  arrived  at  Dihli  again  on  the  6th  Zu,l  Ilijjah,  twenty-first 
year,  1088  H.  (January  30,  1678)  (' Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,*  161,  165). 

2  Probably  this  is  a  distorted  tradition  of  the  death  of  Kishan  Singh,  Hada,  at 
Ujjain  in  1088  H.,  Rabi'  II.  (June,  1677)  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  161). 


MANUCCI  RETIRES  TO  BAN  DORA  227 

My  Departure  from  Lahor. 

Having  acquired  a  sufficient  capital,  I  became  desirous  of 
withdrawing  from  the  Mogul  country  and  living  once  more 
among  Christians.  This  I  could  not  effect  by  moving  to  Goa, 
for  the  mode  of  life  of  those  gentlemen  did  not  suit  me.  I 
resolved  to  retire  to  a  village  called  Bandora,  which  is  under 
the  Jesuit  fathers,  who  do  not  allow  any  Portuguese  to  live 
within  it  beyond  a  few  of  their  own  faction.1  For  as  soon  as 
any  white  man  appears,  they  put  a  spy  on  him,  who  follows 
him  constantly.  On  no  account  will  they  allow  such  a  man  to 
sleep  in  the  village.  Nevertheless,  as  they  knew  that  I  was 
not  a  troublesome  man,  they  were  content  to  allow  me  to 
become  a  resident.  In  the  village  dwelt  many  merchants  of 
different  nations,  it  being  a  place  of  trade.  One  could  live 
there  in  security,  through  the  efforts  of  the  fathers  in  defending 
themselves  from  the  thieves,  who  traversed  the  ocean  in  such 
numbers  that  it  was  necessary  for  many  vessels  together  to 
leave  the  port,  for  the  Malavares  (?  Malabaris)  and  Sanganes 
(?  Sanjanls)  infest  this  coast.2 

The  news  spread  that  I  meant  to  leave  Lahor,  and  I  was 
forced  to  affect  that  the  report  was  false,  for  they  would  never 
have  let  me  get  away,  neither  the  nobles  nor  the  lower  orders, 
for  I  had  great  repute  and  was  much  thought  of.  To  keep  me 
they  placed  spies  upon  me  to  hinder  my  departure.  But  I 
carried  out  rrry  intention  in  such  a  way  as  to  mislead  the  spies  ; 
I  left  at  night  without  letting  anyone  know.  Thus  I  was  able 
to  proceed  on  my  journey,  for  I  left  my  heavy  baggage  behind, 
and  everything  in  my  house  in  its  usual  order.  I  reached 
Sihrind  without  interference,  and  from  Sihrind,  passing  outside 
Dihll,  I  rested  in  Agrah.  From  Agrah  I  went  to  Siirat,  where 
I  came  across  the  woman  of  whom  I  spoke  earlier  (II.  71), 
she  who  married  the  Armenian.     From  Siirat  I  went  on  [178] 

1  In  Part  III.,  fol.  198,  N.  M.  says  he  left  Mogul  territory  in  1676.  Bandora 
is  nine  miles  north  of  Bombay  Fort  (Thornton,  '  Gazetteer,'  65).  In  Part  III., 
fol.  265,  the  author  says  he  was  at  Bandora  in  1677. 

2  Yule,  540,  quotes  from  Barros  the  form  '  Malavar '  (1653),  and  Pietro  della 
Valle  (1623)  speaks  of  the  'Malabar  pirates.'  Sanganes,  from  Sindan,  a  ruined 
town  eighty-eight  miles  north  of  Bombay  (ibid.,  782). 

15—2 


228     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  Dama.6,1  then  through  the  territories  of  the  Portuguese, 
where  the  fathers  of  the  society  (i.e.,  the  Jesuits)  did  me 
many  kindnesses,  and  at  length  I  arrived  at  Bandora. 

Here  I  was  advised  by  some  people  to  buy  a  ship  and  thus 
not  to  leave  my  capital  without  fructifying.  They  proposed  to 
me  for  taking  charge  of  the  ship  a  certain  Ignacio  de  Taide, 
a  Portuguese,  who  lived  with  the  reputation  of  being  a  good 
Christian.  To  him  I  made  over  my  ship  and  its  cargo,  which 
in  all  cost  me  the  sum  of  fourteen  thousand  rupees.  This 
caused  others  to  confide  to  him  considerable  sums  on  seeing 
that  I  had  faith  in  him.  My  orders  to  him  were  not  to  stray 
from  the  convoy.  But  having  other  views  of  his  own,  he  went 
with  the  convoy  only  for  a  certain  time.  After  that  he  began 
to  fall  behind,  and,  abandoning  the  ship,  disappeared,  for  he 
had  raised  large  sums  on  Respondentia  bonds  ;  he  now  started 
the  story  that  the  pirates  had  seized  the  ship.  In  that  case  he 
would  not  be  obliged  to  pay  the  money  that  he  had  borrowed. 
By  this  means  I  was  left  devoid  of  capital,  having  nothing  left 
but  a  little  money  for  daily  expenses.  This  necessitated  my 
asking  payment  from  Diogo  de  Mello  de  Sampayo,2  son  of 
Luis  de  Mello  de  Sampayo,  called  the  Roncador  (the  Bully), 
of  whom  I  have  spoken  (I.  123),  he  who  fought  so  valorously 
at  Damao.  I  asked  him  to  do  me  the  favour  of  returning  the 
two  hundred  rupees,  with  which  I  had  helped  him  in  his 
necessity,  out  of  which  he  had  only  repaid  twenty.  But  all  I 
received  was  the  answer  that  he  had  given  me  the  twenty 
rupees  in  charity ;  as  for  the  money  he  owed  me,  I  might 
collect  it  from  the  Mogul,  who  was  indebted  to  him  in  a  large 
amount.3 

My  Return  to  the  Mogul  Country. 
Finding  myself  without  means  and  very  ill,  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  return,  on  recovering  my  health,  to  the  Mogul  country 

1  Damao,  Damaun,  101  miles  north  of  Bombay,  on  the  coast.     An  incident  at 
Daman  is  spoken  of  in  Part  III.,  198,  as  happening  in  1676. 

2  Query  the  same  as  Diogo  de  Mello  Sampaio  mentioned  by  Danvers,  ii.  370, 
in  1690. 

:i  In  Part  III.,  fol.  265,  N.  M.  says  Antonio  de  Teixa,  of  Bandora,  wanted  him 
to  marry  his  daughter. 


MANUCCI  RETURNS  TO  DIHLI  229 

and  try  my  fortune  once  more.  Thus  when  I  had  got  well  I 
left  Bandora  with  a  friar  in  my  charge,  whose  name  out  of 
respect  I  will  not  disclose,  and  Antonio  Machado,  a  man  well 
known  for  his  bravado  and  talk,  which  led  to  his  murder  at 
Goa.  God  alone  knows  what  I  endured  with  this  fellow-traveller, 
who,  looking  on  the  Mahomedans  of  Hindustan  as  being  the 
same  as  the  Portuguese,  tried  to  carry  everything  off  by  bravado. 
He  ignored  the  fact  that  Hindustani  Mahomedans  are  very 
touchy,  and  possess  sense  and  judgment  just  like  any  other  nation. 
If  I  wanted  to  write  here  the  foolish  acts  [179]  done  on  the  road 
by  those  two  men,  my  story  would  become  a  very  long  one. 

On  arrival  in  Agrah,  I  left  behind  me  the  friar,  who  stayed  on 
account  of  some  business.  The  other  man  wished  to  come  with 
me  as  far  as  Dihli ;  then  he  attempted  by  force  to  take  up  his 
quarters  in  my  house.  But  I  declined,  and  he  was  forced  to 
search  for  a  home  elsewhere.  He  encountered  all  that  I  had 
prognosticated,  for  I  was  fairly  acquainted  with  the  Mogul 
country.  It  wanted  very  little  more  for  this  man  to  have 
brought  the  fathers  of  the  society  (the  Jesuits)  to  perdition  ; 
for  in  his  desperation,  having  nothing  to  eat,  he  tried  to 
denounce  them  to  the  qazl  of  Agrah.  He  said  that  the  only 
object  of  the  fathers'  stay  in  the  Mogul  realm  was  to  buy 
Qurans  and  transmit  them  to  Europe.  There  on  a  fixed  day  in 
each  year  a  festival  took  place,  when  they  burnt  the  image  of 
Muhammad.  This  was  quite  enough  to  have  caused  the  fathers 
to  be  burnt  alive ;  and,  seeing  themselves  in  such  danger,  they 
collected  as  an  alms  the  sum  of  five  hundred  rupees  [for 
him],  and  were  thus  delivered  from  a  great  peril.  For,  being 
a  man  of  little  understanding,  he  was  capable  of  doing  such 
a  silly  thing.  He  wandered  hither  and  thither,  and  then 
quitted  Mogul  territory,  I  giving  him  his  expenses  to  take  him 
as  far  as  Surat.1 

I  ENTER  THE  SERVICE  OF  SHAH  'A.LAM. 

On   my  reaching   Dihli   several    nobles   took   notice  of  my 
arrival,  and  called  me  in.     The  chief  of  these  was  the  Master 
of  the  Ceremonies  to  Prince  Shah  'Alam,  whose  wife  was  very 
1  For  the  fate  of  Antonio  Machado  Supico,  see  Part  III.,  p.  221. 


230    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

ill  and  given  up  by  the  other  doctors.  My  treatment  of  her 
renewed  my  reputation,  which  during  my  absence  of  a  year 
had  been  somewhat  diminished.  But  the  Persian  doctors  in 
the  household  of  Shah  'Alam  did  not  approve  of  my  continuing 
at  court  after  having  cured  the  said  woman,  whose  case  they 
had  given  up.  This  caused  me  to  decide  on  a  return  to  Lahor, 
for  I  saw  that  the  court  was  not  for  me. 

With  this  intention  I  left  secretly,  but  the  princess,  wife  of 
Shah  'Alam,  who  had  learnt  of  the  benefit  I  had  effected  in  the 
case  of  the  wife  of  the  Master  of  the  Ceremonies,  brought  to 
mind  the  cases  I  had  cured  at  Lahor  when  her  parents  were 
there.  I  had  also  treated  her  in  secret  for  a  small  abscess  she 
had  in  her  ear.  Accordingly  she  besought  [180]  the  prince  one 
night  to  take  me  into  his  service,  allotting  to  me  noble's  pay. 
Not  to  discontent  the  princess,  whom  he  loved  much,  the  prince 
fixed  for  me  three  hundred  rupees  a  month,  and  gave  me  in 
addition  the  title  of  a  man?abddr — that  is  to  say,  of  a  noble. 
This  was  a  singular  favour,  the  Mahomedans  not  being  accus- 
tomed to  grant  such  honours  to  Christians ;  furthermore,  such 
physicians  and  surgeons  remain  subordinate  to  and  under  the 
orders  of  the  head  physician.  But  I  was  a  privileged  person, 
for  I  agreed  to  serve  on  no  other  condition  than  that  I  must 
be  left  free,  nor  must  anyone  else  give  me  orders.  Thus  I 
took  service  with  Shah  'Alam,  although  my  Christian  enemies 
did  all  they  knew  to  prevent  the  prince's  accepting  me.  And 
thus,  unwilling  as  I  was  to  serve  Aurangzeb,  I  was  the  servant  of 
his  son,  beginning  my  service  in  the  year  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  seventy-eight.1 

Shah  'Alam  goes  to  Aurangabad,  and  the  Death  of 

Shiva  Ji. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  Aurangzeb,  dissatisfied  at  the  way  in 
which  Bahadur  Khan  was  conducting  the  war  against  Shiva  JI 
and  Bijapur,  ordered  him  to  be  superseded  by  Diler  Khan,  and 

1  The  year  is  most  probably  correct.  Shah  'Alam  reached  Dihli  from  Kabul 
on  the  6th  Zu.l  Hijjah,  1088  H.  (January  30,  1678,  N.S.)  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri', 
p.  165).  The  prince  was  appointed  to  the  Dakhin  on  the  nth  Sha'ban,  1089  H. 
(September  28,  1678,  N.S.)  (ibid.,  p.  169). 


HE  MARCHES  TO  THE  DAKHIN  WITH  SHAH  'ALAM     231 

directed  him  to  return  to  court.1  He  came,  but  with  such 
ostentation  that  Aurangzeb  was  forced  to  show  his  displeasure. 
He  took  away  his  pay  and  rank,  and  paid  no  farther  attention 
to  him.  He  remained  in  this  position  for  some  time,  until  Shah 
'Alam  interceded  for  him  in  such  a  way  that  in  the  end  the 
king  gave  way  to  the  prince's  petitions,  and  restored  his  pay 
and  rank.  But  this  caused  no  improvement  in  Bahadur  Khan, 
who  remained  as  convinced  as  ever  that  the  king  was  under 
some  obligation  to  allow  him  his  pay  and  rank,  or  even  greater 
than  that  he  held. 

Meanwhile  Diler  Khan  did  what  he  could  to  defend  himself 
from  Shiva  Ji,  who  did  nothing  but  plunder  in  every  direction. 
It  was  not  possible  to  attack  his  territories  as  they  lay  among 
hills  very  difficult  of  access,  forming  as  it  were  a  defence  unto 
themselves.  For  if  any  force  penetrated  them,  the  passes  were 
so  easily  closed  behind  them,  that  the  greater  portion  of  the 
invaders  were  kept  there  unable  to  do  anything  [181].  The 
most  that  Diler  Khan  could  do  was  to  fight  with  Bljapur  and 
Gulkandah  ;  and  from  consideration  of  this  war,  Aurangzeb 
once  more  ordered  Shah  'Alam  to  the  Dakhin.  Shiva  Ji,  to 
show  how  little  he  thought  of  Shah  'Alam,  advanced  to  the 
gates  of  Aurangabad  without  Shah  'Alam  being  able  to  do 
anything — nay,  he  was  in  great  fear  lest  Shiva  Ji  might  attack 
the  suburbs  and  sack  the  whole  environs.2  For  he  had  such 
vigilant  spies  that  he  was  informed  of  the  places  where  this 
man  and  the  other  had  buried  their  wealth  through  fear  of  him. 
But  Shiva  JI  could  not  tarry  long,  for  by  rushing  hither  and 
thither  he  tired  himself  out,  and  died  vomiting  blood  in  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-nine.3 

1  For  Khan  Jahan's  (Bahadur  Khan's)  recall,  and  Diler  Khan's  succession, 
see  Grant-Duff,  p.  126  (?  1677).  Diler  Khan  was  ordered  to  the  Dakhin  before 
Muharram  of  the  nineteenth  year,  1087  H.  (March,  1677).  In  the  twenty-first 
year,  1088  H.  (late  in  1677,  or  early  in  1678),  Khan  Jahan  was  recalled,  'Abd-ur- 
rahman  Khan,  Bakhshx  and  Waqi'ah-nigar  being  put  in  command  till  Diler 
Khan's  arrival  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  150,  161). 

'2  Grant-Duff,  129,  ascribes  this  event  to  1679,  and  says  the  place  plundered 
was  Jalnah,  where  Shiva  Ji  remained  three  days  without  Shah  'Alam  moving  from 
Aurangabad,  a  distance  of  a  little  over  forty  miles  (see  Khaff  Khan,  ii.  270,  271). 

:i  The  *  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  194,  line  7,  and  the  •  Tarlkh-i-Muhammadl,'  state 
that  Shiva  Ji  died  on  the  24th  Rabi'   II.  of  the  twenty-third  year,   1091   H. 


232     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Aurangzeb  was  gratified  at  the  death  of  this  great  enemy. 
When  he  was  dying,  the  rajah  forbad  his  officers  to  recognise  as 
their  lord  anyone  else  than  Ram  Raja,1  who  was  his  second  son, 
seeing  that  from  an  early  age  he  had  declined  to  acknowledge 
Sambha  Ji  as  his  son.  Thus  he  ended  his  life,  after  having 
risen  against  his  benefactor  the  King  of  Bljapur,  and,  sword  in 
hand,  had  cloven  his  path  to  power,  killing  and  devastating, 
giving  full  occupation  even  to  so  powerful  a  sovereign  as  the 
Mogul  king,  and  creating  a  new  realm  in  Hindustan.  This 
kingdom  became  such  a  powerful  opponent  of  the  Mogul — that 
overcomer  and  captor  of  kings — that  it  compelled  him  to  leave 
his  capital  and  dwell  in  camps  for  more  than  nineteen  years. 
At  this  date  of  writing,  which  is  the  twenty-first  of  May  in  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-nine,  my  spies,  who  arrived  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  bring  me  letters  from  the  army, 
and  inform  me  that  the  royal  camp  was  in  great  difficulty  and 
confusion.  The  reason  is  that  another  rebel  has  joined  [the 
Mahrattahs] ;  he  is  called  Chanda,  a  Hindu  prince.  They  have 
invested  the  camp,  and  are  carrying  off  the  treasure  coming  in 
for  the  army  from  Hindustan,  blocking  the  roads  and  defeating 
the  forces  sent  against  them. 

But  when  Sambha  JI2  heard  that  his  father  was  dead,  he  left 
Bljapur  at  once  and  entered  his  father's  territories,  some  of  the 
officers  being  his  partisans.  These  men  joined  him,  his  brother 
being  a  minor.  Thus  he  took  upon  himself,  employing  the 
valour  of  his  captains,  to  give  trouble  to  the  Moguls.  In  order 
that  the  officers  might  not  quarrel  among  themselves,  he  sent 
his  brother  a  prisoner  to  a  fortress.    He  signalized  his  accession 

(May  22,  1680,  N.S.).  The  latter  describes  him  as  Shiva  Ji,  Bhonslah,  son  of 
Sahu  JI,  a  big  man  in  the  Dakhin  and  a  gainer  of  victories  ;  while  the  former 
yields  the  detail  that,  '  having  come  in  from  a  ride,  he  vomited  blood  twice  through 
excess  of  heat.'  Grant-Duff's  date  (p.  131)  is  April  5,  1680.  Kafire  ba  jahannum 
raft  ('  An  infidel  went  to  hell ')  is  a  chronogram  for  the  event. 

1  Rama  JI,  or  Ram  Raja,  the  second  son  by  the  second  wife,  was  born 
circa  1670,  and  died  in  March,  1700  (Grant-Duff,  133,  134,  175). 

2  Sambha  JI  was  the  eldest  son  by  the  first  wife ;  he  was  born  in  1657,  and 
executed  on  the  24th  Jamada  II.,  1100  H.  (March  14,  1689).  Grant-Duff, 
pp.  133,  134,  1G0,  has  August;  the  'Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  325,  has  the  29th  of 
Jamada  II. 


DEATH  OF  SHIVA  J I  AND  J  A  SWA  NT  SINGH  233 

to  power  by  beheading  the  officers  [182]  considered  by  him 
wanting  in  zeal  for  his  cause.  On  the  proper  occasion  (II.  207) 
I  will  state  how  he  (Sambha  Jl)  showed  me  his  sword,  and  told 
me  that  he  himself  with  that  sword  had  cut  off  the  heads  of 
thirty  of  his  officers,  and  as  for  the  others,  he  had  their  eyes 
gouged  out. 

Death  of  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh. 

In  this  same  year  (?  1678)  died  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh1  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  river  Indus.  On  obtaining  information  of 
this  death,  Aurangzeb  sent  an  order  to  the  viceroy  to  forward  to 
court  the  two  sons  of  the  rajah ;  he  also  wrote  to  them  direct 
that  he  wished  to  reward  the  valour  of  their  father.  They 
came  with  five  hundred  horsemen,  leaving  the  surplus  men  to 
find  their  way  to  their  own  country.2 

When  they  arrived  at  DihlT  they  heard  that,  instead  of  reward- 
ing them,  Aurangzeb  meant  to  cut  off  their  heads.  On  finding 
this  out,  they  fled  from  the  city  before  daybreak,  and  posted 
two  hundred  and  fifty  horsemen  on  the  bridge  with  twelve 
arches3  which  stands  opposite  Humayun's  mausoleum.  Their 
orders  were  to  hinder  anyone  from  passing  and  seizing  the 
little  rajahs.  In  the  morning  Aurangzeb  knew  of  the  rajahs' 
flight,  and  at  once  sent  a  force  to  pursue  and  seize  them.  But 
the  two  hundred  and  fifty  Rajputs  defended  the  passage  most 
valorously,  and  prevented  anyone  getting  past  them.  Men 
were  killed  on  both  sides,  but  no  one  was  able  to  pass.  Then 
night  fell,  and  the  Rajputs  who  had  barred  the  way  rejoined 
the  others  who  were  in  charge  of  the  rajahs.  Among  the  dead 
were  two  women  clothed  as  men,  who  gladly  offered  their  lives 
to  defend  their  princes  against  the  cruelty  of  Aurangzeb. 

The  death  of  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh  was  used  by  Aurangzeb 

1  Jaswant  Singh  died  on  the  6th  Zu,l  Qa'dah,  1089  H.  (December  18,  1678, 
N.S.).     He  was  then  faujdar  of  Jamrud  in  the  Khaibar  Pass. 

2  Here  Manucci  has  not  got  the  right  story,  which  was  much  more  romantic 
(see  the  '  Fatuhat-i-'Alamgiri,'  by  Ishar  Das,  Nagar,  of  Patan,  a  protege  of 
Shekh-ul-islam,  son  of  Qazi  'Abd-ul-wahhab ;  Rieu,  '  Catalogue  of  Persian 
Manuscripts,'  269,  and  compare  Tod,  '  Rajasthan. '  ii.  56,  57). 

3  The  well-known  Barahpulah,  or  Barahpalah,  Bridge,  which  still  stands  in 
the  position  indicated. 


234     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

as  an  opening  to  oppress  the  Hindus  still  more,  since  they  had 
no  longer  any  valiant  and  powerful  rajah  who  could  defend  them. 
He  imposed  on  the  Hindus  a  poll-tax,1  which  everyone  was 
forced  to  pay,  some  more,  some  less.  Great  merchants  paid 
thirteen  rupees  and  a  half,  the  middle  class  six  rupees  and  a 
quarter,  and  the  poor  three  rupees  and  a  half  every  year.  This 
refers  to  men  and  not  to  women  [183] ;  boys  began  to  pay  as 
soon  as  they  had  passed  their  fourteenth  year.  Aurangzeb 
did  this  for  two  reasons:  first,  because  by  this  time  his  treasures 
had  begun  to  shrink  owing  to  expenditure  on  his  campaigns ; 
secondly,  to  force  the  Hindus  to  become  Mahomedans.  Many 
who  were  unable  to  pay  turned  Mahomedans,  to  obtain  relief 
from  the  insults  of  the  collectors. 

Annoyed  at  the  flight  of  the  rajahs,  Aurangzeb  took  the  field 
for  a  campaign  against  the  famous  Rani,  wife  of  Jaswant  Singh, 
although  that  princess  had  sent  to  the  king  many  letters 
inquiring  the  nature  of  his  grievance.  She  represented  to 
him  the  privileges  conceded  to  them  by  all  the  previous  Mogul 
kings.  But  with  a  powerful  man  it  is  no  use  to  argue.  Thus 
this  princess  was  obliged  to  cede  to  Aurangzeb  a  province  and 
the  town  of  Mairtha.  Thereupon  the  king  withdrew,  having 
thus  repaid  the  benefits  received  from  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh, 
who,  if  he  had  taken  the  side  of  Dara  when  the  troubles  began, 
could  have  been  of  much  hindrance  to  Aurangzeb  in  acquiring 
the  sovereignty.2 

After  Aurangzeb  had  made  peace  with  the  Rani,  he  retired 
to  Agrah  to  enjoy  the  palaces  and  gardens  made  by  Shahjahan, 
his  father.  But  he  did  not  repose  for  long ;  he  had  been  born 
to  trouble  others  and  be  troubled  by  them.  Although  he  had 
quite  as  much  as  he  could  manage  with  Shiva  Jl  and  the  other 
two  territories,  Bijapur  and  Gulkandah,  he  sallied  forth  in 
search  of  further  warfare.  It  very  nearly  happened  that  he 
came  to  entire  ruin  through  a  great  rising  which  followed  the 

1  The  jizyah.  Elphinstone,  559,  says  it  was  imposed  in  1677  (1088  H.) — that  is, 
two  years  earlier.  However,  according  to  the  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  174,  the 
correct  year  is  1090  H.,  twentieth  year  (1679-80),  which  agrees  with  Manucci. 

2  Manucci  here  forgets  that  Jaswant  Singh  did  at  the  beginning  take  Dara's, 
and  not  Aurangzeb's,  side,  as  he  has  himself  told  us. 


KASHMIR  GOVERNOR'S  INCURSION  INTO  TIBET        235 

war  with  the  Rana  which  he  entered  upon.  The  beginning 
of  this  war  was  when  Ibrahim  Khan,1  governor  and  viceroy 
of  Kashmir,  in  his  anxiety  to  acquire  glory,  attempted  and 
succeeded  in  an  enterprise.  It  was  as  follows  :  On  the  confines 
of  Kashmir  is  the  province  of  Tibet,  which  belongs  to  China, 
divided  from  Kashmir  by  extremely  high  hills  and  chains  of 
mountains.  These  are  so  steep  that  it  is  impossible  to  climb 
over  or  descend  from  them.  But  Nature  taught  a  way  of 
establishing  friendship  between  the  peoples,  even  though 
divided  by  such  lofty  walls.  For  the  inhabitants  carry  out 
their  intercourse  with  great  fairness,  those  of  the  province  of 
Tibet  placing  rope  ladders  for  the  descent,  and  when  the 
business  is  over  they  remove  these  ladders.  If  they  have  no 
ladders,  they  let  down  their  merchandise  in  a  basket,  and 
then  carry  on  a  conversation  from  the  heights.  In  this  way 
they  conclude  their  bargains. 

Ibrahim  Khan  managed  to  find  out  that  the  people  of  the 
town  nearest  the  mountains  were  under  the  necessity  of  coming 
for  a  pilgrimage  to  another  town  [184].  Through  the  medium 
of  some  traders  in  that  second  town  he  arranged  that  the 
ladders  should  be  left  hanging  on  the  mountains.  On  the 
appointed  day  he  sent  out  his  soldiers,  who  sacked  the  afore- 
said city,  carrying  off  much  wealth,  including  some  gilt  images 
of  great  size.  Upon  the  return  of  the  soldiers,  Ibrahim  Khan 
ordered  the  said  images  to  be  sent  on  to  Agrah  for  presentation 
to  the  king.  He  wrote  to  His  Majesty  that  he  had  taken 
the  figures  from  the  territories  of  China.  Owing  to  their 
country  being  protected  by  inaccessible  cliffs  and  rocks,  he 
could  not  make  war,  but  he  had  found  a  method  of  sending 
some  infantry  to  plunder  a  town  on  a  fitting  opportunity. 
It  was  quite  impossible  to  get  horses  over  places  where  men 
had  to  climb  by  ropes.     The  figures  arrived  at  Agrah,   and 

1  Ibrahim  Khan,  son  of  'Ali  Mardan  Khan,  Amir-ul-Umara.  In  the  twenty- 
first  year  (1677-78)  he  replaced  Quwam-ud-din  Khan  in  Kashmir.  He  was  next 
transferred  to  Bengal,  where  he  was  replaced  in  the  forty-first  year  (1697-98)  by 
Prince  Muhammad  'Azim.  In  the  forty-fourth  year  (1700-1)  he  returned  to 
Kashmir  ;  in  the  forty-sixth  year  (1702-3)  he  was  removed  to  Ahmadabad  ;  in  the 
first  of  Bahadur  Shah  (1707-8)  he  was  sent  to  Kabul.  He  died  in  Rabi'  I.,  1122  H. 
(April,  1710),  aged  eighty  (while  Governor  of  Kashmir  ?). 


236    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Aurangzeb  was  flattered  at  having  viceroys  zealous  of  his 
honour  and  eager  to  augment  his  glory.  Then  he  had  an 
attack  of  envy  that  his  vassals  were  able  to  seize  idols  and 
destroy  temples,  while  he,  at  the  head  of  his  great  forces  and 
professing  such  bigoted  Mahomedanism,  was  unable  to  carry 
anything  out  against  the  head  of  the  Hindus — that  is,  the  King 
Rana — though  this  potentate  lived  in  the  very  midst  of  his 
dominions. 


Aurangzeb  sends  an  Embassy  to  the  Rana,  and 
declares  war. 

This  was  the  reason,  or  at  least  one  of  the  reasons,  for  which 
Aurangzeb  determined  to  declare  war  against  the  said  Rana. 
In  order  that  it  might  not  seem  that  he  was  acting  without 
cause,  he  sent  him  an  embassy  with  such  and  such  requests. 
It  amounted  to  telling  him  that  he  had  either  to  become  a 
Mahomedan,  or  had  to  feel  the  strength  of  his  (Aurangzeb's) 
spears,  the  sharp  edge  of  his  swords,  the  strong  flight  of  his 
arrows,  the  hot  fire  of  his  artillery,  and  the  consuming  courage 
of  his  soldiers.  The  overtures  were  of  this  nature,  and  were 
sent  through  a  gurz-barddr  (a  mace-bearer)  carrying  his  golden 
mace,  who  intimated  to  the  Rana  that  the  first  demand  was 
for  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  one  of  his  (Aurangzeb's)  sons. 
This  is  a  thing  the  Rana  would  never  do,  for  although  some 
rajahs  gave  their  daughters  as  wives  to  the  Mogul,  they  only 
did  it  because  they  were  petty  princes  compared  to  the  Rana. 
If  he  had  consented  [185],  he  would  have  done  great  injury 
to  his  family.1 

But  this  was  a  small  thing  in  comparison  with  the  next  demand. 
This  was  that  he  should  no  longer  coin  money  in  his  own 
name,  but  in  that  of  Aurangzeb.  This  was  the  same  thing 
as  saying  that  the  Rana  was  not  the  king  of  his  realm  but  a 
simple  governor,  since  the  money  would  be  graven  with 
Aurangzeb's  name.     The  third  thing  he  asked  was  one  that 

1  A  good  account  of  this  campaign  against  the  Rana  of  Udepur  will  be  found 
in  Tod,  'Rajasthan,'  i.  351-360;  the  treaty  is  given  in  a  note  on  p.  361.  He 
refers  to  Orme's  '  Historical  Fragments,'  p.  104,  edition  of  1782. 


THE  RANI'S  REPLY  TO  AURANGZEB  237 

touched  very  closely  the  Hindu  religion.  He  asked  permission 
to  kill  cows  within  the  Rana's  kingdom.  Now,  the  Hindus 
being  great  worshippers  of  cows,  which  they  hold  in  the 
greatest  estimation,  this  asking  leave  to  kill  cows  was  to  the 
Hindus  as  if  he  were  to  take  away  their  religion. 

As  a  further  indication  of  his  design  to  abolish  Hinduism 
throughout  his  kingdom,  he  asked,  in  the  fourth  place,  for 
the  destruction  of  all  temples  and  the  erection  of  mosques  in 
their  stead.  Finally,  Aurangzeb,  as  a  declaration  of  absolute 
sovereignty  over  the  Rana's  kingdom,  requested  that  the  juris- 
diction of  the  qdzl  should  be  acknowledged — that  is,  the  law 
of  the  Quran  should  be  introduced.  If  the  Rana  did  not 
wish  to  consent  to  these  things,  let  him  abandon  his  kingdom. 
What  harder  conditions  could  one  king  demand  from  another 
as  an  excuse  for  declaring  war  than  what  Aurangzeb  demanded 
from  the  Rana  ? x 

But  although  these  Hindus  were  very  much  afraid  of  the 
Moguls  from  what  had  happened  in  the  invasion  of  Taimur-i- 
lang,  who  with  twelve  thousand  horsemen  defeated  the  Rana 
at  the  head  of  one  hundred  thousand,  of  which  I  spoke  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Second  Book  of  the  First  Part  of  my  History 
(I.  60),  still,  even  this  did  not  persuade  the  Rana.  to  concede 
to  Aurangzeb  what  he  demanded.  He  replied  to  the  following 
effect :  As  to  the  first  request,  it  had  never  been  the  custom  for 
the  Rana  to  give  his  daughters  in  marriage  to  the  Mogul  kings. 
He  could  not  break  the  ancient  rule  of  his  predecessors,  nor 
was  it  right  that  he  should  be  the  first  to  do  this  injury  to  his 
family.  As  for  the  second  request,  he  replied  that  it  was 
entirely  opposed  to  the  privileges  conceded  by  all  the  Mogul 
kings  from  Mir  Shah  up  to  the  present  reign.  It  would  suffice  for 
Aurangzeb  to  read  the  chronicles  of  the  great  and  famous  kings 
of  his  own  family  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  what  was  now  said. 

As  to  the   third   and   fourth    requests,  the  wisdom  of   His 

1  In  the  twenty- second  year,  1090  H.,  a  letter  came  from  the  Rana  (Raj  Singh), 
and  his  son,  Kunwar  Jai  Singh,  was  presented  in  audience  at  Ajmer  on  the 
29th  Safar  (April  11,  1679).  The  jizyah  (poll-tax)  was  imposed  at  this  time.  On 
the  18th  Rabi'  I.  the  Rana's  son  left  for  his  home.  In  the  twenty-third  year, 
1090  H.,  Zu,l  Ilijjah  (January,  1680),  Hasan  'AH  Khan  was  sent  against  the 
RanaCM.-i-'A.,'  174,  175,  187). 


238    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Majesty  should  be  judge  whether  a  king  could  admit  such 
demands,  they  being  directly  contrary  to  a  religion  which  had 
lasted  for  so  many  centuries  in  Hindustan.  You  might  as  well 
demand  from  the  Rana  his  head  and  the  destruction  of  his 
kingdom  [186]  as  demand  the  things  asked  for  by  His  Majesty. 

Here  let  me  briefly  inform  Europeans  that  the  Hindus  of 
Hindustan  are  wedded  to  their  religion  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  their  ancestors  observed  it.  Nor  do  they  approve  of 
its  being  said  of  their  sons  and  grandsons  that  they  have 
abandoned  the  customs  of  their  old  folk.  Although  this  is 
reasoning  unworthy  of  attention,  still,  it  is  so  riveted  into  their 
heads,  that  it  is  impossible  to  convert  them  to  any  other  religion, 
unless  God  endows  them  with  powerful  grace  or  it  be  done  by 
force  of  arms.  Otherwise  they  can  never  be  made  to  change 
their  religion.  The  padre  Busde,  of  whom  I  have  spoken 
(I.  259;  II.  117),  a  man  well  acquainted  with  the  people  of 
India,  used  to  say  that  the  way  to  preach  in  Hindustan, 
whether  to  the  Mahomedans  or  to  the  Hindus,  was  with  a 
well-sharpened  sword.1 

As  for  Aurangzeb's  last  request,  the  Rana  answered  that  since 
he  could  not  accept  the  third  and  the  fourth,  he  attached  less 
importance  to  the  fifth,  because  every  religion  had  its  courts  of 
justice  conformable  to  its  tenets.  Then,  in  respect  to  the  addi- 
tional remark  that  if  he  were  not  willing  to  consent  to  these 
things  he  must  quit  his  kingdom,  his  reply  was  that  it  had 
been  acquired  by  his  ancestors  by  just  title  ;  they  had  never 
interfered  with  anyone,  and  were  ever  contented  with  the  much 
or  little  which  their  gods  granted.  All  this  His  Majesty  would 
easily  understand,  while  he  knew  also  that  the  Rana  could  place 
in  the  field  many  soldiers  whose  valour  had  enabled  him,  long 
before  Taimur-i-lang  descended  into  the  plains  of  Hindustan, 
to  conquer  many  rajahs  then  existing  in  the  Mogul  country.  All 
these  words  being  the  very  truth  itself,  he  earnestly  entreated 
Aurangzeb  to  leave  his  kingdom  in  peace.  There  were  many 
other  kingdoms  hostile  to  him,  against  whom  he  could  give 
proof  of  his  valour.  The  Rana  had  never  failed  to  maintain 
under   his    (Aurangzeb's)    control   and    in    his    service    seven 

1  Surely  a  very  unchristian  sentiment ! 


SHAH  'A LAM  RECALLED  TO  MALWAH  239 

thousand  cavalry.  If  he  wished  it,  in  order  to  conquer  some 
other  kingdom,  he  would  send  him  even  more  men. 

Aurangzeb  knew  quite  well  that  the  Rana.  must  reply  in  this 
style.  Nevertheless,  he  meant  to  await  the  reply,  and  when  it 
arrived  he  sent  at  once  couriers  to  recall  Prince  Shah  'Alam 
from  the  Dakhin,  with  an  order  to  make  peace  with  Bijapur 
and  Gulkandah.  Just  as  a  father  might  pardon  the  fault  of 
his  little  children,  so  must  he  deal  with  those  kings,  leaving 
behind  nothing  beyond  a  small  force  to  resist  Shiva  Ji.  To  carry 
out  this  plan  he  sent  Bahadur  Khan  to  replace  Shah  'Alam  [187] 
and  Diler  Khan,  in  order  that  these  last  might  march  and  arrive 
punctually  at  the  positions  where  we  were  ordered  to  camp. 

We  encamped  near  a  great  lake  called  Rana-sagar1 — that  is 
to  say,  '  Made  by  the  Rana..'  Its  wall  on  one  side  is  formed 
by  the  mountains  ;  on  the  other  side  are  stairs  of  handsome 
hewn  stone.  This  lake  was  so  large  that  it  took  more  than 
eight  hours  to  go  round  it,  and  I  say  this  because  I  proved  it 
myself  with  my  horse.  In  the  middle  of  the  lake  there  are 
three  large  boats,2  gilded  and  beautiful,  which  are  anchored  in 
the  centre  so  that  no  one  may  get  upon  them,  they  being  used 
by  the  Rana.  for  his  amusement. 

Other  couriers  had  been  sent  to  A'zam  Tara.  in  Bengal, 
telling  him  to  march  with  his  army,  and  fixing  the  point  at 
which  he  must  invade  the  Rana's  territory.  Diler  Khan,  as  a 
veteran  and  experienced  general,  was  directed  to  reinforce  with 
his  army  that  of  the  said  prince.  Aurangzeb  also  wrote  to 
Akbar,  who,  after  he  had  killed  the  rajah  (Kishan  Singh),  had 
proceeded  to  Multan,  that  he  must  come  with  his  forces,  bring- 
ing also  Tabercan  (Tahavvar  Khan).3  For  them  also  a  place  was 
fixed  from  which  they  were  to  attack  the  Rana.  Letters  were 
also  written  to  the  governor  of  Gujarat  to  join  with  all  haste, 

1  On  the  2nd  Muharram,  twenty-fourth  year,  1092  H.  (January  22,  1681), 
Aurangzeb  received  a  report  that  Shah  'Alam  had  reached  Rana-sagar  (at 
Udepur).     The  word  means  '  Rana's  Lake. ' 

2  Pataxos  (pataches,  or  pinnaces). 

;1  On  the  25th  Jamada  I.,  twenty-first  year,  1089  H.  (July  15,  1678),  Akbar  was 
appointed  to  Multan  ;  on  the  7th  Safar,  twenty-second  year,  1090  H.  (March  8, 
1679),  he  arrived  at  court.  Tahavvar  Kl1a.11  was  appointed  faujdar  of  Ajmer  in 
1090  H.  (1679)  (' Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri, '  1G6,  173). 


240    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

and  take  up  his  position  against  the  Rana.  Thus  for  this 
campaign  Aurangzeb  put  in  pledge  the  whole  of  his  kingdom, 
and  the  people  were  astounded  at  the  whole  realm  being  turned 
upside  down  for  a  war  against  a  king  who  did  not  want  to 
fight,  who  only  relied  upon  the  rights  of  his  forefathers,  and  at 
the  same  time  intended  only  to  defend  himself  against  the 
Mogul,  without  undertaking  the  task  of  overthrowing  him. 
This  fact  may  be  seen  in  the  course  of  this  account,  and  thereby 
the  reader  will  understand  how  inflexible  are  these  Hindus  in 
the  preservation  of  the  rules  made  by  their  mightier  pre- 
decessors. 

The  scheme  of  the  campaign  having  been  worked  out  in  the 
way  stated,  and  the  Rana's  territory  encircled,  Aurangzeb 
started  from  Agrah  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
seventy-nine.1  He  took  an  army  with  him,  and  was  firmly 
resolved  to  make  himself  master  of  the  Rana's  kingdom.  He 
advanced  as  far  as  Ajmer,  where  he  halted,  and  thence  sent  out 
fitting  orders  to  his  generals  for  fighting  valiantly,  and  invading 
that  kingdom  with  vigour.  He  also  invaded  it  on  his  side, 
sparing  neither  time  nor  fatigues.  When  the  Rana  heard 
that  Aurangzeb  was  advancing  with  a  great  army,  he  sent  orders 
into  the  provinces  situated  beneath  the  mountains  for  all  the 
inhabitants  [188]  to  move  into  the  hills  and  abandon  their 
houses.  In  addition,  the  Rana  ordered  that  the  royal  abodes 
should  be  left  carpeted.  Nor  did  he  omit  to  send  messages 
to  Aurangzeb,  begging  him  as  a  favour  not  to  penetrate  farther. 
But  Aurangzeb,  instead  of  moderating  his  ire  and  ambition  on 
finding  that  the  Rana  dealt  with  him  so  courteously,  even 
leaving  his  rooms  with  their  carpets  spread,  assumed  that  this 

1  The  start  was  made  from  Dihll,  not  Agrah.  The  following  are  the  dates  of 
Aurangzeb's  movements :  On  the  7th  Sha'ban,  twenty-second  year,  1090  H. 
(September  13,  1679),  his  tents  went  out  to  Palam  ;  on  the  29th  (October  5)  he 
camped  at  the  Ana-sagar  outside  Ajmer.  On  the  7th  Zu,l  Qa'dah  (December  10) 
he  left  Ajmer  for  Udepur ;  on  the  way,  at  Deorani,  Prince  Akbar  arrived  from 
Mairtha.  On  the  15th  Zu,l  Hijjah  (January  17,  1680)  there  was  a  march  from 
Mandal,  and  camp  was  pitched  at  the  pass  of  Dahbari ;  the  Rana  had  fled 
from  Udepur.  On  the  2nd  Muharram,  1091  H.  (February  3,  1680),  Aurangzeb 
visited  the  Rana-sagar,  and  on  the  1st  Safar  (March  4)  Chitor.  On  the  14th  Safar 
(March  14,  1680)  he  began  his  return  march  to  Ajmer  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,' 
180-190). 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  UDEPUR  241 

was  done  from  fear.  He  did  all  the  injury  to  the  Rana  that 
he  could — sent  out  orders  to  knock  down  and  make  ruins  of 
every  temple,  and  to  kill  cows  in  them.1  As  a  farther  aggrava- 
tion, finding  himself  by  chance  in  a  palace  where  there  were 
statues  of  the  ancient  Ranas,  and  of  the  reigning  one  with  his 
wives  and  their  ladies,  he,  out  of  contempt,  ordered  them  all  to 
be  broken  to  pieces.  But  the  Rana  proved  to  him  one  day 
how  easily  he  could  destroy  him,  and  yet  how  much  he  desired 
his  friendship. 

With  this  design  the  Rana  barred  the  roads  in  such  a  way 
that  the  Moguls,  being  now  surrounded  by  mountains,  could 
find  no  exit,  nor  knew  they  where  to  pass ;  for  the  roads  are 
provided  with  labyrinths,  and  none  but  the  natives  know  the 
right  road.  Aurangzeb  was  amazed  at  finding  himself  by  one 
stroke  thus  encircled,  unable  to  move  either  forward  or  back- 
ward. He  knew  likewise  that  if  the  Rana  up  to  that  time  had 
made  no  movement  against  his  person,  it  was  not  because  he 
could  not,  but  because  he  would  not.  Still  more  was  he 
alarmed  when  he  found  that  his  beloved  Udepurl  put  in  no 
appearance  ;  nor  was  there  the  slightest  news  of  her.  Neither 
was  there  word  of  any  supplies.  The  Rana,  to  show  that  he 
did  not  want  to  fight,  sent  him  supplies  from  his  own  country. 
He  allowed  him  to  suffer  hunger  for  one  day,  so  that  hunger 
might  inspire  him  with  good  sense.  Thus  Aurangzeb,  as  well 
as  his  army,  had  to  content  himself  with  a  little  kichrl — that 
is,  rice  and  lentils  cooked  with  a  little  butter. 

Then  in  the  evening  the  Rana  sent  in  the  Mogul's  wife 
(Udepurl  Begam),  in  the  company  of  his  soldiers,  again  begging 
him  as  a  favour  to  withdraw  and  leave  his  kingdom  in  peace, 
and  made  the  excuse  that  his  soldiers  had  stopped  the  roads 
without  his  orders.  This  would  have  been  enough  to  pacify 
the  most  barbarous  of  kings,  enraged  by  some  great  insult  or 
another  which  he  had  received ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  this 
was  a  king  unjustly  assailed  who  yet  granted  life  to  his  enemy, 

1  Three  temples  on  the  bank  of  the  Rana-sagar  were  destroyed.  Hasan  'Ali 
Khan  reported  the  destruction  of  173  temples  in  Udepur  town  and  neighbourhood. 
At  Chitor  sixty-three  temples  were  knocked  down  by  the  Emperor's  order 
('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  188,  189). 

VOL.  II.  l6 


242     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

when  he  could  have  killed  him  with  impunity.  But  not  for 
such  courtesies  would  Aurangzeb  refrain  from  his  fixed  purpose  ; 
on  the  contrary,  he  sent  order  upon  order  to  his  sons  [189]  and 
generals  to  penetrate  farther  and  farther.  He  himself  withdrew 
to  Ajmer,  so  as  not  to  incur  again  any  evil  fortune.  Leaving 
himself  with  no  more  than  two  thousand  men,  made  up  of 
household  slaves  and  clerks,  he  divided  up  his  forces  and  sent 
them  to  all  four  quarters  with  orders  to  invade  without  hesita- 
tion. But  his  sons  and  generals,  more  prudent  than  Aurangzeb 
himself,  perpetually  made  excuses,  for  they  knew  how  easy  it  is 
to  get  into  a  labyrinth,  yet  how  difficult  to  follow  it  up  to  the 
appointed  limit,  and  then  return  by  the  same  route.  They 
knew  the  mishap  that  had  happened  to  the  king  himself.  Yet 
he,  in  his  over-boldness,  would  not  agree  to  desist  from  the 
enterprise,  and  insisted  on  carrying  all  before  him. 

Aurangzeb  deserved  to  have  had  Pathans  to  deal  with  in 
those  mountain  ranges,  and  of  a  certainty  they  would  never 
have  sacrificed  such  a  good  chance  for  cutting  off  the  head  of 
him  who  had  decapitated  his  own  brothers.  But  the  Rana  was 
more  concerned  in  following  the  rules  of  his  foregoers  than  in 
defending  himself;  thus,  though  not  afraid  of  the  Mogul,  he 
did  not  care  to  take  well-deserved  vengeance  for  the  harm  done 
to  him  by  Aurangzeb.  In  order  to  relieve  himself  of  the  obli- 
gation of  doing  more,  he  worked  to  get  up  a  mutiny  in  the  army 
of  Aurangzeb. 

It  is  necessary  to  state  how  the  adventurous  Mogul  proved 
that  he  did  not  mean  to  give  up  his  enterprise  of  conquering 
the  kingdom  of  the  Rana.  Whilst  he  was  in  Ajmer  he  ordered 
the  fortress  of  Chitor  to  be  put  in  order  and  garrisoned.  I 
spoke  of  it  in  the  history  of  Akbar  in  the  Second  Book  of  my 
First  Part  (I.  82).  Yet.  as  I  said  there,  one  of  the  conditions 
of  peace  between  Akbar  and  the  Rana  was  that  both  of  them 
should  relinquish  the  said  fortress  of  Chitor,  a  stone  being 
placed  on  the  gateway  of  that  fortress,  on  which  were  cut  these 
words:  'Neither  I  nor  you  for  evermore.'  Thus  Aurangzeb 
was  not  constant  in  following  the  rules  of  his  fathers — at  any 
rate,  not  in  those  things  where  he  found  his  advantage.  There- 
fore he  ordered  the  said  fortress  to  be  garrisoned,  and  commanded 


PRINCE  AKBAR  JOINS  THE  RlTHORS  243 

the  destruction  of  the  pillar  that  the  famed  PadmanI  had  caused 
to  be  erected  in  the  fortress,  bearing  a  graven  stone  stating  you 
should  never  place  faith  in  Moguls  [190]. 

Prince  Akbar  Rebels. 

Seeing  how  much  Aurangzeb  was  willing  to  risk  in  order  to 
master  his  kingdom,  the  Rana,  equally  persistent  not  to  attack 
Aurangzeb,  resolved  to  arrange  matters  so  that  the  Mogul's  own 
sons  should  make  war  against  such  an  unjust  father.  He  found  out 
that  Akbar,1  although  the  youngest  of  all,  was  the  boldest  and  most 
turbulent,  as  he  had  shown  when  quite  small.  To  him  (Akbar) 
selected  persons  were  sent  into  the  very  camp  of  Aurangzeb. 
These  men  counselled  him  not  to  lose  this  chance  of  becoming 
king.  If  he  did  not  act  now,  when  his  father  was  without  his  men 
and  all  the  other  princes  were  in  the  Rana's  territory,  at  a  much 
greater  distance  from  his  father  than  he  was,  it  would  not  be 
easy  a  second  time  to  capture  the  crown.  He  embraced  this 
advice,  being  liked  by  his  officers  and  soldiers,  and  began  his 
march  for  the  seizure  and  beheadal  of  his  father. 

Spies  came  to  Shah  'Alam  about  this  rebellion,  but  he  would 
not  put  trust  in  them,  or  at  any  rate  appeared  not  to  attach 
credit  to  them.  For,  it  being  a  matter  of  great  importance,  he 
would  be  obliged  to  inform  his  father,  and  he  feared  to  write 
such  matters  to  Aurangzeb,  who  from  his  love  for  Akbar  would 
not  believe  his  (Shah  'Alam's)  letters.  On  the  contrary,  he 
would  suspect  that  Shah  'Alam  wrote  them  in  order  to  carry 
out  some  plot  of  his  own.  Nevertheless,  as  such  news  was 
very  important,  he  sent  for  his  generals  and  captains,  and  in 
their  presence  caused  the  exact  words  of  the  spy  to  be  written 
down.  The  man  said  that  a  commotion  would  arise,  that  Akbar 
had  already  publicly  declared  himself  king,  and  with  the  inten- 
tion of  arresting  his  father  had  already  begun  his  march.  The 
generals  and  captains  signed  at  the  foot  of  the  spy's  statement. 
Thus  the  news  was  sent  at  once  by  Shah  'Alam  to  Aurangzeb. 
The  latter,  for  the  love  he  bore  to  his  other  son,  would  not 

1  For  a  much  better  account  of  Akbar's  rebellion,  see  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  261-270  ; 
Elliot  and  Dowson,  vii.  298-304.  Akbar's  flight  was  reported  to  Aurangzeb  on 
the  26th  Zu,l  Hijjah,  1091  H.  (January  18,  1681),  ('  Ma,asir-i-Alamgiri,'  197). 

l6 — 2 


244     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

believe  Shah  'Alam's  letter,  and  said  they  were  mendacious 
tales  and  the  rebellion  non-existent. 

But  on  the  same  day  came  in  news  from  Akbar's  own  camp 
that  he  had  in  reality  rebelled,  and  was  advancing  energetically 
with  thirty  thousand  Rajputs  belonging  to  the  Rani,  the  widow 
of  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh,  commanded  by  two  famous  leaders, 
Durga  Das  and  Sonoegi  (Soning),1  besides  the  other  troops 
that  he  had.  Aurangzeb  was  thrown  into  great  anxiety,  and 
he  arranged  to  put  into  a  state  of  defence  the  house  [191]  he 
occupied,  which  stood  upon  a  great  lake.  He  refused  to  shut 
himself  up  in  the  fortress ;  he  distributed  among  the  few  men 
he  had  the  charge  of  the  windows  and  doors,  enjoining  great 
vigilance.  He  saw  the  time  arrive  for  appreciating  the  saying, 
1  Per  que  quis  peccat,  per  hcec  et  plectetur';  what  he  did  he 
received,  and  he  had  to  pay  the  penalty  for  what  he  had  done 
to  his  father.  But  he  sought  every  mode  to  evade  that  issue, 
and  he  fortified  as  well  as  he  could  the  house,  posting  round  it 
field-pieces,  swivel-guns,  and  matchlock  men. 

He  sent  letters  to  Shah  'Alam,  A'zam  Tara,  and  other  generals 
to  reinforce  him  at  once  with  the  greatest  haste.  From  this 
reason  we  turned  right-about-face  and  came  to  rejoin  Aurangzeb, 
who  had  already  left  Ajmer,  and  pitched  his  camp  in  the  same 
place2  where  Dara  was  encountered  at  the  second  battle.  We 
reached  the  spot  three  hours  before  the  arrival  of  the  rebel 
prince.  Aurangzeb,  before  he  marched,  had  also  written  to 
Akbar,  and  told  him  that  he  had  heard  false  reports  about  his 
loyalty,  and  how  evil-designing  people  had  written  that  he  had 
rebelled  against  his  father,  one  who  held  him  dearer  than  his 
soul.  He  longed  to  know  the  truth.  If  it  were  the  fact  that 
he  had  rebelled,  he  asked  him  the  cause  of  his  rebellion.  Let 
him  remember  that  it  was  not  a  right  thing  for  a  beloved  son  to 

1  I  take  '  Sonoegi  '  to  be  Tod's  '  Soning,'  which  he  uses  on  p.  60,  vol.  ii. , 
'Rajasthan,'  as  if  it  were  an  epithet  of  Durga  Das.  Soning  was,  however,  a 
separate  man,  as  his  sudden  death  on  August  26,  1681,  is  lamented  (ibid.,  p.  63), 
while  Durga  Das  survived  long  beyond  this  time.  In  the  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,' 
ii.  873,  the  name  is  spelt  '  Sonig. '  The  lake  referred  to  would  be  the  Ana-sagar 
at  Ajmer,  which  still  exists. 

2  The  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  200,  says  he  moved  out  on  the  5th  Muharram 
(January  25,  1681)  to  the  village  of  Dobarah,  thirty-five  jarlbs  distant. 


AURANGZEB'S  DANGEROUS  POSITION  245 

rebel,  above  all  at  a  time  when  the  father,  for  the  glory  of  his 
sons,  was  busy  with  a  grand  enterprise.  He  admonished  him 
that  he  ought  now,  at  such  a  time,  to  abate  his  ardour  and 
not  throw  the  realm  into  disorder.  Let  him  keep  quiet  at 
present,  and  allow  progress  against  the  Rana  to  be  continued. 
At  a  fitting  time  he  would  let  him  see  how  much  he  loved 
him. 

Akbar  received  the  letter  and  demonstrated,  even  more  clearly 
than  was  necessary,  what  were  his  intentions.  For  he  wrote 
boldly  to  his  father  that  he  had  really  rebelled,  that  it  was  with 
firm  resolve  to  fight  that  he  had  come  forth  from  the  mountain 
abysses.  The  cause  of  his  revolt  was  the  same  that  his  father 
had  himself  taught  him,  for  had  he  not  risen  against  his  father  ? 
The  whole  realm  was  by  this  time  tired  at  seeing  his  tyrannical 
acts,  more  especially  the  abrogation  of  the  rights  and  privileges 
that  his  far-off  ancestors  had  conceded  to  different  persons  in 
Hindustan.  Therefore  let  him  prepare  for  battle  and  mount 
his  horse,  for  he  was  coming  straight  to  fight  him  personally. 

On  hearing  this  message,  Aurangzeb  began  to  be  still  more 
disquieted  [192].  It  was  not  so  much  his  son  that  he  feared, 
but  the  thirty  thousand  Rajput  horsemen.  He  knew  their 
object  was  to  take  vengeance,  this  being  a  good  opening,  for 
the  insult  done  to  their  Rani  and  the  sons  of  Jaswant  Singh. 
Still,  to  show  that  he  was  not  afraid,  he  wrote  to  Akbar  to 
come  on,  and  he  would  await  him  on  horseback.  For  this 
purpose  he  ordered  a  long  steel  spike  to  be  made  and  affixed 
to  the  head  of  a  fine  horse  that  he  possessed. 

When  our  armies  became  aware  of  this  news  there  was  great 
uproar ;  those  who  were  acquainted  with  Akbar's  vigour  and 
the  small  force  round  Aurangzeb  began  at  once  to  deliberate 
whether  they  should  not  desert  to  Akbar's  side,  as  that  of  the 
more  powerful  protagonist.  I  know  myself  that  Shah  'Alam 
was  thrown  into  considerable  anxiety  by  this  outbreak.  Akbar's 
mistake  was  not  to  carry  through  his  project.  If  he  had  only 
learnt  from  his  father,  along  with  the  lesson  of  rebellion,  that 
also  of  energy  and  of  not  losing  time,  it  is  certain  that  he  would 
have  made  himself  king,  Aurangzeb  having  no  men  to  defend 
himself.     But  as  Aurangzeb  had  in  Akbar's  division  men  who 


246    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

loved  him,  he  found  means  to  make  the  astrologers  order  Akbar 
to  wait  some  days  before  marching.  The  time  was  occupied  in 
making  thrones  and  preparing  supplies  for  the  coronation 
festival.  This  they  did  to  give  Aurangzeb  time  to  gather  men 
for  his  defence. 

At  this  time  Aurangzeb  wrote  a  letter  and  made  it  over  to  the 
Master  of  the  Horse,  a  big,  tall  man  who  attended  the  king 
when  he  rode  out.  It  was  this  man  himself  who  told  me  the  story. 
He  was  directed  to  place  the  said  letter  between  two  tombs, 
and  remain  there  on  the  alert  to  notice  if  during  the  night  the 
tombs  made  any  movement,  as  if  striking  each  other.  He  put 
the  letter  between  the  two  tombs,  but  saw  no  movement  what- 
ever the  whole  night  through.  Reporting  this  to  the  king, 
Aurangzeb  declared  that  Akbar  would  never  come  to  meet  him 
with  his  army.  All  the  same,  he  did  not  slacken  his  efforts, 
sending  a  flying  camp  on  ahead  to  watch  the  movements  of 
Akbar's  force. 

Some  men  came  and  said  to  the  king  that  the  vanguard 
of  Akbar  was  advancing  with  such  determination  that  they 
were  too  few  to  resist  their  fury  and  impetus.  From  this  cause 
Aurangzeb,  although  still  relying  upon  the  sorcery,  had  already 
given  himself  up  for  lost  [193],  not  having  yet  sufficient  men, 
although  more  were  coming  in  hour  by  hour.  It  was  the  period 
of  the  short  rainy  season  in  those  regions — that  is  to  say,  it  was 
the  month  of  January  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-one.1 
The  rain  and  the  wind  gave  us  enough  to  suffer  from,  coupled 
with  the  mud  and  mire  of  the  roads.  All  the  same,  we  arrived 
(as  I  have  said)  (ante,  II.  191)  three  hours  before  the  appearance 
of  Akbar  and  his  army,  although  we  had  been  much  farther  off 
than  Akbar  had  been ;  and  he  took  four  days  in  coming  to 
execute  his  project,  when  he  could  have  done  it  in  two,  at  which 
time  Aurangzeb  was  without  soldiers  and  without  strength. 
It  looked  as  if  the  heavens  wished  to  announce  this  rebellion, 
for  on  the  vespers  of  the  Nativity  (December  24)  of  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty  there  appeared  a  large  comet 
with  a  tail.  It  was  at  the  time  that  we  were  encamped  near 
the  tank  of  which  I  spoke  (Rana-sagar,  ante,  II.  187).     From 

1  This  date  fits  in  with  the  Indian  histories,  and  is  probably  correct. 


AKBAR S  ENTERPRISE  FAILS  247 

this  occurrence  (the  comet)  our  camp  became  perturbed  and 
concerned,  not  knowing  what  was  about  to  happen. 

Although  we  had  joined  him,  Aurangzeb  did  not  yet  count 
himself  safe,  being  in  great  dread  of  the  Rajputs.  He  therefore 
resorted  to  his  usual  devices.  Learning  that  on  the  next  day 
battle  would  be  offered,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Akbar.  In  it  he 
said  that  he  had  always  found  him  to  be  an  obedient  son,  above 
all  was  he  so  in  this  pretence  at  a  revolt,  but  it  was  now  neces- 
sary to  complete  the  operation  with  the  same  dutifulness.  Let 
him  remember  to  post  the  Rajputs  in  the  vanguard,  and  then 
during  the  battle  he  should  carry  out  his  part  in  their  rear,  slay- 
ing as  many  as  he  could.  Aurangzeb  and  his  army  would  kill  all 
the  others,  and  thus  would  he  execute  the  wished-for  vengeance 
on  the  Rajputs,  and  destroy  them  all.  He  wrote  thus  because 
he  knew  that  the  Rajputs  of  themselves  had  offered  to  fight  in 
the  vanguard,  and  when  they  intercepted  the  letter  they  would 
suspect  Akbar  and  leave  him.  This  came  to  pass ;  for  the 
Rajputs,  getting  hold  of  the  letter,  feared  they  had  been 
betrayed.  Forthwith,  without  any  warning  to  Akbar,  they 
took  to  flight. 

Akbar  rose  at  midnight  to  make  ready  for  the  great  attempt, 
when  it  was  already  too  late  to  begin.  Supposing  the  Rajputs 
to  be  still  in  their  due  place,  he  found  instead  the  camp 
evacuated,  for  the  rest  of  his  army  had  also  fled,  leaving  him 
with  only  a  few  soldiers.  The  prince  fell  into  profound  dejection 
[194]  at  finding  himself  abandoned,  and  felt  unable  to  decide 
what  ought  to  be  done.  Tahavvar  Khan,  who  was  in  the 
king's  service,  seeing  that  the  cause  was  lost,  now  staked  his  life 
on  making  Akbar  king.  He  said  to  the  prince  that,  since  they  had 
not  men  enough,  the  rebellion  could  not  be  carried  to  comple- 
tion. Let  him  wait  where  he  was  with  the  few  men  he  had  left, 
while  he  went  to  assassinate  the  king.1 

In  pursuance  of  this  design  he  entered  the  royal  camp,  clad  all 

1  Jan  Beg,  Harawi,  entitled,  first,  Tahavvar  Khan,  then  Badshah  Quli  Khan, 
one  of  'Alamgir's  great  nobles,  joined  Prince  Akbar  during  his  revolt,  and, 
coming  to  the  Presence  with  an  evil  intent  on  the  night  of  the  6th  (i.e.,  5th) 
Muharram,  1092  H.  (January  24,  1681,  N.S.),  was  killed  (see  '  Ma,asir-i- 
•Alamgiri,'  201;  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  447;  and  '  Tarlkh-i-Muharnmadi, 
1092). 


248    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

in  mail,  telling  the  sentries  who  challenged  him  that  he  was 
Tahavvar  Khan,  and,  being  a  known  man,  he  was  allowed  to  pass 
without  difficulty.  During  a  storm  of  rain  and  wind  he  arrived 
close  to  the  royal  tent.  If  he  had  found  entrance  then,  he  and 
his  companions  could  have  killed  the  king  and  Shah  'Alam  and  his 
sons,  who  were  quite  unprotected,  the  rain  and  the  cold  having 
made  the  soldiers  retire  into  their  tents.  At  this  time  the 
guard  on  the  royal  tent  consisted  of  only  a  door-keeper  or  two. 
Lutfullah  Khan,1  son  of  Sa'dullah  Khan,  who  commanded  the 
guard,  was  inside  the  entrance  to  the  tent.  He  challenged  the 
traitor  and  asked  who  he  was,  and  the  intruder  responded 
freely  that  he  was  Tahavvar  Khan,  feeling  confident  that,  being 
of  the  king's  service,  he  would  be  sure  to  let  him  pass  in  without 
hindrance.  But  Lutfullah  Khan  made  him  wait  till  he  had 
carried  a  message  to  His  Majesty.  He  was  given  permission 
to  enter  on  condition  of  giving  up  his  arms.  On  hearing  this 
message  from  Lutfullah  Khan,  Tahavvar  Khan  said  that  he 
could  not  give  up  the  sword  that  this  very  king  had  attached  to 
his  side.  Upon  this  Lutfullah  Khan  said  he  should  never  enter 
unless  he  left  his  sword,  and  there  was  between  them  some 
exchange  of  words.  Men  collected  to  hear  the  cause  of  dispute, 
and  his  blood  getting  heated,  Tahavvar  Khan  laid  hold  of  his 
sword  to  force  his  way  in.  But  Lutfullah  Khan  and  the  others 
also  seized  their  weapons,  and  a  fight  began.  Tahavvar  Khan, 
being  clad  in  mail,  made  no  account  of  them.  In  a  few 
moments  the  king  heard  the  disturbance,  and  shouted  out 
orders  to  kill  the  intruder.  Trying  to  escape,  Tahavvar  Khan 
became  entangled  in  the  horses'  heel-ropes  and  the  tent-ropes, 
and  fell  to  the  ground.  The  others  cut  off  his  head.  When 
they  told  the  king  that  Tahavvar  Khan  was  dead,  he  issued 
orders  to  bury  him  at  the  entrance  of  the  tent  door.  Thus  died 
Tahavvr.r  Khan  in  trying  to  make  a  king  of  Akbar. 

The  latter,  when  he  heard  of  Tahavvar  Khan's  death,  went 
into  his  tents,  broke  open  his  boxes  of  jewels  and  of  [195]  gold 
coin,  and,  disguising  his  women  in  men's  attire,  fled  again 
into  the  Rajput  territory.     When  the  day  dawned  he  met  the 

1   For   Lutfullah   Khan,    see  '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.   171.     He  died   on   the 
18th  Sha'ban,  1114  H.  (January  7,  1703). 


A  TTEMPTED  A  SSA  SSINA  TION  OF  A  URA  NGZEB  249 

Rajput  captains  and  generals.  By  the  time  they  had  learnt 
the  reason  of  his  flight,  and  the  deception  played  off  on  them 
by  Aurangzeb,  there  was  no  longer  any  remedy  either  for  the 
death  of  Tahavvar  Khan  or  for  the  abortive  result  of  their 
project.  The  sun  rose,  and  it  seemed  as  if  heaven  meant  to 
congratulate  Aurangzeb  on  having  escaped  from  the  net  that 
his  son  had  spread  for  him.  Men  were  to  be  seen  going  and 
coming  from  Akbar's  camp  with  their  clothes  and  chattels. 
Others  were  arriving  to  demand  pardon  from  Aurangzeb  for 
what  they  had  tried  to  do.  They  made  excuse  that  they  could 
not  have  done  less,  for  if  they  had  refused,  Akbar  would  certainly 
have  cut  off  their  heads ;  and  they  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
darkness  to  flee  from  a  son  who  had  rebelled  against  his  own 
father.  But  Aurangzeb's  only  reward  for  these  good  excuses 
was  to  send  them  prisoners  to  the  fortress  of  Gwaliyar. 

Shah  'Alam  marches  against  Akbar. 

Aurangzeb,  who  never  allowed  delay  in  matters  of  importance, 
upon  being  told  that  Akbar  had  fled,  gave  orders  the  same  day 
to  Shah  'Alam  to  pursue  until  he  had  seized  him.1  Shah  'Alam 
replied  that  on  his  part  he  would  do  what  was  possible  to 
capture  him ;  but  as  Akbar  was  a  man  of  resolution,  it  might 
be  that  he  would  turn  to  give  battle.  In  the  battle  he  might 
be  killed.  He  therefore  prayed  His  Majesty  that  if  such  an 
unwished-for  event  resulted,  he  should  not  be  blamed.  Aurang- 
zeb answered  that  even  if  Akbar  were  killed,  it  would  be  well, 
for  a  rebellious  son  is  unworthy  to  live. 

Thus  we  issued  from  the  royal  camp  with  a  considerable 
force,  and  we  had  to  suffer  enough  from  the  recent  rains.  We 
were  also  worn  out  by  the  haste  we  had  made  in  coming  from  the 
Rana's  country  to  reinforce  Aurangzeb.  Now  we  marched  out 
in  search  of  Akbar,  who  fled  through  the  lands  of  the  Rajputs, 
and  kept  us  running  in  one  direction,  and  then  in  another,  up 
to  the  end  of  March  (1681).  During  this  time  Shah  'Alam, 
who  had  learnt  the  lesson  from  his  father,  wrote  letter  after 

1  Akbar's  flight  took  place  in  the  night  between  the  5th  and  6th  Muharram, 
1092  H.  (January  24-25,  1681).  Shah  'Alam  was  sent  in  pursuit  on  January  26, 
1681  ('  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgirI,'  202,  203). 


250    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

letter  to  Akbar  telling  him  to  surrender,  and  he  would  find 
a  way  to  procure  their  father's  pardon.  Akbar,  who  by 
this  time  knew  Aurangzeb  tolerably  well  [196],  although  he 
had  no  faith  in  him  pretended  to  believe.  He  wrote  to  Shah 
'Alam  that  very  willingly  would  he  come  in,  but  having  incurred 
some  debts,  he  was  in  need  of  four  thousand  gold  coins.  Having 
paid  his  debts,  he  would,  without  fail,  come  and  place  himself 
under  his  brother's  protection  and  pledged  word. 

Shah  'Alam,  who  imagined  his  brother  to  be  speaking  the 
truth,  sent  him  the  four  thousand  coins,  which  were  used  to  pay 
the  Rajputs.  Akbar  then  made  for  the  Dakhin,  there  to  throw 
himself  upon  Shiva  Jl's  (i.e.,  the  Mahrattahs')  protection.  We 
were  unable  to  pursue  him  over  the  impassable  roads  of  those 
mountain  ranges.  In  this  negotiation  between  Shah  'Alam 
and  Akbar,  Kanealam  (Khan  'Alam),  son  of  Nazabatcan  (Naja- 
bat  Khan),  a  very  fat  man,  who  was  a  partisan  of  Akbar,  wrote 
a  letter  to  Shah  'Alam  that  if  he  were  willing  to  pledge  his 
word  to  protect  him,  he  would  quit  Akbar  and  desert  to  his 
(Shah  'Alam's)  side.  Shah  'Alam  pledged  his  word,  and  Khan 
'Alam  came  and  put  himself  in  the  hands  of  Shah  'Alam,  and 
he  was  sent  to  court  with  a  recommendation.  But  Aurangzeb, 
who  did  not  pardon  sons,  was  not  likely  to  pardon  Khan  'Alam. 
As  soon  as  the  man  arrived  he  ordered  him  to  be  built  up  in 
a  room,  leaving  only  a  small  aperture  through  which  they  gave 
him  poisoned  food,  and  he  was  forced  to  do  there  the  offices  of 
nature,  and  there  he  died. 

On  this  occasion  Shah  'Alam  wrote  that  Akbar  had  now 
escaped.  The  king  had  spies  who  informed  him  of  everything 
that  happened,  and  he  replied  that  before  he  (Shah  'Alam)  had 
thought  of  writing,  he  had  already  received  news  of  Akbar's 
flight ;  and  as  he  (Shah  'Alam)  was  doing  no  good,  he  must 
come  back  to  headquarters.  Thus  we  retraced  our  steps  by 
the  orders  of  Aurangzeb.  He  saw  that  Akbar's  revolt  had 
thrown  the  kingdom  into  confusion  ;  he  therefore  wrote  to  all 
his  governors  and  viceroys  with  orders  to  beat  the  kettledrums 
and  hold  festivals,  to  let  the  people  know  that  he  had  gained 
the  victory  over  his  rebel  son  Akbar.  During  this  time  the 
defeated   prince  fled  hither  and  thither.     In  spite  of  all  the 


AKBAR  ESCAPES  TO  THE  MAHRATTAHS  251 

efforts  to  seize  or  kill  him,  there  were  no  results,  for  by  this 
time  Akbar  had  found  refuge  in  the  country  of  Sambha  Ji,  who 
made  it  his  pride  to  have  within  his  territories  a  son  of  his 
deadly  enemy  [197]  .l 

AURANGZEB  MAKES  PEACE  WITH  THE  RANA. 

Despairing  of  success  in  his  attempt  to  conquer  the  Rana's 
country,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  making  his  way  into  it,  and 
finding  that  Akbar  had  beaten  a  retreat  to  the  territories  of 
Sambha  Ji,  Aurangzeb  became  desirous  of  concluding  a  peace 
with  the  Rana,  for  which  that  ruler  had  several  times  made  over- 
tures. Aurangzeb  was  now  eager  to  strengthen  his  position  in 
the  Dakhin,  fearing  that  Akbar  would  lose  neither  time  nor 
opportunity  in  making  himself  formidable  with  the  aid  of 
Sambha  Ji.  Thus  in  the  very  same  region  where  he  (Aurangzeb) 
began  his  contest  for  the  throne,  Akbar  would  acquire  power, 
wealth,  and  soldiers.  The  chief  difficulty  was,  however,  to 
make  a  peace  with  the  Rana,  for  Aurangzeb  could  not  make 
overtures  without  loss  of  honour.  He  also  feared  that  the 
Rana  and  the  nobles  in  his  kingdom,  as  also  his  own  officers, 
among  whom  were  some  friendly  to  the  Rana,  might  mock  at 
him  for  having  refused  the  proffered  peace,  which  he  was  now 
himself  compelled  to  sue  for.  For  these  reasons  he  directed 
Diler  Khan  to  undertake  the  office  of  mediator  between  him 
and  the  Rana,  and  conclude  a  peace.2 

Diler  Khan  wrote  to  the  Rana  saying  that,  looking  to  the 
long-established  friendship  between  the  Rajput  realm  and  that 
of  the  Moguls,  considering  also  the  chivalry  with  which  the 
Rana  treated  his  enemies  in  time  of  war,  there  were  signs 
that  His  Majesty  the  Rana  had  no  desire  for  further  war.  The 
writer  had  therefore  undertaken  to  mediate  and  arrange  a 
peace  between  him  and  King  Aurangzeb,  his   master,  if  His 

1  Khan  Jahan  (Bahadur  Khan)  reported  that  on  the  7th  Jamada  I.,  1092  H. 
(May  25,  1681),  Akbar,  passing  near  Burhanpur,  had  entered  Sambha.  Ji's 
territory  ('  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIrI,'  205,  last  line). 

2  R.  Orme,  '  Historical  Fragments,'  p.  106,  edition  of  1805.  Tod,  '  Rajasthan,' 
i.  360,  mentions  that  Diler  Khan  made  use  of  a  Rajput  officer  (Shyam  Singh,  of 
BIkaner).     He  also  gives  the  terms  of  the  agreement  or  treaty  (i.  361,  note  a). 


252    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Majesty  (the  Rana)  should  so  desire.  The  Rana  saw  quite 
clearly  that  this  was  mere  policy  on  the  part  of  Aurangzeb, 
who  was  in  want  of  peace,  and  he  therefore  dissimulated,  in 
order  to  convince  Aurangzeb  that  he  was  under  no  necessity  to 
make  terms.  He  therefore  replied  to  Diler  Khan  in  a  dilatory 
strain,  excusing  himself  from  discussing  peace  terms,  as  he  had 
other  business  on  hand  within  his  territories.  Diler  Khan,  by 
order  of  Aurangzeb,  persisted  in  talking  of  a  peace,  and  sent 
letter  after  letter  to  the  Rana ;  now  detailing  [the  Mogul]  strength 
and  valour;  now  stating  that  his  forefathers  [the  Rana's]  had 
never  wished  to  make  war  upon  the  Mogul ;  now  threatening  a 
farther  advance,  talking  of  setting  fire  to  everything  found  on 
the  way ;  now  pointing  out  to  him  how  he  would  confer  a  great 
favour  on  the  Mogul  by  consenting  to  a  peace  [198]  at  a  time 
when  he  was  so  embarrassed  by  the  rising  of  his  son.  But  the 
Rana,  although  desirous  of  peace  and  escape  from  further  war- 
fare, gave  various  excuses,  such  as  that  he  was  quite  willing, 
but  being  in  ill-health,  he  could  not  apply  his  mind  to  such  an 
important  affair  as  making  a  solid  and  durable  peace  with  the 
Mogul. 

In  this  manner  he  kept  Aurangzeb  in  expectation,  and  the 
delay  was  very  heavy  to  bear.  For,  meanwhile,  his  son  Akbar 
and  Sambha  Ji  were  far  from  wasting  their  time.  These 
negotiations  went  on  for  some  five  months,  and  in  the  end  the 
Rana  sent  his  brother  to  the  court  to  complete  the  treaty  of 
peace.1  He  was  received  with  great  honour;  and,  in  truth, 
being  the  brother  of  a  powerful  king,  such  honour  was  politic 
on  Aurangzeb's  part,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  negotiations. 
Peace  was  made  ;  nor  were  there  any  new  provisions,  beyond  the 
grant  by  Aurangzeb  to  the  Rana  of  a  province  which  formerly 
belonged  to  his  state,  but  had  been  ceded  by  his  ancestors  to 
the  Mogul.  The  Rana's  ancient  privileges  were  confirmed.  In 
addition  thereto  the  Rana  was  under  obligation,  as  I  have  said 
(II.  187),  to   keep   seven   thousand   horseman   in   the    Mogul 

1  This  must  be  Bhim  Singh,  brother  of  Rana  Jai  Singh,  of  whom  Tod  tells 
a  romantic  tale  of  renunciation  (i.  364).  Bhim  Singh  was  received  by  Aurangzeb 
on  the  13th  Sha'ban,  1092  H.  (August  28,  1681)  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  212).  The  negotiator 
(Tod,  360,  note)  is  said  to  have  been  Sur  Singh,  uncle  of  the  Rana. 


XIX.     Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dIn,  Eldkst  Son  of  Shah  'alam. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  252. 


STORY  OF  QUWZM-UD-DlN  KHAN  253 

service  at  his  own  expense.  But  these  men  had  a  bad  name, 
and  committed  great  oppression  in  the  Mogul  country ;  no  one 
dared  to  interfere  with  them  ;  they  stole,  buffeted,  and  slew,  with- 
out anyone  being  able  to  question  their  acts.  Aurangzeb  there- 
fore judged  it  to  be  of  greater  profit  to  the  Moguls  to  dismiss 
instead  of  retaining  such  people.  But  not  desiring  to  prejudice 
the  rights  he  had  over  the  Rana,  he  contrived  that  the  Rana 
should  undertake  to  give  every  year  the  necessary  money  for 
the  pay  of  that  number  of  soldiers,  but  should  send  no  more 
horsemen.  Thus  the  Rana's  brother  had  his  audience  of  leave- 
taking,  and  Aurangzeb  was  satisfied  at  having  secured  peace 
with  a  king  who  had  spared  his  life  once,  and  would  be  able 
to  do  him  still  greater  harm  by  merely  delaying  to  make 
peace. 

During  the  time  that  these  things  were  going  on,  it  happened 
that  Mirza.  Kuchak,  of  whom  I  spoke  during  my  stay  in  Isfahan 
(I.  28),  who  had  been  expatriated,  came  to  ask  assistance  from 
Aurangzeb.1  He  gave  this  man  various  appointments,  and  in 
the  end  made  him  viceroy  of  Lahor.  At  this  time  it  was 
reported  to  the  viceroy  that  the  qazl  had  killed  two  Hindu 
women  in  his  house,  and  had  [199]  buried  them  in  a  pond. 
The  governor,  being  zealous  to  see  justice  done,  ordered  the 
kotwal  to  institute  a  search  in  the  qdzfs  house  and  discover  the 
truth.  But  the  qazl  would  not  allow  the  kotwal  into  his  house, 
not  wanting  to  be  prejudiced,  and  took  arms  in  his  own  defence. 
The  stiff-neckedness  of  the  qazl  having  been  reported  to  Mirza. 
Kuchak,  he  directed  an  entry  by  force,  and  if  necessary  they 

1  In  the  seventeenth  year,  1084  H.  (1673-74),  Quwam-ud-din  Khan,  Isfahan!, 
Sadv  of  Iran,  and  brother  of  Khalifah-i-Sultan,  the  wazir,  appeared  in  India, 
and  was  made  3,000,  1,500  horse.  In  1085  H.  (1674-75)  ne  was  promoted;  in 
the  nineteenth  year,  1087  H.  (1675-76),  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  Kashmir. 
After  his  return  to  court  in  the  twenty-first  year,  1088  H.  (1677-78),  he  was 
appointed  to  Lahor,  1089  H.  (end  of  1678).  In  the  twenty-third  year,  1091  H. 
(1679-80),  'All  Akbar,  the  qazl  of  Lahor,  having  been  killed,  the  governor  and 
the  kotwal  were  removed.  Quwam-ud-din  appeared  before  Aurangzeb  at  Ajmer, 
and  was  so  tortured  in  the  ecclesiastical  court  that  the  deceased's  son  withdrew 
his  claim  for  retaliation,  the  accused  being  an  old  man.  He  died  of  shame  about 
the  18th  Zu,l  Qa'dah  of  the  same  year,  1091  H.  (December  11,  1680)  ('  Ma,asir-i- 
'Alamgiri,'  130,  139,  151,  163,  166,  188,  195;  '  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi, '  1091 ; 
*  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  109-115  ;  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  256,  but  wrong  year). 


254    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

were  to  fight.  If  anyone  were  killed,  he  would  accept  the  re- 
sponsibility. 

Off  went  the  kotwdl  and  fought  with  such  vigour  that  the  qazl, 
too,  fell  along  with  the  other  dead.  Thereupon  the  learned 
men  assembled  and  wrote  to  the  king  about  this  mournful  event, 
and  said  that  never  had  it  been  heard  of  in  Hindustan  that 
anyone  had  ventured  to  put  forth  a  hand  upon  the  sacred 
person  of  a  qazl.  None  but  a  Persian  would  be  guilty  of  such 
a  deed,  for,  being  of  a  different  faith,  he  made  no  account  of 
persons  who  professed  and  taught  the  true  religion.  Upon  re- 
ceiving this  petition,  Aurangzeb  removed  Mirza  Kuchak  and 
ordered  him  to  court.  Hardly  had  he  arrived  when  he  resorted 
to  the  royal  presence.  Aurangzeb,  a  subtle  Mahomedan,  said 
to  him  that  he  would  have  to  talk  to  him  about  the  qazts  case. 
Mirza  Kuchak  understood,  and  was  well  aware  that  if  the 
qazts  case  was  in  issue,  he  would  die  subjected  to  great  shame 
and  affronts.  Therefore,  leaving  for  his  house,  he  took  poison 
and  died.  This  was  the  end  of  the  man  who  pronounced  the 
sentence  that  for  a  Mahomedan  who  killed  a  Christian  it  was 
sufficient  punishment  to  make  a  slight  cut  on  the  end  of  the 
little  finger  until  he  had  lost  three  drops  of  blood,  and  make 
him  pay  ten  patacas.1 

Aurangzeb  was  determined,  on  various  pretexts,  to  pursue 
Akbar,  but  foresight  induced  him  to  consider  what  might 
happen.  He  was  afraid  that  the  King  of  Persia  might 
seize  the  opportunity  to  make  some  attack  on  the  kingdom; 
therefore  Mirza  Baffa  (?  Wafa),2  grandson  of  the  Sahedcan 
Bahadur  (Sa'id  Khan  Bahadur),  of  whom  I  spoke  in  Shah- 
jahan's  reign  (I.  145),  was  sent  as  ambassador  in  ordinary  or 
resident  to  the  King  of  Balkh.  If  there  should  be  any  move- 
ment of  the  Persians  against  the  Mogul  kingdom,  he  (the  King 
of  Balkh)  was  to  take  the  field  against  them,  and  Aurangzeb 
would  not  only  pay  all  the  expenses,  but  give  him  a  reward. 

1  A  pataca  is  said  elsewhere  to  be  equal  to  two  rupees. 

2  On  the  25th  Rabi'  II.,  1096  H.,  twenty-eighth  year  (April  1,  1685),  Wafadar 
Khan,  grandson  of  Sa'id  Khan,  Bahadur,  was  made  Zabardast  Khan,  and  sent 
to  guard  the  frontier  of  Balkh.  He  carried  presents  for  Subhan  Quli  Khan,  the 
ruler  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  255).  For  Sa'id  Khan,  Bahadur,  Zafar  Jang,  who  died  1062  H., 
see  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  429-437. 


AURANGZEB  STARTS  FOR  THE  DAKHIN,  1681  255 

The  King  of  Balkh,  in  order  to  preserve  the  friendship  of 
Aurangzeb,  and  attracted  by  the  hope  of  lucre,  accepted  the 
proposal  made  to  him  by  Aurangzeb  [200]. 

As  soon  as  the  peace  negotiations  with  the  Rana  were  com- 
pleted, Aurangzeb  left  Ajmer  early  in  September  of  the  year 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-one.1  His  object  now 
was  a  war  against  Sambha  JT,  all  unmindful  of  his  fate — namely, 
that  this  departure  was  for  ever,  that  there  would  be  no  return 
for  him  either  to  Agrah  or  to  Dihli;  for  it  is  now  nineteen 
years  [i.e.,  in  1700]  that  he  has  been  in  camp  without  effecting 
anything  against  that  rebellious  people,  the  Mahrattahs.  God 
only  knows  what  will  come  to  pass  in  the  end !  For  the 
reports  continually  brought  in  to  me  are  that  he  is  in  a  very 
bad  way,  closely  pressed  by  the  aforesaid  Mahrattahs.  Thus 
until  this  day  he  has  not  been  able  to  accomplish  the  enter- 
prise he  intended  (as  he  said)  to  finish  in  two  years.  He 
marched,  carrying  with  him  his  three  sons,  Shah  'Alam,  A'zam 
Tara,  and  Kam  Bakhsh,  also  his  grandsons.  He  had  with 
him  much  treasure,  which  came  to  an  end  so  thoroughly 
during  this  war  that  he  was  compelled  to  open  the  treasure- 
houses  of  Akbar,  Niir  Jahan,  Jahanglr,  and  Shahjahan. 
Besides  this,  finding  himself  with  very  little  cash,  owing  to 
the  immense  expenditure  forced  upon  him,  and  because  the 
revenue-payers  did  not  pay  with  the  usual  promptitude,  he 
was  obliged  at  Aurangabad  to  melt  down  all  his  household 
silver  ware.  In  addition  to  all  this,  he  wanted  to  empty  the 
great  store-houses  filled  with  goods  left  by  deceased  persons, 
or  with  property  collected  in  Akbar,  Jahanglr,  and  Shahjahan's 
time  from  the  men,  great  or  small,  who  had  been  servants  of 
the  State.  But  afterwards  he  ordered  these  store-houses  not  to 
be  opened,  for  he  rightly  feared  that,  he  being  absent,  the 
officials  would  embezzle  more  than  the  half. 

Death  of  Begam  Sahib. 

But  let  us  begin  to  recount  the  royal  march.  The  women 
also  moved  with  us,  except  Begam  Sahib  or  Padshah  Begam, 

1  Aurangzeb  started  from  Ajmer  on  the  2nd  Ramazan,  1092  H.  (September  15, 
1681,  N.S.K'M.-i-'A.,'  212). 


256    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

who,  being  now  old,  had  desired  to  remain  in  Agrah.  During 
this  march  to  the  Dakhin  we  heard  that  she  had  ended  her 
life,1  fulfilling  her  own  prophecy.  For  before  Aurangzeb  left 
Agrah  this  princess  tried  to  prevent  the  king  beginning  hostilities 
against  the  Rana.  She  told  him  the  undertaking  was  very 
difficult,  almost  impossible,  and  that  it  was  very  probable  they 
would  never  meet  again,  as  [201]  turned  out  to  be  the  case. 
At  the  time  of  her  death  this  princess  divided  her  property 
and  jewels  among  her  nieces,  leaving  to  each  a  good  deal  of 
money  and  jewels.  Nor  did  she  overlook  her  beloved  Jam 
Begam,  to  whom  she  bequeathed  her  finest  jewels  and  a 
greater  share  of  money.  Upon  this  news  reaching  the  camp, 
we  halted  for  three  days  by  the  wish  of  Aurangzeb,  who  showed 
himself  touched  by  the  death  of  a  princess  of  good  ability,  who, 
although  she  had  her  faults,  left  behind  her,  on  the  whole,  the 
name  and  fame  of  a  wise  woman. 

On  hearing  of  Aurangzeb's  approach  to  the  Dakhin,  Sambha  Jl 
did  not  desist  from  his  usual  plundering  expeditions  in  all  direc- 
tions. This  was  meant  to  show  what  little  fear  he  had  of  that 
great  army.  Before  we  reached  Burhanpur  he  sacked  a  large 
village  four  leagues  distant  from  the  royal  camp.  Shah  'Alam 
was  quite  pleased,  for  Aurangzeb  had  withdrawn  him  from  the 
Dakhin,  after  reproving  him  for  allowing  Shiva  Jl  during  his 
government  to  get  so  close  to  him.  Thus  now  Shah  'Alam 
rejoiced  to  see  that  Sambha  Jl  made  no  account  of  his  father ; 
on  the  contrary,  he  plundered  quite  close  to  his  encampment. 

Angered  at  the  temerity  of  Sambha  Jl,  Aurangzeb  marched 
with  the  greatest  haste  to  Aurangabad  in  order  to  distribute 
his  army  in  different  positions,  and  see  if  he  could  not  capture 
Sambha  Jl,  and  draw  forth  this  thorn  which  was  giving  him 
so  much  annoyance.  We  arrived  at  Aurangabad,  and  here 
the  king  fixed  his  court.  He  kept  with  him  his  sons  and 
grandsons,  and  sent  out  generals  in  different  directions  to 
invade  the  territories  of  Shiva  Jl  (the  Mahrattahs).  During 
this  time  the  latter  was  ravaging  the  Dakhin.  Some  detach- 
ments he  allowed  to  penetrate  his  territories,  and  there  destroyed 

1  She  died  on  the  3rd  Ramazan,  1092  H.  (September  16,  1681)  ('Tarikli-i- 
Muhammadi'). 


AKBAR  AND  SAMBHA  J I  257 

them  by  throwing  poison  into  the  water  or  closing  the  routes. 
He  thus  caused  great  losses  in  Aurangzeb's  armies.  The  king 
did  not  know  what  course  to  adopt  to  impede  Sambha  Ji's 
assaults  and  conquer  his  lands.  Assuming  that  his  best  plan 
would  be  to  conquer  the  kingdom  of  Bijapur,  he  once  more 
declared  war  against  that  king.  Looking  on  him  as  a  child, 
on  one  hand  he  made  war  against  him,  and  on  the  other  wrote 
him  friendly  letters. 

The  general  sent  against  Bijapur  was  Diler  Khan,  who  did 
his  duty  as  a  good  soldier  [202] .  But  Shah  'Alam  had  a 
grievance  against  him  for  his  refusal  to  sign  the  paper  of  the 
feigned  rebellion  (II.  124),  also  for  his  not  treating  him  (the 
prince)  with  sufficient  respect.  A  splendid  opening  had  now 
been  found  by  Shah  'Alam  for  ending  the  life  of  this  famous 
commander,  and  he  caused  poison  to  be  administered  to  him 
whilst  he  was  conducting  the  campaign  against  Bijapur.1 
Aurangzeb  was  grieved  at  the  death  of  so  great  and  so  faithful 
a  general,  for  whom  he  had  considerable  affection,  in  spite  of 
his  being  a  Pathan.  It  is  the  rule  in  the  Mogul  realm  not 
to  trust  that  race. 

The  unhappy  Bijapur  ruler,  in  addition  to  an  invasion  from 
Aurangzeb's  army,  found  himself  attacked  by  Sambha  Jl,  who 
at  this  time  took  from  him  some  fortresses,  and  was  thus  ever 
strengthening  himself  against  the  Mogul. 

It  happened  just  then  that  some  of  Sambha  Ji's  officers 
quarrelled  with  him  because  he  continued  to  interfere  with 
other  men's  wives.2  They  signed  a  treasonable  letter  against 
their  prince,  in  which  they  promised  to  join  Prince  Akbar, 
to  whom  the  letter  was  sent.  The  latter  was  eager  enough 
to  make  use  of  such  a  good  opportunity,  but  he  would  not 
act  without  the  advice  of  the  [Rathor]  leader  Durga  Das,  to 
whom  he  confided  the  secret.  Durga  Das  counselled  him  not 
to  rely  on  such  a  letter,  and  said  it  was  possible  that  Sambha 
Jl  was  himself  the  originator  of  this  fiction,  in  order  to  see 

1  Jalal,  entitled  Diler  Khan,  son  of  Darya  Khan.  Rohelah,  Da.udzai,  died 
at  the  end  of  1094  H-  (about  December,  1683)  in  Aurangabad  ('Tarikh-i- 
Muhammadi  ').     For  his  biography,  see  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  42-56. 

2  Grant- Duff,  155,  speaks  of  Sambha  Ji's  profligacy. 

VOL.  II.  17 


258    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

whether  he  (Akbar)  would  countenance  such  a  rebellion,  or 
was  in  reality  a  prince  grateful  for  the  many  favours  done  to  him. 
The  safe  course  would  be  to  confide  the  said  letter  to  Sambha 
Jl  himself,  and  prove  to  him  the  fidelity  and  gratitude  felt 
towards  him. 

Sambha  Jl  received  the  letter,  and  since  the  writing  was 
genuine  and  also  treasonable,  he  forthwith  ordered  those 
officers  to  be  beheaded.  He  returned  thanks  to  Akbar  for 
his  good  faith,  and  assured  him  that  he  would  always  continue 
to  favour  his  cause.  By  this  time  the  prince  had  repented  of 
not  having  seized  the  occasion,  but  now  it  was  too  late.  It  is 
incumbent  on  me  to  state  that  Sambha  Jl's  victories  were  not 
the  fruit  of  his  own  valour,  but  were  due  to  his  officers.  He  was 
much  more  inclined  to  spend  his  time  with  women,  amusement, 
and  wine,  than  to  take  the  field  and  emulate  the  example  of 
valour  and  untiring  exertion  bequeathed  him  by  his  father  [203]. 

Aurangzeb  heard  of  the  plot  that  the  officers  of  Sambha  Jl 
wished  to  carry  out,  and  of  Akbar's  refusal  of  such  a  good 
opportunity.  He  feared  that,  owing  to  Sambha  Jl's  irregular 
life,  those  men  might  a  second  time  propose  to  make  Akbar 
their  prince,  that  he  might  then  accept,  and  be  able  then  to 
come  against  him  (Aurangzeb)  with  a  strong  army.  He  there- 
fore sent  endearing  letters  to  Akbar,  pressing  him  to  return ;  he 
knew  well  (he  said)  that  the  rebellion  the  prince  had  headed 
during  the  campaign  against  the  Rana  was  not  his  own  doing, 
but  the  work  of  his  officers.  He  could  now  return  with  confi- 
dence, and  he  would  be  pardoned.  Aurangzeb  pledged  his 
word,  backed  by  an  oath  on  the  Quran,  that  no  harm  would  be 
done  to  him.  Letters  went  back  and  fore,  but  Akbar  knew  his 
father,  and  was  not  such  a  fool  as  to  trust  himself  to  the  hands 
of  one  who  had  already  murdered  one  son.  But  he  wrote 
such  humble  and  submissive  letters  that  Aurangzeb  dispatched 
his  tutor  to  him,  and  a  considerable  sum  in  gold  accompanied 
by  a  letter,  which  declared  that  he  (Aurangzeb)  was  anxiously 
expecting  his  son's  return. 

Finally,  Aurangzeb,  finding  that  his  son  still  hesitated  to 
start,  wrote  to  him  another  letter,  in  which  he  pretended 
astonishment  at  the  delay,  and  once  more  invited  him  to  come 


OPPRESSIVE  GOVERNOR  REMOVED  259 

back.  But  Akbar,  who  had  now  drawn  from  his  father  enough 
funds  to  last  him  a  long  time,  wrote  that  most  certainly  he 
meant  to  come,  but  it  could  be  in  one  way  only — sword  in  hand, 
and  at  the  peril  of  his  life  to  make  himself  King  of  Hindustan, 
after  killing  his  father.  By  this  time  Aurangzeb  recognised 
that  the  procedure  of  Shah  'Alam  in  sending  money  to  his 
brother,  at  the  time  when  he  first  went  in  pursuit,  was  no  such 
great  fault  of  judgment,  since  he  (Aurangzeb)  himself  had  fallen 
into  the  same  mistake. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  news  reached  Aurangzeb  about 
the  governor  of  Surat,  called  Cartalab  Can  (Kar-talab  Khan).1 
At  the  said  port  he  had  committed  many  wrongful  acts,  so  that 
many  times  the  inhabitants  were  forced  to  send  complaints  to 
the  court.  But  as  he  was  rich,  and  gave  bribes  to  the  ministers, 
the  complaints  never  reached  the  royal  ear  ;  or  if  they  did 
reach  it,  they  were  depicted  as  much  more  trifling  than  they 
really  were.  But  God  will  not  suffer  for  long  the  screening  of 
the  evil-doer,  and  opened  a  door  by  which  [204]  Aurangzeb  was 
informed  of  the  truth.  He  then  sent  the  governor  an  order 
calling  him  to  Aurangabad.  As  soon  as  he  arrived,  before  he 
had  been  presented  in  the  royal  audience-hall,  Aurangzeb  sent 
a  eunuch  with  poison  to  be  given  to  the  said  governor.  When 
the  eunuch  reached  the  tents  of  Kartalab  Khan,  he  called  for 
him  in  a  loud  voice,  and  according  to  the  custom  of  these  over- 
bearing instruments,  said  it  was  the  royal  order  that  in  his 
presence,  and  without  delay,  the  poison  sent  by  the  king  should 
be  swallowed.  Thus  he  was  forced  to  take  it,  so  as  not  to  give 
the  king  a  chance  of  issuing  an  order  for  the  destruction  of  his 
entire  family.  In  this  way  did  the  man  end  his  life  who  had 
given  rise  to  so  many  complaints,  affording  a  warning  to  others 
to  comport  themselves  with  greater  equity,  and  carry  out  the 
king's  service  with  more  tenderness. 

Finding  that  he  could  not  effect  anything  of  value  against 
Sambha  JI,  Aurangzeb  became  desirous  of  completing  his 
acquisition    of    the    Bljapur    kingdom.     He   therefore   corre- 

1  On  the  4th  Shawwal,  twenty-eighth  year,  1095  H.  (September  15,  1684), 
Salabat  Khan  replaced  Kar  Talab  Khan  (Muhammad  Beg)  as  Muiasaddi  (manager) 
of  Bandar  Surat  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  247). 

17 — 2 


260     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

sponded  with  the  generals  of  that  realm,  sending  them  large 
gifts  and  presents  in  the  hope  that  they  might  rebel  against 
their  king  and  come  over  to  his  army.  Among  those  who  con- 
sented to  Aurangzeb's  proposals  was  Abdul  Aquim  ('Abd-ul- 
haklm).  This  man,  knowing  by  experience  the  bravery  of  the 
Goa  Portuguese,  for  they  had  defeated  him,  counselled  Aurang- 
zeb to  make  friends  with  those  Europeans.  If  they  continued 
their  hostilities,  Sambha  Jl  would  be  forced  to  keep  two  armies 
in  the  field,  one  in  the  direction  of  the  Dakhin,  the  other 
opposed  to  the  Portuguese.  Thus  it  would  be  more  easy  to 
stop  him  from  plundering  in  all  directions. 

Aurangzeb  wrote  to  the  viceroy,  Francisco  de  Tavora,  Conde 
de  Alvor,1  asking  him  to  make  war  on  Sambha  Jl,  and  offering 
to  make  him  a  gift  of  all  the  lands  he  took  from  that  prince. 
Aurangzeb's  rebellious  son,  Akbar,  was  in  Sambha  Jl's  company : 
they  must  refuse  him  any  passage,  and  decline  to  give  him  any 
assistance  ;  in  fact,  if  they  could  capture  or  kill  him,  they  would 
be  doing  him  (Aurangzeb)  a  great  favour.  In  due  time  he  would 
require  such  a  service.  To  carry  these  things  through,  he  sent  to 
them  Sec  Mahamed  (Shekh  Muhammad)  as  his  envoy.  Mean- 
while, on  the  advice  of  the  said  'Abd-ul-hakim,  he  made 
preparations  to  send  Shah  'Alam  in  the  direction  of  Goa  to 
invade  the  territories  of  Sambha  Jl.  A  fleet  was  to  go  by  sea 
[205]  from  Surat,  taking  supplies  of  provisions  for  the  army  of 
that  prince. 

My  Return  to  Goa,  and  the  Various  Events  which 
happened  There  during  my  Stay. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  out  of  disgust  I  resolved  to  live 
no  longer  among  Mahomedans,  now  that  I  had  put  together  a 
sufficient  sum.  Nor  did  Shah  'Alam  pay  me  at  all  punctually. 
I  therefore  decided  to  return  to  Goa,  where  I  had  some  money 
in  the  hands  of  the  Theatine  fathers,2  meaning  to  leave 
eventually  for  Europe.     For  this  reason  I  asked  several  times 

1  Francisco  de  Tavora,  Conde  de  Alvor,  arrived  in  Goa  on  September  11, 
1681,  and  left  India  on  December  15,  1686  (Danvers,  ii.  361,  370). 

2  The  Theatines  first  arrived  at  Goa  on  October  25,  1640  (MUllbauer, 
'  Geschichte,'  351).     The  Fathers  at  Goa  were  Italians  from  Milan. 


MANUCCI  OBTAINS  LEAVE  261 

for  my  discharge,  which  he  (Shah  'Alam)  always  refused  me, 
till  at  length  I  told  him  that  1113'  private  affairs  needed  my 
presence  at  Surat,  and  he  must  give  me  leave  for  at  least  two 
months.  He  consented  to  this,  and  I  went  to  Surat ;  there 
Senhor  Francisco  Martin,1  at  this  day  general  of  the  royal 
company  of  France,  gave  me  an  armed  sloop  to  carry  me  as  far 
as  Daman  in  Portuguese  territory.  Thence  I  got  to  Goa,  and 
lived  in  the  gardens.  When  Aurangzeb's  letter  reached  the 
viceroy  he  had  me  sent  for  to  translate  it  into  Portuguese.  On 
hearing  the  proposals  I  gave  him  advice  as  to  what  he  should 
do.  For  this  war  could  not  be  of  any  benefit  to  the  Portuguese, 
seeing  that  the  Mogul  would  never  be  content  to  leave  the 
Portuguese  to  themselves  after  he  had  destroyed  Sambha  JI. 
In  spite  of  this,  the  viceroy  engaged  in  the  war  against  that 
prince,  and  thereby  all  but  lost  Goa  [206]. 

Akbar  seeks  the  Means  of  delivering  Goa  into  the 
Hands  of  Sambha  Ji. 

Sambha  Ji  learnt  the  above  news,  and  Akbar,  who  was  living 
in  that  prince's  territories,  not  far  from  Goa,  was  anxious  to 
show  his  gratitude  for  the  honour  Sambha  JI  had  shown  him. 
He  also  sought  occasion  to  prepare  for  the  flight  which  he 
designed  to  make  into  Persia,  and  wanted  to  ask  the  viceroy 
to  provide  him  with  a  ship  for  that  purpose.  He  sent  an  envoy 
to  the  viceroy,  forwarding  at  the  same  time  some  rubies  and 
diamonds  for  sale.  He  prayed  as  a  favour  that  permission 
might  be  granted  him  to  build  a  ship  on  the  river  of  Goa  for  his 
flight  into  Persia,  he  being  persecuted  by  his  father,  Aurangzeb. 

He  really  wanted  to  build  the  ship,  but  also  hoped  to  land,  a 
few  at  a  time,  a  large  number  of  his  men,  and  then,  all  of 
a  sudden,  to  seize  Goa.  Knowing  as  I  did  the  tricks  of  the 
Mahomedans,  I  advised  the  viceroy  to  take  great  care  and 
find  out  how  many  men   were   disembarked,   for  they  might 

1  Francois  Martin,  Director- General  of  the  French  East  India  Company  at 
Pondicherry,  was  at  Surat  from  1680  to  1686 — first,  as  second  to  Baron,  and  on 
his  death  in  1683  as  Director.  He  returned  to  Pondicherry  in  1686  (see  article 
by  P.  Margry  in  '  Biographie  Universelle, '  Michaud,  new  edition).  Daman  lies 
about  fifty  miles  south  of  Surat. 


262    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

cause  damage  to  Goa  before  His  Excellency  could  prevent 
them  ;  and  truly  Sambha  Jfs  intention  was  to  get  a  number  of 
men  into  the  island.  Then  he  meant  to  come  in  person  to 
attack,  after  the  men  already  landed  in  the  island  had  occupied 
the  best  positions.  Thus  would  he  manage  to  accomplish  his 
purpose.  The  viceroy  gave  heed  to  my  words,  and  he  noticed 
that  the  next  day  a  great  number  of  men  came  from  Sambha 
Ji's  territory  for  work  at  the  ship,  but  many  fewer  withdrew  at 
night.  Orders  were  therefore  given  that  all  must  withdraw, 
and  that  the  next  day  as  many  as  came  in  the  morning  must  go 
back  at  night. 

Nor  did  the  Viceroy  content  himself  with  giving  Akbar  leave 
to  build  his  ship ;  he  also  made  ready  some  presents  to  be  sent 
to  him.  I  held  my  tongue  till  I  saw  that  these  things  were 
already  prepared,  when,  out  of  the  affection  I  bore  to  my  fellow- 
Christians,  I  went  to  the  viceroy.  I  said  to  him  that  to  me 
it  seemed  that  His  Excellency  was  not  acting  with  sufficient 
caution.  He  intended  to  write  to  the  Mogul  (Aurangzeb), 
agreeing,  at  his  request,  to  make  war  [207]  on  Sambha  Jl ; 
while  by  these  presents  he  acted  as  if  he  thought  that  great 
king  to  be  of  small  account.  For,  not  content  with  allowing 
Akbar  to  build  a  ship,  he  was  sending  him  presents.  By  this 
the  Mogul  would  be  angered,  and  would  seek  an  opening  for 
some  attempt  against  Goa,  because  of  the  favour  shown  to  his 
rebellious  son.  The  viceroy  was  pleased  to  listen,  and  came 
to  a  stop,  and  did  not  send  the  presents.  Meanwhile  the  ship 
was  finished,  and  Akbar  had  it  removed  to  the  port  of  Vin- 
gorla,1  twelve  leagues  distant  from  Goa,  and  in  the  territory  of 
Sambha  Ji. 

Battle   between   Sambha  Ji  and  the  Viceroy  of  Goa, 
and  how  Some  Portuguese  asserted  I  was  a  Traitor. 

Finding  that  by  using  the  chance  afforded  by  the  matter  of 
the  ship  he  could  not  carry  out  his  design,  Sambha  JI  sent  to 
the  viceroy  tutored  spies,  who  told  him  that  in  the  fortress  of 

1  Vingorla,  in  the  Ratnagiri  district,  is  a  little  to  the  north  of  Goa— say, 
thirty-three  miles.  The  removal  of  the  ship  from  Goa  to  Vingorla  is  confirmed 
by  Orme,  '  Historical  Fragments,'  edition  1782,  p.  179. 


PORTUGUESE  DEFEAT  AT  POND  A  263 

Ponda.  were  great  treasures.  His  object  was  to  get  the  viceroy 
to  leave  Goawith  a  large  force  for  the  conquest  of  that  fortress. 
Then  he  meant  to  cut  off  the  Portuguese  retreat  and  prevent 
their  return,  in  this  way  making  himself  master  of  Goa.  The 
facts  became  known  to  a  French  trader  then  in  Rajapur,1  and 
he  wrote  to  me  to  warn  the  viceroy  of  Sambha  Jl's  purpose. 
He  was  coming  down  with  his  army. 

I  told  His  Excellency,  but  he  would  not  heed  my  words. 
He  issued  forth  with  eight  hundred  white  soldiers  and  eight 
thousand  Canarese.2     He  crossed  with  them  to  the  other  side  of 
the  river  and  began  his  campaign.     With  him  went  five  pieces 
of  heavy  artillery.     The  men  inside  Ponda3  defended  themselves 
until  the  arrival  of  Sambha  Jl  along  with  Akbar's  men.     They 
attacked  with  great  fury  the  viceroy's  army,  and  gave  him  as 
much  to  do  as  he  could  manage.     His  best  troops  were  killed, 
and  if  he  had  not  used  wooden  obstructions  with  which  to  im- 
pede the  onset  of  the  cavalry,  he  would  never  have  been  able 
to  get  back  to  Goa,  nor  could  he  have  made  any  defence.     The 
rainy  weather  impeded  the  discharge  of  his  matchlocks  ;  thus, 
coming  on  still  closer,  a  trooper  among  the  Rajputs  dealt  His 
Excellency  [208]  a  sword-blow  on  the  ribs.     Retreating  slowly, 
he  reached  the  river  bank  with  great  difficulty,  and  once  more 
entered  Goa.     He  recognised,  although  too  late,  that  he  had 
been  misled.     Great  grief  was  caused  in  the  city  from  the  fruit- 
less loss  of  so  many  lives. 

In  the  interval  Goa  was  governed  by  the  archbishop,  Dom 
Manoel  de  Souza  de  Menezes.4     There  came  a  boat  sent  by  the 

1  Apparently  Dhunda  Rajapur,  close  to  Jinjirah,  is  intended  (see  Grant-Duff, 
138).  It  is  in  lat.  180  18',  long.  730  3'  (Thornton,  811).  Sambha  Ji's  troops  were 
then  besieging  Jinjirah. 

2  F.  C.  Danvers,  ii.  369,  370,  copies  Grant-Duff,  139,  140,  verbatim,  and  the 
latter  relies  upon  Orme,  'Historical  Fragments,'  edition  1805,  122-124.  Orme 
says  the  Viceroy  took  the  field  in  September,  1683,  and  his  camp  having  been 
surrounded  by  Sambha  JI,  he  had  to  force  his  way  step  by  step  back  to  Goa. 

3  Pondah,  nine  miles  south-east  by  east  from  Goa  (Thornton,  '  Gazetteer,"  773). 
Orme,  123,  calls  it  thirty  miles.  The  place  had  been  taken  from  the  Portuguese 
by  Shiva.  Ji  in  1675  (Grant-Duff,  119). 

4  Manoel  de  Sousa  e  Menezes  became  Archbishop  on  September  20,  1681,  and 
died  on  January  31,  1684  (M.  Mtillbauer,  '  Geschichte  der  katholischen  Missionen 
in  Ost  Indien,'  p.  365.     Freiburg,  1852). 


264    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

general  of  Aurangzeb's  fleet,  which  was  on  the  watch  to  pre- 
vent Akbar  leaving  Vingorla  in  the  ship  he  had  built.  It 
brought  a  message  for  the  viceroy,  urging  him  to  make  a 
valiant  fight  of  it,  and  before  very  long  he  (Aurangzeb)  would 
arrive  to  his  assistance.  But  the  archbishop  would  not  listen 
to  the  envoy,  and  gave  the  answer  that  he  must  go  and  deal 
direct  with  the  viceroy.  I  knew  this  because  I  translated  the 
letters,  and  I  did  not  wish  to  forsake  the  [vicejroy  at  such  a 
time,  so  that  he  might  have  no  cause  of  complaint  against  me. 
I  therefore  demanded  permission  of  his  lordship,  and  with 
great  difficulty  he  granted  me  a  boat  to  travel  in.  We  in  Goa 
did  not  then  know  the  miserable  plight  of  the  viceroy. 

I  left,  but  the  archbishop,  I  know  not  why,  sent  an  order  to 
the  guards  posted  on  the  river  to  seize  me.  Thus,  while  I  dis- 
bursed my  coin  to  aid  and  serve  the  Christians  against  the 
power  of  the  Mogul,  they  made  me  out  to  be  a  traitor.  They 
persuaded  the  archbishop  that  I  was  taking  with  me  five 
hundred  Shivajls  (i.e.,  Mahrattahs)  to  cut  off  the  viceroy's 
retreat,  and  prevent  his  returning  again  to  Goa.  For  this 
reason  he  directed  my  arrest.  The  captains  of  the  guards 
knew  quite  well  I  was  innocent,  for  when  I  reached  them  I  had 
with  me  no  one  but  a  servant.  In  spite  of  this,  as  the  orders 
were  absolute,  they  civilly  made  me  a  prisoner  without  com- 
municating to  me  their  orders.  I  made  pretence  of  not  recog- 
nising that  the  way  they  were  treating  me  betrayed  suspicion 
of  my  acts.  At  this  time  I  saw  the  arrival  of  several  boat-loads 
of  dead  and  wounded,  a  proof  that  Sambha  Jl  had  defeated 
the  viceroy. 

But  if  I  took  as  a  joke  this  treatment  of  me  by  the  arch- 
bishop, it  was  not  really  such.  Nor  did  the  envoy  look  upon 
the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  received  as  any  joke;  for 
wishing  to  make  him  out  greater  than  he  was,  they  placed  him 
in  danger  of  losing  his  head.  They  began  to  spread  a  rumour 
[209]  that  he  was  not  an  envoy,  but  the  very  Sambha  Jl 
himself.  This  story  was  so  much  accepted  that  men  were 
already  in  search  of  him  to  slay  him.  Such  is  the  power  of 
fear  when  it  enters  into  people  who  are  otherwise  of  good 
sense!     When  I  saw  what  their  purpose  was,  I  did  my  very 


EVENTS  AT  GOA,  1683  265 

best  that  they  should  not  kill  him,  but  only  arrest  him.  I 
assured  them  he  was  not  Sambha  JI,  but  a  Mogul,  as  he  really 
was.  For  if  they  had  killed  him,  I,  too,  ran  a  very  great  risk 
of  losing  my  life,  and  that  for  nothing  else  than  trying  to  help 
His  Excellency  at  the  time  the  said  envoy  arrived. 

It  pleased  God  that  at  last  the  viceroy  should  arrive,  and 
he,  too,  was  at  first  persuaded  that  the  man  was  Sambha  Ji  in 
person.  But  after  I  had  spoken  with  him,  I  assured  him  that 
even  if  he  were  really  Sambha  Ji  in  person,  no  violence  could 
be  done  by  him,  for  I  would  keep  close  to  him  when  the  letters 
were  presented.  Thus  I  conducted  the  envoy  into  the  presence 
of  the  viceroy,  who  was  already  in  a  fright. 

Then,  taking  myself  the  letters  from  the  envoy's  hands,  I 
presented  them  to  His  Excellency.  Thereupon  he  recognised 
the  great  mistake  which  had  held  the  whole  island  in  perturba- 
tion.    He  (the  envoy)  had  with  him  only  two  servants. 

Sambha  Ji,  under  Pretext  of  an  Embassy,  tries  to 
assassinate  the  vlceroy. 

But  let  us  now  return  to  Sambha  Ji.  He  had  missed  his 
blow  when  he  fought  the  viceroy,  for  if  he  had  only  occupied 
the  river  bank,  it  would  have  been  easy  for  him  to  slaughter 
everybody,  and  equally  easy  to  take  Goa.  All  the  same,  he 
did  not  despair  of  success  in  his  attempt ;  for,  after  the  defeat 
of  the  viceroy,  he  took  possession  of  the  lands  of  Salseite 
(Salsette)  and  Bardes,  between  which  lies  the  island  of  Goa, 
and  after  stiff  fighting,  tried  to  disembark  men  on  the  island  [of 
Goa].  But  the  Portuguese  resisted  valiantly,  above  all  the 
Augustinian  fathers,  who  were  at  a  crossing  against  which 
Sambha  JI  made  his  principal  efforts.1 

Thus,  finding  he  had  not  carried  out  what  he  wanted  to  do, 
and  seeing  that  by  force  [210]  of  arms  he  should  not  conquer, 
he  adopted  the  way  customary  in  Hindustan — that  of  deceit. 
He  therefore  made  Akbar  act  as  mediator  and  send  in  a  letter 

1  For  Salsett  and  Bardes,  see  map  at  the  end  of  vol.  ii.  of  F.  C.  Danvers' 
'  Portuguese  in  India.'  The  Bardes  district  lies  to  the  north,  and  that  of  Salsett 
to  the  south,  of  Goa.  See  farther  on,  ii.  214,  the  part  taken  by  Frey  Pedro, 
Augustinian,  in  the  defence. 


266     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  the  viceroy.  In  it  he  said  that,  being  on  the  point  of  leaving 
for  Persia,  as  a  friend  of  both  sides,  he  wanted  to  restore  peace 
and  amity  between  Sambha  Jl  and  the  Portuguese.  With 
this  object  would  they  send  a  trusty  person  capable  of  dealing 
with  such  a  negotiation  ?  He  would  bring  it  to  a  conclusion  to 
the  satisfaction  of  both  parties. 

The  viceroy  selected  me  for  this  business.  On  my  side  I 
recognised  that  I  was  a  foreigner,  so  I  took  along  with  me  one 
priest  and  one  layman,  both  Portuguese,  to  bear  testimony  to 
my  acts  and  words.  I  made  declaration  to  the  viceroy  that 
they  would  never  conduct  me  to  Akbar,  but  to  Sambha  Jl  instead. 
I  questioned  the  viceroy  as  to  what  I  should  do  in  that  case. 
He  said  to  me  that  under  no  circumstances  did  he  wish  me 
to  approach  Sambha  Jl.  With  this  point  determined  on,  I 
quitted  Goa. 

Hardly  had  I  arrived  within  Sambha  Jl's  country  when  they 
wanted  to  carry  me  to  him  and  not  to  Akbar.  Thereupon  I 
declared  that  I  would  not  go,  that  I  would  sooner  lose  my  head 
than  act  against  the  orders  I  had  received.  Akbar  learnt  this, 
and  dispatched  Durga  Das,1  as  representing  his  person  during 
the  negotiation  with  Sambha  JT.  On  these  conditions  I,  too, 
attended,  or  else  they  would  have  carried  me  there  by  force. 

We  reached  the  presence  of  Sambha  JT,  who  received  me 
with  great  politeness.  During  the  conversation  he  made  bitter 
complaint  of  the  viceroy's  declaring  war  against  him  in  spite  of 
the  King  of  Portugal's  orders.  The  king  had  ordered  him  to 
maintain  peace  with  his  neighbours.  Many  other  things  against 
the  viceroy  did  he  say  to  me  during  this  talk.  It  was  on  this 
occasion  he  told  me  that  with  his  own  sword  he  had  decapi- 
tated his  chief  captains,  owing  to  their  disaffection.  He  showed 
me  the  sword.2 

Finally,  he  gave  me  my  leave  to  go,  adding  that,  seeing  the 
viceroy  would  not  send  him  an  envoy,  he  meant  to  be  the  first 
and  send  one  to  him,  and  so  let  him  see  how  much  he  desired 

1  Durga  Das,  Rathor,  the  chief  guardian  of  the  infant  Ajit  Singh,  son  of 
Rajah  Jaswant  Singh. 

2  Possibly  this  was  BhawanT,  the  sword  of  his  father,  to  which  Grant  Duff 
alludes  (p.  140).     For  the  executions,  see  Grant- Duff,  p.  136. 


MANUCCI'S  EMBASSY  TO  SAMBHA  Jl  267 

to  uphold  peace  with  the  Portuguese.  Taking  one  of  his  officers 
by  the  hand,  he  said  to  me :  '  This  is  the  man  I  mean  to  send ; 
he  is  the  key  of  my  treasure-house.'  Then,  laying  hold  of  my 
hand  also,  he  made  the  man  over  to  me,  and  said  he  was  doing 
him  (the  viceroy)  much  honour,  for  the  man  was  his  chief 
favourite.  He  sent  me  away,  handing  me  two  handkerchiefs 
of  gold  thread,  and  in  the  evening  the  envoy  came  to  visit  me. 
He  set  forth  [211]  his  pretensions,  which  were  that  he  should 
land  in  the  isle  with  one  thousand,  or  at  the  least  five  hundred, 
men  as  his  guard,  taking  also  seven  horses  (as  he  said)  to  show 
his  rank.  We  hammered  away  for  a  long  time  at  this  subject, 
he  beseeching  me  earnestly  to  secure  this  honourable  treatment 
for  him  from  the  viceroy.  But  I  displayed  total  indifference, 
saying  it  lay  with  the  viceroy  to  concede  to  him  or  not  what  he 
asked ;  at  the  same  time  I  would  lay  his  requests  before  His 
Excellency.  But  horses  were  not  necessary,  the  fortress  being 
quite  near,  nor  could  the  horses  climb  to  it. 

The  reader  must  be  made  aware  here  of  what  the  envoy's 
intentions  were.  The  first  was  to  get  with  this  large  number 
of  men  into  Goa,  where  there  was  not  a  large  enough  garrison 
to  defend  all  the  posts.  Coming,  thus  attended,  to  pay  his  court 
to  the  viceroy,  it  would  be  very  easy  to  carry  out  their  object. 
For  they  would  enter  with  the  fixed  intention  of  assassinating 
the  viceroy,  and  consequently  would  come  wearing  concealed 
chain-mail.  Having  succeeded,  some  of  them  would  jump  on 
the  horses,  and,  careering  about,  would  strike  terror  into  the 
inhabitants,  and  throw  everything  into  disorder.  Thus  Sambha 
Jl  would  have  time  to  land  his  force  without  any  difficulty  and 
capture  defenceless  Goa. 

I  returned  to  Goa  and  reported  to  the  viceroy  what  was  going 
on,  and  of  the  probable  intentions  of  Sambha  Jl.  For  the  time 
being  he  should  not,  I  thought,  give  audience  in  the  royal  hall, 
but  in  the  fortress  of  Dangi  (Dangim),1  which  was  quite  close 
to  the  sea.  Strong  guards  should  be  posted  so  as  to  hinder  the 
envoy  from  carrying  out  his  plans.  Although  there  was  some 
difficulty  in    doing  what   I  said,    nevertheless,  acknowledging 

1  Dangim  is  shown  on  the  map  of  Goa  territory  inserted  in  Danvers,  vol.  ii. 
t  lies  about  a  mile  east  of  Goa  town. 


268     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

that  I  had  some  acquaintance  with  the  tricks  of  people  in 
Hindustan,  the  viceroy  did  as  I  advised.  Thus  I  went  back  to 
tell  the  ambassador  that  he  might  come.  I  took  with  me  no 
more  than  three  boats,  so  that  too  many  people  might  not 
come.  But  so  many  crowded  in  that  our  boat  was  in  great 
danger  of  going  to  the  bottom.  I  complained  to  the  envoy  of 
this  carelessness,  and  he  grew  angry ;  for  he  saw  that  with  so 
small  a  number  he  would  not  be  able  to  carry  out  his  project. 
He  wanted  to  give  up  coming.  But,  encouraging  him,  I  brought 
him  to  the  above-mentioned  fortress.  Matters  were  disposed 
in  such  a  way  that  not  more  than  seven  persons  were  able  to 
enter  with  him.  These  were  received  by  the  viceroy  with  great 
pomp. 

The  envoy's  design  was  unmasked  during  the  audience  [212]  ; 
for  he  made  no  statement  about  terms  of  peace,  stating  that 
his  coming  was  for  nothing  more  than  to  know  if  the  Portu- 
guese gentlemen  really  desired  to  make  peace  or  not,  and 
whether  they  would  pay  tribute  to  his  prince.  The  viceroy 
replied  that  he  wanted  peace,  but  would  not  pay  any  tribute. 
The  envoy  answered  that  he  would  take  this  reply  to  his  prince, 
and  then  took  his  leave,  far  from  well-contented,  not  having 
been  able  to  make  himself  a  name  by  a  piece  of  treachery 
(i.e.,  assassination) ;  for  amongst  them  this  mode  of  going  to 
work  is  proof  of  great  valour. 

Although  peace  negotiations  were  going  on,  there  was  no 
suspension  of  arms ;  for  continuously  Sambha  Ji  went  on 
fighting  at  Goa  with  great  vigour.  In  the  course  of  these 
contests,  as  there  were  not  many  troops  in  the  island,  there 
was  reason  to  fear  that  Sambha  JI  might  land  his  soldiers 
there.  The  viceroy  therefore  sought  someone  who  would  go 
to  the  Mogul  fleet,  then  off  Vingorla,  to  request  the  admiral  to 
sail  with  his  ships  till  he  was  within  sight  of  Goa.  Thus  some 
fear  would  be  instilled  into  Sambha  Jfs  men  then  in  Salsette 
and  Bardes.  But  the  principal  thing  was  to  get  some  one  who 
would  consent  to  go.  For  all  they  could  do,  they  could  not 
find  any  person  willing  to  take  upon  himself  to  risk  his  life  for 
the  public  benefit.  Then,  knowing  the  heartiness  with  which 
I  had  laboured  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  he  asked  me  if  I 


AND  TO  THE  MOGUL  FLEET  269 

would  perform  this  benefit  on  behalf  of  a  city  which  found 
itself  in  such  a  sorry  plight. 

I  gave  a  favourable  reply,  and,  as  I  was  leaving  Goa,  Dom 
Rodrigo  da  Costa,1  in  command  of  the  fleet,  declared  that  I 
was  on  my  way  to  destruction.  God  was  pleased  to  show  the 
care  He  had  over  my  person,  for  one  morning  in  the  dark  I 
found  myself  with  my  boat  in  the  midst  of  thirty-seven  galliotes'2 
belonging  to  Sambha  Jl.  As  soon  as  we  discovered  that  the 
fleet  was  not  that  of  the  Moguls,  but  of  Sambha  Jl,  we  were 
very  apprehensive,  and  already  the  master  of  the  vessel  and 
several  seamen  wanted  to  jump  into  the  sea.  But  I  laid  hold 
of  my  matchlock  and  frightened  them,  saying  that  the  first  who 
moved  was  a  dead  man.  If  they  set  to  work  to  row  with  all 
their  strength,  I  would  give  them  five  hundred  xerafins  (asharfl, 
a  gold  coin)  on  arrival  in  Goa.  This  was  in  addition  to  several 
pieces  of  gold  that  I  distributed  among  them  on  the  spot.  As 
the  man  who  guided  the  helm  was  very  skilful,  we  feigned  to 
be  part  of  that  fleet  until  we  had  forged  ahead  of  all  the  galliotes. 
Then,  putting  on  a  spurt,  we  drew  away  from  our  enemies,  who 
began  a  chase  in  the  hope  of  capturing  us. 

Keeping  on  our  course,  we  arrived  at  the  Mogul  fleet,  and 
I  carried  out  my  instructions.  But  the  commander  replied 
that  he  could  not  come  away  from  Vingorla  for  fear  that  Prince 
Akbar  might  escape.  Thus  it  turned  out  that  I  had  put  my  life 
in  danger  without  doing  any  good.  Nevertheless,  I  went  back 
to  Goa  by  another  route,  and  there  I  reported  the  Mogul  fleet 
to  be  already  on  its  way  to  give  assistance  against  Sambha  Jl. 
This  I  did  that  all  might  recover  heart  and  resolution  and  con- 
tinue the  war  with  greater  courage. 

Sambha  Ji  takes  the  Island  of  Santo  Estevo  from  the 

Portuguese. 

A  few  days  after  my  return  to  Goa  a  thing  happened  which 
placed  the  Portuguese  in  very  great  danger.     The  viceroy,  as 

1  Dom  Rodrigo  da  Costa,  Captain-General  of  the  fleet  of  galleons,  succeeded 
the  Conde  de  Alvor  as  Governor  in  December,  1686,  and  died  in  June,  1690 
(Danvers,  ii.  370). 

2  Galliot,  a  kind  of  galley  or  war  boat  (see  Yule,  second  edition,  361,  362). 


270    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

much  from  deficiency  of  men  as  anything  else,  had  neglected  to 
post  any  soldiers  on  a  little  island  called  Santo  Estevao,1  where 
there  was  a  castle  armed  with  mortars.  Sambha  Jl  had  spies 
everywhere. 

It  was  on  the  25th  November  of  some  year  long  ago  that  the 
Portuguese  had  obtained  possession  of  Goa.  In  memory  of 
that  conquest  they  built  a  little  church  called  St.  Catharine, 
which  at  this  day  is  close  to  the  hospital.2 

On  that  very  date  in  the  year  1683,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night, 
Sambha  Jl  sent  four  thousand  men  at  low  tide  to  occupy  the 
said  fortress  (i.e.,  Santo  Estevao).  The  soldiers  entered  it,  and 
without  any  loss  to  themselves  decapitated  the  whole  of  the 
garrison.  As  a  signal  that  they  had  carried  out  their  orders, 
they  discharged  several  mortars  to  inform  Sambha  Jl  and  his 
army  that  they  were  masters  of  the  place.  A  great  uproar 
arose  in  Goa. 

The  following  day  the  viceroy,  against  the  judgment  of  Dom 
Rodrigo  da  Costa,  wished  to  reoccupy  the  place.  Dom  Rodrigo's 
advice  was  to  post  two  pieces  of  artillery  at  the  entry  of  a  bridge 
to  prevent  any  sally,  meanwhile  to  patrol  with  small  boats  and 
stop  any  attempt  to  take  Goa.  This  would  have  been  quite 
easily  done,  whereby  those  within  it  (Santo  Estevao)  would  have 
been  obliged  to  surrender.  But  the  viceroy,  confident  in  his 
own  judgment,  preferred  to  reinforce  the  place  directly  with 
some  men.  He  selected  some  [214]  one  hundred  and  fifty 
soldiers,  shouting  in  a  loud  voice  that  anyone  who  meant  to 
come  should  follow  him.  He  went  as  far  as  the  castle  walls 
and  marched  round  them,  during  which  Sambha  Jl's  troops 
slew  a  great  many.  Some  reinforcements  arrived,  and  by  good 
luck  the  viceroy  and  Dom  Rodrigo  were  able  to  reach  their 
boats  and  take  to  flight,  otherwise  they  would  certainly  have 
been  killed  like  the  rest. 

Their  getting  time  enough  to  retire  was  due  to  the  conduct 

1  For  Santo  Estevao,  see  the  map  in  Danvers,  vol.  ii.  It  lies  about  two  miles 
north-east  of  Goa. 

2  November  25  is  the  Festival  of  St.  Catherine,  Virgin.  The  church  is  marked 
on  the  map  in  Danvers,  vol.  i.,  p.  258  ;  it  was  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
town  (see  also  Pyrard  de  Laval,  edition  Gray,  ii.  54).  The  chapel  is  No.  10  on 
Fonseca's  map  ('  Historical  Sketch  of  Goa,'  1878). 


SAMBHA  JPS  ATTEMPT  ON  GO  A  271 

of  a  friar,  one  Frey  Pedro  de  Sylveira,  an  Augustinian  and  a  great 
friend  of  mine,  he  who  had  defended  the  crossing,  as  I  have  said 
(ante,  II.  209).  Seeing  that  the  viceroy  was  in  great  peril,  he 
exerted  himself  to  make  up  a  fictitious  body  of  troops  close  to 
the  bridge.  He  gathered  caffres  (African  slaves),  serving  men, 
and  scullions,  whom  he  ordered  to  plunder  a  neighbouring  open 
field  of  its  sugar-cane.  They  were  all  to  hold  a  sugar-cane  at 
their  side,  standing  all  in  a  row,  and  making  a  noise  with  a  few 
matchlocks.  Thus  they  stood  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  enemy, 
who,  on  beholding  them,  imagined  that  they  were  reinforcements 
on  the  way.  They,  too,  called  a  halt,  and  relinquished  pursuit 
of  the  viceroy.  The  latter  had  thus  time  to  re-embark,  but 
many  men  stuck  fast  in  the  mud,  and  were  killed  by  the  enemy's 
arrows  or  bullets ;  others  were  drowned.  The  viceroy,  on 
embarking,  took  his  matchlock  and  shot  his  horse  to  prevent 
its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  Dom  Rodrigo  did 
the  same  to  his.  On  this  occasion  the  viceroy  came  back  with 
a  slight  bullet  wound  in  the  left  arm. 

Sambha  Ji's  soldiers  retained  the  island  and  were  very  near 
to  Goa.  They  gave  so  much  trouble  to  the  city  that  the 
viceroy  resolved  to  send  an  embassy  to  the  said  prince  to  see 
if  he  could  obtain  a  peace,  and  I  was  obliged  to  go  a  second 
time  to  Sambha  Ji.  But  on  my  arrival  I  found  a  spy,  then  in 
his  service,  who  gave  me  a  faithful  report  of  the  latest  news. 
He  told  me  that  the  army  of  Shah  'Alam  was  already  quite 
close.  This  was  enough  to  decide  me  not  to  pursue  my  nego- 
tiation ;  therefore  I  determined  to  retrace  my  steps,  and  to 
advise  the  viceroy  that  the  deliverance  of  Goa  was  at  hand 
with  the  aid  of  Shah  'Alam.  I  stayed  in  Goa,  in  order  after- 
wards to  visit  that  prince  and  negotiate  as  soon  as  he  arrived. 
In  my  place  they  sent  to  Sambha  JI  Manoel  Saraiva  and  an 
Augustinian  father.  But  the  fighting  still  went  on  with  great 
energy.  Well  was  it  for  the  Portuguese  that  Sambha  Ji  never 
knew  exactly  how  few  [215]  men  there  were  in  the  island.  If 
he  had  known,  he  could  have  carried  out  his  scheme  in  its 
entirety. 

I  do  not  know  if  it  was  from  carelessness,  or  from  real  want 
of  soldiers,  that  the  vessels  which  were  on  guard  had  not  more 


272    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

than  seven  or  eight  men  to  each  vessel.  I  know  the  fact  because 
one  night  the  viceroy  invited  me  to  go  with  him  in  his  boat  on 
his  rounds,  to  see  if  the  officers  were  doing  their  duty.  We 
found  them  nearly  all  asleep,  and  instead  of  challenging  us,  it 
was  necessary  for  us  to  accost  them  to  find  out  whether  there 
was  anyone  in  the  vessel  or  not.  Not  aware  that  it  was  the 
viceroy  who  was  passing,  they  gave  us  ill-conditioned  replies, 
and  we  ascertained  that  there  was  not  a  single  officer  in  the  ships. 
But  what  was  my  astonishment,  on  reaching  the  fort  opposite 
the  bar  at  the  entrance  to  the  river,  to  find  we  had  to  beat  at 
the  door  for  a  long  time,  making  much  noise,  without  getting 
any  response.  Finally  came  a  soldier,  who  replied  to  us  by 
stating  there  were  only  eleven  men.  Yet  this  fort  was  of  the 
greatest  importance,  and  Sambha  Jl  had  only  to  take  it  to  get 
possession  of  Goa  without  any  farther  difficulty. 

The  viceroy  was  angry  at  getting  such  a  reply,  and  asked 
why  the  men  of  the  garrison  had  not  answered.  The  soldier 
said  that  they  could  not  answer,  for  there  was  no  one,  only 
a  boy  who  tended  the  goats.  These  were  the  preparations  that 
we  found  in  the  ships  and  at  that  fort  at  a  time  when  Sambha  Jl 
was  doing  all  he  could  to  capture  a  city  that  had  ever  remained 
the  glory  of  the  Portuguese  !  From  this  the  reader  may  judge 
how  little  these  gentlemen  thought  of  the  courage  of  veteran 
soldiers  such  as  those  of  Sambha  Jl ;  or  else,  overconfident  in 
themselves,  they  imagined  that  their  mere  name  would  bar  the 
way  to  the  enemy,  or  it  may  be  that  in  reality  there  were  no 
troops  available.  In  any  case,  those  they  had  in  their  service 
could  not  have  cared  much  whether  they  lived  under  the  rule 
of  the  Portugal  king  or  that  of  Sambha  JL 

Arrival  of  Shah  'Alam  close  to  Goa,  and  the  Embassy 
to  the  Viceroy. 

Aurangzeb  received  the  reply  of  the  Goa  viceroy,  in  which 
he  promised  to  allow  free  passage  up  the  river  to  his  fleet 
coming  from  Surat  with  supplies  for  the  army  of  his  son,  Shah 
'Alam.  The  king  ordered  that  prince  to  march  with  forty-five 
thousand  horsemen  in   the   direction   of  Goa,  traversing  the 


SHAH  'ALAM  NEAR  GOA  273 

kingdom  of  Bijapur.  His  instructions  were  to  capture  the 
island  of  Goa  by  treachery,  thus  becoming  able  thereafter  to 
invade  easily  the  territories  of  Sambha  Ji. 

On  this  march  Shah  'Alam  took  several  of  Sambha  Ji's  forts, 
and  arrived  near  Goa  in  time  to  deliver  the  island  from  the 
hands  of  that  prince.  It  was  already  in  great  danger.  Sambha 
JI  made  every  possible  exertion  to  take  it  before  Shah  'Alam 
arrived,  but  it  did  not  happen  according  to  his  desire.  Thus, 
on  the  arrival  of  the  Mogul  fleet,  he  was  obliged  to  decamp ; 
but  before  he  disappeared  he  ordered  the  mortars  in  Santo 
Estevao  to  be  charged,  with  the  idea  of  bursting  them,  seeing 
that  he  could  not  carry  them  away.  But  in  this  he  did  not 
succeed,  for  only  one  of  them  burst ;  then,  spiking  the  rest,  he 
fled. 

As  soon  as  Shah  'Alam  arrived,  he  sent  an  envoy  to  the 
viceroy  as  far  as  the  river  bank.  On  learning  this,  His 
Excellency  ordered  me  to  go  and  speak  to  this  envoy,  who 
was  the  brother  of  Sec  Mahamed  (Shekh  Muhammad).  I 
went  to  the  spot,  and  while  afar  off  I  saluted  him  in  the 
European  fashion.  But  he,  remaining  seated  in  his  palanquin, 
paid  little  or  no  heed  to  me,  and,  ignoring  the  politeness 
customary  in  India,  which  is  to  raise  the  hand  to  the  head,  he 
placed  it  on  his  breast,  as  usual  among  the  Persians.  This 
made  me  angry,  and  I  declined  to  advance  any  farther.  His 
example  was  not  followed  by  the  slaves  and  servants  of  Shah 
'Alam  ;  they  knew  how  anxious  their  master  was  to  retain  me 
at  his  court.     They  all  bowed  to  me  with  great  respect. 

I  did  not  neglect  to  say  in  a  loud  voice  what  seemed  to  me 
necessary  against  such  a  messenger,  and,  turning  my  back, 
cheerfully  accosted  my  friends.  All  the  same,  I  did  not  lose 
the  words  said  by  the  envoy.  They  amounted  to  nothing 
more  than  that  the  Portuguese  [217]  were  under  great  obliga- 
tions to  Shah  'Alam,  and  they  ought  to  commence  at  once  to 
count  out  the  millions  they  would  have  to  give  for  having  been 
delivered  from  Sambha  Ji.  Then  spies  went  off  to  Shah  'Alam 
and  told  him  that  the  viceroy  had  sent  me  to  treat  with  the 
ambassador,  and  that  the  latter  had  failed  to  render  me  due 
honour. 

vol.  11.  18 


274     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

The  prince  was  much  put  out,  and  in  that  man's  place  sent 
my  friend,  called  Miraxam  (Mir  A'zam),"1  with  orders  to  con- 
ciliate me  in  every  way.  On  his  reaching  the  river  bank  I 
advanced  to  meet  him,  but  he,  having  received  different  in- 
structions from  the  first  man,  rose  to  his  feet  when  he  saw  me, 
and  coming  towards  me,  embraced  me.  He  told  me  the 
prince's  orders  were  that  he  was  to  do  whatever  I  might 
suggest,  as  he  had  no  knowledge  of  the  viceroy.  Then  he 
delivered  to  me  a  letter  sent  to  me  by  the  prince.  In  it  he 
begged  me  to  come  to  him,  as  he  greatly  desired  to  speak  to 
me,  and  he  trusted  I  would  not  refuse,  having  eaten  the  salt  of 
his  house. 

I  did  not  wish  to  take  him  (the  envoy)  into  Goa,  so  I 
escorted  him  to  a  little  island  called  Ilha  de  Manoel  de  Mota. 
There  I  regaled  him  during  the  night.  On  the  day  following 
I  conducted  him  to  the  viceroy,  who  was  in  the  fortress  of 
Santiago,2  near  the  mainland.  There  he  presented  Shah 
'Alam's  letter.  It  began  by  requesting  that  Hakim  Niculao, 
his  old  servant,  should  be  sent  to  him.  As  soon  as  he  arrived 
they  would  arrange  things  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  sides. 
Next  it  stated  how,  in  conformity  with  the  letter  of  the  viceroy 
sent  to  the  great  Aurangzeb,  permission  was  given  for  the  entry 
into  the  river  of  the  ships  carrying  supplies  for  the  army  sent 
against  Sambha  Jl.  Yet  the  fleet  in  question  had  not  arrived. 
Fulfilment  of  the  promise  was  now  requested. 

The  viceroy  replied  that  he  would  certainly  carry  out  what 
he  had  promised,  but  the  route  taken  must  be  by  the  other 
river,  that  of  Bardes,  not  by  that  of  Goa.  But  the  envoy 
persisted  in  his  demand  that  they  wanted  to  pass  through  the 
river  of  Goa,  as  had  been  promised  to  His  Majesty.  Finally, 
the  viceroy  answered  that  I  would  go  to  His  Highness,  and 
that  there  matters  would  be  settled. 

During  the   discussion   the  king's  fleet,  which  was  at  the 

1  Or  Mir  Hashim. 

2  There  is  a  Santiago  shown  on  the  map  of  Goa  territory  in  Danvers,  vol.  ii.  ; 
it  lies  about  two  miles  east  of  Goa  town  towards  the  mainland.  It  is  also  on 
Fonseca's  map,  and  is  mentioned  by  Pyrard  de  Laval,  ii.  54,  edition  A.  Gray. 
Manoel  de  Mota,  or  Acado  Island  (Fonseca,  p.  4),  is  apparently  the  Acoro  of  his 
map,  lying  between  San  Estevao  and  Ilha  de  Piedade. 


THE  MOGUL  FLEET  OFF  GO  A  275 

harbour  mouth,  continued  to  advance.  When  a  report  of  this 
reached  the  viceroy,  I  said  to  Dom  Rodrigo  da  Costa  that  now 
was  the  time  for  a  display  of  courage  and  energy.  Therefore, 
without  any  delay,  the  fleet  ought  to  be  fired  upon.  He 
hurried  to  the  spot,  where  he  found  that,  by  the  carelessness 
of  the  commandant  of  Aguada  [218], x  some  five-and-twenty 
galliots  had  already  entered,  and  were  close  to  the  Fort  of  the 
Kings.  When  he  arrived  he  ordered  at  once  the  discharge  of 
three  loaded  cannon,  to  intimidate  them  and  cause  their  retire- 
ment. They  replied  that  they  were  friends,  and  had  come 
under  protection  of  the  viceroy's  promise ;  they  should  there- 
fore stop  firing,  as  that  was  not  the  way  to  receive  friends. 

When  the  Aguada  fort  became  aware  that  the  Fort  of  the 
Kings  declined  to  allow  a  passage,  it,  too,  fired  several  times,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  remainder  of  the  fleet  which  was  following 
from  completing  its  purpose.  Thus  was  Goa  saved  this  time, 
for  without  a  doubt  it  would  have  been  lost  had  the  fleet 
entered.  The  twenty-five  galliots  which  were  already  inside 
took  refuge  behind  the  Fort  of  the  Kings  in  a  river  which  is 
called  Nelur.2  Here  they  remained  until  the  receipt  of  fresh 
orders  from  Shah  'Alam.  They  plundered  along  the  shore, 
and  carried  off  any  goods  and  women  or  girls  found  there. 

My  Visit  to  Shah  'Alam. 

At  nightfall  I  issued  from  Goa  with  the  envoy  in  order  to 
go  to  the  encampment  of  Shah  'Alam.3  When  we  disembarked, 
the  spies  informed  us  that  the  enemy  were  in  sight.  Mir  A'zam 
feared  some  harm  to  my  person,  and  ordered  twenty  horsemen 
to  accompany  me  as  far  as  the  camp.  He  stopped  behind 
with  thirty  horsemen.  In  this  way  I  reached  the  camp,  where, 
being  known,  many  greeted  me  with  loud  voices.  I  cannot 
express  the  affection  with  which  they  came  to  embrace  me. 

1  Aguada,  a  fort  on  the  sea  coast,  at  the  north  point  of  the  bay,  and  outside 
Goa  River  (see  map  in  Danvers,  vol.  ii.).  Manucci's  Fort  of  the  Kings  is 
apparently  identical  with  that  of  Reis  Magos  (Fonseca,  p.  44).  It  lies  about 
two  miles  to  the  north-east  of  Aguada. 

2  Nerul,  about  half  a  mile  north-east  of  Aguada,  on  a  small  river,  the  mouth 
of  which  lies  between  Aguada  and  Reis  Magos. 

3  The  subject  of  this  embassy  is  returned  to  in  Part  III.,  fol.  196. 

l8—2 


276    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

If  the  reader  could  only  know  the  manner  in  which  I  had 
behaved  to  all  the  officials  and  ministers,  he  would  not  be 
surprised  that  they  received  me  with  as  much  love  as  if  I 
had  been  one  of  their  relations. 

1  proceeded  to  the  prince's  tents,  and  there  the  eunuchs, 
who  knew  how  eagerly  the  prince  and  the  princess  were 
looking  for  me,  came  forward  to  receive  me.  The  chief 
eunuch  told  me  that  Shah  'Alam  had  ordered  that  at  whatever 
hour  I  might  arrive  he  should  be  forthwith  informed ;  he  had 
also  directed  the  whole  army  to  be  in  readiness  the  next 
morning.  For,  if  I  did  not  arrive,  he  meant  to  send  his  troops 
across  the  river  by  swimming  it.  I  said  to  the  man  that  the 
prince  should  not  be  roused ;  it  was  already  midnight,  and  I 
could  wait,  nor  was  it  right  that  a  tired  prince  should  be 
woke  on  account  of  one  of  his  [219]  servants. 

When  the  prince  got  up  in  the  morning,  they  reported  my 
arrival.  He  was  more  anxious  for  this  than  for  the  taking  of 
Goa,  and  was  now  content.  He  issued  orders  for  his  soldiers 
to  return  to  their  quarters,  as  he  no  longer  meant  to  take 
any  action.  Next,  he  sent  word  inside  to  the  princesses  and 
princes  that  I  had  come,  and  called  them  all  together  with 
great  glee,  and  ordered  a  letter  to  be  written  to  his  mother, 
Nabab  Baegi  (Nawab  Bae  JT),1  telling  how  he  had  now  caught 
me.  For  this  queen  had  complained  bitterly  about  his  giving 
me  leave  of  absence.  She  called  me  within  the  pardah,  where 
I  first  made  my  bow  as  a  European,  and  then  did  obeisance 
in  the  court  fashion. 

She  was  much  amused  at  seeing  me  in  European  costume, 
my  beard  shaved  off,  and  wearing  a  peruke.  As  the  princess 
had  not  been  used  to  seeing  me  in  such  a  get-up,  she  asked 
me  what  drugs  I  took  to  return  to  youth.  Then,  jokingly,  I 
gave  her  my  reasons,  and  let  her  understand  that  I  did  not 
want  to  serve  any  more,  because  the  officials  did  not  carry 
out  the  promises  made  to  me  by  His  Highness.     The  prince 

1  Nawab  Bae  (Rahmat-un-nissa)  was  the  daughter  of  Rajah  Raju,  of  Rajauri 
in  Kashmir.  She  died  at  Dihli  in  1102  H.  (1690-91).  It  was  through  her  that 
Shah  'Alam  claimed  descent  from  the  Prophet  (see  the  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  and 
the  '  Bahadur  Shah  Namah  '  of  Danishmand  Khan  (A'll). 


MANUCCI  VISITS  SHAH  lALAM  277 

replied  that  I  ought  not  to  trouble  myself  about  this ;  I  had 
only  to  apply  to  him  on  the  occurrence  of  any  difficulty,  and 
without  fail  he  would  ensure  me  whatever  satisfaction  I  could 
desire.  Laughing  at  the  liberty  I  was  taking,  I  told  him  that 
I  could  no  more  rely  on  His  Highness  than  on  the  rest,  for 
many  times  he  had  broken  his  promises.  Then  he  brought 
forward  his  heir,  Sultan  Mazudin  (Mu'izz-ud-dln),1  as  security, 
and  added  one  hundred  rupees  a  month  to  my  former  pay. 
He  ordered  my  pay  to  be  disbursed  for  the  whole  time  of  my 
absence  from  his  court.  In  addition,  he  promised  to  maintain 
four  horses  to  carry  my  baggage  and  eight  men  to  carry  my 
palanquin,  with  my  food  daily  sent  from  his  table. 

After  this  we  entered  upon  a  conversation  over  the  differences 
with  the  viceroy.  As  I  was  obliged,  in  my  capacity  of  envoy 
from  the  viceroy,  to  take  the  part  of  the  Portuguese  gentlemen, 
I  said  to  His  Highness  that  the  viceroy  could  not  on  any 
conditions  allow  the  royal  fleet  to  come  through  the  river  of 
Goa,  such  being  the  orders  of  the  King  of  Portugal.  If  His 
Excellency  disobeyed  such  orders,  his  head  would  be  in  great 
danger. 

Shah  'Alam  persisted  that  at  least  the  galliots  already  in 
the  river,  behind  the  Fort  of  the  Kings,  should  continue  their 
course.  He  assigned  as  reason  that,  other  ships  being  allowed 
to  pass,  they  might  just  as  well  allow  the  said  galliots  to  go 
up,  since  they  were  already  inside.  I  retorted  that  other  ships 
allowed  to  pass  were  merchantmen,  as  to  which  there  was 
no  prohibition.  But  in  respect  of  His  Highness's  ships  and 
those  of  other  crowns,  there  was  a  rigorous  [220]  order  not 
to  let  them  pass.  If  the  viceroy  in  his  letter  to  Aurangzeb 
had  promised  a  passage,  that  must  be  understood  not  of  the 
Goa  River,  but  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Portuguese.  He 
did  not  decline  to  comply,  but  offered  a  passage  through  other 
rivers.  To  show  better  to  His  Highness  that  the  viceroy 
maintained  friendship  with  His  Highness  and  with  his  father, 

1  Mu'izz  ud-din,  afterwards  Emperor  under  the  title  of  Jahandar  Shah,  born 
on  May  10,  1661,  N.S.  ;  executed  on  February  11,  1713,  N.S.  The  objection  is 
quite  in  character,  for  Shah  'Alam  was  very  profuse  in  promises,  and  never  paid 
anybody. 


278    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

he  would  provide  men  to  guide  the  vessels  to  any  port   His 
Highness  wished. 

This  proposal  so  much  approved  itself  to  Shah  'Alam  that 
he  was  willing  to  order  the  galliots  already  inside  to  go  out 
again.  He  sent  with  me  people  to  carry  this  order  to  the 
captain-general  of  the  fleet ;  and  I  left  with  him  other  men 
to  act  as  guides  in  conducting  him  by  land  to  the  mouth  of 
the  river  of  Bardes. 

To  conclude  the  story,  before  giving  me  my  leave,  he  sent 
to  me  an  exquisite  sarapa  (set  of  robes)  and  a  horse.  I  was 
made  to  promise  that  I  would  return  to  him  next  day  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  took  with  me  the  men  carrying 
to  the  captain-general  of  the  fleet  the  orders  to  turn  back  and 
proceed  to  meet  the  prince  by  way  of  the  Bardes  River. 

I  went  to  Goa  and  recounted  to  the  viceroy  what  had 
happened.  He  was  considerably  gratified  at  the  way  I  had 
arranged  matters,  and  at  deliverance  from  the  peril  he  had  been 
in  of  losing  the  island.  I  urged  him  to  give  the  ambassadors 
their  dismissal  with  the  presents  he  meant  to  send  to  His 
Highness.  In  the  morning  I  did  my  very  best  to  be  sent  off 
early,  in  order  to  fulfil  my  promise  to  reach  His  Highness  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  But  His  Excellency  wanted  me 
to  carry  a  letter  to  the  prince,  and  kept  me  waiting  longer  than 
was  necessary.  For  this  reason  the  prince,  finding  I  did  not 
arrive  at  the  appointed  hour,  ordered  Bardes  to  be  plundered, 
and  thereby  force  the  viceroy  to  send  me  at  once. 

His  Highness  had  ordered  that  as  soon  as  ever  they  perceived 
me  approaching,  they  were  to  stop  further  plundering.  The 
sentries,  who  recognised  me,  shouted  and  ran  about  to  make 
the  soldiers  give  over,  but  that  did  not  help  the  poor  wretches 
already  stripped  bare.  I  reached  the  prince,  and  was  well 
received ;  but  I  made  somewhat  of  a  remonstrance  at  the 
irregularity  of  the  soldiers  plundering  Bardes,  when  we  were 
friends.  The  prince  smiled  and  said  to  me,  '  It  would  have 
been  still  worse  for  them  if  you  had  not  appeared.'  There  we 
halted  for  several  days,  until  the  supplies  for  the  army  had  been 
landed.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  detail  the  gifts  I  received 
from  all  the  court,  and  even  from  the  princesses  and  sons  of 


SHAH  'ALAM  MARCHES  FROM  GOA  279 

Shah  'Alam.  The  latter  was  aware  that  I  was  serving  him 
reluctantly,  and  thus  instigated  these  others  to  propitiate 
me  [221]. 

Flight  of  Akbar  into  Persia. 

In  this  interval  Akbar  fled  from  Vingorla  to  Rajapur;1  he 
could  not  make  his  escape  in  the  vessel  he  had  prepared,  for  the 
royal  fleet  had  burnt  it.  At  Rajapur,  with  the  help  of  some 
French  merchants  there,  he  acquired  means  of  flight,  and 
reached  Persia,  where  he  was  received  in  state  by  Xaasoliman 
(Shah  Sulaiman),2  son  of  Shah  'Abbas.  Great  gifts  were  con- 
ferred on  him,  but  he  was  not  permitted  to  leave  the  court. 
There  he  dwelt  till  the  death  of  that  king.  I  shall  have  to  speak 
hereafter  (II.  253)  of  how  this  prince  once  entered  the  Mogul 
realm  in  the  days  of  Xaa  Houcem  (Shah  Husain),2  son  of  the  then 
existing  King  of  Persia,  and  caused  a  certain  amount  of  appre- 
hension. 

When  Aurangzeb  knew  that  his  son  had  reached  Persia, 
where  he  was  favoured  by  King  Sulaiman,  who  gave  him  daily 
three  hundred  patacas*  for  expenses,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
following  effect :  '  I  know  from  trustworthy  reports  that  the 
rebel  Akbar  is  with  you.  Thus,  at  sight  of  this,  forward  him 
to  me  in  chains.  If  you  do  not  act  as  I  command  you  I  will 
chastise  you  severely,  as  I  did  Dara.'  The  wazlr,  Asad  Khan,4 
after  having  sealed  the  letter,  laid  it  before  the  king,  saying  : 
'  Here  is  the  letter,  in  conformity  with  your  Majesty's  com- 
mands ;  now  you  can  nominate  the  person  who  is  to  take  it ;  as 
for  the  answer,  I  know  not  who  will  bring  it.'  Thereby  he 
conveyed  to  the  king  that  he  who  carried  the  letter  would 
be  beheaded,  and  King  Sulaiman  would  march  in  person  against 
India.  On  hearing  this  opinion,  Aurangzeb  said  some  evasive 
words,  but  the  letter  in  question  was  never  dispatched. 

We  went  to  Vingorla,  and  the  prince  captured  that  place 

1  For  Rajapur,  see  ante;  it  is  near  Jinjirah. 

2  Sulaiman,  Safawi,  succeeded  in  1667,  and  was  followed  by  Husain,  1694- 
1722  (S.  L.  Poole,  '  Mohammadan  Dynasties,'  259). 

3  Elsewhere  the  author  tells  us  the  pataca  was  equal  to  two  rupees. 

4  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  Qaramanlu,  entitled  Asaf-ud-daulah,  Jamdat-ul-Mulk, 
Asad  Khan,  became  wazlr  in  1086  H.  (1675-76).     He  died  in  1129  H.  (1716-17), 


280    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

easily,  seeing  that  nearly  everybody  took  to  flight.  The  fleet 
continued  to  accompany  us.  After  a  few  days  the  Portuguese 
ambassadors  arrived ;  they  were  Joao  Antunes  Portugal  and 
Manoel  de  Santo  Pinto.  They  brought  some  showy  presents, 
and  lengths  of  ornamented  China  cloth,  some  lovely  branches 
of  coral,  and  six  small  pieces  of  artillery,  with  other  objects,  the 
whole  being  worth  a  good  amount. 

They  were  well  received,  and  sarapd  (sets  of  robes)  were  ordered 
for  each  of  them,  in  addition  to  two  thousand  rupees.  For  the 
viceroy  there  were  given  a  caparisoned  horse,  a  dagger  mounted 
with  precious  stones,  a  little  bottle  of  essence  of  roses,  and  an 
honourable  formao  (farman,  or  rescript  ?)  [222]. 

It  should  be  noted  here  that  at  the  presentation  of  these 
ambassadors  I  did  not  act  as  interpreter,  but  some  other 
European.  In  reading  out  the  conditions  he  succeeded  in 
doing  a  piece  of  bad  work  for  the  Portuguese.  For  in  one 
paragraph  the  viceroy  desired  Shah  'Alam  either  to  give  him 
eight  hundred  horses,  or  permit  him  to  buy  them  in  the  camp. 
The  European  stated  as  the  viceroy's  proposal  that,  if  the 
prince  gave  him  eight  hundred  horses  he  would  consider 
himself  a  subject.  This  was  as  much  as  to  say  that  he  would 
place  Goa  in  the  prince's  hands.  When  I  heard  this,  I  prayed 
the  royal  scribe  to  stop  writing,  for  the  interpreter  did  not 
understand  the  viceroy's  proposal.  All  he  said  was,  that  being 
in  want  of  eight  hundred  horses  to  continue  the  campaign 
against  Sambha  Jl,  he  asked  for  these  eight  hundred  horses ; 
and  should  His  Highness  decline  to  give  them,  he  prayed  leave 
to  buy  them  in  his  camp.  The  interpreter  was  angered,  but  I 
judged  it  necessary  on  such  an  occasion  to  speak  up,  to  defend 
truth,  and  protect  Goa  from  a  pretext  under  cover  of  which 
Aurangzeb  would  proceed  to  occupy  that  island. 

In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  I  encountered  Shekh  Muham- 
mad at  the  entrance  of  the  prince's  tents.  He  is  the  man 
who  had  gone  first  as  envoy  from  Aurangzeb  to  the  viceroy 
(ante,  II.  204),  and  had  promised  Aurangzeb  to  make  over  Goa 
to  Shah  'Alam.  He  complained  to  me,  telling  me  it  was  not 
for  me  to  intervene  in  the  royal  affairs,  nor  was  it  my  business 
to  act  as  an  agent  for  the  Portuguese.     In  time  we  began  to 


MANUCCI  MADE  A  KNIGHT  OF  SANT  I  AGO  281 

raise  our  voices,  so  that  the  prince  heard  the  altercation  and 
asked  the  cause,  and  who  were  the  men  making  so  much  noise. 
Then  they  told  him  how  Hakim  Niculao  and  Shekh  Muhammad 
were  shouting  at  each  other  over  the  pending  negotiations. 
The  prince,  who  did  not  want  any  violence,  sent  word  to  Shekh 
Muhammad  to  go  away  and  not  open  his  mouth  on  such  affairs. 
As  for  me,  he  called  me  inside,  reassured  me,  and  gave  me  his 
word  that  he  would  not  touch  the  Portuguese.  Of  a  certainty, 
had  he  listened  to  Shekh  Muhammad,  he  must  have  taken  Goa, 
for  that  man  was  very  familiar  with  the  ground,  being  a  native 
of  those  parts. 

Manoel  de  Santo  Pinto  then  returned  to  the  viceroy,  and 
reported  to  him  the  above  two  affairs.  On  this  account  the 
the  viceroy  sent  me,  through  him,  the  proposition  that  I  should 
accept  either  the  knighthood  of  Sant'  Iago,  or  a  village  yielding 
annually  a  thousand  xerafins  (ashraft).1  I  did  not  want  to  accept 
one  or  the  other,  but  Manoel  de  Santo  Pinto  pressed  the 
accepting  of  one  of  the  offers  [223],  as  it  would  affront  the 
viceroy  if  I  refused.  I  therefore  accepted  the  knighthood  of 
Sant'  Iago,  which  he  forthwith  conferred  on  me,  together  with 
the  letters  patent,  in  which  are  set  forth  the  two  particular 
services  aforesaid  which  I  rendered  to  the  crown  of  Portugal, 
as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  copy  of  that  patent : 

'  Dom  Pedro,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  Prince  of  Portugal  and 
of  the  Algarves,2  on  this  and  that  side  of  the  sea  in  Africa, 
of  Guinea,  and  of  the  conquered  commercial  navigation  of 
Ethiopia,  Arabia,  Persia,  and  India,  et  cetera;  As  regent  and 
successor,  and  ruler  of  the  said  realms  and  lordships,  and 
governor  and  perpetual  administrator,  as  I  am,  of  the  Master- 
ship and  Knighthood  of  the  three  Military  orders  : 

'  Be  it  known  to  all  beholding  this  Patent,  that  having  regard 
to   the    services    done    by    Niculao    Manuchy   in    our    Indian 

1  Yule,  974,  says  the  xevafin  is  a  silver  coin  current  at  Goa,  in  value  somewhat 
less  than  is.  6d.  ;  it  varied  from  300  to  360  reis  of  Portuguese  money.  But  surely 
Manucci  uses  it  here  for  the  gold  ashrafi  of  Northern  India,  worth  10s.  or  us. 
£75  a  year  would  not  be  a  reward  to  boast  of ;  one  of  over  /500  a  year 
would  be. 

2  Algarve,  the  southernmost  province  of  Portugal,  said  by  Yule,  595,  to  be 
from  rjharb  (Arabic),  '  the  west.' 


282    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

dominions  on  various  occasions  arising  in  our  service;  by 
translating  the  letters  written  by  the  Mogul  King  to  the  Count, 
our  viceroy  in  the  said  Dominions ;  and  by  being  present  during 
the  conferences  with  his  ambassador,  Shekh  Muhammad,  upon 
the  matters  under  negotiation ;  subsequently,  upon  the  approach 
of  the  prince  Muhammad  Mu'azzam,  Shah  'Alam,  eldest  son 
of  the  said  king,  with  his  army,  to  the  vicinity  of  the  said 
Dominions,  by  accompanying  the  envoy  that  the  said  Count, 
our  viceroy,  sent  to  the  said  Prince ;  and  by  going  more  than 
once  to  the  said  army  on  various  matters  of  great  importance 
appertaining  to  the  said  Dominions.  Wherein  the  said  Niculao 
Manuchy  conducted  himself  with  great  fidelity  and  zeal  in  our 
service  ;  from  which  we  anticipate  he  will  act  in  the  same  way 
from  now  henceforth. 

'  For  all  these  reasons  he  is  worthy  of  every  honour  and 
favour,  and  to  prove  to  the  said  Prince  the  esteem  in  which 
we  hold  his  person  ;  We  hold  it  expedient  to  make  a  grant  to 
the  said  Niculao  Manuchi  of  the  vestment  of  the  order  of  Sao 
Tiago  which  he  can  wear  on  his  breast  like  a  true  knight,  for 
which  he  will  be  recognised,  and  respected  as  such,  enjoying  all 
the  honours  and  privileges  thereto  appertaining. 

1  Wherefore  I  order  that  this  patent  now  issued  be  made 
over  to  him,  that  it  be  carried  out  and  observed  in  its  entirety, 
as  therein  set  forth,  and  that  it  be  sealed  with  the  seal  bearing 
the  Royal  Arms  of  the  Crown  of  Portugal.  Our  Lord  the 
Prince  issues  it  through  Francisco  de  Tavora,  Count  of  Alvor, 
one  of  His  Councillors  of  State,  Viceroy  and  Captain-General 
of  India,  Executed  by  the  Custodian  Souza  Moreira  in  Goa 
[224]  the  twenty  and  ninth  of  January  of  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty-four. 


*  Ordered  to  be  recorded. 


1  The  Secretary, 
1  Luis  Gonsalves  Cota. 


'Count  of  Alvor. 
*  luis  gonsalves  cota.' 


MANUCCI  ATTEMPTS  TO  LEAVE  MOGULS  283 

*  Patent  by  which  Your  Highness  is  pleased  to  grant  to 
Niculao  Manuchy  the  vestment  of  the  Order  of  Sao  Thiago, 
to  be  borne  on  his  breast  as  a  true  knight  enjoying  all  the 
honours  and  privileges  pertaining  thereto,  as  is  above  declared. 

'  Verified  by  Your  Highness. 

'  Registered  in  the  Book  of  Grants  in  the  State  Secretariat 
on  page  twenty-nine.1 

1  Luis  Gonsalves  Cota.' 


I  Seek  Means  of  Flight,  but  Fail. 

I  did  not  wish  to  continue  in  the  service  of  Shah  'Alam,  for  I 
did  not  feel  happy  living  among  Mahomedans.  I  saw  that  these 
campaigns  would  not  soon  come  to  an  end,  and  thus  I  should 
be  forced  to  wander  here  and  there  and  everywhere  with  the 
prince's  camp.  I  took  my  measures  for  flight,  as  was  my 
intention.  The  first  thing  I  did  was  to  pray  the  ambassador 
from  the  Portuguese  to  wait  for  me  with  his  galliot  (armed 
boat).  For  when  the  prince  started  to  march  with  his  army 
I  meant  to  get  back  to  Goa  with  him  (the  envoy).  He  gave 
me  his  word  that  he  would  await  me.  Then  I  resolved  to 
return  the  two  thousand  rupees  given  me  by  Shah  'Alam  to 
enable  me  to  march  with  the  army.  I  did  not  want  it  said  of 
me  that  Hakim  Niculao  fled  after  having  received  two  thousand 
rupees.  So  I  took  them  to  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dln,  Shah  'Alam's 
heir,  and  asked  him  to  consent  to  holding  the  said  two  thousand 
rupees,  as  I  had  no  place  to  put  them.  He  ordered  his  eunuch 
to  take  charge  of  them. 

I  waited  until  the  prince  had  set  out,  and  then  I  made  off, 

1  My  friend  Mr.  J.  Batalha-Reis,  M.V.O.,  Portuguese  Consul-General  and 
Commercial  Attache  in  London,  thinks  this  document  is  genuine.  The  three 
military  Orders  of  Sant'  Iago,  Christ,  and  Avis  (or  St.  Benedict),  were  still  in  the 
seventeenth  century  of  high  standing,  and  only  given  to  nobles  or  for  important 
services.  He  thinks  the  document  was  actually  made  out  in  Goa  by  the  Viceroy 
acting  for  the  King.  From  1667  to  1683  King  Alfonso  VI.  was  held  to  be  mad, 
and  his  brother,  Dom  Pedro,  was  Regent.  The  King  died  on  September  12, 
1683,  when  the  Regent  became  King  as  Pedro  II.  But  this  fact  could  only  be 
known  in  India  some  months  later,  and  the  wording  of  the  Patent  is  thus 
accounted  for. 


284    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

hoping  to  catch  up  the  ambassador  and  his  boat.  But  he  had 
gone  off  to  feast  himself  in  the  Dutch  factory,  and  thus  the 
attempt  failed.  When  the  prince  knew  of  it,  he  fell  into  a 
great  rage  at  my  attempted  flight,  and  ordered  his  foster- 
brother,  Mir  Muhammad,  to  whose  charge  he  had  committed 
me,  to  go  off  in  search  of  me,  and  not  to  come  back  to 
his  presence  until  he  brought  me  with  him.  He  sent  an 
order  to  the  commander  of  the  fleet  to  proceed  in  search 
of  me  and  carry  me  off  by  force  or  persuasion.  For  he 
declared  unconditionally  that  he  meant  to  keep  me  in  his 
service. 

But  he  knew  I  was  no  lover  of  violence,  so  he  sent  to  the  sea- 
shore a  caparisoned  horse  for  me  to  ride,  and  an  elephant, 
along  with  five  hundred  horsemen  to  escort  me.  This  was  all 
to  do  me  great  honour,  but  they  were  to  seize  me  if  they  came 
across  me. 

I  was  much  affected  when  I  did  not  find  the  ambassador  in 
the  boat.  While  I  was  waiting  for  him,  I  felt  happy  at 
having  got  away  from  the  camp.  Then  the  sentries  re- 
ported to  us  how  a  galliot  belonging  to  the  Mahomedans 
was  approaching.  Putting  my  head  to  the  window,  I  saw 
that  it  was  Mir  Muhammad,  and  thereby  my  courage  at  once 
evaporated. 

He  came  aboard  the  envoy's  boat,  and  earnestly  entreated 
me  to  save  his  life ;  for  the  prince  would  never  see  him  until 
I  went  back  to  the  camp  and  spoke  with  His  Highness,  who 
was  waiting  for  me.  While  we  were  still  in  talk,  the  sentry 
said  that  all  the  Mahomedan  army  had  come  from  Vingorla. 
Thus  I  lost  all  hope  of  being  able  to  flee,  and,  entering  Mir 
Muhammad's  galliot,  we  went  off  to  find  the  prince,  who  had 
already  gone  four  leagues  farther  off.  The  commander  of  the  fleet 
notified  my  arrival  to  the  prince.  But  owing  to  the  land  route 
being  closed  by  the  enemy,  who  were  plundering  in  all  directions, 
thus  causing  great  risk  of  the  elephant's  capture,  which  would 
be  a  disgrace ;  he  ordered  them  to  embark  the  horses  and  the 
troopers  told  off  to  escort  me,  while  the  elephant  was  put 
aboard  some  other  vessel.  Thus  we  all  went  to  a  port  distant 
two  days  from  Vingorla,  where  the  prince  had  gone  to  destroy 


SHAH  'ALAM  IN  THE  KONKAN  285 

a  temple  known  as  the  White  Pagoda,  or  of  the  Virgins.1     It 
was  sent  into  the  air  by  gunpowder. 

The  prince  was  pleased  and  happy  at  my  return.  Remon- 
strating lovingly  with  me,  he  said  he  did  not  know  what  was  to 
happen  to  me.  For  he  saw  that  I  had  no  love  for  him  or  for 
his  family.  Other  Farangls  would  adopt  any  and  every  method 
to  find  a  prince  who  had  for  them  a  mere  fraction  of  the  interest 
he  displayed  in  me.  I  replied  that  I  fully  admitted  the  love 
with  which  His  Highness  was  pleased  to  favour  me ;  but  my 
expenses  were  heavy,  nor  did  I  deserve  less  pay  than  that  given 
to  the  other  physicians.  Thus  I  could  not  continue  to  serve 
him.  Besides  this,  his  ministers  and  the  officials  made  me  wait 
a  very  long  time  for  the  little  His  Highness  gave  me.  In  this 
way  while  in  his  service  I  was  expending  my  patrimony  with- 
out benefit  and  with  nothing  but  distress. 

Before  putting  faith  in  this  speech  of  mine,  it  is  necessary 
for  the  reader  to  know  my  temperament,  and  he  should  in 
addition  know  the  wonderful  cures  I  had  effected  among  the 
Mahomedans.  Well  might  I  talk  thus,  for  I  neither  sought 
for,  nor  was  I  in  need  of,  the  prince's  pay,  and  thoroughly  con- 
tent should  I  have  been  had  he  grown  angry  and  said,  '  Be  off 
with  you  !'  But  he,  instead  of  getting  angry  and  expelling  me, 
ordered,  in  my  hearing,  a  guard  of  horse  and  foot  to  be  put 
upon  me,  as  he  did  not  want  me  to  escape  again.  Seeing  thus 
how  determined  he  was,  I  said  I  could  not  follow  him,  not 

1  I  have  failed  to  trace  this  place,  but  I  think  that  probably  it  is  identical  with 
the  '  Pagode  '  marked  on  the  Sieur  Sanson's  Map  of  India  (1652),  of  which  a 
tracing  has  kindly  been  sent  me  by  Mr.  W.  Foster,  of  the  India  Office ;  it  can 
also  be  seen  in  Baffin's  Map  of  1619,  in  Mr.  Foster's  '  Sir  Thomas  Roe,'  vol.  ii.  It 
is  placed  between  Kharepatan  on  the  north  and  Banda  on  the  south,  both  of  which 
can  be  seen  on  Plate  XXXIV.  in  Constable's  '  Hand  Atlas.'  An  alternative,  and 
perhaps  preferable,  suggestion  is  made  by  Dr.  O.  Codrington.  He  thinks  the 
place  intended  must  be  Malwan  (including  the  Mahrattah  fort  of  Sindhudrug), 
on  the  coast,  some  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  to  the  north  of  Vingorla.  As  it  was  a 
Mahrattah  possession,  and  much  reverenced  by  them,  Sindhudrug  was  the  sort 
of  place  the  Mahomedan  invader  would  endeavour  to  destroy.  The  White 
Pagoda  may  have  stood  near  Malwan,  where  there  are  still  Hindu  temples  of 
note  (see  'Bombay  Gazetteer,'  x.  348,  Ratnagirl  District).  On  the  map  in 
Baldoeus'  '  Coromandel '  (first  published  in  1672),  '  Pagoda  '  is  shown  opposite  a 
creek,  between  Wingerla  (Vingorla)  on  the  south  and  Coropatan  (Kharepatan)  on 
the  north  (see  Churchill,  '  Voyages,'  ed.  1745,  vol.  iii.). 


286     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

having  the  necessary  equipment ;  all  my  baggage  was  in  Goa. 
On  this  account  I  prayed  leave  to  visit  Goa  to  fetch  my  things, 
and  bid  farewell  to  my  relations.  I  pledged  my  word  to  come 
back  within  the  term  of  seven  days. 

He  was  reluctant  to  give  me  this  leave,  but  in  the  end  said 
he  would  grant  it  if  I  swore  to  come  back  again.  I  swore  after 
the  manner  of  Hindustan — that  is,  by  the  feet  of  His  Highness 
— I  would  appear  again.  But  he  refused  this  oath,  and  called 
upon  me  to  swear  by  the  name  of  the  Messiah,  and  that  then 
he  would  place  faith  in  my  words  and  permit  me  to  quit  the 
royal  camp.  Finding  he  required  this  of  me,  I  swore  by  the 
terrible,  venerable,  and  admirable  name  of  Jesus  that  I  would 
be  faithful  to  my  promise.  Then  he  granted  me  the  leave,  and 
conferred  on  me  another  set  of  robes  (sardpa). 

Though  thus  obliged  to  abandon  Goa,  which  I  had  wished  to 
serve  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  I  resolved  to  seize  the  occasion 
for  alleviating  the  great  necessity  from  which  it  was  then  suffer- 
ing. There  was  a  famine  from  want  of  [227]  supplies,  especially 
of  wheat,  of  which  there  was  none  in  Goa,  not  even  enough 
to  prepare  the  host.  I  asked  the  prince  to  let  me  have  a  cargo 
of  wheat,  his  army  being  fully  supplied.  It  was  to  be  delivered 
at  Goa  on  the  account  of  the  merchants,  for  I  wished  to  confer 
this  benefit  on  my  intimates  by  way  of  a  parting  gift.  My  peti- 
tion was  acceded  to,  and  embarking  on  the  same  vessel,  I  went 
to  Goa,  where  the  Portuguese  were  much  pleased  at  the  benefit 
I  had  gained  for  them  from  the  prince,  and  the  merchants 
acquired  their  profit.  After  two  days  I  took  leave  of  the  viceroy 
and  my  friends,  and  returned  to  the  royal  camp,  where  the  prince 
awaited  me  with  great  eagerness. 

When  I  arrived  I  learnt  that  the  prince  was  already  prepared 
for  the  march,  having  completed  the  destruction  of  the  White 
Pagoda  and  other  edifices  belonging  to  Sambha  Jl.  We  took 
the  road  for  Bardes  once  more,  halting  on  the  bank  of  that 
river.  Shah  'Alam  had  given  orders  that  everyone  caught 
entering  or  leaving  the  camp  at  night  should  be  beheaded  with- 
out fail.  This  was  to  frighten  the  spies  and  hinder  them  from 
coming  to  pry  about  in  the  camp.  It  happened  that  they  caught 
among  others  some  Canarese  who  had  come  from  Goa  to  sell  fruit 


A  DISASTROUS  MARCH  THROUGH  THE  GHATS  287 

butter,  et  cetera,  in  the  camp.  Already  they  were  on  their  way, 
early  in  the  morning,  to  be  beheaded,  when  my  servants,  hearing 
of  this,  informed  me  of  the  miserable  plight  of  these  Canarese. 
I  therefore  hurried  to  the  prince,  who  was  already  on  the  march, 
and  besought  him  for  an  order  to  release  my  people,  who  had 
carried  me  from  Goa.  He  smiled  and  directed  the  release  of 
the  men  for  whom  I  had  petitioned.  Thus  some  men  were 
released  whom  I  had  recognised  to  be  Christians. 

After  this  we  marched  and  climbed  a  mountain  called  Ramgat 
(?  Ramghat),1  a  league  and  a  half  of  ascent.  Here  Sambha  Ji 
might  have  killed  the  whole  of  us,  for  it  was  a  place  difficult  to 
climb,  with  narrow  paths  passing  through  jungle  and  thorny 
scrub.  But  he  did  not  choose  to  attempt  it,  and  they  said  he 
was  acting  in  collusion  with  Shah  'Alam. 

But  what  Sambha  Ji  did  not  do  by  attacking  us,  God  carried 
out  by  the  pestilence  which  raged  in  the  army  with  such  violence 
that  in  seven  days  of  its  prevalence  everyone  died  who  was 
attacked — that  is,  about  one-third  of  the  army.  Of  this  disease 
there  died  every  day  five  hundred  men ;  nor  was  the  mortality 
confined  to  men  only — it  extended  to  horses,  elephants,  and 
camels.  This  made  the  air  pestilential  [228],  and  it  being  a 
confined  route,  supplies  also  failed,  and  this  was  like  encountering 
another  enemy.  For  although,  as  I  said,  wheat  was  abundant, 
from  this  time  there  were  no  animals  to  carry  it.  Thus  the 
soldiers  had  more  than  enough  to  undergo.  Many  of  those  whose 
horses  died  had  no  money  to  buy  others,  nor  was  there  anyone 
in  the  camp  ready  to  sell.  They  were  thus  forced  to  march  on 
foot,  and  many  died  of  the  great  heat  and  thirst  they  under- 
went. 

Having  reached  the  top  of  this  pass,  we  marched  for  the 

1  Grant-Duff,  145,  calls  the  pass  the  Ambah-ghat,  and  states  that,  after  it  had 
been  ascended,  Shah  'Alam  cantoned  his  army  for  the  rains  at  Walwa  (in  Satarah, 
lat.  160  28',  long.  740  15').  He  mentions  (p.  148)  the  pestilence,  and  also  the 
cavalry  being  reduced  to  marching  on  foot.  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  291,  speaks  of 
Ram-darrah  (pass),  and  the  difficulties  of  the  march.  Dr.  Codrington  informs 
me  that  Ramghat  is  a  pass  in  the  Western  Ghauts,  south  of  the  Amba-ghat, 
in  150  52'  N.,  740  4'  E.  Making  for  the  Ramghat  from  Vingorla,  it  would  be 
necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  the  mountains,  to  march  south  as  far  as  the  Chapora 
or  Convalle  River,  the  northern  limit  of  Bardes.  It  is  up  the  valley  of  this  river 
that  the  route  to  Ramghat  lies,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  Indian  Atlas  sheet. 


288    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

kingdom  of  Bljapur.  Several  times  we  were  watched  on  the 
march  by  the  enemy,  who,  whenever  occasion  served,  spared 
neither  our  baggage  nor  ourselves,  plundering  in  all  directions. 
Finally,  we  arrived  at  Aamadanaguer  (Ahmadnagar),1  where, 
as  I  stated  in  the  First  Part  of  my  History  (I.  75),  Chand  Bibl 
caused  golden  and  silver  balls  to  be  fired  from  her  cannon,  with 
an  inscription  that  the  ball  should  belong  to  the  finder.  Here 
we  met  the  army  of  Aurangzeb,  who  was  waiting  for  the  rainy 
season  to  pass  before  venturing  farther  into  the  kingdoms  of 
Bljapur  and  Gulkandah.  During  these  marches  and  halts, 
it  was  observed  that  in  the  morning  there  were  on  the  tents 
various  scarlet  imprints  of  hands.  Everyone  was  in  astonish- 
ment; we  could  never  discover  the  signification  of  these  imprints, 
unless  it  could  be  judged  to  be  some  witchcraft.  For  no  one 
could  climb  so  high  as  to  make  these  hand-prints  on  the  royal 
tents. 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  rainy  season  the  whole  army  removed 
to  Sholapur.2  On  reaching  the  outskirts  of  that  place,  which 
had  already  been  taken  by  Aurangzeb  from  the  King  of  Bljapur, 
the  king  ordered  Shah  'Alam  to  proceed  with  Bahadur  Khan  to 
invade  Gulkandah3  as  a  punishment  for  having  allied  itself  to  the 
King  of  Bijapur.  Setting  out  on  our  march,  we  reached  Malquer 
(Malkher)4  on  the  frontier  of  Gulkandah.  There  we  found 
Mahamed  Ebraim  (Muhammad  Ibrahim),5  a  Persian,  who  had 
risen  from  oilman  to  the  dignity  of  chief  minister  at  Gulkandah. 

1  The  arrival  of  Shah  'Alam  at  Ahmadnagar  took  place  on  the  13th  Jamada  II  , 
1095  H.  (May  29,  1684)  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  244). 

2  Aurangzeb  left  Ahmadnagar  for  Sholapur  on  the  2nd  Jamada  II.,  1096  H. 
twenty-eighth  year  (May  7,  1685);  he  reached  Sholapur  on  June  4,  1685 
('M.-i.'A,'258,  259). 

3  Shah  'Alam  was  detached  against  Haidarabad  on  the  6th  Sha'ban,  twenty  - 
eighth  year,  1096  H.  (July  9,  1685)  ('  Ma.agir-i-'Alamgiri,'  260). 

4  Malkher  (Thornton,  644,  Mulkair),  a  town  on  the  Bhima,  eighty-six  miles  west 
of  Haidarabad,  lat.  170  io',  long.  770  19'. 

6  For  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  holding  the  Qutb-Shahi  title  of  Khalilullah  Khan, 
see  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  627,  under  his  'Alamgiri  title  of  Mahabat  Khan.  He 
is  mentioned  again  by  N.  M.  in  connection  with  Governor  Gyfford's  letter  to 
'Alamglr,  sent  through  N.  M.  (see  Part  III.,  fol.  154).  His  portrait  forms  one  of 
our  illustrations  (No.  38).  There  is  an  engraved  portrait  of  him  in  D.  Havart, 
'  Op  en  Ondergang  van  Coromandel,'  1693,  part  ii.,  226,  under  which  he  has 
inscribed  the  words  from  Seneca  :  '  Ingrato  terra  nihil  pejus  alit.' 


XX.     Sultan  'Azim-ud-din,  Second  Son  of  Shah  'alam. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  288. 


MANUCCI'S  FLIGHT  TO  GULKANDAH  289 

To  the  lucky  fortune  of  the  famous  Mir  Jumlah  he  united  the 
same  treasonable  practices,  for  he  subsequently  betrayed  his 
king,  as  by  reading  farther  will  be  seen  (II.  231).  To  start 
with,  he  did  not  fail,  however,  in  proving  himself  a  valiant 
soldier,  planting  from  time  to  time  one  on  our  ribs.  Neverthe- 
less, it  was  revealed  by  his  style  of  fighting  that  he  did  not  mean 
to  exert  all  his  force,  for  he  could  have  punished  us  much  more 
than  he  did  [229]. 

Once  more  I  take  Flight  and  go  to  Gulkandah. 

As  I  was  already  dissatisfied  with  all  this  marching,  I  con- 
tinued to  reflect  on  modes  of  retiring  to  Europe,  there  to 
enjoy  the  much  or  little  that  I  had  fairly  earned  by  my  labours. 
I  therefore  asked  Shah  'Alam  for  leave  to  visit  Surat  on  some 
business  I  had  there.  But  as  he  knew  by  experience  that  my 
determination  was  to  proceed  still  farther,  he  ordered  his  slaves 
to  watch  carefully  that  I  did  not  take  to  flight.  He  refused  to 
give  any  other  answer. 

Seeing  him  to  be  thus  positive,  I  adopted  another  plan,  which 
was  to  write  to  Muhammad  Ibrahim  begging  him  to  assist  me 
in  my  escape.  He  wrote  that  he  would  most  willingly  do  so. 
To  this  end  he  sent  daily  four  thousand  horse  to  patrol,  as  if 
they  meant  to  make  an  attempt  upon  us ;  and  this  caused  some 
anxiety  to  Shah  'Alam.  This  went  on  for  several  days,  until 
the  day  fixed  for  my  escape  arrived.  I  sent  my  books  out  of 
the  camp  by  the  hands  of  my  spies,  who  moved  about  in  safety. 
Then  contenting  myself  with  carrying  off  my  hoard  of  gold 
coins  and  my  case  of  instruments,  I  left  my  tent  mounted  on  a 
horse  followed  by  a  palanquin,  as  if  I  were  going  out  to  take 
the  air.  I  halted  at  the  tent  of  one  of  my  friends,  an  English- 
man named  Thomas  Gudlet,1  and  there  I  drank  a  cup  or  two, 
so  as  to  mystify  Shah  'Alam's  spies.  Then  on  the  pretext  that 
at  night  I  had  to  give  a  dinner  to  some  friends,  I  sent  the  spies 
to  procure  various  dishes  of  food,  some  to  one  place,  some  to 

1  This  must  be  Thomas  Goodlad,  who  found  his  way  to  Gulkandah,  and  is 
mentioned    in    the   letters   of  Governor   Gyfford   sent    through   N.    M.     He   is 
spoken  of  elsewhere  as  a  renegade,  and  probably  belonged  to  the  family  referred 
to  in  Sir  R.  C.  Temple's  note  (1),  p.  go,  '  Bowrey,'  Hakluyt  Society  (1905). 
VOL.  II.  ig 


290    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

another.  I  also  ordered  my  palanquin  to  be  taken  away,  as 
I  intended  to  ride  home  that  evening. 

When  I  found  myself  free  of  these  spies,  I  sent  out  two 
faithful  servants  to  wait  for  me  in  a  village  across  the  river,  near 
which  were  posted  the  four  thousand  horsemen  of  Muhammad 
Ibrahim.  On  arriving  they  were  to  display  a  small  white  flag 
as  a  signal  that  the  horsemen  were  there,  and  that  I  might  come 
safely.  As  soon  as  I  got  this  warning,  I  rode  out  on  my  horse  as 
if  taking  the  air,  but,  in  truth,  I  was  on  my  way  to  escape. 
When  I  reached  the  river  I  moved  most  leisurely,  as  if  I  only 
meant  to  give  my  horse  a  drink. 

When  the  sentries  saw  I  was  crossing  the  river  they  began  to 
shout  and  warn  the  horsemen  that  I  was  clearing  out.  But 
they  were  too  late  to  catch  me,  for  giving  my  steed  the  rein,  I 
moved  off  in  fine  style.  The  horsemen  of  Shah  'Alam  pursued 
me,  describing  a  half-circle  in  the  hope  [230]  of  surrounding 
me.  But  Muhammad  Ibrahim's  troopers  at  once  rode  up, 
lance  in  rest,  and  put  Shah  'Alam's  horsemen  to  flight.  Thus 
delivered,  I  reached  the  village,  and  from  the  village  the  army, 
where  I  gave  thanks  to  Muhammad  Ibrahim  for  the  favour  he 
had  done  me. 

Nor  must  I  omit  to  mention  how  some  Christians  in  the 
service  of  the  Gulkandah  king,  aware  that  I  was  seeking  to 
escape  from  Shah  'Alam,  came  out  to  meet  me  and  escort  me, 
so  as  to  take  my  side  in  case  any  of  the  Gulkandah  troops 
attempted  to  interfere  with  me.  Hardly  had  I  reached  the 
presence  of  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  when  one  of  Shah  'Alam's 
spies  also  turned  up.  He  delivered  letters  to  the  general,  and 
informed  him  in  private  that  I  was  much  valued  by  Shah 
'Alam,  who  would  take  it  very  ill  should  he  assist  a  person  that 
the  prince  had  sent  after  several  times,  and  had  put  sentries 
over  to  prevent  his  escape. 

The  spy  left,  and  also  the  other  persons  present,  and  I  was 
aione  with  Muhammad  Ibrahim.  He  already  regretted  having 
helped  me  in  my  flight,  and  as  he  had  been  planning  to  desert  to 
the  prince's  side,  he  feared  being  badly  treated  by  His  Highness. 
This  was  why,  after  having  congratulated  me  on  my  escape,  he 
prayed  me  to  remain  with  him  a  few  days;  he  said  he  felt 


HIS  FORTUNES  AT  GULKANDAH  291 

unwell,  and  wanted  to  purge  himself.  I  quite  understood  the 
design  of  Muhammad  Ibrahim ;  he  meant  to  make  me  over 
once  more  to  Shah  'Alam.  Placing  my  hand  on  my  dagger,  I 
said  to  him  that  if  he  did  not  give  me  leave  to  go  on  to  Gulkan- 
dah,  I  should  without  fail  rip  open  my  bowels  in  his  presence, 
and  would  rather  die  than  go  back  to  the  service  of  the  prince, 
Shah  'Alam. 

He  became  alarmed  at  finding  me  thus  resolute,  and,  retiring 
inside,  told  me  to  wait  a  little.  He  wrote  me  a  passport  for 
Gulkandah,  and  coming  out  again  handed  it  to  me,  telling  me 
privately  to  make  all  the  haste  I  could.  As  this  was  all  I  was 
waiting  for,  I  jumped  on  my  horse  at  once,  and  travelled  for 
three  days,  until  I  arrived  at  Gulkandah.  There  I  repaired 
to  the  house  of  a  friend,  Monsieur  Francisco  Guety,  and  he 
conducted  me  to  the  mansion  of  Xarif  Elmulq  (Sharif-ul-mulk),1 
brother-in-law  of  the  Gulkandah  king.  He  held  several  con- 
versations with  me ;  and  the  king's  sister  suffering  from 
palpitation  of  the  heart,  I  was  able  to  alleviate  her  complaint 
a  great  deal.  In  this  way  I  began  to  be  talked  about  in 
Gulkandah  [231]. 

Thus  the  king  heard  of  my  arrival.  As  his  European 
physician,  a  Frenchman  named  Monsieur  Destremon,  was 
dead,  the  king  sent  for  me  to  his  presence.  There,  after  some 
conversation,  he  directed  me  to  go  and  bleed  a  woman  in  his 
harem,  much  cherished  by  him  because  she  knew  where  the 
treasures  of  the  King  of  Gulkandah,  Cotobxa  (Qutb  Shah), 
were  concealed.  She  was  a  Georgian,  and  so  extremely  stout, 
and  the  fat  covered  the  veins  so  much,  that  blood  could  not  be 
drawn  from  her  except  from  the  capillary  veins.  Her  arms 
were  covered  with  lancet  marks.  I  felt  for  the  vein,  and  after 
fixing  the  bandage,  I  took  a  measure  twice  the  size  I  used 
for  others  ;  and  I  reached  the  vein  with  such  dexterity  that  the 
blood  gushed  out  with  great  force.     Everyone  was  in  admira- 

1  For  his  biography,  see  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  688.  He,  with  his  two  sons, 
surrendered  to  Shah  'Alam,  and  was  sent  to  Aurangzeb  at  Sholapur.  He  died 
on  the  4th  Sha'ban,  1098  H.  (June  15,  1687).  Monsieur  Guety  is  probably 
identical  with  the  French  merchant  of  that  name  who  was  living  at  San  Thome 
in  1704-06,  and  is  mentioned  several  times  in  Part  V. 

i  g — 2 


292    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

tion  at  seeing  a  thing  that  had  never  happened  with  this  woman 
before. 

The  king  himself,  who  was  standing  behind  looking  on, 
became  desirous  of  being  bled  also.  But  though  they  made 
me  wait  for  that  day,  in  the  end  he  would  not  have  it  done. 
It  may  be  that  someone  had  frightened  him  that  I  might  be  an 
emissary  from  Shah  'Alam  and  Aurangzeb,  sent  to  bleed  him  in 
such  a  way  that  he  would  never  want  to  be  bled  again.  In 
place  of  having  himself  bled,  he  made  over  to  me  for  treatment 
one  of  his  nephews  who  had  an  ulcerated  leg,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  presented  to  me  seven  hundred  rupees  for  my 
expenses. 

Shah  'Alam  takes  Gulkandah. 

But  whilst  I  was  treating  the  king's  nephew,  Muhammad 
Ibrahim  had  deserted  to  Shah  'Alam's  side.1  The  Gulkandah 
forces  being  left  without  a  head,  Shah  'Alam  seized  the  occasion, 
and  fell  at  once  on  the  enemy's  army.  The  soldiers  of  Gulkan- 
dah fled  in  all  directions  in  great  confusion.  During  the  fighting 
the  second  in  command,  called  Rustam  Rao,2  who  had  declined 
to  go  over  to  Shah  'Alam,  was  wounded.  When  the  army 
had  been  defeated,  Shah  'Alam  advanced  with  rapidity  against 
Gulkandah. 

As  soon  as  a  report  of  this  defeat  reached  that  city,  the  king 
retired  into  the  fortress,3  carrying  with  him  his  friends  and 
ministers,  Madana  and  Ancana  (Madana  and  Akana),4  who 
were  Hindus,  Brahmans,  hateful  to  the  Mahomedans.  The 
populace,  setting  fire  to  the  houses  of  those  Brahmans,  fled 

1  On  the  nth  Zu,l  Ilijjah,  twenty-ninth  year,  1096  H.  (November  9,  1685), 
Muhammad  Ibrahim,  head  of  the  Gulkandah  army,  received  from  Aurangzeb, 
on  Shah  'Alam's  recommendation,  the  rank  of  6,000,  6,000  horse,  with  the  title 
of  Mahabat  Khan  ('  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  269). 

2  Rustam  Rao,  uncle's  son  of  Madana  Brahman,  chief  minister  of  Gulkandah 
('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  630). 

3  On  the  last  day  of  Zu.l  Qa'dah,  twenty-ninth  year,  1096  H.  (October  29,  1685), 
a  report  was  received  from  Shah  'Alam  that  Abu,]  Hasan  had  retreated  into 
the  fortress,  and  that  Ibrahim,  his  general,  had  come  into  the  Mogul  camp 
('  M.-i-'A.,'  267). 

4  See  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  292;  Elliot  and  Dowson,  vii.  315.  In  the  '  Ma,asir-ul- 
Umara,'  iii.  628,  the  second  name  is  spelt  '  IkanaV 


FIRST  CONQUEST  OF  GULKANDAH,  1685  293 

from  the  city  and  scattered  themselves.  Without  loss  of  time 
I  mounted  my  horse,  and  [232]  rode  until  I  reached  Mussula- 
patao  (Machhlipatanam).  I  evaded  seizure  by  the  three 
hundred  troopers  sent  after  me  by  Shah  'Alam  for  my  arrest. 
After  a  halt  there  of  two  days  I  came  to  Narsapur,1  where, 
considering  myself  secure,  I  enjoyed  myself  with  the  English 
and  Dutch.  Here  I  remained  until  the  king  sent  for  me  once 
more;  but  let  us  retrace  our  steps,  and  speak  of  Shah  'Alam's 
doings  in  Gulkandah. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  Shah  'Alam  is  of  a  generous  nature, 
and  of  such  a  good  temperament  that  he  is  disinclined  to  harm- 
ing anyone.  If  he  took  any  action,  it  was  under  the  orders  of 
Aurangzeb,  who,  by  letter  after  letter,  forced  him  to  act. 
It  was  due  to  this  good  nature  that  he  had  done  neither  to  the 
Portuguese  nor  to  the  Shiva  Jl  (i.e.,  Sambha  Ji)  all  the  harm  he 
could  have  done,  and  did  not  behave  to  Gulkandah  with 
warlike  rigour ;  for  he  ordered  his  captains  and  generals  to  do 
no  harm  to  that  city  (Haidarabad).  Thus  the  soldiers  went 
about  the  city  without  plundering  it,  and  killed  no  one  but  a 
faqlr,  who,  being  of  the  Persian  religion,  was  killed  by  some 
Uzbaks,  who  hate  the  followers  of  'All.2 

The  king  [Abu,l  Hasan],  finding  himself  in  this  great 
difficulty,  secured  Shah  'Alam  himself  as  mediator  with 
Aurangzeb  for  making  a  peace.  The  prince  wrote  to  his 
father  that  it  would  require  a  long  delay  to  take  the  fortress 
(Gulkandah).  Therefore,  if  His  Majesty  would  content  himself 
with  things  as  they  were,  it  might  seem  to  him  well  to  make 
peace  with  the  Gulkandah  king.  For  the  fault  had  not  been  his, 
but  that  of  his  ministers ;  and  he  (Shah  'Alam)  would  arrange 
that  the  king  should  give  every  satisfaction  that  His  Majesty 
could  desire. 

Aurangzeb  wrote  to  his  son  that  he  required  the  death  of  the 

1  Narsapur,  a  town  now  in  the  British  district  of  Rajahmundry,  presidency 
of  Madras,  forty-eight  miles  south  of  Rajahmundry,  lat.  160  20',  long.  8i°  47' 
(Thornton,  685).  Masulipatam  lies  on  the  same  coast,  lat.  160  10',  long.  8i°  13' 
(ibid.,  605). 

2  The  report  of  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Haidarabad  was  received  by 
Aurangzeb  on  the  last  day  of  Zu.l  Qa'dah,  1096  H.  (October  31,  1685) 
('  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  267),  but  the  chronogram  on  p.  268  assigns  it  to  1097  H. 


294    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

Brahmans,  a  large  sum  in  money,  jewels,  elephants,  and  war 
materials,  with  a  promise  to  give  no  more  aid  to  Bijapur.  On 
receipt  of  this  reply,  Shah  'Alam  opened  negotiations  with 
the  King  of  Gulkandah.  The  latter  continued  to  live  in 
the  fortress  like  a  prisoner ;  and  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  kill 
the  Brahmans  and  fling  them  down  from  the  fortress  walls.1 
The  King  of  Gulkandah  conceded  everything  that  Shah  'Alam 
asked  for,  and  the  latter  gave  his  word  that  Aurangzeb,  his 
father,  would  not  break  the  peace.  Thus  did  the  poor  King  of 
Gulkandah  become  a  petty  prince.  He  attempted  no  farther 
to  turn  himself  into  a  valiant  warrior,  but  passed  his  time 
continuously  in  feasting  among  musicians  and  dancers.  When 
matters  had  been  arranged,  Shah  'Alam  retired  into  the  province 
[233]  of  Cohir  (Kohlr),2  a  distance  of  twenty  leagues  from 
Gulkandah,  keeping  in  correspondence  with  this  king,  with 
whom  he  left  an  ambassador. 

I  go  to  Gulkandah,  and  flee  once  more  as  far  as 

Madras. 

While  Shah  'Alam  was  halted  in  that  province  (Kohlr) 
waiting  for  the  receipt  of  the  treasure,  elephants,  jewels,  and 
war  materials,  in  accordance  with  the  treaty,  he  requested  the 
king  to  have  a  search  made  for  me  and  send  me  to  him,  as 
he  wanted  me.  Horsemen  were  sent  by  the  king  to  fetch  me, 
with  orders  to  the  governors  that  if  I  refused  to  come  willingly 
I  was  to  be  sent  by  force.  The  soldiers  came  upon  me  in 
Narsapur,  and  showed  me  the  royal  farman,  whereby  the  king 
recalled  me  to  court  on  the  pretext  of  continuing  the  treatment 
of  his  nephew.  He  promised  me  that  whenever  I  wanted  my 
liberty  it  should  be  given  without  difficulty. 

1  The  head  of  Madana  Brahman  was  sent  in  by  Abu.l  Hasan  on  the 
1st  Jamada.  I.  (March  26,  1686)  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  272).  One  of  our  illustrations  is  a 
portrait  of  Madana.  D.  Havart  (pp.  219,  220,  224)  has  portraits  of  Madana 
(Siiraj  Parkash)  and  Akana,  also  a  fancy  picture  of  their  naked  bodies  being 
dragged  through  the  streets. 

8  Kohlr,  a  place  forty-eight  to  fifty  miles  west  of  Gulkandah  (see  the  map  in 
S.  H.  Bilgrami  and  C.  Willmott's  'Historical  and  Descriptive  Sketch  of  the 
Nizam  s  Dominions,'  2  vols.,  Bombay,  1884).  Shah  'Alam  returned  to  court  at 
Sholapur  on  June  27,  1686  (25th  Rajab)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  274). 


MANUCCI  MAKES  FOR  NARSAPUR  295 

I  could  see  quite  well  that  there  was  no  escape  from  going, 
for  they  would  carry  me  off  to  the  court  whether  I  liked  it 
or  not.  I  therefore  dissembled,  and  made  display  of  goodwill 
and  a  desire  to  be  of  service  to  His  Majesty.  I  mounted  my 
horse  and  went  with  them,  in  all  pomp  and  magnificence,  until 
we  got  to  Gulkandah.  When  I  appeared  to  make  my  obeisance 
to  the  king,  he  declared  himself  pleased  at  my  coming.  Urgently 
I  begged  him,  as  I  had  come  under  protection  of  his  word, 
not  to  deliver  me  into  the  hands  of  Shah  'Alam.  By  this  he 
was  somewhat  disconcerted,  and  fixed  my  pay  at  seven  hundred 
rupees  a  month.  But  I  declared  that  I  would  not  accept  pay, 
that  I  meant  to  serve  him  for  nothing.  Nevertheless  he  sent 
seven  hundred  rupees  to  my  abode,  and  while  I  was  with  him 
he  ordered  a  set  of  robes  to  be  conferred  on  me.  He  gave  a 
private  order  to  post  a  hundred  horsemen  in  the  street  where 
I  was  staying  to  prevent  anyone  interfering  with  me. 

For  the  envoy  of  Shah  'Alam,  called  Momencan  (Mumin 
Khan),1  sought  an  opening  for  carrying  me  off  to  the  prince. 
In  addition  to  the  guard  of  horsemen,  Abu,l  Hasan  gave  me 
over  in  charge  to  his  dlwan,  who  was  responsible  for  my 
personal  safety.  I  began  the  treatment  of  his  nephew  once 
more,  and  remained  two  months  in  Gulkandah,  by  which  time 
the  patient  had  recovered.  But  I  was  obliged  to  seek  safety 
in  a  secret  flight.  For  the  ambassador  [234]  of  Shah  'Alam, 
when  he  was  taking  leave,  once  more  tried  to  induce  the  king 
to  make  me  over  into  his  hands.  He  (the  king)  replied  that 
if  at  his  departure  he  carried  me  away  with  him,  no  one  would 
come  forward  to  defend  me.  For  this  purpose  he  ordered  the 
withdrawal  of  the  hundred  horsemen  placed  as  sentries  to 
prevent  interference  with  me. 

This  conversation  was  heard  by  one  of  the  said  ambassador's 
soldiers,  who  years  before  had  come  under  an  obligation  to 
me  for  treating  him  in  an  illness,  and  he  hurried  to  warn  me 
of  the  ambassador's  intentions.  The  information  reached  me 
when  I  was  at  cards,  and  suppressing  my  tribulation,  I  went 
on  for  a  time  with   the  game.     I   then  went  out   and  betook 

1  A  Mu.min  Khiln  is  mentioned  on  p.  275  of  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamglri,'  year 
1097  H.  (1686),  as  being  then  in  the  service  of  Shah  'Alam. 


296    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

myself  to  the  house  of  the  Dutch  envoy,  who  was  then  Lourenco 
Pit,1  and  begged  his  assistance  in  this  delicate  situation.  After 
that  I  sent  for  the  Father  Vicar  of  Gulkandah,  named  Frey  Fran- 
cisco, of  the  order  of  St.  Augustin,  and  most  urgently  entreated 
him  to  see  Rustam  Rao  and  procure  leave  to  remove  to  Mach- 
hlipatanam  a  brother  of  his  called  Augustinho,  who  had  fallen  ill. 
I  furnished  him  with  this  name  so  that,  if  asked  for  his 
invalid  brother's  name,  he  should  be  in  no  perplexity,  and 
thereby  avoid  suspicion  of  there  being  some  deceit.  The 
arrangement  succeeded  perfectly,  for  the  permit  was  obtained. 
I  got  into  a  palanquin  and  feigned  to  be  unwell ;  and  praise 
be  to  God !  the  spies  never  discovered  me.  Thus  did  I  make 
my  journey  without  the  envoy  of  Shah  'Alam  being  aware  of 
my  departure.  I  went  on  until  I  arrived  at  Madrasta  (Madras) 
or  Fort  St.  George,  which  belongs  to  the  English,  and  there 
I  was  free  of  all  danger.  My  escape  from  Gulkandah  was 
the  cause  of  some  discomfort  to  the  king,  for  Shah  'Alam  made 
great  complaint  of  his  want  of  energy  in  arresting  me;  but 
he  knew  quite  well  that  by  that  time  I  was  no  longer  in 
Gulkandah.  Still,  he  made  various  searches,  and  in  the  end 
sent  Rustam  Rao  as  a  prisoner  into  the  fortress  because  he  had 
issued  the  permit  for  my  departure.  The  prisoner  was  forced 
to  pay  fifty  thousand  rupees,  which  were  forwarded  to  Shah 
'Alam  as  a  present  to  procure  pardon  for  the  fault  of  the  king's 
officer  [235]. 

My  Arrival  in  Madras  and  Marriage. 

On  my  arrival  in  Madras  the  Portuguese  gentlemen,  who 
knew  the  zeal  with  which  I  had  worked  for  their  nation  at  Goa, 
came  to  see  me.     They  congratulated  me  on  my  arrival,  and 

1  This  is  Laurens  Pit  the  younger,  who  was  Dutch  chief— first  at  Palicat,  near 
Madras,  and  then  at  Negapatam — in  1688-1693.  He  captured  Pondicherry  from 
the  French  in  the  latter  year.  He  was  sent  up  to  Gulkandah  in  1686  (see  Dubois, 
*  Vies  des  Gouverneurs  Generaux,'  p.  246).  The  '  Sieur  Pite  (or  Pitre)  of  Bremen,' 
met  at  Palicat  in  1652  by  Tavernier  (Ball's  edition,  i.  268),  must  be  the  father, 
who  was  also  a  Dutch  Company's  official.  There  is  a  full  account  of  L.  Pit 
the  younger's  embassy  to  Gulkandah  in  D.  Havart,  '  Op  en  Ondergang  van 
Coromandel,'  1693,  part  ii.,  154-164.  There  are  also  plates  of  his  entry  in  state 
on  March  26,  and  of  his  audience  with  King  Abu.l  Ilasan  on  April  3,  1686.  He 
left  Gulkandah  on  June  4. 


REACHES  MADRAS  AND  MARRIES,  1686  297 

offered  their  services  in  whatever  way  would  be  of  use  to  me. 
Such  help  they  would  give  most  willingly.  But  I  was  all 
anxiety  to  see  Senhor  Francisco  Martim  (Francois  Martin),1 
Director- General  of  the  Royal  Company  of  France,  who  had 
come  back  to  Pudichery  (Pondicherry)  from  Surat.  I  got  into 
a  palanquin  and  went  off  to  visit  him,  where  I  was  well  received 
and  well  entertained  for  several  days.  He  gave  me  the  advice 
not  to  return  to  Europe,  but  to  marry  in  India.  He  informed  me 
of  a  lady  born  in  India,  but  of  good  English  Catholic  parents. 
She  lived  in  Madrastapatao  (Madras),  and  her  name  was  Sen- 
hora  Ilizabet  Ihardili  (?  Elizabeth  Hartley),  legitimate  daughter 
of  Mestre  (Mr.)  Christovao  Ihardili  (?  Christopher  Hartley), 
president  of  Machhllpatanam,  and  of  Donna  Aguida  Pereyra,  a 
Portuguese  lady.  At  that  time  the  lady  Ilizabet  Ihardili  was  the 
widow  of  Mr.  Thomas  Klark  (Clarke),  an  English  Catholic  ; 
he  was  a  judge,  and  second  at  the  station  of  Madras.2 

This  is  what  I  was  told  by  Monsieur  the  General,  confirmed 
by  some  Capuchin  friars,  and  thus  I  began  to  relinquish  the 
idea  of  going  back  to  Europe.  For,  as  they  told  me,  having 
become  accustomed  to  the  climate  and  the  food  of  India,  and 
being  already  advanced  in  age,  I  should  not  last  very  long  in 
Europe.  Thus  I  quitted  Pondicherry  and  returned  to  Madras, 
meaning  to  find  out  the  intentions  of  the  said  lady.  There  I 
arrived  at  the  end  of  June  in  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighty-six  ;  and  I  talked  with  the  well-known  fathers  Zenao 
(Zenon)   and    Ephrem     Ephraim),3  Capuchins,  and   apostolic 

1  Francois  Martin  (born  at  Paris,  1634  >  died  at  Pondicherry  December,  1706) 
had  come  back  from  Surat  in  this  year  (1686).  He  reached  Pondicherry  on 
May  20  (MS.  '  Memoires  de  Francois  Martin,  1664-1694,'  fol.  401,  Archives 
Nationales,  Paris,  Serie  T,*  1169). 

2  'Fort  St.  George,'  by  Mrs.  Frank  Penny,  pp.  13,  191.  Thomas  Clarke, 
junior,  died  October  6,  1683.  His  tombstone  has  a  Latin  inscription,  and  a 
coat  of  arms  with  crest.  He  was  interpreter  to  the  Company,  and  his  father  had 
been  chief  at  Machhllpatanam. 

3  Father  Zenon,  Capuchin,  a  native  of  Bauge,  near  Angers,  went  to  Madras 
in  1642  with  Father  Ephraim,  of  Nevers.  Zenon  is  mentioned  several  times  by 
Tavernier,  edition  Ball,  i.  209,  224,  225-233,  269.  He  was  also  De  la  Boullaye  le 
Gouz's  travelling  companion  on  his  first  visit  to  India.  Le  Gouz  was  also  from 
Bauge.  Ephraim's  appointment  as  Catholic  chaplain  in  Madras,  dated  June  8, 
1642,  is  set  forth  in  Father  Norbert's  'Memoires  Utiles  et  Necessaires  .  .  .' 
(Lucca,  1742),  p.  95. 


298     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

missionaries  in  Madras,  otherwise  Fort  St.  George.  They  were 
aware  of  the  virtues  and  sound  doctrine  of  the  said  lady,  and  they 
gave  me  such  a  good  report  of  her  qualities  and  virtues  that 
I  decided  to  marry.  By  the  favour  of  God  I  was  married  on 
St.  Simon's  and  St.  Jude's  Day  of  that  same  year  (1686) -1 

I  had  a  son,  but  God  chose  rather  to  make  him  an  angel  in 
Paradise  than  leave  him  to  suffer  in  this  world.  In  this  way  I 
was  fixed  to  a  residence  in  the  said  Fort  St.  George,  where 
came  many  that  knew  me,  or  heard  speak  of  me,  in  order  to  be 
treated.  Among  those  who  came  was  Rajah  Champat,2  son  of 
Champat,  Bundelah,  who,  as  stated  [236]  in  the  First  Part  of  my 
History  (I.  186),  was  sacrificed  by  Aurangzeb  as  a  foundation 
for  his  victories,  in  reward  for  having  found  him  a  route  in  his 
combat  with  Dara. 

Nor  did  Shah  'Alam  fail  to  send  in  search  of  me  in  several 
directions,  while  the  princess  sent  one  who  had  formerly  been 
my  servant  to  seek  me  in  Madras.  She  gave  him  as  a  present 
a  dagger,  which  he  sold  to  one  of  my  friends  for  eight  hundred 
patacas  (Rs.  1,600).  This  she  did  only  through  her  desire  to 
know  where  I  was,  so  that  she  might  send  to  fetch  me. 

All  my  acquaintances  know  that  very  few  months  passed 
without  gifts  coming  from  the  Mogul  grandees,  who  gave  me 
many  presents,  and  sent  to  me  patients  of  title  and  many 
others.  Experience  was  my  great  teacher,  whereby  I  had 
acquired  several  secrets,  in  which,  it  may  be,  I  shall  allow  the 
world  to  participate,  for  I  have  no  heir  to  whom  to  bequeath 
these  treasures  that  preserve  our  bodily  health.  But  among 
the  others  I  may  as  well  mention  that  I  manufactured  certain 
cordials  regardless  of  expense,  the  same  being  wonderful  in 
certain  complaints,  as  many  can  testify.  Yet  it  is  only  a  short 
time  ago  that  I  began  to  distribute  these  cordials,  for  I  have 
no  wish  to  imitate  those  who,  keener  for  others'  gold  than  the 
health  of  their  fellow-men,  make  up  mixtures  of  various  things 
and  sell  them  as  cordials.     I  did  not  begin  to  sell  mine  until 

1  St.  Simon's  and  St.  Jude's  Day  is  October  28. 

2  The  correct  name  is  Dalpat  Rao,  Rajah  of  Datiya  in  Bundelkhand  (see 
Part  III.,  f.  198,  under  year  1690).  He  was  not  the  son  of  Champat,  but  of 
Subhkaran.  Bundelah. 


BIJAPUR  CONQUERED,  1686  299 

experience  had  taught  me  that  the  purchasers  would  not  be 
cheated.  My  residence  in  Madras  will  offer  no  prejudice  to 
the  continuation  of  my  History,  for,  besides  the  spies  I  em- 
ployed, the  nobles  were  pleased  to  forward  me  news  of  what 
took  place  in  the  camp. 

Capture  of  Bijapur  and  Imprisonment  of  the  King. 

It  is  now  time  for  us  to  begin  talking  of  the  war  with 
Bijapur.  Aurangzeb,  finding  that  he  could  not  come  easily  to 
a  settlement  with  Bijapur,  made  for  that  reason  a  peace  with 
Gulkandah.  He  then  went  with  his  whole  army  to  the  con- 
quest of  a  kingdom  which  he  had  already  pillaged,  taking  from 
it  little  by  little,  as  I  have  said  (II.  174),  strong  places, 
revenues,  and  materiel  of  war.  Thus  Secander  (Sikandar),  a 
youth  of  fifteen,1  the  last  King  of  Bijapur,  was  forced  to  seek 
shelter  in  the  fortress  there  with  not  more  than  twelve  thousand 
soldiers.  Aurangzeb  appeared  before  it  with  his  whole  army 
[237],  and,  encircling  the  city,  forced  it  to  surrender  when  all 
provisions  had  been  exhausted. 

It  was  his  misfortune  that  Xaabudican  (Shahab-ud-din  Khan),2 
Aurangzeb' s  general,  of  whom  I  shall  have  to  speak  again 
(II.  239,  240),  seized  the  supplies  of  coin  and  provisions  which 
were  on  their  way  from  Shah  'Alam's  trenches  to  the  fortress. 
For  this  prince  was  not  pleased  at  the  King  of  Bijapur  losing 
his  liberty  and  his  kingdom.  But  when  Aurangzeb  heard  of 
this  attempt  he  drew  his  lines  still  closer,  and  thus  Sikandar  in 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-six  delivered  himself  up 
to  Aurangzeb,  who  kept  him  captive  in  his  camp.  This  con- 
cession was  made  because  he  was  still  only  a  boy,  and  of  the 
same  religion  as  himself. 

With  this  event  came  to  an  end  the  Kings  of  Bijapur,  but  it 

1  Compare  Fryer,  'Account  of  India,'  edition  of  1873,  p.  406,  where  he  says 
Sikandar  was  scarce  ten  (in  1675). 

2  This  must  be  Mir  Shahab-ud-din  (1649-1710),  whose  first  title  was  Shahab- 
ud-din  Khan.  Afterwards,  on  the  15th  Muharram,  1095  H.  (January  2,  1684), 
he  was  made  Ghazi-ud-din  Khan.  He  was  the  father  of  Nizam-ul-Mulk,  Asaf 
Jah,  of  Ilaidarabad  (died  1748).  The  incident  as  to  the  seizure  of  supplies  sent 
to  Bijapur  by  Shah  'Alam  is  historical  (see  Yahya  Khan's  '  Tazkirat-ul-Muluk  '). 


300    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

must  be  noted  that  Sikandar  was  not  of  the  ancient  royal 
family,1  for  his  father  was  no  son  of  the  king,  only  a  servant  of 
the  queen's.  When  she  became  a  widow,  the  king  having  left 
no  sons  she  made  this  servant  of  hers  king,  so  that  she  might 
have  liberty  to  move  about  as  she  pleased.  Four  times  did  her 
devotion  take  her  to  Mecca,  and  here  happened  what  may  not 
secure  the  belief  of  readers,  but  it  is  very  certain  that  it 
occurred  as  I  state  it. 

When  she  arrived  the  first  time  at  Mecca  and  requested  to 
be  admitted,  they  refused  permission  as  she  was  a  widow  ;  for 
no  one  may  enter  who  is  not  married.2  In  order  that  those 
not  married  may  marry,  there  stand  at  the  gates  old  men  and 
old  women,  boys  and  girls,  ready  to  marry  the  unmarried. 
But  the  queen  declined  to  marry  in  this  way,  there  being  no 
one  there  of  her  rank.  After  a  good  deal  of  talk  to  the  holy 
men,  they  invented  a  remedy  by  making  a  ridiculous  marriage, 
taking  a  nice  little  sum  as  bribe  for  doing  it.  They  married 
her  (who  will  believe  it  ?)  to  a  cock,  which  she  carried  in  her 
arms  to  the  tomb  of  Muhammad.  In  this  way  she  was  able  to 
pay  her  devotions,  leaving  the  judicious  to  laugh  at  and  wonder 
over  the  foolishness  and  madness  of  those  holy  men.  They 
displayed  this  subtlety  and  power  of  refining  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  their  books  simply  on  hearing  the  rattling  of  patacas  and 
rupees.  For  it  being  stated  in  their  books  of  ceremonial  that 
no  one  can  enter  the  sepulchre  of  Muhammad  without  being 

1  Bijapur  was  taken  on  the  30th  Zu,l  Qa'dah  of  the  thirtieth  year  (October  18, 
1686)  (' Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  279).  '  Said-i-Sikandar  girift '  is  a  chronogram 
for  it.  Sikandar  'Adil  Shah,  son  of  'Ali  'Adil  Shah,  son  of  Sultan  Muhammad 
'Adil  Shah,  the  ninth  and  last  Sovereign  of  Bijapur,  after  a  lapse  of  fifteen  (lunar) 
years  from  his  deposition,  died  in  Aurangzeb's  camp  in  11 12  H.  (June  17,  1700,  to 
June  7,  1701)  ('  Tarikh-i- Muhammad!  '). 

a  As  to  any  such  law  or  rule,  there  is  no  evidence.  Through  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  G.  P.  Devey,  H.B.M.'s  Consul  at  Jeddah,  I  have  been  favoured  with  a 
valuable  note  by  the  Vice-Consul,  Dr.  S.  M.  Ilusain.  The  story  must  have  been 
invented  out  of  two  facts  :  (1)  That  a  woman  on  pilgrimage  must  have  a  mahram, 
or  guardian,  a  father,  brother,  husband,  son,  or  some  relation  within  the 
prohibited  degrees;  (2)  that  the  habit  of  divorce  is  much  more  frequent  at 
Mecca  than  elsewhere  in  Islam.  The  first  point  is  borne  out  by  Hadji  Khan, 
M.R.A.S.,  'With  the  Pilgrims  to  Mecca,'  1905,  pp.  32,  94,  and  the  second  can 
be  gathered  from  Dr.  C.  Snouck  Hurgronje's  '  Bilder  aus  Mekka, '  4to. ,  Leiden, 
1880. 


AURANGZEB  ADVANCES  AGAINST  GULKANDAH        301 

married,  they  got  hold  of  this  grand  and  famous  device  of  a 
marriage  with  a  cock !  [Here  a  coarse,  abusive  sentence  is 
omitted.] 

The  campaigns  against  Bljapur  began  from  one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  seventy,  and  [238]  lasted  until  this  year 
(?  1686).  At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  when  the  men  of 
Bljapur  caught  any  unhappy  persons  belonging  to  the  Moguls 
who  had  gone  out  to  cut  grass  or  collect  straw  or  do  some  other 
service,  they  did  not  kill  them  but  cut  off  their  noses.  Thus 
they  came  back  into  the  camp  all  bleeding.  The  surgeons 
belonging  to  the  country  cut  the  skin  of  the  forehead  above 
the  eyebrows,  and  made  it  fall  down  over  the  wounds  on  the 
nose.  Then,  giving  it  a  twist  so  that  the  live  flesh  might  meet 
the  other  live  surface,  by  healing  applications  they  fashioned 
for  them  other  imperfect  noses.  There  is  left  above,  between 
the  eyebrows,  a  small  hole,  caused  by  the  twist  given  to  the 
skin  to  bring  the  two  live  surfaces  together.  In  a  short  time 
the  wounds  heal  up,  some  obstacle  being  placed  beneath  to 
allow  of  respiration.  I  saw  many  persons  with  such  noses,  and 
they  were  not  so  disfigured  as  they  would  have  been  without 
any  nose  at  all,  but  they  bore  between  their  eyebrows  the  mark 
of  the  incision. 


The  March  against  Gulkandah  ;   the   Imprisonment  of 
Shah  'Alam  and  his  Family. 

Aurangzeb  was  pleased  at  having  overcome  the  kingdom  of 
Bljapur,  partly  by  arms,  partly  by  deceit.  It  was  a  realm  in 
which  the  ancient  kings  kept  up  ordinarily  fifty  thousand  horse- 
men. Already  he  (Aurangzeb)  found  his  projects  half  executed, 
and  imagined  he  could  now  move  forward  without  obstacle  to 
the  destruction  of  Sambha  Jl ;  for  all  that  remained  was  to 
capture  Gulkandah  and  seize  the  king. 

This  he  purposed,  although  very  little  time  had  elapsed  since, 
in  pursuance  of  his  orders,  Shah  'Alam  had  made  peace  with 
that  king.  Little  did  he  care  about  that,  it  being  his  maxim  to 
keep  neither  his  own  nor  another's  word,  so  long  as  he  succeeded 
in  his  desires.     For  this  reason,  even  when  Bljapur  was  taken, 


302     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

he  did  not  go  into  quarters ;  on  the  contrary,  he  set  his  army 
in  motion  against  Gulkandah. 

The  prince  Shah  'Alam  was  much  hurt  that  his  father,  for 
no  reason  at  all,  should  break  the  treaty  of  peace  which  by  his 
order  had  been  concluded  with  Gulkandah,  and  in  the  end  he 
complained  to  his  father.  He  said  the  world  would  wonder 
that  so  great  a  king  should  pay  no  heed  to  the  promises  made 
by  his  son  and  heir.  He  therefore  entreated  him  to  abandon 
this  intention  of  his,  for  the  King  of  Gulkandah  [239]  was 
quite  helpless,  and  could  not  impede  His  Majesty's  projects 
against  Sambha  JT. 

Aurangzeb  had  resented  greatly  this  prince's  want  of  effort 
when  trying  to  take  Goa,  which  he  might  easily  have  achieved, 
and  was  also  turned  against  him  by  his  having  sent  off  supplies 
to  the  King  of  Bijapur,  as  I  have  stated  (II.  237).  He  also 
feared  that  the  prince,  to  revenge  himself  on  his  father  for 
breaking  without  cause  the  peace  with  Gulkandah,  might 
send  some  succour  in  secret  to  that  king.  Aurangzeb  therefore 
determined  to  make  Shah  'Alam  a  prisoner. 

Some  scent  of  this  resolve  of  Aurangzeb  was  perceptible,  and 
Shah  'Alam's  eldest  son,  called  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din,  wanted 
to  end  the  business  by  killing  his  grandfather.  But  though  he 
was  a  resolute  young  man,  he  would  not  do  it  without  com- 
municating with  his  father.  He  quoted  to  him  as  a  precedent 
how  his  grandfather  had  not  spared  his  brothers  nor  his  father, 
nor  Sultan  Muhammad  (his  son).  Equally  they  ought  not  to 
spare  him,  for  he  had  fallen  short  in  his  behaviour  to  the  King 
of  Gulkandah.  But  Shah  'Alam,  a  benign  and  tender-hearted 
prince,  forbade  any  such  attempt,  saying  that  he  had  no  wish 
to  leave  such  a  bad  example  to  posterity. 

Aurangzeb,  the  cunning  fox,  concealed  his  intentions  by 
causing  the  preparation  of  several  caparisoned  elephants,  and 
many  gifts,  robes  of  honour,  arms,  and  horses,  and  he  let  it  be 
spread  abroad  that  he  was  going  back  to  Hindustan.  He 
would  leave  his  son,  Shah  'Alam,  as  lord  of  the  Dakhin,  and 
he  might  then  deal  with  the  King  of  Gulkandah  as  he  thought 
fit.  All  this  he  did  in  order  not  to  displease  his  son,  who  was 
in  low  spirits.     He  also  professed  to  be  broken,  as  it  were,  by 


SHAH  'A LAM  IMPRISONED,  1687  303 

the  marches  and  fatigues  of  so  many  campaigns,  and  meant  at 
last  to  take  repose,  and  leave  what  had  yet  to  be  done  to  his  sons. 

Shah  'Alam  was  informed  of  his  father's  talk,  and  in  a  few 
days  the  camp  was  full  of  such  rumours ;  thus  the  prince 
remained  satisfied,  not  knowing  that  he  was  on  the  edge  of 
the  abyss.  For  these  purposes  the  army  halted  some  days. 
One  day  Aurangzeb  gave  a  secret  order  to  Shahab-ud-dln 
Khan  and  Asad  Khan,  the  chief  ministers,  to  remain  in  the 
council-chamber.  When  Shah  'Alam  arrived,  they  were  to 
disarm  him.  After  this  he  sent  at  once  for  the  prince,  every- 
body imagining  he  was  called  inside  to  receive  robes  of  honour 
and  promotion. 

Therefore  the  prince  came  joyfully,  hoping  to  see  carried  out 
his  wish  [240]  of  preserving  peace  with  Gulkandah,  while  he 
would  become  lord  of  the  Dakhin.  He  entered  the  royal  tent, 
but  on  seeing  him,  Aurangzeb  prevented  his  approach  by  say- 
ing at  once  with  simulated  joy :  '  Shah  'Alam,  Bahadur ! 
Retire  into  the  privy  chamber  and  take  council  with  my 
ministers  as  to  what  has  to  be  done  ;  they  await  you.'  Hardly 
had  the  prince  reached  the  designated  room,  when  Shahab-ud- 
din  Khan  and  Asad  Khan,  accompanied  by  the  other  ministers, 
told  him  it  was  the  order  of  the  Badshah  (that  is,  'emperor'), 
Aurangzeb  the  Great,  that  he  deliver  up  his  arms.  He  knew 
well  it  was  useless  to  resist ;  undoing  his  sword  and  pulling  his 
kattarl  (dagger)  from  his  waist,  he  let  the  whole  fall  to  the  ground. 

While  Shah  'Alam  went  into  the  inner  room,  Aurangzeb  sent 
for  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dln,  eldest  son  of  Shah  'Alam,  as  I  said 
above,  and  he,  believing  it  to  be  a  fortunate  day,  appointed  for 
the  distribution  of  robes  of  honour,  came  with  great  delight, 
but  hardly  had  he  entered  the  presence  of  that  schemer  than 
he  was  treated  the  same  as  his  father.  Before  he  could  get 
close  Aurangzeb  said  to  his  grandson,  with  haste,  as  if  relying 
on  his  judgment:  'Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dln !  Go  into  that 
adjoining  chamber,  where  your  father  and  the  ministers  are 
waiting  for  you  to  hold  a  council  and  decide  what  ought  to  be 
done.' 

The  prince  went  in  with  great  vivacity,  being  then  arrived  at 
twenty  years  of  age.     When  he  had  entered,  the  ministers  said 


3<H    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

to  him  what  they  had  said  to  Shah  'Alam.  But  he  was  of 
another  temper,  and  would  not  yield  readily ;  grasping  his 
sword,  he  turned  his  eyes  towards  his  father,  waiting  for  such 
orders  as  he  might  give.  But  the  prudent  Shah  'Alam  told 
him  that  it  was  no  longer  a  time  to  hope  :  let  him  unbuckle  his 
sword  and  deliver  up  his  arms,  for  it  was  necessary  to  obey. 
Then  Mu'izz-ud-din,  lowering  his  eyes,  full  of  tears  of  rage, 
allowed  his  sword  and  dagger  to  fall  to  the  ground. 

When  this  had  been  carried  out,  Aurangzeb  sent  a  messenger 
for  Sultan  'Azimudin  ('Azim-ud-din),  and  dealt  with  him  in  the 
same  manner ;  so  also  with  Sultan  Daulat-Afza.  Orders  were 
issued  to  place  the  father  and  the  sons  in  different  prisons 
under  strict  watch  and  ward,  so  that  they  could  send  no 
messages,  nor  for  seven  years  were  they  left  with  more  than  a 
small  knife.1 

During  this  period  of  imprisonment  Daulat  Afza  died.2 
There  remained  the  little  princes,  named  Rafia  Elcader  (Rafl'- 
ul-qadr)  and  Coja  Sactar  (Khujistah-Akhtar),  and  these  were 
placed  in  a  separate  prison  together,  so  that  they  might  play 
with  each  other.  Afterwards  the  order  was  given  that  the 
women  of  Shah  'Alam,  of  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dln,  and  of  all  the 
family  should  be  removed  to  the  fortress  of  Agrah,  to  the  house 
of  the  widows.3  The  treasure  and  the  rest  of  the  wealth  [241] 
in  the  prince's  house  were  appropriated,  including  a  large  sum 
in  pagodas*  coinage  of  the  kings  of  Gulkandah  and  Bijapur. 

1  Khafi  Khan,  ii.  332,  assigns  these  arrests  to  the  17th  Rabi*  II.  of  the 
twenty-ninth  year,  1097  H.  (March  13,  1686,  N.S.).  But,  according  to  the 
4  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  where  the  chronology  is  more  reliable,  it  must  be  put  in 
the  thirtieth  year.  On  p.  293  a  friend  of  Shah  'Alam  is  expelled  from  camp 
on  the  18th  Shawwal  of  the  thirtieth  year,  1097  H.  Then,  on  p.  294,  follows 
Shah  'Alam's  arrest,  and  on  p.  295  the  thirty-first  year  (1st  Ramazan,  1098  H.) 
begins.  Thus  the  arrests,  if  made  on  the  17th  Rabi'  II.,  fell  in  the  year  1098  H. 
(thirtieth  year),  and  not  in  1097  H.  (twenty-ninth  year) — that  is,  they  took  place 
on  March  2,  1687,  N.S. 

2  Daulat  Afza  died  on  the  last  day  of  Safar,  1100  H.  (December  24,  1688,  N.S.), 
aged  nineteen  lunar  years,  seven  months,  and  some  days  ('  Tarlkh-i-MuhammadI,' 
and  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  314). 

3  The  Suhag-khanah,  one  of  the  imperial  Karkhdnahs,  or  establishments. 

4  Pagoda,  a  coin  long  current  in  Southern  India,  generally  of  gold.  In  1818  it 
was  reckoned  as  worth  three  and  a  half  rupees  (Yule,  653). 


FALL  OF  GULKANDAH  KINGDOM  305 

Shah  'Alam  decided  to  play  a  game  of  finesse,  and  shortly 
after  his  imprisonment  he  said  to  his  guards  that  he  was 
willing  to  show  his  obedience  to  his  father,  and  that  he  took 
no  offence  at  what  had  been  done.  They  went  off  to  inform 
Aurangzeb  of  his  son's  words.  The  king  smiled  and  sent  him 
food,  which  Shah  'Alam  ate  as  if  such  an  affront  as  imprisonment 
did  not  matter  to  him.  But  afterwards  food  was  so  sparingly 
supplied  that  it  was  grievous  to  see  princes  of  such  high  lineage 
treated  in  such  a  manner.  When  they  marched  with  the  camp, 
they  appeared  like  shadows,  devoid  of  all  ornament  and  without 
spirit,  shut  up  in  litters  put  on  elephants,  and  without  retinue, 
just  like  ordinary  prisoners. 

Of  them  all  he  who  felt  the  imprisonment  most  was  Sultan 
Mu'izz-ud-dln.  His  room  being  close  to  the  royal  audience- 
hall,  he  used,  on  the  days  when  Aurangzeb  was  distributing 
justice,  to  shout  his  complaints  as  a  demonstration  against  the 
injustice  of  his  grandfather,  who  conformed  neither  to  the 
rights  of  humanity  nor  followed  the  Quran.  So  troublesome 
was  he,  that  Aurangzeb  was  obliged  to  send  him  to  another 
room  farther  away  from  the  audience-hall. 

Capture  of  Gulkandah. 

When  the  King  of  Gulkandah  heard  the  above  news,  he 
recognised  at  once  that  his  affairs  were  in  a  bad  way.  He 
attempted  through  his  envoys  to  placate  Aurangzeb,  and 
requested  him  not  to  make  war,  for  he  was  ready  to  obey  orders 
and  look  on  himself  as  in  the  position  of  any  other  governor,  and 
would  hold  Gulkandah  in  that  way  only.  Aurangzeb  sent  him 
a  message  that  he  might  take  his  ease ;  his  territory  would  be 
spared.  Aurangzeb  only  meant  to  march  to  Calbargue  (Kul- 
bargah),1  a  burial-place  of  saints,  to  offer  up  prayers  and  implore 
their  protection. 

The  King  of  Gulkandah  assumed  that  Aurangzeb  was  telling 
the  truth,  and  sent  him  five  lakhs  of  rupees  to  be  distributed  to 

1  In  the  Nizam's  territory,  lat.  170  19',  long.  760  51'  (Bilgrami  and  Willmott, 
ii.  631).  The  shrines  are  those  of  Banda  Nawaz  or  GIsu-daraz  (died  1422), 
Rukn-ud-din,  and  Siraj-ud-din. 

VOL.  II.  20 


3o6    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

the  poor  present  at  the  said  shrines.  Aurangzeb  took  the 
money,  and  instead  of  moving  in  the  direction  of  the  shrines, 
came  straight  at  Gulkandah.  The  king  might  have  come 
forth  with  the  thirty  thousand  horsemen  he  had,  and  taking 
the  field,  could  have  blocked  the  roads  and  contended  for 
victory.  But  such  was  his  fear  and  dread  that  he  retired  [242] 
into  the  fortress  with  such  soldiers  as  chose  to  follow  him. 

Aurangzeb  was  informed  of  this  retreat,  and  at  once  felt 
happy  in  having  got  the  rat  in  a  trap.  He  ordered  Shahab- 
ud-dln  Khan  to  march  with  all  haste  before  the  king  could 
adopt  any  other  plan  ;  and  after  him  was  sent  A'zam  Tara1  to 
invest  the  fortress,  Aurangzeb  advancing  behind  that  prince 
more  leisurely  himself.  On  reaching  the  spot,  the  Mogul  forces 
seized  the  city,  and  appointed  officials  on  Aurangzeb's  behalf. 
That  king,  when  he  arrived,  wanted  to  draw  up  near  the 
fortress.  But  the  Christians  in  the  Gulkandah  service  fired 
on  him  from  a  culverine,  which  had  once  on  a  time  been  at 
San  Thome.  Their  shot  fell  so  near  his  horse  that  he  deter- 
mined not  to  run  such  great  risk,  and  moved  farther  off. 

The  Moguls  pressed  the  fortress  hard.  But  those  inside  it 
defended  themselves  so  valorously  that  the  besiegers  were 
forced  to  lay  mines  and  blow  up  two  of  the  bastions.  Several 
assaults  were  delivered,  but  Abdul  Razac  ('Abd  -  ur  -  razzaq) 
defended  the  place  so  valiantly  that  they  could  never  effect  an 
entrance.  At  length  by  promises  and  gratuities  they  brought 
over  some  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  and  finally  the  garrison 
was  reduced  to  a  few  men.  Thus  the  besiegers  found  their  way 
in  and  destroyed  the  small  force  left  with  'Abd-ur-razzaq,  who 
fell  after  receiving  eighteen  wounds.  His  soldiers  fled,  some 
hither,  some  thither ;  while  Shahab-ud-dln  went  on  to  the 
palace  and  brought  forth  the  dishonoured  king  by  force,  the 
palace  resounding  with  the  shrieks  of  the  women.2 

It  was  sad  to  see  this  king  carried  off  upon  an  elephant 
openly.     He  was  removed  to  the  tent  of  Prince  A'zam  Tara, 

1  A'zam  Tara,  the  title  of  A'zam  Shah,  Aurangzeb's  second  surviving  son  ;  also 
known  as  A'la  J  ah. 

a  Gulkandah  was  taken  on  the  24th  Zu,l  Qa'dah,  1098  H.  (October  I,  1687, 
N.S.)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  299). 


GULKANDAH  KING  A  PRISONER  307 

where  he  was  kept  waiting  for  more  than  an  hour  in  the  sun 
until  the  prince  awoke.  As  the  heat  was  very  great,  he  asked 
a  man  who  was  distributing  water,  as  is  the  custom  among  the 
Mahomedans,  for  charity's  sake  to  favour  him  with  a  vessel  of 
water  to  drink.  The  kind-hearted  man  was  about  to  comply, 
when  the  armed  men  round  the  elephant  interposed,  saying 
that  prisoners  were  not  allowed  to  drink  without  the  leave  of 
their  captors.  But  at  the  entreaty  of  others  they  permitted 
him  in  the  end  to  drink.  I  know  not  if  there  could  be  greater 
misery  for  a  king  than  to  be  unable  even  to  drink  water  when 
absolutely  necessary. 

The  prince  awoke,  and  a  report  was  made  to  him  of  the 
prisoner's  arrival.  He  ordered  him  to  be  brought  before  him, 
and  there,  after  the  necessary  obeisances,  he  fell  at  the  prince's 
feet.  But  A'zam  Tara  raised  him  and  made  him  sit  opposite 
him.  Everybody  else  was  made  to  retire  and  they  held  a 
conversation  together.  On  this  occasion  the  King  of  Gulkandah 
made  a  present  to  A'zam  Tara  of  a  bag  of  diamonds  [243], 
among  which,  as  was  presumed,  there  was  a  diamond  weighing 
two  patacas,  and  as  broad  as  one ;  thus  it  by  itself  was  a  very 
great  treasure.  On  finishing  the  conversation,  both  rose,  and 
A'zam  Tara,  seating  the  captive  at  his  side  on  his  elephant, 
carried  him  off  to  the  king's  court.  There  A'zam  Tara  dis- 
mounted, leaving  the  prisoner  on  the  elephant  without  any 
shade,  until  Aurangzeb  ordered  him  to  be  removed  to  a  prison 
separate  from  that  of  the  King  of  Bljapur. 

Here  even  the  affronts  put  upon  the  wretched  King  of 
Gulkandah  did  not  finish ;  for  that  kingdom  being  very  rich  by 
reason  of  its  diamond  mines,  Aurangzeb  sent  to  ask  where  his 
treasures  were.  The  prisoner  replied  that  there  were  now  no 
treasures  in  Gulkandah,  for  he  had  dissipated  them.  Aurang- 
zeb was  not  satisfied  with  this  answer,  and  once  more  sent  to 
ask  how  he  had  spent  them.  He  might  have  sent  back  to  say 
that  little  by  little  His  Majesty  had  removed  them.  But  looking 
on  himself  not  as  a  captive,  but  as  a  king  only,  he  answered  that 
he  had  expended  them  as  a  sovereign,  and  had  no  account  to 
render  to  anyone  of  what  he  did  when  king. 

This  answer  was  brought  to  Aurangzeb,  who  in  his  pride 

20 — 2 


308    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

expected  all  the  world  to  bow  the  head  before  him  and  speak 
as  captives,  and  he  used  this  opening  to  further  molest  a  king, 
who,  entirely  through  negligence  and  devotion  to  women  and 
musicians,  had  lost  a  kingdom.  He  ordered  the  same  question 
to  be  put  once  more,  and,  should  the  same  answer  be  returned, 
the  king  was  to  be  beaten.  Thus  it  came  to  pass.  For  on 
hearing  the  old  question  put  on  behalf  of  Aurangzeb,  he  replied 
that  he  had  spent  the  treasures  as  the  absolute  master  which  he 
then  was  ;  nor  was  he  under  obligation  to  account  to  anyone 
for  the  manner,  the  cause,  the  object,  or  the  time  of  his 
expending  them. 

Hardly  were  the  words  out  of  his  mouth  when  the  officials 
beat  him  unmercifully,  and  told  him  it  was  great  temerity  on 
the  part  of  a  prisoner  to  reply  with  such  haughtiness  to  such 
a  great  conqueror  as  Aurangzeb,  at  whose  name  he  ought  to 
tremble  and  bow  his  head.  On  the  order,  accompanied  by 
the  above  message,  having  been  complied  with,  Aurangzeb 
directed  his  removal  to  the  fortress  of  Daulatabad.  It  is  a 
close  prison  on  a  great  eminence.1 

Thus  ended  the  Kings  of  Gulkandah  in  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  in  the  month  of  February ;  and 
to  show  more  strongly  how  little  he  esteemed  that  family, 
Aurangzeb  married  two  of  this  king's  daughters  to  two  of  his 
officials  [244]. 

The  victorious  Aurangzeb,  puffed  up  at  the  conquest  of  two 
kingdoms,  was  pleased  to  leave  in  Bijapur  and  Gulkandah  two 
governors.  He  now  ordered  a  march  against  Sambha  Ji,  sup- 
posing it  would  be  easy  to  destroy  this  prince,  whose  country 
was  now  surrounded  by  provinces  and  kingdoms  belonging  to 
the  Mogul. 

The  march  began,  he  taking  with  him  the  imprisoned  princes, 
and  in  the  rear  of  everybody  came  the  King  of  Bijapur.  On  the 
way  he  sent  Muhammad  Ibrahim  as  viceroy  to  Lahor,2  as  a 

1  On  Aurangzeb's  arrival  at  Bijapur,  14th  Rabi'  I.,  thirty-first  year,  1099  H. 
(February  18,  1688),  Ab.ul  Hasan  was  sent  to  Daulatabad  ('  Ma.asir-i'Alamgiri,' 

309)- 

2  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  entitled  Mahabat  Khan,  one  of  the  greatest  'Alamgiri 
nobles,  died  in  1100  H.  (1688-89),  while  Subahdar  of  Lahor.  He  was  formerly  at 
Haidarabad  as  generalissimo  of  Abu.l  Hasan,  and  there  held  the  title  of  Khalilullah 


AURANGZEB  PRESSED  BY  THE  MAHRATTAHS         309 

demonstration  of  his  having  approved  his  treason.  But  as  experi- 
ence teaches,  princes  delight  in  getting  men  to  act  treasonably 
to  their  profit,  but  have  no  joy  afterwards  in  keeping  the  traitors 
about  their  own  person.  Furthermore,  Aurangzeb  was  accus- 
tomed to  pay  any  traitors  who  helped  him  in  his  enterprises  by 
shortening  their  life.  Thus  he  did  not  spare  Muhammad 
Ibrahim,  who,  before  he  arrived  at  Lahor,  ended  his  life  with 
the  pangs  of  poison.  In  the  same  way  he  rewarded  the  other 
officers,  to  whom  he  had  promised  various  offices.  Some  he 
made  away  with,  others  he  dispersed  in  different  places ;  the 
soldiers  of  Bijapur  and  Gulkandah  were  also  disbanded.  God 
made  use  of  this  very  expedient  of  Aurangzeb's  to  counteract 
his  projects.  In  disbanding  the  soldiers  of  those  other  king- 
doms, he  imagined  he  was  making  his  future  enterprises  a 
certainty.  But  Sambha  JI  was  thereby  only  rendered  the  more 
powerful ;  for  although  he  had  no  sufficient  resources  to 
entertain  so  many  men,  he  welcomed  all  who  resorted  to  him, 
and  in  place  of  pay  allowed  them  to  plunder  wherever  they 
pleased. 

In  this  way,  before  Aurangzeb  could  inflict  any  harm,  he 
himself  was  much  injured,  these  soldiers  stopping  the  supplies 
for  the  royal  camp,  seizing  camels,  horses,  and  mules,  killing 
everybody  they  came  across,  and  sparing  only  those  horses 
which  could  be  of  use  to  them  in  war.  If  by  chance  they 
captured  any  grandee,  they  kept  him  till  they  could  extract 
from  him  a  handsome  ransom,  and  then  they  liberated  him. 
So  abundant  were  the  goods  they  seized  that  they  set  up 
markets,  where  the  owners  came  to  redeem  their  property. 
Thus  these  plunderers  acquired  pay  enough,  and  were  able  to 
continue  the  campaign. 

In  spite  of  all  his  huge  army,  Aurangzeb  found  that  he  could 
not  by  force  of  arms  accomplish  his  purpose  ;  for  Sambha  JI 
continuously  evaded  giving  battle  in  the  field,  and  was  satisfied 
with  plundering  everywhere,  never  remaining  many  days  in  the 

Khan  (' Tarikh-i-Muhammadi '  ;  see  also  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  627).  His 
nickname  was  qimar-baz,  the  gambler.     His  seal  bore  the  lines  : 

'  Zi  iltafat-i-padshah  wa  pandit-i-roshan-rawan 
Gasht  Ibrahim-i-sar-i-lashkar  Khalllullah  Khan.' 


310    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

same  place.  Relying  on  the  activity  of  his  horses,  already 
trained  to  go  long  distances  and  eat  little,  he  wore  out 
[245]  and  incommoded  the  Mogul  commanders  and  soldiers. 
Aurangzeb  became  aware  that  he  would  never  succeed  in  this 
campaign,  except  by  his  usual  intrigues.  He  therefore  set  to 
work,  and  wrote  letters  to  Cabcales  (Kab  Kalish),  the  chief 
minister  of  Sambha  Jl,  and  by  large  bribes  and  presents  so  far 
succeeded,  that  this  minister  undertook  to  make  over  Sambha  Jl 
to  him  alive. 

Capture  of  Sambha  Ji. 

It  has  been  said  that  custom  becomes  nature ;  and  a  man 
accustomed  to  any  vice  cannot,  even  when  he  would,  free  him- 
self from  the  tendency  that  by  repeated  acts  he  has  contracted. 
Thus  was  it  with  Sambha  Jl.  Habituated  to  interfering  with 
other  men's  wives,  now  when  it  had  become  necessary  to  act 
the  hero,  he  could  not  rid  himself  of  his  perverse  inclinations. 
This  was  the  cause  of  his  losing  liberty  and  life.  Kab  Kalish 
availed  himself  of  this  evil  propensity  to  deliver  him  into  the 
hands  of  Aurangzeb. 

He  told  Sambha  Jl  that  two  leagues  away  there  was  a  village 
where  abode  a  lovely  married  woman.  This  was  enough. 
Sambha  Jl  resolved  to  halt  at  this  place,  in  order  to  secure  his 
impure  desires.  As  soon  as  Kab  Kalish  knew  his  master's 
resolve,  he  warned  Aurangzeb  to  send  at  once  five  thousand 
horsemen,  and  without  fail  Sambha  JT  would  fall  into  his  power. 
The  eager  king  did  not  fail  to  send  the  soldiers,  who  awaited 
in  ambush  the  coming  of  Sambha  Jl.  The  latter  quitted  his 
soldiers,  and  followed  by  a  few  men,  came  to  meet  his  doom. 
Before  he  had  reached  the  village  in  question,  he  found  himself 
encircled  by  his  enemies,  who  took  him  and  carried  him  away 
to  the  camp  of  Aurangzeb.1 

Let  the  reader  hear  how  this  king  rewarded  those  who  had 
worked  in  his  favour.  The  first  to  pay  for  the  capture  of 
Sambha  Jl  was  the  selfsame  Kab  Kalish,  who  by  a  horrible 

1  Orme,  'Historical  Fragments,'  1805,  pp.  162,  163,  confirms  this  account  in 
outlines.     But  probably  he  only  copied  Catrou,  182 — that  is,  Manucci  at 
second  hand. 


EXECUTION  OF  SAMBHA  JI  311 

death  proclaimed  to  all  the  world  the  barbarity  of  the  man  who 
had  already  drunk  so  much  blood,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  rest 
of  my  history.  Aurangzeb  ordered  that  the  tongue  should  be 
pulled  out  by  the  roots  from  the  throat  of  the  traitorous  Kab 
Kalish,  so  that  he  might  be  unable  to  state  that  this  great 
treason  had  been  plotted  at  his  (Aurangzeb's)  instigation. 

What  could  Sambha  JI  hope  for  when  his  first  minister, 
against  whom  the  war  had  not  been  waged,  came  to  such  a 
miserable  end !  He  well  understood  that  death  must  be  the 
end  of  all  his  [246]  doings.  But  he  did  not  foresee  the  mockery 
he  should  have  to  suffer  before  he  died.  Aurangzeb  ordered 
him  to  be  bound  strongly  upon  a  camel,  and  on  his  head  was 
placed  a  long  cap  covered  with  little  bells  and  rattles.1  This  was 
meant  for  mockery  of  the  Hindu  princes  and  the  Brahmans,  who 
usually  wear  pointed  caps,  but  without  rattles.  The  licentious 
man  having  been  thus  bound,  Aurangzeb  directed  that  he  should 
be  paraded  through  the  camp.  The  camel  was  made  to  run,  so 
that  the  rattles  made  a  great  noise  and  aroused  everyone's 
curiosity,  and  thus  men  issued  from  their  tents  to  see  who  it 
was  coming.  In  the  course  of  the  procession  they  made  the 
camel  turn  from  time  to  time  with  such  suddenness,  that  the 
person  on  it  looked  as  if  he  must  fall  from  the  various  move- 
ments he  made,  but  the  cords  with  which  he  was  bound  pre- 
vented it  and  at  the  same  time  wearied  him  out.  Finally, 
when  the  perambulation  of  the  royal  camp  had  been  completed, 
the  tyrant  ordered  him  to  be  dragged  into  his  presence.  When 
there  he  ordered  his  side  to  be  cloven  open  with  an  axe  and 
his  heart  to   be   extracted.     The   body  was  then  flung  on  a 

1  The  account  of  the  capture  (thirty-second  year,  1100  H.),  as  given  in  the 
'  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  320,  is  as  follows:  Shekh  Nizam  (Muqarrab  Khan)  was 
sent  against  Fort  Parnalah.  He  heard  Sambha  Ji  was  going  from  Raheri  to 
Fort  Khelnah  to  attack  the  Bairagis  (a  class  oifaqirs),  with  whom  he  had  a  quarrel. 
Sambha  Ji  was  at  Sangamner.  The  Khan  advanced  from  Sholapur,  forty-five  kos 
off,  by  a  forced  march.  Sambha  Ji  was  warned,  but  merely  scoffed.  A  fight 
took  place,  when  Kab  Kalish  was  shot  with  an  arrow  and  captured.  Sambha  Ji  hid 
in  Kab  Kalish'  house  and  was  caught  there.  The  capture  was  reported  to  Aurang- 
zeb at  Akloj  (renamed  Sa'dnagar).  Orme,  *  Historical  Fragments,'  edition  1805, 
p.  164,  also  mentions  the  binding  on  a  camel,  and  the  parading  round  the  camp 
with  rattle  and  bells.  But  probably  Orme  got  it  from  Manucci  via  Catrou, 
p.  184. 


312     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

dunghill  and  abandoned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  dogs.  Thus 
did  the  licentious  Sambha  JT  pay  for  interfering  with  others.1 

It  seemed  as  if  the  death  of  Sambha  Jl  was  bound  to  secure 
Aurangzeb's  lordship  over  all  the  lands  of  Hindustan  down  to 
the  sea.  But  the  commanders  of  valorous  Shiva  Jl,  father  of 
this  unfortunate  man,  were  by  this  time  practised  in  fighting 
the  Moguls,  and  expert  in  the  way  of  dealing  with  those 
foreigners  (?  Persians  and  Central  Asians)  who  deserted  from 
his  side.  They  determined  to  continue  the  campaign  and 
uphold  the  cause  of  Ram  Raja,  younger  brother  of  the  deceased. 
Therefore  they  took  him  out  of  prison  and  made  him  their  prince. 

This  determination  caused  a  revolution  in  the  principality, 
for  the  mother2  of  Sambha  Jl,  who  had  sons  by  her  husband, 
claimed  the  government  during  the  minority  of  those  sons.  She 
asserted  that  the  crown  belonged  to  them  ;  but  the  commanders 
turned  a  deaf  ear  and  sided  with  Rama  Raja,3  or,  to  adopt  the 
usual  way  of  speaking,  of  the  newly  selected  Shiva  JT.  In  this 
way  the  princess  was  forced  to  have  recourse  to  the  Mogul,  to 
whom  she  delivered  herself  up  and  her  sons,  along  with  over 
twenty-two  forts,  in  this  way  taking  the  nerve  out  of  her 
competitors. 

It  seemed  as  if  now  the  matter  was  decided,  for  the  princess 
had  a  number  of  leading  officers  on  her  side.  Aurangzeb 
detained  the  princess  in  his  [247]  camp,  and  sent  to  take  pos- 
session in  his  own  name  of  the  ceded  forts.  He  also  ordered 
out  a  large  force  against  the  fort  of  Parnalaguer  (Parnalagarh), 
a   fortress   defending   the   frontier  of  Bijapur.4     It   is   placed 

1  Sambha  Ji :  according  to  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  pp.  320-326,  the  capture 
was  made  on  the  4th  Rabi'  I.  of  the  thirty-second  year,  1100  H.  (December  28, 

1688,  N.S.).  He  arrived  in  the  imperial  camp  on  the  10th  Jamada  (March  3, 
1689),  and  his  execution  took  place  on  the  21st  or  28th  Jamada  I.  (March  14  or  21, 

1689,  N.S.). 

a  For  '  mother,'  I  think  we  ought  to  read  •  wife.' 

3  Raja  Ram,  usually  styled  Ram  Raja,  son  of  Shiva.  JI  by  another  wife,  was 
born  about  1670,  and  died  in  March,  1700.  Sambha  JI  left  three  sons;  the 
eldest,  Sahu,  was  born  in  1684,  and  died  in  1750. 

4  Panalah,  or  Parnala,  is,  according  to  Grant-Duff,  p.  62,  '  in  the  Kolhapur 
district.'  Orme,  'Historical  Fragments,'  1805,  speaks  of  it  as  'one  of  the 
strongest  forts  in  the  Concan.'  Probably  it  is  the  same  as  the  Parnala  of 
Tieffenthaler  (Bernouilli,  i.  362,  with  a  plate),  a  fort  on  a  hill. 


THE  MAHRATTAHS  PERSIST  313 

on  an  eminence  and  is  very  strong,  and  once  before  this  time 
Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din,  when  attacking  it,  had  been  so  badly 
repulsed  by  the  bravery  of  its  garrison  that  he  was  obliged  to 
retreat  for  twenty-four  hours  without  a  halt,  through  fear  of  the 
enemy  who  were  at  his  heels. 

This  force  went  against  the  fortress,  but  Shiva  Ji  (  =  Ram 
Raja)  never  ceased  rushing  about  everywhere  with  the  officers 
who  sided  with  him,  and  everywhere  succeeded  in  his  enter- 
prises. Finally,  when  the  Mogul  army  was  scattered,  he  came 
and  occupied  the  fortress  of  Gingi  (JinjT)1  in  the  Choromandel 
Karnatik,  and  there  fixing  himself,  his  faithful  captains  did  not 
fail  to  operate  with  energy.  Then,  to  get  rid  of  a  stone  of 
stumbling  and  give  an  opening  for  those  who  had  deserted  the 
princess  (Sambha  Jfs  widow)  to  take  up  the  cause  of  Shiva 
Ji  (i.e.,  Ram  Raja),  they  played  off  an  imposture  on  the 
impostor,  and  paid  out  the  old  fox  with  cunning  equal  to 
his  own. 

The  affair  happened  in  this  way.  The  officers  at  the  fortress 
of  Parnalagarh  saw  that  Aurangzeb's  force,  though  it  had  no 
intention  of  raising  the  investment,  yet  could  not  take  the 
fortress,  which  was  too  well  provisioned.  Accordingly  they 
sent  envoys  to  inform  Aurangzeb  of  their  willingness  to  surrender 
the  fortress,  finding  he  was  so  tenacious  about  acquiring  it. 
But  they  desired  to  deliver  it  into  the  hands  of  the  princess 
and  her  sons,  if  she  would  come  in  person  to  take  possession. 
The  victor  imagined  they  were  speaking  the  truth,  and  sent 
Sambha  Jfs  family  to  the  said  fortress  along  with  the 
princess  [except  the  eldest  son,  whom  he  detained  as  a 
prisoner].2 

Upon  their  arrival  there  was  a  great  festival  and  much 
rejoicing.  But  before  giving  up  the  fortress  they  asked  that, 
according  to  custom,  they  might  issue  invitations  for  some 
days'  festivity.  This  being  a  very  reasonable  request,  the 
officers  of  Aurangzeb  made  no  difficulties  in  conceding  it.  The 
entertainments  began  with  a  great  banquet,  Shiva  Jl's  officers 
going  out  and  in.    On  the  third  day  they  mixed  so  much  poison 

1  Grant-Duff,  163,  164.     Raja,  Ram  escaped  to  Jinji  in  1690. 

3  The  words  in  brackets  have  been  added  in  French  in  the  margin. 


314     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

with  the  food  that  before  the  fourth  day  dawned  the  princess, 
her  sons,  and  many  of  Aurangzeb's  officers  were  dead.1 

Next  morning  the  officers  and  soldiers  issued  from  the  fortress 
and  fell  upon  the  enemy's  force  with  such  valour  and  vigour  that 
their  army  was  routed,  being  deprived  of  its  officers  (as  it  was) 
and  quite  unsuspicious.  The  tents  and  treasure  were  appro- 
priated. Aurangzeb  was  much  concerned  at  this  trick,  but  to 
repent  himself  of  having  believed  them  was  now  too  late ;  and 
this  deed  [248]  was  a  reason  for  many  of  the  officers  in  the 
princess's  faction  declaring  themselves  once  more  enemies  of 
the  Mogul.  They  joined  Shiva  Jl  (Ram  Raja),  and  thus  in 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-nine  the  war  recommenced 
with  greater  fury.  It  was  not  enough  for  Aurangzeb  to  have 
made  himself  master  of  Bljapur  and  of  Gulkandah ;  he  must 
needs  oppress  a  little  prince,  who  yet  was  strong  enough  to 
compel  so  potent  a  king  to  remain  away  from  his  kingdom  (i.e., 
Hindustan)  and  dwell  in  camp  merely  to  prevent  the  loss  of  his 
previous  conquests. 

Aurangzeb  removes  the  Eyes  of  Shahab-ud-din  Khan. 

This  was  the  time  at  which  Aurangzeb,  seeing  Sambha  Jl 
was  dead  and  the  princes  delivered  into  his  hands,  imagined 
he  no  longer  needed  his  generals.  Therefore  he  sent  for  the 
great  Shahab-ud-din  Khan,  who  was  away  elsewhere  on  a  cam- 
paign against  Shiva  JT.  But  this  general,  who  now  found 
himself  great,  rich,  and  beloved  by  all  the  soldiers  and  captains, 
answered  that  his  presence  was  necessary  for  the  reduction  of 
a  fortress  called  Adunl.2 

Aurangzeb  was  afraid  that  this  general  meant  to  attempt 
some  plot,  and  after  two  or  three  letters  recalling  him  to  court, 
finding  he  made  excuses,  he  sent  him  one  more  letter  directing 

1  This  is  quite  unhistorical.  The  princess,  Sambha  Ji's  widow,  and  her 
younger  children  remained  prisoners  until  1719,  while  Sahu,  the  eldest  son,  was 
released  in  1707. 

2  Adunl  is  in  the  Ballari  district,  lat.  150  38',  long.  770  20'.  The  fort  was  taken 
by  Tippu,  and  dismantled  in  1786.  Khan  Bahadur,  Firoz  Jang  (Shahab-ud-din), 
was  sent  against  Adunl  in  the  thirty-first  year,  1099  H.  (between  January  and 
June,  1688).  It  was  taken  on  the  18th  Shawwal  of  the  thirty-second  year,  1099  H. 
(August  7,  1688)  ('  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  308,  316). 


RAM  RAJA   BESIEGED  IN  JIN  J I  315 

him  to  return  absolutely.  On  reading  the  said  letter,  this 
famous  general's  eyes  began  to  drop  blood,  whereby  he  became 
blind.1  Nor  were  the  remedies  of  any  avail  that  were  sent  him 
by  the  selfsame  Aurangzeb  to  be  applied  to  his  eyes ;  for  he 
had  found  by  this  time  that  he  wanted  him,  since  Shiva  Ji 
(i.e.,  the  Mahrattahs)  had  deceived  him  in  the  matter  of  Parna- 
lagarh,  which  he  had  reckoned  on  getting.  His  repentance 
was  somewhat  tardy,  for  already  the  general  had  become  blind, 
remaining  so  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and  he  could  not,  for  want 
of  sight,  continue  his  deeds  of  valour  and  good  judgment.2 

It  is  fitting  for  me  to  say  here  that  I  know  no  one  who  can 
boast  of  having  attained  to  perfect  trust  in  the  administration 
of  Aurangzeb,  unless  it  be  Asad  Khan,3  he  who  was  faithful  to 
Shahjahan,  and  is  a  loyal  minister  to  this  same  Aurangzeb. 
Up  to  this  day  he  prospers  ;  but  we  can  only  judge  finally  after 
his  death.  This  noble  will  indeed  be  a  phoenix  in  the  reign  of 
Aurangzeb,  whose  renown  others  may  recount  hereafter,  if  he 
ends  his  life  felicitously  [249]. 

As  Aurangzeb  wanted  to  catch  the  lion's  whelp  before  he 
grew  up,  he  sent  an  army  into  the  Choromandal  Karnatik  to 
prevent  Shiva  Ji's  [i.e.,  Ram  Raja's]  departure  from  JinjT.4 
He  hoped  to  destroy  him  within  that  great  fortress.  For  this 
purpose  he  sent  Julfecercan  (Zu,lfiqar  Khan),  son  of  Asad 
Khan,    and    other    commanders ;     but    Shiva    JI    being    well 

1  In  the  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  872,  it  is  stated  that  Ghazi-ud-din  Khan 
(Mir  Shahab-ud-dln),  Firoz  Jang,  became  blind  from  plague  in  the  thirty-second 
year  of  'Alamgir,  1100  H.  (1688-89).  The  author  of  that  book  vehemently 
denies  a  story  then  current  that  'Alamgir  persuaded  the  physicians  to  put  out 
Firoz  Jang's  sight. 

2  This  statement  is  quite  mistaken.  Ghazi-ud-din  Khan  remained  in  active 
employment  till  his  death,  about  1710  ;  the  only  difference  made  was  his  being 
excused  from  appearing  in  darbar. 

3  Asad  Khan  and  his  son,  being  Persians,  were  used  by  Aurangzeb  as  a 
counterpoise  to  Ghazi-ud-din  Khan  and  his  relations,  who  were  Mughals  from 
Bukhara.  Asad  Khan  remained  chief  minister  to  the  end  of  the  reign  (1707), 
surviving  Aurangzeb  for  ten  years.  His  son  was  Amlr-ul-umara,  or  second 
minister,  to  Bahadur  Shah,  Shah  'Alam  (1707-1712),  and  chief  minister  to 
Jahandar  Shah  (1712).  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  Asad  Khan,  subsequently  Amlr- 
ul-umara,  and  then  Asaf-ud-daulah,  died  on  the  25th  Jamada  II.,  1128  H. 
(June  17,  1716),  at  a  great  age. 

4  Jinji,  lat.  120  16',  long.  790  27',  eighty-two  miles  south-west  of  Madras. 


316     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

provisioned,  Zu,lfiqar  Khan  could  not  accomplish  his  task.  In 
writing  his  report  to  the  king,  he  stated  the  necessity  of  re- 
inforcements ;  therefore  Aurangzeb  sent  his  youngest  son 
Kaembacx  (Kam  Bakhsh)1  to  command,  accompanied  by  Asad 
Khan  himself. 

The  fortress  was  already  about  to  surrender.  But  if  the  war 
were  ended  many  soldiers  would  fall  out  of  employ,  and  their 
officers  be  without  income ;  so  they  managed  to  make  it  appear 
that  Kam  Bakhsh  was  in  correspondence  with  Shiva  JI  (Ram 
Raja),  and  meant  to  forsake  his  father  and  desert  to  the 
Mahrattahs.  Two  days  before  the  fortress  was  to  be  made 
over  Asad  Khan  carried  off  Kam  Bakhsh  a  prisoner  to  Aurangzeb. 
The  latter  imagined  it  to  be  true  that  his  son  meant  to  rebel, 
and  was  much  concerned.  But  as  he  (Kam  Bakhsh)  was  his 
youngest,  and  son  of  his  beloved  Udepuri,  he  showed  no  resent- 
ment.2 At  this  fact  the  reader  may  well  be  astonished,  knowing 
from  the  course  of  my  history  how  Aurangzeb  forgave  no  one 
who  attempted  to  oppose  his  designs. 

Meanwhile  Zu,lfiqar  Khan  continues  until  this  day  in  the 
Karnatik  as  viceroy,  without  having  reduced  the  fortress  of 
Jinji.  This  went  on  until  Aurangzeb,  angry  at  seeing  that  in 
eight  years  he  could  not  take  this  strong  place,  wrote  him  re- 
treated letters,  when  he  so  conducted  matters  that  Shiva  Ji 
(Ram  Raja)  was  able  to  escape.3  If  the  generals  had  obeyed 
the  king's  orders,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  campaign 
would  be  already  over.  With  the  great  treasures  he  had  and 
the  large  army  he  kept  on  foot,  Aurangzeb  could  have  made 

1  K§.m  Bakhsh  was  sent  to  Jinji  on  the  gth  Kama/an,  1102  H.,  thirty-fifth  year 
(June  6,  1691,  N.S.).  He  returned  to  court  from  Jinji  on  the  20th  Shawwal, 
1104  H.,  thirty-seventh  year  (June  25,  1693,  N.S.)  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  339,  359). 

2  Zu.lfiqar  Khan,  at  Kam  Bakhsh's  arrest,  behaved  with  unnecessary  brutality, 
calling  him  a  pisar-i-mutribah,  '  a  dancing  woman's  child,'  struck  him  in  the  face, 
and  put  him  in  chains  (Yahya  Khan.  '  Tazkirah-ul-Muluk,'  India  Office  Library, 
fol.  ma).  The  arrest  was  in  1104  H.  (1692-93)  ('M.-i-'A.,'  359).  A  courtier 
muttered  the  appropriate  line  : 

'  There  is  a  joy  in  forgiving  that  there  is  not  in  punishing,' 

and  Aurangzeb  seized  the  opening,  and  imposed  no  penalties  on  his  son. 

8  Grant-Duff,  171,  says  Jinji  was  taken  by  escalade  early  in  January,  1698. 
Ram  Raja,  escaped  through  the  Mogul  lines  in  December,  1697. 


A  NINE  YEARS'  SIEGE  317 

much  greater  conquests.  For  in  spite  of  Shiva  Jl  (Ram 
Raja)  being  at  this  day  stronger  than  his  father  (Sambha  Jl),  it 
would  be  quite  easy  to  destroy  him.  But  this  suits  neither 
the  interests  of  the  officers  nor  the  purposes  of  Aurangzeb's 
sons. 

These  latter  know  they  will  have  to  struggle  with  their 
brothers  for  the  crown  by  force  of  arms,  and  they  do  not  wish 
to  get  rid  of  that  prince  (Ram  Raja),  hoping  at  the  proper  time 
to  be  able  to  carry  out  their  plots.  Among  those  who  want  to 
preserve  Shiva  Jl  (Ram  Raja),  it  is  of  certain  knowledge  that 
A'zam  Tara  must  be  counted  as  the  principal,  and  it  may  well 
happen  that  before  this  my  book  is  laid  before  the  eyes  of  the 
learned,  I  may  be  able  to  record  the  end  of  this  [250]  war,  and 
the  disappearance  of  Aurangzeb. 

My  third  book  (?  Part)  will  explain  the  way  in  which  the 
generals  and  commanders  behave  in  Hindustan.  They  aim 
only  at  their  personal  advantage,  and  ordinarily  make  no 
account  of  the  royal  commands,  except  only  when  it  is  necessary 
in  order  not  to  be  expressly  found  out  as  traitors.  But  let  us 
leave  this  subject  for  another  time,  and  go  on  with  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  war  waged  by  Aurangzeb  against  Shiva  Jl 
(Ram  Raja),  leaving  Zu.lfiqar  Khan  behind  in  this  Karnatik 
to  continue  the  contest  with  Shiva  Jl  and  back  up  him  (Aurang- 
zeb) in  these  parts. 

Release  of  Shah  'Alam  and  his  Sons. 

Aurangzeb  with  his  army  continued  the  campaign  against 
Shiva  Jl  (the  Mahrattahs),  but  his  operations  were  more  de- 
fensive than  offensive.  For  that  prince  (Ram  Raja)  followed 
his  father's  plan  of  avoiding  a  meeting  in  the  field,  and  instead 
plundered  in  all  directions  without  ever  allowing  any  rest  to 
Aurangzeb's  forces.  The  generals  were  forced  to  rush  with  re- 
inforcements wherever  they  heard  that  Shiva  Jl  was  pillaging. 
While  they  were  advancing  to  the  east,  that  prince  would 
appear  all  of  a  sudden  on  the  west,  and  this  was  his  invariable 
custom. 

Meanwhile  there  appeared  in  the  lands  of  Bengal  a  rajah 


3i8    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

called  Saba  Singh  (Sobha  Singh),1  who  raised  a  great  disturb- 
ance in  the  province,  slaying  governors  and  seizing  treasures, 
taking  possession  of  lands,  and  penetrating  as  far  as  Rage- 
mahal  (Raj-mahal).  Owing  to  these  events,  Aurangzeb  was 
forced  to  send  a  second  army  against  him,  but  this  army 
suffered  worse.  From  this  cause  Aurangzeb  already  began  to 
consider  the  release  of  Shah  'Alam  and  his  family.  Although 
it  was  not  done  with  a  good  grace,  he  was  obliged  to  do  it ;  for 
news  was  brought  to  him  that  Sultan  Sulaiman,2  King  of  Persia, 
had  given  a  golden  crown  to  Akbar,  and  promised  to  favour 
his  claim  to  the  throne.  He  said  he  would  take  Akbar's  side 
against  his  father  Aurangzeb. 

On  the  arrival  of  this  news  at  court,  Aurangzeb,  who  knew 
Akbar's  enterprising  character,  resolved  to  depute  Shah  'Alam 
against  him  at  the  head  of  a  great  army  in  defence  of  Hindu- 
stan. To  resist  the  rajah  in  Bengal  he  determined  to  send 
'Azlm-ud-dln,  the  second  son  of  Shah  'Alam,  thus  separating 
father  and  son.  But  the  reader  will  like  to  know  the  way  in 
which  Aurangzeb  sent  off  these  princes. 

Their  release  took  place  on  a  Friday3  without  [251]  anybody 
knowing  of  the  intention,  for  fear  that  A'zam  Tara,  a  rash  and 
determined  prince,  might  not,  on  learning  of  his  brother's 
release,  head  an  outbreak  which  would  throw  the  kingdom 
into  confusion.  Therefore,  very  early,  long  before  the  usual 
hour,  he  (Aurangzeb)  started  for  the  mosque,  and  called  into 
his    presence    Shah    'Alam    and    his    sons    without    sending 

1  In  1107  H.  (1695-96)  Sobha  Singh,  zamindar  of  Chetwah  and  Bardah,  in  the 
Bardwan  district,  rose  and  killed  the  Rajah  (Kishan  Ram).  He  and  his  Pathan 
allies,  under  Rahim  Khan.  BIni,  then  took  possession  of  Hugli.  The  Europeans 
at  Chinsurah,  Chandarnagore,  and  Chuttanati  (Calcutta)  fortified  their  factories. 
Murshidabad  was  taken,  and  the  rebels  reached  within  ten  miles  of  Calcutta 
(C.  Stewart,  'History  of  Bengal,'  328-336;  Ghulam  llusain,  Salim,  'Riyaz-us- 
Salatin,'  '  Bibliotheca  Indica,'  224-226). 

a  Sulaiman,  Safawi,  reigned  1667-1694. 

3  According  to  Jag  Jivan  Das,  '  Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, '  British  Museum, 
Additional  MS.,  No.  26,253,  fol.  366,  they  were  released  on  the  5th  Shawwal, 
1105  H.  (May  30,  1694,  N.S.).  The  place  was  BIjapur,  and  the  mosque  story  is 
confirmed  by  Jag  JIvan  Das,  who  wrote  in  1719.  The  river  Bhlma.  is  about 
fifty  miles  north  of  BIjapur.  The  prince  reached  Agrah  on  the  9th  Shawwal, 
thirty-ninth  year,  1106  H.  (May  23,  1695). 


SHAH  'A LAM  SENT  TO  AGRAH  AND  KABUL  319 

word  to  A'zam  Tara.  The  king  was  already  in  the  mosque 
with  Shah  'Alam  on  his  right  hand,  a  post  where  A'zam 
Tara  had  been  accustomed  to  stand  during  his  brother's 
captivity. 

Then  spies  reported  to  A'zam  Tara  that  the  king,  his  father, 
had  already  begun  his  prayers,  and  he  issued  forth  in  all  haste, 
and  went  also  to  the  mosque.  But  seeing  that  his  brother 
occupied  the  place  usually  held  by  himself,  he  angrily  took  up 
his  position  at  the  back,  and,  hurrying  through  his  orisons, 
made  his  exit,  resolved  to  raise  a  disturbance.  But  Aurangzeb, 
like  the  clever  politician  he  was,  directly  the  prayers  were  over, 
started  in  company  with  his  son  (Shah  'Alam)  as  far  as  the 
river  Bimbara  (Bhlmra).  Thence  without  delaying  he  furnished 
him  with  a  retinue,  and  ordered  him  under  his  own  eyes  to 
cross  to  the  other  side  of  the  river.  He  received  orders  to 
march  and  take  up  the  government  of  Hindustan.  Letters 
followed,  directing  the  governors  to  obey  his  orders;  the  king 
also  forwarded  his  baggage  after  him,  and  further  retinue 
afterwards.  For  time  did  not  allow  of  his  being  detained 
near  him  (Aurangzeb)  until  all  these  matters  were  put  in 
order. 

At  the  same  time  he  ordered  'Azim-ud-dln  to  cross  the  river 
with  his  father,  and  then  separating  from  him  to  make  for 
Bengal.1  Thus  he  deprived  A'zam  Tara  of  any  opening  for 
perpetrating  a  misdeed.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  any 
king  ever  had  recourse  to  foresight  to  prevent  disorder,  it  was 
Aurangzeb. 

The  Villagers  of  Agrah  burn  the  Bones  of 
King  Akbar. 

King  Aurangzeb  had  his  worries,  which  are  unavoidable  by  the 
great,  who,  delighting  in  lording  it,  get  hold  at  times  of  very  hard 
bones  to  digest.  One  of  these  worries  arose  from  the  villagers 
of  Agrah,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  several  times  (I.  83,  II.  59). 
But  their  daring  had  never  reached  such  a  pitch  as  it  did  in 

1  The  '  Ma,asir-i-'Alamgiri '  does  not  confirm  this;  it  places  the  appointment 
later — in  1109  H.,  forty-first  year  (1697-98)  (p.  387). 


320    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

one  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-one.  On  other  occasions 
they  had  contented  themselves  by  declining  to  pay  revenue : 
this  time  they  did  the  greatest  affront  possible  to  the  house  and 
lineage  of  Taimur-i-lang  [252] ;  for,  seizing  the  occasion  of 
Aurangzeb  being  in  the  Dakhin  near  to  Bijapur,  they  proved 
that  they  cared  neither  for  his  power,  his  policy,  nor  his 
governors.  They  planned,  and  succeeded  in,  a  very  bold 
undertaking. 

Already  angered  by  the  demands  of  the  governors  and  faujddrs 
for  revenue,  a  great  number  of  them  assembled  and  marched 
to  the  mausoleum  of  that  great  conqueror,  Akbar.  Against 
him  living  they  could  effect  nothing  ;  they  therefore  wreaked 
vengeance  on  his  sepulchre.  They  began  their  pillage  by 
breaking  in  the  great  gates  of  bronze  which  it  had,  robbing 
the  valuable  precious  stones  and  plates  (lastras)  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  destroying  what  they  were  not  able  to  carry  away. 
Dragging  out  the  bones  of  Akbar,  they  threw  them  angrily  into 
the  fire  and  burnt  them.1 

Aurangzeb  was  much  afflicted  at  this  piece  of  boldness  and 
this  outrage.  It  also  gave  him  other  anxieties,  for  he  foresaw 
that  when  the  villagers  were  masters  of  the  roads  between 
Agrah  and  Dihll,  not  a  soul  would  be  allowed  to  pass.  He 
was,  therefore,  obliged  to  send   his   foster-brother    Badercan 

1  The  only  other  author  who  speaks  precisely  about  the  plundering  of  Akbar's 
tomb  islshar  Das,  Nagar,  in  his  '  Fatuhat-i-'Alamgiri,'  British  Museum,  Additional 
MS.,  No.  23,884,  fol.  131a  et  seq.  The  first  attempt  by  Rajah  Ram,  Jat,  of 
Sansani,  was  repulsed  by  the  Jaujdar,  Mir  Abu,l-fazl,  who  was  rewarded  with 
the  title  of  Iltifat  Khan.  Mahabat  Khan,  on  his  way  from  Gujarat  to  his  new 
government  of  Lahor,  was  encamped  at  Sikandrah,  and,  taking  the  field  against 
the  Jats,  killed  400  of  them.  At  this  time  Shaistah  Khan,  the  Emperor's  uncle, 
was  appointed  Governor  ;  but,  before  he  took  charge,  the  Jats  renewed  their 
attack  on  Sikandrah,  and  plundered  the  tomb,  taking  the  carpets,  with  the  silver 
and  gold  vessels,  and  damaging  most  of  the  tombs  and  the  mausoleum.  The  Deputy 
Governor,  Muhammad  Baqa.  (Muzaffar  Khan),  did  nothing,  and,  with  the  retiring 
Governor,  Khan  Jahan,  Bahadur,  fell  under  Aurangzeb's  displeasure.  Bishn 
Singh,  Rajah  of  Amber,  was  then  employed  against  Sansani  ;  but  Rajah,  Jat,  was 
killed  in  a  fight  between  the  Shekawats  and  the  Chohans,  for  which  he  had  hired 
himself  out  to  one  of  the  parties.  The  year  is  apparently  1098  or  1099  H. 
(1686-87).  But  Churaman,  brother  of  Rajah  Ram,  was  still  carrying  on  the  fight 
in  1102  H.  (1690-91). 


SHAlSTAH  KHAN  DIES,  1694  321 

(Bahadur  Khan).1  Although  brave,  this  man  recognised  that 
he  could  do  nothing  against  the  tenacity  of  such  ferocious 
beasts.  He  therefore  called  in  the  grandsons  of  Rajah  Jai 
Singh  and  many  other  Rajahs,  so  that  at  the  least  the  villagers 
might  be  forced  to  retreat.  He  could  not  manage  anything 
more  without  heavy  casualties  in  his  force,  and  without  entirely 
ruining  the  lands.  Even  this  much  was  not  easy,  nor  was  it 
desirable  to  reduce  these  lands  to  uninhabited  waste.  He 
managed  to  make  them  retreat  without  attempting  anything 
more  against  them. 

Death  of  Shaistah  Khan. 

Five  years  after  the  above  occurrence  died  the  famous 
Shaistah  Khan,2  son  of  Asaf  Khan,  but  not  by  the  same  mother 
as  Nur-mahal,  or  Nur  Jahan,  sister  of  Shaistah  Khan — she  was 
the  beloved  wife  of  King  Jahangir.  When  the  said  king  was 
told  that  the  mother  of  Shaistah  Khan  was  pregnant,  he  was 
very  glad,  and  he  resolved  that  if  she  brought  forth  a  son  he 
would  at  once  assign  him  pay  of  three  millions  of  rupees  a 
year.  He  was  born  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred,  and 
received  the  title  of  Shaistah  Khan,  which  means  '  Perfect,' 
and  he  continued  to  draw  the  above  pay  until  he  reached  his 
majority. 

When  Shahjahan  married  his  sister  of  the  full  blood  Shaistah 
Khan  received  an  addition  of  a  million  [253]  every  year.  Then 
Aurangzeb  married  one  of  his  sisters,  and  on  his  accession  to 
the   throne   gave   him   an   augmentation    of   another   million. 

1  Early  in  the  thirty-first  year,  1099  H.  (1687-88),  Prince  Bedar  Bakljt  and 
Khan  Jahan,  Bahadur,  Zafar  Jang  (i.e.,  Bahadur  Khan),  were  sent  against  Rajah 
Ram,  J  at,  of  Sansani.  The  place  was  taken  on  July  14,  1688  ('Ma,asir-i- 
'Alamgiri,'  311). 

2  Abu  Talib,  entitled,  first,  Shaistah  Khan,  then  Khan  Jahan,  then  Amir-ul- 
umara,  son  of  Yamin-ud-daulah,  Asaf  Khan,  Khan  Khanan,  Sipahsalar,  son  of 
I'timad-ud-daulah,  Ghiyas  Beg,  Tihra.nl,  died  in  the  middle  of  1105  H.  (February 
or  March,  1694),  while  Subahdar  of  Agrah.  His  age  was  ninety-one  (lunar) 
years,  and  he  was  maternal  uncle  of  Aurangzeb.  His  father  died  in  1051  H. 
He  was  son-in-law  of  Mirza  Iraj,  Shah  Nawaz  Khan,  son  of  'Abd-ur-rahim, 
Khan  Khanan  ('  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi.'  1105).  As  before,  Manucci  wrongly  calls 
him  the  brother,  instead  of  the  nephew,  of  Nur  Jahan. 

VOL.  II.  21 


322     OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

This  was  in  addition  to  the  large  presents  that  the  king  made 
to  him. 

This  Shaistah  Khan  lived  for  ninety-five  years  and  had  many 
sons  and  daughters,  all  of  whom  married  into  the  best  families 
of x  Hindustan.  Up  to  this  day  there  are  a  number  of  his 
descendants,  his  sons  occupying  great  offices  in  the  empire. 
Shaistah  Khan  was  a  man  of  ripe  judgment,  very  wealthy  and 
powerful,  and  of  good  reputation,  for  he  was  very  charitable, 
distributing  every  year  in  alms  fifty  thousand  rupees.  For  this 
purpose,  in  each  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  empire  he  em- 
ployed officials,  who  looked  after  the  daily  gifts  of  food  and 
clothes  to  the  most  necessitous  of  the  poor,  and  succoured  the 
widow  and  the  orphan. 

He  constructed  on  the  river  at  Narwar,1  on  the  route  from 
Agrah  to  the  Dakhin,  a  large  bridge  as  his  memorial.  For  its 
completion,  in  spite  of  his  employing  many  officials,  five-and- 
twenty  years  were  required.  Shaistah  Khan  was  very  fond  of 
Europeans,  above  all  of  the  priests ;  he  was  loved  and  respected 
by  everyone,  and  he  was  a  great  amateur  of  precious  stones. 
He  died  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-five, 
leaving  to  his  heirs  a  large  fortune.  He  gave  their  liberty  to  a 
thousand  women,  adding  as  a  gift  sufficient  for  their  support. 
To  Aurangzeb  he  made  a  bequest  of  two  hundred  millions  of 
coin  in  gold  and  silver,  two  hundred  millions  of  jewels,  over 
two  millions  in  goods  and  household  furnishings,  elephants, 
camels,  and  horses.  He  was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  his  father, 
Asaf  Khan,  in  the  city  of  Agrah. 

Akbar  comes  from  Persia  and  then  retreats. 

Shah  'Alam's  arrival  in  Hindustan  was  well  timed,  for  a 
false  rumour  having  got  abroad  that  Aurangzeb  was  dead, 
Akbar  advanced  at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand  Persian  horse- 
men to  test  his  fortunes.  But  encountering  the  great  army 
of  Shah  'Alam  not  far  from  Multan,  he  was  obliged  to  retreat. 

1  Tieffenthaler  (Bernouilli,  i.  179,  and  Plate  XX.,  opposite  p.  320) :  'Un  pont 
elegant  construit  en  pierres  de  taille  sur  le  Sindh,  porte  par  24  arches  hautes  et 
larges,  dont  3  ou  4  sont  detruites  aujourd'hui  (circa  1750  ?),  par  la  violence  des 
pluies.'     The  plate  shows  only  thirteen  arches. 


PRINCE  AKBAR  THREATENS  AN  INVASION  323 

Then  it  was  heard  that  he  had  halted  at  the  fortress  of 
Qandahar,  within  Persian  territory,  there  to  await  his  father's 
death.  Since  that  time,  as  it  would  appear,  there  has  been  no 
want  of  people  to  collect  and  espouse  his  cause.  Therefore 
Shah  'Alam  continued  [in  those  regions]  with  his  sons  and 
family,  excepting  'Azlm-ud-dln.  He  did  not  remain  in  one 
fixed  place,  but  scattering  [254]  his  troops,  kept  watch,  so  that 
his  brother  Akbar  might  not  invade  India. 

Things  went  well  with  Shah  'Alam,  favoured  by  Fortune 
as  also  with  his  son,  Sultan   'Azim-ud-din,  in   Bengal.     The 
latter,  imitating  his  grandfather,  denuded  the  rajah  little  by 
little   until    the    rebel    was   forced    to    retire    into    his    own 
country.1 

It  now  remains  to  remark  that  when  Akbar  fled  he  left 
behind  him  two  daughters.  Aurangzeb  married  one  to  Sultan 
Mu'izz-ud-dln,  and  the  other  to  Sultan  'Azim-ud-din.2  It  is 
not  known  why  he  carried  out  these  marriages.  Another 
matter  having  reference  to  Akbar  is  that,  when  he  took  flight, 
he  left  in  the  hands  and  under  the  protection  of  the  famous 
Rani,  widow  of  Jaswant  Singh,  two  pregnant  wives,  who  both 
gave  birth  to  sons.  Repeated  excuses  were  made  for  not  send- 
ing the  little  ones  to  Aurangzeb ;  the  Rani  hoped  that  Akbar 
would  return  from  Persia  and  make  himself  king.  In  the 
end,  finding  that  this  prince  never  came,  she  sent  them  to 
be  delivered  to  their  grandfather.2  It  was  an  amusement  to 
the  old  man  to  get  two  grandchildren  who  could  speak  nothing 
but  the  Rajput  tongue,  which  differs  from  that  used  at  the 
court.  He  gave  them  establishments,  and  kept  them  lovingly 
near  his  person.  Aurangzeb  was  very  anxious  to  draw  Akbar 
back  to  the  Mogul  kingdom,  and  with  this  view  he  went  on 
writing  him  friendly  letters  with  invitations  to  return.    Promises 

1  This  refers  to  Sobha  Singh  {ante,  ii.  210),  who  was  killed  by  a  woman 
captive.  The  rising  was  suppressed  by  Zabardast  Khan,  son  of  Ibrahim  Khan, 
the  previous  Governor  of  Bengal. 

2  I  cannot  find  any  confirmation  of  the  asserted  marriages  of  two  daughters 
of  Akbar  to  Mu'izz-ud-dln  and  'Azim-ud-din.  There  were  certainly  two  daughters 
captured  in  1681.  There  were  three  children — one  son  and  two  daughters— born 
in  Rajputanah  ;  the  boy  was  surrendered  by  Durga  Das,  Rathor,  in  May,  1689, 
and  the  youth  died  in  prison  at  Ahmadnagar  in  1706  ('  M.-i-'A.,'  209,  395). 

21 — 2 


324    OF  KING  AURANGZEB,  SIXTH  KING  OF  HINDUSTAN 

were  given  to  make  him  master  from  Bhakkar  as  far  as  Tattah, 
which  is  the  province  of  Sind.  But  he  knew  his  father's  nature, 
and  up  to  this  day  (?  1700)  has  put  faith  neither  in  his  letters 
nor  his  promises. 

Thus  do  matters  go  on  in  the  Mogul  kingdom ;  sons,  grand- 
sons, and  great-grandsons  are  making  preparations  for  the 
terrible  wars  which  must  ensue  upon  the  death  of  the  old 
king.  For  there  are  many  aspirants  to  dominion,  it  being 
among  them  a  saying  that  in  such  a  case  a  father  should  not 
trust  a  son,  nor  a  son  his  father. 

The  thing  most  to  be  wondered  at  in  my  History  is  the 
wisdom  of  Aurangzeb,  who,  in  spite  of  being  an  old  man 
of  eighty-four  years,  knows  how  to  regulate  affairs  with  such 
skill  that  he  maintains  himself  as  king  against  the  will  of 
so  many  claimants ;  and  at  this  great  age  he  still  mounts 
on  horseback  [255]. 

I  know  quite  well  that  some  in  reading  this  History  will 
comment  on  my  leaving  the  Mogul  country  so  many  times 
and  then  going  back.  Some  will  say  to  themselves  that  in 
those  lands  there  must  be  some  delectable  fields  which  caused 
my  return  there.  But  in  reality,  granting  that  by  God's  favour 
I  did  have  the  luck  to  attain  some  good  fortune,  yet  never  had  I 
any  desire  to  settle  there.  For,  of  a  truth,  they  have  nothing 
that  can  delight  or  win  people  from  Europe,  or  make  them 
desire  to  live  there.  The  country  is  not  good  for  the  body, 
much  less  for  the  soul ;  for  the  body,  because  it  is  requisite 
to  live  ever  on  the  qui  vive  and  keep  your  eyes  open,  since 
no  one  ever  says  a  word  to  be  relied  upon.  It  is  continuously 
requisite  to  think  the  worst  and  believe  the  contrary  of  what 
is  said ;  for  it  is  the  habit  there  absolutely  to  act  according 
to  the  proverb  of  my  country,  '  Pleasant  words,  sad  actions.' 
They  deceive  both  the  acute  and  the  careless ;  thus,  when  they 
show  themselves  the  greatest  friends,  you  require  to  be  doubly 
careful. 

The  country  is  not  good  for  the  soul,  as  much  from  the 
licence  one  has  there  as  from  the  absence  of  Catholic  obser- 
vances. Thus,  when  I  could  leave  it,  I  did  so ;  nor  should 
I  ever  have  gone  back  there  had  I  not  been  forced  by  necessity. 


XXI.       SlI.TW    SlKANDAR,    SON    OF    SHAH    ShLJA'. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  324. 


GENERAL  REFLECTIONS  325 

I  offer  up  many  thanks  to  God  that  at  length  He  granted  me 
means  to  deliver  myself;  and  I  assure  the  reader  that  few 
Europeans  could  live  there  with  the  advantages  and  honours 
I  was  able  to  achieve.  Nor  let  him  be  led  away  by  the  hope 
that,  resorting  thither,  he  would  be  able  to  improve  himself 
in  any  degree.  For  few  indeed  are  they  who  return  thence 
bettered,  and  many  are  those  who  have  been  made  worse. 


END   OF   PART   II. 


THE   THIRD   PART* 


OF  THE 


HISTORY    OF    THE    MOGUL 


BY 

NICOLAS    MANOUCHY,    Venetian, 

First  Physician  to  Shah  'Alam,  eldest  son  of  Aurangzeb 


WHEREIN  IS  GIVEN  AN   EXACT  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

RICHES  AND  GRANDEUR  OF  THE  MOGULS  AND 

THE   HINDU   PRINCES,   HIS  NEIGHBOURS, 

WITH  MANY  CURIOUS  DETAILS  AND 

REMARKABLE  EVENTS 


[The  Phillips  MS.,  1945,  bears  at  the  top,  '  Collegii  Paris.  Societ.  Jesu,'  and 
on  the  margin  of  the  first  page,  '  Paragraphs  au  devis  de  l'arrest  du  5  Juillet, 
1763. — Mesnil.'] 

1  The  Third  Part  begins  in  French,  and  so  goes  on  up  to  f.  66,  when  it 
continues  in  Portuguese.  There  is  an  abridgment  of  this  part  in  F.  Catrou, 
4to.  edition  of  1705,  pp.  232-272.  Part  III.  begins  on  fol.  149  of  the  Venice 
Colex  XLIV.  in  Italian,  and  has  no  headings. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  MOGUL 

THIRD   PART 

Although  by  perusal  of  the  first  two  (parts  it  is  easy  to  learn 
the  riches,  the  grandeur,  and  the  policy  of  the  Mogul  kings  and 
those  of  the  other  princes  of  Hindustan,  their  neighbours,  still, 
as  those  subjects  are  scattered  here  and  there  throughout  the 
History,  I  have  not  thought  it  useless  to  write  a  separate  book. 
It  forms  the  subject  of  this  Third  Part  of  my  History ;  it  will, 
I  feel  assured,  be  a  great  help  and  most  useful  to  those  who 
undertake  a  journey  to  India  to  see  those  far-off  lands.  I 
pledge  my  word  that  if  before  starting  they  will  take  the 
trouble  to  read  what  is  here  written,  they  will  be  able  after- 
wards to  judge  whether  I  have  faithfully  aided  Europeans  by 
the  investigations  and  observations  which  I  here  communicate. 

I  must  add  to  these  remarks  that  my  object  in  writing  has 
not  been  merely  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  readers,  but  to  be  of 
use  to  them.  This  is  the  reason  that  I  have  not  relied  on  the 
knowledge  of  others ;  and  I  have  spoken  of  nothing  which  I 
have  not  seen  or  undergone  during  the  space  of  forty-eight 
years  that  I  have  dwelt  in  Hindustan.  Nor  have  I  remained 
in  one  place,  but  have  been  always  travelling,  holding  an 
honourable  and  lucrative  post,  which  has  given  me  the  means 
of  acquiring  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  everything  occurring 
in  this  vast  empire. 

I  have  decided  to  give  in  this  Third  Part :  first,  an  exact 
description  of  the  mahal,  or  Mogul  seraglio  [2-22]  ;  secondly, 
an  account  of  the  ruler's  policy,  and  how  he  deals  with  the 
kings  and  princes  who  are  his  vassals  [22-49] ;  thirdly,  I  shall 
speak   of  the   kingdoms   and   provinces   dependent   upon   the 

329 


330  THE  MOGUL  COURT 

Mogul — what  are  the  rents  and  revenues  of  each  separately,  and 
other  notable  things  [49-59];  fourthly,  I  shall  say  something 
about  the  chief  rajahs  or  princelings  either  within  or  round 
about  this  empire  [59-89] ;  fifthly,  I  shall  give  a  short  account 
of  the  Hindu  religion  [90-136];  sixthly,  I  shall  offer  some 
remarks  on  elephants  and  other  animals  [144-155] ;  seventhly 
and  lastly,  I  shall  report  certain  curious  events  which  have 
happened  in  India  [155  to  end]. 

Most  Europeans  imagine  that  the  grandeur  of  kings  and 
princes  in  other  parts  of  the  world  cannot  compare  with  what 
is  found  at  the  courts  of  their  sovereigns.  Excluding  the 
principal  ones — those  of  the  Emperor,  the  King  of  France, 
and  the  King  of  Spain — nowhere  else  can  be  found,  as  they 
think,  those  airs  of  grandeur  and  of  majesty  which  follow  in 
a  sovereign's  train.  But,  without  speaking  of  the  Emperor 
of  China's  court,  which,  according  [2]  to  the  accounts  we  have, 
is  extremely  splendid  and  majestuous,  I  assert  that  in  the 
Mogul  kingdom  the  nobles,  and  above  all  the  king,  live  with 
such  ostentation  that  the  most  sumptuous  of  European  courts 
cannot  compare  in  richness  and  magnificence  with  the  lustre 
beheld  in  the  Indian  court. 


Customs  of  the  Royal  Household,  and  the  Way  of 
dealing  with  the  people  living  in  the  palace, 
commonly  called  the  mahal,  or  seraglio. 

Ordinarily  there  are  within  the  mahal  two  thousand  women 
of  different  races.  Each  has  her  office  or  special  duties,  either 
in  -attendance  on  the  king,  his  wives,  his  daughters,  or  his 
concubines.  To  rule  and  maintain  order  among  this  last 
class,  each  one  is  assigned  her  own  set  of  rooms,  and  matrons 
are  placed  over  them.  In  addition,  each  has  usually  attached 
to  her  ten  or  twelve  women  servants,  who  are  selected  from  the 
above-named  women. 

The  matrons  have  generally  three,  four,  or  five  hundred 
rupees  a  month  as  pay,  according  to  the  dignity  of  the  post 
they  occupy.  The  servants  under  their  orders  have  from  fifty 
up   to  two   hundred   rupees   a   month.     In  addition  to  these 


THE  ROYAL  HOUSEHOLD  331 

matrons,  there  are  the  female  superintendents  of  music  and 
their  women  players ;  these  have  about  the  same  pay  more  or 
less,  besides  the  presents  they  receive  from  the  princes  and 
princesses,  whose  names  I  will  record  lower  down,  in  order 
to  divert  the  reader  by  a  little  variety.  Among  them  are  some 
who  teach  reading  and  writing  to  the  princesses,  and  usually 
what  they  dictate  to  them  are  amorous  verses.  Or  the  ladies 
obtain  relaxation  in  reading  books  called  '  Gulistan '  and 
'  Bostan,'  written  by  an  author  called  Sec  Sadi  Chiragi  (Shekh 
Sa'di,  ShirazI),  and  other  books  treating  of  love,  very 
much  the  same  as  our  romances,  only  they  are  still  more 
shameless. 

The  way  in  which  these  kings  are  waited  on  by  these  women 
in  their  mahal  deserves  mention.  For,  just  as  the  king  has  his 
officers  outside,  he  has  the  same  among  the  fair  sex  within  the 
mahal.  Among  these  ladies  are  some  who  occupy  the  same 
offices  that  are  held  by  grandees  outside ;  and  it  is  by  the 
mouth  of  these  illustrious  persons,  when  the  king  does  not 
come  forth,  that  the  officials  outside  receive  the  orders  sent 
them  from  within.  All  the  persons  employed  in  these  offices 
are  carefully  selected  ;  they  have  much  wit  and  judgment,  and 
know  all  that  is  passing  in  the  empire.  For  the  officials  out- 
side are  required  to  send  written  reports  into  the  mahal  of  all 
that  the  king  ought  to  know.  To  these  reports  the  women 
officials  reply  as  directed  by  that  prince.  And  to  carry  this 
out  there  are  eunuchs  who  take  out  and  bring  back  the 
sealed  letters  written  from  one  side  to  the  other  on  these 
matters. 

It  is  also  a  fixed  rule  of  the  Moguls  that  the  vaquianavis 
(waqi(  ah-navls)  and  the  cofianavis  (khufiy  ah-navls),  or  the  public 
and  secret  news- writers  of  the  empire,  must  once  a  week  enter 
what  is  passing  in  a  vaquia  (wdqi'ah) — that  is  to  say,  a  sort  of 
gazette  or  Mercury,  containing  the  events  of  most  importance. 
These  news-letters  are  commonly  read  in  the  king's  presence 
by  women  of  the  mahal  at  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
so  that  by  this  means  be  knows  what  is  going  on  in  his  king- 
dom. There  are,  in  addition,  spies,  who  are  also  obliged  to 
send  in  reports  weekly  about  other  important  business,  chiefly 


332  THE  KING'S  EXPENDITURE 

what  the  princes  are  doing,  and  this  duty  they  perform  through 
written  statements. 

The  king  sits  up  till  midnight,  and  is  unceasingly  occupied 
with  the  above  sort  of  business.  He  sleeps  for  three  hours 
only,  and  on  awakening  offers  up  his  usual  prayers  [3],  which 
occupy  an  hour  and  a  half.  Every  year  he  goes  into  peni- 
tential retirement  for  forty  days,  during  which  he  sleeps  on  the 
ground,  he  fasts,  he  gives  alms — the  whole  to  secure  from  God 
continuance  of  victory  and  the  accomplishment  of  his  designs. 
But,  nowadays,  being  old  and  his  enemies  hindering  him  from 
undertaking  anything,  he  must  perforce  remain  at  rest.  Not- 
withstanding, he  never  fails  every  morning  to  consider  and 
give  orders  as  to  what  should  be  done.  Thus  in  the 
twenty-four  hours  his  rule  is  to  eat  once  and  sleep  three 
hours.  During  sleep  he  is  guarded  by  women  slaves,  very 
brave,  and  highly  skilled  in  the  management  of  the  bow  and 
other  arms. 

Every  day  one  thousand  rupees  are  disbursed  for  the  ex- 
penses of  the  king's  kitchen,  and  the  officials  are  required  to 
furnish  therefrom  all  that  is  necessary.  They  have  to  lay 
before  the  prince  a  fixed  number  of  ragouts  and  different  dishes 
in  vessels  of  China  porcelain  placed  on  gold  stands.  As  a 
great  favour  the  king  sends  of  these,  or  of  what  is  left  over, 
to  the  queens  and  princesses  and  the  captains  of  the  guard. 
This  honour  is  always  dearly  paid  for,  since  the  eunuchs  who 
convey  the  food  never  fail  to  get  themselves  well  rewarded. 
When  the  king  is  in  an  enemy's  country,  where  provisions  are 
dear,  the  total  expense  is  disregarded.  There  must  always  be 
produced  a  certain  fixed  number  of  ragouts  ;  so  much  is  this 
the  case  that  on  the  march  there  is  no  control  over  the  expen- 
diture. But  in  the  mahal  the  queens,  the  princesses,  and  all 
the  other  women  have  their  separate  allowances. 

Since  I  have  promised  to  give  a  list  of  the  various  names, 
and  their  different  meanings,  of  the  titles  that  the  Mogul  kings 
give  to  the  queens  and  princesses,  to  their  concubines,  to  the 
chief  matrons,  to  the  dancing-women,  to  the  singing-women, 
and  to  the  slaves  of  the  mafyal,  I  think  it  advisable  to  begin  at 
this  point. 


NAMES  OF  QUEENS  AND  PRINCESSES 


333 


The  principal  names  given  by  the  kings  to  the  queens  and 

the  princesses,  with  their  meanings,  are : 

Taj  Mahal1  Crown  of  the  Mahal 

Nur  Mahal  Aurora  of  the  Mahal 

Nur  Jahan  Aurora  of  the  World 

Farzanah  Begam 

Akbarabadi 

Aurangabadi  Begam 

Nawab  Bae  J I 


Taige  Mahal 
Nur  Mahal 
Nur  Jahan 
Farsana  Begom 
Akabarabady 
Orangbady  Begom 
Nawab  Bahigi 
Udepury 
Guescuor 
Chater  Matz 
Jany  Begom 
Maha  Canon 


Cha  Canon 
Fiar  Conda  Canon 
Pur  onor  Begom 
Acla  Begom 
Fasela  Canon 
Cha  adma  Canon 
Nur  nechan  Canon 

Jefea  Canon 
Nafesa  Canon 

Dur  Dan  Begom 
Nadera  Begom 
Jahanara  Begom 

Begom  Saheb 
Roxanara  Begom 


Udepuri 
Kesar  ? 
Chattar-watI 
Jani  Begam 
Mah  Khanum 


Shah  Khanum 
Farkhundah  Khanum 
Pur-anwar  Begam 
'Aqilah  Begam 
Fazilah  Khanum 
Shadman  Khanum 
Nur-un-nissa,  Khanum 

Jafa  Khanum  (?) 
Nafisah  Khanum 

Durr-i-durran  Begam 
Nadirah  Begam 
Jahan-ara  Begam 

Begam  Sahib 
Roshan-ara  Begam 


Liberality  of  Good  Things 
Sovereign  in  Prosperity 
Prosperity  of  the  Throne 
The  Great 
Full  of  Joy 
Shadow  of  Riches 
Glorious  in  her  Designs 
Loved  or  Cherished  One 
Light  of  the  House,  which  is 
a  high  title.   It  is  as  if  one 
said,  'The  Light  of  France,' 
for  by  '  house '  is  under- 
stood the  empire,  or  the 
royal  or  imperial  house 
King  of  the  House 
Bounty  of  the  House 
Filled  with  Industry 
The  Instructed  or  Discreet 
Wisdom  of  the  Court 
Mirth  of  the  House 
Aurora  of  the  Women  of  the 

House 
Prosperity  of  the  House 
The  Most  Exquisite  of  the 

House 
The  Pearl  among  Princesses 
The  Excellent  Princess 
Princess    Renowned   in   the 

World 
Lady  among  Princesses 
The  Light  among  Princesses 


These  queens  and  princesses  have  [4]  the  title  of  Begam,  which 
signifies  that  they  are  void  of  care,2  while  others  have  the  title 
of  Canon  (Khanum),  signifying  that  they  are  of  the  royal  house- 
hold ;2  the  word  also  means  '  a  noble.'     When  they  travel  on 

1  The  middle  column  of  all  these  lists— an  attempt  to  give  the  strict  trans- 
literation— has  been  added  by  the  translator.  The  third  column  is  Manucci's 
own.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  correct  these  meanings,  many  of  which  are 
doubtful,  and  some  absolutely  erroneous. 

2  This  is  due  to  an  erroneous  etymology,  the  word  not  being  be-gham,  '  devoid 
of  care,'  but  begam,  the  Turkish  feminine  of  beg,  a  lord,  a  noble.     In  the  same 


334 


NAMES  OF  CONCUBINES 


elephants  they  are  made  to  enter  a  tent  near  the  palace  gate, 
and  the  elephant-driver  covers  his  head  with  a  coarse  cloth  so 
that  he  may  not  see  them. 

The  names  of  the  mistresses,  or  concubines,  with  the  mean- 
ings, are : 


Ranadel 

Ra'nah-dil 

That   is,   Clear   or 
Faithful  Heart 

Badam  Cheshm 

Badam  Chashm 

Bold-eyed 

Nazac  Badam 

Nazuk-badan 

Pretty  Body 

Mat  Lub 

Matlub 

Given  by  Destiny 

Sue  Den 

Sukh-dain 

Repose 

Catol 

Kutuhal 

Joyous 

Sangar 

Singar 

Adorned 

Piar 

Piyar 

Loving 

Mahan 

Mahan 

Proud 

All  the  names  given  are  either  Persian  or  Hindu ;  for  the  king 
takes  into  his  house  several  daughters  of  Hindu  princes,  and 
gives  them  Hindu  names,  as  the  fancy  takes  him,  and  also  in 
the  same  way  to  those  who  are  Mahomedans.  It  is  also  the 
practice  of  these  kings  and  the  Mogul  princes  to  entertain 
matrons  as  spies,  and  eunuchs  who  give  [blank ;  ?  information] 
to  these  old  ladies  of  the  loveliest  young  women  in  the  empire. 
Afterwards  these  matrons,  by  promises  and  deceit,  lead  them 
astray,  and  have  them  carried  off  into  whatever  palace  the  king 
or  a  prince  requires.  There  they  are  detained  among  the 
number  of  mistresses  or  concubines,  as  I  have  recorded  in  the 
first  part  of  this  history,  when  speaking  of  the  King  Jahanglr 
(?  Shahjahan)  and  the  Prince  Dara  (I.  131,  152).  When  it 
happens  that  he  does  not  wish  to  keep  them,  the  king  sends 
them  back  with  some  great  present.  I  say  this  because  I  have 
had  a  special  acquaintance  with  all  these  secrets  and  of  many 
others,  which  it  is  not  in  place  for  me  to  state. 

The  names  of  the  matrons,  with  the  meanings,  are  : 


Nias  Bibi  Banu 
Faima  Banu 
Falica  Banu 
Cader  Bibi  Banu 


Niyaz  Bibi  Bano 
Fahimah  Bano 
Falaki  Bano 
Qadir  Bibi  Bano 


The  Present  Lady 
The  Philosopher  Lady 
The  Fortunate  Lady 
The  Powerful  Lady 


way  khanum  is  not  connected  with  khanah,  '  a  house  ' ;   it   is  the  feminine  of 
&£«»,  'a  lord,  a  noble.' 


NAMES  OF  DANCING-WOMEN 


335 


Noschaba  Banu 
Gol  Sultan  Banu 

Dil  jo  Banu 
Sin  tan  Banu 
Mer  niguer  Banu 
Nevel  Bay  Banu 
Chater  Bay  Banu 
Lai  Bay  Banu 
Ira  Bay  Banu 
Manse  Banu1 
Maha  Biquer 


Noshabah  Bano 
Gul  Sultan  Bano 

Dil-ju  Bano 
Sim-tan  Bano 
Mihr-nigar  Ba.no 
Naval  Bae  Bano 
Chatarai  Ba.no 
La'l  Bae  Bano 
Hira.  Bae  Ba.no 
Manik  Bano 
Mah-i-bikr 


The  Lady  Presenting  Liquor 
The    Lady    of    the     Royal 

Flower 
The  Lady  Heart  Repose 
The  Lady  Golden  Body 
The  Lady  of  Pitying  Glance 
The  New  Lady 
The  Discreet  Lady 
The  Ruby  Lady 
The  Diamond  Lady 
The  Pearl  Lady 
The  Full  Moon 


The  matrons  are  very  much  more  numerous,  but  not  to 
weary,  I  give  the  names  of  only  a  few  principal  ones,  who  are 
set  over  the  whole  mahal,  and  I  shall  adopt  the  same  course  in 
regard  to  the  singing-women,  dancing-women,  and  others. 

In  spite  of  Aurangzeb's  having  forbidden  all  music,  he  never- 
theless continued  always  to  entertain  in  his  palaces,  for  the 
diversion  of  the  queens  and  his  daughters,  several  dancing  and 
singing  women ;  and  even  conferred  special  names  on  their 
mistresses  or  superintendents.     Those  names  are  as  follows  : 


Names  of  the  Superintendents  of  the  Dancers  and  Singers, 
with  their  Meaning. 


Sondar  Bay 
Soroc  Bay 
Chalol  Bay 
Merg  nen 
Lai  Bay 
Ira.  Bay 
Manca  Bay 
Chalian  Bay 
Ras  Bay 
Nen  jot  Bay 
Merg  mala  Bay 

Gol  ro  Bay 
Chanchel  Bay 
Sanchel  Bay 
Dian  Bay 
Gian  Bay 


Sundar  Bae 
Surosh  Bae 
Chulohla  Bae 
Mirg-nain 
La'l  Bae 
Hira.  Bae 
Manasa  Bae 
Jaliya.  Bae 
Ras  Bae 
Nain-jot  Bae 
Mirg  mala.  Bae 

Gul-ru  Bae 
Chanchal  Bae 
Chanchal  Bae 
Dhyan  Bae 
Gyan  Bae 


Superintendent  of  Music 

The  Good  Voice 

The  Happy  [5] 

Gazelle-eyed 

Ruby 

Diamond 

Pearl 

The  Net 

Liquor 

Light  of  the  Eyes 

Flowery,    or    she    who    is 

covered  with  flowers 
Rose-visaged 
The  Bold 
The  Subtile 
The  Well-informed 
The  Inventive 


1  The  only  word  approaching  this  form,  and  having  a  meaning  which  might 
be  rendered  '  pearl,'  is  the  Hindi  manik,  a  jewel,  a  ruby. 


336 


NAMES  OF  SLAVE  WOMEN 


Ar  Bay 
Morad  Bay 
Mathalab  Bay 
Akas  Bay 
Abshera  Bay 
Caldar  Bay 
Becond  Bay 
Coshal  Bay 
Nial  Bay 
Ferae  Bay 
Golal  Bay 
Castury  Bay 
Carsewad  Bay 
Bessina  Bay 
Ader  Bay 
Sanchel  Bay 
Guecer  Bay 


Har  Bae 
Murad  Bae 
Matlab  Bae 
Akas  Bae 
Apsara  Bae 
Khaldar  Bae 
Baikunth  Bae 
Khushhal  Bae 
Nihal  Bae 
Farah  Bae  (?) 
Gulal  Bae 
Kasturi  Bae 
Kar-i-sawab  Bae 
Basna  Bae 
Udar  Bae  (?) 
Chanchal  Bae  (?) 
Kesar  Bae 


Flower-adorned 

The  Desired 

The  Foreseeing 

The  Celestial 

The  Seraphic 

The  Freckled 

Paradise 

The  Happy 

The  Abundant 

The  Healthy 

The  Rose 

Musk  or  Musk-perfumed 

Taste 

The  Pleasant-scented 

The  Replete 

The  Sufficient 

Saffron 


All  the  above  names  are  Hindu,  and  ordinarily  these  over- 
seers of  the  music  are  Hindus  by  race,  who  have  been  carried 
off  in  infancy  from  various  villages  or  the  houses  of  different 
rebel  Hindu  princes.  In  spite  of  their  Hindu  names,  they  are, 
however,  Mahomedans.  Each  has  under  her  orders  about  ten 
apprentices ;  and  along  with  these  apprentices  they  attend  the 
queens,  the  princesses,  and  the  concubines.  Each  one  has  her 
special  rank  according  to  her  standing.  The  queens  and  the 
other  ladies  pass  their  time  in  their  rooms,  each  with  her  own 
set  of  musicians.  None  of  these  musicians  are  allowed  to  sing 
elsewhere  than  in  the  rooms  of  the  person  to  whom  they  are 
attached,  except  at  some  great  festival.  Then  they  are  all 
assembled  and  ordered  to  sing  together  some  piece  or  other  in 
praise  of,  or  to  the  honour  of,  the  festival.  All  these  women  are 
pretty,  have  a  good  style  and  much  grace  in  their  gait,  are 
very  free  in  their  talk  and  exceedingly  lascivious,  their  only 
occupation,  outside  the  duties  of  their  office,  being  lewdness. 
'  Bae  '  in  the  Hindu  language  means  '  madam  '  or  '  lady.' 
The  names  of  the  principal  slaves  or  women  servants  in  the 
mahal  are  : 


Golal 

Gulal 

The  Rose 

Chambely 

Chambeli 

The  Jasmine  Flower 

Narguis 

Nargis 

The  Tulip  Flower 

Guecer 

Kesar 

Saffron 

NAMES  OF  SLAVES 


337 


Gaal  badam 

Gul-i-badam 

Almond  Flower 

Sosen 

Sosan 

The  Lily  Flower 

Hyassaman 

Yasmin 

The  Festival  [i.e. ,  Jashan] 

Castury 

Kasturi 

Musk 

Continuation  of  the  names  of  the  principal   slaves  in  the 
mahal : 


Chumpa 

Champa. 

Name  of  an  Indian  flower 

Rubel 

Bel 

Name  of  another  such  flower 
[?  jasmine] 

Sentz 

Sainti 

Another  flower  name 

Senovor 

Nainufar  (?) 

The  Tuberose1 

Gola  Basoy 

Gul-i-'abbasi 

The  Head  of  Flowers 

Gol  Frang 

Gul-i-farang 

The  Girofle 

Ranagol 

Ra'na-gul 

The  Good  Flower 

Gole  Andam 

Gul-andam 

The  Shape  of  a  Flower 

Golonour 

Gul-anar 

Pomegranate  Flower 

Anar  caly 

Anar-kali 

Pomegranate  Blossom 

Salony 

Saloni 

The  Holy  Sweetened  with 
Sugar 

Sobaty 

Suhbati 

The  Pleasing 

Neguy 

Neki 

The  Good-natured 

Jasgar 

Khas-kar  (?) 

The  Well-placed 

Doulany 

Daulati 

Riches 

Madraotty 

Madhumati 

The  Terrible 

Sogundara 

Sugandhara. 

The  Scented 

Geony 

Gyani 

The  Lively  or  Expert 

Choel 

Koil 

A  bird  in  India 

Lambac 

Lambuka  (?)2 

Lily  Flower 

Benofchu 

Banafshah 

The  Violet 

Gol  rang 

Gul-rang 

Flower-coloured 

Mendy 

Mendhi 

Red  Colour  [henna] 

Sud  barg 

Sad-barg 

Hundred-leaved 

Cosh  negu 

Khush-nigah 

The  Courteous 

Sandal 

Sandal 

Sandal 

Dila  Feros 

Dil-afroz 

Heart-delighting 

Ginda  del 

Zindah-dil 

Life  of  the  Heart 

Guet  qui 

Ketaki 

Name  of  an  Indian  flower 
[keora] 

[6]  Nias  bo 

Niyaz-bu 

Pleasant-smelling 

Much  naz 

Machh-naz  (?) 

Smart  and  Agile 

Moty 

MotI 

The  Pearl 

Nee  Cadam 

Nek-qadam 

The  Well-footed  Beauty 

Achanec 

Achanak 

The  Unexpected 

1  In  the  dictionaries  the  tuberose  is  shab-bu,  '  night-scented.' 

2  Lambuka,  the  name  of  an  apsara,  a  nymph  in  the  court  of  Indra. 
VOL.  II.  22 


338 


EXPENSES  OF  THE  HAREM 


Nas  bo 

Naz-bue 

Balm,  Basilicum 

Morgnen 

Mirg-nain 

Gazelle-eyed 

Nen  sue 

Nain-sukh 

Repose  of  the  Eyes 

Calval  nen 

Kamal-nain 

Lotus-eyed 

Dil  pasant 

Dil-pasand 

Flattering  the  Heart 

Dil  alam 

Dil-aram 

Repose  of  the  Heart 

Rang  mala 

Rang-mala 

Crowned  with  Flowers 

Bassenty 

Basanti 

The  Day  of  Festival 

Gombary 

Kamwari  (?) 

Full  of  Industry 

Ira 

Hira 

The  Diamond 

Coch-andam 

Khush-andam 

Perfect  in  Bearing 

Sareo  gol 

Sarv-gul 

A  Flower  among  Cypresses 

Quis  mix 

Kishmish 

The  '  Escuse ' >  (?) 

Pesta 

Pistah 

The  Pistachio 

All  these  names,  and  those  which  preceded,  are  more  Indian 
than  Persian.  The  kings  are  very  choice  about  giving  names 
to  suit  the  persons  receiving  them.  So  much  is  this  the  case 
that  they  call  these  principal  slaves  by  names  having  some  con- 
nection either  with  their  walk  or  their  gestures,  or  their  speech 
or  their  acts.  They  are  all  very  well  clad,  and  adorned  with 
valuable  jewels.  They  receive  the  same  pay  as  the  other  slaves, 
and  are  under  their  orders  ;  and  each  has  under  her  about  ten 
women,  over  whom  she  rules. 

The  expenses  of  the  mahal  are  extraordinary,  for  they  never 
amount  to  less  than  a  carol  (karor)  of  rupees— that  is,  ten  mil- 
lions of  rupees — which  makes  about  fifteen  millions  of  livres2  of 
Touraine.  But  out  of  this  the  king  draws  the  money  required 
for  the  sardpds,  or  robes,  which  he  presents  to  generals  and 
officers,  as  I  have  said  (I.  54).  The  above  expenditure  will  not 
appear  incredible  when  we  consider  that  all  persons  in  India 
being  extremely  choice  about,  and  fond  of,  scents  and  flowers, 
they  disburse  a  great  deal  for  essences  of  many  kinds,  for  rose- 
water,  and  for  scented  oils  distilled  from  different  flowers. 
Besides  all  that  expense,  there  is  the  betel,  which  is  always  in 
their  mouths.  It  must  also  be  noted  that  these  are  the  daily 
expenses,  to  which  must  be  added  the  continual  purchases  made 

1  Kishmish  means  '  raisin,'  and  perhaps  escuse  is  intended  for  asciugato  [Italian], 
'  dried  '  [grapes], 

2  According  to  Tavernier  (Ball),  i,  411,  a  livre  was  one-third  of  an  ecu  (held  to 
be  worth  4s.  6d.),  and  therefore  equal  to  is^  6d.,  and  15,000,000  livres  equals 
£1, 125,000. 


HAREM  JEWELLERY  AND  ORNAMENTS  339 

of  precious  stones.  From  this  cause  the  goldsmiths  are  almost 
continuously  busy  with  the  making  of  ornaments.  The  best 
and  the  most  costly  of  their  productions  are  for  the  king's 
person,  the  queens,  and  the  princesses. 

The  latter  make  it  one  of  their  diversions  to  examine  and 
show  to  others  their  jewellery.  But  they  have  their  reasons  for 
this ;  for  I  have  noticed  several  times  myself  when  introduced 
into  the  rooms  of  these  ladies,  they  having  asserted  that  they 
had  some  reason  for  consulting  me,  that  they  often  caused  their 
ornaments  and  jewels  to  be  brought,  solely  as  an  opening  for  a 
conversation.  The  things  are  brought  in  great  trays  of  gold. 
They  would  inquire  from  me  their  virtues  and  properties,  and 
make  other  similar  remarks.  During  this  time  I  had  sufficient 
leisure  to  examine  them,  and  I  may  say  I  have  seen  every 
sort  of  stone,  some  of  an  extraordinary  size,  and  strings  of 
pearls  very  equal  in  size,  which  at  the  first  start  I  often  took 
for  various  kinds  of  fruit.  I  say  various  kinds  of  fruit,  for 
there  were  strings  of  rubies  pierced  and  strung  together  just 
like  the  pearls,  and  about  the  size  of  a  nut.  These,  by  their 
red  colour,  diversified  that  of  the  pearls,  and  I  took  the  whole 
for  fruit. 

These  ladies  keep  their  rubies  in  this  condition  in  order  not 
to  diminish  their  size  and  weight,  for  they  know  quite  well  that 
no  one  but  themselves  would  be  able  to  wear  them,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  have  no  need  to  sell  them.  Thus  they  do 
not  mind  their  being  pierced.  They  wear  these  necklaces  of 
jewels  like  scarves,  on  both  shoulders,  added  to  three  strings 
of  pearls  on  each  side.  Usually  they  have  also  three  to  five 
rows  of  pearls  hanging  from  their  neck,  coming  down  as  far  as 
the  lower  part  of  the  stomach.  Upon  the  middle  of  the  head 
is  a  bunch  of  pearls  which  hangs  down  as  far  as  the  centre  of 
the  forehead,  with  a  valuable  ornament  of  costly  stones  formed 
into  the  shape  of  the  sun,  or  moon,  or  some  star,  or  at  times 
imitating  different  flowers.  This  suits  them  exceedingly  well. 
On  the  right  side  they  have  a  little  round  ornament  (boucle),  in 
which  is  a  small  ruby  inserted  between  [7]  two  pearls.  In  their 
ears  are  valuable  stones,  round  the  neck  large  pearls  or  strings 
of  precious  stones,  and  over  these  a  valuable  ornament  having 

22 — 2 


340  DRESS  OF  HAREM  LADIES 

in  its  centre  a  big  diamond,  or  ruby,  or  emerald,  or  sapphire, 
and  round  it  huge  pearls. 

They  wear  on  their  arms,  above  the  elbow,  rich  armlets  two 
inches  wide,  enriched  on  the  surface  with  stones,  and  having 
small  bunches  of  pearls  depending  from  them.  At  their  wrists 
are  very  rich  bracelets,  or  bands  of  pearls,  which  usually  go 
round  nine  or  twelve  times.  In  this  way  they  often  have  the 
place  for  feeling  the  pulse  so  covered  up  that  I  found  it  difficult 
to  put  my  hand  upon  it.  On  their  fingers  are  rich  rings,  and 
on  the  right  thumb  there  is  always  a  ring,  where,  in  place  of  a 
stone,  there  is  mounted  a  little  round  mirror,  having  pearls 
around  it.  This  mirror  they  use  to  look  at  themselves,  an  act  of 
which  they  are  very  fond,  at  any  and  every  moment.  In  addi- 
tion, they  are  girded  with  a  sort  of  waistbelt  of  gold  two  fingers 
wide,  covered  all  over  with  great  stones ;  at  the  ends  of  the 
strings  which  tie  up  their  drawers  there  are  bunches  of  pearls 
made  up  of  fifteen  strings  five  fingers  in  length.  Round  the 
bottom  of  their  legs  are  valuable  metal  rings  or  strings  of  costly 
pearls. 

All  these  princesses  own  six  to  eight  sets  of  jewels,  in 
addition  to  some  other  sets  of  which  I  do  not  speak,  worn 
according  to  their  own  fancy.  Their  dresses  are  superb  and 
costly,  perfumed  with  essence  of  roses.  Every  day  they  change 
their  clothes  several  times ;  this  is  due  to  the  vicissitudes  in  the 
weather,  which  occur  continually  in  the  Mogul  country.  When 
these  ladies  want  to  dispose  of  their  jewels,  it  is  almost  im- 
possible for  them  to  do  so.  For  Prince  Akbar,  when  he  was  in 
the  territory  of  Shiva  Ji,  finding  himself  without  money,  sent 
five  rubies  to  Goa  to  be  sold.  They  were  equal  to  those  I 
spoke  of  above.  Yet  no  one  wanted  to  buy,  owing  to  the  high 
prices  he  asked,  also  because  they  were  pierced. 

All  women  in  India  are  in  the  habit  of  scenting  their  hands 
and  feet  with  a  certain  earth,1  which  they  call  mendy  (mehndi), 
which  colours  the  hands  and  feet  red,  in  such  a  way  that  they 

1  In  the  French  text  the  word  is  passe ;  in  Portuguese  the  author  uses  it  many 
times  in  different  forms — pauso,  poco,  posso,  and  so  forth — and,  collating  all  these 
passages,  I  find  it  means  either  a  pond,  a  marsh,  or  else  clay  and  mud.  I  have 
not  found  it  in  any  dictionary,  French  or  Portuguese.  Menhdl  {hernia)  is,  however, 
not  an  earth,  but  the  leaves  of  a  plant  pounded  and  formed  into  a  paste. 


HAREM  LIFE  341 

look  as  if  they  had  on  gloves.  They  do  this  because  they  can 
wear  neither  gloves  nor  stockings  on  account  of  the  great 
heats  which  prevail  in  India.  They  are  also  obliged  thereby 
to  put  on  such  exceedingly  thin  raiment  that  their  skin  shows 
through.  They  call  these  clothes  siricas  {?sari)f  and  others 
malmal  {i.e.,  muslin).  Ordinarily  they  wear  two  or  even  three 
garments,  each  weighing  not  more  than  one  ounce,  and  worth 
from  forty  to  fifty  rupees  each.  This  is  without  counting  the 
[gold]  lace  that  they  are  in  the  habit  of  adding.  They  sleep  in 
these  clothes,  and  renew  them  every  twenty-four  hours,  and 
never  put  them  on  again,  but  give  them  away  to  their  servants. 

Their  hair  is  always  very  well  dressed,  plaited,  and  perfumed 
with  scented  oil.  They  cover  their  heads  with  a  sheet  of  cloth 
of  gold,  and  these  are  of  different  makes  and  colours.  During 
the  cold  weather — that  is  to  say,  the  less  hot  season  ;  as  for 
winter,  they  do  not  know  in  India  what  that  means — in  that 
season,  I  say,  they  wear  the  same  clothes,  covering  themselves 
on  the  top  of  the  other  things,  however,  with  a  woollen  cabaye 
(qaba,  a  long  open  gown),  of  fine  Kashmir  make.  Above 
their  other  clothes  they  put  on  fine  shawls,  so  thin  that  they 
can  be  passed  through  a  small  finger-ring. 

Their  amusement  at  night  is  generally  to  have  large  torches 
lighted,  on  which  they  will  spend  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  rupees.  The  torches  are  made  with  wax  or  oil. 
Some  of  these  princesses  wear  turbans  by  the  king's  permission. 
On  the  turban  is  a  valuable  aigrette,  surrounded  by  pearls 
and  precious  stones.  This  is  extremely  becoming,  and  makes 
them  look  very  graceful  [8].  During  entertainments,  such  as 
balls  and  such-like,  there  are  dancing-women  who  have  the 
same  privilege. 

These  queens  and  princesses  have  pay  or  pensions  according 
to  their  birth  or  the  rank  they  hold.  In  addition,  they  often 
receive  from  the  king  special  presents  in  cash,  under  the  pretext 
that  it  is  to  buy  betel,  or  perfumes,  or  shoes.  They  live  in 
this  way,  with  no  cares  or  anxieties,  occupying  themselves  with 
nothing  beyond  displaying  great  show  and  magnificence,  an 
imposing  and  majestuous  bearing,  or  making  themselves 
attractive,  getting  talked  about  in  the  world,  and  pleasing  the 


342  AURANGZEB'S  PERSONAL  ATTIRE 

king.  For,  in  spite  of  there  being  among  them  many  jealousies, 
they  conceal  this  as  a  matter  of  policy. 

In  the  midst  of  so  much  idleness,  enjoyment,  and  grandeur, 
they  cannot  fail  to  get  their  minds  loaded  with  the  impurity  of 
many  vices.  For  they  never  reflect  on  death,  and  through  all 
the  palaces  such  a  thing  is  never  mentioned,  nor  anything  to 
bring  it  before  the  eyes  or  mind.  When  these  ladies  chance  to 
fall  ill,  they  are  carried  away  to  a  very  pretty  set  of  rooms 
in  the  palace,  which  they  style  the  btmdr-khdnah,  or  house  for 
the  sick.  There  they  are  nursed  and  tended  with  all  possible 
exactitude,  and  they  only  come  forth  either  well  or  dead. 
When  the  latter  is  the  case,  the  king  seizes  all  the  wealth 
of  the  defunct.  If  the  patient  is  one  esteemed  by  the  monarch, 
he  goes  to  see  her  at  the  beginning  of  her  illness,  and  if  she 
does  not  recover  promptly,  he  does  not  go  back  to  her  again, 
but  he  sends  from  time  to  time  a  slave  to  ask  after  the  state  of 
her  health. 

Although  the  women  in  the  mahal  treat  themselves  so  sump- 
tuously and  display  all  the  dignity  that  I  have  reported, 
Aurangzeb  sees  no  harm.  For  all  Mahomedans  are  very  fond 
of  women,  who  are  their  principal  relaxation  and  almost  their 
only  pleasure.  Further,  it  is  an  ancient  custom  of  the  Mogul 
kings  to  act  in  this  way.  As  for  the  present  king,  he  hardly 
conducts  himself  so  pompously  as  his  father,  Shahjahan. 
His  clothes  are  very  plain,  and  he  wears  few  ornaments — 
nothing  but  a  small  plume  or  aigrette  in  the  middle  of  his 
turban  and  a  large  precious  stone  in  front ;  on  his  stomach 
another.  He  wears  no  strings  of  pearls,  as  all  his  descendants 
do,  down  to  the  fourth  generation.  His  coats  are  always  made 
of  a  very  moderately-priced  material,  for  each  qabd  (gown)  does 
not  exceed  ten  rupees  in  cost. 

All  the  stones  he  wears  have  special  names,  almost  always 
taken  from  some  planet,  such  as  the  sun,  the  moon,  or  that 
of  a  star,  or  other  similar  names,  such  as  he  judges  appro- 
priate. He  finds  it  strange  to  call  for  them  by  their  own 
name,  which  would  be  to  ask  for  stones ;  therefore  when  he 
wants  to  wear  one  he  orders  them  to  bring  him  the  'sun,'  the 
'  moon,'  et  cetera. 


ALLOWANCES  TO  PRINCES  343 

Of  these  precious  stones  the  Mogul  has  a  quantity  inherited 
from  Taimur-i-lang  and  the  other  kings,  his  predecessors,  also 
those  obtained  in  the  conquests  of  the  Bijajur  and  Gulkandah 
kingdoms.  In  addition  there  are  those  he  is  daily  buying. 
This  takes  no  account  of  the  fact  that  in  these  days  he  has 
become  master  of  the  diamond  mines,  and  there  is  no  stint 
of  stones,  the  largest  and  best.  For,  although  King  Humayun 
was  dethroned  and  expelled  from  his  kingdom  by  Sher  Shah, 
he  did  not  thereby  lose  his  jewels,  for  he  took  them  away  and 
brought  them  back  with  him  [9]. 

When  a  princess  is  born  in  the  mahal  the  women  rejoice,  and 
go  to  great  expense  as  a  mark  of  their  joy.  If  a  prince  is  born, 
then  all  the  court  takes  part  in  the  rejoicings,  which  last  several 
days,  as  the  king  may  ordain.  Instruments  are  played  and 
music  resounds ;  the  nobles  appear  to  offer  their  congratula- 
tions to  the  king,  bringing  presents,  either  in  jewels,  money, 
elephants,  or  horses.  The  same  day  he  imposes  on  the  infant 
[a  name]  and  fixes  his  allowance,  which  is  always  more  than 
that  given  to  the  highest  general  in  the  army.  He  furthermore 
nominates  officials  to  look  after  the  lands  which  have  been 
assigned  to  the  child.  At  the  year's  end  any  surplus  left  from 
the  income  of  any  such  prince  is  kept  apart  in  the  treasury. 
When  he  is  married  and  has  a  palace  of  his  own  this  money  is 
made  over  to  him. 

The  allowance  of  no  prince  exceeds  the  rank  of  fifty  hazdrl 
(fifty  thousand),  that  ordinarily  granted  to  the  eldest  son.  At 
the  present  time  this  is  Shah  'Alam,  who  has  an  income  of 
twenty  millions  of  rupees.  This  prince  has  in  his  ma/ial  two 
thousand  women,  and  maintains  a  court  as  superb  as  that  of 
the  king,  his  father.  When  these  princes  once  leave  the 
paternal  house,  they  work  and  scheme  to  make  themselves 
friends.  They  write  secretly  to  the  Hindu  princes  and  the 
Mahomedan  generals,  promising  them  that  when  they  become 
king  they  will  raise  their  allowances.  The  others  close  with 
the  bargain,  and  if  any  of  these  princes  mounts  the  throne,  he 
fancies  that  they  have  been  faithful  to  him. 

When  a  son  is  born  to  any  of  the  princes  it  is  the  grandfather 
who   fixes   the   child's   name.     He   also  grants  an  allowance, 


344  PRESENTS  AND  OFFERINGS 

different,  however,  from  that  of  his  own  children,  giving  the 
child  two  or  three  hundred  rupees  a  day.  The  child's  father 
also  gives  something,  and  supports  an  establishment  for  the 
child  according  to  the  income  assigned  him.  This  continues 
until  he  is  of  marriageable  age,  and  then  he  is  given  a  grander 
retinue.  The  king's  sons  are  called  Pacha-zadah  (Badshah-zaddh) 
— that  is,  '  Born  of  the  King ' — and  the  sons  of  princes  are 
called  sazadah  (shdh-zddah) — that  is,  '  Born  of  a  Prince ' — and 
they  bear  the  title  of  Sultan. 

Any  presents  made  to  the  king  are  accepted  in  his  capacity 
of  sovereign — that  is  to  say,  he  believes  or  makes  out  that  these 
gifts  are  his  by  right,  as  homage  rendered  to  his  supreme 
majesty.  Even  those  of  ambassadors  are  so  considered ;  he 
receives  them  with  demonstrations  which  prove  his  belief  that 
in  accepting  he  is  conferring  a  signal  favour.  For  he  estimates 
himself  to  be  the  greatest  monarch  in  the  world.  For  this 
reason,  when  he  writes  to  any  king  he  designates  him  by  the 
titles  of  consul,  syndic,  or  president. 

If  anyone  makes  a  present  at  court  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
some  charge  or  an  appointment,  and,  as  sometimes  happens,  he 
gets  nothing,  his  present  is  useless.  I  was  witness  of  some- 
thing of  the  sort,  which  happened  to  Monsieur  Raisin,1  a  French 
merchant.  He  presented  to  the  king  an  emerald  worth  one 
thousand  rupees  on  the  supposition  that  the  king,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  gift,  would  buy  all  the  jewels  he  had  for  sale.  Yet 
he  never  bought  one.  Then  he  (Raisin)  was  sorry  at  having 
given  the  present,  and  spoke  to  Multafat  Khan,2  at  that  time 
superintendent  of  the  king's  wardrobe,  and  prayed  that  he 
would  use  influence  to  get  him  back  his  emerald.  It  is  true 
that  he  obtained  it,  but  it  cost  him  half  of  what  it  was  worth 
[10].  Even  then  it  was  a  favour  the  king  showed  him,  because 
he  was  a  foreigner. 

It  is  a  custom  established  throughout  India  that  without 
friends  and  without  interest  nothing  can  be  done.     Even  princes 

1  Tavernier  (Ball),  ii.  304.  M.  Raisin  is  mentioned  as  dining  along  with 
Tavernier  and  another  Frenchman  at  the  table  of  the  Augustinian  Fathers  who 
resided  at  the  court  of  Gulkandah.    The  year  was  apparently  1660  or  1661. 

2  More  probably  it  was  his  brother  Iftikhar  Khan,  who  became  Khansaman 
(Lord  Chamberlain)  in  the  sixth  year  (1663-64)  ('  M.-ul-U.,'  iii.  612). 


NEW  YEAR'S  DAY  GIFTS  345 

of  the  blood  royal,  if  they  want  to  carry  out  any  purpose,  cannot 
do  so  without  paying.  It  is  such  a  usual  thing  to  give  and  to 
receive  that  when  any  eunuch  or  any  princess  asks  the  king  for 
something  as  a  favour  to  some  general  or  officer,  be  it  an  ap- 
pointment or  some  other  favour  of  any  consequence,  the  king 
never  omits  to  ask  how  much  has  been  received.  The  other 
side  ordinarily  admit  the  exact  amount,  which  the  prince  is 
aware  of,  and  he  leaves  a  portion  with  the  intercessor  and  takes 
the  rest  himself,  sending  it  to  be  locked  up  in  the  treasury. 

He  did  not  act  thus,  however,  with  the  wazlr,  Ja'far  Khan. 
All  he  did  was  to  direct  one  of  his  officers  to  collect  together 
the  money  for  the  appointments  granted,  with  instructions  to 
render  an  account  daily  of  what  had  been  received,  if  the  total 
were  twenty-five  thousand  rupees  or  more  ;  if  less,  no  account 
need  be  sent  in.  Thereupon  it  happened  one  day  that  a  certain 
Fida,e  Khan1  had  returned  from  Ilavas  (Allahabad)  to  court. 
He  was  no  friend  of  Ja'far  Khan,  so  one  day  when  presenting 
to  the  king  an  officer  seeking  employment,  he  said :  '  This  trifle 
has  been  worth  twelve  thousand  rupees  to  Ja'far  Khan.'  The 
king  resented  so  public  a  reproach  ;  nevertheless  he  dissembled, 
and  soon  after  sent  Fida,e  Khan  to  Lahor  as  governor. 

Upon  birthdays  and  other  days  of  festival,  above  all  on  that 
of  the  New  Year,  when  the  king  and  the  princes  have  them- 
selves weighed,  as  I  shall  state  farther  on  (III.  12) — oh  those 
days,  I  say,  the  chief  ladies  of  the  court  are  obliged  to  attend  at 
the  palace  to  make  their  compliments  to  the  queens  and  prin- 
cesses. From  this  ceremony  the  wives  of  Pathan  captains  are 
exempted.  When  the  ladies  attend  there  they  never  go  in  with 
empty  hands,  but  always  carry  costly  presents  to  be  offered. 
They  remain  at  the  court  until  the  end  of  the  feast,  which  lasts 
usually  six  to  nine  days.  The  dancing-women  and  singing- 
women  receive  on  these  occasions  handsome  presents  from  the 
princesses  and  other  great  ladies.  They  either  sing  to  compli- 
ment them  on  their  birthday,  or  invoke  on  them  all  kinds  of 
prosperity  when  congratulating  them  at  the  New  Year. 

1  This  must  be  the  Fida.e  Khan  (or  A'zam  Khan.  Kokah),  brother  of  Bahadur 
Khan,  or  Khan  Jahan,  Bahadur,  Kokaltash,  of  whom  there  have  been  several 
mentions  before. 


346  BIRTHDAYS— THE  KING'S  TITLES 

The  ladies  respond  then  to  all  the  praises,  which  the  singing- 
women  never  fail  to  shower  on  them,  by  full  trays  of  gold  and 
silver  coin  which  they  throw  to  them.  All  the  matrons  re- 
ceive sarapas  (robes)  and  jewels,  and  their  allowances  are 
increased.  The  great  ladies  are  well  received  upon  their  arrival ; 
they  also  obtain  costly  sarapas  (robes)  and  jewels.  At  the  time 
when  they  say  good-bye  their  hands  are  filled  with  kicharl, 
which  is,  in  its  literal  meaning,  a  mixed  dish  made  up  of  several 
kinds  of  vegetables.  As  to  this,  it  must  be  remarked  that 
the  kicharl  of  these  queens  and  princes  is  not  of  that  sort,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  a  mixture  of  gold  and  silver  coin,  with  all 
kinds  of  precious  stones  and  pearls,  large  and  small. 

The  day  when  a  prince  or  a  princess  is  born  they  give  the 
infant  a  string  of  yellow  silk  with  a  knot  in  it,  which  is  a  mark 
of  the  day  he  came  into  the  world.  The  next  year,  on  the  same 
day,  they  make  another  knot,  and  a  feast  is  held  as  before,  and 
thus  they  continue  to  the  end  of  life.1  Upon  the  very  day  of 
birth  they  place  in  a  [n]  small  bag  the  navel-string  which  has 
been  severed  by  a  thread,  and  for  forty  days  the  whole  is  left 
under  the  prince's  pillow  along  with  certain  superstitious 
writings.  At  the  end  of  the  forty  days  the  bag  is  hung  round 
the  child's  neck,  and  this  is  never  omitted  in  the  Mogul  country. 

The  following  is  the  manner  in  which  the  Mogul's  vassals 
address  him,  or,  rather,  the  titles  that  they  give  to  him,  with 
their  meaning : 

Azarat  Salamat  Hazrat  salamat  Holy  in  Health 

Gueble  Dia  Danie  Qiblah-i-din-dunya  The   Temple  of  the   Faith 

and  the  World 
Gueble  do  Jania  Qiblah-i-du  jahanan  The    Temple    of    the    Two 

Universes 
Gueble  Ja  Sam  Qiblah-ja-i-sama'  The  Temple  of  the  World 

Alam  Pana  'Alam-panah  The  Support  of  the  World 

Usually  Aurangzeb  is  called  Plr-i-dastglr — that  is, '  Holy  man 
who  removes  with  his  hand  sorrows  and  cares.' 

When  the  little  princes,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  above,  have 
reached  the  age  of  five,  they  are  taught  to  read  and  write  the 

1  Herklots,  '  Qanoone  Islam,'  p.  26,  the  s&l-girah  (annual  knot).  There  the 
string  is  said  to  be  red,  and  not  yellow. 


EDUCATION  OF  PRINCES  347 

paternal  tongue,  which  is  the  Tartar,  or  the  ancient  speech  of 
the  Turks.  After  this  they  are  made  over  to  learned  men  and 
courteous  eunuchs,  who  bring  them  up  with  great  strictness, 
and  teach  them  the  liberal  and  military  arts.  The  teachers  take 
the  greatest  care  to  hinder  the  princes  from  acquiring  bad 
habits.  Usually  to  amuse  them  they  have  acted  before  them 
many  comedies,  or  their  teachers  conduct  before  them  legal 
argumentations,  actions  at  law,  or  some  imbroglio,  after  which 
judgments  are  pronounced.  They  show  them  combats  and 
fights  and  similar  things,  the  whole  with  a  view  to  their  having, 
should  they  ever  obtain  rule,  some  knowledge  of  the  world's 
business,  and  be  able  to  judge  in  every  matter  with  discernment 
and  without  passion. 

In  regard  to  this  it  once  happened  to  me  that  I  was  treating 
a  little  child  of  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din  for  a  small  sore  he  had  on 
his  head.  One  day  I  said  laughingly,  to  make  him  forget  the 
pain  he  felt,  that  he  must  not  be  angry.  The  eunuchs  and  the 
matrons  who  were  present  found  what  I  had  said  to  be  most 
extraordinary,  and  replying  to  me,  they  said  that  Mogul  princes 
were  never  disturbed  in  mind,  and  all  they  did  was  void  of 
passion  and  full  of  prudence. 

When  the  king  goes  out  to  hunt  or  to  visit  the  mosque,  he 
takes  these  young  princes  with  him.  This  is  the  mode  in  which 
they  are  brought  up  inside  the  palace  until  the  age  of  sixteen 
years.  At  this  age  they  are  married.  .  .  .l  The  tutors  are  re- 
tained all  their  lives  in  the  palace  with  a  decent  pension.  After 
a  prince  is  married  the  king  gives  him  a  separate  palace,  with 
a  great  income  and  a  large  establishment ;  but  along  with  all 
that  he  always  keeps  near  them  good  tutors  and  most  careful 
spies,  who  inform  him  of  all  that  passes  every  day. 

When  these  princes  have  gone  to  live  in  separate  palaces 
they  observe  their  birthday  or  other  festival  themselves  in  the 
manner  I  have  stated  (III.  10),  and  their  officers  are  obliged  to 
make  them  presents  in  proportion  to  their  wealth.  Thus,  on 
this  head  it  happened  that  in  the  year  16792  at  the  town  of 

1  Some  indecorous  details  are  omitted. 

2  The  30th  Rajab,  1090  H.,  which  was  Shah  'Alam's  birthday,  fell  in  1679  on 
September  6,  N.S.     He  was  then  thirty-seven. 


348  NEW  YEAR  FESTIVAL— WEIGHINGS 

Aurangabad,  where  Shah  'Alam  was  celebrating  his  birthday, 
the  queen,  his  mother,  then  living  with  him,  made  him  a  pre- 
sent of  many  curiosities  to  the  value  of  fifty  thousand  rupees, 
at  which  the  prince  [12]  was  not  satisfied,  and  complained, 
saying  that  his  mother  had  been  very  niggardly  compared  to 
other  years.  In  this  way  the  queen  was  forced  into  giving  him 
more  presents.  The  other  princesses  of  his  household  in  the 
same  way  gave  according  to  their  means  and  substance.  So 
much  is  this  done,  that  on  such  an  occasion  it  is  generally 
indispensable  for  everyone,  small  and  great,  to  act  in  this  way 
and  see  that  their  present  corresponds  to  their  means  and  rank. 

Their  year  commences  on  the  22nd  March,1  at  which  time  a 
great  festival  is  held,  as  I  have  said  (III.  10).  The  palaces  are 
decked  inside  and  out  with  high  and  costly  hangings,  made  by 
order  of  Shahjahan  along  with  the  throne,  like  a  peacock,  of 
which  I  have  spoken  (II.  34).  This  is  of  very  great  value,  and 
the  maker  never  had  the  felicity  of  seating  himself  upon  it. 
Aurangzeb  was  the  first,  who,  upon  the  day  of  his  coronation, 
had  the  benefit  of  ascending  this  superb  seat.  It  was  placed 
under  lofty  tents,  and  he  continues  to  use  it  on  the  festival  day 
of  which  I  speak.  It  is  at  that  time  the  usage  to  place  on  each 
side  of  the  throne,  but  a  little  lower,  all  the  thrones  used  by 
the  kings  of  Hindustan  who  preceded  the  present  monarch. 

It  is  upon  that  day  that  the  persons  of  the  blood  royal  are 
weighed,  according  to  ancient  custom,  in  different  ways — that 
is  to  say,  first  against  seven  kinds  of  metal,  such  as  gold,  silver, 
copper,  iron,  et  cetera  ;  the  second,  against  seven  kinds  of  cloth — 
cloth  of  gold,  cloth  of  silver,  velvet,  et  cetera;  and  the  third 
against  seven  kinds  of  grain — that  is,  wheat,  rice,  barley,  et  cetera. 
All  this  is  done  to  discover  the  difference  between  one  year  and 
another.  All  the  things  weighed  out  are  given  to  the  poor,  and 
what  everyone  has  weighed  is  recorded  in  a  book  in  memory  of 
the  occasion. 

The  king  makes  great  gains  on  that  day,  for  everybody  in  the 
palace,  and  all  the  nobles  of  the  court,  are  obliged  to  make  him 
large  presents.     The  day  is  called  Nauroz — that  is  to  say,  '  New 

1  This  is  the  old  Persian  year,  of  which  the  Nauroz,  or  New  Year's  Day,  agrees 
with  the  sun's  entry  into  Aries. 


THE  'ID— PUBLIC  PRAYERS  349 

Day.'  On  his  part,  also,  the  king  scatters  his  favours  to  his 
subjects  by  placing  and  displacing  governors  and  officers,  by 
giving  jewels,  elephants,  and  horses,  and  sets  of  robes  (sardpas). 
When  he  is  in  camp  the  festival  is  not  celebrated  with  the 
same  magnificence,  and  the  thrones  are  not  used,  since  they  are 
never  brought  outside  the  fortress  of  Dihli. 

Another  festival  is  also  celebrated,  which  they  call  Hid  Corban 
{'Id-i-qurban) — that  is  to  say,  '  the  Festival  of  Sacrifice  ';  it 
comes  at  the  end  of  their  Lent.1  On  that  day,  at  nine  o'clock, 
the  king  comes  forth  from  his  palace  with  great  display  and 
majesty,  and  visits  the  great  mosque,  where  the  chief  qazl 
awaits  him,  standing  on  a  platform  with  seven  steps.  Behind 
him  is  a  slave  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  held 
upright. 

After  the  first  ceremonies  the  qazl  is  required  to  announce  in 
a  loud  voice  the  names  of  all  the  Mogul  kings,  beginning  with 
Taimur-i-lang,  [and]  the  years  of  their  reign.  All  this  he  must 
utter  with  much  force  and  eloquence.  On  coming  to  that  of 
the  then  reigning  king  he  must  make  a  panegyric  of  him,  with 
which  he  never  fails  to  mix  much  flattering  praise.  He  gives 
him  the  title  of  propagator  and  conservator  of  the  Mahomedan 
faith.  Finally,  he  applauds  all  his  doings,  exalting  also  to  the 
best  of  his  power  his  valour  and  equity.  In  giving  out  this 
discourse  the  qazl  needs  to  be  very  careful,  and  display  much 
presence  of  mind,  for  if  he  made  any  mistake  and  omitted  some- 
thing, the  executioner  stands  ready  at  his  back  to  remove  his 
head. 

This  harangue  having  been  finished,  the  qazl  is  rewarded 
with  seven  sets  of  robes,  given  him  by  the  king.  On  leaving 
the  mosque,  they  find  standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps  a 
camel  ready  for  the  sacrifice.  The  king,  having  mounted  his 
horse,  gives  the  camel  a  lance-thrust  in  the  neck  ;  or  if  he  does 
not  do  it  himself,  he  orders  one  of  his  children  to  do  it.  Usually 
when  Shah  'Alam  was  at  court  it  was  [13]  he  who  performed 
that  ceremony,  or  sacrifice,  as  they  style  it.     After  that  the 

1  N.  M.  here  mistakes  the  names;  the  feast  at  the  end  of  the  Rama?an  fast  is 
'Id-ul-fitr,  '  Festival  of  Breaking  the  Fast.'  The  'ld-ul-qurban  is  held  on  the  tenth 
day  of  the  month  Zu,l  Ilijjah  (the  twelfth  month  of  their  year). 


35° 


NAMES  OF  EUNUCHS 


slaves  stretch  it  (the  camel)  on  the  ground,  and  divide  its  flesh 
among  themselves,  as  if  it  were  a  saint's  relics. 

As  I  have  already  given  a  list  of  many  names  of  the  mahal 
women,  I  consider  it  is  not  without  use  to  give  those  of  the 
principal  eunuchs  of  the  royal  household,  serving  inside  and 
outside  that  mansion,  or  rather  prison,  for  the  ladies. 

Among  these  principal  eunuchs  there  is  always  one  set  above 
the  rest  who  directs  and  looks  after  everything  that  goes  on  in 
the  mahal.  The  man  holding  this  office  is  highly  esteemed  by 
the  king.  He  has  a  large  allowance,  has  charge  of  the  treasury, 
is  master  of  the  wardrobe,  decides  on  the  details  and  the  pattern 
of  the  sarapas  (robes)  to  be  prepared  ;  in  short,  it  is  he  who  has 
charge  of  all  the  mahal  expenditure  of  the  clothes,  the  linen, 
and  the  precious  stones,  of  the  jewellery,  of  everything  that 
goes  into  or  comes  out  of  the  palace.  Each  of  these  eunuchs 
has  a  separate  title  given  him  by  the  king. 


Nader 

Nadir 

The  Excellent 

Danial 

Danyal 

Of  Good  Family 

Danech 

Danish 

The  Learned 

Doulat 

Daulat 

Riches 

Matlub 

Matlab 

Intention 

Issof 

Yusuf 

Goodness 

Yacut 

Ya'qQt 

Ruby 

Almas 

Almas 

Diamond 

Semerad 

Zumurrud 

Emerald 

Nilem 

Nilam 

Sapphire 

Marjan 

Marjan 

Coral 

Macbul 

Maqbul 

Graceful 

Meva  Jan 

Mewa-i-jan 

Fruit  of  Life 

Inayat 

'Inayat 

Favour 

Nee  nam 

Neknam 

Good  Name 

Feros 

Firuz 

Valour 

Imaet 

Himmat 

Courage 

Fata 

Fath 

Victory 

Faem 

Fahim 

Learned 

Mahalat  [?  Mahabat] 

Mahabat  (?) 

Of  Good  Family 

Sahadet 

Sa'adat 

The  Efficient 

Salamat 

Salamat 

Health 

Ayat 

Haiyat 

Life 

Daem 

Da.im 

For  Ever 

Elal 

Hilal 

New  Moon 

Balat 

Balat 

Loud-voiced 

Anvar 

Anwar 

Limited 

DUTIES  OF  THE  NAZIR  AND  EUNUCHS 


35i 


Abnus 

Abnus 

Ebony 

Maharem 

Mabram 

A  Confidante 

Amit 

Amrit 

The  Precious 

Coja  Sara 

Khwajah  Sara 

The  News-writer 
the  Seraglio 

Holfat 

Ulfat 

Friendship 

Macul 

Ma'qul 

Prudent 

Sadec 

Sadiq 

Confident 

Maclhad 

Maslahat 

Imagination 

Assalat 

Asalat 

Noble 

Amanat 

Amanat 

A  Deposit 

Atbar 

1'tiba.r 

Faithful 

All  the  eunuchs  whose  names  are  given  above  have  the  title 
of  nazir — that  is  to  say,  guardian  or  superintendent.  The 
kings,  princes,  queens,  and  princesses,  place  great  confidence 
in  these  people,  and  each  queen,  princess,  or  other  lady  of 
quality  has  a  nazir  in  charge  of  her  property,  lands,  and  income. 
All  the  officials,  servants,  and  slaves  are  bound  to  account  to 
the  nazir  for  all  they  do,  and  for  whatever  they  have  in  their 
hands. 

This  nazir  generally  has  under  him  other  eunuchs,  young 
and  old,  of  which  some  have  access  to  the  mahal,  either  to  carry 
billets  or  do  other  messages,  as  the  service  of  the  person  em- 
ploying them  requires.  There  are  others  who  are  posted  at  the 
doors  to  see  who  comes  in  and  out  of  the  mahal.  They  search 
everything  with  great  care  to  stop  the  entry  of  bhang,  wine, 
ophion  (opium),  nutmegs  (noix  muscades),  or  other  drugs  which 
could  intoxicate,  for  all  women  in  mahals  love  much  such 
beverages.  Nor  do  they  permit  the  entry  into  the  place  of 
radishes,  cucumbers,  or  similar  vegetables  that  I  cannot  name. 

When  any  women  come  to  pay  a  visit  or  otherwise,  if  they 
are  not  known  they  are  searched,  no  respect  being  paid  either  to 
the  position  or  rank  of  the  person.  What  forces  the  eunuchs 
to  such  strict  measures  is  the  continual  fear  in  which  they  exist 
that  some  young  man  in  disguise  might  enter  in  female  dress. 
When  masons  or  carpenters,  or  other  workmen  are  wanted  to 
carry  out  any  job,  their  names  are  registered  at  each  gate  they 
pass  through  ;  the  descriptive  marks  on  their  faces,  and  so  forth, 
are  taken  down.  A  paper  showing  all  this  is  delivered  to  other 
eunuchs,  who  are  required  to  conduct  them  out  in  the  same 


i 


352  HAREM  RULES— VISITS  OF  PHYSICIANS 

way,  and  to  take  care  that  they  are  the  same  persons  with  the 
same  physiognomy  and  the  same  personal  marks.  All  this  is 
for  fear  of  anyone  remaining  inside,  or  any  [14]  change  being 
made. 

There  are  also  at  the  doors  women,  ordinarily  natives  of 
Kashmir,  who  are  employed  to  carry  away  and  to  bring  back 
anything  that  may  be  necessary ;  these  women  do  not  veil 
themselves  to  anybody.  The  chief  doors  of  the  mahal  are 
closed  at  sunset,  and  the  principal  door  of  all  is  guarded 
by  good  sentinels  posted  for  the  purpose,  and  a  seal  is 
attached.  Torches  are  kept  burning  all  night.  Each  of 
the  ladies  has  a  clock,  and  a  scribe  who  is  obliged  to  report 
to  the  ndzir  all  that  comes  in  or  goes  out,  and  everything 
that  happens. 

When  a  physician  enters,  he  is  conducted  by  the  eunuchs 
with  his  head  and  body  covered  as  far  down  as  the  waist,  and 
he  is  taken  out  again  in  the  same  way.  All  the  nobles  exercise 
the  same  exact  supervision  of  their  women  that  the  king  does. 
The  reason  is  that  Mahomedans  are  most  extraordinarily  dis- 
trustful upon  this  chapter ;  and  what  deserves  mention  is  that 
some  do  not  even  trust  their  own  brothers,  and  do  not  permit 
their  women  to  appear  before  them,  being  jealous  of  them.  Thus 
the  women,  being  shut  up  with  this  closeness  and  constantly 
watched,  and  having  neither  liberty  nor  occupation,  think  of 
nothing  but  adorning  themselves,  and  their  minds  dwell  on 
nothing  but  malice  and  lewdness.  Confession  of  this  was  made 
to  me  once  by  one  of  these  ladies  herself. 

It  was  the  wife  of  Asad  Khan,  the  wazlr  ;  her  name  was  Naval 
Bae,  and  she  told  me  that  her  only  thoughts  were  to  imagine 
something  by  which  she  could  please  her  husband  and  hinder 
his  going  near  other  women.  From  this  I  can  assert  that  they 
are  all  the  same.  If  they  have  any  other  thought,  it  is  to 
regale  themselves  with  quantities  of  delicious  stews  ;  to  adorn 
themselves  magnificently,  either  with  clothes  or  jewellery,  pearls, 
et  cetera ;  to  perfume  their  bodies  with  odours  and  essences  of 
every  kind.  To  this  must  be  added  that  they  have  permission 
to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  the  comedy  and  the  dance,  to  listen  to 
tales  and  stories  of  love,  to  recline  upon  beds  of  flowers,  to 


PRESENTS  FROM  PRINCESSES  353 

walk  about  in  gardens,  to  listen  to  the  murmur  of  the  running 
waters,  to  hear  singing,1  and  other  similar  pastimes. 

There  are  some  who  from  time  to  time  affect  the  invalid, 
simply  that  they  may  have  the  chance  of  some  conversation 
with,  and  have  their  pulse  felt  by,  the  physician  who  comes  to 
see  them.  The  latter  stretches  out  his  hand  inside  the  curtain  ; 
they  lay  hold  of  it,  kiss  it,  and  softly  bite  it.  Some,  out  of 
curiosity,  apply  it  to  their  breast,  which  has  happened  to  me 
several  times  ;  but  I  pretended  not  to  notice,  in  order  to  conceal 
what  was  passing  from  the  matrons  and  eunuchs  then  present, 
and  not  arouse  their  suspicions. 

Physicians  are  very  well  treated  by  these  ladies,  and  they 
too,  on  their  side,  maintain  much  discretion  both  in  their  way 
of  acting  and  in  their  speech,  which  is  always  restrained  and 
polished.  These  ladies  are  also  very  liberal  in  making  presents 
to  the  nobles  of  the  court,  and  most  industrious  in  obtaining 
appointments  and  promotion  for  those  that  they  esteem.  The 
presents  they  make  consist  of  horses,  sarapds  (robes),  plumes, 
and  other  things.  Very  rarely  is  any  service  done  them  or  any 
civility  shown  that  they  do  not  acknowledge  it  in  one  way  or 
another,  subject,  of  course,  to  treating  everyone  according  to 
his  merit,  or,  rather,  according  to  how  he  touches  the  heart  of 
the  lady.  Thus  I  have  seen  how  the  daughter  of  Aurangzeb 
acted  towards  the  Nawab  Zu,lfiqar  Khan  and  his  father. 

This  Nawab,  having  been  sent  by  the  king  to  govern  the 
Karnatik,2  went  before  starting  to  take  leave  of  this  princess, 
because  he  was  married  to  one  of  her  relations.  She  presented 
him  with  a  box  for  betel-leaf  and  a  spittoon  of  gold,  all  covered 
with  precious  stones.  A  year  afterwards  the  king  sent  his  son, 
Kam  Bakhsh,  to  the  same  place,  for  reasons  of  state,  under 

1  The  text  is  here  in  French,  and  the  words  used  are  le  cong,  which  I  take  as  a 
misspelling  of  le  chant.  The  only  other  possible  word  is  sankh,  but  blowing  that 
shell  is  hardly  a  harem  amusement,  and  its  use  in  Hindu  worship  makes  it  an 
abomination  to  Mahomedans. 

2  Kam  Bakhsh  was  sent  against  Jinji  in  the  thirty-fifth  year,  1102  H.  (1691) 
'  Ma,asir-i-'AlamgIri,'  339.  Asad  Khan  joined  Kam  Bakhsh  at  Kharapah 
(Cuddapah)  on  the  21st  Muliarram,  1103  H.  (October  13,  1691).  They  reached 
Jinji  on  the  5th  Rabl'  II.  (December  26,  1691)  [ibid.,  344).  Zu.lfiqar  Khan  had 
gone  there  a  little  earlier  in  the  year. 

VOL.  II.  23 


354  ETIQUETTE  WITH  PRINCESSES 

charge  of  the  wazir  [15],  Asad  Khan,  father  of  the  Nawab  above 
named.  He,  too  (the  wazir),  went  to  bid  good-bye  to  the  same 
princess ;  she  gave  him  a  present  of  another  box  for  betel,  which 
was  only  of  enamelled  silver.  Asad  Khan,  seeing  a  present  of 
such  small  value,  complained,  and  said  that  at  the  least  he 
deserved  a  present  equal  to  that  of  his  son,  for  he  was  the 
father,  and  held  higher  rank,  being,  moreover,  chief  minister  of 
the  empire.  The  princess  in  reply  said  there  was  a  difference, 
he  (the  son)  being  her  relation,  while  he  (the  father)  was  only 
in  their  service.  The  good  man  was  overcome  by  this  retort, 
and  having  made  her  an  obeisance  such  as  is  rendered  to  the 
king — this  being  done  to  all  persons  of  the  blood  royal,  how- 
ever distantly  related  they  may  be — he  retired. 

The  mode  in  which  one  bids  adieu  to  these  ladies  is  not  such 
as  one  might  imagine,  for  you  never  see  them  at  all.  Here  is 
what  happens  at  these  meetings :  First  you  go  to  the  door  of 
the  mafyal,  and  there  speak  to  the  eunuchs,  stating  the  purpose 
for  which  you  have  come.  You  say  you  wish  your  presence 
announced  to  the  person  from  whom  you  are  to  take  leave. 
The  eunuchs  carry  the  message  and  bring  the  reply,  for,  as  I 
said,  none  of  the  ladies  appear,  except  when  they  go  out,  when 
they  sit  in  their  covered  seat,  whence  they  see  everything  by  a 
little  window  made  of  a  netting  of  thread  of  gold.  In  a  word, 
no  man  ever  approaches  these  ladies  except  their  husbands  and 
the  doctors  who  feel  their  pulses. 

Nobles  dismount,  and  from  afar  off  make  their  bow  ;  to  those 
whom  they  think  more  highly  of  the  ladies  send  word  to  draw 
near,  and  themselves  move  on  for  some  steps  at  a  gentle  pace. 
Then,  when  they  wish  to  proceed,  they  send  from  their  seat  some 
betel-leaf  by  the  hand  of  a  eunuch,  as  if  to  send  their  compli- 
ments and  a  farewell.  On  receiving  this,  the  noble  makes 
another  bow  and  goes  on  his  way.  This  is  an  honour  that  I 
myself  have  received  on  various  occasions. 

Among  other  occasions  there  was  one  when  the  king's  wife,  the 
mother  of  Shah  'Alam,  was  graciously  pleased  to  give  me  this 
testimony  of  her  goodwill  towards  me  in  recognition  of  my  having 
accompanied  the  prince,  her  son,  from  Goa  to  the  court.  This 
princess  showed  me  great  affection  because  I  had  attended  her 


ROYAL  BLOOD-LETTING  355 

and  bled  her  several  times,  in  addition  to  which  she  had  often 
to  send  for  me,  as  she  suffered  much  from  gout.  As  it  was  I 
who  prescribed  for  her,  she  often  sent  me  some  dainty,  as  is  the 
fashion  of  these  ladies  to  do  to  those  they  esteem.  When  I 
bled  her,  she  put  her  arm  out  from  the  curtain,  but  wrapped 
up,  leaving  only  one  little  spot  uncovered,  about  as  wide  as 
two  fingers,  close  to  the  veins.  For  that  attendance  I  got  from 
her  four  hundred  rupees  and  a  sardpd  (set  of  robes)  as  a  present, 
and  I  bled  her  regularly  twice  a  year. 

It  should  be  understood  that  before  a  European  can  acquire 
the  office  of  physician  among  these  princes  he  must  be  put  to 
the  proof  for  a  long  time,  for  they  are  extremely  distrustful  and 
nice  in  such  matters.  Every  month  the  princesses  and  the 
ladies  have  themselves  bled,  which  is  done  in  the  way  I  have 
above  described.  It  is  just  the  same  when  they  want  them- 
selves bled  in  the  foot,  or  have  any  wound  or  fistula  dressed. 
Nothing  is  ever  shown  but  the  part  affected,  or  the  vein  they 
wish  opened.  When  I  bled  the  wives  and  daughters  of  Shah 
'Alam,  each  of  them  gave  me  two  hundred  rupees  and  a  sardpd ; 
but  when  I  had  to  bleed  that  prince  who  was  my  employer, 
and  he  was  at  the  court,  I  could  not  do  it  without  the  leave  ot 
the  king.  For  this  bleeding  I  got  four  hundred  rupees,  a  sardpd, 
and  a  horse. 

When  I  had  finished  I  had  to  report  [16]  to  the  king  the 
quantity  of  blood  I  had  drawn,  what  was  the  prince's  reigning 
humour,  and  reply  according  to  circumstances  to  the  inquiries 
made  by  the  king  on  this  subject.  After  this  he  would  give  me 
my  dismissal,  granting  me  a  sardpd.  For  each  bleeding  of  one 
of  the  prince's  sons  I  received  two  hundred  rupees,  a  sardpd, 
and  a  horse. 

Since  I  have  spoken  of  physicians,  and  the  way  the  princes 
and  princesses  act  towards  them,  I  shall  state  here  that  the 
Mogul  himself  is  extremely  choice  and  scrupulous  over  the 
selection  of  his  physicians,  appointing  always  the  most  learned 
and  the  most  experienced,  in  order  the  better  to  preserve  his 
health.  What  is  more,  as  there  are  so  many  people  in  his 
palace,  and  his  court  extraordinarily  numerous,  he  keeps  in  his 
employ  several  physicians,  to  whom  the  following  names  are 

23 — 2 


556 


NAMES  OF  PHYSICIANS 


given,  which  agree  either  with  their  knowledge  or  the  treatment 
and  cures  they  have  accomplished : 

Great  Physician 
Physician  of  the  Country 
Physician  of  Sight 
Beneficent  Physician 
Life-giving  Physician 
Physician  of  Believers 
Physician  in  Place 
Instructed  Physician 
Physician  Slave  of  Victory 
Favoured  Physician 
Good-natured  Physician 
Physician  of  the  Pulse 
Physician  Cherished  by  God 
Physician  Unparalleled 
Physician  Friend  of  God 
Physician  Giving  Repose 
Physician  Divine 
Physician  of  the  Body 
Faultless  Physician 
Physician  Assistant 
Plato  of  the  Century 
Aristotle  of  the  Century 
Galen  of  the  Century 
Hippocrates  of  the  Century 
Bu   Ali   (Avicenna)   of   the 
Century 

All  the  physicians  whose  names  are  recorded  above  are 
Persians  by  race.  Those  bearing  the  title  of  khan — that  is, 
'  noble ' — have  a  gross  allowance  of  from  twenty,  thirty,  fifty, 
one  hundred,  to  two  hundred  thousand  rupees  a  year.  I  have 
seen  among  them  men  who  cured  hot  complaints  with  cooling 
remedies.  Few  of  them  know  anything  about,  or  can  cure,  the 
stone,  paralysis,  apoplexy,  dropsy,  anaemia,  malignant  fevers,  or 
other  difficult  complaints.  They  follow  the  ancient  books  of 
medicine,  which  say  a  great  deal,  but  tell  very  little.  However, 
illnesses  in  the  Mogul  country  are  very  easy  to  cure,  owing  to 
the  heat,  which  causes  perspiration  and  thus  relieves  the  patient. 

1  This  may  be  'Abd-ur-rahman,  'Abd-ur-rahim,  'Abd-ur-rabbani,  or  'Abd-ur- 
ruhani ;  but  none  of  these  is  an  appropriate  title  for  a  physician,  nor  do  they 
mean  '  Divine,'  but  '  Slave  of  God.' 


Aquim  Busurg 

Hakim-i-buzurg 

Aquim  Elmulq 

Hakim-ul-mulk 

Aquim  Bina 

Hakim  i-bina 

Aquim  Mossen 

Hakim-i-muhsin 

Aquim  Janbalch 

Hakim-i-jan-bakhsh 

Aquim  Momena 

Hakim-i-mu'min 

Aquim  Muzin 

Hakim-i-muzaiyan 

Aquim  Fased 

Ilakim-i-fazil 

Aquim  Abdul  Fata 

Hakim  'Abd-ul-fattah 

Aquim  Taccarrob  can 

Hakim  Taqarrub  Khan 

Aquim  Salle 

Hakim  Salah 

Aquim  Nabas 

Hakim  Nab? 

Aquim  Alayar 

Hakim  Allahyar 

Aquim  Nader 

Hakim  Nadir 

Aquim  Coda  Doste 

Hakim  Khuda-dost 

Aquim  Faradbach 

Hakim  Farah-bakhsh 

Aquim  Emteriani1 

Aquim  Badan 

Hakim  Badan 

Aquim  Becata 

Hakim  Be-khata  (?) 

Aquim  Moccorrom  can 

Hakim  Mukarrab  Khan 

Aflutum  El  zamana 

Aflatun-uz-zamanah 

Aristu  El  zamana 

Aristu-uz-zamanah 

Jalisny  El  zamana 

Jalinus-uz-zamanah 

Pocraig  El  zamana 

Buqrat-uz-zamanah 

Bualy  El  zamanah 

Bu  *  Ali-uz-  zamanah 

NAMES  OF  SLAVES 


357 


When  these  physicians  enter  the  seraglio  {mahal)  the  eunuchs 
lead  them,  their  heads  covered  with  something  thick,  which 
falls  as  low  as  their  stomach,  as  I  have  already  said,  and  they 
are  brought  back  equipped  in  the  same  fashion. 

It  is  the  habit  of  these  kings  to  have  usually  in  their  service 
seven  thousand  slaves  of  different  nations,  and  some  among 
them  are  established  as  chiefs  to  govern  and  guide  the  rest. 
The  king  gives  them  names,  and  in  my  time  these  chief  slaves 
were  called  as  follows.  I  append  a  list,  in  which  one  will  not 
be  displeased  at  finding  the  meanings  as  entered  below  : 


Hiaesi  Bahuder 

Ghiyas  Bahadur  (?) 

Good  and  Brave 

Farrad 

Furada. 

Haughty  or  High 

Nee  Ruy 

Nek-roz 

Good  Morning 

Nee  Cadam 

Nek-qadam 

Good  Prince 

Nee  Del 

Nek-dil 

Good  Heart  [17] 

Nee  Niet 

Nek-myat 

Good  Intention 

Serrotar 

Sar-utar 

Meeting  (?) 

Ilachi 

Ilaechi 

Grain    of    Paradise   [carda- 
mom]1 

Mabarec 

Mubarak 

The  Well  Placed 

Bactavar 

Bakhtawar 

Good  Fortune 

Uchara 

Isharah 

Vigilant 

Faim 

Fahim 

Judgment 

Zirac 

Zirak 

Understanding 

Cuchala 

Khushhala 

Happy 

Chalawa 

Chalawa 

Good  Walker 

Doulat 

Daulat 

Riches 

Salamat 

Salamat 

Health 

Mahama 

Mahama  (?) 

Repose 

Nazer  Bahader 

Nazar  Bahadur 

Valiant  Sight 

Jam  sid 

Jamshid 

Divining  Cup 

Hiay 

II  ay  a. 

Shame 

Esselam 

Aslam 

In  the  Faith 

Ala  Berdy 

Allah-wirdi 

God  took  him 

Faridum 

Faridun 

Great  among  the  Little 

Matalub 

Matlab 

Wish 

Mamara 

Ma'mur 

Replete 

Massur 

Mashhur 

Clear 

Azer 

Ilazir 

Present 

Niamat 

Ni'mat 

Ragout 

1  Mr.  D.  Ferguson  says :  '  The  word  has  long  been  familiar  to  me  as  the 
alternative  name  for  Guinea  grains  or  Malajucta  grains.  See  "  New  English 
Dictionary,"  s.v.  Cardamom,  Grains  (4a),  and  Guinea.' 


358 


NAMES  OF  KING'S  SWORDS 


Tara 

Tara 

Shining 

Corcom 

Khurram 

Happiness 

Delavar 

Dil-awar 

Lively 

Atam 

Hatim 

Liberal 

Sujan 

Sujan 

Discreet 

Maharam 

Mahram 

Confidante 

Macbul 

Maqbul 

Gentle 

Elal 

Hilal 

New  Moon 

Belal 

Balal 

Shouter 

Cambar 

Qamar 

Full  Moon 

Nazer 

Nazar 

Sight 

These  are  the  names  of  the  king's  principal  slaves.  They 
are  all  gentlemen  troopers,  and  have  good  pay.  Set  over  all 
the  slaves  are  two  captains,  and  the  horsemen  are  three  thousand 
in  number,  the  foot  or  infantry  four  thousand.  They  have 
various  employments,  both  within  the  household  and  in  other 
duties  connected  with  it.  They  are  resorted  to  when  some 
coup  has  been  decided  on  ;  it  is  they  who  write  about  it,  and 
execute  the  royal  commands.  In  addition,  they  are  used  as 
spies  to  report  what  is  going  on,  as  well  among  the  nobles  as 
the  common  people. 

Just  as  these  princes  give  names  to  the  queens,  the  prin- 
cesses, and  all  the  other  ladies  of  the  mahal,  so  do  they  impose 
them  upon  many  other  things  which  they  use,  such  as  their 
swords  and  shields,  their  finsst  horses,  their  elephants,  their 
heavy  artillery,  and  the  principal  generals  in  their  army.  Of 
all  of  these  will  be  given  lists,  each  separately,  with  the  mean- 
ing opposite  each  name.  With  these  I  will  include  the  names 
of  several  Hindu  princes  and  others  of  that  race.  At  present 
I  make  a  beginning  by  the  names  of  the  cattarres  (katarah),  or 
sabres  of  the  king,  which  are  as  follows : 


Duch  man  Coch 

Var  par 

Bigily 

Be  cata 

Duch  man  setan 

Be  gererem 

Alam  satam 

Abdar 

Fate  Lascar 

Kam  kam 


Dushman-kush 

War-par 

Bijli 

Be-khata 

Dushman-sitan 

Be-qarari  (?) 

'Alam-sitan 

Abdar 

Fath-i-lashkar 

Qamqam 


Killer  of  Enemies 
From  Side  to  Side 
Lightning 
Without  Fault 
Menacer  of  the  Enemy 
Devoid  of  Doubt 
World  Astonisher 
Fine-tempered 
Army  Vanquisher 
The  Worker 


NAMES  OF  HIS  SHIELDS 


359 


Kafar  Coch 
Cha  Enaet 
Duch  man  Pe 
Zauro  Catell 
Coda  Baech 
Ali  madat 
Atiar 
Damdar 
Farque  Dota 
Camarzeb 
Alamguir 


Hiar  Bafadar 
Hioson  Gusar 
Zore  zareb 
Zolom  Coch 
Zarab 
Fate  Alam 


Kafir-kush 

Shah-'inayat 

Dushman-pai 

Zahr-i-qatil 

Khuda-bakhsh 

A'la-madad 

Hathi-yar 

Damdar 

Fariq-i-du-tah 

Kamar-zeb 

'Alamgir 


Yar-i-wafadar 

Joshan-guzar 

Zor-zarb 

Zalim-kush 

Zahr-ab 

Fath-i-'Alam 


Infidel-slayer 

Royal  Gift 

Enemy-pursuer 

Murderous-poison 

God-given 

Great  Assistance 

Hand's  Friend 

Life-giving 

Divider  in  Two 

Waist  Adorner 

World   Conqueror  (the  one 

Aurangzeb  usually  carries 

in  his  hand) 
Faithful  Friend 
Helmet-cleaver 
Violent  Stroke 
Tyrant-slayer 
Venomous 
World  Conquest  [18] 


The  king  values  all  these  swords  very  much  ;  they  have  gold 
hilts  covered  with  costly  stones.  The  daggers  are  also  made  in 
the  same  fashion,  and  they  are  of  three  kinds,  called  canjar 
(khanjar),  banc  (bank),  and  cataris  (katdrah).  The  king  gives 
them  names  much  the  same  as  those  of  the  swords.  Every 
Friday  morning  this  prince  inspects  them  as  part  of  his  devo- 
tions, and  asks  of  God  that  with  them  he  may  obtain  victory. 
These  swords  and  daggers  have  come  down  from  the  ancient 
kings.  The  prince  gives  them  away  to  no  one,  not  even  to  his 
own  children ;  as  to  those  of  which  he  makes  presents  to  the 
generals  and  captains,  they  are  swords  that  he  orders  to  be 
made  expressly,  or  that  he  buys,  or  else  those  acquired  in  some 
conquered  country. 


Names  of  the  King's  Shields. 


Aftab  Alem 
Matab  Alam 
Sae  Alam 
Roshonay  Alem 


Aftab-i-'Alam 
Mahtab-i-'Alam 
Sayah-i-'Alam 
Roshanae-'Alam 


Sun  of  the  World 
Moon  of  the  World 
Shadow  of  the  World 
Splendour  of  the  World 


Besides  the  shields  herein  given,  there  are  many  others  made 
of  rhinoceros  hide,  which  will  resist  a  musket-ball.  There  is  a 
different  kind,  made  of  buffalo  hide,  which  an  arrow  cannot 


360 


NAMES  OF  THE  KING'S  HORSES 


penetrate,   and   it    is   some   of   these   that   are   presented    to 
officers. 

Names  of  the  Principal  Horses  ridden  by  the  King. 


Bad  Raftar 

Bad-raftar 

Agile  as  the  Wind 

Cosh  Raftar 

KhOsh-raftar 

Good  Mover 

Chaa  Passand 

Shah-pasand 

Approved  by  the  King 

Dil  Roba 

Dil-ruba 

Heartily  Loved 

Surrot  Siret 

Surat-sirat 

Art  and  Judgment 

Coch  Andam 

Khush-andam 

Fine  Posture 

Coe  Telia 

Koh-i-tila 

Gold  Mountain 

Coe  Necro 

Koh-i-nuqrah 

Silver  Mountain 

Zemidoz 

Zamin-doz 

Field-flyer 

Cochad  Raftar 

Kushadah-raftar 

Wide-stepper 

Radar 

Rahdar 

Speedy 

Forga 

Farjah 

Expert  Goer 

Serbeland 

Sar-buland 

High  Head 

Torai  Garden 

Tura.i-gardan 

Arched     Neck      [tura 
trumpet] 

Ans 

'Ans 

Eagle 

Manec 

Manik 

Jewel 

Lai  Bebaha 

ULl-be-baha 

Priceless  Amadavat1 

Ira  jot 

Hira-jot 

Diamond  Lustre 

Polvari 

Phulwari 

The  Flowering 

Caldar 

Kaldar 

Marked 

Ablac 

Ablaq 

Piebald 

Zuderas 

Zud-ras 

Quick-goer 

Bedel 

Be-dil 

Despairing 

Delavar 

Dil-awar 

Animated 

Chinasor 

Sinah-zor 

Strong-chested 

Char  Raftar 

Shah-raftar 

Royal  Stepping 

Baz 

Baz 

Falcon 

Ain 

Hiran  (?) 

Gazelle 

Be-aram 

Be-aram 

Restless 

Aram 

Aram 

Repose 

Ab  Ravan 

Ab-i-rawan 

Flowing  Water 

Tes  Ro 

Tez-rau 

Fast  Mover 

Chaman 

Samand 

The  Sea2 

Sanjab 

Sanjab 

Ash-coloured 

All  these  horses  that  I  have  named  are  ridden  by  the  king. 
The  names  he  gives  them  refer  either  to  their  action,  their 
size,  or  their  colour ;  they  are  Arabs,  Persians,  or  the  finest 
horses  from  Turkey.     The   rest   he   names  according  to  the 

1  Should  be  '  Priceless  Ruby '  (laH)  ? 

2  Samand,  a  high-bred  or  bay-coloured  horse,  is  mistaken  for  Samudra,  the  sea. 


XXII.     Shaistah  Khan,   Maternal  Uncle  of  Aurangzeb. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  360. 


NAMES  OF  THE  KING'S  ELEPHANTS 


361 


results  of  trying  them.  They  are  marked  thus  *j  on  the  near 
quarter.  They  are  provided  with  good  grooms,  are  well  looked 
after,  and  well  trained ;  thus  nothing  is  wanting  to  these 
animals,  either  in  the  way  of  food  or  sumptuous  equipment. 
As  their  morning  feed  they  get  bread  mixed  with  butter  and 
sugar,  and  in  the  evening  cooked  rice,  and  cow's  milk,  in  which 
there  are  pepper-corns,  cumin-seed,  anise-seed,  and  betel.  All 
these  are  given  to  reduce  any  flatulence  in  their  insides. 

Two  hours  before  the  king  mounts  his  horse  the  chief  groom 
mounts  it  without  his  shoes  on  (a  mark  of  respect),  and  rides 
it  up  and  then  down,  so  as  to  make  it  more  willing  and  free  its 
stomach.  When  the  king  does  go  riding  it  is  not  from  necessity, 
but  choice.  For  this  reason  he  changes  his  position  frequently — 
one  hour  on  the  throne  [the  tahht-i-rawdn,  a  sort  of  sedan-chair], 
another  on  an  elephant.  The  horses  the  king  rides  are  trained 
to  stand  fire  and  anything  else  likely  to  frighten  them.  By  a 
custom  which  has  lasted  at  this  court  since  Taimur-i-lang, 
who  began  it,  four  horses,  ready  saddled  for  any  emergency, 
are  kept  near  the  door  of  the  Ghusl-lchdnah,  the  place  where 
audience  is  given  and  justice  dispensed.  "When  the  king 
wishes  to  gratify  any  of  his  children,  he  makes  him  a  present 
of  one  of  his  favourite  horses,  along  with  twenty  or  fifty  others 
of  the  ordinary  sort,  about  which  I  will  discourse  more  amply 
hereafter  (III.  27)  [19]. 

The  names  of  the  chief  elephants  on  which  the  king  rides, 
and  the  way  they  are  kept,  are  as  follows : 


Orang  gas 

Calec  Dad 
Memun  Mabarecq 
Codad  Dad 
Surou  Ziret 
Rael  Cusha 
Dil  passand 
Buch  Bahadur 
Hiec  Danta 
Cabra 

Madan  Mast 
Sada  Mast 


Aurang-gaj 

Khaliq-dad 
Maimun-mubarak 
Khuda-dad 
Sarv-sairat 
Rel -kasha 
Dil-pasand 
Bakht-Bahadur  (?) 
Yak-danta 
Kabra  [Hindi] 

Mudam-mast 
Sada-mast 


Throne-elephant,  the  Cap- 
tain of  all  the  Elephants 

Creator-given 

Highly  Sedate 

God-given 

Pretty  Artist 

The  Worker 

Heart's  Friend 

Valiant  with  the  Cut  Ear 

One-tusked 

Enamelled  Head  [or 
Speckled] 

Ever- bold 

Always  Drunk 


362 


NAMES  OF  ELEPHANTS 


Nim  Ta 

Dil  Cocha 

Baba  Bach 

Nee  Bach 

Mac  Na 

Come  Ria 

Belia 

Sarila 

Latif 

Nar  Sing 

Quo  Dero 

Fate  Mabarecq 

Dil  Dalel 

Chainaet 

Inae  Bach 

Ala  Bach 

Fate  nasaret 

Daem  Chacu 

Dilasa  Charot 

Fate  Jang 

Fate  Lascar 

Rar  Git 

Dul  Singar 

Lascar  Soba 

Dusman  Cut 

Cala  Paar 

Gas  onor 

Quecha  vorcucha 

Zell  Zella 

Cuny 

Cof  Nay 

Mahan  Mohan 

Ma  Mohon 

Op  turn 

Bagmar 

Pur  zor 

Maha  Ru 

Setara 

Quechavar  Gurur 

Sonder  Gas 

Pay  Tat 

Otha  Chi 

Nur 

Lai 

Ira 

Coch  Raftar 

Thes  Roeh 

Manec  Surot 


Nimt&o 

Dil-kusha 

Baba-bakhsh 

Nek-bakht 

Maknah 

Kamari 

Buland 

Sarila 

Latif 

Nar  Singh 

Khub-rau 

Fath  Mubarak 

Dil-diler 

Shah-'inayat 

'Inayat-bakhsh 

Allah-bakhsh 

Fath-nusrat 

Da,im-shukoh 

Dilasa-sairat 

Fath-jang 

Fath-lashkar 

Ran-jit 

Dal-singar 

Lashkar-sobha 

Dushman-kush 

Kala-pahar 

Qhussah-war 

Kashawar-kasha 

Zalzalah 

Khuni 

Khauf-nak 

Madan-mohan 

Maha-mohan 

Uttam 

Bagh-mar 

Pflr-i-zor 

Mah-ru 

Sitara 

Kashawar-gharur 

Sundar-gaj 

Pae-takht 

Atashl 

Nur 

La'l 

Hira 

Khush- raftar 

Tez-rau 

Manik-surat 


Expert 

Heart-opener 

Father's  Gift 

Handsome 

Tuskless 

Short  [in  back] 

Tall 

Polished 

Exquisite 

Male  Lion 

Fine  Mover 

Fortune  of  Victory 

Heart  of  Hearts 

Royal  Gift 

Gift  of  Grace 

God-protected 

Victor  Victorious 

Ever  Great 

Polished  Face 

Victory  in  War 

Army  Conqueror 

Overcomer  in  War 

Army  Ornament 

Army  Beauty 

Enemy-treader 

Black  Mountain 

Industrious 

Faithful  Worker 

Earth-shaker 

The  Slayer 

Frightener 

Heart-ravisher 

Amorous 

Exquisite 

Lion-slayer 

Full  of  Strength 

Moon-faced 

Star 

The  Proud 

Good  Name 

Foot  of  the  Throne 

Burning 

Dawn 

Ruby 

Diamond 

Good  Mover 

Quick  Walker 

Pearl-like 


TRAINING  AND  FEEDING  ELEPHANTS  363 

Bay  La  Baghela,  Lion's  Whelp 

Daem  Nasser  Da.im-nasr  Always  Advancing 

Jund  Cuor  Chand-kunwar  (?)  Good  Ball 

Queleso  Can  Qila'h-shikan  Fortress-destroyer 

Coeh  Secan  Koh-shikan  Mountain-destroyer 

Coch  Saquel  Khush-sakil  Supreme  Beauty 

The  greater  number  of  these  names  are  Hindu.  Gas  (gaj) 
means  an  elephant,  and  although  several  slaves,  of  one  and  the 
other  sex,  have  similar  names,  one  must  not  be  astonished, 
for  the  king  gives  these  names  according  to  his  fancy  or  some 
aptitude  he  detects  in  these  animals. 

Usually  the  king  has  one  hundred  very  tall  elephants  which 
he  uses  himself,  and  there  are  also  female  elephants,  on  whom 
he  does  not  disdain  to  ride.  All  the  elephants  he  rides  are 
trained  to  stand  fire  of  both  artillery  and  musketry,  of  rockets, 
and  other  fireworks.  This  is  done  so  that  when  they  come 
across  such  things  they  may  not  be  afraid.  Others  are  taught 
not  to  be  frightened  of  tigers  or  of  lions,  so  that  they  may  be 
used  in  hunting.  To  teach  them,  they  take  a  tiger-skin  or 
lion-skin,  and  stuff  it  with  straw.  Then,  just  as  if  it  were  alive, 
they  move  it  here  and  there  by  a  rope.  The  driver  encourages 
the  elephant,  and  urges  him  towards  the  dummy,  which  with 
feet  and  trunk  he  tears  to  pieces.  The  elephants  are  well 
looked  after ;  they  are  given  spirits  to  drink  to  increase  their 
courage  in  a  fight.  It  is  the  rule  that  there  shall  always  be 
one  elephant  on  sentry  duty  day  and  night  on  the  river  bank 
[20],  stationed  within  a  little  gateway  just  underneath  the 
royal  seat. 

Among  these  animals  is  one  stronger  and  taller  than  the  rest 
which  bears  the  title  of  '  General  of  the  Elephants.'  When  he 
appears  at  court  he  is  very  richly  caparisoned,  and  attended  by 
a  number  of  other  elephants,  by  flutes,  trumpets,  cymbals,  and 
flags,  all  of  which  makes  a  grand  show.  The  chief  elephants 
have  every  day  for  their  ration  each  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
pounds  of  food-stuff — namely,  flour,  rice,  meat,  butter,  fine 
spices,  and  thirty  pounds  of  sugar-cane.  This  is  in  addition  to 
straw,  grass,  and  leaves,  for  which  they  have  twenty-five  rupees 
a  day.  To  wait  on  each  elephant  there  are  ten  servants — that 
is,  two  drivers  to  ride  on  and  direct  him  ;  two  to  fix  on  his 


364  USES  OF  ELEPHANTS 

chains ;  two  men  with  spears ;  two  for  the  fireworks  and  to 
assist  the  others,  if  necessary ;  one  to  remove  the  dung,  and 
another  to  give  him  water  for  drinking  and  cooling  himself. 
All  these  men  are  paid  out  of  the  twenty-five  rupees  a  day 
allotted  to  the  elephant,  and  these  attendants  have  each  four 
rupees  a  month,  besides  what  they  can  steal  from  the  elephant's 
food. 

In  addition  to  the  above  elephants  there  are  fourteen  hundred 
others  that  are  employed  to  carry  the  queens,  princesses,  and 
the  prince's  concubines,  the  tents,  the  baggage,  and  the  kitchen 
utensils.  The  strongest  of  all,  who  have  no  tusks,  draw  the 
heavy  artillery  over  difficult  ground  and  perform  such-like 
duties.  The  lowest  among  them  has  three  rupees  a  day  and 
three  servants.  All  the  elephants  move  with  bells  attached  to 
their  body,  serving  to  warn  the  passers-by  and  give  them  time 
to  move  and  get  out  of  the  way ;  for  when  an  elephant  runs,  or 
merely  walks,  he  does  not  stop  like  a  horse  would. 

When  the  king  makes  them  (the  elephants)  fight,  the  wives 
of  the  drivers  remove  their  ornaments,  smash  their  bracelets, 
and  put  on  mourning,  just  as  if  they  were  widows.  If  their 
husbands  come  back  alive  they  give  a  great  feast,  just  as  if 
newly  married ;  for  in  these  encounters  and  combats  the 
drivers  put  their  lives  in  great  jeopardy,  as  I  have  seen  several 
times.  Moreover,  though  these  animals  are  enormously  strong, 
they  do  not  have  long  lives,  for  often  they  fall  suddenly  to  the 
ground  and  die  in  a  short  time.  For,  once  they  have  fallen 
down,  there  is  no  hope  of  getting  them  up  again  ;  that  is  why 
they  remove  their  tusks  and  leave  them  where  they  are. 

The  Mogul  has  within  his  empire  many  great  forests  and 
mountainous  regions  where  it  would  be  easy  to  let  loose  some 
of  these  animals  to  multiply.  But  this  is  not  done ;  the  king 
observes  the  rules  of  his  predecessors,  who,  ages  ago,  were  told 
by  astrologers  that  the  male  must  not  be  allowed  to  approach 
the  female,  in  case  they  might  have  young.  That  event  would 
menace  the  empire  with  misfortune,  and  be  of  very  bad  augury. 
Hereafter  (III.  144)  I  will  speak  of  the  manner  in  which  these 
beasts  produce  young,  the  method  of  capture,  also  about  the 
dogs  of  the  country,  and  other  curious  matters  [21]. 


NAMES  OF  GREAT  CANNON 


365 


The  names  of  the  principal  cannon  at  the  court  are  : 


Orang  var 
Calle  can 
Bigily  Passant 
Band  Cassab 
Dal  Dani 
Fata  Lascar 
Ati  Tel 

Dobtol  Maydan 
Mulve  Maydan 


Jang  Aumar 
Sitom 
Delavar 
Chae  naet 
Daem  Cuchat 
Tir  Cor 
Barge  Sican 
Nacer  Aby 
Chae  Doblot 
Ser  Cuchat 
Nechan  Rach 
Bee  Cata 
Zafar  Mulq 
Cha  aramcor 
Chor  Car 
Nam  Dar 
Ganie  avor 
Jang  Talem 
Zal  Zelah 
Ser  Cor 
Johan  Taleb 
Sitab  Dam 
Turn  Darec 
Dasnir 
Nazer  Noma 
Zolom  Alam 
Babal  fata 
Tars 

Cozana  Couchad 
Duchman  Coch 
Atash  parsha 
Tafan 
Rad 
Fayan  Car 


Aurang-bar 

Kale  Khan 

Bijll-pasand 

Band-kushao 

Daldali 

Fath-i-lashkar 

Hathi-thal 

Daulat-i-maidan 

Malik-i-maidan 


Jang-awar 

Sitam 

Dilawar 

Shah-'inayat 

Da.im-kushad 

Tlr-khor 

Burj-shikan 

Nasir-abi 

Shah  Daulat 

Sar-kushadah 

Nishan-i-rast 

Be-khata. 

Zafar-i-mulk 

Shah-haram-klior 

Shor-kar 

Namdar 

Ghani-awar 

Jang-talib 

Zalzalah 

Sher-khor  (?) 

Jahan-talib 

Shitab-dam 

Tumturaq 

Dastur 

Nazar-numa 

Zalim-i'Alam 

Bab-ul-fath 

Tars 

Khazanah-kushad 

Dushman-kush 

Atash-pazhoh 

Tufan 

Ra'd 

Fahim-kar  (?) 


Strength  of  the  Throne 

Great  House 

Rajah-pusher 

Cruel  Killer 

Black  Cinders 

Army  Victor 

Elephant  Empress 

Riches  of  the  Camp 

Destructress  of  the  Camp 
[Aurangzeb  found  one 
exactly  the  same  when  he 
took  Bijapur] 

Bail  for  War 

Punisher 

Lively 

Royal  Gift 

Wide  Mouth 

Valley-consumer 

Bastion-breaker 

Conqueror  in  Water 

Royal  Riches 

Wide-headed 

Straight-hitter 

Faultless 

Conqueror  of  the  Earth 

Rebel-conqueror 

Noise  and  War 

Famous 

His  Highness 

Desirous  for  War 

Terror  of  the  Earth 

Earth-consumer 

World-desiring 

Quick-firer 

Prompt-goer 

Custom 

Clear-sighted 

Tyrant  of  the  World 

Gate-conqueror 

Fear 

Treasure-opener 

Enemy-slayer 

Fire-piece 

Whirlwind 

Thunder 

Sound  or  Noise 


366 


TITLES  OF  GENERALS 


Pur  Nar 
Zolom  Coch 
Amac  Abad 
Dad  Bedad 
Cana  Carab 
Guiran  vazan 
Adam  Cor 
Lascar  Cor 
Chaa  burgi 
Aft  tios 
Alamgir 
Coch  Acol 
Zor  Zabar 
Mulq  Zabar 
Arrangan 
Mac  Chud 
Car  Anyan 
Atash  Car 


PQr-i-nar 

Zalim-kush 

Ahmaq-abad 

Dad-bedad 

Khanah-i-kharab 

Giran-wazn 

Adam-khor 

Lashkar-khor 

Shah-burji 

Haft-josh 

'Alam-gir 

Khush-'aql 

Zor-zabr 

Mulk-zabr 

Arghaw&n  l 

MaqsQd 

Kar-anjam 

Atash -kar 


Full  of  Fire 

Tyrant-slayer 

Teacher  of  Fools 

Unjust 

Household-ruiner 

Dear  and  Heavy 

Man-eater 

Army-eater 

Royal  Bastion 

Seven  Metals 

World-taker 

Good  Judgment 

Violent 

World-violent 

Strength 

Intention 

Work-doer 

Work  of  Fire 


The  above  comprises  the  principal  and  best  artillery  the 
Mogul  possesses  at  his  court.  When  he  goes  on  a  campaign 
he  has  some  of  these  pieces  carried  with  him,  those  taking  a 
ball  of  from  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds.  I  also 
noticed  that  during  the  time  of  the  war  against  the  King  of 
Bljapur  he  sent  some  of  those  pieces  to  Diler  Khan  and 
Bahadur  Khan  [22]. 

The  names  of  the  principal  generals,  with  the  meanings, 
are  : 


Vizir  Can 
J  afar  Can 
Zafar  Can 
Azel  Can 
Chaaiste  Can 
Alimarda  Can 
Aset  Can 

Chaf  Chequen  Can 
Fadae  Can 
Baramud  Can 
Buala  Can 
Calilula  Can 
Mir  Can 
Sic  Mir 
Asadula  Can 


Wazir  Khan 
Ja'far  Khan 
Zafar  Khan 
Fazil  Khan 
Sha.istah  Khan 
'AH  Mardan  Khan 
Asad  Khan 
Saf  Shikan  Khan 
Fida.e  Khan 
Baramad  Khan 
Bu  'Ali  Khan 
Khalilullah  Khan 
Mir  Khan 
Shekh  Mir 
Asadullah  Khan 


The  Chief  Minister 

Flourishing 

Victorious 

Experienced 

Perfect 

Great  among  Men 

Lion 

Field-clearer 

Sacrifice 

Vanquisher 

God's  Dawn 

God's  Least  One 

Great  Captain 

Captain  of  Faithful 

Lion  of  God 


1  '  Red,'  a  name  of  the  planet  Mars. 


TITLES  OF  GENERALS 


367 


Lutfula  Can 
Maharmat  Can 
Bam  Near 
Facar  Can 
Mostecar  Can 
Cassam  Can 
Amed  Can 
Janet 
Nacir  Can 
Ranemast  Can 
Dalel  Can 
Bahader  Can 
Adula  Can 
Asis  Can 

Sahadet  Can 
Alayar  Can 

Dinder  Can 

Nezabt  Can 

Kaen  Can 

Mahobet  Can 

Nuchur  Can 

Can  Cana 

Afiet  Can 

Nee  Nam  Can 

Baravar  Can 

Amanet  Can 

Queranda  Can 

Carazat  Can 

Molfet  Can 

Facordin  Can 

Salle  Can 

Canezam  Can 

Camordin  Can 

Feat  Can 

Jahan  nezar  Can 

Jahan  sopar  Can 

Suyavar  Can 

Chefi  Can 

Bairn  Can 

Semchir  Can 

Fosdar  Can 

Mirza  Sultan 

Mirza  Nauzer  Can 

Gaeb  Nazer  Can 
Danesbad  Can 
Maharam  Can 
Salabet  Can 
Quifaet  Can 


Lutfullah  Khan 
Marahmat  Khan 
Baman-yar 
Fakhr  Khan 
Mustaqar  Khan 
Qasim  Khan 
Hamid  Khan 
'Inayat 
Nasir  Khan 
Ranmast  Khan 
Diler  Khan 
Bahadur  Khan 
'Abdullah  Khan 
'Aziz  Khan 
Sa'adat  Khan 
Allahyar  Khan 
Dindar  Khan 
Najabat  Khan 
Qa.im  Khan 
Mahabat  Khan 
Nauruz  Khan 
Khan  Khanan 
'Afiyat  Khan 
Neknam  Khan 
Barawar  Khan 
Amanat  Khan 
Khair-andesh  Khan 
Khanahzad  Khan 
Multafat  Khan 
Fakhr-ud-din  Khan 
Salih  Khan 
Khan  A'zam  Khan 
Qamar-ud-din  Khan 
Fayyaz  Khan  (?) 
Jan-nisar  Khan 
Jan-sipar  Khan 
Shuja'-war  Khan 
Shafi'  Khan 
Bina  Khan 
Shamsher  Khan 
Faujdar  Khan 
Mirza  Sultan 
Mirza  Nauzar  Khan 
Ghaib-nazir  Khan 
Danishmand  Khan 
Mahram  Khan 
Salabat  Khan 
Kifayat  Khan 


God's  Grace 

Given 

My  Friend 

The  Great 

Taker  of  Favour 

The  Sharer 

The  Chosen 

Favour 

Victorious 

Bold  in  War 

Animated 

Brave 

Slave  of  God 

Beloved 

Fortunate 

God's  Friend 

Firm  in  Faith 

Noble 

Constant 

Loved 

New  Day 

Noble  of  the  House 

Profitable 

Good  Name 

Gainer 

Deputy 

Good  Care 

Brought  up  in  the  House 

Loving 

Praise  of  Faith 

Obliging,  Useful 

Great  of  the  Age 

Moon  of  Faith 

Profitable 

Sacrificed 

Life-sacrificer 

Valour 

Alert 

Pitiable 

Great  Sword 

Lord  of  the  Army 

Chief  Captain 

Captain  of  New  Coin 

Seeing  the  Future 

Philosopher 

Confidante 

Majestic 

Acquirer 


368 


TITLES  OF  GENERALS 


Cammiab  Can 
Rostum  Can 
Namdar  Can 
Kaemgar  Can 
Asmat  Can 
Adel  Can 
Purdel  Can 
Camaludin  Can 
Chaabudin  Can 
Que  Azudin  Can 
Guelis  Can 
Zabar  Dest  Can 
Chaazor  Can 
Dahem  Can 
Fate  yan  Can 
Mazar  Can 
Julfacar  Can 
Zenali  Can 
Afzel  Can 
Daut  Can 
Ganiali  Can 
Ebraim  Can 
Assen  Can 
Sarfaras  Can 
Zaquer  Can 
Dianet  Can 
Assolet  Can 
Miragol  Can 
Mobares  Can 
Rassod  Can 
Diaraaut  Can 
Fatula  Can 

Gazafar  Can 

Addi  Can 

Abach  Can 

Ahe  Bet  Can 

Naby  Can 

Tabar  Can 

Chuchurula 

Etcad  Can 

Izet  Can 

Rangit  Can 

Atach  Can 

Barcandas  Can 

Janguir  Can 

Cochnazar  Can 

Aref  Can 

Abdul  bafa 


Kamyab  Khan 
Rustam  Khan 
Namdar  Khan 
Kamgar  Khan 
A'zrnat  Khan 
'Adil  Khan 
Purdil  Khan 
Kamal-ud-din  Khan 
Shahab-ud-din  Khan 
Ghiyaz-ud-din  Khan 
Qilich  Khan 
Zabardast  Khan 
Shah-zor  Khan 
Da.im  Khan 
Fath-yab  Khan 
Mazhar  Khan 
Zu.lfiqar  Khan 
Zain  'Ali  Khan 
Afzal  Khan 
Da,  fid  Kh&n 
J  an  'AH  Khan 
Ibrahim  Khan 
Hasan  Khan 
Sarfaraz  Khan 
Zakir  Khan 
Diyanat  Khan 
Asalat  Khan 
Miran  Gul  Khan 
Mubarak  Khan 
Rashid  Khan 
Ni'mat  Khan  (?) 
Fath-ullah  Khan 
Ghazanfar  Khan 
Hadi  Khan 
Habshi  Khan  (?) 
Haibat  Khan 
Nabi  Khan 
Tabar  Khan 

Khusru,  Chela  (?)  or  Allah  (?) 
I'tiqad  Khan 
•  'Izzat  Khan 
Ranjit  Khan 
Atash  Khan 
Barqandaz  Khan 
Jahangir  Khan 
Khush-nazar  Khan 
'Arif  Khan 
'Abd-ul-wafa 


Intention 

Powerful 

Renowned 

Firm 

Divine 

Just 

Full  Heart 

Perfect  in  Faith 

Crowned  in  the  Faith 

Pedant  in  Faith 

Sword  [the  word  is  Turkish] 

Strong-handed 

King  of  Strength 

For  Ever 

Victorious 

Clearness 

He  of  the  Sword 

Good  and  Great 

Sage  or  Learned 

David 

The  Great  Diwan 

Abraham 

Alert 

Great  Head 

Devout 

Well-meaning 

Of  Good  Family 

Great  Flower 

Of  Good  Fame 

Arrived 
Delights 

Victorious  by  God 

Victorious  in  War 

The  Guide 

Flower 

Astonishment 

Riches 

Hatchet 

God's  Grace  [23] 

Steadfast 

Honoured 

Conqueror  in  War 

Great  Fire 

Great  Lightning 

World-seizer 

Good  Sight 

Advice 

Profit 


RANK  OR  MAN  SAB  369 

Abdul  fata  'Abd-ul-fattah  Victory 

Abdul  Azis  'Abd-ul-'aziz  Slave  of  God 

Abdur  Razac  'Abd-ur-razzaq  Daily  Bread 

Camel  Can  Kamil  Khan  Greatness 

Osdar  Can  Hoshdar  Khan  Quick-witted 

All  the  persons  here  dealt  with  are  Mahomedans  by  religion, 
but  of  different  races.  They  are  the  principal  noblemen  in 
Hindustan,  and  the  king  confers  these  names  either  as  a  mark 
of  distinction  and  of  the  esteem  he  holds  them  in  by  reason  of 
their  services,  or  else  from  friendship  and  liking.  These  lords 
can  acquire  more  wealth  as  well  as  more  titles — that  is  to  say, 
when  any  new  title  is  given  them  their  allowance  is  augmented. 
At  present  there  is  a  very  great  number  of  them  ;  but  in  Shah- 
jahan's  days  it  was  not  so,  and  it  was  very  hard  to  acquire 
these  titles,  for  it  was  at  once  necessary  to  give  a  heavy  pay- 
ment and  produce  enough  to  maintain  a  great  display.  But 
nowadays  Aurangzeb  pays  less  heed  to  the  matter,  and  gives 
the  titles  but  with  much  less  pay.  '  Can '  (Khan)  means 
'  noble.' 

The  way  in  which  the  Mogul  king  pays  his  soldiers,  the 
captains  and  generals  of  his  armies,  the  rajahs,  the  queens, 
the  princes  and  princesses  of  his  blood,  was  all  laid  down  by 
King  Akbar,  in  different  fashions,  to  demonstrate  his  great- 
ness.1 

Hi  hec  Bisti  (Yak-blsti) — that  is,  '  A  Twenty.' 

It  is  necessary  to  state  that  these  kings  pay  every  one  of  those 
above-named  according  to  three  different  titles  or  degrees. 
The  highest  and  first  title  is  called  '  of  twelve,'  the  second  '  of 
six,'  and  the  third  '  of  four  months.'  But  it  is  so  arranged, 
however,  that  he  who  has  only  pay  of  the  third  class  receives 
in  the  year  the  amount  promised  him,  or  even  somewhat  in 

1  In  this  section  on  mansab  (official  rank),  and  the  pay  attached  to  it,  Manucci 
does  not  seem  to  have  penetrated  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  system.  He  couples 
the  rank  {mansab)  and  the  pay  together,  as  if  the  one  directly  indicated  the  other. 
But  in  the  phrase  (let  us  say)  '  a  Hazarl '  (of  or  belonging  to  1,000),  the  suppressed 
noun  is  not  'rupees,'  but  'horsemen.'  A  Hazarl  appointment  means,  to  start 
with,  'command  over  1,000  horsemen';  hence  the  discrepancies  in  the  rates, 
which  Manucci  only  makes  more  obscure.  The  tables  and  remarks  in  Blochmann's 
'  A,in-i-Akbari,'  vol.  i.,  pp.  236-249,  should       consulted. 

VOL.  II.  24 


370  RANK  OR  MAN  SAB 

excess.  The  others  receive  much  more.  To  make  the  matter 
clearer,  you  must  know  that  when  the  king'  gives  a  horseman 
twenty  rupees  a  month  in  the  first  class,  he  ought  to  receive 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  rupees  in  the  year ;  in  the  second, 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five ;  and  in  the  third,  two  hundred 
and  fifty.  This  last  is  the  amount  that  pay  at  twenty  rupees 
a  month  comes  to  plus  ten  rupees.  This  sum  is  thus  given 
because  it  is  a  rule  made  by  King  Akbar,  as  I  have  said. 
According  to  the  above  you  can  calculate  all  the  different  sorts 
of  pay  that  exist,  by  following  the  more  detailed  account 
which  I  am  about  to  give. 

Another  thing  is  that  when  a  man  has  risen  to  the  amount 
of  one  thousand  rupees,  when  he  is  called  azari  (hazdri),  the 
pay  increases  considerably  ;  for  this  reason  it  is  unnecessary  to 
see  whether  it  is  or  is  not  much  above  the  others  according  to 
the  rule  of  proportion.  When  we  get  to  five  hazdrls — that  is, 
'  five  thousand  ' — the  pay  rises  still  more  above  that  of  the 
'  thousand,'  a  matter  that  will  seem  to  the  reader  very 
strange ;  but  such  is  the  custom  and  the  established  rule, 
from  which  in  this  country  there  is  hardly  ever  any  dis- 
pensation [24]. 

Do  Bisti — that  is,  '  Two  Twenties.' 

When  a  man  has  forty  rupees  a  month  in  the  first  class  of 
twelve  months,  he  receives  in  the  year  five  thousand  rupees ;  in 
the  second  class,  of  six  months,  seven  hundred  and  fifty ;  and 
in  the  third  class,  of  four  months,  five  hundred.  The  king 
fixes  these  rates  according  to  the  merit  and  the  services  of  the 
persons,  sometimes  from  favour  or  caprice,  or  in  many  cases 
from  the  man's  sheer  luck  and  good  fortune;  for  in  India,  as 
elsewhere,  virtue  is  not  always  rewarded. 

Ce  Bisti  (Sih-blstl) — that  is,  '  Three  Twenties.' 

When  a  man  gets  sixty  rupees  a  month  in  the  first  class,  he 
receives  annually  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  rupees  ; 
in  the  second,  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  ;  and 
in  the  third,  seven  hundred  and  fifty. 


RANK  OR  MAN  SAB  371 

Charbisti  (Chahar  Blsti) — that  is  to  say,  '  Four  Twenties.' 

When  a  man  has  eighty  rupees  a  month  in  the  first  class,  he 
receives  annually  three  thousand  rupees  ;  in  the  second,  one 
thousand  five  hundred ;  and  in  the  third,  one  thousand. 

Hi  Hec  Sadi  (Yak-sadl) — that  is,  '  One  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  one  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  rupees ;  in  the  second,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five ;  and  in  the  third,  twelve  hundred  and  fifty. 

Do  Sadi  (Du-sadl) — that  is,  '  Two  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  two  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  seven  thousand  five  hundred  rupees  a  year ; 
in  the  second,  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty ;  and  in 
the  third,  two  thousand  five  hundred. 

Sih  Sadi  (Sih-sadl) — that  is,  '  Three  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  three  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
fifty  rupees ;  in  the  second,  five  thousand  six  hundred  and 
twenty-five  ;  and  in  the  third,  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  fifty. 

Char  Sadi  (Chahar- sadi) — that  is,  '  Four  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  four  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  fifteen  thousand  rupees ;  in  the 
second,  seven  thousand  five  hundred  ;  and  in  the  third,  five 
thousand. 

Pange  Sadi  (Panj-sadT) — that  is,  '  Five  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  five  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  rupees  ; 
and  in  the  third,  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

Chech  Sadi  (Shash-sadl) — that  is,  '  Six  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  six  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  twenty-two  thousand  five  hundred 

24 — 2 


372  RANK  OR  MAN  SAB 

rupees ;  in  the  second,  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty ; 
and  in  the  third,  seven  thousand  five  hundred. 

Aff  Sadi  (Haft-sadl) — that  is,  '  Seven  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  seven  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  twenty-six  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  rupees ;  in  the  second,  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  ;  and  in  the  third,  eight  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  fifty. 

Ast  Sadi  (Hasht-sadl) — that  is,  '  Eight  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  eight  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  thirty  thousand  rupees ;  in  the 
second,  fifteen  thousand ;  and  in  the  third,  ten  thousand  [25]. 

Nou  Sadi  (Nuh-sadl) — that  is,  '  Nine  Hundred.' 

When  a  man  has  nine  hundred  rupees  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  rupees ;  in  the  second,  sixteen  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five ;  and  in  the  third,  eleven  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty. 

All  the  rates  of  pay  given  above,  from  twenty  up  to  nine 
hundred  rupees  a  month,  are  those  the  king  gives  to  the 
mancebdars  (mansabddr) — that  is,  '  nobles  of  the  royal  court.' 
To  get  the  hazdrl  or  the  pay  of  one  thousand,  it  is  necessary 
to  wait  a  long  time  and  work  hard.  For  the  kings  only  grant 
it  sparingly,  and  only  to  those  who  by  their  services  or  their 
skill  in  affairs  have  arrived  at  the  stage  of  deserving  it.  In 
having  this  rate  of  pay  accorded  to  you,  they  give  you  also  the 
title  of  omera  (umard) — that  is,  '  noble.' 

Hi  Hec  Azary,  Omarao  (Yak  Hazdrl,   Umard) — that  is,  'One 
Thousand '  and  the  title  of  Umard. 

When  you  hold  a  hazdrl  (one  thousand)  per  month  in  the  first 
class,  you  receive  annually  fifty  thousand  rupees ;  in  the  second, 
twenty-five  thousand  ;  and  in  the  third,  sixteen  thousand  six 
hundred  and  sixty-six  and  two-thirds.     Men  who  have  once  risen 


RANK  OR  MAN  SAB  373 

to  this  rate  of  pay  and  the  title  of  hazdri  are  obliged  to  maintain 
at  the  court  one  elephant  and  six  horses  for  the  king's  service. 
Those  who  are  absent  are  required  to  leave  orders  with  their 
representative  to  see  after  this  duty,  otherwise  a  deduction  is 
made  from  your  pay  to  meet  the  upkeep  of  an  equal  number  of 
these  animals.  Men  who  hold  the  two  hazdri  must  maintain 
two  elephants  and  twenty  horses,  and  thus  with  each  rise  in 
pay  a  man  is  obliged  to  increase  the  number  of  these  animals 
and  their  keep,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  hazdrls  that  he 
holds. 

Do  Azary  Omarao  (Du-hazdrl,  Umara) — that  is,  '  Two  Thousand' 
and  the  title  of  Umara. 

When  a  man  has  two  hazdri  (thousand)  a  month  in  the  first 
class,  he  receives  annually  a  hundred  thousand  rupees ;  in  the 
second,  fifty  thousand  ;  and  in  the  third,  thirty-three  thousand 
three  hundred  and  thirty-three. 

Sih   Azary,  Omarao,  Saeb   Nobat   (Sih-hazdri,    Umara,  Sahib-i- 
Nanbat) — that  is,  '  Lord  of  Musical  Instruments.' 

When  a  man  has  three  thousand  in  the  first  class,  he  receives 
annually  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  rupees ;  in  the  second, 
seventy-five  thousand  ;  and  in  the  third,  fifty  thousand.  When 
you  have  reached  this  rate  of  pay  and  this  height  of  honour, 
the  king  allows  you  to  have  a  retinue  of  drums,  flutes,  and 
trumpets,  which  is  almost  the  retinue  of  a  prince. 

Char  Azary,  Omarao,  Saeb  Nobat  {Chahar -hazdri,  Umara,  Sdhib- 
i-Naubat) — that  is,  '  Lord  of  Musical  Instruments.' 

When  a  man  has  four  hazdrls  a  month  in  the  first  class,  he 
receives  annually  two  hundred  thousand  rupees  ;  in  the  second, 
one  hundred ;  and  in  the  third,  sixty-six  thousand  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six. 

Panje  Azary,  Omarao,  Saeb  Nobat  (Panj-hazari,  Umara,  Sahib- 
i-Naubat)—  that  is,  '  Lord  of  Musical  Instruments.' 

When  a  man  has  five  hazdrls  in  the  first  class,  he  receives 
two  million  fifty  thousand  rupees  a  year ;  in  the  second,  one 


374  PAY  AND  ALLOWANCES 

million  twenty-five  thousand  rupees  ;  in  the  third,  six  hundred 
and  eighty-three  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-three  [26]. 
Ordinarily  persons  who  attain  this  rate  of  pay  and  this  grade  are 
already  advanced  in  age,  men  of  understanding  and  experience. 
When  they  hold  it  in  the  first  class,  they  are  viceroys  or  generals 
leading  armies,  and  at  court  occupy  all  the  most  important 
positions ;  but  of  these  there  are  very  few.  Those  holding  this 
rank  in  the  second  class  fill  offices  of  the  same  kind  as  the 
first  class,  only  of  less  importance ;  these  are  more  numerous. 
Finally,  those  of  the  third  class  have  also  charges  similar  to 
the  others,  and  are  also  employed  throughout  the  empire,  each 
one  according  to  his  capacity  and  his  birth.  Of  this  last  class 
there  are  still  more  than  of  the  second  class. 

Chech  Azary,  Omarao,  and  Cavany  (Shash-hazdrl,  Umard,  and 
Khawdnln1) — that  is,  '  Gentleman  of  the  Royal  Household,' 
'  Lord  of  the  State  and  Instruments.'  These  men  are 
required  to  maintain  soldiers  of  Do-aspa  (Du-aspah)  and  of 
Ce-aspa  (Sih-aspah) — that  is,  '  Soldiers  with  two  and  with 
three  horses.' 

Those  persons  who  have  six  hazdrls  a  month  receive  annually 
three  millions  of  rupees ;  those  who  have  seven,  three  million 
five  hundred  thousand  rupees,  coupled  with  leave  to  keep  a 
larger  and  more  splendid  retinue  than  others.  But  they  are 
obliged  to  do  the  same  duties  as  the  rest,  as  already  described. 
In  the  empire  there  are  not  usually  at  one  time  more  than  five 
or  six  persons  who  have  reached  this  pre-eminent  honour. 
These  are  the  highest  lords,  and  no  subject  who  is  not  a 
prince  can  rise  any  higher.  Their  retinue  is  as  large  and  as 
superb  as  a  prince's.  The  only  difference  is  that  the  allowances 
of  the  latter  are  much  greater  than  those  of  the  former.  Never- 
theless, over  and  above  their  fixed  income,  the  king  rewards 
them  at  times,  and  causes  various  amounts  to  be  paid  to  them, 
under  pretext  that  it  is  for  their  betel-leaf,  their  fruit,  or  their 
sweetmeats,  and  so  forth. 

When  the  king  fixes,  or  gives  orders  about,  the  allowances  of 
a  manmbddr  or  an  umard,  he  does  not  talk  of  '  rupees,'  but  of 

1  The  Arabic  plural  of  Kjban. 


PAY  AND  ALLOWANCES  375 

dams,  which  is  a  money  of  account,  of  which  they  make  forty 
go  to  the  rupee.  When  he  fixes  the  rate  of  pay  of  these  gentle- 
men, or  he  makes  any  gift,  he  says  they  are  to  give  to  So- 
and-so  so  many  thousands,  so  many  lakhs,  or  so  many  karors 
of  dams. 

The  foremost  of  those  noblemen  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken 
is  the  Secretary  of  State  ;  the  next  is  the  Viceroy  of  the  province 
of  Kabul ;  the  third  the  Viceroy  of  the  Dakhin ;  the  fourth  the 
Viceroy  of  Bengal ;  the  fifth  the  Viceroy  of  Ujjain  (=  Malwah). 
Ordinarily  these  five  lords  may  seat  themselves  in  the  presence 
of  princes  of  the  blood  when  these  give  them  permission. 

Officers  and  soldiers  on  small  pay  are  usually  paid  from  the 
royal  treasury  ;  ten  per  cent,  is  deducted  from  their  pay  under 
the  regulations  made  by  King  Akbar. 

The  queens  and  princesses  are  paid  half  from  the  royal 
treasury  and  half  in  land  or  in  rents,  which  always  yield  more 
than  the  amount  in  exchange  for  which  they  have  been  granted. 
All  the  other  women  [27]  of  the  royal  household  are  paid  in 
ready  money.  Some  of  the  chief  physicians  and  some  men  of 
learning  are  also  paid  as  the  queens  and  princesses  are, 
in  proportion  to  their  allowances.  For  paying  the  great  multi- 
tude of  people  in  the  prince's  service  four  places  [of  payment] 
are  fixed,  where  all  is  carried  out  with  much  order. 

The  persons  who  have  three  sadls  of  pay  and  higher  rates, 
as  far  as  seven  hazaris,  are  required  to  maintain  horses  according 
to  their  pay.  For  this  purpose  they  have  assignments  which 
produce  a  good  revenue.  A  man  getting  the  pay  of  a  hazarl 
in  the  first  class  is  obliged  to  keep  two  hundred  and  fifty  horse- 
men of  different  races — that  is  to  say,  sixty-four  Pathans,  sixty- 
four  Mu glials,  sixty-four  Rajputs;  the  remainder  are  Saiyids, 
Shekhzadahs,  and  so  forth.  The  regulation  still  observed  up 
to  this  day  was  made  by  King  Akbar. 

Those  with  the  same  rate  in  the  second  class  are  obliged 
to  keep  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  horsemen  of  the  above 
races,  and  the  same  with  all  the  other  classes.  So  much  so 
that  all  these  lords  are  obliged  to  have  cavalry,  but  propor- 
tionally, according  to  the  rate  of  pay  and  the  class  they  hold. 
In  addition  to  their  pay  the  king  gives  them,  for  the  upkeep  of 


376  BRANDING  OF  HORSES 

this  cavalry,  lands  and  a  special  income,  which  ought  to  pro- 
duce thirty  rupees  a  day1  for  each  horseman.  But  usually 
these  assignments  bring  in  more  than  is  set  down  in  the  king's 
registers  as  the  sum  for  which  they  are  allotted. 

A  man,  then,  who  has  a  hazarl  in  the  first  class  receives 
altogether  every  year — that  is  to  say,  in  cash  for  his  own  pay 
and  what  is  fixed  for  his  soldiers — the  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  rupees.  Those  who  have  lower  pay,  such  as 
four,  five,  and  seven  §adls  and  the  rest,  who  are  also  under  an 
obligation  of  maintaining  cavalry,  conduct  themselves  by  the 
same  regulation  and  in  the  same  order.  This  governs  all  ranks 
up  to  seven  hazarls. 

Troopers  in  the  king's  service  who  have  the  pay  of  a  bisti 
(twenty),  are  required  to  keep  each  one  horse  ;  those  who  have 
two  bisti  must  keep  two ;  and  those  who  have  the  sad  panjai 
(?ad-panjdhl) — that  is,  one  hundred  and  fifty  rupees — ought  to 
keep  three  horses ;  those  with  a  ?adl,  two ;  those  with  two 
§ad%,  four.  Although  in  the  course  of  time  a  man  may  get 
advanced  as  far  as  seven  hazarl  (thousand),  he  remains  always 
under  the  same  obligation  of  maintaining  four  horses  bearing 
the  king's  brand. 

All  the  horsemen  who  are  man§abdars  under  the  king  must 
have  impressed  on  the  right  flank  of  their  horses  a  mark  made 

like  this  y*),  which  is  the  royal  brand.  From  the  day  that  they 
get  this  mark  made  their  pay  begins.  The  generals  also  cause 
a  brand  to  be  placed  on  the  horses  of  their  troopers,  but  it  is 
made  on  the  left  flank.  Their  brand  is  usually  the  first  letter 
of  their  name,  and  their  men's  pay  begins  also  on  the  day  that 
the  brand  is  imprinted. 

Every  horseman  in  the  king's  service  must  have  a  Turkish 
horse,  and  not  one  reared  in  India.  The  latter  are  timid  and 
restive.  They  must  also  equip  themselves  with  amies  blanches 
and  a  coat  of  mail.  The  princes  of  the  blood  royal  administer 
their  households  in  the  same  manner,  but  from  the  pay  of  their 
soldiers  there  is  a  deduction  of  twenty  per  cent. 

In  spite  of  all  that  is  said  above,  I  must  give  warning  that 

1  Evidently  a  mistake  for  'a  month.' 


ROZlNAH  OR  DAILY  ALLOWANCES  377 

the  king  does  not  generally  pay  everyone  by  the  rules  that  I 
have  inserted.  For  since  there  are  in  his  service  an  innumer- 
able crowd  of  men  with  varying  employments  and  duties,  he  on 
his  side  makes  many  differing  rates  of  pay,  giving  from  a  blstl 
(twenty)  and  a  blstl  and  a  half  to  some,  up  to  a  sadl  (hundred) 
and  a  sadl  and  a  half  to  others,  going  on  increasing,  to  some 
more  to  some  less,  till  one  hazarl  (thousand)  is  reached.  At 
that  point  the  title  of  umara  (noble)  is  given,  and  from  hazarl 
(thousand)  a  man  rises  from  rank  to  rank  by  gradations. 

There  is  still  another  mode  of  payment  called  ruzindar 
(rozlnah-ddr) — that  is,  pay  by  the  day  given  to  infantry  and 
cavalry.  Yet,  although  they  have  this  name,  they  are  not  thus 
paid :  several  months  are  allowed  to  elapse.  Usually  in  the 
mahal,  or  the  apartments  in  which  are  secluded  the  women 
of  the  king's  household,  as  I  have  described  several  times 
(III.  3-10),  all  allowances  are  of  this  sort,  excepting,  however, 
those  of  the  queens  and  princesses.  Of  these  [allowances],  the 
lowest  are  of  half  a  rupee ;  the  rest  are  of  one,  two,  four,  seven, 
ten,  and  up  to  twenty  and  thirty ;  in  this  the  quality  of  the 
person  and  his  merits  are  regarded.  Christians — that  is  to  say, 
the  gunners  and  the  surgeons — are  also  paid  after  this  manner. 

All  soldiers,  high  and  low,  generals  and  captains,  are  forced 
to  give  surety,  and  without  it  they  cannot  obtain  employment. 
This  practice  is  so  common  and  so  general  that  even  the 
princes  find  it  necessary  to  conform  to  the  custom. 

Whenever  the  king,  or  some  commander  in  his  name,  wants 
to  raise  soldiers,  infantry  or  cavalry,  it  is  not  necessary  to  make 
any  great  stir.  For  a  thousand  at  a  time  will  attend  to  take 
service,  and  of  these  the  best  are  chosen.  This  applies  as 
much  to  the  cavalry  as  to  the  infantry  ;  still,  there  are  more 
who  present  themselves  for  the  latter  service  than  the  former. 
When  the  horse  of  a  trooper  dies,  he  must  on  the  same  day 
bring  the  hide  with  the  brand  and  the  other  marks  on  it  for 
inspection  of  the  officer  in  charge  of  that  duty.  He  is  given 
seven  days  to  buy  another,  otherwise  his  pay  is  reduced. 

Twice  a  year  the  bachi  (bakhshi),  the  chief  commander  of 
cavalry,  holds  a  review  of  all  the  cavalry  present  at  court, 
examines  all  the  horses,  and  sees  whether  any  of  them  are  old 


37«  MUSTERS  AND  INSPECTIONS 

and  unfit  for  service.  In  the  latter  case  he  makes  the  owners 
get  rid  of  them  and  buy  others.  Throughout  the  empire  there 
are  similar  officers  bearing  the  same  name,  and  these  are 
required  each  in  his  locality  to  perform  the  same  duty.  When 
the  king  dispatches  any  officer,  it  is  necessary  for  him  to 
appear  at  the  head  of  his  troops  and  show  them  in  review 
order  on  the  river-bank  below  the  royal  palace,  and  three  days 
after  that  he  is  bound  to  start. 

If  the  troopers  are  not  good  men  and  do  not  make  a  good 
appearance  they  are  turned  out,  or  their  pay  is  deducted  from 
that  disbursed  to  the  generals  or  captains.  These  gentlemen 
(the  generals)  have  generally  each  in  his  stable  fifty,  a  hundred, 
and  up  to  two  hundred  horses  for  show  or  service.  On  the 
day  of  the  review  they  equip  their  servitors  and  mount  them 
on  these  horses,  and  pass  them  off  as  soldiers,  putting  to  the 
account  of  profit  the  pay  these  men  draw.  In  every  quarter  of 
the  empire  there  are  officials  who  keep  an  eye  on  everythiug, 
or,  at  least,  ought  to  do  so  ;  for,  being  at  a  distance  from  the 
court,  they  do  not  acquit  themselves  of  their  duty  as  loyal 
subjects  ought.  But  they  are  negligent  by  reason  of  the 
presents  given  them  to  that  intent  by  the  persons  interested. 
Owing  to  these  considerations  they  practise  concealment,  and 
never  dream  of  enforcing  the  performance  of  duties.  Many 
a  time  have  I  witnessed  this.  Those  who  ought  to  keep  fifty 
horses,  more  or  less,  very  frequently  have  no  more  than  six  to 
eight,  and  entertain  no  soldiers,  although  there  are  men  ready 
to  enlist  with  branded  horses,  such  as  I  have  described.  To 
all  these  regulations  they  pay  little  or  no  heed,  thinking  solely 
of  their  own  [29]  enjoyments,  without  troubling  about  any- 
thing else. 

The  generals  and  officers  keep  to  no  fixed  rules  in  paying 
their  soldiers,  for  to  some  they  will  give  twenty  or  thirty  rupees, 
to  others  forty,  fifty,  or  a  hundred.  Usually  they  make  great 
promises,  but  not  even  a  half  is  received,  each  one  paying 
according  to  his  caprice  and  the  reputation  that  he  is  emulous 
of  acquiring  for  his  efficient  retinue  or  establishments.  The 
wretched  soldiers  naturally  agree  to  anything,  all  the  more 
readily  since  they  have  no  other  means  of  livelihood.     All  this 


IRREGULARITY  IN  PAYMENT  379 

contributes  much  to  the  bad  payment  of  everyone  that  is  so 
common ;  for  the  money  they  get  comes  to  them  only  in 
driblets,  and  when  all  is  said  and  done  it  does  not  come  to 
a  great  deal.  For  in  respect  of  one  year's  service  they  receive 
six  or  eight  months'  pay.  Even  that  is  not  all  in  coin ;  they 
are  always  foisted  off  as  respects  two  months'  pay  with  clothes 
and  old  raiment  from  the  household.  Over  and  above  this, 
there  is  almost  always  due  to  them  the  pay  for  two  or  three 
years'  service.  The  soldiers  are  obliged  to  borrow  money  at 
interest  from  the  sarrdfs,  or  money-changers.  These  men  lend 
to  them,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  hardly  ever  without  a  command 
from  the  general  or  officer ;  and  these  latter  have  an  under- 
standing with  them  about  the  profit  from  interest,  which  they 
share  between  them. 

Sometimes  the  soldiers  sell  their  papers  to  these  money- 
changers, who  for  a  note  of  hand  for  one  hundred  rupees  will 
give  them  twenty  or  twenty-five.  It  is  by  these  and  such-like 
extortions  that  these  generals  ruin  the  wretched  soldier,  who, 
unable  to  find  other  means  of  gaining  his  bread,  is  forced  to 
remain  on  in  his  service.  Speaking  generally,  it  is  impossible 
for  them  to  escape  such  extortions,  for  these  disorders  reign 
throughout  all  the  princes'  establishments.  If  anyone  resigns 
service  at  his  own  request,  they  deduct  two  months'  pay. 

Actually,  as  I  am  writing  on  this  subject,  an  affair  has  arisen 
at  St.  Thome  which  proves  the  truth  of  what  I  say.  One 
thousand  soldiers  from  the  fortress  of  Gingy  (JinjI),  which  is 
in  the  Carnate  (Karnatik),  have  come  to  the  aforesaid  St. 
Thome  to  pray  the  dlwan  to  give  them  enough  to  meet  their 
expenses,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for  seven  thousand 
others  who  had  remained  behind  in  the  fortress.  They  ask 
this  as  a  sum  on  account  in  respect  of  three  years  of  pay 
owed  to  them  by  the  king.  At  first  he  refused,  but  in  spite 
of  that  they  have  so  pressed  him  that  at  last  he  has  given 
them  five  months'  pay,  half  in  money  and  half  in  old  clothes, 
reckoned  by  him  at  a  good  deal  above  their  value. 

In  these  days  many  similar  disputes  occur,  owing  to  the 
want  of  order  in  the  government,  and  everybody's  only  thought 
is  to  steal.     But  whatever  happens,  it  rarely  reaches  the  king's 


380  DISOBEDIENCE  OF  KING'S  ORDERS 

ears,  for  he  being  old — some  eighty-five  years  of  age — and  also 
taken  up  with  this  war  against  the  Shiva  Ji  (the  Mahrattahs), 
his  empire,  too,  being  of  such  a  vast  extent,  he  is  unable  to 
put  a  stop  to  all  this  injustice  and  misrule,  which  his  ministers 
carry  on  with  impunity.  They  tell  him  what  they  please,  and 
having  their  friends  and  agents  at  court,  they  cause  presents 
to  be  made  to  this  man  and  that,  by  which  means  they  obtain 
what  they  want,  joined  with  impunity  for  everything. 

There  are  even  some  officers  who,  being  far  away  from 
headquarters,  do  not  obey  the  orders  coming  to  them  from 
the  king ;  and  when  they  are  [30]  commanded  to  relieve  any 
place  or  assist  any  person,  they  invent  excuses  on  the  ground 
that  they  have  not  the  requisite  funds.  Thereupon  the  king 
makes  payment  to  them  of  some  money  out  of  his  treasury, 
to  be  deducted  thereafter  from  their  pay.  But  in  the  interval 
it  often  happens  that  the  enemy  invade  the  country  and  carry 
off  all  they  can  find.  These  officers  think  only  of  their  own 
interests,  and  they  occasion  great  loss  to  private  individuals 
recommended  to  them.  This  I  have  seen  happen  many  times, 
and  here  is  an  instance  which  is  quite  recent. 

It  consists  in  what  happened  to  the  Chevalier  Nouris  (Sir 
William    Norris),    ambassador    of    England,1   this    gentleman 

1  Sir  William  Norris  (1657- 1702)  came  as  envoy  to  the  Mogul  in  the  interests 
of  the  new  East  India  Company.  He  landed  at  Masulipatam  on  September  25, 
1699,  and  left  it  again  on  August  26,  1700.  He  reached  Swally  (Surat)  on 
December  10,  and  proceeded  thence  to  the  Mogul  camp  via  Burhanpur.  On 
Novembers,  1701,  he  quitted  the  Mogul  camp  without  permission.  He  sailed 
for  England  on  May  5,  1702,  and  died  at  sea  from  dysentery  on  December  10, 
1702  ('  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,'  vol.  xli.,  p.  144,  by  S.  L.  Poole). 
A  few  details  can  be  gleaned  from  the  India  Office  archives,  '  Factory  Records 
Miscellaneous,'  vol.  xix.  On  January  12,  1700,  he  was  waiting  for  a  safe  conduct 
to  the  camp,  800  miles  distant.  On  March  11  he  was  still  waiting.  On  April  15 
Consul  John  Pitt's  letter  to  Manucci  at  Madras  and  his  reply  were  read  (see  the 
Introduction).  Imam  Quli  Beg,  with  camels  for  carriage,  was  expected  (April  23), 
but  they  were  trying  to  get  ox-carriage.  On  April  24  a  protest  at  the  delays  was 
delivered,  but  the  President  and  Council  were  indignant  at  it.  Norris  retorted 
by  calling  Masulipatam  a  '  barren  place. '  The  start  fixed  for  May  1  could  not 
take  place  for  want  of  palki-bearers  and  coolies,  and  on  May  4  an  Englishman 
was  sent  to  Gulkandah  to  procure  them.  May  31  came,  and  still  no  start  had 
been  made.  Norris  suspected  underhand  dealings  to  cause  delay.  On  June  4 
it  seems  a  mace-bearer  had  been  several  times  to  the  jaujdar  of  Goodra  (?  Gudur) 
to  obtain  oxen,  but  without  success;  and  the  next  day  the  messenger  returned  to 


CASE  OF  SIR  W.  N ORRIS  381 

being  on  the  point  of  starting  from  the  port  of  Machhlipatnam 
on  his  way  to  court  with  four  halberdiers  with  silver  maces, 
men  sent  to  him  by  the  king  to  accompany  him,  and  also  a 
asbelocum  (hasb-ul-hukm) — that  is,  a  special  order  to  all  the 
viceroys,  governors,  and  deputies  to  allow  him  passage,  and 
to  escort  him  to  the  frontier  of  each  man's  province. 

He  made  a  start,  but  from  the  very  first  stage  he  was 
stopped  by  the  faujddr,  or  king's  deputy,  who  asserted  that 
he  must  pay  customs  duty  on  what  he  was  carrying.  The 
man  said  the  king's  orders  were  worth  nothing  in  this  matter ; 
the  halberdiers  wanted  to  intervene,  but  their  protestations 
were  equally  without  effect.  The  result  was  that  the  ambas- 
sador was  forced  to  retrace  his  steps  and  sell  all  the  animals 
he  had,  such  as  horses,  camels,  bullocks,  etc.,  his  carts,  and 
other  requisites  for  such  journeys.  This  has  caused  him 
considerable  loss  through  the  great  expense  incurred,  the 
whole  of  which  was  thrown  away. 

This  ambassador  afterwards  embarked  for  the  port  of  Surat 
in  the  month  of  August  of  the  year  1700,  meaning  to  travel 
thence  to  the  court,  and  there  renew  his  efforts  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  new  English  company's  trade  within  the  Mogul 

say  that  the  Guntur  official  would  give  no  help — his  only  orders  were  to  conduct 
the  embassy  safely  through  his  jurisdiction.  Next,  the  faujddr  of  Masulipatam 
was  appealed  to.  He  said  he  had  ordered  the  coolies,  but  there  were  no  oxen  ; 
still,  he  would  try  to  get  them  from  Guntur.  On  June  6,  1700,  the  land  journey 
was  given  up,  and  the  party  resolved  to  take  ship  for  Surat.  All  horses  (10), 
oxen  (58),  hackeries  (carts,  24),  and  camels,  the,  whole  costing  Rs.  18,659.7.0, 
were  sent  to  the  President  for  disposal.  Noiris  declared  he  had  been  betrayed 
and  the  native  governors  bribed.  On  June  15  a  declaration  was  made  to  the 
waqi'ah  navis  (official  reporter),  Mir  Muhammad  Sa'id,  stating  these  grievances. 
The  waqi'ah  navis,  a  new  man,  offered  help,  and  said  he  heard  the  oxen  were  not 
refused ;  the  difficulty  was  about  their  price.  It  appears  the  contract  was  for 
600  oxen,  and  advances  were  given.  The  ambassador  had  moved  out  some  two 
miles  before  the  final  refusal  arrived  from  Guntur,  and  the  approach  of  the  rains 
made  the  journey  impossible.  Norris  refused  to  change  his  intention  of  going 
round  by  sea.  Then  Mir  Salih,  faujdar  of  Gudur,  offered  an  escort  of  horse,  and 
even  resorted  to  threats.  On  August  15  the  whole  party  embarked  on  the 
Sommers  (Captain  John  Douglas)  for  Surat.  Guntur  (Kistna  district)  is  forty-four 
miles  west  of  Masulipatam  ;  Gudur  is  three  and  three-quarter  miles  west  of  same 
('  Madras  Manual  of  Administration,'  iii.  335,  321).  Manucci  returns  to  the 
subject  of  Norris  in  Part  IV.,  fol.  33. 


382  A  PERSISTENT  OLD  WOMAN 

empire.  Those  gentlemen  wrote  me  several  letters,  principally 
Jean  Pitt,  consul  of  the  new  company,  praying  me  to  help 
them  in  their  business  at  the  court,  which  I  was  unable  to 
perform  for  many  reasons.1 

By  all  that  I  have  stated  above  it  can  be  seen  that  the 
government  of  the  Mogul  empire  is  nothing  but  one  vast 
disorder.  Upon  this  it  will  not  be,  I  think,  inappropriate  to 
recount  another  adventure  concerning  an  old  woman.  This  old 
woman  complained  to  the  king  that  the  officials  had  taken  her 
land ;  and  in  reference  thereto  at  six  different  times  did  the  king 
give  her  his  asbelocums  (hasb-ul-hnkm),  or  his  written  order,  to  get 
her  back  her  property.     In  spite  of  all  this,  nothing  came  of  it. 

When  she  came  with  a  seventh  rescript,  the  officials  lost 
their  temper,  and  had  her  thrust  out  with  the  words  that,  if 
she  came  again  with  orders  like  that,  they  would  throw  her  into 
a  place  wjiich  they  named  plainly  enough,  but  decency  requires 
me  to  leave  unsaid.  Back  went  the  good  lady  to  complain 
to  the  king  while  he  was  seated  giving  audience ;  she  shouted 
out  to  him  the  answer  she  had  got  from  his  officials.  Without 
getting  angry,  the  prince  replied  that  as  they  would  not  obey, 
he  could  do  nothing,  and  she  must  lay  her  plaints  before  God. 
Yet  it  is  by  similar  neglect  that  the  kingdom  has  now  been 
brought  to  ruin,  for  if  Aurangzeb  followed  [31]  the  course 
of  his  father,  there  would  not  be  seen  so  much  disorder  as  is 
to  be  found  nowadays.  For  any  such  disobedience  he  (Shah- 
jahan)  had  the  man's  head  cut  off,  or  took  his  life  by  means 
of  venomous  snakes. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  it  is  not  alone  the  Mogul's  officials 
who  cause  the  maladministration,  but  the  prince  himself  many 
a  time  does  not  keep  his  word.  For  he  may  make,  be  it 
to  a  prince  or  to  a  subject,  the  present  of  a  province  or  of 
some  allowance  from  it,  or  some  other  thing  of  considerable 
extent ;  and  he  may  confirm  it  by  the  royal  farmdn  usually 
issued  in  such  cases  (I  will  give  a  delineation  of  one  further  on).2 

1  The  subject  of  Sir  W.  Norris's  embassy  is  resumed  in  Part  IV.,  f.  33.     For 
John  Pitt's  letters  and  Manucci's  answers,  see  the  Introduction. 

2  N.  M.  seems  to  have  forgotten  to  carry  out  this  promise — at  any  rate,  in  the 
Berlin  Codex. 


LITTLE  VALUE  OF  FARM  AN  S  383 

Nevertheless,  it  often  happens  that  the  present  Mogul  has  no 
hesitation  in  falsifying  his  word  and  that  of  others,  and  making 
a  mock  of  his  own  farmans. 

As  an  example  of  what  I  say,  Shahjahan  had  given  a  village 
to  'All  Mardan  Khan,  quite  near  the  river  Chenon  (Chinab) ;  it 
was  called  Nicader  (Nikodar).1  It  was  given  in  perpetuity,  for 
himself  and  his  descendants.  Aurangzeb,  disregarding  the 
word  of  his  father  and  his  king,  and  without  the  commission  of 
any  fault  by  'All  Mardan  Khan,  took  possession  of  the  place 
and  ousted  the  possessor. 

He  did  just  the  same  to  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  and  occupied  the 
lands  conquered  by  that  noble  from  the  rebel  Mewatls  and  those 
in  the  province  of  Saomber  (Sambhar).  This  is  just  the  way  he 
behaved  to  Shiva  jT,  as  I  have  related  (II.  17).  The  Hindu  king, 
the  Rana,  and  many  others  that  I  do  not  mention,  have  suffered 
from  the  same  sort  of  deception,  not  to  call  it  anything  more. 
He  also  broke  faith  with  the  Dutch.  On  different  occasions 
they  sent  embassies  to  the  court  to  ask  for  a  farmdn  according 
them  some  privileges  that  they  had  long  asked  for  without  ever 
being  able  to  obtain. 

At  last,  in  the  year  1688,  they  sent  a  person  called  Mr.  Bald2 
as  their  ambassador,  with  a  superb  and  magnificent  retinue,  as 
a  means  of  demonstrating  their  power.  They  also  sent  a  con- 
siderable present  for  the  King,  which  had  cost  more  than  two 
hundred  thousand  pieces  of  eight,3  this  without  counting  all 
the  expenses  he  incurred  during  the  year's  time  he  was  made 
to  wait  before  he  got  his  letters  answered.  Nevertheless,  during 
his  stay  the  king  gave  him  many  marks  of  favour,  honoured 
him  with   the   title   of  Golzar   can    (Gulzar   Khan)4 — that  is, 

1  Nikodar,  in  the  Sarkar  of  the  Beth  Jalandhar  Duabah  of  the  Lahor  Subah  (see 
'  A,In-i-Akbarl, '  ii.  317,  Jarrett),  lat.  310  10',  long.  750  28',  seventy  miles  south-east 
by  east  from  Lahor  (Thornton,  '  Gazetteer,'  681). 

2  See  separate  note  at  the  end  of  the  next  paragraph. 

3  '  Piece  of  eight '  was  the  dollar  or  pataca,  and  therefore,  according  to 
Manucci,  worth  two  rupees  (see  Yule,  638).  Fryer,  edition  1873,  p.  223,  says  the 
'  piece  of  eight  '  was  worth  nine  fanam. 

4  The  fact  is  confirmed  by  a  letter  in  the  Dutch  archives  from  Bisharat  Khan. 
dlwan  of  Gulkandah,  in  which  he  addresses  the  ambassador  as  '  Commandeur 
Johannes  Bacherus  Gooljaar  Chan  '  (i.e.,  Gulza.  Khan). 


384  DUTCH  EMBASSY,  1688 

'  Great  and  Flourishing  ' — and  at  length  sent  him  away  with  a 
properly-executed  farman,  which  granted  to  his  nation  the 
privileges  they  asked  for. 

When  the  ambassador  had  returned  to  Masulipatam,  the 
Dutch,  relying  on  the  king's  word  and  on  the  farman  they  had 
obtained  from  him,  sent  some  bullocks  and  carts  loaded  with 
merchandise,  such  as  spices,  broadcloth,  copper,  and  other 
things,  to  be  sold  at  various  spots  in  the  empire.  But  at  the  very 
start  the  whole  was  stopped  by  the  king's  officers,  who  demanded 
payment  to  them  of  customs'  duty,  saying  that  the  farman  did 
not  deal  with  that  question.  This  affair  raised  some  amount 
of  dispute  between  the  two  parties,  and  the  officers  wrote  to 
court  that  the  farman  obtained  by  the  Dutch  had  raised  their 
pride  and  haughtiness  to  such  a  degree  that,  abandoning  all 
respect  for  His  Majesty's  officers,  they  had  raised  their  hands 
against  them.  They  aggravated  still  more  the  offence  [32] 
they  pretended  to  have  received  by  several  additional  details. 
Thereupon  the  king,  without  having  heard  the  Dutch  story, 
set  aside  the  farman  he  had  issued  to  them,  and  declared  it  of 
no  effect. 

NOTE  ON  THE  DUTCH  EMBASSY  TO  THE 
MOGUL  IN  1688. 

N.  Manucci  is  wrong  in  the  name  of  the  envoy  ;  it  should  be 
Bacherus,  and  not  Bald.  The  only  Balde  or  Baldaeus  known  is 
Philip  Baldaeus,  a  Dutch  chaplain,  who  died  in  1672,  the  year 
his  book  appeared,  being  a  description  of  the  island  of  Ceylon, 
of  Malabar,  and  Choromandel. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  of  the  mission  of  Johannes 
Bacherus  in  1688.  Let  us  take  first  the  English  records. 
Porto  Novo  reports  to  Fort  St.  George  on  November  27,  1687 
(Factory  Records,  No.  30),  that  the  Dutch  are  keeping  high 
festival  for  four  days  on  account  of  a  qaul  (written  order)  freeing 
them  from  customs  duty  for  four  years,  and  thenceforth  to  pay 
only  half  duties  throughout  the  Gulkandah  kingdom.  We 
must  remember  that  Gulkandah  had  just  been  absorbed  into  the 
Mogul  empire.  Fort  St.  George  rejoins,  December  9,  1687, 
that  it  understands  not  the  festival,  as  the  Dutch  were  already 
free  of  customs  in  Gulkandah ;  there  must  be  something  else 
behind.     On  January  17,  1688  (letter  to  Surat),  the  English  say 


JOHANNES  BACHERUS  SENT  385 

they  heard  that  the  Mogul  had  ordered  the  Dutch  to  send  up 
an  ambassador,  and  was  demanding  sums  of  money  for  the 
confirmation  of  their  former  privileges.  Again,  on  September  13, 
1688,  they  write  that  the  Dutch  Commissary-General  (?  Van 
Reede)1  at  Pulicat  (close  to  Madras)  was  preparing  a  great 
'  Pishkas '  for  the  Mogul,  said  to  be  worth  40,000  pagodas — 
elephants,  horses,  palkis,  plate,  jewels,  etc.  '  Heer  John 
Vakeerus  '  (Bacherus),  the  second  in  council,  was  to  deliver  it. 
Daniel  Chardin,  brother  of  the  traveller,  wrote  from  Bhagnagar 
(Haidarabad)  on  February  11-21,  1687-8,  saying  that  the  Mogul 
had  gone  on  to  Bijapur,  and  that  the  Dutch  had  interviewed 
Ruhullah  Khan,  the  new  governor.  D.  Chardin  on  February  22 
wrote  again  that  the  Dutch  had  not  obtained  their  farman.  On 
August  28,  1688,  the  Fort  St.  George  authorities  again  speak 
of  Hendrik  van  Reede,  Dutch  Commissary-General,  proposing 
to  send  Johannes  Bacherus  to  the  Mogul  from  Pulicat  with  a 
very  large  present.  It  was  said  the  Dutch  were  trying  to  get 
the  English  excluded  from  the  Mogul's  dominions  by  offering  a 
payment  of  8  lakhs  of  rupees  a  year.  In  a  letter  to  the  Court 
of  Directors  (Original  Correspondence  5658)  of  January,  1689, 
it  is  stated  that  the  Dutch  envoy  had  started.  On  July  12  and 
20,  1689,  they  speak  of  the  '  late  '  embassy,  and  assert  that  it 
met  with  no  success,  their  '  present '  being  plundered  by  the 
Mahrattahs.  Pulicat  Fort,  held  by  the  Dutch,  was  to  be  re- 
duced to  a  mere  factory  (Fort  St.  George  to  Court,  February  1, 

1690,  Original  Correspondence  No.  5698). 

Thus  far  from  the  India  Office  records ;  we  will  now  turn  to 
the  Dutch  records  at  the  Hague.  The  instructions,  forty-three 
pages  in  extent,  were  issued  by  Hendrik  van  Reede  to  Johannes 
Bacherus  from  Pulicat  on  .September  22,  1688.  Bacherus  is 
described  as  the  second  on  the  Commission,  then  on  a  visit  to 
the  northern  factories  of  Coromandel.  On  December  24,  1688, 
the  envoy  started  from  Masulipatam,  and  on  January  26,  1689, 
van  Reede  reports  to  the  Seventeen  at  Middleburg  to  that  effect. 
We  have  a  letter  from  the  wazir,  Asad  Khan,  of  the  7th  Zu,l 
Hijjah  (September  20,  1689),  the  wdqi'ah  entry  in  the  Court 
official  diary,  10th  Zu,l  Hijjah  (September  23),  and  a  second 
letter  from  Asad  Khan  of  the  26th  Zu,l  Hijjah  (October  9) ;  then 
comes  the  farman,  dated  the  12th  Muharram  of  the  thirty- 
third  year — i.e.,  1101  H.  (October  24,  1689).  There  is  the  sub- 
sidiary order  or  Hasb-nl-hukm  of  the  wazir,  27th  Muharram, 

1  Hendrik  Adriaan  van  Reede,  of  Drakensteyn,  born  at  Utrecht  early  in  1637. 
In  1690  made  Commissary  at  Surat,  and  Governor-General  of  Malabar  Coast. 
He  is  the  author  of  '  Hortus  Indica,'  folio,  1678.    He  died  at  sea  on  December  15, 

1691,  and  was  buried  at  Surat  early  in  January,  1692.  D.  Havart,  'Op  en 
Ondergang,'  has  a  plate  of  the  funeral  procession. 

VOL.  II.  25 


386  CONCESSIONS  GRANTED  TO  DUTCH 

iioi  H.  (November  8,  1689),  another  order  of  November  11, 
and  the  dlwan's  (Bisharat  Khan's)  vise  or  executive  order  of  the 
same  date. 

The  provisions  of  the  farman  are  as  follows :  After  reciting 
the  petition  of  the  envoy  for  a  confirmation  of  the  grant  and 
privileges  accorded  in  writing  by  'Abdullah  and  Abu,l  Hasan, 
the  former  rulers  of  Gulkandah,  a  renewed  grant  is  made  in 
the  following  detail.  A  gift  is  made  of  five  villages,  three  at 
Pulicat  (Ergam,  Mansiewarom,  Awieriwaka)  and  two  at  Masuli- 
patam  (Pallicol,  Contera). 

At  Pulicat  the  following  concessions  are  made  in  respect  to 
the  Dutch  share  in  customs  and  their  right  to  coin.  On  goods 
over  a  candy1  in  weight,  liable  to  4^  pagodas  of  duty,  the  county 
officials  are  to  take  2^,  and  the  Dutch  Company  1% pagodas;  but 
goods  liable  to  less  than  that  amount,  according  to  the 
Mutasaddis'  (native  officials')  weights,  shall  be  divided,  half  to 
the  emperor  and  half  to  the  Dutch. 

At  Eragam  and  Mansiewarom  the  division  was  to  be : 

Customs  of  4-g-  pagodas  and  over  to  pay  three-fourths  to 

the  Mogul,  one-fourth  to  the  Dutch. 
Customs  of  4  pagodas  to  pay  1 J  pagodas  to  Dutch. 
Customs  of  less  than  4  pagodas  to  pay  half  to  Mogul,  half 

to  Dutch. 

On  cloth  brought  in  from  villages,  when  the  bale  contains 
20  pieces  of  72  cobidos  (cubits)  each,  3^  pagodas  are  to  be  paid, 
the  king  taking  half  and  the  Dutch  half.  If  the  goods  are 
afterwards  sold,  the  same  tax  shall  be  paid  and  divided  as  before. 
If  goods  so  bought  are  liable  to  over  4  pagodas,  the  division 
shall  be  three-fourths  to  the  king  and  one-fourth  to  the  Dutch. 

Ground-rents  on  inhabited  land  to  be  equally  divided. 

All  dues  on  goods  brought  in  ships  from  abroad  to  be  equally 
divided.  When  the  Dutch  bring  their  own  money  to  be  coined, 
the  mint  tax,  which  is  f  per  cent.,  shall  be  equally  divided ;  if 
the  money  is  not  theirs,  the  Dutch  will  only  receive  one-third 
of  the  dues. 

Masulipatam. — The  Dutch  Company  are  freed  from  certain 
dues :  (1)  Cabaratn,  a  sort  of  ground-rent ;  (2)  Baatpoelerij,  an 
imposition  on  exported  goods ;  and  (3)  Molliwidaal,  road  dues. 
Formerly,  on  every  two  ox-loads  to  Haidarabad  the  freight 
was  4  pagodas  (2  of  which  went  to  the  governor) ;  now  5  are 
demanded.  A  return  to  the  old  rate  is  asked.  The  emperor 
ordered  that  the  Company  must  make  the  best  terms  it  could 
with  the  carriers,  but  the  governor's  2  pagodas  were  remitted. 

1  Candy,  a  weight  in  use  in  South  India  of,  roughly,  500  pounds  (Yule,  155). 


PULICAT  AND  MASH  LIP  AT  AM  387 

Fort  Palliacatta. — For  a  long  time  this  had  been  the  sole 
property  of  the  Company,  and  no  other  Europeans  had  any 
share.  Petty  disputes  were  decided  by  the  king's  officers  and 
the  employes  of  the  Company  ;  those  of  more  importance  were 
referred  to  'Abdullah  and  Abu,l  Hasan.  The  emperor  orders 
the  same  practice  to  continue,  but  great  and  weighty  causes 
must  be  sent  to  Haidarabad  to  be  there  decided  by  the 
emperor's  representative. 

For  the  villages  of  Gollepalem  and  Gondewarom  close  to 
Daatcherom  the  Company  paid  yearly,  by  way  of  lease,  the  sum 
of  150  pagodas.     This  was  allowed  to  remain  on  the  old  footing. 

Narsapur. — Here  there  was  a  piece  of  land  used  for  storing 
timber,  and  a  smith's  shop,  where  various  things  required  for 
ships  were  stored,  and  the  workpeople  who  resorted  there  had 
been  free  of  dues  for  a  long  time ;  nor  was  anyone  allowed  to 
hinder  others  from  settling  there,  the  said  people  being,  like  the 
Narsapur  dwellers,  in  the  service  of  the  Company.  Yearly  from 
each  household  3  pagodas  were  collected.  The  demand  is  con- 
ceded by  the  emperor  to  the  Dutch  on  the  old  footing. 

In  the  village  Mansiewarom  (subordinate  to  Masulipatam) 
forty  households  of  washermen  used  to  pay  each  3  pagodas  a 
year.  There  are  now  six  families  left.  When  the  water  rises 
they  go  to  wash  in  Suguram  (or  Sury)  village,  and  ought  not  to 
be  hindered.     The  request  is  granted. 

Certain  taxes  or  dues  were  remitted,  viz.  : 

1.  A  tax  on  coolies  whose  wages  are  paid  by  the  merchants, 
provided  they  are  permanently  in  the  Company's  service. 

2.  The  tax  of  Callagads,  or  writers'  fees. 

3.  Rahdari,  or  road  tax,  inland  in  going  from  Bimlipatnam 
to  Siccacol. 

4.  Rahdari  on  travellers  from  Eloer,  Ragiemandree,  Daat- 
cheram,  Palicol,  and  Nagelwance. 

5.  Rahdari  from  Masulipatam  and  Paliacatta,  going  and 
coming. 

6.  Tolls  or  other  imposts  upon  any  victuals  for  the  Company's 
own  use,  coming  either  by  water  or  land. 

7.  Tolls  on  all  merchandise  or  wares  sent  out  by  the  Company 
and  brought  in  by  it  from  abroad  and  here  sold. 

8.  Mint. — The  charges  of  the  Taksdl,  or  Mint,  on  the  coining, 
whether  of  gold  or  silver,  together  with  the  exchange  on  Pallia- 
cat  and  Chinapatnam  (?  Madras)  pagodas,  are  remitted. 

9.  On  ghaza-am  [ghiza-i-'am] — that  is,  grain  and  all  such 
wares — the  dealers  had  to  pay  the  king,  causing  prices  to  rise. 
From  all  such  dues  the  Company  and  their  servants  are 
exempted. 

25—2 


3S8  RETIRING  ALLOWANCES 

The  farman  bears  the  titles  and  attestations  of  Asad  Khan, 
the  wazlr. 

The  correspondence  is  continued  in  twenty-four  more  letters, 
beginning  with  Laurens  Pit  and  Council  at  Pulicat  to  the 
Seventeen  at  Middelburg  (a  long  letter),  dated  January  6,  1690, 
and  ending  with  the  Governor-General's  letter  from  Batavia  to 
the  same  body,  dated  March  26,  1691. 

There  is  also  mention  of  the  Bacherus  embassy  in  D.  Havart, 
1  Op  en  Ondergang  van  Coromandel '  (1693),  Part  II.,  165. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  have  a  valid  Jarmdn,  but  if  the  officials 
are  not  your  friends,  it  serves  you  very  little.  This  is  why  those 
who  want  to  carry  out  their  business  must  always  make  some 
presents  to  these  men,  a  custom  followed  throughout  India. 
For  I  have  always  noted  that  in  order  to  succeed  well,  you 
must  gain  the  goodwill  of  the  employes,  for  they  do  and  undo 
everything  with  their  masters,  as  to  them  seems  fit. 

The  figure  opposite  is  a  representation  of  the  seal  with  which 
the  Mogul  attests  all  the  farmdns  and  the  grants  that  he  accords. 
Usually  the  seal  is  stamped  in  ink,  and  below  it  the  king, 
dipping  his  hand  into  a  red  liquid,  impresses  its  shape  upon  the 
document  to  be  dispatched.1  This  serves  as  a  still  more 
authentic  confirmation  of  the  favour  or  gift  that  he  makes. 
This  ceremony  is  only  employed  in  matters  of  importance,  for 
in  other  cases  they  use  another  small  seal,  with  which  letters 
and  dispatches  are  sealed  [33] . 

After  this  digression,  which  I  have  thought  necessary  to 
make  to  display  the  bad  faith  of  the  Moguls  and  their  officials, 
and  the  very  little  reliance  to  be  placed  upon  their  word,  I  go 
on  with  the  relation  I  began  about  the  prince  and  his  conduct 
in  paying  his  army,  et  cetera. 

When  any  general  or  great  commander  quits  the  service, 
either  from  old  age  or  any  other  reason,  the  king  as  a  favour 
continues  always  to  pay  to  him  an  allowance  for  his  support. 
But  there  is  no  fixed  rule.     To  some   less,  to  some  more,  is 

1  For  an  instance  of  the  use  of  the  panjah,  or  impressed  palm  of  the  hand,  see 
Tod,  'Annals  of  Rajasthan  '  (Calcutta  reprint,  1894),  vol.  i. ,  p.  361,  Aurangzeb's 
treaty  with  the  Rana,  1680.  In  the  Venice  Codex  XLIV.  (Zanetti)  there  is 
inserted  at  fol.  419,  below  the  seal,  an  imprint  of  a  hand  of  reddish  colour ;  it  is 
a  very  small  hand,  and  represents,  I  suppose,  that  of  Aurangzeb, 


THE  IMPERIAL  SEAL 


389 


assigned,  according  to  the  king's  inclination  towards  them. 
For  example,  Shaistah  Khan  had  two  brothers,  one  called 
Bamenear  (Bahman-yar)1  and  the  other  Faracfal  (?  Farrukh-fal). 
The  first  was  incapacitated  by  hernia,  and  the  other  declined 
to  serve,  being  very  misshapen.  The  king  allowed  to  these 
gentlemen  one  hundred  thousand  rupees.     Yet  to  the  son  of 


Ja'far  Khan,  called  Namdar  Khan,2  who  declined  service  upon 
the  death  of  his  father,  Ja'far  Khan,  because  he  considered  the 

1  I'tiqad  Khan,  Mirza  Bahman-yar  (' Ma, asir-ul-Umara,'  i.  232),  died  1082  H. 
(1671-72).     The  other  brother  I  cannot  trace. 

2  Namdar  Khan,  eldest  son  of  Jamdat-ul-Mulk,  Ja'far  Khan  (' M.-ul-U.,' 
iii.  830).  On  p.  833,  line  1,  we  read  :  '  In  the  seventeenth  year  (1673-74)  he  fell 
into  disgrace,  was  removed  from  his  mansab,  and  given  40,000  rupees  a  year. 
He  retired  to  Ubgadh.' 


39°  PAYMENT  OF  QUEENS'  SERVANTS 

post  offered  him  was  above  [query  read  '  beneath ']  him,  he 
gave  no  more  than  ten  thousand  rupees.  The  reason  was  that 
Namdar  Khan  was  the  son  of  one  of  Ja'far  Khan's  wives,  named 
Farsanah  Begam,1  who  had  been  the  wife  (I  should  say  the 
mistress)  of  Shahjahan,  as  I  have  stated  in  my  First  Part 
(I.  129).  They  even  said  that  he  was  son  of  that  prince ;  as 
for  myself,  I  have  no  doubt  about  it,  for  he  was  very  like  Prince 
Dara. 

This  gentleman  (Namdar  Khan)  was  a  great  friend  of  mine, 
and  as  I  knew  him  intimately,  I  may  say  that  his  qualities  and 
his  actions  were  altogether  those  of  royalty ;  he  was  also  a 
great  soldier.  But  all  that  did  not  prevent  the  king,  when  this 
great  man  fell  ill  of  a  cancer  which  formed  in  his  throat,  from 
sending  his  physicians  to  cure  him,  and  forbidding  anyone  else 
to  approach  him,  of  which  he  died  in  the  year  1678.2 

The  soldiers,  eunuchs,  and  servants  of  the  queens  and 
princesses  are  more  regularly  paid,  and  do  not  endure  so  much 
as  the  other  soldiers.  They  never  go  on  active  service  unless 
the  king  and  the  princes  of  the  blood  royal  are  going.  But, 
since  on  those  occasions  the  wives,  daughters,  and  concubines 
accompany  them,  these  troops  also  follow  the  campaign. 
These  ladies  travel  generally  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  riding  on 
the  greatest  elephants,  which  are  followed  by  others  bearing 
the  gold  coin  and  precious  stones  that  these  princes  carry  also 
with  them,  to  be  made  use  of  in  case  of  disgrace  or  misfortune. 
They  say  that  since  Taimur-i-Iang,  in  all  the  generations  of  the 
Moguls,  no  queen  has  been  made  a  prisoner  in  war,  except 
Humayun's  queen,  who  was  taken  by  Sher  Shah,  the  Pathan  ; 
and  even  that  prince  sent  her  back  to  the  king  as  far  as  Persia, 
where  he  had  gone,  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  if  I 
mistake  not,  in  my  First  Part  (I.  70). 

Most  of  the  horses  used  by  the  Mogul  come  from  the  regions 
of  Balkh,  Bukhara,  and  Kabul.  Thence  come  every  year  more 
than  one  hundred  [34]  thousand,  and  on  them  the  king  makes 
a  great  profit  by  the  duty  he  imposes.     At  the  crossing  of  the 

1  Farzanah  Begam,  sister  of  Mumtaz  Mahal,  the  wife  of  Shahjahan  ('Ma.asir- 
ul-Umara,'  iii.  830). 

2  The  native  writers  do  not  mention  the  year  of  his  death. 


SHAH  lALAM  DECEIVES  HIS  FATHER  391 

Indus  alone  a  payment  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  on  their  value 
is  made.  The  best  are  chosen  for  the  king's  service,  the  usual 
number  taken  being  twelve  thousand.  Among  them  are  some 
selected  for  his  own  stable,  and  the  others  he  uses  as  presents 
to  the  great  lords  of  his  court.  There  also  come  from  those 
regions  many  camels  loaded  with  fruit,  such  as  melons,  pears, 
seedless  pomegranates,  raisins,  and  other  dried  fruits. 

The  horses  are  called  TurkI ;  they  are  courageous  in  war,  can 
stand  much  fatigue,  and  never  forsake  their  masters  unto  death. 

The  policy  of  the  present  Mogul  is  so  fine  and  so  delicate 
as  to  surpass  that  of  all  his  predecessors ;  and  he  has  had 
peculiarly  hard  work  to  maintain  himself  on  the  throne  up  to 
this  time  against  the  wish  and  the  will  of  several  persons. 
First,  there  are  his  children,  upon  whom  he  always  keeps  a 
vigilant  eye,  so  that  they  may  commit  no  treason  similar  to  that 
he  did  to  his  father.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  formerly,  besides 
the  spies  he  kept  to  report  all  that  was  passing,  he  used  at  night 
to  go  in  person  incognito  into  the  house  of  Shah  'Alam  to  spy 
out  what  was  going  on  there. 

The  prince,  on  the  other  hand,  detected  the  movements  and 
ruses  of  his  father,  and  set  his  own  wits  to  work.  He  had 
cunning  spies  to  inform  him  of  all  he  (Aurangzeb)  projected. 
One  night  it  happened,  when  there  was  very  bright  moonlight, 
the  prince  was  enjoying  himself  with  some  ladies  who  were 
his  mistresses :  they  came  and  warned  him  that  the  king,  his 
father,  was  coming  to  visit  him.  As  soon  as  he  heard  this 
news  he  promptly  rose,  and  having  hidden  the  ladies  in  different 
places,  he  went  into  a  room  and  set  to  work  reading  the  Quran 
aloud,  as  is  the  custom.  Aurangzeb  came  in,  and  finding  Shah 
'Alam  thus  occupied,  said  to  him  that  what  he  was  engaged  in 
did  not  suit  the  season,  which  invited  rather  to  delectation  than 
the  reading  of  the  Quran. 

Shah  'Alam  replied  that  what  he  read  appeared  to  him  more 
lovely  than  the  moon,  and  afforded  him  more  delight  than  the 
light  of  the  sun.  The  father  was  charmed  at  this  answer,  and 
as  a  mark  of  his  satisfaction  thereat  he  augmented  the  prince's 
allowance,  and  gave  him  more  frequent  tokens  of  the  esteem  in 
which  he  held  such  virtue. 


392  SHAH  'ALAWS  CHARACTER 

Several  times  Shah  'Alam's  favourites,  seeing  the  manner  in 
which  his  father  acted,  coming  and  going  just  as  he  pleased, 
asked  him  (Shah  'Alam)  to  allow  them  to  kill  him  (Aurangzeb). 
To  incite  him  to  this,  they  brought  up  the  example  of  the  king, 
who  had  acted  thus  towards  his  own  father  and  brother.  They 
said  that  after  the  death  of  the  old  fellow  he  could  [35]  easily 
crown  himself  as  king.  But  the  prince  would  never  give  his 
consent,  saying  that  if  he  did  so,  his  children  would  one  day 
treat  him  the  same,  and  thus  this  pernicious  custom  would  be 
established  in  the  family  from  generation  to  generation.  This 
is  why  he  hoped  that  God  would  never  allow  him  to  imitate 
his  father  in  that  respect ;  and,  what  was  more,  he  was  still  a 
young  man. 

When  this  prince  reached  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  knew 
quite  well  he  was  endued  with  little  courage,  and  this  forced 
him  into  attempting  to  acquire  the  magical  arts,  in  order  to 
guide  himself  thereby  in  case  of  necessity,  just  as  his  father  had 
done  when  he  was  a  prince.  To  accomplish  this  design  he 
busied  himself  with  the  study  of  books  of  magic.  But  in  a  short 
time  this  occupation  destroyed  his  mind,  which  his  father  dis- 
covered without  knowing  the  real  cause.  He  believed  this 
arose  from  illness,  so  came  to  visit  him.  No  sooner  had  he 
entered  than  his  son  seized  him  by  the  beard  and  demanded  in 
a  fury  who  he  was,  and  why  he  entered  his  house.  Seeing  the 
prince  in  this  condition,  the  king  was  greatly  concerned,  the 
more  so  that  he  (his  son)  had  always  been  very  submissive,  and 
he  had  tenderly  loved  him.  Plunged  into  affliction,  he  placed 
him  in  charge  of  his  own  physicians,  conjuring  them  to  use 
their  best  efforts  on  his  behalf.  The  gentlemen  met  in  con- 
sultation, and  after  discussing  the  symptoms,  concluded  that 
the  evil  arose  from  blood  to  the  head.  As  a  remedy,  they  bled 
and  purged,  whereby  he  recovered  his  senses.  Having  thus  by 
sad  experience  learnt  that  such  studies  would  be  his  destruc- 
tion, he  thought  no  more  about  them,  and  forsook  them 
entirely. 

Adopting  another  style  of  life,  he  gave  himself  up  to  pleasure, 
but  only  in  secret,  his  occupation  being  drinking  and  other 
pastimes,  according  to  the  whim  of  the  moment.     His  father 


SHAH  'ALAM  A  FREE  LIVER  393 

heard  nothing  of  all  that,  for  the  son  knew  his  father's  disposi- 
tion, and  his  love  of  seeing  his  children  imitate  his  feigned 
strictness.  Thus,  to  gain  his  approval  the  prince  displayed  as 
many  signs  of  devoutness  as  ever  he  could.  As  he  perceived 
that  humility  was  also  much  to  the  taste  of  the  old  fellow,  he 
showed  the  greatest  contempt  for  the  riches  of  this  world.  He 
ordered  his  bowls  and  dishes  to  be  made  of  wood,  and  caused 
it  to  be  noised  abroad  that  he  ate  out  of  these.  Further,  the 
trappings  of  the  horse  he  rode  were  of  plain  leather,  devoid  of 
all  ornaments,  although  those  of  his  retinue  were  not  of  that 
simple  style. 

As  for  myself,  I  knew  quite  the  contrary  of  all  this  ;  and  in 
his  palace  he  led  a  jolly  life  of  it,  drinking  and  eating  out  of 
dishes  and  cups  of  gold.  Above  all,  as  to  the  drink,  that  I 
know  to  be  exact,  for  he  had  charged  me  with  procuring  good 
wines  of  Persia  and  Europe.  These  I  caused  to  be  brought 
from  Surat,  and  frequently,  when  he  was  out  of  them,  he  sent 
to  my  house  for  some,  for  he  had  more  trust  in  me  than  in  his 
Mahomedans.  One  day  when  he  was  elated  I  heard  him  say 
that  despicable  was  that  king  who  did  not  eat  out  of  vessels  of 
emerald. 

His  children  were  just  as  great  hypocrites  as  he  was,  and  all 
to  propitiate  their  grandfather.  For  in  secret  they  led  the 
same  life  as  their  father.  One  day,  as  it  happened  [36],  one  of 
the  spies  reported  to  the  king  that  he  had  seen  a  bottle  of  wine 
being  taken  into  the  house  of  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dln.  It  was 
one  that  he  had  sent  to  me  for.  Upon  this  the  old  fellow  made 
a  long  discourse  to  Shah  'Alarn  and  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-dln. 
The  latter  said  as  his  excuse  that  the  wine  was  for  some  medicine 
to  be  given  to  a  sick  lady;  while  Shah  'Alam  made  it  appear 
that  he  had  no  part  in  the  matter.  In  order  better  to  persuade 
and  satisfy  the  king,  he  caused  the  uterine  brother  of  his  son 
[query  read  '  foster-brother ']  to  be  ejected  from  his  palace  as 
the  man  who  had  sent  the  wine ;  while  I  was  thereby  saved 
from  the  penalty  which  would  otherwise  have  fallen  on  me  had 
they  known  that  the  wine  came  from  me. 

The  Prince  A'zam  Shah,  or  A'zam-tara,  also  drank  wine  ;  but 
it  was  not  in  concealment  like  the  others.     On  the  contrary, 


394  AMBITIONS  OF  KING'S  SONS 

frequently  he  even  caused  scenes  while  drunk,  without  paying 
any  heed  to  his  father.  The  latter  was  much  chagrined  at  such 
conduct,  but  as  he  loved  this  son,  he  overlooked  his  faults. 
One  day  the  prince  was  on  his  way  to  court  in  a  boat ;  he 
asked  the  rowers  how  many  days  it  would  take  them  to  reach 
Bengal  in  that  boat.  The  eunuch  seated  behind  him  signed  to 
them  to  hold  their  tongues,  so  that  they  answered  not  a  word. 
But  directly  they  had  reached  the  court,  the  eunuch  intimated 
to  the  king  that  the  prince  had  put  such  a  question.  No  sooner 
had  he  entered  the  palace  than  he  was  arrested  and  locked  up, 
and  there  he  remained  for  a  whole  year,  getting  no  wine  to 
drink.  But  having  been  married  to  Janl  Begam,  daughter  of 
Dara,  he  was  released. 

From  what  is  above  stated,  it  will  be  seen  that  these  princes 
are  under  surveillance,  and  if  any  servant  of  the  king,  or  the 
princes  themselves,  should  dare  to  open  his  mouth  to  make 
even  the  slightest  objection,  he  would  be  forthwith  exiled  from 
court  and  turned  out  of  the  service.  This  is  a  sufficiently  heavy 
punishment  to  induce  them  to  hold  their  tongue,  for  they  have 
no  other  means  of  gaining  a  living. 

Aurangzeb  could  not  ignore  the  fact  that  each  of  his  children 
wanted  to  become  king  and  made  pretensions  to  the  crown. 
But  one  day,  out  of  curiosity,  he  asked  them  if  they  wanted 
to  reign.  Shah  'Alam  replied  that  he  would  be  glad  enough  to 
be  king  should  His  Majesty  ever  wish  for  repose  and  should 
cede  the  kingdom  to  him,  and  that  to  him  it  seemed  only  just 
that  the  eldest  son  should  succeed — still  more  so  when  he  was 
a  good  man,  and  endowed  with  habits  and  qualities  which  should 
rather  lead  him  to,  than  exclude  him  from,  the  throne.  In  spite 
of  this,  it  was  his  bounden  duty  to  remain  quiet  during  the  life 
and  good  health  of  His  Majesty.  He  meant  to  be  understood 
as  intending  on  his  father's  death  to  do  his  best  to  succeed  him. 
A'zam-tara  stated  that  he  was  born  to  be  a  king,  even  though 
he  had  an  elder  brother,  for  (said  he)  my  father  and  my  mother 
are  both  Mahomedans,  and  both  of  royal  blood. 

Akbar's  reply  was  that  his  birth  took  place  at  a  propitious 
hour  and  moment.  For  was  it  not  then  that  had  begun  the 
happiness  and  good  fortune  which  had  ever  since  followed  in 


THE  KING'S  ATTITUDE  TO  HIS  SONS  395 

his  (Aurangzeb's)  train  ?  Was  it  not  in  that  very  year  that  he 
had  won  the  victory  over  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh  and  Qasim 
Khan,  and  had  also  defeated  Prince  Dara?1  [37^  Briefly  he 
had  had  many  other  lucky  advantages  that  favouring  Fortune 
had  conferred  on  him  ;  and  for  all  these  reasons  he  believed 
that  the  crown  was  his  by  right. 

Kam  Bakhsh  answered  that,  without  a  doubt,  the  kingdom 
was  his,  as  of  right,  because,  said  he,  '  I  am  the  son  of  a  king, 
while  the  others  are  only  sons  of  a  prince.'  Then,  lifting  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  he  added,  '  But  be  it  as  God  wills !'  This  last 
reason  was  extremely  pleasing  to  the  king,  and  on  this  account 
he  esteemed  this  son  more  than  ever,  and  raised  his  previous 
income.  All  the  same,  he  did  not  allow  his  feelings  to  appear, 
but  kept  them  hidden  in  his  heart.  Then  he  said,  as  a  general 
answer  to  them  all,  that  their  claims  were  still  in  the  remote 
future ;  for  the  calculators  had  assured  him  that  he  was  to 
reign  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  and  to  their  findings  he 
accorded  implicit  faith.  Nevertheless,  the  cunning  monarch 
only  said  this  in  order  to  see  if  any  one  of  the  sons  would  say 
anything  more,  betraying  any  passion  or  grief  at  what  he  had 
said.  But  no  one  opened  his  mouth  :  the  example  of  the  im- 
prisonment and  death  of  Sultan  Muhammad  was  more  than 
enough  to  keep  them  within  the  limits  of  humility  and  of  filial 
and  prudent  obedience. 

Aurangzeb  had  more  confidence  in  Shah  'Alam  than  in  any 
of  the  others,  for  he  knew  him  down  to  the  ground,  and  had 
tested  his  not  having  enough  boldness  to  try  rebellion.  When 
this  prince  was  very  young,  he  was  performing  the  offices  of 
nature,  when  a  young  rat  passed  in  front  of  him.  He  was 
so  frightened  that  he  came  out  shouting,  holding  up  his 
drawers  with  his  hands.  The  eunuchs  present  thought  at  first 
that  he  had  been  bitten  by  a  snake.  His  father,  on  being  told 
what  had  happened,  exclaimed  that  it  was  an  astonishing  thing 
that  in  the  race  of  Taimur-i-lang  should  be  born  a  prince 
who  was  such  a  poltroon.      He    added   that   the    courage  in 

1  Akbar  was  born  on  the  12th  Zu,l  Hijjah,  1067  H.  (September  22,  1657,  N.S.). 
The  battle  with  Jaswant  Singh,  near  Ujjain,  was  fought  in  Rajab,  1068  (April, 
1658)  (Elphinstone,  521).     The  first  defeat  of  Dara  was  on  June  8,  1658. 


396  MU'IZZ-UD-DlN  AND  HIS  FATHER 

which  he  was  lacking  was  in  excess  in  his  brother,  Sultan 
Muhammad.1 

In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  as  Aurangzeb  himself  counter- 
feited the  bigot,  he  imagined  that  Shah  'Alam  was  counter- 
feiting the  coward.  With  the  idea  of  putting  him  to  the  proof, 
he  said  to  him  when  he  was  somewhat  older  that  the  astrolo- 
gers predicted  that  he  would  rebel.  At  those  words  the  prince, 
all  in  a  tremble,  drew  his  sword  and  flung  it  at  his  father's 
feet,  saying  he  would  rather  have  his  head  cut  off  than  that  he 
should  ever  do  such  a  thing.  Having  noticed  his  emotion  at 
hearing  such  a  remark,  his  father  embraced  him,  restored  his 
sword,  and  bound  it  on  him,  saying  that  he  never  expected  any 
such  action  on  his  part. 

The  distrust  among  these  princes  is  so  acute  that  the  father 
does  not  trust  the  son,  nor  the  son  his  father.  Here  is  an 
instance  :  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din,  eldest  son  of  Shah  'Alam,  was 
graciously  pleased  to  act  as  intermediary,  and  to  intercede  for 
me  with  his  father,  to  get  me  back  into  his  service,  as  I  have 
related  more  at  length  in  my  account  of  Goa,  contained  in  my 
Second  Part  (II.  219).  The  father,  without  any  other  reason, 
commanded  me  not  to  go  to  the  court  of  the  said  Sultan,  giving 
him  orders  at  the  same  time  not  to  send  for  me.  Let  him, 
Shah  'Alam  said,  employ  his  own  doctors  and  not  me.  Upon 
this  subject  they  had  some  words,  and  thereupon  separated. 
Some  time  afterwards  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din  feigned  the  invalid, 
and  no  longer  went  to  the  court  of  his  father.  As  soon  as  the 
latter  heard  of  the  illness,  he  sent  him  his  Persian  physicians, 
and  these  men  reported  that  he  was  not  in  the  least  unwell. 
To  give  them  the  lie  and  show  that  he  required  my  treatment, 
he  made  one  of  his  women  servants  suck  a  place  on  his  neck, 
and  thereby  raised  a  blue  mark.  On  learning  that  he  was 
suffering  from  this  blue  mark,  Shah  'Alam,  without  knowing 
the  cause  of  it,  had  the  idea  that  he  required  bleeding.  So  he 
ordered  me  to  see  him  at  his  residence,  and  with  a  view  to 
satisfying  his  son,  told  me  to  go  whenever  he  sent  for  me,  and 
in  this  manner  they  made  it  up  and  were  at  peace. 

1  A'zam  Shah  was  accustomed  to  call  his  brother  'the  baniya'—  that  is,  one 
who  is  the  very  incarnation  of  timidity  (Catrou,  4to.  edition,  1715,  p.  200). 


XXIII.     Rajah  Jaswant  Singh,   Rathor,  of  Jodhpur. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  396. 


A  GIRL  SUCCESSFULLY  CURED  397 

Maybe  astonishment  will  be  expressed  at  all  the  details  I 
give  of  this  court,  but  just  to  afford  some  satisfaction  to  my 
readers,  I  will  tell  a  little  story  showing  how  I  came  to  a 
knowledge  of  these  things.  In  the  palace  was  a  female  servant 
called  Dil-jo,  who  acted  as  valet-de-chambre  to  Shah  'Alam. 
This  girl  fell  ill,  and  no  one  could  diagnose  her  complaint,  nor 
its  source.  She  was  quite  young,  but  suffered  from  insomnia, 
and  from  time  to  time  frightful  things  overtook  her,  even  to 
biting  her  own  body.  After  some  remedies  had  been  adminis- 
tered which  did  her  no  good,  I  was  instructed  to  treat  her. 
I  fathomed  at  once  the  origin  of  the  disease,  and  I  said  to  the 
prince  that  I  could  not  cure  her,  but  I  would  instruct  them  as 
to  a  remedy  they  might  give  her,  by  means  of  which  I  hoped 
that  her  health  would  be  re-established. 

Subsequently  I  stated  the  remedy,  which  was  nothing  more 
than  to  counsel  them  to  get  her  married.  That  was  (I  added) 
what  I  believed  to  be  the  healing  medicine  for  her  malady. 
They  believed  me,  and  forthwith  married  her  off  to  a  slave  of 
the  prince's  household.  Two  months  afterwards  they  sent  for 
her  to  the  palace,  just  to  see  if  there  was  any  change  in  her. 
They  noticed  that  her  colour  had  returned,  that  she  enjoyed 
perfect  health,  and,  in  fact,  she  was  with  child.  The  other 
women  servants  on  seeing  her  longed  for  their  fellow-servant's 
disease  in  order  to  obtain  the  same  remedy.  To  succeed  in 
this  design,  they  let  me  know  that  they  would  pretend  to  be  ill, 
and  I  must  be  so  good  as  to  ordain  the  same  medicine  to  be 
given  to  them  as  had  been  given  to  Dil-jo.  I  carried  out  this 
commission  to  the  best  of  my  power,  and  thus  several  were 
married,  according  to  their  wish.  These  people  were  subse- 
quently very  grateful  for  the  kindness  I  had  done  them,  and 
gave  me  proof  of  it  from  time  to  time.  Thus  it  is  through 
them  that  I  have  been  informed  of  many  particulars  as  to  what 
went  on  in  the  court  of  this  prince  [39]. 

Perhaps  it  will  not  be  found  altogether  devoid  of  utility  if  I 
impart  to  my  readers  several  events  that  happened  to  me, 
which  are  proof  of  the  prince's  kindness  and  of  the  friendship 
he  bore  me.  Seeing  that  I  was  not  married,  he  inquired  from 
me,  through  the  first  princess  in  his  mahal  (seraglio),  why  I  did 


398  MANUCCI  REFUSES  TO  MARRY 

not  take  a  wife.  I  replied  that  I  found  none  of  my  standing 
that  took  my  fancy.  This  lady  and  her  husband  were  both 
desirous  to  get  me  married  so  as  to  retain  me,  and  hinder  my 
leaving  Hindustan  and  his  court.  She  said  to  me  that  she 
would  send  for  all  the  daughters  of  Christians,  whether 
Europeans  or  Armenians,  and  I  had  only  to  choose  the  one  I 
liked  best.  She  would  see  that  I  obtained  the  girl,  would 
give  her  away  in  marriage  herself,  and  provide  all  the  expenses 
necessary  on  such  an  occasion,  adding  a  number  of  other 
promises.  I  thanked  her,  and  made  her  understand  how 
grateful  I  was  for  all  her  favours ;  but,  being  a  man  of  family, 
it  was  not  correct  for  me  to  accept  a  bride  such  as  she  pro- 
posed for  me.  To  that  she  replied  by  a  great  many  things, 
among  others  that  Mahomedans  took  anybody  without  regard 
to  their  birth.  Although  a  Christian  could  never  have  preten- 
sions to  such  an  honour,  yet  if  I  would  agree  she  would  have 
all  her  maids  of  honour  brought  before  me,  and  I  had  only  to 
select  the  one  I  most  liked,  and  she  should  be  given  to  me  as 
wife,  nothing  remaining  but  to  carry  her  away  to  my  dwelling. 

Being  weary  of  all  this  woman's  talk,  I  gave  an  off-hand 
answer  that  I  was  incapacitated  for  marriage.  But  on  she 
went,  and,  with  a  number  of  other  remarks,  refuted  me  by 
saying  that  my  bearing  and  complexion  showed  the  falsity  of 
what  I  told  her.  Finally,  after  all  this  discourse,  she  ordered 
me  to  put  my  hand  inside  the  curtains  of  the  bed  to  feel  her 
pulse ;  for  this  is  the  way  one  has  to  deal  with  these  ladies,  as 
I  have  said  (III.  14,  15).  I  noted  that  the  arm  was  thick, 
muscular,  and  hairy,  and  by  these  signs  I  knew  at  once  it  was 
a  man's  arm,  and  it  turned  out  to  be  Shah  'Alam  himself. 
Without  delay  I  rose,  and  said  that  the  arm  I  had  touched  was 
a  man's,  not  a  woman's,  and  it  could  be  none  other  than  that 
of  the  King  of  the  World.  At  these  words  the  prince  burst 
out  laughing,  and  told  me  I  knew  how  to  distinguish  the 
difference  between  a  man  and  a  woman.1 

If  the  prince  intended  in  this  interview  to  show  his  esteem 

1  For  a  parallel  instance  of  testing  a  physician's  discernment,  see  Fryer, 
edition  1873,  p.  346.  The  hand  of  a  healthy  slave  girl  was  put  out  to  him 
instead  of  the  patient's. 


ATTEMPTS  ON  HIS  VIRTUE  399 

for  me,  it  may  be  added  from  the  way  of  it  that  he  also  meant 
to  put  me  to  the  test.  It  is  also  the  custom  to  probe  the 
physicians  by  such  trickeries,  in  order  to  be  assured  of  their 
ability  and  of  their  recognition  of  diseases.  Another  adventure 
took  place  with  the  princess  which  led  to  the  same  result. 
She  made  out  she  was  ill,  and  caused  to  be  sent  to  me  a  vessel 
full  of  urine  with  an  inquiry  whether  I  could  recognise  [40] 
from  it  the  disease  she  was  suffering  from.  Seeing  that  the 
liquid  was  green,  and  seemed  to  have  some  drug  mixed  with  it, 
I  set  my  imagination  to  work,  and  answered  with  a  smile  that 
the  urine  came  from  a  person  who  had  eaten  largely  of  green 
stuff  the  preceding  night.  As  soon  as  I  pronounced  these 
words  there  was  a  great  outburst  of  laughter  behind  the 
curtains  of  the  bed,  and  they  said  I  was  a  great  doctor.  In 
the  end  they  informed  me  it  was  the  urine  of  a  cow. 

Wishing  to  retain  me  and  gain  me  over  entirely  to  his 
interest,  the  prince  thought  that  women  would  be  a  good 
vehicle  to  secure  his  object ;  for  it  is  very  common  for  men  to 
be  destroyed  by  this  snare.  Here  is  how  he  set  to  work.  He 
asked  me  if  I  knew  there  was  a  European  in  his  palace.  I  said 
I  did  not.  Instantly,  while  we  were  speaking,  there  came  out 
of  a  room  a  very  pretty  girl,  dressed  as  a  man  in  European 
style,  with  a  gold-mounted  sword  at  her  side.  As  soon  as  she 
saw  me  she  lifted  her  hat  and  saluted  me.  I  was  conscious  at 
once  that  it  was  the  prince  who  had  put  all  this  in  play  to 
amuse  himself,  and  see  if  he  could  gain  me  over.  But  I  feigned 
the  ignoramus,  and  as  if  I  had  not  noticed  anything,  returned 
the  bow  and  proffered  some  compliments.  Speaking  French, 
I  went  up  to  her  to  kiss  her,  when  at  once  she  turned  her 
back  on  me  and  fled.  I  ran  after  her  as  if  wishing  to  embrace 
her  ;  but  she  ran  faster  than  I  did.  However,  I  did  my  utmost 
to  overtake  her.  Laughing,  the  prince  cried  out  to  me.  At 
his  voice  I  came  back  with  slow  steps  close  to  him,  much  put 
out  at  not  having  succeeded  in  embracing  the  young  person. 

When  I  had  come  close,  he  asked  me  what  I  had  wanted  to 
do.  I  replied  boldly  that  I  wanted  to  embrace  and  kiss  the 
would-be  young  man.  He  assumed  to  be  astonished  at  such 
a  piece  of  audacity,  then  took  to  smiling  at  it  ever  so  long,  as 


400  HAREM  CONSULTATIONS 

did  all  the  princesses.  Afterwards  he  told  me  that  the  Farangi 
I  had  seen  was  not  a  man,  but  a  woman,  and  if  I  would  have 
her,  he  would  give  her  to  me,  and  she  could  serve  to  carry  my 
medicines  into  the  mahal.  I  answered,  with  a  serious  air,  that 
she  was  no  use  for  that,  and  medicines  administered  by  a 
woman's  hand  produced  no  effect.  The  prince  for  a  long  time 
joked  with  the  princesses  over  what  I  had  said.  This  is  the 
greatest  amusement  he  has.  All  other  Mahomedans  also  pass 
the  greater  part  of  their  time  among  their  women.  This  is  so 
much  the  case  that  through  them  much  important  business  at 
court  is  transacted.  For  my  part,  I  have  done  a  great  deal 
thus,  principally  through  the  first  princess. 

I  have  said  already  (III.  16)  that  it  is  the  custom  in  the 
royal  household,  when  a  physician  is  called  within  the  mahal, 
for  the  eunuch  to  cover  his  head  with  a  cloth,  which  hangs 
down  to  his  waist.  They  then  conduct  him  to  the  patient's 
room,  and  he  is  taken  out  in  the  same  manner.  The  first  time 
that  [41]  I  was  led  through  the  palace  I  was  fitted  out  in  the 
above  fashion,  but,  by  premeditation,  I  walked  as  slowly  as  I 
could,  in  spite  of  the  urging  of  my  guides,  the  eunuchs.  The 
prince,  having  seen  this,  ordered  them  to  uncover  me,  and  that 
in  future  I  was  to  be  allowed  to  come  in  and  go  out  without 
being  covered.  He  said  that  the  minds  of  Christians  were  not 
filthy  like  those  of  Mahomedans. 

This  prince  held  me  in  such  affection  that  he  granted  me 
permission  to  enter  the  Ghusul-Jchanah,  which  is  a  secret  place 
where  the  second  audience  is  given  and  the  council  sits.  Into 
it  only  the  principal  lords  and  officers  of  the  court  enter.  If 
anyone  fails  to  attend,  whether  by  accident  or  otherwise,  he 
cannot  enter  any  more  without  a  fresh  permission.  To  obtain 
this  renewal  he  must  make  some  present  to  the  prince,  at  the 
very  least  one  gold  and  nine  silver  coins ;  but  with  respect  to 
me,  I  had  liberty  to  enter  and  come  out  without  anything  of 
that  sort.  As  the  prince  was  in  a  fright  that  I  would  quit  his 
service,  he  sought  from  time  to  time  means  of  obliging  me,  and 
paid  me  all  the  honours  such  as  I  have  reported.  However, 
finding  he  could  not  capture  me  through  women,  he  resolved 
to  have  a  friendly  talk  with  me  on  religion. 


MANUCCI  AND  SHAH  'A LAM  401 

Having  sent  for  me,  he  begged  me  not  to  take  it  amiss  if  he 
gave  me  a  warning  ;  his  religion  forced  it  upon  him,  and  to 
discharge  his  conscience  he  was  obliged  to  give  it  thrice. 
Following  on  this,  he  said  it  was  his  intention  to  elevate  me  to 
the  rank  of  a  noble  at  his  court ;  but  before  this  could  be  I 
must  adopt  his  religion,  which  was  assuredly  the  best,  and 
through  it  I  would  gain  salvation.  The  moment  he  had  finished 
his  discourse  I  made  a  very  low  bow,  and  said  I  knew  very 
well  what  was  contained  in  the  Quran,  also  what  the  Gospel 
imposed  on  me.  There  I  had  learnt  that  without  baptism  no 
one  could  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  to  gain  it  I  was 
ready  to  spend  and  give  up  my  life. 

Seeing  me  so  determined,  he  changed  the  subject,  and  he 
ordered  me  to  send  at  once  to  procure  him  some  crystal  vessels 
for  drinking  water  from.  I  sent  off  a  man  to  Bombay  to  bring 
some.  This  order  he  executed — nay,  those  he  brought  were 
very  handsome.  These  I  presented  to  the  prince.  He  seemed 
to  be  astonished  to  see  so  many  crystals  at  once — more  than  he 
had  ever  seen  in  all  his  life — for  he  imagined  them  to  be  of  rock- 
crystal,  which  is  extremely  costly  in  the  Mogul  country.  This 
is  the  reason  of  his  asking  me  what  the  whole  might  be  worth. 
Quite  happy,  I  answered  him  that  it  was  a  present  from  me, 
and  that  Doctor  Nicolas  stated  no  prices  to  kings.  He  was  so 
satisfied  with  this  reply  that,  coming  to  me,  he  patted  me  on 
the  shoulders,  and  said,  should  God  ever  be  gracious  and  make 
him  king,  he  would  remember  my  generosity.  At  the  same 
time  he  ordered  them  to  give  me  a  valuable  set  of  robes  and  a 
very  nice  horse. 

I  must  here  make  the  remark  that,  when  these  kings  and 
princes  give  [42]  audience,  they  display  all  imaginable  gravity 
and  majesty,  in  order  to  inspire  fear  in  everybody ;  but  in  their 
mahal  and  in  private  they  are  lowly  as  infants.  This  I  have 
experienced  several  times,  they  going  so  far  as  to  play  with  me 
with  all  possible  familiarity.  It  is  true  that  it  may  be  said  that 
all  these  petty  stories  referring  to  me  are  of  no  great  value  to 
the  public,  but  I  thought  a  charitable  reader  would  easily 
pardon  me  this  small  satisfaction  which  I  have  ventured  to 
give  myself.     Moreover,  if  anyone  were  about  to  travel  in  these 

vol.  11.  26 


402  BHAO  SINGH,  HApA 

far-off  places,  it  may  be  that  in  some  conjuncture  these  tales  of 
my  humble  adventures  will  not  be  entirely  useless  to  him. 

As  the  entire  thoughts  of  these  princes  are  turned  in  the 
direction  of  the  throne,  they  search  out  carefully  any  means  of 
conferring  favours  on  the  most  powerful  men,  in  the  hope  of 
having  them  on  their  side.  Shah  'Alam  had  usually  with  him 
a  Hindu  prince  called  Bau  Sing  (Bhao  Singh),1  leader  of  twelve 
thousand  horsemen  and  a  vassal  of  the  king.  He  served  under 
the  orders  of  Shah  'Alam.  Noticing  that  he  had  ceased  to 
come  to  court,  being  unwell,  the  prince  sent  me  to  visit  him  on 
his  behalf,  and  to  offer  my  services.  This  was  merely  to  oblige 
him,  and  gain  him  to  his  side  should  any  occasion  present  itself. 

The  rajah  was  already  old,  and  was  suffering  from  his  lungs. 
The  prince,  however,  directed  me  to  observe  him  and  reckon 
how  long  he  might  yet  live.  Bhao  Singh  received  my  visit 
but  refused  my  services,  and  told  me  if  I  gave  him  any  medicines 
he  would  put  them  with  the  rest  I  saw  there.  He  had  a  whole 
roomful.  God  might  do  with  him  according  to  His  pleasure, 
but  he  would  not  take  the  medicines,  beyond  looking  at  them. 
All  this  care  was  because  he  was  afraid  of  being  poisoned. 
This  fear  was  increased  by  the  example  he  had  in  Rajah  Jai 
Singh  and  several  others,  to  whom  such  a  fate  had  happened. 
I  must  say  the  prince  never  had  designs  of  that  sort,  and  all 
he  did  was  intended  to  oblige.  I  may  add  that,  during  all  the 
time  I  had  the  honour  to  serve  him,  he  never  suggested  em- 
ploying me  for  such  a  purpose. 

Still,  he  made  a  trial  as  to  whether  I  was  of  a  nature  that 
would  carry  out  such  devices.  This  I  discovered  in  the  course 
of  time.  For  example,  he  sent  to  me  some  unknown  persons 
who  offered  me  large  sums  to  bring  to  their  death  other 
patients  that  I  was  treating.  Others  asked  me  to  sell  them 
poison,  but  no  one  ever  got  me  to  accede  to  such  a  demand. 
Another  stratagem  was  also  made  use  of  to  test  me,  and 
attempt  to  find  me  out  in  a  fault.  This  was  the  sending  to 
my  house  of  a  young  and  very  pretty  girl  in  charge  of  an  old 

1  For  Bhao  Singh,  Hada,  of  Bondi,  see  the  '  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  305,  where 
it  is  said  he  was  long  at  Aurangabad,  and  was  very  friendly  with  Shah  'Alam. 
He  died  in  1088  H.  (March,  1677— February,  1678). 


WOMEN  TEMPT  MANUCCI  403 

woman  on  the  pretext  that  the  young  beauty  was  ailing.  She 
was  barely  eighteen,  and  I  found  out  from  her  pulse  that  she 
was  the  very  reverse  of  indisposed.  I  asked  her  if  she  suffered 
from  any  pain,  which  could  not  be  detected  from  the  pulse. 
As  I  interrogated  her,  the  old  woman,  making  believe  that  she 
was  a  simpleton,  left  us  and  took  a  turn  in  the  garden.  The 
young  girl  seemed  at  once  to  grow  very  free  with  me,  as  well 
by  word  as  by  deed.  She  told  me  she  longed  for  my  friendship, 
while  hers  would  not  be  useless  to  me.  She  could  secure  me 
many  advantages.  As  soon  as  I  heard  her  talk  I  was  disgusted, 
and,  quitting  her,  I  came  out  and  shouted  [43]  to  the  old  dame 
to  take  her  away.  I  then  grew  angry,  and,  calling  my  men, 
ordered  them  both  to  be  ejected. 

Two  months  afterwards  there  came  another  still  more 
lovely;  but  she  was  alone,  and  in  a  palanquin.  Under  the 
same  pretence  of  illness  she  told  me  she  came  from  a  great 
distance  to  obtain  a  cure.  She  entered  my  house  wrapped  in 
a  shroud,  but  on  nearing  me  she  uncovered,  and  throwing 
herself  at  my  feet,  implored  me  to  keep  her  in  my  house ; 
for,  being  a  stranger,  she  knew  not  where  to  turn.  Her 
prayer  was  repeated  several  times.  I  noticed  she  had  on  her 
several  jewels  of  great  value,  and  her  clothes  were  those  of  a 
person  of  quality,  so  fine  that  her  skin  showed  through.  All 
this  troubled  me,  and  I  fancied  that  it  all  might  be  intended  to 
betray  me.  Still  more  did  I  think  so,  for  the  same  thing  had 
happened  to  others ;  and  as  I  had  no  intention  of  marrying,  it 
did  not  suit  my  views  to  get  entangled. 

With  the  object,  then,  of  getting  her  away,  I  expressed  my 
sympathy,  and  by  pleasant  words  sent  her  off.  Some  time 
afterwards  I  was  warned  that  this  was  one  of  Shah  'Alam's 
tricks,  only  resorted  to  in  the  hope  that  she  would  take  my 
fancy — that  I  should  have  an  affair  with  her,  and  by  this  means 
he  would  obtain  an  opening  for  compelling  my  continuance  in 
Hindustan,  with  a  change  in  my  religion,  or  else  the  loss  of  my 
life,  as  has  happened  to  many  who  have  lost  their  souls  for  a 
woman's  love.  Only  a  few  years  ago  two  Capuchins,  or  rather 
Portuguese,  in  the  town  of  Isfahan  fell  into  this  sad  soul- 
destroying  misfortune.     One  of  them  was  prior  of  the  convent, 

26 — 2 


404  CHRISTIAN  PHYSICIANS 

and  both  were  forced  to  become  Mahomedans  through  similar 
events.  Afterwards,  under  the  pretext  that  they  were  of  that 
religion,  they  robbed  a  merchant  of  their  own  nation.  God 
forgive  those  who  send  out  characters  like  this  to  be 
missionaries. 

The  kings  and  princes  delight  in  showing  themselves  to  be 
just,  and  when  taking  cognisance  of  important  business,  they 
endeavour  to  hold  the  balance  even.  Since  I  was  in  Shah 
Alam's  service  in  the  capacity  of  physician,  I  was  an  object  of 
envy  to  the  other  physicians,  the  Persians,  who  sought  means 
to  ruin  me.  It  chanced  that  a  brother-in-law  of  the  prince, 
named  Mirza  Sulaiman  Beg,  fell  ill  from  a  fullness  of  blood. 
The  prince  directed  his  chief  Persian  physicians,  named  Aguins 
(Hakims),  Moquins  (Muqlm[?]),  and  Mosencan  (Muhsin  Khan), 
to  prescribe  for  him.  They  failed  in  curing  him,  and  instead 
of  bleeding  him  and  cooling  him  down,  they  gave  him  hot 
remedies.  They  treated  him  in  such  a  way  that  in  a  few  days 
he  was  in  the  throes  of  death.  When  he  was  in  this  state,  one 
of  his  brothers,  named  Mirza  Mahomed  Moquim  (Muhammad 
Muqim),  took  me  to  the  patient's  house,  hoping  I  might  help 
him.  I  saw  at  once  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  done.  On 
the  prince  hearing  the  opinion  I  had  expressed  about  his 
brother-in-law,  he  asked  his  physicians  the  reason  he  had  fallen 
into  this  condition.  They  had  the  ill-will  to  say  that  I  was  the 
cause.  To  find  out  the  truth  Shah  'Alam  sent  the  ndzir 
Daulat,  the  cnief  eunuch  of  his  palace.  This  man,  on  his 
return,  reported  that  the  patient  complained  that  the  said 
physicians  had  killed  him,  whereas,  had  the  Doctor  Nicolas  only 
treated  him,  he  would  not  have  lost  his  life.  While  saying 
these  words  the  poor  [44]  man  expired.  But  the  testimony  he 
had  given  for  me  conferred  much  credit  upon  me  at  the  court, 
and  gained  me  the  esteem  of  everybody. 

After  a  time  it  came  to  pass  that  Mirza  Muhammad  Muqim, 
brother  of  the  deceased,  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken,  went  out 
of  his  mind.  In  an  access  of  his  madness  he  slew  his  father-in- 
law  and  some  servants,  and  committed  many  other  crimes. 
On  hearing  this  the  prince  made  him  over  to  his  physicians. 
Their  report  was  that  such  a  man   could   never  recover  the 


ARE  GIVEN  THE  HOPELESS  CASES  405 

senses  that  he  had  lost.  To  demonstrate  the  force  of  their 
opinion,  they  cited  as  proof  a  passage  in  the  Quran  which  says 
that  for  madness  there  is  no  cure. 

Shah  'Alam  heard  this  sad  decision  pronounced,  and  at  once 
ordered  the  patient  to  be  placed  in  my  care,  as  he  believed  I 
should  find  a  remedy.  I  know  not  whether  this  was  actually 
because  he  thought  me  cleverer  than  the  others,  or  because  I 
was  a  Christian.  For  I  had  often  noticed  that  many  patients 
were  made  over  to  me  when  their  health  was  in  a  desperate 
state,  because  they  had  taken  it  into  their  heads  that  the 
Saviour  had  invested  me  with  some  virtue  or  other.  With  the 
permission  of  God  I  cured  this  lord  in  a  few  days.  To  reward 
me  for  my  trouble  and  for  any  expense  I  had  incurred,  he  sent 
me  a  horse  with  very  good  paces,  but  made  no  other  payment. 
The  reason  of  such  a  meagre  present  was  his  miserliness.  On 
my  side  I  was  much  put  out  at  getting  so  little  for  all  the 
trouble  I  had  taken.  So,  without  any  words  of  thanks,  I  sent 
the  horse  back,  telling  the  groom  who  had  brought  him,  when 
many  men  were  present,  that  his  master  was  in  no  state  to 
send  gifts  before  he  had  recovered  his  reason  perfectly,  and 
when  he  had  recovered  his  health  I  would  accept  what  he  sent 
to  me.  He  had  hardly  heard  my  message  when  he  sent  me  the 
same  horse  with  a  thousand  rupees  and  a  very  handsome  set  of 
robes.  The  truth  is  that  he  did  not  send  me  the  present 
willingly,  but  felt  constrained  to  do  it  for  fear  I  might  tell 
everyone  he  was  still  mad.  By  this  means  he  would  lose  the 
office  he  held  at  the  court,  and  also  lose  everyone's  confidence. 
Shah  'Alam,  when  he  learnt  what  had  passed,  was  very  satisfied 
at  the  cure,  and  still  more  with  the  answer  I  had  given  about 
the  present.  On  his  part  he  gave  me  a  horse  and  a  set  of  robes, 
adding  many  praises  from  his  own  lips,  a  habit  common  enough 
to  these  princes  with  physicians  who  succeed  in  curing  patients 
they  have  made  over  to  their  care. 

Shah  'Alam  had  directed  the  physician  Muqlm  to  treat  the 
wife  of  one  of  his  captains  called  M abarescan  (Mubariz  Khan), 
a  man  much  beloved  by  that  prince.  This  woman  had  been 
long  in  a  decline,  and  was  worn  out  by  the  quantity  of  blood 
she  had  lost.     The  doctor,  finding  that  his  remedies  did  her 


406  MANUCCI  BOASTS  OF  HIS  CURES 

no  good,  lost  all  hope  of  her,  and  intimated  to  the  prince  that 
her  life  was  in  danger.  On  hearing  this,  Shah  'Alam  ordered 
me  to  take  over  the  case.  I  applied  myself  to  her  relief  with 
all  possible  care  and  diligence,  and  in  a  short  time  I  had 
pulled  her  through.  The  physician  was  vexed  in  his  mind, 
but  outwardly  he  displayed  much  goodwill  to  me,  just  the 
contrary  of  his  real  feeling.  I  was  not  taken  in,  for  I  had 
known  that  pilgrim  for  many  a  long  day  [45]. 

The  physician  Muhsin  Khan  treated  a  uterine  (?  foster) 
brother  of  the  prince,  whose  name  was  Muhammad  Riza. 
He  had  a  severe  fever,  which  made  him  delirious.  The 
physician,  not  recognising  his  complaint,  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  there  was  no  remedy,  and  gave  him  up.  After 
that  I  was  ordered  to  treat  the  man,  and  in  a  short  time  I 
put  him  on  his  legs  again.  There  were  other  patients  who 
had  been  given  up  in  the  same  way  by  these  gentlemen, 
but  subsequently  recovered  their  health  under  my  hands, 
to  those  physicians'  disgrace  and  loss  of  reputation.  This 
is  the  reason  they  were  no  friends  of  mine ;  still  more  so 
that,  though  their  patients  came  to  me,  none  of  mine  went 
to  them. 

I  also  cured  a  noble  from  Balkh  called  Fath-ullah  Khan,  a 
title  conferred  on  him  by  the  king.1  He  had  afterwards  married 
an  extremely  pretty  woman,  who  had  served  up  to  him  nothing 
but  delicious  plats  until  he  had  got  ill  and  lost  his  appetite.  He 
grew  so  thin  that  he  looked  like  a  skeleton,  and  no  physician 
was  able  to  do  him  any  good.  In  the  end  Shah  'Alam  ordered 
me  to  take  charge  of  him.  I  knew  the  constitution  of  these 
savages,  so  I  gave  him  a  comforting  syrup,  which  could  do  him 
neither  harm  nor  good.  Then  I  ordered  him  to  get  his  stews 
made  of  horseflesh,  and  by  this  means  he  was  in  a  short  time 
restored  to  his  former  rude  strength. 

From  this  I  acquired  such  renown  that  many  men  of  this 
race  came  to  me  for  treatment.  But  I  got  very  little  out  of 
them,  for  they  are  very  avaricious,  and  paid  me  highly  in 
compliments  only.     Moreover,  I  had  the  reputation  of  being 

1  Possibly  this  is  Muhammad  Sadiq,  Khosti.  entitled  Fathullah  Khan  Bahadur, 
'Alamgir-shahi,  who  died  shortly  after  1707  (see  '  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  40). 


ENCOUNTER  WITH  AN  ANGRY  SLAVE  407 

charitable  and  of  curing  the  poor  for  the  love  of  God.  Thus 
everybody  flocked  to  my  house.  The  Mahomedan  and  Hindu 
surgeons  and  physicians  were  very  much  provoked,  for  their 
interests  were  involved  and  they  lost  their  practice.  However, 
as  they  saw  they  could  not  injure  me  directly,  they  started  the 
rumour  that  I  drank  the  blood  I  drew  from  Mahomedans; 
that  it  was  by  this  means  I  was  made  so  brisk  and  energetic, 
and  had  such  a  high  colour.  All  this  was  simply  to  hinder 
people  coming  to  me  to  be  treated.  Everybody  supposed  that 
what  they  had  published  was  true,  and  great  repugnance  was 
shown  to  be  bled  by  me.  Aware  of  what  it  was  that  troubled 
them,  I  told  them  to  bring  with  them  a  china  vessel,  and 
all  they  had  to  do  was  to  carry  the  blood  home,  and  there 
bury  it,  for  fear  any  dog  or  cat  might  consume  it ;  for  if  that 
happened,  they  would  make  noises  exactly  like  those  animals. 
By  this  measure  I  put  an  end  to  the  false  rumours,  and  they 
were  no  longer  spoken  of. 

One  day,  as  I  was  attending  to  the  treatment  of  some 
patients  with  all  possible  care,  there  comes  into  my  house  a 
king's  slave  in  a  great  rage  and  a  great  hurry,  making  much 
noise  and  throwing  everything  into  confusion.  This,  man,  I 
imagine,  had  been  sent  by  the  other  doctors,  my  enemies.  I 
went  up  to  him  and  begged  him  most  civilly  and  even  humbly 
to  do  me  the  favour  of  not  upsetting  the  sick  men.  But  he 
paid  me  no  heed,  and  went  on  worse  than  before,  and  abused 
me.  Seeing  how  insolent  he  was,  I  signed  to  my  men  to 
fall  upon  him  without  giving  him  time  to  draw,  which  they 
forthwith  did.  Our  man,  finding  himself  caught,  flew  into  a 
fearful  rage,  and  made  more  noise  than  ever.  He  said  he 
would  kill  me  and  my  men,  and  such  other  outrageous 
speeches. 

Thereupon  I  assumed  [46]  an  aspect  of  mingled  severity 
and  sadness,  and  said  I  had  compassion  for  him,  seeing  he 
was  suffering  from  blood  to  the  head.  His  was  a  case  for 
bloodletting.  This  remark  made  him  more  furious  still, 
and  he  struggled  to  get  free.  Without  heat,  I  ordered  them 
to  undress  him  and  then  bind  him ;  and  sending  for  a  lancet, 
I   made  ready  to  bleed  him.     The  slave,  still  angry,  insisted 


408  A  DIFFICULT  ACCOUCHEMENT 

that  I  must  not  bleed  him ;  if  I  did,  he  would  kill  me.  My 
answer  was  given  in  an  amiable  tone  before  every  one,  that 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  bleed  him,  that  the  blood  had 
got  to  his  head,  and  assuredly  if  not  treated  he  would  be 
the  death  of  someone. 

In  the  end,  by  force,  I  opened  two  veins  in  his  arm.  The 
fellow  was  still  angry,  and  wanted  me  to  close  the  veins ;  but, 
ignoring  what  he  said,  I  showed  sorrow  at  beholding  his 
blood,  from  time  to  time  feeling  his  pulse  and  saying  that 
his  blood  was  very  vitiated.  Then,  raising  my  eyes,  I  looked 
in  his  face  and  asked  if  he  did  not  already  feel  an  alteration 
in  his  body.  Finding  that  his  menaces  and  loud  talk  were 
of  no  good  to  him,  nobody  listening  to  them,  he  adopted  at 
last  the  mode  of  humble  entreaty,  and  said  in  a  feeble  voice 
that  God  had  brought  him  to  my  house  to  be  cured  of  the 
ills  he  had  suffered  from  through  many  years.  He  thanked 
me  for  my  trouble.  In  spite  of  this,  I  did  not  trust  him  without 
precautions,  so,  closing  the  veins  with  two  fingers,  I  put  several 
new  questions.  Having  replied  very  properly  and  civilly  to 
these,  just  as  he  ought,  I  closed  the  veins  and  had  his  clothes 
and  his  weapons  returned  to  him.  After  this  he  said  a  thousand 
flattering  things  about  me,  and  never  more  passed  in  front 
of  my  door.  When  he  met  me  at  the  king's  or  elsewhere, 
he  was  very  polite  to  me.  I  have  always  thought  that  he 
did  this  only  from  the  fear  he  had  that  I  might  announce  he 
was  mad,  or  that  I  might  drain  all  the  blood  from  his 
body. 

The  physician  of  whom  I  have  spoken  had  a  daughter,  who 
became  with  child,  and  at  the  term  she  failed  to  be  delivered 
and  was  in  danger  of  death.  Neither  the  father  nor  the  other 
doctors  could  relieve  her.  They  called  in  the  cleverest  and 
the  most  experienced  in  their  profession.  They  even  made 
use  of  sorcerers.  Yet  neither  the  one  set  nor  the  other  could 
do  anything  to  relieve  her.  At  last  they  were  forced  to  come 
to  me ;  embracing  me  and  flattering  me,  the  father  begged 
me  to  succour  his  daughter  if  it  were  in  my  power.  At  once 
I  informed  him  of  a  very  easy  treatment,  which  was  to  anoint 
her  navel.     This  brought  on  her  accouchement  at  once.     He 


JEALOUSY  OF  NATIVE  PHYSICIANS  409 

afterwards  asked  me  the  secret,  and  I  taught  it  to  him,  telling 
him  at  the  same  time  that  my  religion  commanded  me  to  do 
good  to  everyone,  even  to  my  enemies ;  how  much  more,  then, 
to  him  (this  by  way  of  a  compliment),  to  whom  I  was  under 
an  obligation  ? 

It  was  by  this  application  that  he  conducted  the  accouche- 
ment of  Prince  Kam  Bakhsh's  wife,  whereat  the  said  prince 
and  his  father,  Aurangzeb,  were  so  grateful  to  him  that  they 
made  him  many  presents  of  great  value,  without,  however, 
his  acknowledging  in  the  very  least  the  benefit  I  had  secured 
to  him.  Instead  of  being  thankful  to  me  for  it,  he  sought 
means  to  take  my  life.  It  was  he  who  advised  one  of  his 
friends  called  Mir  'Adil,  the  criminal  judge,  to  assert  to  the 
prince  that  I  vomited  forth  curses  on  the  prophet  Muhammad, 
a  crime  for  which  the  only  penalty  was  death.  But  the  prince 
knew  me,  and  had  a  friendly  feeling  for  me.  He  perceived 
plainly  that  all  this  was  only  jealousy,  and  he  answered  that 
the  information  was  wrong,  and  that  he  himself  would  go 
surety  for  my  innocence  [47].  In  this  way  my  enemies  gained 
only  confusion  from  their  accusation,  and  eight  days  afterwards 
Mir  'Adil  lost  his  office.  But  as  I  saw  myself  every  day 
pursued  and  persecuted,  and  there  were  also  other  reasons,  I 
resolved  to  quit  the  Mogul  territory. 

It  is  not  the  practice  among  these  princes  for  nobles  to  have 
converse  with  the  favourites  and  servants  of  other  princes,  for 
fear  they  may  spin  some  web  of  treason.  If  it  is  ever  the  case, 
it  is  always  with  the  permission  of  their  master.  It  happened 
that  Diler  Khan  fell  ill ;  he  was  Shah  'Alam's  enemy,  yet  he 
sent  for  me  to  prescribe  for  him.  He  knew  of  the  prohibitions 
on  the  subject ;  he  sent  word  that  if  I  went  to  his  house,  it 
would  afford  a  good  opening  for  him  to  become  friends  with  the 
prince.  He  would  be  always  ready  to  assist  him  with  all  the 
cavalry  under  his  command  on  any  and  every  occasion  that 
might  arise. 

As  I  knew  the  custom  of  the  court  and  the  scurvy  tricks  of 
the  Mahomedans,  I  informed  the  prince  of  this  affair,  and 
pointed  out  to  him  that  Diler  Khan  had  sent  for  me.  Hardly 
were  the  words  out  of  my  mouth  when  his  face  began  to  flush, 


4io  POISONING  AND  ABORTION 

and  he  asked  me  very  hastily  whether  I  wanted  to  go  there. 
To  that  I  replied  with  a  smiling  face  that,  if  I  was  anxious  to 
go  there,  it  was  only  to  see  the  state  he  was  in — whether  he 
would  live  or  die,  so  that  I  might  make  my  report  to  His 
Highness.  These  words  appeased  him,  and  he  forbade  me  to 
go.  Diler  Khan  died,  and  it  was  found  to  be  from  poison 
administered  by  his  son-in-law,  Azil  Can,  and  by  one  of  the 
prince's  commanders.1 

I  have  stated  that  it  is  usual  for  Mogul  princes  to  rear  only 
four  of  their  sons.  Nevertheless,  Shah  'Alam,  by  a  very  special 
grace  from  the  king,  has  five.  It  happened  that  one  of  his 
wives — the  one  he  loved  best — was  with  child.  Her  name  was 
Nur-un-nissa  Begam.  Aware  that  Aurangzeb  would  never  con- 
sent to  let  her  offspring  live,  she  took  drugs  to  procure  abortion. 
What  she  had  taken  produced  no  effect,  and  in  her  husband's 
presence  she  asked  me  for  drugs  for  that  purpose.  I  betrayed 
my  astonishment,  and  said  to  her  that  I  felt  persuaded  His 
Highness  kept  me  in  his  service  for  the  preservation  and  not 
the  destruction  of  human  beings.  Such  a  thing  was  no  part 
of  my  business.  They  rejoined  that  they  took  on  themselves 
the  penalty.  To  that,  after  alleging  further  reasons  to  dissuade 
them  from  this  evil  course,  among  others  what  is  written  in 
the  Gospel — that  he  who  kills  by  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the 
sword — and  having  held  forth  a  long  time  on  the  subject,  in  the 
end  I  persuaded  them  to  allow  the  innocent  thing  to  live.  The 
child  lived  some  year  and  a  half,  when  the  unnatural  monarch 
caused  him  to  be  secretly  poisoned.  If  they  did  not  procure 
an  abortion,  it  was  because  they  dreaded  to  hazard  the  life  of 
the  mother,  as  they  wrote  it.2 

It  was  at  about  this  time  that  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din  conceived 
a  raging  jealousy  [48]  against  his  wife,  for  reasons  that  I  cannot 

1  Jalal,  entitled  Diler  Khan,  son  of  Darya  Khan.  Da.udzai,  died  in  the 
twenty-seventh  year  of  Aurangzeb,  1094  H.,  between  the  1st  Ramazan  (August  24, 
1683)  and  the  end  of  that  year  (December  18,  1683),  at  Aurangabad  (see 
'M.-ul-U.,'  ii.  42,  and  '  Tarikh-i-Muhammadi ').  The  former  mentions  (only  to 
deny  it)  the  rumour  that  Aurangzeb  poisoned  him.  According  to  the  '  Ma.asir-i- 
'Alamglrl,'  he  died  about  the  25th  Ramazan,  1094  H.  (September  17,  1683),  when 
N.  M.  was  in  Goa,  and  could  not  have  been  in  Aurangabad. 

2  The  last  words  are  obscure. 


MU'IZZ-UD-DlN  POISONS  HIS  WIFE  411 

state.  She  was  the  most  lovely  and  perfectly  formed  creature 
of  all  those  in  the  mahal.  This  is  why  he  poisoned  her  with 
his  own  hands  in  some  betel  he  gave  her.  The  mother  of  the 
princess,  seeing  her  in  this  sad  state,  begged  me  to  aid  her  and 
give  her  medicine.  This  I  did  in  secret,  and  she  escaped ;  but 
again  he  gave  her  poison  on  three  occasions,  while  I  continued 
to  give  her  antidotes.  Sultan  Mu'izz-ud-din,  having  learnt 
this,  refused  to  see  me.  At  last  he  found  his  opportunity.  He 
was  sent  to  govern  at  Burhanpur,  while  his  father,  Shah  'Alam, 
continued  at  Aurangabad,  and  I  with  him. 

Again  he  gave  her  poison.  Then  her  mother  wrote  to  Shah 
'Alam  that  if  he  wanted  her  daughter  to  recover,  he  must  send 
me  in  the  greatest  haste.  The  prince  replied  to  this  that  there 
was  no  necessity  to  send  me ;  they  could  employ  the  other 
doctors,  who  were  then  present  with  the  princess.  But  before 
the  reply  arrived  she  was  dead.  After  this  tragic  occurrence, 
Mu'izz-ud-din  became  my  friend  again  as  formerly,  and  showed 
me  much  affection. 

There  was  also  a  concubine  in  the  palace  of  Shah  'Alam  who 
fell  ill ;  she  had  taken  various  purges  given  by  the  Persian 
physicians  without  any  of  them  affording  the  least  relief.  Her 
abdomen  was  much  distended,  and  she  was  in  risk  of  death.  I 
was  ordered  to  treat  her.  I  began  by  sending  her  an  enema 
with  a  view  to  an  evacuation.  I  gave  directions  how  it  was  to 
be  used,  as  they  do  not  have  recourse  to  these  in  India.  The 
implement  was  wrapped  round  with  a  towel  sealed  with  my 
seal.  The  doorkeepers  and  eunuchs  seeing  this  strange  thing, 
and  not  knowing  what  was  to  be  done  with  it,  carried  it  straight 
to  the  chief  eunuch,  and  said  it  was  I  who  had  sent  it.  He 
was  just  as  surprised  as  the  others,  having  no  idea  what  it  was, 
and  sent  for  me  to  inquire  the  use  of  such  an  instrument.  I 
made  him  understand  what  it  was  and  for  whom  it  was  pre- 
pared. Thereupon  he  directed  my  orders  to  be  at  once 
obeyed.  As  I  detected  that  they  did  not  trust  me,  I  petitioned 
the  prince,  showing  that  it  was  inexpedient  for  me  to  serve 
longer  at  a  court  where  I  was  mistrusted.  Obtaining  the 
particulars  of  the  affair,  he  ordered  everything  bearing  my  seal 
to  be  admitted. 


412  SHAH  'ALAM'S  affability 

This  prince  (Shah  'Alam)  is  naturally  affable  and  benign ; 
and  since  I  know  him  well,  I  am  of  opinion  that,  should  he 
become  king,  he  would  do  no  harm  to  anyone.  There  is  much 
difference  between  his  temperament  and  that  of  his  father. 
One  day  when  he  was  out  hunting  in  the  country  of  Kabul,  he 
was  forced  to  take  shelter  in  a  shepherd's  hut,  owing  to  the 
rain.  While  there  a  very  pretty  girl  appeared  before  him ;  it 
was  the  shepherd's  daughter.  To  amuse  himself,  he  asked  if 
she  was  willing  to  marry  him.  The  young  person,  without 
knowing  to  whom  she  spoke,  answered  that  there  was  no 
scarcity  of  fair  men  whom  she  could  marry,  rather  than  take 
him,  who  was  dark.  He  laughed  heartily  at  the  answer ;  but 
the  eunuchs  present  wanted  to  beat  her,  which  he  strenuously 
forbade  [49].  Then  he  asked  her  if  she  would  be  content  to 
espouse  a  fair  young  man  then  present,  one  of  the  prince's 
slaves.  She  assented  cordially.  This  marriage  gave  her  access 
to  the  palace,  and  she  was  much  liked  by  the  prince. 

Among  the  slaves  of  the  princes  are  some  who  are  gentlemen 
soldiers  and  hold  good  positions.  Some  are  purchased,  others 
offer  themselves  to  serve  in  that  station.  The  woman  spoken 
of  above  fell  ill  of  an  intestinal  complaint  which  no  one  could 
overcome.  In  the  end  I  was  directed  to  treat  her ;  and,  dis- 
covering that  drugs  did  her  no  good,  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  a  ring  of  red-hot  iron  would  be  most  effective.  Accord- 
ingly I  applied  one  upon  her  navel.  It  began  to  set  in  motion 
the  contents  of  her  bowels,  and  without  any  other  remedy  they 
passed  away.  I  believe  this  remedy  would  be  of  benefit  to  those 
attacked  by  colic  and  iliac  passion  (obstruction  of  the  bowels) 
when  in  extremity,  and  thereby  often  save  life.1 

From  what  I  have  said  above,  I  imagine  that  the  reader  will 
have  understood  the  policy  with  which  these  kings  and  princes 
conduct  themselves.  He  can  also  see  what  remains  for  me  to 
say.  For,  although  I  may  have  omitted  several  things,  I  have 
yet  mentioned  enough  to  give  a  complete  acquaintance  with 
this  vast  empire. 

1  See  also  II.  128,  and  III.  186. 


THE  MOGUL  REVENUE  413 

List  of  the  Provinces  in  the  Mogul  Empire,  Twenty- 
four  in  Number,  with  a  Statement  of  the 
Revenues  drawn  from  Each,  from  Grain  only  and 
Other  Products  Necessary  to  Life,  over  and  above 
Other  Revenue  to  be  noted  hereafter.1 

First  let  us  state  the  names  of  the  divisions,  towns,  and 
villages  which  are  in  these  provinces  or  are  dependent  on 
them.  Sarkar  means  '  division  '  ;  pargana  means  a  government 
subordinate  to  a  division. 

Karors.     Lakhs.     Rupees. 
i.  The  province  of  Deli  (Dihli)  has  under  it  eight  sarkdrs 

and  two  hundred  and  twenty  parganahs,  which  yield 

one  karor  twenty-five  lakhs  and  fifty  thousand  rupees         1         25         50,000 

2.  The   province   of    Agra   or   Akbarabad   has   under   it 

fourteen  sarkavs  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
parganahs,  which  yield  two  karors  twenty-two  lakhs 
and  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  rupees        2         22        03,750 

3.  The   province   of   Lahor  has   five  sarkar s   and   three 

hundred  and  fourteen  parganahs,  which  yield  two 

karors  thirty-three  lakhs  and  five  thousand  rupees  ...         2        33         05,000 

4.  The  province  of  Ajmer,  which  yields  from  its  sarkdrs 

and  parganahs  two   karors   nineteen   lakhs  and  two 

thousand  rupees  ...  ...  ...  ...         2         19        02,000 

5-  [5°]  The  province  of  Gujarat  has  nine  sarkar s  and 
nineteen  parganahs,  which  yield  two  karors  thirty- 
three  lakhs  and  ninety-five  thousand  rupees  ...         2         33        95,000 

6.  The  province  of  Malwah  has  eleven  sarkdrs  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  parganahs,  which  yield  ninety-nine 
lakhs  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  rupees     ...         o        99        06,250 

1  By  '  from  grain  '  the  author  means  the  land  revenue.  These  figures  are 
correctly  enough  reproduced  in  Catrou,  264,  265,  266,  and  have  been  largely 
relied  upon  by  E.  Thomas,  '  Revenue  Resources,'  1871,  and  other  writers.  I 
think  myself  they  must  be  accepted  with  much  reserve.  As  usual  in  such  tables, 
the  sum  total  is  not  obtainable  by  adding  up  the  details,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
find  out  where  the  error  lies.  Then,  the  round  numbers  opposite  Nos.  20-24 
show  that  these  entries,  at  any  rate,  are  mere  guesses  or  approximations,  and 
the  province  of  Audh  is  entirely  omitted.  There  remains  the  objection  that 
applies  to  all  similar  tables— those  of  the  '  A, in-  i-Akbari '  included — that  we  do 
not  know  what  the  figures  represent:  whether  (1)  a  standard  assessment  (jama'- 
i-hamil),  (2)  the  demand  of  some  particular  year  (jama'-i-wajib),  or  (3)  the  actual 
collections  (jama'-i-ivapdl).  I  insert  another  table  drawn  up  for  Bahadur  Shah 
(Shah  'Alam)  in  1707  (see  Jag  Jivan  Das,  Gujarat!,  '  Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikk,' 
British  Museum  Additional  MS.,  No.  26,253,  fol.  51a  et  seq.).  Here,  also,  the 
totals  are  wrong,  and  there  are,  unfortunately,  some  blanks ;  but  I  have  filled 
these  in  by  figures  from  the  other  columns,  so  as  to  give  an  approximate  total. 


414 


THE  MOGUL  REVENUE 


7.  The  province  of  Patnah  or  Bihar  has  eight  sarkars  and 

two  hundred  and  forty-five  parganahs,  which  yield 
one  karor  twenty-one  lakhs  and  fifty  thousand  rupees 

8.  The   province  of  Multan   has    fourteen  sarkars   and 

ninety-six  parganahs,  which  yield  fifty  lakhs  and 
twenty-five  thousand  rupees 

9.  The    province    of    Kabul    has    thirty-five   parganahs, 

which  yield  thirty-two  lakhs  and  seven  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  rupees 

10.  The  province  of  Tattah  and  its  dependencies,  sixty 

la khs  and  twelve  thousand  rupees 

11.  The  province  of  Bhakkar  and  its  dependencies  yield 

twenty-four  lakhs 

12.  The  province  of  Urecha  [Orissa]  has  eleven  sarkars 

and  [one  hundred]1  parganahs,  which  yield  fifty- 
seven  l&khs  and  seven  thousand  five  hundred  rupees 

13.  The  province  of  Kashmir  has  forty-six  parganahs,  which 

yield  thirty-five  lakhs  [and]  five  thousand  rupees    . . . 

14.  The  province  of  Allahabad,   with  its  dependencies, 

yields  seventy-seven  lakhs  and  thirty-eight  thousand 
rupees 

15.  The  province  of  Aurangabad  or  Daulatabad,  in  the 

Dakhin,  has  eight  sarkars  and  seventy-nine  parganahs, 
which  yield  one  karor  sixty  -  two  lakhs  and  four 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  rupees  ... 

16.  The  province  of  Barar  has  six  sarkars  and  one  hundred 

and  ninety-one  parganahs,  which  yield  one  karor 
fifty-eight  lakhs  and  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
rupees 

17.  The  province  of  Burhanpur  or  Khandes  has  three 

sarkars  and  one  hundred  and  three  parganahs,  which 
yield  one  karor  eleven  lakhs  and  five  thousand 
rupees 

18.  The  province  of  Baglanah  has  forty-three  parganahs, 

and  yields  sixty-eight  lakhs  and  eighty-five  thousand 
rupees 

19.  The  province  of  Nande  [Nander  ?]  yields  seventy-two 

lakhs    ... 

20.  The  province  of  Dhakkah  or  Bengal  yields  four  karors 

21.  The  province  of  Ujjain  yields  two  karors 

22.  The  province  of  Rajmahal  yields  one  karor  and  fifty 

thousand  rupees 


Karors.     Lfikbs.     Rupees. 


50,000 


50 


72' 


58 


25,000 


32 

07,250 

60 

12,000 

24 

00,000 

57 

07,500 

35 

05,000 

77       38,000 


04.750 


07,500 


05,000 


68        85,000 


0 

72 

00,000 

4 

00 

00,000 

2 

00 

00,000 

00        50,000 


1  The  text  has  '  ses,'  and  Catrou  renders  it  '  un  assez  grand  nombre ' ;  in  the 
*  A.in '  lists,  ii.  142-144,  there  are  ninety-nine  parganahs.  I  therefore  read 
ses  —  cent. 

*  Sic  in  text ;  in  the  words,  probably  '  soixante-douze '  should  be  read  for 
'  soixante  deux.' 


THE  MOGUL  REVENUE  415 

Karors.     Lakhs.     Rupees. 

23.  The  kingdom  of  BIjapur,  with  the  Karnatik,  yields  six 

karors...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...        51      °°        00,000 

24.  The  kingdom  of  Gulkandah,  with  another  portion  of 

the  Karnatik,  yields  five  karors    ...  ...  ...        5        00        00,000 

38 2      71        94,000 

[51]  Although  the  Mogul  asserts  himself  to  be  ruler  over 
fifty-four  provinces,  I  do  not  name  them  all,  because  they  are 
for  the  most  part  in  these  days  subdivisions  of  the  provinces 
that  I  have  just  enumerated. 

To  understand  the  revenues  of  which  I  have  just  given  the 
figures,  it  should  be  known  that  a  karor  is  one  hundred  lakhs, 
or  ten  millions,  and  that  a  lakh  is  one  hundred  thousand  rupees. 
When  summed  up  the  whole  comes  to  three  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  millions  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  thousand 
rupees,  or  in  French  money  at  thirty  sols  to  the  rupee,  five 
hundred  and  eighty  millions  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one 
thousand  livres.3 

In  addition  to  this  revenue  obtained  from  grain,  et  cetera, 
there  are  other  considerable  receipts.  One  is  the  tribute  paid 
by  the  Hindus,  as  I  have  stated  in  my  Second  Part  (II.  182). 
This  has  no  fixed  total,  being  sometimes  more  and  sometimes 
less.  This  variation  is  caused  by  deaths,  and  by  travellers 
moving  from  one  place  to  another.  If  carrying  with  them  a 
receipt  for  what  they  have  paid,  the  latter  are  allowed  to  pass 
free.  But  if  they  chance  to  lose  this  paper,  or  it  be  stolen, 
they  are  made  to  pay  again  either  in  the  same  or  in  another 
province.  The  officials  embezzle  their  collections  most  terribly, 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  king  gets  more  often  than  not  less 
than  half. 

There  is  a  second  customs  duty  upon  goods  brought  by 
Hindu  merchants ;  it  is  five  per  cent. ;  and  though  Aurangzeb 

1  In  words  the  text  has  'six,'  but  in  figures  5  karors;  and  the  latter  figure 
seems  correct,  judging  by  the  total  at  foot. 

2  The  correct  addition  I  make  Rs.  38,72,59,000,  or  Rs.  65,000  more  than  in 
the  text. 

3  If  580,791,000  livres  of  30  sols  equal  387,794,000  rupees,  then  1  rupee  equals 
i£  livres,  or  10  annas  8  pies  equal  1  livre.  Taking  the  rupee  at  2s.,  1  livre  equals 
is.  4d.,  and  the  revenue  given  above  equals  £38,725,900. 


STATEMENT    OF    REVENUES    PREPARED    FOR    BAHADUR    SHAH    IN    1707, 

TAKEN   FROM   THE  'MUNTAKHAB-UT-TAWARIKH '  OF  JAG  JIVAN    DAS, 

GUJARATI  (British  Museum  Additional  MS.,  No.  26,253,  fol.  51  et  seq.). 

Hindustan,  15  Subahs ;  Dakhin  (including  BIjapur  and  Gulkandah),  6  Subahs; 

Total,  21  Subahs. 


Standard  Assess- 

Standard Assess- 

Full Assess- 

Last Recorded 

Manucci's 

Sfibah. 

ment  in  Dams 

ment  (reduced 

ment 

Receipts 

Figures 

(40=1  Rupee). 

to  Rupees). 

(in  Rupees). 

(in  Rupees). 

(in  Rupees). 

Hindustan : 

i.  Akbar&bzLd     ... 

1,14,17,06,057       2,85,42,651 

1,06,97,671 

68,92,897 

2,22,03,750 

2.  Shahjahanabad 

1,22,29,50,658  '     3,05,73.766 

94,04.030 

63,49,110 

1,25,50,000 

3.  Ajmer ... 

65.33,45,702 

1.63,33,642 

1,06,97,371 

68,92,895 

2,19,02,000 

4.  Allahabad  [Pan 

12,00,000}     ... 

45,65.43.248 

1,14,13,581 

1,05,79.371 

68,92,890 

77,38,000 

5.  Audh 

32,13,17,119 

80,32,928 

91,25,551 

47.85,871 

[Omitted] 

6.  Ahmadabad  ... 

45.47.44.135 

1,13,68,603 

89,61,806 

71,84,685 

2.33.95.ooo 

7.  Lahor    (5    dud- 

bahs  and  Kang- 

rah  Hills)     ... 

89,81,32,107 

2,24,53,302 

87,40,383 

30,42,327 

2,33.05,000 

8.  Kabul 

H.10,39,354 

27.75.983 

47,40,221 

30.42,337 

32,07,250 

9.  Bahar 

40,71,81,100    ;        1,01,79,527 

93,50,931 

57,14.873 

1,21,50,000 

10.  Tatthah 

6,88,II,800                  17,20,295 

53.65,397 

34.49,657 

84, 12.0001 

11.  Malwah 

40,39,80,658 !  1,00,99,516 

84,72,291 

48.13,283 

2,99,06,250-' 

12.  Multan 

22,43,49,893    |              56,08,747 

51,69,389 

24.75,649 

50,25,000 

13.  Kashmir 

22,99,11,300!              57,47,782 

29,62,593 

24,80,389 

35,05,000 

14.  Bengal 

52,41,31,240           1,31,03,281 

[Blank] 

81,19,267 

5,oo,5o,oooa 

15.  Udissah 
Total 

14,28,11,000    1              35.70.275 

ii,57-82i 

[Blank] 

57,07,500 

7.26,09,55,371 

18,15,23,879 

10,54,24,826 

7,21,36,130 

98.78,5584 

8,20,14,688 

22,90,56,750 

Dakhin  : 

16.  Aurangabad  ... 

1,00,49,65,000 

2,51,24,125 

1,00,51,000 

91,99,006 

1,72,04,750 

17.  Barar 

8l,40,25,000 

2.03.50,625 

90,11,309 

75,89.219 

I,  58,07,500 

18.  Khandesh 

34,81,30,200 

87,03,255 

40,06,019 

31,19.017 

i,79,90,ooo5 

19.  Zafarabad 

Bidar 

37,29,74.307 

93,24,357 

[Blank] 

42,42,932 

72,00,000 

20.  Bijapur 

21.  Haidarabad   ... 

Total 

2.35,55,oo.oo° 

5,88,87.500 

[Blank] 

5,89,87,501 

5,00,00,000 

1,15,13,00,000 

2,87,82,500 

[Blank] 

2,47,82,500 

5,00,00,000 

6,04,68794^507" 

15,11,72,362 

2,30,68,328 

10,79,20,175 

15,82,02,250 

9,69.94,357* 

Grand  total 
Totals,  according  to 

12,00,62,685 

18,99,34,863 

38,72,59,000 

13.30.78.49.878 

33,26,96,241 

22,54,87,511 

text  of  MS.  : 

Hindustan... 

7,25,26,91,767 

18,13,17,294 

— 

8,20,14,688 

— 

Dakhin      

Total 

Difference   in  excess 

6,08,73,00,074 

15,21,82,501 

— 

10,79,20,173 

— 

13.33,99.91,841 

33.34.99,795 

— 

18,99,34.861 

— 

in  MS 

3,21,41,963 

8.03,554 

— 

— 

"" 

This  table  brings  into  relief  the  great  exaggeration  of  Manucci's  figures,  which  are  about 
£5,000,000  in  excess  of  the  assumed  standard  land  revenue  demand  of  seven  years  later  than 
his  time  ;  while  the  actual  demand  for  that  later  year  was  £16,000,000,  and  the  actual  collec- 
tions £19,000,000  to  £21,000,000,  less  than  his  figures.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  his 
total  does  not  include  the  province  of  Audh,  of  which  the  standard  assessment  in  Jag  J  Ivan 
Das's  table  is  over  80  lakhs  of  rupees— say,  £800, coo.  Of  what  value,  then,  can  elaborate  com- 
parisons of  the  Mogul  revenue  with  present-day  taxation  be  worth  when  founded  on  such 
inflated  statements  ? 


1  Including  Bhakkar. 
4  Estimated  for  Orissa. 


2  Malwah  and  Ujjain. 
6  Including  Baglanah. 


3  Dhakah  and  Rajmahal. 
6  Estimated  for  3  subahs. 


MINES,  SEA   CUSTOMS,  ESCHEATS  AND  TRIBUTE      417 

had  remitted  it  for  Mahomedans,  he  has  not  failed  all  the  same 
to  take  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  [from  them].  He  makes 
those  whom  he  had  exempted  pay  the  rents  and  customs  duty. 
He  also  draws  large  sums  from  the  bathings  which  the  Hindus 
perform  at  various  points  in  the  empire.  There  is  also  another 
source  of  revenue,  the  diamond  mines  in  the  kingdom  of 
Gulkandah,  over  and  above  the  largest  and  the  best  of  the 
stones.  Any  which  weigh  above  three-eighths  of  an  ounce  be- 
long to  the  Crown.  The  seaports  also  yield  him  a  large 
revenue;  among  them  are  those  of  Sindl,  Bharoch,  Surat,  and 
Kambaya.  Surat  alone  brings  him  in  usually  thirty  lakhs, 
besides  the  eleven1  lakhs  derived  from  the  profit  on  new  coin 
struck  there. 

In  addition  to  all  these  items,  he  has  the  revenue  from  the 
whole  coast  of  Choromandal,  from  Masulipatam  (Machhlipa- 
tanam),  from  Narsapur,2  and  of  the  whole  coast  from  Pundy2 
(Pundi),  or  from  Ginzerly  (Gingerli),2  as  far  as  Ballasor 
(Baleshwar)  ;2  also  from  all  the  ports  on  the  river  Ganges. 
Over  and  above  all  these  items,  he  seizes  everything  left  by  his 
generals,  officers,  and  other  officials  at  their  death,  in  spite  of 
having  declared  that  he  makes  no  claim  on  the  goods  of  de- 
funct persons.  Nevertheless,  under  the  pretext  that  they  are 
his  officers  and  are  in  debt  to  the  Crown,  he  lays  hold  of  every- 
thing. If  they  leave  widows,  he  gives  them  a  trifle  every  year 
and  some  land  to  furnish  a  subsistence.  He  also  causes  the 
goods  of  merchants  to  be  seized  if  they  die  without  heirs. 
Again,  added  to  all  that,  he  receives  very  considerable  presents 
from  the  Hindu  princes,  zamlndars,  and  their  servants. 

The  rajahs,  the  generals  of  the  army,  and  the  commanders 
are  made  to  contribute  a  certain  sum,  according  to  the  number 
of  Hindus  in  their  service.     Usually  this  is  taken  as  a  deduction 

1  In  text  '  s  s,'  which  Catrou,  266,  renders  as  '  eleven.' 

2  Narsapur,  lat.  160  26',  long.  8i°  44',  thirty-nine  miles  south  of  Rajahmundry, 
Godaveri  district  ('Madras  Manual  of  Administration,'  iii.  565).  It  had  an 
English  factory  (1677-1827) ;  a  French  factory  was  there  in  1758  ;  the  Dutch  had 
one  from  1665.  Pundi,  a  small  fort  on  the  Orissa  coast,  467  miles  north  east  of 
Madras  {ibid.,  iii.  707).  Gingerly,  the  east  coast  between  Vizagapatnam  and 
Jagarnath  in  Orissa  (see  Yule,  375,  and  Sir  R.  C.  Temple,  '  T.  Bowery,'  120). 
Balasor,  in  Cuttack,  116  miles  south-west  of  Calcutta  (Thornton,  '  Gazetteer,'  61). 

VOL.    II.  27 


418  FOREIGN  TRADE 

from  the  pay  disbursed  to  them.  The  king's  sons  even  are  not 
exempted,  and  Shah  'Alam,  my  prince,  paid  in  my  day  eighty 
thousand  rupees  a  year.  These  revenues  amount  to  something 
near  the  same  total  as  the  revenue  from  grain,  of  which  I  gave 
the  figures  above.1 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  the  whole  of  the  merchandise 
which  is  exported  from  the  Mogul  kingdom  comes  [52]  from 
four  kinds  of  plants — that  is  to  say,  the  shrub  that  produces 
the  cotton  from  which  a  large  quantity  of  cloth,  coarse  and 
fine,  is  made.  These  cotton  goods  are  exported  to  Europe, 
Persia,  Arabia,  and  other  quarters  of  the  world.  The  second 
is  the  plant  which  produces  indigo.  The  third  is  the  one  from 
which  comes  opium,  of  which  a  large  amount  is  used  on  the 
Java  coast.  The  fourth  is  the  mulberry-tree,  on  which  their 
silk-worms  are  fed,  and,  as  it  may  be  said,  that  commodity 
(silk)  is  grown  on  those  trees. 

For  the  export  of  all  this  merchandise,  European  and  other 
traders  bring  much  silver  to  India.  They  also  carry  away 
great  quantities  of  diamonds  and  saltpetre.  The  traders  also 
bring  much  gold  from  China,  from  Achln,2  situated  on  the 
coast  of  F.  Su  (?) — I  mean  upon  the  island  of  Sumatra.  Also 
from  the  coast  of  Persia  there  came  Venetians*  (a  coin)  and 
sequins3  (coins),  in  addition  to  some  fruits  and  liqueurs,  almost 
all  of  which  are  for  the  use  of  Europeans  living  in  India. 

Since  I  have  given  an  account  of  how  these  kings  and  princes 
pay  their  soldiers  and  servants,  I  think  it  convenient  to  add 
something  about  the  government  of  this  vast  empire.  It  is 
carried  on  through  three  principal  officials.  The  first  is  the 
chief  Wazlr,  who  is  first  minister  and  principal  counsellor.     He 

1  The  statement  that  the  miscellaneous  revenue  equalled  the  land  revenue  can 
hardly  be  accepted ;  it  must  be  a  great  exaggeration.  In  fact,  many  of  the 
miscellaneous  items,  such  as  sea  customs,  collected  by  the  dlwdns,  were  entered 
as  mahdls  (heads  of  receipt)  in  the  mal  (land  revenue),  and  not  in  the  sa.ir 
(miscellaneous)  accounts,  and  thus  are  already  included  in  Manucci's  total  of 
^■38,725.900.  Most  of  the  sa.ir  items  (fines,  market  dues,  ferry  tolls)  were 
collected  by  the  police — that  is,  by  the  kotwals  and  faujdars. 

2  A:hin,  a  state  and  town  in  the  north-west  angle  of  Sumatra  Island  (Yule,  3). 

3  '  Venetians '  (Yule,  9646),  a  name  for  sequins  (ibid.,  1936),  the  Venetian  zecchino 
or  cecchino ;  from  zecca,  the  mint  at  Venice,  a  word  of  Arabic  origin  (sikkah, 
a  die) . 


THE  CHIEF  OFFICIALS  419 

it  is  who  has  charge  of  letting  out  the  lands  on  rent,  and 
collecting  from  them  the  income  for  the  benefit  of  the  Crown. 
He  it  is,  also,  who  confers  all  offices,  as  well  upon  the  nobles 
as  upon  subordinates. 

The  second  high  official  is  the  Dlwan  of  the  salaries.1  His 
duties  are  the  receiving  all  the  revenues  of  the  empire,  the 
realizing  the  property  of  deceased  persons,  whether  nobles  or 
poor  men.  It  is  also  his  duty  to  resume  the  property  of  those 
persons  who  are  removed  from  the  service  ;  he  also  carries  out 
any  alteration  in  offices  or  in  allowances.  The  third  great 
official  is  the  Mir  Sdmdn.  He  has  charge  of  the  whole  expen- 
diture of  the  royal  household  in  reference  to  both  great  and 
small  things. 

In  addition  to  these  three  officials  there  are  others.  One  is 
the  Mir  Bakhshi,  who  is  in  charge  of  all  the  cavalry  of  the 
empire ;  there  is  another  who  is  placed  over  all  the  infantry ; 
another,  called  the  qdzl,  who  decides  cases  in  the  last  resort. 
In  spite  of  having  those  powers,  when  he  condemns  anyone  to 
death  he  cannot  order  execution  without  first  reporting  to  the 
king  three  times.  Joined  with  him  are  always  two  muftis,  who 
act  as  judges  in  cases.  If  any  woman  objects  to  living  with 
her  husband  and  goes  to  lodge  a  plaint,  he  (the  qdzl)  keeps  her 
three  days  in  his  house ;  and  after  that  interval  he  pronounces 
judgment  on  the  dispute  between  them  just  as  he  thinks  best. 
No  one  can  demand  the  reasons  for  his  acts  in  that  respect, 
whether  his  decision  be  a  good  or  bad  one. 

As  I  was  friends  with  the  qdzl  'Abd-ul-wahhab,2  who  invited 
me  frequently  to  his  house,  I  will  recount  a  judgment  delivered 
by  him  in  my  presence.  There  was  a  woman  who  came  to  him 
requiring  the  condemnation  of  a  young  man  then  in  custody  for 
having  slain  her  husband.  The  qdzl  in  a  mild  tone  counselled  her 
to  forgive,  and  if  she  would  listen  to  him,  he  would  advise  her  to 
marry  the  man,  or  else  some  other  should  she  object  to  having 
the  murderer.     The  woman   consented   to   the   proposal,  the 

1  The  word  used  is  traites  (French),  '  draft,  order  of  payment,'  and  I  take  it  to 
represent  Diwan-i-Tan,  tan  being  a  contraction  of  tankhwah  (literally,  '  body  '  + 

'  need  '),  meaning  pay  and  salary.     This  dtwan's  chief  duty  was  the  regulation  of 
jagirs,  or  assignments  of  land  revenue  in  lieu  of  pay  and  allowances. 

2  For  'Abd-ul-wahhab,  see  I.  277,  and  II.  I45. 

27 — 2 


420  QAZIS  AND  KOTWALS 

young  man  was  released  [52*],  and  she  married  him.  Seeing 
this  easy  way  of  proceeding,  I  took  the  liberty  to  say  to  the 
qazl  that  the  sentence  he  had  just  pronounced  was  likely  to  be 
the  cause  of  several  murders ;  for  there  being  many  women 
who  were  not  content  with  their  husbands,  they  would  procure 
their  murder  by  the  hand  of  their  lover,  in  order  to  marry  again 
at  once  with  the  latter.  He  admitted  the  force  of  what  I  said, 
but  he  made  believe  to  laugh  at  it,  and  said  it  was  a  charity  to 
secure  a  benefit  to  the  young  man  and  save  his  life.  But  if  the 
woman  had  persisted  in  her  complaint,  he  would  have  con- 
demned him  to  death.  All  the  same,  from  all  that  I  could  see, 
I  believe  that  the  qazl  acted  thus  merely  to  keep  the  woman 
three  days  in  his  house  ;  for,  in  spite  of  his  age,  I  fancy  that  he 
was  not  a  stranger  to  such  matters,  and  the  woman  was  very 
pretty. 

As  a  proof  of  the  absolute  justice  of  the  decisions  that  the 
qazl  delivers,  I  will  report  a  case  which  happened  a  month  or  so 
after  the  flight  of  his  daughter  from  her  home,  carrying  off  all  the 
best  of  his  property,  in  the  manner  that  1  have  related  (II.  144). 
This  qazl  had  a  son,  or,  rather,  a  nephew,  whom  he  greatly 
loved.  This  youth  often  heard  cases  and  pronounced  sentence 
in  his  uncle's  place.  The  nephew,  having  learnt  that  a  Hindu 
had  a  very  lovely  wife,  caused  her  to  be  carried  off,  and  detained 
her  in  his  house.  On  learning  this  fact,  the  husband  com- 
plained to  the  qazl  and  other  officials,  but  without  effect.  All 
the  qazl  said  was  that  he  deserved  death  for  having  behaved  to 
his  wife  in  an  illicit  way,  only  to  think  of  which  was  horrible. 
Although  angered  at  such  injustice;  the  Hindu  concealed  his 
vexation  for  some  days.  But  one  day,  while  the  nephew  was  on 
his  way  to  the  court,  the  Hindu  hid  in  the  crowd  surrounding 
his  palanquin,  and  thrust  his  dagger  (kattarl)  into  his  abdomen. 
Leaving  it  there,  he  instantly  mingled  again  with  the  crowd  and 
disappeared.  When  the  bearers  had  lowered  the  palanquin, 
they  opened  it  and  found  their  master  a  corpse. 

There  is  still  another  subaltern  official  that  they  call  the 
kotwal,  who  is  a  sort  of  lieutenant  of  police.  It  is  his  business 
to  stop  the  distillation  of  arrack  (spirits,  'arq),  the  eau-de-vie 
used  in  the  Indies.     He  has  to  see  that  there  are  no  public 


THE  PROVINCES— DIHLI  421 

women  in  the  town,  nor  anything  else  forbidden  by  the  king. 
He  obtains  information  about  all  that  goes  on,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  send  in  his  report.  For  this  purpose  there  are  throughout 
the  Mogul  Empire  certain  persons  known  as  'alarcor '(##/&/- M-or),1 
a  word  which  means  '  men  who  live  on  what  is  well  earned.' 
These  men  are  under  obligation  to  go  twice  a  day  to  clean  out 
every  house,  and  they  tell  the  kotwal  all  that  goes  on.  On  his 
part,  the  kotwal  must  render  an  account  to  the  king  of  what  he 
he  has  heard  has  happened,  whether  it  be  by  night  or  by  day. 
He  also  has  the  duty  of  arresting  thieves  and  criminals.  He  is 
subordinate  to  the  qazi,  and  receives  orders  from  him ;  and  if 
anyone  is  robbed  within  the  bounds  of  his  jurisdiction,  he  is 
forced  to  make  good  what  has  been  taken.  It  is  also  his  busi- 
ness to  collect  the  income  from  the  town.2  Under  his  orders 
there  is  a  considerable  body  of  cavalry  [53]  and  a  great  number 
of  foot  soldiers ;  for  in  every  ward  there  is  a  horseman  and 
twenty  to  thirty  foot  soldiers,  who,  in  a  sort  of  way,  go  the 
rounds.  There  is  another  official  in  charge  of  the  grain  supply, 
who  informs  the  king  daily  of  the  price  of  everything  sold.  In 
all  the  mansions  of  the  nobles,  and  of  those  holding  important 
offices,  there  are  wdqi'ah-navis  and  khufiyah-navls,  who  are 
under  obligation  to  send  word  to  the  court  of  all  that  happens. 
It  seems  to  me  now  convenient  to  give  a  statement  of  the 
cavalry  that  the  Mogul  keeps  in  garrison  in  all  the  provinces 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  of  the  merchandise  to  be  found  in 
them,  in  what  latitude  their  capitals  are  situated,  and  other 
notable  particulars. 

Deli  {Dihli). 

The  province  of  Dihli  is  in  the  middle  of  the  empire.  Its 
capital  bears  the  same  name,  and  it  is  in  this  town  that  the 
Mogul  ordinarily  dwells  and  keeps  his  court.  For  it  was  in 
this  place  that  of  old  the  powerful  Hindu  kings  resided ; 
also  the  Chinese  governors,  and  the  thirty  and  one  Pathan 
kings  who  reigned ;  and  divers  other  potentates,  such  as  the 

1  Halal-khor  ('  eaters  of  lawful  things '):  theword  is  applied  ironically,  and  actually 
means  '  unclean  eaters,'  '  eaters  of  refuse. '     They  are  the  house  scavengers. 

2  That  is,  the  various  dues  and  cesses. 


422  DIHLI  CITY 

Sayyids  and  the  Rajputs ;  and,  finally,  all  the  Mahomedan 
rulers. 

Although  it  is  the  seat  of  the  principal  court,  there  are  not 
many  manufactures.  But  its  territory  is  fertile  in  grain,  from 
which  is  collected  the  amount  I  have  recorded.  You  can  see 
still  up  to  this  day  round  the  town  several  ancient  edifices  built 
by  the  Chinese,  by  Hindu  princes  and  Pathan  kings.  There  is 
even  a  town  called  Tocklabad  (Tughlaqabad),  built  by  the  ninth 
Pathan  king.     The  greater  part  of  it  still  stands. 

This  prince,  called  Chatoclug  (Shah  Tughlaq),  reigned  nine 
years  and  nine  days.  He  died  when  entering  one  of  the  gates 
of  the  said  town,  through  the  treachery  of  his  son  perpetrated 
at  that  place.  The  son  had  expressly  prepared  a  trap,  which  fell 
upon  the  poor  man  and  took  his  life.  It  is  for  this  reason  and 
others  similar  that  these  kings  have  not  the  slightest  trust  in 
their  children. 

There  are  also  in  this  province  other  ruined  cities,  where  the 
Mahomedans  sometimes  resort  out  of  piety.  For  example, 
there  is  one  where  there  is  a  pretended  saint  buried  that  they 
call  Coja  Catobdin  (Khwajah  Qutb-ud-din),  and  in  another  of 
them  close  by  there  is  another  similar  saint  called  Sultan 
Machac  (Sultan- ul-mushajikh).1  I  have  noticed  at  these  places 
that  many  tricks  are  resorted  to  as  excitements  to  the  devotion 
of  the  superstitious. 

Ordinarily  the  king  keeps  fifty  thousand  horse  in  garrison 
besides  those  in  movement  every  day,  an  almost  equal  number. 
He  has  twenty  thousand  infantry,  all  Rajputs  :  out  of  them 
twelve  thousand  are  in  charge  of  the  artillery;  the  rest  are  for 
guarding  the  royal  palace,  mounting  sentry,  et  cetera.  As  regards 
the  royal  establishment,  there  is  an  officer  styled  Daroga  Do 
Cossa  Choqui  (Ddroghah  of  the  Khas  Chauki) — that  is,  '  officer 
of  the  chosen  sentinels  ';  the  reason  is  that  the  company  to 
which  this  name  is  given  are  all  picked  men,  and  of  the  noblest 
families.  Ordinarily  they  number  four  thousand  horsemen. 
This   officer  has  charge  of  the  Gousal-cana    (Ghusal-Jchdnah) . 

1  This  must  be  meant  for  the  well-known  tomb  of  Nizam-ud-din  Auliya,  who 
is  styled  Sultan-ul-Musha,ikh,  '  King  of  Holy  Men  '  (Beale,  '  Oriental  Biography,' 
302). 


COURT  CEREMONIAL 


423 


Under  his  orders  are  some  slave  officers  with  their  men,  who 
are  called  Cheala  (Chelah) — that  is,  'branded.'  There  is  another 
officer  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  halberdiers,  who  carry  golden 
maces ;  their  pay  ranges  from  three  hundred  up  to  one 
thousand  rupees  a  month,  according  to  the  class  they  are  in. 
They  are  employed  for  sending  messages  to  princes  and  for 
other  business  of  importance.  Again,  there  is  an  officer  who 
commands  one  thousand  halberdiers  with  silver  maces.  These, 
too,  are  mansabddrs,  and  their  pay  is  from  two  hundred  up  to 
five  hundred  rupees  a  month.  Their  duty  is  to  carry  letters 
and  orders  to  the  generals  and  captains.  These  men  also 
attend  at  the  reception  of  ambassadors  and  other  business  of 
less  importance.  There  is  still  another  officer  set  over  two 
thousand  mansabdars  with  iron  maces,  who  have  the  same 
pay  as  soldiers.  They  are  used  for  the  lowest  affairs  and 
business. 

These  three  orders  of  mace-bearers  also  add  to  the  pomp  and 
parade  when  the  king  holds  audience.  They  are  in  addition  to 
the  other  soldiers  who  are  posted  all  round  the  royal  courtyard. 
On  such  occasions  there  are  nine  elephants  highly  caparisoned 
and  decorated,  followed  each  by  ten  others,  male  and  female. 
The  nine  chief  elephants  remain  until  the  end  of  the  audience  ; 
the  others  that  accompany  them,  after  making  their  obeisance, 
withdraw.  Besides  the  elephants  there  are  nine  horses  saddled 
and  fitted  with  beautiful  trappings.  During  the  reign  of  Shah- 
jahan  the  retinue  was  as  large  again.  Especially  was  this  seen 
after  any  prince  had  left  that  emperor's  court,  taking  with  him 
as  many  as  two  hundred  thousand  men.  Yet  it  seemed  as  if 
not  a  single  person  had  gone  away. 

This  town  lies  near  thirty-one  degrees  forty-five  minutes  of 
latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  of  longitude.  Once 
a  week  all  the  inhabitants,  great  and  small,  are  obliged  to 
attend  and  mount  guard  outside  and  inside  the  fortress.  When 
anyone  quits  the  service  he  has  to  give  up  two  months'  pay 
before  getting  his  discharge.  As  for  the  rest  of  what  is  due  to 
these  men,  it  is  made  over  to  them  in  old  clothes,  and  even 
these  are  valued  at  high  rates,  and  are  obtained  with  the  greatest 
difficulty. 


424  AGRAH—LAHOR 

Agrah,  or  Akbardbdd. 

This  province  abounds  in  white  cloth,  silk  stuffs,  cloth  of 
gold  and  of  silver  of  great  fineness,  used  for  turbans,  in  lace 
and  other  adornments  for  women.  All  the  above  goods  are 
manufactured  in  this  place.  The  country  round  produces  much 
indigo,  which  is  collected  there.  The  capital  town  has  the 
same  name  ;  it  was  built  by  Akbar.  It  is  at  this  town  that  are 
gathered  together  in  a  treasure-house  all  the  coin  received  from 
the  direction  of  Bengal.  The  garrison  maintained  is  of  fifteen 
thousand  horsemen  ;  this  great  number  is  kept  to  resist  the 
peasantry,  who  [55]  are  much  inclined  to  rebellion.  It  is 
situated  at  twenty-nine  degrees  twenty  minutes  of  latitude,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty-three  of  longitude. 

Laor  (Lahor). 

The  town  of  Lahor  was  founded  by  the  faithful  and  famous 
Melekas  (Malik  Ghiyas),1  of  whom  I  have  spoken  in  my  History 
(II.  137).  It  is  the  capital  of  a  province.  A  quantity  of  fine 
white  cloth  is  made  there ;  many  pieces  of  silk  of  all  colours, 
which  are  called  elattchas  (aldchah)  ;2  also  much  work  in  em- 
broidery, carpets,  plain  and  flowered,  good  bows  and  arrows, 
tents,  saddles,  swords,  coarse  woollen  stuffs,  boots  and  shoes. 
Much  rock-salt  is  gained  from  neighbouring  mountains,  and 
there  are  other  commodities,  which  are  exported  to  Dihll, 
where  everything  finds  a  sale  and  is  consumed.  The  people 
here  are  well-built  and  almost  white;  they  are  very  friendly 
and  helpful.  There  are  many  learned  men,  called  Talebelem 
(tdlib-i-'ilm).  It  has  a  fertile  soil,  yielding  rice  and  corn.  Sugar 
is  very  dear  (grand-marche).  The  province  is  styled  the  '  Panjab' 
because  there  are  five  great  rivers.  There  are  twelve  thousand 
cavalry  in  garrison  ;  and  the  capital  lies  in  thirty-three  degrees 

1  See  ante,  Part  II.,  137  et  seq.,  where  I  transliterated  '  Malik  Khas '  according 
to  Manucci's  interpretation.  But  I  think  it  must  be  meant  for  Ghiyas-ud-din 
Muhammad,  Ghori,  died  599  H.  (1202-3) ;  but  he  was  not  a  slave. 

2  For  alachah,  see  Yule,  13a,  13&,  a  silk  cloth,  and  'Abdullah  bin  Yusuf  'All, 
'Monograph  on  Silk  Fabrics,'  95.  The  rock-salt  'from  mountains'  must  be 
meant  for  salt  from  the  Salt  Range  between  the  Jihlam  and  the  Indus. 


AjMER— GUJARAT— MALW  AH  425 

of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  nineteen  degrees  forty  minutes 
of  longitude. 

Asmir  (Ajmer). 

The  name  is  that  of  the  chief  town  of  a  province  of  the  same 
name.  They  make  much  fine  white  cloth  ;  they  harvest  much 
grain  ;  milk,  butter,  and  salt  are  abundant.  The  last  article 
comes  from  the  district  of  Sambhal  (Sambhar),1  subordinate  to 
this  province.  The  province  pays  yearly  a  revenue  of  seventeen 
lakhs  of  rupees.  It  adjoins  the  territory  of  the  Rajputs,  called 
Rathor,  and  the  Rana's  country.  There  are  kept  in  the  pro- 
vince six  thousand  horsemen  as  a  garrison,  and  the  chief  town 
lies  at  thirty  degrees  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty 
and  a  half  of  longitude. 

Gujarat,  or  Ahmadabad. 

In  this  province  there  is  made  a  prodigious  quantity  of  gold 
and  silver  cloth,  and  of  flowered  silks.  These  goods  are  in 
demand  in  all  the  courts  throughout  the  empire.  They  also 
make  much  gold  and  silver  work,  and  a  quantity  of  jewellery 
set  with  stones.  The  dealers  who  give  the  orders  for  this  class 
of  work  go  themselves,  or  send  agents  to  the  diamond  mines, 
to  the  kingdom  of  Pegu,  to  the  Pescaria'2  coast  (Fisherman's 
Coast),  and  other  places,  to  buy  the  precious  stones  they  require. 
All  these  merchants  are  Hindu  by  religion,  and  are  called 
Gujaratis.  Their  persons  are  well  made,  and  their  women 
always  smothered  in  jewellery.  The  country  is  fertile  in  cereals; 
it  was  conquered  by  King  Akbar  from  Sultan  Bahadur.  Usually 
a  garrison  of  ten  thousand  cavalry  is  kept  there.  The  capital 
town  lies  in  twenty-three  degrees  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  degrees  thirty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Malwah. 
This  province  produces  white  and  coloured  cloth  abundantly. 
The  country  is  fertile  in  cereals  ;  a  garrison  of  seven  thousand 

1  The  Sambhar  salt  lake  is  about  fifty  miles  north  of  Ajmer.     I  presume  that 
N.  M.  means  that  seventeen  lakhs  of  rupees  were  obtained  from  the  salt. 

2  Piscaria   (Yule,    700),   the   coast   of    Tinnevelly,   so   called   from   the  great 
pearl-fishery  there. 


426  BIHAR— MULTAN— KABUL 

horse  is  maintained,  and  the  capital  lies  at  twenty-six  degrees 
of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  three  degrees  fifty  minutes  of 
longitude. 

Patnah,  or  Bihar. 

Fine  white  cloth  is  very  plentiful  in  this  province ;  they  find 
there  the  materials  for  a  great  quantity  of  saltpetre,  which  is 
carried  by  the  Europeans  to  Europe.  At  the  principal  town, 
called  Patnah,  much  earthen  pottery  is  made,  which  emits  a 
pleasant  odour,  and  is  so  fine  that  it  is  no  thicker  than  paper. 
It  is  sent  to  court  as  a  rarity,  and  is  used  by  the  nobles.  A 
garrison  of  seven  thousand  horse  is  kept ;  and  it  (Patnah)  is 
situated  at  twenty-five  degrees  thirty  minutes  of  latitude,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  longitude. 

Multdn. 

Much  printed  cloth  is  made  in  this  province,  also  bows  and 
arrows.  The  country  has  many  short-haired  camels,  mules,  and 
asses.  It  is  in  this  province  that  there  are  powerful  zamindars, 
Biloch  by  race,  who  have  always  been  loyal  to  the  crown. 
They  are  all  Mahomedans.  Six  thousand  horse  are  kept  there 
as  garrison,  and  the  capital  town  lies  at  thirty-three  degrees 
forty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  fifteen  degrees 
twenty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Kabul. 

This  province  abounds  in  good  horses,  called  Turkl,  also  in 
large  hairy  camels ;  and  it  has  many  good  fruits,  the  equal  of 
those  of  Europe.  It  is  very  cold  there  ;  the  people  are  fair,  and 
they  eat  at  tables  like  in  Europe.  They  allow  no  black  men  to 
sit  down  with  them,  and  call  them  gullum  (ghulam) — that  is, 
'  slaves.'  The  traders  of  India  go  to  this  province  to  buy 
beavers  (castors)  and  the  skins  of  those  beasts,  musk,  zedoar, 
and  rubies.  These  things  are  brought  there  from  the  countries 
of  Badakhshan  and  Balkh,  and  from  neighbouring  lands. 
Although  this  province  yields  little  revenue,  it  has  a  garrison  of 
sixty  thousand  horse.  The  reason  is  that  it  is  near  the  kingdom 
of  Persia,  that  of  the  king  of  [omitted],1  and  the  Pathans.    The 

1  Probably  the  word  to  be  supplied  is  Balkh. 


TA  TTA H—BHAKKA R—URlSSAH  427 

capital  town  is  situated  at  thirty-six  degrees  twenty  minutes  of 

latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  thirteen  degrees  fifty  minutes  of 

longitude. 

Tatthah. 

The  province  of  Tatthah  abounds  in  very  fine  white  cloth, 
also  in  coarse  cloth  and  printed  cloth  of  two  kinds,  and  has  much 
leather,  which  is  exported  to  Arabia  and  Persia.  The  country 
produces  much  grain,  and  butter  is  very  plentiful,  which  is 
exported  to  Masqat.  A  garrison  of  five  thousand  horse  is  main- 
tained, and  the  capital  town  is  situated  at  twenty-five  degrees 
thirty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  nine  degrees 
forty  minutes  of  longitude.  When  I  first  reached  Hindustan  I 
found  many  persons  still  living  who  had  been  alive  in  the  time 
of  Akbar  ;  among  others  one  of  the  sons  of  the  King  of  Tatthah, 
who  became  a  great  friend  of  mine.  The  poor  man  was  blind, 
Akbar  having  deprived  him  of  sight  with  a  red-hot  iron.  This 
was  for  fear  that  he  might  flee,  and  once  more  make  himself 
master  of  his  father's  realm ;  for  at  that  time,  as  a  young  man, 
he  seemed  of  a  very  enterprising  and  restless  disposition. 

Bhakkar. 

In  this  province  is  made  much  white  and  coloured  cloth ;  the 
soil  is  fertile,  and  the  grain  produced  is  excellent.  The  in- 
habitants are,  speaking  generally,  very  miserable  and  very  poor 
[57].  The  greater  part  of  them  live  by  dealing  in  the  products 
of  their  cattle.  A  garrison  is  kept  there  of  two  thousand  horse- 
men, and  the  capital  town  is  situated  at  twenty-eight  degrees 
thirty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  twelve  degrees 
twenty-five  minutes  of  longitude. 

Unssah. 

This  province  lies  among  the  lands  of  very  powerful  and 
redoubtable  Hindu  princes ;  much  fine  white  cloth  is  made 
there.  The  land  produces  much  rice.  It  is  in  this  province 
that  stands  the  pagoda  called  Jagrenat  (Jagarnath).  The  chief 
town  is  situated  at  twenty  degrees  twenty-five  minutes  of  lati- 
tude, and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  degrees  twenty-five 
minutes  of  longitude. 


428  KASHMIR— A  LLA  HAbAD—A  URA  NGABA  D 

Kashmir. 

In  the  province  of  Kashmir  much  fine  linen1  cloth  is  made, 
of  which  a  great  deal  is  used  by  the  nobles,  for  this  cloth  is 
very  convenient  and  very  healthy  in  cold  weather.  They  make 
many  beds,  ink- boxes,  trays,  boxes,  spoons,  et  cetera,  out  of  wood, 
both  in  plain  and  carved  work.  Fruit  is  plentiful,  just  as  in 
Kabul ;  the  inhabitants  are  fair  and  with  fine  features.  As  for 
their  disposition,  I  believe  them  to  be  descended  from  the  Jews, 
seeing  the  way  they  act.  The  Moguls  keep  there  four  thousand 
horse  as  a  garrison ;  and  the  chief  town  is  at  thirty-six  degrees 
forty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  of 
longitude. 

Illavas  (Allahabad). 

At  the  capital  of  this  province  no  cloth  is  made ;  nothing 
but  dishes  of  different  colours,  and  not  very  durable.  At  the 
town  of  Benares  and  others  dependent  upon  it  are  made  many 
stuffs  of  silk,  cloth  of  gold  and  of  silver,  turbans,  waist-belts, 
and  goods  suited  to  women's  use.  Eight  thousand  horsemen 
are  kept  there,  most  of  whom  are  usually  in  the  field,  for  the 
peasantry  of  this  region  are  much  inclined  to  rebellion.  Many 
vegetables  and  cereals  are  grown  here.  The  chief  town  lies  at 
twenty-nine  degrees  twenty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  degrees  fifteen  minutes  of  longitude.  In  the 
first  year  of  Aurangzeb's  reign  the  water  in  the  two  rivers 
there  (Allahabad)  rose  to  such  a  height  that  almost  the  whole 
town  was  under  water,  and  many  people  were  drowned ;  the 
fortress  alone  escaped  the  inundation. 

A  urangabad. 

In  this  province  much  white  cloth  and  silk  stuffs  are  pro- 
duced. Aurangzeb  founded  the  chief  town  as  a  memorial  to 
himself  when  he  was  only  a  prince.  Formerly  a  strong 
garrison  of  cavalry  was  kept  there,  because  it  was  on  the 
Bljapur  and  Gulkandah  frontiers,  and  near  the  territory  of 
Shiva  Jl.     But  nowadays  there  are  only  a  few  men,  as  the  rest 

1  Surely  lin  (linen)  must  be  a  mistake  for  laine  (wool).     The  woollen  products 
of  Kashmir  are  celebrated. 


BARAR—BURHANPUR—BAGLANAH—NANDER  429 

are  engaged  in  the  war  against  Shiva  Ji  [i.e.,  the  Mahrattahs]. 
Aurangabad  is  at  nineteen  degrees  twenty-five  minutes  of  lati- 
tude, and  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees  twenty-five  minutes 
of  longitude. 

Barar. 

The  soil  of  the  Barar  province  is  productive  in  cereals. 
Corn  and  vegetables  are  found  there  in  abundance,  as  is  also 
the  poppy,  the  plant  from  which  opium  is  made.  There  is  a 
great  quantity  of  sugar-cane.  A  garrison  of  seven  thousand 
horsemen  is  maintained  ;  and  the  chief  town  [58]  lies  at  twenty- 
three  degrees  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
degrees  forty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Burhdnpiir,  or  Khdndesh. 

In  this  province  they  make  much  very  fine  white  and  coloured 
cloth,  also  printed  cloth,  which  are  exported  in  quantities  by 
Persian  and  Armenian  merchants  to  Persia,  Arabia,  and 
Turkey.  The  soil  is  productive  in  grain.  The  garrison  kept 
there  is  one  of  six  thousand  horse ;  the  chief  town  lies  at 
twenty-three  degrees  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  degrees  thirty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Bagldnah. 

They  weave  in  this  province  much  coarse  white  cloth,  but 
little  of  fine  quality.  Much  grain  grows  in  it.  It  has  a  garrison 
of  five  thousand  men.  The  chief  town  is  at  nineteen  degrees 
of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  eighteen  of  longitude. 

Nande  (?  Ndnder). 

In  this  province  also  much  white  cloth  is  made.  The  soil  is 
fertile  in  cereals.  The  garrison  consists  of  six  thousand  horse ; 
and  the  chief  town  lies  at  twenty-seven  degrees  of  latitude,  and 
one  hundred  and  four  degrees  twenty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Dhdkah. 

Dhakah  is  the  largest  town  in,  and  the  capital  of  the  province 
of  Bengal.     It  is  in  this  vast   region  that  they  produce  the 


43o         phAkkah-ujjain—rAjmahal—bijapur 

prodigious  quantity  of  fine  white  cloth  and  silken  stuffs  of  which 
the  nations  of  Europe  and  elsewhere  transport  annually  several 
shiploads.  This  town  has  under  its  rule  many  adjacent 
countries,  as  far  as  Goaty  (GauhatI)  and  the  fortress  of  Azo 
(Hajo),  near  to  Achami  (Assam)  and  to  Chatigan  (Chatgariw), 
which  are  on  the  frontier  of  the  Racan  (Arakan)  kingdom. 
Owing  to  the  proximity  of  these  countries,  a  garrison  of  forty 
thousand  horse  is  maintained.  Dhakah  is  at  twenty-three 
degrees  thirty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  degrees  forty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Ujjain. 
This  province  produces  nothing  but  grain  and  salt.  It  is 
here  that  resides  one  of  the  principal  generals  with  a  garrison 
of  ten  thousand  horse.  Sometimes  a  prince  of  the  blood 
occupies  this  post,  because  this  country  is  situated  in  the  midst 
of  the  territories  of  strong  and  powerful  rajahs.  The  town  of 
the  same  name  is  very  ancient,  and  it  was  once  the  seat  of  a 
Hindu  rajah's  court,  and  is  an  important  holy  place.  It  remains 
a  place  of  pilgrimage  until  this  day,  although  almost  in  ruins. 
It  lies  at  twenty-eight  degrees  twenty-five  minutes  of  latitude, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  degrees  thirty  minutes  of 
longitude. 

Rajmahal. 

It  was  in  this  province  that  the  prince  Shah  Shuja',  second 
son  of  the  king  Shahjahan,  dwelt.  They  make  much  fine 
cloth,  and  a  great  quantity  of  rice  is  harvested.  The  garrison 
is  of  four  thousand  horse.  The  name  Raj-mahal  means 
'  Rajah's  Palace.'  The  chief  town  lies  at  twenty-four  degrees 
twenty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  of 
longitude. 

Bljapur. 

This  province  is  at  present  the  theatre  of  the  war  waged  by 
Aurangzeb  against  Shiva  JI  [i.e.,  the  Mahrattahs].  Aurangzeb 
has  fixed  his  abode  within  it  in  the  dread  that  Shiva  JI  might 
otherwise  render  himself  master  of  it.  The  chief  town  is  at 
seventeen  degrees  twenty-five  minutes  of  latitude,  and  one 
hundred  [59]  and  eighteen  degrees  fifty  minutes  of  longitude. 


GULKANDAH  431 

Gulkandah. 

In  this  province  are  the  diamond  mines.  A  quantity  of 
printed  cloth  is  made,  and  these  goods  are  the  best  to  be  found 
in  India.  They  also  make  a  great  deal  of  white  cloth,  coarse  and 
fine.  Iron  is  abundant.  The  garrison  kept  there  is  of  about 
twenty  thousand  horse,  although  the  king  pays  for  sixty 
thousand,  since  the  Karnatik  has  been  annexed.  But  the 
officers  make  a  profit  out  of  the  difference,  and  embezzle 
without  any  fear.  The  capital  of  the  province  lies  at  nineteen 
degrees  forty  minutes  of  latitude,  and  at  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  degrees  forty  minutes  of  longitude. 

Money  is  coined  in  every  one  of  the  provinces  spoken  of 
above. 

In  Gulkandah,  of  which  I  have  just  been  speaking,  is  a 
district  called  Bezoar1  (?  Baizwada),  near  the  country  of  Chanda. 
In  that  part  goats  are  very  numerous,  and  in  them  grow  the 
bezoar  stones.  It  is  from  this  place  that  the  stones  take  their 
name.  It  is  found  that  these  stones  grow  in  the  small  in- 
testines of  the  goat,  and  the  goat-herds  who  tend  them  are 
aware  of  how  many  there  are  in  each  goat,  and  the  weight  of 
each. 

As  for  the  latitudes  and  longitudes  of  the  above  places,  as 
recorded  by  me,  they  are  founded  on  the  calculations  and 
estimates  of  the  astronomers  in  this  country.  They  have  a 
great  reputation  for  strict  exactness.2 

The  king  and  the  princes  keep  officials  in  every  one  of  these 
provinces,  whose  business  it  is  to  put  in  hand  the  best  goods 
that  can  be  fabricated  in  each  place.  With  this  object  in  view, 
they  keep  an  eye  continually  upon  what  is  being  done  in  that 
respect.     Usually  the  viceroys  and  governors  are  in  a  constant 

1  Probably  the  place  meant  is  Baizwada,  now  in  the  Masulipatam  district  of 
the  Madras  Presidency  (Thornton,  '  Gazetteer,'  101),  lat.  160  31',  long.  8o°  41', 
twenty  miles  northeast  of  Guntur,  and  now  a  railway  junction.  Chanda  is  some 
230  miles  or  more  to  the  north  of  Baizwada.  As  to  the  bezoar  stones,  see  ante, 
Part  I.,  33,  and  Yule,  90,  second  edition.  Manucci's  etymology  is  very  far  out, 
as  Yule  refers  the  word  to  the  Arabic  form  of  the  Persian  pa-zahr,  an  antidote 
to  poison. 

2  These  do  not  accord  with  the  statements  in  the  '  A,in-i-Akbari  '  (Jarrett), 
iii.  46-105,  and  I  do  not  know  on  what  data  they  are  founded. 


432  THE  HINDU  PRINCIPALITIES 

state  of  quarrel  with  the  Hindu  princes  and  zamlndars — with 
some  because  they  wish  to  seize  their  lands ;  with  others,  to 
force  them  to  pay  more  revenue  than  is  customary. 

It  now  remains  to  say  something  of  what  grows  in  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Hindu  princes.  In  the  country  of  the  King  Rana 
there  is  much  grain,  many  papoles  (?  papaya),1  which  is  a  certain 
fruit  of  India,  poppy  plants  from  which  opium  is  obtained, 
ginger,  and  Indian  saffron2  (turmeric),  which  is  a  kind  of  small 
yellow  root.  The  Rana  owns  several  copper  mines,  and  in  his 
country  are  manufactured  several  kinds  of  coarse  printed  cloth. 

The  lands  of  the  Rathor,  who  rules  nine  districts,  are  for  the 
most  part  all  sand  ;  they  have  little  or  no  water.  The  wells  in 
some  places  are  so  deep  that  the  water  is  drawn  with  the  help 
of  oxen.  When  water  is  to  be  drawn,  those  who  set  these 
animals  to  work  beat  a  drum  as  a  warning  that  the  pot  is  at 
the  mouth  of  the  well,  and  they  are  about  to  draw  water.  The 
cereals  grown  in  this  country  come  up  by  help  of  the  rain 
only.  There  are  a  great  many  camels  and  dromedaries  with- 
out [long]  hair. 

In  the  lands  of  the  other  rajahs  there  grow  the  same  crops 
as  stated  above.  There  is  much  iron,  which  is  used  for  swords, 
lances,  and  other  weapons.  With  respect  to  the  weapons  of 
this  country,  there  once  happened  a  comical  adventure  to  King 
Shahjahan.  This  prince  said  one  day  to  Rajah  Chattar  Sal 
Rae  that  he  should  like  to  pay  him  a  visit  in  his  country.  The 
rajah  replied  that  the  very  next  day  he  would  show  him  all  he 
wanted  to  see.  Next  morning  at  sunrise  [60]  Chattar  Sal  Rae 
brought  out  a  division  of  cavalry  twenty  thousand  strong,  all 
provided  with  swords  and  holding  their  lances  in  their  hands. 
He  posted  them  before  the  royal  palace  on  the  river  bank. 
Then  he  set  round  them  a  number  of  infantry,  also  with  spears. 
On  beholding  this  array  the  king  seemed  astonished. 

1  Perhaps  papole  is  a  copyist's  error  for  papote,  and  the  thing  meant  may  be 
papotan  or  popta,  a  kind  of  winter  cherry,  Physalis  angulata  (Platts,  223,  276) ;  or 
fapra,  Gardinia  latifolia,  also  a  name  for  the  plantain,  Musa  paradisiaca,  and  the 
fruit  of  the  dhak-tree  (ibid.,  213) ;  or  pippali,  long  pepper  (ibid.,  223). 

2  '  Indian  saffron  '  is  haldi,  or  turmeric  (Yule,  780). 


XXIV.     Rajah  Jai  Singh  (Mirza  Rajah),   Kachhwahah,  of  amber. 


Vol.  II. 


To  face  page  432. 


THE  RANA  AND  THE  RATHOR  433 

Then  the  rajah  spoke.  He  said  to  the  prince  :  '  Sire,  by  this 
spectacle  your  Majesty  is  absolved  from  going  any  farther  to 
inspect  my  country,  for  I  can  assure  you  that  it  is  all  exactly 
what  you  have  under  your  eyes.'  The  king  concealed  the 
vexation  caused  him  by  such  a  compliment,  and  then  retorted 
that  he  knew  very  well  that  he  was  a  loyal  vassal,  whose  valour 
would  be  useful  against  his  enemies.  Afterwards  he  gave  him 
a  set  of  robes  (sardpd),  with  some  horses,  and  sent  him  back  to 
his  own  country.  He  was  sent  for  again  when  Aurangzeb  and 
Murad  Bakhsh  came  against  Prince  Dara,  and  there  he  lost  his 
life,  as  I  have  stated  in  my  First  Part  (I.  191). 

[Here  follows  a  statement  of  the  chief  Hindu  rajahs  and 
princes  to  be  found  in  Hindustan,  who  are  vassals  of  the  Mogul. 
There  are  eighty-four  of  them,  and  they  dwell  between  the 
Indus  or  the  Ganges,  as  far  as  Allahabad  and  the  Narbada 
river.    These  lands  are  called  Hindustan — that  is, '  Hindudom.'] 

The  most  powerful  rajahs  are  three  in  number  : 

1.  The  first  is  the  rajah  Rana,  a  word  which  means 
'  Graceful  Carriage.'1  All  his  descendants  bear  the  same  name, 
and  he  calls  himself  son  of  him  who  was  saved  from  the 
Deluge  (?  Noah).  He  is  lord  of  the  town  of  Udepur,  and  his 
tribe  call  themselves  Sedussje  (Sisodiyah).  He  is  the  sovereign 
lord  of  a  large  country,  which  yields  him  a  great  revenue.  He 
has  always  ready  for  the  field  fifty  thousand  horse  and  two 
hundred  thousand  infantry,  all  of  his  own  race.  If  he  wanted 
to  enlist  more  he  could  do  so  ;  all  the  more  easily  that  he  is 
extremely  powerful  and  wealthy.  He  moves  under  the  shelter 
of  an  umbrella,  an  honour  conceded  to  no  one  but  the  Mogul 
king. 

2.  The  second  is  called  Rathor.  He  rules  over  nine  districts 
called  Nacott  Marvar  (Nau-kot  Marvvar  ka).2  The  capital  of 
the  country  is  called  Judarpur  (Jodhpur).  These  districts 
were  formerly  governed  by  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh,  which  is 
the  name  of  a  lion.     I  have  spoken  of  him  several  times  in 

1  Manucci  is  confounding  ra'nah  (Arabic),  'beautiful,'  and  rand,  from  the 
Sanskrit,  the  title  of  a  Hindjj  prince. 

2  Tod's  'Nine  Castles  of  Maru '  (•  Rajasthan,'  ii.  39  note);  the  subdivisions 
of  the  Marwar  State. 

VOL.  II.  28 


434  KACHHWAHAH,  HApA,  BUN  DEL  AH 

my  History.  This  rajah  can  put  into  the  field  as  powerful 
an  army  as  the  Rana's,  and  all  of  his  own  race.  The  descen- 
dants of  Rajah  Jaswant  Singh  are  the  present  rulers  of  the 
country. 

3.  The  third  is  called  Chaque  (?  Kachhwahah) ;  his  capital 
town  is  called  Amber.  This  country  was  formerly  ruled  over 
by  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  a  name  meaning  '  Lion's  Victory.'  He 
was  of  great  use  to  Aurangzeb,  and  as  payment  for  his  services 
that  monarch  caused  him  to  be  poisoned.  His  descendants 
have  done  good  work  against  the  peasants  of  Agrah  and 
Mathura,  as  may  be  seen  in  my  Second  Part  (II.  252).  This 
prince  or  rajah  [61],  can  produce  for  a  campaign  forty  thousand 
horse  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  infantry,  all  of  the 
the  same  race. 

Besides  the  above  three  there  are  other  thirty  smaller  and 
less  powerful  rajahs.  Of  these,  the  first  is  Rajah  Quaran 
(Karan),]  and  this  is  also  the  name  of  his  race;  the  word 
means  'liberal.'  I  have  spoken  of  him  already  (II.  14).  He 
has  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  horse  and  eighty  thousand 
infantry,  all  of  one  race. 

The  second  is  of  the  Ara  (Hada)  race ;  one  of  their  princes 
died  in  the  battle  fought  by  prince  Dara  against  Aurangzeb 
and  Murad  Bakhsh  near  the  Chambal  river  on  the  fourth  June, 
1656  [correctly  1658].  His  name  was  Chatar  Sal  Rae — that 
is, '  Beauty  of  the  Umbrella.' 2  He  is  master  of  twenty  thousand 
horse  and  fifty  thousand  infantry,  all  of  one  race. 

The  third  is  the  Rajah  of  Bomdela  (Bundelah).  This  race 
is  much  given  to  robbery  and  rebellion.  One  of  these  princes 
revolted  against  Shahjahan,  and  allowed  a  passage  through 
his  country  to  Prince  Aurangzeb  when  marching  against  Prince 
Dara.  He  was  beheaded  the  very  day  of  the  battle,  as  I  have 
stated  in  my  First  Part  (I.  186).     It  was  the  son  of  this  rajah 

1  Rao  Karan,  BhQrtiyah,  of  Blkaner  (' M.-ul-U.,'  ii.  287);  he  died  1077  H. 
(1666-67).  The  state  is  an  offshoot  from  Marwar.  The  word  is  mistaken  for 
haram  (Arabic),  'generosity,'  'liberality.' 

2  Here  again  there  is  confusion,  the  termination  not  being  ara  (Persian),  the 
root  of  arastan,  'to  adorn,'  but  Rae,  a  Hindu  title,  derived  from  the  Sanskrit. 
For  Rao  Sattar  (or  Chattar)  Sal,  Hada.,  see  '  M.-ul-U.,'  ii.  260.  An  anecdote  of 
him  was  given  a  page  or  two  back. 


THE  RAUTELA— HINDU  TRIBES  435 

just  spoken  of  who  came  to  seek  me  out  at  San  Thome  to 
ask  me  to  cure  him  of  a  disease  he  had  (II.  235).  His  name 
was  Dalpat  Rao1 — that  is,  '  The  Honourable  Army.'  He  is 
at  the  head  of  fifteen  thousand  horse  and  of  much  infantry. 

The  fourth  is  Rotella  (Rautela).  The  prince  of  this  country 
was  called  Ram  Singh,2  Rotella  (Rautela),  and  his  name  means 
'  God's  Lion.'  He  died  of  an  arrow  wound  inflicted  by  Prince 
Murad  Bakhsh  in  the  battle  against  Dara  on  the  fourth  June, 
1656  (1658),  as  I  stated  in  my  First  Part  (I.  191).  The  tribe 
can  place  in  the  field  as  many  as  twenty-five  thousand  horse 
and  seventy  thousand  infantry,  all  of  one  race. 

There  are  some  twenty-seven  rajahs  of  about  the  same 
strength  as  the  last-mentioned,  and  I  proceed  to  note  some 
of  the  races  they  govern,  some  of  them  bearing  also  the  same 
name.  The  greater  number  are  in  the  service  of  the  king, 
where  they  draw  good  honourable  pay,  equal  to  that  of  the 
Mahomedan  generals  and  captains. 

Names  of  the  [Hindu]  Tribes. 

Chevan  (Chohdn),  Pavar  (Pwiwar),  Badorie  (Bhadauriyah), 
Bandare  (?  Bandhalgotl),  Rambanci  (Rdm-bansl),  Bach  Gor 
{Bachhgaur),  Botia  (Bhurtiyah),  Chandrahot  (Chandrdwat), 
Chasfadele  (?  Chandel),  Benofal  {Banaphir),  Solancy  (Solankhl), 
Saran  Brancy  (Surajbansl),  Sumbanci  (Sombansi,)  Jodo  Bansy 
(Jddubanst),  Metuvar.3  All  these  names  are  Hindu.  The 
other  rajahs'  states,  which  remain  unmentioned,  are  somewhat 

1  Manucci  has  already  (I.  186)  called  him  Champat.  If  the  son  was  really 
Dalpat  Rao,  Bundelah  (Rajah  of  Datiya),  then  his  father  was  Subhkaran  of 
Datiya,  and  not  Champat,  Bundelah,  of  the  Dangiya  Raj.  But  see  note  to 
Part  I.,  186. 

2  This  must  be  Ram  Singh,  Rathor,  son  of  Kurmsi  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  266), 
who  was  killed  at  Samugarh.  I  cannot  find  '  Rautela '  as  a  subdivision  of  the 
Rathors  in  Tod's  list  ('  Rajasthan,'  i.  83,  reprint  of  1894).  As  Mr-  Crooke 
suggests  to  me,  the  form  seems  to  have  in  it  a  slight  indication  of  inferiority 
or  bastardy.  Perhaps  the  proper  form  is  Rawat-ela,  the  '  Rawat  '  branch  or 
division. 

3  Mr.  Crooke  has  been  kind  enough  to  look  over  this  list,  and  he  suggests 
'  Chandel '  as  a  solution  for  *  Chasfadele ' ;  '  Bandhalgotl '  is  the  only  name 
approaching  at  all  to  '  Bandare ' ;  for  '  Metuvar '  I  can  find  no  equivalent.  If  it 
be  a  South  Indian  name,  Mr.  R.  W.  Frazer  suggests  it  is  either  meda-war  (Tamil), 
'  hill  people,'  or  meti-war,  '  noble  people.' 

28—2 


436  'HINDU  RAJAHS 

less  powerful  than  these,  and  the  other  fifty  are  even  less  so 
than  these  last. 

Three  of  these  rajahs  became  Mahomedans  owing  to  the  great 
promises  made  to  them  by  Aurangzeb.  But  after  they  had  been 
circumcised  he  seized  their  territories,  and  has  given  them 
the  title  of  '  noble '  in  his  kingdom ;  but  with  it  he  leaves  [62] 
them  very  little  to  live  upon.  All  that  he  has  given  them 
is  some  offices  in  his  household.  To  one  he  gave  the  super- 
intendence of  the  store-house  (Almazem) — that  is,  the  man 
who  supervises  the  making  of  carpets  for  use  in  the  royal 
household.  Another  he  has  placed  over  the  goldsmiths  and 
enamellers,  who  work  at  jewellery  for  the  royal  palace.  The 
last  received  the  appointment  of  charge  over  the  perfumes  and 
essences.  This  last  man  was  a  great  friend  of  mine,  and  in 
secret  was  a  drinker  of  wine.  I  have  often  heard  his  complaints, 
repenting  of  what  he  had  done,  saying  he  had  turned  himself 
into  one  of  the  king's  slaves. 

These  three  are  not  given  any  power  by  the  king  for  fear 
that  they  might  recant  and  return  to  Hinduism,  and  raise  a 
revolt  against  the  crown.  This  is  what  happened  to  Fida,e 
Khan  when  he  was  governor  of  Allahabad.1  He  deceived  a 
rajah  by  promises  of  making  him  a  greater  man  than  before. 
But  when  he  was  in  his  power,  he  kept  him  a  prisoner  and 
carried  him  away  to  the  city  of  Lahor,  and  there  forced  him 
to  become  a  Mahomedan,  ordering  him  to  receive  weekly 
one  hundred  strokes  with  a  whip.  The  rajah,  unable  to  stand 
this  torture,  fell  ill,  and  I  treated  him  for  the  illness  and  cured 
him  without  any  charge.  Afterwards  I  lent  him  one  hundred 
and  ten  rupees,  which  he  employed  in  his  journey.  For 
immediately  afterwards  he  took  to  flight  and  sought  shelter 
in  his  own  country,  and  returned  to  Hinduism.  Then  he 
began  incursions  upon  the  king's  territory,  and  plundered  as 
much  as  he  could.  He  was,  however,  ungrateful  so  far  as  I 
was  concerned,  for  he  never  recalled  to  mind  the  good  turn  I 
had  done  him. 

1  I  do  not  find  that  Fida.e  Khan  (A'zam  Khan,  Kokah)  ever  served  as  Governor 
of  Allahabad.  Lahor  must  be  intended,  as  it  is  mentioned  a  line  or  two 
afterwards. 


NAMES  OF  RAJAHS 


437 


Usually  these  rajahs  have  such  names  as  the  following : 


Quesor  Sing 
Bau  Sing 
Gueret  Sing 
Guesen  Sing 
Bessen  Sing 
Bim  Sing 
Caliam  Sing 
Dal  Sing 
Sajan  Sing 
Bam  Sing 
Dalian  Sing 


Kesar  Singh 
Bhao  Singh 
Kirat  Singh 
Kishan  Singh 
Bishan  Singh 
Bhim  Singh 
Kaliyan  Singh 
Dal  Singh 
Sujan  Singh 
Ram  Singh 
Daliyan  Singh 


Yellow  Lion 
Wishing  to  be  a  Lion 
Lion's  Beauty 
Black  Lion 
Lion's  Whelp 
Lion's  Strength 
Lively  Lion 
Lion's  Army 
Experienced  Lion 
God's  Lion 
Adverse  to  Lions 


The  others  call  themselves  the  lions  of  different  idols.  On 
the  whole,  it  may  be  said  of  these  rajahs  that  they  are  modest 
men  and  religious,  keepers  of  their  word ;  in  that  being  very 
different  from  the  Mahomedans  [63],  who  treat  as  a  joke  the 
deception  of  other  men  in  every  possible  way. 

The  greater  number  of  these  rajahs  dwell  in  the  plains,  where 
their  lands  bring  them  in  many  sorts  of  supplies.  The  land 
is  cultivated  by  their  vassals  or  subjects,  who  are  called  Rajputs 
— that  is,  '  rajah's  son.'  They  have  no  other  occupation, 
knowing  nothing  but  how  to  till  the  soil  or  take  a  part  in 
warfare.  For  this  reason  the  rajahs  pay  them  only  in  land, 
which  is  given  for  them  to  cultivate  as  a  means  of  subsistence, 
on  condition  that  they  keep  horses  and  be  ready  to  go  out 
to  fight  when  they  are  called  upon.  When  they  have  assembled, 
the  rajah  joins  them ;  then,  at  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth,  fresh 
men  arrive  from  their  home  country,  and  the  first  levy  returns 
home.  They  all  conduct  themselves  in  one  manner.  They 
all  eat  opium,  and  on  the  day  of  battle  they  swallow  a  double 
dose.  They  also  give  some  to  their  horses  to  enable  them 
to  endure  fatigue.  They  dress  in  yellow,  dyeing  their  clothes 
that  colour  with  saffron.  Many  of  them  wear  gold  armlets, 
so  that,  if  killed,  those  finding  the  body  may  see  to  its  cremation. 
The  greater  number  are  spearmen. 

When  they  draw  near  to  the  enemy,  their  musicians  begin 
to  sing  songs  in  a  loud  voice,  with  a  violin  accompaniment, 
in  praise  of  their  courage.  These  musicians  are  also  on  horse- 
back and  well  armed,  all  drunk  with  opium,  their  eyes  flaming 


438  A  RAJPOT  BATTLE-CHARGE 

and  red.  In  place  of  saying  that  they  will  slay,  they  say 
Me  mariche — that  is,  '  We  mean  to  die.'  Then,  grasping  their 
lances  firmly,  they  throw  themselves  on  the  enemy  like  madmen. 
If  by  mischance  the  spear  is  broken,  they  draw  the  cattane 
(?  kaftan,  or  dagger),  and  blindly  cut  and  stab  at  all  they  meet 
and  never  retreat,  so  that  they  either  conquer  or  lose  their 
lives. 

I  have  sometimes  seen  some  of  them  so  impatient  that,  on 
hearing  the  violins  strike  up,  though  the  enemy  was  still  far 
off,  they  rode  out  of  their  squadron,  and,  putting  their  horses 
to  their  full  speed,  galloped  like  madmen  into  the  middle  of 
the  foemen,  and  there  sacrificed  their  lives.  When  they  till 
the  ground  they  always  hold  their  spear ;  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  fields  they  are  never  without  sword,  shield,  and  dagger 
at  their  side.  Thus  equipped,  they  lay  hold  of  their  plough 
and  urge  on  their  oxen. 

There  are  other  rajahs  who  live  in  mountains  to  the  north, 
about  one  hundred  leagues  or  so  distant  from  the  cities  of 
Lahor  and  Dihll.  These  mountains  are  on  the  boundaries  of 
China,  and  in  this  expanse  of  country  there  are  many  rajahs, 
and  the  lands  of  some  of  them  adjoin  the  Mogul  realm  and 
even  pay  him  tribute.  The  chief  of  them  is  the  Rajah  of 
Serinaguey  (Srinagar  in  Garhwal),  although  he  pays  no  tribute, 
because  his  country  is  so  strong  and  inaccessible.  This  is  the 
man  who  cut  off  the  noses  of  Shahjahan's  army  (I.  147),  and 
gave  shelter  to  the  prince  Sultan  Sulaiman  Shukoh,  as  told  in 
my  First  Part  (I.  277). 

Near  Kashmir  there  are  several  other  rajahs,  of  whom  some 
also  pay  tribute  ;  but  frequently  they  refuse  to  obey,  for  which 
reason  war  is  made  against  them.  One  of  them  is  Rajah  Rup1 
— that  is,  '  good-looking.'  He  is  at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand 
cavalry  and  eighty  thousand  infantry.  All  the  same,  I  call  him 
a  traitor  and  a  thief  for  having  broken  his  promise  to  Prince 
Dara,  and  carrying  off  a  large  sum  of  money  given  him  to 
collect  soldiers  against  Aurangzeb,  as  may  be  seen  in  my  First 
Part  (I.  210).  In  one  of  the  mountains,  the  nearest  to  Dihll, 
one  of  these  rajahs  pays  one  hundred  and  fifty  rupees  of 
1  Sarup  Singh  in  I.  210,  and  this  seems  correct. 


THE  HIMALAYAS  439 

tribute,  besides  some  boat-loads  of  ice  that  he  sends  down 
by  the  Jamnah  river  during  the  hot  season.  This  rajah  asked 
Aurangzeb  to  exempt  him  from  this  money  tribute,  when  he 
would  undertake  to  send  him  every  year  enough  ice  for  the 
whole  city  of  Dihll,  if  he  were  empowered  to  sell  it.  But  the 
king  refused  his  consent  for  three  reasons.  The  first  was  that 
much  coin  would  be  exported  from  his  court,  for  everybody 
would  buy.  The  second  was  that  the  rajah  would  become 
wealthy.  The  third  was  that  he  did  not  want  anyone  to  use 
ice,  except  those  to  whom  he  should  deign  to  accord  such  a 
favour.1 

When  travelling  from  Dihll  towards  Lahor  these  high  moun- 
tains are  visible,  all  covered  with  snow  throughout  the  year. 
Ice  also  is  brought  down  from  the  hills  nearest  Lahor ;  it  is 
brought  to  the  governor  by  way  of  tribute,  and  comes  down  the 
river  Ravi.  The  mountains  begin  in  Pegu  and  are  found  as  far 
as  Kashmir,  and  thence  to  the  river  Indus,  to  Kabul,  Balkh, 
and  Tartary.  The  inhabitants  of  these  mountains  are2  of  an 
almost  white  complexion,  eyes  and  nose  small,  and  their  speech 
different  from  that  of  the  Mogul  country  and  much  similar  to 
Chinese. 

In  these  mountain  ranges,  twenty-four  days'  journey  from 
the  city  of  Patnah,  is  an  absolute  king  called  Botand  (?  Bhutan). 
He  has  in  his  territories  much  gold,  perfect  musk,  rubies,  and 
precious  stones.  For  this  merchandise  some  traders  travel 
there,  but  they  are  few,  for  there  are  great  hindrances  from  the 
many  petty  rajahs.  They  suspect  the  traders  to  be  Mogul 
spies.  When  they  reach  their  destination  they  pay  the  rajah  a 
visit,  making  him  a  present  of  some  small  rarity,  such  as  a 
bottle  of  rose-water,  or  a  piece  of  fine  cloth,  or  a  morsel  of 
sandal-wood,  or  other  similar  article,  with  which  he  is  con- 
tented. The  travellers  are  then  given  great  liberty,  without 
any   fear   of  robbers.     The  soil   produces  good  food-supplies 

1  The  Rajah  intended  is  the  ruler  of  Nahan  or  Sirmur,  in  the  outer  hills,  who 
still  in  the  eighteenth  century  retained  the  nickname  of  Barfi  Rajah,  or  '  Snow 
King,'  owing  to  his  sending  ice  to  the  Dihll  court. 

2  Page  65  of  the  text  is  blank,  and  on  page  66  the  unfinished  sentence  is  com- 
pleted, but  in  Portuguese  instead  of  French.  The  text  now  is  in  Portuguese 
again. 


440  BHUTAN  HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS 

and  delicious  fruits,  all  cheap.  Strangers  are  allowed  to  keep 
women  in  their  houses,  who  act  as  slaves,  and  they  may  employ 
them  as  they  please,  without  anyone  interfering.  When  any 
foreigner  dies  the  rajah  seizes  everything,  and  passes  whatever 
order  comes  into  his  head.  Some  of  the  bodies  he  causes  to  be 
buried,  others  to  be  burnt,  others  to  be  cut  into  pieces.  These 
last  are  thrown  out  into  the  open  country  as  food  for  the  birds 
of  prey,  or  they  are  sent  to  the  fields  as  sustenance  for  the 
serpents  (boes),  foxes,  and  wild  beasts.  Others  will  be  thrown 
into  the  rivers,  cut  into  pieces,  as  food  for  the  fish. 

Such  is  the  custom  of  that  country,  where  the  priests  are 
much  venerated.  If  these  men  desire  to  favour  anyone  with 
the  gift  of  a  holy  relic,  they  give  him  some  of  their  own  excre- 
ment. The  recipients  carry  it  with  them  hanging  from  the 
neck,  placed  in  a  little  box  of  gold  and  silver  in  which  it  is 
preserved.  It  is  their  fond  imagination  that  if  they  die 
with  such  filth  hanging  from  their  neck  they  will  acquire 
salvation. 

It  is  through  this  country  that  lies  the  route  to  China,  but  it 
is  a  very  long  way,  and  the  roads  most  hazardous  from  the  great 
mountains  and  many  rivers.  I  state  this  on  information  given 
me  by  some  Armenians  and  others  who  had  been  there,  in- 
cluding two  Jesuits,  who  came  from  China  by  this  road.  One 
was  a  Fleming  and  the  other  a  German,  with  whom  I  had 
many  a  talk  about  this  country. 

These  rajahs  [i.e.,  the  Rajputs]  are  powerful  and  brave  ;  they 
preserve  all  ancient  customs,  are  friendly  to  those  who  were 
their  father's  friends,  inimical  to  those  who  were  their  enemies, 
and  although  they  are  necessitous,  none  the  less  they  do  not 
refrain  from  observing  the  rules  of  their  ancestors.  The  Mogul 
draws  his  profit  from  their  barbarous  ways,  and  out  of  policy 
reinforces  them  when  it  suits  him,  and  employs  them  to  destroy 
each  other.  If  they  were  only  united  among  themselves,  the 
Rana  and  the  Rathors,  Kachhwahahs  and  Bundelahs,  they 
could  easily  expel  the  Mogul  from  Hindustan.  As  an  example 
of  what  I  have  just  said,  there  is  the  case  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh, 
whom  a  Rajput  soldier  tried  to  kill  by  a  spear -thrust,  but 
missed  him,  all  but  a  graze  on  the  side.     This  Rajput  was  a 


BOUNDARIES  OF  THE  EMPIRE  441 

soldier  sent  by  the  Rajah  of  the  Botia  (Bhurtiyah)  race,1  whose 
ancestors  were  at  enmity  with  those  of  Jai  Singh,  and  the  feud 
had  lasted  for  five  hundred  years.  On  the  seizure  of  the  soldier, 
he  confessed  what  I  have  just  recorded.  Thus  let  the  reader 
reflect  on  the  way  these  Hindus  keep  up  their  ancient  customs, 
but  still  more  their  religion. 

Having  set  forth  all  this  grandeur  and  power  of  the  Moguls, 
I  will,  with  the  reader's  permission,  assert  from  what  I  have 
seen  and  tested,  that  to  sweep  it  entirely  away  and  occupy 
the  whole  empire  nothing  is  required  beyond  a  corps  of  thirty 
thousand  trusty  European  soldiers,  led  by  competent  com- 
manders, who  would  thereby  easily  acquire  the  glory  of  great 
conquerers. 

To  add  to  the  reader's  information,  I  will  also  state  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  empire.  The  roads  are  not  direct, 
owing  to  the  forests  and  mountains  and  the  interposition  of 
territories  belonging  to  the  different  rajahs  and  zamindars,2 
who  allow  no  travellers  to  pass  through,  out  of  the  fear  they 
have  of  the  Mogul.  Nor  are  the  roads  there  secure,  for  you 
would  be  robbed  if  you  went  by  them.  I  will  indicate  the 
open  and  frequented  roads,  beginning  with  the  east  and  ending 
on  the  west. 

From  the  port  [67]  of  Madrasta  (Madras)  to  Gulkandah  the 
distance  is  two  hundred  and  sixteen  kos — that  is,  leagues ;  from 
Gulkandah  to  Oramgabad  (Aurangabad)  it  is  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  leagues ;  from  Aurangabad  to  Brampur  (Burhanpur) 
it  is  seventy-two  leagues  ;  from  Burhanpur  to  Serong  (Sironj) 
it  is  one  hundred  and  forty-four  leagues  ;  from  Sironj  to  Agrah 
it  is  one  hundred  and  forty-four  leagues ;  from  Agrah  to  Dihli 
it  is  seventy-six  leagues ;  from  Dihli  to  the  town  of  Sorend 
(Sihrind)  it  is  eighty-four  leagues;  from  Sihrind  to  the  city 
of  Lahor  it  is  one  hundred  and  four  leagues ;  from  Lahor  to 
Little  Gujarat  it  is  thirty-six  leagues;  from  Little  Gujarat  to 
the  Indus  river  it  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  leagues ;  from 

1  The  Bhurtiyah  Rajputs,  a  clan  of  the  Solanki  race,  are  Rajahs  of  Bikaner. 

2  Here  and  elsewhere  (see,  for  instance,  III.  68)  Manucci  uses  the  word 
zamlndar  in  its  then  usual  sense  of  a  petty,  semi-independent  chief.  The  great 
Rajahs,  even,  were  called  zamindars  by  the  Mogul  officials. 


442  THE  HILL  RAJAHS 

the  river  Indus  to  the  city  of  Paxor  (Peshawar)  it  is  thirty- 
six  leagues ;  from  Peshawar  to  Kabul  it  is  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  leagues ;  from  Kabul  to  Cazenj  (Ghazni),  now  in 
ruins,  it  is  seventy-two  leagues.  At  a  distance  of  twenty  leagues 
from  Ghazni  is  the  boundary  of  Qandahar,  which  belongs  to 
the  King  of  Persia.  Here  on  this  side  end  the  dominions  of 
the  Mogul,  and  on  the  north  side  they  touch  the  kingdom 
of  the  Usbeques  (Uzbak).  From  this  point  as  far  as  Ugullim 
(Hugli),  which  is  in  Bengal,  there  will  be  about  the  same 
number  of  leagues  [?  as  from  Madras],  excluding  the  lands 
which  adjoin  the  Axames  (Asham,  Assam). 

The  width,  beginning  from  Surat,  which  is  on  the  south, 
until  you  reach  the  town  of  Burhanpur,  is  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  leagues;  from  Burhanpur  to  Agrah  it  is  two  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  leagues ;  from  Agrah  towards  the  north,  up 
to  the  boundary  of  the  hill  rajahs,  of  whom  I  have  spoken, 
there  may  be  one  hundred  and  twenty  leagues ;  from  the  town 
of  Tata  (Tattah),  which  is  on  the  south,  as  far  as  Multan, 
there  are  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  leagues;  from  Multan 
to  Lahor  it  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  leagues;  from 
Multan  to  Lahor  it  is  one  hundred  and  forty-four  leagues;  from 
Lahor  to  the  mountains  of  Kashmir  it  is  one  hundred  and  sixty 
leagues.  The  reader  must  remember  that  the  kos  or  leagues  of 
the  Mogul  country  are  different  from  the  leagues  of  Europe, 
for  ten  European  leagues  make  twelve  of  India,  and  this  is  the 
traveller's  ordinary  day's  journey.1 

Besides  the  above  rajahs,  I  have  not  spoken  of  those  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  river  Ganges,  which  is  joined  by  the  river 
Jamnah  below  the  fortress  of  Allahabad,  as  stated  in  my 
Second  Part  (II.  58).  A  considerable  number  of  these  rajahs 
are  powerful,  and  of  the  smaller  sort  there  are  many ;  most  of 
them  are  vassals  of  the  Mogul.  These  last  are  under  obligation 
to  send  to  court  the  rarities  produced  in  their  country.  Some 
send  gavioens  (sparrow-hawks),  falcons,  and  other  birds  of  prey, 
pretty  birds,  honey,  and  wax.     With  the  last  article  they  pre- 

1  If  1  league  equals  3  miles,  and  10  European  leagues  equal  12  Indian  kos, 
then  12  kos  equal  30  miles,  or  1  kos  equals  2 \  miles.  Yule,  261,  estimates 
Akbar's  kos  at  2  miles  4  furlongs  158  yards. 


COURT  REGULATIONS  443 

pare  a  waxed  cloth  for  the  lining  of  tents  and  other  uses  in  the 
royal  household.  They  also  make  of  it  candles  for  the  harem  ; 
in  these  is  mixed  verdigris  or  vitriol,  for  certain  reasons  which 
I  cannot  mention.  Other  rajahs  send  fruits  such  as  grow  in 
their  country,  slaves  (viloens),  tigers,  et  cetera. 

Aurangzeb,  as  proof  of  his  justness  and  to  advertise  his  good 

deeds,  sends  out  every  day  to  walk  through  the  principal  square 

a  fierce  lion  in  the  company  of  a  goat  that  has  been  brought  up 

alongside  it  from  birth.     This  is  to  show  that  his  decisions  are 

just  and  equal,  without  any  bias.1     This  is  done  at  court  solely 

that  the  world  may  be  notified  of  his  justice.    But  I  say,  having 

experienced   it,  that  at  this  day  neither  at  court  nor  in  any 

other  part  of  his  empire  is  there  any  justice  ;  no  one  thinks  of 

anything  but  how  to  plunder.    Nor  can  the  king  find  any  remedy. 

Although  he  prides  himself  on  his  high  sagacity  and  perfection 

in  every  point,  Ja'far  Khan  did  not  fail  to  give  him  once  a  good 

lesson,  just  to  let  him  understand  how  defective  was  his  policy. 

I    say   that   the    Mir    BakhshI,   Roalacan   (Ruh-ullah    Khan),2 

general  of  cavalry,  who  is  inferior  in  rank  to  the  vizil  (wazir), 

one  day,  when  presenting  a  petition  to  the  king,  advanced  too 

near  and  took  the  position  assigned  to  the  wazlr.     The  king 

made  no  remark.     Noticing  this,  Ja'far  Khan  dissembled  for 

that   day.     When  next  he  came  to  court  he  placed  one  foot 

farther   forward   than    was   allowed    by   the    regulations.     On 

seeing  this,  the  king  said  to  him  it  appeared  he  was  oblivious 

of  the  general  customs  and  regulations  [68],  having  put  himself 

in  advance  of  the  customary  position.     Ja'far  Khan  made  the 

wise  reply  that  wazirs  held  the  first  place,  and  to   show  the 

difference  between  himself  and  the  Mir  BakhshI  he  was  forced 

to  step  more  forward.     The  king  recognised  the  error  he  had 

made,  and  instead  of  reproving  the  general  he  made  excuses  to 

1  The  allusion  is  to  the  usual  laudatory  phrase  still  used  in  reference  to  a 
just  ruler  : 

'  Bher  bakrl  ek  ghat  pan!  piwen  ' 
(Wolf  and  goat  drink  water  together). 

2  Ruhullah  Khan,  second  son  of  Khalilullah  Khan  ('  Ma,asir-ul-Umara,'  ii.  309). 
He  was  made  second  BakhshI  in  the  twenty-fourth  year  (1680-81),  and  died  in 
1103  H.  (1691-92). 


444  THE  TWO  KARNATIKS—TANJOR 

his  wazir,  saying  it  should  not  recur,  and  the  petition  made  to 
him  was  granted.  Thus  was  Ja'far  Khan  still  more  respected 
at  the  court. 

All  of  these  men  spoken  of  above  [the  rajahs]  maintain  at 
the  court  their  own  agents,  provided  with  considerable  sums 
of  money,  and  these  men  assist  their  employers  whenever  it 
is  found  necessary. 

There  are  also  in  this  empire  other  lords  who  call  themselves 
zaminddrs — that  is,  '  lords  of  land.'  Among  them  are  many 
powerful  men  who  could  place  in  the  field,  more  or  less,  forty 
thousand  soldiers,  matchlockmen,  archers,  and  spearmen. 
Such  men  do  not  maintain  cavalry :  the  greater  number  live 
in  the  midst  of  jungles,  and  these  usually  pay  no  revenue, 
unless  it  be  taken  by  force  of  arms.  At  this  day,  taking  the 
whole  Mogul  empire,  these  rajahs,  great  and  petty,  and  the 
zamindars,  exceed  five  thousand  in  number. 

The  reader  should  note  that  in  the  kingdoms  of  Bljapur  and 
Gulkandah,  of  which  Aurangzeb  has  now  made  himself  master, 
there  are  two  Karnatik  provinces.  In  that  of  Bljapur  there  still 
survive  some  Hindu  principalities.  Those  which  lie  on  the 
shores  of  the  sea  near  Cape  Comoj  (Comorin)  and  Ceilao 
(Ceylon)  do  not  pay  the  Mogul  any  revenue.  Besides  these, 
there  is  the  kingdom  of  Chetrepalj  (ChhattrapatI)  l  and  the 
Rajah  of  Taniaur  (Tanjor),1  who  pays  six  millions  of  rupees 
every  year.  Up  to  the  present  time  the  Mogul  has  not  con- 
quered them,  owing  to  his  wars  with  Shiva  Jl  [i.e.,  the  Mah- 
rattahs].  If  Aurangzeb  lives  a  few  years  longer  he  will  over- 
come all  of  them ;  it  is  his  practice  to  denude  them  slowly  of 
their  wealth,  then  of  their  territory,  finally  of  their  life.  Yet, 
with  this  experience,  they  do  not  preserve  union  so  as  to  resist 
the  Mogul  strength. 

In  the  Karnatik  subordinate  to  the  kingdom  of  Gulkandah 

1  For  '  Chetrepalj '  I  propose  to  read  '  ChhattrapatI,'  '  Lord  of  the  Umbrella ' ; 
but  what  potentate  is  intended  I  do  not  know.  It  may  possibly  be  for  '  Setupati,' 
'  Lord  of  the  Bridge,'  an  epithet  of  the  Marava  ruler  of  Ramnad,  close  to 
Rameshwaram.  Tanjor  (now  a  British  district)  lies  between  lat.  90  50'  and 
il°  25'  N.,  long.  780  55'  and  790  55'  E.  It  was  a  Mahrattah  state,  founded  about 
1674  by  Venka.  JI,  younger  brother  of  Shiva  Ji  ('  Madras  Manual  of  Administra- 
tion,' ii.  126 ;  iii.  876). 


CHIEF  FORTRESSES  445 

there  are  sixty  fortresses,  among  them  one  called  Velur.1 
When  it  was  in  the  possession  of  Shiva  J  I,  he  made  hence 
incursions  into  the  surrounding  territory,  which  belongs  to  the 
Mogul.  This  was  done  with  the  connivance  of  the  Mogul 
generals,  so  as  to  prolong  the  period  of  conquest.  These  men 
wanted  to  become  great  nobles,  and  appropriate  the  wealth  [of 
the  country].  They  menaced  the  princes  and  robbed  the 
soldiers.  The  latter,  ready  to  die  of  hunger,  went  over  to  the 
service  of  Shiva  Ji,  and  he  thereby  grew  more  powerful. 

This  sort  of  thing  is  very  common  in  the  Mogul  regime,  as  I 
have  seen  many  a  time,  even  without  any  understanding  with 
the  enemy.  Let  me  give  an  example :  Mahabat  Khan2  was 
carrying  on  a  pretended  war  against  a  rajah,  when  one  of  his 
engineers,  called  Mr.  Vos,  a  Dutchman,  said  to  him  that,  if 
permitted,  he  would  so  arrange  that  in  a  very  short  time  he 
would  conquer  the  enemy's  territory.  Mahabat  Khan,  dis- 
simulating, asked  him  if  he  received  his  pay,  and  whether  the 
pillao  he  sent  daily  reached  him  or  not.  He  replied,  '  Yes.' 
'  Then,'  said  Mahabat  Khan,  '  go  to  your  tent,  and  when  I  ask 
for  it,  you  can  give  me  advice.' 

The  inquiring  reader  will  be  pleased  by  my  giving  him  an 
account  of  the  fortresses  the  Mogul  has  in  his  empire,  pointing 
out  some  of  the  principal  ones.  The  first  is  the  fortress  of 
Dihll ;  the  second,  that  of  Agrah  ;  the  third  is  Gwaliyar,  where 
are  detained  the  imprisoned  princes,  it  being  in  the  centre  of 
the  kingdom ;  the  fourth  is  the  fortress  of  Kabul,  on  the  frontier 
of  Persia  and  of  Balkh ;  the  fifth  is  the  fortress  of  Daulatabad, 
in  the  Dakhin  ;  the  sixth,  the  fortress  of  Bljapur  ;  the  seventh, 
the  fortress  of  Bhagnagar,3  the  principal  place  in  the  kingdom 
of  Gulkandah,  at  a  short  league's  distance  from  the  city ;  the 
eighth  is  Rottas  (Ruhtas),  which  is  in  the  direction  of  Bengal  [69]. 

These  fortresses  are  commanded  by  selected  and  loyal 
officers,   to   whom   the   king   gives   a   secret    countersign,    by 

1  Velur  {vel,  '  acacia- tree  ' ;  ur,  'village'),  seventy-eight  miles  west  of  Madras 
('  Madras  Manual  of  Administration,'  iii.  974).  Held  by  the  Mahrattahs, 
1677-1708. 

2  This  must  be  the  Gulkandah  officer  Muhammad  Ibrahim,  afterwards  made 
Mahabat  Khan  by  'Alamgir  (see  ante,  II.  228,  and  also  III.  154). 

3  Bhagnagar,  the  ancient  name  of  Haidarabad,  in  the  Dakhin. 


446  GOVERNORS  OF  FORTRESSES 

which  only  they  are  to  make  the  place  over  when  superseded 
by  his  orders,  as  I  have  myself  seen.  The  king  was  in  Kash- 
mir when  he  sent  Multafat  Khan  to  supersede  Osdarcan 
(Hoshdar  Khan)1  in  the  command  of  the  Dihli  fortress.  He 
was  allowed  to  enter  with  two  other  men,  and  when  they  met 
he  produced  the  farmdn,  to  let  him  see  it  was  a  royal  order. 
Noticing  that  Hoshdar  Khan  hesitated,  he  said  to  him  in  a 
passion  that  he  must  quit  the  fortress  at  once.  Having  said 
this,  Multafat  Khan  took  him  by  the  right  hand  and  separated 
the  thumb  [from  the  fingers].  This  was  the  sign  that  the 
king  had  given  him,  and  thereupon  he  made  over  the  keys. 

In  the  whole  of  Hindustan,  from  Kabul  to  the  confines  of 
Bengal,  there  may  be  one  hundred  fortresses  ;  and  in  the  whole 
of  the  Dakhin,  Bljapur,  and  Gulkandah,  including  both  the 
Karnatiks,  there  are  three  hundred  and  eighty  fortresses. 
With  the  one  hundred  already  stated  there  are  thus  four 
hundred  and  eighty.  To  these  the  king  sends  faithful  governors. 
Generally  they  are  men  in  his  service,  being  princes  whose 
fidelity  has  been  already  tested.  They  are  Rajputs,  Sayyids, 
and  Moguls.  But  Pathans  are  never  allowed  to  hold  any  of 
these  fortresses,  for  fear  they  may  plot  some  treason,  as  they 
did  to  King  Humayun. 

These  governors  may  not  leave  the  fortress  during  their 
term  of  office,  nor  allow  any  stranger  to  enter,  save  any  known 
medical  men  when  necessity  requires.  This  happened  to  me 
once.  When  I  arrived  at  Surat,  the  commander  of  the  fort 
was  ill,  and  sent  for  me.  At  the  request  of  the  governor  of  the 
city  I  went  to  see  him.  On  entering  the  fort,  they  conducted 
me  inside  with  my  head  covered,  and  the  patient  met  me  at 
the  first  gate.  He  made  excuses  that  he  had  no  permission 
from  the  king  to  allow  me  inside.  It  seems  to  me  these  orders 
apply  to  the  fortresses  near  the  sea,  due  to  the  fear  they  have 

1  See  Part  II.,  60.  Hoshdar  Khan,  son  of  Multafat  Khan,  was  made  Governor 
of  Dihli  in  Aurangzeb's  fifth  year  (1662-63)  ('  Ma.asir-ul-Umara,'  iii.  944).  I  do 
not  identify  the  Multafat  Khan  named  in  the  text,  unless  it  be  meant  that 
Hoshdar  Khan  was  relieved  by  his  own  father  in  the  charge  of  Dihli.  The  only 
other  Multafat  Khan  I  can  find  is  'Abd-ul-Karim  (finally,  Amir  Khan),  who  held 
the  above  title  from  the  thirty-third  to  the  forty-fifth  year  (ibid.,  iii.  305,  306), 
but  that  is  too  late. 


STORY  OF  FORT  OF  THE  SLA  VES  447 

of  Europeans.  In  the  Mogul  territory  I  was  not  treated  thus, 
for  when  I  was  called  in  I  entered  with  full  liberty ;  and  to 
supersede  such  commanders  the  royal  farmdn  is  enough. 

These  orders  forbidding  the  commander  of  a  fortress  to 
come  outside  it  were  instituted  by  King  Akbar,  through  an 
event  that  happened  in  his  reign.  On  the  road  to  Kabul,  in 
among  the  mountains,  is  a  small  fortress  called  Colgolama 
(Qila'h-i-ghulaman) — that  is,  '  Fort  of  the  Slaves.'  In  that 
time  the  commander  and  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants 
left  the  fortress  to  amuse  themselves  during  the  vintage.  They 
left  their  houses  in  the  charge  of  slaves.  These  men,  seeing 
themselves  masters,  free  from  menaces  and  chastisement,  con- 
spired together,  shut  the  gates,  and  took  possession  of  the 
fortress.  They  paid  no  attention  to  their  masters'  demands. 
The  latter  assembled  and  attacked  the  gates,  trying  to  get  in. 
The  slaves  discharged  cannon  and  muskets  in  a  nonsensical 
way,  without  hurting  anyone,  for  they  did  not  know  how  to 
take  aim  with  them.  Nor  did  the  friendly  messages  sent  to 
them  prevail ;  on  the  contrary,  they  became  puffed  up  the 
more,  marching  to  and  fro  on  the  walls  wearing  their  masters' 
clothes,  and  making  mock  of  them.  The  masters  were  at  their 
wits'  end  what  to  do ;  but  an  old  woman,  remembering  the  dis- 
position of  such  slaves,  gave  the  masters  good  advice  as  to  how 
to  terrify  them  and  make  them  open  the  gates.  She  said  they 
must  all  do  as  she  did.  Before  the  day  dawned  all  were  to 
surround  the  fortress,  and  the  old  lady  began  to  shout  for  them 
to  open  the  gates,  adding  thousands  of  abusive  words,  and 
raising  her  hand,  in  which  was  a  whip,  threatened  them. 
Everybody  did  the  same.  The  slaves,  seeing  the  implement 
with  which  they  used  to  be  chastised,  opened  the  gates  and 
threw  themselves  at  their  masters'  feet,  begging  pardon,  and 
alleging  silly  reasons,  throwing  the  blame  upon  one  another. 
After  this  event  the  place  was  given  the  name  that  I  have 
stated  above  [70]. 

Verily  it  produces  desperation  to  be  dependent  on  the  men 
and  women  slaves  of  India.  In  them  is  no  goodness ;  they  are 
full  of  malice,  generally  thieves,  false,  traitors,  deniers,  slothful, 
loquacious  ;  incapable  of  secrecy,  devoid  of  love  and  fidelity, 


448  VEXATIOUS  HABITS  OF  SERVANTS 

for  ever  complaining  of  their  masters.  Treat  them  tenderly  as 
your  children,  and  they  behave  the  worse ;  and  to  get  any 
work  done  you  must  act  against  them  harshly,  and  make  them 
do  their  duty  by  force.  They  serve  you  by  fear  of  blows,  and 
not  from  duty  or  love.  Generally  speaking,  the  free  servants 
are  just  the  same. 

The  soldiers  when  on  the  march  suffer  much  insolence  and 
endure  many  disagreeables.  The  masters  suffer  out  of  necessity, 
from  which  cause  they  exercise  patience,  because,  should  any- 
one try  to  remedy  matters,  the  servants  leave  him.  In  the  case 
of  a  soldier,  he  would  then  have  to  look  after  his  own  horses, 
camels,  tents,  and  cooking — an  impossible  thing. 

They  tell  the  story  in  India  that  Asaf  Khan,  the  father-in- 
law  of  Shahjahan,  a  Persian  by  race,  was  seen  one  day  dis- 
solved in  tears.  Those  present  asked  the  reason  of  so  much 
sorrow,  when  he  was  so  rich  and  powerful  a  nobleman.  He 
replied  that  his  tears  were  due  to  his  suffering  from  the  many 
insolences  that  Indian  servants  put  upon  his  nation.  I  could 
write  much  upon  this  subject,  since  I  have  had  experience  of  it 
through  many  years.  To  come  to  a  conclusion  with  these  demons, 
I  recount  a  case  that  happened  in  my  presence  to  a  soldier,  a 
neighbour  of  mine,  called  Fazil  Beg.  His  servants,  conspiring 
together,  gave  him  great  trouble,  doing  everything  the  contrary 
way  to  what  he  wanted  solely  to  get  him  into  a  rage,  by  which 
they  would  have  an  opening  for  leaving  him.  Fazil  Beg 
penetrated  their  designs,  but  concealed  it  owing  to  his  need  of 
them,  not  being  able  to  obtain  others  on  such  an  emergency. 
It  being  very  hot  weather,  he  left  his  chest  exposed,  when  one 
of  the  men,  to  make  him  lose  his  temper,  came  up  to  him, 
abused  him  greatly,  and  spat  upon  him.  Fazil  Beg  seemed 
quite  pleased,  saying  that  it  refreshed  his  constitution,  and 
made  out  he  had  overlooked  the  impertinence,  being  in  such 
a  necessity. 

If  any  of  these  soldiers  are  in  any  degree  well  served,  it  is 
because  they  are  accompanied  by  a  wife  and  some  negro 
women,  with  whom  the  servants  have  intrigues,  and  through 
this  attraction  follow  him.  They  are  otherwise  reluctant  to 
accompany  a  master   on    a   campaign,  because  they  undergo 


THE  KAYATH  CASTE  449 

hunger  on  the  road,  and  are  interfered  with  by  the  enemy. 
Many  a  time  food  is  worth  three  to  four,  or  even  eight  to  ten 
rupees  a  cera  (ser),  which  is  a  current  weight,  and  is  of  twenty- 
eight  ounces.1  In  the  campaigns  against  Bijapur,  Gulkandah, 
and  Shiva  Jl,  one  ser  weight  sold  at  eighteen  rupees,  but  this 
did  not  last  many  days.  Meanwhile  the  soldiers  are  obliged 
to  give  the  servant  his  food,  and  during  the  actual  time  of  the 
king's  campaign  against  Shiva  Jl  one  bullock's  load  of  grass 
was  worth  ten  rupees  ;  and  during  all  the  wars  of  Aurangzeb 
there  were  high  prices  and  plague. 

In  the  empire  is  another  Hindu  race  called  Kaet  {Kayath), 
who  are  great  scribes  and  arithmeticians,  and  through  these 
arts  they  rule  all  the  courts.  Though  they  receive  no  high 
pay,  they  are  still  much  cherished  by  the  great  for  their  good 
advice.  These  men  are  fond  of  alcohol,  and  make  sacrifice 
with  it  to  their  idols.  In  the  early  morning  they  bathe  their 
bodies,  and  almost  naked,  begin  their  prayers  before  the  idol, 
near  which  they  place  their  pen-and-ink  box,  with  a  bottle  of 
the  best  liquor  they  can  procure.  During  the  ceremony,  which 
usually  lasts  about  an  hour,  they  pour  into  the  inkstand  some 
drops  of  liquor  with  the  right  hand,  and  taking  a  little  in  the 
same  hand,  throw  it  upon  the  idol,  and  offer  the  pen-box  to  it, 
petitioning  for  the  god's  aid  through  it.  Such-like  idols  are 
small,  and  generally  made  of  metal. 

In  Shahjahan's  time  a  soldier  went  to  draw  his  pay,  and  the 
official,  who  was  a  kayath,  could  not  attend  to  him  at  once,  as 
he  was  busy.  The  angry  soldier  threatened  him,  saying  he 
should  have  to  smash  his  teeth  with  his  sword.  The  official 
said  nothing,  and  paid  him ;  then,  jesting,  said  that  with  his 
pen  he  could  do  more  than  he  with  his  sword.  The  sharp- 
witted  scribe,  to  get  his  revenge  for  the  menace,  wrote  in  the 
book  where  was  entered  the  soldier's  descriptive-roll  that  he 
had  lost  [71]  two  of  his  front  teeth.  For  it  is  the  practice  in 
the  Mogul  country  to  write  the  names  and  personal  marks  of 
those   who    are    employed.     Some   months   elapsed,   and  the 

1  In  Madras,  to  which  I  presume  this  description  applies,  there  are  two  ser — 
the  kacha,  of  g|  ounces ;  and  the  pakha,  of  2  pounds  (32  ounces)  ('  Madras 
Manual  of  Administration,'  iii.  804). 

VOL.  II.  29 


45o  FAUJDARS  AND  THEIR  WAYS 

soldier  appeared  again  for  his  pay.  The  clerk  opened  the 
book,  and  found  by  the  description  that  he  was  not  the  man 
entitled  to  that  pay,  for  he  had  two  front  teeth  more  than  were 
recorded  in  the  register  of  descriptive-rolls.  The  soldier 
was  put  to  confusion ;  his  protests  and  arguments  were 
unavailing ;  and  seeing  no  other  course  if  he  would  not  lose 
his  pay  and  his  place,  he  was  obliged  to  have  two  front 
teeth  extracted  to  agree  with  the  record,  and  in  that  way  got 
his  pay. 

Throughout  the  empire  the  king  is  obliged  to  maintain 
fosdars  (faujdars) — that  is,  '  lords  of  an  army ' — for  if  he  had  no 
such  officers  no  one  would  pay  him  either  revenue  or  tribute. 
For  the  people  of  India  never  pay  without  being  forced,  and  to 
collect  half  the  total  quantity  of  supplies  that  they  are  under 
obligation  to  pay  to  the  crown,  it  is  necessary  to  tie  up  the 
principal  husbandmen.  These  latter  collect  with  equally  severe 
measures  from  the  peasants.  To  obtain  satisfaction  of  the  de- 
mands made,  when  they  find  soft  words  and  reasoning  are  of  no 
use,  they  bind  the  men  and  give  them  a  good  beating.  It  is 
the  peasants'  habit  to  go  on  refusing  payment,  asserting  that 
they  have  no  money.  The  chastisements  and  the  instruments 
are  very  severe.  They  are  also  made  to  endure  hunger  and 
thirst.  From  time  to  time  they  pay  a  trifling  instalment,  and 
the  punishments  being  renewed  again  and  again,  they  begin  to 
pay  little  by  little,  finding  they  are  unable  to  endure  so  much 
torment.  Many  of  them  carry  on  their  persons  the  sum  that 
they  owe,  bound  in  various  parts.  When  against  their  will 
they  find  they  have  to  pay,  they  draw  forth  a  trifle,  and  declare 
they  have  no  more.  The  punishment  recommences ;  then  they 
feign  death  (as  sometimes  really  happens),  fall  on  the  ground, 
turn  up  their  eyes,  and  quiver  with  their  hands  and  feet.  But 
this  trick  secures  them  no  compassion,  for  it  is  well  known. 
They  are  bound  to  some  tree,  and  once  more  are  showered  on 
them  blows  and  corolados.1  The  latter  are  applied  with  a  well- 
twisted  rope,  in  shape  like  an  ox-tail,  an  inch  in  thickness  and 
a  fathom  in  length.     With  this  instrument  they  flog  on  the 

1  This  is,  apparently,  a  newly-coined  word,  equal  to  '  ftora-lashings ' ;   from 
hora,  a  whip,  or  scourge  (Platts,  861). 


COLLECTION  OF  REVENUE  451 

ribs  with  all  their  strength,  and  it  encircles  the  whole  body, 
making  wheals  an  inch  wide  and  breaking  the  skin. 

In  this  way,  little  by  little,  the  peasants  pay  what  they  owe. 
This  habit  is  much  honoured  among  husbandmen — that  is, 
never  to  pay  readily ;  and  to  undergo  these  torments  and  this 
disgrace  is  among  them  an  honour.  He  who  gets  most  blows 
and  suffers  the  most  is  the  most  esteemed.  If,  perchance,  the 
soil  does  not  produce  a  crop,  by  reason  of  the  rain  failing,  they 
sell  their  sons  and  their  cattle  to  meet  what  they  are  obliged  to 
pay.     For  the  king  takes  one  moiety  and  leaves  them  the  other. 

These  faujddrs  have  to  supervise  the  roads,  and  should  any 
merchant  or  traveller  be  robbed  in  daylight,  they  are  obliged  to 
pay  compensation.  If  robbed  at  night,  it  is  the  traveller's  fault 
for  not  having  halted  earlier,  and  he  loses  all,  without  his  com- 
plaint being  heard. 

In  the  days  of  Shahjahan  there  was  at  court  an  ambassador 
of  the  Grand  Turk,  who,  on  seeing  this  great  harshness,  said  to 
the  king  that  it  seemed  to  him  that  much  cruelty  was  thus 
inflicted  on  his  subjects.  The  king  replied  :  '  Do  not  imagine 
that  these  people  are  like  those  of  Turkey.  If  I  did  not  deal 
with  them  thus,  they  would  never  leave  me  a  moment's 
peace.' 

It  is  quite  true  that  if  the  common  people  here  have  four 
rupees,  they  are  quite  high  and  mighty  and  decline  service.  It 
is  only  when  they  have  nothing  to  eat  that  they  take  service. 
They  have  no  skill  unless  it  is  enforced  on  them  by  harsh  treat- 
ment. It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Moguls  call  this  population 
zolom  parest  (zulm-parast) — that  is,  '  tyranny  adorers.'  Some- 
times these  faujddrs  commit  excessive  acts  of  oppression,  which 
cause  rebellion  and  bring  on  battles.  If  the  villagers  are 
defeated,  everyone  is  killed  that  is  met  with,  and  their  wives, 
sons,  daughters,  and  cattle  are  carried  off.  The  best-looking  of 
these  girls  are  presented  to  the  king  under  the  designation  of 
rebels.  Others  they  keep  for  themselves,  and  the  rest  are 
sold. 

At  this  time,  when  Aurangzeb  is  reigning,  they  do  worse  still. 
As  the  aged  and  wealthy  officers  and  officials  die  off,  he  has 
sent,  and  still  sends,  younger  leaders.     These,  in  their  eagerness 

29 — 2 


452  CHRISTIAN  CONVERTS 

to  become  rich,  plunder  and  act  wrongfully.  They  bribe  the 
wdqi'ah-navls  (official  reporter)  and  the  khufiyah-navls  (secret 
intelligencer),  so  that  the  king  may  never  hear. 

In  this  way  the  people  suffer,  and  those  who  are  the  most 
distant  from  the  court  suffer  the  most.  Besides  all  these 
inflictions  they  have  other  losses,  for  when  the  soldiery  passes 
through  they  plunder  everything  they  can  lay  hands  on — cattle, 
food-supplies,  grass,  straw ;  they  destroy  houses  to  get  firewood, 
and  on  the  villagers'  heads  they  load  their  baggage,  and  by 
dint  of  blows  force  them  to  carry  it. 

To  me  it  seems  that  this  is  God's  chastisement,  merited  by 
their  evil  deeds.  Never  are  they  ready  to  listen  to  reason ;  they 
are  all  very  troublesome,  high  and  low,  without  shame,  neither 
having  the  fear  of  God.  The  Hindus  who  turn  [72]  Mahome- 
dans  are  the  worst  of  all ;  these  are  ordinarily  the  most  insolent, 
the  greatest  talkers,  and  held  in  no  consideration.  As  for 
Europeans  who  come  to  India,  they  must  arm  themselves  with 
great  patience  and  prudence,  for  not  a  soul  will  speak  the  truth 
to  them,  this  being  the  general  habit  of  India.  Although  they 
are  deceivers,  selfish,  contumacious,  and  unworthy  of  belief 
[themselves] ,  we  are  abhorred  by  the  lower  classes,  who  hold  us 
to  be  impure,  being  themselves  worse  than  pigs. 

It  is  now  forty-eight  years  that  I  have  been  in  India,  yet 
never  have  I  seen  a  Mahomedan  become  a  Christian.  But  I 
can  say  that  many  a  Christian  has  pretended  to  be  a  Mahomedan, 
some  to  get  pay  and  allowances  at  the  court,  and  others  in  con- 
nection with  women  or  other  unruliness.  I  noticed  that  no 
person  of  seriousness  fell  into  such  an  error,  as  is  shown  by 
what  happened  to  a  Portuguese  married  in  the  city  of  Dihll. 
His  name  was  Antonio  de  Souza  Sarafana,  and  he  had  a 
quarrel  with  the  rest  of  his  countrymen.  They  styled  him  a 
cuckold,  and  aggrieved  at  such  talk,  he  went  to  his  house,  and, 
getting  his  sword,  barbarously  slew  his  wife  and  a  baby  girl  that 
was  still  at  the  breast.  The  negro  women  of  the  house,  seeing 
this  slaughter,  jumped  over  the  walls  and  fled.  Some  of  these 
women,  feeling  aggrieved,  went  and  laid  a  complaint,  of  which 
the  courts  took  cognisance.  When  he  was  taken  into  custody 
the  relations  of  the  wife  petitioned  the  court  for  his  execution. 
The  court  asked  the  criminal  if  he  was  willing  to  turn  Mahome- 


MAHOMEDAN  TRIBES  453 

dan ;  if  so,  he  would  be  liberated  without  punishment.  The 
Portuguese  would  not  consent,  and,  firm  in  his  purpose,  went  to 
his  beheadal  with  courage  and  animation.  I  have  seen  on  the 
Choromandal  coast  and  in  Bengal  a  few  Malabaris  and  Bengalis, 
poverty-stricken  Hindus,  become  Christians,  but  it  was  from 
compulsion  of  hunger,  or  to  get  married  to  some  Christian ; 
even  then  they  never  refrained  from  Hindu  practices. 

Since  I  have  spoken  of  the  noted  Hindu  princes,  I  will 
mention  also  the  Mahomedan  tribes  who  are  vassals  and  tribu- 
taries of  the  Mogul  throughout  his  kingdom.  The  Pathans 
might  collect  eighty  thousand  horse  and  much  infantry.  But 
they  are  scattered  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  differ 
from  the  Pathans  who  live  beyond  the  river  [Indus]  and  to  the 
west  of  it,  about  whom  the  Mogul  has  to  be  very  careful,  for  at 
one  time  they  claimed  the  crown. 

These  [the  Pathans]  for  the  greater  part  serve  as  soldiers ; 
others  are  merchants ;  and  they  resort  to  no  other  occupations. 
They  are  very  avaricious  and  foolhardy.  When  they  come  to 
court  they  are  well-clad  and  well-armed,  caracolling  on  fine 
horses  richly  caparisoned,  posing  as  persons  of  some  considera- 
tion, and  followed  by  several  servants  borrowed  or  hired  for  the 
day.  On  reaching  their  house  they  divest  themselves  of  all 
this  finery,  and,  tying  a  scanty  cloth  round  their  loins  and 
wrapping  a  rag  round  their  head,  they  take  their  seat  on  a  mat, 
and  live  on  quichire  (kichrl) — i.e.,  rice  and  lentils — or  badly- 
cooked  cow's  flesh  of  low  quality,  which  is  very  abundant  in 
the  Mogul  country  and  very  cheap.  In  this  manner  they  put 
by  money  and  grow  into  merchants.  They  are  very  jealous 
about  their  women,  are  not  very  literate,  fond  of  the  chase  and 
of  dogs,  dextrous  with  bows.  They  hate  the  Moguls  so  much 
that  they  will  not  intermarry  with  them ;  they  are  extremely 
pretentious,  each  one  thinking  himself  greater  than  the  rest, 
and  decline  to  concede  to  others  any  superiority. 

In  spite  of  these  dissensions  they  are  all  of  one  race,  descended 
from  an  ancient  prince  called  Pasto  (Pushtu).1     He  had  many 

1  The  'Hai.at-i-Afghani,'  by  Hayat  Khan,  C.S.I,  (p.  54)  (translated  by  Henry 
Priestley,  Bengal  Civil  Service ;  Lahor,  1874),  does  not  give  much  help.  The 
author  thinks  Pushtu  comes  from  the  name  of  a  region  rather  than  from  that  of  a 
person. 


454  SAYYIDS,  SHEKHS 

sons — I  notice  there  were  six-and-thirty  of  them — who  divided 
the  kingdom  at  his  death.  It  lay  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
Indus,  towards  the  west.  They  proclaimed  these  as  separate 
principalities,  their  descendants  taking  the  name  of  their 
ancestor.  One  calls  himself  Issofzaj  (Yusufzai) — that  is,  '  Son 
of  Joseph ' ;  others  are  Mahomedzaj  (Muhammadzai),  Iszai 
('Isazai),  Surina  (?  Suran-khel),  Pane  (PannI),  Massuani(?  Masan- 
khel),  Coatro  (?  Kator-zai),  Lody  (Lodi).1  In  this  manner  they 
entitle  themselves  after  their  ancient  princes,  and  the  name  of 
Pathan  has  come  down  from  the  first  prince,  Pasto.  Their 
language  diners  from  the  speech  of  India.  They  follow  the 
Mahomedan  faith,  yet  there  is  a  difference  in  their  sects,  for 
some  venerate  Muhammad,  others  'All,  others  'Usman,  and 
others  some  other  disciple  of  the  false  prophet  [73]. 

There  is  another  race  called  Sahjed  (Sayyid),  signifying  a 
descendant  of  Muhammad.  These  men  are  venerated  among 
Mahomedans ;  these,  too,  are  scattered  in  different  parts  of  the 
empire.  Their  principal  seat  lies  forty  leagues  distant  from  the 
city  of  Dihli,  in  the  direction  of  Lahor.  The  place  is  near  the 
Jamnah  river,  where  there  are  twelve  villages  called  Barre 
(Barhah).2  These  hold  themselves  to  be  fine  soldiers,  learned 
men,  virtuous  and  saintly,  as  has  been  seen  in  my  Second  Part 
(II.  9).  They  can  collect  twelve  thousand  cavalry  and  a  large 
number  of  infantry. 

There  are  others  called  Seczada  (Shekhzadah),  who  are 
descended  from  the  family  of  Muhammad,  but  very  remote 
from  the  Sayyids.  This  race  hold  land,  and  also  remain  in 
service  at  the  courts,  great  and  petty ;  they  are  very  subtile,  of 
great  intelligence,  very  litigious,  and  great  lawyers.  Others 
become  recluses  and  holy  men,  and  by  that  false  pretence  gain 
a  living. 

There  is  also  another  race  called  Baloche  (Baloch),  who  dwell 
on  the  farther  side  of  the  river  Ravi,  near  the  city  of  Multan, 
and  as  far  as  the  confines  of  Persia.     In  this  territory  are  many 

1  The  doubtful  names,  as  the  nearest  approximations,  have  been  taken  from 
Colonel  J.  Wolfe-Murray's  '  Dictionary  of  the  Pathan  Tribes'  (Calcutta,  1899). 

2  The  country  of  the  Barhah  Sayyids  lies  between  Meerut  and  Saharanpur ; 
it  is  now  in  the  Muzaffarnagar  district. 


B  A  LOCH  TRIBE,  GKAKKARS  455 

camels,  which  they  bring  for  sale  into  the  Mogul  country. 
Usually  they  are  expert  camel-drivers,  and  serve  everyone  in 
that  capacity.  They  wear  long  locks  of  hair,  and  are  of  a  dark, 
ruddy  complexion.  During  the  march  they  sing  as  they  ride 
their  camels.  These  men  never  look  for  service  as  soldiers  at 
the  king's  court ;  only  a  few  of  their  superior  men  act  as 
governors  and  faujdars  near  their  own  country.  This  race  can 
place  in  the  field  fifteen  thousand  horse  and  much  infantry. 
Within  their  own  country  they  are  good  soldiers,  and  they 
prevented  Prince  Akbar  from  invading  the  Mogul  realm  at  the 
time  he  was  helped  by  Shah  'Abbas.1  They  are  of  the  religion 
of  the  Moguls,  and  without  a  prince. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Chinab  river,  on  its  northern  side, 
and  extending  as  far  as  the  Indus,  there  is  a  race  called  Guaquer 
(Ghakkar).  They  are  good  soldiers,  and  many  of  them  are  in 
the  king's  service.  They  are  esteemed  there,  and  at  the  court 
grow  to  be  great  nobles.  During  my  time  one  of  these  was 
Hizetcan  ('Izzat  Khan),2  who  was  governor  of  the  city  of  Tatthah, 
where  it  happened  that  he  was  made  prisoner  and  disgraced  by 
a  young  lady,  as  will  have  been  seen  in  my  Second  Part  (II.  171). 
It  is  a  tale  told  among  the  Moguls  that  the  ancient  chronicles 
show  how  Alexander  the  Great  was  given  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  by  this  race  when  he  crossed  the  Indus  river.  Their 
complexion  is  of  a  deep  green-black  ;  they  can  place  in  the  field 
twelve  thousand  horse,  and  they  have  no  prince. 

There  is  another  race  called  Gett  (Jat),  who  are  found  a 
hundred  leagues  from  Lahor,  where  there  is  much  jungle. 
They  were  ruled  over  by  the  man  from  whom  I  removed  the  fat, 
as  will  have  been  seen  in  my  Second  Part  (II.  161),  when  I 
was  living  in  the  city  of  Lahor.  They  were  for  ever  plundering 
the  king's  territory,  and  for  this  reason  there  is  always  a  faujdar 
ready  to  give  assistance  in  any  direction.  These  officers  some- 
times come  to  amicable  terms  with  them,  so  as  to  live  in  peace 
and  quiet ;  and  relying  on  the  word  of  trusted  friends,  they  meet 
and  entertain  each  other. 

1  '  'Abbas  '  is  a  slip  of  the  pen  for  '  Sulaiman,'  the  former  having  died  in  1667 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  before  Prince  Akbar  sought  refuge  in  Persia. 

2  'Izzat  Khan  was  a  Sayyid,  and  not  a  Ghakkar. 


456  HOW  A  FAUJDAR  WAS  FOOLED 

The  beheaded  man  from  whom  I  extracted  the  fat  had  a 
great  friendship  with  a  rajah  faujdar.  The  latter  asked  him  to 
order  his  spies,  of  whom  he  had  some  that  were  very  clever, 
to  show  him  some  of  their  tricks ;  for  he  had  heard  marvellous 
tales  about  them.  The  order  was  issued.  After  the  lapse  of 
some  days,  there  appeared  at  daybreak  in  front  of  the  rajah's 
tent  a  Jogl  penitent  seated  on  a  tiger-skin,  with  flowing  hair, 
a  huge  beard,  his  arms  raised  on  high,  having  long  twisted 
nails,  his  body  smeared  over  with  ashes.  He  seemed  [74]  a 
vision,  such  as  may  be  seen  in  the  pictures  of  Jogls  or  Saniyasis. 
These  men  are  greatly  venerated  by  the  Hindus. 

Holding  him  to  be  a  saint,  the  whole  army  of  the  rajah 
thronged  to  see  him.  Lying  flat  on  the  ground,  with  their  arms 
raised  aloft  in  sign  of  worship,  they  drew  close  to  him  and  asked 
what  he  desired  of  all  that  they  could  offer  him.  There  he  sat 
with  the  greatest  gravity,  his  eyes  lowered  and  his  lips  com- 
pletely shut.  As  the  sun  rose  higher  they  brought  him  a  dish 
of  food,  and  wanted  to  feed  him,  just  as  you  do  an  infant,  seeing 
that  his  arms  were  useless.  The  man  shut  his  mouth,  and 
made  gestures  that  he  did  not  want  to  eat.  They  sought 
methods  to  persuade  him,  saying  that  they,  too,  would  not  be 
able  to  eat,  and  his  '  animals '  would  have  to  suffer.  These 
arguments  were  of  no  use. 

Then  the  rajah  was  informed,  and  at  once  he  came  on  foot 
to  greet  the  saintly  man  with  many  signs  of  worship,  and  when 
quite  close,  crossed  his  hands  on  his  breast.  All  this  was  in 
the  full  heat  of  the  sun.  The  rajah  prayed  him  to  have  com- 
passion on  him  and  his  army.  Should  his  petition  not  prevail, 
neither  he  nor  his '  animals '  could  eat  anything.  Their  idea  was 
that  they  would  be  excommunicated  if  they  did.  The  cunning 
cheat  dissembled.  Once  more  the  rajah  prayed  that  with  his 
permission  he  might  call  his  wives,  who  would  cook  food  and 
give  him  to  eat.  The  knave,  on  hearing  these  words,  made 
a  slight  movement  with  the  corner  of  his  eye  in  sign  of  consent. 
At  once  the  rajah  sent  for  a  tent,  and  caused  all  his  women 
to  appear.  These  did  the  faqir  great  reverence,  and  in  his 
presence  prepared  the  food.  The  principal  wife  of  the  rajah  as 
a   sign   of  worship   placed  a   morsel   in   his   mouth,   and   he 


THE  BE. ATI  TRIBE  457 

refused  to  eat  more.     Thus  all  were  satisfied,  and  when  night 
descended  the  Jog!  disappeared. 

After  some  little  time  the  two  friends  met  again,  and  the 
rajah  made  a  complaint.  He  said  that  the  spies  had  not 
demonstrated  their  ability.  Then  that  spy,  who  was  standing  by 
clad  as  a  soldier  and  armed,  said  :  *  I  am  the  man  to  whom  your 
wife  gave  to  eat,'  and  told  the  whole  of  what  had  passed.  The 
rajah  was  in  astonishment,  praying  them  another  time  not  to 
play  him  such  tricks.  I  might  recount  many  similar  cases  ;  but 
as  it  seems  to  me,  you  may  discover  from  this  instance  the 
finesse  of  the  Indian  people,  and  how  they  are  able  to  pretend. 
That  rebel  was  lord  over  eight  thousand  very  active  cavalry, 
who  were  great  plunderers.  There  comes  to  my  memory  now 
an  affair  that  happened  in  Hindustan. 

There  were  in  the  field  two  rajahs  ready  to  give  battle.  At 
that  time  there  appeared  a  physician,  who  said  to  one  of  the 
rajahs  that  he  possessed  a  drug  by  which,  if  taken  by  his  soldiers, 
he  would  win  the  battle.  The  rajah  was  persuaded,  and  the  whole 
army  was  purged.  The  opposing  rajah  heard  of  this,  and  sent 
men  to  win  over  the  physician  by  handsome  presents,  imagining 
that  the  victory  was  in  his  control.  On  arriving  he  purged 
everybody,  and  the  same  day  the  rival  force  made  an  attack 
and  routed  them,  seeing  they  were  all  occupied  with  their 
necessities.  The  fugitive  rajah  said  the  medicine  was  good,  but 
as  his  opponent  had  taken  it  first,  therefore  he  had  conquered. 
These  Rajputs  are  very  easy  of  credence  in  regard  to  what 
doctors,  Brahmans,  or  astrologers  say,  for  they  are  quite 
illiterate. 

There  is  another  race  called  Battj  (Bhati),1  who  can  place  in 
the  field  six  thousand  cavalry  and  much  infantry.  They  live 
between  the  town  of  Sihrind  and  Lahor,  and  they  enter  the 
faujddr's  service  on  small  pay.  Their  dwellings  are  in  the  huge 
jungles  called  Laqui  Janquel  (Lakhl  Jangal),1  surrounded  by 

1  Bhatti  or  Bhati,  the  modern  representative  of  the  ancient  JadubansI  clan. 
The  State  of  Jaisulmer  belongs  to  them,  and  they  are  found  largely  in  the  Rathor 
State  of  BIkaner.  From  them  the  Sirsa  district,  including  a  portion  of  Hisar,  is 
known  as  Bhatianah.  In  1881  they  were  about  350,000  in  number  (Ibbetson, 
'  Panjab  Ethnology,'  1883,  paragraph  448).  The  Lakhi  Jungle  was  a  well-known 
eighteenth-century  name  for  that  part  of  the  country.     It  is  marked  in  the  map 


458  MEW  ATI  S,  MlNAHS,  BAURIAS 

various  rivers.  These  men  are  great  thieves  and  plunderers  of  the 
roads  and  villages.  When  the  king  wants  to  punish  any  officer 
he  sends  him  to  this  region,  where  he  suffers  a  great  deal  and 
gains  no  profit  at  all. 

There  is  also  another  tribe  called  Mevattj  (MewatI).  They 
are  good  horsemen,  also  enterprising  thieves  [75]  and  robbers. 
Nowadays  they  have  no  cavalry,  because  King  Shahjahan  called 
upon  the  Rajah  Jai  Singh  to  destroy  them,  and  said  he  would 
make  him  a  present  of  the  lands  he  conquered.  He,  like  a 
brave  and  prudent  captain,  soon  overcame  them.  They  live 
among  hills ;  the  chief  men  he  beheaded,  disarmed  the  rest,  and 
forced  them  to  live  in  the  open  country.  The  son  of  their  chief 
man  was  made  a  eunuch  by  Shahjahan.  It  was  he  who  com- 
manded at  Bhakkar,  as  spoken  of  in  my  First  Part  (I.  219,  225, 
262).  He  was  called  Khwajah  Basant;  and  he  remained 
faithful  to  Prince  Dara  at  the  fortress  of  Bhakkar.  When 
I  passed  through  this  region  I  saw  upon  the  hills  many  villages, 
which  were  not  then  destroyed.  The  greater  part  of  this  tribe 
lives  upon  robbery. 

There  are  also  two  other  small  Hindu  tribes  called  Myne 
(?  Minah)1  and  Torj  (?  Bauria),1  who  are  highly  renowned  as 
great  and  adventurous  thieves.  One  of  them,  in  the  very 
presence  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh,  took  off  the  turban  of  Shiva  Jl 
when  asleep ;  this  was  in  the  time  of  the  war,  and  there  was 
fear  of  losing  your  life.  Once  when  I  was  living  in  Lahor, 
(it  was  during  the  governorship  of  Fida.e  Khan)  fifteen  thieves 
of  this  tribe  were  caught.  They  had  robbed  a  house  at 
midnight ;  they  were  seized  and  sentenced  to  death.  When 
the  officers  of  justice  were  taking  them  to  be  executed  in  front 
of  that  very  house,  they  passed  in  front  of  my  door.  There  was 
a  great  noise  of  drums,  and  a  great  crowd  of  curious  idlers 
following.     Hearing  this  row,  I  came  forth,  and  saw  that  the 


to  Francklin's  'Shah  Aulam,'  1798,  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Sutlaj,  and  on 
the  east  by  a  line  from  Ludhianah  to  Sunam.  The  southern  and  western  limits 
are  less  definite.     The  Bhati  country  is  immediately  to  the  south  of  it. 

1  For  Mina,  see  W.  Crooke,  'Tribes  and  Castes  of  the  North -West 
Provinces,'  iii.  485 — their  home  is  in  Mewat ;  and  for  Bawariya  (Bauria),  ibid., 
i.  228.     Both  are  well-known  thieving  tribes  to  this  day. 


BIDARIS,  BUNDELAHS,  PURBIYAHS  459 

first  thief  was  a  youth  of  some  five-and-twenty  years.  He  went 
on  his  way  in  great  confidence,  singing  in  a  loud  voice,  and 
giving  thanks  to  God  for  that  he  had  made  his  life  a  sacrifice 
in  the  occupation  he  was  brought  up  to,  without  having  to 
change  his  pursuits.  Seeing  me  while  still  continuing  his  song, 
he  bowed  his  head  as  a  mark  of  politeness.  I  remarked  that 
the  last  of  them  was  a  Baminy  (a  Banya),  whom  they  carried 
along  by  force,  because  he  had  been  consenting  to  the  conceal- 
ment in  his  house  of  the  stolen  goods. 

Throughout  the  kingdom  there  are  many  of  these  thieves, 
and  in  the  army  they  find  stealing  very  easy,  carrying  off  horses 
and  camels.  For  this  reason  many  soldiers  place  iron  chains 
on  these  animals'  feet,  fastened  by  padlocks  to  make  them 
secure.  Along  with  the  armies  there  march  privileged  and 
recognised  thieves,  called  Bederia  (Bidari)  ;x  these  are  the  first 
to  invade  the  enemy's  territory,  where  they  plunder  everything 
they  find.  The  handsomest  items  are  reserved  for  the  general ; 
the  rest  they  sell  on  their  own  account.  Prince  Shah  'Alam, 
when  he  was  within  the  territories  of  Shiva  Jl,  near  Goa,  had  in 
his  army  seven  thousand  such,  whose  orders  were  to  ravage  the 
lands  of  Bardes  because  of  my  non-return,  as  I  have  stated  in 
my  Second  Part  (II.  220).  In  the  bazars  and  booths  of  these 
Bidaris  is  found  every  kind  of  food-supply — vegetables,  fruits, 
and  other  products,  all  purloined  from  the  enemy's  territory. 

In  these  armies  the  foot  soldiers  are  commonly  Rajputs,  the 
greater  number  being  of  the  Bundelah  tribe  or  Purbiyahs  from 
the  direction  of  Allahabad.  They  are  matchlockmen  and 
archers,  and  also  serve  to  look  after  the  baggage.  They  are 
faithful  to  their  employers,  but  great  thieves  on  the  march, 
plundering  supplies  of  food  and  wood  for  their  cooking  fires. 
For  this  they  are  punished  and  bound  two  and  two  upon  camels, 
their  noses  pierced  by  arrows,  and  paraded  throughout  the 
camp,  so  that  they  may  be  seen  and  terror  be  inspired.  All 
the  same,  they  continue  to  pilfer  and  are  very  insolent,  paying 
respect  to  no  one.     If  anyone  has  a  dispute  with  one  of  them, 

1  These  Bidari  (from  Bidar  ?),  sometimes  confounded  with  the  Pindharls,  are 
mentioned  by  Bhim  Sen  in  his  '  Nuskhah-i-Dilkusha.,'  British  Museum,  Oriental 
MS.,  No.  23,  fol.  156&,  and  by  other  writers. 


460  A  CLEVER  ENVOY  TO  PERSIA 

they  congregate  in  great  numbers,  and  the  adversary  of  their 
tribesman  is  severely  beaten  and  left  half  dead.  This  I  have 
seen  many  times.  Some  of  them  would  be  going  along  when, 
seeing  some  such  wrangle,  they  would  draw  near  to  give  help, 
and  would  kindly  beat  the  disputant  with  their  sticks ;  or  if  not 
able  to  do  so  owing  to  their  opponents'  numbers,  would  throw 
stones  at  them,  give  them  a  lot  of  abuse,  and  then  resume  their 
route  [76]. 

It  seems  to  me  I  have  dwelt  sufficiently  on  the  habits  and 
customs  of  this  Hindustan ;  but  I  have  observed  that  all  the 
great  men  are  fond  of  amusing  themselves  with  chess-playing,  by 
which,  as  they  say,  they  learn  to  govern,  place  and  displace,  give 
and  take,  with  discretion,  to  the  glory  and  gain  of  their  projects. 

I  will  relate  a  story  about  this  game.  The  king  Jahanglr 
sent  an  ambassador  to  the  King  of  Persia,  Shah  Xaxefi  (Shah 
Safi).  His  name  was  Cancana  (Khan  Khanan),  a  man 
liberal-minded  and  of  good  judgment.  This  man  was  much 
esteemed  by  the  King  of  Persia  for  his  good  conversation  and 
the  generous  actions  he  beheld  him  do.  The  envoy  fancied  he 
could  play  well  this  game  of  chess ;  on  his  part,  the  King  of 
Persia  thought  the  same.  The  two  played  together  on  the 
condition  that  the  loser  should  bray  like  an  ass.  The  game 
lasted  three  days,  and  in  the  end  the  ambassador  lost  it,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  carry  out  his  engagement.  This  he  did  with 
such  vigour  that  the  whole  court  was  greatly  satisfied.  He 
began  in  this  way  :  '  I  left  the  court  of  my  emperor  at  such 
and  such  a  time,  and  I  was  four  months  on  the  journey,  until 
I  arrived  on  the  frontier  of  Your  Majesty's  kingdom,  and 
descending  from  the  mountains  of  Qandahar,  I  came  to  a  plain 
where  there  was  nothing  but  one  ass  grazing.  My  servant  ran 
to  him,  and  as  a  joke  said  to  him  that  the  asinine  race  was 
extinct.  Overcome  at  such  sad  news,  he  began  to  lift  his 
head,  and  wailing,  said  in  a  loud  voice :  "  Ay,  ay,  ay."  The 
servant,  taking  compassion  upon  him,  said  that  one  she-ass  was 
left  for  him.  Thereby  consoled,  he  said  in  a  low  voice  three 
times :  "  Bom,  bom,  bom."  '  Thus  did  he  carry  out  his 
promise,  and  many  present  while  he  was  talking  supposed  that 
he  was  telling  some  anecdote. 


DECISION  OF  COMPLAINTS  461 

This  king  inquired  from  Khan  Khanan  in  what  estimation 
he  held  him.  He  replied  that  he  admitted  him  to  be  the 
greatest  king  in  the  world.  The  king  retorted  that  by  this 
statement  he  confessed  him  to  be  greater  than  his  own  king. 
Khan  Khanan  then  said  that  there  was  a  difference,  for  his 
king  was  God  upon  earth.  This  the  Mogul  does  consider 
himself  to  be,  not  having  any  powerful  king  near  him  to  prove 
to  him  the  existence  of  greater  majesty  than  his  own. 

In  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-nine  there 
came  an  ambassador1  from  the  Grand  Seignor  to  ask  help  in 
money  from  Aurangzeb,  explaining  to  him  the  danger  to 
which  his  king  was  exposed  from  the  armies  of  the  Christians. 
Aurangzeb  sent  him  nine  lakhs  of  rupees,  making  excuses  for 
giving  no  greater  help.  For  he,  too,  was  occupied  against  the 
infidel  and  rebellious  Shiva  Jl.  The  arrival  of  this  ambassador 
gave  an  idea  of  the  strength  of  the  European  nations ;  for  the 
people  of  India  supposed  that  Europeans  live  on  islands,  and 
that  it  is  only  on  the  sea  they  know  how  to  fight.  No  effect 
had  been  produced  by  the  accounts  given  them  of  various 
battles  which  had  happened  in  Europe.  After  the  coming  of 
this  ambassador  they  recognised  that  they  had  been  told  the 
truth  on  this  head.  Aurangzeb  was  forced  to  admit  that  with- 
out a  doubt  the  strength  of  the  Europeans  was  greater  than  that 
of  the  Turk,  who  is  conceded  to  be  the  most  powerful  and  most 
valiant  king  among  the  Mahomedans. 

There  now  remains  something  to  be  said  on  the  Mogul  mode 
of  government.  I  have  already  stated  that  the  king  holds 
public  audience  in  the  'Am-Khds  (Hall  of  Audience),  and  there 
it  is  usual  for  aggrieved  persons  to  appear  and  make  complaint. 
Some  men  demand  punishment  for  murderers,  others  complain 
of  injustice  and  violence  or  other  such-like  wrongful  acts.  To 
show  his  equity,  power,  and  greatness,  the  king  ordains  with 
arrogance,  and  in  few  words,  that  the  thieves  be  beheaded, 
that   the   governors   and  faujddrs   compensate   the   plundered 

1  Ahmad  Aqa,  envoy  of  the  Qaisar  of  Rum,  Nadar  Be,  envoy  from  the  wait 
of  Bukhara,  and  'Abd-ur-ralum  Beg,  sent  by  the  Hakim  of  Kashghar,  were 
presented  early  in  the  thirty-fourth  year,  1101  H.  (end  of  1689  or  early  in  1690) 
(' Ma.asir-i-'Alamgiri,'  p.  337). 


462  POMPOUS  INEFFECTUAL  ORDERS 

travellers,  and  return  to  court  themselves  to  render  an  account 
of  their  bad  government.  In  some  cases  he  announces  that 
there  is  no  pardon  for  the  trangressor  ;  in  others  he  orders  the 
facts  to  be  investigated  and  a  report  made  to  him.  To 
similar  complaints  he  gives  similar  answers.  This  is  merely 
to  console,  and  as  a  proof  that  he  is  no  consenting  party  to 
injustice. 

I  will  give  [77]  as  an  example  the  case  of  some  Arab 
merchants,  who  came  to  court  to  complain  that  on  their 
voyage  with  some  Arab  horses  from  Masqat  to  India,  when 
about  the  latitude  of  Surat,  some  Farangi  pirates  had  robbed 
them.  Without  another  question  the  king  ordered  a  letter  to 
be  sent  forthwith  to  the  governor  of  that  port,  ordering  him 
at  once  to  bind  the  Farangls,  and  send  them  to  court  to  be 
punished.  By  these  words  he  did  the  utmost  that  he  could 
do.  For  the  governor  of  Surat  was  unable  to  seize  the  thieves, 
nor  could  he  send  them  to  court.  It  is  the  habit  of  these  kings 
to  talk  like  this  as  a  demonstration  that  they  do  not  recognise 
any  other  power  than  their  own. 

Usually  there  is  some  rebellion  of  the  rajahs  and  zamindars 
going  on  in  the  Mogul  kingdom.  When  the  king  is  informed, 
he  issues  in  public  an  order  that  the  governors  and  faujdars  be 
written  to  directing  that  they  must  assemble,  destroy  the  rebels, 
and  send  their  heads  to  court.  If  their  forces  are  insufficient, 
let  them  report  it,  that  he  may  send  them  troops  to  overcome 
the  rebels,  and  eject  them  from  the  kingdom.  At  other  times 
he  will  order  the  rebel  to  be  sent  in  alive  or  dead,  or  else 
the  governor  must  send  his  head  (such  orders  are  very  easy 
to  give  and  very  difficult  to  execute). 

After  all  these  orders  have  been  given,  he  retires  to  the 
gousal  cana  (ghusal-Jehdnah),  the  place  for  second  audience  and 
counsel.  Here  he  gives  other  secret  orders  as  to  what  is  to  be 
done.  The  officials  control  proceedings,  without  the  king  being 
able  to  inspect  everything  that  is  done,  owing  to  his  multi- 
tudinous occupations.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  this 
king  were  well  served  many  things  could  be  done  in  these 
regions. 

Ghusal-Mianah  means  properly  '  bathing-house,  limpidity,  or 


PALACES  AND  GARDENS;  A  STORY  463 

purity.'  Herein  are  good  counsels  given  and  excellent  sen- 
tences, and  thence  just  orders  are  sent  forth.  It  is  a  privileged 
and  ordered  place.  There  are  in  the  empire  three  principal 
imperial  abodes ;  the  most  ancient  is  at  DihlT,  the  second  at 
Agrah,  the  third  at  Lahor.  At  each  there  is  a  great  bastion, 
named  the  Xaaburg  (Shah-burj),  which  means  '  Royal  Bastion.' 
They  are  domed,  and  have  architectural  adornments  of  curious 
enamel  work,  with  many  precious  stones.  Here  the  king  holds 
many  audiences  for  selected  persons,  and  from  it  he  views  the 
elephant  fights  and  diverts  himself  with  them. 

All  these  palaces  are  full  of  gardens  with  running  water, 
which  flows  in  channels  into  reservoirs  of  stone,  jasper,  and 
marble.  In  all  the  rooms  and  halls  of  these  palaces  there  are 
ordinarily  fountains  or  reservoirs  of  the  same  stone  of  propor- 
tionate size.  In  the  gardens  of  these  palaces  there  are  always 
flowers  according  to  the  season.  There  are  no  large  fruit-trees 
of  any  sort,  in  order  not  to  hinder  the  delight  of  an  open  view. 
In  these  palaces  are  seats  and  private  rooms,  some  of  which 
are  in  the  midst  of  the  running  water.  In  the  water  are  many 
fish  for  delight.  Other  rooms  are  ornamented  with  large 
mirrors,  and  seem  to  be  made  all  of  crystal. 

In  the  royal  palaces  the  king  takes  rest  wherever  it  pleases 
him.  In  spite  of  his  being  well  guarded,  he  still  changes  the 
place  at  various  times  for  fear  of  any  treachery.  Round  these 
palaces  or  cities  are  many  royal  gardens  for  recreation,  where 
are  grown  many  kinds  of  fruit  and  flowers,  chiefly  roses,  from 
which  are  distilled  essences  for  the  royal  household. 

I  will  tell  a  story  of  what  happened  in  one  of  these  gardens. 
It  was  situated  in  front  of  the  royal  palace  at  Lahor,  and  was 
called  Delcuxao  (Dil-kusha),1  which  signifies  '  Open  Heart.' 
To  it  went  for  recreation  twelve  officials,  and  in  lightness  of 
heart,  drunk  as  they  were,  they  sent  out  in  search  of  twelve 
women.  One  by  one  eleven  appeared,  and  one  man  was  left 
without  a  lady.     As  the  sun  was  setting,  there  appeared  one 

1  'History  of  Lahor,'  by  Syud  Mahomed  Latif,  250:  'The  garden  of  Nur 
Jahan,  across  the  Ravi  (in  Jahanglr's  time  called  Dilawez  or  Dilkusha),  where 
exists  the  mausoleum  of  that  Emperor.'  The  place  is  generally  known  as 
Shahdarah. 


464  COURT  MANNERS,  PRESENTS 

at  the  entrance  of  the  garden,  who  walked  most  gracefully. 
She  was  very  lovely  and  well  dressed,  so  that  she  roused  envy 
in  the  whole  company.  Drawing  near  to  him  to  whom  she 
was  allotted,  who  had  come  forward  to  greet  her,  she  perceived 
it  was  her  husband!  [78]  Vigorously  hastening  her  pace, 
and  with  demonstrations  of  rage,  she  fell  upon  him,  tore  his 
clothes,  beat  and  abused  him,  and  said  he  must  have  lost 
his  way  out  walking;  the  company  he  found  himself  in  was 
not  such  as  suited  a  person  of  gravity.  She  dragged  him  away 
and  took  him  home,  making  him  out  the  sinner,  although  she 
was  an  adulteress  herself. 

I  noticed  that  when  vassals  are  in  the  royal  presence  they 
feign  to  be  timid  and  afraid  of  His  Majesty.  These  gestures 
please  him,  they  being  the  custom.  The  combats  and  conquests 
made  by  both  ancient  and  modern  Mogul  kings,  it  is  to  be 
noted,  have  for  the  major  part  been  won  rather  by  deceit 
and  false  oaths  than  by  force  of  arms.  Never  does  the  Mogul 
attack  any  stronghold  or  give  battle  unless  he  is  secure  of 
having  some  traitor  to  help  him. 

In  addition  to  the  robes  of  honour,  the  elephants,  horses,  arms, 
et  cetera,  which  the  Mogul  confers  as  gifts  on  his  vassals,  as 
I  have  already  said,  he  has  also  other  favours  for  the  greater 
men  at  his  court  or  in  the  empire.  Once  every  year  he  confers 
a  bardni1 — that  is,  'protection  from  the  rain';  it  is  a  cape 
of  very  fine  broadcloth.  The  greatest  honour  that  the  king 
can  do  to  one  of  these  nobles  is  to  marry  him  to  some  relation 
of  the  queens  and  princesses.  Similarly,  as  a  proof  that  he 
holds  any  person  in  high  estimation,  he  takes  off  from  his 
body  his  upper  coat  and  makes  the  man  put  it  on  in  his 
presence,  to  signify  that  he  loves  him  as  he  does  his  own 
person.2  In  spite  of  all  these  condescensions,  Aurangzeb 
never  hesitated  to  take  the  life  of  Rajah  Jai  Singh  and  the 
others,  as  I  have  seen  ;  and  through  this  policy  of  affection 
he  continues  to  destroy. 

1  This  gift  of  a  bararii  outfit  for  the  rains  appears,  for  instance,  over  and  over 
again  in  Dfmishmand  Khan's  '  Bahadur-Shah-namah,'  period  1707-10. 

2  This  is  the  malbus-i-ktes,  '  special  worn  clothes, '  a  kind  of  gift  of  which  there 
are  many  recorded  instances. 


REGULATIONS  FOR  HAREM  465 

For  this  conduct  there  is  an  ancient  regulation,  which  they 
keep  secret  and  with  which  they  amuse  themselves.  In  it  are 
laid  down  various  methods  by  which  kings  and  princes  ought  to 
govern.  He  imparts  these  rules  to  his  trusted  eunuchs  and 
others,  who  conduct  themselves  by  them  in  regard  to  the  court 
officials.  Of  this  I  will  give  an  example  which  happened  in  the 
army  of  my  prince.  Atax  Can  (Atash  Khan),  captain  of  a  select 
force,  had  the  charge  of  keeping  order  in  the  camp,  more 
especially  round  the  royal  enclosure.  One  day  he  came  very 
near  to  the  gate  of  the  seraglio  (mahal),  which  was  in  the 
rear  of  the  principal  gateway  of  the  court,  and  wished  to 
enforce  new  orders  that  were  not  usual  at  that  place.  Seeing 
this,  the  eunuchs,  gatekeepers,  and  Kashmiri  women  servants 
assailed  him  by  throwing  stones,  pestles,  mallets,  shoes,  tent- 
pegs,  pots  for  porridge,  and  saucepans,  dislodging  him  and 
all  his  soldiers.  He  made  complaint  to  the  prince  of  the 
affront  he  had  received,  declaring  that  what  he  had  done 
followed  the  regulations  of  the  royal  court.  To  this  the  prince 
replied  with  much  softness  and  quietude,  saying  that  he  was 
not  well  acquainted  with  the  royal  customs,  according  to  which 
the  men  of  the  militia  had  no  concern  with  the  mahal  gate- 
way, which  was  in  the  charge  of  the  eunuchs. 

In  his  reign  Aurangzeb  gave  an  order  that  every  prince  must 
come  to  audience  only  on  the  days  he  had  fixed.  The  cause 
of  these  orders  was  that  in  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighty  (1680),  at  the  city  of  Ajmer,  Shah  'Alam  was  going 
to  audience.  Close  to  a  bridge  he  saw  the  train  of  A'zam  Tara 
rushing  in  great  haste  in  the  hope  of  passing  over  first,  and 
fully  resolved  on  resistance  if  they  met  anyone.  Shah  'Alam, 
from  prudence  or  timidity,  seized  his  horse's  rein  and  drew 
up,  placing  his  hand  on  his  dagger  to  show  his  people  that 
he  was  ready  if  attacked.  He  also  ordered  [79]  his  people 
to  halt  and  yield  free  passage  to  his  brother,  A'zam  Tara. 
The  latter,  taking  no  notice  of  him,  with  much  haughtiness 
and  making  his  horse  curvet,  passed  the  first  without  paying 
any  attention  or  civility  to  his  elder  brother.  Owing  to  this 
the  king  issued  the  order  stated  above,  so  that  there  might 
be  no  outbreak  at  the  court. 

vol.  11.  30 


466  TURBULENCE  OF  KING'S  SONS 

For  this  reason,  when  the  king  sends  one  prince  to  any 
province  to  supersede  another,  one  goes  by  one  route  and 
the  other  issues  forth  by  another,  escorted  by  court  mace- 
bearers  with  gold  maces.  Great  care  is  taken  that  they  do 
not  encounter  each  other,  in  order  to  avoid  any  mishap  or 
any  fresh  outbreak.  This  is  the  way  he  deals  with  these 
princes.  It  is  by  the  respect  and  dread  that  they  have  one 
for  the  other  that  the  old  man  has  managed  to  go  on  reigning ; 
and  if  God  grant  me  life,  I  will  record  the  end  of  Aurangzeb 
and  the  beginning  of  another  reign. 

Upon  the  day  of  the  affair  above  referred  to,  Shah  'Alam 
entered  his  father's  audience  followed  by  so  many  soldiers, 
that  the  doorkeepers  sought  to  hinder  the  entrance  of  so 
many  men.  In  their  efforts,  involving  the  use  of  their  sticks, 
one  of  them  touched  the  shield  of  Shah  'Alam.  Smiling  and 
slowly  turning  his  head,  he  ordered  them  to  give  the  door- 
keepers five  thousand  rupees  in  proof  of  his  own  prudence  and 
generosity,  and  of  the  respect  in  which  he  held  the  servants 
of  his  father. 

I  will  give  a  case  which  occurred  at  Aurangzeb's  court  in  the 
year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  (1697). x  The 
foster-brother  of  Prince  Kam  Bakhsh  treacherously  slew  one  of 
the  king's  eunuchs  with  an  arrow.  On  hearing  of  this  act,  the 
king  ordered  the  man  to  be  seized ;  and  when  the  foster-brother 
knew  of  the  royal  order,  he  appealed  to  the  prince.  The  latter 
took  him  to  audience  in  his  train,  they  clasping  each  other  by 
the  hand.  The  prince  said  to  the  king  that  first  his  life  must  be 
sacrificed  before  he  allowed  his  foster-brother  to  be  touched. 
Enraged  at  seeing  such  public  imprudence  and  wrongful  attitude, 
Aurangzeb  ordered  the  man  to  be  carefully  taken  out  of  the 
prince's  hands.  On  this  being  attempted,  the  prince  laid  hold 
of  his  dagger  and  menaced  anyone  who  approached,  saying 
that  he  would  slay  him.  The  plausing  disciples  of  Aurangzeb 
by  honeyed  words  and  false  asseverations  made  him  sheath 

1  This  incident  is  given  in  the  '  Ma.asir-i-'Alamgln,'  398-400,  with  slightly 
more  detail.  The  matter  began  with  an  attempt  to  murder  Yaqut,  one  of  Kam 
Bakhsh's  eunuchs,  on  the  18th  Jamadall.,  1110  H.  (December  22,  1698).  The 
foster-brother  was  supposed  to  be  the  instigator. 


PIGEONS  AS  MESSENGERS  467 

his  dagger  and  deliver  up  his  foster-brother,  supposing  the 
latter's  life  to  be  safe.  The  king  ordered  the  prince  and  his 
foster-brother  to  be  arrested ;  but  on  the  petition  of  Udepurl, 
his  mother,  they  were  released.  In  the  year  [one  thousand 
and]  seven  hundred  (1700)  the  king  granted  Kam  Bakhsh 
the  province  of  Gulkandah  for  his  allowances,  he  remaining 
present  at  court. 

As  I  have  said  that  the  Moguls  rear  pigeons  for  amusement 
(I.  65),  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  inform  the  reader  how  they 
employ  these  pigeons  to  give  intelligence  if  the  king  leaves 
his  house  or  comes  into  the  public  hall  to  hold  audience. 
Let  the  reader  be  aware,  then,  that  these  nobles  are  very 
pleased  not  to  have  to  move  from  home  uselessly.  Many  have 
their  dwellings  far  from  the  royal  palace,  about  a  league  away. 
They  order  their  retinue  to  be  kept  in  readiness,  first  of  all 
having  sent  to  court  a  servant  with  two  pigeons  of  different 
colours. 

If  the  king  leaves  his  house  or  holds  audience,  the  noble's 
servant  releases  one  of  these  pigeons  at  court,  and  by  reaching  its 
home  it  serves  as  a  messenger.  If  it  is  the  one  that  denotes  the 
king's  leaving  home  or  sitting  in  audience,  the  noble  at  once  rides 
with  his  cavalcade  in  all  haste  to  be  present,  as  is  his  duty.  If 
the  other  comes,  it  notifies  the  contrary :  the  retinue  are  dis- 
missed, and  the  master  takes  his  ease  at  home. 

[80] x  In  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-four 
(1694),  when  Aurangzeb  was  in  the  kingdom  of  Bljapur,  he 
fell  ill  of  diarrhoea,  so  that  he  was  unable  to  come  out  to  hold 
audience;  and  he  became  so  weak  that  he  fainted  several 
times,  from  which  cause  it  was  spread  about  in  the  camp 
that  Aurangzeb  was  dead.  A'zam  Tara,  who  was  there,  wished 
to  profit  by  the  occasion ;  and  assuming  the  news  was  true, 
he  mounted  his  horse,  and  with  all  his  armed  force  came  to 
attack  his  father's  enclosure.  He  ordered  his  men  to  surround 
the  royal  tents.  He  then  tried  with  great  determination  to 
force  an  entrance,  intending  to  suffocate  his  father  in  case 
he  should  not  be  dead.  He  wanted  to  crown  himself  king. 
But   it   did   not   fall  out  as  he  desired;   for  Bahadur  Khan, 

1  P.  So  is  an  interpolated  leaf,  of  which  the  other  side  (p.  81)  is  blank. 

30—2 


468 


A'ZAM  TARA  SLIGHTS  SHAH  <ALAM 


learning  that  he  was  advancing  on  the  court,  being  himself 
nearerj  came  out  at  once  with  all  his  cavalry,  and  reached 
the  sppt  just  as  A'zam  Tara  was  going  into  the  tents.  Taking 
him  by  the  hand,  he  said  that  he  was  disobeying  the  royal 
orders]  by  wishing  to  enter  without  being  sent  for  by  his  father. 
With -prudence,  but  showing  himself  resolute  and  urging  good 
reasons,  he  made  the  prince  understand  that  he  would  not 
be  allowed  to  advance  further.  He  gave  him  assurance  that 
the  kipg  was  not  dead,  and  he  would  himself  give  a  report 
to  the  king  of  his  arrival  to  pay  him  a  visit,  and  would  get 
him  called  inside.  This  he  did,  and  the  king  was  found  to 
be  very  weak.  The  prince  counselled  him  as  to  the  necessity 
of  showing  his  royal  person  to  pacify  the  army,  which  had 
begun  a  mutiny.  Thus  the  king  coming  forth  for  a  moment 
or  two,  the  music  played  as  a  signal  he  was  holding  audience. 
This  allayed  the  uproar  going  on  throughout  the  camp,  robbery, 
murder,  and  revolt  having  already  begun.  After  this  affair, 
Aurangzeb  ordered  this  prince  to  pitch  his  camp  at  a  distance 
of  some  leagues,  and  up  to  this  day  the  same  practice  is 
maintained. 

[P.  81  is  blank.] 

[79  concluded]  It  is  necessary  for  the  reader  to  be  aware 
that  tjiese  Moguls,  admitting  that  they  profess  the  Mahomedan 
religion,  do  not  fail  at  the  same  time  to  retain  in  their  habits 
certain  Hindu  practices,  such  as  [82]  offering  up  victims  on  any 
occasion  when  they  desire  to  do  some  work  or  undertake  a 
journey.  jNot  to  be  open  to  reproof,  they  do  this  under  the 
title  #f  executing  justice.  This  happened  when  Aurangzeb 
wanted  to  leave  Aurangabad  to  wage  war  against  the  Kings 
of  B$japu  S  and  Gulkandah.  More  than  six  days  before  his 
marcfi  began  he  sent  orders  to  kill  on  the  route  that  he  was 
about  to  travel  eighty  men,  under  the  name  of  infidels  and 
non-Observers  of  the  Mahomedan  religion.  He  ordered  them 
to  be  placed  in  a  row  with  hands  bound  and  in  a  kneeling  position, 
then  their  heads  were  cut  off  one  by  one.  It  was  observed  that 
among  them  all,  one  dead  body  after  six  days  remained  on  its 
knees  as  if  just  decapitated  ;  the  others  lay  on  the  ground  at 
the  mercy;  of  animals.     The  reason  that  one  only  among  so 


■  ! 


i  i 


XXV.      Mir  Jumlah. 


To  face  page  468. 


STORY  OF  IBRAHIM  BIN  ADHAM  469 

many  remained  upright  on  its  knees  without  falling  like  the  rest, 
granting  that  it  was  inflated  and  decayed  like  the  others,  I 
leave  for  the  consideration  of  the  reader.  As  for  me,  it  seems 
possible  to  suppose  that,  out  of  fear  and  before  they  could  cut 
off  his  head,  this  victim  was  stupefied  at  seeing  the  others 
beheaded  and  thus  became  petrified. 

They  also  maintain  some  observances  which  have  in  them- 
selves some  human  morality.  Thus  was  it  with  the  King  of 
Balkh,  called  Sultan  Ebraim  Addam  (Ibrahim  Adham),1  who 
had  a  natural  inclination  to  refinement.  Thus,  when  he 
wished  to  sleep  it  was  necessary  to  fill  his  room  with  flowers. 
Once  it  happened  that,  wishing  to  repose,  in  conformity  with 
his  usual  habit,  he  ordered  one  of  his  women  servants  to  knead 
his  body.  During  this  process  it  happened  that  he  fell  asleep  ; 
the  servant  also  slumbered,  and  leant  her  head  on  the  side  of 
the  bed.  This  act  roused  the  king,  and  in  a  great  rage  he 
ordered  the  eunuchs  to  flog  the  said  servant  for  her  temerity  in 
propping  her  head  on  the  royal  bedstead.  He  had  no  mercy 
for  the  accident,  and  at  once  the  eunuchs  set  to  work  to 
execute  the  king's  orders.  Instead  of  weeping  and  imploring 
pardon,  the  woman  was  laughing.  On  perceiving  this,  the 
king  was  curious  to  know  what  motive  she  had  for  laughing, 
when,  on  the  contrary,  by  the  force  and  violence  of  the  eunuchs' 
blows,  it  would  seem  she  ought  to  be  crying.  To  his  question 
she  replied  that  it  was  because  he  had  ordered  her  to  be  beaten  ; 
for  in  her  judgment,  if  to  have  leant  her  head  a  little  moment 
on  the  royal  bed,  where  the  perfumes  induced  slumber,  merited 
her  undergoing  such  punishment  even  for  the  little  time  she 
had  rested  herself,  what  did  His  Majesty  not  deserve  for 
having  slept  all  his  life  in  such  a  bed  ?  Influenced  by  such  a 
reproach,  the  king  became  a  little  thoughtful,  and  at  once  tore 
his  raiment,  renounced  his  queen  and  his  son,  and  went  off  into 
a  wild  country  to  live  as  a  faqir.     A  fine  reproof!  for  many  is 

1  Ibrahim  (son  of)  Adham  was  a  king  of  Balkh,  who  became  a  darvesh,  and 
died  between  875  and  880  (Beale,  'Dictionary  of  Oriental  Biography,*  171). 
There  is  a  biography  of  him,  with  many  anecdotes,  in  '  Tadhkiratu'lAwliya '  of 
Farld-ud-din  'Attar,  edition  R.  A.  Nicholson,  1905,  pp.  85-106;  but  I  do  not  find 
in  it  Manucci's  story. 


47o  STORY  OF  BIKRAMAjIT 

the  one  who  condemns  his  neighbour's  little  failings  without 
considering  the  great  defects  he  has  within  himself. 

Although  the  nature  of  the  Hindus  is  ordinarily  inclined  to 
do  evil,  there  have  not  been  wanting  at  times  some  who  have 
been  most  humane  and  well  provided  with  reason.  Such  was 
the  King  Biguer  Magid  (Bikramajlt).  Desiring  to  see  his 
kingdom  increase  and  merchants  frequent  the  country,  he 
directed  that  anything  the  traders  could  not  sell  during  market- 
time  should  be  bought  by  his  major-domo.  It  happened  once 
that  a  trader  brought,  among  other  rarities,  an  image  repre- 
senting Misfortune ;  he  sold  everything  except  this  figure.  The 
king's  major-domo,  following  the  orders  received  from  his 
master,  bought  it  and  sent  the  merchant  away.  He  stored 
the  image  along  with  the  other  goods,  and  reported  the  matter 
to  the  king. 

Being  superstitious,  the  king  did  not  fail  to  be  affected  by 
such  a  purchase.  However,  he  said  nothing  about  it.  He 
cared  more  about  keeping  his  word  than  about  the  super- 
titious  presentiments  aroused  in  him  by  the  purchase.  The 
Hindus  assert,  as  a  moral  and  politic  lesson,  that  the  figure  of 
Wealth  appeared  to  the  king  and  complained  to  him  that  she 
could  no  longer  stay,  being  unable  to  dwell  where  [83]  Misfor- 
tune was.  After  much  discussion,  the  king  agreed  that  Wealth 
might  withdraw  herself,  rather  than  that  he  should  break  his 
word.  On  her  departing,  she  menaced  him  with  a  thousand 
disagreeables  and  losses ;  and  to  all  these  the  king  subjected 
himself  rather  than  break  his  word. 

Then  came  Victory,  and  after  using  the  same  argument  as 
Wealth,  took  her  leave,  the  king  still  remaining  constant  to 
the  same  opinion.  Finally,  as  they  tell  the  story,  Faith  ap- 
peared to  him,  and,  making  complaint,  prepared  to  depart  like 
the  rest.  To  this  the  king  would  not  agree,  but  embraced  her 
firmly,  nor  would  he  on  any  account  permit  her  to  go.  Thus 
the  Hindus  say  that,  after  many  combats  with  Faith,  she  was 
overcome  by  the  king's  insistence  and  remained.  With  her 
came  Wealth,  Victory,  and  all  other  good  things.  This  is  a 
fine  apologue  to  teach  us  that  everything  may  be  abandoned — 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  STORY  47 r 

Wealth  and  Prosperity — but  Faith  never  ;  for  where  she  is, 
everything  else  is  naturally  attracted  also.  From  this  the  reader 
can  recognise  that  these  Hindus,  granting  their  blindness  in 
their  errors,  are  not  devoid  of  some  of  the  principles  and  foun- 
dations of  morality. 

[Pp.  84,  85,  86,  87,  88,  and  89  are  blank.      On  p.  90  the 
text  is  continued  in  French.] 


END   OF  VOL.    11. 


BILLING  AND   SONS,    LTD.,   PKINTERS,    GUILDFORD