Travels in the Mogul Empire

by François Bernier

of French by H. O. | LONDON | Printed, and are

To be considered a Mogol, it is enough if a foreigner have a white face and profess Mahometanism;6 in contradistinction to the Christians of Europe, who are called Franguis,7 and to the Indous, whose complexion is brown, and who are Gentiles.

Dara was not deficient in good qualities: he was courteous in conversation, quick at repartee, polite, and extremely liberal: but he entertained too exalted an opinion of himself; believed he could accomplish everything by the powers of his own mind, and imagined that there existed no man from whose counsel he could derive benefit. He spoke disdainfully of those who ventured to advise

others. He was, nevertheless, too much a slave to his pleasures; and once surrounded by his women, who were exceedingly numerous, he would pass whole days [Page 8] and nights in dancing, singing, and drinking wine. He presented his favourites with rich robes, and increased or diminished their allowances as the passing fancy of the moment prompted.

Zebe, the third brother, was devoid of that urbanity and engaging presence, so much admired in Dara: but he possessed a sounder judgment, and was more skilful in selecting for confidants such persons as were best qualified to serve him with faithfulness and ability.

He was reserved, subtle, and a complete master of the art of dissimulation.

He was indeed full of courage; and if that courage had been under the guidance of a little more discretion, it is probable, as we shall see, that he would have prevailed over his three brothers, and remained the undisputed master of Hindoustan.

This pledge was a remarkable one, the marriage of a Princess being of rare occurrence in Hindoustan, no man being considered worthy of royal alliance; an apprehension being entertained that the husband might thereby be rendered powerful, and induced perhaps to aspire to the crown.

Love adventures are not attended with the same danger in Europe as in Asia. In France they excite only merriment; they create a laugh, and are forgotten: but in this part of the world, few are the instances in which they are not followed by some dreadful and tragical catastrophe.

The King, who trembled for his personal safety, and was tormented by sad forebodings of the events which actually befel him,

To save himself, therefore, from some impending and overwhelming calamity, Chah-Jehan resolved to bestow upon his sons the government of four distant provinces. Sultan Sujah was appointed to Bengale; Aureng-Zebe to the Decan; Morad-Bakche to Guzarate; and Dara to Caboul and Moultan.

Dara, because he was the eldest son and expected to succeed to the crown, did not quit the court of his father. Chah-Jehan, appearing to encourage that expectation, authorised his son to issue orders, and permitted him to occupy an inferior throne, placed among the Omrahs, beneath his own;22 so that two kings seemed to reign with almost equal power;23 but there is reason to believe that the Mogol practised much duplicity, and that, notwithstanding the respectful and affectionate [Page 16] demeanour of Dara, his father was never cordially attached to him.

The Vizier’s lineage was not noble, but his talents were of the first order: he was an accomplished soldier, and deeply [Page 17] versed in business.

His wealth, which was prodigious, he had acquired, not only by the opportunities afforded him as chief minister of an opulent kingdom, but likewise by means of his extensive commerce with various parts of the world, as well as by the diamond mines which he farmed under feigned names. These mines were worked with indefatigable industry, and it was usual to count his diamonds by the sacks-full.

Aureng-Zebe was aware that in issuing these orders, the Mogol was influenced by Dara and Begum [Saheb], who foresaw that if permitted to pursue his designs against the King of Golkonda, he would become too powerful.

but there was one act of his which Chah-Jehan regarded with peculiar horror and indignation, and which he was least disposed to forgive,—the murder of Vizier Sadullah-Kan,41 a nobleman whom the Mogol considered the most accomplished statesman of Asia, and for whom he felt a warmth of friendship that became quite proverbial.

respecting the intentions of Sadullah-Kan, who, from being an Indian [Hindoo] by birth, had excited the jealousy of the Persians at court. One of these rumours was, that [Page 24] after the death of Chah-Jehan, the Vizier designed to exclude the Mogols from the throne, and either to restore the royal race of the Patans,42 or usurp the crown for himself or his son.

It is even thought that he corresponded at this time with Aureng-Zebe, and that Dara, being apprised of the circumstance, was transported with rage to such a degree as to threaten his father.

Sultan Sujah was the first who took the field. He had filled his coffers in the rich country of Bengale by utterly ruining some of the Rajas or Kinglets of that region, and by plundering others.

but as his finances were not abundant, and his army was comparatively small, he endeavoured to obtain by fraud what he could not hope to gain by arms.

‘I need not remind you, my brother, how repugnant to my real disposition are the toils of government. While [Page 27] Dara and Sultan Sujah are tormented with a thirst for dominion, I sigh only for the life of a Fakire. But, although renouncing all claim to the kingdom, I nevertheless consider myself bound to impart my sentiments to you, my friend, whom I have always tenderly loved.

Dara is not only incapable of reigning, but is utterly unworthy of the throne, inasmuch as he is a Kafer—an idolater—and held in abhorrence by all the great Omrahs.

Sultan Sujah is equally undeserving the crown; for being avowedly a Rafezy—an heretic—he is of co...

The time is critical: you should, therefore, not lose one moment in taking possession of the castle of Sourate, where I know the vast treasure of the State to be deposited.’

The letter was everywhere exhibited, in expectation that the young men would be induced by its contents to enter with cheerfulness into his army, and that it might dispose the opulent merchants more willingly to lend the large sums he was exacting [Page 28] with undeviating rigour.

In no case, however, could he think of co-operating with Aureng-Zebe, while his wife and children were in Dara’s power: his determination was fixed; he would not be a party in the present quarrel.

Allow me, therefore, to conduct you to the fortress of Daulet-Abad where you will be guarded by one of my sons; we may then deliberate upon the means to be pursued, and I cannot conceive how any suspicion should arise in the mind of Dara, or how he can reasonably ill-treat the wife and children of one who is apparently my enemy.’

Some have thought that Emir-Jemla was really allured by the solemn assurance of advantages to be derived from his acquiescence, and that he was likewise influenced by the recollection of those vows of ardent and indissoluble friendship which had been so frequently interchanged between him and Aureng-Zebe.

Nor ought the capture of the town to have increased the military reputation of this Prince; for, although destitute of regular fortifications, it yet baffled his utmost endeavours for more than a month: and he had made no progress in the siege until the Dutch instructed him, for the first time, in the art of mining.

But the letters daily received from Aureng-Zebe determined Morad-Bakche not to relax his exertions, and the wise counsel of the eunuch Chah-Abas was rejected. This acute statesman had a warm and affectionate heart, and was sincerely attached to the interests of his master.

Of the kingdom, he repeated that he most assuredly entertained no thought; he had placed himself at the head of an army for the sole purpose of combating Dara, their common foe, and of seating Morad on the vacant throne.

Strange that Morad should never have suspected his honesty of intention, or that the late nefarious transactions in Golkonda should have made so slight an impression on his mind! but this Prince was blinded by a wild ambition for empire, and incapable of perceiving that he who had recently incurred so much infamy by his attempt to usurp a kingdom could feel little inclination to live and die a Fakire.

Chah-Jehan’s situation was indeed distressing:—afflicted with disease, and almost a prisoner in the hands of Dara, who, guided by a furious resentment, breathed nothing but war, and was unwearied in preparations for conducting it with vigour;—while his other children, regardless of repeated injunctions, accelerated their march toward Agra.

Soliman-Chekouh,52 Dara’s eldest son, was the general nominated to the command of the corps sent to oppose Sultan Sujah’s progress.

He was about five-and-twenty years of age, of a fine person, not without ability, generous and popular.

who intended him for his successor in preference to Dara. As the Mogol’s chief anxiety was to avoid the effusion of blood in this unnatural contest, he appointed an old Raja, named Jesseingue,53 to be ...

Jesseingue is at present one of the richest Rajas in Hindoudan, and perhaps the ablest...

It is certain that if Jesseingue and his bosom friend Delil-kan,54 a Patan and an excellent soldier, had not purposely held back, the rout of the enemy would have been complete, and their commander probably made prisoner.

Aware of his father’s want of conduct and prudence, and knowing that he was surrounded by secret enemies, he prudently determined to return to the capital, in the neighbourhood of which Dara would probably offer battle.

Every one is of opinion that the young prince could not have adopted a wiser course; and that if he could have brought up his army in time, Aureng-Zebe would have gained no advantage, if indeed he had ventured to engage in so unequal a contest.

Dara addressed these two generals in the most affectionate terms, and presented them with costly gifts on their departure with the troops: but Chah-Jehan privately suggested the same measures of caution and forbearance, which were practised in the case of Sultan Sujah.

But in point of fact, the whole of his army was not yet come up, and this was only a feint; for he feared that the enemy’s troops might themselves cross the stream, cut him off from the water, attack him before the soldiers had recovered from their fatigue, and thus prevent him from taking up an advantageous position.

victory. I was not present at this first encounter; but such was the opinion entertained by every spectator, especially by the French officers in Aureng-Zebe’s artillery.

The two commanders, however, were compelled by their secret orders quietly to take a position on the banks of the river, and to content themselves with disputing the passage.

With regard to Kasem-Kan, although it cannot be denied that he deserved the celebrity he had hitherto enjoyed, yet upon the present occasion he approved himself neither a dexterous general nor a courageous soldier: he was even suspected of treachery, and of having concealed in the sand, during the night that preceded the battle, the greater part of his ammunition, a few volleys having left the army without powder or ball.

The impetuosity of Morad-Bakche at length overcame every impediment; he reached the opposite bank with his corps, and was quickly followed by the remainder of the army. It

was then that Kasem-Kan ingloriously fled from the field, leaving Jessomseingue exposed to the most imminent peril. That undaunted Raja was beset on all sides by an overwhelming force, and saved only by the affecting devotion of his Ragipous,63 the greater part of whom died at his feet. Fewer than six hundred of these brave men, whose number at the commencement of the action amounted to nearly eight thousand, survived the carnage of that dreadful day.

children. From an early age they are accustomed to the use of opium, and I have sometimes been astonished to see the large quantity they swallow. On the day of battle they never fail to double the dose, and this drug so animates, or rather inebriates [Page 40] them, that they rush into the thickest of the combat insensible of danger.

It is an interesting sight to see them on the eve of a battle, with the fumes of opium in their heads, embrace and bid adieu to one another, as if certain of death. Who then can wonder that the Great Mogol, though a Mahometan, and as such an enemy to the Gentiles, always keeps in his service a large retinue of Rajas, treating them with the same consideration as his other Omrahs, and appointing them to important commands in his armies?

instead of sending to congratulate the gallant soldier on his escape, and console him in his misfortune, she dryly commanded that the gates of the castle should be closed [Page 41] against him.