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Chapter 5 – Jehangeer and Shah Jehan, 1605–1658

Jehangeer ascends the throne, 1605

On the death of Akbar, Prince Selim quietly stepped into the throne, at the age of thirty-seven, and adopted the title of Jehangeer, the conqueror of the world. The great empire to which he succeeded

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was in a state of profound tranquillity, and there was no spirit of insubordination among the military or civil chiefs. His proceedings on his accession served not only to calm the fears which his previous misconduct had excited, but even to win him the esteem of his subjects. He confirmed his father’s ministers in their posts, abolished some vexatious taxes, and, though strongly addicted to wine himself, prohibited the use of it, and endeavoured to control the indulgence in opium. He replaced the Mahomedan creed on the coin, and manifested a more superstitious attention to the precepts of the Prophet than his father had done. At the same time he courted popularity by affording easy access to the complaints of his people. But a subject of disquietude soon arose.

Rebellion of his son Khusro, 1606

His son Khusro had become the object of detestation by the effort made during the last days of Akbar’s life to place him on the throne by some of the leading courtiers, and the youth now fled to the Punjab, where he collected a body of 10,000 men. He was promptly pursued and captured, and the emperor exhibited the brutality of his nature by causing seven hundred of his adherents to be impaled alive, while the wretched Khusro was carried along the line to witness their agony.

Parentage and marriage of Noor Jehan

The event which exercised the greatest influence on the conduct of Jehangeer for sixteen years was his marriage with the celebrated Noor Jehan. She was descended from a noble Persian family of Teheran, but her father, having been reduced to poverty, determined to follow the prevailing current of emigration, and proceed to India to repair his fortunes. During the journey, his wife gave birth to a daughter under the most calamitous circumstances, though they were subsequently embellished with all the romance of poetry when she became the Queen of the East, and was in a position to reward the pens of poets. A merchant who happened to be travelling on the same route afforded assistance to the family in their exigency, and, on reaching the capital, took the father into his own employ, and,

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perceiving his abilities, introduced him to the service of Akbar, in which he gradually rose to eminence. His daughter, Noor Jehan, received all the accomplishments of education which the capital of India could afford, and grew up into a woman of the most exquisite beauty. In the harem of Akbar, which she occasionally visited with her mother, she attracted the attention of the prince Selim, who became deeply enamoured of her. But she had been already betrothed to a Turkoman of the noblest descent, who had acquired the title of Shere Afgun, from having killed a lion singlehanded. He had served with renown in the wars of Persia and India, and was distinguished no less by his gigantic strength than by his personal valour. Akbar refused to annul the nuptial engagement, even in favour of his own son, and, in the hope that absence would allay the passion of the prince, appointed Shere to a jaygeer in the remote district of Burdwan.

Noor Jehan raised to the throne, 1611

But Jehangeer had no sooner mounted the throne than he determined to remove every obstacle to the gratification of his wishes, and Shere perished in a scuffle, which was not believed to be accidental. His lovely widow was conveyed to Delhi, when Jehangeer offered to share his throne with her; but she rejected the offer with disdain, and was consigned to the neglect of the harem, where she had leisure for reflection and repentance. Anxious to regain Jehangeer’s attachment, she contrived to throw herself in his way, and her youth and beauty did not fail to rekindle his former passion. Their marriage was celebrated with extraordinary pomp, and she was clothed with honours greater than any Sultana had ever enjoyed before. The emperor went so far as to associate her name with his own on the coin, in these graceful terms: “By order of the emperor Jehangeer, gold acquired a hundred times additional value by the name of the empress Noor Jehan” – the light of the world. Her talent for business was not less remarkable than her personal charms, and her influence was beneficial to the interests of the state. She softened the natural cruelty

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of the emperor’s disposition, and constrained him to appear sober at the durbar, however he might indemnify himself for this restraint in the evening. Her taste imparted grace to the splendour of the court, at the same time that she curtailed its extravagance. Her brother, Asof Khan, was raised to a post of high dignity, and her father, who was placed at the head of affairs, proved to be one of the ablest of viziers.

Malik Amber and the state of Ahmednugur

The city of Ahmednugur, as previously stated, was captured by Akbar, on the murder of Chand Sultana in 1600, and the royal family was consigned to the fortress of Gwalior; but the kingdom was not subdued, though Akbar designated it as one of the soobahs of his empire. Malik Amber, the chief of the Abyssinian nobles of the court, assumed the control of public affairs, and placed a kinsman of the late king on the throne. He attacked the Mogul forces with vigour, and erected the national standard on what had been regarded the impregnable rock of Dowlutabad; he founded a new capital at the foot of it, at Kirkee, and adorned it with many splendid buildings. Malik Amber stands foremost in the history of the Deccan as a statesman of surpassing genius, who maintained the sinking fortunes of the Ahmednugur dynasty for twenty years with the greatest energy. Planting himself on the borders of the Deccan, he continued to repel the encroachments of the Moguls, and repeatedly drove their armies back to Boorhanpore. He availed himself to so great an extent of the services of the Mahratta chieftains, that he may be said to have cradled their power; more especially was it under his banner that Shahjee, the father of Sevajee, laid the foundation of his greatness. With a natural genius for war, he was still more remarkable for the assiduity with which he cultivated the arts of peace; and it is the revenue settlement he brought to perfection which has given lasting celebrity to his name. He was the Toder Mull of the Deccan.

Jehangeer attacks Amber, 1612

In the year 1612 Jehangeer resolved to recover the footing which the Moguls had lost

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in the Deccan, and two armies, the first commanded by Abdoolla Khan, were sent against Malik Amber. But he avoided a general engagement, while his light Deccanee horse hovered on the flanks and rear of his enemy, cut off his communications and supplies, and harassed him by night and by day so inexorably as to oblige him to sound a retreat, which the Abyssinian soon converted into a disgraceful flight. The second army met the Ahmednugur troops in the flush of victory, and wisely retraced its steps across the Nerbudda.

Subjugation of Oodypore, 1614

These disappointments were balanced by success against Oodypore. It has been already stated that Cody Sing, the feeble rana of Chittore, the founder of the town of Oodypore, was obliged by the generals of Akbar to seek refuge in the hills. He was succeeded by his son, Pertap Sing, who is still idolized by his countrymen for the heroism with which he repelled the attacks of the Moguls, and preserved the germ of national independence in his wild fastnesses. Although the Rajpoot rajas of Jeypore and Marwar were ranged against him, he succeeded in recovering the greater portion of his hereditary dominions before the death of Akbar. His son Omrah, equally valiant, but less fortunate, after having repeatedly defeated the Mogul troops, was, in the year 1614, attacked by Shah Jehan, the gallant and favourite son of the emperor, and compelled to acknowledge fealty to the throne of Delhi. That generous prince, himself, on the mother’s side, of Rajpoot blood, restored the territories of the fallen prince, but only as the vassal of the emperor, at whose court, however, he was assigned the highest post of honour. Thus was the independence of the family of the great ranas of Chittore, which had been maintained for eight hundred years, at once extinguished.

Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe, 1615

The tenth year of the reign of Jehangeer was rendered memorable by the arrival of Sir Thomas Roe, as ambassador from James, the king of England, to solicit privileges for the East India Company, then recently

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established. He landed at Surat, and proceeded by slow journeys to the court, then held at Ajmere, where he was received with greater distinction than had been conferred on any foreign envoy. Of the result of his embassy we shall have occasion to speak hereafter; here it may be sufficient to state, that he was fascinated by the oriental magnificence of the court, which so completely eclipsed the tinsel pomp of that of his own master. He was dazzled with the profusion of gold and jewels on every side, and, not least, with those which adorned the foreheads of the royal elephants. But he perceived little comfort among the subjects of the empire, who were ground down by the extortions of the public servants of every grade. The emperor dispensed justice daily in person; but he retired in the evening to his cups, which he never left while there was any reason left in him. He was maudlin and easy, and his courtiers were universally corrupt and unprincipled. Military discipline had decayed after the death of Akbar, and the only good soldiers in the army were the Rajpoots and the Afghans. There was a large influx of Europeans at the capital, and so greatly was Christianity encouraged, that one of the emperor’s nephews had embraced it, and the Emperor himself had an image of Christ and the Virgin in his rosary.

Second campaign against Malik Amber, March, 1617

The attention of Jehangeer was now called to the state of affairs in the Deccan, and he marched down to Mandoo to superintend the war, which he entrusted to the command of Shah Jehan, at the same time declaring him the heir of the throne. The prosperity of Malik Amber had created a feeling of envy at the Ahmednugur court, and alienated many of his confederates. On the approach of Shah Jehan, he was still further weakened by the defection of the king of Beejapore, and was obliged to enter into negotiations, and cede the fortress of Ahmednugur, together with all the conquests he had made from the Moguls. But within four years he renewed the war, and succeeded in driving the imperial forces across the Taptee.

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Shah Jehan was again selected by his father to command the army; but he accepted the charge only on condition that his brother Khusro should accompany him. Before he reached the province of Malwa, Malik Amber had crossed the Nerbudda and burned down the suburbs of Mandoo. But success still attended the arms of Shah Jehan. He contrived to corrupt the principal Mahratta chiefs in the army of Malik Amber – some of them by the most extravagant offers – and that general, deserted by his own officers, suffered a defeat, and was obliged to purchase peace in 1621, by a large sacrifice of treasure and territory.

Death of Khusro, and intrigues of Noor Jehan, 1621

Just at this juncture Khusro died, and the misfortunes of Shah Jehan began. Noor Jehan had bestowed her daughter by Shere Afgun on Shariar, the youngest of the emperor’s sons, and determined to raise him to the throne, in the hope of perpetuating that unbounded influence which she had enjoyed under Jehangeer. Her father, the vizier, whose virtue and wisdom had maintained order in the empire, notwithstanding the dissoluteness of the Court, had recently died, and the salutary restraint of his authority being removed, she was at liberty to indulge her passions without control. The Persians had recently reconquered Candahar, and, in the hope of removing Shah Jehan out of her way, she persuaded Jehangeer to employ his great military talents in regaining it. Shah Jehan was alive to the danger of quitting India, and began to stipulate for securities. His demands were regarded as treasonable; all his jaygeers and estates were sequestered, and he was driven into rebellion by the force of circumstances.

Mohabet hunts Shah Jehan through the country, 1623

To meet this difficulty, Mohabet, the ablest general in the emperor’s service, was drawn from his government of Cabul, and directed to march against Shah Jehan. A partial and indecisive action took place in Rajpootana, and the prince unwisely determined to retire to the Deccan. This retrograde movement was attended, as might have been expected, with the most fatal consequences.

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Malik Amber and the kings of Beejapore and Golconda refused him any assistance; his own troops began to desert, and he was obliged to retreat to Telingana. On reaching Masulipatam he marched along the coast to Bengal, took possession of that province and of Behar, and advanced to Allahabad. Mohabet, who was lying at Boorhanpore, on hearing of his sudden appearance on the Ganges, hastened to encounter him; his raw levies were speedily dispersed, and he fled a second time to the Deccan. Malik Amber was now at issue with the emperor, and made common cause with his fugitive son, and they advanced together to the siege of that city. But Mohabet pursued the prince with such energy that he was fain to seek reconciliation with his father, which, however, was not granted but on the hard condition of surrendering all his forts, and giving two of his sons as hostages.

Noor Jehan contracts a hatred of Mohabet, 1625

A new scene now opens in this eventful drama. Mohabet, the greatest subject of the empire, and the prime favourite of the emperor, had acquired additional importance by his brilliant success; but as he manifested no disposition to second Noor Jehan’s views regarding the succession of Shariar, her confidence was capriciously converted into hatred, and she resolved on his ruin. Jehangeer was at this time on his way to Cabul. A charge of embezzlement during his recent campaign was trumped up against Mohabet, and he was summoned to the court to answer it. He came, but with a body of 5,000 Rajpoots who were devoted to his service. He had recently betrothed his daughter to a young noble without obtaining the usual consent of the emperor. Jehangeer, on hearing of the circumstance, ordered the youth into his presence, and in a fit of brutal rage directed him to be stripped naked and whipped with thorns in the presence of the court, and confiscated all his estates. When Mohabet approached the royal encampment he was refused admission. He could not fail to perceive that his ruin was determined on, and he resolved to strike

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the first blow.

Mohabet seizes the Emperor, 1626

The following morning the army crossed the Hydaspes, and Jehangeer, who had not recovered from the debauch of the previous night, remained behind with a slender guard. Mohabet proceeded to the emperor’s tent and seized his person. Jehangeer was frantic at this indignity, but seeing himself absolutely in the power of his general, was persuaded to mount an elephant, with his goblet and his cup-bearer, and proceed to Mohabet’s tent.

Noor Jehan fights for his rescue, 1626

Noor Jehan crossed the bridge in disguise and joined the imperial army, and the next morning proceeded to the rescue of her husband. The bridge having been destroyed during the night by the Rajpoots, she advanced at the head of the troops to a ford which had been discovered, mounted on a lofty elephant, with a bow and two quivers. The struggle was long and deadly. She endeavoured to animate the soldiers by her exertions, but they were driven into the stream by the shower of balls, rockets, and arrows which the Rajpoots poured into the files massed on the narrow ford. Noor Jehan’s elephant reached the opposite bank, but was assailed with redoubled fury; her guards were cut down, and among the hundred missiles aimed at her one struck the infant son of her daughter whom she carried in her lap. The elephant driver was killed, the animal was wounded, and carried down the stream in endeavouring to recross it, and the life of the empress was in imminent danger. When her female attendants came shrieking to the spot, they found the howda, or seat, covered with blood, and the empress employed in extracting the arrow and binding up the wound of the infant.

Noor Jehan feigns reconciliation; the Emperor’s release, 1626

After this vain attempt at a rescue the empress yielded to necessity, and joined Jehangeer, who continued a captive in the hands of his revolted subject, but was treated with the greatest respect. Mohabet, now in full command of the army, crossed the Indus, and encamped at Cabul. There, her fertile genius, by a

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series of skilful manoeuvres, contrived gradually to turn the tables on him; he saw that his position was becoming daily more insecure, and made offers for a reconciliation. Noor Jehan condoned his revolt on condition that he should proceed in pursuit of her other enemy, Shah Jehan. That prince, after making his submission to the emperor, had fled to Sind() intending to seek an asylum in Persia, but he was still a formidable obstacle to her views. But when his prospects were at the lowest ebb they began to brighten. Mohabet, dreading a reign of weakness and violence if Shariar succeeded to the throne through the influence of Noor Jehan, resolved to assist the efforts of Shah Jehan, and, instead of proceeding to attack him, joined him with the troops yet remaining under his standard.

Death and character of Jehangeer, 1627

The empress on hearing of this defection ordered him to be hunted through the empire, and set a price on his head. But her power was at once annihilated by the death of Jehangeer, whose constitution was completely exhausted by a life of indulgence, and who expired at Lahore on the 28th of October, 1627, in the sixtieth year of his age. He was contemporary with James the First of England. Not only was their reign of the same duration, but there was a remarkable accordance in their characters. They were both equally weak and contemptible, both the slaves of favourites and of drink, and, by a singular coincidence, they both launched a royal decree against the use of tobacco, then recently introduced into England and India, and, in both cases, with the same degree of success.

Accession of Shah Jehan, 1627

On the death of Jehangeer, Asof Khan, the brother of Noor Jehan, and one of the chief ministers, determined to support the claims of Shah Jehan on the same ground which had influenced the decision of Mohabet. He despatched a messenger to summon him from the Deccan, and at the same time placed the empress dowager under restraint. Her influence expired with the

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death of her husband, and she retired from the world with an annuity of twenty-five lacs of rupees a-year, and passed the remaining years of her life in cherishing his memory. Shariar, who was at Lahore, was attacked and defeated by Asof Khan, and put to death by order of Shah Jehan.

He indulges his passion for magnificence

That prince lost no time in coming up from the Deccan, in company with Mohabet Khan, on whom, as well as on Azof Khan, the instruments of his elevation, he bestowed the highest dignities. He was proclaimed emperor, at Agra, early in 1628, and began his reign by indulging that passion for magnificence in which he eclipsed all his predecessors. The anniversary of his accession was commemorated by a display of incredible extravagance. A suite of tents was manufactured of the finest Cashmere shawls, which, in the figurative language of his biographer, it required two months to pitch. In conformity with the usage of the ancient Hindoo sovereigns he was weighed against silver, and gold, and jewels, which were then lavished among the courtiers. Vessels filled with gems were waved over his head and emptied on the floor for a general scramble. The expense of this festival was computed at a crore and a half of rupees.

Condition of the three Kingdoms in the Deccan

The first eight years of the reign of Shah Jehan were occupied with military operations in the Deccan. Thirty years had now elapsed since Akbar crossed the Nerbudda, and overran the kingdom of Ahmednugur, on which occasion he added to his titles that of king of the Deccan. The genius of Malik Amber had, however, succeeded in restoring the independence of the kingdom, together with much of its ancient power; but he had recently died, at the age of eighty. The king of Beejapore, Ibrahim Adil Shah, renowned for the grandeur of his edifices, had died about the same time, bequeathing a full treasury and an army of 200,000 men to his successor. The king of Golconda was engaged in extending his authority over his Hindoo neighbours to the east and south. Of all the acquisitions made by Akbar south of the Nerbudda, there remained to the crown of

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Delhi only the eastern half of Candesh, and the adjoining portion of Berar.

War in the Deccan occasioned by the revolt of Khan Jehan Lodi, 1629–1637

The war in the Deccan on which Shah Jehan now entered, and which continued for eight years, was occasioned by the revolt of Jehan Lodi. He was an Afghan of ignoble birth, but great ability and arrogance, who had raised himself to eminence in the Mogul army, and obtained the office of governor of the Deccan, from which post he was removed to Malwa under the new reign. He was invited to court, and treated apparently with great distinction; but, having imbibed a suspicion that the emperor, to whom he was personally odious, had a design on his life, he quitted the capital abruptly with the troops which had accompanied him. He was immediately pursued, and overtaken on the banks of the Chumbul; and it was only with extreme difficulty that he was able to elude pursuit and reach the Deccan; but, having once reached it, he was joined by numerous adherents, and supported by the king of Ahmednugur. The emperor considered the revolt so serious as to order three armies, each consisting of 50,000 men, into the field, and even to proceed to the Deccan in person. Jehan Lodi was driven out of Ahmednugur by the Mogul force, and sought the aid of the king of Beejapore, which was peremptorily refused him. His friend, Shahjee, the Mahratta chieftain, considering his cause desperate, abandoned it, and joined the Moguls; for which act of treachery he was rewarded with a title of nobility. Meanwhile his allies, the Ahmednugur troops, were defeated by the Moguls at Dowlutabad; and Jehan Lodi, overwhelmed by the defection of his friends and the discomfiture of his allies, fled northward, in the hope of reaching Afghanistan, and rousing his countrymen; but he was brought to bay on the borders of Bundlecund, and, after performing prodigies of valour with the small body of 400 men who still adhered to his fallen fortunes, was struck dead by a Rajpoot, and his head sent as an acceptable offering to Shah Jehan.

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Termination of the war in the Deccan

The war with Ahmednugur did not, however, cease with the cause of it. The king, Mortiza Nizam, had fallen out with his minister, Futeh Khan, the son and successor of Malik Amber, and thrown him into prison; but, having experienced nothing but mortification in his struggle with the Moguls, released him, and restored him to power. The Abyssinian rewarded the kindness of his master by causing him and his adherents to be assassinated; and, having placed an infant on the vacant throne, offered his submission to the emperor. Meanwhile, the king of Beejapore, alarmed at the progress of the Mogul arms, determined to make common cause with Ahmednugur, and thus brought down the imperial armies on his own territories. It would be wearisome to go into a detail of all the intrigues, the treachery, and the vicissitudes which form the history of this period of five years. Suffice it to record that the war with Beejapore was conducted with varied fortunes; that the king baffled the Mogul generals by creating a desert for twenty miles around his capital, and depriving their armies of food, forage, and water; and that both parties, becoming at length weary of this war of fruitless desolation, listened to terms of accommodation. The result of this conflict of eight years may be thus summed up: the kingdom of Ahmednugur was entirely extinguished, after it had flourished a century and a half; a portion of its territory was ceded to Beejapore for a tribute of twenty lacs of rupees a year, and the remainder absorbed in the Mogul dominions; while the king of Golconda, overawed by the neighbourhood of the Mogul army, consented to pay an annual subsidy.

The Portuguese power in Bengal, 1537

We turn now to Bengal. At what period the Portuguese formed their first establishment in that province is not accurately known; but in the year 1537, the king, Mahmood, when pressed, as we have already stated, by the famous Shere Shah, invoked the aid of the Portuguese governor on the Malabar coast, and Samprayo, his admiral, entered the Ganges with nine vessels. Though they arrived

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too late to afford him assistance, it is supposed that they formed a settlement in the neighbourhood of the great port of Satgong, at a place called Golin, or Gola, the granary, afterwards corrupted to Hooghly, where they continued to flourish for a hundred years. Towards the close of the century they appear to have formed another and larger settlement at Chittagong, where Gonzales is said to have held the district around it in subjection with the help of a thousand Europeans, two thousand natives, and eighty ships. So formidable was his power, that the Mogul viceroy made Dacca the seat of his government, in order more effectually to check his progress. With the command of the only two ports of the Gangetic valley, the power of the Portuguese in Bengal during the sixteenth century must have been an object of no little alarm to the Mogul authorities.

Hooghly

At Hooghly they had fortified their factory, and obtained the complete control of the commerce of the river, and the prosperity of Satgong began to wane under this rivalry. At the time when Shah Jehan, flying before Mohabet, in 1624, advanced from Masulipatam to Bengal, he besought the Portuguese chief at Hooghly, Michael Rodrigues, to assist him with some guns and artillerymen, but, as the governor had no confidence in the success of that rash enterprise, the request was refused. Six years afterwards when Shah Jehan had become emperor, a representation was made by the soobadar of Bengal that some European idolaters, who had been allowed to establish a factory in Bengal, had erected a fort and mounted it with cannon, and grown insolent and oppressive. Shah Jehan had not forgotten the repulse he received from Rodrigues at Hooghly in his adversity, and curtly replied, “Let the idolaters be immediately expelled from my dominions.”

Capture of Hooghly, 1632

The viceroy lost no time in investing Hooghly, and, finding that it could not be carried by storm, undermined the defences. The great bastion was blown up; the Moguls rushed with fury into the breach, and slaughtered

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more than a thousand Portuguese. Of three hundred vessels then in the river, it is stated that only three escaped. More than four thousand were made prisoners; the priests were forwarded to Delhi, and the most beautiful of the women reserved for the royal seraglio; the churches and images were demolished. By this blow, the power of the Portuguese in Bengal was irretrievably broken, and no vestige now remains of their former influence, save the few vocables they contributed to the language of the country, and the old church at Bandel, within sight of Hooghly, erected two centuries and a half ago. The Mogul viceroy directed that it should thenceforth be made the royal port of Bengal; all the public records and offices were removed to it from Satgong, and that city, which may be traced back to the days of the Caesars, sunk into a little paper making hamlet.

Acquisition of Candahar, 1637 Ali Merdan – his canal

In the year 1637 the emperor was gladdened by the unexpected recovery of Candahar, which had been so often lost and gained by the family of Baber Ali Merdan, the governor under the Persians, was driven into rebellion by the tyrannical proceedings of his sovereign, and made over, the town and territory to the Moguls; after which he sought a refuge at the court of Delhi. He was received, as may well be supposed, with great honour by Shah Jehan, and subsequently employed in many military expeditions beyond the Indus. But his fame has been perpetuated in India by the great public works which he executed, and more especially by the canal, near Delhi, distinguished by his name, which has proved an incalculable blessing to the country it irrigates.

Military operations beyond the Indus, 1644–47

The military operations which were undertaken beyond the Indus, can scarcely be said to belong to the history of India. The emperors of the house of Baber retained the same ardent interest in all the political movements of the region from which they sprung, as the first and second George took in the fortunes of Hanover. India was, therefore, drained of men and money for the conquest

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or defence of those distant, and, as compared with India, unprofitable possessions The son of the Uzbek ruler of Balkh had revolted against his father; the government was thrown into confusion, and Shah Jehan, who had enjoyed seven years of repose, could not resist the temptation of again prosecuting the dormant rights of his family on that remote province. Ali Merdan was sent across the Indus with a large army, and ravaged Budukshan, but was constrained, by the severity of the winter, to retreat. Raja Jugut Sing was then sent to conduct the war with 14,000 Rajpoots; and never did the chivalry of that race of warriors, and their sympathy with a tolerant and just government, shine more conspicuously than in this expedition. Regardless of Hindoo prejudices, they crossed the Indus, and surmounted the Hindoo gosh, and encountered the fiery valour of the Uzbeks in that frozen region. To be near the scene of operations, Shah Jehan took up his residence at Cabul. His third son, Aurungzebe was also employed in these operations, and at first gained a great victory, but was soon after obliged to retire upon Balkh, and then to make a most disastrous retreat to Cabul, with the loss of a great portion of his army. The emperor was at length induced calmly to weigh the policy of continuing an expensive war in that distant quarter; and he had the moral courage to relinquish the enterprize.

The Persians retake Candahar, and three efforts made in vain to recover it, 1648

The repose gained by abandoning Balkh was, however, of short duration. Shah Abbas, the king of Persia, having now attained his majority, came down on Candahar and retook it, after a siege of two months. Shah Jehan was resolved to recover it, and the following year Aurungzebe invested it for four months, but without success. Two years after, the vizier as well as the prince again invested the town with a larger force, but the attempt was a second time unsuccessful, and Aurungzebe was sent as viceroy to the Deccan. A third army was despatched in 1653, under prince Dara, the eldest son of the emperor, who was impatient to achieve success in

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an expedition in which his ambitious brother had been twice foiled; but, though it set out at the precise moment which the royal astrologer had pronounced to be most auspicious, it was equally destined to disappointment. Thus terminated the third and last attempt of the Moguls to recover Candahar, of which they had held but a precarious possession since the days of Baber. The failure was followed by two years of repose, when Shah Jehan completed the revenue settlement in the Deccan, on which he had laboured for twenty years, and introduced the financial system of Toder Mull.

Renewal of the war in the Deccan, 1653

The year 1655 marks the commencement of an important series of events; – the renewal of the war in the Deccan, which continued for fifty years to consume the resources of the Mogul empire, and served to hasten its downfall. During the twenty years of peace which followed the treaty with the king of Beejapore, in 1636, that prince had given his attention to the construction of those splendid palaces, mausoleums, and mosques which distinguished his reign; and to the conquest of the petty principalities in the Carnatic which had sprung out of the ruins of the Hindoo kingdom of Beejuyanugur. The tribute which he exacted at the same time from the king of Golconda, had been paid with punctuality, and that prince had manifested every disposition to cultivate the friendship of the emperor. There was no cause of difference with these rulers, and Shah Jehan appeared to be completely satisfied with the relation they maintained with his throne. But in 1653, Aurungzebe, after his second repulse from Candahar, was appointed to the Deccan, and determined to obtain an indemnity for his disappointment in the subjugation of the two kingdoms of Beejapore and Golconda.

Meer Joomla

An unexpected event gave him the pretext he was seeking for an interference in their affairs. Mahomed, generally known by his title of Meer Joomla, then the chief minister of Abdoolla Kootub, king of Golconda, was born of indigent parents at Ispahan, the capital of Persia, and was placed

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in the service of a diamond merchant, who took him to Golconda, and bequeathed his business to him. The enterprizing youth embarked in maritime trade, and amassed prodigious wealth, and came to be held in high estimation for his talents and probity in every Mahomedan court in Asia. He entered the royal service of Golconda, and gradually rose to the supreme direction of affairs. He led an army to the south, and extended the authority of the king over the chiefs who yet enjoyed independence; and it was while absent on this expedition that his son, Mahomed Amin, by some supposed act of disrespect, incurred the displeasure of his sovereign.

Meer Joomla – Attack of Golconda Submission of the king, 1658

Meer Joomla solicited that consideration for his son, which he considered his own services entitled him to, but meeting with a refusal, made an appeal to Aurungzebe, which that prince was but too happy to take up. Under his influence, Shah Jehan was induced to send a haughty missive to Abdoolla to grant - redress to the youth, which the king answered by placing him in confinement, and confiscating his father’s estates. An order was then sent to Aurungzebe from Delhi to enforce compliance by the sword, and he entered upon the execution of it with that craft which was the prominent feature of his character through life. He assembled a large army, giving out that he was about to proceed to Bengal to celebrate the marriage of his son -with the daughter of his brother, the viceroy of that province. He advanced towards Hyderabad with the most friendly professions, and the unsuspecting Abdoolla, prepared to welcome him with a magnificent entertainment, when he found himself treacherously assailed by the Mogul army, and constrained to seek refuge in the fortress of Golconda. A large portion of Hyderabad was burnt down, and the city subjected to indiscriminate plunder, by which the booty which Aurungzebe had destined to himself, fell to his soldiers. The king of Golconda, reduced to extremity by this sudden and unprovoked assault, was constrained to submit to the harsh terms imposed by Aurungzebe, – that he

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should bestow his daughter on one of his sons, with a rich dowry, and pay up a crore of rupees, as the first instalment of an annual tribute. Shah Jehan, who had a conscience, remitted one-fifth of this sum, and, inviting Meer Joomla to Delhi, invested him with the office of vizier.

Assault on Beejapore, 1657

Having thus reduced Golconda to submission, Aurungzebe resolved to attack Beejapore, and he had not long to wait for a pretext. Mahomed Adil Shah died in 1656, and bequeathed the kingdom to his son, a youth of nineteen, who mounted the throne without paying that homage which the emperor pretended to consider due to him. It was, therefore, given out that the youth was illegitimate, and that it belonged to the emperor to nominate a successor. The war which arose on this unwarrantable claim was, perhaps, a more wanton and heinous aggression than any to be found in the darkest annals of India. Meer Joomla, as commander-in-chief, and Aurungzebe, as his lieutenant, suddenly invaded the territories of Beejapore. The Mahratta chieftains in the service of that state, nobly rallied round the throne, but the abruptness of the irruption, rendered it impossible to collect a sufficient force – a large portion of the army being absent in the Carnatic – or to resort to the usual means of defence. The forts of Beder and Koolburga were captured, the country was laid waste with fire and sword, and the capital was invested. The king made the most humble supplications, and offered to purchase peace by the payment of a crore of rupees, or any sacrifice the prince might demand; but every offer was sternly rejected. The extinction of the dynasty appeared inevitable, when an event occurred in the north, which gave it a respite of thirty years. News came posting down to the Deccan that the emperor was at the point of death, and that the contest for the empire had begun. Aurungzebe was obliged to hasten to the capital to look after his own interests, and the siege of Beejapore was raised.

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The four sons of Shah Jehan Aurungzebe advances to Delhi, 1657

Shah Jehan had four sons; Dara, the eldest, had been declared his successor, and admitted to a considerable share of the government. He had great talents for command, and an air of regal dignity; he was frank and brave, but haughty and rash. Soojah, the second son, the viceroy of Bengal, had been accustomed to civil and military command from his youth, but was greatly addicted to pleasure. The third, Aurungzebe, was the most able and ambitious, as well as the most subtle and astute member of the family; while Morad, the youngest, though bold and generous, was little more than a mere sot. Dara was a free thinker of Akbar’s school; Aurungzebe was a bigoted Mahomedan, and contrived to rally the orthodox around him by stigmatizing his brother as an infidel. The claims of primogeniture had always been vague and feeble in the Mogul dynasty, and the power of the sword generally superseded every other right; when, therefore, four princes, each with an army at his command, equally aspired to the throne, a contest became inevitable.

Soojah takes the field, 1657

Soojah was the first in the field, and advanced from Bengal towards the capital. Morad, the viceroy of Guzerat, on hearing of his father’s illness, seized the public treasure, and assumed the title of emperor. Aurungzebe, after having extracted a large supply of money from the king of Beejapore, granted him a peace, and advanced with his army to the northern boundary of his province. His object was to cajole Morad, whom he saluted as emperor, and congratulated on his new dignity, declaring that as for himself his only desire was to renounce the world and proceed on pilgrimage to Mecca, after he had liberated his father from the thraldom of the irreligious Dara. Morad was simple enough to believe these professions, and united his army to that of Aurungzebe on the banks of the Nerbudda, when the two brothers advanced towards the capital.

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Dara defeats Soojah Aurungzebe is victorious, and deposes Shah Soojah, 1658

Dara prepared to meet both these attacks. He despatched raja Jey Sing, of Jeypore, to oppose Soojah, and raja Jesswunt Sing to encounter Aurungzebe. The selection of two Hindoo generals to command the armies which were to decide the fortunes of the Mogul throne affords strong evidence of the feelings of loyalty which the wise policy of Akbar had inspired. Just at this juncture Shah Jehan was restored to health and resumed the functions of government; but it was too late to quench the elements of strife. The imperial force came up with Soojah at Benares, and he was defeated, and obliged to fly to Bengal. The united armies of Aurungzebe and Morad encountered Jesswunt Sing near Oojein, and defeated him, and then advanced with 35,000 troops to the neighbourhood of Agra. Dara came out to meet them with a superior force, estimated at 100,000 foot, 20,000 horse, and 80 pieces of cannon. In the fierce and bloody battle which ensued, Dara was completely overpowered and fled from the field with a remnant of barely 2,000 men. The victorious Aurungzebe entered the capital, deposed his father, and assumed the whole power of the empire.

Character of Shah Jehan

The character of Shah Jehan is aptly described by his native biographer. “Akbar was pre-eminent as a warrior and as a lawgiver. Shah Jehan for the incomparable order, and arrangement of his finances, and the internal administration of the empire.” Though he drew a revenue of thirty crores of rupees annually from his dominions, which did not include the Deccan, it is generally asserted that the country enjoyed greater prosperity during his reign than under any of his predecessors; it has therefore been characterized as the golden age of the Mogul dynasty. This is a significant fact, since this prosperity cannot be attributed to any enlightened policy, or to any encouragement given by the emperor to the pursuits of industry; it was owing simply to that respite from the ravages of war, which afforded the provinces within the Indus scope for the development of their

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resources. Shah Jehan was unquestionably the most magnificent prince of the house of Baber, and perhaps of any other Mahomedan dynasty. The pomp of his court, and the costliness of all his establishments almost stagger our belief; but with a treasury which received 600 crores of rupees during twenty years of peace, what might not a monarch do, who had only his own will to consult? In nothing was the splendour of his taste more manifest than in his buildings. It was he who founded the new city of Delhi, in which his castellated palace, with its spacious courts, and marble halls, and gilded domes, was the most attractive object. Of that palace the noblest ornament was the far-famed peacock throne, blazing with emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and the most costly stones, the value of which was estimated by a European jeweller and traveller at six crores of rupees. To him the country was indebted for the immaculate Taj Mehal, the mausoleum of his Queen, the pride of India, and the admiration of the world. But all his establishments were managed with such circumspection, that after defraying the cost of his expeditions beyond the Indus, and maintaining an army of 200,000 horse, he left in his treasury, according to his native historian, a sum not short of twenty-four crores of rupees.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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