1 MUHY-UD-DIN AURANGZEB. ~ 177
2 step. He stopped for a while. to hear them, but the multitude held their
3 ground, At length, under orders from the emperor, war elephants were
4 directed against the mob,.and, the retinue forcing its way through, numbers
5 were trodden to death by horses and elephants. After this the Hindus
6 submitted without further demur. hte
7 Aurangzeb introduced changes in the mode of saluting him and abolished
8 the long-established custom of appearing at the balcony of the palace, thus
9 depriving the people of an innocent pleasure.
10 The long reign of Aurangzeb was chiefly occupied in the final subjuga-
11 tion of the Dekkan. He conquered the kingdoms of Golconda.and Bijdpir,
12 and had the satisfaction of seeing his dominions extended to the farthest
13 limits of the Carnatic. The period which marked the death of Shah Jahdn,
14 was the most prosperous of Aurangzeb’s long reign. His governor of
15 Kashmir had brought Little Thibet under subjection, and the viceroy
16 of Bengal had added Chittagong, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal,
17 to his dominions. Throughout the Mahomedan world, the emperor was
18 held in the highest respect, and his capital was attended by ambassadors
19 from the sherif of Mecca, the princes of Arabia, the Khan of the Uzbeks
20 and the king’of Abyssinia. Even the Shah of Persia sent a complimentary
21 embassy to the court of Aurangzeb, who in return sent an embassy of
22 unusual splendour from India to Persia; but some questions of etiquette
23 which arose created such a difference between the king of Delhi and Shah
24 Abbas, that, under the orders of his Persian majesty, the beard of the Indian
25 envoy was set on fire by a page. The emperor’s wrath on the return of the
26 beardless envoy knew no bounds. He reproached him bitterly for not having
27 stabbed the Shah to the heart, and executed him the same day by having
28 him bitten by a venomous snake.*
29 During his summer visits to Kdshmir, Aurangzeb appeared to be quite
30 a different man from what he seemed in the hot palace of Delhi. In the
31 cool retreats of the happy valley, he indulged in the society of his ladies,
32 who pleased him with flattery and caresses,
33 He was fascinated by a Christian lady, a native of Georgia, named Udepiri.
34 When a child she had been sold to Dara, the elder brother of Aurangzeb,
35 by a slave dealer, and she grew up to be exceedingly handsome. On Dara’s
36 death, she infatuated Aurangzeb and became his favourite queen. She was
37 the mother of K4m Baksh, the emperor’s youngest son.
38 In 1672, the Afghans beyond the Khaibar, who were the most refractory
39 subjects of the king, rebelled. Amin Khan, the son of Mir Juimla, and
40 governor of Kabul, who resided at Peshdwar, entered the plains of Kabul
41 at the head of an army to punish the insurgents, but the whole of his army
42 were cut to pieces, his chief wife was slaughtered, and his mother, sister and
43 daughter were carried away as slaves. ‘he following year, the emperor
44 proceeded to the seat of war in person and obtained some successes, but
45 tidings of disturbances in the neighbourhood of the capital compelled him
46 to retrace his steps to Delhi. The Santa Rdmis, a sect of Hindu devotees
47 had risen in revolt and committed great excesses. The royal troops defeated
48 the insurgents and massacred in cold blood the male inhabitants of the
49 localities where the insurrection had broken out. Women and children
50 were seized and sold as slaves. The emperor, in the meantime, recalled
51 Amin Khan, and appointed one Kasim Khan in his place. Kasim Khan
52 was an experienced chief, and won. the hearts of the Afghans by his seeming
53 * This mode of execution was not uncommon under the Moghal Government. Shah Jahan
54 was once told that the Kotwal, or Police Magistrate, of Delhi had taken a bribe. He had the
55 offender bitten by a cobra, and he died in a few hours.
56 The royal appear-
57 ance at the jharoka
58 abolished.
59 The emperor's con-
60 quests in the Deccan.
61 His power hold in
62 respect throughout
63 the Mahomedan
64 world.
65 The summerretreats
66 to Kashmir.
67 Tho Udupitri Begum.
68 The expedition
69 agninst the Afghans
70 of the Kliaibar, 1672.
71 Til success.
72 Revolt of the Santa
73 Ratnis.
74 A tragedy.
75 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary —— Namdharikjiprary@ gmail.com