CHAPTER VI. THE MOGHUL EMPIRE: SHAH JEHAN. A. D. 1628 TO 1658. Shah Jehan: his political situation. SHAH JEHAN was thirty-seven years of age when CHAPTER VI. he was proclaimed Padishah. He had been schem- The character of ing for the throne from his boyhood. He had no political genius, no manly ambition, no administrative capacity. He wanted to be sovereign; to be courted, flattered, and admired; to gratify every whim and passion. He was intriguing and unscrupulous; his character was a hindrance to his success; no one trusted him. He gained the throne by sheer force of circumstances. Every one hated Núr Mahal. There was no one but Shah Jehan who could suppress Núr Mahal. Buláki would have been ruined by her; Shahryár would have been a puppet in her hands. She had made a deadly enemy of Shah Jehan; he could keep her encaged for life. From the moment Shah Jehan obtained the throne, nothing further is known of Núr Mahal. Shah Jehan had no more religion than Jehangír. At first he leaned towards the Mussulmans; he made 1 Asiatics ascribe the good fortune of Shah Jehan to the influence of the stars. He is known as the lord of the happy conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. In modern times there have only been three lords of this conjunction:-Timúr, Shah Jehan, and Nadir Shah. hates Chris tianity. He CHAPTER VI. Some concessions to Mussulman prejudices. Leans to Islam: abolished the solar year which had been introduced by Akber; he restored the lunar year of Islam. He forbade the prostrations before the throne which had scandalized Mussulmans in the reigns of Akber and Jehangir. He spit his hatred against Christians and Christianity. He made war upon the Portuguese at Hugli. He soon returned to the old Moghul groove. His Hindú blood began to Influence of Punishment of 2 show itself. In the end he became more Hinduized than Akber. 3 The Mussulman proclivities of Shah Jehan were due to the influence of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. This lady was of the same type as her aunt Núr Mahal. She fascinated Shah Jehan as Núr Mahal had fascinated Jehangir. She had reasons of her own for hating the Portuguese. In the lax reign of Jehangír two of her daughters had been converted by the Christian Fathers; they had found an asylum amongst the Portuguese. Nothing further is known of these conversions. Young Moghul ladies would incline to a religion which delivered them from the harem, probably gave them husbands, and prohibited the husbands from taking other wives. Shah Jehan had his own wrongs to revenge. The the Portuguese. Portuguese had refused to help him in his rebellion against his father; they had joined the army of Parwíz and fought against him. The capture of 2 This fact is doubtful. It is given on oriental authorities which are unreliable. It is contradicted by the story of Shah Jehan's treatment of the Persian ambassador, which will be related hereafter. 3 This fascination was doubtless due to the dazzling white complexions of the two ladies. Jehangír had an olive complexion; Shah Jehan was probably browner. See the description of the Taj Mahal further on. 4 Catrou's History of the Moghul Dynasty. Hugli was not a difficult matter. Five or six hun- CHAPTER VI. dred Portuguese were taken prisoners and sent to Agra. Some became Mussulmans; others suffered martyrdom. Had Mumtaz Mahal been alive they would all have suffered a cruel death; she had vowed to have them cut to pieces. By this time she was dead. Shah Jehan placed some of the Portuguese women in his own harem; he distributed others among his dissolute Amírs. 5 6 Khan Jehan, Sunní. Meantime the affairs of the Dekhan called for the Intrigues of interference of Shah Jehan. Jehangír had recalled the Afghan Mahábat Khan the Rajpoot from the command of the army of the Dekhan; he had appointed an Afghan, named Khan Jehan, to command the army in the room of Mahábat Khan. The idea was to pit the Afghans against the Rajpoots. A worse appointment could not have been made. Khan Jehan was an Afghan and a Sunní; so was Malik Amber the Abyssinian. Khan Jehan made no attempt to carry on the war against Ahmadnagar. On the contrary, he gave back to Malik Amber all the territory which had been conquered by Shah Jehan. Possibly he was plotting to upset Moghul rule; to resuscitate the Sunní religion; to found 5 The story of Shah Jehan's operations against the Portuguese has already been related. See ante, vol. iii. chap. 9. It is there stated, on the authority of Bernier, that Shah Jehan's object was to punish the Portuguese for dealing in slaves. Possibly this was one reason why Mumtaz Mahal urged on the war; it would have had no force for a prince like Shah Jehan. Shah Jehan's fancy for Portuguese women is suggestive. Akber married & Christian wife; Jehangir wanted Portuguese women. Such unions are not peculiar to Moghul history; they characterize the history of the Ottoman Turks. Mahomet the Great was the son of Amurath by a Christian wife. celebrated concubine Irene was of Christian parentage. Other instances are related by Knolles. His 6 The point is not quite clear. The change of command was probably accompanied by a change of armies. Mahabat Khan would only command Rajpoots; Khan Jehan would only command Afghans. CHAPTER VI. another Afghan dynasty. When Shah Jehan was marching to Agra to seize the throne, Khan Jehan refused to join him; it was impossible for Afghans to co-operate with Rajpoots in behalf of a bad Shíah like Shah Jehan." Submission of Antagonism between Shah Jehan. When Shah Jehan had gained the throne, Khan Jehan made his submission. Things had gone against him in Ahmadnagar. Malik Amber was dead; his son Fath Khan succeeded to the post of minister. Fath Khan quarrelled with the Sultan ; Shíahs and Mahrattas sided with the Sultan against the Abyssinian Sunnís. The Sunnís were losing ground; Khan Jehan was thus forced to submit to Shah Jehan. Shah Jehan accepted the submission of Khan Jehan and Khan Jehan; he invited Khan Jehan to court; he received him at Agra with great favour. Treachery was at work, probably on both sides. One night there was an uproar. Khan Jehan was marching out of Agra with two thousand Afghans; his drums were beaten as if to arouse others. He went due south towards the river Chambal. Within two hours the imperial forces were in hot pursuit. A battle came off on the bank of the Chambal. The Rajpoots fought the Afghans with the greatest fury; they got down from their horses and charged the Afghans with pikes. The Moghuls were languid or disaffected; they would not fight at all. Khan Jehan escaped to the opposite bank; the imperial forces would not follow him; they turned back to Agra. Khan Jehan was in open rebellion. The Mus The story is 7 Father Catrou is silent as regards the revolt of Khan Jehan. told by Khafi Khan; it is quoted by Elphinstone; it is noticed by Mandelslo; it throws light upon the antagonism between Afghans and Rajpoots. disaffection. sulmans in the imperial army would not fight the CHAPTER VI. Afghans. The Moghul court was in the utmost Rebellion and alarm. Shah Jehan took the field in person; at least one strong division was entirely composed of Rajpoots. He resolved to strike at Ahmadnagar; he sent a strong force in pursuit of Khan Jehan. 8 Ahmadnagar Ahmadnagar was doomed. The Sultan had im- Annexation of prisoned his minister. When threatened by Shah and Berár. Jehan he released the minister. The minister strangled the Sultan; he placed the son of the Sultan on the throne as a puppet; he then sent his submission to Shah Jehan. In the end the Moghul annexed Ahmadnagar and Berár. The minister was pensioned. The infant Sultan was imprisoned for life in the fortress of Gwalior. Further south Bíjápur and Golkonda remained independent; they promised to pay yearly tribute; they rarely or ever paid it." slain. Khan Jehan's fate is soon told. He reached Khan Jehan Ahmadnagar; he found that Shah Jehan was too strong for him. He tried to return to Hindustan. The Rajpoots surrounded him; he was killed with a pike; his head was sent to Shah Jehan. affection of The Rajpoots fought bravely against the Af- Growing disghans; they were not loyal at heart towards Shah Rajpoots. Jehan. They had never been loyal to Jehangir and Shah Jehan as they had been to Akber. They feared Akber and they were devoted to him. When Jehangír rebelled against Akber not a Rajpoot would join him. When Shah Jehan rebelled against Jehangir he was helped by Rajpoots. The Rajpoot princes drew large allowances from the Moghul ; 8 See the description of the army in Mendelslo's Travels, page 39. |