he objected to the cost and danger of carriage; he CHAPTER V. was overruled by Asof Khan. The camels were loaded; they were about to leave the fortress. Suddenly the treasurer heard that Shah Jehan was coming up from the Dekhan by forced marches. He saw through the plot in a moment. He unloaded the camels; he reported the coming of Shah Jehan to Jehangir. When Shah Jehan came up, the treasure was safely lodged in the fortress. He tried in vain to capture the fortress. He wasted three weeks in the attempt. Then he heard that Jehangir had left Lahore and was marching towards Delhi. He had no alternative but to fight against his father. Jehangir. Jehangir had been roused from his lethargy. Indignation of The plot to rob him of his treasures fell upon him like a thunderbolt. He summoned forces from the extremities of his empire; from Mahábat Khan, viceroy of Kábul; from Parwíz, viceroy of Bengal. He marched from Lahore to Delhi to fight against his son. The two armies met near Delhi. The battle raged after the manner of Asiatic battles. For some time the victory was with Shah Jehan. A rebel Raja in his army cut his way to Jehangir's camp; he seized Jehangír as his prisoner; he was beaten down by a battle-axe; he died with a curse upon his lips. The Rajpoots round him were seized with a panic. Shah Jehan shouted and threatened in vain; Rajpoots obey no obey no one but their Raja. They rushed from the field; the whole of the rebel army followed. All was lost. Shah Jehan galloped off to the south; he escaped with a few horsemen to the mountains of Mewát.93 93 The plot of Asof Khan and Shah Jehan to seize the treasure at Agra is CHAPTER V. Shah Jehan. Asiatic movements are often a riddle. They Vacillation of defy all calculation; they are a series of startling surprises. Within a few weeks of the battle Shah Jehan was reconciled to Jehangir. Shah Jehan humbled himself to the dust; implored forgiveness; took a solemn oath never to rebel again. In the end Jehangir forgave him; within a few months he broke out in another rebellion. Rebellion. Shah Jehan ravages Bengal. 94 Jealousy was at the bottom of the second rebellion. Jehangír had treated Parwíz with great favour ; he had appointed Mahábat Khan the Rajpoot to the command of the army. Shah Jehan revolted out of jealousy of Parwíz; the Khan Khanán joined him out of jealousy of Mahábat Khan. Parwíz and Mahábat Khan marched against the rebels. Shah Jehan and the Khan Khanán retreated southward towards Burhanpur. The Khan Khanán played a new game of treachery; he tried to save himself by betraying Shah Jehan. The plot was discovered; the Khan Khanán openly deserted to the army of Parwíz and Mahábat Khan; Shah Jehan was forced to fly out of the empire. The disappearance of Shah Jehan was а mystery. Nothing was heard of him for months. Suddenly he turned up in Bengal. He had gone across India from Burhanpur eastward to the Telinga country; he had then pushed northwards one of the most suggestive events in the history of Moghul India. Strange to say, it has been ignored by modern historians. Few accounts, however, can be better authenticated. The story is told by Herbert, who was in India very shortly afterwards. It was also told in the Moghul chronicle on which Manouchi based his memoirs. Its historical significance is undoubted. Nothing could better show the lawlessness of men's minds under Moghul rule. 94 Mahabat Khan is said to have been appointed to the post of Khan Khanán. The statement is perplexing. The Rajpoot could only command Rajpoots; the Moghul could only command Moghuls. Possibly a Rajpoot army was sent to take the place of the Moghul army. through Orissa into Bengal. His march resembled CHAPTER V. the flying raids of Ala-ud-dín and Malik Kafúr. He appeared before Dacca, the new capital of Bengal. The viceroy of Bengal was taken by surprise; he was seized with a panic; he fled in hot haste from Dacca to Benares. Shah Jehan ravaged all Bengal ; he pillaged towns and villages; he robbed the in-habitants of their money and jewels; he committed outrages which rendered his army a terror. Jehan. The imperial army under Parwíz and Mahábat Defeat of Shah Khan was soon on the move. It advanced from the Dekhan in a northerly direction towards Allahabad; it then moved in an easterly direction towards Benares. A battle was fought near Benares. The old antagonism was working mischief in both armies. The Mussulmans were jealous of the Rajpoots. Shah Jehan very nearly routed his enemies. His Rajpoots had gained the victory; but his Mussulmans hung back. The Rajpoots were unsupported; they were soon beaten. the rebel army turned tail and fled. saw that fate was still against him. ground with his lance; he left his camp to be plundered; he galloped off to the south with four thousand horsemen, to seek once more for refuge in the Dekhan. The whole of Shah Jehan between Mus Rajpoot. The antagonism between Mussulman and Raj- Antagonism poot was beginning to rend the empire. Akber sulman and had kept the peace between the two; he had played one against the other; he had maintained a balance of power in the body politic. Before he died signs of a rupture were already manifest. The Mussulman party supported the revolt of Jehangír ; the Rajpoot party favoured the succession of Khuzru. CHAPTER V. Jehangir had no policy; he was driven along by his temper or by Núr Mahal. Before his accession the Rajpoots had angered him by fighting against him. After his accession he had favoured the Mussulmans. After the revolt of Khuzru he leaned somewhat towards the Rajpoots. He wavered to and fro; he trimmed between the two; his trimming saved the empire. Division in the imperial army. Mahabat Khan appeals to Jehangir. army. The imperial army was divided like the rebel Mahabat Khan was a Rajpoot. Parwíz was a Mussulman. There was a traitor in the camp; the Khan Khanán was playing his old game of treachery; like a true Moghul he plotted against the Rajpoot. Mahábat Khan discovered his intrigues; he placed the Khan Khanán under arrest. The Khan Khanán was still at work. He kindled the jealousy of Parwíz against Mahábat Khan. Meantime Núr Mahal and Asof Khan were plotting against Mahábat Khan. The storm soon burst upon the Rajpoot general. Jehangir ordered the Khan Khanán to be sent to Lahore. Shortly afterwards he deprived Mahábat Khan of his command; he appointed an Afghan named Khan Jehan to command in the room of Mahábat Khan. The appointment is the key to Jehangir's policy. His father Akber had gained his ends by pitting the Rajpoots against the Afghans. Jehangir adopted the dangerous idea of pitting the Afghans against the Rajpoots. The outcome of this policy will be seen in the next reign. Mahábat Khan was well-nigh broken-hearted. He knew that Jehangir was an old dotard; he knew that Núr Mahal and the Khan Khanán had worked his ruin. He retired to a fortress of his own; he would wait until time proved his innocence. But Núr Mahal stung him with further insults; she CHAPTER V. ordered him to quit his fortress and go to Orissa. In desperation he raised a force of five thousand Rajpoots. He resolved to go to Lahore and make his own defence to Jehangir. insults Mahábat Núr Mahal and Asof Khan were kept informed Núr Mahal of every movement. They feared the Rajpoots; Khan. they feared that Mahábat Khan would ingratiate himself with Jehangir. They induced Jehangir to order Mahábat Khan to come alone and answer for his infamy. Mahábat Khan saw through their craft. He had married his daughter to a young noble; he sent the bridegroom to make his excuse and treat on surer terms. Núr Mahal kept the matter secret from Jehangir. She issued her own orders; they were the expression of a vindictiveness at once feminine and oriental. When Mahábat Khan's sonin-law entered the imperial camp, he was forced to dismount from his elephants, to disrobe himself of his bravery, to clothe himself in filthy rags. He was then cruelly beaten with rattans, set backwards on a lean horse, and conducted bare-headed through the imperial army. Mahabat Khan. Mahábat Khan was furious at the insult; still Revenge of he retained his self-constraint. He knew that Núr Mahal was alone to blame; indeed, the whole country was incensed at her. He took measures accordingly. The imperial army had left Lahore and was proceeding to Kábul. It was crossing the river Jhelum by a bridge of boats. At daybreak most of the troops had gone over. Jehangir was still sleeping. Suddenly Mahábat Khan surrounded his tents. with Rajpoots and carried him off prisoner. The confusion that followed beggars description. |