man and the state of the affairs of Indostan who did not say 'T is this day that Aureng-Zebe is King of Bengale And himself could not forbear to express some such thing for he publickly said to Mahmet-Emir-kan You have lost your Father and I the greatest and the most dangerous Friend I had yet notwithstanding he comforted this Son and withal assured him that he would ever be a Father to him And whereas 't was thought that he would at least cut off his Salary and make Inquisition into his Treasury he confirmed him in his Office of Bakehis augmented his Pension to a thousand Rupies a moneth and left him Heir of all the Estate of his Father although the Custom of the Country empowred him to seize on all The third is concerning Chah-hest-kan whom Aureng-Zebe made first Governour of Agra when he went out to the Battel of Kadjoue against Sultan Sujah and afterward Governour and General of the Army in Decan and at last after the death of Emir-Jemla Governour and General of the Army in Bengale together with the charge of Mirul Omrah which Emir-jemla had possessed This Chah-hest-kan is he whom in our History we have mention'd as Uncle to Aureng-Zebe and one that hath so much contributed to his happiness by his eloquent and skilful pen as well as by his intrigues and counsels It would be injurious to his Renown also to be silent of the important enterprise which he undertook presently when he entred upon his Government and that the rather because Emir-jemla whether out of policy or for another cause had no mind to tempt him as also because the particularities which I am going to relate will shew not only the passed and present state of the Kingdoms of Bengale and Rakan which hitherto hath not been well described to us by any but also some other things that are worth knowing To the end therefore that the importance of Chah-hest-kan's attempt may be well understood and a good Idea be had of what passeth about the Gulf of Bengale we are to know that the e many years there have always been in the Kingdom of Rakan or Moy some Portugueses and with them a great number of their Christian Slaves and other Franguis gather'd from all parts That was the refuge of the Run-aways from Goa Ceilan Cochin Malague and all those other places which the Portugueses formerly held in the Indies and they were such as had abandoned their Monasteries men that had been twice or thrice Married Murtherers In a word such as had deserved the Rope were most welcome and most esteem'd there leading in that Country a life that was very detestable and altogether unworthy of Christians insomuch that they impunely butchered and poysoned one another and assassinated their own Priests who sometimes were not better than themselves The King of Rakan in the apprehension he hath ever had of the Mogol kept them for a guard of his Frontiers in a Port-Town called Chategon giving them Land and liberty to live as they pleased Their ordinary Trade was Robbery and Piracy With some small and light Gallies they did nothing but coast about that Sea and entring into all Rivers thereabout and into the Channels and Arms of Ganges and between all those Isles of the lower Bengale and often penetrating even so far as forty or fifty leagues up into the Countrey surprized and carried away whole Towns Assemblies Markets Feasts and Weddings of the poor Gentiles and others of that Countrey making Women Slaves great and small with strange cruelty and burning all they could not carry away And thence it is that at present there are seen in the mouth of Ganges so many fine Isles quite deserted which were formerly well peopled and where no other Inhabitants are found but wild Beasts and especially Tygers This great number of Slaves which thus they took from all quarters behold what use they made of They had boldness and impudence enough to come and sell to that very Country the old people which they knew not what to do with where it so fell out that those who had escaped the danger by flight and by hiding themselves in the Woods labour'd to redeem to day their Fathers and Mothers that had been taken yesterday The rest they kept for their service to make Rowers of them and such Christians as they were themselves bringing them up to robbing and killing or else they sold them to the Portugueses of Goa Ceilan St. Thomas and others and even to those that were remaining in Bengale at Ogouli who were come thither to settle themselves there by the favour of Jehan-Guyre the Grandfather of Aureng-Zebe who suffered them there upon the account of Traffick and of his having no aversion to Christians as also because they promised him to keep the Bay of Bengale clear from all Pyrats And it was towards the Isle of Galles near the Cape of Palmes where this fine Trade was These Pyrates lay there in wait at the passage for the Portugueses who filled their Ships with them at a very easie rate this infamous Rabble impudently bragging that they made more Christians in one year then all the Missionaries of the Indies in ten which would be a strange way of enlarging Christianity These were the Pyrates that made Chah-Jehan who was a more zealous Mahumetan than his Father Jehan-Guyre to express at last his passion not only against the Reverend Fathers the Jesuites Missionaries of Agra in that he caused to be pulled down the best part of a very fair and large Church that had been built as well as that of Lahor by the favour of Jehan-Guyre who as I said did not hate Christianity and upon which there stood a great Steeple with a great Bell in it whose sound might be heard over all the Town not only I say against those Jesuites but also against the Christians of Ogouli For being impatient to see them connive at the Pyrates to make the name of the Franguis formidable and to fill their houses with Slaves that were his own Subjects he wasted and utterly ruined them after he had both with fair words and menaces drawn from them as much money as he could And because they were indiscreetly obstinate in refusing what he demanded of them he besieged them and caused them all to be brought to Agra even their very Children their Priests and Friers This was a misery and a desolation not to be parallell'd a kind of Babilonian transmigration There they were all made Slaves The handsom Women were shut up in the Seraglio the old Women and others were distributed among divers Omrahs The young Lads were circumcised and made Pages and men of age renounced for the most part their Faith either terrified by the threatnings they heard daily that they should be trampled upon by Elephants or drawn away by fair Promises 'T is true that there were some of those Friers who persisted and that the Missionaries of Agra who notwithstanding all this unhappiness
THE HISTORY OF The Late Revolution OF THE EMPIRE OF THE GREAT MOGOL Together with the most considerable Passages for 5 years following in that Empire To which is added A LETTER to the Lord COLBERT touching the Extent of Indostan the Circulation of the Gold and Silver of the World to discharge it self there as also the Riches Forces and Justice of the same And the Principal Cause of the Decay of the States of Asia By Mons r F. BERNIER Physitian of the Faculty of Montpelier English'd out of French THE SECOND EDITION LONDON Printed and Sold by M. Pitt at the Angel and S. Miller at the Star in St. Paul's Church yard and J. Starkey at the Miter near Temple-Bar 1676. An EXTRACT of a LETTER Written to Mr. H. O. FROM Monsieur DE MONCEAUX THE YOUNGER Giving a Character of the BOOK here Englished and its AUTHOR VIrtue sometimes is no less interessed than Affection Both Sir are glad to receive from time to time pledges mutually answering for those that have united themselves in a close correspondence Yours indeed should demand of me such as might be a security to you for the advance you have been pleased to make me of your Friendship But since at present I have nothing worth presenting you with and yet am unwilling to give you any leisure to be diffident of my realness or to repent for having so easily given me a share in your esteem I here send you a Relation of INDOSTAN in which you will find such considerable Occurrences as will make you confess I could not convey to you a more acceptable Present and that Monsieur Bernier who hath written it is a very Gallant Man and of a mould I wish all Travellers were made of We ordinarily travel more out of Unsettledness than Curiosity with a design to see Towns and Countries rather than to know their Inhabitants and Productions and we stay not long enough in a place to inform our selves well of the Government Policy Interests and Manners of its People Monsieur Bernier after he had benefitted himself for the space of many years by the converse of the famous Gassendi seen him expire in his arms succeeded him in his Knowledge and inherited his Opinions and Discoveries embarqued for Aegypt stay'd above a whole year at Cairo and then took the occasion of some Indian Vessels that Trade in the Ports of the Red Sea to pass to Suratte and after Twelve years abode at the Court of the GREAT MOGOL is at last come to seek his rest in his native Countrey there to give an Accompt of his Observations and Discoveries and to poure out into the bosom of France what he had amassed in India Sir I shall say nothing to you of his Adventures which you will find in the Relations that are to follow hereafter which he abandons to the greediness of the Curious who prefer their satisfaction to his quiet and do already persecure him to have the sequel of this History Neither shall I mention to you the hazards he did run by being in the Neighbourhood of Mecca nor of his prudent Conduct which made him merit the esteem of his Generous Fazelkan who since is become the first Minister of that Great Empire whom he taught the principal Languages of Europe after he had Translated for him the whole Philosophy of Gassendi in Latin and whose leave he could not obtain to go home 'till he had got for him a select number of our best European Books thereby to supply the loss he should suffer of his Person This at least I can assure you of that never a Traveller went from home more capable to observe nor hath written with more knowledge candour and integrity that I knew him at Constantinople and in some Towns of Greece of so excellent a Conduct that I proposed him to my self for a Pattern in the Design I then had to carry my Curiosity as far as the place where the Sun riseth that I have often drowned in the sweetness of his entertainment the bitternesses which else I must have swallowed all alone in such irksome and unpleasant passages as are those of Asia Sir You will do me a pleasure to let me know the sentiment your Illustrious SOCIETY hath of this Piece Their Approbation begets much emulation among the Intelligent who all have no other Ambition than to please them I my self must avow to you that if I thought I could merit so much I should not so stiffly oppose as I do the Publication of the Observations and Notes I have made in the Levant I should suffer my Friends to take them out of my Cabinet where from the slight value I have for them they are like to lye imprisoned except the KING my Master by whose Order I undertook those Voyages should absolutely command me to set them at liberty and to let them take their course in the world Mean time Sir you will oblige me to assure those GREAT MEN who this day compose the most knowing Company on Earth of the Veneration I have for the Oracles that come from their Mouth and that I prefer their Lyceum before that of Athens and lastly that of all their Admirers there is none that hath a greater Concern for their Glory than Paris Julij 16 1670. De MONCEAUX The HEADS of the Principal Contents of this HISTORY Added by the English Interpreter 1. VVHat depth of Policy and Craft was used by Aureng-Zebe the Heros in this History and the Third of the Four Sons of Chah-Jehan the Great Mogol to supplant all his Brothers and to settle himself in the Throne And how the first Foundation thereof was laid by the Visier of the King of Golkonda and the sickness of Chah-Jehan the Father of Aureng-Zebe 2. A mixture of Love-Intrigues practised by the Princess Begum-Saheb one of the two Daughters of the Great Mogol Chah-Jehan 3. How Aureng-Zebe having overcome all his Brothers did secure his Father and others whom he had cause to be jealous of 4. How the Neighbours of the Empire of Mogol demeaned themselves towards the new Emperour Aureng-Zebe and what Embassies were dispatched to him first by the Usbec-Tartars where a Description of that Countrey and People then the Dutch of Suratte as also from Mecca from Arabia Felix from Ethiopia and Persia together with an Account of their respective Instructions Receptions Entertainments and Dismissions particularly of that of the Hollanders securing and improving their Trade by this their Embassie 5. Aureng-Zebe's singular prudence and indefatigable pains in managing the Government himself and how he treated him that endeavoured to perswade him to take his ease and pleasure now he was established 6. Aureng-Zebe's distaste against his Favourite-Sister Rauchenara-Begum occasioned by some Love Cabals 7. His great Care in appointing a Governour and Tutor to his Third Son Sultan Ekbar 8. With what wisdom and severity Aureng-Zebe received and treated his Pedantick Tutor who expected to be made a great Lord for his former
held impregnable it being situated upon an inaccessible Rock and having within it self good water and provision enough for a Garrison that was not so easie a thing They were too potent already each of them having a Princely Train And again he could not handsomely remove them far off without giving them some Government fit for their Birth wherein he apprehended they would Cantonize themselves and become little independent Kings as actually they afterwards did Nevertheless fearing lest they should cut one anothers Throat before his Eyes if he kept them still at Court he at last concluded to send them away And so he sent Sultan Sujah his second Son into the Kingdom of Bengale his third Aureng-Zebe into Decan and the youngest Morad-Bakche to Guzaratte giving to Dara the eldest Cabal and Multan The three first went away very well content with their Government and there they Acted each the Soveraign and retained all the Revenues of their respective Countries entertaining great Troops under the pretence of bridling their Subjects and Neighbours As to Dara because the eldest and designed to the Crown he stirred not from the Court which that he should not do seemed also to be the intention of Chah-Jehan who entertained him in the hopes of succeeding him after his Death He even permitted then that Orders were issued out by him and that he might sit in a kind of Throne beneath his among the Omrahs so that it seemed as if there were two Kings together But as 't is very difficult for two Soveraigns to agree Chah-Jehan though Dara shew'd him great Observance and Affection always harbour'd some diffidence fearing above all things the Morsel and besides for as much as he knew the parts of Aureng-Zebe and thought him more capable to Reign than any of the rest he had always as they say some particular correspondence with him This it is what I thought fit to premise concerning these four Princes and their Father Chah-Jehan because 't is necessary for the understanding of all that follows I esteem'd also that I was not to forget those two Princesses as having been the most considerable Actors in the Tragedy the Women in the Indies taking very often as well as at Constantinople and in many other places the best part in the most important Transactions though Men take seldom notice of it and trouble their heads of seeking for other Causes But to deliver this History with clearness we must rise somewhat higher and relate what passed some time before the Troubles between Aureng-Zebe the King of Golkonda and his Visier Emir-Jemla because this will discover to us the Character and Temper of Aureng-Zebe who is to be the Heros of this Piece and the King of the Indies Let us then see after what manner Emir-Jemla proceeded to lay the first foundation of the Royalty of Aureng-Zebe During the time that Aureng-Zebe was in Decan the King of Golkonda had for his Visier and General of his Armies this Emir-Jemla who was a Persian by Nation and very famous in the Indies He was not a Man of great Extraction but beaten in Busiuess a person of excellent parts and a great Captain He had the Wit of amassing great Treasures not only by the Administration of the Affairs of this opulent Kingdom but also by Navigation and Trade sending ships into very many parts and causing the Diamond Mines which he alone had farmed under many borrowed names to be wrought with extraordinary diligence So that people discoursed almost of nothing but of the Riches of Emir-Jemla and of the plenty of his Diamonds which were not reckon'd but by Sacks He had also the skill to render himself very potent and considerable entertaining besides the Armies of the King very good Troops for his particular and above all a very good Artillery with abundance of Franguys or Christians to manage it In a word he grew so rich and so puissant especially after he had found a way to enter into the Kingdom of Karnates and to pillage all the ancient Churches of the Idols of that Countrey that the King of Golkonda became jealous of it and prepared himself to unsaddle him and that the more because he could not bear what was reported of him as if he had used too great familiarity with the Queen his Mother that was yet beauteous Yet he discover'd nothing of his Design to any having patience and waiting 'till Emir came to the Court for he was then in the Kingdom of Karnates with his Army But one day when more particular News was brought him of what had passed between his Mother and Him he had not power enough to dissemble any longer but was transported by choler to fall to invectives and menaces Whereof Emir was soon made acquainted having at the Court abundance of his Wives Kindred and all his nearest Relations and best Friends possessing the principal Offices The Kings Mother also who did not hate him had speedy information of the same Which obliged Emir without delay to write to his only Son Mahmet Emir-Kan who then was about the King requiring him to do the best he could to withdraw with all speed from the Court under some pretence of Hunting or the like and to come and joyn with him Mahmet Emir-Kan failed not to attempt divers ways but the King causing him to be narrowly observed none of them all would succeed This very much perplexed Emir and made him take a strange resolution which cast the King in great danger to lose his Crown and Life so true 't is that he who knows not to Dissemble knows not how to Reign He writ to Aureng-Zebe who was then in Daulet-Abad the Capital of Decan about fifteen or sixteen days Journey from Golkonda giving him to understand that the King of Golkonda did intend to ruin him and his Family notwithstanding the signal Services he had done him as all the World knew which was an un-exampled Injustice and Ingratitude that this necessitated him to take his refuge to him and to intreat him that he would receive him into his protection that for the rest if he would follow his advice and confide in him he would so dispose Affairs that he would at once put into his hands both the King and Kingdom of Golkonda This thing he made very easie using the following Discourse You need but take four or five thousand Horse of the best of your Army and to March with Expedition to Golkonda spreading a rumour by the way that 't is an Ambassadour of Chah-Jehan that goes in haste about considerable Matters to speak with the King at Bag-naguer The Dabir who is he that is first to be addressed unto to make any thing known unto the King is allyed to me and my Creature and altogether mine take care of nothing but to March with expedition and I will so order it that without making you known you shall come to the Gates of Bag-naguer and when the King shall come out to receive the Letters
Chah-Jehan and made great noise about them and his Sister Begum failed not to make use of this occasion to animate the King against them But Chah-Jehan was diffident of Dara and fearing to be poysoned gave order that particular care should be had of what was brought to his Table 'T was also said that he wrote to Aureng-Zebe and that Dara being advertised thereof could not forbear to menace and to break into very passionate expressions In the mean time the Distemper of Chah-Jehan lingred and 't was bruited every where that he was dead Whereupon the whole Court was disorder'd the whole Town allarm'd the Shops for many days shut up and the four Sons of the King made openly great Preparations each for himself And to say truth it was not without reason that they all made ready for War for they all very well knew that there was no hopes of quarter that there was no other way than to vanquish or dye to be King or undone and that he that should be Conquerour would rid himself of all the rest as formerly Chah-Jehan had done of his Brothers Sultan Sujah who had heaped up great Treasures in that rich Kingdom of Bengale ruining some of the Rajas or petty Kings that are in those parts and drawing great Sums from others took the Field first of all with a puissant Army and in the confidence he had of all the Persian Omrahs for the Sect of whom he had declared himself he boldly Marched towards Agra giving out openly that Chah-Jehan was dead that Dara had poyson'd him that he would revenge the death of his Father and in a word that he would be King Dara desired Chah-Jehan to write himself to him and to forbid him to advance further which he did assuring him that his sickness was not at all dangerous and that he was already much better But he having Friends at Court who assured him that the sickness of Chah-Jehan was mortal he dissembled and ceased not to advance saying still that he knew very well Chah-Jehan was dead and if he should be alive he was desirous to come and kiss his feet and to receive his Commands Aureng-Zebe immediately after if not at the same time taketh the Field also in Decan maketh a great noise and prepareth to March towards Agra The same prohibition was made to him also as well from Chah-Jehan as from Dara who threaten'd him But he dissembleth for the same reason that Sultan Sujah had done and giveth the like answer Mean time finding that his Treasure was low and his Souldiery very inconsiderable he devised two artifices which succeeded admirably well the one in regard of Morad-Bakche the other in respect of Emir-Jemla To Morad-Bakche he writes with speed a very fair Letter importing that he had always been his true and intimate Friend that as for himself he laid no claim at all to the Crown that he might remember he had all his Life time made profession of a Fakire but that Dara was a person incapable to Govern a Kingdom that he was a Kafer an Idolater and hated of all the greatest Omrahs that Sultan Sujah was a Rafezy an Heretick and by consequence an Enemy to Indostan and unworthy of the Crown So that in a word there was none but he Morad-Bakche that could reasonably pretend to the Succession that the Crown did expect him that the whole Court which was not ignorant of his Valour would be for him and that for his particular if he would promise him that being King he would give him leave to live quietly in some Corner or other of his Empire there to serve God the remainder of his days he was ready to make a conjunction with him to assist him with his Counsel and Friends and to put into his hands his whole Army to fight Dara and Sultan Sujah that in the mean time he sent him an hundred thousand Rupies which make about fifty thousand Crowns of our Money and prayed him to accept thereof as a pledge of his friendship and that he would advise him to come with all possible speed to seize on the Castle of Suratte where he knew to be the Treasure of the Land Morad-Bakche who was neither too rich nor too powerful received with much joy this proposition of Aureng-Zebe and the hundred thousand Rupies sent by him and shew'd Aureng-Zebe's Letter to every body thereby to oblige the Flower of that Countrey to take up Arms for him and the substantial Merchants to lend him the more willingly such Sums of Money as he demanded of them He began in good earnest to Act the King made large promises to all and in short did so well that he set a good Army on foot of whom he singled out some three thousand who under the Conduct of Chah-Abas one of his Eunuchs but a Valiant Man should go to Besiege Suratte Aureng-Zebe sent his Eldest Son Sultan Mahmoud him whom he had Married to the Daughter of the King of Golkonda to Emir-Jemla who was yet employed in the Siege of Kaliane to perswade him to come to him to Daulet-Abad pretending to have matter of the greatest importance to communicate to him Emir who soon suspected his intentions excused himself saying openly that Chah-Jehan was not dead that he had fresh News of his being alive and that besides all his Family being at Agra in the hands of Dara he could by no means assist Aureng-Zebe nor declare himself for him Whereupon Sultan Mahmoud return'd to Daulet-Abad without effecting any thing and very much dissatisfied with Emir But Aureng-Zebe lost no courage for all that but sent the second time to Emir yet not Sultan Mahmoud but Sultan Mazum his Second Son who presented to him his Fathers Letter and handled him with that dexterity sweetness and protestation of friendship that it was not possible to resist him Emir therefore pressed the Siege of Kaliane forced the Besieged to Surrender upon Composition took the choice of his Army and with all diligence went away with Sultan Mazum At his arrival Aureng-Zebe courted him in the highest degree treating him no otherwise than with the Name of Baba and Babagy that is Father Lord-Father and after an hundred embraces he took him somewhat aside and told him according to what I could learn from persons who knew of it That it was not just that having his Family at the Court he should adventure to do any thing in his behalf that might come to be known but that after all there was nothing so difficult but an expedient might be found Give me leave therefore said he to propose to you a Design which at first will possibly surprise you but since you apprehend the danger of your Wife and Children that are in Hostage the best way of providing for their security would be to suffer me to seize on your person and to put you in prison It is out of doubt that all the World will believe it done in earnest For who would imagin that
dutiful respects he could have looked for from a good Son That for the rest he begged his pardon and a little patience as soon as he should have disenabled Dara from executing his evil Designs he would come himself and open the Gates to him I have heard it said concerning this Note that Chah-Jehan in very deed the same night that Dara departed had sent to him these Elephants laden with Rupies of Gold and that it was Rauchenara-Begum that found a way to discover it to Aureng-Zebe as she also had detected to him that Plot which was laid against him with those Tartarian Women and that Aureng-Zebe himself had intercepted some Letters of Chah-Jehan to Dara I have conversed with others that maintain there is no such thing and that this Writing which Aureng-Zebe shew'd to all was only to cast Sand into the Eyes of the People and to labour in some degree to justifie himself in so strange an action and to devolve the Cause of it upon Chah-Jehan and Dara as if he had been forced to such proceedings They are things which are difficult enough well to discover However it be as soon as Chah-Jehan was shut up almost all the Omrahs were in a manner necessitated to go and make their Court to Aureng-Zebe and Morad-Bakche and which is almost incredible there was not one that had the courage to stir or to attempt the least in the behalf of his King and for him that had made them what they were and raised them from the dust and perhaps from slavery it self which is ordinary enough in that Court to advance them to Riches and Honour Yet some few there are as Danechmend-Kan and some others that took no side but all the rest declared for Aureng-Zebe 'T is notwithstanding to be noted what I said that they were necessitated to do what they did For 't is not in the Indies as in France or other States of Christendom where the Grandees and Nobles have large Possessions of Land and great Revenues which enables them for a while to subsist of themselves There they have nothing but Pensions as I have already touch'd above which the King can take away from them at all hours and thus ruin them in an instant so that they shall be considered no more than if they never had been nor have any credit to borrow a farthing Aureng-Zebe therefore having thus assured himself of Chah-Jehan and of all the Omrahs took what Sums of Money he thought fit out of the Treasury and then having left Chah-hest-Kan his Uncle Governour of the Town he went away with Morad-Bakche to pursue Dara The day that the Army was to march out of Agra the particular Friends of Morad-Bakche especially his Eunuch Chah-Abas who knew that the excess of civility and respect is ordinarily a sign of imposture counselled him that since he was King and every body treated him with the Title of Majesty and Aureng-Zebe himself acknowledged him for such he should let him go to pursue Dara and stay himself with his Troops about Agra and Dehli If he had followed this counsel 't is certain that he would have embarassed Aureng-Zebe not a little but 't was fatal that he should neglect so good advice Aureng-Zebe is too fortunate Morad-Bakche entirely confideth in his promises and in the Oaths of Fidelity they had sworn to one another upon the Alcoran They went away together and went with the same pace towards Dehli When they were come to Maturas three or four small days Journeys from Agra the Friends of Morad-Bakche who perceived something endeavour'd again to perswade him that he should beware assuring him that Aureng-Zebe had evil designs and that beyond all doubt some mischief was upon the Anvil that they had notice of it from all parts and that by no means for that day at least he should go to see him that it would be much better to prevent the stroke the soonest it might be that he was only to forbear going to visit him that day excusing himself with some indisposition But whatsoever could be said to him he believed nothing of it his Ears were stopp'd to all the good advice that was given him and as if he had been enchanted by the Friendship of Aureng-Zebe he could not hold to go to him that very night and to stay at Supper with him As soon as he was come Aureng-Zebe who expected him and had already prepared all things with Mirkan and three or four of his most intimate Captains was not wanting in embracements and in redoubling his Courtship civilities and submissions in so much as gently to pass his handkerchief over his face and to wipe off his sweat and dust treating him still with the Title of King and Majesty In the mean time the Table is served they sup the conversation grows warm they discourse of various things as they use to do and at last there is brought a huge Bottle of excellent Chiras Wine and some other Bottles of Caboul Wine for a Debauch Then Aureng-Zebe as a grave serious Man and one that would appear a great Mahumetan and very regular nimbly riseth from Table and having with much kindness invited Morad-Bakche who loved a Glass of Wine very well and who relish'd the Wine that was served scrupled not to drink of it to excess In a word he made himself drunk and fell asleep This was the thing that was wished for presently some Servants of his that were there were commanded away under a pretence to let him sleep without making any noise and then his Zable and Ponyard were taken from about him But Aureng-Zebe was not long but came himself and waken'd him He entred into the Chamber and roughly hit him with his foot and when he began to open a little his Eyes he made to him this short and surprising Reprimand What means this said he What shame and what ignominy is this that such a King as you are should have so little temper as thus to make himself drunk What will be said both of you and me Take this infamous Man this Drunkard tye him hand and foot and throw him into that room to sleep out his Wine No sooner said but it was executed notwithstanding all his appeal and out-cry five or six persons fall upon him and fetter his hands and feet The things could not be done but some of his Men that were thereabout had news of it They made some noise and would enter forcibly but Allah-Couly one of his chief Officers and the Master of his Artillery that had been gained long before threatened them and made them draw back Without any delay Men were sent through the whole Army to calm this first Commotion which also might have proved dangerous they made them believe it was nothing they having been present that Morad-Bakche was only drunk that in that condition he had railed at every body and Aureng-Zebe himself in so much that there had been a necessity seeing him drunk and furious to
trouble them in their Trade thereby letting them know that they had to do with a potent Nation and that hath a door open to address themselves and to complain immediately to the King Their end also was to make it appear what interest the King had in their Commerce and therefore they shew'd long Rolls of Commodities bought up by them through the whole Kingdom and Lists of considerable sums of Gold and Silver every year brought thither by them but saying not a word of those which they draw thence from the Copper Lead Cinamon Cloves Muscadin Pepper Wood of Aloes Elephants and other Commodities which they vend there About this time one of the most considerable Omrah's of Aureng-Zebe addressed himself to him and represented that this multitude and variety of perplexing affairs and this perpetual attention of mind in him might soon cause a great alteration in his temper and a dangerous inconvenience in his health But Aureng-Zebe seeming to take almost no notice of what that Omrah said turn'd himself another way and approaching to another of the prime Omrah's of the Court a person of great knowledge and judgment spoke to him in this purpose as I was informed by the Son of this Lord who was my friend You other Sages are you not all of the mind that there are times and conjunctions so urgent that a King ought to hazard his life for his Subjects and sacrifice himself for their Defence with Arms in his hands And yet this Effeminate Man would disswade me from taking pains and dehort me from watching and sollicitude for the Publick and carry me by pretences of Health to the thoughts of an easie life by abandoning the Government of my People and the management of affairs to some Visir or other Doth he not know that Providence having given me a Royal Extraction and raised me to the Crown of Indostan hath not made me for my self alone but for the good and safety of the Publick and for the procurement of tranquility and happiness to my Subjects as far as that nay be obtained by Justice and Power He seeth not the consequence of his Counsels and what mischiefs do attend Visirships Doth he think it to be without reason what out Grand Sady hath so generously pronounced O Kings cease cease to be Kings or govern your Kingdoms your selves Go tell thy Country-man that I shall well like of the care he is constantly to take of the faithful discharge of his Place but advise him also not any more to run out himself so far as he hath done We have natural inclination enough to a long easie and careless life and there need no Counsellors to shake off business and trouble Our Wives that lye in our bosom do too often besides our own genius incline us that way At the same time there happen'd an accident that made a great noise at Dehli especially in the Seraglio and disabused a great many that could as hardly believe as my self that Eunuchs though they had their Genitals quite cut away could become amorous as other men Didar-kan one of the chief Eunuchs of the Seraglio who had built an house where he came often to divert himself fell in love with a very beautiful Woman the Sister of a Neighbour of his that was an Heathen Scrivener These Amours lasted a good while before any body blamed them since it was but an Eunuch that made them which sort of men have the priviledge to go where they please but the familiarity grew so great and so extraordinary betwixt the two Lovers that the Neighbours began to suspect something and to rally the Scrivener which did so touch him that he threatned both his Sisters and the Eunuch to kill them if they should continue their commerce And soon after finding them in the night lying together he stabbed the Eunuch out-right and left his Sister for dead The whole Seraglio Women and Eunuchs made a league together against him to make him away but Aureng-Zebe dissipated all these machinations and was content to have him turn Mahumetan Mean time 't is thought he cannot long avoid the malice and power of the Eunuchs for 't is not as is the common saying with Men as with Bruits these latter become gentler and more tractable when they are castrated but men more vicious and commonly very insolent though sometimes it turneth to an admirable fidelity and gallantry It was also about the same time that Aureng-Zebe was somewhat discontented with Rauchenara-Begum because she was suspected to have given access to two Young Gallants into the Seraglio who were discover'd and brought before Aureng-Zebe Yet this being but a suspicion he expressed to her no great resentment of it nor did he make use of so great rigour and cruelty against those poor men as Chah-Jehan had done against the person above spoken of The matter was related to me by an old Portuguese Woman that had a long while been slave to the Seraglio and went out and in at pleasure as followeth She told me that Rauchenara-Begum after she had drawn from a young man hidden by her all his abillty deliver'd him to some Women to convey him away in the night thorough some Gardens and so to save him But whether they were discover'd or whether they feared they should be so or what else might be the cause they fled and left him there wandring in the midst of those Gardens not knowing which way to get out And being at last met with and brought before Aureng-Zebe who examined him strictly but could draw nothing else from him than that he was come in over the walls he was commanded to get out the same way by which he entred But it seems the Eunuchs did more than Aureng-Zebe had given order for for they cast him down from the top of the walls to the bottom As for the other Young Gallant this same Woman assured me that he was found wandring in the Garden like the first and having confessed that he was come in by the Gate Aureng-Zebe commanded likewise that he also should pass away again by the same Gate yet reserving to himself a severe chastisement for the Eunuchs since not only the honour of the Royal House but also the safety of the Kings person is herein concerned Some months after there arrived at Dehli several Ambassadours almost at the same time The first was Xerif of Meccha whose Present did consist in some Arabian Horses The second and third Ambassador were he of the King of Hyeman or Happy Arabia and he of the Prince of Bassora who likewise presented Arabian horses The two remaining Ambassadors were sent from the King of Ethiopia To the three first no great regard was given they appear'd in so miserable and confused an Equipage that it was perceived they came only to get some money by the means of their Present and of the many Horses and other Merchandise which under the pretence of Ambassadors entred without paying any duty into the Kingdom
order that when he should enter into a pretty long and narrow Stree that is near the Fortress to come to the Hall of the Assembly they should let loose upon him an ill-conditioned and fierce Elephant and certainly if the Ambassador had not nimbly lept out of his Paleky and together with his dextrous attendants shot some Arrows into the Trump of the Elephant which forced him to turn back he had been utterly spoiled It was at this time upon the departure of the Persian Ambassador that Aureng-Zebe received with that admirable wisdome his Tutor Mallah-Sale the History of which is rare and considerable This old man who long since had retired himself towards Caboul and setled himself on some Lands which Chah-Jehan had given him had no sooner heard of the great fortune of Aureng-Zebe his Discipline who had overcome Dara and all his other Brothers and was now King of Indostan but he came in hast to the Court swelled with hopes of being presently advanced to no less than the dignity of an Omrah He maketh his Court and endeavours to engage all his friends and Rauchenara-Begum the Kings Sister employs her self for him But yet there pass three whole Months that Aureng-Zebe does not so much as seem to look upon him till at length wearied to have him always at his Elbow and before his Face he sent for him to a plaee apart where there was no body but Hakim-lul-Mouluk Danech-mend-kan and three or four of those Omr ahs that pretend to Science and then spoke to him to this effect as I was informed by my Agah What is it you would have of me Doctor Can you reasonably desire I should make you one of the chief Omrahs of my Court Let me tell you if you had instructed me as you should have done nothing would be more just For I am of this perswasion that a Child well educated and instructed is as much at least obliged to his Master as to his Father But where are those good Documents you have given me In the first place you have taught me that all that Frangistan so it seems they call Europe was nothing but I know not what little Island of which the greatest King was he of Portugal and next to him he of Holland and after him he of England and as to the other Kings as those of France and Andalusia you have represented them to me as our petty Raja's telling me that the Kings of Indostan were far above them all together and that they were the true and only Houmajons the Ekbars the Jehan-Guyres the Chah-Jehans the Fortunate ones the Great ones the Conquerors and Kings of the World and that Persia and Usbec Kach-guer Tatar and Catay Pegu China and Matchina did tremble at the name of the Kings of Indostan Admirable Geography You should rather have taught me exactly to distinguish all those different States of the World and well to understand their strength their way of fighting their Customs Religions Governments Interests and by the perusal of solid History to observe their Rise Progress Decay and whence how and by what accidents and errors those great Changes and Revolutions of Empires and Kingdoms have happened I have scarce learnt of you the name of my Grandsires the famous Founders of this Empire so far were you from having taught me the History of their Life and what course they took to make such great Conquests You had a mind to teach me the Arabian Tongue to read and to write I am much obliged to you forsooth for baving made me lose so much time upon a Language that requires ten or twelve years to attaein to its perfection as if the Son of a King should think it to be an honour to him to be a Grammarian or some Doctor of the Law and to learn other Languages than those of his Neighbors when he cannot well be without them he to whom Time is so precious for so many weighty tbings which he ought by times to learn As if there were any spirit that did not with some reluctancy and even with a kind of debasement employ it self in so sad and dry an exercise so longsom and tedious as is that of learning Words Thus did Aureng-Zebe resent the pedantick Instructions of his Tutor to which 't is affirmed in that Court that after some entertainment which he had with others he further added the following reproof Know you not that Childhood well govern'd being a state which is ordinarily accompanied with an happy memory is capable of thousands of good Preceps and Instructions which remain deeply impressed the whole remainder of a mans life and keep the mind alwayes raised for great actions The Law Prayers and Sciences may they not as well be learned in our Mother-Tongue as in Arabick You told my Father Chah-Jehan that you would teach me Philosophy 'T is true I remember very well that you have entertain'd me for many years with airy Questions of things that afford no satisfaction at all to the mind and are of no use in humane society empty Notions and meer Phancies that have only this in them that they are very hard to understand and very easie to forget which are only capable to tire and spoil a good understanding and to breed an Opinion that is insupportable I still remember that after you had thus amused me I know not how long with your fine Philosophy all I retained of it was a multitude of barbarous and dark words proper to bewilder perplex and tire out the best wits and only invented the better to cover the vanity and ignorance of men like your self that would make us believe that they know all and that under those obscure and ambiguous words are hid great mysteries which they alone are capable to understand If you had season'd me with that Philosophy which formeth the mind to ratiocination and insensibly accustoms it to be satisfied with nothing but solid reasons if you had given me those excellent precepts and doctrines which raise the Soul above the assaults of Fortune and reduce her to an unshakeable and always equal temper and permit her not to be lifted up by prosperity nor debased by adversity if you had taken care to give me the knowledge of what we are and what are the first principles of things and had assisted me in forming in my mind a fit Idea of the greatness of the Universe and of the admirable order and motion of the parts thereof if I say you had instilled into me this kind of Philosophy I should think my self incomparably more obliged to you than Alexander was to his Aristotle and believe it my duty to recompence you otherwise than he did him Should not you instead of your flattery have taught me somewhat of that point so important to a King which is what the reciprocal duties are of a Soveraign to his Subjects and those of Subjects to their Soveraign And ought not you to have consider'd that one day I should be
according to custome you may easily seize on him and afterwards of all his Family and do with him what shall seem good to you in regard that his House of Bag-naguer where he commonly resides is unwalled and unfortified He added that he would make this Enterprise upon his own Charges offering him fifty thousand Roupies a day which is about five and twenty thousand Crowns during the whole time of the March. Aureng-Zebe who looked only for some such occasion had no mind at all to lose so fair an one He soon undertook the Expedition and did so fortunately manage his Enterprise that he arrived at Bag-naguer without being otherwise known than as an Ambassadour of Chah-Jehan The King of Golkonda being advertised of the arrival of this pretended Ambassadour came forth into a Garden according to custome received him with honour and having unfortunately put himself into the hands of his Enemy ten or twelve Slaves Gurgis were ready to fall upon and to seize his person as had been projected but that a certain Omrah touched with tenderness could not forbear to cry out though he was of the party and a Creature of Emir Doth not your Majesty see that this is Aureng-Zebe Away or you are taken Whereat the King being affrighted slips away and gets hastily on horseback riding with all his might to the Fortress of Golkonda which is but a short League from thence Aureng-Zebe seeing he was defeated in his Design yet was not therefore discomposed but seized at the same time on the Royal House taketh all the rich and good things he finds there yet sending to the King all his Wives which over all the Indies is very religiously observed and goeth to Besiege him in his Fortress But as the Siege for want of having brought along all Necessaries held on long and lasted above two months he received Order from Chah-Jehan to raise it and to retire into Decan again so that although the Fortress was reduced to extremities for want of Victuals and Ammunition of War he found himself obliged to abandon his Enterprise He knew very well that it was Dara and Begum that had induced Chah-Jehan to send these Orders from the apprehension they entertained that he would become too powerful but in the mean time he never discover'd any resentment of it saying only that he ought to obey the Orders of his Father Yet he withdrew not without causing underhand payment to be made to him of all the Charges of his Expedition Besides he Married his Son Sultan Mahmoud to the Eldest Daughter of that King with a promise that he would make him his Successor causing him also to give him for a Dowry the Fortress and the Appurtenances of Bamguyre He also made the King consent that all the Silver Money that should be Coined for the future in that Kingdom should bear on one side the Arms of Chah-Jehan and that Emir-Jemla should withdraw with his whole Family all his Goods Troops and Artillery These two Great Men were not long together but they framed great Designs On the way they Besieged and took Bider one of the strongest and most important Places of Visapour and thence they went to Daulet-Abad where they contracted so intimate a Friendship together that Aureng-Zebe could not live without seeing Emir twice a day nor Emir without seeing Aureng-Zebe Their Union began to cause a new Face in all the Affairs of those Parts and laid the first foundations of the Royalty of Aureng-Zebe This Prince having used the Art to make himself to be called to the Court divers times went with great and rich presents to Agra to Chah-Jehan presenting him his Service and inducing him to make War against the King of Golkonda and him of Visapour and against the Portugals At first he presented to him that great Diamond which is esteem'd matchless giving him to understand that the precious stones of Golkonda were quite other things than those Rocks of Kandahar that there it was where the War ought to be made to get the possession thereof and to go as far as Cape Comory Chah-Jehan whether it were that he was dazled by the Diamonds of Emir or whether he thought it fit as some believe he did to have an Army in the Field somewhat to restrain Dara whom he found active in making himself potent and who with insolence had ill treated the Visier Sadullah-Kan whom Chah-Jehan passionately loved and considered as the greatest Statesman that had been in the Indies causing him even to be made away with poyson as a Man not of his party but inclined to Sultan Sujah or rather because he found him too powerful and in a condition to be the Umpire of the Crown if Chah-Jehan should decease or lastly because being neither Persian nor of Persian Extraction but an Indian there were not wanting envious persons who spread abroad that he entertained in divers places numerous Troops of Patans very Gallant Men and well paid with a design to make himself King or his Son or at least to expel the Mogols and to restore to the Throne the Nation of the Patans of whom he had taken his Wife However it be Chah-Jehan resolved to send an Army towards Decan under the Conduct of Emir-Jemla Dara who saw the consequence of this Affair and that the sending of Troops for those parts was to give strength to Aureng-Zebe opposed it exceedingly and did what he could to hinder it Nevertheless when he saw that Chah-Jehan was resolute for it he at last thought it best to consent but with this condition that Aureng-Zebe should keep in Daulet-Abad as Governour only of the Countrey without medling at all in the War or pretending to Govern the Army that Emir should be the absolute General who for a pledge of his Fidelity was to leave his whole Family at the Court Emir struggled enough within himself whether he should agree to this last condition but when Chah-Jehan desired him to give that satisfaction to Dara and promised him that after a little while he would send him back his Wife and Children he consented and Marched into Decan towards Aureng-Zebe with a very Gallant Army and without any stop entred into Visapour where he Besieged a strong place called Kaliane The Affairs of Indostan were in that condition as I have been relating when Chah-Jehan fell dangerously sick I shall not speak here of his sickness much less relate the particulars of it I shall only say this that it was little sutable to a Man of above seventy years of Age who should rather think on preserving his strength than to ruin it as he did This sickness did soon allarm and trouble all Indostan Mighty Armies were levied in Dehly and Agra the Capitals of the Empire Sultan Sujah did the like in Bengale and Aureng-Zebe in Decan and Mord-Bakche in Guzaratte All four assembled to themselves their Allies and Friends all four write promise and form divers Intrigues Dara having surprised some of their Letters shew'd them to