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CHAP. VII. petitions and prayers; he affected to grant all that was wanted with a complaisant smile or a wave of the hand. Wealthy petitioners went to his house, and secretly prayed to him for everything ambition or passion could suggest. Women specially went in crowds, and caused endless scandal.

Rebel Santons.

Punishment of
Santons.

Ruin of Shfah grandees,

Twelve Santons had committed a crime which Aurangzeb never forgave. They had promised the empire to his eldest brother, Dara. The people of Delhi had been so deceived by this prophecy that they had helped Dara against Aurangzeb. The Emperor resolved to punish the Santons without alarming the Muhammadans. He ordered the twelve men to be brought before him. He told them that their false prophecy convinced him that they were not descended from the Prophet. He gave them three days for fasting and prayer; at the end of that time they must prove their claim by working a miracle.

The Santons confessed that the people gave them credit for more sanctity than they possessed. But Aurangzeb was not to be turned from his purpose. The three days passed away; the Santons were utterly unable to impose a miracle on Aurangzeb. They could expect no mercy. The Emperor reviled them for their deceit and hypocrisy. He ordered some of the worst to be imprisoned in a strong fortress, telling them that nothing but a miracle could deliver them. The remainder were banished his dominions.14

Aurangzeb next worked the ruin of the Persian grandees. Akbar had warmly welcomed all exiles from Persia, placed them in high commands, and

14 Manouchi through Catrou.

15

15 Bernier states that the Moghuls chose none but men with fair complexions for the higher commands.

16

assigned them hereditary estates out of the crown lands. Aurangzeb hated them because they were Shíahs. He resolved to resume their lands. At first he examined the titles, and only resumed the land when there was an informality in the grant. Subsequently he resumed the remainder on the score of religion. "The Persians," he said, "are united to us by the Koran; they have separated themselves from us by their errors about the succession to the Khalifat; it is therefore only right that they should be separated from us altogether." Accordingly the Persians were deprived of their lands and sent to Kashmir. They were forced to live on such pensions as were assigned them.

CHAP. VII.

Aurangzeb brought his spy establishment to per- Spy system. fection. Under Moghul rule news-writers were maintained in every township to report all that occurred. Under previous Emperors the news-writers were often in collusion with the local officers. But Aurangzeb kept a constant watch. His knowledge was so perfect of all that was going on, that many believed he acquired it by supernatural agencies."7

Aurangzeb was proud of his reforms. He boasted Boasted reforms. of them in letters to his father. The captive sovereign wrote an indignant reply; it was circulated among the grandees, and caused the Emperor much

16 Manouchi, through Catrou, insists, like all other contemporary writers, that the Moghuls were the sole lords of the soil. He adds, that the grant of hereditary lands to the Persian immigrants was altogether exceptional.

17 Manouchi, through Catrou, tells the story of a soldier who had lost a horse for which he was responsible to his captain. Accordingly he disguised himself as a fakir, buried the horse, and took up his abode over the grave, pretending that it was the tomb of some holy saint. In this manner he subsisted on the alms of passers-by. Aurangzeb discovered the deception and executed the false fakir.

The story has no historical significance. It is told in other quarters withou any reference to Aurangzeb. Its authenticity is doubtful.

CHAP. VII. uneasiness. Malábat Khan, the Moghul governor of Kábul, rebuked Aurangzeb for his ill-treatment of his father. The Emperor swallowed the affront for awhile, but never forgot it. He removed Mahábat Khan from Kábul to prevent his intriguing with the Shah of Persia. He posted Mahábat Khan to the government of Guzerat, where he would be under more immediate control.18

Dealings with

Shah Jehan,

Spite against a tutor.

Aurangzeb seems to have been scared by the rebuke which he received from Mahábat Khan. At any rate, he changed his tone towards his father. He softened the rigour of his father's captivity, and sent him presents from Delhi. Shah Jehan was alarmed at this unexpected kindness, and suspected that some evil was brewing. At last Aurangzeb demanded the jewels that his father had taken with him into his captivity. Shah Jehan saw at once the reasons for his son's kindness; he threatened to break up the jewels with a pestle and mortar. Aurangzeb never repeated the request, but appointed a eunuch to keep a watchful eye on the jewels.19.

Another incident helps to bring out the character of Aurangzeb. When a boy he had been educated by a tutor named Malik Salih. He had a boy's grudge

18 Father Catrou professes to give the substance of Mahábat Khan's letter to Aurangzeb. In this letter Mahábat Khan admits the foibles of Shah Jehan, his love of pleasure, and scandalous excesses. "When," he writes, "Shah Jehan sat upon the throne to administer justice, few carried their complaints to him, because he was peaceful himself and inspired peace in the minds of others. When you, sire, take your seat, the tribunal resounds with a thousand discordant voices, because your rule is so severe that evil natures are filled with a desire for vengeance."

This letter does not appear to be authentic. It is not written in the style in which a Moghul grandee would address a Padishab.

19 Manouchi through Catrou. Tavernier tells the same story, but with different details. He says that Begum Sahib saved the jewels, as she wanted them for herself. Indian Travels, Book ii., chap. 7.

against this man. He thought the tutor showed CHAP. VII. more favour to Dara and Murad than to himself;

he also suspected that Malik Salih had set Shah Jehan against him.

audience.

Malik Salih had been living for many years at The tutor's Kábul on a pension which he received from the Moghul court. When Aurangzeb came to the throne this pension was stopped. The old tutor was unconscious of any ill-will on the part of his former pupil. He thought there was some mistake; he went to Delhi to freshen up the memory of Aurangzeb as regards his services. He was three months at Delhi before he obtained an audience. At last a day was fixed. All the learned men at the court, and all the tutors of the imperial household, were present in the audience hall. To the utter surprise of the tutor, he was treated by Aurangzeb to the following lecture :— "Princes must have tutors just as infants must Aurangzeb's have wet-nurses. People know how to choose a wetnurse; they pick out a strong-bodied woman, and all goes well. They do not know how to choose a tutor; they often take a man who is more learned than wise, who burdens the memory, and never forms the mind.

lecture.

"When I was a boy, I was taught the language of Useless learning. the Koran; my mind was wearied with the rules of Arabic grammar; no one turned my heart to virtue by setting before me the examples of great men or the victories of my illustrious ancestors. I learnt a little of Hindustan, its towns, provinces, and revenues, but that was all.

"Surely there were other nations with whom I True knowledge. ought to have been acquainted. Why was I not taught the manners, customs, and interests of Persia? Why was I not told the history of my Tartar fore

CHAP. VII. fathers?

Condemnation.

Secret malice.

Their descendants occupy all the thrones of Asia. Why was I not taught something of Africa, where the Ottomans have established their dominion? Or of Europe, which supplies me with eminent Firingiz? Why was I told that the Emperor of France was a Raja of the second class; that Holland was a great empire; that England was larger than France? Why was I not shown a map of China, where Tartar princes like myself have conquered a wise and industrious people?

"Such studies would have been worthy of a prince destined to become master of Hindustan! My youth should have been occupied with the stratagems of war, the arts of policy, the different ways of attacking or defending strongholds. From you I ought to have learned the art of governing provinces. These were your duties; did you ever fulfil them? Had I received any benefit from you, I would have shown my gratitude. As it is, I can only dismiss you as the most worthless of my servants, who has done me more injury than all the others, and whose face I never wish to see again." 20

The speech of Aurangzeb had been carefully prepared; it was soon promulgated throughout the empire. Flatterers applauded it to the skies. Wiser men saw the malignant spirit which dictated it. Malik Salih had probably taught Aurangzeb to the best of his ability. No one but a European tutor could have taught him much more. Not even a European tutor could have taught him the arts of government and

war.

Aurangzeb is said to have revenged another old

20 Manouchi through Catrou. Bernier has preserved some imperfect reports of the same speech. Khafi Khan had no knowledge of it.

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