side the Moghul empire. Bombay bordered on the CHAP. VII. traders and In those days the regular European trade in the East Privileged was carried on by Portugal under the name of the king, interlopers. and by England and Holland under the name of their respective East India Companies. But there was a large irregular trade carried on by European adventurers on their private account, without any sanction of king or charter. They were called interlopers and pirates. Their hand was against every man, and every man's hand was against them. At Kashmír Aurangzeb heard that one of the im- European piracy. perial ships that carried pilgrims to Mecca had been captured by a European pirate. This was no uncommon disaster in the seventeenth century. No Asiatics can withstand Europeans on the high seas; and ships loaded with Muhammadan pilgrims and much treasure would be regarded as fair prize by so-called Christian pirates. Unfortunately some of the pilgrims were ladies belonging to the imperial seraglio; and it was reported that they had been rudely handled by their European captors. Aurangzeb was much exasperated at the insult. He Moghul marine. resolved to build a fleet for the suppression of piracy. His vizier warned him that he had no sailors, no pilots, no marines; that one ship manned with Europeans would rout twenty ships manned by Moghuls; that if he employed Europeans, they might slip away with ships and cargoes, and there would be no one to follow them. But Aurangzeb was bitten with a mania for CHAP. VII. building ships on European principles. He resolved that his subjects should be taught and trained on the European system. Attempt and failure. Assam expedi tion. Chinese frontier. An Italian jeweller, named Ortensio Bronzoni, succeeded in building two ships. They were ornamented after Moghul taste, manned with Europeans, and launched on the lake of Kashmír. On a certain day the two ships engaged in a mock combat before the palace windows. The Emperor looked on with all his ladies. He saw the ease and dexterity with which the ships were handled. He felt that no amount of teaching would impart the same quickness, nerve, and energy to his subjects. Accordingly he aban doned the design. By this time Aurangzeb's scheme for conquering China came to an untimely end. At first Amír Jumla encountered little difficulty in invading Assam. He was supported by a Portuguese flotilla on the Brahmaputra river. He captured the frontier fortress of Azo. He plundered the tombs of the Assam Rajas, and found much treasure.41 He then advanced twenty days' march through Assam to the Chinese frontier. There were some difficulties in passing over the mountains, but the valley beyond was an enchanting region. The climate was pleasant, and there was abundance of grain and fruit. The capital of Assam was named Ghergong. It was situated on a declivity near the Chinese frontier, and was enriched by the 42 41 The tombs of the Assam Rajas at Azo were subterranean vaults. The Rajas were not burnt after the Hindú fashion, but were buried with all their treasures, and also with their favourite wives and concubines, after the manner of the ancient Scythians. See Khafi Khan in Elliot's History, vol. vii.; also Tavernier's Indian Travels, Book iii., chap. 17. 42 The ruins of Ghergong were on the Dikho river, which falls into the Brahmaputra river from the south. In the present day the Dikho river is a very long distance from the Chinese frontier. trade of China. The Moghuls captured and sacked CHAP. VII. the city. Amír Jumla reported that he was about to invade China. Aurangzeb saw himself already in possession of China. disasters. From this point there was nothing but disaster. Moghul The provisions of the city were consumed. The rains began with unusual violence; the rivers overflowed their banks; the whole country round Ghergong was a deluge. The Moghuls suffered horrible privations. Peştilence followed the famine. Every day numbers of corpses were thrown from the ramparts upon the surrounding waters. gal. After some months the waters subsided. The inva- Retreat to Bension of China was out of the question. Amír Jumla beat a retreat to Bengal. The way was strewed with corpses. The plains were intersected with canals which had been filled during the rains. The mountains were blocked up by bands of Assamese with poisoned arrows to their bows. Amír Jumla was smitten with mortal disease. The Portuguese flotilla carried the remains of the army to Bengal. Amír Jumla died shortly afterwards. On his death-bed he sent the largest diamond in India as a present to the Emperor.43 Satisfaction. Aurangzeb was mortified at the loss of his army, Aurangzeb's but consoled by the death of Amír Jumla. He had long suspected Amír Jumla of sinister designs; and he rejoiced at knowing that he was out of the way. Aurangzeb was forced to give his attention to Per- Persian sian affairs. Shah Abbas the Second was a warlike 43 This diamond was probably the Koh-i-Nor, now in the possession of her Majesty. It was carried off by Nadir Shah at the sack of Delhi in 1738-39. It subsequently fell into the hands of the Amírs of Kábul. Runjit Singh forced Shah Shuja to give it up. The English took possession of it after the conquest of the Punjab. threatenings. CHAP VII. prince, and Aurangzeb was afraid of him. The Shah suspected that the journey of the Moghul Emperor to Kashmir was a blind for making some attack on Persian territory." Accordingly, the Shah began to mass troops in Kandahar. Aurangzeb hoped to quiet down these hostile demonstrations by sending an embassy with presents to Shah Abbas. Moghul embassy to Persia. The embassy of Aurangzeb to the Shah of Persia must have made some stir at the time. The old rivalry between Persia and the Moghul was intensified by the religious antagonism between the Shíah and the Sunní. The Moghul ambassador was treated with a studied rudeness and contempt, which showed that the Shah was bent on war. The ambassador had prepared a long speech of compliments and flatteries to be delivered at the first audience. Shah Abbas received him on horseback, and rode away the moment he began his speech. When the presents were delivered, the Shah contemptuously distributed them amongst his officers. At other audiences the Shah descanted on the hypocrisy of Aurangzeb; openly charged him with parricide; laughed at his title of Conqueror of the World," which was engraved on the Moghul coins. At the final audience, the beard of the ambassador was set on fire by a page; and the ambassador was dismissed with a challenge to Aurangzeb to come out and fight the Shah in Kábul.45 66 44 At this period Kábul belonged nominally to the Moghul, whilst Kandahar was Persian territory. Shah Abbas probably suspected Aurangzeb of some design on Kandahar. 45 Manouchi, through Catrou, gives the best narrative of this embassy. His account is confirmed by Thevenot and Tavernier. Khafi Khan says nothing about it. Thevenot says that on one occasion the ambassador refused to take wine, but was induced to smoke a pipe (Travels, Part ii., chap. 11). Tavernier was under the impression that Shah Jehan was still alive, but wrath. By this time Aurangzeb had returned from Kash- CHAP. VII. mír to Delhi. He was in no mood for smiling on the Aurangzeb's ambassador, for he had been deeply mortified by the outturn of Mahratta affairs. He received the ambassador with bitter reproaches. mitted the loss of his beard? Why had he per- avenged the insult by stabbing the Shah to the heart?" The ambassador was doomed; he was executed the same day; he was bitten by a snake whose venom always killed. Abbas. Shah Abbas kept his word. He took the field with Death of Shah sixty thousand of the finest cavalry of Asia. Aurangzeb assembled fresh armies round Delhi. He warned the tributary Rajas to be ready with their respective armies at the first summons. He treated the challenge of Shah Abbas with contempt, but displayed so much personal cowardice as to excite strange murmurs. He certainly was in extreme peril, but his good fortune did not fail him. Suddenly Shah Abbas died of a disorder of his throat, brought on or aggravated by excessive drinking. 46 It will now be necessary to revert to the progress Mahratta affairs. of Mahratta affairs. In 1663 Sivaji had committed the onslaught on Aurangzeb's uncle, Shaista Khan. In 1664 he had plundered Surat. In 1664, before Aurangzeb left Delhi for Kashmír, sivaji outwitted. he had sent a large army against Sivaji. It comprised a Muhammadan force under a Muhammadan general, and a Rajput force under Jai Singh of Jaipur. The details of the operations that followed are of no reports that Shah Abbas charged Aurangzeb with parricide. Tavernier confirms the statement that the ambassador lost his beard, but says it was shaved off (Travels in India, Book ii., chap. 7). 46 Manouchi through Catrou. Tavernier shows that Shah Abbas died in 1666. This helps to clear up the chronology. |