ation of the policy of intolerance which was to bear CHAP. VII. such bitter fruit hereafter.

suspicions of

Aurangzeb grew more and more suspicious of his Aurangzeb's sister, Royshan Rai Begum. The ladies and eunuchs his sister. saw that she was under a cloud; they had long hated her for her pride and ill-nature, and they were ready to repeat any story against her. Aurangzeb was told that his sister had taken the signet ring from his finger only to ensure the succession of the boy Azam Shah to the throne of the Moghuls; that she would have aroused the empire to arms but for the universal fear which he had inspired as Emperor; that she had kept his illness so secret, that no one knew whether he was alive or dead; that she had insulted and assaulted the first Sultana for venturing to enter his sick-room.

Aurangzeb was alarmed at these expressions of Counteraction. ambition. He knew that his sister would shrink from nothing to gain her ends. He showed his displeasure whilst hiding his fears. He increased the dignity of the first Sultana; gave her a new title, and lauded her for her patience under affliction. Such * trifles are nothing in ordinary life, but they stir up the fiercest passions in the confined air of the seraglio. Royshan Rai Begum was so mortified that she begged to be allowed to leave the seraglio and live in a separate palace. Aurangzeb refused the request without betraying his feelings. He pretended that her presence was necessary for the superintendence of the education of his younger daughters.

daughters,

Meanwhile the eldest daughter of Aurangzeb began Aurangzeb's to play a part in the seraglio. The daughters of the Moghul emperors had a strange destiny. Those born of Rajpút mothers were sometimes given in

CHAP. VII. marriage to Rajpút princes."

Seraglio scandals.

Marriage of Aurangzeb's daughters.

But a certain number, never exceeding three or four, were treated as princesses of the imperial blood, and were supposed to lead lives of celibacy. Spotless purity in single women is by no means an uncommon virtue; it is to be seen amongst Asiatic widows as well as in European spinsters; but amidst the surroundings of a seraglio it is often a mere question of bolts and bars.

The scandalous lives of the two daughters of Shah Jehan, the sisters of Aurangzeb, have already been noticed. The elder, known as Begum Sahib, accompanied her father in his captivity at Agra. The younger, Royshan Rai Begum, had become the mistress of the seraglio of her brother Aurangzeb. But ambition could not quench her amorous fire. The porters and eunuchs were all at her mercy. amours were the talk of the eunuchs; and when it was known that she had provoked the displeasure of Aurangzeb, the talk soon reached the imperial ears.

Her

Little is known of the daughters of Aurangzeb, but that little is very significant. Two of them were born of the Muhammadan Sultana, who had given birth to Azam Shah; they were married to state prisoners-one to a son of Dara and the other to a son of Murad.30 Manouchi tells the story of the marriage. The mother bribed a fakir. Every Friday morning

29 Some doubts on this point were expressed in a previous chapter. They have since been removed by the evidence of Catrou, based on the authority of Manouchi. It is distinctly stated that a daughter of Shah Jehan by a Rajpút mother was given in marriage to Jaswant Singh, the Raja of Jodhpur. This is not stated as an isolated fact, but as being in accordance with usage. The fact accounts for the professed loyalty of Jaswant Singh towards his fatherin-law, Shah Jehan. The usage has been naturally ignored by orthodox Muhammadan historians. It had apparently ceased to be a usage in the reign of Aurangzeb.

30 Elliot's History, vol. vii., p. 197. Manouchi through Catrou.

when Aurangzeb was going to the mosque, the fakir CHAP. VII. called upon him to give his daughters in marriage. Aurangzeb spoke to the fakir; pleaded the ill consequences of such marriages, and urged that they were contrary to the fundamental law of the Mohguls.1 The fakir replied that Muhammad, the Apostle of God, had given his daughter in marriage to the Prophet Ali, although he must have foreseen the terrible schism which would follow. Aurangzeb was convinced by this argument, and consented to the marriage of his daughters.32

33

Fakhr-u-Nisá, the eldest daughter of Aurangzeb, was Poison. a more ambitious princess. She remained single in the seraglio, and sought to supplant her aunt. For some time she is said to have shared in her aunt's gallantries. Then she quarrelled with her aunt. She helped to enlighten her father about his sister's irregularities. There was a private massacre of the aunt's lovers. According to Manouchi, they were put to death in a variety of ways, without any form of justice.34 Royshan Rai Begum disappeared for ever from the scene. It was said that she was poisoned.35

31 No traces are to be found of this so-called fundamental law of the Moghuls. There is reason for believing that it was a modern invention. The truth seems to be that there were grave difficulties in the way of securing husbands for such princesses. No Amir would willingly have married a daughter of the Emperor; she would have interfered with all his pleasures, ruled his other ladies with a rod of iron, and made him her slave for life.

32 There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the story. There is, however, reason to believe that the fakir who acted a part was prompted by Aurangzeb himself. Father Catrou dwells somewhat warmly on the consolations which the captive princes derived from their union with the most beautiful princesses at court. This is rather suggestive in a monk.

33 Fakhr-u-Nisá is the name given by Catrou. She is named Zebu Nisá Begum by Mussulman historians. See Elliot's History, vol. vii., p. 196.

Manouchi says that one was poisoned, another killed by a venomous serpent, some were trampled to death by elephants, and some were cut down by the sword.

35 Manouchi through Catrou. There is some doubt about the exact date of

CHAP. VII. Fakhir-u-Nisa.

Preparations for
Kas mír.

Renewed terrors of Aurangzeb.

Fakhr-u-Nisá took her aunt's place in the seraglio. Henceforth she exercised an ascendancy over her father that was felt and known. She was worshipped as the dominant star of the Moghul.36 She was born in 1639, consequently in 1664 she was twenty-five years of age. 37

87

Aurangzeb was still very far from well. The heat of Hindustan and scorching air of Delhi were against him. His daughter wanted him to go to the cool heights of Kashmír. She pressed the matter all the more warmly because she was eager to leave the seraglio, to travel through the provinces, to show the world the favour in which she stood with the Emperor, and the superb equipage in which she was to travel. The court physicians also recommended the Emperor to go to Kashmír. At last he gave his consent. The 6th of December 1664 was fixed for the departure.88

All Delhi was filled with preparations for the journey of the Emperor. At this period Aurangzeb fell

the death of this princess. It would appear from Manouchi that she died before the Emperor's journey to Kashmir. Bernier however describes Royshan Rai Begum going on the journey mounted on a stupendous Pegu elephant. It is impossible to reconcile such contradictions. Royshan Rai Begum may have perished during the journey, or the princess seen by Bernier may not have been Royshan Rai Begum, but some other lady, perhaps Fakhr-u-Nisá. It is certain that Bernier must have kept at a considerable distance from the seraglio.

36 Manouchi through Catrou.

37 Elliot's History, vol. vii., p. 196. This princess, under the name of Zebu Nisá, is praised as a poet by Muhammadan writers. She is said to have become thoroughly proficient in the Koran.

35 Catrou says that the 6th of December "sixteen hundred and sixty" was the day of departure. This is a mistake, the word "four" has perhaps dropped out. Bernier not only says 1664, but dates his subsequent letters 1664 and 1665; and Bernier himself accompanied the expedition to Kashmir. The preceding dates are all fixed from Mahratta records and English records at Surat quoted by Grant Duff. Sivaji surprised Shaista Khan in 1663, plundered Surat in January 1664. Amír Jumla returned from Assam in 1663, died in 1664; the news reached Aurangzeb at Kashmir.

under the suspicion of a crime which long tarnished CHAP. VII. his memory. He was afraid to go to Kashmir whilst his father was alive at Agra. He appointed a governor of Agra on whom he could rely; he ordered a large army to encamp at Agra; still he was a prey to dismal fears, and sank into a melancholy which alarmed all around him.

embassy.

At this crisis ambassadors arrived from Persia with Persian menacing letters from the Shah. Aurangzeb tried to hide his uneasiness by a show of courtesy. Shah Abbas the Second, was a Súfí and a Shíah; his sympathies were with Shah Jehan, who was also a Shíah, and he hated Aurangzeb as a bigoted Sunní. He demanded the liberation of Shah Jehan.

Iarricide.

Aurangzeb was in sore straits. The Sherif of Mecca Contemplated refused to acknowledge him; the Shah of Persia threatened him; he risked his life if he remained at Delhi; he risked his throne if he went to Kashmir. The death of Shah Jehan would remove all his troubles; but for a long time he shrank from the odium of parricide. At last he worked himself into the belief that the necessity justified the crime. He confided his troubles to his daughter; she could not see the matter in the same light; she revolted at the idea of putting her old grandfather to death. She had connived more or less at the death of her aunt, but then her aunt had been a rival in love and ambition. Poisoning a termagant of her own sex was a bagatelle; poisoning an aged prince, whom for years she had revered as a sovereign and a grandfather, was a crime that filled her with horror.

Fakhr-u-Nisá tried hard to allay her father's fears. Remonstrances. No one had attempted to seize the throne during his sickness; no one was likely to seize it during his ab