314 HISTORY OF AURANGZIB. [CHAP. XII. of Shah Jahan, which was a compound of truth and falsehood.* It was clearly the interest of such men, who from their low position had no access to the inner circle of the Court, to send misrepresentations likely to fan the ambition of the younger princes. Above all, the princess Raushanara intrigued vigorously for Aurangzib from within the harem and guarded his inter- ests as against Dara's. Shah Jahan being given up as dead, all the confusion and disorder of a Mughal succession broke out, and the evil was intensified by the expectation of a four-sided duel between his sons, each with the army and resources of a province at his back. Everywhere lawless men caused tumults, the ryots refused to pay the revenue, the zamindars disobeyed the local governors or tried to rob and conquer their rivals; foreign powers, especially in the north-east, violated the frontiers and made inroads into the Imperial territory. Wicked men of every class took advantage of the political trouble to raise their heads, and thereby added to the disorder. The local authorities were paralysed by un- certainty and anxiety about the future, and law
- Kambu, 8b.
† Alamgirnamah, 368. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
