gods and extension of the religion of the Koran over CHAP. VII. the whole of India. He was baffled alike by Rajputs and Mahrattas. The great Akbar, the founder of the dynasty, had bound the empire together by his toleration of the subject races. Aurangzeb had shaken it to it foundations by his intolerance and persecution. When Aurangzeb died, the disintegration of races had already begun. Within fifty years of his death, the sovereignty of the Moghuls had dwindled to an empty name. 1707-12. CHAPTER VIII. MOGHUL EMPIRE: DECLINE AND FALL. 1707 To 1761. CHAP. VIII. THE death of Aurangzeb awakened the empire from Bahadur Shah, its seeming lethargy. Shah Alam proclaimed himself Emperor under the name of Bahadur Shah. His forces concentrated near Agra. Azam Shah advanced up from the Dekhan with another army. A bloody battle ensued near Agra, and Azam Shah was numbered with the dead.1 The Christian Rajputs 'forgiven." Bahadur Shah was Emperor of all the territories inherited by Aurangzeb. He was an old man, and would have been content to leave his remaining brother, Kám Bakhsh, to reign as Sultan of Bíjápur and Golkonda. But his sons would not hear of it. They instigated the Mullahs to urge the impiety of leaving the new conquests in the hands of a Christian. The mother of Kám Bakhsh implored the new Emperor to spare her son; but her tears and prayers were thrown away. Bahadur Shah marched against the south; and the news soon arrived that the son of the Christian Sultana was defeated and slain. Bahadur Shah was next anxious to punish the Rajpút princes. He did not want to interfere with the Rana of Meywar. He only aspired to re-establish the 1 The best authorities for the events told in this chapter are the Madras Records and the native history known as the Siyar-ul-Mutakherin. Moghul yoke on Jaipur and Marwar. But alarming CHAP. VIII, news came from the Punjab. The Sikhs had broken out in rebellion. Bahadur Shah "forgave" the Rajpúts, and hurried away to Lahore. The Sikhs were not a nationality. Many were The Sikhs Rajpúts, others were a race of cultivators known as Játs. They were a religious sect, which had been founded in the sixteenth century by Nanuk Guru. The career of Nanuk was like that of many religious Nanuk Guru. teachers in India. He was a Kshatriya or Rajpút. When young, his goodness of disposition excited the admiration of a Muhammadan fakir of the Súfí persuasion. Nanuk was henceforth educated in all the spiritual mysticism of the Súfís. He forgot his Hindú training. He laid hold of many of the Súfí doctrines, and turned them into Punjabi poetry. Such is said to have been the origin of the Granth, or sacred books of the Sikhs. For a therhoods. Nanuk became known as a Guru or religious teacher sikli bro in the beginning of the sixteenth century, about the time that Báber was invading Hindustan. long while his followers differed in no way from the bulk of Muhammadan fakirs. They formed communities or brotherhoods; each community had its own superior, and all the members of the community treated one another as brothers, without regard to race, tribe, or clan. When Nanuk Guru died, he was not succeeded in his spiritual authority by his son, but by a servant of his household. The Sikhs began to create trouble in the time of rug Baladur. Aurangzeb. The ninth Guru in succession to the servant of Nanuk was one Tugh Bahadur. He grew ambitious, took to plunder and rapine, and became a CHAP. VIII. terror to the country round. He was arrested, sent to Gwalior, and there executed. Guru Govind. Moghul capital at Lahore. Shíahs repressed. Jehandar Hitherto the Sikhs had generally followed a religious calling and carried no arms. The death of Tugh Bahadur led to an entire change. Guru Govind, the son and successor of the slaughtered Guru, formed the Sikh communities into military bands or brotherhoods under trusty leaders. Every community was known as a Misl; and the collective body was known as the Khálsa, or the army of the Khálsa. Every Sikh was a soldier of the Khálsa, fighting for God and the Guru. Stories of Sikh atrocities induced Bahadur Shah to remove his capital from Delhi to Lahore. He sent many forces against the Sikhs, but the troubles continued until the end of his reign. At Lahore Bahadur Shah was a Shíah at heart. he avowed himself a Shíah. He wanted to introduce the Shíah doctrine into the public prayer for the wellbeing of the sovereign, known as the Khutba. The Sunní Khutba began with the name of Muhammad and the four Khalifs, ending with Ali. Bahadur Shah wanted to add the word "heir " to the name of Ali, to indicate that Ali was the true "heir" or successor to the Prophet. The innovation raised a storm amongst the Sunnís. A Shíah reader began to recite the new Khutba in the chief mosque at Lahore; but he was torn to pieces by the Sunní congregation. Their wrath at the notion that Ali was the first rightful successor of Muhammad overbore every other consideration. Bahadur Shah died in 1712. He left four sons.. It would be tedious to describe their battles for the succession. Three were killed, mainly by the instru mentality of Nawab Zulfikar Khan, who began to CHAP. VIII. play an important part at the Moghul court. A worthless sot was then placed upon the throne under the name of Jehandar Shah. Zulfikar Khan became Vizier, and exercised all the real power of the sovereign. new Emperor. Jehandar Shah was the slave of a dancing-girl Vices of the named Lál Kanwar. The brother and kinsfolk of this favourite were all musicians and dancers of the same stamp. The new Emperor showered titles and honours on the whole of them. He gave a patent to the brother, appointing him governor of Agra. Zulfikar Khan refused to affix the seals. He said he wanted a thousand guitars as his fee; he excused himself by saying that all the grandees that wanted promotion for the future would have to play on guitars. The new Emperor was silenced by the implied rebuke, and deemed it advisable to overlook the sarcasm. The dancing-girl had a friend named Zahra, who scandal. used to sell vegetables in the bazar. The connection continued after the promotion of the dancing-girl to be the favourite of the Emperor. Scandal tells stories of the three getting drunk together and being found in woful plight; but the bare mention of the fact sufficiently indicates the state of affairs. One story is worth preserving. Grandees, courtiers, and all who wanted favour, sent presents and bribes to the favourite through Zahra. Consequently Zahra visited the palace with all the parade of a princess. Her people were overbearing and insulting, after the manner of upstarts. At last there was a catastrophe. Zahra. Chín Kulich Khan had been one of the grandees of Insolence of Aurangzeb. He had filled high offices, and, under the name of Nizam-ul-Mulk, was destined to become the |