Letters of Aurungzebe/Letters to Sultan Mahammad Mūazzam, Sháh Alam Bahádūr, the Crown Prince

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Letters of Aurungzebe (1908)
by Aurangzeb Alamgir, translated by Jamshed H. Bilimoria

Letters to Sultan Mahammad Mūazzam, Sháh Alam Bahádūr, the Crown Prince

Letters to Prince Mahammad A'azam Sháh Bahádūr

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Letter to Muhammad Muazzam Shah (1653), translated 1908

Aurangzeb Alamgir2567357Letters of Aurungzebe — Letters to Sultan Mahammad Mūazzam, Sháh Alam Bahádūr, the Crown Prince1908Jamshed H. Bilimoria

Letters addressed to Sultan Mahammad Aluazzam, Shah Alam Bahadur, the Crown Prince.^[1]

LETTER I.

Eldest son of sovereignty, happy son, Muhammad Mūazzam, may God protect and save you. His Majesty, having his abode in paradise (Sháh Jehán, Aurangzebe's father), had a great desire to conquer the provinces of Balkh, Badakhshán, Khorásán, and Hirát which were the ancient possessions of our ancestors.^[2]. He often sent there the royal forces under the command of Mūrád Bakhsha.^[3] Most of the provinces were conquered but owing to impatience, that unfortunate man (Mūrád) returned (to the capital) without having been recalled by His Majesty and thereby lost the favour of the people and the grandees of those provinces. The kingdoms conquered and possessed were lost; and money was wasted on them. It is for this reason that it is said that "A daughter is better than an unworthy son". Attend to this (verse) that "If a father is unable to finish a work, the son must carry it out to completion". This mortal creature (Aurungzebe) has a wish which is still unfulfilled. It was the desire of Sháh Jehán that I should send a grandson of His Majesty's to those districts with a grand army and sufficient equipment. What more can I do? When you were here, I had insisted upon you to take Kandahár;^[4] but you have not conquered it. What of other cases, then? Evidently you have not done the work entrusted to you by me. One who professes to know a thing must know it fully. This my perishable life is now like the sun (setting) on the top of a mountain. What does it concern me if I have these provinces or not? How will you shew your face to your rivals in this world and to the Holy, High, and Exalted God in the next world?

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↑ Aurungzebe's second son, born in 1643, of a Rajput princess. He was sent by his father against Shivaji in order to arrest him, but was afterwards recalled. Then he was appointed governor of the Deccan. 1667. In 1686 he took Haiderabad. Afterwards he marched against Golconda, but he made a convention with the king, Abul Hasan, and communicated with him. Aurungzebe was displeased with him on this account and imprisoned him, 1688; but released him five years later. In 1700 he was appointed governor of Cabul. He was an obedient son and was generous and kind. Most of the seven letters addressed to this prince seem to have been written between 1700 and 1707 when he was viceroy of Cabul. In 1684 he was honoured with the title of Shah Alam Bahadur. After the death of his father he ascended the throne under the name of Bahadur Shah (the First) in 1707 and ruled for five years. He was a wise and able ruler. Had he lived longer his reign would have been accounted prosperous and illustrious. During his rule the Sikhs were subjected to much persecution. It was also in his reign that Nizam-ul-Mulk, the founder of the dynasty of the Nizams of the Deccan, and Sa'adat Ali Khan, the ancestor of the nabobs of Oude, came into prominence. He died in 1712.
↑ Provinces in Persia and Afghanistan conquered by Timur and Babar. Balkh was the cradle of the Zoroastrian religion and a great capital of some of the ancient Persian kings. Badakhshan is known for its ruby mines. Hirat is the gate of India and was many times besieged by the Persians.
↑ Younger brother of Aurungzebe, who was sent by Shah Jehan to assist Ali Mardan Khan in Balkh. He returned to Delhi without the emperor's leave and was consequently disgraced. 1644. He was replaced by his brother Aurungzebe who retreated with great loss. 1647. Then Murad was appointed viceroy of Gujarat. When his father fell ill he joined his brother Aurungzebe and defeated Raja Jasvant Singh and Dara successively. 1657. Afterwards he was imprisoned (1658) by uAurngzebe at Gwalior where he was murdered in 1661. The date of his death is found from the following Persian verse: "Aya vaye! ba har bahaneh kushtand" (Alas! he was killed on a pretext). He was very brave, but much addicted to drinking and at the same time foolish in politics. Khafi Khan calls him a simpleton.
↑ Aurungzebe was sent to Kandahar by his father to conquer it; but having failed to do so he returned to Delhi. 1649. Aurungzebe tried to recover Kandahar a second time, but again he failed. 1652. The great Akbar wrested Kandahar from the Persians. Shah Abbas took the city from Jehangir. It fell to Shah Jehan through the treachery of Ali Merdan Khan. It was again besieged and captured by the son of Shah Abbas, and afterwards twice unsuccessfully attacked by Shah Jehan.

"The wise of ancient times considered Kabul and Kandahar as the twin gates of Hindustan, the one leading to Turkestan and the other to Persia. The custody of these highways secured India from foreign invaders, and they are likewise the appropriate portals to foreign travel."

Ain-i-Akbari. Cf. Let. IV.

[1] Aurungzebe's second son, born in 1643, of a Rajput princess. He was sent by his father against Shivaji in order to arrest him, but was afterwards recalled. Then he was appointed governor of the Deccan. 1667. In 1686 he took Haiderabad. Afterwards he marched against Golconda, but he made a convention with the king, Abul Hasan, and communicated with him. Aurungzebe was displeased with him on this account and imprisoned him, 1688; but released him five years later. In 1700 he was appointed governor of Cabul. He was an obedient son and was generous and kind. Most of the seven letters addressed to this prince seem to have been written between 1700 and 1707 when he was viceroy of Cabul. In 1684 he was honoured with the title of Shah Alam Bahadur. After the death of his father he ascended the throne under the name of Bahadur Shah (the First) in 1707 and ruled for five years. He was a wise and able ruler. Had he lived longer his reign would have been accounted prosperous and illustrious. During his rule the Sikhs were subjected to much persecution. It was also in his reign that Nizam-ul-Mulk, the founder of the dynasty of the Nizams of the Deccan, and Sa'adat Ali Khan, the ancestor of the nabobs of Oude, came into prominence. He died in 1712.

[2] Provinces in Persia and Afghanistan conquered by Timur and Babar. Balkh was the cradle of the Zoroastrian religion and a great capital of some of the ancient Persian kings. Badakhshan is known for its ruby mines. Hirat is the gate of India and was many times besieged by the Persians.

[p1_3-3] Younger brother of Aurungzebe, who was sent by Shah Jehan to assist Ali Mardan Khan in Balkh. He returned to Delhi without the emperor's leave and was consequently disgraced. 1644. He was replaced by his brother Aurungzebe who retreated with great loss. 1647. Then Murad was appointed viceroy of Gujarat. When his father fell ill he joined his brother Aurungzebe and defeated Raja Jasvant Singh and Dara successively. 1657. Afterwards he was imprisoned (1658) by uAurngzebe at Gwalior where he was murdered in 1661. The date of his death is found from the following Persian verse: "Aya vaye! ba har bahaneh kushtand" (Alas! he was killed on a pretext). He was very brave, but much addicted to drinking and at the same time foolish in politics. Khafi Khan calls him a simpleton.

[4] Aurungzebe was sent to Kandahar by his father to conquer it; but having failed to do so he returned to Delhi. 1649. Aurungzebe tried to recover Kandahar a second time, but again he failed. 1652. The great Akbar wrested Kandahar from the Persians. Shah Abbas took the city from Jehangir. It fell to Shah Jehan through the treachery of Ali Merdan Khan. It was again besieged and captured by the son of Shah Abbas, and afterwards twice unsuccessfully attacked by Shah Jehan.

"The wise of ancient times considered Kabul and Kandahar as the twin gates of Hindustan, the one leading to Turkestan and the other to Persia. The custody of these highways secured India from foreign invaders, and they are likewise the appropriate portals to foreign travel."

Ain-i-Akbari. Cf. Let. IV.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Letters of Aurungzebe/Letters to Sultan Mahammad Mūazzam, Sháh Alam Bahádūr, the Crown Prince

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