No More Learning

When the king assumed a hostile attitude and drew the imperial
forces to attack him, Hamid Khan offered a large bribe which Khan
Jahan accepted. The commandants in the territory of Balaghat (see
p. 173) were ordered to evacuate their posts and most of them com-
plied and withdrew to Burhanpur, but the garrison at Ahmadnagar
still held out in the absence of orders from the emperor.
Shah Jahan, after his submission, had remained in the Deccan 1
till he heard of Mahabat Khan's seizure of the emperor. He suggested
to Khan Jahan his intention of proceeding to the assistance of his
father, but received no support. Collecting a small force he marched
north, avoiding Burhanpur where Parviz still lay ill. When he reached
1 The disease, being carried as is now known by the fiea which infests rats,
the beautiful marble residence constructed for him still exists. The tradition is
confirmed by an inscription dated A. D. 1675 (Annual Report, Rajputana Museum,
P. 2).


## p. 177 (#211) ############################################

JAHANGIR'S LAST ILLNESS
177
Ajmer Kishan Singh, son of his old ally Raja Bhim Singh, died
and the small body of Rajput horse commanded by Kishan Singh
fell back to their homes. As no reinforcements joined him he turned
north-west through the desert country and made for Tatta in
Sind.
In spite of the Persian capture of Qandahar, Shah Jahan had
retained friendly relations with the Shah and he now hoped that if
he could get to Persia he might be well received. His progress was
delayed by the governor of Tatta, who was a partisan of Shahryar
and collected a large force to resist him. Shah Jahan's followers,
however, attacked the fort against his orders and were easily re-
pulsed. A letter from Nur Jahan now warned him that Mahabat
Khan's influence had been broken. He himself was in poor health, and
the news of Parviz's serious illness and his own want of troops induced
him to fall back. Borne in a litter he withdrew through Gujarat to
Nasik, hearing of his brother's death on the way. Mahabat Khan
had, in fact, been ordered to proceed to Tatta to repel Shah Jahan's
designs on that place, and had omitted to comply as he wished to
intercept the Bengal treasure. Failing in this design he took refuge
in Mewar and offered his services to Shah Jahan, whom he joined
at Junnar with about 2000 troops. Though these two were the most
competent commanders in the empire their resources were for the
time being exhausted and during the few months that remained of
the emperor's life they were content to await the course of events.
Khan Jahan, who had already betrayed his trust, was not disposed
to take any action against them, though warned by Nur Jahan to
be on his guard.
Early in the spring of 1627 Jahangir left Lahore to spend his last
summer in Kashmir, the part of India which was his favourite place
of residence. This year its invigorating climate failed to restore him,
and the rarefied atmosphere at a high altitude increased the sufferings
of one affected by asthma. He grew weaker daily, and was unable
to ride. As his infirmities increased he lost his appetite for food and
even his taste for opium, in which he had indulged for many years.
Instead of the heavy daily drinking which had been his practice
he now took only a few cups of wine with no spirits. Shahryar also
suffered from a disease which caused complete loss of hair, and his
unsightly appearance was regarded as a mark of dishonour so that
he took advantage of the physicians' suggestion that he might be
better in the warmer climate of Lahore.
As autumn approached the sick emperor moved slowly down
through the mountains. At one place his love of sport revived and
he sat with his gun resting on a wall while the beaters drove the
game up to him. He wounded a stag and a soldier who followed it
slipped and was dashed to pieces at the foot of a precipice. This
accident greatly shocked the dying ruler. who felt that he had seen
12


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178
JAHANGIR
the angel of death. He could get no rest or ease and though he was
carried two stages further the attempt to make a third march
exhausted him and he died early next morning (7 November, 1627).
His body was then taken to Lahore and buried in the garden outside
the city where a noble tomb was built later by his widow.
During the first seventeen years of his reign Jahangir himself
maintained a record of events, and when failing health prevented
him from still writing this, it was carried on under his direct super-
vision. Although the memoirs are not a confidential record of human
aspirations, fears and hopes, and are not remarkable for the shrewd-
ness of their assessment of passing events, they are of great value in
estimating the character of their author. Jahangir shows himself a
man of wide interests, but these are devoted more to material objects
and to the rare, novel or curious element, than to the intellectual.
He thus presents a marked contrast to his father, who though entirely
illiterate, and occupied throughout his reign with great enterprises
and administrative reforms, was constantly engaged in discussing
the basis of religion and took more pleasure in hearing the debates
of learned men than in the beauties of nature or art.
Jahangir's love of natural beauty was genuine and his aesthetic
sense sometimes widens and almost expands into a spirit of scientific
enquiry, which was, however, cramped by the empirical doctrines
of his time and country. He made an arduous journey through the
mountain passes to Kashmir to enjoy a view of the spring flowers
there and during repeated visits recorded the names of the animals,
birds and flowers he saw, distinguishing those which are not found
in the plains of India. Occasionally he would have a bird or animal
dissected and note the peculiarities observed. But when it was found
that the gall bladder of a lion was enclosed in the liver his deduction
was that the courage of the lion might be due to this cause. More
wisdom appears in his suggestion that the sweetness of camel's milk
might be due to the nature of its food, and he made experiments
in breeding wild birds in captivity. In art his favourite branch was
painting, which rose during his reign, owing to his patronage, to its
highest state. Mughul pictures were developed from the Safavid
type of Persian art, modified by Indian influence and to some extent
by the study of European pictures. Jahangir constantly notes that
he had rare birds or animals painted, and his remarks about his own
excellence as a connoisseur are valuable not only for the light they
throw on his tastes and character, but also for their explanation of
the composite work performed by Indian artists:
As regards myself, my liking for painting and my practice in judging it have
arrived at such a point that when any work is brought before me, either of
deceased artists or of the present day, without the names being told me, I say on
the spur of the moment that it is the work of such and such a man. And if there
1 V. A. Smith, History of Fine Art in India, 1930, p. 215.


## p. 179 (#213) ############################################

JAHANGIR'S ARTISTIC TASTE
179
be a picture containing many portraits, and each face be the work of a differ-
ent master, I can discover which face is the work of each. If any other per-
son has put in the eye and eyebrow of a face I can perceive whose work the
original face is and who has painted the eye and eyebrows. 1
When Sir Thomas Roe presented to him an English miniature,
the emperor offered to wager that a court painter would copy it so
exactly that Roe would be unable to distinguish the original, and
the ambassador had in fact to scrutinise the pictures carefully. ?
Jahangir had less interest in architecture, and though he would
admire a beautiful building he was usually content to order a con-
struction and leave the execution to his architect, unlike his son who
busied himself with every detail. He did, however, alter the design
of Akbar's magnificent tomb at Sikandra, which he rebuilt after three
years' work had already been done on it. This lofty building of red
stone, composed of five square terraces relieved by cupolas, resembles
a pavilion in Akbar's palace at Fathpur Sikri. While the stone of the
fabric is varied only by coloured tiles and some marble inlay, the
top story is an open court of white marble, in the centre of which is
a cenotaph richly carved and bearing Akbar's religious formula and
the ninety-nine attributes of God.
The tomb of I'timad-ud-daula near Agra, built under the direction
of his daughter the empress, is of a totally different style, being
constructed entirely of white marble, adorned with mosaic work out-
side and richly painted inner walls and ceilings. At Lahore Jahangir
directed the construction of a great mosque, which rivals that built
by his son at Delhi, and he also adorned the fort with palace buildings
which have recently been restored after suffering much dilapidation
during Sikh and early British rule. The enamelled tile panelling on
the walls of the fort which covers about 8000 square yards and on a
mosque built by Vazir Khan is very remarkable. While the memoirs
indicate that Jahangir left others to plan the buildings he required,
they show that he took great delight in the arrangement of gardens
in Kashmir and elsewhere.
His artistic tastes led him to adorn the currency with the finest
calligraphic designs which have appeared on Indian coins. Akbar
had introduced new denominations, and Jahangir went further and
raised the standard weight of the gold and silver units immediately
after his succession. This change, which had no economic basis, was
no improvement and was cancelled after five years. The ilahi system
of reckoning which had been started by Akbar was maintained in the
records of the reign, though the lunar system was partly restored in
the coinage. In spite of the prohibitions of Islam against the repre-
sentation of human or animal life the emperor was bold enough to
1 Memoirs, translated by Rogers and Beveridge, I, 20.
2 A beautiful
copy by an Indian painter of a picture by Bihzad the celebrated Persian artist,
certified by the autograph of Jahangir, was lent by the Gulistan Museum.
Teheran, to the Persian exhibition in London, 1931. See Catalogue No. 498.


## p. 180 (#214) ############################################

180
JAHANGIR
strike medals and coins on which his portrait was stamped. Roe tells
us that one of these was presented to him and he was instructed by
Asaf Khan to wear it round his neck, while Austin of Bordeaux wore
one on his hat. One type of this coin even shows the emperor with
a drinking cup in his hand. 1 In 1618 Jahangir decided to substitute
the figure of the zodiacal sign for the name of the month in which a
coin was struck, and with his usual naïve conceit adds in his memoirs :
“This usage is my own, and has never been practised until now. ” 2
A further innovation was the issue of coins bearing the name of the
empress Nur Jahan, and various legends grew up that she was re-
sponsible for the beautiful zodiacal issue. The coinage of Nur Jahan
is, however, limited to only a few years, during which she was at
the zenith of her power, and it was struck only at places where her
adherents in the struggle for power were in authority. 3 Jahangir
had called his gold coins of the heavy standard nur-jahani, and this
probably added to the confusion of thought.
Jahangir was well versed in Persian literature and occasionally
composed himself. His memoirs contain many references to verses
he admired for their beauty, wit or aptness to a special occasion. An
attendant at court who discovered that the numerical values in
Arabic notation of the letters in the name of the emperor and in the
phrase Allahu Akbar were equal was rewarded and a couplet recording
the fact was placed on the coins with a bacchanalian effigy. A poet,
Nasiri of Nishapur, "who excelled other men in the art of poetry",
was attracted to the Indian court. Jahangir's love of nature led him
to admire the description by Hindu poets of the bee as an attendant
on flowers, and he calls their account of it sublime, as recalling the
Persian poets on the subject of the nightingale. As in the case of
architecture, however, Jahangir's taste for literature was dilettante
and had less effect on the progress of culture than his successor's.
Fastidious in matters of art and literature he was also particular
in his dress and critical of the pleasures of the table. He chose
certain fashions and stuffs for his own clothing and forbade other
people to use them. He records the number of the delicious cherries
of Kabul he ate in one day, and recognises the excellence of figs
picked and eaten at once, but notes a warning against too many at
a time. Regarding his own intemperance he is entirely frank and
relates that he began to drink wine at the age of 18 and increased
his potations until wine ceased to intoxicate him, when he changed
to spirits. The time came when his hand shook so much that he could
not drink from his own cup; and then under the influence of Nur
1R. B. Whitehead, “The portrait medals of the emperor Jahangir", Numis-
matic Chronicle, 1929, p. 1.
2 Memoirs, translated by Rogers and Beveridge, II, p. 6. His congratulation of
his own originality is misplaced, vide B. V. Head, Historia Numorum, p. 863. For
the coins see R. B. Whitehead, Numismatic Chronicle, 1831, p. 91.
8S. H. Hodivala, "The coins bearing the name of Nur Jahan", J. A. S. B. 1929, p. 59.


## p. 181 (#215) ############################################

POLITICS AND ADMINISTRATION
181
Jahan he recovered to some extent by diluting the spirits with wine.
On Thursday evenings (the eve of the Muslim sabbath) he abstained
from drinking and he ate no meat on Thursday, the day of his own
accession or Sunday, the day on which his father was born. Intem-
perate himself, he recognised his own weakness and no courtier was
admitted to audience whose breath was tainted with the smell of
liquor. Though he was hospitable enough to bid them drink when
he did himself, he sometimes forgot his own command and ordered
savage punishments for their imagined disobedience. 1
In political affairs Jahangir was simple and straightforward with
no depth of insight and no cunning. His rebellion as prince was due
to bad advisers rather than to ambition. He continued the operations
against Mewar because his father had planned them, and perhaps
because he had failed as prince to advance them. He even hoped
when the first expedition was planned to follow it up by a conquest
of Transoxiana, but was never able to venture on that project. When
Shah Jahan was sent on the Deccan campaign the emperor's hopes
were that after his son had subdued the country and captured its
forts "he will bring with the ambassadors such an offering from the
Deccan as no other king of this age has received”. To enlist the aid
of the king of Bijapur he offered to him any territory of the Golconda
and Ahmadnagar rulers which he could conquer. Over the taking
of Kangra fort he rejoiced, not because of its value, but because no
other invaders for centuries had been able to subdue it.
In the affairs of his own empire his disposition was rather to ease
comparatively small distresses than to plan great reforms as Akbar
had done, and his humanitarian changes had no lasting effect. Early
in his reign he forbade the sale of hemp drugs and rice spirit and the
practice of gambling. He directed the payment of compensation for
crops damaged by troops on the march. In the foothills of the Hima-
layas he found that Muslim converts had retained the Hindu customs
of sati and female infanticide and he made these practices a capital
offence. Death was also the penalty for giving a Muslim girl in
marriage to a Hindu, though Hindu girls could be taken by Muslim
youths. The establishment of free kitchens for the poor, the abolition
or reduction of customs dues and of a cess for police purposes com-
plete the list of his administrative reforms. Towards his subordinates
he was generous and he easily forgave faults. The memoirs open with
lists of promotions, gifts and relaxation of punishments and of strict-
ness in the collection of revenue, and are full of examples of clemency
towards rebels and treacherous officials. In the early months of his
reign he could write to the Amir-ul-umara when deputing him to
pursue his rebellious son Khusrav : “If he will go in no way in the
right road, do not consider a crime anything that results from your
action. Kingship regards neither son nor son-in-law. No one is a
1 Roe, p. 265.


## p. 182 (#216) ############################################

182
JAHANGIR
relation to a king. ” But after the rebellion was crushed Khusrav's
life was spared. Jahangir regarded the daily administration of justice
in public as one of his most sacred duties, and in sickness or in the
most trying conditions of climate was accessible to his people. When
he found that a capital sentence had been carried out before his final
order on the case had been received he directed that no execution
should take place till sunset, to allow time for a possible reprieve.
His conduct of the greater affairs of state which were decided in
private council was, however, often delayed and hampered by the
complete intoxication in which his evenings ended.
Religion was a subject on which he did not think deeply. Though
outwardly a Muslim, his fondness for art made him disregard the
strict prohibitions of Islam. While he observed many Hindu festivals
and customs, he argued against idol worship, and after the capture
of Kangra sacrificed a cow in the temple. Towards Christians he was
usually tolerant, and English visitors to his court record that he
allowed two of his nephews to be educated by a Jesuit and actually
to be baptised, though the conversion was only temporary.
He stands in the roll of Indian monarchs as a man with generous
instincts, fond of sport, art and good living, aiming to do well to
all, and failing by the lack of the finer intellectual qualities to attain
the ranks of great administrators.


## p. 183 (#217) ############################################

CHAPTER VOI
SHAH JAHAN
ACCORDING to the rules of Muslim law Shah Jahan was now
the rightful heir to the throne, as both his elder brothers had died,
and their sons had no claim. In dynastic successions this rule has
often yielded to force. The position was, however, favourable to Shah
Jahan, who was openly supported by Mahabat Khan, the most
eminent soldier of the day, and secretly by his father-in-law Asaf
Khan, who had the largest influence at court. In the country generally
he had the favour of the Rajputs and some reputation in the Deccan.
Elsewhere the people were indifferent, and officials and soldiers other
than those who were personally related or otherwise attached to Nur
Jahan were inclined to side with any successful claimant. Asaf
Khan was not prepared to act on behalf of Shah Jahan in an open
manner. He placed his sister the empress under guard, removing
Shah Jahan's sons from her charge, and with the approval of officers
at headquarters proclaimed Dawar Bakhsh (also known as Bulaqi)
the son of Khusrav as emperor. Prayers were read and coins were
struck in his name, but the briefness of his rule and its scanty extent
are shown by the rarity of the coins and the fact that they bear the
name of only one mint town, Lahore.
Meanwhile messengers were despatched by Asaf Khan to Shah
Jahan and by Nur Jahan to Shahryar. The latter at once assumed
the title of emperor and seized the treasure at Lahore, distributing
large sums to gain support and to raise forces, which he placed under
the command of a son of his uncle Daniyal. Asaf Khan had little
difficulty in defeating the hastily recruited troops who met him on
his approach to Lahore, and Shahryar was given up by the guardians
of the harem in which he took refuge on learning of the defeat of his
army. He was made to do homage, and then cast into prison and
blinded. The long journey to the Deccan was performed in twenty
days by a fleet messenger, who carried Asaf Khan's signet to Shah
Jahan and arrived in time to stop him from a project he was medi-
- tating of another expedition to Bengal. Khan Jahan was still op-
posed to him, so he made a détour through Gujarat, where the Dutch
and English both sent him presents and congratulations. He passed
on through Mewar where he had always received support and
hastened to Agra. There he was welcomed and proclaimed emperor
with suitable pomp. Determined to avoid the dynastic strife which
had marked his father's accession he had sent orders to Asaf Khan
suggesting the murder of all possible claimants, which were carried
out by the execution of Dawar Bakhsh and another son of Khusray,


## p. 184 (#218) ############################################

184
SHAH JAHAN
of Shahryar, and of two sons of Daniyal. Nur Jahan alone was
spared, perhaps in memory of the support she had given her stepson
in early life, and certainly in the full conviction that a woman with
no son or near male relative could not be dangerous to the new
emperor. She received an adequate pension and was allowed to spend
the rest of her life in or near Lahore, building and ornamenting the
tomb of her husband at Shahdara, a few miles from the city, and
carrying on the works of charity for which she had been famed
during her husband's lifetime.
At his accession Shah Jahan had a stronger position than his father
had held at the death of Akbar. He had ruthlessly disposed of a
brother and nephews who might have continued, like Khusrav, to
be a focus of intrigue. The more distinguished officers of the army
were on his side, and Asaf Khan, the most able statesman of the time,
was his father-in-law and had been active in obtaining his succession
to the throne. He himself was a capable leader, and in particular had
won the support of the Rajputs, with whom he had close blood
affinities through his mother and grandmother. With all these advan-
tages he had to administer a state which had been shaken and im-
poverished by his own rebellious acts. No body politic convulsed
as India had been during the last few years could settle down at once
to a peaceful existence. Khan Jahan Lodi, headstrong and fickle,
as many Pathans were, believed that Shahryar or Dawar Bakhsh was
more likely to succeed, and while Shah Jahan was on his way to
Agra, Khan Jahan left a small garrison in his headquarters at
Burhanpur and marched himself to seize Mandu. When news came
that Shah Jahan had reached Ajmer he was abandoned by some of
his Hindu supporters and sent in a humble submission, which was
accepted. He was forgiven and confirmed in his governorship of the
Deccan and ordered to return to Burhanpur.
Nearer the capital a fresh anxiety arose before a year had passed.
Bir Singh Deo, the Raja of Bundelkhand who had ministered to the
revenge of Jahangir by the murder of Abu-'l-Fazl, died a few months
before his patron, and was succeeded by his son Jujhar Singh, who
at first came to court leaving his son Bikramajit Singh to administer
the country. Bundelkhand was a wild tract, especially difficult of
access in the rainy season, and its chiefs after centuries of obscurity
were rising in importance. Bikramajit Singh showed himself harsh
and rapacious and his father was alarmed by the enquiries made into
past collections of revenue. Jujhar Singh, therefore, left Agra and
proceeding to his fort at Orchha began to prepare for independence.
For a time no action was taken, as a Janid chief of Transoxiana
had made a raid on Kabul territory. This was beaten off by the local
governor and Mahabat Khan, who had been hastily despatched to
defend the frontier, was recalled and took a large force to subdue
the rebel in Bundelkhand. Another force under 'Abdullah Khan was


## p. 185 (#219) ############################################

REBELLION OF KHAN JAHAN
185
to march from the east, and Khan Jahan was ordered to advance
from the Deccan with Raja Bharat who also aspired to the chieftain-
ship of the Bundelas. Shah Jahan himself left Agra and arrived at
Gwalior at the beginning of January, 1629. 'Abdullah Khan promptly
attacked and took Erachh, while Khan Jahan approached from the
south and began to ravage the country. Jujhar Singh had also to
face opposition among his own people. Suspecting his wife of an
intrigue with his brother Hardaur Singh, he had poisoned the latter,
who had a considerable following. ? Opposition to the imperial forces
being thus hopeless, he made his submission to Mahabat Khan and
his offences were pardoned on condition that he gave up some of his
assignments and proceeded on service to the Deccan.
Shah Jahan was thus able to return to Agra in a few weeks, and
devoted his attention to the affairs of the Deccan. In restoring Khan
Jahan to the governorship of that province he had directed him to
recover the Balaghat which Khan Jahan had corruptly surrendered
in the previous reign. As no effort had been made to carry out this
instruction Khan Jahan was recalled to headquarters and Mahabat
Khan replaced him as governor, being represented at first by his son
Khan Zaman. Though he was subjected to no punishment beyond
the loss of office Khan Jahan remained at Agra, moody and dis-
contented, and ready to listen to the mischievous remarks which were
passed about at court.
One evening his son heard a report that he
and his father were to be imprisoned at once. Khan Jahan ceased
to attend the daily court and kept in his own quarters with a guard
of two thousand fellow Afghans. The emperor, noticing his absence.
sent to enquire the reason and hearing of his suspicions had a letter
despatched to him forgiving his offences. On receipt of this Khan
Jahan again began to visit the court, but consciousness of his own
treachery and a suspicious nature prevented him from wholly trusting
the emperor. In October, 1629, Asaf Khan reported that he had
received news that Khan Jahan was preparing to fly. Shah Jahan,
who was not inclined to go back on his promise of forgiveness, decided
to wait on events. That same night Khan Jahan rode out with his
followers and took the road to the south. He was immediately fol-
lowed and overtaken near the Chambal river. His force was attacked
and though he inflicted much loss on the imperial troops he thought
it safe to escape, and with his sons and a few followers managed to
cross the swollen stream, leaving his treasure and harem behind.
While the pursuers were collecting boats he gained sufficient time
to evade them, and being guided by Bikramajit, son of Jujhar Singh,
through the by-paths of Bundelkhand, he crossed Gondwana and
safely reached Ahmadnagar and Daulatabad. Here he was well
1 Now in the north of Jhansi district; sometimes transliterated as Irij or Irichh.
2 Popular tradition still keeps the memory of Hardaur Singh, who is regarded
as a martyr and demi-god, while Jujhar Singh is an object of execration.


## p. 186 (#220) ############################################

186
SHAH JAHAN
received by the king, who placed him in charge of Bir and nominally
assigned to his friends tracts which were actually held by the
Mughuls, with instructions to conquer them.
Shah Jahan, with the energy which marked the early days of his
rule, left Agra for the Deccan in December, 1629. Early in the fol-
lowing year the Mughul forces invaded the Balaghat but were not
well organised and after gaining one success suffered a defeat by
Khan Jahan. The emperor therefore laid his plans for a concentrated
attack after the rains. In dealing with the rebel Khan Jahan he
also had to take account of the three kingdoms of the south, Ahmad-
nagar, Bijapur and Golconda, which though jealous of each other
could on occasion form alliances to repel the Mughuls. Experience
had also shown that the Marathas could not safely be neglected.
One force under Khvaja Abu-'l-Hasan was sent west to Dhulia to
command the route for supplies from Gujarat and to threaten
Ahmadnagar from the north-west, while the main army was con-
centrated at Dewalgaon in the south of Berar ready when the time
came to attack from the north-east. A third force was sent towards
Telingana (north of Hyderabad state). At the beginning of the reign
the Marathas had accepted posts under the Mughuls, but their
leader Jadu Rai, desiring to keep on terms with the ruler of Ahmad-
nagar, had sent sons and relations to take service with him. The king
knowing his duplicity, resolved to arrest Jadu Rai and summoning
him to court had him murdered, thereby driving the Marathas for
the time being into the Mughul camp.
The rains of 1630 failed completely in Gujarat, the Deccan and
the country extending across India to the east coast. For three
previous years the seasons had been unfavourable and the result was
a terrible famine, aggravated by a campaign in part of the territory
affected. Muqarrab Khan, commander of the Ahmadnagar forces,
had been holding Jalna a few miles south-west of the main Mughul
army. When in the autumn A'zam Khan moved out of Dewalgaon,
Mugarrab Khan withdrew to the south, closely followed by the
Mughuls. Khan Jahan remained at his headquarters at Bir, awaiting
the scattered parties he had sent out to collect revenue, a difficult
task in time of famine, and hoping to receive reinforcements from
Muqarrab Khan. Hearing of A'zam Khan's approach he decided
to move, but before he started A'zam Khan made a night march and
drew an attack by sending a small force while holding his main body
in reserve. The attacking force withdrew in disorder when it found
the whole of the imperial army was coming against it. Khan Jahan,
finding that his retreat was cut off, determined to make a stand.
He sent away his women towards the north-west and rallied his troops,
sending a nephew against one of the smaller detachments of the
Mughuls, with some preliminary success. A fierce battle raged and
1 W. H. Moreland, From Akbar to Aurangzeb, pp. 210 sqq.


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KHAN JAHAN DEFEATED
187
though the rebels fought bravely they were defeated and pursued
till the tired horses of the Mughuls, who had traversed sixty miles
in twenty hours, could go no farther. Khan Jahan with a few fol-
lowers, who were mostly wounded, escaped on fresh horses with his
ladies, who had to abandon their elephants and also ride on horse-
back.
They hastened north to Vaijapur hoping to find refuge in Daulata-
bad. A'zam Khan after giving his troops time to rest again advanced
north, and Khan Jahan with another Afghan leader named Darya
Khan moved restlessly from place to place round Daulatabad where
the king of Ahmadnagar had shut himself up in the fort. Shahji
Bhonsle, son-in-law of Jadu Rai, who had withdrawn Maratha sup-
port from Ahmadnagar after the murder of Jadu Rai, now offered
his services to Shah Jahan, who accepted them gladly. The rebels
attempted a diversion by sending Darya Khan with a force of Afghans
north-west between Chandor 1 and Chalisgaon, where they raided
the country for provisions, as scarcity round Daulatabad had been
intensified by the presence of troops, but they returned on the news
that Abdullah Khan had been ordered to follow them. Owing to
the desolation of the country A'zam Khan thought it wiser not to
besiege the king but to turn back upon the forces under Muqarrab
Khan, so he marched south to Jamkhed, intending to attack Muqar-
rab Khan who was still on the northern edge of the Balaghat.
As the imperial forces approached them the Ahmadnagar troops
withdrew towards Bir, and when followed up by A'zam Khan they
fled towards Daulatabad, but were unable to stay owing to the
failure of supplies and again went south. Meanwhile, A'zam Khan
despatched Shahji Bhonsle to secure the country west and north of
Ahmadnagar.
With his country stripped bare of the necessities of life, and almost
completely surrounded by hostile forces, the king of Ahmadnagar
repented of his support to the rebel Khan Jahan, whose help against
the Mughuls during the last year had been almost negligible. Khan
Jahan and Darya Khan with their followers were turned out and
decided to pass through Malwa to the Punjab, hoping to find allies
among the disaffected Afghans on the frontier who would support
their insurrection. Shah Jahan, who was at Burhanpur in close touch
with the operations, and able to draw supplies from tracts in northern
India untouched by the famine, had foreseen this and detached forces
to catch them. The fugitives arrived in central India hotly pursued
and resisted by the local garrisons. They hoped to find aid and refuge
in Bundelkhand where they had been assisted on their flight from
Agra. Bikramajit Singh had, however, learned that his previous
assistance to them had brought the royal censure on his father
120° 21' N. , 74° 15' E.
2 20° 27' N. , 75° 1' E.
8 18° 49' N. , 75° 23' E.


## p. 188 (#222) ############################################

188
SHAH JAHAN
3
Jujhar Singh. To atone for this, he attacked the rear-guard and
killed Darya Khan and his son with many of their followers early in
January, 1631. Khan Jahan escaped but was again worsted in a
sharp fight and finally brought to bay and killed at Sihonda.
Meanwhile, A'zam Khan had again opened the campaign against
the army of Ahmadnagar. The strong fort of Dharur, full of treasure
and munitions, was taken without an assault, after the town and
market below it had been plundered, and Parenda 2 was invested.
Attempts were also made to take advantage of the dissension which
usually existed between the kingdoms of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur. '
During the later years of Jahangir's reign when Mughul pressure was
slight Malik 'Ambar, the capable Ahmadnagar general, had invaded
Bijapur and plundered Nauraspur, the new capital which the king
was building. Ibrahim 'Adil Shah II of Bijapur died in 1627, shortly
before Jahangir, and his eldest son Darvesh was blinded and set aside
in favour of Muhammad 'Adil, a younger son aged only fifteen,
through the influence of a clique headed by Mustafa Khan, a capable
minister, and Daulat (or Khavass) Khan, a man who had risen from
a low origin. The succession was recognised by Shah Jahan but not
by the king of Ahmadnagar, who favoured Darvesh, and invaded
Bijapur to support his claim. Shah Jahan, busy with consolidating
his own position, tried to make peace, but the quarrel was embittered
by a dispute about Sholapur which Malik 'Ambar had taken from
Bijapur. When Shah Jahan came to the Deccan to suppress Khan
Jahan's rebellion, and if possible to crush Ahmadnagar, the rival
ministers of Bijapur were still divided over the attitude which the
kingdom should assume. Mustafa Khan, whose father-in-law had
-
been executed by Malik 'Ambar, was in favour of supporting the
Mughuls, but Randola Khan, the commander-in-chief, felt that the
Mughuls were the enemy most to be feared. A'zam Khan's reduction
of Dharur increased the hope that Bijapur might regain some of the
territory taken by Malikh 'Ambar and terms were considered. But
Randola Khan demanded an excessive area including Dharur, and
refused to furnish troops in aid of A'zam Khan when he was pursuing
Mugarrab Khan and the army of Ahmadnagar. Being in great
straits Muqarrab Khan offered to restore Sholapur to Bijapur, and
A'zam Khan feared an alliance between the two kingdoms. His
assaults on Parenda had failed, and the drought had so parched the
country that even grass for horses could not be found within a range
of forty miles. He therefore withdrew to Dharur, losing rear-guard
actions on the way. More success attended the other divisions of the
Mughul troops, as Nasiri Khan, though resisted by combined forces
of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar, took the strong fortress of Kandhar
on the eastern edge of Balaghat, Berar was cleared, and Khvaja
1 Now in the Banda district, U. P. , 25° 27' N. , 83° 24' E.
2 18° 16' N. , 75° 27' E,
3 See chap. IX.


## p. 189 (#223) ############################################

DEATH OF MUMTAZ MAHALL
189
Abu-'l-Hasan, though with great difficulty, had reduced Nasik and
Sangamner on the north-west of Ahmadnagar. In the midst of these
successes the emperor sustained a blow which left an impression
never effaced in the death of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahall,
on 17 June, 1631. She was buried at first in a garden called
Zainabad near Burhanpur, and afterwards her remains were re-
moved to Agra, where they lie with those of Shah Jahan in a
beautiful tomb.
The kingdom of Ahmadnagar, like that of Bijapur, was under a
nominal ruler, swayed against his will by factions among the nobles.
Muqarrab Khan had superseded and strictly confined his brother-
in-law, Fath Khan, who was a son of Malik 'Ambar. While Muqarrab
Khan was attempting to resist the Mughul forces, the king of Ahmad-
nagar asserted himself for a brief space and released Fath Khan.
Feeling that resistance was useless, Muqarrab Khan, who was of
Persian origin and had no hereditary connection with the kingdom,
changed sides and offered his services to the emperor, which were
accepted, and he was shortly afterwards transferred to Katehr (now
Rohilkhand) in northern India. Fath Khan himself, knowing his
master's changeable mood, placed the king in confinement, as his
father had done, and reported this to Asaf Khan, expecting some
mark of favour. Asaf Khan, who was ruthless in such matters, sug-
gested that his sincerity would be best proved by murder, and Fath
Khan poisoned the king and replaced him by Husain, a boy of ten.
With the hesitation usually found in traitors he delayed the surrender
of treasure and elephants he had agreed to give up, and Shah Jahan
despatched Muqarrab Khan, now dignified by the title of Rustam
Khan, to reduce Daulatabad which had become the actual head-
quarters of the Ahmadnagar kingdom. This fresh danger alarmed
Fath Khan, who submitted. Randola Khan, the Bijapur general,
had still shown opposition to the Mughuls and had detained an
envoy who was carrying presents to the emperor. Hearing of the
collapse of resistance in Ahmadnagar, he also offered peace and
promised allegiance to the emperor and that he would let the envoy
pass. A'zam Khan, however, rejected the terms and marched south
but suffered losses and fell back. In December, 1631, the emperor
deputed Asaf Khan to invade Bijapur. Taking a route farther east
than that followed by A'zam Khan in the earlier campaign, Asaf
Khan reached Bhalki and took it. A message of submission from
Bijapur was rejected and the Mughuls marched on, sacking Gulbarga
i The chronogram recording the date in the Hijri era is the single word Gham,
meaning sorrow, the numerical value of the two Arabic letters used in writing
it being equal to 1040.
The histories record that he struck coin in the name of Shah Jahan, but the
issue seems to have been confined to Ahmadnagar dated about October, 1631.
Shah Jahan's suzerainty at his accession had been recognised by striking coins
at Daulatabad in his name, dated 1037 Hijri, though the issue was not continued.
8 18° 3' N. , 77° 12' E.
3


## p. 190 (#224) ############################################

190
SHAH JAHAN
and massacring the population. The army camped between Nauras-
pur and Shahpur, a few miles north-west of Bijapur, and opened
the siege. Fresh negotiations were set on foot and Mustafa Khan,
who headed the party favourable to the Mughuls, came into the
camp of the besiegers to discuss terms. His offer seemed favourable,
but his colleague, Khavass Khan, declined to concur in them, and
made a fresh suggestion, which Asaf Khan was disposed to accept,
owing to his difficulties in obtaining supplies, as the Bijapur army,
while falling back, had destroyed whatever the famine had left.
During the truce and parley, however, the straitened circumstances
of the besiegers had become known to the garrison, and a letter
dropped in the Mughul camp by an adherent of Mustafa Khan
warned Asaf Khan that he was merely being played with till exhaus-
tion should overcome his force. During the short siege of twenty days
no grain had been brought in and the provisions which had been
carried with the army were almost finished. Asaf Khan therefore
retreated west to Miraj, seeking supplies, plundering the country
and killing or enslaving the population. He then struck north past
Sholapur, where the pursuing army of Bijapur turned back, and he
returned to the Mughul territories. The emperor was by this time
disgusted with the Deccan where his wife had died, his plans had not
succeeded and the desolation of famine still continued. He was per-
suaded by Mahabat Khan that the conquest of Bijapur was not im-
possible, and entrusted to him the command in the Deccan, recalling
to court Asaf Khan, who was more distinguished in political craft
than as a general in the field.
Although the Deccan had hitherto been the scene of the most
important events affecting the empire military operations had been
undertaken elsewhere, especially in Bengal. Nearly a century earlier
the Portuguese had obtained a footing at Hooghly, whence they
traded to other parts of India, to China, the Moluccas and Manilla.
They had a monopoly of the manufacture of salt and practically
exercised their own administration in the settlement. Converts and
half-castes were numerous, and the new port gained at the expense
of Satgaon a little higher up the river and Sonargaon in eastern
Bengal. Some of the inhabitants joined the half-castes of Chittagong,
descended from Portuguese refugees from Goa, who were notorious
pirates and ravaged the rich districts of eastern Bengal. During the
reign of Jahangir the Portuguese had been left very much to them-
selves by the Mughul governors, who moved their headquarters from
Sonargaon in 1608 to Dacca, calling it Jahangirnagar, after the
emperor. Qasim Khan, who became governor soon after the accession
of Shah Jahan, reported to the emperor that the Portuguese were a
danger as they had fortified their settlement, levied tolls on ships that
passed it, and had ruined Satgaon. He also called attention to their
1 16° 49' N. , 74° 41' E.


## p. 191 (#225) ############################################

1
MUGHUL ATTACK ON HOOGHLY
191
complicity in piracy i and their practice of kidnapping or purchasing
children and disposing of them as slaves. These statements reminded
the emperor of his own personal reasons for disliking the foreigners.
During the first successes of Shah Jahan's rebellion against his father
the governor of Hooghly, who was afraid of an attack on that place
after Burdwan had fallen, visited the prince. Shah Jahan had a high
opinion of the value of the European gunners employed by the Portu-
guese and offered great rewards for their services. The governor,
while sensible of the immediate danger to his settlement during the
temporary collapse of imperial power in Bengal, did not believe in
the possibility of the ulitmate success of the rebel. Unfortunately for
the Portuguese the language of his refusal to help was reported to
have been very insulting. At a later stage the Portuguese gave some
assistance to Parviz. When Shah Jahan succeeded to the throne the
foreigners omitted to recognise the accession by the usual presents.
The late empress had also had a personal grievance during the fight,
as one of the Portuguese had first given some help and had then
deserted, carrying off boats one of which contained two slave girls
who belonged to her. A striking example of the lawlessness of the
time occurred in 1629, when a Portuguese from the Magh territory
in eastern Bengal plundered a village near Dacca and violently
assaulted a Mughul lady? Shah Jahan thus welcomed the proposal
of Qasim Khan that these troublesome aliens who did not conform
to Islam and who were actively injurious to the realm should be
suppressed.
An opportunity for action soon presented itself. A Portuguese
merchant at Satgaon named Afonso, who had made a claim to
certain land in Hooghly, applied to Qasim Khan in 1632 and held
out the promise of rich booty if the settlement were taken, which
would be an easy task. The governor acted cautiously, as the Portu-
guese were known to be capable soldiers, and he feared that if he
became involved in a long struggle the Magh king would take
advantage of his concentration of forces at Hooghly to attack and
plunder Dacca. He therefore assembled a considerable force under
the pretext of coercing refractory landholders near Murshidabad
north of Hooghly and Hijili to the south, and he also collected boats,
as the Portuguese were particularly redoubtable on the water.
Warnings had been received from priests at Dacca and Agra, but
were disregarded, and when the large Mughul army approached
Hooghly at the end of June, and it was known that the fleet was
not far away, barricades and palisades had to be improvised, and a
Jesuit was sent to parley. Bahadur Khan, who was in command,
detailed the offences described above and proposed to search for. Ben-
gali slaves and punish those who had purchased them. The Portu-
1 For the damage done by the pirates of eastern Bengal see J. A. S. B. 1907,
p. 422.
2 See Manrique, I, 318. She was subsequently
baptised and married a Portuguese.


## p. 192 (#226) ############################################

192
SHAH JAHAN
guese declined to allow a search, and after some preliminary skir-
mishing an attack was launched by both land and the river, which
was repulsed. A few days later the besieged sent out fresh envoys
to sue for peace, and were bidden to despatch four of the principal
residents with power to make terms. These agreed to give up the
slaves, but surrendered only a small number. Further hostages were
obtained and a large ransom demanded from the church with half
the property of the inhabitants, and the hostages were fettered and
threatened with death. The negotiations were being prolonged as
reinforcements were expected by the Mughuls, who soon attacked
again and obtained a footing in part of the settlement. For about
five weeks the siege continued till artillery was brought up and
trenches were dug. During a fresh armistice the Portuguese gave up
200,000 rupees with which the Mughuls paid their troops. Afonso
tried to block the river with a bridge of boats and a chain, and pre-
pared a number of fire-boats to burn the Portuguese ships. Finally
the Portuguese decided to evacuate the town in their boats, but
delayed and were attacked before the boats cast loose. A running
fight ensued, and about 3000 refugees escaped down the river, while
400 Christian prisoners were taken the long slow journey to Agra. ?
Most of them refused to apostasise and were imprisoned. While the
emperor had substantial reasons for coercing the Portuguese, evidence
of his religious intolerance at this period exists in orders issued for
the demolition of newly built Hindu temples, particularly in and near
the sacred city of Benares, where seventy-six were said to have been
destroyed.
Apart from a slight insurrection among the Bhils of Malwa, which
was easily suppressed, the internal peace of the empire was unbroken
at the end of 1632. The southern border was, however, far from quiet.
Shahji the Maratha chief, when he first made his submission to the
Mughuls, had been rewarded with grants of land which had been
held by Fath Khan of Ahmadnagar. These grants were restored to
Fath Khan as a reward for his murder of the king. Enraged by this
alienation Shahji offered his services to the king of Bijapur, promising
to take Daulatabad from Fath Khan if an army from Bijapur would
help him. Daulatabad was not ready to stand a siege and Fath Khan
addressed Mahabat Khan, offering to make it over to the imperial
forces, and to proceed himself for service at the court. A force under
Khan Zaman, son of Mahabat Khan, defeated the troops from
Bijapur, and their general Randola Khan, having lost in the field,
had resort to intrigue. He offered Fath Khan a considerable sum
of money and supplies, and was successful in getting him to break
his pledge to the Mughuls. On hearing of this treachery Mahabat
Khan decided to take Daulatabad by storm, a task which had never
been accomplished since the construction of the central fortress by
1 For a contemporary Portuguese account of the siege see Manrique, 11, App. 392.


## p. 193 (#227) ############################################

STORMING OF DAULATABAD
193
Muhammad bin Tughluq three centuries earlier. It was protected
by a number of later fortifications, especially the works known as
‘Ambar Kot, which had been built by Malik Ambar. The place was
invested under the direct supervision of Mahabat Khan who pro-
ceeded by sapping and mining. At the same time, having an army
of about 20,000 cavalry in the field against him, he maintained a
large mobile force to prevent the reinforcement of the garrison and
the entry of supplies which were badly needed. Within six weeks a
large mine was exploded which tore down a long stretch of the outer
wall and part of a bastion. As the explosion had been premature
the storming troops were not ready and a fierce struggle ensued
before the defences made by Malik 'Ambar. were taken. Diversions
made in Berar, and attempts by Randola Khan and Shahji to relieve
the garrison, all failed. The small contingent of Bijapur troops within
the fortress, dispirited alike by the straits to which they had been
reduced, and by the success and vigour of the besiegers, asked to be
allowed to escape secretly: Mahabat Khan sent a written consent
and received them kindly when they made their way down a ladder
and gave them presents. In less than two months after the penetra-
tion of the outworks, a mine was ready for exploding under the next
line of defences. Communications between opposing forces were more
frequent than in modern warfare, and Fath Khan, aware of the
instant danger, asked for a day to arrange for terms with his Bijapur
allies. His treachery had been exposed so often that Mahabat Khan
declined to allow any terms unless Fath Khan would send his son
as a hostage. The son did not appear and the mine was sprung,
tearing down a bastion and part of the wall. Fresh trenches were
started within the wall, and renewed attempts by the Bijapur army
were defeated. An epidemic had broken out in the fortress, and Fath
Khan was now alarmed for the safety and honour of his own ladies
and the harem of the king. To save them he sent his son with a
prayer for forgiveness and help to remove the women. Exulting in
his victory Mahabat Khan was generous, and not only provided his
own elephants and camels with several litters for the women, but
also restored some of the treasure already taken. At the end of June.
:633, after a siege of three and a half months, Fath Khan yielded
up the stronghold with all the guns and munitions of war, and
Mahabat Khan, entering, had prayers read in the name of the
empercr. Fath Khan and Husain Nizam Shah, the boy king, were
sent to court; their lives were spared but Husain was committed to
the state prison in the Gwalior fort for life, while Fath Khan was
allowed to live at Lahore with an ample pension.
Mahabat Khan's brilliant conduct of the siege was the last success
of a great soldier who, throughout his career, had excelled as . tactician
rather than strategist. The capture of Daulatabad. by no means won
1 See vol.