rounded by his chief officers; it was said to have CHAPTER VI. been intercepted by his own vigilance. Whether real or counterfeit it was a success. Every one feigned to be horrified at the crime of Shah Jehan; every one extolled the prudence of Aurungzeb.

governor of of Dara.

The two brothers now began to dispose of the Shaishta Khan public employments. All orders were issued in Agra: pursuit their joint names. Their uncle Shaishta Khan was appointed governor of Agra. They divided the treasury and revenues. The liberality of Aurungzeb was unbounded. He rewarded former friends; he bought over new ones. Agra was tranquil. The two brothers resolved to leave Agra; to march their armies in pursuit of Dara.

You ought to be

Murád.

The friends of Murád were unwilling that he Delusion of should accompany Aurungzeb. "Your presence," they said, "is needed at Agra: at hand to prevent a rising: Do not go away on any hazardous enterprise." Murád was gulled by Aurungzeb. He believed all the promises of Aurungzeb. He was impetuous and fond of glory. He went away with Aurungzeb towards Delhi. The two armies halted at Mathura.

Mathura.

There is a magnificent mosque at Mathura; it was Encampment at built upon a hill by the old Mussulman sovereigns. Aurungzeb told Murád that he should be crowned in front of this mosque. The two armies encamped on opposite banks of the river Jumna; they communicated with each other by bridges. Aurungzeb visited his brother every morning and evening. He talked of nothing but the coronation. He deferred it from day to day on various pretences. The imperial tents were not finished; the presents were not ready; the new clothes for the army were

Contrast between the two armies.

CHAPTER VI. not all made; the harness for horses and elephants was not complete. Murád waited patiently; he was in no hurry for a ceremony of which he was sure. All this while there was a marked difference in the discipline of the two camps. The army of Murád was devoted to pleasure. The officers feasted and drank wine; they amused themselves with musicians, play-actors, and dancing-girls. The army of Aurungzeb was puritanical. Prayers were said three times a day. The officers took their cue from Aurungzeb. They discoursed with their soldiers on the piety of Aurungzeb; how happy would they be to have a sovereign like Aurungzeb.

At last a day was fixed for the coronation of Murád. A platform was raised in front of the mosque; there Murád was to take his seat upon the throne; there he was to receive the turban and sabre from the hands of the Kází, the Chief Judge of the empire. Tents of gold brocade were set up in the plain around. Murád was blinded by these preparations; he had no suspicion that anything was wrong.

The evening before the ceremony Aurungzeb feigned sickness. He invited Murád to come to his tent to consult the astrologers. Murád had a faithful eunuch named Shah Abbas; this man tried in vain to warn him against Aurungzeb. Murád was infatuated. He crossed the river; he entered the camp of Aurungzeb, followed by Shah Abbas and some of his own officers. On the way an officer besought him to beware of Aurungzeb. Murád was offended at the freedom. He entered the tent of Aurungzeb; he was received by the Kází. Aurungzeb appeared with his generals. He treated Murád

by Aurungzeb.

with marked respect. He seated Murád in the CHAPTER VI. place of honour; he fanned his brother; he repeatedly addressed him as his master, his lord, and his sovereign. A grand repast was served up; for Murád feasted the first time Aurungzeb allowed the use of wine. The two brothers sat in a tent by themselves. The officers of Murád were feasted by the generals of Aurungzeb in a distant tent. Shah Abbas alone remained near his master.

enness sudden

The two princes were amused with musicians Murad's drunkand dancers. Aurungzeb never put off the air of arrest. piety; he drank nothing but water. Murád was less scrupulous; he drank wine to excess; he fell into a drunken sleep. Shah Abbas conducted him to a neighbouring tent; he sat at the foot of the bed whilst his master slept. Presently he saw Aurungzeb approach the tent with his little grandson Azam. Aurungzeb, as if in pleasantry, offered Azam a jewel if he could bring away the sabre and poniard of Murad without awaking him. The child brought away the weapons. At that moment six of Aurungzeb's guards appeared with chains. Murád started with the noise; he tried to seize his sabre; he began to shriek; the men gagged him with their hands. Aurungzeb then stood forward; he raised his hands to heaven; he spoke in a solemn voice:"The law of Muhammad must be avenged: The drunkard who broke it is unfitted for a throne: Bind him in fetters and carry him away." Murád was loaded with silver chains. Shah Abbas was bound in iron chains. They were packed off on separate elephants; the prince was sent to Delhi; the eunuch was sent to Agra. As Murád departed he said to Aurungzeb:-" Are these the oaths you

CHAPTER VI. have sworn on the Koran ?" Not another word was heard. No one but the chosen few knew that anything had occurred.

Aurungzeb proclaimed Padishah.

No opposition.

Aurungzeb pursues Dara: recalled to Agra,

All that night the musicians continued to play in the tent of Aurungzeb. At day-break the two armies assembled in the plain to witness the coronation of Murád. The troops had been ordered to attend without arms; the order excited no suspicions; the troops thought it was issued to prevent broils. Every one waited for Murád. Presently squadrons of Aurungzeb's horse began to surround the plain; the horsemen were fully armed. At that moment certain persons, posted for the purpose, cried out:-" Long live the Emperor Aurungzeb!" The thoughtless soldiers echoed on the cry. The two armies exclaimed:-"Long live the Emperor Aurungzeb!" Presently Aurungzeb appeared upon the platform; he sat upon the throne for a moment; he then withdrew from the scene.

The

Henceforth Aurungzeb was Padishah. change was sudden and startling. There was no movement; no one cared; nothing occurred. Aurungzeb had provided against any opposition from Murád's army; he had won over most of the officers; he guarded those whom he could not corrupt. At such moments Hindús are passive; they accept a revolution as the hand-work of fate. Aurungzeb gained the throne by an intrigue which has no example in recorded history. Murád was blotted out. He became a prisoner for life in the fortress of Gwalior.

Aurungzeb had ascended the throne in the presence of the army; other rivals were still in the field. Dara commanded an army in the Punjab ;

The

Shuja commanded another army in Bengal. Aurung- CHAPTER VI. zeb marched against Dara. As he approached the Punjab the army of Dara fled away in terror. Dara could only seek to escape to Persia like his ancestor Humayun. On the land side Persia was barred against him; the governors of Multan and Kábul were partisans of Aurungzeb. The only way of escape was down the Indus to the sea. Fortunately one important friend was still staunch to Dara. This was a eunuch whose name is unknown.60 eunuch commanded the fortress of Bukkur on the Indus. Bukkur was situaed on an island below the junction of the five rivers; at this place the Indus, swelled by the united streams, spreads out in a wide and deep bed. The eunuch secured the best troops of Dara within this fortress. He transported cannon, powder, and provisions from Lahore. He was determined to hold the fortress against Aurungzeb until Dara escaped to Persia. Dara recovered heart; he went down the Indus; he found a refuge at Ahmadabad in Guzerat; he waited for an opportunity of sailing to the Persian Gulf. Aurungzeb went on towards Bukkur. Suddenly he was called away to the other extremity of the empire. Shuja was again marching an army to Agra; he gave out that he was going to deliver his father Shah Jehan and his brother Murád from their captivity. Aurungzeb saw that the movement was dangerous in the extreme. He left his army to besiege Bukkur under the command of an officer named Bahadur Khan. He flew towards Agra with a small escort. At Agra

60 The eunuch had been a favourite of Dara. His master had given him the name of "The Flower of the Spring." Eunuchs have played an important part in Asiatic affairs from a remote antiquity. It would be difficult to say more upon a subject so foreign to European sentiments.