Moazzim, another son, was in confinement for many years. Of his other sons he showed great suspicion, and they lived in constant dread of him.

In all the departments of government, in war as well as in peace, he exhibited great talents. Nor was his care limited to a general superintendence of the different departments. "He conducted every branch of his government in the most minute detail. He planned campaigns and issued instructions during their progress; drawings of forts were sent to him to fix on the points of attack. His letters embrace measures for keeping open the roads in the Afghan country, for quelling disturbances at Multan and Agra, and even for recovering Candahar; and at the same time there is scarcely a detachment marches, or a convoy moves in the Deckan without some orders from his own hand. The appointment of the lowest revenue officer of a district, or the selection of a clerk in an office, is not beneath his attention, and the conduct of all these functionaries is watched by means of spies and of prying inquiries from all comers, and they are constantly kept on the alert by admonitions founded upon such information."

In his personal habits, he was remarkable for an Asiatic sovereign of a great empire. He was plain and simple in his dress, abstemious in his food, refraining entirely from the use of spirits, indulging in no amusements or revelry, systematic in the employment of his time, and punctual in performing his religious duties. His zeal for the Mohammedan faith and the means he used to propagate it, made him unpopular and even odious among the Hindus, and excited prejudices which greatly impaired the stability of Mohammedan governments in India. He would employ the Hindus in no situation of honor or responsibility. The Mohammedan conquerors of India, in accordance with the general principles of their faith, imposed a capitation tax on the Hindus, thus discriminating between them and the believers. This tax was always odious among the Hindus, as taxes always must be which are founded upon a difference of faith. This odious tax was annulled by Acber, and was not exacted for more than a century. But it was re-imposed and exacted by Aurungzeb. He also forbid the use of liquors, gambling, and idolatrous processions. He forbid the public

celebration of the Hindu festivals. In a few large cities the most celebrated temples were demolished, and mosques were erected in their places.* Many of his letters, on personal as well as public matters, have been preserved, and the life and reign of no Asiatic sovereign have been so fully described and are now so generally known. Mohammedan historians often speak of him as the greatest of all the emperors of India.

The following extract appears to give a just view of the character of Aurungzeb. "He was a man of a mild temper and cold heart; cautious, artful, and designing; a perfect master of dissimulation; acute and sagacious, though not extended in his views; and ever on the watch to gain friends and to propitiate enemies. To these less brilliant qualities he joined great courage and skill in military exercises; a handsome, though not athletic form; affable and gracious manners, and lively and agreeable conversation. He was so great a dissembler in other matters that he has been supposed to have been a hypocrite in religion. But although religion was a great instrument of his policy, he was beyond all doubt a sincere and bigoted Mussulman. He had been brought up by men of known sanctity, and had himself shown an early turn for devotion; he at one time professed the intention of renouncing the world and taking the habit of a fakir; and throughout his whole life he evinced a real attachment to his faith in many things indifferent to his interest, and in some most seriously opposed to it. His zeal was shown in his prayers, and reading the Koran, in pious discourses, in abstemiousness, (which he affected to carry so far as to subsist on the earnings of his manual labor,) in humility of deportment, patience under provocation, and resignation in misfortunes; but above all in earnest and constant endeavors to promote his own faith, and to discourage idolatry and infidelity. But neither religion nor morality stood for a moment in his way when they interfered with his ambition; and though full of scruples at other times, he would stick at no crime that was requisite for the gratification of that passion." †

* This Aurungzeb caused to be done in Benares and Mathura. The materials of the temples were used in building the mosques.

† Elphinstone, p. 521.

In reading the actions and contemplating the character of such men as Aurungzeb, we often wish to know how their conduct appeared to themselves, especially in such a review of life as they can take in their old age. The following extracts from his letters to his sons give a striking picture of his feelings in view of his past life and death then just before him. He says:

"Old age is arrived; weakness subdues me, and strength has forsaken all my limbs. I came a stranger into this world, and a stranger I depart. I know nothing of myself, what I am, and for what I am destined. The instant which passed in power, has left only sorrow behind it. I have not been the guardian and protector of the empire. My valuable time has been passed vainly. I had a patron in my own dwelling (conscience), but his glorious light was unseen by my dim sight. I brought nothing into this world, and except the infirmities of man, carry nothing out. I have a dread for my salvation, and with what torments I may be punished. Though I have strong reliance on the mercies and bounty of God, yet regarding my actions fear will not quit me; but when I am gone, reflection will not remain. My back is bent with weakness, and my feet have lost the powers of motion. The breath which rose is gone, and left not even hope behind it. I have committed numerous crimes, and know not with what punishments I may be seized. The guardianship of a people is the trust by God committed to my sons. I resign you, your mother, and son, to God as I myself am going. The agonies of death come upon me fast. Odiporee, your mother, was a partner in my illness, and wishes to accompany me in death; but every thing has its appointed time. I am going. Whatever good or evil I have done, it was for you. No one has seen the departing of his own soul, but I see that mine is departing."

Such were the feelings of this great emperor in review of a life containing probably a greater amount of deliberately perpetrated wickedness than was ever committed, more uninterrupted success in all his schemes, and prosperity in all his affairs, than was ever realized, more wealth and power than was ever possessed, and more grandeur and splendor than was ever enjoyed, by any other monarch or mortal in the history of the world.

THE SUCCESSORS OF AURUNGZEB.

Aurungzeb's love of power and his jealousy of his sons, did not allow of his investing any of them with much power while he was living. In a paper containing a kind of will, found under his pillow after his decease, he recommended that Moazzim should be recognized as emperor, and that he and Azim should divide the empire, the former having Delhi for his capital, with the northern and eastern provinces, and the latter having Agra for his capital, with the south-western and southern provinces including the Deckan, excepting the kingdoms of Beejapoor and Golconda, which were to belong to Cambuksh. As soon as Moazzim, who was in Cabul, heard of his father's death, he assumed the dignity of emperor, and the title of Bahadur Shah, though for some time before his father's death, he was known by the title of Shah Aulum. Azim who was in Malwa, hastened to the royal camp and was acknowledged emperor of India. The two brothers then proceeded towards Agra, with as large a force as each could collect. Some historians say that, as the two armies were approaching each other near Agra, Bahadur Shah wrote to his brother, proposing to divide the empire between them, and that Azim rejected the offer. The two armies soon came into conflict, when Azim was defeated and himself and his two sons were slain. Bahadur Shah then took formal possession of the throne, palace, etc. Cambuksh, who had taken possession of the kingdom of Beejapoor and Golconda, and acknowledged the sovereignty of Azim, refusing now to acknowledge Bahadur Shah, the latter marched into the Deckan, and in a battle near Hyderabad defeated his brother, who died of his wounds the same day. Bahadur Shah died in 1712, having reigned nearly 6 years. In the latter part of his reign he was involved in war with the Sikhs, then a religious sect and beginning to acquire importance in the northern parts of India. This war was conducted on both sides with great barbarity.

Bahadur Shah left four sons, who began to contend each for the throne soon after their father's death. Nor did this struggle cease till three of them had fallen, and the oldest was left in

undisputed possession. Jehander Shah proved to be a weakminded and profligate sovereign. One of his first acts was to put to death all the males of the royal family, whom he could get into his power. But there was one, Ferokshere, a son of his brother Azim Shah, then in Bengal and beyond his reach. Ferokshere and his friends, among whom were Abdoolla Khan, and Hoossen Ali, two brothers, who were then the governors of Bahar and Allahabad, knowing the emperor's purpose, and shocked at his cruelty and selfishness, collected a large army, and defeated the force which was sent against them. They then proceeded towards Agra. On arriving near the city, the emperor and his vizier met them with an army of 70,000 men. The emperor was defeated, and Ferokshere soon took possession of Agra. The emperor, the vizier, and many others were put to death, and Ferokshere ascended the throne in A.D. 1713. He appointed Abdoolla Khan his vizier, and Hoossen Ali his commander-in-chief, and the emperor was little else than a pageant in their hands while he lived. These brothers were Syuds or descendants of Mohammed.

The reign of this emperor continued for about 6 years. The empire was all the time in a very distracted state in the capital as well as the provinces. Intrigues in the court, assassinations in the palace, and insurrections and battles in the provinces, constitute the principal matters of his reign. This state of the empire encouraged the Sikhs to renew the war, which was carried on with greater barbarity, if possible, than before.* So

* The following extracts show the character of the parties and the spirit and manners of the age:—“The Sikhs under a new chief named Bandu, who had been bred a religious ascetic, and who combined a most sanguinary disposition with bold and daring counsels, broke from their retreat and overran the east of the Punjab, committing unheard of cruelties, wherever they directed their steps. The mosques were destroyed and the moolahs were butchered. The rage of the Sikhs was not restrained by any considerations of religion, or by any mercy for age and sex. Whole towns were massacred with wanton barbarity, and even the bodies of the dead were dug up and thrown out to the birds and beasts of prey.” — The same horrors marked their route through the country eastward of the Sutledge and the Jumna, into which they penetrated as far as Seharanpoor. In their next excursion they ravaged the country as far as Lahore on the one side and of Delhi itself on the other. Such was the character of the Sikhs in their former wars. And they were not reformed by suffering punishment from